198 Second Avenue; 198-202 Second Avenue | Block : 454 | Lot #4

Building Date : 1906
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : Kramer & Rockmore
Original Architect : George Frederick Pelham

Description & Building Alterations

This new law tenement building was completed in 1906 by architects George Frederick Pelham for owners Kramer & Rockmore. The building was constructed under the parameters of the Tenement Act of 1901 which called for increased light and air. The building housed thirty-three families and a store on the first floor. It is presently six stories in height and six bays wide. The outer bays are curved outward and have windows in groups of three with half columns between. The building is clad in buff brick with stone ornamentation at the belt courses and at the window surrounds, including scrolled keystones. The storefront has been modernized and the cornice has been removed.

Block : 454 / Lot : 004 / Building Date : 1906 / Original Owner : Kramer & Rockmore / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : George Frederick Pelham

Do you know this building? Please share your own stories or photos of this building here!

What is the Building Blocks Project

What does a building mean to someone who lives there? A person who lives on the block? In the neighborhood? In the city? This site presents a wealth of historic information gained from GVSHP’s architectural research survey about the buildings located in the East Village.

The site explores the area generally considered today as the East Village: from a northern border of 14th Street to a southern border of Houston Street, Avenue D in the east to 4th Avenue/the Bowery to the west. You can explore the information about the blocks and buildings featured here in two ways.

Pick a block. Maybe it’s yours, or perhaps it is just your favorite place to shop, grab a bite, or just people watch. Then explore the buildings that make up that block. Or take one of the many guided tours on the site, curated by a collection of organizations and experts from the neighborhood. See how they experience the neighborhood. Then tell us what the neighborhood means to you. The site’s comments section allows you to open a dialogue with others who feel just as passionately as you do about the East Village.