H. I. Feldman's 1937 565 West End Avenue

 

photo via compass.com

Greatly because of the tireless work of Cyrus Clark (known as the Father of the West Side), West End Avenue never saw the incursion of commerce, like Broadway did.  Instead, by the turn of the last century, it was lined with sumptuous brick and brownstone mansions.  Those quickly, however, quickly gave way to apartment buildings as New Yorkers' taste in domestic living changed.

In 1936, the Sari Corporation, of which Mose Goodman was president, demolished five rowhouses at the northwest corner of West End Avenue and 87th Street.  Goodman hired Hyman Isaac Feldman to design a modern apartment building on the site.  Completed the following year, 565 West End Avenue was the last word in domestic architecture.  By recessing the central portions of both elevations, Feldman allowed for additional corner-wrapping windows.  Most importantly, his Art Deco design relied on color.  Bold red-orange bands contrasted with the beige brick.  The architect gave the one-story base a tiger-stripe effect with black brick against the orange.

photo via compass.com

An advertisement that offered apartments of "2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 rooms," called 565 West End Avenue a "distinctive new 20-story building.  The last word in modern planning.  Unusual layouts."  The suites featured "sunken living rooms," a popular trend.

Among the early renters was Julius Huehn, who signed a lease in 1937.  The bass-baritone had made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1935 in Lohegrin.  Born in 1904, he would become known for his Wagnerian roles before enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1944.

Julius Huehn, image via bach-cantatas.com

When the Kotzen family left town in the fall of 1939, they sublet their apartment.  Their ad provided a vivid description of the apartments.  "For Rent--Complete apartment--large living-room, foyer, kitchen, Frigidaire; beautifully furnished; radio; linen, china.  A real home."

Apartments like the Kotzens' were home to other white collar residents, like Paul M. Wald Jr., secretary of the J. S. Wald Company, Inc., a trucking firm, who signed a lease in February 1941.  

photo by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the New York Public Library

Charles Korman lived here by May 1945 when he was called to testify before the United States Congress House Committee on the Judiciary.  His testimony did not start out well.  When asked, "Now, Mr. Korman, were you ever known by any other name?", Korman replied, "No, sir."

After Special Counsel Boris Kostelanetz then asked, "Were you ever known by the name of Coleman?", Korman answered, "No, sir."

"C-o-l-e-m-a-n?"

"Yes, sir, I used to be known as Coleman."

When he was arrested two decades later on June 17, 1964, Charles Korman was still living at 565 West End Avenue.  He and Samuel (Augie) Weiss were charged with bookmaking.  The Internal Revenue Service agents responsible for the arrests said they ran "a $100,000-a-day gambling trade" from a garment center hotel.  United States Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau explained the operation, "amounted to millions each year" and that "Korman was said to have handled $35,000 a week in bets."

Astonishingly, less than a year later, on February 19, 1965, the Nassau, New York Newsday, reported that Charles Korman had been arrested again for bookmaking.  He and three cohorts ran "a thriving book making business that took in more than $5,000 a week in the city's garment district."

photo via compass.com

In the meantime, the William Pechter family lived at 565 West End Avenue in the 1940s.  Pechter was the owner of the Pechter Baking Company.  On May 14, 1943, 21-year-old Morton H. Pechter was inducted into the U.S. Army.  He obtained a medical discharge on November 9, 1944.  But his civilian life was quickly disrupted.

On May 28, 1945, military police arrested Morton Pechter at his apartment here.  He was sent to the guardhouse at Mitchel Field, Long Island, charged with "desertion, obtaining a false and fraudulent medical discharge and defrauding the Government of mustering-out pay."  (Pechter had received $210 mustering-out pay.)

Pechter fought back.  His attorney presented briefs to Judge Clarence G. Galston in United States District Court on June 21.  The New York Sun reported Pechter "claims that he received a legitimate medical discharge and that his rights as a citizen and civilian have been violated by the Military Police in arresting him, putting him back in uniform and imprisoning him."

Morton Pechter won his legal battle.  Five years later, on November 13, 1949, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported on his marriage to Alese Betty Cohen.  The article noted, "Mr. Pechter was graduated from Dartmouth College with the class of 1943.  He is a member of Pi Lambda Phi, Phi Beta Kappa, and was on the varsity crew while at Dartmouth.  He is associated with the Pechter Baking Company."  No mention was made of his military service.

Vera King Kramer was a former Zeigfeld Follies showgirl  She divorced Milton J. Kramer, part owner of the Edison Hotel, in 1955.  When she moved into 565 West End Avenue, she was seeing a married, retired NYC detective, Bradley Hammond.

On December 28, 1956, the Bridgeport Post reported, "Police tentatively listed as 'suspicious' today the death of a former Ziegfeld Follies beauty in an apartment where she had been drinking with a retired detective."  The article said the 52-year-old was "in her bed, wearing pink and blue pajamas.  Her right eye was blackened and her right cheek bruised."

Remarkably, considering his professional background, Hammond's story changed repeatedly.  The New York Times reported that he said, "he had fallen asleep in the living room of Mrs. Kramer's apartment...while watching television.  He awakened at 10 A.M. yesterday, called out to Mrs. Kramer and she replied, he said."  He said he then went to his own apartment, returning at 3 p.m. to find her body.

But then, according to the Bridgeport Post, he explained away the bruises saying they "drank excessively in her lavish split-level apartment on West End avenue," Vera "fell down two stairs into the sunken living room and that he carried her to bed."  According to Hammond's second story, he then watched television until he fell asleep.  At 2:00 the next day he walked Vera's dog and an hour later discovered she was dead.

