31 Downing Street

West Village | built 1894

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.

1894
George F. Pelham designs a five-story tenement at 31 Downing Street for James Powers
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In 1894 the well-known architect George F. Pelham drew up this five-story Renaissance Revival building for James Peter Powers. It was built with two apartments on every floor, including the basement. It was one of many tenements replacing earlier Greenwich Village houses to shelter the area's growing working-class and immigrant population.
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
1908
A 1908 alteration trades basement flats at 31 Downing Street for stores and packs in 18 families
In 1908 the basement apartments were removed so that stores and businesses could take their place, and partitions on the second through fifth floors were rearranged into four apartments per floor. The change brought the building's occupancy up to 18 families. The basement shops were later removed again, and the ground floor has been resurfaced entirely since the mid-1980s.
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

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