Trenches for the high pressure water system along East Houston Street, between Mulberry and Mott Streets; undated photo.

The Houston Street elevated station of the Third Avenue El is visible in the distance. At left, in the storefront of No. 50, is the tin shop of Niklas Hupfer. A few years earlier, in January 1894, an early-morning fire broke out in the basement of the five-story tenement building. The New York Times attributed the blaze to an errant cigar butt, and each of the building's 27 residents were fortunate to escape. Sgt. John Kellaher, on watch duty at Police Headquarters around the block, was credited with quick and decisive actions helping to avert loss of life.

The buildings at left, on the north side of the street, were all demolished in late 1929, ahead of construction for the IND Sixth Avenue Line's Houston—Essex segment. IND construction led to the permanent widening of the Houston Street thoroughfare.