The Story Behind The Teeny-Tiny Townhouse At 19 West 46th Street

Nineteen West 46th Street is not the thinnest building in Manhattan. It’s not even the second-thinnest. But at just 12 and one-quarter feet wide, it is perhaps the third-thinnest of the borough’s 47,000 buildings.

A passerby might miss the building entirely if they happened to glance down at their phone for a moment. And that would be a shame.

“It’s an interesting little building,” said Scott Weinberg, a real estate attorney who works nearby. “I deal with buildings all the time in my work. I like walking around the city and seeing things that you wouldn’t think should be there, given all the development that’s going on.”

“Little” is an understatement. It’s so narrow that on a basketball court, it would fit between the free-throw line and the front of the rim, with a foot to spare.

Like all unusual buildings in New York City, 19 West 46th Street has a story behind it. Built in 1865, the brownstone is a lone relic from an era when the block between Fifth and Sixth avenues was entirely residential.

“Mine’s the last man standing,” said Sean Sedaghatpour, whose Great Neck-based Elisheva Realty bought the building in 2021 for $2.65 million.

Sedaghatpour said he does not specialize in skinny buildings. But as it happens, he also owns a 10-foot-wide building at 210 East 52nd Street, possibly the borough’s second-thinnest, according to property records. (The narrowest building, at 75 ½ Bedford Street, is nine and one-half feet wide).

Nineteen West 46th Street was built by a developer who bought one of the last remaining lots on the block and divided it in half, according to the blog Daytonian in Manhattan. He built two matching townhouses at 17 and 19, hoping to maximize profits.

But one twin was demolished in the 1920s to make way for a 10-story office building. That property is now owned by Gary Barnett’s Extell Development, which is planning a 32-story office tower on the corner. It is unclear what Barnett’s plans are for the office building, which was set to be demolished by the previous owner. A spokesperson for Extell did not respond to a request for comment.

On the other side, Jack Elo’s eponymous firm bought the 15-story office building at 21 West 46th Street, which he plans to keep as an office.

The tiny townhouse remains, although the stoop was removed in 1911 when the parlor and ground floors were renovated for commercial use. A variety of businesses have occupied the building, including a perfume store, antiques dealer, and a bartending school. It’s now a Spanish Tapas restaurant.

The upper floors are apartments, and Sedaghatpour said he has no immediate plans to sell the building. An unknown developer swooping in to buy the tiny parcel seems unlikely anyway.

“It’s a very tiny building, so it doesn’t really have any potential except for me buying it or the owner on the other side buying it,” Elo said. “And I don’t think that’s going to happen.”