The James and Augusta Perry House - 272 West 73rd Street

Although William J. Merritt, the head of the development firm William J. Merritt & Co., often acted as his own architect, he hired Charles T. Mott in 1887 to design 19 four-story-and-basement homes on the south side of West 73rd Street between Broadway and West End Avenue.  Completed the following year, their French Renaissance Revival design created a romantic streetscape of turrets, battlements and picturesque bays.  Influential architectural critic Montgomery Schuyler said the houses, "animated the skylight without tormenting it."

Anchoring the row to the west was 272 West 73rd Street, its side-by-side stoop with No. 270 making the two, at a glance, appear to be one residence.  A crisply angled bay rose to a copper balustrade, above which a half-story attic was capped by a pyramidal, tile-shingled roof.

The house became home to James Clark Perry and his wife, the former Augusta Bodine.  Perry was described by The Evening World as the, "executor of the Perry estate and holder of extensive property and real estate interests."  The couple's residency would be relatively short.  Augusta died on January 29, 1891.  Her funeral was held in the parlor the following afternoon.

On April 9, 1892, the Record & Guide reported that Hortense L. and Joseph Oswald Jimenis had purchased 272 West 73rd Street for $54,000 (just under $1.4 million in 2025).  The new owners immediately set to work redecorating.  Just over two weeks later, on April 27, an advertisement in The Evening World read, "Paper-Hanger.  Only first-class workman; come ready to work.  272 West 73d st."

Born in Matanzas, Cuba in 1858, Jimenis was head of the lumber exporting firm Jimenis & Co.  The athletic entrepreneur was a member of the New York Bicycle, the New York Athletic, and the North Woods Clubs.  The couple had at least one son, Oswald.

Joseph Oswald Jimenis, from Notable New Yorkers of 1896-1899 (copyright expired)

In 1899, the family leased the house to retired real estate broker George Crawford.  Living with him and his wife were their four daughters and two sons, and "several servants," according to The New York Times.  

Between midnight and 1:00 on the morning of February 4, 1899, an overheated furnace in the basement started a fire.  Brothers Harry and William had adjoining rooms on the third floor.  William was awakened by smoke and quickly ran through the house to alert the other occupants.  The New York Times reported, "With his brother, he rushed down to the basement to extinguish the flames with a hand fire extinguisher, but he saw that this would not be effective and told Harry to turn in an alarm."   The article said Harry, "clad only in his night dress," ran down to the fire alarm box a block away at 74th Street and West End Avenue.

In the meantime, William directed his family and the servants out a second floor window onto the roof of the rear extension.  But before long, the smoke became too intense and George Crawford broke the window of the Harry E. Spadone house next door "and all climbed into the Spadone house," said The Times.  Not unexpectedly, hearing the glass shatter the Spadone family thought burglars had broken in.  The article said, "there was much excitement till explanations were made."  For some inexplicable reason, William went the opposite direction, breaking a window in the house of William Gelshenen.  "He crawled into that residence, with similar results and explanations."

Firefighters confined the fire to the basement and kitchen, however the damage "to curtains and other expensive furnishings" was estimated at $3,000 (about $114,000 today).  Interestingly, neither of the next-door neighbors whose homes had been unceremoniously broken into offered the Crawfords shelter.  "The Crawford family went to the home of Joseph J. O'Donohue at 262 West Seventy-third Street for the night."

Although George Crawford was technically retired, the announcement that the New York and Port Chester Railway Company had applied to the State Railroad Commission to construct a "4-track electric railroad" from New York City to Port Chester, New York in Westchester County, was enticing.  On November 12, 1901, Crawford announced that he would "commence the erection of fifty houses as soon as the certificate was granted."  The New York Times said, "He was confident the new road would largely increase land values and population."

The Crawford family would have to find new accommodations shortly after that announcement.  Hortense and Joseph Jimenis had sold the house five months earlier, in June 1901, to Jacob Rubino, who was waiting for the Crawfords' lease to expire before moving in.

Born in 1841, Rubino was a retired stock broker, described by The New York Times as being, "at one time a familiar figure in Wall Street."  His nephew was the massively wealthy banker James Speyer.  An erudite bachelor, Rubino was a member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York Botanical Gardens Society.  He filled the 73rd Street house with a valuable collection of oil paintings.

Among Rubino's live-in staff were James Fleming, his "private detective" (a sort of body guard), and Mortimer C. Stiefel, Rubino's nurse.

A bizarre incident played out 0n September 14, 1905 when Margaret R. Moncure returned to New York from a four-week stay in the country and headed straight for 272 West 73rd Street.  Mortimer Stiefel told James Fleming not to let her in.  The New-York Tribune reported, "She finally succeeded, however, in getting inside and made herself at home, as usual.  Later her trunks arrived at the house, but were not admitted, and the woman was finally placed under arrest."

The following morning, Mrs. Moncure appeared before Magistrate Whitman.   The New-York Tribune reported, "The woman says she has lived in Mr. Rubino's house."  Charged with disorderly conduct, she was placed on probation for three months.  Her attorney, Joseph Marks, said that a "suit for breach of promise would be instituted against Rubino."  It does not appear that ever came to pass.

It also does not appear that the faulty furnace was ever properly repaired.  On February 6, 1906, The New York Times reported, "A fire started in the basement by a defective flue did at least $8,000 damages yesterday afternoon to the home of Jacob Rubino at 272 West Seventy-third Street."  The article said, "Mr. Rubino has a fine collection of oil paintings, and at one time it looked as if it was doomed to destruction."  Although the artwork was not destroyed, several of the paintings were severely damaged by smoke and water.

