Sunday, April 4, 2010

northern dispensary

Building where Poe was a patient remains a mystery

By Alex Schmidt
As Manhattan’s grid begins to give way to a jumble of old Village streets west of Sixth Ave., Waverly Pl. turns from east-west to northwest. For a tiny stretch until it hits southeast-running Grove St., however, Waverly Pl. also continues on its east-west path, forming a small three-sided space bounded by the fork of Waverly Pl. on two sides and Grove and Christopher Sts. on the other. A three-sided building, the Northern Dispensary, occupies that triangle. It stands, filled with dust and rusting dental equipment, on the border between the colossal vertical development of the city that necessitated 90-degree angles, and the organic streets of Greenwich Village’s stout provincial past.

10 comments:

Louis la Vache said...

Mme la Vache et «Louis» wish you a Blessed Easter.

Hilda said...

Three sided? That sounds like a very interesting building. But abandoned too? Beautiful night photo, KM.

Lori Skoog said...

Good evening Ken Mac! I love the light in this shot...even like what you said about the building. Nice.
Hope all is well in the big city.

Rob said...

Interesting architecture. Hopefully a new tenant will take it over.

dianasfaria.com said...

I have to go check this out in person now. I'd love to see the inside of this place too.
Cool shot Ken Mac.

T. Becque said...

Especially like the blurred lines!

Anonymous said...

As if dental equipment isn't creepy enough without the rust. I'd love to get a look at the inside.

Judy said...

Such a unique building shouldn't be sitting empty. Poe, hmmmm....maybe it isn't empty at all. ;)

Eleonora Baldwin said...

I don't know what makes this place more interesting, the 3-sided floorplan, the fact that Poe (wow!) was a patient here, or that it is still standing, abandoned.

Fascinating.

Anonymous said...

It was specially registered at a forum to participate in discussion of this question.