Milbank House - 11-13 West 10th Street

 

Born in Albany, New York around 1806, Richard Henry Winslow was a direct descendant of Edward Winslow, Governor of the Plymouth Colony.  He came to New York City around 1831 and went into the brokerage business.  His prominence came with the discovery of gold in California and the subsequent "great railway era."  On New Year's Day, 1849, he and James F. D. Lanier (who lived directly across the street) formed a partnership, originating the railroad bond system.  According to The New York Times later, "At this time, Western railroads hardly existed even in idea." 

Investors realized large profits and by 1852 Winslow & Lanier was negotiating "$1,600,000 in a single day, while sales varying $100,000 to $500,000 a day were of common occurrence," wrote The New York Times on March 9, 1861.   The daily sales would equal more than $18 million in today's money.

In 1847 Winslow erected a 28-foot-wide home on the fashionable block of Tenth Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.  His massive wealth allowed him the luxury of purchasing the vacant lot next door for his 27-foot-wide garden.  The brick-faced Greek Revival residence was three-and-a-half stories tall above a brownstone English basement.  A wide stone stoop led to the entrance, originally framed by stone pilasters upholding a substantial entablature.

The house was originally three bays wide with an ample garden to the right.

Winslow and his wife, the former Rachel Ann Robertson, had three daughters, Emma Henrietta, Julia Adelaide, and Geraldine Augusta.  In 1853 Winslow hired architect  F. de Moulnier to design the family's country residence, Compo House, in Westport, Connecticut.

The Winslow country estate.  from the collection of the Library of Congress.

In 1856 the Winslows moved permanently to Compo House, quite possibly because of Milbank's failing health.  It forced him to retire in 1859, and, according to The New York Times, he "continued steadily to decline."  Richard Henry Winslow died at the age of 55 on February 14, 1861.

The inventory of the furnishings within the Winslow townhouse reflected the family's wealth and luxurious lifestyle.  Interesting, all the Winslow furniture was, without exception, of rosewood.  A listing in May 1857 mentioned, "Magnificent suits of rosewood furniture, richly and elaborately covered, in crimson and gold satin damask, consisting of sofas, tete-a-tetes, arm Volaire, Predue and parlor chairs, solid rosewood centre tables, beautifully carved rosewood etageres with mirror backs, rosewood seven octave pianoforte, made by Chickering," and on and on.  The inventory noted, "Billiard room--Billiard table, balls, cues, chandeliers, chairs, &c."

The house was initially leased to affluent families.  Merchant Augusts C. Richards was here in 1856 and '57, followed by Hanson K. Corning who remained a few years.  Born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1810, he was the principal in Corning, Bents & Co.  The New York Times described him as "one of the most highly respected merchants of this City."   The Cornings moved to Madison Avenue in 1861.

The house next became home to Bartholomew O'Connor and his widowed mother, Hannah.  O'Connor's father, Michael, had died around 1809.  Bartholomew was active in the Roman Catholic Church and in Irish causes.  

An intimate friend of O'Connor was Irish-born Daniel Joseph Devlin, a respected businessman and City Chamberlain.  During the Civil War, he was among those who recruited and financed the Irish Brigade of the Union Army.  He, as well, helped found the Society for the Protection of Destitute Roman Catholic Children in the City of New York.  Upon Devlin's death on February 22, 1867, his body was brought to the O'Connor home, where his funeral was held.  The entire Common Council attended the ceremony.

The O'Connors moved permanently to Staten Island in 1867.  The house was leased for a year to real estate agent William Dehon King, and then to Sarah B. Cadle.  

The spacious garden provided extra light and ventilation to the mansion.  A rental advertisement on April 9, 1875 described it as, "three rooms deep, windows in middle rooms; marble mantels and grates in all the rooms," and noted the garden was 27-feet by 100.

For several years it was operated as a high-end boarding house.  Mary K. Buckminster, a widow, had only four boarders in 1879 (the fewer the boarders, the more exclusive the house).  Frank Andrews was an organist, Lorenze Reich was a dealer in imported wines, W. A. Hayward was a manufacturer of "badges and medals," and Maria Phahler was a dressmaker.

