77 East 7th Street | Block : 449 | Lot #43

Building Date : 1899
Original Use : Residential/Commercial

Original Owner : August Ruff
Original Architect : Kurtzer & Rohl

Description & Building Alterations

This six-story Renaissance Revival-style old-law tenement was originally built in 1899 by architects Kurtzer & Rohl with sixteen apartments and commercial space at the first story.

The building, clad in buff brick, features elaborate terra-cotta window lintels, with pediments at second story, molded hoods at third and fourth stories, and keystones at fifth and sixth stories. Other characteristics include decorative terra-cotta panels, beltcourses, a bracketed cornice with paneled frieze, and cast-iron pilasters flanking the main entry. A historic cast-iron cornice above the storefront has been removed.

Block : 449 / Lot : 043 / 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.