126 Second Avenue | Block : 449 | Lot #5

Description & Building Alterations

A three-story with basement and attic house was originally built on site in 1837-39 and its street number through part of the 19th century was No. 124. It was raised to four stories between 1895 and 1899. The building was altered into two stories in either 1914 or 1916. The present Georgian Palladian facade features denticulated cornice with brick parapet above and curvilinear pediment at center, triple-arched windows on the second floor, enframed by moldings with scroll keystones, and divided by columns standing on pedestals. Other characters include decorative frieze, beltcourses, projecting brick piers flanking the facade, and figural carving above the corners of the first story.

The building was altered into a first floor restaurant and upper floor apartments in 1892, and served as a meeting space for the New-York Chess Club, the Liberty Cycle Club, and the Austro-Hungarian Republic League. The building held the Moving Picture Theatre by 1913, before and after being converted into two stories. It became the Orpheum from 1929 until 1958, after which it housed an off-Broadway theater. Eileen Brennan, Anne Bancroft, Eli Wallach, Marian Seldes, Robert Livingston, Gary William Friedman, Will Holt, Eric Bogosian, Danny Apolinar, Hal Hester, Donald Driver, Kevin Wade, Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, all won awards at the Orpheum. The building continues to serve as a theater today.