Walter H. Jackson's Cornish Arms Hotel (The Broadmoor) - 315 West 23rd Street

 

Founded in 1791 "for the advice and assistance of Englishmen in distress," the Sons of St. George focused greatly on supporting British war brides following World War I.  But in 1925 it turned its attention to a construction project--an upscale hotel.

On May 24, 1925, The New York Times reported, "The American Order [of] Sons of St. George...laid the cornerstone yesterday afternoon of the new Cornish Arms Hotel, 311-323 West Twenty-third Street, the new national headquarters of the organization."  Designed by Walter H. Jackson, the article said, "The new building will be twelve stories high, of brick and concrete fireproof construction, and will cost with full equipment $1,500,000."  (That figure would translate to more than $26 million in 2024.)

The Cornish Arms Hotel opened on December 5, 1926.  In addition to its 340 guest rooms, there were a ballroom, lodge and club rooms for the Order of St. George, a lounge, and dining rooms.  There was also a foreign exchange office for international guests.  

A postcard for the "New Cornish Arms Hotel" included still-surviving rowhouses.

Jackson faced the neo-Renaissance style structure in beige brick trimmed in terra cotta.  Within the two-story concrete base were six stores.  Deep light courts behind the main elevation provided natural light and ventilation to the interior rooms.  Fireproofing was augmented by concrete floors throughout "covered with carpets," according to Buildings and Building Management on January 4, 1926.  The journal noted, "The grand ball room, banquet rooms and club room are on the 12th floor.  The floors of these rooms are laid in maple; the wainscots are marble, and walls and ceilings are ornamental plaster."

A typical floorplan (above) and the 12th floor layout (below).  Buildings and Building Management, January 4, 1926 (copyright expired)

The Cornish Arms management initiated an unusual marketing ploy.  An advertisement in the December 6, 1927 edition of The Scientific Monthly was titled, "A New Hotel Without 'Ups'!  It's Never Been Done Before!  One Price of All the Rooms!"  It said in part, "This convenient and comfortable new hotel has only one price for a single room and bath, $3.00 per day.  Double rooms for two, with bath, $4.50.  (The single room price would equal about $52.50 today.)

The meeting rooms were quickly popular for groups like the International Baseball League, which held its meetings here on the night of August 29, 1927.  (The International League is one of two Triple-A minor leagues today.)  Two days before the meetings began, The Evening Post mentioned that "the Dublin Bohemians and the I. R. T. Celtics, two newly organized Irish teams...are seeking admission to the International League."

Somewhat surprisingly, the Cornish Arms Hotel opened during Prohibition--the legislation that put thousands of hotels out of business across the country.  The Cornish Arms management was caught side-stepping the liquor ban.  On April 10, 1930 The New York Times reported that in an unprecedented move, United States Attorney Tuttle had filed a suit "to padlock the entire Cornish Arms."  Undercover agents had booked rooms in the hotel as guests and "asked bellboys and other employe[e]s to serve liquor to them."  Tuttle sought to make an example of the hotel by shutting it down.

The hotel's attorneys did not dispute that liquor had been served, but argued that the management "could not be held responsible for violations by employe[e]s."  But at trial on June 23, 1930, two agents, Ralph Navarro and John J. Dowd, testified that on December 28 they had slipped into a "beefsteak dinner" of railroad and steamship agents in the grill room.  They described pitchers of beer and "a large table where liquor was being served."

The following day, Federal Judge John C. Knox rendered his decision.  The management of the Cornish Arms Hotel no doubt breathed a deep sigh of relief when he refused to close down the hotel.  While he admitted he believed liquor had been served, he merely issued an injunction against further sale of liquor and warned the management that a violation would result in a charge of contempt of court.

Perhaps not coincidentally, a major figure in bootlegging, Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, lived here at the time.  In 1931, he and his associates initiated a hit on a rival gangster, Joey Rao.  He was sitting on the stoop of a social club on East 107th Street when Coll and his gang drove by, riddling the scene with submachine gun and shotgun fire.  Coll missed his target, but killed a five-year-old boy on the sidewalk and wounded four other children.

