This complex, the former Hotel Albert, consists of four buildings at 23 East 10th Street/40-52 East 11th Street/65-67 University Place. The first, a set of five-story altered row houses, was designed by James Irving Howard and constructed by Albert Rosenbaum. Rosenbaum also constructed the second building, an eight-story “French Flat” designed by Henry Hardenbergh. Originally used for residential purposes, this building was innovative in its use of apartment house design for middle- or upper-class residents. Buchman & Fox architects designed a twelve-story Beaux-Arts style extension. The final section, a six-story neo-Colonial building, was designed by William L. Bottomly and the firm of Sugarman & Hess. The buildings were constructed in 1875-76, 1881-82, 1903-1904, and 1922-1924, respectively. From the 1880s through the early 1970s, the Hotel played a large role in New York City’s cultural life. During the postwar era, prominent painters, writers, photographers, and musicians found inspiration at the hotel. Queer and African-American artists established communities here, as did radical, Jewish, and working-class organizations such as the Progressive Labor Party. For a brief period, the hotel hosted dramatic productions at the “Albert Theatre.”

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