The Michael and Rosa Wineburgh House - 25 West 76th Street

 

On February 9, 1895, the Real Estate Record & Guide described Cornelius W. Luyster as one of the few developers who built residences "for only the wealthiest and best classes of buyers."  The article went on to describe his three newly completed homes at 21 through 25 West 76th Street, designed by John H. Duncan.  Four stories tall, their basement through second floors were clad in Indiana limestone and the upper floors in buff-colored brick.  Duncan's chaste Renaissance Revival designs were described by the journal as "quiet, though handsome and dignified."

No. 25 is at the left.  The Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide, February 9, 1895 (copyright expired)

The western-most of the trio, 25 West 76th Street, was 25-feet-wide and cost Luyster $42,500 to construct--about $1.7 million in 2026.  Duncan's decorations were reserved and unobtrusive.  The doorway was framed in delicately carved foliate sheaves and the paired parlor windows wore a guilloche of intricate rosettes.

A band in a complex Greek key motif ran along the top of the second floor, where between the windows of the bowed bay a lion's head held a ribbon laden with groups of fruit.  The upper floor windows sat within molded architraves under molded cornices.  The copper terminal cornice wore a row of anthemions and lion masks, drawn from ancient Roman motifs.

Luyster had not scrimped on the interior details.  The Record & Guide described, "immense French plate glass mirrors in his hallways, where moderate and inferior ones would be found in other houses, and exquisite colored onyx tops on wash-bowls, where marble might have been used without prejudice."  The dining room was paneled in white mahogany "relieved with gold," and the fireplaces were "fronted with delicately-colored marble or onyx trimmed with silver or gold metal strips."  The article noted, "arrangements are made to cut off the servants from the rest of the family as much as possible."

Cornelius Luyster sold 25 West 76th Street to Michael Wineburgh on December 17, 1895.  He and his wife, Rosa, had one child, Dorothy.  

Wineburgh (whose surname would be confusingly spelled alternatively as Wineberg and Winburn) was an advertising executive.  He was out of town on business in March 1896, a few weeks after the house next door had been burglarized.  That crime had prompted Rosa to have many of the valuable items, like the sterling silverware, moved into an upper floor room.  But on the evening of March 15, Rosa hosted a reception "and a quantity of the silver was taken down to the first floor," explained the New-York Tribune.  "This was left on the sideboard over night."

The next morning Rosa went shopping.  While she was gone a policeman stopped by and the cook gave him a cup of coffee.  In the meantime, a crook was watching the house.  The New-York Tribune said, "The burglar doubtless waited for his opportunity, and, it is believed, that after the officer had drunk his coffee...the thief sneaked into the house and upstairs to the dining room."

Rosa returned home at noon and rang the bell.  She was surprised and terrified when a strange man opened the door.  He told her he was a police officer "and had come to investigate some trouble," reported the New-York Tribune.  Rosa tried to stop him, but he brushed by her and ran down the street towards Central Park.  The article said, "He was followed by two servant girls, screaming at the top of their voices."  One of the servants, Freda Lindaur, chased him all the way to the Central Park wall, then lost him.

The "audacious" burglar, as described by the newspaper, must have been quite an athlete.  As he raced away he was carrying a significant burden.  The article said that among the articles he stole were:

...a dozen oyster forks, with the initials "M. W." on the handles; a dozen coffee spoons, a pair of salad tongs, an almond tray and spoon, a soup ladle, five dinner forks, twelve pearl-handled knives and a varied collection of napkin rings, teaspoons and nut picks.

The crook had taken his time in choosing the loot.  Using acid, he tested the silverware and took only sterling pieces.

Four years after moving into 25 West 76th Street, Wineburgh added to his resume by incorporating the Omega Chemical Company with partner Bert M. Jones in January 1899.  The firm produced Omega Oil, a liniment.  An 1899 advertisement promised it "takes out soreness caused by hard work or hard exercise or hard pleasure."

Rather than spending the summer of 1901 in their Lakewood, New Jersey country home, Michael and Rosa sailed to Europe that year.  When they arrived back in New York on the White Star liner Majestic on September 4, 1901 they were stopped by a customs agent who noticed Rosa's necklace.  The New York Herald described the item as having "fifty or sixty pearls and valued at something like $4,000."  (The value would translate to about $156,000 today.)  The couple insisted that they had not purchased it abroad and was, in fact, a wedding present from Michael to Rosa on their wedding day 15 years ago.  The New York Herald noted, "She was wearing the necklace when she left the boat and made no attempt to conceal it."  

Nevertheless, The New York Times reported on September 7, "Collector Bidwell is holding a costly diamond [sic] necklace...pending an investigation of its history."  Michael Weinburgh was infuriated and Rosa humiliated.  Their attorney, Peter Zucker, told reporters, "Fortunately this is a case where we have ample proof, but it is too bad that a private citizen should be subjected to such publicity."  The New York Herald added, "The customs officers are inclined to think that the statement is correct and that the necklace will be released."

Like those of her neighbors, Rosa Weinburgh's entertainments were often elaborate.  On February 5, 1905, the New York Herald reported that she "recently entertained sixteen of her friends at luncheon.  The decorations for the day were orchids and white lilacs.  A string orchestra furnished music."

