National Register of Historic Places

Ottendorfer Public Library and Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital

New York, New York County, New York
Listed
July 21, 1979
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
79001607

About this property

The Ottendorfer Public Library and Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital are a pair of historic buildings at 135 and 137 Second Avenue in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The buildings house the Ottendorfer Branch of the New York Public Library, as well as the women's workspace The Wing within the former Stuyvesant Polyclinic hospital until the company's cessation of operations in 2022. The buildings were jointly designed by German-born architect William Schickel in the neo-Italian Renaissance style. Both structures are three stories tall with a facade of Philadelphia pressed brick facades ornamented in terracotta. The hospital building features terracotta busts of several notable medical professionals. The structures were erected in 1883–84 following a donation by philanthropists Oswald Ottendorfer and Anna Ottendorfer. The library was the second branch of the New York Free Circulating Library, while the hospital was affiliated with the German Hospital uptown, now Lenox Hill Hospital. Both structures served the Little Germany enclave of Lower Manhattan. The hospital was sold in 1906 to another medical charity, the German Polyklinik; the name was changed to Stuyvesant Polyclinic in the 1910s. The buildings were restored numerous times in their history. The structures received three separate New York City landmark designations in 1976, 1977, and 1981, and were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Location

135 and 137 2nd Ave.
New York, New York County, New York
40.72977, -73.98712

Categories

HEALTH/MEDICINEEDUCATIONARCHITECTURESOCIAL HISTORY
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

St.-Marks-In-The-Bowery
Industrial
0 mi
Saint Mark's Historic District (Boundary Increase)
Listed
0.1 mi
Fish, Hamilton, House
Industrial
0.1 mi
St. Mark's Historic District
Listed
0.1 mi
Yiddish Art Theatre
Industrial
0.1 mi

Nearby Battles

Battle of Kip's Bay
1776Revolutionary War
1.3 mi

Questions about this property

When was Ottendorfer Public Library and Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital listed on the National Register?

Ottendorfer Public Library and Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 21, 1979.

What type of historic resource is Ottendorfer Public Library and Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital?

Ottendorfer Public Library and Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Ottendorfer Public Library and Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital?

The period of significance for Ottendorfer Public Library and Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital is recorded as the industrial era.

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