Kips Bay Brewing Company

The buildings standing at the corner of First Avenue between 37th and 38th Streets are rare survivors from a time when Manhattan was defined by its industrial landscape rather than its office towers. This is the former site of the Kips Bay Brewing Company, which began production here in 1894 under the direction of an Irish immigrant named Patrick Skelly. While the neighborhood around you is now characterized by medical offices and modern residential life, this spot once anchored a bustling brewery district where horse-drawn wagons distributed beer to local saloons throughout the city. The brewery distinguished itself from its larger, German-owned competitors by maintaining a smaller, neighborhood-focused operation. Patrick Skelly grew the business into a local fixture, and after his death in 1908, his son Hugh steered the company through several turbulent decades. You can still identify the original character of the site by looking for the copper-clad, bowed mansard-style domes that crown the rooflines, a signature architectural detail from the period of its construction. The facility became the focus of federal attention in 1928 during the height of Prohibition. Authorities discovered that the brewery was illegally manufacturing beer with a five percent alcohol content, using a sophisticated ruse to hide the operation. Agents found garage doors camouflaged with brick and imitation steam and water pipes designed to disguise the smuggling of illegal goods from the building. The government seized the equipment, but the company managed to weather the legal storm, eventually reopening after the repeal of Prohibition in 1934 and continuing its operations until 1947.