742-744 East 6th Street | Block : 375 | Lot #30

Building Date : 1902
Original Use : Residential/Commercial

Original Owner : Louis Oplinsky
Original Architect : Norenburger & Straub

Description & Building Alterations

This building, Mascot Flats, was constructed in 1902 as a 24 family tenement with stores by Louis Ophinsky of 706 East Broadway. Though missing its cornice, the building retains its very ornate terracotta and its lovely fire escapes. This building was abandoned in the 1980s and then renovated by Habitat for Humanity, working for the first time on a major inner-city project with former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter (read more here). The renovations were documented in the 1992 film, The Rebuilding of Mascot Flats.

Block : 375 / Lot : 030 / Building Date : 1902 / Original Owner : Louis Oplinsky / Original Use : Residential/Commercial / Original Architect : Norenburger & Straub

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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.