On June 29, 1889 The Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported that architects Flemer & Koehler had filed plans for eight stone-fronted homes on Park Avenue, wrapping around the northeast corner of 94th Street. The project would cost developer Edward T. Smith $112,000 to erect; or about $492,500 per house in 2026 terms.
Almost immediately, J. A. Henry Flemer and his partner, V. Hugo Koehler, would be at work filling the northern half of the block. Completed in 1890, their blend of historical styles seamlessly melded with the earlier homes. Flemer & Koehler reached deep into their grab bag of styles in designing No. 1215, just south of East 95th Street.
The basement and parlor floors were faced in undressed brownstone, typical of the Romanesque Revival style. And yet, the carved panels of the stoop newels and those under the windows and above the entrance drew inspiration from the Italian Renaissance. The brick pilasters with terra cotta Corinthian capitals that flanked the second floor windows, too, were Renaissance Revival in style, but the pretty foliate terra cotta bandcourse above them was Queen Anne. The fully-arched openings of the third floor, with their molded, terra cotta lintels and prominent keystones, harkened to the earlier Italianate style. The architects' judicious choices created a handsome hybrid.
The two-story rounded bay provided a sleeping porch to the third floor. from the collection of the New York Public Library
On May 8, 1883, the New York Herald reported that realtor Julius Friend had sold "the three-story and basement dwelling, No. 1,215 Park avenue, 20 x 69, to Samuel Steinfelder." (It was certainly not a coincidence that Julius Friend and his family, who were close friends with the Steinfelders, lived around the corner at 135 East 95th Street.)
Samuel Steinfelder was a "wealthy silk and ribbon importer," as described by The World. His wife, Henrietta, was a former school teacher, described as "a fine-looking woman of middle age." The couple had five daughters, Rita J., Rosalie H., Ruth A., Hattie E., and Maude S. The newspaper added, "The family are wealthy, well connected and move in the highest Hebrew social circles in the city."
It was not long after the family moved in that tensions--and eventually a rift--grew between the Steinfelders and the Friends. Hattie Steinfelder "seemed to take a fancy to young Mrs. [Carrie Kohn] Friend," explained The Sun on March 24, 1894, "and she spent much of her time at the Friends' house." According to Carrie Friend, Hattie would confide about "her troubles at home." Henrietta Steinfelder thought that her private family politics was none of Carrie's business. The World explained at the same time, "According to Mrs. Steinfelder she became tired of having her maternal authority interfered with by an outsider and the result was a quarrel between the two ladies in September, since which time they have not spoken."
Henrietta Steinfelder and Carrie Friend may have stopped speaking to one another, but Hattie continued her close friendship. On March 15, 1894, Hattie and her mother had "a spat," as described by Henrietta. Hattie rushed out and around the corner to the Friends' house to vent her problems. At around 10:00 that night, Julius Friend walked her home. Samuel Steinfelder was waiting at the door, fuming.
"Steinfelder got excited and said things to Friend," reported The Sun. Among those "things" was the accusation that Friend was engaging in "lover tricks on the street" with Hattie. The next day Hattie, "departed from her home at 1,215 Park avenue...without leaving word where she might be found." Not surprisingly, she sought refuge with the Friends.
In the meantime, Julius Friend reported Steinfelder's slanderous comment to police. The former chums faced one another in a courtroom on March 20. "Justice Welde dismissed the case and told Friend that he had no right to keep the girl away from her family." Julius Friend went straight home and told Hattie "he could harbor her no longer." That was the last anyone saw of the 18-year-old. At least for a while.
On March 24, The World began an article saying
A self-willed, high-tempered girl, a jealous and exasperated mother, an irate father and a scornful neighbor's wife, with a husband nursing his wounded pride, are the actors in this domestic, serio-comic squabble that has disrupted the social relations between the Steinfelder and Friend families.
Hattie, said the article was, "bright, intelligent, well educated, attractive, but possessed of an all-powerful desire to have her own way in everything." Four days later, Hattie's hideout was revealed. She had sought refuge in the home of her aunt, a Mrs. Hahn, at 230 East 49th Street. Reading of the tempest in the newspapers, Mrs. Hahn sent a message to the Steinfelders. On March 24, 1894, The Sun reported, "Her aunt will send her home to-day, whether she wants to go or not."
Like other well-to-do New Yorkers, the Steinfelders spent time away from the city during the summer months. On July 19, 1898, for instance, the Oswego, New York The Daily Record reported:
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Steinfelder and daughters Misses Rita and Rosalie, of 1,215 Park avenue, New York, are at the Ahwaga House, guests of George and Adolph Newman for a few days. They are to depart to Sheldrake on Cayuga lake for a stay before returning to their home.