A photo of 58-year-old Bradley Hammond shielding his face from reporters was published next to a picture of Vera King Kramer in The Taylor Daily Press on December 30, 1956.

Readers across the country read the salacious details that included infidelity, sex, and possible murder.  The Syracuse, New York newspaper The Post-Standard reported, "Neighbors said the red haired Mrs. Kramer had retained much of the beauty that won her jobs in the Follies and also in George White's Scandals."  The newspaper added that she had an income of "at least $25,000 a year through alimony and investments."  (The figure would translate to about $280,000 in 2024.)  Hammond, noted the article, "had received 15 citations for heroic police work."

Somewhat remarkably, the cause of Vera King Kramer's death was officially listed as a cerebral hemorrhage.  Hammond was cleared of any suspicion.

Living at 565 West End Avenue by the late 1990s was attorney and preservationist Lori Zabar.  Born on July 16, 1954, she was the granddaughter of Louis Zabar, founder of the well-known Zabar's grocery.  She held degrees from Barnard College, the Columbia School of Architecture Historic Preservation, and the New York University School of Law.  Zabar was the first Director of the New York City Historic Properties Fund at the New York Landmarks Conservancy, and sat on the board of Landmark West.   She was the author of Zabar's: A Family Story, with Recipes.  Lori Zabar died on February 3, 2022 at the age of 67.

Jonathan Larsen, who lived at 565 West End Avenue by 2011, was the son of former Time, Inc. president Roy Larsen.  Born in 1940, he served as a correspondent and editor of Time magazine, and from 1974 to 1979 edited New Times.  From 1989 until 1994, he edited the Village Voice.

photo via compass.com

The 2010 edition of the AIA Guide to New York City likens the striking Art Deco styling of 565 West End Avenue to the famous "architecture on the Grand Concourse" of the Bronx.

many thanks to reader Lowell Cochrane suggesting this post

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The Lost Park Lane Hotel - 299 Park Avenue

 

The American Architect, November 5, 1924 (copyright expired)

Leonard Schultze and S. Fullerton Weaver formed the architectural firm of Schultze & Weaver in 1921.  Their first commission was on the other side of the continent, designing the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel.  In 1922, they received their first New York commission--to design Park Lane Hotel that would engulf the Park Avenue blockfront from 48th to 49th Streets.  

On September 19, 1922, the New-York Tribune reported that the "thirteen-story hotel apartment which the 299 Park Avenue Company will erect...will contain 600 rooms."  The article said, "Close to $11,000,000 will be involved in the project."  That amount, which including leasing the site from the New York Central Railroad, would translate to a staggering $200 million in 2024.

To ensure light and ventilation on all sides, the owners reserved a 50-foot-wide strip of property at the rear as a private street called Park Lane.  Schultze & Weaver further assured natural light and air to all the suites by designing the building in an H configuration.  The architects drew their inspiration for the Park Lane from Renaissance Italy.  Clad in red brick above a limestone base, the upper floors were sparsely decorated with balconies and pediments.  Schultz & Weaver reserved the bulk of the ornament for the ground floor.  Aristocratic doorways were capped by broken pediments, and the two Park Avenue wings were joined by a single-story, arcaded section that held the main dining room.

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

The New-York Tribune said, "The apartments will vary from one to six rooms in size, although the building will be so constructed as to be able to furnish any number of rooms in one suite...The central portion of the Park Avenue facade will be occupied by a restaurant, which will be for the use of the public as well as tenants in the building." 

The lobby carried on the Italian theme with a polychromed wooden ceiling.   The Architectural Forum, November 1924 (copyright expired)

A private entrance on 48th Street accessed the main ballroom.  "There also will be a smaller ballroom to accommodate between 250 and 300 persons," said the New-York Tribune.  Larger suites included maids' rooms, and additional servants' rooms were included on each floor, "so that tenants having personal maids may have them adjacent to their suites if they so wish," explained the article.

Because the Park Lane was an apartment hotel, suites did not have full kitchens, only a "serving pantry."  Therefore, reported the New-York Tribune, "Meals will be served in the apartments from the kitchen below with no extra room service charge."

The American Architect published a photo of "a typical living room" in the Park Lane on November 5, 1924.

On March 1, 1924, as the Park Lane neared completion, the Record & Guide wrote, "While the apartments will be rented by the year and be unfurnished, there will be complete hotel service throughout."  Rents started at $2,940 a year for a two-room apartment (bedroom, bathroom, pantry and living room).  That figure would translate to $4,400 per month today.

Real Estate Record & Guide, March 1, 1924 (copyright expired)

According to The Architectural Forum in November 1924, the larger suites included "boudoirs or dressing rooms," which had "proved a very attractive feature, and one which has been shown to have a strong appeal to women."  The magazine was especially taken with the "ample closet space."  The main closet, which included a window, "is large enough to store a trunk in, with enough spare space to walk around it" and could store "about 20 suits or dresses."

An advertisement for the Park Lane in 1924 called the residential hotel "the pioneer example of a new type of metropolitan living," saying the building "combines the comfort of the highest class of residence with the advantages and conveniences of hotel operations."  

The main dining room.  The Architectural Forum, November 1924 (copyright expired)

Among the initial residents was one of its designers, S. Fullerton Weaver.  A bachelor, Weaver came from a distinguished family of Fairfax Court House, Virginia.  He was the great-great-grand nephew of President James Buchanan.  His summer home, Spencecliff, was in East Hampton, Long Island.  On June 3, 1929, The New York Times reported that Weaver's engagement to Lillian Leacock Howell had been announced.  They were married on June 27 in the Howell residence on East 84th Street.  The New York Times reported, "Following the ceremony there was a reception in the Tapestry Room of the Park Lane, which was decorated with cybotium [sic] ferns."

