2 Bedford Street

West Village | built 1829

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
William Lawson builds a three-story Federal house on Bedford Street
William Lawson put up a three-story brick house at 2 Bedford Street in 1828-29, one of four adjacent Federal houses on land once owned by Frederick de Peyster. The Landmarks Preservation Commission lists Lawson as the original owner. The Lawson estate sold it in 1866.
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
1868
A new owner raises the house to four full stories, and it becomes a tenement
Robert Richards bought the house from the Lawson estate in 1866 and around 1868 added a fourth full story. The building then became a tenement, and a small window was cut into its third floor in 1913. By 1940 the ground floor had been converted into a store.
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
1969
A 1969-70 renovation turns the old tenement into two duplex apartments
In 1969 and 1970 the building at 2 Bedford Street was returned to residential use. Alterations converted it into two duplex apartments, and the little window cut into the third floor in 1913 was bricked back up.
“An alteration in 1969-70 returned the building to residential use when it was converted into two duplex apartments…”
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

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