The Lonely George and Annie Smith Mansion - 1033 Fifth Avenue

 

In 1870, Harriet Track erected four elegant homes on Fifth Avenue between 84th and 85th Streets in 1870.  Designed by Stephen D. Hatch, the American basement plan homes were four stories tall with an attic.  Among them was No. 1033.  Faced in brownstone, its French Second Empire design was the latest in domestic fashion.  

A portion of No. 1033 can be glimpsed at the side of 1034 Fifth Avenue, which had just been given a new front in 1912.  No. 1033 would follow suit within months of this photo.  photograph by Wurts Brothers from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

Jacob Campbell purchased 1033 Fifth Avenue as an investment.  He leased it to Edward Payson Hatch and his wife, the former Elizabeth C. Height.  Born in Norwich, Vermont on July 11, 1832, Hatch started his retail career at the age of 15 earning $4 a month.  By the time he and his family moved into 1033 Fifth Avenue, he had been highly successful.  The New York Herald noted, "After making a fortune in the sewing machine business Mr. Hatch retired from business."

Then, in 1879, he got a call from John Taylor Lord.  The New York Herald later explained, "the firm of Lord & Taylor became involved in financial difficulties and he was asked to take charge of affairs."

Elizabeth Height Hatch was born in New Jersey, where her ancestors first settled in 1721.  She and Edward had one son, Edward Jr., and six daughters.  Their country homes were in  Arlington, New Jersey and Burlington, Vermont.

On April 28, 1889, The New York Sun debunked a common assumption, saying, "There is no Taylor in Lord & Taylor."  The newspaper explained, "The firm is composed of Samuel Lord, Jr., who lives in Orange, and Edward P. Hatch, who lives at 1,033 Fifth avenue."

Samuel Lord Jr. died in 1896.  John Taylor Lord was now Hatch's partner in the firm.  Upon his death in January 1903, Edward Hatch became the sole head of Lord & Taylor.  That same year, Hatch finally purchased 1033 Fifth Avenue.

At the time, the Hatches' butler was 25-year-old William Johnson.  On August 3, 1903, the 25-year-old took a few days off.  His subsequent behavior--going into three pawnshops on Sixth Avenue--made Detective Rochester suspicious.  Rochester went into one of them and "learned that he had pawned several pieces of silk," according to The New York Times.  The detective detained Johnson and "he found a dozen pawn tickets sewed on the negro's underwear representing silverware, jewelry, suits of clothes, and silk to the value of several hundred dollars."  He also had letters addressed to Edward P. Hatch Sr. and private papers.

Hatch was notified and he and his daughter, Cornelia, appeared in court the following day.  Johnson confessed to stealing $40 worth of silk and "several hundred dollars' worth of silverware."

Elizabeth Height Hatch died on February 2, 1906 "after a lingering illness," as reported by The Christian Advocate.  In reporting her death, the newspaper mentioned that she and Edward were "largely instrumental" in establishing the church in Arlington, New Jersey.

Red Rocks, the Hatch country place in Burlington, Vermont, was described by the New-York Tribune in 1909 as "a splendid estate on the shore of Lake Champlain.  The article said Hatch "spent large sums in laying out driveways through the woods, providing lookouts over the lake, building permanent stone highways and installing public drinking fountains," said the newspaper, adding, "He loved his estate and loved to see the people in general visit and admire the work of his hands."

Hatch had seen intense grief by the time of that article.  Only two children, Edward and Cornelia, were still alive.  In September 1909, he was at Red Rocks.  The New York Herald said, "He had been in poor health for weeks, but was able to be out and chat with his friends on Sunday afternoon."  That evening he "had a sinking spell and failed rapidly."  He died of a heart attack the following morning, September 21.

The Hatch estate sold 1033 Fifth Avenue in March 1910 to Charles Sooysmith for $150,000 (about $5.24 million in 2026 terms).   Plans were filed for a replacement house, but for some reason, Sooysmith changed his mind.  Two years later, he resold it George C. and Annie S. Smith.  The Sun reported on March 31, 1912, "It is the intention of the purchaser to practically rebuild the house."

The Smiths commissioned the architectural firm of Hoppin & Koen to bring the outdated mansion into the 20th century.  The brownstone facade was removed to be replaced with limestone.  Hoppin & Koen's dignified Beaux Arts design was reservedly decorated with elegant, French Classic Louis XV motifs, like the panels of double-swags and ribbons below the second-floor windows, and the swags and wreaths below the third-floor openings.  Two segmentally arched dormers peered over the stone balustrade that fronted the mansard.

Born in 1858, George Campbell Smith was a partner Stead & Smith, the publishing firm co-founded by his father.  He married Anne Kammerer Schmertz on January 18, 1888.  The couple had three children, Dorothy Frances, George Jr., and Annie J.  The family's country home, Blythewood, was in East Norwich, Long Island.

Annie's engagement to Leon H. Abbett was announced in September 1919.  It sparked entertainments, like the Smiths' dinner and dance at the Metropolitan Club for the couple on November 14.

Annie J. Smith's engagement photograph.  The New-York Tribune, December 25, 1919 (copyright expired)

At the time of that dinner party, the Smiths had already sold the mansion.  The sale was announced in the New York Herald on October 4, 1919.  The Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported the sale price at $210,000, or just under $4 million today.

