Exchange Hotel

Harry J. Epstein Co. wholesale hardware shop

 

 

Built during the burgeoning commercial wholesale district in the late 1880’s spanning Broadway Boulevard to West 8th and West 7th Streets, this three-story brick building is still in excellent condition.  Across from the old Phoenix Hotel, a dicey establishment built in 1888 in the booming Garment District.  More brothel than boarding house, with a speak-easy downstairs, the Phoenix served the rowdy crowds of laborers after their shifts at one of the numerous factories in the neighborhood.  The Exchange Hotel building now houses the Harry J. Epstein Co., a  small wholesale tool store started mid-century and still ran today by Harry’s great grandson.