{{short description|Historic buildings in Manhattan, New York}} {{good article}} {{Use American English|date=June 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Ottendorfer Public Library and Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital | nrhp_type = | image = Ottendorfer Public Library and Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital (51660565423).jpg | image_size = | caption = Ottendorfer Public Library (left) and Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital (right) | location = 135 and 137 2nd Avenue, Manhattan, New York | coordinates = {{coord|40|43|47|N|73|59|15|W|region:US-NY_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | district_map = {{Maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=300|frame-height=300|zoom=14|type=point|marker=|title=Ottendorfer Library, Stuyvesant Polyclinic}} | built = 1883-84 | architect = William Schickel | architecture = Late Victorian<br />Queen Anne<br />Italian Renaissance Revival | added = July 22, 1979<ref name=nrhpdoc/> | refnum = 79001607<ref name="nris"/><ref name=nrhpdoc>{{cite report|type=none|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319810 |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: New York SP Ottendorfer Public Library and Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital|publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |author= Joan Olshansky and Elizabeth Spencer-Ralph|date= October 1978| access-date=November 9, 2025 }} ({{NationalArchivesNote}})</ref> | designated_other2 = New York City Landmark | designated_other2_date = '''Hospital:''' November 9, 1976<br />'''Library:''' September 20, 1977<br />'''Library interior:''' August 11, 1981 | designated_other2_number = 0924, 0969, 1168 }}
The '''Ottendorfer Public Library and Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital''' are a pair of historic buildings at 135 and 137 Second Avenue in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The buildings house the '''Ottendorfer Branch''' of the New York Public Library, as well as the women's workspace The Wing within the former '''Stuyvesant Polyclinic''' hospital until the company's cessation of operations in 2022.<ref name=Gerstein2022>{{cite news |last1=Gerstein |first1=Julie |title=Gone girl(boss): Troubled co-working space The Wing announced it's shutting down, but all anybody cares about is what will happen to its furniture |url=https://www.insider.com/coworking-space-the-wing-announces-shut-down-2022-8 |publisher=Insider |date=August 30, 2022}}</ref>
The buildings were jointly designed by German-born architect William Schickel in the neo-Italian Renaissance style. Both structures are three stories tall with a facade of Philadelphia pressed brick facades ornamented in terracotta. The hospital building features terracotta busts of several notable medical professionals.
The structures were erected in 1883–84 following a donation by philanthropists Oswald Ottendorfer and Anna Ottendorfer. The library was the second branch of the New York Free Circulating Library, while the hospital was affiliated with the German Hospital uptown, now Lenox Hill Hospital. Both structures served the Little Germany enclave of Lower Manhattan. The hospital was sold in 1906 to another medical charity, the ''German Polyklinik''; the name was changed to ''Stuyvesant Polyclinic'' in the 1910s. The buildings were restored numerous times in their history. The structures received three separate New York City landmark designations in 1976, 1977, and 1981, and were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
==History==
In the late 19th century, the modern East Village and the Lower East Side neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan collectively became known as "Little Germany" ({{langx|de|Kleindeutschland|links=no}}) because of the large concentration of German immigrants in the neighborhoods.<ref name="Nadel 1990">{{Cite book|last=Nadel|first=Stanley|url=https://archive.org/details/littlegermanyeth0000nade|title=Little Germany: Ethnicity, Religion, and Class in New York City, 1845-80|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=1990|isbn=0-252-01677-7|location=Urbana|pages=29|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="NPS p. 8">{{harvnb|National Park Service|1979|ps=.|p=8}}</ref> The German Dispensary was founded on the Lower East Side in 1857.<ref name="NPS p. 8" /><ref name="NYCL (1976) p. 1" /><ref>{{cite book|last=King|first=Moses|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MEEAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA488|title=Kings Handbook of New York City|publisher=Moses King|year=1893|series=King's Handbook of New York City: An Outline History and Description of the American Metropolis; with Over One Thousand Illustrations|page=488|access-date=July 7, 2020|issue=v. 1|archive-date=September 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200910124923/https://books.google.com/books?id=MEEAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA488|url-status=live}}</ref> The German Dispensary was one of many dispensaries to be founded in New York City during the mid-19th century, and it provided free medical care to the area's German immigrants on the model of the Northern Dispensary in Greenwich Village.<ref name="inside" /><ref name="NPS p. 8" /><ref name="NYCL (1976) p. 1">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1976|ps=.|p=1}}</ref> After the dispensary's charter was changed in 1866, the Lower East Side dispensary became a branch of the German Hospital, now the Lenox Hill Hospital, whose main location was on the Upper East Side.<ref name="NPS p. 8" /><ref name="NYCL (1976) p. 1" /><ref>{{cite book|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433090742259?urlappend=%3Bseq=528|title=Laws of the State of New York passed at the sessions of the Legislature. 89th sess|date=1866|publisher=New York State Legislature|volume=1|page=524|hdl=2027/nyp.33433090742259?urlappend=%3Bseq=528|access-date=July 8, 2020|via=HathiTrust|archive-date=September 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200910124927/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433090742259;seq=528|url-status=live}}</ref>
The city also had numerous private libraries, such as the Astor Library and Lenox Library, but few libraries for the general public, especially for immigrants and the poor.<ref name="NYCL (1977) p. 2">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1977|ps=.|p=2}}</ref><ref name="NPS p. 9">{{harvnb|National Park Service|1979|ps=.|p=9}}</ref> One of the first general-public libraries to be established in New York City was the New York Free Circulating Library (NYFCL), having been incorporated in 1880,<ref name="NYCL (1977) p. 2" /><ref name="NPS p. 9" /><ref name="Lydenberg p. 2152">{{harvnb|Lydenberg|1917|ps=.|p=215}}</ref> with its first branch opening on Bond Street in Lower Manhattan that year.<ref name="Lydenberg p. 217">{{harvnb|Lydenberg|1917|ps=.|p=217}}</ref>
