Activity at a historic 2nd Avenue address

Photo Monday by Steven 

Nearly 19 months after changing hands, there's now some activity at 110 Second Ave., between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. 

In May 2024, the landmarked Isaac T. Hopper House had a new owner for the first time in 150 years. At the time, Self Reliance New York Federal Credit, which owns the building next door, announced that it was expanding by purchasing No. 110 for $7.4 million. 

The credit union, which provides financial services to the Ukrainian American community, plans to renovate and adapt the building for administrative and community needs. 

The Women's Prison Association (WPA) had owned the property since 1874. The Hopper House most recently served as a 38-bed transitional shelter dedicated to formerly incarcerated and at-risk women and their children.

In December 2020, the townhouse sustained significant physical damage from a six-alarm fire on the SE corner of Second Avenue and Seventh Street. The fire destroyed the neighboring Middle Collegiate Church and displaced the shelter's residents and staff. 

Following a review of the damaged property, "WPA determined that a sale of the property would be most conducive to the building's restoration and the organization's programmatic continuity." No. 110 arrived on the market in February 2023 with a $7.1 million ask. 

The property is also on the National Register of Historic Places. You can find more history of the address at Village Preservation. 

Meanwhile, with 70 employees and 50 volunteers, WPA continues to operate from its other community sites in New York City, as well as from jail-based offices on Rikers Island and the Taconic and Bedford Hills State Correctional Facilities.