Offices Will Rise on Former Site of Bowery's Oldest Building

In 2011, preservationists pleaded with the city to save the 1817 Federal-style Hardenbrook Somarindyck House—considered to be the oldest structure on the Bowery—at 135 Bowery, to no avail. The City Council voted to overturn the former gambling den's landmark status, allowing owners First American International Bank to follow through with their plans to slowly disassemble the almost-two-century-old building. Despite floating the site onto the market a couple times, once before demolition and once after, the Chinese-based bank is now moving forward with plans to construct an eight-story building with "affordable office space." The architect is Raymond Chan.