145 Avenue A; 441 East 9th Street | Block : 437 | Lot #31

Description & Building Alterations

There are four buildings on this lot that are connected by one unifying facade (three entrances face 9th Street and one faces Avenue A). They are believed to have been built in 1852-53, and are present on the 1852 Perris map. This map doesn’t indicate height, but the 1857-63 map shows they were six stories tall so it is possible they were built at this height rather than as smaller buildings with later additions. Regardless, these are very early pre-law tenements. By the 1980s, the cornice was removed.

The western-most entrance on the 9th Street side is no. 441, which is where the poet Frank O’Hara lived from 1959-63 with his roommate and sometime lover, Joe LeSueur. While at this address, O’Hara published Second Avenue and Odes. He also wrote most of his Lunch Poems, which was published in 1964. A plaque was placed here in his honor by GVSHP and Two Boots in summer 2014.