Puck Building

Infobox_nrhp | name =Puck Building
nrhp_type =


caption =Puck Building, Lafayette St. Entrance
location= 295-307 Lafayette Street, Manhattan, NY, NY
lat_degrees =
long_degrees =
area =
built =1885
architect= Albert and Herman Wagner
architecture= Romanesque Revival
added = July 21, 1983
governing_body = PrivateThe Puck Building occupies the block bounded by Lafayette, Houston, Mulberry and Jersey Streets in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, USA. This example of Romanesque Revival architecture, designed by Albert and Herman Wagner, was constructed in 1885 and expanded in 1893. The building features two gilded figures of Shakespeare's character Puck as part of the façade.

History

Once the printing facility of "Puck Magazine", which ceased publication in 1918, the building now contains office space as well as ballrooms for large events on both the ground floor and the top floor. In the 1980s it was the home of "Spy Magazine", whose editors informally dubbed it "The Spy Building". In the early 2000s, the building housed the Manhattan Center of Pratt Institute. Since 2004, the Puck Building has been home to New York University's Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. An exterior shot of the Puck Building is often seen on the popular American television sitcom "Will & Grace", as the building where the title character Grace Adler (played by Debra Messing) works. Strings of lights for Little Italy's annual Feast of St. Anthony are strung from the building's walls. An office stationery company, S. Novick & Son, once occupied the second floor. Notable amongst the firms' salesmen was Alger Hiss, the former assistant Secretary of State who was brought down in a spy scandal in the 1950's.

The building once housed numerous independent printing firms and related printing services such as type setters and a printing ink company, Superior Printing Ink. The odor of printing ink permeated the building for many years.

The Puck Building is at the northwestern corner of Manhattan's NoLIta neighborhood, bordered by SoHo and the NoHo section of Greenwich Village. It is owned by Kushner Properties, the company of Charles Kushner, a major donor to Democratic politicians in New Jersey, and his son Jared Kushner, the owner of "The New York Observer".

ources and external links

* [http://www.nyu.edu/publicaffairs/newsreleases/b_puck_2003.shtml Press release, "NYU Inks Deal for "Dream Space" in Puck Building"]
* [http://www.nydailynews.com/city_life/v-pfriendly/story/92200p-83756c.html New York Daily News, June 14, 2003, "Puck Building"]
* [http://www.nyu.edu/classes/finearts/nyc/eastvil/puck.html NYU class description]
* [http://www.ThePuckBuilding.com/ The Puck Building] (caterer's commercial site)
* [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ARTpuck.htm http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ARTpuck.htm] (regarding Puck Magazine)
* [http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SOH/SOH037.htm nyc-architecture.com] (Contains many superb photos and information regarding NYU's purchase of the building)