The buyers were Milo Merrick Belding and his wife, the former Annie L. Kirk.  Milo was born in New York City on April 14, 1865, "the day of Lincoln's assassination," as noted by The New York Times.  His deep American roots were reflected in his membership in the Founders and Patriots of America and the Sons of the Revolution.

Milo Merrick Belding (original source unknown)

In 1884, he took a job as a clerk in his father's firm, Belding Bros. & Co., "the largest manufacturers and distributers of silk thread in the United States," according to The New York Times in 1931.  Upon his father's death in 1912, Milo Belding became president.  He was, as well, president of the American Union Life Insurance Company.

Belding commissioned a sea-worthy yacht, the Cocoon, in 1923.  The vessel needed only "finishing touches" in November 1924 and those were to be done in Florida.  Milo invited two guests--his secretary, W. H. Stillhammer, and Dr. George M. Smith--to accompany him on the cruise.  The vessel had a crew of four.  

Around dusk on November 22, "the yacht was heading in toward Government Cut after having made a test trip down the bay, around Cape Florida and into the Atlantic," reported The New York Times.  Belding and his guests heard a loud noise that they initially thought was a door slamming or glass breaking.  Another came two minutes later and this time "they plainly identified it as a gunshot."

The Cocoon was under fire from the Coast Guard, which, despite its being fully lighted, was mistaken for a rum runner.  The yacht was boarded and searched.  "When no liquor was found the Cocoon was permitted to steam to her berth, and the officer expressed his regrets," reported The New York Times.

Understandably, Milo Belding was not ready to accept the apology.  He told reporters that "the affair would be reported to Washington."

That year, the abutting houses to the south were demolished and replaced with an apartment building designed by J. E. R. Carpenter.

The Smith mansion now snuggled up to a behemoth. photograph by Wurts Brothers from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

The following year, the property to the north of 1033 Fifth Avenue was filled with another J. E. R. Carpenter-designed apartment building.  The Smith mansion was now sandwiched between two soaring structures.

Image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Around October 1, 1931, Milo Belding contracted what was described as a "mild cold."  Two weeks later, it developed into bronchitis that "fatally affected his heart," as reported by The New York Times on October 14.  His funeral was held in the mansion two days later.

Belding's massive estate was reflected in an article in The New York Times on January 9, 1934, which began, "The Association for the Aid of Crippled Children will get more than $10,000,000 of the wealth of the late Milo M. Belding.  That figure would translate to $240 million today.

Annie Kirk Belding died in the mansion on September 4, 1944.  In reporting her death, The New York Times remarked that she had been a director of the Association for the Aid of Cripple Children since 1925 and that she helped establish the Milo M. Belding Fund for the aid of crippled children."

Singer Morton Downey purchased 1033 Fifth Avenue.  Born in 1901, he was known as The Irish Nightingale.  He and his wife, actress Barbara Bennett (sister of actresses Constance and Joan Bennett), were divorced in 1941.  They had five children, including Morton Downey Jr., who would go on to become a talk show host and actor.

On October 1, 1945, The New York Times reported that Downey had sold "the five-story house with elevator" to the Herbert J. Freezer Company.  It became home to Herbert J. Freezer and his wife, Michael Stone Freezer.  The couple had a son, Winthrop.  Their residency would be relatively short.  The Freezers separated in 1950 and the mansion was sold to actress Eva Gabor.

According to Sam Staggs in his Finding Zsa Zsa: The Gabors Behind the Legend, "Eva daydreamed of a gilded life in her spacious multi-story, with herself as chatelaine and vassals at her side."  On November 29, 1950, The New York Times announced that she "intends to alter and occupy the property as her town house."

Eva invited her mother, Jolie, to inspect the mansion.  According to Staggs, Eva recalled, "She told me I am not her smartest daughter, since it was evident to anyone with eyes that ten apartments could be made in the building."  The dutiful daughter followed her advice.  Within a year, there were six apartments in the former residence, including a triplex.

The Government of Iran purchased 1033 Fifth Avenue in 1960 as the residence of Iran's United Nations mission chief.  It remained so until the Iranian Revolution in 1978-79 that overthrew the Pahlavi monarchy.

On December 23, 1990, The New York Times reported, "Acquired by Iran in the mid-60s' [sic] and furnished with Persian rugs, antique mirrors and crystal chandeliers, the town house at 1033 Fifth Avenue...has declined in the last decade or so."  The article explained that the Iranian Government intended to spend $250,000 in renovating the building.  Architect George Schwartz was commissioned to "modernize" the building and reconvert it into a single residence.  The work included new electrical, heating and air conditioning systems, and the updating of the kitchen and bathrooms.

