232 Avenue B; 542 East 14th Street | Block : 407 | Lot #29

Building Date : 1906
Original Use : Residential/Commercial

Original Owner : The Terra Firma Building Co.
Original Architect : Charles M. Straub

Description & Building Alterations

This six-story new law tenement is on the corner of Avenue B and East 14th Street. The building appears to be clad in a red “Harvard brick” laid in a Flemish bond pattern, and has high relief terra cotta ornamentation. The lintel keystones on the fifth floor feature lion’s heads. Groups of windows on the corners of the building at the second and fourth floors have elaborate Corinthian columns that support a decorated entablature.

The storefront has been replaced and the building’s cornice has been removed. Several of the windows seem to have been filled in with a matching brick. Alternatively, it is possible that they were originally “blind” windows, intended only to continue the ornamental fenestration pattern.

Block : 407 / Lot : 029 / Building Date : 1906 / Original Owner : The Terra Firma Building Co. / Original Use : Residential/Commercial / Original Architect : Charles M. Straub

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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.