286-288 East 2nd Street | Block : 372 | Lot #56

Building Date : 1872
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : Simon Ropman
Original Architect : Richard R. Shapter

Description & Building Alterations

Originally these were two separate pre-law tenements, but were joined in 1941 into one large building. They were built together with nos. 290 and 292 in 1872, designed by Richard Shapter and owned by Simon Ropman. The front parapet was rebuilt in 1998. The building was named for Hamilton Fish, Governor of New York from 1849-51 and Secretary of State under Ulysses S. Grant from 1869-77. “Hamilton Fish Court” is inscribed above the doorway and can still be seen today.

Block : 372 / Lot : 056 / Building Date : 1872 / Original Owner : Simon Ropman / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : Richard R. Shapter

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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.