The mansion--vised between two 1920s apartment buildings--is home to the Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations today.

photographs by the author

The 1909 Cathedral Plaza - 101 West 109th Street / 410 Cathedral Pkwy

 photograph by Anthony Bellov

In April 1908, the architectural firm of Sommerfeld & Steckler began plans "for a six-story $100,000 flat building...for the Cathedral Realty Co. to be erected on the north side of 109th St., 150 ft. west of Columbus Avenue," as reported in the Real Estate Record & Guide.  The developer's vision was soon doubled.  When construction was completed in 1909, there were two connected, nearly identical buildings back-to-back.  The Cathedral Plaza had entrances at 101 West 109th Street and 410 Cathedral Parkway.  (The stretch of West 110th Street from Amsterdam Avenue to Riverside Drive was renamed Cathedral Parkway in 1892.  Many New Yorkers ignored the change and this entrance is still also known as 410 West 110th Street.)

Each of the Beaux Arts-style buildings was designed as an E, with deep light courts separating the three sections.  Above rusticated limestone bases, Sommerfeld & Steckler faced the upper five floors with red Flemish bond brick trimmed with terra cotta.  Deep porches with polished red granite columns protected the centered entrances on each side.  Square headed drip moldings capped the ornate terra cotta lintels of the midsections, while the top section, introduced by a sumptuous cornice supported by an arched corbel table with angels' faces and shells, exploded with elaborate decoration.  A brick-and-terra cotta parapet crowned each section.

photograph by Anthony Bellov

An advertisement for the "just completed" Cathedral Plaza in February 1910 touted: "High class novel elevator apartments 2 and 3 rooms, bath and kitchenette.  A first class restaurant connected with the buildings.  Rents from $32 to $45."  The most expensive rent would translate to $1,570 per month in 2026.

Among the initial residents were stockbroker Hugh C. Kendall Hester and his wife, Edith H., who were going through some rough times.  The couple were married on October 26, 1906.  That year was a propitious one for Hester.  Not only did he get married, but he made $60,000 in stocks.  (It was a staggering windfall, equal to $2.2 million today.)  The Sun reported, "He made so much money the first year he was married that he spent $20,000 for living expenses alone."

Hester was Edith's second husband and she had received a $13,000 settlement in the divorce of her first spouse, C. Henry Fosgate.  She asked Hugh to speculate with her sizable nest egg.  In March 1907, he lost $87,000, including his wife's money.  Edith told him, "Never mind, you'll get it all back again."  

Things became worse when Henry Clews & Co. refused to give Hester a raise and he resigned.  He took a job with E. F. Hutton & Co., but was "discharged for violating a rule of the Stock Exchange that he didn't know about," according to The Sun.  (He had written to his former clients at Henry Clews & Co., asking them to transfer their portfolios to him.)  He found a job as managing the office of Ball & Whicher, but that brokerage firm closed.  After living extravagantly for years, "he had to reduce expenses and moved from 515 West 110th Street to a kitchenette apartment in the Cathedral Plaza apartments at 101 West 109th street," explained The Sun.

Downsizing to a two-room apartment was the last straw for Edith.  When Hester came home on October 6, 1910, "his wife, her maid and her dog were all gone," reported The Sun.  On January 4, 1911, she applied for separation and alimony, painting a melodramatic picture to the court.  The Sun recounted:

She has no relatives or parents who can aid her, she says, and she needs winter clothing and has even suffered for want of food.  Once when she was hanging to her husband's coat demanding carfare he struck her in the face, she says.

Hester told the court that he was making only $10 per week.  The Sun reported, "but the Court awarded alimony of that amount and $100 counsel fee."

photograph by Anthony Bellov

On March 12, 1914, Florence Miller and her son, Samuel J. Miller, rented a fifth-floor apartment here.  Florence was 55 years old and Samuel, who said he was studying at Columbia University, was 24.  Florence handed the superintendent a check on the Colonial National Bank for the first month's rent and said their furniture would arrive the next day.  He gave her the keys and, according to The New York Times, "the couple immediately took possession, although they were without even a handbag."

The mother and son had a tragic story.  According to Florence, they "inherited a small fortune ten years ago" and came to Manhattan to live.  Samuel got a job in the advertising business, but he lost his job in January.  Florence later related, "since then both had been in the direst poverty, due to the exhaustion of their small fortune and his inability to find work."  The check with which Florence secured the lease was later found to be worthless.

The two did not rent the apartment to occupy it, they wanted a place to die.  On March 13, 1914, The Sun reported, "Mrs. Miller and her son were found sitting in chairs side by side with their arms around each other's neck.  Every gas cock in the kitchen stove was turned on full."  The article noted, "Ashes in the sink indicated that they had burned some papers before trying to end their lives."

The following day, The New York Times reported, "Both are now out of danger, although it was necessary to use a pulmotor to revive them."  Florence told authorities, "Because my son and I have been used to nice things, we did not want to die in a hovel."  

In the post-World War I years, the respectability of some of the tenants of Cathedral Plaza declined.  On June 15, 1920, for instance, 33-year-old Benjamin Silverman was arrested.  "He is suspected of the theft of $30,000 worth of miscellaneous stock certificates...and to have disposed of them at Providence, R. I.," reported The Sun.  And the following year, on August 6, 1921, Louis B. Jennings, president of the Standard Film Industries, Inc., surrendered to the District Attorney.  He was charged with selling unauthorized stock in the company.