Although essentially retired, Rubino still dealt in stocks, partnering often with millionaire James B. Haggin.  When the Financial Panic of 1907 caused the brokerage firm of Mayer & Co. to collapse, it caused major financial problems for Rubino.  The New York Times explained that the firm, "had a claim against Rubino for $543,587.  Mr. Rubino...asked J. B. Haggin to take over this claim, saying that if it were pressed against him he would be ruined."  Haggin did so, taking as part of the collateral the deed to 272 West 73rd Street.

At the time, Jacob Rubino had suffered from  what The New York Times described as "paralysis" for about two years.  The condition was most likely the result of a stroke.  He traveled to Hot Springs, Virginia for his health in 1908 and died there in September at the age of 67.

Posthumously embarrassing to Rubino, on April 10, 1913 The New York Times reported that his estate was insolvent.  Although it had assets of $832,581 (nearly $26.5 million today), Rubino owed a total of $1,865.368.  

James B. Haggin leased the former Rubino house to Leon and Emilie Sichel.  Born in Germany in 1847, Sichel had learned watch-making in Switzerland.  He arrived in America in 1891.  He and Emilie, who were listed annually in Dau's New York Social Blue Book, had two children, Arthur and Clarice Caroline.  On June 25, 1910, they announced the engagement of Clarice to Edwin Schiele.

Emilie Sichel died on March 18, 1914.  Her funeral was held here two days later.

Paul Henkel purchased 272 West 73rd Street in January 1919.  The proprietor of the string of Keen's Chop Houses, he and his wife had a 14-year-old daughter, Pauline, who was by any estimation an over-achiever.  She was a member of the Junior United States Auxiliary, which aided in war relief.  Pauline rose to the rank of colonel after, as reported by The Evening World, she "personally raised $3,300,000 in the various Liberty Loans campaigns."

Pauline graduated from Public School No. 9 on June 25, 1920.  Hers was no ordinary ceremony.  The Evening World reported, "A squad of marines acted as a guard of honor...The recruiting division of the Marine Corps sent flowers and so did the S. Rankin Drew Post of the American Legion of which Pauline is mascot."

The following year, the French war hero Marshal Ferdinand Foch visited New York.  On December 13, 1921, the day before his return, he was feted with numerous receptions and a ball.  At the Hotel Vanderbilt, "where an entire floor had been reserved for the Marshal and his party," according to the New-York Tribune, he was showered with gifts.  After he was presented with a gold, bronze and copper victory helmet by the daughters of Clarence Mackay, the article said, "The Marshall then received sixteen-year-old Pauline Henkel, of 272 West Seventy-third Street, who presented a bouquet of roses on behalf of the Junior United States Auxiliary."

The house was the scene of a "masquerade dance" on February 26, 1922, given by Pauline.  Among her guests was 18-year-old Dorothy Nichols, who lived in Brooklyn.  The party broke up at around midnight and Dorothy arrived home about an hour later.  Her father was awakened by her screams around 3:30, the same time the milkman saw a man jump from Dorothy's second floor window.  The girl had awakened to find a burglar in her room.  He tried to gag her but she cried out.  The man then hit her over the head with a window sash weight, knocking her out.  He left the pile of jewelry he had prepared to steal on the dresser as he fled.

On June 28, 1924, the Record & Guide reported that the Haggin estate had sold the house to "a prominent physician, who will occupy."  The buyer was Dr. Sidney H. Adler, who had been in practice since 1900.

White paint covered the lower floors in 1941.  image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Adler and his wife occupied the house until February 1931, when they leased it to Mable E. Bishop.  It had been unofficially converted to 11 apartments by the time the Adlers sold it in March 1938 to Rose Kerr.  In making the changes, the stoop was removed and the entrance lowered to the basement level, below grade.  The configuration lasted until 1962, when a renovation resulted in two apartments per floor.

Rather than remove the white paint on the basement and parlor levels, the owners covered it with brown paint.

photographs by the author

The Lost Havemeyer Building -- 26 Cortlandt Street

 

The elevated train tracks can be seen running along Church Street in 1893.  from King's Handbook of New York City, 1893 (copyright expired)

William Havemeyer established one of the first sugar refineries in New York, Havemeyer & Elder.  By the last decade of the 19th century, the extended family had amassed massive personal fortunes.  In 1891, Theodore A. Havemeyer, who lived in a sumptuous Murray Hill mansion at 244 Madison Avenue, purchased the eastern blockfront of Church Street between Cortland and Dey Streets for $450,000 (about $15.5 million in 2025).  The New York Times remarked on April 22, "The site, which is 200 feet on Church Street by 60 feet front on Dey and Cortlandt Streets, is now covered with old-fashioned five-story brick buildings."

One of the tenants Havemeyer inherited posed a problem for his plans to erect a "new million-dollar, fireproof, fifteen-story office and business block," as described by The Times.  C. W. Meyer was described by the newspaper as "a young man, the son of a Brooklyn liquor dealer."  In 1889, he had signed a ten-year lease on the building at the northeast corner of Cortlandt and Church Streets for his saloon, the Three Owls.  He refused to give up his lease and close his recently opened tavern.  Eventually, Havemeyer gave him an offer he could not refuse.  Architecture and Building later reported, "he paid $40,000 to a liquor seller who had a ten years' lease on the place."  C. W. Meyer walked away with an incentive equal to more than $1 million today.

The New York Times announced, "The building which the sugar king intends to erect will be constructed according to plans which have been drawn by Mr. George B. Post."  The article noted that the cost would be "nearly a million dollars" and that it was expected to be completed within the year.

To support his 15 stories, Post turned to the "cage frame" system--a transitional process between masonry and skeleton construction.  The structural iron was embedded within self-supporting exterior walls.  Perhaps because the construction of skyscrapers was still somewhat experimental, a disaster occurred on the building site on May 5, 1892.  

