[3] It was a favorite of Diamond Jim Brady, Aimee Crocker and Oscar Wilde, Samuel Clemens was a guest,[6][4][7][8] and it attracted the theatrical trade[3] at a time when the area – which became known as the "Tenderloin" – was becoming the primary entertainment and amusement district for New York's growing population,[9] with numerous theatres, gambling clubs and brothels.

[10] Parts of the facade, such as cast-iron columns, which went over the property line were removed, and the building deteriorated, with rust, water damage and sagging floors.

[4] In 1925, plans were filed to rebuild the structure as an ordinary loft building of brick and stone, but were never carried out,[1] although the ground-level storefronts were modernized in 1946.

[2] The building's future was decided when it was purchased in 1980 by Richard Berry and F. Anthony Zunino and converted into co-operative apartments[4] after a cosmetic cleanup of the exterior, which won a commendation from the Friends of Cast Iron Architecture.

[9] The building, with its "extraordinary" three-story mansard roof [9] and its "vigor that only the waning years of the 19th century could muster"[5] was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.