The R. H. Macy & Co. Annex - 56 West 14th Street

 

In July 1871, when Albert Levi broke ground for a four-story brick store at 56 West 14th Street, just east of Sixth Avenue, the district had transformed from high-class private homes to boarding houses and stores.  On Sixth Avenue, steps away from Levi's site, Rowland Hussey Macy had operated his fancy goods store since 1858.  Macy had started out with a small shop, living above it with his family.  Starting in 1863 he expanded into neighboring buildings until his mish-mash of eleven buildings would engulf the Sixth Avenue blockfront from 13th to 14th Streets and around both corners.

Astoundingly, only two months after Levi's building plans were filed, the brick building on 14th Street was completed.  On September 4, 1871 an announcement appeared in the New York Herald:

Albert Levi has removed from his old established stand, 321 Canal street, to the more centrally situated store, 56 West Fourteenth Street, where he will open on Tuesday, the 5th inst., under the firm of Albert Levi & Bro., with an entire new stock of fine watches, jewelry, sterling silver ware,  &c.

By the last decade of the century, the district known as the Ladies' Mile was lined with lavish emporiums.  The Sixth Avenue elevated, opened in 1878, conveniently transported women shoppers to the district.  The former Albert Levi & Bro. building had become home to Rothschild's millinery and fancy goods store by 1893.

Nathan and Isidor Straus had controlling interest in Macy's at the time (Roland Macy had died in 1877).  Like Macy, they continued to expand the massive Sixth Avenue store, adding two annexes on West 13th Street in 1892 and 1894.  And they were not finished.

In April 1897, the architectural firm of Schickel & Ditmars filed plans for a $90,000, "nine-story-and-basement brick store" on the site of the old Albert Levi building for Nathan and Isidore Straus.  The construction costs of this latest annex would translate to about $3 million in 2023.

The slim limestone-clad structure--what would be called a sliver building today--was the tallest in the neighborhood.  Its effervescent Beaux Arts style design included handsome carved angel heads above the storefront that flanked a panel announcing the store's name.  The rusticated second and third floors featured a vast arched window and a French style balcony above a carved cartouche.  Massive snarling lions' heads supported fruit-carved brackets beneath the ninth floor balcony.  A copper cornice crowned the edifice.

Until recently, the blank panel held faded but legible lettering that read "Macy's."

As had been the case with Albert Levi's building, construction proceeded at a lighting-fast pace.  On December 13, 1897, eight months after the plans were filed, an R. H. Macy & Co. advertisement in The Evening Post was titled "Christmas Presents for Everybody."  It said in part:

Our New Entrance to the main store (open to-day) is another step of progress in our constant effort to improve our facilities and add to the comfort of our customers.  It is at 56 West 14th Street and opens into our Newest Building, a beautiful and artistic addition to the architectural attractions of 14th Street.

The ad said that at the Macy Annex, "You can shop there all day with perfect comfort."

In June 1902, R. H. Macy & Co. hired the architectural firm of De Lemos & Cordes to do $50,000 in renovations to the West 14th Street building.  (The architects had designed the massive department store building of Macy's greatest competitor, Siegel-Cooper, on Sixth Avenue in 1896.)  The New-York Tribune noted that "new corridors and staircase are to be put in."  The tremendous outlay is surprising, considering that in July 1901 R. H. Macy & Co. had announced it would erect a massive, 1.5 million-square-foot department store significantly north of the Ladies' Mile, on Herald Square.

On January 29, 1903 the New-York Tribune reported that Nathan Straus had sold 56 West 14th Street, "formerly the annex to R. H. Macy & Co's. store in Fourteenth-st.," to coffee importer Hermann Sielcken.  Sielcken had paid "more than a million dollars" for the structure, or 32 times that much in 2023 dollars.  "Mr. Sielcken said that he had no intention of using the building for his business," said that article explaining that he purchased the property as an investment.  "The building is practically new and is one of the tallest buildings in West Fourteenth-st."

The article noted that Henry Seigel, R. H. Macy & Co.'s nemesis, intended "to erect a large drygoods store" on the site of the former Macy's main store.  "He was asked last night if he would lease or had leased the annex, but he declined to talk on this matter."  The secret came out two days later.  The Chicago Tribune reported on January 31, "Henry Siegel authorized a statement to the effect that he had leased the ten [sic] story building running through from 56 West Fourteenth street to 55 to 61 West Thirteenth street, from Herman Sielcken, who purchased the property a few days ago."  Siegel's 21-year lease came with the staggering rent of $70,000 per year.

Women in shirtwaists and exuberant millinery pass the former Macy's Annex around 1904.  from the collection of the Library of Congress.

Ironically, a month later Herman Sielcken sold the building to the Fourteenth Street Realty Co.  Two of its directors were Edmund E. Wise, a nephew of the Strauses and attorney for R. H. Macy & Co., and William W. Fitzhugh, the firm's auditor.  

If Seigel originally intended to demolish all of the old Macy's properties, it never happened.  Ruined by scandal, falsification of books, and misappropriation of company funds, he was imprisoned in 1914.

