678 6th Avenue

 apartment building  Add category

5-story Italianate residential building completed in 1870. Designed by John G. Prague, it first served as a dwelling for four families, before becoming a hotel and saloon. It was converted to apartments in the mid-1900s.

The black cast-iron ground floor has a storefront and entrance at the north end. It is capped by a cornice missing some of its modillions. The 2nd floor has a single bay containing a Chicago-style window with paired panes in the center and single-pane side windows with transoms overall, surrounded by stone molding. The 3rd & 4th floors contain three window openings each with classically-inspired stone surrounds and molding flanking the sills. The 5th floor continues the pattern seen below with the exception that the windows are arched rather than flat and have keystones. The original bracketed and modillioned roof cornice completes the composition.

The brick south wall, seen above the neighboring building on Sixth Avenue, contains four windows per floor. Much of the brick is parged and painted with a sign for Wolf Paper & Twine Company. The ground floor is occupied by Cava restaurant.