540 East 13th Street; 538-542 East 13th Street | Block : 406 | Lot #24

Building Date : 1923
Original Use : Commercial

Original Owner : Louis Levey
Original Architect : Morris Whinston

Description & Building Alterations

This building was constructed in 1923 by architect Morris Whinston as a one-story laundry, according to the Office for Metropolitan History. A 1915 photograph reveals that an earlier laundry building existed here previously.

Block : 406 / Lot : 024 / Building Date : 1923 / Original Owner : Louis Levey / Original Use : Commercial / Original Architect : Morris Whinston

Do you know this building? Please share your own stories or photos of this building here!

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.