A single brownstone surrounded by tall modern towers is not an unusual sight in New York City. But something about 143 East 47th Street makes this house seem especially forlorn.
Of course it has a lonely air about it—it’s missing its neighbors.
This house was one in a row of single-family brownstones, built in the late 19th century as Turtle Bay became an attractive area for residences. It was also built amid the brownstone fever that had developers building row after row of these iconic New York City houses.
Here’s number 143 in 1940, courtesy of the New York City Department of Records and Information Services tax photo collection.
I’m not sure which house it is; probably the third from right. It’s been remodeled over the years—note the different front windows. But the cornice is the same, and the bones of this old house are still there behind the construction fencing, as it awaits its fate: new modern neighbors or perhaps the bulldozer.
Tags: 143 East 47th Street, Brownstone East 47th Street, East 47th Street old brownstone, East 47th Street then and now
November 2, 2020 at 4:44 am |
[…] Source: FS – NYC Real Estate The last in a pretty row of East Side brownstones […]
November 2, 2020 at 4:50 am |
The front windows are still in the same configuration as that building third from the right: 3 across at the top floor and, at the floor below, a single window on the left side and a double width window on the right side (where the overhanging bay was removed.)
November 2, 2020 at 9:26 am |
While progress must occur, it’s sad to see more of the livability of New York City go by the wayside.
November 2, 2020 at 12:09 pm |
Yikes. Looking at the block in Street View a few years back, it is so more appealingly urban and human scaled than most of the rest of the immediate area, with its jumble of storefronts across multiple levels. Seems like a real loss for livability.
November 2, 2020 at 4:59 pm |
What is it now?
November 2, 2020 at 10:29 pm |
It’s a restaurant/bar
November 2, 2020 at 5:24 pm |
Checking the Street View from 8/2015 when the other buildings were still standing – you can see it is the 3rd from the left as you mentioned. In 2015, the building 2 down had the same arched window.