American Bank Note Company Printing Plant: Difference between revisions

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{{Use American English|date=March 2024}}

==Previous land use==

[[File:Woodside Mansion circa 1913.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Woodside Mansion, sometime before 1913 (New York)|alt=Historical photograph of Woodside Mansion with trees surrounding it. The front of the house has six columns in the Doric style, two stories tall. The ground slopes up gently from the photographer's location to the building.]]

 

The area was [[City of Greater New York|annexed to New York City]] in 1874.<ref name="arch_TheL">{{Cite web |last=Hilton |first=Alexandra |date=May 27, 2017 |title=The Last County: The Bronx |url=http://www.archives.nyc/blog/2017/5/25/the-last-county-the-bronx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507184451/https://www.archives.nyc/blog/2017/5/25/the-last-county-the-bronx |archive-date=May 7, 2019 |access-date=February 3, 2018 |work=NYC Department of Records & Information Services}}</ref> In 1904, the estate was sold to the [[Central Realty, Bond & Trust Company]] for about $1{{nbsp}}million (equivalent to ${{format price|{{inflation|US|1000000|1908}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}),{{Inflation/fn|US|group=note}} including 1,299 lots "bounded by Dongan Street, Intervale Avenue, Southern Boulevard, Longwood Avenue, Lafayette Avenue, Hunt's Point Road, Gilbert Place, and the Bronx River".<ref name="book_Real">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oJ5RAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA842 |title=Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide |date=October 22, 1904 |publisher=F. W. Dodge Corporation |location=New York |page=842 |access-date=February 3, 2018 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> In September 1908, a portion of the estate comprising "over 400 lots" was acquired by the George F. Johnson's Sons Company, a real-estate developer building two-family houses in the Bronx.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 27, 1908 |title=Big Bronx Operation: Thirty Two-Family Houses to be Built in the Hunt's Point Section |language=en-US |page=12 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1908/09/27/archives/big-bronx-operation-thirty-twofamily-houses-to-be-built-in-the.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=November 21, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In November of that year, 123 lots were resold to [[ABCorp|American Bank Note]], including "all the property on the northerly side of Lafayette Ave, from Manida St. to the tracks of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad{{nbsp}}... all the property on both sides of Garrison Ave, from Manida St. to Lafayette Ave{{nbsp}}... all the property between these boundaries except eighteen lots on Manida Street{{nbsp}}... upon which two-family houses are being erected."<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 21, 1908 |title=The Real Estate Market: Bronx |page=20 |work=[[New York Post|The Evening Post]] |location=New York |url=https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=evpo19081121-01&dliv=userclipping&pageoid=1.20&cliparea=1.20%2C1289%2C3862%2C733%2C1254&factor=3&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN---------- |oclc=02260927 |access-date=November 21, 2023 |archive-date=November 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121161759/https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=evpo19081121-01&dliv=userclipping&pageoid=1.20&cliparea=1.20,1289,3862,733,1254&factor=3&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN---------- |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1910, the size of the Barretto Street block was increased as a result of a land swap between American Bank Note and the city government. The block gained a strip of land on the northeast side of the property and Barretto Street was moved slightly north of its original location.<ref name="nyc.lpc-report">{{Cite report |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/American_Bank_Note%20.pdf |title=American Bank Note Company Printing Plant |date=February 5, 2008 |publisher=[[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] |id=Designation List 400, LP-2298 |access-date=February 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207232957/http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/American_Bank_Note%20.pdf |archive-date=February 7, 2017}}</ref>{{Rp|page=11|location=}}

 

==Land acquisition and construction==

 

In 1908, American Bank Note built [[American Bank Note Company Building|a new building at 70 Broad Street]], Manhattan, into which they moved their administrative and sales offices. In parallel with this effort, the company was looking for a separate location into which they could move their production facilities; they felt that housing administration and production in separate locations would increase efficiency.<ref name="landmarks-70-broad">{{Cite web |date=June 24, 1997 |title=American Bank Note Company Office Building |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/americanbank.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316182624/http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/americanbank.pdf |archive-date=March 16, 2018 |access-date=February 7, 2018 |work=[[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] |language=en |id=Designation List 283, LP-1955}}</ref>{{Rp|page=2}} The search culminated in the 1908 purchase of a large tract of land including the Barretto Street block from George Johnson.<ref name="time_competing-plans">{{Cite news |date=May 23, 1909 |title=Completing Plans for Immense Plant of American Bank Note Company |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1909/05/23/106718233.html?pageNumber=14 |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 3, 2018 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230924192544/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1909/05/23/106718233.html?pageNumber=14 |url-status=live}}</ref> In his 1913 history of the Bronx, Harry Cook noted that "The choice of its present site in the Hunt's Point section of the Bronx was the result of a [thorough] canvas of all the available sections in Greater New York".<ref name="Cook-1913">{{Cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Harry T. |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/14001375/ |title=The Borough of the Bronx 1639–1913 |last2=Kaplan |first2=Nathan J. |publisher=Harry Cook |year=1913 |location=New York |oclc=806671 |access-date=September 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531050614/https://www.loc.gov/item/14001375/ |archive-date=May 31, 2023 |url-status=live |via=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref>{{Rp|page=41}} One factor in the site selection was proximity to the [[New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad]] line; discussions were held with the railroad to ensure they would be able to handle the plant's "considerable freight delivery needs" totaling {{Convert|10000|ST}} per year of paper and other supplies.<ref name="nyc.lpc-report" />{{Rp|page=3}}

==Transportation==

 

 

The site is one block away from [[Bruckner Boulevard]] with private parking adjacent to the Garrison wing.<ref name="The BankNote" /> The nearest [[New York City Subway|subway stations]] are [[Hunts Point Avenue (IRT Pelham Line)|Hunts Point Avenue]] and [[Longwood Avenue (IRT Pelham Line)|Longwood Avenue]], providing access to Manhattan via the {{NYCS trains|Pelham local}}. The [[Bx6 (New York City bus)|Bx6]] bus line runs along Hunts Point Avenue. Bicycle access is via the [[South Bronx Greenway]].<ref name="nyc-edc-south-bronx-greenway">{{Cite web |date=November 16, 2015 |title=Mayor de Blasio, NYCEDC, Congress Member Serrano, Speaker Mark-Viverito, Council Member Arroyo And Borough President Diaz Jr. Announce Opening of Randall's Island Connector |url=https://edc.nyc/press-release/mayor-de-blasio-nycedc-congress-memnber-serrano-speaker-mark-viverito-council-member |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219185611/https://edc.nyc/press-release/mayor-de-blasio-nycedc-congress-memnber-serrano-speaker-mark-viverito-council-member |archive-date=February 19, 2020 |access-date=February 19, 2020 |work=[[New York City Economic Development Corporation]]}}</ref>

[[Category:New York City Designated Landmarks in the Bronx]]

[[Category:Hunts Point, Bronx]]

[[Category:ABCorp|Printing Plant]]

[[Category:1911 establishments in New York City]]