Coll was tracked down, arrested, and held for trial.  His lawyer successfully planted doubt in the minds of jurors over the credibility of a witness, and Coll was acquitted.  According to Michael Lerner in his 2007 Dry Manhattan, Prohibition in New York City, "Once free, Coll returned to his luxurious apartment in the Cornish Arms Hotel in Chelsea, and immediately resumed his battles with Dutch Schultz's gang for the city's beer-running operation."  

Coll's illicit career was cut short when he entered a phone booth in the London Chemists drugstore directly across the street from the hotel on the night of February 7, 1932.  The next morning The Bristol [Virginia] News Bulletin began an article saying, "Young Vincent Coll who was poison with a pistol and most feared of the Gotham 'guns,' got his load of lead in a telephone booth at 12:45 a.m. today.  A machine gunner chopped him down cooly [sic] and deliberately in a West 23rd Street drugstore."

In October 1933, the Cornish Arms Hotel was purchased by the Knott Hotel chain in foreclosure.  The New York Times reported, "some minor alterations are planned for the hotel."  The article noted, "Although at one time it catered to transients, the Cornish Arms now has a large number of permanent guests."

The remodeled meeting room and barroom seen in this advertising postcard were likely part of the Knox Hotel upgrades.

In June 1941, two recent high school graduates from Morgantown, West Virginia arrived in New York.  One of them was Don Knotts, who was set on auditioning for the Major Bowes Amateur Hour radio show.  Daniel de Visé, in his Andy and Don, writes, "Don quickly secured a job as an elevator operator at the Cornish Arms Hotel."  When not taking guests up and down in the elevator, Knotts made money with a friend doing ventriloquism.  Daniel de Visé writes, 

A few weeks into his New York odyssey, he finally landed an audition for Camel Caravan, another talent showcase.  Don showed up with Danny and did his routine for a matronly woman.  When he was finished, she told him, "You seem like a nice boy.  Why don't you take your dummy and go home and go back to school?"

He did.  But, despite the disappointment, he eventually would become a familiar face on television and motion picture screens.

The Cornish Arms Hotel continued to be a favorite meeting spot for union groups, sports and fraternal organizations.  An interesting gathering was the "dinner meeting" held by the Legal-Forensic Committee of the Professional Photographers of America, Inc. on April 8, 1964.  The topic of discussion was the "techniques of photographing motor vehicle accidents" for police, according to The New York Times.

A major change had taken place at the time.  While the upstairs meeting rooms saw groups coming and going, the hotel itself was being operated as a senior care facility.  But by March 19, 1976 when the Senate Subcommittee on Long-Term Care for the Elderly held hearings, things had degraded.  The New York Times reported that one resident, Rebecca Jaffe, testified, 

...that residents were seldom bathed, that there were fights among alcoholics and other residents and that she was frequently harassed and threatened because she had complained of conditions there.  She also said that medicines, such as amphetamines, were distributed by the switchboard operator at the facility.

Among the residents at the time was artist Ellis Wilson.  Born in 1899 in Mayfield, Kentucky, he studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and became a force in the Harlem Renaissance.  He worked for the Federal Art Project from 1935 to 1940, and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1944.

Americans were exposed to his work when his mid-century painting Funeral Procession was the subject of "The Auction" episode of The Cosby Show in 1986.  Purchased by character Clair Huxtable, it hung over the family's fireplace for the remainder of the eight-season series.

Ellis Wilson's The Procession became well known to television audiences in the 1980s and 90s.  Aaron Douglas Collection, Amistad Research Center, Tulane University.

Ellis Wilson died on January 2, 1977.  In reporting his death, The New York Times noted, "He was 76 years old and lived at Cornish Arms Home for Adults, 315 West 23d Street."

On May 2, 1982, The New York Times reported, "the former Cornish Arms Hotel is being converted from a home for the elderly into a cooperative called the Broadmoor, with 74 open-plan apartments (fixtures included) ranging in price from $94,000 to $280,000."  

At some point, the cornice, an integral part of Walter H. Jackson's design, was removed.  Otherwise, the outward appearance of the former Cornish Arms Hotel, including the iron and glass marquee, survives.

photographs by the author

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