157-161 East 2nd Street | Block : 397 | Lot #12

Description & Building Alterations

Built in 1890 as three old law tenement buildings designed by George Frederick Pelham for owners Jonas Weil & Bernard Mayer, very little (if any) original exterior detail remains.  Originally, each building had a Queen Anne cornice with centered triangular pediments.  The spandrel panels under each window were decorated with recessed panels and the window lintels were square and partially framed the upper portion of each window. The details appear to have been in intricate brickwork, rather than terra cotta, and the mason for the buildings was John Van Dolson.  All the windows were single openings and the entrance to each building was up a raised stoop. Each building housed 18 families with shops in the partially raised basements.

In 1946, the three buildings were combined into one large apartment building. The current facade reflects the aesthetics of that time with its simple, flat facade and crenelated parapet.  The project to rehabilitate the long-empty tenement buildings was seen as the archetype for developing further affordable housing options in the post-war era when housing was in short supply.  Hired by former Commissioner of Housing and Buildings Samuel Fassler, who owned the three buildings, the architect for this extensive remodel was J.M. Berlinger, popular for his vast remodeling projects.  While not a strong preservation project, this work was an early example of an adaptive reuse project and would start the idea of preservation as a way to provide affordable housing.