522 East 5th Street | Block : 400 | Lot #17

Description & Building Alterations

This row of nine identical buildings (506-524 East 5th Street) was built for owner William B. Astor as investment properties in 1859-1860.  They each housed eight families above a ground-floor store.  These Italianate tenements had arched, brownstone lintels and simple, projecting sills and would have had raised stoop entrances.  At No. 522, the triangular overhang at the entrance hints at the pedimented door surround that may have once been there.  Other alterations include the shaving off of the window lintels, removal of the cornice and painting of the facade that drastically change the facade’s appearance.  The small windows were inserted in 1908 and the ground-floor shops were converted into apartments in 1940.