=== Construction === thumb|The buildings in 1893 Oswald Ottendorfer, a German immigrant and publisher of the ''New Yorker Staats-Zeitung'', the city's largest German-language newspaper, and his wife Anna Ottendorfer had acquired the land for the buildings in 1883.<ref name="NYCL (1977) p. 3">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1977|ps=.|p=3}}</ref><ref name="NPS p. 10">{{harvnb|National Park Service|1979|ps=.|p=10}}</ref> Initially, only the clinic was proposed to be built on the site. However, the clinic would occupy only part of the Ottendorfer plot, so Anna Ottendorfer proposed building a branch of the NYFCL on the additional plot, retaining ownership of the land.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="NYCL (1977) p. 3" /><ref name="NPS p. 10" /> The Ottendorfers intended to construct the buildings as a gift to the city,<ref name="inside" /><ref name="nycland" /> and Anna Ottendorfer personally selected William Schickel as the architect of the buildings.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="NYCL (1976) p. 2">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1976|ps=.|p=2}}</ref> Plans were filed by May 1883, with the buildings projected to cost $75,000.<ref name="rer18830526" /> Of the couple, Oswald was more closely involved with the library, personally selecting its book collection, while Anna was more involved with the clinic.<ref name="NPS p. 10" />
Anna Ottendorfer died in April 1884 before either project was completed, but in her will, she gave the German Hospital $10,000.<ref>{{Cite news|date=April 9, 1884|title=Mrs. Ottendorfer's Estate.; a Will Which Bequeaths Large Sums to Charity.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1884/04/09/archives/mrs-ottendorfers-estate-a-will-which-bequeaths-large-sums-to.html|access-date=July 7, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707123133/https://www.nytimes.com/1884/04/09/archives/mrs-ottendorfers-estate-a-will-which-bequeaths-large-sums-to.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On May 12, 1884, Oswald Ottendorfer wrote a letter to the NYFCL's trustees detailing the proposed gift to the library. The gift included $10,000 in 7% railroad bonds and furnishings for the branch, which was to include a reading room. An accompanying condition was that the reading material in German be maintained sufficiently, and German-speaking staff be in attendance. The NYFCL's trustees accepted the gift and its terms on May 16, 1884.<ref name="Lydenberg p. 221">{{harvnb|Lydenberg|1917|ps=.|p=221}}</ref> By mid-1884, the NYFCL had control of the library.<ref name="NYCL (1981) p. 3">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|ps=.|p=3}}</ref><ref name="NPS p. 11">{{harvnb|National Park Service|1979|ps=.|p=11}}</ref><ref name="Cutter 1884 p. 210"/>{{efn|The National Park Service and New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission state that the Ottendorfers gave the under-construction library building to the NYFCL on January 10, 1884.<ref name="NYCL (1981) p. 3"/><ref name="NPS p. 11"/> However, a contemporary magazine states that the NYFCL took title to the library on June 10.<ref name="Cutter 1884 p. 210">{{cite book|last=Cutter|first=C.A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vU8FAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PA210|title=The Library Journal Official Organ of the American Library Association|year=1884|volume=9|page=210}}</ref>}}
The Stuyvesant Clinic was completed first, on May 25, 1884.<ref>{{cite news|date=May 25, 1884|title=Mrs. Ottendorfer's Charity|page=12|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/54976864/|access-date=July 4, 2020|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com {{open access}}|archive-date=September 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200910124925/https://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/54976864/mrs-ottendorfers-charity/|url-status=live}}</ref> The clinic's opening served partially a memorial for Anna Ottendorfer, its main benefactor.<ref name="NYCL (1976) p. 2" /><ref name="NPS p. 11" /><ref>{{Cite news|date=May 28, 1882|title=A Lady's Liberality.; Mrs. Anna Ottendorfer's Gift to the German Hospital.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1882/05/28/archives/a-ladys-liberality-mrs-anna-ottendorfers-gift-to-the-german.html|access-date=July 7, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707151216/https://www.nytimes.com/1882/05/28/archives/a-ladys-liberality-mrs-anna-ottendorfers-gift-to-the-german.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Ottendorfer Library opened on December 7, 1884;<ref name="Lydenberg p. 226">{{harvnb|Lydenberg|1917|ps=.|p=226}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> the library's opening ceremony attended by visitors such as British peer Henry Edward Pellew and city planner Andrew Haswell Green.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|date=December 7, 1884|title=Mrs. Ottendorfer's Gift.; the New Branch of the New-York Free Circulating Library.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1884/12/07/archives/mrs-ottendorfers-gift-the-new-branch-of-the-newyork-free.html|access-date=July 7, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708020637/https://www.nytimes.com/1884/12/07/archives/mrs-ottendorfers-gift-the-new-branch-of-the-newyork-free.html|url-status=live}}</ref> It became the second branch of the NYFCL, after the Bond Street Library.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Lydenberg p. 226" />
=== Late 19th and early 20th centuries ===
==== Library ==== When the Ottendorfer Library opened, it had a collection of 8,819 volumes of which 4,035 were in German and 4,784 were in English.<ref name="Cutter 1884 p. 210" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name="Lydenberg p. 222">{{harvnb|Lydenberg|1917|ps=.|p=222}}</ref> There was space for 15,000 volumes, a main reading room, and a smaller reference room.<ref name="Cutter 1884 p. 210" /> Patrons who were at least 12 years old could borrow a single book weekly "with references".<ref name=":1" /> At the time, the librarians felt that the poor population could not be trusted to take out books themselves, as in an open-shelf system. As such, the original stacks were closed to the public and only librarians could retrieve books.<ref name="NYCL (1981) p. 6" /> Nevertheless, the library circulated 95,316 volumes to 3,279 people in its first eleven months, and only lost four books in that time.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6oAzAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA651|title=The American Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year ...|publisher=D. Appleton|year=1887|page=651|access-date=July 9, 2020|issue=v. 26}}</ref> The NYFCL's central bindery was installed in the Ottendorfer Library's basement in 1887.<ref name="NYCL (1977) p. 4">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1977|ps=.|p=4}}</ref><ref name="NPS p. 12">{{harvnb|National Park Service|1979|ps=.|p=12}}</ref>
