133 Second Avenue Building Date : 1912 alt. Original Use : Residential Original Owner : Samuel Augenblick Co. Original Architect : H. W. Levitan Description & Building Alterations Before becoming known as a hotspot for counterculture, St. Marks Place was one of the most elite streets in the entire city when it was first built up in the 1830s by developer Thomas E. Davis. This corner building was constructed in the place of a large mansion that was sold after its first decade to Eugene Keteltas, whose family kept the mansion in the family for as long as it lasted. In 1912, after the last Keteltas has passed, a permit was filed to replace the mansion with a movie theater. Various newspaper articles claim that before its destruction, the mansion was the last remaining grand private dwelling in the neighborhood, and the final holdout from Second Avenue’s original glory days. The present building was constructed between 1912-1913 as a movie theater, offices and shops. Over the course of its life, the theater was once was home to the Negro Ensemble Company, launching such actors as Phylicia Rashad, Laurence Fishburne, and Angela Bassett.