17 First Avenue | Block : 443 | Lot #37

Building Date : 1841-43
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : Cornelius Dubois
Original Architect : Unknown

Description & Building Alterations

This four-story brick building, with commercial space on the first level, was constructed together with lots 36 and 38 in 1841-43. In 1872, all three buildings were raised from three stories to four stories. This building was occupied by stores on the ground floor and by one family per each of the upper floors. In 1907, the building was altered by Otto Reissman.

The Italianate facade features simple lintels and sills, in addition to a bracketed and modillioned cornice, which seems to be identical to both adjacent buildings’ facades. There is also a trace of the ground floor cornice.

Block : 443 / Lot : 037 / Building Date : 1841-43 / Original Owner : Cornelius Dubois / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : Unknown

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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.