← Back

Changing Views on Seventh Avenue South

sheridan
Seventh Avenue South and Grove Street in 1933. Image via NYPL.

The image above was taken in 1933. It’s a view looking across Seventh Avenue South, northwest toward Grove Street. In addition to the price of gasoline (eight gallons for $1.05 at the ‘Sheridan’ Shell gas station in the photo), some other changes have occurred to the view from this location over the past eighty-one years.

As the photo below from today shows, the view toward Grove Street and the three 3-story buildings in the center of the image (which were built in 1839 for an attorney and were originally part of a row of five), is now obstructed by a low-scale commercial building.

The view today. The five-story apartment building at Seventh Ave. South and Grove Street with its distinctive raised cornice remains intact.
The view today. The five-story apartment building at Seventh Ave. South and Grove Street with its distinctive raised cornice remains intact.

That commercial building with retail on the ground floor and offices above was built later in 1933 and was designed by architect Matthew W. DelGaudio. It contains some nice art deco flourishes in the terra cotta-topped vertical elements (see detail below). DelGaudio also designed the nearby Our Lady of Pompeii Church at Bleecker Street and Carmine Street among other buildings in the city. According to the Greenwich Village Historic District designation report,  this lot along Seventh Avenue South was formerly the site of six-story factory that was razed when Seventh Avenue South was cut through and extended southward.

Terra cotta ornaments on the Seventh Avenue South building.
Terra cotta ornaments on the Seventh Avenue South building.

The ‘Sheridan’ Shell gas station in the foreground of the 1933 photo has since been replaced with a row of restaurants that today include SushiSamba, Organika, and Garage Restaurant & Café.

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *