Renovations are in the works for the mysterious 84 Second Ave. between Fifth Street and Fourth Street.
This address is on Community Board 3's Landmarks Committee docket tonight. (No. 84 falls within the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. Owners of buildings located within a designated New York City historic district must receive a permit from the Landmarks Preservation Commission before performing any type of work.)
The agenda item reads as follows:
• Certificate of Appropriateness, 84 Second Ave: Exterior work includes façade restoration; storefront alteration; installation of new dormer at roof; elevator, stair and mechanical additions; and rear-yard additions
Betty Sopolsky, the longtime owner, moved away in 2016, around the same time as an LLC with a Hempstead, N.Y., address bought the building for $5.125 million, per public records.
The new landlord, listed on the CB3 paperwork as EA Development Partners, is looking to make some upgrades to the building and long-empty storefront, which is on the rental market ... There are diagrams galore for the proposed work. (Find the PDF here.)
[Click on image for more detail]
The owners are seeking a Certificate of Appropriateness, and this type of permit requires a public hearing at the local community board and LPC offices.
As previously noted, the address has a dark past. This is from The New York Times, dated Jan. 18, 1974:
The nude body of a 40-year-old woman propiretor of a tailor shop that rents tuxedos on the Lower East Side was found bludgeoned to death. The victim was Helen Sopolsky of 84 Second Avenue, near fifth Street, whose shop is one flight up at that address. The motive of the attack was not determined immediately....
As far as some longtime residents can remember, the storefront has remained empty since Helen's death. (Helen was Betty's sister.)
For years (decades?), you could see a plastic-covered dinner jacket in the second-story window with the neon sign that reads "DRESS SUITS TO HIRE." Previous posts have more on this residence ... here and here and here.
The Landmarks Committee meets tonight at 6:30, JASA/Green Residence, 200 E. Fifth St. at the Bowery.
9 comments:
been a fan of this building since 1986, wish it could stay as is forever. foolish, i know!
I think the proposed facade is appropriate and in keeping with the surrounding area although I am surprised that they are asking the city to allow them to extend the rear of the building so deeply into the lot. I thought there was a law regarding keeping 20-30 feet of open space behind buildings?
An elevator?!?
Thanks for the pdf link - fascinating! If they plan to "restore" the front, that might be a first for the EV, as most older buildings are replaced with sky scraping, sun blocking, condo towers.
Gelatto-coffee-bank-psychic!
There is rumor the subsequent owner, an elderly lady, was whisked out of the neighborhood and has not been reachable by her neighbors, and now these plans...
i spoke to betty last year, i was told by the cold case cops at the precinct she was the best source of info regarding her sisters murder, as i wanted to hire a private detective and get access to the evidence to send to labs. the case is still open according to nypd. Betty begged me not to pursue it and FOIL denied my request and appeal. it really haunts me and i think about helen sopolsky a lot especially since her death anniversary is coming up.
9:14 am: You are right, this building is in an R7A zoning district, which means there should be a rear yard 30-feet deep, open to the sky. There's a C2-5 commercial overlay, so they can have a store on the first floor. The overlay complicates the zoning analysis, but in my understanding the yard is still required. It's the Case of the Disappearing Yards. rnh141@gmail.com.
This building was once the Matron Irene Stenard of the temporary home for females in 1887. A famous newspaper journalist and author stayed there once. Her name was Elizabeth Cochran Seaman a.k.a. Nellie Bly. She had a very interesting life. The building has a very long history and fascinates me. Although, I wasn't aware of the brutal murder there, which is very sad.
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