At 3:15, while about 20 men were at work in the basement and sub-cellar, concrete was being poured at the second floor.  The Evening World reported, "Nearly twenty-five tons of freshly mixed mortar was piled on the firebrick floor, which gave way, burying the men who were at work in the subcellar below.  Seven laborers were in the subcellar at the time." 

Workmen scrambled to extricate the buried men.  "A dozen laborers were set to work digging away the debris," said the article.  The first body they discovered was that of 42-year-old Albert Zimmer.  Miraculously, there was only one other fatality, that of 45-year-old Charles de Sola.  Two other workers, John Hurley and Otto Pabst, were injured "by the falling debris of mortar, fire-brick and iron," said the article.

On January 28, 1893, the Record & Guide reported on the completed building, saying that among the "lofty modern office and business buildings" in New York, this was, "the most imposing and attractive of them all."  The critic praised Post's "artistic power of repetition in design, of majesty and grace in the strong perpendicular lines, of beauty and symmetry in the arches, balustrades and projecting gallery."

Post clad the Renaissance Revival structure in limestone, terra cotta, brick and stone.  The Record & Guide pointed out that modern elevator technology made the 15th story as desirable and "in some respects, more desirable," than the lower ones.  The Havemeyer Building had seven Otis hydraulic elevators, including the first express elevators in the city.  The first stop of those two elevators was the seventh floor.

The narrow proportions of the site meant that every office had windows.  At a time when electricity was unreliable, the Record & Guide noted, "Gas, of course, there is, and electric lighting by an independent system, generated on the premises and in ample supply at all hours."  In addition to innovations like mail chutes, the building offered 24-hour special police protection and watchmen's service.  

While many new structures in the Financial District held the offices of brokers and attorneys, the Havemeyer Building attracted industrial tenants.  While the building was still under construction, space was leased to tenants like the Consolidated Wire Works Company, the National Tube Works Company, the Delamater Iron Works, the Westinghouse Air Brake Company, and building contractors L. & E. Weber.

There were "arcade stores" on the ground floor and 15 stores in the basement level.  The corner store on Cortlandt Street was leased to Leon, "the celebrated caterer, late of Delmonico's and of Hollywood, who will finish and furnish it in a manner calculated in all of its appointments to rival Delmonico's and all other of the famous restaurants of this city," said the Record & Guide.  The upper floors held between 18 and 22 office suites each.  During the warm months, the rooftop was "shaded with awnings and thrown open as a promenade."

Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide, June 25, 1898 (copyright expired)

The National Tube Works Company was founded by John H. Flagler.  The private lives of millionaires were fair game for the press, and on May 22, 1894, a reporter from The Evening World appeared at Flagler's office in the Havemeyer Building to get information on the industrialist's love affair.  The following day, the newspaper reported, "Millionaire John H. Flagler and Miss Alice Maudelick, the choir soprano, whose marriage engagement has been reported as broken, have both retired from public view."  

The journalist had also gone to Flagler's East 67th Street mansion, as well.  "At neither place was he to be seen."  The clerk in the office said Flagler was not expected until later in the day "if he came at all," adding that, "Mr. Flagler was in a towering rage over the publication of what he termed his private affairs and would talk to no one about them."

By 1893, the offices of the Street Railway Journal were located in the Havemeyer Building, and before 1896 the Continental Match Company, headed by Edwin Gould, was here.  A much different tenant took space in 1897, however.

In April that year, the Spanish-American War broke out.  The Department of the Navy set up an office in the Havemeyer Building in October, with Lieutenant-Commander J. D. J. Kelley, "formerly of the cruiser New York," according to the New York Journal and Advertiser, in charge.  Kelley's mission was to find merchant marine vessels that "may be quickly armed, manned and gotten ready for work."  And he was eminently successful.

The article said, "It was found that the owners were without exception patriotic, and gladly tendered the use of their vessels to the Government and also were willing to go to considerable expense that they might be properly fitted."  At the time of the article, Kelley had acquired 91 vessels that had been converted to warships.

W. Butler Duncan, Jr. worked in the Havemeyer Building.  On August 27, 1898, The Sun recalled, "When the New York naval militia was called into service by the Government last April one of the first of its officers to pass the examinations and take rank in the navy was Lieut. W. Butler Duncan, Jr."   Duncan had been assigned to the auxiliary cruiser Yankee as senior watch officer throughout the conflict.  Now, said the article, the Yankee had been ordered to New York, "and it is expected that the naval militia will be mustered out on arriving here."

In anticipation of his return, Duncan's co-workers went into action.  The Sun reported, 

The employees in his offices at the Havemeyer building have elaborately decorated the place.  American flags are tastefully draped on the walls and over the Lieutenant's desk, while on the south side of the rooms is a large shield bearing the words, "Victory, Yankee." "Welcome Home" appears immediately below in large gilt letters.  In one corner stands an easel entirely covered with flags.  On this are arranged five photographs of the Yankee, showing the cruiser from different points of view.  The decorations can be plainly seen from the elevated road, which runs on a level with the office windows.

The elevated railroad mentioned in the article (which predated the Havemeyer Building) was an annoyance to the structure's management.  Theodore A. Havemeyer had died in 1897 and ownership of the building passed to the Havemeyer Real Estate Company.  The firm's festering vexation came to a climax two decades after the building opened.

In what might have been viewed by some as astounding hubris on the part of the Havemeyer Real Estate Company, on April 1, 1912 it filed suit against the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, demanding it discontinue operating the elevated line and petitioned "for an order for the tearing down of the station and structure in front of the building."  The allegations were that the tracks "deprived tenants of light and air" and that the passing trains were an annoyance.  "Also it was alleged that the vibrations had impaired and weakened the building," reported the New-York Tribune.  Not unexpectedly, the suit was not successful and the elevated train survived until the late 1930s, longer than the Havemeyer building.

