543 East 5th Street | Block : 401 | Lot #42

Building Date : 1899
Original Use : Residential/Commercial

Original Owner : Henry Agne
Original Architect : Judius Boekell & Son

Description & Building Alterations

Built as one of two buildings, No. 543 is the only one of the pair that survives. The other building was No. 541. It was designed by Julius Boekell & Son in 1899 for 22 families over stores. The terra cotta Neo-Grec lintels are still intact, but the pressed metal cornice has been removed, leaving the fifth-floor windows devoid of ornamentation. The building likely also had a raised-stoop entrance.

Block : 401 / Lot : 042 / Building Date : 1899 / Original Owner : Henry Agne / Original Use : Residential/Commercial / Original Architect : Julius Boekell & Son

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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.