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Derelict Greenwich Village Rowhouse Will Be Renovated

By DNAinfo Staff on April 6, 2010 3:22pm  | Updated on April 6, 2010 2:58pm

The building at 43 MacDougal St. will be getting a facelift.
The building at 43 MacDougal St. will be getting a facelift.
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Courtesy of Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation

By Nicole Breskin

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

GREENWICH VILLAGE — The owners of a dilapidated rowhouse, where legend has it a dead body was once found, have gotten city approval to fix up the structure as ordered by the Landmarks Preservation Commission to prevent further decay.

The landmarked triplex at 43 MacDougal St., originally built in 1846, has been vacant and boarded over for years, infested by rats and eroded by water leaks. It was also once a fabled mafia hangout.

Permits were issued last week to add a temporary rook, seal window openings and remove debris inside, according to Department of Buildings spokesman Carly Sullivan. The work is expected to cost less than $12,000, according to the permit on DOB's Web site.

The building at 43 MacDougal St. has been in a state of disrepair.
The building at 43 MacDougal St. has been in a state of disrepair.
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Courtesy of Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation

The building "is in very poor condition," John Weiss, deputy counsel for the LPC, wrote to the project's architects in a letter on the DOB's Web site.

"The LPC has no objection to the proposed work in light of it being temporary in nature, required to address the urgent need for stabilizing this building and making it watertight to prevent further deterioration... and it not damaging any historic fabric at 43 MacDougal Street."

The owners of the building did not return calls for comment.

One tale is that the a dead body was found in the building during a law enforcement raid of a social club believed to have mob ties. Another yarn says the body was a former tenant who died of a heart attack.

The building sits within the Charlton-King-Vandam Historic District within the jurisdiction of the LPC, the agency that regulates preservation.

Following years of advocacy by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the LPC ordered the owner to make repairs.

"It's always been two steps forward and one step back with 43 MacDougal: every bit of progress has been met with new problems of vandalism, vermin or decay," said Andrew Berman, the society's executive director.

"But the momentum finally seems to be on our side now, and there appears to be a glimmer of hope that after so many years, we may one day soon see this historic landmark house restored."