312 East 9th Street | Block : 450 | Lot #11

Building Date : 1899
Original Use : Residential/Commercial

Original Owner : August Ruff
Original Architect : Kurtzer & Rohl

Description & Building Alterations

This six-story tenement building was originally erected in 1899 with commercial space by developer August Ruff, designed by architect Kurtzer & Rohl. The two cooperated on many other projects in East Village/Lower East Side. The neighboring tenements at 316-318 East 9th Street share an identical facade with No. 312.

The four-bay wide facade features a projecting bracketed cornice with an ornate frieze, molded window lintels with triangular pediments, beltcourses, brick panels, and iron pilasters flanking the entrance at the first story. The German Odd Fellows’ Home and Orphan Asylum of the State of New York, organized on August 12, 1886, was listed at this location in 1902 by the Estimates of the Departments, Board of Education, Judiciary and Officers of The City of New York.

Block : 450 / Lot : 011 / Building Date : 1899 / 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.