THIS building, #259 Front Street at Dover Street, as well as the two adjacent buildings on Dover, was constructed in 1808 for flour merchant David Lydig. He had gone into business on Peck Slip in 1789 and owned a fleet of Hudson River sloops that delivered flour to his South Street wharf. Bakers were attracted to the block with a handy flour merchant nearby. Anticipating the completion of the Erie Canal, which would enable flour to be delivered from western farmlands at a cheaper rate, he sold his sloops at a profit and retired.
Way up in the Morris Park section of the Bronx, the subject of a SpliceToday post, there’s a Lydig Avenue named for the family of merchants that included Philip and his son, David, who ran a mill in the West Farms section. David’s son Philip sold much of the property now home to Bronx Park.
The restaurant on the ground floor had been Mexican Radio, named for a 1982 Wall of Voodoo hit, but now it’s Cowgirl SeaHorse, which features Southern cuisine.
Front Street, meanwhile, is so called because it once faced the East River waterfront; South Street and the East River Drive are located on landfill that extended the island in the early 1800s. A scene in The French Connection was filmed across the street under the Brooklyn Bridge elevated approaches. Rumor has it that Dover was named for the English Channel seaport, famed for its waterside white cliffs.
Check out the ForgottenBook, take a look at the gift shop. As always, “comment…as you see fit.” I earn a small payment when you click on any ad on the site.
8/5/25
4 comments
I always thought that if you unscrewed the nut on those
star shaped tie rod ends the building would fall down
When the restaurant was Mexican Radio, did it serve barbecued iguana?
Lydig is German for empty.
Sorry but the word “leer” is German for empty. The closest sounding word to Lydig would be “leidig” which translates to vexed, vexatious, or exasperating. But there is no such word as “lydig” in standard high German.