E. 5th Street is a narrow, historic residential block in Manhattan’s East Village, known for tenements and rowhouses, one of two surviving Flemish Revival-style schools, and a restored 9th Precinct station house whose original 1912 cast-stone façade was carefully reassembled in 2007.

East 5th Street remains one of the East Village’s most intact historic blocks, with late-19th-century tenement buildings and storefronts between First and Second Avenues that reflect alterations made in 1893 to a structure dating to 1867. The street eventually enters the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District to the west.

In July 2026, the City selected The Aurea, a proposal for approximately 131 affordable apartments at 324 East 5th Street, and designated a development team to replace the NYPD parking lot with housing, community facilities and replacement police parking.

Residents have expressed concern in response to new renderings that show a potential structure exceeding 100 feet in width and rising 14 stories, significantly out of proportion in a historically narrow, interior-street residential environment of Victorian-style tenements and row houses.

The East Village has received far less landmark protection than nearby neighborhoods such as the West Village and SoHo, despite its significant working-class and progressive history. It remains one of Manhattan’s leading neighborhoods for city-built affordable housing, yet much of its central area is still unprotected by the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District.

5SPC is working with community stakeholders on a balanced solution that supports the City’s need for affordable housing while securing the long-term future of this historic block.