Renovations have started at the former Sigmund Schwartz Gramercy Park Chapel on Second Avenue between 10th Street and Ninth Street. Workers boarded up the front doors last week.
As Off the Grid first reported last summer, there are plans on file to "Remodel the existing three story building and add 3 stories on top."
According to the DOB, city officials have approved those plans on Jan. 10. Here's the DOB language:
REMODEL EXISTING THREE STORY BUILDING AND ADD 3 STORIES ON TOP OF EXISTING BUILDING. SECOND AND THIRD FLOORS TO BE CONVERTED TO RESIDENTIAL ONLY. FIRST FLOOR TO BE USED AS A COMMERCIAL USE.
The architect on this project is Ramy Issac, once dubbed by New York magazine as "The controversial penthouse king of the East Village." Developer Terrence Lowenberg of Icon Realty is behind the project. Icon is currently renovating 147 First Ave.
Check out this history of the Sigmund Schwartz Gramercy Park Chapel at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York.
Here's what the address looked like in the 1940s, via Vanishing New York...
Will a gut renovation and three-floor addition be enough to wipe out the spirits of the funeral home?
Previously on EV Grieve:
Former funeral home looks to double in size with help from 'the controversial penthouse king of the East Village'