The Navy once again rented offices here as the country poised to enter World War I.  On March 22, 1917, The Evening World posted a list of "Where to Enlist in the U. S. Navy," which included 26 Cortlandt Street.  An accompanying article said, "An entire floor of the Havemeyer building at No. 26 Cordlandt Street has been rented for recruiting headquarters for the Naval Coast Defense Reserve.  There millionaire owners of fast yachts and husky men from harbor tugs line up side by side to enter Uncle Sam's service."  The article noted that the offices, "were crowded to-day, with sturdy men eager to enlist for services afloat."

On May 3, 1917, The Evening World reported that orders had been received at the Third Naval District of the United States Naval Reserve Force here for the "enrolling [of] at least 200 aviators at once."  The article said, "These men need not necessarily be experienced airmen, but they must have a knowledge of gasolene [sic] engines and general mechanics."

The Havemeyer Building survived through 1930.  It was demolished the following year to make way for the East River Savings Bank building, designed by Walker & Gillette, which survives.

image by Tdorante10

The Martin M. Myers House - 59 Sullivan Street

 

The two-and-a-half story house at 59 Sullivan Street, erected around 1820, was faced in Flemish bond brick.  Like scores of Federal style residences constructed at the time, the 26-foot-wide dwelling had a peaked roof with two dormers.

Likely the original owner, Martin M. Myers and his family occupied the house as early as 1827.  A lamplighter, Myers's profession was a relatively new one.  The laying of pipes under New York City's sidewalks for gas streetlights had begun in 1823.  Myers and his wife had three children, John M., William H., and Susan A.

In the rear yard was a smaller house.  Henry R. Bush, a laborer, and his wife and son; and Jeremiah Sproull, a carpenter, and his wife Sarah, shared the address with the Myers in 1827.  Presumably, the Bushes or the Sproulls (or both families) occupied the rear dwelling.

While most boarders were transient, remaining for relatively short periods, the Bush and Sproull families would be here for years.  Richard J. Bush, a mason, was still here in 1836.  He had been, as well, a volunteer firefighter in Fire Engine Company No. 1 as early as 1829.  Jeremiah Sproull died around 1836 and Sarah Sproull remained here until 1845.

In 1840, John M. Myers was old enough to work.  A wheelwright, he repaired wooden wheels for wagons, carriages, carts and such.  John's sister was studying for a profession at the time.  Susan A. Myers began teaching in Ward School No. 29 on Greenwich Street around 1853.  Her salary that year was $100--about $4,070 in 2025 terms.

In the meantime, Martin M. Myers had been incensed by his real estate tax bill in 1845.  He protested the assessment, and on May 5, 1846, the Committee on Annual Taxes admitted "that they made an error in copying the book" concerning "the assessed value of house and lot, No. 59 Sullivan Street."  The committee approved the $8.88 refund owed to Martin M. Myers for his overpayment.

Isabella Jewesson, who taught in the primary department of School No. 44 on North Moore and Varick Streets, possibly knew Sarah Myers through their professions.  Jewesson boarded with the Myers family through 1855 to 1858.

Around 1860, William C. Hanna and his family moved into 59 Sullivan Street, almost assuredly in the rear house.  He operated a significant construction business with his office at 66 Thompson Street.  The family would rent from Myers through 1869, after which William C. Hanna moved to Brooklyn.

Trow's New York City Directory, 1865 (copyright expired)

Two years into the Civil War, on March 23, 1863 Congress passed the Enrollment Act.  Using a lottery system, the draft augmented the numbers of troops within the Union Army.  Among the names pulled in the drawing on August 25, 1863 was William H. Myers.

During the war, former slaves fled northward.  They established the first black enclave around Minetta Lane and Minetta Street, which earned the nickname Little Africa.  The racially varied demographics had spread south 59 Sullivan Street by 1874, when Theodore Martin rented space from Myers, almost assuredly in the rear house.

On October 15 that year, The New York Times reported that he had narrowly escaped a fatal accident.  "Theodore Martin, aged thirty-eight, a colored man, residing at No. 59 Sullivan street, was caught between two trucks at Pier No. 8 North River [i.e., Hudson River], and had several ribs fractured."

The title to 59 Sullivan Street passed to John M. Myers following his father's death.  On April 8, 1876, the Record & Guide reported he had filed plans to raise the attic to a full floor at a cost of $600, about $17,600 today.  (The upper addition is marked by the change from Flemish to running bond brickwork.)  The builder matched the fenestration of the second floor and installed a denticulated cornice.

With the added space, John M. Myers's home became essentially a boarding house.  The Byrne family moved in by 1878.  James Byrne was a laborer, and Patrick and Terrence Byrne listed their professions as "hair."  They were, most likely, dealers in human hair for wigs and what today would be called extensions.

Mary Seaman, the widow of Charles Seaman, had moved into the house with her teenaged son, also named Charles, around 1878.  On February 15, 1879, The New York Times reported that Charles had been the key in busting a jewel theft ring.  Four teens, Louis J. Piatti, Nathan Lederman, John E. Tischer, and John E. Topping, operated a scheme by which Topping, who was a clerk in the jewelry firm of Jacob Marx & Co., routinely stole valuable items from the safe.  They hired Charles Seaman for $4 a week to take the stolen jewels to pawnshops and return the money to the gang.  Detectives told reporters that Seaman, "was an innocent party, and he was used by them to find out the truth."

