223 East 4th Street | Block : 400 | Lot #47

Building Date : 1898
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : Isaac Polstein & Lewis Cohen
Original Architect : Bernstein & Stone

Description & Building Alterations

Designed by Bernstein & Stone, Michael Bernstein’s earliest architecture firm in New York City, this old law tenement and its twin, No. 225, were constructed in 1898. Each housed 26 families over basement shops. No. 223 retains much of its original detailing, including its pressed metal cornice with details that seem to spring from the pilasters it appears to rest on. A more restrained version of the Renaissance Revival that Bernstein’s later firm would become known for, this tenement is elegant with its three-story tall Corinthian pilasters, terra cotta spandrel panels, arched first-floor windows, and raised stoop.

Block : 400 / Lot : 47 / Building Date : 1898 / Original Owner : Isaac Polstein & Lewis Cohen / Original Use : Residential/Commerical / Original Architect : Bernstein & Stone

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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.