Jasper Ward House
The Jasper Ward House is an example of a brick counting house. It was built between 1807-1808 by Jasper Ward, a merchant and real estate developer, on a submerged river lot that was filled with landfill to extend the shoreline. It was officially designated as a landmark in 1977, as part of the South Street Seaport Historic District.
Meyer’s Hotel
The Meyer’s Hotel, on the corner of South Street and Peck Slip, started out as the Harriet Onderdonk Building, with commercial establishments on the first floor and industrial lofts in the upper four floors. It was bought ten years later by Henry L Meyer, a prominent liquor merchant, who transformed the lofts into hotel rooms. It operated as a hotel into the early 1980s, one of the last single-occupancy hotels in the Seaport District. It is now an apartment building.
During its heyday, the hotel’s guest list included Annie Oakley, “Buffalo Bill” Cody, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The Paris Café, the tavern for the hotel, was frequented by gilded age royalty like Thomas Edison and Teddy Roosevelt (then the New York Police Commissioner), and it hosted a speakeasy in a back room that remained in operation throughout Prohibition. During World War II, the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) set up shop above the Café to coordinate with Joseph “Socks” Lanza, the caporegime of the Genovese family who controlled the Fulton Fish Market, to secure the market against Nazi saboteurs.