Other early residents were Clarence M. Wooley, president of the American Radiator Corporation; C. H. Duell, former chairman of the New York Republican Party; and Chris G. Hupfel, secretary of the Hupfel Brewing Corporation, founded by his father John C. G. Hupfel. 

The extended Hupfel family owned real estate, as well, and for years, Chris Hupfel and his brothers had been harassed by a former tenant, Mrs. Kossara Spanaljowitch, the sister of the Serbian Ambassador to France.  In 1917, she was committed to Bellevue Hospital for ten days.  She sued Chris Hupfel and two of the doctors for $250,000 each for conspiring to have her declared insane.  She additionally accused Hupfel of having tried to persuade her to become a German spy during World War I.

The main ballroom.   The Architectural Forum, November 1924 (copyright expired)

On the afternoon February 9, 1925, Chris Hupfel was headed home on Lexington Avenue between 45th and 46th Streets when Kossara Spanaljowitch stepped out from the crowded sidewalk and began firing a gun.  The New York Times reported, "Mr. Hupfel was struck by two shots.  One entered his left cheek and the other his neck on the left side, barely missing the spinal column, and lodged near the nasal cavity."

The 50-year-old was taken to Bellevue Hospital and Spanaljowitch was quickly apprehended.  At the stationhouse she denied having shot Hupfel, but admitted having "had trouble with the family" for years.  Six months later, on August 4, the New York Evening Post reported that Spanaljowitch "was today committed to the State Asylum for Insane Criminals at Matteawan."  She had been diagnosed as "suffering from paranoia, with 'mania-depressive traits," according to the article.

The family of James A. Moffett Jr. were also early tenants of the Park Lane.  He and his wife, the former Adelaide Taft McMichael had four children.  Moffett's father had been president of the Standard Oil Company of Indiana and later vice president of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey.  The younger Moffett joined the Standard Oil company on October 1, 1906.  On June 10, 1924, The New York Times reported that he had been elected a vice president of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, saying, "Mr. Moffett now ranks among the highest officials of the Standard Oil organization."

Society columnists followed the movements of Park Lane residents closely.  On October 6, 1924, for instance, the New York Evening Post reported, "Mr. and Mrs. George E. Dunscombe, who have been at the Ambassador, have gone to their apartment, 299 Park avenue."  On February 20, 1935, The New York Times reported that the couple "gave a dinner last night in the Empire Room of the Waldorf-Astoria," and the following year, on May 28, 1936, the newspaper reported, "Mr. and Mrs. George E. Dunscombe gave a dinner last night in the Starlight Roof Garden of the Waldorf-Astoria."

The entrance to the main dining room.  Arts & Decoration September 1924 (copyright expired)

Like all monied New Yorkers, residents of the Park Lane spent their summers elsewhere.  On June 26, 1925, the New York Evening Post reported, "Mr. and Mrs. A. S. Healy have closed their apartment at the Park Lane and are passing the summer at the Westchester-Biltmore Country Club at Rye, N. Y."  The article continued, "Mr. and Mrs. David Huyler have also closed their apartment there and have gone to their country house.  Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Offerrman of the Park Lane will pass the summer at the New Monmouth Hotel, Spring Lake, N. J."

On August 18 that year, the New York Evening Post reported, "Mr. and Mrs. Richard C. Colt came in from Currey Farm, Garrison, N. Y., and are at their apartment in the Park Lane for a day or two.  Mrs. Colt was a luncheon hostess yesterday at the Park Lane.  Among her guests was Mrs. Charles D. Dickey of Villa Nova, Pa."  (On the same page, the newspaper noted, "Mrs. George Dunscombe entertained Mrs. Charles D. Orth, jr., at luncheon yesterday at the Park Lane.")

A retired exporter, Richard C. Colt had graduated from Yale in 1885.  His wife, the former Mary Adelaide Sloan, was the daughter of Samuel Sloan, described by The New York Times as the "famous railroad builder noted for his philanthropy."  The couple had three adult children.

Maude Emery Smith was the widow of Alfred Holland Smith, president of the New York Central Railroad.  He was killed in a fall from his horse in Central Park on March 8, 1924, leaving Maude with an estate "of several million dollars," according to the New York Evening Post.  Her country home was in Chappaqua, New York.

It seemed that scandal was about to erupt in the Park Lane in the fall on 1926.  During the last week of October, interior decorator Harold F. Le Baron moved into Maude Smith's apartment.  Two weeks later, however, it was discovered that the two had been secretly married in Maude's apartment on October 23.  No explanation of why the marriage was kept secret was disclosed.

Benjamin Joel Duveen and his wife, the former Gertrude Moss, lived here at the time.  The couple had two children, Benjamin and Rhoda.  Duveen was the son of Sir Joseph Duel Duveen of England and was associated with the family's high-end art gallery, Duveen Brothers, at 720 Fifth Avenue.   Gertrude died in the apartment on February 2, 1927 at the age of 39.

The dressing room of the Hamilton Kerr apartment in 1930.  photo by Samuel H. Gottscho from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

In June 1932 James A. Moffett began receiving alarming letters.  The first demanded $30,000 or his daughter Margaret would be kidnapped.  Just three months after the infamous Lindbergh baby's kidnapping, the threats were taken seriously.  The New York Age reported on July 2, "This letter was followed by others until one came that stated that Mr. Moffett would receive a telegram informing him how to send $30,000."  Moffett turned the communications over to police, who alerted telegraph companies to notify them immediately of any messages intended for Moffett.  Moments after 18-year-old William H. Duff sent his final telegram, he was arrested.

