14 East 23rd Street

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5-story Italianate residential building completed around the 1860s as a 4-story townhouse. A new 2-story storefront, facade and rear extension were installed in 1891, designed by R. Berger, converting the building to commercial use. That storefront was replaced only a year later with a new one of cast-iron by G.H. Budlong. The 2nd floor features five large windows in metal frames, with paneling above and below. The ground floor has been altered multiple times since, and is now painted green, with a recessed entry to both the storefront and the upper floors.

The 3rd & 4th floors retain their original character, painted pale yellow like the 2nd floor. They each have three windows with metal cornices; there are also projecting sills at the 4th floor. Two star-shaped tie-back rods are found between the tops of the windows at the 3rd floor. The 4th floor is topped by a yellow metal roof cornice with console brackets. The first commercial tenant was Meeker & Carter—purveyors of terra-cotta and brick. Other tenants around the turn of the century were the Berlin Photographic Co., the American Enameled Brick & Tile Co., he headquarters of the Irish-American Union, and Lyman H. Low's rare coin dealership. Several politicians also had their campaign headquarters here.

By 1906 there were more offices than shops in the building, including Architect Howard Constable’s office. Four years later architect Arthur W. Eiser was here; and in the 1920s Harold L. Smith, another architect, leased space. The address gained a sort of celebrity when Mike Morgenstern opened Jazzmania Society in December 1974 in the 4th-floor loft. The club would remain here for decades, into the first years of the 21st century.

The building was converted to apartments in 1983, when a small penthouse was added above the original roof cornice. It is off-center to the left, with seven panes of glass framed in metal. The ground floor is occupied by Popeyes Chicken.