Max Meltzer Tower

94 East 1st Street | also 117 East 2nd Street | East Village | built 1971

Open on the map4 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

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.

  1. 1971

    August

    Max Meltzer Tower opens as a 20-story NYCHA residence for seniors

    Designed by Morris Ketchum & Associates, the tower is completed in August 1971 and used only for senior housing. It is named for Max Meltzer (1908-1962), a Lower East Side lawyer and community leader. The building stands between East 1st and 2nd Streets and between First Avenue and Avenue A.

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 2013

    March 13

    The city proposes leasing the tower's landscaped seating area for a new building with 97 apartments

    At a resident meeting on March 13, 2013, city officials present a plan to lease the landscaped seating area beside the tower to a private developer. The site of about 13,000 square feet would hold 121,500 square feet of housing, 97 apartments, and 18,500 square feet of commercial space. Officials point to the tower's $10.5 million in unmet capital needs over five years and promise a redesigned plaza and emergency power.

    Source: evgrieve.com

  3. 2013

    Friends of Meltzer launch a petition to save the park and its two dozen mature trees

    By late April 2013 a group calling itself Friends of Meltzer is circulating a petition against the housing authority's infill plan. It argues that the plan would destroy a park next to the tower with more than two dozen fully grown trees, and would deprive the tower's low-income senior residents of air, light, space and recreation facilities.

    Source: evgrieve.com

  4. 2022

    The tower is chosen for the PACT program and $23 million in repairs

    In 2022 the housing authority selects Meltzer Tower for its Permanent Affordability Commitment Together program, which brings $23,000,000 for repairs and renovations. The work covers apartments, roofs, windows, elevators, the lobby, landscaping, water systems, heaters and stairs.

    “In 2022, the tower was selected for the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program for $23,000,000 in repairs and renovations…”

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 572 buildings with stories in East Village