80 East 3rd Street | Block : 444 | Lot #29

Building Date : 1893
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : August Ruff
Original Architect : Oswald Wirz

Description & Building Alterations

This five-story brick tenement was constructed in 1893 by owner August Ruff and was designed by architect Oswald Wirz. It was to be occupied by 20 families with a janitor apartment in the basement. The building was constructed on the site of a three-story dwelling and store.

The facade features an entrance with an elaborate door hood consisting of figural carvings. The facade also has a ornamental cornice above the first floor, decorated window lintels and various forms of brickwork. The original cornice was removed prior to the 1980s.

Block : 444 / Lot : 029 / Building Date : 1893 / Original Owner : August Ruff / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : Oswald Wirz

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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.