404-406 East 8th Street; 107-111 Avenue D | Block : 377 | Lot #37

Building Date : 1903
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : Lena Michelson
Original Architect : George Frederick Pelham

Description & Building Alterations

This New Law tenement building was erected in 1903 by Lena Michelson of 135 Avenue D who employed the services of architect George Frederick Pelham of 503 5^th Avenue to design the building. It is brick with stone details, including belt courses and continuous sills on the second, third, and fifth stories. Windows on the second story feature hooded and pedimented lintels; third, fourth, and fifth story windows feature splayed lintels with a scrolled keystone; sixth story windows feature a continuous molded lintel. Originally designed as two separate buildings, the cost of construction was $70,000 and the combined structures were meant to house 42 families.

In the 1950s and 1960s the ground floor storefronts were altered several times to accommodate new uses; during this time the building was owned by Esport Realty of 32 Union Square.

Block : 377 / Lot : 037 / Building Date : 1903 / Original Owner : Lena Michelson / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : George Frederick Pelham

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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.