Westward view along Lispenard Street, with workings laying pipes for the high pressure water system into a trench; undated photo.

In the background, an Sixth Avenue elevated train passes over West Broadway. Beyond the tracks is a storefront of Frank & Gutman, manufacturers of garters and cuff-holders, at 272-274 West Broadway.

The blockfront at left was slowly transformed over the course of the next three decades. In 1909, the American Telephone & Telegraph company purchased a set of contiguous lots between Walker and Lispenard Streets. Construction of the Walker Lispenard building, a17-story skyscraper, was completed in 1914. That structure was extended to 24 stories by 1919, and plans for a further additions were filed in 1929.

No. 26-28 Lispenard and a handful of other small buildings on the south side of the block persisted until April 1930, when they were finally razed ahead of the final expansion. Today, the AT&T Long Distance Building, also known as 32 Avenue of the Americas, occupies the full block. The 27-story Art Deco skyscraper was designed by Frank Walker, and completed in 1932.