It looks like there used to be much more space to the right of your building in the old picture. Did that get sold off, or was that never part of the lot? From the look of the fence (which I love), it appears that it used to be part of the lot. If so, such a shame that they built up so close on that side.

Thanks for sharing your reno with us. Now I can get my fix again. It just hasn't been the same around here without a reno blog.

1939-40 those photos were taken

Man, those chimneys are tall!

Well, they were tall. If you look at the more recent photos, two of them were nowhere to be seen by the time I bought the building. The other two were tilting inward to an uncomfortable degree and had to be removed. I'd like to put something back that looks like chimenys so it like the tax photo, but those chimneys were monsterously tall and part of an antiquated heating system.

My tax photos are missing from the file down in the Dept. of Finance, does anyone know if there's another way to get an old photo of one's building?

That's a toughie. Try the Department of Records, where I ordered my photos from. Their full size, 8"x10" reproductions kick the ass of those little thumbnails from DOF.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/html/taxphotos/home.shtml

i used to live across the street from that building. i remember when people lived in that building.