630 East 6th Street; 630-634 East 6th Street | Block : 387 | Lot #124

Description & Building Alterations

This building was designed in 1889 as the Sixth Street Industrial School by architects Calvert Vaux & Radford for the Children’s Aid Society, founded in 1853 to care for and educate poor children. This is one of the few remaining schools of the original 22 built by the Society. Architect Calvert Vaux is quite notable, as he collaborated with Frederick Law Olmsted on projects like Central Park and Prospect Park and designed the American Museum of Natural History with J. Wrey. The construction of the school was funded by Mrs. Emily Thorn Vanderbilt Sloane White, the granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and for a time it was called the Sloane Center in her honor. In the latter years of the 20th century the building housed the Trinity Lower East Side Parish.

This four story structure is clad in red brick and terra cotta with brownstone string courses. The crow-stepped gable crowns a section of the building with a three-story, three-sided bay window running down its center. Many of the windows are original double hung wood with two over two true divided lights. Many are also capped by segmental arches, some of which surround glazed openings. The facade uses cascading piers with stepped sloping set-offs, and the eclectic roof line features stepped Flemish gables and dormers. The building showcases multiple polygonal bays, as well as full height, one bay projections. The entry surround projects from the facade, and has a segmental arched opening and stepped Flemish gable. The building’s address, 630, is inscribed in a shield at the apex of the gable. A six-story tower was added to the building in 2000 by architects Harden & Van Arnam, who renovated the building when the school was converted to a residence for people with AIDS. The renovation won a Lucy G. Moses Award from the New York Landmarks Conservancy in 2001.