135 Second Avenue; 137 Second Avenue; 135-137 Second Avenue | Block : 464 | Lot #37

Description & Building Alterations

In 1883-84, architect William Schickel designed the New York Public Library and the German Dispensary. The Ottendorfer Library is the oldest branch library in Manhattan and one of the earliest buildings in the city constructed as a public library. The library and the Dispensary were funded by Oswald Ottendorfer to serve the physical and mental well-being of the German community. Ottendorfer was an 1848 revolutionary who in 1854 became the editor and publisher of the New Yorker Staats Zeitung, a German-language daily newspaper. These structures, designed by German-born architect William Schickel, are in the Rundbogenstil, made of red brick with matching terra-cotta. The clinic displays terra-cotta cherubs and busts of medical history figures such as Aesculapius and Galen. Both the library and the German Dispensary are designated New York City Landmarks.