25 East 3rd Street | Block : 459 | Lot #37

Building Date : 1895
Original Use : Residential/Commercial

Original Owner : August Ruff
Original Architect : Kurtzer & Rohl

Description & Building Alterations

This five-story tenement building with basement was built in 1895 for August Ruff and designed by architecture firm Jurtzer & Rohl. It was built for two stores and 20 families. The architect and owner of this building also collaborated and built 53 Second Avenue.

The brick, terra cotta and brownstone building is decorated with details like window lintels, beltcourses and brackets on the facade. The stoop has been removed and the entrance moved to the basement level. It retains its original bracketed and modillioned cornice.

Block : 459 / Lot : 037 / Building Date : 1895 / Original Owner : August Ruff / Original Use : Residential/Commercial / Original Architect : Kurtzer & Rohl

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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.