264 Bleecker Street

West Village | built 1833

Open on the map5 entries

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

1. 1833

   Charles Oakley builds 264 Bleecker Street as the second of five matching Federal houses

   No. 264 was built around 1833 as the second house in a row of five for developer Charles Oakley. It was joined internally with No. 262 in 1894, and shop fronts were replaced in 1892 and 1922-23, with a rear extension in 1922-23 and the first story extended to the rear lot line in 1924-25. Despite these changes the Landmarks Preservation Commission describes it as largely intact.

   “No. 264 Bleecker Street was constructed c. 1833 as the second in a row of five houses for New York-born agent Charles Oakley…”

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

2. 1858

   Antioch Baptist Church worships in the basement and publishes a newspaper, the Christian

   By 1858 the Antioch Baptist Church, newly organized under the Rev. John Quincy Adams, leased the basement of 264 Bleecker Street. The congregation worshiped there, ran a bookstore and published a newspaper called the Christian, which printed sermon texts and sold for 10 cents. In 1870 the church ordained a new minister, the Rev. John Love Jr.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

3. 1864

   November 30

   Suspected arson starts under a store and spreads to the church room at 264 Bleecker Street

   At about 4 p.m. on November 30, 1864, a fire began in the basement beneath the house-furnishings store of Peter Schops and got under the floor of the room used by the Antioch Baptist Church. Schops lost about $300 in stock, and damage to church furniture was expected to be slight. The New York Herald judged from appearances that the fire was set deliberately.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

4. 1871

   May 7

   Rev. John Love preaches for the death penalty after a streetcar murder, from the basement church at 264 Bleecker

   On April 26, 1871, merchant Avery Putnam was killed with an iron car-hook after trying to protect women from a drunken man on a streetcar. On May 7 the Rev. John Love Jr. of the Antioch Baptist Church addressed the killing in his sermon here. He called it a crime of rare cruelty and defended capital punishment, as reported by The Sun.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

5. 2012

   July

   Murray's Cheese Bar opens at 264 Bleecker Street after a spice shop and a wine bar

   In the 1990s the ground floor held Aphrodisia, a spice store that moved from No. 282 and stocked about 2,000 culinary herbs and spices. A wine bar, Bar'rique, replaced it in January 2011, followed a year later, in July 2012, by Murray's Cheese Bar, a cheese-and-charcuterie restaurant supplied from Murray's Cheese down the block. Above the shop, the second floor is still an office and apartment, with a duplex over it.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

• Charles Oakley's 1833 No. 264 Bleecker StreetDaytonian in Manhattan

Nearby

• Rev. C. F. Frey House266 Bleecker Street | 4 entries
• 262 Bleecker Street4 entries
• 268 Bleecker Street2 entries
• Faicco's Italian Specialties260 Bleecker Street | 3 entries
• 270 Bleecker Street2 entries
• 6 Morton Street5 entries

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