(It is, perhaps, notable that Hattie was not mentioned.)
In 1902, Samuel Steinfelder was appointed to the School Board and by the following year, Rosalie was teaching at Public School 171 on East 103rd Street.
On the night of November 12, 1911, Henrietta walked into a drugstore at 375 Lenox Avenue. She suddenly collapsed on the floor, stricken with a stroke. The 63-year-old died before help could arrive.
The following year, on November 5, 1912, The New York Times reported that Steinfelder had sold 1215 Park Avenue. His realtor, Douglas L. Elliman, was coy about the sale, saying "The buyer is an investor." In fact, the buyer was Douglas L. Elliman.
Interestingly, the now-retired Steinfelder continued to live in the house, apparently renting it from Elliman. He died here four months later, on March 25, 1913, at the age of 67.
Elliman next leased the house to Marcus and Maria Neustaedter. Born in 1871 in Galicia, Austria, Neustaedter arrived in New York City in 1888 and graduated from Bellevue Hospital Medical College in 1896. Ten years later he earned his Ph.D. from New York University. When the family moved in, Neustaedter was teaching neurology at Bellevue Hospital Medical College. He and Maria had four children, Shadoin, Hannah, Theodore Maier, and Leonard.
Dr. Neustaedter's expertise was called upon in 1921 when a Russian boy was slated to be deported as "an imbecile." Having survived the Russian pograms, Moische Shulman's father, a musician, escaped Russia with his eldest son in 1913. Seven years later, the rest of the family (including Moische) left the World War I-ravaged country. The New York Times reported that on September 21, 1920, "Mrs. Shulman, after much difficulty, came here with four children."
But now, a year later, the Special Board of Inquiry of the Immigration Bureau singled out 10-year-old Moische as an imbecile and ordered him deported back to Russia. The deportation would, of course, necessitate the breaking up of the Shulman family. The New York Times reported, "If the boy is compelled to return to Russia, it was said that his mother would go with him." At a hearing on August 27, 1921, Moische's father said that if the Immigration Bureau's stand was upheld, "he would appeal to the President."
Dr. Marcus Neustaedter took the stand in the boy's defense. He said he was "neither feeble-minded nor an imbecile." He pointed out that the "boy's studies in mathematics baffled his imagination" and that he had "mastered English and that one teacher had given him a rating of 100 per cent." Neustaedter urged "it must be remembered that the boy and his mother had been in the war area of dark Russia." He told the judge, "I think it would be a crime to separate this child from his parents, since he will be potentially a self-supporting member of the community." The boy was allowed to remain.
The Neustaedter family remained at 1215 Park Avenue through 1923. The following year, Elliman sold the house to Dr. Eugene Floyd Dubois and his wife, the former Rebeckah Rutter. Dubois was born on Staten Island in 1882 and was educated at the Milton Academy, at Harvard College, and at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. He and Rebeckah were married in 1910 and they had two sons, Eugene and Arthur, and a daughter, Rebeckah.
Dr. Eugene Floyd Dubois specialized "in the mechanisms and diseases of the metabolism," according to the International Rasmus Mailing-Hansen Society. image from the society's collection
When the family moved in, Dubois was associate professor of the Cornell University Medical College and medical director of the Russell Sage Institute of Pathology. He was, as well, a director of the Medical Division of Bellevue Hospital.
In 1928, Park Avenue was widened and it was most likely at this time that the stoop was removed from 1215 Park Avenue and the entrance lowered below grade.
image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
Rebeckah was educated in the exclusive Chapin School, the Milton Academy and Vassar College. On December 4, 1937, The New York Sun reported, "Dr. and Mrs. Eugene Floyd DeBois of 1215 Park avenue, have a reception today at the Colony Club to introduce their daughter, Miss Rebeckah DuBois, to society." At the time, her brother, Eugene, was working in the editorial office of the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper.
When America entered World War II, all three of the Dubois men joined the Navy Reserves. Dr. Dubois earned the rank of captain in the Medical Corps, Eugene rose to the rank of lieutenant, and Arthur was a midshipman.
On April 4, 1944, The New York Times reported that Lt. Eugene Dubois, USNR, was married to Carol Johnston Mali, "in a setting of white spring flowers" in the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. Eugene F. Dubois was his son's best man. The wartime ceremony had a decidedly military atmosphere. Along with Arthur, the other ushers wore their Army, Naval, and Air Force uniforms.
Eugene and Rebeckah announced the engagement of their daughter to James Robinson Glazebrook on August 22, 1952. The New York Times noted, "She is a research assistant at Cornell University Medical College."
The family sold 1215 Park Avenue in June 1956 to Max Greenberg. He initiated a renovation the following year that resulted in apartments. Today there are five units in the building.
photographs by the author
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