I lived in two 1830s apartments. In the first I stripped or burned off all the paint except on the jib doors and the entry door which I sent out for stripping, I did not strip one piece of millwork that was a profile so common here that it is still produced and available at Home Depot ( a 3/4" ogee moulding). I replaced that. I got lead poisoning which eventually cleared. (I wore a respirator but I was very careless about wearing gloves when burning off the paint and ended up with peripheral numbness and elevated blood levels). Anyway, when I sold that apartment and moved into another, I looked at the casing, which was a unique profile and found someone to make a knife for me and reproduce it, I replaced most of the other millwork which was buildups of still-available profiles. I stripped the entry door and paneling, and the shutters did not need to be stripped in this apartment. It was much more cost effective to reproduce than it was to strip and repair, including some custom radius work. In my apartment the millwork was always painted. In a building of your era in NYC, I would expect that it was mostly meant to be painted, particularly with the Classical Revival/Colonial Revival interior feel that I am getting. I could be wrong. I believe the other issue you may have in NYC is disposal of the hazardous waste if you use any kind of chemical stripper, which then becomes lead-laden hazardous waste.

I successfully stripped 3 layers of paint off our old house's fireplace with PeelAway 1, dental picks, wire brushes, water, vinegar and tons of paper towel and rags. In some spots, we had to use 2 coats of PeelAway1. Also used concrete cleaner after both coats of PA1. Our white oak floors were very very well protected as PA will eat some finishes off floors. When 98% of the paint was off, we used crayola crayons and tiny paint brushes/oil paint to dot over the remaining bits of paint that refused to budge. Once we got it as clean as possible and touched up, our final coat was a 50/50 mix of boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits which effectively removed all residue and made the brown color of the brick just pop beautifully. Would I go through all the work again? Yes. It was tedious, messy and frustrating work but the final result made it very well worth it. If you aren't afraid of this type of work - strip it. You will most likely be so glad you did. Save the money you'd spend on more paint for some other repair your home will most likely need. Oh, the colors we removed were coral, avocado green and a creamy color that had a green tint to it - all very ugly colors.

no, i didn't post my concerns in the paint forum since I was pretty sure what was causing the problem and, therefore what had to be done. sure enough stripping them does make a difference. though it was another whole step, and a lot of extra work it was worth it. i did another test yesterday and the primer now sticks. and as you know, this is very important. one more thing i should mention, a friend who use to be a professional painter, told me to to add some FLOETROL to the paint (as per the instructions). he was right, the difference with the Floetrol is substantial... and I am using BM Impervo which is a self-leveling paint. not only does the paint go down smoother but i could also put down a lighter coat. the result is so close to a spray finish that i doubt anyone could tell that they weren't sprayed. (NOTE: Floertrol is for latex paint only. if you are using an oil-based paint use the oil version) since I am going to all this trouble and seeing that that i will be living with these cabinets for many years I would rather spend a little extra effort now, and an extra day or two, if it means getting a much superior finished result. the only extra advice I would give is to be very careful with the corners and in the grooves. This is where paint drips tend to occur and show-up. i will post some pictures when I am done.

I like the colour scheme you have. Perhaps the grey siding could be a tad darker. I would look into cleaning the white spalling on the brick, redoing the landscaping, and add a roof or shelter over your front door. It's a pretty house that just needs a bit of tweaking. Also, when the time comes to replace the shingles, go for black or very dark charcoal.