Paulette Goddard Hall

79 Washington Square East | also 43 West 4th Street, 80 Washington Square East | Greenwich Village | built 1900

Open on the map4 entries

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

1. 1879

   Fall

   Lucius Tuckerman builds an apartment house exclusively for bachelors

   Iron manufacturer Lucius Tuckerman has McKim, Mead & Bigelow design a red-brick apartment house for unmarried men at 80 Washington Square East, finished in the fall. Its 33 apartments rent for $350 to $550 a year, and it offers a 24-hour elevator and maid service but no plumbing. It soon gets the nickname "the Benedick," borrowed from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, where the character is a confirmed bachelor, and fills with artists, among them Winslow Homer and Albert Pinkham Ryder.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

2. 1925

   New York University buys the Benedick

   New York University purchases the Benedick, which had housed bachelors and artists since 1879. A photograph from that year shows it in use as the university's Student Building.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

3. 1927

   NYU converts the Benedick into a dormitory

   Two years after buying the building, and after first proposing to tear it down, NYU turns it into a student dormitory. At some point its cast-iron bay windows are removed.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

4. 1974

   NYU reopens the building as the 80 Washington Square East Galleries

   After the school plans demolition a second time in 1969, the building escapes and is renovated as the 80 Washington Square East Galleries. It showcases thesis exhibitions by MA and MFA candidates in the Department of Art and Art Professions.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

• The 1834 Wm. Cooke House -- 41 West 4th StreetDaytonian in Manhattan
• The Benedick - New York's 1879 Bachelor Pad, 80 Washington Square EastDaytonian in Manhattan

Nearby

• Silver Center, former home of the Grey Art Gallery82 Washington Square East | 8 entries
• Brown Building29 Washington Place | 12 entries
• Silver Center32 Waverly Place | 3 entries
• Bobst Library70 Washington Square South | 12 entries
• Carter Hall10 Washington Place | 6 entries
• Warren Weaver Hall251 Mercer Street | 2 entries

All 518 buildings with stories in Greenwich Village