192 Second Avenue; 192-196 Second Avenue; 301-303 East 12th Street | Block : 454 | Lot #1

Description & Building Alterations

In 1852 this parcel of land, split into three buildings, was owned by James Robertson. These buildings, likely constructed as single-family row houses, were later tenementized. Each held fifteen furnished rooms in 1939. In 1967 these buildings were combined into one four-story apartment building with one staircase and new apartments throughout. The present building is four stories in height and six bays wide on its primary facade on Second Avenue.  The brick cladding has been stuccoed and the cornice is intact.

From the 1950s until 1980, this building was the home of Slugger Ann’s, a bar frequented mostly by working class patrons, especially truck drivers and laborers. The dimly lit establishment had a few tables and was run by Slugger Ann, described as a charismatic, feisty woman with bleached hair. Slugger Ann was the grandmother of Jackie Curtis, a “superstar” in Andy Warhol films, and raised Curtis in an apartment in this same building. Later in life, Curtis, Holly Woodlawn, and Candy Darling (who were also Warhol “superstars”), would sometimes crash in a studio apartment here when they needed a place to stay.