76 2nd Avenue

East Village | built 1928

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.

1912
October 5
Gangster Big Jack Zelig takes a call at Segal's Cafe, an earlier building on this site, and is shot dead on a trolley
Segal's Cafe, an earlier building on this lot, is a hangout of gang leader Jack Zelig. On October 5, 1912, an anonymous caller asks him to come to 14th Street, so he boards an uptown trolley on Second Avenue. Near East 13th Street Phil Davidson shoots him in the back of the head. Zelig is 24, and many believe he was silenced to keep him from testifying against Lt. Charles Becker.
“Zelig was hanging out at Segal's Cafe (76 Second Avenue, now a church), when he received an anonymous phone call requesting his presence on 14th street.”
Source: Wikipedia
1928
A cabaret is built at 76 Second Avenue and, in 1962, becomes a church
The three-story building here is put up in 1928 by Ambach, Inc., designed by Paul Fein, as a cabaret. In 1962 it is converted into a church. A tax photo from the 1940s shows the building half a story taller than it is today. That extra half floor was demolished at some point between the 1940s and 1980s, around the time the facade was resurfaced and, probably, the storefront and window openings were reworked.
Source: buildingblocks.villagepreservation.org

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