Editing Puck Building (section)

==== Lower stories ====
[[File:Puck Building, NYC (2014).JPG|thumb|The Lafayette Street entrance, with double-height arches on either side]]
On the first two stories of the facade, there is one double-height arch in each bay.<ref name="NYCL p. 6; NPS p. 2" /> The piers between each bay are wider than on the upper stories, and there is a brownstone [[Course (architecture)|course]] at the bottom of each pier, just above the granite pedestal.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" /> On the first story, most of the bays contain rectangular openings, which are divided vertically into groups of three.<ref name="NYCL p. 6; NPS p. 2" /> Some of the first-story openings contain storefront entrances instead of windows; these entrances are accessed by small [[Stoop (architecture)|stoops]],<ref name="NYCL pp. 6–7; NPS p. 2" /> which are made of pieces of vaulted sidewalk.<ref name="NYCL p. 8" /> The second story is a semicircular [[lunette]] window, which is divided vertically into three panes. A cast-iron [[Transom (architecture)|transom bar]] separates the first- and second-story windows. The lunettes are surrounded by [[round arch]]es with slightly projecting edges, and there is a horizontal [[string course]] made of [[brownstone]] above the second story.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" />

The Puck Building's main entrance is on Lafayette Street, within the fifth-northernmost bay.<ref name="NYCL p. 7" /> This entrance is shaped like a [[triumphal arch]].<ref name="NPS p. 2">{{harvnb|National Park Service|1983|ps=.|page=2}}</ref> At the ground story of the archway are two rectangular doorways, which are separated by a cast-iron column and flanked by smaller cast-iron piers. In front of each doorway is an ornate [[Art Nouveau]] wrought-iron arch with a set of wrought-iron gates. A transom bar runs above the doorways, and a statue of Puck stands atop the center of the transom bar. Above the transom bar is a lunette window.<ref name="NYCL p. 7" /> On either side of the entrance is a granite pedestal, above which are two stone columns and two pilasters, all in the [[Doric order]].<ref name="NYCL p. 7; NPS p. 2" /> The columns and pilasters are all topped by capitals with wreath motifs.<ref name="NYCL p. 7" /> Above the columns is an [[architrave]] bearing the words "Puck Building" in all-capital letters, with a [[console bracket]] below the center and a [[balustrade]] above it.<ref name="NYCL p. 7; NPS p. 2" />

When the building was completed, ''Puck'' magazine described the structure as having round arches along both Houston and Mulberry streets, with a recessed wrought-iron entrance at the corner of these streets.<ref>{{harvnb|Puck|1887|ps=.|page=28}}</ref><ref name="NPS p. 6">{{harvnb|National Park Service|1983|ps=.|page=6}}</ref> The entrance at the northeast corner of the building, at Houston and Mulberry streets, included a pair of doorways until 1899.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /> This entrance has been replaced with a double-height brick column with a brownstone sphere.<ref name="NYCL p. 7; NPS p. 2" /> Above it is one of the Puck statues.<ref name="NYCL p. 7; NPS p. 2" /> which holds a mirror, pen, and book.<ref name="NYCL p. 7" /> The statue also included the inscription "What fools these mortals be",<ref name="NYCL p. 7" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=October 26, 1922 |title=Aged Man Suicides While Puck Laughs |work=The Atlanta Constitution |page=22 |id={{ProQuest|498316818}}}}</ref> the phrase printed on ''Puck'' magazine covers;<ref name="NYCL p. 2" /> this inscription had been worn away by the 1950s.<ref>{{cite web |last=Berger |first=Meyer |date=January 29, 1958 |title=About New York; Blimp to Press Hunt for Old Savannah Off Bellport – Piece Sought for Namesake Ship |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/01/29/archives/about-new-york-blimp-to-press-hunt-for-old-savannah-off-bellport.html |access-date=October 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=October 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241003163543/https://www.nytimes.com/1958/01/29/archives/about-new-york-blimp-to-press-hunt-for-old-savannah-off-bellport.html |url-status=live}}</ref> When the building's entrance was located at this corner, the column stood in front of the entrance.<ref name="King 1892">{{cite book |last=King |first=Moses |url=https://archive.org/details/kingshandbookof00king/page/884/mode/2up |title=King's handbook of New York City |publisher=M. King |year=1892 |page=884 |oclc=7880859}}</ref>