171 Avenue B | Block : 393 | Lot #7

Building Date : 1885
Original Use : Residential/Commercial

Original Owner : Catherine Zimmerman
Original Architect : J.H. Valentine

Description & Building Alterations

This five-story Neo-Grec tenement has always had commercial space on the ground floor. The second, third and fourth floors have tan sandstone courses that connect the lintels of the same material, while the fifth floor has a course connecting the window sills. The course between the third and fourth floors contain a decorative terracotta floral motif and the top floor features decorative swag terracotta spandrel panels. This building was built to the same design as its neighbors on lots 5 and 6. The building appears to have some intact elements of an original cast-iron storefront including some colonettes.

Block : 393 / Lot : 007 / Building Date : 1885 / Original Owner : Catherine Zimmerman / Original Use : Residential/Commercial / Original Architect : J.H. Valentine

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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.