That luncheon was prepared by the Wineburghs' cook, Rosa Hahn, who was hired in 1896.  She was recognized by the German Housewives' Society at a luncheon on October 31, 1906 with a "golden bee," an emblem of industry.  Of the other 30 domestics awarded, she "headed the list with ten years' service in the home of Mrs. M. Weinberg," said the New-York Tribune.

Handan Welli would not be wearing a golden bee on her uniform.  The Turkish-born maid was hired by Rosa in Paris in July 1909.  Six months later, on the night of January 24, 1909, Handan returned home 45 minutes past her curfew.  Rosa Wineburgh fired her on the spot, but Handan refused to leave.

The New York Herald reported, "Policeman Loos induced the girl to go to the West Sixty-eighth street station without placing her under arrest."  Handan claimed that upon being hired, Rosa had agreed to pay her passage back to Paris.  "Mrs. Weinberg denied this assertion," said the article.  Handan Welli "finally went to the Leo Immigrants' Home, No. 6 State street, for the night."

Rosa was looking for a maid again in 1920.  Her advertisement in The New York Times on January 18 sought, "Lady's maid wanted; young woman between 25 and 30, Frenchwoman preferred, references required; good salary."

A succinct notice appeared in The New York Times on November 10, 1922:  "Winburn--Rosa, beloved wife of Michael Winburn and beloved mother of Dorothy, [died] in her 57th year, at her residence, 25 West 76th Street.  Funeral private."

A detail of the striking copper cornice.

Four months later, Michael Wineburgh sold 25 West 76th Street to James H. Cruikshank for $75,000 (about $1.4 million today).  In reporting the sale, The New York Times mentioned, "The seller has owned the above property since 1895."

The house was converted to upscale apartments.  Among the initial residents were the families of Dr. George Goodman and Henry Davidoff.

Charles Goodman received his medical degree from Western Reserve University School of Medicine in 1892.  The clinical professor of surgery at University and Bellevue Hospital Medical College, he and his wife had a daughter, Jane.  Like the Wineburghs before them, they spent time in the summer months away from the city.  On August 23, 1929, for instance, The New York Times announced, "Dr. and Mrs. Charles Goodman and Miss Jane Goodman have returned from the Adirondacks to their home, 25 West Seventy-sixth Street."

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

Henry Davidoff, a 1904 graduate of Columbia University, was a teacher in Stuyvesant High School.  He and his wife, Elizabeth (known as Bess), had a daughter Amy.  And like the Goodmans, they would remain at 25 West 76th Street well into the 1930s.

In 1925, the Davidoffs sailed to France.  Years later, The New York Evening Post would recall that the family met singer Paul Robeson there.  Amy was 11 years old at the time and, according to the newspaper, "Robeson felt an instant attraction for the little girl, and the little girl felt an immediate love for the singer.  Thus the two became inseparable companions during many months in Paris."

Music had been the catalyst for the strong platonic bond between the star and the girl.  Despite her youth, Amy had learned "at least a thousand songs in five languages and sang them beautifully," said The New York Evening Post.  She would sing German ballads, Yiddish folk songs and Gilbert and Sullivan songs to Robeson and he would sing spirituals and arias to her.  The newspaper said that Amy, "had the impudence to correct him in pronunciation and pitch."  Robeson called Amy his "songbird."

Back in America, Amy and her parents would attend Robeson's concerts and plays.  Eventually she attended the University of Wisconsin.  Then, in December 1935, she was stricken with an illness and was taken to a Madison, Wisconsin hospital.  Bess left 25 West 76th Street to be with her.  In the meantime, word was sent to Paul Robeson, who was in California.  He traveled the 2,000 miles, engaged a special nurse and a parlor car "on the fastest train" to New York, and hired specialists to attend to the young woman.  He postponed a concert to be near her.

Amy improved.  Bess told a reporter, "Something of Paul Robeson's vitality and strength seemed to flow into her...So Robeson left, happily, on January 11 for London."  As soon as the celebrated singer left, Amy began failing.  She died on January 24 at the age of 22.  Writing in The New York Post on January 28, Ernest L. Meyer began his article saying, "Part of Paul Robeson, the singer, was buried in New York on Sunday."

When 25 West 76th Street was sold in 1951, it was described as a "six-family house."  The configuration lasted until 2016 when a renovation returned it to a single-family home.

photograph by the author

The 1893 Henry A. Caesar House - 19 West 76th Street

 

Developer Cornelius W. Luyster broke ground for five high-end townhouses on West 76th Street just west of Central Park West in 1892.  Completed the following year and designed by John H. Duncan in the Renaissance Revival style, they were four-stories tall above English basements.

The basement and parlor levels of the westernmost house, 19 West 76th Street, were faced in planar brownstone.  A dog-legged stoop decorated with swirling volutes and rondel-filled panels rose to the double-doored entrance.  It and the parlor windows were flanked by shallow pilasters decorated with carved anthemions.  The upper portion was clad in variegated beige brick.  The second floor was dominated by a three-sided oriel that provided a balcony to the third.  Windows at that level sat within molded brownstone architraves, while those at the fourth were surrounded by elaborate terra cotta frames, their cornices topped with swan's head pediments crowned with urns.  Above a terra cotta frieze, the cornice was supported by foliate brackets of the same material.