A Mrs. Pose, who boarded here by 1883, operated a business that would be shocking today.  The New York Times reported on March 23, 1883 that Mrs. Rose Pardo had charged a former servant, Sarah Wallace, of murdering her six-month-old baby, Stella Hayward Levy Pardo, by poison.  In court, Rose Pardo explained they she had purchased the baby from Mrs. Pose.  The article said, 

Mrs. Pardo met the mother of the child, who is a stranger to her, at Mrs. Pose's house, and on being told that the child would be well cared for the mother, relinquished all right to her offspring to Mrs. Pardo.  The latter paid $10 for the babe and took her to her home.

Two years later, on November 25, 1885, Mrs. Pose placed an advertisement in The Sun for "a very fine boy."  The next day, a man posing as a customer arrived.  The Sun explained, "A young man who didn't need any babies, but who desired to inform himself upon all subjects, read the notice and determined to go and see what the boy was like."  When the visitor, "asked what kind of baby it was," Mrs. Pose was indignant.  The article said, 

Ignorance, she declared, was evident in the young man's every remark--deep and wicked ignorance.  That boy was a fine boy; he was only 3 days old, and remarkably intelligent for that age.  The erratic growth of black hair was a sign of strength and the rich coloring of his face indicated that he would grow up to have a very fair and very beautiful complexion.

Mrs. Pose told the visitor "that if his wife really wanted a nice, young baby he might take that one away for $2, providing, of course, that he had a good home to take it to."  Instead, the young man promised to tell any people who "yearn for a boy baby where to find one" and left.

By the turn of the century, the neighborhood around 59 Sullivan Street was part of what newspapers called "the Italian colony."  In 1903, the Spina family, which now owned the building, renovated the ground floor for its saloon.  Converting the ground floor to a commercial space necessitated an industrial grade beam, visible from the exterior.  A large window was flanked by doorways--one to the tavern and the other to the upper floors.  The entrances were accessed by twin stoops.

The renovation resulted a commercial space, seen here in 1928.  from the collection of the New York Public Library.

The tavern's excise (or liquor) license was originally held by Francesco Spina.  By 1912, Anthony Spina held the license.  Rather than participate in the family's business, in 1916 Vincenzo Spina took a civil servant job as a "keeper" with the New York County jail.  He earned $1,000 a year--about $28,600 today.  In 1920, he received a significant raise to $1,330.

In the meantime, the Spina's renters were Italian-born.  In 1905, Vincenzo Timpone worked as a Dock Laborer at $55 per month.  Also living here that year was Giorgana Lozzetto, an organ grinder.  He and his friend, Domenico Arvane, "who lives just a few doors above him," according to The New York Times, were in the center of a ruckus on the night of August 17, 1905.

The article said that around 10:00 the two were heading home from Harlem.  "Giorgana was pushing the hurdy-gurdy, and Domenico was waddling along as well as he could, seeing that there were 700 pennies in his pockets."  As they passed by the Imperial Hotel, three Irishmen asked them to play Tammany.  As Gioragana played the song, police officer Ben Smith interrupted, saying "such music" could be not played after 7:00, according to The New York Times.  Perhaps thinking that the policeman was anti-Irish, passersby demanded that Giorgana play it again.  "They played it and again till they had earned $4."

As Smith hauled Giorgana and Domenico to the stationhouse, protesters followed, "arguing that in this free country a man ought to be allowed to play anything he chose, especially 'Tammany' in New York," recounted the article.  They offered the two Italians $5 to continue to play the piece on the way to stationhouse.  "Giorgiana struggled through the tune," said the story, while, "A crowd trailed behind, yelling industriously."  Although the two were briefly detained, they returned home having had made a windfall through the impromptu protest.

The Spinas' saloon ended with Prohibition.  During the Depression and World War II years, the storefront was home to a restaurant.  

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The venerable structure underwent a third substantial renovation in 1991.  In remodeling it to a two-family home, the storefront was bricked up, pseudo-Colonial entrances were installed, and a center bay window was added.

photographs by the author

The 1904 City Club of New York - 55-57 West 44th Street

In 1892, two years after fledgling architects Austin W. Lord and James Monroe Hewlett were hired by McKim, Mead & White, the City Club of New York was organized.  In a succinct capsulation of the club's goals, President Wheeler H. Peckham later said, "we will insist upon simple honesty in administration."

Operating from rented quarters at 19 West 34th Street, the club's first thrust was the cleaning up of Tammany Hall.  Following the election of Seth Low (the group's mayoral nominee) in 1901, the City Club of New York sought a site for a permanent clubhouse.  On New Year's Day 1902, the New-York Tribune reported that the club purchased the two vintage buildings at 55 and 57 West 44th Street "in the neighborhood of $100,000."  

An open competition for designs--with a budget of $150,000 and a deadline of January 29--was responded to by seven architectural firms.  On February 1, the Record & Guide said the two-man committee, Henry Rutgers Marshall and Walter Cook, president and former-president of the American Institute of Architects, respectively, were considering the submissions.  

Among them was that of Lord & Hewlett.  The former McKim, Mead & White co-workers had partnered in 1894.  On February 15, 1902, the Record & Guide reported that Lord & Hewlett "have been awarded" and described, "The building will be 7 stories high.  The three lower stories are to be used for club purposes, the upper floors being laid out in apartments for the use of club members."

Lord & Hewlett's winning design.  The Brickbuilder, December 12, 1903 (copyright expired)

The cost increased by September 1902 when Building Trades Association Bulletin reported the "seven and one-half story building of steel, granite, terra-cotta and brick [was] to cost about $175,000."  (The total of property and construction costs would translate to about $10 million in 2025.)  The article said, 

The design and arrangement indicate that the club is to have an attractive home and one well adapted for its needs.  The chief features are a large reception hall and billiard room on the first floor, private dining-rooms, a women's dining-room and a library of works on civics...on the second floor; a large dining-room, the full size of the building, 100x42 feet, with a seating capacity of three hundred persons, on the third floor; bed-rooms, forty-four in number, on the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh floors, and a roof garden, etc., on the top of the structure.