As the fashionable shopping district continued to migrate northward, West 14th Street became a center of lower-end stores.  In February 1918, with World War I still raging, the U. S. Army's Quartermaster Department announced it would lease 56 West 14th Street "for distribution purposes."

Two years later, on October 17, 1920, The New York Times reported that Acker, Merrall & Condit had purchased and moved into the former Macy & Co. annex building.  "More than $200,000 has been spent in remodeling the structure, and the firm's removal there is an important commercial change and addition to the one-time shopping section of Fourteenth Street," said that article.

Acker, Merrall & Condit had long roots, going back to a business founded in 1820.  The firm imported luxury commodities, like fine wines, "fancy groceries," and cigars.  The ground floor was leased to Kanter's Department Store, which dealt in a variety of goods from "gent's furnishings," to dry goods, shoes and furs.  The store remained through 1926, after which a Sears, Roebuck & Co. branch occupied the space for two years.

Although it retained possession of the property, in 1931 Acker, Merrall & Condit relocated.  The Hale Desk Company signed a ten year lease starting on May 1 that year for all but the ground floor space.  The firm used the upper floors, where well-dressed women had once shopped for kid gloves and feathery hats, as an office furniture warehouse through 1939.

That year The New York Sun reported that the Noma Electric Corporation had purchased the building, calling it "an important transaction in the Fourteenth street section."  Founded in 1925 by Albert Sadacca, the firm was an offshoot of his family's Christmas light manufacturing company, the National Outfit Manufacturers Association.  Reorganized in 1953 as Noma Lites, Inc., it was reportedly the largest maker of Christmas lighting decorations in the world at one point.  The firm remained in the building until its closure in 1965. 

A close-up of the 1904 photograph shows the original first floor appearance and a panel placed over the Macy's sign above the entrance.  (Note the little boy in the sailor suit.)  from the collection of the Library of Congress (cropped)

The building next became home to TICO Plastics, here until 1971, and art book publishers Clarke & Way, Inc. which closed in 1970.  The painted Macy's sign above the storefront survived, protected for some years by an added panel.  By 2011, when the building was granted individual landmark designation, it was greatly faded, but still legible.  Recently, however, the signage that had survived since 1897 was painted over.

Although the ground floor has been brutalized, the upper portion of the former R. H. Macy & Co. Annex building remains essentially intact.

photographs by the author

many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for suggesting this post

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The Lost Isaac Stern Mansion - 858 Fifth Avenue

 

The figure leaning on the areaway wall provides proportion to the massive home.  American Architect & Building News, April 7, 1900 (copyright expired)

On October 13, 1894 the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported that in the first three-quarters of that year plans had been filed for 13 mansions on the Upper East Side at a total estimated cost of $2.13 million.  Within the list was "Isaac Stern's house, 5th avenue and 67th street, $150,000."  That amount would equal about $4.65 million today.

The department store mogul (he was among the three founders and the senior member of Stern Brothers on West 23rd Street) had hired the architectural firm of Schickel & Ditmars to design his residence.  They produced a striking 55-foot-wide Beaux Arts style palace faced in Indiana limestone that clearly announced its owner's wealth and position.

A wide staircase rose to the arched entrance within the rusticated base.  Directly above was a bowed oriel that provided a delightful stone-railed balcony to the columned loggia of the third floor.  The lintels and pediments of the upper openings were elaborately carved, as was the frieze that disguised the attic level.

The interiors were decorated by William Baumgarten & Company, who had earlier been responsible for William Kissam Vanderbilt's "Petite Chateau" on Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street.  Baumgarten brought the French motif inside.  Lena M. Cooper, writing in Architects' and Builders' Magazine, noted that the first floor salon "is in the later prior of the Louis Quinze style, in delicate shades of green."  She deemed it "very effective and dainty."  Here the panels of the doors were mirrored, 18th century paintings decorated the walls, and the fireplace mantel was "peach flower marble, with the typical scrolls, [and] finishing it [are] busts of women coiffed pompadour style, with aigrets, etc."

The reception room, or first floor salon.  Architects' & Builders' Magazine, July, 1902 (copyright expired)

The entrance hall.  Architects' & Builders' Magazine, July, 1902 (copyright expired)

The dining room, Cooper continued, "is one of superb proportions and rich colorings, carried out in Louis Quatorze style."  The "magnificent" ceiling panel was executed by Gabriel Ferier of Paris.  The room was paneled in dark oak, its carvings gilded to resemble bronze.  A 16th century tapestry hung in this room.

The upper stair landing.  Architects' & Builders' Magazine, July, 1902 (copyright expired)

Stern's library, which spanned nearly the entire width of the second floor overlooking Fifth Avenue, was in the Francis I style.  "The furnishings chose for comfort make this room most homelike and interesting," said Cooper.  "Most of Mr. Stern's collection of paintings, comprising examples of the modern French and German schools are hung here."