Duncan changed from brownstone trim to terra cotta at the top floor with satisfying results.

John H. Uhlman was the original owner of the 25-foot-wide residence.  He sold it to Henry A. Caesar and his wife, the former Laura F. Unger, in March 1902.

Born in Brooklyn on May 15, 1856, Caesar was educated abroad and founded H. A. Caesar & Company, factors and commercial bankers, in 1886.  He was also a director of the Germania Life Insurance Company and the Chemical Bank and Trust Company.  He and Laura had three sons, Paul N., born in 1889; Harry I., born in 1891; and Charles U., who arrived in 1897.  The 1908 Men of America mentioned, "His favorite recreation is big game hunting."

The Caesars' 39-acre summer estate, Lauriston (named for Laura) was in Rumson Borough, New Jersey.  The mansion on the property was designed by Leon Cubberly in 1870.

The mansion at Lauriston today.  image via Preservation New Jersey

Harry I. Caesar was married to Doris Porter in St. Thomas's Chapel on December 27, 1913.  The bridal party included socially elite surnames like Slocum, Townsend, Symington, and Hoagland.

The family remained at 19 West 76th Street until April 1917 when they sold the house to Solomon Marcuse Stroock and his wife, Hilda Weil.  The couple were married in 1904 and had three children, Minette, Robert Louis, and Alan Maxwell.  

Stroock was born on September 22, 1873 of German immigrants.  He graduated from the College of the City of New York in 1891, received his Masters degree from Columbia University in 1892, and his law degree from Columbia Law School in 1894.  After being in partnership with attorney M. Warley Platzek since 1896, in 1907 Stroock established a law office, Stroock & Stroock, with his brother, Moses.

Solomon Marcuse Stroock, The Jewish Tribune, November 25, 1927 (copyright expired)

Stroock was highly involved in Jewish affairs.  He was chairman of the board of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and a member of the American Jewish Historical Society.  In 1903, he contributed to the latter's American Jewish History, an academic journal that focused on the history of Jews in the United States.

Like the Caesars, the Stroocks left the city during the summer social season.  On May 20, 1921, for instance, The American Hebrew reported, "Mr. and Mrs. Sol. M. Stroock of 19 West Seventy-sixth street will spend the summer at Ossining, N. Y."

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

On August 30, 1939, The New York Times titled an article, "19 West 76th St. Leased."  The article said the "lessee will occupy the house after improvements are made."  That was stretching the truth.  The unnamed tenant converted the residence to unofficial apartments.

Solomon Marcuse Stroock suffered a fatal heart attack while he and Hilda were at the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia on September 11, 1941.  The West 76th Street house was sold to James H. Cruikshank, who resold it in November 1942 to George Lawall.  In reporting on the latest sale, The New York Times mentioned, "The building contains nineteen rooms and eight baths."

A renovation completed in 1974 resulted in 14 apartments.  None of the alterations, happily, affected the exterior.

photographs by the author

John H. Duncan's' 1906 119-121 Fifth Avenue

 

photograph by Beyond My Ken

Refined gentlemen's clubs discreetly slipped into the mansion neighborhood of Fifth Avenue in the mid-19th century.  The 25-foot wide, five-story brownstone mansion at 119 Fifth Avenue was home to the Circulo Colon-Cervantes club in 1891, while the Salmagundi Art Club had leased space next door at 121 Fifth Avenue since 1888.  At the turn of the century, however, commerce was changing the face of the once-elegant residential neighborhood.

On June 17, 1905, the Record & Guide reported, "John H. Duncan...is preparing plans for an 8-sty store and loft building to be erected for Lord & Taylor."  An annex to its store at 901 Broadway, it would replace 119 and 121 Fifth Avenue.  The article noted, "The old buildings will be torn down July 1st."

Completed in 1906, Duncan's neo-Renaissance style structure was faced with stone and cream-colored brick.  The banded piers of the storefront carried into the upper floors as rustication.  Called by the Record & Guide as "of exceptional dimensions and finish," it was distinguished by the four-story arches at the third through sixth floors; their keystones carved with lions' heads.  Sitting above an ornately carved bandcourse of leaves and strapping, the top floor was decorated with elaborate terra cotta panels.  The cornice wore a crown of copper anthemions.  

The altered mansions next door were similar to those originally on the site.  from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

Lord & Taylor would not remain in the building for especially long.  In 1914, it moved into its new store at 38th Street and Fifth Avenue.  After using the building for storage for two years, in 1916 Lord & Taylor leased 119-121 Fifth Avenue to the New York Merchandise Company.

A wholesale firm, the New York Merchandise Co. was a large importer, "catering particularly to the chain variety and chain department stores, as well as to the independent merchants," as described by the Chain Store Age in October 1929.  Its wide variety of products was priced "reasonably;" leading to the firm's marketing itself as the House of Reasonable Prices.  An advertisement on July 26, 1920 promised, "When you arrive at the House of Reasonable Prices, you are going to find yourself in a mighty pleasing position."