The New-York Tribune reported on August 8, 1902, "the building will be finished, it is expected, by May 1."  That deadline would prove to be optimistic.  As 1903 drew to an end, on December 17, the newspaper revised the target.  "The City Club...expects to open its new clubhouse at Nos. 55 and 57 West Forty-fourth-st. on New Year's Day."  The article said, "The interior finish and arrangement are admirable, and new furniture harmonizing with the decorations is being installed in all the larger and more important rooms."

The Brickbuilder, December 12, 1903 (copyright expired)

Lord & Hewlett's Beaux Arts design was splashed with neo-Colonial details, like the striking arched windows faced with a full-width stone balcony at the third floor, and the monumental carved eagles that supported the cornice.  A prominent pergola that sheltered the roof garden was visible from the street level.

The clubhouse was opened formally on January 1, 1904 in the third-floor banquet hall.  The New York Times remarked on the color-themed main spaces.  The article said the second-floor library was, "in green; the trustee's room, in purple; the women's lunchroom, in dull yellow; the butler's pantry or serving room, and a private dining-room in red."

The New-York Tribune captioned this photograph, "A corner of the lounging and reading room in the new home of the City Club."  December 27, 1903 (copyright expired)

The City Club addressed various issues.  On January 9, 1905, for instance, an article in the New-York Tribune began, "Up in arms because, as it declares, the proposed route of the Rapid Transit Commission for an extension of the elevated railroad through Bronx Park would destroy the most beautiful park scenes in the city, practically spoiling Bronx Park, the City Club is planning a war to the death against the scheme."   And on April 4, 1905, the newspaper reported the club framed a bill that would change the mayoral terms from two to four years.

Not everyone showered praise on the City Club's dogged agenda.  During the 15th anniversary dinner on April 13, 1907, Robert Fulton Cutting remarked, 

The work of the City Club has been in the "via media."  Its work has been damned by the radicals and the reactionaries.  Now the club is not only molding public opinion in this city, but also over the whole country. 

The third-floor dining room was decorated by a heavy plastering ceiling and a carved woodwork.  New-York Tribune, December 27, 1903 (copyright expired)

Non-members were admitted into the clubhouse during occasional art exhibitions.  On May 23, 1918, for instance, The Evening World reported, "The City Club of New York, No. 55 West 44th Street, is showing until the end of this month, a collection of thirty-three navy posters, both in originals and reproductions."  Among those participating in the exhibition were illustrators J. C. Leyendecker, James Montgomery Flagg, and Frank Brangwyn.  

J. C. Leyendecker's U.S. Navy recruitment poster was exhibited in the City Club showing.

An article in The New York Times on September 17, 1939, hinted that the Depression was affecting the club.  It reported, "New clubrooms were opened yesterday for the New York League of Girls Clubs at 55 West Forty-fourth Street."  The article noted, "In its new location, comprising the entire seventh floor of the building maintained by the City Club, the organization will occupy six rooms, including a reception room, office, ballroom, and two classrooms."  Another drastic move was made the following year.  A renovation resulted in a restaurant on the ground floor in 1940.  The City Club sold its building later that year.

In 1945, the United States Plywood Association purchased the property and hired architects Vernon Sears and Harper Richards to gut much of Lord & Hewlett's interiors and design office spaces throughout.  Then, on April 14, 1964, The New York Times reported that the United States Plywood Corporation had sold the building to the Institute of Public Administration for $375,000.  Organized in 1901, the Institute of Public Administration was a non-profit education and research organization.  (The former ground floor restaurant space would be occupied by Feron's tennis store by 1974.)

In 2001, the former City Club of New York building was acquired and remodeled by the City Club Hotel.  The 65-room "small luxury hotel," as described by partner Jeff Klein, opened in August 2001.  According to The New York Times on July 29, the renovations spent "$10 million on the gut renovation."  Amenities, said the article, included, "couches built into walls, with traditional upholstered chairs with wooden arms.  Televisions are hidden behind artwork and, in at least one room, behind a mirror."

Despite Lord & Hewlett's ground floor having been obliterated, their City Club of New York design is greatly intact.

many thanks for reader Doug Wheeler for suggesting this post

photographs by the author

The 1826 David Baldwin House - 31 Charlton Street

 

In 1826, David Baldwin--quite literally--built a new home for his family on land leased from Trinity Church.  A mason by trade, his two-and-a-half story house at 31 Charlton Street was faced in Flemish bond brick above a brownstone basement level.  The attic floor under the peaked roof held two prim dormers.  While some of the more upscale houses in the neighborhood boasted elaborate entrances with fluted columns and sidelights, the humbler single-doored entrance of the Baldwin residence was trimmed in simple rope carving.  The large and handsome leaded transom was an added expense.

The Baldwin family remained at 31 Charlton Street through about 1840, taking in one boarder at a time.  In 1827, John J. V. Westervelt, a grocer, lived with the family, for instance, and in 1836 the Baldwins' boarder was Richard H. Tittle, a shipmaster.

The late 1840s saw the family of William J. Ryckman occupying the house.  They had a serious scare around midnight on March 6, 1850.  The New York Morning Courier reported, "A black fellow who says his name is Dan Tucker, was found on Wednesday night by Mr. Wm. J. Ryckman, of No. 31 Charlton street, in his cellar, which he had broken into for the purpose of gaining admission to the house."  The Evening Post explained that Ryckman, "was disturbed by the noise.  He arose from his bed and went into the room where the thief was, when he was dangerously wounded by a dirk, by the rascal."

