{"nrhp_refnum":"76001243","name":"Metropolitan Savings Bank","other_names":["First Ukranian Assembly of God"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"9 E. 7th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.72898653200008,"lon":-73.99008800299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-12-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-and-one-half-story stone bank building at 9 East 7th Street, at the Bowery in Manhattan, built in 1867 to a design by Carl Pfeiffer. It later became a church.","why_significant":"It is an exceptional Second Empire commercial building that kept its exterior and interior nearly intact despite twentieth-century urban development. It was also a noted attempt at fireproof construction, using stone and iron, in a city repeatedly ravaged by fires. A contemporary city building report praised it as a model of fire precaution.","narrative":"Built in 1867 at the corner of the Bowery and East Seventh Street in Manhattan, this three-and-one-half-story bank was designed by German-born architect Carl Pfeiffer for the Metropolitan Savings Bank. Its smooth ashlar walls rest on a rusticated basement, and a segmental arcade, dentiled cornices, bracketed window hoods, a columned portico and a slate mansard roof with twelve dormers give it a distinctive Second Empire character. Pfeiffer aimed to make it fireproof at a time when fires had repeatedly destroyed commercial blocks in New York. He used stone and iron throughout, including cast iron columns, beams, staircases, a vaulted iron basement ceiling and an original iron vault. A city building superintendent's report called it a perfect model of fire precaution. The interior remains remarkably intact. Since 1937 a Ukrainian congregation has used the building as a church, with only minor changes. It is regarded as an important example of mid-nineteenth-century commercial design and early fireproof construction.","period_of_significance":"1867","architect_builder":"Carl Pfeiffer","architectural_style":"Second Empire with Renaissance Revival elements","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in excellent condition; used as a house of worship since 1937, with minor alterations such as pews, a rectory office, electricity and central heating.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.064601-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/76001243.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001243/2482fede83-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001243/2482fede83-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Americasroof","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:9-e-7th-metropolitan-savings.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Americasroof</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:9-e-7th-metropolitan-savings.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319732","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Savings_Bank_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6825235"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/metropolitan-savings-bank-76001243/"}