With the crisis behind them, the Moffetts returned to their upscale lifestyle.  On December 29, 1933, The New York Times reported from Palm Beach, Florida, "James A. Moffett entertained tonight with a dinner aboard his yacht, the Bidou."  Among the guests were Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, and Lady Mendl.

Attorney George J. Gillespie and his wife, the former Leonore  Tierney, lived here by mid-century.  An attorney, he was highly involved with the Roman Catholic Church and served as the consul for the Archdiocese of New York.  He was made a Knight of St. Gregory by Pope Pius XI in 1921, and later made a Knight of Malta.  Upon his death at the age of 82 on February 17, 1953, he left Leonore a trust fund of nearly $3.5 million in today's dollars.

from the collection of the New York Public Library

On July 8, 1965, The New York Times reported, "Demolition of the 14-story Park Lane Hotel has begun in preparation for a 42-story office tower."  The article noted that the "new building of stainless steel, glass and granite" would be designed by Emery Roth & Sons, reminiscing that the Park Lane had been "a gathering place for New York Society."

many thanks to reader Peter Alsen for suggesting this post

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The 1887 Neo-Grec 351 Sixth Avenue

 

Henry W. Hoops arrived in New York from his native Germany in 1851 at the age of 26.  He became a prominent confectioner and ice cream dealer, was active in politics, and dealt in Manhattan and Brooklyn real estate.  In 1877, he completed construction of a four-story store and flat building at 47 Sixth Avenue (renumbered 351 Sixth Avenue in 1925) in Greenwich Village.

The building was faced in stone above a cast iron storefront.  Its French neo-Grec design differed from the garden variety neo-Grec style in its especially beefy lintels.  Carved with incised foliate designs typical of the style, they were supported by geometric brackets.  Matching brackets upheld the sills.  A prominent metal cornice with panels that matched the lintels completed the handsome design.

Hoops went to the additional expense of custom matching the cornice panels with the lintel carvings.

The shop became home to George Quimby, Jr.'s hardware store, while the three apartments upstairs were home to middle-class professionals.  In 1878, they were William Peppler, a baker; Richard Plunkett, a clerk; and the family of Edward Wilkins.  Wilkins was an officer in the Customs House and his son John worked as a clerk.

Richard Plunkett, who "lived in moderate style," according to The New York Times, had worked in the office of W. & J. Sloane & Co. since 1868.  He had most likely gotten his job through the influence of family members, since The New York Times noted "some of his relatives are valued employes [sic] of the firm."  On October 8, 1878, the 32-year-old "disappeared."  The New York Times reported, "the Messrs. Sloane were surprised by the discovery that he had forged their firm name as the indorsement of a check for $1,500."  (It was a substantial amount, equal to about $47,300 in 2024.)  Further examination of the books revealed he had embezzled cash totaling $6,000.

After hiding out for more than a month, Plunkett was arrested in his apartment on the evening of November 23.  His former employers assumed "that he has been corrupted by bad companions," and told a reporter, "he will be treated as leniently as the law will permit."  To that end, Plunkett agreed to a deal.  He pleaded guilty to the forgery and was sentenced to two years in prison.

The Edward Wilkin family was still living here in 1880.  Edward was described by The Sun as being "of portly build and fine appearance."  He left the apartment at around 7:30 on the evening of December 5, that year.  An hour later, Police Officer William Mulcahy drove "four suspicious looking loungers away from the mouth of the alley" at Clinton Place (later East 8th Street) near Fifth Avenue.  After walking his post, he saw the gang had returned.  "It was then that he noticed something lying on the pavement of the alley," reported The Sun.

It was Edward Wilkin.  He was "stripped of most of his clothing, and without his watch and money."  The Sun said "he was unconscious and presented a pitiable sight."  The article continued, "His coat and overcoat were missing, and his vest and shirt were drawn up about the upper part of his body so that his naked back touched the cold stones."  Wilkin's wife said he always carried his gold watch and chain and "probably had not less than $200."  Two of the crooks were quickly arrested.  At midnight Wilkin was still unconscious in the New York Hospital.

In 1890, Henry Hoops leased the building for five years to George Schmidt.  He moved his family into one of the apartments and around the same time he leased the store to Gustav Pietsch.  Pietsch converted it for his bakery business and he and his wife, Dora, lived in the rear.

In November 1892, the Schmidts' child fell ill, "suffering from a scrofulous complaint," according to The Evening World.  They called F. E. Hemscher, a German physician recently arrived in New York.  According to Hemscher, until three months earlier he had been assistant surgeon with the German Army's 17th Regiment Infantry.  He practiced what was known as the "Baunscheidt system."  It involved "pricking the affected or diseased part with needles" and rubbing the raw surfaces with various oils.

The newspaper reported, "The boy rapidly grew worse, and the attention of Henry Loring, agent of the County Medical Society, was called to the matter by the parents."  Hemscher was arrested for practicing medicine without a license.  He told the court that an attorney had advised him "that as long as he did not make his patients worse he could go on practicing."  The Evening World reported, "Hemscher says he did not make them worse, and was surprised to find himself in a police court."

The devastating economic depression known as the Panic of 1893 prompted prompted The Evening World to raise funds for the poor.  An article on January 25, 1894 asked for donations so "those out of work may tide the present storm."  It listed previous donors, including Gustav Pietsch.  His bakery was apparently doing well despite the overall economic conditions.  This $100 donation would equal more than $3,600 today.

