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All the United States New York State New York City Manhattan 190 Bowery

190 Bowery

The greatest real estate coup of all time.

New York, New York

Added By
Hannah Frishberg
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3 people live in this building   Hannah Frishberg
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About

190 Bowery looks abandoned, forgotten, covered in trash and graffiti on an otherwise well-maintained major street in Manhattan. A hulking six story, 72-room mass built as the Germania Bank Building in 1898, today the structure is a single family home.

It's the American Dream as a house, a building that went from rags to riches on a street once known for its murders, now known for its centrality. Photographer Jay Maisel broke the bank when he bought the bank in 1966 for $102,000. Back then, the Bowery wasn't a place you went so much as ended up, and the main floor (now a basketball court) was allegedly knee-deep in garbage and coated in soot, with "every single thing that can come out of a human body" left on the doorstep. Maisel's parents cried. 

Today, the bohemian castle may look deceptively decrepit on the outside, but inside it's a dream. A home-made ventilation system (to deter the insane expense of what central air would cost in such a space) consists of a network of plastic tubing throughout the building. The original 1898 copper cage elevator still works, the second and third floor are gallery spaces, the  fifth floor has various workshops (including a room dedicated to Mylar-window shades), the sixth floor has bedrooms, bathrooms, and the kitchen, and the roof a wowing view of lower Manhattan.

The family occasionally finds new rooms, and take-out is a "riot", since no right-minded delivery boy believes such a hulk houses just four people.

Today, 190 Bowery is estimated of having a worth anywhere between $30 and $70 million, and is certainly in the running for best property snag of all time.

Care to take a look inside? Maisel teaches private photography classes in his home, but it'll cost you $5,000.

Update September 2016: This place has been sold to be turned into high-end office space. 

Related Tags

Houses Graffiti Homes

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Added By

Hannah Frishberg

Edited By

Rachel, Traci, Molly McBride Jacobson, Chris Watkins...

  • Rachel
  • Traci
  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • Chris Watkins
  • redchuck

Published

October 27, 2013

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Sources
  • http://nymag.com/realestate/vu/2008/09/50481/
  • http://lostnewyorkcity.blogspot.com/2009/08/graffiti-of-190-bowery.html
  • http://190thebowery.com/
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germania_Bank_Building_(New_York_City)
  • http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/190-bowery
  • http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2008/09/22/is_190_bowery_the_best_real_estate_deal_ever.php
  • http://thewavejournal.com/Art/jay-maisel-building-190-bowery-ny-ny.html
  • http://www.refinery29.com/jay-maisel-bowery-nyc-mansion#slide-1
  • http://www.refinery29.com/jay-maisel-bowery-nyc-mansion#slide-1
  • http://design-crisis.com/tag/190-bowery/
  • http://ny.curbed.com/2016/6/16/11955792/190-bowery-germania-bank-graffiti-removal-nekst
  • http://ny.curbed.com/2016/5/17/11691500/photos-190-bowery-nyc-landmark-office-space
190 Bowery
190 Bowery
New York, New York, 10012
United States
40.721194, -73.994084
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