EMPIRE THEATER (1). 1430 Broadway at 40th Street. Architect: J. B. McElfatrick. Opening: January 25, 1893; The Girl I Left Behind Me .
Frank Sanger and Al Hayman (the owner of a vacant lot on Broadway at 40th Street) built producer Charles Frohman and his partner William Harris what was to become the most beloved theater in New York history. Frohman hired J. B. McElfatrick as architect of the Empire, the first of seven theaters that the architect designed...