Ten days after America entered World War I, the firm tapped into national patriotism.  The New York Times, April 16, 1917 (copyright expired)

The firm staged an annual "New York Merchandise Exhibition" in the building, inviting buyers worldwide.  The exhibition in 1920 ran from July 26 to August 14, and its announcement promised buyers, "You are going to 'rub shoulders' with buying representatives from many sections of the globe."

New York Merchandise Co. moved out in 1923 and 119-121 Fifth Avenue was acquired by L. Straus & Sons, importers of tableware.  It leased space to a variety of tenants.  In its February 1925 issue, The Boys' Outfitter reported, "Morris Asinof & Sons, manufacturers of boys' clothing, have moved...to larger quarters at 119-121 Fifth avenue, New York."  

Another tenant was H. Clay Glover Co., Inc., maker of hair tonics.  An advertisement for its Imperial Mange Medicine in The Des Moines Register said it, "is positively guaranteed to cure dandruff.  Its clean, undisguised odor shows you the difference immediately."

By 1927, L. Straus & Sons reorganized by merging with kitchen equipment makers Walter J. Buzzini, Inc.  The New York Times reported on October 3, "The business of both companies will be operated in the name of Nathan Straus & Sons, Inc. 119 Fifth Avenue."

Nathan Straus, Jr. had served as a member of the New York State Senate from 1921 to 1926.  Before that, he had been assistant editor of the New York Globe.  Leaving his seat in the Senate did not signal the end of his involvement in politics.  On May 17, 1928, The New York Times reported, "A protest against the plan to cut a memorial drive through Central Park to join the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History was the last official act of the Central Park Association."  The article said that legal papers had been signed "at the office of former Senator Nathan Straus, Jr. at 119 Fifth Avenue."

Nathan Straus & Sons left 119-121 Fifth Avenue on April 1, 1929.  Initially, garment manufacturers occupied most of the spaces.  Morris Asinoff & Sons still occupied a floor here, joined in 1930 by Lipps Bros., makers of men's clothing, which also leased a full floor.  The firm was founded that year by brothers Philip, Charles L., and Bernard H. Lipps.

In 1937, Taiyo Trading Company, Inc., importers of Japanese goods, leased the first floor and basement.  It dealt in housewares like hand-painted china chocolate sets and tea services.  It would remain here until 1953.

A major tenant arrived in 1938 when the New York offices of Philip Morris & Company moved into the third through eighth floors.  Twenty-two years later, on March 1, 1960, The New York Times reported, "Philip Morris & Co., has moved its executive offices to the new building at 100 Park Avenue."

Philip Morris & Company plastered the facade with advertisement in 1941.  The copper crown of the cornice was already lost.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

With the leaving of Philip Morris & Company, architect William J. Minogue was hired in 1950 to make $30,000 worth of interior renovations (about $391,000 by 2025 conversion).  The alterations also anticipated the New York State Employment Services offices, which moved into the building in October 1951.  The New York Times said the move "would be made just in time to start the annual drive to meet the holiday season demand for sales persons."

A perhaps unexpected client of the New York State Employment Services in 1955 was the United States Air Force.  On December 20, The New York Times reported, "The Air Force is seeking 800 teachers and school administrators to place in overseas jobs next fall," and that the applicants "from this area are being interviewed at the office of the New York State Employment Service at 119 Fifth Avenue."

photograph by Ted Leather

Around 1964, Students for a Democratic Society, a part of the League for Industrial Democracy, leased an office in the building.  On December 12 that year, representatives were involved in protests at New York University and Columbia University.  The group was not protesting against the conflict in Vietnam nor any other political causes.  They were pressing for reform in institutions "where 'too much emphasis' was placed on research and graduate schools," as reported by The New York Times.

Three months later, on February 19, 1965, the Students for a Democratic Society was involved in a political event.  Opposed to the American Vietnam policies, they blocked the First Avenue entrance to the United States Mission to the United Nations for six hours.  Not unexpectedly, 14 protesters were arrested.  In the meantime, the Students for a Democratic Society held a news conference, during which 24-year-old Clark Kissinger said, "It's quite clear that the major foreign intervening power in Vietnam is the United States."

The 1960s and '70s saw disparate tenants in the building, including Youth Cosmetics, Inc.; The Homestead (which offered four different reproductions of "irresistible oil paintings "of kittens in 1968); the Executive Research Institute that offered mail order courses that would "turn your child into a classroom wizard;" and the Association for American-Soviet Friendship.

The ground floor space became a Williwear shop in April 1988, the same year that the second through fifth floors were converted for use as a trade school.  The trade school was reduced to one floor (the fifth) in 1993, when a day care center was installed in the second and third floors.

photograph by Ted Leather

John H. Duncan's handsome 1905 design survives wonderfully intact.

many thanks to reader Ted Leather for prompting this post

The Lost Majestic Theatre - Columbus Circle at 59th Street

 

The gently curved structure conformed to the rounded shape of Columbus Circle.  from the collection of the New-York Historical Society

At the turn of the last century, the Upper West Side was fully developed.  Mass transit had been extended northward into the district now filled with lavish homes and apartment buildings.  Residents, who already enjoyed shops and social clubs in the relatively new neighborhood, saw entertainment venues beginning to arrive.  In 1902 developers E. D. Stair and A. L. Wilbur broke ground for a lavish new theater on the western side of Columbus Circle, between 58th and 59th Streets.

