Cluster of skyscrapers, New York, NY 4a08574a original

The unusual Flemish style brick building at left of center is the 13-story John Wolfe Building, named for a prosperous New York hardware merchant and built in 1895 by his estate. Designed by the important architect Henry J. Hardenbergh (1847-1918), the building filled a small lot on the east side of William Street between Maiden Lane and Liberty Street. Still greatly lamented by architecture buffs, it was torn down in 1974 as part of an ineffectual street-widening scheme. Its site is now a "glorified traffic island" called Louise Nevelson Plaza.