The boarding house was being run by Mary Walters in 1883 when she became victim to "a boarding house raider," as described by the New York Herald.  Charles Raymond was arrested on March 31 and charged with "robbing fashionable boarding house keepers."  Well dressed and impeccably mannered, he told Mary he was arranging accommodations for his parents, who were arriving from Nebraska.  "He was particularly desirous to have comfortable apartments for his mother," said the article.  After inspecting the rooms, he rushed off to meet his parents at the train station.  It was not until then that Mary realized he had pocketed valuable items.  Raymond had repeated his scheme a dozen times before being caught.

A year later, on October 1, 1884, the house was targeted again.  James Wilson sneaked into the house "and picked up $200 worth of clothing," reported the New York Herald.  "Annie Gillen, a servant in the house, discovered him in the parlor, and, dropping his plunder, he fled, but only to run into the arms of a policeman."

The residence was again a single-family home when family of Jarvis Slade moved in.  It was also the end of the lavish garden.  In 1888, a one-story addition was added to the house, designed by eminent architect Ernest Flagg.  At the same time he updated the outdated Greek Revival architecture with a more Italianate style doorway, ironwork, and segmentally arched openings.  Perhaps because of the unlucky connotation of "13," the family now used the address 11 West 10th Street.

The handsome entrance was part of the 1888 remodeling.

Born in 1816, Slade "came from an old New York family," according to The New York Times.  He and his wife, the former Hannah Thomas Patten, had eight children.  

Seventeen-year old Henry Lewis Slade created headlines in 1891.  He was in love with Olivia Hoe, the daughter of millionaire Robert Hoe, but, according to The Sun, "Mrs. Hoe, the girl's mother, was opposed to the match."  And so the couple sneaked away to St. Mark's Church on September 29 and "were married without notice, it is said, to their family."  Rev. Dr. J. H. Rylance knew that the bride's mother was against the marriage, but, said The Sun, "as he saw that the two were firmly decided upon marrying, and as they were of lawful age, he agreed to perform the ceremony."  The fury of Olivia Hoe's parents could only have been doubled when her sister, Laura, and Ernest Trow Carter, who came along supposedly as witnesses, were married immediately afterward.

Marshall Perry Slade graduated from Harvard in 1881.  He updated his classmates in in the Secretary's Report in 1892 saying in part, "As I have no intention of marrying, my residence will probably continue to be, for the next five years, under the parental roof at 11 West Tenth Street, New York."  He would not change his mind until seven years later at the age of 38 when he married Jane Rosetta Carson.

Hannah Patten Slade died on September 27, 1893 at the age of 68.  Her funeral was held in the 10th Street house three days later.  Another funeral would be held in the parlor just over five years later.  Jarvis Slade died on January 3, 1899 at the age of 83.  His funeral was held on January 6.

Still living in the house were Elizabeth Almy Slade, George Patten Slade and his wife, the former Cornelia Wheeler Strong.   They remained for about two years, selling it in 1901 to Joseph Smith Auerbach.  He and his wife, the former Catharine Hone, had four children, John Hone, Kathryn Hone, Helen Hone (who died in infancy), and Helen Dunscomb.  One by one, the Auerbach children were married, John in 1909, Helen in 1911, and Kathryn in 1913.  

As World War I raged, in the fall of 1918 Joseph and Catharine offered up their home to the Red Cross.  On October 11, 1918 The Sun reported, "With more than 1,000 Red Cross Nurses always quartered in New York on their way to or from the front, it is necessary for Father Knickerbocker to bestir himself and show them how much he thinks of such brave women...Last night, with music and speeches and modest feasting, the new Nurses Home at 11 West Tenth street, was opened."  The article said, "It is a large house, large enough to have a big dancing room--nurses take to dancing, it seems to furnish the kind of relaxation they need.  There is a reading and writing room; and every afternoon tea will be served by the Junior League."

The Auerbachs would not return to West 10th Street.  On January 3, 1919 The Sun reported that they had sold the house to Jeremiah Milbank.  Nine years earlier the millionaire had purchased the houses at 118 and 120 West 13th Street "as a gift for the Ladies' Christian Union."  Now he did the same with the Auerbach house.  The Sun explained that the Ladies' Christian Union "is to establish a young woman's home as a memorial to Mr. Milbank's wife," adding, "The Ladies' Christian Union at present maintains five homes in the city."  

Before the end of the year the one-story extension had been raised to full height, the architect closely matching the detailing of the venerable original house, including the bracketed 1888 cornice.

A variation in brick color testifies to the additional floors above former the one-story wing.