Later that year, on April 10, Dora Pietsch hired a servant girl from Theresa Bienhusse's employment agency.  The World reported, "That day the girl went to bed sick, and Mrs. Piepach [sic] went around to Mrs. Bienhusse and asked for another servant."  The meeting did not go well.  

The next day, The Evening World reported that Theresa Bienhusse had been arrested for assault after Dora Pietsch complained to police "that she was thrown downstairs during an altercation with Mrs. Bienhusse yesterday, and that her right ankle was sprained."  Although Theresa Bienhusse pleaded not guilty, saying that Dora "fell down stairs from sheer excitement," the jury found her guilty.

The actual bakery portion of Pietsch's operation was in the basement.  Living on the top floor in 1895 was the family of John A. Walsh, a letter carrier.  He and his wife Mary had two small children, six-year-old Mary and 15-month-old Willie.  The second floor was occupied by the John McDonald family and Mrs. McDonald's brother, Policeman Thomas O'Shea.

At 5:30 on the morning of January 30, Walsh left for work, leaving his wife and children asleep.  In the meantime, Gustav Pietsch was at work in the basement, preparing the morning's baking.  A dumbwaiter shaft ran from the basement to the top floor.  At about 6:30, a fire broke out in the basement and "shot quickly to the top story," according to The Evening World.  

Hearing a roar, Mrs. McDonald opened the dumbwaiter door, causing a backdraft.  The New York Times reported, "the flames shot out and drove her back.  She screamed, and alarmed the people in the house."  Thomas O'Shea rushed down the stairs shouting, "Fire!" and ran onto the street to send in an alarm.

In the meantime, Mary Walsh was awakened by the commotion.  She approached the dumbwaiter just as the build-up of heat and pressure caused it to explode.  "The flames struck Mrs. Walsh in the face, setting her nightdress on fire and burning her badly."  The room was quickly engulfed in flames.  Mary grabbed her children, one under each arm, and headed to the window and the ice-covered fire escape.  To get there, she had to plunge through the flames.  

The Evening World reported that the barefoot mother made it down one floor on the fire escape, then stopped.  Both she and the children were in horrific shape. 

From the children the night clothes had been burned and the flesh peeled from their bodies as the mother stood on the ladder," said the article.  "Her hair had been burned from her head, her face and arms were black from the flames, and there was a deep, ugly mark across her shoulders, where a falling beam struck her as she ran through the fiery room.

Alfred Pitcher, who lived around the corner on West Fourth Street, had heard the explosion.  He made it to the rear yard just as the exhausted woman was about to throw her children to the snowbank below.  Pitcher called out for her to wait, climbed to the top of an outhouse, then yelled, "Now!"  Mary Walsh tossed the infant to Pitcher, who passed him to another neighbor.  He then climbed the fire escape, retrieved the other child, and helped Mary down.

The Evening World reported, "Meanwhile the other families in the house had been aroused and were making a made rush for the street."  The article said, "All of the people, with the exception of Mrs. Pietsch, were out of the house when the firemen arrived."  A fire fighter rescued Dora Pietsch who "was so frightened she stood in her rooms and cried."

An ambulance transported Mary Walsh and her children to the New York Hospital.  The Evening World reported, "The surgeon thought that the two children would die, but the woman might recover."  

The Evening World reported, "The flames were quickly extinguished.  The firemen couldn't say exactly how they started.  It might have been that the baker's ovens had been overheated."  

Twelve days later, on February 11, The Sun reported, "Mary Walsh, 6 years old, who, before being rescued by her mother, Mrs. John A. Walsh, was burned by a fire at her home, at 47 Sixth avenue...died in the New York Hospital yesterday."

Henry Hoops suffered the equivalent of $94,000 damages to his building.  (His tenants, of course, lost nearly everything.)  He made repairs, which were completed within a few months.

Henry Hoops died in 1914, 14 years after the title to the Sixth Avenue building was transferred to his son, Henry Jr.

In the years after World War I, the former bakery was a restaurant/nightclub.  With Prohibition in full swing, at midnight on Saturday December 30, 1923, Mayor John Francis Hyland and his wife made "a tour of Greenwich Village," as reported by The New York Times, which said, "They did not leave their automobile on their inspection of the Village."  Following the "tour," police made four arrests.  Among them was Charles B. Walters who was arrested at 47 Sixth Avenue, "charged with possessing a flask of whisky."

In 1929, four years after the address was changed, 351 Sixth Avenue was renovated by architect Ferdinand Savignano.  There were now seven apartments in the upper floors.  Living here in 1935 was mural artist Herman E. Zimmerman.  He did several Works Progress Administration murals, including the 1938 Chemistry & Industry for the main post office at Wilmington, Delaware; and Construction on the Miami Erie Canal in the Tipp City, Ohio main post office.

The Daniel Reeve store was still in the building in 1941.  image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The ground floor shop became a Daniel Reeves grocery store.  The extensive chain had 297 stores in the New York City area in the 1920s.  By 1941, when it merged with Safeway, Inc. there were 408 Daniel Reeves grocery stores.

In the late 1950s and into the 1960s, the ground floor was occupied by the Fugazy Travel Bureau, Inc., and in the 1970s by the Pier 16 housewares store.

While the storefront has been gently altered, its 1877 cast iron piers are intact.  And, despite a serious fire in 1895, the upper floors are unchanged after nearly 150 years.

photographs by the author

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The Eugene and Josephine Arnstein House - 16 East 80th Street

 

image via streeteasy.com

Developer Anthony Mowbray began construction of a trio of high-stooped rowhouses at 16 through 20 East 80th Street in 1884.  Designed by McElfatrick & Sons & Debaud in the Queen Anne style, they were faced in brownstone at the basement and parlor levels, and red brick above.  Interestingly, while construction was still ongoing in July 1885, Mowbray brought in architect William E. Mowbray (presumably a relative) to make minor "internal alterations" to 16 East 80th Street.  The changes were most likely requested by Anthony Mowbray's potential buyers August and Josephine Schmid.