Two views of the "homelike" library.  Architects' & Builders' Magazine, July, 1902 (copyright expired)

Upstairs, the Sterns' bedrooms were in the Louis XV style.  Virginia Stern's suite of furniture was especially notable.  It was among the last works of Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener, one of the 19th century's leading cabinetmakers whose clients included King Ludwig II of Bavaria and William II, King of Prussia.

When Isaac and Virginia Michels Stern celebrated their 18th anniversary on March 25, 1898 with a musicale, the Standard Union noted, "The ballroom of the residence, a pure copy of the Louise XVI time, in white and gold, was furnished for the occasion with a platform, and here Josef Hofmann and the Kneisel Quartet...gave selections of music."  The musicale was only the beginning.  Afterward supper was served, "the small tables being arranged in the dining room and hallways and in the Japanese smoking room."  After that was "informal" dancing.

The anniversary party was held in this room.  Architects' & Builders' Magazine, July, 1902 (copyright expired)

The couple had two daughters, May Valentine and Lucille Michels, and a son, Robert B.   The first to wed was Mary, who was married to Arthur Harold Haho in the mansion on April 28, 1904.  It was an unexpectedly understated affair.  The Globe and Commercial Advertiser reported, "The witnesses of the ceremony will be few, but a large reception is to follow."

A much more elaborate wedding took place seven months later when Lucile was married to Gustav A. Wertheim on November 24, 1904.  The groom was 28 years old and the bride 20.  The New York Times reported, "The ceremony was performed in the large main hall, the walls of which were hung and banked with white roses, chrysanthemums, ferns and vines."  

As was common, a wedding breakfast (they were not "breakfasts" as we use the term today) was served after the ceremony.  It was held in the picture gallery.  The New York Times added, "The whole house was decorated with quantities of flowers.  The walls beside the wide, winding marble stairway were hung with trails of red Liberty roses and smilax."  Even the exterior was decorated, the outside staircase banked on each side with pots of yellow and white chrysanthemums and palms.

In April 1906, almost immediately after the San Francisco earthquake and fire, William Jackson Dingee purchased the Stern mansion.  Dingee was among the largest real estate owners in Oakland, California.  

On May 2, 1909 the New-York Tribune reported Dingee had sold the residence to the City Investing Company, which "quickly resold" it to Thomas Fortune Ryan.  In reporting on the sale, The New York Times said, "The house, generally speaking, comes within the class of 'million-dollar' mansions...Sitting between Sixty-seventh and Sixty-eighth Streets, Mr. Ryan's new home will be in the heart of the fashionable upper Fifth Avenue colony."  The article added that the mansion "has long been famous for the magnificence of its interior."

Ryan had made his massive fortune in tobacco, insurance and surface railroads.  He and his wife, the former Ida Mary Barry, had seven children.   After being in the mansion a year, Ryan purchased the art gallery adjoining the Charles T. Yerkes house next door.  (Yerkes, who had erected it in 1904, died the following year.)  The Binghamton, New York newspaper the Press and Sun-Bulletin reported, "It is understood that Mr. Ryan intends to tear down the long, low brownstone building...transforming the site into a garden."

It was not the only purchase Ryan made to provide more elbow room.  He purchased the house at 3 East 67th Street and demolished it "so as to protect the light of his home," explained The New York Times.   As it turned out, that vacant lot became more useful than providing light.  On September 12, 1912 The New York Times reported that Ryan had commissioned the esteemed architectural firm of Carrere and Hastings to erect a art gallery on the site.

"The addition will be two stories high and will have a handsome façade of marble in ornamental design with a loggia above the ground floor adorned with two massive Ionic columns, topped with a bronze cornice and a corrugated tile mansard roof," said the article.  The building, which cost $100,000, was to house "Mr. Ryan's collection of paintings and art treasures," as well as private offices for himself and his secretary, a small conservatory.  Thomas Fortune Ryan was an ardent Roman Catholic.  There was also a private chapel decorated by artist James Wall Finn.

Yet another upgrade Ryan did to the Stern mansion was the replacement of the stone-balustraded areaway railing with one of bronze.  It proved to be a frustrating decision when the railing became a tempting target for young vandals.  On April 25, 1913 the Star-Gazette reported that passersby noticed two 16-year-old boys "at work with a hammer and chisel and pocketing bronze bits as they broke them off."  The boys were arrested, but Assistant District Attorney Follette said that "in the last three years over $2,000 worth of bronze railing had been stolen from the Ryan home."

On Ryan's 66th birthday, October 17, 1917, Ida suffered a fatal heart attack.  Society was understandably shocked when he married Mary Townsend Lord Cuyler 12 days later.  The Ryans' other homes were Oak Ridge, in Virginia, a country estate in Suffern, New York, and a residence in Washington D.C.

Thomas Ryan died on November 23, 1928, the tenth wealthiest man in America at the time.  The New York Times remarked, "In a list of the half dozen greatest financiers in the history of this country, Thomas Fortune Ryan's name would rank near the top."  The Press and Sun-Bulletin reported, "The financier's fortune was variously estimated at from $300,000,000 to $500,000,000."