Designed by John H. Duncan, the crescent-shaped Beaux Arts style structure gently followed the curve of Columbus Circle.  Four stories tall, the ground floor held two restaurants, one for men and the other for ladies.  The main entrance was protected by a glass-and-iron marquee.  Above it a broken pediment was fronted by a carved lyre, a symbol of entertainment.  Directly above was a round window surmounted by a carved female portrait and palm fronds.  But stealing the show was the tower, carved with a dramatic figure of a winged male and topped by a domed roof and electric-lighted finial.

photo by Byron Company, from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

Inside, patrons found themselves in a grand lobby with a double staircase, marble wainscoting, and white columns.  The auditorium, which could seat 1,584, was inspired by European opera houses, and featured two balconies and two sets of box seats.   On either side of the proscenium were trumpeting figures and gilded eagles.  The state-of-the-art 80-foot-wide stage was equipped with all the latest mechanics necessary for elaborate productions.  And it would be tested on opening night with the new play based on L. Frank Baum's book The Wizard of Oz. 

photo by Byron Company, from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

On January 11, 1903, the New-York Tribune reported, "January 16 is the date set for the opening of the new Majestic Theatre, with a performance of 'The Wizard of Oz,' in which Montgomery and Stone, as the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, play leading parts."  And on Monday, January 19, 1903 Theatrical Notes hinted that this would be no run-of-the-mill production:

"The Wizard of Oz" will wave his magic wand before the gaze of New Yorkers for the first time on Tuesday night next, when he begins his reign at the Majestic Theatre, 59th street and Broadway, or what is known as the Grand Circle.  "The Wizard of Oz" is described as an entertainment compounded of the most attractive elements of smart up-to-date musical comedy, extravaganza and old-fashioned Christmas pantomime.

The lavish production featured a jaw-dropping on-stage tornado scene, an all female poppy field, and vaudevillian Fred Stone as the Scarecrow whose "boneless" performance made him more famous than he already was.  Audiences came back multiple times and the play prompted a flurry of sales of Baum's book, phonograph records, sheet music and piano rolls.  The Wizard of Oz played for nine months.

Dorothy meets Glinda after having crash-landed in Munchkinland.  from the collection of the New York Public Library

On October 14, 1903 The New York Times wrote, "The great success of 'The Wizard of Oz' at the Majestic has caused a good many persons to wonder how the management could follow it with an attraction that by contrast would not seem 'stale, flat, and unprofitable.'  Well, 'The Babes in Toyland' is not stale, it is not flat, and it certainly will prove highly profitable."  Once again the Majestic debuted a new extravaganza suitable for family fare.   The article said "'Babes in Toyland,' had its first production before an audience that for two hours and a half took everything that came its way and then greedily cried for more."  The critic from The Evening World pronounced, "Scenically and musically, though not humorously, 'Babes in Toyland' outshines 'The Wizard of Oz.'"

A much more somber event took place the following month.  On November 8, 1903 it was the scene of the memorial service for Emma Booth-Tucker, daughter of the founder of the Salvation Army, killed in a train crash on her way to Chicago.  The New York Times reported, "The theatre was crowded, and not a few wept as Capt. Norma Durand sang 'She Died at Her Post."

The success of Babes In Toyland fostered a close relationship between Victor Herbert and the Majestic Theatre.  Plays were outlawed on Sundays, but concerts were not.  Starting in 1904, Victor Herbert gave weekly concerts, continuing at least through 1905.  On December 5, 1904 The New York Times said, "The popularity of the Victor Herbert Sunday night concerts at the Majestic Theatre was demonstrated again last evening by an audience that filled the house, and that applauded each number on the programme."

In February 1906 the management staged what unnecessarily became a controversial production, Abyssinia.  The all-Black musical featured music by Will Marion Cook and Bert A. Williams.  The Freeman reported on March 17, "Shipp and Rogers' 'Abyssinia,' with music by Will Marion Cook, is scoring at the Majestic in Broadway and 59th street, and is indeed a worthy achievement of Negro ideals, playwrights and performers."  

Unfortunately, not all white critics were pleased with a play written and played by Blacks.  Charles Darnton, writing in The Evening World, compared Bert William's performance of the song "Nobody" as being "reminiscent of the howl of a pensive coyote across a lonely prairie (prairies are always lonely), an asthmatic calliope getting up steam for the circus parade, or Marie Dressler getting her second wind."  Another, Alan Dale, accused the actors of "trying to be too much like white people."

The Freeman's critic, Sylvester Russell, lashed back on May 19, 1906.  He wrote in part, "If color is the ground upon which white critics build their nests, it is up to the black critic to throw rotten eggs...Let this be the last time that otherwise critics of New York will overlook art for the mere mortification of color."

