54-58 Canal Street
Rouse & Goldstone, 1912; redesign: William F. Coates, 1933

Sender Jarmulowsky, an immigrant financier, established a bank in an existing building on this site in 1873, but replaced it with this 12-story Beaux-Arts tower in 1912. The building features a rusticated limestone base, terra cotta ornament and, until the 1990s, a domed temple-like cupola on top, which was a defining element of the Lower East Side skyline. The bank served neighborhood residents until it was forced to close in 1914 after being unable to meet patrons’ withdrawal demands at the outbreak of World War I. As federal insurance for banks did not exist yet, the economic burden of its closure fell on depositors, and a riot broke out in the street. The Former Jarmulowsky Bank is a designated New York City Individual Landmark.