The facility was known as the Milbank House, and was continually run by the Ladies' Christian Union, providing housing to unmarried women until 1994.  (At which time, according to The New York Times, "$130 a week gave young businesswomen tiny rooms and served them two meals a day in elegant surroundings.")  The former mansion sat empty for two years, until New York University purchased it in June 1996 for $3.9 million to house its Global Law School program.  

At the time of the sale, real estate broker Arlene Nance commented, "It has the most magnificent, sunny parlor, which should be landmarked, and a library with books donated by Irving Berlin.  Although a lot of people suggested it, [the Ladies' Christian Union] would never cut up that gorgeous twin parlor."

New York University, not necessarily known for its sympathetic treatment of historic interiors, did not greatly alter the Milbank House.  That changed after Bear Stearns executive Warren Spector and his actress wife, Margaret Whitton purchased it in 2007 for $34.5 million.

The couple renovated the massive 16,560-square-foot mansion, eliminating any hint of the 19th century in favor of clean 21st century lines and surfaces.  Spector placed the mansion on the market in 2018 at just under $60 million, reducing it to $50 million the following year.

photographs by the author

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Horses, Bottles and Movie Memoriabilia - 27 Downing Street

Helen Cossitt Juilliard, the wife of multi-millionaire Augustus D. Julliard, was wealthy in her own right.  Less known for her entertaining than for her philanthropy, for years she managed the Lincoln Hospital and Home and around 1895 gave the St. John’s Guild its first hospital boat, the Helen C. Juilliard, and then another.  A third hospital boat would be launched in Wilmington, Delaware in 1915, also named the Helen C. Juilliard.  Her husband's legacy would be the Juilliard School of Music.

Helen began a less altruistic project in 1893 when she purchased the old house at No. 27 Downing Street in Greenwich Village and hired the well-known architect Alfred Zucker to replace it with a livery stable.  His plans, filed in May, estimated the cost of construction at $20,000--about $617,000 today.

Completed within the year, it was one of several such stables along the short street.  Zucker had turned to a sub-style of Romanesque Revival known as American Round Arch.  It was a style held in disdain by the editors of The Inland Architect and News, who had called it in September 1893, "little short of contemptible."  Their opinions aside, Zucker produced a rather dignified structure, given its utilitarian purposes, faced in beige brick. 

The original configuration of the street level openings, the oval window on the second floor, and the handsome horse head sculpture are seen in this photo taken sometime before World War I.  from the collection of the New-York Historical Society

The balanced arrangement of the ground floor openings--an arched doorway and window of matching proportions flanking the wide carriage bay--contrasted with the asymmetrical plan of the upper floors.   The two-story, slightly projecting bay above the vehicle entrance featured a large, half-round opening at the second floor.  It was juxtaposed with an oval window, hinged at the center.  This section culminated in a peaked gable that held a deep oculus from which the sculpted head of a horse gazed out--the traditional sign that easily identified this as a livery stable.

The top floor contained a living space where, most likely, the stable's proprietor and his family lived.  Helen Juilliard was leasing the building to J. C. James at the end of the century.  His business listing in 1900 read simply "horses &c."  He was followed by the M. Pedrotti Livery Stable & Trucking Co., which later moved to No. 21 Bedford Street.

Helen C. Juilliard died on April 2, 1916; however her estate retained possession of No. 27 Downing Street.  In November 1917 it leased it to A. Costa, "truckman and forwarder."

On January 31, 1920 a full-page advertisement in the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide listed the "valuable Manhattan investment properties" to be sold at auction by the Helen C. Juilliard estate.  Among them was No. 27 Downing Street.  It was purchased by Louis Barbieri whose $8,400 mortgage was supplied by the Juilliard estate.

Barbieri was not interested in the property as a stable or garage.  He operated the Pioneer Bottling Co. and commissioned architect Charles E. Miller to renovate the structure into a bottling plant in the cellar, a garage for two cars on the first floor, a meeting room (the plans called it a "lodge room") on the second floor and an apartment on the third.

Barbieri stenciled the label onto this siphon bottle.

Prohibition meant, of course, that the Barbieri's firm dealt in non-alcoholic beverages, like bottled soda water.   His business was successful enough that in 1924 he hired architect C. W. Schlusing to enlarge the building, replacing the rear extension.  A year later Schlusing was back to widen the truck bay, eliminating the window.  The oval second floor window was replaced at this time, as well.