The funeral was held in the Fifth Avenue mansion on November 26, followed by a mass in the Church of St. Jean Baptiste which Ryan had built.  Allan A. Ryan had not spoken to his father since his marriage to Mary.  He was in Europe at the time, but was on his way home.  Also absent from the funeral was Mary Ryan.  The New York Times reported, "She was too ill to leave her home in Oak Ridge, Va."

Mary Cuyler Ryan died at the Oak Ridge estate on July 3, 1937.   The following year, in February, an auction of the Ryan furniture and artwork was held at the Plaza Art Galleries.  The extensive collection took several days to sell.

Architects' & Builders' Magazine, July, 1902 (copyright expired)

The Stern-Ryan mansion next became home to Ferdinand M. Linsler and his wife, Elizabeth Doring Linsler.  Born in Germany, Linsler was a "well-known real estate agent," according to The Times Record.  Although he had operated his business from Midtown, he now moved his office into the mansion.  He and Elizabeth had two daughters, Florence and Emma, and a son, Ferdinand A.

The Stern-Ryan house and the George Gould mansion next door would survive until 1961.  Photograph by Bryon Company, from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

Linsler died in 1940.  Ferdinand lived on with his mother at 858 Fifth Avenue.  A bachelor, he died in the mansion on July 19, 1948.  Elizabeth died the following year.  Her funeral was held in the house on October 22, 1949.

In 1949 the mansion and the former George J. Gould residence were demolished to make away for two 10-story apartment buildings designed by Robert L. Bien.

photo Cityrealty.com

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The 1903 Johnston Building (Nomad Hotel) - 1170 Broadway

Living in Stutgart, Germany did not impede Caroline H. Johnston's Manhattan real estate operations.  She remotely purchased properties around the island which she improved with commercial and residential structures.  As the turn of the century neared, she little by little amassed the properties around No. 1170 Broadway.  In 1897 she purchased No. 1172 at the southeast corner of Broadway and 28th Street for $250,000.  She acquired the abutting property at No. 1168 Broadway the following year for $110,000; and No. 1168 Broadway in 1900 for $148,005.

On March 15, 1902 The Record & Guide reported that she "has decided to erect a 12-sty store and loft building on the site."  The nearly square footprint was just over 105 feet wide on Broadway and almost 103 feet on 28th Street.  The architectural firm of Schickel & Ditmars was put to work designing what would briefly be known as the Johnston Building.  Their plans, filed a month later, projected the cost at $500,000.  Coupled with the price of the properties, Caroline Johnston's project would cost her the staggering equivalent of around $30 million in today's dollars.

The fact that this section of Broadway was dotted with several upscale hotels may have prompted the architects to design the Johnston Building to more closely resemble a hotel than an office structure.  Above the street-level storefronts, the limestone-faced building dripped with Beaux Arts decorations, its rounded corner rising to an elaborate cupola.

The lushly ornamented entrance would have been appropriate for any high-end hotel of the time.  photo by Beyond My Ken

The name did not last especially long, most likely because there was another Johnston Building downtown which was already well known.  Two Johnston Buildings, one on Broadway and another on Broad Street, were just too confusing. 

The new structure filled with the offices of architects and other construction-related firms.  In the first decade after its opening architects James B. Ware & Sons, Bosworth & Holden, W. E. McCoy, J. J. Malone, and N. Serracino were here.  Builders and contractors included Jobson-Hooker Co., The Bottsford-Dickinson Co., Geo. Vassar's Son & Co., and the Hennebigue Construction Company.

The National Cash Register Company was in the highly visible corner store in 1905.  photo by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

Real estate firms joined the architects and builders.  The International Amusement & Realty Co., the West Rockaway Land Company, and the uptown office of Frederick Soutack & Alwyn Ball, Jr. were tenants.

When the International Amusement & Realty Co. sought to update its offices in April 1910 by renovating the stairs and walls, it did not have to look far.  Both the architect, James J. Malone, and the contractor, Geo. Vassar's Son & Co., were tenants.

In June 1912 Caroline Johnston updated the show windows and replaced the roof.  The building continued to lure architects and builders.  That year the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company moved in and would remain into the 1920's.

Atlantic Terra Cotta Company was a major tenant for years.  Real Estate Record & Guide, December 21, 1912 (copyright expired)

Atlantic Terra Cotta Company was joined in the building that year by builders Wills & Marvin Co. and architect James Brite.  The well-known construction firm of Thomas J. Brady, Jr. Company took space in 1914.

A variation in the tenant list began in 1916 when A. J. Haire Publishing Co. moved in.  The firm published The Corset and Underwear Review, a monthly trade journal, and the annual International Corset & Underwear Directory.

The Corset and Underwear Review, July, 1921 (copyright expired)

In 1918 the general offices of the United Electric Light and Power Co. were here, and by the following year the Barker Original Bakeries System, Inc. operated from the building.

