La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
74 East 4th Street | East Village | built 1900
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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.
- 1873
The Aschenbroedel Verein opens a new musicians' clubhouse
In 1873 the German musicians' society Aschenbroedel Verein, whose members include conductors Theodore Thomas and Carl Bergmann, replaces its old building with a four-story clubhouse designed by architect August H. Blankenstein. The hall opens on November 7, 1873, with a night of entertainment, and membership grows to roughly 600 by the late 1880s. By 1880, the New York Philharmonic Society is using the building as its headquarters.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1892
The Schillerbund Gesangverein remodels the hall with composer busts
After buying the clubhouse in 1892, the German singing society Schillerbund Gesangverein hires architects Kurtzer & Rohl to redesign the facade with cast-iron ornamentation, including busts of Mendelssohn, Mozart, and Beethoven. The renovated building, valued at $45,000, formally reopens on November 15, 1892, and the group counts about 400 singing members by 1895.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1905
Newsboys' King Jack Sullivan opens a clubhouse and gym for young newsboys
On December 2, 1905, John "Jack" Sullivan, known as the King of the Newsboys, opens a gymnasium and clubhouse in the building for New York's newspaper sellers, some as young as seven. The club offers shelter, schooling, and athletics, adding a six-part first-aid course in 1909. It closes when its lease expires in May 1911.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1969
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club relocates into the building
Ellen Stewart's La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, which she founded in 1961 as Cafe La MaMa, moves into 74 East 4th Street in 1969. The company becomes known for staging avant-garde work, eventually mounting thousands of productions and winning dozens of Obie Awards. The city designates the building a landmark in March 2009.
Further reading
- Aschenbroedel Verein -- 74 East 4th StreetDaytonian in Manhattan
- 74 East 4th StreetVillage Preservation: East Village Building Blocks
- ASCHENBRÖDEL HALL, East VillageForgotten New York
Nearby
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- La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club74 East 4th Street | 4 entries
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- Fortnight Institute21 East 3rd Street | 1 entry