Schickel designed an expansion to the library in 1897, which contained a series of iron stacks with thick glass floors, surrounding a central shaft.<ref name=":1" /> It used an open-shelf model, wherein patrons could retrieve the books themselves rather than ask librarians for help.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="NYCL (1977) p. 4" /><ref name="NPS p. 12" /> A separate children's room was also established at the Ottendorfer branch, following the popularity of children's libraries at the NYFCL's 34th Street branch.<ref name="Lydenberg p. 230">{{harvnb|Lydenberg|1917|ps=.|p=230}}</ref> After Oswald Ottendorfer died in 1900, he bequeathed $20,000 to the library and the hospital.<ref>{{Cite news|date=January 25, 1901|title=Oswald Ottendorfer's Public Bequests; Will of Staats-Zeitung's Proprietor Offered for Probate|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1901/01/25/archives/oswald-ottendorfers-public-bequests-will-of-staatszeitungs.html|url-status=live|access-date=July 8, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708215646/https://www.nytimes.com/1901/01/25/archives/oswald-ottendorfers-public-bequests-will-of-staatszeitungs.html}}</ref> In 1901, the eleven branches of the NYFCL system, including the Ottendorfer branch, became part of the NYPL.<ref name="NYCL (1977) p. 4" /><ref name="NPS p. 12" /><ref>{{cite book|author=New York Public Library|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DT9FAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA49|title=Hand Book to the New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations|publisher=The Library|year=1916|page=71|access-date=July 9, 2020|archive-date=September 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200910124924/https://books.google.com/books?id=DT9FAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA49|url-status=live}}</ref> The next year, the library began circulating Russian language books.<ref>{{Cite news|date=April 20, 1902|title=Russian Books for Circulation|language=en-US|page=4|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54984468/|url-status=live|access-date=July 8, 2020|issn=0362-4331|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}|archive-date=September 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200910124940/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54984468/russian-books-for-circulation/}}</ref> As other immigrant groups moved to the surrounding neighborhood, the library started circulating books in other languages, such as Czech/Slovak, Chinese, French, Italian, Polish, Spanish, and Ukrainian.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Anderson|first1=Susan Heller|last2=Dunlap|first2=David W.|date=December 14, 1984|title=New York Day by Day; Centennial for a Library On the Lower East Side|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/14/nyregion/new-york-day-by-day-centennial-for-a-library-on-the-lower-east-side.html|url-status=live|access-date=July 9, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709201918/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/14/nyregion/new-york-day-by-day-centennial-for-a-library-on-the-lower-east-side.html}}</ref>
Few alterations were made to the library in subsequent years. A fire-proof vault was provided in the basement for preserving valuable documents and books of the library, and for the preservation of the records and papers of importance of interested German societies. The library and clinic shared water and steam-heating systems, and the library was already lit by gaslight.<ref name="NYCL (1981) p. 7">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|ps=.|p=6 (PDF p. 7)}}</ref>
==== Clinic ==== thumb|Library (left) and clinic (right) in 1968 In 1904, Werner & Windolph were hired to design a 2-story annex to the clinic on Seventh Street.<ref>{{cite magazine|date=February 20, 1904|title=Alterations|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031148_033_8.pdf|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=73|pages=406|via=columbia.edu|number=1875|access-date=July 9, 2020|archive-date=July 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708145351/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031148_033_8.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> A year later, the German Hospital began plans to build a dispensary uptown, which was closer to both the main hospital and to the Yorkville neighborhood's growing German population.<ref>{{cite news|date=June 10, 1905|title=Westchester Landmark Sold|page=4|work=New-York Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54977561/|access-date=July 9, 2020|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}|archive-date=September 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200910124948/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54977561/westchester-landmark-sold/|url-status=live}}</ref> It sold 137 Second Avenue in 1906 to another medical charity, the '''German Polyklinik'''.<ref name="NYCL (1976) p. 1" /><ref>{{Cite news|date=March 30, 1906|title=East Side Charity to Move|language=en-US|page=7|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54981453/|url-status=live|access-date=July 8, 2020|issn=0362-4331|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}|archive-date=September 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200910124951/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54981453/east-side-charity-to-move/}}</ref> The hospital's name was changed to Stuyvesant Polyclinic following the anti-German sentiment connected with the entrance of the United States into World War I.<ref name="aia" /><ref name="NYCL (1976) p. 1" /> The name was changed back to German Polyclinic in 1927,<ref>{{Cite news|date=March 18, 1927|title=Act to Give New York New German Hospital; Trustees of Stuyvesant Polyclinic Vote to Alter Its Name to German Polyclinic.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/03/18/archives/act-to-give-new-york-new-german-hospital-trustees-of-stuyvesant.html|url-status=live|access-date=July 8, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712071302/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/03/18/archives/act-to-give-new-york-new-german-hospital-trustees-of-stuyvesant.html}}</ref> following campaigning from German-American groups.<ref>{{Cite news|date=January 26, 1927|title=German Societies May Back Hospital; Movement Started to Change Stuyvesant Dispensary to German Polyclinic.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/01/26/archives/german-societies-may-back-hospital-movement-started-to-change.html|url-status=live|access-date=July 8, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709085708/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/01/26/archives/german-societies-may-back-hospital-movement-started-to-change.html}}</ref>