The 109th Street elevation.  photograph by Anthony Bellov

Gertrude Schroeder lived here in 1923 when she became the focus of a highly publicized scandal.  Her sister, the former Elaine Phillips, was Princess Elaine von der Lippe-Lipski, the wife of Prince Nicholas Vladimir von der Lippe-Lipski, "one-time friend of the Czar," according to The New York Times.  

That summer, the Prince and Princess visited New York City and took a suite in the Biltmore Hotel.  In October, the Princess became suspicious that her sister was carrying on a dalliance with her husband.  On October 25, she and friends came to Gertrude's apartment.  The New York Times reported, "the Princess said she heard the voices of her husband and her sister as they stood waiting outside the door."  Once inside, the Princess found some of her husband's clothing.  Gertrude refused to open the bathroom door.  Eventually the Princess and her party left, taking along her husband's clothing.  (In the vest pocket, she later told the court, she found the key to Gertrude's apartment.)

The Princess faced off with Gertrude in court on January 28, 1924.  She had sued her for $100,000 for alienating her husband's affections.  Among those who testified was Gertrude's next-door neighbor.  He told the court that on October 25, 1923, he heard a noise outside his window.  Looking out, he discovered the Prince on the fire escape, wearing nothing but a woman's bathrobe.

For hours on the night of February 13, 1924, policemen surveilled the apartment occupied by Abraham Horowitz and Joseph Stern from a rear fire escape.  The New York Times described it as "elaborately furnished in Oriental style, and illuminated by shaded colored lights."  The exotic decor set mood for Horowitz's and Stern's opium den.  Finally, early in the morning police raided the apartment.  Along with Horowitz and Stern, four others were arrested, including 22-year-old manicurist Dorothy Clark.

Dr. John Leo Hanson left Boston and took a two-room apartment here on July 15, 1926.  Five days later he was arrested on West 40th Street.  The New York Times said he was "wanted as an accessory in the death of Miss Edith Greene."  According to Police Inspector Carey, Hanson was so intoxicated "he could get no information whatever from him when he was first taken in."  Edith Greene had been murdered in Boston and her body dismembered.  Once sober, Hanson denied having anything to do with the murder.  On July 20, The New York Times reported that investigators searched Hanson's apartment here and "found a trunk filled with feminine apparel."

On September 21, 1928, contractor David Angus was fatally shot in his home on West 105th Street "by a band of thugs who robbed him of $700," reported The New York Times.  Six months later, acting on an anonymous tip, police "arrested six men in a fourth-floor apartment at 101 West 109th Street on suspicion of homicide."  The newspaper reported, "the apartment in which the men were arrested was pretentiously furnished."  All but one of them had previous convictions.

Unusual ornaments sit atop the 109th Street side in 1940 (they are not trees).  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

After a significant decline, the buildings were renovated in 1960.  In 1965, two women, Mary Pierce and Florence Senior moved into one of the apartments from an SRO hotel.  "Oh, Christ, you can escape," Mary told a reporter.  "You're not like cluttered together.  You can go into the kitchen, go into the living room.  We've got a parlor, so they say."

The upgrades did not necessarily improve the respectability of some of the tenants.  In 1963 John R. Payne was arrested for Social Security fraud; and in 1974 Santiago Rodriguez and his half-brother Miguel Diaz were arrested as suspects in the murder of Pace University professor James C. Clees.

The 100th Street building is a copy of the 109th Street structure.  image via nelsonmanagementgroup.net

Things have improved within the two buildings (which are no longer known as the Cathedral Plaza).  Recently renovated, the units now range from studios to four-bedroom duplexes.  The management's website notes, "It is 100% dedicated to affordable housing and funded in part by the U.S. Department  of Housing and Urban Development."

many thanks to Anthony Bellov for suggesting this post

The 1900 Abner C. Thomas House - 315 West 84th Street

 

James Ross and Charles R. McNeill established their architectural practice in 1898.  Among their first commissions was the designing of six upscale rowhouses on the north side of West 84th Street between Riverside Drive and West End Avenue for Matthews & Eppenstein.  Completed in 1900, the five-story homes were designed, overall, in the Beaux Arts style.  Ross & McNeil created an off-balanced row in an ABBBAA configuration.  The flat-faced "A" models were clad in red brick.  The B models, which included 315 West 84th Street, were faced in brown brick above their rusticated limestone bases.  The upper three floors were bowed, terminating in a dignified stone balustrade that fronted the tiled mansard.  Its prominent dormer wore an arched pediment.

The houses form a dignified row.  315 West 84th Street is hiding behind the tree in the foreground.

Matthews & Eppenstein had purchased the property from Henry Oppenheimer in November 1899.  The transaction did not come without a problem.  A house already existed at 315 West 84th Street and it was being leased to attorney Abner C. Thomas and his family.  The developers apparently negotiated with family, because when the row was completed, the Thomas family moved into 315 West 84th Street.

Abner C. Thomas was born in Brooklyn in 1844.  He received a civil engineering degree from the Polytechnic College of Pennsylvania.  At the age of 21, he changed course, studying law in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  He relocated to New York City in 1866 and opened his law office.  

