203 Second Avenue | Block : 468 | Lot #36

Building Date : 1862
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : Hamilton Fish
Original Architect : Unknown

Description & Building Alterations

Like its neighbors, this five-story brick building began its life as a private home, developed by Hamilton Fish circa 1862. However, it did not follow the same development paths of those buildings. In 1909, the building was purchased by Moses Greenbaum and converted into The People’s Hospital. During this conversion, the rear wall and the original raised-stoop entrance was removed. According to a 1911 New York Times article, the hospital was opened “to relieve pressure on other east side hospitals, all of which are overcrowded, and makes a particular appeal to Austrians and Hungarians.” In 1913, Dr. Freiderich Friedmann tested his tuberculosis serum at the hospital. It was hoped that it would cure the disease, but later testing by the Surgeon General revealed that it did not. A laboratory was added to the rear of the building and at some point a morgue was installed in the basement…

In 1949, the building became a home and day care for the elderly. Named for one of the trustees of the hospital, the William I. Sirovich House had space for socialization and recreation and would also have social workers on staff to work with the seniors. It never provided a place for the elderly to live, like many other Homes for the Aged, but provided a daycare facility, again, a rather modern notion for the time. The day care operated in the space until 1976 when it was turned into the Ukrainian Museum, founded by the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America who presently occupy this building.

Very few original facade details remain. The brick has been stuccoed and painted and the stone lintels and sills have been shaved off and painted over. The metal cornice was also removed and a brick-arched extension was added to the first floor.

Block : 468 / Lot : 036 / Building Date : 1862 / Original Owner : Hamilton Fish / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : Unknown

Do you know this building? Please share your own stories or photos of this building here!

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.