The Barker firm advertised nation-wide, hoping to attract would-be small business owners.  For an investment of $5,000 (just under $74,000 today), an investor was guided through the process of opening a bread bakery.  An advertisement claimed that "many wide-awake men in cities of the Middle West and East are today making $500 to $2,400 per month...who knew nothing whatever of the Baking business."  "We have solved all problems for these people, furnished an expert to start them and covered every detail to assure their success."

Other garment-related firms in the building that year were The Textiles Company, Inc. and Naef Brothers, dealers in embroideries "that impart distinctiveness to Lingerie, Blouses and Infant's and Children's Dresses," according to an advertisement.

Another new tenant in 1921 was the New York School of Filing.  It entitled an advertisement on January 30 "Woman's Best Vocation--FILING," and claimed "We have trained and placed over five thousand girls and women in positions paying $18 to $35 per week."  (The higher salary would equal $500 today.)  

After having been in the building for 37 years, Haire Publishing Company left in 1953.  The neighborhood around No. 1170 suffered during the next few decades as modern Midtown business buildings attracted tenants.  Small offices and stores moved in, like Josalam, headed by Joseph J. Samowich.  Another tenant, Yuchius Co., operated from a storefront here and at No. 1133 Broadway.  

As Christmas shoppers frantically searched for the popular Cabbage Patch dolls in 1984, Customs Agents raided the Yuchius Co. stores as well as the firm's warehouse on West 27th Street, confiscating 20,000 counterfeit Cabbage Patch dolls.  Tests by the Customs Department chemists indicated "that the stuffing in the dolls contained several volatile and flammable compounds, including benzene and toluene," said The New York Times.

In the meantime Josalam garnered more positive press coverage.  In October 1983 Joseph Samowich received his patent for "Josalam," a decorative laminate "for home, business or even military use."  And two years later he was awarded another patent for a new "bulletproof clothing, or soft body armor."  This was Samowich's third patent on the protective garments which he said "required fewer layers of fabric and are less costly than those currently employed" by the police and military, according to The New York Times on April 13, 1985.

photo by Beyond My Ken

The rediscovery of the neighborhood north of Madison Square, or Nomad, at the turn of the century would result in a renaissance of No. 1170 Broadway as well.   The building that looked like a hotel became one in 2012 when the Sydell Group transformed it into the NoMad hotel and restaurant.  The interiors were designed by French architect Jacques Garcia.

The renovation-restoration resurrected Schickel & Ditmars' 1903 Beaux Arts showpiece.

photographs by the author

The St. Francis Mission - 448 West 56th Street

At the turn of the last century the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood on Manhattan's west side was impoverished, dangerous, and crime ridden.  Boys who grew up in the iniquitous environment of saloons and tenements had little hope of a brighter future.  But the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin had other ideas.

Rev. John C. Drumgoole had founded the mission at Mount Loretto on Staten Island around 1870, deemed by The New-York Tribune to be "a home for friendless children."  Ten years later it erected a Manhattan branch, the St. Joseph's Home, on Lafayette Place.

Now, on March 2, 1901, Amos F. Eno sold No. 448 West 56th Street to the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin for the Protection of Homeless and Destitute Children.  The New York Times placed the cost of the property at $12,000, or about $366,000 in today's terms.  The following day the New-York Tribune reported "A home for poor boys will be erected by the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin on the south side of Fifty-sixth-st., near Tenth-ave."

Within two weeks the architectural firm of Schickel & Ditmars filed plans for a "brick and stone club-house and home for boys."  Completed in 1903, their Beaux Arts style structure smacked of a handsome, neighborhood library with its rusticated limestone base and portico and upper stories faced in red brick.  

The architects placed iron balconettes before the second story French-style windows.  Decorative stone lintels wore molded cornices supported by scrolled keystones and short, fluted pilasters.  The high third story windows terminated in arched transoms below graceful stone lintels and keystones.  A pressed metal cornice with foliate brackets crowned the design.

Technically named the St. Francis Branch of the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin, the new venue was routinely called the St. Francis Mission.  Its managers understood that the best means of luring young boys from the temptations of liquor, gambling and crime was sports.   Teams were immediately formed that competed with other boys' clubs throughout the city.  On June 27, 1904, for instance, The Globe and Commercial Advertiser announced "St. Francis's baseball teams, seniors and juniors, would like to arrange games for Sunday afternoons in July ad August.  Seniors, age fifteen to eighteen years; juniors, twelve to fifteen years.  Address E. J. Delaney, manager, 488 West Fifty-sixth street."

The mission did not forget the adults in the neighborhood.  Routinely evening lectures and entertainments were held for the tenement families who had little other such opportunities.  But one such evening nearly had a disastrous ending.

On April 26, 1904 about 500 persons, described by the New-York Tribune as "mostly women and children" were "watching an amateur vaudeville performance, when a stage curtain caught fire from a gas jet."  

Andrew Martin, who was playing a comic tramp, had just appeared on the stage when the curtain started burning.  With commendable calmness, he continued his dancing and cavorting in an effort to prevent panic.  The newspaper said "He kept up his antics, though the flames were licking up the woodwork on the side of the stage.  He danced to where a hand fire extinguisher was kept, seized it, and danced back, singing his topical song."

