Tuesday, July 24, 2012

170-174 E. 2nd St. hits market for $16.5 million; Allen Ginsberg among the former tenants


Massey Knakal added the listing today:

The subject properties are two well-managed adjacent mixed-use buildings located on the North side of East 2nd Street, between Avenues A & B. 170-172 East 2nd Street has 3 retail stores and 34 residential units; 27 Free market, 6 Rent Stabilized and 1 Rent Controlled. 174 East 2nd Street has 1 retail store and 9 residential units; 8 Free Market and 1 Rent Stabilized. The buildings share a boiler that burns #2 oil from a 4,000 gallon tank. The electrical systems/wiring were upgraded in 2008 and tenants pay their own electricity.

And No. 174 has nearly 3,600 square feet of air rights available. Total price: $16.5 million.

Anyway, you may have seen the plaque out front of No. 170 showing that Allen Ginsberg lived in apartment 16 from August 1958-March 1961 ... this was one of the many places he lived in the East Village until his death in 1997

In a Habitats feature from August 2000, The New York Times ran a feature on the apartment where Ginsberg wrote "Kaddish" — "a mournful elegy for his mother, Naomi, that is considered one of his best works."

(New York Songlines also noted that Ginsberg edited "Naked Lunch" while living here... as well as "where Ginsberg and Timothy Leary began planning the psychedelic revolution.")

As the Times said of this block, "Not long ago, this was major drug territory, and landlords had to defend their turf assiduously; now it is being infiltrated by students from New York University."

The Times reported that two NYU students were living in the two-bedroom apartment, paying $2,000 a month in rent.

To the article:

When the plaque went up on the East Village building saying that it was where Allen Ginsberg once lived, the two young men who now occupy the poet's old apartment had only this to say:

Who was he?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looked at an apartment in this building last year and was told by multiple tenants that the building had bed bugs. Yikes....

Laura Goggin Photography said...

I can understand a student maybe never reading any Ginsberg, but never heard of him? Really?

Lista86 said...

Did you hear that? That was the sound of my head exploding....

editrrix said...

Jesus. How can you go through life without poetry? What has become of us? NYU seems like the equivalent of an ATM experience. Deposit the cash and we'll send you a certificate. Does it mean anything anymore to go to college? Don't these kids have any respect for the artists and writers who once populated our neighborhood? Wait, don't answer that: I'm depressed enough.

Ken from Ken's Kitchen said...

Yes indeed. 170 E 2 is on the bedbug registry.

esquared™ said...

I guess Siri or their apps didn't tell them about Allen Ginsberg.

Anonymous said...

These buildings must have been entirely rent controlled/stabilized at one time. How did the landlord drop all those apartments off the rolls?

Anonymous said...

Ginsberg was no Hemingway so give us a break.
They've been driving real tenants out for over 2 decades. Now what's been percolating is become manifest. As for the NYU Yuppy factory? Just got a whole lot worse- they've passed a mega-million acre expansion and soon all the good stuff will be gone to be replaced by Starbux and acrylic. That is the price we pay for a citizenry who refuses to get involved with their civic duties. Not one of these Council members will be voted out (like the bailouts) either in retaliation. It really is up to the people, and if they wont fight the good fight, they should stop whining over the predictable consequences.

Anonymous said...

I used to live here and, yes, Anon #1, there was (is?)a bed bug issue. My apartment was never infested, but I had a neighbor who told me all about his ongoing battles...I was constantly worried that my apartment would be next. The building is old and bed bugs travel throughout structures like roaches, not just by hitchhiking on people/clothing. Although I really liked my apartment, it was kind of a relief to move. I hope the new owners spend the time and money to treat the entire building.

Anonymous said...

I lived through seven fires in this building; 1965 through 1977. Apartment 26, what a nightmare for a kid to grow up in back then. Sixty-five dollars a month rent-controlled until the day we left.

Jayne Mountford said...

I lived there from 1985-1991 where is my plaque? LOL