56 East 4th Street | Block : 459 | Lot #14

Building Date : 1886
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : George Hornberger
Original Architect : William Graul

Description & Building Alterations

No. 56 East 4th Street is a 5-story with basement Old Law tenement built in 1886, and assessed in 1887 at $17,000.

The window lintels are made of stone and the ornamented spandrels below the windows are made from terra cotta. Like its neighbor at No. 54, the building once had a center stoop that has been removed and its entrance moved to basement. This building replaced a three-story Greek Revival-style row house built as part of the Albion Place development, and incorporates Queen Anne-style ornamentation popular at this time.

The 1940s tax photo (viewable at sidebar) reveals the historic cornice that has since been removed.

Block : 459 / Lot : 014 / Building Date : 1886 / Original Owner : George Hornberger / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : William Graul

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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.