The Lost Rector's Restaurant - 1508-1510 Broadway

 

Massive electric letters spelled out RECTORS within the over-sized parapet.  King's Views of New York City, 1903 (copyright expired)

Charles Rector recognized a niche in 1884 Chicago, hundreds of miles away from an ocean--oysters.  Well-heeled Chicagoans who traveled to New York, Philadelphia and Boston enjoyed that staple of American cuisine.  Those cities were filled with oyster restaurants and oyster bars, and socialites' tableware included decorated oyster plates.  That year he opened Rector's Oyster House to immediate an immense success.

On February 23, 1899, the Portland [Maine] Express reported that Rector had introduced another East Coast delicacy to his Midwestern menu.  "Many of our citizens who have visited Chicago are aware of Rector's mammoth restaurant devoted almost entirely to fish...Mr. Rector asserts that he is the second man in this country to serve broiled live lobsters."  The article mentioned, "Rector has just established a branch house in New York at Broadway and 43d street."

Charles E. Rector had partnered with Carl G. Essner in the new venture.  They took over a recently constructed building on Longacre Square (renamed Times Square in 1904), an area that was rapidly transforming from a carriage making center to Manhattan's theatrical district.  Designed by William Strom, the building was commissioned by restauranteur Jack Dunstan, who for some reason backed out of the project.  Its two-story design straddled the Beaux Arts and Renaissance Revival styles.  

The rusticated brick ground floor featured fluted Scamozzi columns and an impressive metal-and-glass entrance below a large second-floor arch fronted by a massive winged griffin, the restaurant's symbol.  Patrons entered through a revolving door, reportedly the first in New York City.  The openings of the second level wore Renaissance pediments, their formality balanced by delicate carved garlands.  Large electrically-lit letters filled the spaces within the story-tall pediment upheld by paired columns and capped by stone urns.  

Rector's immediately claimed a place among the upscale eateries like Delmonico's and Sherry's.  Its arrival made such an impact on society that within months, it was so recognized that it appeared in a new play, Around New York in Eighty Minutes.  On November 7, 1899, The World reported, "The opening scene was the outside of Rector's restaurant.  Then, after a moment, the front disappeared and the gay crowds within were revealed."

A 1940 revival of the play resurrected the old set.  (original source unknown)

The Longacre Square location drew not only socialites, but figures from the theatrical and sports fields.  Among the latter was boxer James J. Jeffries, who was named heavyweight champion of the world the same year Rector's opened.  On November 22, 1899, The Buffalo Times reported, "It was 2 A. M. when Jim Jeffries and a friend dropped into Rector's restaurant on Longacre Square.  Three men and three women were at a table.  Two of the men were matching bills."  They caught Jeffries' eye because one of them was a friend.

The affluence of the Rector's restaurant patrons was evidenced in the pair's amusement.  "Matching bills" was an informal gambling game.  The article said, "The bigger man was always the loser.  First he lost a $100 bill, then a $1,000 bill, and finally $500 in five crisp bills...The loser of the $1,600 went over to Jeffries, shook hands and laughed with him."

"Who is he?" Jeffries asked.

"Why, don't you know?  That's---Oh, but never mind.  I can't recall his name."

The good sport had lost the equivalent of $54,000 in 2023 money.

Only months after their restaurant opened, Carl Essner changed his mind.  The New-York Tribune reported, "He expressed a wish to withdraw from the firm, and finally Mr. Rector purchased his stock for what he paid for it, and the two parted amicably."  He was replaced by Charles Rector's son, George, who had been trained in exclusive Parisian restaurants and awarded a medal from La Société des Cuisiniers de Paris.

Rector's Restaurant played a significant part in the Thaw-White murder trial in 1907.  On February 25, 1907, attorney James Jerome questioned Evelyn Nesbit Thaw on the stand, "When did you first meet Thaw?"  

She replied, "I think it was either in December, 1901, or January 1902."

"Where?"

"At Rector's Restaurant, at a dinner given by Mr. Thaw.  It was after a matinee, and the dinner lasted about an hour.  I was accompanied by another girl."

Stanford White's chauffeur, John Burns, testified that in February 1905 (prior to Nesbit's marriage to Thaw) he had driven the two to her home from Rector's, and again in September that year (following the wedding) he drove them from the restaurant to her hotel.

