228 Second Avenue; 300 East 14th Street | Block : 455 | Lot #7

Description & Building Alterations

According to the Office for Metropolitan History, this Sommerfeld & Steckler building was constructed in 1910 for owner L. Minsky. On October 12, 1921 the New York Times reported that a robbery of $175 took place within the building that was then home to the Cloak and Suit Makers’ Union. In 1928 the building was sold to Arthur L. Dryfoos from Theodora Kikolaous. On April 2 and 3, 1932, prominent Mexican muralist Diego Rivera gave a lecture on “Tendencies in Modern Art” within the building that was then home to the New Workers’ School. In 1935, the first story of the building housed the White Tower Hamburger System, Inc. In 1942 the building housed the Jewish Working Girls Vacation Society and in 1946 the Infants’ Welfare League also had offices in the building. In 1960 this seven-story building was reduced to one-story after a fire badly damaged the upper stories. It is currently a single story building with an extended parapet at the corner and clad in cement.