Robert Warwick and Virginia Harned were the lead actors in the 1907 production of Anna Karenina here.  For some reason or other, before the October 5 show the two "had a lively discussion," as worded by The New York Times, "over the presence of mind of men and women in moments of excitement."  Warwick believed that women "had no presence of mind" in emergencies, while Harned insisted they were more dependable than men.  As fate would have it, the debate would be solved on stage.

During the third act, Warwick, was on stage when a actor playing a servant entered and accidentally overturned an oil lamp.  The New York Times reported, "in an instant the entire top of the table was ablaze."  Warwick realized something was wrong by the murmurings of the audience.  The article said, "Glancing quickly around, he saw that the actor who impersonated the servant was doing his best to put out the fire, but without success."  The action on stage stopped and the audience was now focused on the fire.

Virginia Harned, as Anna Karenina, was not to appear on stage yet.  Nevertheless, she jumped into action and entered the scene.  She whispered to Warwick, "get the cushion from the chair!"   He did so, and in a moment smothered the fire.  The actress saved the scene and proved her point.

Frank McKee and William Harris leased the venue in 1911.  The New-York Tribune reported on August 25, "with the beginning of their lease of the Majestic Theatre at 59th street and Broadway it will be renamed the Park Theatre.  This is due to their desire to apply an historic name to a New York theatre."  Indeed, there had been a Park Theatre in New York City since 1798.

The Park Theatre opened with The Quaker Girl on October 23, 1911.  It ran for 240 performances.  Before long, however, The Park Theatre was staging vaudeville.  Eva Tanguay, known as the Queen of Vaudeville, opened here on March 24, 1913.  She headlined what the program called "cyclonic vaudeville."  The New York Times remarked, "there was no doubt that she won her audience completely."

The sometimes naughty Eva Tanguay.  from the collection of the New York Public Library

The Park Theatre began showing motion pictures in 1913, starting with a controversial film, The Inside of the White Slave Traffic.  Produced by the Social Research Film Corporation and endorsed by the Sociological Fund of the Medical Review of Reviews, it dealt with a serious problem at the time--abduction and forced prostitution.  Not all New Yorkers were convinced of its educational value.  The New York Times reported on December 20 that complaints had "flowed" into Police Headquarters.

On December 19 the theater was raided and closed down.  The Park's manager, Alfred P. Hamburg, was charged with showing a picture "of a character likely to impair the morals of young girls."  The action drew the wrath and indignity of women like Alva Belmont, Carrie Chapman Catt, and the associate editor of Harper's magazine.

photo by Byron Company, from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

A month later, on January 18, 1914, The New York Times reported that Kinemacolor had taken over the lease of the Park Theatre.  The article said, "The Kinemacolor people aim to make the Park in the moving-picture world what the Princess theatre is to the legitimate--a theatre of thrills for the silent drama."  The venue opened with the four-reel film Sin, and silent shorts of "Ethel Barrymore and her children at home," a comedy, The Note in the Skirt, and "a trick picture which contains the very highest art known to the producers in this sort of work," said The New York Times.

The stint as a silent movie theater was short lived.  On July 19, 1914 The New York Times reported on the opening of the play The Garden of Paradise.  The article described the production as "a vast spectacular offering."  The following fall, the famous actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell appeared here in George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion.

In 1917, the Park Theatre turned to opera and operettas, staging The Pirates of Penzance in November 1918, for instance.  The following year, on October 12, the New-York Tribune reported "Von Suppe's 'Boccacio' is the opera which will open the Society of American Singers' third season at the Park Theatre to-morrow evening."

Change came again in the fall of 1922.  On September 16 the New-York Tribune reported, "'Burlesques--Girls, Travesties, Laughs.'  Presented last night at the Park Music Hall by the Minsky Brothers...At the Park Music Hall the Minsky Brothers spell it 'burlesques.'  They declare that the final letter makes a difference."  The article said the brothers "have made a brave start to build a permanent institution in Columbus Circle."  The New York Times noted, "The theatre recently underwent complete renovation, and its interior was almost entirely rebuilt...at an expense of $62,000."

But the Minsky's Park Music Hall did not survive.  On August 2, 1923 The New York Times reported that William Randolph Hearst had purchased, remodeled and redecorated the venue, renaming it the Cosmopolitan Theatre (most likely after his popular magazine of the same name).  Now a motion picture theater, perhaps not coincidentally it opened with the film Little Old New York starring Marion Davies, Hearst's mistress.  More coincidentally, however, it was accompanied by Victor Herbert and his orchestra.

In 1925 Hearst turned the operation over to Florenz Ziegfeld who hired architect Joseph Urban to update the interiors.  On January 11 The New York Times reported, "Mr. Ziegfeld will convert the former Park Theatre to the drama again...The late Park, which is now Mr. Hearst's Cosmopolitan, will be opened in four weeks or so with 'The Comic Supplement' as its attraction."  The deal was always intended to be temporary, however.  The article noted that Hearst was in the process of erecting the Ziegfeld Theatre for the impresario on Sixth Avenue.