The Ladies' Auxiliary Society of the German Polyclinic held a fundraising drive to replace the hospital building in 1929, with the goal of raising $3 million. The initiative was supported by mayor Jimmy Walker, but ultimately did not occur.<ref>{{Cite news|date=June 29, 1929|title=Endorses Hospital Drive.; Walker Praises $3,000,000 Campaign for German Polyclinic.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/06/29/archives/endorses-hospital-drive-walker-praises-3000000-campaign-for-german.html|url-status=live|access-date=July 8, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708215644/https://www.nytimes.com/1929/06/29/archives/endorses-hospital-drive-walker-praises-3000000-campaign-for-german.html}}</ref> The clinic opened its rheumatism department in 1938,<ref>{{Cite news|date=February 28, 1938|title=New Aid for Rheumatism; Special Unit Will Open Tomorrow at Stuyvesant Polyclinic|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/02/28/archives/new-aid-for-rheumatism-special-unit-will-open-tomorrow-at.html|url-status=live|access-date=July 8, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708232102/https://www.nytimes.com/1938/02/28/archives/new-aid-for-rheumatism-special-unit-will-open-tomorrow-at.html}}</ref> and an auditorium was added to the German Polyclinic in 1941.<ref name="NYCL (1976) p. 1" /> The clinic was renamed the Stuyvesant Polyclinic again during World War II.<ref name="nydn19840319" />
=== Mid-20th century to present ===
==== Mid- and late 20th century ==== The Stuyvesant Polyclinic continued to serve the East Village and Lower East Side, having served 6 million patients by 1954.<ref>{{Cite news|date=February 26, 1954|title=Stuyvesant Polyclinic Has 6,000,000th Patient|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/02/26/archives/stuyvesant-polyclinic-has-6000000th-patient.html|access-date=July 8, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709092531/https://www.nytimes.com/1954/02/26/archives/stuyvesant-polyclinic-has-6000000th-patient.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The clinic's facade had been painted white by the 1960s. By then, the Ottendorfer Library was the oldest purpose-built library building in New York City that was still operating as a library. A ''New York Times'' article in 1964 reported that up to one-quarter of the 24,000-book collection was still in German.<ref name="nyt19641209">{{Cite news|date=December 9, 1964|title=Freie Bibliothek Is Entering Its 81stYear; Oldest House Built as a Library Here Is Stilln in Use|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/12/09/archives/freie-bibliothek-is-entering-its-81styear-oldest-house-built-as-a.html|access-date=July 6, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709014033/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/12/09/archives/freie-bibliothek-is-entering-its-81styear-oldest-house-built-as-a.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Cabrini Medical Center took over the clinic in the 1970s, and the number of visits increased from 2,800 patients in 1978 to 34,000 in 1983. By then, it was serving a variety of ethnic groups in the East Village and Lower East Side.<ref name="nydn19840319">{{cite news|last=White|first=Joyce|date=March 19, 1984|title=Lower E. Side health haven|page=107|work=New York Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54984156/|access-date=July 9, 2020|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}|archive-date=September 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200910124956/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54984156/lower-e-side-health-haven/|url-status=live}}</ref> While the clinic was no longer free, it was low-cost, with patients paying $15 to $29 per visit depending on their income.<ref>{{Cite news|date=October 9, 1983|title=Stuyvesant Polyclinic, at 100, Still Tends to Lower East Siders|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/09/nyregion/stuyvesant-polyclinic-at-100-atill-tends-to-lower-east-siders.html|url-status=live|access-date=July 8, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709022029/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/09/nyregion/stuyvesant-polyclinic-at-100-atill-tends-to-lower-east-siders.html}}</ref> When the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission considered the clinic for city-landmark status in 1976, a community group called the Citizens Committee to Keep the Ottendorfer Library Open requested that the library also be considered for landmark status. The group perceived Cabrini's purchase of the clinic as a threat to the library, especially as the NYPL was facing financial problems at the time.<ref name="nydn19760512">{{cite news|last=Mason|first=Bryant|date=May 12, 1976|title=Win Delay on Landmark Action|page=293|work=New York Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54983631/|access-date=July 9, 2020|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}|archive-date=September 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200910124956/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54983631/win-delay-on-landmark-action/|url-status=live}}</ref> The clinic became an official city landmark in 1976,<ref name="nydn19761110">{{cite news|last=King|first=Martin|date=November 10, 1976|title=Stuyvesant Polyclinic Safe For Posterity|page=143|work=New York Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54984646/|access-date=July 9, 2020|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}|archive-date=September 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200910125024/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54984646/stuyvesant-polyclinic-safe-for-posterity/|url-status=live}}</ref> followed by the library the next year.<ref name="nycland" /> When a 3-month project to replace the library's 75-year-old coal furnace was announced in 1979, the Citizens Committee group staged a protest to prevent the furnace's replacement, even producing a restraining order from the New York Supreme Court.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Bird|first=David|date=July 26, 1979|title=Library Pickets Block Removal of an Old Furnace|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/07/26/archives/library-pickets-block-removal-of-an-old-furnace-75-is-pretty-old.html|access-date=July 8, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709015804/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/07/26/archives/library-pickets-block-removal-of-an-old-furnace-75-is-pretty-old.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Ultimately, the library's interior received city landmark status in 1981.<ref name="nycland" /> The interior of the clinic underwent a $200,000 renovation three years later.<ref name="nydn19840319" />
