51 Avenue B; 51 Avenue B Rear | Block : 386 | Lot #8

Description & Building Alterations

No. 51 Avenue B is the fourth in a string of largely intact three-story brick row houses built in 1842. These houses are likely Italianate remodelings of Greek Revival houses. No. 51 has two windows on the second and third floors which have Greek Revival-style cap-molded lintels, while the southernmost set of windows have Italianate-style full window surrounds. The ground floor of the building is connected to that of 49 Avenue B by a doorway in the party wall installed in 1944. Each upper floor contains one apartment. The rear of the lot had a backhouse that existed at least since 1905, and was used as tenement housing. At one time, it appears that the backhouse spanned the width of two lots. Based on a permit from 1944, it seems that the back building is no longer extant; however, the Department of Buildings lists this building as having a rear address.