The e-mail read, in part:
Have you seen what has to be the plug-ugliest building in the EV, 147 1st Avenue, NW corner of 9th Street?
It used to be a herb store ... and it might become a restaurant soon.
But what about the ugly floors above it? The ones that are boarded up and look more like an ex-prison than anything else?
The ones that make the building easily the ugliest in the EV?
Hmm, I don't know. Is this the ugliest building in the East Village?
[Sidewalk photo by Blue Glass]
Previously on EV Grieve:
Ninth Street and First Avenue shocker: Motel ... Hello?
Blockbuster: 147 First Ave. set for demolition
15 comments:
Nope, my vote for ugliest building is an abandoned one by Bellevue. It's on the northwest corner. It was obviously grand in its day but is now boarded up or w/broken glass in the windows, otherwise dilapidated, etc. It's spooky. OK, I think I have to change my vote in mid-post here because if the building by Bellevue was cleaned up, it'd be a beaut. So, yes, the building on 9th Street is the ugliest. I obviously need more coffee.
Christ, no! That building is a refreshing throwback to the dilapidated East Village of yore, a true relic of an earlier time. So it's not pretty, so what? It's stood for a hundred years, providing at various times shelter for families and stores to benefit the neighborhood, and deserves a little respect for its sheer endurance. It's not the building's fault that those who owned it neglected it so, it could be just as nice as its neighbors had it been kept up. Yes, there are a plethora of truly hideous buildings in the EV, but they're built with glass and steel, not humble brick (except for the tower on top of TNC and anything built by NYU in the last 25 years).
@Lisa - just because it has history does not mean it ain't ugly. Just like if something is new, it can't automatically be deemed ugly.
We should try to get it landmark status. It is symbolic of those throughout history who have allowed their buildings to go to sh1t.
This building was never in good shape, even when it was Angelica's. It makes me sad every time I go by there.
a fresh coat of paint and it will be a-ok! That church on 2nd ave is pretty darn ugly, but anything late 70's early 80's hurts my eyes
It's a pretty bad building, and the scaffolding isn't helping.
not ugly. give it a couple years before it's condos.
I wondered at the restaurant sign. What restaurant would move into a building where rats, mice and bugs have been untroubled by humans for years? Those pests are still going to live in most of the building. Cooper Sq Hotel is still my choice for ugliest, though that brown brick church on 2nd Ave. that keeps a Virgin Mary statue in a kind of cage is close.
Anyone know if this is where Princess Pamela's Soul Food Restaurant used to be upstairs? What a wild and woolly place that was. I remember the menu was something like, "we got chicken. we got ribs. whachu want?" ha.
Princess Pamelas started at street level on the south side of 10th Street 1-2, then moved to the north side up stairs where you rang, they checked you out and a woman in a white nurse's dress would came to get you and walk you up to the restaurant that looked like it had been a railroad apartment. and, on a good night, Pamela would drunkenly sing along with the jazz quartet that played there. their shining glory was a picture of Jackie Kennedy prominently displayed when you entered. and the place was very expensive.
it is now a fancy apartment building with 2 and 3 bedrooms renting for thousands a month.
during the renovation of the building the sagging beams were exposed and the 10th street side was shored up - hopefully properly.
the 9th street building could easily be cleaned up outside. who knows what the inside is like. the pigeons love the 9th street side and perch in the windows basking in the sun. some days it's like a hitchcock movie. it would be a shame to lose another old guy that could be restored.
i think the new cooper union building is the ugliest building we have. the hotel next to it is a close second. and i'm not very fond of the monster chase building at Astor Place. so blue and cold.
I've never thought this building was ugly - scuffed up, yes, but there are far worse. I nominate Church of the Nativity on 2nd Ave.
Avalon (pick any one)
Love this, it's authentic.
The worst building by far is the Astor Place Tower by Gwathmey Siegel, cheap-looking, inappropriate and a visual mess.
In the summer months the sidewalk around the building is a haunt for many a local vagrant. I've seen the more creative of the bunch sleeping atop newspaper stands on that very corner.
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