In the meantime, Father Fitzpatrick, the assistant priest, leaped to the stage and "in loud tones had assured the audience that there was no danger."  While Martin sprayed the fire with the extinguisher, the pianist, Fred Bentz, began playing the popular tune "Bedelia."  The Tribune reported that it worked, saying "the people kept step in marching out of the hall."

The potential of a panicked throng injuring dozens was averted and the fire did only about $25 in damages, less than $1,000 today.

The topics of the free lectures makes one wonder how many of the poorly-educated locals attended.  On December 15, 1905, for instance, John F. Dobbs gave an illustrated lecture on "Paper Making from Forest to Press;" and in February 1906 J. Clint Wiseman spoke on "The Life of the Esquimaus."  Later that month a more generally appealing topic was Howard E. Parker's "The Battle of Gettysburg."

But it was sports that dominated the building.  Its basketball court was the scene of the opening game in the "basket ball tournament for the championship of the Catholic Athletic League" on January 11, 1907.  The New York Times reported that the St. Francis Mission boys had "handily" defeated the Paulist Athletic Club.

Within the year the Catholic Archdiocese took over the 56th Street operation for the newly-formed Ozaman Association.  Founded by Thomas M. Mulry, president of the Irish Imigrant's Bank, he envisioned "a chain of boys' clubs located in New York City, which would be sufficiently attractive to the rising generation to draw them into the club rooms from the streets and more unattractive surroundings."

On July 15 1908 Archbishop John M. Farley wrote to Mulry advising that he was fully behind the project.  "The formation of a society such as you have in mind under the patronage of the exemplary and the saintly Ozanam is bound to accomplish much good, and will carry with it God's choicest benedictions."  

Three months later the October issue of Catholic World reported "The Association has acquired the Club House, which was founded by the priests of Father Drumgoole's Mission, in West 56th Street."  The building, said the article, would "be made over the by Association into model and attractive club rooms for the boys."  Included in Mulry's plans was were gymnasium and "baths," and "competent physical directors [were] to be in charge."

The reorganized clubhouse focused almost entirely on sports and athletics.  By 1908 there were three more Ozanam clubhouses, earning No. 448 the distinction of Ozanam #1.  In his article entitled "The Friend of the Poor," in the November 1912 issue of The Common Cause, John D. Tibbits explained the clubs' incentive and described the activities.

It is a well known fact that the period of a boy's life from the time he leaves school until he becomes of age, is fraught with many and grave dangers.  the lines of least resistance he naturally follows lead him almost invariably to places and companions which contribute to lower if not to altogether destroy the ideals of his younger days.  As an offset to these conditions the Ozanam Association was formed in the year 1908.

He listed among the various activities "athletics, instruction, music, games, reading rooms, lectures, baths, and with them all an atmosphere both morally and physically uplifting."

The undefeated Ozanam #1 basketball team in 1912.  The Common Cause, November 1912 (copyright expired)

The teams of the Ozanam Club were trained well and routinely excelled.  On August 31, 1913 The New York Press reported that the "Ozanam Medios have won twenty-one games, with three defeats, at the hands of much heavier teams."  The article passingly mentioned another fact--one which would raise eyebrows today, especially given the Roman Catholic backing of the teams.  "Games to be played at Van Cortlandt Park, diamond No. 2, for a side bet of $5 or $10 and a league ball."  That information had been supplied by P. J. Hynes of the 56th Street clubhouse.

Betting was not a one-time incident.  On April 18, 1915 The New York Press reported "The Ozanam baseball team is offering its services to all the fastest teams in and around the city for side bets and inducements."

On occasion girls were allowed inside the 56th Street building.  On February 13, 1920, for instance, The Evening World reported "At the Ozanam Club No. 1, to-morrow evening the home team will cross nets with the Sagamore Five.  As the Ozanam boys have been setting a fast pace in their last few games a good contest is expected.  Dancing will precede and follow the game."

By the time of that article the proficient trainers of the club were transforming a few of the boys from the street into world-class athletes.  That summer boxer Frank Cassidy went to the Olympics in Antwerp.  He made it as far as the quarterfinals before being eliminated by Gotfred Johansen of Denmark.

The following year, on May 10, The Evening World reported on the boxing tournament held in the 71st Regiment Armory to benefit wounded and disabled veterans.   It was attended by the working class and the wealthy; the newspaper noting it "drew patronage from Blue Book and City Directory alike."  Among the competitors that night was the Ozanam Club's Joe Garvey.  He was, said the article, "a finalist in the metropolitan and State championships."

By the Depression years the clubhouse had been taken over by the Catholic Youth Association, which renamed it the Catholic Boys' Club.  The focus on sports and boxing did not change; a fact made clear in 1935.  On May 17 the Peekskill Evening Star reported that Joseph Burke had been appointed director of the 56th Street club.  In addition to listing his academic and professional achievements, the article added "Burke's main hobby is boxing, a sport in which he is quite proficient.  He trained under Arthur Donovan, well known New York referee, though the assistance of 'Bill' Brown, Boxing Commissioner of New York State."

