179 Avenue B | Block : 394 | Lot #3

Description & Building Alterations

Built in 1847, this 4-story Greek Revival building was constructed as a set of three early tenement buildings.  While  it is possible that the buildings could have been built as rowhouses and converted into tenements, the neighborhood was already shifting and the buildings were used as tenements as early as 1857.

179 Avenue B has been the most heavily altered of the three buildings over the years.  The original brick facade has been plastered several times, obscuring what remains of the original stone lintels and sills.  Pressed-metal lintel surrounds were placed over the stone lintels at some point.  Two of these decorative encasement are still attached on the fourth floor.  Most likely at the same time that they were were added, the cornice was altered to make it more ornate.  The curved brackets and leafy details were applied to the space that originally would have been a plain frieze.