our building
back when
The block on which our building stands was formerly part of the Greenwich Village land holdings of Abijah Hammond, the western, underwater portion of which he acquired in 1821. It was extended by landfill and later plotted and sold by Hammond in 1827. Hammond was an American artillery officer in the Revolutionary War in the Continental line. After the war, he became a merchant and real estate investor active in various endeavors important to the development of New York, including fighting for the abolition of slavery.
During the 1830s-1840s the far western section of Greenwich Village, where we live, was built up with residences for the middle and professional classes, industry, and transportation- and maritime-related commerce.
The building known now as 377 West 11th Street was initially built as a garage in 1915, used on and off as a storage facility, converted to a Federal prison in 1929, and later converted to a residential co-op in 1981.
Although we know our address as 377 West 11th Street, in city records it is alternatively known as 437 West Street. Interestingly, one resident notes that “unless the City has finally updated their maps, they still don’t know that there is a corner of 11th and West Streets.” Apparently, he, “tried calling the Streets department to report a broken streetlight about two years ago and was told that 377 West 11th Street didn’t exist!”
A map from the 1940s shows it designated as Department of Justice Detention Quarters. (https://1940s.nyc/map/photo)
the prison 1939 - 1971
We are lucky to have an old photo of our building in the 1940s when it served as a jail. You can see the caged outdoor ‘exercise pen’ on the roof as well as the secured windows. And the overhang of the elevated highway in the top corner. See original source: https://1940s.nyc/map/photo
As a detention center for all Federal prisoners arrested in the New York‐New Jersey area, it was designed to hold about 130 men who were either awaiting court appearances or transfer to regular Federal penitentiaries. Apparently, it was an undermanned, overcrowded three‐story facility that held as many as 330 prisoners and experienced prison breaks in the 1950s and later in the 1970s.
The New York Times ran a couple of articles about prison breaks from the jail in 1970, in which one of the inmates broke his leg, jumping from the roof, only to be subsequently apprehended on Bank Street. The warden reported that, “The prisoners were wearing khaki shirts and trousers, Army surplus garments that are the regular prison garb and “not unusual for Greenwich Village streetwear”.” Sounds a little like today!
NYT 2/8/70
NYT 6/30/70
sidebar…
There’s a great story from one of our current residents who recalls being dropped off in a cab once, way back, and when she was in front of the building, the driver told her he had once stayed in the building.
She asked who he knew in the building, and he said he was in for a check forgery!
from jail to co-op apartment building
An additional floor was built on top of the original structure in the late ‘70s. A picture taken at that time shows the 4th floor added where previously there had been the prison’s caged exercise yard. (https://1940s.nyc/map/photo)
In 1981 the building converted to a residential co-op and the apartments for sale were advertised in New York Magazine. See the ad kindly provided by one of our current residents. Another resident has kept the original offering brochure for the building which is pictured below. To see it in detail, click here.
At one point there was interest in Far West Village becoming historically landmarked and there were a number of named warehouses sited as “historical” on the streets around us, but our building was not one of them. For more details on landmarking in our neighborhood, see the Neighborhood section of the site.
“I remember when…”
How wonderful that some of the residents that live here today date back to the time that the building first became residential!
A resident on the 3rd floor sums up the flavor of our neighborhood at that time when he recalls “the dilapidated elevated west side highway, the leather bar, and garbage truck garages across the street”.
Another resident on the first floor remembers that:
“Right as the building was becoming residential, the old elevated West Side Highway came down. It had been closed for a while cause a piece of it had collapsed. I used to jog on the elevated before moving here, when I lived in Soho.”
Additionally,
“After the elevated came down, there was a proposal for Westway, which involved putting West Side Highway underground and creating additional landfill across the street for more park space and possible real estate development. The striped bass won out, after a number of years, project was dropped. So, we ended up with the boulevard highway which took a while to build, and the southside was redone almost immediately cause of bad concrete that vendors provided. It was a messy business to live through for all of us. But a safer highway - fewer entrances into road, so you couldn’t turn south from 11th Street anymore and cut down on the number of traffic accidents considerably.”
Further recollections underscore how ‘dubious’ the area was when the building first became residential:
“When we moved here in 1984-85, my friends thought we were crazy cause they didn’t see the appeal of the area. There was a chemical factory across the street, and a private trash carting company next door to us on 11th with garbage trucks going in and out, mostly at night. It did feel safe though cause of the activity there.”
And the efforts of our early residents contributed to the beautiful park we now enjoy across the road. One of them who still lives on the first floor, regales:
“At one point, area residents got huge rolls of green astro turf and staged an appeal for a Greenway and parks across the street. We unrolled the astroturf and held it across the street all the way to at least West Houston, with signs asking to develop park areas.”
Concluding that “The community around here in this neighborhood has always been strong.”
Even as recently as the early 2000s the Hudson River Park did not exist. One resident shares,
“The strip along the highway across from our building, being midway between the gay scene on Christopher Street and the nightclub and transvestite activity in the Meatpacking District, was renowned for the transsexual prostitutes who plied their trade to passersby.”
One ground floor resident recalls:
“The transvestite hookers weren’t just across West Street. We used to see them, in the early days, working right out our window on the corner of 11th and West. One time I had picked up my former sister-in-law at Penn Station and had to park on West. As I turned the corner with her, one of the locals stated, rather loudly, “Dis mah corner, bitch!””
With the opening of the Hudson River Park outside our building in 2003 our area quickly changed to become a coveted location to live. Although one resident confesses: “I kinda miss the seediness. It felt more authentically New York-y.”
Since converting to a residential co-op building in 1981, our building has evolved from being the home to eclectic and bohemian artists, pioneering young professionals and progressives prepared to live among garbage trucks and decrepit wharves, to becoming a highly sought-after residence for those who simply love the downtown environment and who are fortunate enough to enjoy the incredible location on the Hudson River Park, overlooking the river and sunsets.