The Ziegfeld Theatre opened in February 1927.  The Cosmopolitan continued, without the famous Ziegfeld, to stage plays and operettas.  In May that year Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore opened.  In February 1928 Robert Warwick was back to star in William Gillette's Sherlock Holmes; and in December 1929 the melodrama Damn Your Honor opened.  That would be the last production for some time to come.  The Cosmopolitan closed its doors and did not reopen until 1931, once again a motion picture and vaudeville venue.

After undergoing several more incarnations--the legitimate Theatre of Young America in 1934, the Park Theatre again in 1935, the International Theatre in 1944, and the Columbus Square Theatre in 1945--the the building sat vacant until early 1949 when it was acquired by the National Broadcasting Company as a television studio.  It opened with the premier of the Your Show of Shows starring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca.

The end of the line for the building came with Robert Moses's "Slum Clearance" of Columbus Circle.  In 1954 he assembled the Slum Clearance Committee, of which he was chairman.  The New York Times noted on July 5, 1954, "Columbus Circle is not, of course, the only project" in his slum removal vision.  Also included were "Morningside-Manhattanville, West Park, Harlem, North Harlem, Corlears Hook, Fort Greene and Pratt Institute."  But it was Columbus Circle--and the Majestic Theatre--that was first in his crosshairs.

The Majestic Theatre in the course of demolition (lower left).  The New York Times June 22, 1954

The New York Times, June 15, 1954

In his 2015 book Blue-Collar Broadway - The Craft and Industry of American Theater, Timothy R. White notes, "As in many other Moses projects, wrecking crews got to work before local leaders understood what was happening."  The "stately playhouse," as described by White, was razed to make way for the New York Coliseum, designed by Leon and Lionel Levy.

from the collection of the Library of Congress.

That structure was replaced in 2003 by the current Time Warner Center.

no permission to reuse the content of this blog has been granted to LaptrinhX.com 

The 1904 Gordon House - 353-355 West 17th Street

 

While still in his 20's, Dr. Theodore G. White was a professor of paleontology at Columbia University.  He was also a Sunday school teacher in Chelsea and through that work developed a concern for the boys in the neighborhood.  In 1901 he established a club in a rented stable on West 17th Street, called Gordon House.  (The name paid honor to British Army officer Charles George Gordon, who had devoted his retirement years to charity work, especially concerning homeless boys.)

Upon his father's death he had inherited a significant fortune.   In 1900, according to the New-York Tribune, "he resigned his place at Columbia in order to devote his time to philanthropic work among boys."  But White's strenuous efforts for the neighborhood youth, according to The Sun, led to his death on July 7, 1901 at the age of 29.  "He worked so hard that his health broke down and he died soon after the opening of the house," said the article.

He left a part of his estate for the continuance of Gordon House, and the rest to his nephew, Theodore B. Starr and his sons, Louis M. and Howard W. Starr.  The Starrs donated their inheritances to Gordon House and laid plans for a proper clubhouse.

On April 19, 1902 Theodore Starr purchased the two three-story houses at 353 and 355 West 17th Street.  Four months later architect John H. Duncan filed plans for a "five-story brick club house" to cost $50,000--just over $1.5 million today.

The following year, on November 16, 1903, The Sun remarked "Although yet uncompleted, the new structure is imposing...The interior is considered ideal by settlement experts."  Faced in beige brick and trimmed in limestone, the Starrs saved money by limiting the amount of expensive stone.  The rustication of the base, for instance, was achieved by recessed bands in the brick, as was the suggestion of quoins up the sides of the upper portion.

Where he did use stone, Duncan made it count.  The entrance was surmounted by a substantial cornice, supported on heavy foliate brackets, topped by a pedestal flanked by ornate volutes.  The brick lintels of the second and third floor openings were decorated with overblown keystones carved in a fishscale pattern, wearing leafy Caesar-like crowns.  An elaborate cartouche, surrounded by carved ribbons and fruity swags, clung to the façade above the third floor.  It was surmounted by a flaming torch, a symbol of learning.  

The architrave windows of the top floor appear oddly undersized from the street.  Somewhat interfering with Duncan's design, they were the result of that floor's purpose.  Inside was a gymnasium, so the windows were reduced in size and placed high up to provide additional wall space.  On the exterior, they were flanked by massive brackets that upheld the cornice and decorative balustrade.

Electrical World, September 6, 1919 (copyright expired)

As construction neared completion on January 2, 1904, the New-York Tribune interviewed William Anthony Clark, the "head worker" of Gordon House.  He explained that the design of the interior rooms followed a division of age of the members.

"The basement, which is divided into a pool room, bowling alley and smoking room, is set apart for the men, except twice a week, when boys over eighteen are allowed to go in," he said.  The Sun added that the men's club room, or smoking room, was "finished in the old Flemish style."

The ground floor was devoted to "young men between sixteen and twenty-one."  Also on the main floor were the headworker's office, and the library.  The New-York Tribune described the library as "attractive enough to attract almost any boy from the streets.  The walls are done in red burlap, and around the four sides are low cases of Flemish oak filled with hundreds of the books that boys like."

On the second story were shop rooms where "boys under sixteen years of age are put at some definite work--woodcarving, clay modelling, willow weaving, cabinet making, or Venetian iron work.  For each of these handicrafts a room has been set apart," reported the New-York Tribune.

