Until a few years ago the Bristol Hotel stood here, and back in the days before the Civil War there was a small tavern on the site, while on the adjoining lot was the garden of William H.Webb, the ship-builder.

Webb's house was at 504 Fifth Avenue, and 506 was once the home of Russell Sage.
The brown synagogue, Temple Emanuel, at the north-east corner of Forty-third Street, dates from 1868.

The congregation was organized in 1845, first holding services in the Grand Street Court Room, thence moving in 1850 to a remodelled Unitarian Church in Chrystie Street, and again, in 1856, to a Baptist Church in Twelfth Street.

The present structure, considered one of the finest examples of Saracenic architecture in the country, was designed by Leopold Eidlitz, and completed at a cost of six hundred thousand dollars.

The materials are brown and yellow sandstone, with black and red tiles alternating on the roof.