181 Bleecker Street

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

1829
Real estate speculator Peter Debaun builds a small house at 181 Bleecker Street as one of a rental row
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Tax records show that Peter Debaun, a real estate speculator, built this house in 1829 (it was then numbered 179 Bleecker Street). It was one of four he developed in the 1820s at what are now 181 to 187, probably as rentals. The original building may have been only a single story with a raised basement and a dormered attic. Only this house and number 183 survive.
“…constructed in 1829 by real estate speculator Peter Debaun. The original house may have been only one-story in height with an exposed basement and dormered attic.”
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
1909
181 Bleecker Street becomes a store, photo studio and moving picture show
The old house had gained a full second story and a ground-level store in an 1869 alteration. In 1909 an alteration filing recorded it as a store, photo studio and moving picture show, along with a single-family residence. The storefront had already been replaced in 1906 and was redone many times afterward.
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

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