The library was closed in October 1998 for a renovation that was slated to cost $2.1 million, which was funded by $1.6 million in city funding and a $0.5 million grant from Scherman Foundation.<ref name=":1" /> The renovation was conducted as part of the "Adopt-a-Branch" program, which had also renovated six other branches with a mixture of private and public funding. At the time of its closure, it was the busiest NYPL branch in Manhattan by circulation.<ref name="nyt20010620">{{Cite news|last=Dewan|first=Shaila K.|date=June 20, 2001|title=19th-Century Charm Saved in 21st-Century Stacks|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/20/nyregion/19th-century-charm-saved-in-21st-century-stacks.html|access-date=July 6, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707120756/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/20/nyregion/19th-century-charm-saved-in-21st-century-stacks.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Macrae-Gibson Architects devised a design that was evocative of the original appearance, while also adding other features such as new cables. The NYPL also considered expanding into the Stuyvesant Polyclinic because the fire escape in front of the library was deteriorated, but this proposal was dismissed as too expensive. At the time, Cabrini Medical Center owned both structures but rented out the library building to the NYPL for free.<ref name=":1" /> The renovation was finished by mid-2001.<ref name="nyt20010620"/>
==== 21st century ==== thumb|Seen from the sidewalk By mid-2005, ''The Villager'' reported that the hospital building might be converted to condominiums.<ref>{{cite web | last=Rosenstock | first=Bonnie | title=Mind and body finally severed, as clinic will become condos | website=thevillager.com | date=June 7, 2005 | url=http://www.thevillager.com/villager_109/mindandbodyfinally.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050729113425/http://www.thevillager.com/villager_109/mindandbodyfinally.html | archive-date=July 29, 2005 | url-status=dead | access-date=July 6, 2020}}</ref> While the rumor was false, the clinic was already searching for a buyer for its building by then.<ref>{{cite web | last=Rosenstock | first=Bonnie | title=Cabrini clinic's delayed closing doesn't ease the loss | website=thevillager.com | date=April 4, 2006 | url=http://www.thevillager.com/villager_152/cabrinicclinicdelayed.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813125640/http://www.thevillager.com/villager_152/cabrinicclinicdelayed.html | archive-date=August 13, 2006 | url-status=dead | access-date=July 6, 2020}}</ref> The hospital building was ultimately sold for $7 million in July 2006,<ref>{{cite web | last=Albertson | first=Joshua | title=Reports of Cabrini Sale Price Were FAR Too High | website=Curbed NY | date=July 11, 2005 | url=https://ny.curbed.com/2005/7/11/10613612/reports-of-cabrini-sale-price-were-far-too-high | access-date=July 6, 2020 | archive-date=July 7, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707071805/https://ny.curbed.com/2005/7/11/10613612/reports-of-cabrini-sale-price-were-far-too-high | url-status=dead }}</ref> and the clinic moved out the following month.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Rosenstock|first=Bonnie|date=May 6, 2008|title=Poly owners pitch 'eco-manse' or club, but are nailed on signs|url=https://www.amny.com/news/poly-owners-pitch-eco-manse-or-club-but-are-nailed-on-signs/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711091436/https://www.amny.com/news/poly-owners-pitch-eco-manse-or-club-but-are-nailed-on-signs/|archive-date=July 11, 2020|access-date=July 9, 2020|website=amNewYork|language=en-US}}</ref> New plans for the clinic building were revealed in January 2007. The first floor would become condominium space, while the second and third floors would be turned into student dormitories, and three additional floors for dormitories would be built.<ref>{{cite web | last=Leventhal | first=Ben | title=East Village Dorm Update: Cabrini Polyclinic Fun! | website=Curbed NY | date=January 5, 2007 | url=https://ny.curbed.com/2007/1/5/10598810/east-village-dorm-update-cabrini-polyclinic-fun | access-date=July 6, 2020 | archive-date=July 7, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707053334/https://ny.curbed.com/2007/1/5/10598810/east-village-dorm-update-cabrini-polyclinic-fun | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Rosenstock | first=Bonnie | title=East Village seems dormed; Landmark will be converted | website=thevillager.com | date=January 9, 2007 | url=http://thevillager.com/villager_192/eastvillageseemsdormed.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705150850/http://thevillager.com/villager_192/eastvillageseemsdormed.html | archive-date=July 5, 2008 | url-status=dead | access-date=July 6, 2020}}</ref> This redevelopment proposal also did not occur, and the clinic building was sold again for $7 million in September 2007.<ref>{{cite web | last=Arak | first=Joey | title=Cabrini Polyclinic Sold Again; No Dorm? | website=Curbed NY | date=September 14, 2007 | url=https://ny.curbed.com/2007/9/14/10588820/cabrini-polyclinic-sold-again-no-dorm | access-date=July 6, 2020 | archive-date=July 7, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707185250/https://ny.curbed.com/2007/9/14/10588820/cabrini-polyclinic-sold-again-no-dorm | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Rosenstock | first=Bonnie | title=Was it 16th option? Cabrini Polyclinic sold again | website=thevillager.com | date=September 18, 2007 | url=http://thevillager.com/villager_228/wasit16thoption.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912182614/http://thevillager.com/villager_228/wasit16thoption.html | archive-date=September 12, 2015 | url-status=dead | access-date=July 6, 2020}}</ref> By 2008, the clinic building was for sale yet again at a cost of $13 million, though it was marketed as a mansion.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{cite web | last=Arak | first=Joey | title=East Village Landmark Hits Market as 'Mansion' | website=Curbed NY | date=April 9, 2008 | url=https://ny.curbed.com/2008/4/9/10573506/east-village-landmark-hits-market-as-mansion | access-date=July 6, 2020 | archive-date=July 7, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707185247/https://ny.curbed.com/2008/4/9/10573506/east-village-landmark-hits-market-as-mansion | url-status=dead }}</ref> The hospital building was ultimately purchased by Lower East Side Equities who leased it to British consulting firm What If.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rosenstock|first=Bonnie|date=November 11, 2008|title=English pull off an inside job at former Polyclinic|url=https://www.amny.com/news/english-pull-off-an-inside-job-at-former-polyclinic/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711025431/https://www.amny.com/news/english-pull-off-an-inside-job-at-former-polyclinic/|archive-date=July 11, 2020|access-date=July 9, 2020|website=amNewYork|language=en-US}}</ref>