Clark was quick to point out that while boys were trained in the manual arts, this was not a trade school.  "The especial purpose of these classes in Gordon House is the inculcation of good habits," he said, adding, "A music department is also a plan for the immediate future.  Besides the classes there are to be lectures on various educational topics."

The third floor held quarters for Clark and his mother, as well as "several part-time college men" who "assisted in the conduct of the house."  On that level were also a large room for common use and the director's study.

The top floor gymnasium, 50 by 80 feet, focused on "a maximum of playing space including a basketball court and "everything necessary for gymnastic exercises."  An iron cage, 18 feet above the roof allowed for basketball and other outdoor games.  The Sun noted, "in winter this outdoor space is to be sprayed with water to provide a skating rink."

Unlike in settlement houses, Gordon House members paid dues.  Boys from 10 to 16 years old paid $2 per year, those from 16 to 21 paid $3, and men paid $5.  (The adults were paying the equivalent of $150 per year in today's money.)  Additionally, the use of the pool tables and bowling alleys came with a charge.  The Sun explained, "the dues and charges [are] designed to remove the imputation of the house being a charitable enterprise."  The New-York Tribune took away a different perspective.  The dues, it said, "however slight...teach the boy not to be a 'sponger.'"

Surprisingly, following Theodore Starr's death in 1907 his sons closed Gordon House.  The building was purchased by the New York Telephone Club.  As the name suggests, the men's social club was formed for employees of the Bell Telephone Company.  The pool room, bowling alleys, gymnasium, smoking room and meeting room were perfect for the group.  The Electrical World called it "a fully equipped clubhouse" where members could conduct "entertainments and other meetings on a large scale, both indoors and outdoors."

The bowling alleys were an especially popular feature.  On May 16, 1914 Telegraph and Telephone Age reported on "Bowling by Telephone."  The New York and Buffalo Telephone Clubs had played on April 18 here.  The article noted, "Long-distance telephone circuits were established between New York and Buffalo, and the scores were transmitted as each player completed a frame."  

And in its April 1915 issue, Western Electric News announced, "A bowling match with the New York Telephone Company has been arranged for Wednesday evening, April 7th, at the New York Telephone Club...We want a large crowd of rooters to support the Western Electric team."

In September 1919 the New York Telephone Club merged with the Telephone Society of New York to become the Telephone Society, Inc., "in order to afford all male employees of the Bell system in and around New York a social center," as reported in Electrical World.

Females were allowed into the clubhouse on special occasions.  Such was the case on May 3, 1921 when "an informal dance" was held here.  The price of admission was 50 cents and World Wide Wireless urged, "Come prepared to dance and enjoy yourself."

The Telephone Society remained in the building through 1930.  On January 28, 1931 The New York Times entitled an article, "New York Archdiocese Gets Old Athletic Centre of Telephone Company in 17th Street."   The Catholic Boys' Club of the Archdiocese of New York had leased the building that, the article explained, "is equipped for athletics and will be used as the headquarters of the Catholic Boys' Clubs."

The boys-only status changed in the spring of 1937.  On March 11 the New York Post reported, "The new Manhattan Center of the Catholic Youth Organization at 353 West Seventeenth Street, was dedicated last night."

The organization now provided services to both boys and girls.  A month later, a class in "elementary baby care" was offered to teenaged girls by nurses from St. Vincent's Hospital.  On April 12 The new York Times reported, "The class was composed of eight girls between the ages of 12 and 19."  They were taught using actual babies, "lent to the center for the occasion by their mothers."

Teenaged girls learn the fundamentals of baby care in 1937.  The New York Times, April 12, 1937

One of the annual events was an art show.  Winning first prize for his portrait of Fiorella La Guardia in November 1937 was Carmine Angelo Pluchino," described by The New York Times as a "12-year-old genre painter (the Bronx scene) and portraitist.  He is a rosy-cheeked boy with a soft expression about his eyes, son of a WPA rockman."  The article noted that "Mayor La Guardia never sat for Carmine...Carmine copied it from the newspapers."  The budding artist's prize was a box of water colors and brushes.

On December 8, 1944 the Catholic Youth Organization boxing center was dedicated in the building in memory of Bill Brown.  For many years a director of the group, he had also been a State Boxing Commissioner.  

While the other activities of the Catholic Youth Organization continued on as normal, for many youths the boxing center would become a major focus.  That was reflected in 1960 when, on August 12, the Daily News reported, "The United States Olympic boxers will stage their final drill tomorrow afternoon, 3 to 5 o'clock at the CYO gym, 353 West 17th street.  The 10-man team leaves for Rome on Monday."

The following year a group of parents advocating for their special needs children founded the Lorge School.  The facility, which provides a special education program to emotionally disturbed and learning disabled students, continues in the former Gordon House structure.  

The building was altered in the mid-1970's and it was possibly at this time that the cornice, with its striking brackets and balustrade, was removed.  The result was a spartan look more appropriate to a prison building.  The brick and limestone of the ground floor have, sadly, been painted.

photographs by the author

no permission to reuse the content of this blog has been granted to LaptrinhX.com

many thanks for reader Michael Kane for prompting this post.