512 East 11th Street | Block : 404 | Lot #10

Building Date : 1851-52/1906 alt.
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : Joseph French/Emil Schoenberg
Original Architect : Unknown/Otto Reissmann

Description & Building Alterations

This five-story pre-law tenement was constructed in 1852 by owner Joseph French. The facade features multi-color and textured brick.

A deep cornice and lintels are visible in the 1940s tax photo. Historic alteration records also indicate that a storefront once existed on the ground floor, however, by 1906 the entire façade was replaced and part of the ground floor became residential. The 1906 alteration was designed by architect Otto Reissmann, in which he altered the storefront by removing cast iron columns as well as other changes.

Block : 404 / Lot : 010 / Building Date : 1851-52/1906 alt. / Original Owner : Joseph French/Emil Schoenberg / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : Unknown/Otto Reissmann

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What is the Building Blocks Project

What does a building mean to someone who lives there? A person who lives on the block? In the neighborhood? In the city? This site presents a wealth of historic information gained from GVSHP’s architectural research survey about the buildings located in the East Village.

The site explores the area generally considered today as the East Village: from a northern border of 14th Street to a southern border of Houston Street, Avenue D in the east to 4th Avenue/the Bowery to the west. You can explore the information about the blocks and buildings featured here in two ways.

Pick a block. Maybe it’s yours, or perhaps it is just your favorite place to shop, grab a bite, or just people watch. Then explore the buildings that make up that block. Or take one of the many guided tours on the site, curated by a collection of organizations and experts from the neighborhood. See how they experience the neighborhood. Then tell us what the neighborhood means to you. The site’s comments section allows you to open a dialogue with others who feel just as passionately as you do about the East Village.