August Schmid arrived in America from Switzerland at the age of 12.  His father co-founded the Lion Brewery and, after learning the fundamentals of the business, August traveled to Munich to study beer making.  In 1879, he was made a full partner and, by now, he had amassed a fortune.

Their new home was completed in 1886.  August Schmid would not enjoy his impressive residence for long.  On June 7, 1889, the New York Evening Post reported, "The funeral of the well-known brewer, August Schmid, took place at ten o'clock this morning at his late home, No. 16 East Eightieth Street and was largely attended."  The article said representatives "from nearly every prominent German organization, as well as from the different brewing and malting associations," attended the service.  Josephine inherited approximately $1 million--about 34 times that much in today's money.  She stepped into her husband's position as a partner in the Lion Brewery.

On February 9, 1893, shortly after her 21st birthday, Josephine's eldest daughter, also named Josephine, died.  Her funeral was held in St. Patrick's Cathedral.  

At the time, Asbel Parmelee Fitch and his family lived at 1388 Lexington Avenue.  Two years later, in the fall of 1895, the Real Estate Record & Guide reported that Fitch had sold the house to Josephine Schmid, "for a consideration of $27,000 in a trade for a larger residence in East 80th Street."  Fitch and Schmid no doubt knew one another well, since he was a director in the Lion Brewery.  (Josephine did not intend to live in the Lexington Avenue house.  Instead, she would erect a striking mansion at 807 Fifth Avenue.)

Including his Lexington Avenue property, Fitch paid $75,000 for the 25-foot-wide East 80th Street house, according to The New York Times on October 29, 1895.  (The figure would translate to about $2.8 million in 2024.)  He and his wife, the former Elizabeth A. Cross, were married in 1874 and had three children, Elizabeth (known as Bessie), Ashbel, Jr., and Ella.  The family's country home was in Tarrytown-on-the-Hudson.

Ashbel Parmalee Fitch, The National Magazine, December 1893 expired)

Born in 1848, Fitch had deep American roots, descending from William Bradford of the Mayflower.  A graduate of Columbia Law School, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1887 through 1893.  When he purchased 16 East 80th Street, he had been Comptroller of New York City for two years.

Ashbel Jr. was attending Yale in 1897.  On June 22, he boarded the Richard Peck in New Haven headed to New York City with three other Yale students.  When the boat landed, the 20-year-old and his companions were promptly arrested "on charges of intoxication, disorderly conduct, and malicious mischief," as reported by the New York Evening Post.  The captain complained "that they were noisy, smashed beer bottles on deck, and did various objectionable things."

The captain said he was "especially goaded" into pressing charges "by young Fitch's conduct."  The Evening Post quoted him:

He told me that his father was the Comptroller of New York, and that he would have me discharged from my job, and that he would have any policeman broke who attempted to arrest him.  He blustered up a great deal, and I called Policeman Snydecker aboard, and he, with three other officers, placed the young men under arrest.

In court, Magistrate Meade let the four go, but not before admonishing them, "you should be ashamed of the disgrace you have brought on yourselves, your parents, and your college."  One can imagine the more severe talking-to Fitch received at home.

More positive press centered around the Fitch daughters.  On January 5, 1898, The New York Times reported on Ella's debutante reception in the house, "an event of widespread social interest."  The article said, "There was a large attendance of fashionable people."

Ella was married to Henri George Chatain on November 15, 1902 in the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church.  The reception was held in the East 80th Street house.  In reporting on the wedding, The New York Times commented, "Mr. Fitch has made his daughter a wedding present of a house on West End Avenue."

In the meantime, Fitch was defeated in the election for Comptroller in 1897.  Two years later, he co-founded the Trust Company of America, becoming its first president.  He was, as well, a director of the Bowling Green Trust Company, the Germania Bank, the Title Insurance Company of America, and the American Light and Traction Company.

The first hint that Ashbel Fitch's health was failing came in the fall of 1903.  On November 1, The New York Times reported, "Ex-Controller Ashbel P. Fitch, President of the Trust Company of American, who has been seriously ill at his house, 16 East Eightieth Street, for three weeks, is reported as improving, although still seriously ill."

Five months later, on April 19, Elizabeth Cooke Fitch was married in the drawing room to Harold Webster Ostby.  The decision not to have a church ceremony was almost assuredly based on Ashbel Fitch's health.  Nevertheless, The Sun reported, "There were many guests at the reception afterward.

Three weeks later, on May 3, 1904, Ashbel Parmalee Fitch died "from a stroke of apoplexy," according to The New York Times.  His funeral was held in the drawing room where his daughter had been married.  The Evening Post reported on May 6, "The gathering was so large that many persons were compelled to stand on the sidewalk, admission to the house being impossible."

The following year, Elizabeth Fitch sold 16 East 80th Street to Eugene and Josephine Mendelbau Arnstein.  Before moving in, they hired the architectural firm of Janes & Leo to remodel the outdated residence.  While the architects retained a stoop, they replaced the brick and brownstone facade with limestone.  The toned-down Beaux Arts design featured a large, arched parlor window, a full-width balcony at the second floor with an elaborate French railing, and a balustraded stone balcony at the fourth floor.