Thomas and his wife, the former Lucy Carnahan, had four children: Ethel Cary, Rhoda Cary, Lucy Cary and Abel Cary.  Lucy had a long American pedigree.  She was the first president of the Daughters of Ohio, and a member of the Daughters of the Revolution, and the Daughters of the War of 1812.  She was, as well, a member of Sorosis, the first professional women's club in America.

The Thomas family had lived in the previous house as early as 1895.  The last social event in that residence took place on December 5, 1899.  That evening Rhoda Cary Thomas was married to Cornelius W. Luyster Jr. at the Church of All Angels on West End Avenue.  The New-York Tribune remarked, "a supper and dance for the members of the bridal party will follow at the home of the bride's parents, No. 315 West Eighty-fourth-st."

In addition to his law practice, Abner C. Thomas was an author.  He wrote, according to The Evening World, "many text books on law," most of which dealt with real estate law.  In 1899, he was appointed surrogate justice by the Tammany organization.

In March 1903, F. W. Drury and his wife, Josephine, purchased 315 West 84th Street.  Their residency would be relatively short and in May 1907, they sold the house to Corinne Roche.

A graduate of the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Corinne was highly involved in real estate, buying and selling properties in Manhattan.  Her parents, Walter and Mary Amelia Doherty Roche, were both dead and moving into 315 West 84th Street were Corinne's sisters, Beatrice, Marie and Amelia.  The Roches' summer home was in Deal Beach, New Jersey.  At the time, Beatrice was still a student in the Convent of the Sacred Heart.

On September 24, 1907, Marie was married to Joseph Thomas Ryan in Deal, New Jersey.  Her brother, John Doherty Roche, gave her away.  The New York Times noted, "A reception followed the wedding at the Roche Summer home."

The Asbury Park Press began an article on September 11, 1909, "While on a vacation from the Convent of the Sacred Heart at Manhattanville, N. Y., several years ago, Miss Beatrice Roche gave a birthday party...and it was there that she first met Dr. William Vincent Pascual of Brooklyn, then a student at Columbia university."  The article said a "rather romantic courtship" followed.  Beatrice and Pascual were married in Deal on the morning of that article.  Corinne was Beatrice's maid of honor and John gave her away.  The reception was held in Marie and Joseph Ryan's summer home.

There were now just two sisters in the West 84th Street house.  Corinne busied herself with her real estate dealings while remaining highly active in her alumnae association.  On June 15, 1919, for instance, the New York Herald announced, "On the campus at Manhattanville members of the alumnae association of the Convent of the Sacred Heart College held their 'Old Students' Day' Tuesday."  The article noted that Corinne Roche was the chairman of the arrangements.

Amelia was married to John William Kehoe in the Church of the Holy Trinity in September 1920.  She was given away by Joseph Ryan.  (John D. Roche had died on January 29, 1918.)  Corinne attended her sister.  The New York Times reported, "The ceremony was followed by a wedding breakfast at the home of the bride, 315 West Eighty-fourth Street."

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

Corinne was not left alone in the house.  Amelia and John moved in.  Kehoe was a textile executive and Amelia kept busy with charity work.  She was vice president of the Manhattanville Children of Mary, was highly active in the ladies' auxiliary of St. Joseph's Day Nursery, and was treasurer of the Maplehurst Alumnae of the Sacred Heart.  And in 1933, The New York Sun reported that she was chairman of the International Federation of Catholic Alumnae's annual bridge party.

Corinne Roche continued to buy and sell real estate.  On May 9, 1930, for instance, The New York Times reported that she had purchased an apartment building on East 123rd Street, and by the early 1940s she owned a theater on Eighth Avenue.

In August 1944, real estate operator M. C. Berg purchased 315 West 84th Street, sparking a game of real estate hot potato.  He resold it the following month "to an investor," according to The New York Sun on September 28.  In April 1945, G. W. Cane purchased it and resold it the following month to real estate Dorothy Kaliski.  She rented rooms in the house until 1953, when The New York Times reported on June 4 that she sold it to a buyer who would convert it into ten apartments.  But, once again, the purchaser resold 315 West 84th Street the following month.  On July 24, The New York Times reported, "The buyer plans to alter the building and occupy a large part of it."

The once elegant home became a rooming house.  The following year, on December 21, 1954, The New York Times reported that the owner and nine other rooming house owners had been "threatened with forced evacuation of their tenements as firetraps."

A renovation completed in 1956 resulted in one apartment each on the first and second floors, two each on the third and fourth, and two furnished rooms on the fifth floor.  There would be three more renovations to come, each one reducing the number of units.  In 1973 the first and second floors were combined as a duplex, in 1995 that apartment was enlarged to a triplex, and, finally, in 2017 315 West 84th Street was restored to a single-family home.

photographs by the author

The 1914 Municipal Building - 1 Centre Street

 

photograph by Momos

As early as 1884, the city's government had outgrown the 1812 City Hall building.  Plans for a Municipal Building that would "contain the different departments that are now housed in rented quarters," as described by the Real Estate Record & Guide in October 25, 1890, were varied.  The article said that the Municipal Building Commission had considered sites on St. Mark's Place and East 6th Street, but had decided on City Hall Park, which was already owned by the city.  The New York Times explained that several structures, including City Hall, the Post Office and the Court House, would have to be demolished.

