510-512 East 6th Street | Block : 401 | Lot #15

Building Date : 1859-1860
Original Use : Residential/Commercial

Original Owner : William B. Astor
Original Architect : Unknown

Description & Building Alterations

This five-story pre-law Italianate tenement was built in 1859-1860 as one in a row of 12 identical tenements by wealthy landowner and developer William B. Astor. The row was built in conjunction with another matching row of tenements between Nos. 193 and 209 East 4th Street that Astor built the same year.

In 1860 the left portion, or number 512, was used as military housing. In 1940 the two buildings were combined into one larger building, with many of the facade details removed or altered. The pressed-metal cornices were replaced with a larger parapet wall with brick laid in a projecting diaper pattern. The lintels were removed from the windows and the ground-floor shops were converted into apartments. Most of the facade also was painted.

Block : 401 / Lot : 015 / Building Date : 1859-1860 / Original Owner : William B. Astor / Original Use : Residential/Commercial / Original Architect : Unknown

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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.

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