Insignificant, But Not

A view from the Wurts Brothers, from the 1930s, got me thinking:

The first question, obviously, was if 1011 Sixth Avenue is still there some 90 years later. And street view gives the answer:

The facade is looking a little rough – that appears to be ashlar veneer under the paint, and some of the veneer panels have shifted – but there’s been amazingly little change. Removal of the fire escape implies that there have been changes made to the interior egress and fireproofing, but the big changes took place earlier. This was built as a house, maybe a boarding house, so the first floor storefront and the large windows at the second floor are old alterations. Pre-1930s alterations. Unsurprisingly, the 1940 tax photo looks much like the Wurts photo:

The big building on the left is 1001 Sixth, a loft mini-skyscraper, steel-framed, built in 1926. The metal panels and polished stone veneer replaced brick and terra cotta at the lower floors, or maybe just covered them over.

I don’t know how old 1011 is, and the relatively limited online resources aren’t going to get that answer. It’s likely the only building that has ever been on that lot, as it’s been a long time since that area was built up. The west side developed a bit faster than the east side and that kind of house is what was built in much of the area.

Here’s that blockfront between 1857 and 1862, and I have no reason to believe that the buildings shown don’t include 1011 and its neighbors to the right.

1011 is the old 641 – the numbering was changed when Sixth Avenue was extended south from Carmine Street, cutting through Greenwich Village and (what is now called) SoHo. The four old buildings that remain on the blockfront would be 641, 643, 645, and 647.

These buildings are not historic and, if they were demolished tomorrow, I can’t imagine anyone would notice or really care. There’s not much historic fabric left in then and they’re not connected to any major historic events. But consider how many people have been in 1011 over the last 160 years (at least). How many small businesses like the ones that are there in all three photos above. How many visitors. Buildings like this are a large part of the life of the city, and even if they are not important, they are worthy of a little notice and a little respect.