21-23 First Avenue | Block : 443 | Lot #35

Building Date : 1899
Original Use : Residential/Commercial

Original Owner : Benedicta Klein
Original Architect : George Frederick Pelham

Description & Building Alterations

This seven-story brick building was constructed in 1899 by owner Benedicta Klein and was designed by George Frederick Pelham, who also designed the buildings on lots 20 and 41. These buildings share the same design. This building was to be occupied by 39 families.

The Renaissance Revival six-bay facade features terra cotta and brick friezes and cornices that separate each floor. The windows are decorated with arched and pedimented lintels and pilasters divide each bay on the top two floors. The bracketed and modillioned cornice is historic.

Block : 443 / Lot : 035 / Building Date : 1899 / Original Owner : Benedicta Klein / Original Use : Residential/Commercial / Original Architect : George Frederick Pelham

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.