The buildings were restored in 2009 by David Mayerfied.<ref name="aia">{{cite aia5|page=197}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> As part of the project, Mayerfied removed paint from columns and railings, removed the dropped ceilings, and added a sprinkler system. Christopher Gray of ''The New York Times'' characterized the exterior as "neglected and forlorn", having not been renovated since the mid-20th century.<ref name=":0" /> The library celebrated its 125th anniversary upon the completion of the renovation in December 2009. At the time, only 30 books remained from the German collection.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Schuessler|first=Jennifer|date=December 10, 2009|title=A German-American Walks Into a Library...|url=https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/a-german-american-walks-into-a-library/|access-date=July 6, 2020|website=ArtsBeat|language=en-US|archive-date=June 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628104428/https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/a-german-american-walks-into-a-library/|url-status=live}}</ref>
The Ottendorfer branch was closed for another set of renovations between August 2018 and March 2019; the project included adding sprinkler and alarm systems.<ref>{{Cite web|date=July 30, 2018|title=The New York Public Library's Ottendorfer Branch to Undergo Improvements|url=https://www.nypl.org/press/press-release/july-30-2018/new-york-public-librarys-ottendorfer-branch-undergo-improvements|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711000330/https://www.nypl.org/press/press-release/july-30-2018/new-york-public-librarys-ottendorfer-branch-undergo-improvements|archive-date=July 11, 2020|access-date=July 8, 2020|website=The New York Public Library}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Herman|first=Gabe|date=March 18, 2019|title=Jeff Mkt. Library closing; Ottendorfer reopens|url=https://www.amny.com/news/jeff-mkt-library-closing-ottendorfer-reopens/|access-date=July 8, 2020|website=amNewYork|language=en-US|archive-date=July 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712080951/https://www.amny.com/news/jeff-mkt-library-closing-ottendorfer-reopens/|url-status=live}}</ref> Additionally, in January 2019, the women's coworking firm The Wing signed a lease for the entirety of the Stuyvesant Polyclinic for its headquarters.<ref name="6sqft 2019">{{cite web|last=Gannon|first=Devin|date=January 24, 2019|title=Co-working firm The Wing to lease the East Village's former Stuyvesant Polyclinic building|url=https://www.6sqft.com/co-working-firm-the-wing-to-lease-entire-former-stuyvesant-polyclinic-building-in-the-east-village/|access-date=July 6, 2020|website=6sqft|archive-date=April 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426143500/https://www.6sqft.com/co-working-firm-the-wing-to-lease-entire-former-stuyvesant-polyclinic-building-in-the-east-village/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="kevin-r 2019">{{cite web|last=Parker|first=Will|date=January 28, 2019|title=The Wing to lease entire Second Avenue building|url=https://therealdeal.com/2019/01/28/the-wing-to-lease-entire-second-avenue-building/|access-date=July 6, 2020|website=The Real Deal New York|archive-date=July 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706224731/https://therealdeal.com/2019/01/28/the-wing-to-lease-entire-second-avenue-building/|url-status=live}}</ref> The company spent $1.7 million on workspaces and a kitchen in the Polyclinic building.<ref name="bizjournals.com 2023 l695" /> The Wing moved into the space in June 2019,<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Cogley|first=Bridget|date=June 27, 2019|title=The Wing transforms 1850s building in New York's East Village into HQ|url=https://www.dezeen.com/2019/06/27/the-wing-headquarters-east-village-new-york-city/|access-date=July 8, 2020|website=Dezeen|language=en|archive-date=July 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711084240/https://www.dezeen.com/2019/06/27/the-wing-headquarters-east-village-new-york-city/|url-status=live}}</ref> and the Cofinance Group bought 137 Second Avenue for $18 million the same month.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Diduch|first1=Mary|last2=Severin|first2=Nicholas|date=June 5, 2019|title=Here's what the $10M-$20M NYC investment sales market looked like last week|url=https://therealdeal.com/2019/06/05/heres-what-the-10m-20m-nyc-investment-sales-market-looked-like-last-week-189/|access-date=July 9, 2020|website=The Real Deal New York|archive-date=July 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709154803/https://therealdeal.com/2019/06/05/heres-what-the-10m-20m-nyc-investment-sales-market-looked-like-last-week-189/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Flanagan |first=Linda |date=June 6, 2019 |title=French group buys historic East Village office building |url=https://rew-online.com/french-group-buys-historic-east-village-office-building/ |access-date=2023-11-13 |website=Real Estate Weekly}}</ref> After the Wing shuttered, 137 Second Avenue was placed for sale in March 2023;<ref name="Chang 2023 a112">{{cite web | last=Chang | first=Clio | title=The Wing’s Office (and Furniture) Is for Sale | website=Curbed | date=March 2, 2023 | url=https://www.curbed.com/2023/03/the-wing-former-headquarters-furniture-sale.html | access-date=November 14, 2023}}</ref><ref name="Gannon 2023 m511">{{cite web | last=Gannon | first=Devin | title=The Wing's former HQ at historic East Village building lists for $22.5M | website=6sqft | date=March 7, 2023 | url=https://www.6sqft.com/the-wings-former-hq-at-historic-east-village-building-lists-for-22-5m/ | access-date=November 14, 2023}}</ref> it was sold for $19 million to an unidentified buyer that August.<ref name="bizjournals.com 2023 l695">{{cite web | title=The Wing's former headquarters sells in New York City | website=New York Business Journals |first=Julian |last=Nazar | date=August 2, 2023 | url=https://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/news/2023/08/02/wing-former-headquarters-sells.html | access-date=November 14, 2023}}</ref><ref name="The Real Deal 2023 g623">{{cite web | title=The Wing’s Former HQ Finds a Buyer | website=The Real Deal | date=August 2, 2023 | url=https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2023/08/02/the-wings-former-hq-finds-a-buyer/ | access-date=November 14, 2023}}</ref>
==Architecture <span class="anchor" id="Design"></span>== The buildings, on the west side of Second Avenue near St. Marks Place, were designed as a pair by German-born architect William Schickel. They were designed in the neo-Italian Renaissance style, with Philadelphia pressed brick facades ornamented in terracotta, a relatively new building material to New York at the time of the buildings' construction. The terracotta was manufactured by the Perth Amboy Terra Cotta Company.<ref name="NYCL (1976) p. 3">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1976|ps=.|p=3}}</ref><ref name="NYCL (1977) p. 6">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1977|ps=.|p=6}}</ref><ref name="NPS p. 13">{{harvnb|National Park Service|1979|ps=.|p=13}}</ref>
thumb|Clinic building seen in 2022
