The 359 Broadway Landmark building is located on Broadway (between Leonard Street and Franklin Street) in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 in the United States and was once occupied by the famous "Brady of Broadway". Mathew Brady

Mathew Brady

Mathew B. Brady was one of the most celebrated 19th century American photographers, best known for his portraits of celebrities and his documentation of the American Civil War...

 moved into the building in 1853 and photographed some of the most famous Americans in US history at the location. On the south side of the building a faded painted sign for Mathew Brady's Studio would greet pedestrians walking on Broadway. During the period that discussions were happening for the Tribeca Historic District this sign was either painted over or removed.

After a long battle with the city and its owner, the building became a landmark in 1992 after Justice Karla Moskowitz of the New York State Supreme Court decided in April that it was "clear that the building was considered from the first on architectural as well as historical grounds." The City's Landmark Commission had argued for the building's preservation, both because of its famous tenant (Brady), and the fact that each of the building's five floors had received a distinctive window treatment - thus indicating that it was an architecturally significant structure and not merely a utilitarian structure.