641 East 9th Street | Block : 392 | Lot #42

Building Date : 1878
Original Use : Pre-Law Tenement

Original Owner : Matthew Fanning
Original Architect : William Jose

Description & Building Alterations

The 5-story tall, 4-bay wide Neo-Grec tenement was designed by William Jose in 1878. It housed 10 families and likely had shops on the ground floor with a raised-stoop entrance. The original lintels have been shaved down, but the pressed-metal cornice is still in place.

Block : 392 / Lot : 042 / Building Date : 1878 / Original Owner : Matthew Fanning / Original Use : Pre-Law Tenement / Original Architect : William Jose

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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.