100 West 33rd Street
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Template:Infobox building
100 West 33rd Street is a building in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, United States. It was designed by Daniel Burnham, and opened in 1929. It was the flagship store of the Gimbels department store chain until 1986. Abraham & Straus replaced Gimbels in 1989, was converted to Stern's in 1995, and closed in 2001. JCPenney filled the vacancy in 2009 and closed in 2020. The interior mall concourse was known as the A&S Plaza from 1989 until 1995, and the Manhattan Mall from 1995 until 2021, during which period the upper levels were converted to office space and the remaining retail tenants relocated.
Template:As of, the former mall concourse functions as a large lobby for the office space above. The building allows direct access to Sixth Avenue, and has entrances to the New York City Subway's Template:Stn station and the PATH's Template:Stn station on the second basement level.
History
The structure was originally built as the flagship of the Gimbels department store chain. It was designed by famed architect Daniel Burnham and opened on September 29, 1910. The store was located in the cluster of large department stores that surrounded Herald Square, in Midtown Manhattan. It offered Template:Convert of selling space. A major selling point was its many doors leading to the Herald Square New York City Subway station. On the other hand, by the time Gimbels closed in 1986, the store had the highest rate of "shrinkage", or shoplifting losses, in the world.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Doors also opened to a pedestrian passage under 33rd Street, connecting Penn Station to the 34th Street (New York City Subway) and 33rd Street (PATH) stations. This Gimbels Passageway was closed in the 1990s for security reasons during a period of high crime.
Gimbels closed in 1986. After a renovation, the structure reopened in 1989 as A&S Plaza, anchored by an A&S department store.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The mall was originally 13 stories high, but difficult access to upper floors made the whole mall a financial failure.
A&S became Stern's in 1995 and the structure was renamed Manhattan Mall.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In September 2000, Federated Department Stores announced that it would close the Stern's location in Manhattan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The store closed in January 2001 shortly before Federated decided to discontinue the Stern's chain as a whole.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The anchor store was divided into smaller spaces, including a Steve & Barry's and a relocated food court. The upper ten levels were converted to office space shortly after the closure of Stern's.
Venture bought the building in 1999 for $135 million and sold it to Vornado Realty Trust in 2006 for $689 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On April 18, 2007, JCPenney announced that it would open a Template:Convert anchor store on the lower levels of the mall. It was the first JCPenney store in Manhattan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The mall's food court, which contained the only Arby's restaurant in Manhattan at the time,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> along with retailers such as Steve & Barry's, Brookstone and Nine West were closed in 2008 to make way for the new store. The store officially opened on July 31, 2009. On July 7, 2020, JCPenney closed permanently as part of a plan to close 151 stores nationwide.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As of November 2021, clothing store Aeropostale moved into the former Express in the front of the mall having an external entrance, leaving LensCrafters as the last store in the mall. The mall has closed to foot traffic and LensCrafters is only accessible by appointment.
List of notable tenants
| Name | Year opened |
Year closed |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abraham & Straus | 1989 | 1995 | |
| Arby's | 2007 | Only location in Manhattan | |
| Gimbels | 1929 | 1986 | |
| JCPenney | 2009 | 2020 | First location in Manhattan |
| LensCrafters | Template:N/A | Last tenant in mall concourse | |
| Stern's | 1995 | 2001 |
Gallery
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Advertisement celebrating the grand opening of Gimbels' flagship store, 1910
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Aerial view of Manhattan Mall
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Under renovation
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Former shops, now offices
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Exterior of the former JCPenney
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References
External links
Template:Midtown South, Manhattan Template:New York City Malls