The library building at 135 Second Avenue has a frontage of {{Convert|20|ft||abbr=}} along Second Avenue, while the former hospital at 137 Second Avenue has {{Convert|50|ft||abbr=}} of frontage; both structures are {{Convert|67.6|ft||abbr=}} deep. A laboratory was also attached to the hospital's rear.<ref name="rer18830526">{{cite magazine|date=May 26, 1883|title=Buildings Projected|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031128_031_21.pdf|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=31 (Supplement)|pages=385|via=columbia.edu|number=793|access-date=July 9, 2020|archive-date=July 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707084704/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031128_031_21.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> An annex to the library was built in subsequent years.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=January 31, 1999|title=Streetscapes / The Ottendorfer Branch of the New York Public Library, 135 Second Avenue; A Victorian Interior Gets Ready for the 21st Century|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/31/realestate/streetscapes-ottendorfer-branch-new-york-public-library-135-second-avenue.html|access-date=July 6, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=June 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629075257/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/31/realestate/streetscapes-ottendorfer-branch-new-york-public-library-135-second-avenue.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Clinic=== The former hospital building's facade is subdivided into three vertical bays. The central bay has an entrance portico at the first floor, as well as three arched windows on the second and third floors, which are surrounded with terracotta ornamentation. The outer bays have pairs of arched windows on each floor, which are separated with decorated colonettes in the Corinthian style, with ornamented terracotta voussoirs above each window pairing.<ref name="NYCL (1976) p. 3" /><ref name="NYCL (1977) p. 3" />
The pediment of the portico is supported by two pairs of brick piers with vermiculated blocks, topped by Corinthian capitals. An entrance arch is inside the portico. Above the arch is a decorative composition with two inscribed dates: 1857 (representing the year the German Dispensary was founded) and 1883 (representing the year of the building's construction).<ref name="NYCL (1976) p. 3" /><ref name="NYCL (1977) p. 3" /> The portico has four terracotta busts of classical physicians: Greek physician Hippocrates, Roman physician and author Aulus Cornelius Celsus, Greek god of medicine Asclepius, and Greek physician and philosopher Galen.<ref name="NYCL (1976) p. 3" /><ref name="inside">{{cite inside|pages=153-54}}</ref><ref name="aia" /> Atop the building is a frieze that contains depictions of five scientists and physicians from the 17th through 19th centuries. These figures are English physician William Harvey, Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, German explorer and scientist Alexander von Humboldt, French physicist Antoine Lavoisier, and German physician and author Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland.<ref name="NYCL (1976) p. 3" /><ref name="NYCL (1977) p. 3" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=August 15, 2008|title=1880s Features, Unveiled Again|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/realestate/17scap.html|access-date=July 6, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707021959/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/realestate/17scap.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Inside the former hospital building is a foyer with walls made of marble below wood paneling. From there, double doors with glass paneling lead to a square main lobby. As originally arranged, there were offices and examination rooms on either side of the lobby. There was a wide staircase on the north wall with a decorative wooden handrail, which turned at right angles as it went to the second and third floors. The second and third floors also had offices and examination rooms.<ref name="NPS p. 5">{{harvnb|National Park Service|1979|ps=.|p=5}}</ref> When The Wing moved into the space in 2019, the former offices and examination rooms were turned into communal coworking spaces. Ten rooms were turned into conference rooms named after women's educational institutions.<ref name=":3" />
===Library=== thumb|Library entrance seen in 2022
==== Exterior ==== The decorative details on the Ottendorfer Library are less elaborate compared to those on the clinic building.<ref name="NYCL (1977) p. 5">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1977|ps=.|p=5}}</ref><ref name="NPS p. 2">{{harvnb|National Park Service|1979|ps=.|p=2}}</ref> The main entrance is through an arched entrance with a small stoop,<ref name="NYCL (1977) p. 6" /><ref name="NPS p. 2" /> and contains a Queen Anne style double door under an iron-and-glass transom window.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /><ref name="NYCL (1981) p. 6">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|ps=.|p=5 (PDF p. 6)}}</ref> There are iron pilasters on either side of the door, as well as an ornately decorated transom bar above the doorway and transom window; decorated horizontal band courses with owl and globe symbols are located on either side of the transom bar. Surrounding the top of the archway is a set of terracotta egg-and-dart decorations. At the top of the first floor is the German inscription {{Langx|de|Freie Bibliothek und Lesehalle|label=none}} (Free Library and Reading Room) as well as an egg-and-dart molding.<ref name="NYCL (1977) p. 6" /><ref name="NPS p. 2" />
The articulation of the library's upper floors is similar to that of the adjacent clinic building.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /><ref name="NYCL (1977) p. 7">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1977|ps=.|p=7}}</ref> The second and third floors both have three narrow arched windows that are {{Convert|8|ft||abbr=}} tall. The voussoirs above the windows contain decorative terracotta cartouches.<ref name="NYCL (1977) p. 6" /><ref name="NPS p. 2" /> A frieze with hemispheres, cartouches, and an egg-and-dart molding runs above the second floor.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /><ref name="NYCL (1977) p. 7" /> Another frieze runs above the third floor, decorated with wreaths, garlands, bead-and-reel, and egg-and-dart motifs. Atop the third-story frieze is a large cornice supported by terracotta brackets.<ref name="NYCL (1977) p. 7" /><ref name="NPS p. 3">{{harvnb|National Park Service|1979|ps=.|p=3}}</ref>
==== Interior ==== thumb|View from the stacks facing the entrance Immediately inside the doorway is a circulation desk as well as a small reading room.<ref name="NYCL (1981) p. 6" /><ref name="NPS p. 4">{{harvnb|National Park Service|1979|ps=.|p=4}}</ref> The wall contains a vertically-ribbed wainscot wrapping around the south and north walls. The south wall contains a dumbwaiter shaft as well as bookshelves. In the rear of the library are double-height iron stacks with openwork gratings, manufactured by Hopkins & Co. There are glass floor panels on the second level of the stacks, which form a mezzanine level and contain iron railings. Behind the stacks is a workspace with shelves and cupboards.<ref name="NYCL (1981) p. 6" /> There are eight sections of stacks on the lower level and nine sections on the upper mezzanine.<ref name="NPS p. 4" />
