637 East 6th Street | Block : 389 | Lot #42

Description & Building Alterations

The old law tenement on Lot 42 was originally constructed as two-story storage in 1877, and was converted into tenements in 1888. It is five stories in height with a modernized, first floor facade with three bays. The upper stories are four bays and the windows have identical ornamental lintels and sills. The metal cornice features dentils, modillions, and raised panels at the frieze between the heavily articulated brackets.

The building and property were originally owned by prominent brewer and large real-estate owner David Jones, whose Brewery, “Jones’s Brewery,” stretched from 617 to 637 East 6^th Street. A massive fire in November 1875 destroyed the brewery complex, but according to an 1881 New York Times article, the brewing headquarters remained on East 6^th Street. The commercial ground floor has no visible stonework, like some of the neighboring buildings.