293-297 East 4th Street | Block : 387 | Lot #40

Building Date : Unknown
Original Use : Community Garden

Original Owner : New York City Parks and Recreation
Original Architect : Unknown

Description & Building Alterations

Lot 40 on the northwest corner of Avenue C and East 4^th Street is currently a green space called the Secret Garden and is owned by the Department of Parks and Recreation of New York City.

There were three small tenement buildings on this lot previously, each having a footprint of just over 600 square feet. Based on demolition permits, the buildings were likely lost between 1975 and 1980. Tax photos from the 1980s further support this.

Block : 387 / Lot : 040 / Building Date : Unknown / Original Owner : New York City Parks and Recreation / Original Use : Community Garden / Original Architect : Unknown

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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.