The south wall contains a staircase leading to the second floor. The staircase has a railing made of dark wood, with alternating twisting and rectangular balusters. The second floor is a narrow room that served as the main reading room. As arranged, the second floor contained a children's room in the front (facing Second Avenue), a reading area in the center, and a women's reading room in the back.<ref name="NYCL (1981) p. 6" /><ref name="NPS p. 4" /> The window openings on each wall contain elaborate surrounds. A Lincrusta Walton wall covering was used in place of wood wainscoting, and a wide molding is at the top of the walls, with a coved ceiling above.<ref name="NYCL (1981) p. 6" /> The center section of the second floor contains a fireplace with a pink marble mantel, as well as bookshelves. The back section was separated from the front and center sections by a glass partition, and was raised above the rest of the second floor by two steps.<ref name="NYCL (1981) p. 6" /><ref name="NPS p. 4" /> A sign at the back section's entrance contained the words {{Langx|de|Zur lese Halle für Fräuen|label=none}}, translating to "to the women's reading room".<ref name="NPS p. 4" />
The Ottendorfer Library contained a librarian's residence on the third floor,<ref name="NPS p. 4" /> one of 32 such residences in the New York Public Library (NYPL) system.<ref>{{cite web|last=Carlson|first=Jen|date=October 28, 2016|title=Inside One Of The NYPL's Secret Abandoned Apartments|url=http://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/inside-one-of-the-nypls-secret-abandoned-apartments|access-date=July 8, 2020|website=Gothamist|archive-date=July 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709092036/https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/inside-one-of-the-nypls-secret-abandoned-apartments|url-status=dead}}</ref> The librarian's penthouse had wooden doors, stone fireplaces, and wall trimmings.<ref name=":1" />
==Critical reception and landmark designations== One critic in the ''Real Estate Record and Guide'' called the buildings' compositions "entirely commonplace".<ref name=":1" /><ref name="rer18840607">{{cite magazine|date=June 7, 1884|title=The Ottendorfer Memorial|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031148_033_8.pdf|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=33|pages=612|via=columbia.edu|number=847|access-date=July 9, 2020|archive-date=July 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708145351/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031148_033_8.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The unnamed critic stated that the clinic's porch was "a very unschooled and uncouth piece of work" and that the library had an arch of the "ugly and fashionable three-centered form".<ref name="rer18840607" /> ''The New York Times'' said in 1964 that, following the exodus of Little Germany and the East Village's subsequent redevelopment, the two buildings were "the last props of an era long gone", despite not having been designed for "architectural unity".<ref name="nyt19641209" />
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Stuyvesant Polyclinic's exterior a New York City landmark in 1976.<ref name="nydn19761110" /> The Ottendorfer Library's exterior was designated a New York City landmark in 1977, while its first- and second-floor interior was designated as a city landmark in 1981.<ref name=nycland>{{cite nycland|pages=66-67}}</ref> Both buildings were jointly added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.<ref name="nris">{{cite web|date=March 18, 1980|title=Federal Register: 45 Fed. Reg. 17123 (Mar. 18, 1980)|url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/fedreg/fr045/fr045054/fr045054.pdf|access-date=March 8, 2020|publisher=Library of Congress|page=17467|archive-date=June 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621133119/https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/fedreg/fr045/fr045054/fr045054.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
==See also== * List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan below 14th Street * List of New York Public Library branches * National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan below 14th Street
==References== === Notes === {{notelist}}
=== Citations === {{reflist}}
=== Sources === * {{cite web|date=May 14, 1979|title=Historic Structures Report: Ottendorfer Library and German Dispensary|url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/79001607.pdf|publisher=National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service|ref={{harvid|National Park Service|1979}}}} * {{cite magazine|last=Lydenberg|first=Harry M.|author-link=Harry M. Lydenberg|date=April 1917|title=A History of the New York Public Library: Part V: The New York Free Circulating Library|url=https://archive.org/stream/bulletin21newyuoft#page/n236/mode/2up|journal=Bulletin of the New York Public Library|volume=21|pages=215–236}} * {{cite web|date=September 20, 1977|title=Ottendorfer Branch, New York Public Library|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/0969.pdf|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|ref={{harvid|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1977}}}} * {{cite web|date=August 11, 1981|title=Ottendorfer Branch, New York Public Library Interior|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1168.pdf|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|ref={{harvid|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981}}}} * {{cite web|date=November 9, 1976|title=Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/0924.pdf|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|ref={{harvid|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1976}}}}
==External links== {{Commons category|NYPL Ottendorfer Branch}} * [https://www.nypl.org/locations/ottendorfer New York Public Library website] * [http://www.germantracesnyc.org/view_site.php?id=45 German Traces NYC: Ottendorfer Library and German Dispensary]
{{East Village, Manhattan}} {{Education in Manhattan}} {{Libraries in New York City}} {{New York City Historic Sites|state=collapsed}} {{National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan|state=collapsed}}
Category:1884 establishments in New York (state) Category:East Village, Manhattan Category:Hospital buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Category:Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Category:New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan Category:New York City interior landmarks Category:New York Public Library branches Category:Queen Anne architecture in New York City Category:Second Avenue (Manhattan)