No. 27 is half-way down the block.  In this 1932 photograph the horse's head has been removed and the oval window replaced.  from the collection of the New York Public Library.

With Prohibition long in the past, on August 7, 1954 The Advocate announced that the Pioneer Bottling Co., Inc. had been issued a license "to sell Beer at retail...for off-premises consumption."

In 1962 a renovation was completed which resulted in a "repackaging factory" on the first floor and one apartment each on the second and third.   In the spring of 1970 Jeffrey Joerger and Michael Malce opened their Hollywood memorabilia "warehouse" in the ground floor.  

Joerger and Malce show off a dress worn by Jane Powell.  The striped blazer was worn by Mickey Rooney.  photo by Barton Silverman, The New York Times July 18, 1970

Writing in The New York Times on July 18, Virginia Lee Warren explained "This is where costumes worn by Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland, Hedy LaMarr, Doris Day, Norma Shearer, Lana Turner, Jean Harlow, Greta Garbo and Ginger Rogers are hung along the rough wall, suspended from make-shift garment racks or draped on a sofa from 'Father of the Bride' and chairs from 'Raintree County.'"

Today that space houses professional offices and the upper floors contain two duplex apartments.  The quirky oval window and the wonderful horse's head have been lost in renovations; however Ernest Flagg's unusual stable building design mostly survives.

photographs by the author

The Cortlandt Field Bishop House - 15 East 67th Street

The limestone face of the ground floor has been inexplicably, and regrettably, painted.

The 30-foot wide brownstone-faced house at No. 15 East 67th Street, built in 1879, was home to prominent banker Robert W. Donnell, the senior partner in Donnell, Lawson & Simpson.  On the morning of January 4, 1894 he felt unwell and, according to The Press, rose early with "the intention of testing the benefits of an early morning dip."  His wife and the cook heard a loud thump.  Running to the bathroom they found Donnell on the floor in his bathrobe, gasping for breath.  "Mrs. Donnell fainted away at the sight."  He died soon afterward.

The following year the Lawson family moved into the house.   William T. Lawson was a member the E. S. Higgins Carpet Company.  The family summered in Essex County, New York where J. M. Lawson was the president of the Adirondack Preserve Association.

In the meantime, Cortlandt Field Bishop and his wife, the former Amy Bend, lived at No. 11 Madison Avenue.  November 5, 1905 was an election day and New Yorkers took their excitement over the election of William R. Hearst to Congress to the streets.  The following day The New York Times reported "The multitude, delirious with election-night excitement, was carrying on a riotous carnival of pleasure in Madison avenue."  But "a very disastrous premature explosion of fireworks took place" which resulted in 12 deaths and at least 100 injured.  The blast was significant enough to prompt the Bishops to move.

On March 25, 1903 the New-York Tribune reported "Cortlandt F. Bishop, whose house, No. 11 Madison-ave., was slightly damaged by the explosion of bombs on election night in Madison Square, has bought...No. 15 East Sixty-seventh-st., a four-story and basement brownstone front house."  Decidedly out of style by now, the article noted "The house will be torn down and a new one erected on the site."

The Bishops commissioned architect Ernest Flagg to design the mansion.  Completed four years later, Flagg had created a Parisian-inspired Beaux Arts townhouse that reflected the owners' wealth and social position.  The offset entrance sat above a short stoop.  Hefty brackets upheld the full-width balcony at the second floor fronting three sets of French doors.  The rusticated limestone of the second through fourth floors was decorated with panels of swags and intricate carved garlands drooped from below the fourth floor openings.  The fifth floor took the form of a full-height mansard protected by a tall iron railing.

The American Architect, June 2, 1906 (copyright expired)

Both Cortlandt and his wife had impressive social pedigrees.  He was the son of David Wolfe Bishop (who had inherited the bulk of the estate of the massively wealthy Catharine Lorillard Wolfe) and the former Florence Van Cordlandt Field.  His mother's parents were Benjamin Hazard Field and Catharine Van Cordtlandt de Peyster.

Amy Bend Bishop was the daughter of stock broker George H. Bend.  Before finally deciding on Cortlandt, she had reportedly been engaged 25 times.  The Bishops were married in 1899 and in 1902 their only child, Beatrice was born.

