(l. to r.) 80, 82, 84, and 86 University Place. No. 80 was constructed c. 1841-42 as a private house. In later years it housed a hotel, the home and office of the first woman doctor in America, and the offices of the Village Voice newspaper. The influential publishing house Grove Press moved here in 1964, publishing Alex Haley’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Jacqueline Susann’s The Valley of the Dolls while here. No. 82 was originally constructed as a three-story Greek Revival row house for owner Masterton & Smith in 1841-42. In 1939 it was reduced to one story, and in 2009 altered to eight stories. This was the final location of the renowned Cedar Tavern, a central gathering spot for the “New York School” of writers and artists. No. 84 is a seven-story Romanesque Revival–style loft built in 1894 by Louis Korn, architect of many landmarked NYC buildings. Graphic designer and artist Stanley Glaubach had a studio here, and Charles Cheriff Galleries was located here for nearly a century. No. 86 began as a four-story private house built in 1840 with a fifth floor added in 1880 and the two-story commercial addition in front added in 1919. It housed one of New York’s most prominent philanthropists of the 19th century who helped establish some of the city’s great institutions. The commercial space housed one of the city’s most popular speakeasies, and later a lesbian bar frequented by well-known authors Audre Lorde and Ann Brannon.

For more information on the history of these and other buildings South of Union Square, click here.

See all Architecture of South of Union Square photos here.

Photo by Dylan Chandler
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