On February 21, Evelyn testified that she, Harry Thaw, and another couple had spent Christmas Eve 1903 at the restaurant.  She became indignant when attorney James Jerome asked, "Didn't you have to be helped out of Rector's at 4 o'clock in the morning because you had drunk so much wine?"

Decades before the concept of credit cards, even well-heeled patrons sometimes found themself short of funds when the bill arrived.  Such was the case in 1907 when August Bonoit, "after ordering, eating and enjoying a sumptuous Christmas dinner," as worded by the New-York Tribune, was unable to pay his $12 check (just under $400 in 2023).  The management's Christmas spirit was not sufficient to brush the matter off and Bonoit was arrested.  He was also charged with stiffing a cabman, Seward Meltzer.  The magistrate was short on holiday warmth, as well.  "I don't mind you defrauding Rector's," he said, "because I think they can stand a little loss, but I am going to punish you for defrauding this cabman."

After attending the theater on November 13, 1908, broker Cyril Hatch took his party of eight to Rector's.  They enjoyed themselves until 5:30 in the morning, when the waiter presented a check for $35.20 (just over $1,000 today).  Hatch told the waiter he "had been in the habit of charging items to his account."  The waiter, however, insisted on payment.

Hatch's fury prompted the waiter to "withdraw," and the broker attempted to leave the restaurant.  But the doors had already been locked.  When head waiter Charles Decermeaux attempted to intervene, Hatch struck him.  The following day The New York Times headlined an article "Broker Hatch Locked Up."

The restaurant building was vised between taller structures at the time of the Cyril Hatch incident.  image from the collection of the New York Public Library.

The waiter's insistence on having the bill paid in cash may have been prompted by an incident the previous month.  William M. Schwenker, Jr., described by the New-York Tribune as "the son of a millionaire dealer in brewers' supplies," was married to actress Mae Murray in September 1908, and hosted an extravagant wedding breakfast at Rector's that cost the equivalent of $18,000 today.  Seven months later, on April 10, 1909, the New-York Tribune wrote, "The restaurant man has been trying ever since to get his money."

On June 5, 1909 The Sun reported that Charles E. Rector had hired architect John Russell Pope to design a 12-story hotel at the southeast corner of Broadway and 44th Street, "replacing the present Rector restaurant."  The project spurted along, with Pope being replaced by Chicago architects D. H. Burnham & Co.  Finally, on February 1, 1910 Charles E. Rector assembled a party of ten in a private room in Rector's "to celebrate the launching of the new Rector enterprise," according to the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide.  The article noted that the contract for demolishing the old building and erecting the new one had been signed.

D. H. Burnham & Co. released a rendering of the proposed structure in 1910.  Record & Guide, February 19, 1910 (copyright expired)

The replacement building was demolished to make way for 1500 Broadway, designed by Leo Kornblath and completed in 1972..

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

The Carolina and John Greenough House - 38 East 63rd Street

Architect F. S. Barus designed an 18-foot wide, four-story brownstone house for developer Francis Crawford in 1880.  Although the title to the property, completed the following year, was put in the name of his wife, Margaret, the project was purely speculative.  In June 1881 the pair sold the high-stoop house to Ann Sophia Stephens for $31,750, or just under $350,000 today.

The widow was known nationally as Mrs. Ann S. Stephens, the author of dime novels, poems and short stories.  As a matter of fact, the term "dime novel" had originated with Ann's 1860 Indian Wife of The White Hunter.   When she purchased the new house in June Manhattan society was away for the summer.  But on January 29, 1882 the Memphis Daily Appeal reported "Mrs. Ann S. Stephens, the venerable novelist, opened her new home at 38 East Sixty-third street, New York, a few nights ago with a literary reception."

Ann S. Stephen's plots were thrilling, the main character often a female. 

Ann leased the furnished house for the winter season of 1891-92 to millionaire Francis Cutting and his wife, the former Frances Frost.  The couple had two grown children, 23-year old Frederick Page and 31-year old Isabella Frost Cutting.  The family moved in just in time for Isabella's house wedding marriage to Englishman Harrold Courtenay on December 22, 1891.  (It would not be a happy match.  Courtney later had his wife confined to an insane asylum and lived lavishly off her money.)

In the spring of 1899 Ann S. Stephens, now 89-years-old, sold No. 38 to real estate operator Augustus Stoner.  The price was kept confidential, but the $20,000 mortgage Ann personally provided Stoner--about $625,000 today--more than hints at the rising property values.

