Founded by entrepreneurs Richard Wrigley and Robert D'Addona, the Manhattan Brewing Company was one of the earliest brewpub concept on the East Coast of the US. The first working brewery in New York City for decades, operations started as a large on-premises multi-tap brewpub in 1984. It was located in a former Consolidated Edison substation on the corner of Thompson Street and Broome/Watts streets in SoHo. The international style ales and beers combined with beer cellar style tables and copper kettles were popular with New Yorkers; distribution was then expanded, via draft horses and antique dray, into the New York marketplace with medal winning brands Manhattan Amber and Manhattan Gold Lager. The business struggled however, with a large overhead, the raising of New York drinking age in 1985 and the Black Monday stock market crash in 1987. The doors finally closed in 1991.