A vote in the State Senate on February 25, 1890 challenged the idea.  The New York Times reported that legislators balked at the loss of a public park.  They further argued, "The City Hall is architecturally and historically too valuable, and the Court House and the Post Office are too substantial and costly to be removed."  (The sensitivity to City Hall's architectural importance, or even its recognition, was highly unusual for the time.)

A year later, however, the plan looked promising.  On March 28, 1891, The New York Times reported that Mayor Hugh J. Grant was pushing hard for the plan.  The article explained:

He was fully aware of the fact that there was opposition to the scheme of tearing down the old City Hall, but so far as he had been able to determine this was the expression only of sentimentalism which should not be allowed to stand in the way of the city's progress.

Ready to fight the mayor, said the article, was the Architectural League of America, which "would condemn the proposition to tear down the old City Hall."

City Hall seemed doomed following a two-hour meeting in the private office of the new mayor, Thomas Gilroy, on March 28, 1893.  The Municipal Building Commission and the Advisory Committee of Architects agreed with Gilroy and his predecessor.  A site map was released showing the proposed $4 million structure sitting directly on top of the City Hall site, its northern wings engulfing the Court House.

The New York Times, March 29, 1883 (copyright expired)

A contest for the design of the Municipal Building was opened shortly after, with the deadline for submission at noon on September 1, 1893.  The 130 architects had toiled in vain, as it turned out.  The battle to save City Hall was far from over.

Andrew Haswell Green was well known to New Yorkers.  He had been highly involved in the development of open spaces including Central Park, Riverside Drive, and Morningside Park.  He wrote a lengthy, pleading open letter to the Parks Commissioners in February 1894.  It said in part:

The City Hall presents an example of fine architectural taste.  In design and construction it is faultless as any structure in the city, while its historical and biographical relations involve events of paramount interest and personages of dignity and estimation, and, as has been well said, "It stands to-day unsurpassed by any structure of its kind in the country."  It should continue to stand, as for nearly a century it has stood, ample, commodious, and convenient.

It would be more than a decade before a committee agreed to  find an alternative site for the Municipal Building, and to preserve the Court House and City Hall, and renovate the park.  Finally, on May 9, 1908, the Record & Guide published a rendering of the new building, designed by William M. Kendall of McKim, Mead & White.  The site, facing City Hall Park on the east side of Centre Street, had proved a challenge for him.

The article said, "The peculiar shape of the lot...at the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge, made the architectural problem, as well as the problem of light and air an unusual one."  Also challenging was "the problem of construction over the subway without interfering with the passage of trains."  Kendall had chosen "the classic style" for the building, said the article, "following the accepted traditions of buildings of a civic character throughout the country from the earliest times down."

McKim, Mead & White released the above rendering on May 8, 1908.  Real Estate Record & Guide (copyright expired)

As construction progressed, on June 27, 1909 The New York Times began an article saying, "New Yorkers thrive on superlatives."  It reminded readers of the Municipal Building's unique elements: "a subway running through its basement, an elevated railroad on its second floor, with streets on every side of it, and one passing directly through it."  

On December 27, 1909, Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr. and Bridge Commissioner James W. Stevenson oversaw the laying of the four-ton, Maine granite cornerstone "of what is to be the largest, most elaborate, and most ornate municipal building of any city in the world," according to The New York Times.  The article said construction would be completed by January 1912 at a cost of "about $14,000,000."  (That figure would translate to nearly $500 million in 2026).

 Real Estate Record & Guide (copyright expired)

The article went on to describe Kendall's design, saying it would rise 25 floors to an eight-story tower.  "The general style is to be French Renaissance...The ornamental front of the building on Centre Street, with a long row of fifty-foot pillars, will be broken in the centre by an arched arcade through which Chambers Street will be run through the building."  Kendall strayed from the French Renaissance with that arcade, which was inspired by the ancient Arch of Constantine in Rome.

photograph by Jgrenaldy

Constructing a massive building adjacent to the subway was not only challenging, but dangerous.  On June 4, 1910, The New York Times reported that the east side of the excavation for the Municipal Building's foundation collapsed.  "A mountain of sand behind the shoring suddenly shifted and buried three workmen," said the article.  "Some of the timbers knocked over two others."  One of those workers, James McClellan, was buried to the neck and pinned by timbers.  The article explained, "further movements of the sand threatened to bury him completely."  Two priests, Father John Curry and Father Luke J. Evers, were lowered into the pit where they gave the last sacraments to McClellan.  Three hours later, fortunately, he was extricated and removed to a hospital.

Three months later, on September 3, a second cave in took place, this time on the western side.  It undid significant work.  The New York Times reported, "The sewer and water pipes along the line of the cave-in were torn away."  Happily, this time no workers were injured.

Within months after that setback, the building began taking shape.  On April 23, 1911, McKim, Mead & White announced that the tower of the structure was "designed in the modern classic style, and will be built of Maine granite of a light tone."  Not yet decided, according to The New York Times, was "a figure to top the tower."  The firm said "a number of figures are being considered."

