Street scene of Third Avenue at East 13th Street, ca. 1935.

At left, on the west side of the avenue, is the Variety Theatre, one of New York's earliest motion-picture houses. The building dated to about 1897, and was likely altered to house a conventional theater around 1914. The Variety screened short films, “photo plays,” second-run features, and, later, adult films, before it was closed by the health department in 1989 — illicit activities were not uncommon. From 1991-2004, the Variety operated as a live theater venue. Despite preservation efforts by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the old theater was demolished in 2005.

The tall building in the background, at right, is 200 East 16th Street, a 20-story Art Deco apartment building completed in 1930.