53 Second Avenue; 29-31 East Third Street | Block : 459 | Lot #35

Building Date : 1896
Original Use : Residential/Commercial

Original Owner : August Ruff
Original Architect : Kurtzer & Rohl

Description & Building Alterations

This six-story tenement at the corner of Second Avenue and Third Street was constructed in 1896 and designed by Kurtzer & Rohl for August Ruff. The building was to be occupied by two stores and 20 families.

The present facades are decorated with a modillioned cornice with foliate fascia, terra-cotta lintels, some of which are pedimented, and brick spandrels. The entrance on Third Street has a round-arched opening, with its enframement removed.

Block : 459 / Lot : 035 / Building Date : 1896 / 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.