The St. Francis Court - 583 Riverside Drive

image via eqarchitects.com

On September 29, 1905, the architectural firm of Neville & Bagge filed plans for a six-story "brick and stone tenement" at the northeast corner of Riverside Drive and 135th Street.  (The term "tenement" at the time referred to any multi-family structure.)  Designed for developer J. V. Signell & Co., it would cost $150,000 to erect, or about $5.5 million in 2026 terms.

Completed in 1906, Neville & Bagge's overall neo-Colonial design included a two-story limestone base that supported four floors of variegated Flemish bond brick.  Charred header bricks gave the illusion of age.  Turret-like rounded bays gave dimension.  A handsome stone balustrade sat atop the bracketed cornice.

Apartment Houses of the Metropolis, 1908 (copyright expired)

The St. Francis Court had six apartments per floor ranging from five to eight rooms.  The 1908 Apartment Houses of the Metropolis noted that the finishes were "in hardwood, oak, mahogany and curly birch," and the bedrooms "in white enamel [with] mahogany doors."  

Apartment Houses of the Metropolis, 1908 (copyright expired)

Because electrical service was not reliable, the apartments had both gas and electric lighting.  The upscale amenities included "long distance telephone in each apartment."  Rents ranged from $720 to $1,500 per year, or $4,400 per month for the most expensive by today's conversion.

Among the initial residents were the Powers family, who had recently relocated from Maysville, Kentucky.  Mrs. Powers, who was a widow, lived here with her young adult children, Mary and John J.  

Mary Powers attended the exclusive Brantwood Hall girls' finishing school in Bronxville, New York.  She graduated in June 1910.  A classmate, Eda Bigger, was also from Maysville, Kentucky.  Rather than immediately returning home, Eda spent the summer in the Powers apartment.  The New York Times remarked, "Both are members of prominent Kentucky families, and were well-known in the social circles of Lawrence Park, Bronxville, during the school season."  

On July 9, Mary and Eda took a train to Bronxville to have lunch with two classmates.  The four young women chatted after lunch until Mary and Eda realized they were in danger of missing the 4:19 train back to New York.  As they neared the station, the southbound train was already at the platform.  The New York Times reported, "although the gates were down, and despite the cries of many commuters who were horrified to see a northbound train approaching on the other track, they ran around one of the stanchions holding an arm of the gate."   Mary and Eda, who were 20 and 22 years old respectively, were struck by the northbound train.

Eda Bigger was thrown 20 feet while Mary Powers was caught underneath the engine and dragged several hundred feet.  Her left leg was severed below the knee and her skull fractured.  The New York Times wrote, "The shoes of both young women were torn from their feet, and their costly Summer gowns were almost torn into ribbons."  The train crew treated the two women and then rushed them in automobiles to the Lawrence Hospital.

The New York Times reported that Mary's mother was notified by telephone.  She "went from New York on an express train.  She was on the verge of collapse and was looked after by friends," said the article.  Two days later, the newspaper reported that Mary had died.  "Her body will be shipped to Maysville, Ky.," said the article.  It noted, "Miss Eda Bigger...passed a favorable night, but the heat had a bad effect and least night her condition was far from favorable."

Frederic and Elise Timme were also early residents.  Elise was born in Germany in 1837 and she married Frederic in 1908.  Frederic was her second husband, her first, Charles Boettcher, was deceased.  Elise died on November 10, 1911 and her will raised eyebrows.  Her estate was valued at about $4 million in today's money, "principally of realty," according to The New York Times.  She left $10,000 (about $340,000 today) to the German Hospital and Dispensary "in memory of her former husband."  She additionally left the equivalent of $954,000 to Charles Boettcher's nieces and nephews.  The New York Times reported that she "divided her furniture...between Lizzie Brown and Agnes Fuechsel."  (What Frederic Timme was going to sit and sleep upon is unclear.)

Elise did not ignore Frederic in the will.  He inherited a life income of a $25,000 trust fund and "a talking machine appraised at $100."

Unmarried resident Isabel Rea, who lived here in 1912, typified the progressive young women of her generation.  On November 10, The Sun reported on the 20,000 women who participated in the suffrage parade on Fifth Avenue.  The lengthy article said in part:

The sidewalk crowds said a mighty "A-ah!" and thousands of hands clapped as Miss Isabel Rea of 583 Riverside Drive now came along as Joan of Arc astride a white horse panoplied in crimson plush.  Joan of Arc wore glittering armor and carried a long sword.  She led the Joan of Arc's division with President Nellie B. Van Slingeria of the league heading the long columns of foot soldiers.

