45 Second Avenue | Block : 458 | Lot #27

Building Date : 1867
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : Michael McGovern
Original Architect : John O'Neil

Description & Building Alterations

No. 45 & 47 Second Avenue were constructed together as pre-law tenements on a single tax lot in 1867. Besides the stone window lintels and sills, cornice supported by modillions and beltcourses, it also features historic storefront infill with cast-iron piers in the left opening.

“The earliest tenements were constructed before there was any substantial regulation of this type of housing. The first law that governed the actual physical form of tenements was not passed until 1879 and is known as the ‘old law.’ Thus, the first wave of tenements erected in New York City… are ‘pre-law’ tenements.” – Andrew Dolkart, The South Village: A Proposal for Historic District Designation.

Block : 458 / Lot : 027 / Building Date : 1867 / Original Owner : Michael McGovern / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect: John O’Neil

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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.