{"nrhp_refnum":"09000634","name":"Emerson, The","other_names":["The Flats"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"554 W. 53rd St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.76945756900005,"lon":-73.99275781899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-08-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A seven-story brick model tenement at 554 West 53rd Street, on the southeast corner of Eleventh Avenue in Manhattan, built in 1914-15 and designed and owned by architect William Emerson.","why_significant":"It is a locally significant example of a privately funded model tenement and of the open-stair type that Emerson helped popularize for its light, ventilation and fire safety. It also shows the influence of Arts & Crafts design on reform architecture and is one of the few surviving buildings by Emerson. It was part of the housing-reform story of the Hell's Kitchen/Clinton neighborhood.","narrative":"Rising seven stories at the corner of West 53rd Street and Eleventh Avenue in Manhattan, this red-brick building was built in 1914-15 as a model tenement, housing meant to give working families safe, well-lit and ventilated apartments. Architect William Emerson, an active housing reformer, both designed and owned it. He planned it as an open-stair tenement, with two stairways opening to an inner court so each apartment door received fresh air and offered a route out in a fire. The ground floor once held a day nursery, a food store and public baths. The exterior uses deep red, textured brick with clinker bricks, header-brick panels, a corbelled cornice and a terra-cotta band, giving it an Arts & Crafts character. It is one of few surviving buildings by Emerson and reflects the neighborhood's reform-era housing efforts. The period of significance ends in 1928, when the social services were converted to apartments. A restoration finished in 2008 added a new lobby and elevator.","period_of_significance":"1914-1928","architect_builder":"Emerson, William","architectural_style":"Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements: Craftsman","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Restoration was completed in 2008; the building remains in multiple-dwelling use with a ground-floor commercial space.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:48.62566-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/09000634.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000634/0f1187a8e7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000634/0f1187a8e7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Americasroof","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:53rd-nhp.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Americasroof</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:53rd-nhp.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319469","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q119717874"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/emerson-the-09000634/"}