13 St. Mark’s Place | Block : 464 | Lot #152

Building Date : 1832/1881 alt.
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : Thomas E. Davis/C.C. Thomas
Original Architect : Unknown

Description & Building Alterations

This part of Eighth Street between Second and Third Avenues was formerly part of Peter Stuyvesant’s Bouwerie before it was purchased by prolific real estate developer Thomas E. Davis. The area was named after nearby St. Mark’s Church and developed with houses situated on large lots to appeal to wealthy New Yorkers. Originally a three story row house built in 1832, this building was expanded to a five story, four bay tenement in 1881 for then owner C.C. Thomas. The windows are enframed with bracketed lintels and sills and the roofline features a bracketed cornice in black.

During the 1960’s, comedian Lenny Bruce lived in the building. Bruce was an American icon who pushed the limits of free speech and the first amendment rights in this country. In 1977, St. Mark’s Bookshop was founded on the ground floor where it served as a literary headquarter for punks as well as an outpost for St. Mark’s Poetry Project poets.

Block : 464 / Lot : 152 /Old Lot 53 / Building Date : 1832/1881 alt. / Original Owner : Thomas E. Davis/C.C. Thomas / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : Unknown

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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.

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