630 East 9th Street | Block : 391 | Lot #22

Building Date : 1889
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : Charles & August Ruff
Original Architect : Kurtzer & Rohl

Description & Building Alterations

On the East facing wall of this building are two of the few remaining murals from a collection painted in the 1980s called “La Lucha Continua,” or “the struggle continues.” The murals suffer from damage but have outlived many others that were painted over by building owners. The mural closer to the south side of the building is titled “For the Women of South Africa, Central America and the Lower East Side” by Rikki Asher. The mural closer to the street is titled “Stand Up” by Amy Berniker, Alison Lew, and Ken Bloomer. The murals face the interior of La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez community garden.

This five-story tenement building had four apartments per floor when it was built in 1889. Once identical buildings were constructed on tax lots 20, 21, and 23. This building has lost its cornice and has been refaced some time since 2008. The building at 626 East 9th Street is a closer representation of the building’s original appearance.

Block : 391 / Lot : 022 / Building Date : 1889 / Original Owner : Charles & August Ruff / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : Kurtzer & Rohl

Photo by Jane Weissman

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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.