248-260 East Houston Street | Block : 397 | Lot #63

Building Date : 1989
Original Use : Residential/Commercial

Original Owner : Michael Rosen & Brian Vail
Original Architect : Schuman, Lichenstein, Claman & Efron

Description & Building Alterations

This lot is a consolidation of the lots that remained after the widening of Houston Street between 1957 and 1962. The building, known as Red Square, was built in 1989 and features a central clock tower, a statue of Lenin saluting at the southwest corner of its main roof, and several metal sculptures on the roof of the lower commercial wing. This was one of the first — perhaps the first — upscale new housing developments built in the East Village in the late 20th century.

Block : 397 / Lot : 63 / Building Date : 1989 / Original Owner : Michael Rosen & Brian Vail / Original Use : Residential/Commercial / Original Architect : Schuman, Lichenstein, Claman & Efron

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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.