Disaster struck again on June 28, 1911.  The New York Times reported, "The highest blaze ever fought by the Fire Department...was discovered early last evening on the twenty-fifth floor of the new Municipal Building, now in course of construction."  The stand pipes did not yet extend above the 21st floor.  The article said, "The firemen tried to extinguish the fire by throwing on sand, but the blaze was beyond their control."  The fire fighters were also endangered by the fact that the floors at that level were not yet floored over.  They "were compelled to walk in line and carry a lighted lantern," said the article.  Hoses were hauled up from the 21st floor stand pipe and eventually the fire was extinguished.

The next week, on July 3, the building was topped off.  "Just before stopping work last night," reported The Times, "several hundred iron workers on the new Municipal Building...unfurled a large American flag to show they had reached the highest point of the structure."

On May 8, 1913, Adolph A. Weinman's gilded statue, Civic Fame, was installed atop the tower.  Although the building was still under construction, the first tenants moved in seven months later.  

Not everyone was happy with Kendall's results.   On January 22, 1914, Mayor John Purroy Mitchel told a meeting of the Sinking Fund Commissioners, "The building was planned badly in its original conception and is largely a waste of space as now constructed."  The board's commissioner noted, "this undoubtedly can be attributed to the fact that the site was a bad one in the beginning."  The president of the Board of Aldermen added his thought.  "We have the building and we must make the best of it."

On January 22, 1914, the New-York Tribune wrote, "If the protests of city department heads are to be believed, the fine white Municipal Building is a fine white elephant; cost to date, some $15,000,000; and value for the original purpose, doubtful."  The article admitted, "The Municipal Building is good to look at."  But it added, should it not adequately fulfill the needs of the city departments, "Miss New York on the top of the tower may have cause to hide her face in her robes for shame at the waste."

A vintage postcard shows the Municipal Building as the highest structure in the district. (copyright expired)

Borough President Marcus M. Marks came to Kendall's and the building's defense.  The Evening World reported on February 23, 1924, "He pointed to the wonderful capacity of the building with its fourteen acres of net floor space, its thousand offices, supplying 5,000 employees with plenty of natural light, and figures that office space in the new structure will cost the city...$1.33 per square foot, as against an average price of $1.76 per square foot paid during the past two years for rented space."

original photograph from the author's collection

Another complaint was almost unbelievable.  On June 21, 1914, the New York Herald reported, "Don't believe anybody who tells you that it's an optical illusion which makes you think that Miss Civic Virtue, or whatever the official name of the bronze lady on the top of the Municipal Building tower is, has hiked her gilt skirts up hysterically during the past few days and is trying to stand even higher on her pedestal than heretofore."  

As construction began, two cats "fell into the excavation," said the New York Herald.  And then, "nature took its course."  By the time the building opened, "the cats in the building grew so numerous that something had to be done."  The newspaper said that the city had eliminated to date 63 feral felines.  The problem now, said the article, "mice frolic gayly" within the building.

photograph by Ken Lund

Despite the early denunciation of the structure, the Municipal Building (renamed the David N. Dinkins Manhattan Municipal Building on October 15, 2015) has become an architectural landmark of the lower Manhattan skyscape.  William M. Kendall's ability to conform his design to the awkward footprint, his striking entrance arcade, and the structure's soaring presence topped with Civic Fame is integral to the City Hall and Foley Square architectural neighborhood.

The 1900 Samuel Haas Mansion - 15 East 80th Street

 

Samuel Paul Haas was president of Haas Brothers Ladies Tailoring Co.  On October 30, 1898, he and his wife, Isabella, purchased the 21-foot wide, four-story brownstone at 13 East 80th Street from the estate of Anne Bishop for "about $36,000," according to the New York Herald.  (The address would be renumbered 15 East 80th Street in March 1907.)  The price, equal to nearly $1.5 million in 2025 terms, reflected the rising real estate values in the neighborhood as Manhattan's millionaires crept this far north.

At the time, new homeowners were either drastically remodeling the outdated high-stooped brownstones or replacing them with modern, American basement residences.  Haas contracted the newly formed firm of Brun & Hauser to replace the Bishop house with a fashionable Beaux Arts-style mansion.

Completed in 1900, the five-story residence was faced in limestone.  Its elliptically arched entrance was centered within a rusticated base.  French windows at the second and third floors were fronted with faux balconies with French-style railings.  Below the third floor balcony and flanking it were carved cartouches, the former backed with palm fronds and the latter draped with elaborate swags of roses and bows.  The fifth floor sat atop a stone cornice and was capped with a carved parapet.

Haas was born in Reckendorf, Germany in June 1837. Isabella (known as Bella) was notably younger, born in March 1856.  The couple had one daughter, Florine, who was 18 years old and a recent debutante when they moved into the East 80th Street mansion.  Like their neighbors, they were attended to by a significant domestic staff, as reflected in an advertisement in The New York Times:

Waitress and Parlor Maid--Only first-class need apply; family of three; five in help; good wages, fine position; personal city references required.

The "waitress and parlor maid" would be one of the more polished of the staff members.  She would serve in the dining room and in the drawing room and would need to have impeccable finesse.  The mention of "five in help" suggests that the other staff members were the butler, lady's maid, cook, and chambermaid.

Florine married Dudley David Sicher in 1904.  The newlyweds moved into the mansion with Samuel and Bella, where little Richard Dudley Sicher was born the following year.  A second child, Jane E., would come along on September 17, 1911.

