7th Avenue & 15th Street, northwest corner

The interesting cluster of buildings at the northwest corner of 7th Avenue and 15th Street certainly looks as if it might have been built as a unit:

438-432 7th Avenue - unprotected

In addition to the corner building, there are four additional buildings that appear to be part of the group. A kind of banding runs continually across the five facades, at the top and bottom of the windows. The banding holds bricks set at 45-degree angles, and a rectangle of similarly-laid brick appears between floors (what is the technical term for this kind of masonry?):



Another indicator that buildings might be related is seen in the cornice, which runs continously across the complete row:



Thus it is not surprising to discover in the November 23, 1889 Brooklyn Daily Eagle a notice of plans to erect a group of five four-story, mixed use buildings (flats over stores) on this very corner:

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, November 23, 1889, p. 1 ([title obscured])

This notice is admittedly just a new building permit. One sometimes finds a corresponding notice of completion in the Eagle, some months after the initial notice of building plans, which would strengthen the case for attribution. We may yet find such a notice. But a case like this, where the existing buildings perfectly match the original permit, seems sufficiently strong; consequently we are attributing this interesting ensemble to D. Atkins, owner/builder, 1889-90. Disagree with us if you want! But show us a more compelling case for another builder.