Staple Street Skybridge

It may look like just another alleyway in a busy city, but this is a street unlike any other in New York. Staple Street is one of the smallest streets in the city, running just two blocks. And then there’s that curious feature suspended over this tiny passage. 

Look up from Staple Street, and you’ll see a cast-iron bridge, connecting two buildings with separate addresses, suspended three stories above the ground. But why is it there, and what purpose does it serve?

The buildings connected by this bridge once belonged to New York Hospital (known today as New York Presbyterian). If you are looking south, the building on your left (or the east side of Staple Street) is 60 Hudson Street, built in 1893 as the hospital’s “house of relief,” aka the emergency room. On your right, running along the west side of Staple Street, is 9 Jay Street, built in 1907, which housed the hospital’s laundry room. The skybridge was built to connect the third floors of both buildings. 

Eventually, the hospital moved, but the skybridge has stayed put over 100 years later. Today, the only hint that a hospital ever existed is the terra cotta shield cartouche boasting the initials “N.Y.H.” on the 9 Jay Street side. Despite several building renovations over the years to the building structures, this charming nod to the site’s original history remains.

Today, the third floors of both buildings together comprise a 7,500-square-foot work/residential loft. In order to own this unique space, you would have to buy both lofts on either side of the skybridge—which means this luxury home in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood features five bedrooms, five bathrooms, high ceilings, plenty of windows, a roof deck and its very own skybridge.