A new sport had been introduced by 1936.  On November 4 The New York Post announced "The last meeting of the Catholic Youth Association Roller Hockey League representatives prior to the beginning of the annual tournament will be held tomorrow night at the C. Y. A. Center, 448 West Fifty-sixth Street."

But the main event continued to be boxing.  Following a week of "rigorous training" at Camp Hayes in upstate New York, in June 1936, the boys returned to Hell's Kitchen where The Herald Statesmen reported they "will start an intensive training grind at the C. Y. A. Training Center, 448 West 56th Street" before heading to a Chicago tournament at Soldier Field."

Hell's Kitchen remained a gritty neighborhood throughout the first half of the 20th century.  But it was discovered in the last quarter by New Yorkers seeking less expensive housing and then by developers.  Corner stores and mom-and-pop shops were one-by-one replaced by boutiques and trendy restaurants.  The need for a boys' club to rescue youth from the sinful lures of the streets ebbed.

Around 1995 the building became home in part to the High School for Environmental Studies, and the administration offices of ReStart Academy, an alternative education program across the city that provides "transitional services for students ages 13 through 21 who reside in temporary or involuntary settings," according to its website.

Little changed on the exterior, and the vintage structure was placed on the LPC's list of Landmarks Under Consideration in 2009.

photograph by the author

Schickel & Ditmars' 1905 32 West 22nd Street

The deep overhanging lintel above the doorway suggests that an ornamental railing once sat atop it.

When the French-speaking congregation of L'Eglise Francaise du Saint Esprit erected its new edifice at No. 28-32 West 22nd Street in 1862, the neighborhood was one of high-stooped homes.   Half a block to the east on Fifth Avenue, Mahattan's wealthiest citizens lived in enviable luxury.  Another French language church, St. Vincent de Paul, erected in 1857, was only about a block and a half away at No. 123 West 23rd Street.

But the upscale residential nature of the neighborhood would not last.  By the end of the 19th century the millionaires of Fifth Avenue had moved further north, past 23rd Street, and stores and lofts invaded Sixth Avenue and the side streets.  In 1900 L'Eglise Francaise du Saint Esprit began construction of a new church on East 27th Street.

The church sold its 22nd Street site to real estate operator Ralph Riess who, in turn, resold it on March 9, 1900 to developer Louis Sachs.  Sachs recognized the enormous potential of the plot, spending $265,000, or more than $8 million today.

But then Sachs had to decide whether to build or sell.  On December 21, 1901 the Record & Guide reported that his architects, Schickel & Ditmars, "are drawing plans for an 11-story mercantile building."  But, it cautioned, "This plot is directly opposite Stern Bros.' store, and negotiations for its sale to that firm are still on.  If they are consummated the building will not be erected."

By the time a decision was made in 1904, Sachs had changed his mind.  Instead of a single, massive loft building he would erect two--a wider one at Nos. 28-30 and another at No. 32.  And although Schickel & Ditmars matched the two structures in height, they made little attempt at architectural similarity.

A reserved, commercial take on the Beaux Arts style, No. 32 showed off not with swags and cartouches, but by overblown brackets and consoles.   Next to the understated storefront, the entrance to the upper floors was embellished by paneled pilasters which sprouted elaborate brackets which rolled up like breaking waves.  Rather than the expected leafy decoration, they wore stylized seashell designs.

The molded cornice above the second floor was supported by elegant fluted consoles that terminated in rolling capitals.  (The innovative capitals look rather like the severed ends of Ionic capitals turned to their sides.) They perched on formal paneled pedestals.  

The openings of the third through sixth floors sat on projecting stone sills supported by handsome brackets.  The large central windows which admitted large amounts of northern light would prompt Sachs to market the spaces as "Studio Lofts."  Above it all a confident metal cornice sat one stone consoles.

Sachs marketed the two buildings in a single ad.  The New York Times, July 2, 1905 (copyright expired)

Located steps from the retail emporiums of Sixth Avenue and 23rd Street, Sachs's tenants reflected the dry goods industry.  By 1906 Wellington-Pierce Lace Curtains was listed here, joined before long by firms like Rosen, Pletcher & Lipschultz, agents and importers of "velvets, velveteens and corduroys," and the Enterprise Button Co.

In 1907 Sachs placed No. 32 on the market.  The Record & Guide ran an article that year, on November 30, which remarked on the astounding rise in property values along the block.  It said in part "About eighteen months ago property on this block was worth about $100,000 a lot, which was between $25,000 and $30,000 more than the prices obtained five years previous and $45,000 more than ten years ago."  The article mentioned that Sachs was now asking $425,000 for his building.

He found a buyer in September 1908 in Ida C. Bracher.   She took out a sizable mortgage with the Seaman's Bank for Savings which presented problems for her six years later.  Bracher's tenants one-by-one moved out and she had trouble filling the spaces.  By April 1914, according to The Sun, "the entire building is vacant except the top floor and part of the fifth floor."  The rent she collected could not meet the mortgage payments and the courts ordered the building sold in foreclosure auction.

