170 Second Avenue | Block : 452 | Lot #6

Building Date : 1929
Original Use : Residential/Commercial

Original Owner : Saul Birns
Original Architect : Segal & Sohn

Description & Building Alterations

This 15-story brick building, known as the Peter Stuyvesant Apartments, was constructed in 1927 by architects Segal & Sohn for owner Saul Birns, a prominent property-owner in the East Village. Prior to construction, The New York Historical Society was located on this lot in a two-story building designed by Mettam & Burke from 1857 until 1908, when it moved to its current Central Park West location.

The present building features window surrounds at the third, sixth, and thirteenth to fifteenth stories, molded banding, engaged piers, decorative panels beneath the roof line, and roping details at the building’s corners. The recessed point-arched window opening with spandrels and floral details on the north facade appears to be a former entrance.

Block : 452 / Lot : 006 / Building Date : 1929 / Original Owner : Saul Birns / Original Use : Residential/Commercial / Original Architect : Segal & Sohn

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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.