Stoner leased the house to Mary E. Wilcox in October that year.  At the end of the three-year lease, in 1902, he sold it to 72-year old retired merchant Isaac McConihe and his wife, the former Phebe McKean Warren.  The couple had recently relocated to New York City from Troy.  On October 2 the New York Herald announced he would make the house his permanent residence.

McConihe had been a prominent figure in Troy, having served as alderman in 1853, as police commissioner for many years, and as mayor in 1860-61.  His residency in the 63rd Street house would be extremely short.   He suffered a fatal heart attack on Saturday morning, January 10, 1903, just three months after moving in.  His funeral was held in the residence two days later.

Phebe McConihe sold the property to banker John Greenough and his wife, the former Carolina H. Storey.  Born in 1846 and graduated from Harvard in 1865, John was a member of the firm of Poor & Greenough.  There were two children, Marion M. and Carroll, who graduated Harvard the year his parents purchased No. 38.  

The Greenoughs maintained two summer residences, Urchin at Glouster, Massachusetts, and a cottage at Tuxedo Park.    On May 31, 1904 the New-York Tribune reported on their dinner party at Tuxedo Park, the guest list of which included Captain D. R. De Chair, Royal Naval attaché of the British Embassy at Washington, and his wife.  

While that party was going on much work was taking place on 63rd Street.  Before moving in the Greenoughs had commissioned architect William Strom to give the Victorian brownstone a complete make-over.  The massive project--costing the equivalent of $582,000 today--included extending the structure to the rear, stripping off the stoop and facade, and pulling the front forward to the property line.

When completed the house bore no resemblance to its former self.  Strom had created a neo-Georgian townhouse faced in Flemish-bond brick above the limestone-clad base.  A bowed bay rose three stories and featured the centered entrance under an arched pediment, and handsome paneled lintels at the second floor.  The splayed stone lintels of the upper openings followed the Georgian motif.  Given the significant expense of the project, it is somewhat surprising that Strom left the entrance where the former English basement doorway had been--a few steps below the sidewalk.  The result was the appearance that the house had sunk below street level.

With that project finished the Greenboughs brought Strom back the following year to make "extensive alterations and improvements" to their four-story stable at No. 212 East 63rd Street.  The Record & Guide reported on September 16, 1905 that the "building will be rebuilt and enlarged at a cost of about $10,000."  That project was not inexpensive, either; equal to nearly $295,000 today.

Both Carolina and John were active in social causes.  He served as president of the building committee for the New York Kindergarten Association in 1906, for instance, and on April 17, 1912 Carolina hosted a fair in their home "for the support of the model flats maintained by the St. George's City Mission Committee," as reported in the New-York Tribune.

John was vice president of the American Geographical Society of New York, and hosted the reception for 50 European geographers in the society's new building at 157th Street and Broadway on October 17, 1912.  The New-York Tribune remarked "tall and venerable, [he] presided beneath an enormous American flag hanging above the speakers' table."

And when a benefit concert of sacred music for the benefit of the Home for Colored Working Girls and of the St. John's Club for Boys was given in the spring of 1916, readers of The Sun were instructed that tickets could be obtained from Carolina at the 63rd Street address.  She was a staunch supporter of the Stony Wold Sanatorium, as well.

By 1919 John had been elected president of the American Geographical Society.  Now retired, he became more involved in charitable organizations.  He was, for instance, a member of the Campaign Executive Committee in 1920 charged with raising $975,000 for the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor; and the following year was involved with the work of St. Michael's Home for Girls.

John Greenough died on May 4, 1934 at the age of 88.  Carolina would live to the same age, dying in 1947.   Five years before her death she sold No. 38 to Dr. Charles S. Dazer.  On January 9, 1942 The New York Times reported that he "will alter and use it for his residence and office."

A subsequent renovation was completed in 1952 which resulted in apartments above the ground floor level doctor's office.  That physicians office would remain until October 1969 the new Katz Gallery opened in the space.  It remained until about 1974 when the Moi salon took over.

On April 21, 1975 Angela Taylor, writing in The New York Times reported "Moi (who is Mrs. William Raymond Ryder in private life) is a tiny young woman born in India of Chinese parents.  For several years Moi did facials, manicures, waxing, eyelash dyeing at the Davian salon and acquired enough enthusiasts to open her own establishment recently in the street floor of a townhouse."

The former Greenough house continues to house an office in the ground floor and apartments above.  From the street, however, there is little hint that it is anything but the private home of a socially-prominent family who could afford two country estates.

photograph by the author