688 Sixth Avenue | commercial building

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3-story mercantile building consisting of joined 1862 rowhouses. They were joined around 1915 into a single structure, with a buff-colored brick facade. Such a conversion to facilitate commercial use was a frequent occurence during this period. The more modern shopfront of the Sixth Avenue facade contains plate glass framed in aluminum flanked and crowned by channeled aluminum panels.

Paired single-pane aluminum-framed windows with glass panels below are at each end of the 2nd floor, flanking three window openings containing similar single-windows. Brick headers cap each window opening. The 3rd floor contains windows identical to those on the 2nd floor, with a continuous course of brick headers above the windows stretching across the facade. All of these windows have black canvas awnings extending above.

Decorative incised brickwork is found in the center of the facade below the crenellated parapet, which contains stone coping and a cartouche in the center. The West 22nd Street facade, containing a service entrance, is virtually identical to that on Sixth Avenue, with the addition of an extra set of paired windows on the east.

The ground floor is currently occupied by Taim Mediterranean Kitchen, an entrance to Tiger Schulman's martial arts (which occupied the upper floors), Andiamo pizza, and Cinnabon/Auntie Anness, and Dardan's Barber Shop.