Tucker did not get far.  Ryckman's cries alerted the policeman on the block, Officer Sturges, who quickly arrested the would-be burglar.  As it turned out, Ryckman was fortunate in having sustained only a single stab wound, despite its seriousness.  What no one realized at the time, was that Tucker was not alone.  The New York Morning Courier said, "There were two accomplices with him, who succeeded in making their escape." 

Twelve days after the break-in, an auction advertisement appeared in the newspapers.  Among the properties being sold was, "The two story and attic brick house, and lease of lot known as No. 31 Charlton street."

The house was purchased by James Fowler.  The 65-year-old did not list a profession in city directories, suggesting he was retired.  Like the Baldwins, Fowler took in boarders.  Living with him from 1850 through 1855 were Mary Bogert, a widow, and her son, Henry, who was a bookkeeper.  The Bogerts moved to West 26th Street by 1856 when John Langdon moved into the house.

James Fowler was no doubt unaware that he had opened his home to a 21-year-old psychopath.  Langdon worked in the shoemaking shop of a Mr. McCoombs on Sixth Avenue.  A customer entered the shop on the evening of December 27, 1856 while McCoombs and Langdon were at work in the rear room.  After McCoombs responded to the front area, Langdon slipped his employer's pocketbook, which was laying on the work counter, into his pocket.  It contained $26 (about $1,000 in 2025 terms).  It was not, he later confessed, his first robbery.

That night, Langdon went to Brooklyn and bought a pistol for $6.  He explained later, "He determined to kill somebody and get some money."  Just after dawn the next morning, Peter Keegan, who ran a restaurant, the Railroad House near 36th Street in Brooklyn, left his residence.  Langdon considered murdering him, then, "after looking at him awhile thought he had but little money, and moreover thought it not a safe place."  Keegan unknowingly had narrowly escaped a violent death.

Langdon continued walking until he encountered Cornelius Cannon, a gardener, in front of a church on Third Avenue around 11:30 a.m.  Without speaking a word, Langdon shot him dead and took his wallet.  He was quickly arrested.

At the stationhouse, a reporter asked his motive.  The Albany, New York Morning Times reported, "he replied promptly, 'I never saw the man before, but I felt as though I could not stand much longer, and wanted money.  I shot the man for his money, and nothing else.'"  He added that he, "bought the pistol for the very purpose I used it for."  The reporter said, "These statements were made in such as manner as to lead me to suppose that he was the one least affected by the transaction."  

Fowler's subsequent boarders were, expectedly, more upstanding.  They included Thomas C. Pollard, a strawgoods merchant in 1856 and 1857; and Dr. Thomas Sinclaire in 1863.

James Fowler died in the Charlton Street house on March 18, 1863 at the age of 78.  The house had several occupants through the 1860s, and then was purchased by builder Nicholas Connor and his wife, Elizabeth, around 1870. 

Elizabeth Connor died on January 4, 1874 at the age of 35.  Her funeral was held in the parlor two days later.

On July 4 that year, the Real Estate Record & Guide reported that Nicholas Connor had filed plans to raise the attic to a full floor.  Listing him as "owner, architect and builder," the journal said the renovations would cost $700, or about $19,300 today.

Connor's upper floor addition was faced in running bond brick which remarkably matched the original color.  In updating the house, he installed pressed metal cornices over all the brownstone lintels and extended the parlor floor windows.  Somewhat surprisingly, he did not add an up-to-date Italianate cornice with prominent brackets.  The simple, dentiled fascia board, more expected in an earlier structure, suggests he may have repurposed the original cornice.

Once again, boarders were taken in.  Sharing the house with Nicholas Connor in 1876 and 1877, for instance, were the Donohue family and Albert How.  Both Patrick and Francis Donohue were clerks, and Albert How was a "driver."

By the turn of the century, 31 Charlton Street was operated as a boarding house.  In 1917, when Trinity Church began liquidating much of its property in Greenwich Village, William Sloane Coffin purchased numerous properties in the neighborhood, including 31 Charlton Street.  

Among Coffin's tenants in 1918 was Italian-born John Donodero.  The 31-year-old had just obtained his American citizenship on March 23, 1918, when he got into a serious argument with a German immigrant in Greeley Square.

The newspaper firms on Greeley Square published breaking news on bulletin boards.  With America involved in World War I, the boards attracted throngs when new articles were posted.  That afternoon, Ewald Rempke "made a remark that indicated total disbelief in the ability of the allies to win the war," reported The Sun.  The German's opinion did not sit well with the newly minted citizen.  "Right there Donodero started in," said the article.  He was backed up by "about 100 persons" in the square.

"Donodero had affixed himself to Rempke's ear and claimed credit for Rempke's black eye when the police finally managed to clear a way through the crowd," said the article, which added, "Rempke was saved by being arrested."  Both parties were taken to the West 13th Street police station.  Donodero was released, while Rempke was "locked up for investigation."

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

William S. Coffin sold 31 Charlton Street to Alice P. Todd in 1919.  Never converted to apartments, it was home to builder and civic reformer I. D. Robbins and his wife, the former Carolyn Marx, by the 1950s.  On March 10, 1960, The Villager reported that Robbins, "a Village resident for 27 years, tossed his hat in the ring for Congress here last week."  His bid was unsuccessful.

Born in Pittsburgh on December 1, 1910, Robbins had moved to New York City in 1933.  With his cousin, Lester Robbins, he built major projects like the Big Six Towers in Woodside, Queens, which provided housing for 1,000 families and a shopping center.  While living here he was president of the City Club and also sought nomination for Mayor.

The nearly 200-year-old house is still a single family home.  

photograph by the author

C. P. H. Gilbert's 1890 Romantic Trio at 456-460 West 152nd Street

 

Gilbert cleverly designed the three entrances without upsetting symmetry.  photo by Mark Satlof.