The New York Architect, 1907 (copyright expired)

Born in Germany in 1840, Eugene Arnstein was a manufacturer of paints and varnishes.  He and Josephine had four adult children.  As had been the case with August Schmid, he would not enjoy his home long.  The couple was in Munich, Germany on October 10, 1907 when Arnstein died at the age of 67.

The first floor had just three rooms--the parlor, music room, and dining room.  The New York Architect, 1907 (copyright expired)

At least two of Josephine's children, Edna and Hugo, lived with her.  In 1909, Hugo and his brother Leo partnered to found The Thread-Tight Company, a "plumbing, heating, and gas fitting business," according to Domestic Engineering on September 18 that year.

Although Josephine rarely appeared in society columns, Edna did.  On February 27, 1910, for instance, The New York Times reported, "Miss Edna Arnstein gave a fancy-dress dance at her home, 16 East Eightieth Street, on Saturday evening.  The first prize, given for the most attractive costume, was won by Miss Dorothy Drey, and the second by Miss Rene Seligman."

In May 1914, Josephine leased 16 East 80th Street to James J. Imbrie and his wife, the former Marie McCrea Pritchett.  Imbrie was the principal of the financial firm Imbrie & Co.  The couple had five children, James, Jr., Dorothy Jane, Janet Morris, Marie Dawn, and Robert McCrea.  The mansion on their Englewood, New Jersey summer estate in Englewood, New Jersey was inspired by Washington's Mount Vernon.

The house was originally similar to the as-yet unchanged neighbor to the right.  image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Joseph Arnstein sold the house in October 1916 for the equivalent of $1.5 million today.  The Sun remarked, "The new owner will occupy the property."  If Irving C. Miller and his family did move in, their residency was not long-lived.  By 1920, architect Albert H. Stursberg was leasing the house.  In July that year, he designed $10,000 in alterations for the residence.

Mrs. R. M. Morriss Betts occupied 16 East 80th Street in the 1930s.  She announced the engagement of her daughter, Marjorie Morriss MacCollom (from her former marriage to Donald Hoyt MacCollom) to Benjamin T. Fairchild 3d on June 27, 1938.  The couple was married in St. Thomas' Church on October 7, the El Paso Herald-Post noting the bride "wore the white satin gown lavishly trimmed with rosepoint and duchess lace which has been in the Fairchild family for generations."

A renovation to 16 East 80th Street in 1962 resulted in the removal of the stoop and the lowering of the entrance to the basement level.  There were now 19 apartments in the once-opulent mansion.  A subsequent remodeling reduced the number of apartments to 16.

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The 1821 John J. J. Gourgas House - 64 Bedford Street

 

When Bedford Street was laid out in 1799, the Village of Greenwich was a sleepy hamlet nearly a day's ride from New York City to the south.  In 1819, merchant Isaac Jaques purchased land which included three building lots at 64 through 68 Bedford Street.  Working with masons James Vandenberg and Isaac Freeman, he filled the parcels with three identical, Federal-style homes in 1821.

Like its identical neighbors, 64 Bedford Street was two-and-a-half stories tall.  Its Flemish bond red brick was trimmed in brownstone.  Typical of the style, two prim dormers punched through the peaked roof.

Isaac Jaques initially leased the house to middle class families.  In 1836, it was shared by the families of Joseph Albertson, a "carter" (or driver of a delivery wagon), and Robert O. Christian, who was listed as a fishmonger at the Clinton Market.  Four years later, Emily McDonald, the widow of James McDonald, rented the house and took in two boarders, Francis Gouldy, who was in the lumber business; and Lewis Stanbrough, a cabinetmaker.

The house was sold at auction in 1848, described in the announcement as "house 20 feet front, 32 feet 5 inches deep."  It continued being operated as a boarding house, run by the widow Jane H. Legrand until 1857, when it was purchased by John James Joseph Gourgas.

Born on May 23, 1777 at Lake Geneva, Switzerland, Gourgas came from distinguished Huguenot families.  He traveled to America in 1803 and established a store on Broadway selling "very choice French, English, German and American fancy goods and perfumery," according to an ad in 1842.  When he moved his family into the Bedford Street house he was already retired.  His wife, Louisa Maria Smith, had died three years earlier, in Febrary 1854.  The couple had three sons, John Jr., Frederick William, and Louis; and two daughters, one of whom was Ulbiana E. H. Gourgas.

John James Joseph Gourgas in his Masonic sash, from the 1938 John James Joseph Gourgas 1777-1865 

In February 1854, three years before Gourgas purchased 64 Bedford Street, his wife died, and the following year John Jr. passed away.  Moving into the house with him were Frederick and Ulbiana.

Gourgas was best known for his Masonic activities.  He was a founder and the first Secretary General of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Northern Supreme Council.  An ardent supporter of Freemasonry during a time of anti-Masonic sentiment, he was honored more than a century later with the establishment of the Gourgas Medal, the highest award of the Scottish Rite, in 1945.

On the afternoon of September 19, 1863, Frederick William Grougas died "suddenly" in the house, as reported by the New York Herald.  The term often suggested a heart attack or stroke.  He was 50 years old.  The following year, John J. J. Gourgas moved to West 10th Street, where he died on February 14, 1865 at the age of 88.  His death was attributed to "old age."

The Bedford Street house saw a succession of occupants--almost assuredly renters--over the next decades, like Joseph H. Smith, who sold stoves in his shop at 437 Hudson Street.  He and his family were here in 1872 and '73.   Samuel R. Rowley occupied the house in 1878 and '79.  