At one point, Isabel suffered a brief wardrobe malfunction.  "At Thirty-fourth street Joan of Arc had trouble with her sword, but again Inspector Lahey came to the rescue and recovered it," said the article.

Clara Skolnik moved into the St. Francis Court in 1913 after leaving her husband, violinist Gregor Skolnik.  The couple was married in 1907 when Gregor was 19 and Clara was 31.  Shortly afterward, Gregor realized he had made a mistake.  On September 13, 1913 he filed for separation.  His complaint said in part: "Since the marriage [he] has never eaten a meal at home cooked by anyone other than himself, the defendant absolutely refusing to cook or provide for the plaintiff in any way."  

Gregor's weight dropped from 175 to 130 pounds, partly, said the complaint, "to the mental strain" from "language with which his wife addressed him on his return home from late rehearsals."  Her jealousy extended to his 18-year-old sister, a violin prodigy whom he was training.  When he suggested that he would have the marriage annulled, Clara told him "she would shoot him if he tried to do so."

Clara insisted that he give up music and go into business.  That resulted in disaster.  The New York Times reported, "he lost several thousand dollars."  When he was at the verge of bankruptcy, Clara left him and moved into the St. Francis Court.  She earned $100 a week as a dress designer (about $3,250 today).  Skolnik said she "was in a position to bear part of his business losses" but "refused to do so."

As it turned out, Clara's walking out had positive results.  On September 14, 1913, The New York Times reported that Gregor Skolnik "will be concertmeister of the Chicago Opera Company during the coming season."

Mrs. Abbie Manion had an extra bedroom in her apartment in 1913.  She rented it to Leopold Sulzberger, described by The Sun as "a quiet man of 45 years."  As it turned out, Sulzberger chose the St. Francis Court location because he "was very much in love with a young woman of the neighborhood," as reported by The Sun.  He would be called a stalker today.  

Sulzberger sat for hours every day on a bench in Riverside Park.  He confided to a policeman named Manning that he suspected the young woman he loved "of accepting the attentions of other men."  He explained that he would sit there "to see who her callers were and to learn whether she was in the habit of going out with other men."

On the morning of January 2, 1914, Mrs. Manion smelled gas coming from Sulzberger's room.  She found a policeman, who coincidentally was Officer Manning.  He broke open the bedroom door and immediately recognized the unconscious Sulzberger as the man to which he had spoken in the park.  He was taken to the Knickerbocker Hospital where, although his condition was deemed serious, he was held as a prisoner, charged with attempted suicide.

At the time, Clifford L. C. Porter shared an apartment with his widowed mother, Katherine, and his maternal grandmother, Lucy Paget.  The 19-year-old was studying law while also working for the publishing firm George H. Doran Company as a proof reader.  The New-York Tribune said, however, "What they didn't know was that he had great ambition to excel as a writer himself, and that when he went home at night he would sit up until 3 o'clock in the morning, sometimes, toiling at his writing."

At 3:00 on the afternoon of July 1, 1915, two shots rang out in the Porter apartment.  The New-York Tribune reported that Lucy Paget was home, "but, old and deaf, she heard nothing."  But the building's superintendent, August Carter, heard the shots.  He called the manager, and they went to the apartment.

The men forced young Porter's door, which was locked, and found [Clifford] lying on the floor, fully dressed, with two bullet holes in his head.  A 32-calibre automatic Colt revolver lay beside him.

Clifford Porter, who was now 20 years old, had ensured that his suicide would be successful.  The New York Herald reported that before shooting himself, "he had taken fatal doses of aconite and gelsemium."  Porter's supervisor at work said he "could think of no reason for the deed."  Lucy Paget told reporters that the young man "had been studying too hard."  She insisted that he was not in love.

photograph by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

A celebrated tenant at the time was playwright Howard Prentiss Taylor, who lived here with his wife, the former Agnes Chalmers.  Born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1839, he went to San Francisco as a boy where he got a job as a "printer's devil" at the newspaper The Argonaut.  (A printer's devil was an apprentice who did tasks like mixing inks and retrieving type.)