On September 6, 1890, the Record & Guide reported, "On the south side of 152d street...east of 10th avenue, the three-story and basement dwellings are nearing completion, from plans of C. P. H. Gilbert.  They are ready for the trimwork, and are being built by J. H. McKenney."  The esteemed architect had filed the plans six months earlier, projecting the construction costs of each house at $9,834 (about $340,000 in 2024).

Gilbert disguised the three residences as a single structure.  The homogenous design was a surprising and successful blending of Romanesque Revival and Colonial Revival styles.  Faced in yellow brick and trimmed in brownstone, the former style exhibited in the rough cut voussoirs of the five-part arcade at the parlor level, the faceted bay and rounded tower on the end homes, and the romantic third floor's arched openings, charming dormers and conical cap.  The Colonial was most evident in the second floor with the delicate fanlight over the central grouping and spider web leading of the oval windows.

The project was personal for real estate developer James H. McKenney.  He had purchased the vacant property on November 28, 1881 and immediately transferred the title to his wife, Sarah A. McKenney.  The couple's plan was to occupy the easternmost house, No. 456, with their daughter, Susan, and to lease the others as rental income.  

Construction was completed before the end of 1890.  Each of the residences had 10 rooms and "1 bath and 2 toilets," according to an advertisement.  The still somewhat rural district was reflected in an advertisement for 460 West 152nd Street in 1891:  

The handsome three-story and basement brick residence; hardwood finish; sanitary plumbing; fruit trees.

As the neighborhood developed, the city struggled to keep pace with services.  On March 31, 1891, for instance, the New York Herald reported, "Residents of Washington Heights and Carmansville wish to have transportation facilities accorded them throughout the night," adding, "They do not look upon the running of the cable cars on Amsterdam avenue all night in the light of a luxury, but as a necessity."  Among the residents interviewed was James H. McKenney.  He said, "houses were standing vacant on account of the poor night service given by the cable road."  The article noted, "Night after night he had been compelled to walk from 125th and 145th streets, having missed the last car."

James H. McKenney died shortly after that interview.  Then, on February 8, 1894, Sarah A. McKenney died.  Her funeral, as her husband's had been, was held in the parlor on February 11.

After living alone for years at 456 West 152nd Street, on November 11, 1900 The New York Times reported that Susan, "daughter of the late James McKenney, long a well-known resident of Washington Heights, was quietly married on October 22."  She and Bostonian Frederick Sylvester Coburn had married in Port Jervis, New York.  The article noted, "Mr. and Mrs. Coburn will be at home at 456 West One Hundred and Fifty-second Street."

At the time of the wedding, Susan's tenants at 458 West 152nd Street were Daniel Van Wagenen, a ship chandler, and his family.  

The initial occupants of No. 460 had been Reverend E. Spruille Burford and his second wife, the former Josephine Finley Hynson.  (His first wife, Rosa Petite, died in 1873.)  The house was convenient to his work.  Burford was the rector of the Church of the Intercession at 158th Street and Broadway.  While Spruille was attending a funeral in Indianapolis in March 1894, a carbuncle developed on his neck.  Back at home, it worsened to blood poison and he died at the age of 54 on April 15.

 photo by Mark Satlof

Attorney John Baldwin Hand next occupied 460 West 152nd Street.  Born on February 28, 1856 in Canada, he married Elizabeth A. Sheppard in 1885.  The couple had two sons, Richard Bertram and John, Jr.  In addition to his law practice, Hand, Sr. was involved in the Washington Heights Savings and Loan Association. 

In May 1911, Susan McKenney sold all three properties at auction.  No. 456 became home to Angus P. Thorne, the Superintendent of Dependent Adults of the Charities Department.  In 1916, as war was raging in Europe, Angus, Jr. was deployed to the Plattsburgh Military Training Camp in Plattsburgh, New York.

George E. Hill purchased 458 West 152nd Street at the 1911 auction.  He and his wife, Margaret Marie, had a son, George F.  Like his next door neighbor, George F. Hill was inducted into the Army.  His address was still listed with his parents in 1923 when he held the rank of captain.

In July 1929, George E. Hill was promoted to the position of chief mechanical engineer of the Bronx Terminal Market.  His civil service job would bring welcome security when the stock market crashed later that year.  His raise brought his salary to $7,500--equal to about $133,000 a year today.

Less upstanding was Edith Stevens who occupied 456 West 152nd Street in 1922.  The 19-year-old, according to the Brooklyn Times Union, "is also known as Stevenson, nee Schneider, and whose true name is said to be Mrs. Hirsh."  On August 26, 1922, she was arrested as the conspirator of Anthony Cassese, "millionaire tobacco merchant of Ozone Park, owner of a fleet of alleged rum-running vessels, and Joseph Bartolin, his chauffeur, charged with conspiracy of smuggling liquor into this country."  The Long Island newspaper, The Daily Review, headlined an article, "Woman 'Pal' Of Bootlegger Under Arrest."

By the third quarter of the 20th century, the former McKenney house held the Wilson Major Morris Community Center.  The facility provided help to local residents.  On June 23, 1989, for instance, Newsday reported, "State Sen. David Patterson will speak on 'Budget Cuts/Freeze Efforts on Senior Citizens.'"  

At the turn of the century, at least one of the residences was tottering on dereliction.   In 2002, 460 West 152nd Street was vacant and shuttered.

All three were renovated within the decade.  In 2008, 460 West 152nd Street was remodeled to a duplex on the first and second floors with one apartment on the third.  Two years later, 456 West 152nd Street was converted to the identical configuration; and 458 West 152nd Street was remodeled in 2010 to a basement apartment and a single family home on the upper floors.

 photo by Mark Satlof

C. P. H. Gilbert's especially eye-catching trio of 1890 residences have happily survived greatly intact.

thanks to reader Mark Satlof for prompting this post