The "Mercy House" - 320 East 3rd Street

 

photograph by Carole Teller

Around 1855, a row of three-story-and-basement homes were erected on the south side of East Third Street between Avenues C and D.  Faced in running bond red brick, they straddled the line between the Greek Revival and Italianate styles.

By the late 1850s, the house was home to E. L. Rosemon, head of E. L. Rosemon & Son, a carpentry firm.  He was, as well, the chairman of the Journeymen Carpenters' Cooperative Association.  The organization was a sort of early labor union.  On April 15, 1859, he headed a meeting that resolved, "to demand $1.88 per day wages from the present time," according to the New-York Tribune.  (The figure would translate to just under $75 in 2025.)

Rosemon's concern with the welfare of workers went beyond carpenters.  He was, as well, the chairman of the Early Closing Association, which pushed for the shortened work day of dry goods clerks.  And in August 1869, he was part of a committee that pushed for fair pay for coal miners.

Also living in the house were the Rosemons' daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband Captain Elbert F. Bishop.  The young mariner survived a hurricane in the Bahamas aboard the William A. Ellis on October 3, 1866.  The following day, a son named Elbert F. Jr. was born in the East 3rd Street house.  Tragically, the boy died on April 22, 1871.  His funeral was held "from the residence of his grandfather, E. L. Rosemon, No. 320 East Third street," as announced in the New York Herald, on April 23.

Shortly afterward, the Rosemon family moved to 330 East 4th Street.  No. 320 and 318 East 3rd Street were purchased by John Schappert, who operated them as rooming houses.  He advertised in September 19, 1875, "Floors and apartments to let--In private houses No. 318 and 320 East Third street, between avenues C and D."

A renovation around this time placed molded lintels over the openings and installed an up-to-date terminal cornice.

The house's original appearance can be seen at the left.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Among the residents in 1877 were Joseph Sacidle, a dairy merchant, and his wife.  Since 1853, New York State authorities had battled the practice of "adulterated milk."  Dealers were found diluting their milk with water, then adding flour, molasses or even plaster of paris to restore its consistency.  On April 10, 1877, the New-York Tribune reported that Joseph Sacidle "was caught a second time watering his milk."

Resident Edward L. Schaffer garnered more positive press a decade later.  On Saturday night, June 1, 1889, he saw a burglar in Adolph Metzner's shoe store at 374 East Houston Street.  Schaffer ran to find a policeman.  When they returned, "the burglar was caught leaving the place with a bag full of shoes."  Max Miller, who was 23 years old, was arrested and Edward Schaffer's vigilance saved Metzner a significant loss of stock.

Real estate dealer Hayman Wallach purchased 320 East 3rd Street from Mary E. Fitts in 1906.  Wallach bought and sold numerous properties in the neighborhood.  He converted this 19-foot-wide house into a two-family residence and moved his family into one of the apartments.

Son David apparently did not care to join his father's business.  An advertisement in the New York Herald on March 7, 1908, read: "Boy, 17, high school education, [seeks] position with opportunities.  David Wallach, 320 East 3d st."

Mary E. Fitts foreclosed on the property in 1917.  It was still a two-family home when she sold it to Leonard Weill in September 1922.  

Living here in 1929 was Samuel Fankel.  The 21-year-old and a cohort, 19-year-old Edward Mandell, held up Dr. Charles Goldfarb in February that year, robbing him of $10.  Unfortunately for them, they celebrated their ill-gained windfall in a speakeasy at 119 Cannon Street, "termed by the detectives, 'The Den of the Forty Thieves,'" as reported by The New York Times.  The place was raided on February 7 and among the eight men and two teenaged girls who were arrested were Fankel and Mandell.  At the stationhouse, Fankel confessed to the Goldfarb hold-up.

Also renting a room here that year was Mary Cullen, who placed a heart-rending notice in The New York Times on October 24, 1929:  "Bernard Cullen--Any one possessing information concerning Bernard Cullen, formerly of 207 West 4th St., New York City, whether alive or dead, please communicate with Mary Cullen, wife, of 320 East 3d St., New York City."

The house was lost in foreclosure again in 1945.  In 1967, the tenants revolted against their landlord.  They joined the Lillian Wald Tenants Association and withheld their rent alleging that he "failed to maintain safe premises."

The following year the house was converted to the offices of Mobilization for Youth.  The law group offered legal services to clients who could not pay for representation, and operated a "legal van on wheels," as described by The New York Times on November 10, 1968.  The group helped tenants with relocation problems and rent laws, and assisted community groups in negotiating with government agencies.  

photograph by Carole Teller

The building was sold in foreclosure in 1990.  It became home to the non-for-profit corporation the Orthodox Christian Brotherhood Of Our Lady Of Mercy, Inc.  The charitable organization continues here, best known as Mercy House.

many thanks to Carole Teller for suggesting this post.