Life Cafe building
343 East 10th Street | East Village | built 1860
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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.
- 1860
343 East 10th Street keeps most of its original cornice, unlike the district's other pre-law tenements
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This tenement was built around 1860 by William S. Wright, who owned and developed the row at 335 to 345. The Landmarks Preservation Commission notes that many of the district's tenements later received updated cornices, lintels and sills, and that this is the only one that appears to keep most of its original cornice.
“Within the historic district, only 343 East 10th Street appears to retain most of its original cornice.”
- 1981
The Life Cafe opens in a double storefront at 343 and 345 East 10th Street
In 1981 the Life Cafe opened in a double storefront at the base of this building and its neighbor at 345 East 10th Street, on the corner of Avenue B. The Landmarks Preservation Commission later cited it as an example of the East Village's rehabilitation in the 1980s. The cafe was later featured in the Broadway musical Rent.
- 1996
Jonathan Larson, who wrote much of Rent at the Life Cafe, dies the night before the musical's off-Broadway premiere
Jonathan Larson wrote a great deal of the musical Rent at the Life Cafe, and the cafe is where the show's "La Vie Boheme" scene is set. He died suddenly in January 1996, the night before the off-Broadway premiere. His father later said the cafe had preserved the corner where Larson is said to have done much of his writing.
Source: broadwayworld.com
- 2011
The Life Cafe closes "until further notice" after thirty years and never reopens
On September 11, 2011, the Life Cafe at 10th Street and Avenue B closed "until further notice" after thirty years in business. Owner Kathy Kirkpatrick said it would stay closed until the landlords finished long overdue repairs. By late February 2012 for-lease signs had gone up on the corner, and the closure turned out to be permanent.
Source: evgrieve.com
Further reading
- 343 East 10th StreetVillage Preservation: East Village Building Blocks
Nearby
- 341 East 10th Street1 entry
- 345 East 10th Street2 entries
- 339 East 10th Street1 entry
- 337 East 10th Street1 entry
- 335 East 10th Street1 entry
- Tompkins Square Library331 East 10th Street | 5 entries