by PATRICK O’CONNOR
Forgotten NY Contributor
THIS year marks the 50th anniversary of The New York Transit museum and part of the celebrations include screening of several films that feature the New York City Subways. Films are shown Tuesday evenings at the Film Forum on West Houston Street. I grabbed tickets for a few of these films and then sought out places to have a bite and a beverage prior. Across the street from the Film Forum, at 222 West Houston Street is a beer garden named Houston Hall. Upon arrival, the large arched doors struck me as possibly being stable and prompted an investigation of what this building once was.
Sources differ on the original construction of the building. Tom Miller, Daytonian in Manhattan, references the building as having been constructed prior to the 1870s. 62 Downing Street housed a stable and storage for wagons and carriages and the like, with Hammersley Foundry in the back, on Hammersley Street, now known West Houston Street. In the 1890s, the building was used as a social club for African Americans. In 1927, the building was leased to the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company and became a King Bear Auto Repair Shop in 1981. Tax photos from 1940 and 1980 prove that out.
This 1930 photograph, from Old NYC, shows buildings between Houston Street and Downing Street, near Varick Street. Referencing the bent building on the lower left, the caption reads: “In the left foreground of the picture we are looking down on the old Hammersley Iron Foundry, originally 51-53 Hammersley Street and 60 Downing Street; it extends through the block. The Houston Street wing has been cut down from three-stories to one-story, and the building made over into a garage.”
The rear façade of Houston Hall, on Downing Street still bears a sign that says, “Iron Works”.
Houston Hall opened in 2012 and retained the look and feel of the building with a high ceiling, exposed wooden beams and stable entrance doors and a wedding venue.
Houston Hall’s wedding venue site states that the building was used as a stable and as an FBI garage in the mid-20th century. A neon sign at the back directs patrons to a private party room known as the FBI room.
Patrick O’Connor is a lifelong resident of Queens, retired with 40 years of service for City of New York Department of Environmental Protection and is a licensed sightseeing guide in New York City.
Check out the ForgottenBook (HarperCollins, 2006), as well as Forgotten Queens (Arcadia, 2013). I also have a chapter in the anthology “New York Calling: From Blackout to Bloomberg” (Reaktion, 2007). As always, “comment…as you see fit.” I earn a small payment when you click on any ad on the site.
9/30/26