184 Bleecker Street

also 186 Bleecker Street | Greenwich Village | built 1910

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.

1796
Merchant Nicholas Low buys the block, and his heirs hold it for nearly a century
Nicholas Low (1739-1826), one of New York's leading merchants after the Revolution, bought this block in 1796 as part of a tract reaching toward Sixth Avenue. His heirs kept the land for almost 100 years. Their estate built the row at 172 to 186 Bleecker around 1861, including this address, and had put up similar rows on the block earlier, including what is now MacDougal-Sullivan Gardens.
“He purchased this block in 1796 as part of a tract that extended to what is now the west side of the Sixth Avenue.”
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
1957
Le Figaro Café opens at 184-186 Bleecker Street and becomes a Beat-era coffeehouse
Le Figaro Café opened in 1957 at 184-186 Bleecker Street, following a 1956 alteration. A 1959 Greenwich Village guide described it as frequented by the Beat Generation, with customers drinking coffee over chess games, and the place served no alcohol. Jack Kerouac, Lenny Bruce and Bob Dylan are among those said to have been regulars.
“Le Figaro Café opened at 184-186 Bleecker Street in 1957…”
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

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