54 East 3rd Street; 54-56 East 3rd Street | Block : 444 | Lot #16

Building Date : 1897
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : Abraham Silverson
Original Architect : Schneider & Herter

Description & Building Alterations

This six-story, light red brick old law tenement building was constructed in 1897 by owner Abraham Silverson and was designed by Schneider & Herter, the same architects of the buildings at No. 58 and No. 60 East 3rd Street.

The Queen Anne facade features ornate terra cotta in dark red. The cornice has been removed since the 1980s (see tax photo at sidebar), though the building retains its decorative entrance enframement. The building also retains ornate stone or terra cotta window enframements and lintels, ornamental beltcourses and spandrels, and some historic wood window sashes and brickmolds. The terra cotta panels between the floors depict cherubs. The facade also features a round-headed wood window sash at the fourth story.

Block : 444 / Lot : 016 / Building Date : 1897 / Original Owner : Abraham Silverson / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : Schneider & Herter

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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.