This Dutch-gabled slim building is considered the narrowest house in New York, with an exterior width of 9 feet and 6 inches. Previous residents include poet and playwright Edna St. Vincent Millay, children's book writer Ann McGovern, cartoonist William Steig, and anthropologist Margaret Mead.

Little is known of 27 1/2 Essex Street, which faces Seward Park.

The three-story house is accessed by an alley to the west of no. 9 Jane Street, a four-story brick townhouse built in 1844 for tinsmith Walter H. Mead. The rear house was built in 1854.

71 1/2 Mulberry Street is currently occupied by Asia Market Corporation. The market is owned by a Cantonese family who opened their doors in 1988.