The Cable Building

The Cable Building stands at the corner of Broadway and Houston Street in New York's NoHo neighborhood and is a striking example of late-19th-century Beaux-Arts architecture. Designed by the renowned architect Stanford White of the firm McKim, Mead & White, the building was constructed between 1892 and 1894. It is a nine-story structure with a steel and iron frame, clad in brick, stone, and terra-cotta. The facade stands out for its limestone base with a two-story arcade, whose display windows are framed by iron spandrels and elegant keystones. A prominent copper cornice with lion heads and acanthus ornaments crowns the building. The main entrance on Broadway in particular was originally flanked by two 11-foot-tall figures created by the Scottish-American sculptor J. Massey Rhind. As the only building of its kind in the NoHo Historic District designed by such a significant architectural firm, it embodies the principles of the so-called American Renaissance.

The building originally served as the headquarters and power station of the Metropolitan Traction Company, one of the city's leading cable car companies. In the basement, located deep below street level, were large winding wheels and powerful steam engines that drove the cables pulling the streetcars along Broadway. This technology proved short-lived, however, as mechanical problems with the steel cables created safety hazards. As early as 1901, the system was replaced by electric drives, with the last cable car retired on May 21 of that year. Despite the technological shift, the building kept its name. Over the decades, its use changed several times: after it was sold in 1925, it initially housed small businesses and later mostly clothing manufacturers.

Today the Cable Building is a protected historic landmark that serves a variety of functions. Since 1989, the former engine room in the lower level has been home to the Angelika Film Center, a movie theater specializing in arthouse films. Part of the ground floor and the entire second floor are occupied by a large home furnishings store, while the remaining floors are used as office space. The building also gained special cultural significance through its use for a time as the studio of pop artist Keith Haring in the early 1980s. The building's historic fabric, which stands on the former site of St. Thomas Church, has been safeguarded since 1999 by its inclusion in the NoHo Historic District.