Amy and Beatrice Bishop.  from the collection of the Lenox Library Association

A month before purchasing the former Lawson house Bishop was embroiled in a heated battle over his father's estate.  On February 18, 1903 The Evening World reported "An order for the arrest of Cortlandt F. Bishop will be issued unless he consents to appear before Robert Mazet, the official appraiser, appointed to investigate the personal estate of his father, David Wolfe Bishop.  The elder Bishop died two years ago, leaving several millions of dollars, upon which the State Comptroller seeks to collect taxes."  But Bishop and his brother, David, insisted that their father was a legal resident of Lenox, Massachusetts, where the family's estate, Interlaken, was located.

Cortlandt's and Amy's summer estate, The Maples, was also in Lenox.  His mother's shockingly quick marriage to lawyer John Edward Parsons within a year of David Wolfe Bishop's death did not seem to affect their relationship and the families remained close. 

Cortlandt caused extreme upheaval within the cultured, tradition steeped community of Lenox.  He was fascinated with the recent advances in transportation--airplanes, balloons and automobiles--and was the first to obtain permission to operate a motor car within Central Park.   Years later The New York Times would remember "In 1897 he brought to Lenox a gasoline-propelled tricycle, which the natives quickly christened 'the holy terror.'  It was the first automobile to be seen in the Berkshires, and it aroused the local public to such an extent that the Town Council decreed that any vehicle 'drawn otherwise than by a horse, man, dog, ox or goat must be kept one wheel in the gutter,' and could not exceed six miles an hour.  The ordinance was aimed solely at Mr. Bishop."

In response Bishop tactfully set out to educate humans and horses.  In 1902 the Horseless Era reported that he had started a "school for horses," to accustom them to sharing the roadways with machines; and that same year he began giving driving lessons to Lenox cottagers.

The Bishops's frequent international travels were quite often connected with his automobile or aeronautical interests.  As the president of the Aero Club of America, he traveled to Europe in October 1907 for the international balloon race for the Gordon Bennett Cup, which started in St. Louis on October 23 and ended in Europe.  In reporting on his trip The New York Times mentioned "Mr. Bishop saw the Wright Brothers, but he had no information to impart as to their success in selling their aeroplane invention to any of the European Governments."

Cortland F. Bishop stands at the upper left, while the Wright Brothers are seated in this 1906 photo.  Orville is at the far left and Wilbur at the far right.  from Navigating the Air, 1907 (copyright expired)

Cortlandt's automobile-related troubles were not confined to Lenox.  On July 11, 1912 The New York Times reported that he had been arrested in the Balkans.  "Mr. Bishop was arrested on the complaint of the villagers of Pola, and taken before a Magistrate.  Villager after villager claimed damages for alleged injuries caused by Mr. Bishop's car."  In reality there was little evidence that Bishop was responsible for any damage to the roads and property in the little village; "but in order to dispose of the matter, Mr. Bishop paid $100 in settlement of all 'claims.'"  Nevertheless, the anti-Bishop sentiment was such that "Police provided him with an escort of gendarmes to see him safely out of the village."

With the outbreak of war in Europe, Amy joined the trend of wealthy socialites in providing support to victims.  On October 26, 1914, for instance, the New-York Tribune reported "Mr. and Mrs. Cortlandt F. Bishop went by automobile to-day over the Green Mountain trail [outside of Lenox].  Mrs. Bishop has organized a sewing class for the Belgian sufferers, which will hold its first meeting this week at The Maples."

The social prominence of the Bishops was evidenced in the guest list of the dinner party in the 67th Street house on February 2, 1914.  The New-York Tribune reported that among the guests were Count and Countess Stanislas de Castellane, the Ernesto Fabbris, the Theodore Havemeyers, Mr. and Mrs. William Starr Miller, Mr. and Mrs. M. Orme Wilson, Moncure Robinson, and Baron Buissierre; in short members of the highest echelon of society.

13-year old Beatrice posed with her pet monkey, Prince Chin Chin, at Lenox in 1915.  The Sun, August 15, 1915 (copyright expired)

Following the declaration of peace the Bishops planned their first European trip in several years.  On November 16, 1919 The Sun reported "They will join Mrs. John E. Parsons in Paris...they will make a visit to the Belgian and French battle fronts and after some time in Paris will return to the Maples for Christmas."  By now Beatrice was a young woman.  "Their daughter, Miss Beatrice Bishop, who is at Vassar, will have a party of her college friends there and the Maples will be gay during the holiday week."

