Union Square West, Manhattan

Buildings at Union Square West, Nos. 31-41, between East 16th and 17th streets. Photograph taken on October 26, 1938, by Berenice Abbott (1898-1991), Federal Art Project. Source: New York Public Library.

The Decker Building, located at 33, was built between 1892 and 1893, in Moorish style. The 16-story Bank of the Manhattan Company, on the left, at 31 Union Square West, was designed by Bruce Price and built in 1902-1903 as the Bank of the Metropolis building. It was designated a NYC landmark in 1988.

The same view in the 1870s

Tower Building, at 50 Broadway, completed in 1889. It was the first building to use a steel skeleton structure.