197 East 7th Street | Block : 390 | Lot #57

Building Date : 1898
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : Leo Mandel
Original Architect : Charles Rentz

Description & Building Alterations

This five-story residential building, designed by Charles Rentz, was constructed in 1898 for original owner Leo Mandel. The old law tenement building was originally occupied by two families per floor.

The building’s façade is clad in light brick with brownstone string courses, belt courses and base and there is an exposed basement level. The 1980s tax photo shows a red brick facade. It is three bays wide and the windows feature different ornamented lintels also brownstone. The bracketed cornice has dentils above the frieze and the brownstone entry surround has pilasters and is capped by an entablature above a projecting hood.

Block : 390 / Lot : 057 / Building Date : 1898 / Original Owner : Leo Mandel / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : Charles Rentz

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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.