Old Italian, New Italian

Since 1968 this little brick building on Grand Street was home to the De Lorenzo metalworking shop, a business that went back to 1907. It survived and thrived through three generations of the same family. They sold the building in 2008 for a large, undisclosed sum to a "developer seeking to put up a luxury condominium building."


2009

The new building has yet to come, but the luxury has arrived. Occupying De Lorenzo's space today is something called Voce Di, "a unique space that is an equal parts furniture showroom, contemporary art gallery, interior design center and cultural events venue."



Here's what Voce Di has to say about the space:

"In 1907, the De Lorenzo family opened a metal workshop in lower Manhattan in what is now a fashionable area called Soho. The neighborhood was much grittier then, and the shop lent its service to many local companies.

A few decades later, Soho began attracting a new, creative class including emerging artists and designers. With many of them on low budgets, they would come into the shop with sketches and requests for De Lorenzo to build what they needed. According to three former employees, the workshop helped many artisans and designers in Soho launch their careers. On the last day of work, some of these grateful clients stopped in to pay their respects to Thomas De Lorenzo Sr. and thank him for all that he did.

The original sign - John De Lorenzo and Bro. Iron and Sheet Metal Contractor, which is painted blue and white over brick, is fashionably retro. Upon adding art by street artist JR to the right corner, Voce Di intentionally kept the original sign as a reminder of the inspirational story of this space."



And now you can buy a futuristic exercise bicycle for $40,000.