217 East 3rd Street; 217 East 3rd Street Rear | Block : 386 | Lot #62

Building Date : 1849-50
Original Use : Residential/Commercial

Original Owner : Jack Lelser
Original Architect : Unknown

Description & Building Alterations

This building was built in 1849-1850 according to tax records.

The building is listed as a mixed-use commercial and residential building with four apartments. There is a demolition permit dating to 1940 for a four-story building on the rear of the lot that contained six apartments, although a rear building appears to exist on the lot today. The ground floor of the building was once a day care center, operated by the Negro Action Group, an organization for social change in the Lower East Side during the early 1970’s.

Block : 386 / Lot : 062 / Building Date : 1849-50 / Original Owner : Jack Lelser / Original Use : Residential/Commercial / Original Architect : Unknown

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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.