A More Innocent Time: Robert Weinreb’s SoHo

Benjamin Electrical Engineering Works ca 1970 — Benjamin Electrical Engineering Works (1970), now Waterford Crystal.

This was the view from my window growing up. I stared at this storefront for endless hours, bored out of my mind as an under-programmed child. This photo, taken by Robert Weinreb in 1970, is one of hundreds that he has generously donated to the SoHo Memory Project Archive. Weinreb’s photos capture not just SoHo buildings, but also everyday life, local businesses, streetscapes, art, and artists.

This particular image is part of the series of photographs he took for the SoHo Artists Association when they were lobbying for SoHo to be designated a Historic District by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Thanks to this designation, SoHo’s building’s still stand, largely unaltered, since then.

Weinreb (right) with one of his Tenba camera bags

Weinreb went about the monumental task of photographing every building within the district methodically, setting a daily schedule for himself. He knocked on doors, asking people if he could get into their loft or factory in order to photograph the building across the street. He had to shoot the buildings head on, otherwise they would become distorted by perspective, and not be acceptable to Landmarks.

“Some artists said no because if you legalized lofts, then rents would go up. Others were afraid that they would show that they were living in their loft, and thus the building department could come in, fine them, give the building a violation, and thus they would be evicted. Some factories were very suspicious that I would rob them or steal their trade secrets,” Weinreb told me. “But generally I got in. It was a more innocent time.”

Tenba, Weinreb's camera bag business, in the early days — Tenba, Weinreb’s camera bag business, in the early days

Robert Weinreb is many things. He is the only person I’ve met from SoHo who was at once an artist AND a factory owner. He spent his early years as a City Planner and avid kayaker. He found his way to SoHo in 1970 partly because he needed space to store his kayaks. By then he had begun working as a photographer (hence his self assignment to photograph buildings for the SAA), and when he couldn’t find the camera bag he wanted, he made one himself by renting a sewing machine from across the street. This was the beginning of Tenba, his camera bag company, that expanded production over the years into a SoHo factory. The company still exists today, though not in SoHo and no longer owned by Weinreb.

An image from Weinreb's Himalaya series — The Potala, home of the Dalai Lama, Lhasa Tibet, from Weinreb’s Himalaya series

Weinreb has spent the past 50+ years photographing his environs and the world, most significantly the Himalayas, documenting changes in the region over a 30-year period. The following is a sampling of Weinreb’s SoHo photos, taken in the early 1970s. They capture the moment in time when SoHo’s buildings housed a mix of artist studios and factories and the streets were both gritty and glorious.

EVERYDAY LIFE

Robert Kushner’s “vegetable fashion” party where attendees wore vegetables as clothing.

Millie Zazalli center and Joe Zazalli in the kitchen at the Gallery Stop Luncheonette on West Broadway between Prince and Spring 1975 — Millie Zazalli center and Joe Zazalli in the kitchen at the Gallery Stop Luncheonette on West Broadway between Prince and Spring (1975)

Norbu Fukui,a SoHo painter, works in his loft (1975) — Nobu Fukui, a SoHo painter, works in his loft (1975)

Wedding party entering a restaurant on Broadway near Spring, 1975. The building across the street that says “Eagle Restaurant” is where the Nike Store is today. — Wedding party entering a restaurant on Broadway near Spring (1975) across the street from where the Nike Store is today.

Check cashing place on Spring between Crosby and Lafayette (1977)

ART

Let There Be Neon, a gallery founded by Rudi Stern at 451 West Broadway (1974) — Let There Be Neon, a gallery founded by Rudi Stern, at 451 West Broadway (1974)

Video artist Ingrid Wiegand giving a lecture for Artists Talk on Art (1974)

An art installation at a Grand Street gallery (1975)

Ivan Karp of O.K. Harris Gallery in his office (1975)

LOCAL BUSINESSES

Cella’s Chocolate Covered Cherries Factory Grand & Wooster — Cella’s Chocolate-Covered Cherries Factory at Grand & Wooster

Whole Foods, the local health food store on Prince Street between Greene and Wooster (1975)

Raymond Fanelli, (right), Mike Fanelli’s son, with a coworker behind the bar at Fanelli’s (1975) — Raymond Fanelli (right), Mike Fanelli’s son, with a coworker behind the bar at Fanelli’s (1975)

Zelf Tool and Die Works at 44 Greene Street, owned and operated by Xelphin Dugal (Zelf) and Rene Schwartz (Chickadee) (1975) — Zelf Tool and Die Works at 44 Greene Street, owned and operated by Xelphin Dugal (a.k.a. Zelf) and Rene Schwartz (a.k.a. Chickadee) (1975)

A clothing factory at 514 Broadway (1977)

Untitled, the beloved postcard store, on Prince Street near West Broadway (1975)

STREETS AND BUILDINGS

FOOD Restaurant on Prince Street at Wooster (1974)

80 Mercer Street (1970), part of Weinreb’s series of photographs for the Landmarks application (1970) — 80 Mercer Street, part of Weinreb’s series of photographs for the Landmarks application (1970)

Mana of Soho on West Broadway at Prince, where Coach is now (1975) — Nana of Soho on West Broadway at Prince, where Coach is now (1975)

Judd building at 101 Spring Street at Mercer (1975)

Noam Hat Corp at 510 Broadway, where Weinreb lived, stored his kayaks, and started Tenba, his camera bag business (1977)

Our local fire station at 155 Mercer Street (that was most recently Dolce & Gabbana until 2020) (1970) — Our local fire station at 155 Mercer Street that was most recently Dolce & Gabbana until 2020 (1970)

MURALS

Richard Hass Trompe L’oeil mural in progress, Greene Street at Prince (1975)

Mural at the intersection of Lafayette, Bleecker, and Mulberry (1975)

Jason Crum mural for City Walls at the corner of Houston and West Broadway (1975)

Robert Wiegand mural at Astor Place (1975)