He later erected the Grand Opera House in San Francisco and was its manager for many years.  He later worked closely with Sam Clemens and collaborated with him in converting A Connecticut Yankee at the Court of King Arthur into a stage play.  Among the numerous plays he wrote were The Little Pauper, Nell Gwynne, The Pulse of New York, and The Jolly Widow.  His final book was The Idiosyncrasies of Mark Twain.

In 1910, Taylor began suffering from rheumatism.  He died in his apartment here at the age of 78 on July 7, 1916.

America's entry to World War I made heroes of at least two residents.  On July 12, 1918, The New York Times reported on the ceremony on the grounds of a château on the banks of the Marne--"the first large presentation of distinguished service crosses awarded to members of the United States Marine Corps for their heroic deeds in the fighting northwest of Château-Thierry in the month of June."  Among the marines so honored was the St. Francis Court resident Surgeon Ray C. Farwell.

The following month, on August 18, The Sun began an article saying, "Christopher W. Ford of 583 Riverside Drive, New York, a Lieutenant in the Lafayette Escadrille, fast is approaching the 'ace' class of American aviators."  In the past four months, Ford had shot down four German aircraft and had been awarded the Croix de Guerre.

Lieutenant Christopher W. Ford, The Sun, August 18, 1918 (copyright expired)

Oil salesman John N. Redmond, who lived here as early as 1919, arrived in New York City in 1914 from North Dakota.  He

first caught the attention of law enforcement in September 1919.  Several brokerage firms had received bomb threats and on September 10 The Sun reported that they "were traced yesterday by the police to John N. Redmond, 38, of 583 Riverside Drive."  The article said he was committed to the psychopathic ward of Bellevue Hospital for observation.  Detective Sergeant John F. McCoy explained that Redmond "believed himself to have been victimized by Wall Street brokers and 'defrauded of millions.'"

Redmond somehow escaped prosecution, but he was soon back in jail.  On April 8, 1920, he was arrested in the Robert Treat Hotel in Newark, New Jersey.  For the past five years he had been sending "amatory" letters to a socially prominent Newark woman--more than 500 of them.  Oddly enough, said the article, "he never has met the woman, nor she him."  The New-York Tribune described the letters as "obscene" and The Sun added that they caused the woman to have a nervous breakdown.

New York Herald, August 24, 1922 (copyright expired)

Resident Delores Dixon shocked the nation when she filed suit against baseball star Babe Ruth on March 13, 1923 for $50,000 "on the ground that he is the father of her child," as reported by The New York Times.  The newspaper described Dixon as "19 years old, an orphan, without brothers or sisters," and was "being kept in seclusion."  Her lawyer had notified Ruth of the accusation in November.  After the "home run king" conferred with his wife, they agreed to fight the case in court.  Babe Ruth called Dixon's allegations "blackmail."

Delores Dixon's attorney told reporters that she had met Ruth in the spring of 1922.  "He used to be with her four and five times a week, taking her out frequently in his car."  But the two would not face off in court.  A month later, on April 28, The New York Times reported that Dixon's suit had been withdrawn.  Babe Ruth's attorney, Hyman Bushel, explained to reporters that Delores "admitted that the suit was the outcome of a 'frame-up.'"

Living here in 1956 was Robert Moscowitz, who was 70 years old and blind.  Around 7:00 on the night of June 29, he left 583 Riverside Drive heading to Lena Trunk's "cider stuble" at 221 East 83rd Street.  (A cider stuble was a bar that served only cider.)  Just before he arrived, 28-year-old Edward Sobek barged in and flourished a toy pistol.  He demanded that Lena Trunk give him $50.  Instead, Lena "dashed out the door and called the police."  Unaware of the situation, Moscowitz walked in.  Edward Sobek beat and robbed him of his $1.65 and inexpensive wristwatch and fled.  He did not get far.  Shortly after police arrived, they captured Sobek.

George Xavier lived here as early as 1976.  The 23-year-old worked as a parking lot attendant.  On the night of October 16 that year, he was playing cards with several men in front of 236 West 52nd Street.  An argument ensued and Xavier was fatally stabbed.

A renovation completed in February 2003 resulted in the Dorothy Day Apartments.  It was likely at this time that the stone balustrade was removed from the roofline.  The building now holds 70 affordable apartments for families in need.  It also provides an early childhood education center and on-site employment office.  Also in the building is the Rio II Gallery.