The new owner was far more successful in luring tenants.  In 1915 the Paris Children's Dress Co. moved in, as did waist manufacturers Silverstein Brothers.  (Waists, or shirtwaists, were the popular tailored blouses worn by women worldwide.)  They were soon joined by apparel makers Maumet & Singer, "cloak and suit house" M. W. Cohen, and A. Jonas & Co.

The makers of better garments stored inventories of costly fabrics as well as finished goods.  Both were tempting targets for burglars.  On November 28 crooks climbed to the roof of No. 32, broke into the hatch and slipped down the ladder.  Once inside they went to work breaking through a wall.  The Sun, two days later, reported "Some time during Friday night robbers cut a hole in the wall, entered the establishment of Silverman [sic] Bros. at 32 West Twenty-second street, and stole about $25,000 worth of silk."

The robbery was just one of a string in the neighborhood.  On December 9 the New-York Tribune ran a headline "Silk Robbers Get $500,000 In 3 Months."  Most of the thefts took place in the immediate neighborhood of Silverstein Brothers.  The $25,000 loss the firm suffered was devastating, totaling more than a third of a million dollars today.

The following year Seligman & Latz signed a six-year lease for the store and basement.   Described in directory listings as "hair goods," the partnership would grow into a large-scale operation.

The firm's growth was evidenced in 1923 when it was seeking additional clerical help.  One advertisement might cause some head-scratching today.  "Comptometer operator with knowledge of typewriting; must have about three years' experience at comptometer work."  The comptometer was the first successful key-operated mechanical calculator.  That Seligman & Latz required a sophisticated machine for its accounting hinted at the size of its operation.

Selizman & Latz's new employee would be using a device like this.  photo by Ezrdr

The same year the company advertised for an office assistant.  But the true scope of the business was revealed in an ad in The New York Times two years later:

Wanted: Women, experienced, to manage high-class hairdressing shops; only those with thorough knowledge of the business need apply; permanent positions with an organization operating from coast to coast; good salaries and commission.

Silverstein Brothers, having been in the building since 1915, declared bankruptcy in 1922.  Its departure came about a decade before the tenant list within the building changed from mostly apparel to printing firms.

Among the first was Empire Printing, which manufactured stationery products like Christmas cards.  In September 1934 it advertised nationwide for local salespeople to sell "21 assorted Christmas cards, 25c, 35c, 50c, box."  The advertisement assured potential employees, "Sells on sight."

A less innocent publication was The Daily Raiding Tab, published by Tab Printing Company.  On December 7, 1935 the Long Island Daily Press reported that the 36th Street offices had been raided by Federal investigators.  The headline announced "Another Held as 'Tipster'" and the article began saying that managing editor James J. Davenport another man, Harry Cohen, had been arrested "in the campaign against racetrack tipsters."

Three of Davenports associates had already been arrested for the crime.  "Tipsters" published the odds of horses winning races, giving gamblers at the track an advantage.  Investigator Harry Blevers, who led the raid, told reporters that the two men "were preparing to get out today's issue when they were arrested."

There were still one hold-over from the dry goods days here.  Rex Rayon & Thread Co., Inc. was here in 1940.  Also in the building was Kwik Products, a rug dyeing operation.  On September 8, 1941 the Shopping News informed readers that "Kwik Products Co., 32 West 22nd, will dye rugs expertly either on or off floors."  The following year it noted that the firm "cleans and dyes rugs, leather; cleans smoke damage."

On the night of January 21, 1942 fire broke out in Nos. 28-30, next door.  Luckily employees in one of the printing firms here were working a night shift.  They smelled smoke for some time before it became obvious that there was a fire.  Their call to the fire department helped save the structure.

Those men may have been employees of the Daily Sports Bulletin Co., headquartered in St. Louis.  The periodical kept sports fans up to date on games, schedules and players.  It was, apparently, on the up-and-up, unlike its predecessor.

The Niagara Falls Gazette, December 1, 1945

The owner of the parent company, William Molasky, was called to testify before the Senate hearings of the Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce in 1950.  The 58-year-old mogul insisted "I have never engaged in bookmaking or in any commercial gambling.  I have never had a financial interest in any gaming establishment; and my personal and business associates do not include bookmakers or professional gamblers.  Even though a distribution of publications during my entire life, I cannot, to this date, interpret a racing form."

The advent of television brought a new publication to No. 32 by 1952.  Like the TV Guide which swept a television-addicted America, TV Today offered articles about small screen stars, but most importantly listed what was playing and when.  Decades before on-screen guides, the paper listings were invaluable to families watching from the couch.

The Brooklyn Eagle, June 12, 1952 

Among the periodicals published in the building during the 1960's were the humor magazines Army Fun, Army Laughs, Broadway Laughs, and Laff Time.

In 1983 a renovation was completed which did away with the manufacturing spaces in the upper floors, converting them to offices.  The handsome 1905 building is remarkably intact, drawing less attention than it deserves only because of the other striking structures around it.

photographs by the author