109 Washington Street, Residential tenement in Financial District, Manhattan, US
109 Washington Street is a five-story brick building in the Financial District containing 16 residential units and commercial spaces on the ground level. The structure sits within easy reach of several subway stations and anchors a section of this densely built neighborhood.
The building was constructed in 1915 and remains the sole survivor of approximately 50 tenements that once lined lower Washington Street in the early twentieth century. It stands as a record of how this area shifted dramatically from mixed residential neighborhoods to the commercial district it is today.
The building served as home to successive immigrant communities from Ireland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Italy, who established their neighborhoods here over many decades. You can still sense the traces of these different groups in the neighborhood's character and the stories embedded in the area.
The building sits within a hurricane evacuation zone and requires attention to weather alerts during storm season. Several subway stations are within a short walk, making the area easy to navigate for visitors.
After September 2001, the building gained attention through radio documentaries that captured residents' stories during the attacks. Its close proximity to the World Trade Center made it a place where personal histories intersected with major events.
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