61 First Avenue; 130 East 4th Street | Block : 445 | Lot #31

Building Date : 1869
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : Herman Bruns
Original Architect : William E. Waring

Description & Building Alterations

This pre-law tenement was originally built in 1869 together with the buildings on Lots 30 and 32 by architect William E. Waring for owner Herman Bruns. The building went through alterations designed by Kurtzer & Rohl, together with the neighboring buildings on Lots 30 and 32, in 1895 and 1905.

In 1963 a new store front was installed and new stairs to the basement were added. The current facade features a bracketed cornice, projecting quoins at the corners, arched window lintels and sills.

Block : 445 / Lot : 031 / Building Date : 1869 / Original Owner : Herman Bruns / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : William E. Waring

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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.