Like his father-in-law, Dudley D. Sicher was in the garment industry.  He was president of D. E. Sicher & Co., underwear manufacturer, and president of the Cotton Garment Manufacturers' Association of New York.  His firm employed 500 men and women, according to The New York Times.  

Sicher's approach to employer-employee relations at a time of worker dissatisfaction and tense labor problems was the polar opposite of many other garment makers.  He supported the concept of minimum wages, and in 1913 organized a factory-supported school for his poorly educated, mostly immigrant female workers.

He told The New York Times on April 20, 1913:

We want [the factory girls] to get a broader education that will help them to be more intelligent workers.  We will give them the skill if the teachers will help to give them the intelligence.

The article said that the workers would be taught "business arithmetic, commercial geography, and writing."

Dudley David Sicher The New York Times April 20, 1913 (copyright expired)

Tragically, two months prior to that article, Richard Dudley Sicher died at the age of five.  The little boy's funeral was held privately.

It is unclear when Bella Haas died, but she was already deceased when Samuel Paul Haas died in the East 80th Street mansion on May 19, 1920 at the age of 63.  After bequeaths of $5,000 to Mount Sinai Hospital and $2,500 to the Montefiore Home, he left his entire estate to Florine.  (He had transferred title to 15 East 80th Street to her in 1907.)

In 1922, the Sichers hired architects Taylor & Levi to remodel the second floor, or piano nobile.  While other homeowners were embracing modern 1920s trends, the Sichers turned to the past.  Taylor & Levi gave the interiors a Tudor and Gothic make-over and replaced the French windows with leaded, Gothic-style versions.  The New York Times reported that the redecorated interiors included "paneling and ornaments from the collection of William Randolph Hearst."

Year Book of the Architectural League of New York and Catalogue, 1922 (copyright expired)

David D. Sicher was elected president of the Federation for the Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies in 1929, and two years later was nominated as Borough President of Manhattan.  In reporting the nomination, The New York Times remarked that he, "has a fine reputation for philanthropy."  (By now, in fact, he had retired to devote his time to charitable causes.)

Florine was equally involved in philanthropy.  She was a founder of the Women's Division of the Federation for the Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies and sat on its board.  She died "after a lingering illness," according to The New York Times, on June 28, 1938.  Her funeral was held in the mansion the following day.

Dudley David Sicher died the following year, on December 29, 1939 at the age of 63.  The New York Times remarked on his "notable business career" in which he "pioneered in industrial relations and became a leader in the cotton garment manufacturing industry."  The article continued, "Then, in his prime, he left the world of business to devote himself to work for the welfare of his fellow humans."

On June 3, 1941, The Sun reported, "Dr. Lester Carson Spier has purchased the five-story dwelling with elevator at 15 East 80th street...from the estate of Florine H. Sicher."  The article noted, "The house contains thirty rooms and eight baths."

Dr. Spier began his medical practice in June 1930 and specialized in surgery and "traumatic surgery" (i.e., cases of victims involved in automobile crashes, industrial accidents and such).  He had two children from a previous marriage, Marcia Ann, who was eight, and Carol Payne, who was six.

In 1949, Spier married Frances Johnson Stillman, just days after her divorce from Charles Latimer Stillman, the executive vice-president and treasurer of Time, Inc.  Moving into the mansion with his bride were her three children, Charles, Stanley and Louise.

The Spiers routinely appeared in the society columns.  On January 25, 1964, for instance, The New York Times reported, "Many cocktail parties were given in private homes last evening before the annual Yorkville dinner dance in the Grand Ballroom of the Plaza."  The article noted, "Among those who entertained at parties were...Dr. and Mrs. Lester C. Spier and Miss Virginia Dodge, jointly, at the Spier home at 15 East 80th Street."

Taylor & Levi's Gothic-style second floor windows can be glimpsed in this 1941 photograph.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

On April 13, 1967, The New York Times reported that the Spiers had sold 15 East 80th Street to "Eliot Janeway, the economist and columnist, and his wife, Elizabeth, the novelist" for $350,000.  (The price would translate to about $3.29 million today.)  The article mentioned, "The house is believed to be one of the first in New York to be centrally air-conditioned."

Eliot Janeway was born on New Year's Day 1913.  He and Elizabeth Hall were married in 1938 and had two sons, Michael and William.  Eliot was an influential economist, writing for Time and Fortune magazines until 1944.  He advised President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson.  

At the time of their marriage, Elizabeth was working on her first novel, The Walsh Girls.  Eventually she would write six more, including the 1945 Daisy Kenyon that was made into a film of the same name starring Joan Crawford.

In 1998, 15 East 80th Street was converted to a doctor's office on the ground floor and two duplexes above.  It was possibly during this renovation that the Gothic-style leaded second floor windows were removed.

The mansion was purchased in 2000 by Wall Street mogul Jeffrey Urwin and his wife, Ailsa, for $6.6 million.  They re-converted it to a single family home with five bedrooms, six and a half bathrooms, a private gym,  and 35-foot music-reception room.  The couple sold it in January 2013 for $24.75 million.

photographs by the author