GVSHP | Preservation | East Village | Stuyvesant Polyclinic

Protecting Stuyvesant Polyclinic, 137 2nd Avenue, An East Village Landmark

GVSHP is pleased to report that after several years in limbo and several inappropriate proposals for the building and some poor maintenance (see here), the landmarked former Stuyvesant Polyclinic has been respectfully restored and is once again fully occupied. While it is unfortunate that the building no longer serves a charitable purpose as originally intended, the new long-term tenants, the London-based consulting firm "What If," seem to have gone to great pains to restore the building to its former glory -- see here.

Protecting an East Village Landmark, the former Stuyvesant Polyclinic at 137 Second Avenue: GVSHP has been monitoring plans by a succession of owners for the now-empty Stuyvesant Polyclinic at 137 Second Avenue (at 9th Street), one of the East Village's earliest and most important landmarks (see below and here). Late last year, GVSHP discovered the new owner had filed plans to turn the clinic for the poor into a dorm and add three stories atop it (see www.thevillager.com/villager_192/eastvillageseemsdormed.html). After letting the owner know that such a plan would face stiff opposition, the plan was dropped. Then, GVSHP discovered the owner exploring other options for the historic site that included a bar or club (see www.thevillager.com/villager_213/polyclinicdeveloper.html). After publicly expressing reservations about this scheme, the owner then dropped this plan as well. Now, we have discovered the landmark property has been sold to an as-yet-undisclosed owner, for an as-yet-undisclosed use (see www.thevillager.com/villager_228/wasit16thoption.html).

GVSHP will continue to closely monitor the situation to try to ensure the integrity of this precious landmark. We are pushing for zoning changes before the City right now for the East Village that would help guarantee that no inappropriate additions are added onto the structure, and we will advocate vigorously to ensure that landmark protections for the building are strictly enforced and adhered to. The owner has also left the building in increasingly deplorable conditions, leaving the gates and stairwells around the building open and allowing garbage to accumulate in them, which GVSHP has reported to the City for immediate enforcement action.

GVSHP has been closely monitoring plans for the old Stuyvesant Polyclinic building at 137 Second Avenue, an individual New York City landmark built in 1883-4 by William Schickel as the Deutches (German) Dispensary. Along with it's companion the neighboring landmarked Ottendorfer Branch of the New York Public Library at 135 Second Avenue, it was commissioned by Anna and Oswald Ottendorfer, philanthropists concerned with the welfare of New York's German immigrant community, when this area was known as "Kleine Deutchland," or Little Germany. The clinic was closed in 2005 and plans for the building by the new owner have been unclear. GVSHP has requested a meeting with the owner to discuss new plans for the building.

Protecting the East Village