259 East 7th Street | Block : 377 | Lot #7502

Building Date : 2007
Original Use : Residential/Community Garden

Original Owner : Seth Tapper
Original Architect : Derek Sanders

Description & Building Alterations

This is known as the Flowerbox building, which was designed by the SoHo-based architect Derek Sanders. The Flowerbox building is the first in New York City to have an irrigation system that delivers city water to five flower boxes on each floor of its façade as well as a community garden in the rear yard. It is seven stories tall and features duplex apartments.

Two buildings previously stood on this site. The one at no. 259 was a six-story brick tenement constructed in 1897 and designed by Schneider & Herter. By the 1930s storefronts were created on the ground floor. The building was demolished in 1970 to create a parking lot. At no. 261 there used to be a three-story rowhouse built in 1843 for James Sparrow. It was also demolished in 1970 for the same purpose.

Block : 377 / Lot : 7502 / Building Date : 2007 / Original Owner : Seth Tapper / Original Use : Residential/Community Garden / Original Architect : Derek Sanders

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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.