533 East 5th Street | Block : 401 | Lot #47

Building Date : 1899
Original Use : Residential/Commercial

Original Owner : Simon Jacobs
Original Architect : Nathan Langer

Description & Building Alterations

This old law tenement designed by Nathan Langer employs the Queen Anne style, which mixes the Renaissance Revival and Romanesque Revival styles and it was built in 1899. The deeply recessed arched windows with their brick lintels is indicative of the latter style, while the classically inspired terracotta belt courses and lintels on the other five floors is more in keeping with Renaissance Revival. The building, which housed 24 families on six floors with stores in the partially-raised basement, is now missing its pressed-metal cornice and raised-stoop entrance.

This lot was once part of William B. Astor’s holdings and was leased out to various people between 1850-1875.

Block : 401 / Lot : 047 / Building Date : 1899 / Original Owner : Simon Jacobs / Original Use : Residential/Commercial / Original Architect : Nathan Langer

Do you know this building? Please share your own stories or photos of this building here!

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.