Halsted C. Hynard purchased 64 Bedford Street around 1880.  Like his predecessors, he was middle class.  He dabbled in Greenwich Village real estate.  (It may have been Hynard who added pressed metal cornices over the brownstone lintels of the door and windows.)  In April 1896, his personal estate was appraised at $17,541.00--or about $657,000 in 2024.

At the time of the appraisal, Hynard had been gone from Bedford Street for 11 years.  He sold the house to Oliver A. Farrin on April 1, 1885 for $8,500 (about $278,000 today).

Living here in the early 1890s were Kate Vincent and her husband.  Kate had a prestigious New York pedigree.  Her father was Thomas Sutphen and her mother was Content Morris.  Both the Sutphens and Morrises were Colonial families.  Kate's mother, who lived in Colt's Neck, New Jersey, came for a visit in the summer of 1893.  Tragically, the 88-year-old Content Sutphen died here on July 8.

The vintage house narrowly escaped demolition in the first years of the 20th century.  On December 25, 1903, The New York Times reported that "a Mr. England" had sold the house to "the owner of the adjoining corner of Bedford and Morton Street."  The article said he "will improve the entire plot."

The plans for an apartment house on the site most likely were derailed by the city's announcement a few months later that Seventh Avenue would be extended south through Greenwich Village, eradicating buildings just steps from the Morton Street-Bedford Street corner.

By 1915, 64 Bedford Street was operated by a Mrs. Gorrini as a low-level rooming house.  Among her tenants were Robert Decker and his wife and daughter, who lived on the first floor in the rear.  Decker worked as a "sandwich man" in the theater district--wearing a sandwich board advertising the latest productions.  The New York Herald explained, "Decker makes a dollar a day for dragging his way among Christmas shoppers with flat boards slapping at him from front and rear.  Each week the words on the board are changed to fit the message, but to Decker nothing changes save the seasons."

On December 14, 1915, Decker was on his way to work when his shoe hit a snow-covered parcel in the gutter.  Inside were "several baubles," as described by the New York Herald.  He stuffed the package into his pocket and continued on to work.

Back home, he gave the items to his wife.  The newspaper said, "she tossed them on the broken stand which serves them as dressing and dining table, as well as pantry and kitchen.  There was a ring with some shiny stones in it, and Mrs. Decker, needing food and some undergarments for herself and her daughter, approached a pawnbroker.  He gave her $2 for it."

What the Deckers did not know, was that the "baubles" were part of an $8,000 jewel heist.  They were stolen from the country home of Mrs. Alvin Ford Miller of Pelham Manor, New York on December 8.  The platinum ring set with diamonds that Mrs. Decker pawned for $2 was valued at $500 (more than $15,500 today).  

A few days later, Mrs. Decker took a watch and chain to the pawnbroker.  "Are they worth anything," she asked.  By chance, an undercover detective was in the shop at the time.  The New York Herald reported, "The pawnbroker's eyes widened as he picked up the watch and chain, and the detective, scarcely believing he was seeing a real transaction, edged up to the woman."  After questioning her, Detective Clare followed her to 64 Bedford Street.  There, Mrs. Decker brought out the jewelry "from a bundle of rags."  The detective, understandably, assumed that Robert Decker was a thief.  He went to 42nd Street and arrested the sandwich man.

Mrs. Alvin Ford Miller was in court on December 17 to see Decker tried for grand larceny.  His and his wife's testimonies convinced the judge that, indeed, he had found the jewelry and had no idea of its worth.  He was released "free but penniless," according to one newspaper.

The Deckers had some hope, however.  Mrs. Miller had offered a $500 reward for the return of her jewelry.  Those hopes were dashed when, a day after the trial, Mrs. Miller was asked if Decker would receive the reward.  The Sun reported, "she said that he would not, as the reward called for the return of all the jewels."  Decker had found only a portion of the loot.

On September 24, 1920, the New-York Tribune reported that Michael Rubino had purchased 64 Bedford Street.  Born in Italy in 1867, he and his wife Maria G. had 13 children.  Rubino died at the age of 88 in 1947, and Maria died in 1953.

The sheet metal cornices over the openings survived in 1941.  image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The house continued to be home to multiple Rubino siblings.  On August 4, 1960, The Village reported, "A garden party was given by the Rubino sisters, Edith, Helen and Gilda, at their residence, 64 Bedford St., one evening recently."  Along with a buffet supper, the the guests were entertained by Meyer Horowitz's Village Barn Show.  

Despite what must have been tight quarters, the house was also home to brothers Michael V. and Joseph A. Rubino, and their sister Anna and her husband Michael DeGeorge.  

Michael V. Rubino was well-known in Greenwich Village, first as a lightweight boxer who fought under the name of Porky Young.  He gave up boxing to train, and among his first students at the Greenwich Village Settlement House was Gene Tunney, who would become the World Heavyweight Champion.  Throughout the 1940s he worked with the Police Athletic League teaching youngsters to box and during World War II he was the Director of Recreation for the Board of Education under the Works Progress Administration.  He was also the founder of the Greenwich Village Sporting Club, which raised money for needy children.

When Michael V. Rubino died at the age of 75 of a heart attack on September 6, 1972, six of his siblings survived--five of them (Joseph, Edith, Helen, Gilda and Anna) still living at 64 Bedford Street.  The Rubino family remained in the house at least into the 1980s.

It was purchased in 2011 by investor Barry Schwartz, who owned the house next door at 66 Bedford Street.  According to Curbed, the family bought the property "for guests."  They joined the two residences internally with a doorway at the rear of the parlor level.  At some point, the sheet metal window cornices were removed and paneled lintels, appropriate to the Federal style, were installed.

photographs by the author

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