650 East 12th Street; 646-650 East 12th Street | Block : 394 | Lot #32-34

Building Date : 1945
Original Use : Commercial

Original Owner : Harry Field
Original Architect : Ervin Palmer

Description & Building Alterations

Designed and built between 1945-49 by architect Ervin Palmer for Harry Field, the building was a freight terminal and garage with offices on second floor. This building actually wrapped around behind the corner lot and had another garage entrance on lot 36 on Avenue C.

Now the Social Security Administration, the building was heavily altered. The facade, which was brick with industrial garage doors and steel windows, has been refaced in concrete panels with a granite base and the window and door openings reworked and an additional garage bay on the eastern portion of the building was removed.

Prior to this building, there was a foundry on this property from the mid-19th century.

Block : 394 / Lot : 032 / Building Date : 1945-49 / Original Owner : Harry Field / Original Use : Commercial / Original Architect : Ervin Palmer

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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.