401 West 24th Street, April 18, 1941.

Constructed in 1904, this six-story brick apartment building was designed by John E. Scharsmith. Best known for his high style buildings including the Beaux-Arts Chatsworth Apartments and the neo-Gothic Swiss House, both on the Upper West Side, he also designed less ornate structures like this one.

Writer and gay rights and AIDS activist Vito Russo lived in an apartment in this building from the late 1960s until his death in 1990. He moved into apartment #1 at 401 West 24th Street in Chelsea just before witnessing the June 1969 Stonewall uprising and lived here until his death. The aftermath of the March 1970 police raid at the Snake Pit in Greenwich Village inspired him to become actively involved in the gay rights movement.