Spanning just 26 park-facing properties, the buildings in the tiny East 10th Street Historic District embody the changing residential complexion of not only the East Village, but the entire city in the 19th century. Here we trace the block’s past from stately row houses to tenement buildings.
Not surprisingly, the opening of Tompkins Square Park in 1834 led many to believe the surrounding streets would be among the most popular residential lanes in this eastern quarter. In fact, the city was motivated to develop the park in large part due to the increased tax revenue the buildings would create. After surmounting the Panic of 1837, the area’s bright promise seemed to be in full swing, and the western half of the East 10th Street Historic District — a one-block stretch between Avenue A and Avenue B — was populated by elegant row houses by the 1840s. Many of these stately homes were built in the Italianate style by the esteemed architect Joseph Trench and are, notably, among the first Italianate buildings in the city.
East 10th Street, looking west (Image: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid)
As immigrant populations flooded the Lower East Side during this period, many of the city’s most affluent residents decamped for new neighborhoods expanding to the north. And although the well-appointed townhouses lining Tompkins Square were intended for an elite audience, among their earliest residents, one finds a decidedly more working-class list of occupations including butchers, ship joiners and middle-class merchants. As a booming population demanded more and more housing, the sophisticated homes on the western portion of the block give way to tenement buildings as one moves east. Developed prior to the Department of Buildings, most of these structures were “pre-law” tenements that would’ve housed 10 to 20 families per floor with most rooms offering little direct light or ventilation.
The intersection of E. 10th St. and Avenue B (Image: Professor Bop/Flickr)
While the sturdy structures along Tompkins Square’s northern edge more than stood the test of time, modern tastes and desires resulted in a number of alterations. Simple Italianate or Greek Revival facades were updated with Queen Anne ornamentation; stoops were removed to accommodate ground-floor commercial tenants; and additional floors were added to row houses.
317 E. 10th St., a Greek Revival structure with Queen Anne modifications (Image: Wikimedia)
A few modern institutional buildings were also added to the block in the late 19th and early 20th century. Chief among them is the landmarked Tompkins Square Branch of the New York Public Library. One of the more than 2,500 libraries built by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, the 1904 structure was designed by Charles Follen McKim of the renowned firm McKim, Mead & White. The edifice strikes a suitably dignified town in limestone and granite with arched windows and handsome, rusticated piers.
Tompkins Square Branch of the New York Public Library at 331 E. 10th St. (Image: Wikimedia)
Despite changes in architectural tastes and modern living, the East 10th Street Historic District has remained largely unchanged since the early 20th century, and in 2012, the block received its official designation from the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Not surprisingly, residences along this pleasant park-facing street are rarely available and fetch a steep price when they are. One of the earliest buildings in the district, 301 E. 10th St., recently went into contract after being listed for $8.5 million. Currently configured as five floor-through units, the building is credited to the district’s de facto creator, Joseph Trench.