Keeping track of the movements of Cordlandt and Amy kept society journalists busy.  Following their six weeks in Europe they arrived at the Maples on Christmas Eve.  Three days later The Sun advised they would be there for two weeks and then, "They will be in New York for the opera for a month and then will go to Palm Beach, where they have taken an apartment at the Breakers for March."

The winter break became a routine and on February 28, 1920 The Sun reported they "will begin their annual winter tour of Florida by automobile."  Cordlandt's motoring passion was reflected in his yuletide gifts that season.  "Mr. Bishop gave as Christmas gifts to friends his new automobile map between Lenox and New York," said the article.

A man of broad interests, in 1923 Bishop purchased the American Art Association, perhaps the most esteemed auction house in America.  He hired Hiram Haney Parke and Otto Bernet as his vice-presidents.  

The following year Bishop dipped his toe into the field of journalism, purchasing The Paris Times, an afternoon English language newspaper.  Given the number of English and American businessmen and tourists in Paris, it was a potentially lucrative endeavor.  But two years later he confided to a friend, according to The New York Times, that "he was losing $50,000 a year on his journal, but optimistically expressed belief that it would at least break even in another year or two."  It did not.  On November 16, 1929 The New York Times reported that he had suspended publication.

In the meantime, Beatrice had received a remarkable education.  After graduating from the private Brearly School she received a degree from the Sorbonne in Paris, a bachelor's degree from Vassar College and a master's from Columbia University.  When her parents announced her engagement to Adolf A. Berle, Jr. on September 8, 1927 she was an editor of the Vassar Quarterly Review and was completing a course in social work.  The wedding took place in Grace Church on December 17 that year.

Cortlandt and Amy returned from Paris on November 6, 1934.  They went immediately to Lenox where, according to The New York Times, heart disease "kept him in the house."  The 64-year-old died there on March 30, 1935.  His estate was estimated at $20 million--more in the neighborhood of $366 million today.

The following year, on October 5, 1936, the New York Post wrote "Around this time every year comes the announcement of the formation of some organization sponsored by a group of fashionables...The newest of these organizations, to be known as the Regency Club, draws its membership from among bridge enthusiasts and amateur exponents of other popular games, and has chosen for its headquarters the mansion at 15 East Sixty-seventh Street, one time the town resident of the late Cordlandt Field Bishop."  The article noted that the club intended "to preserve as far as possible the atmosphere and feeling of the original interior, in keeping with the building's architectural style.  The beautiful marble staircase, which was always one of the principal features of the mansion, has been retained, as well as the paneling, lighting fixtures, etc."

The club hired architect Nathan Ginsburg to do the renovations.  They resulted in club rooms and a dining room on the first floor, club rooms on the upper floors and six servants' bedrooms on the top floor.

In 1964 the Regency Club merged with the Whist Club, becoming the Regency Whist Club which remains in the building.  Other than a misguided coat of paint over the limestone base, the Bishop mansion is nearly unchanged.

photograph by the author

The Lost St. Nicholas Skating Rink - 69 West 66th Street

photo via Office of Metropolitan History

On July 13, 1895 the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported that the newly-formed St. Nicholas Skating and Ice Company had "just concluded the purchase of a site for a model ice skating rink on the north side of West 66th street, between Columbus avenue and Central Park West."  It was an exciting development for New Yorkers, since the technology necessary for creating such a massive ice sheet was new.

The price for each of the nine building plots, stretching 225 feet along West 66th Street and 100 feet deep, was about $29,000.  The Record & Guide reported that architects Ernest Flagg and Walter B. Chambers had placed the cost of construction of the "ice-skating rink and club-house" at $130,000; bringing the total outlay to more than $12 million in today's dollars.

The Record & Guide described the internal layout above the rink.  The second floor would hold a viewing gallery and "there will also be on this floor private rooms for ladies, a buffet and toilet rooms."  The third floor was "to be for the men of the club," and here were the locker rooms, dressing rooms and accommodations for visiting hockey teams.  A private gallery on this level was to look down upon the rink.  (As it turned out, the third floor never materialized.)

Calling it "New York's Palais de Glace," the New York Herald reported on the completed structure on November 8, 1896.  The writer deemed the building a "large, handsome structure."  

"The "place of rendezvous," said the article, included "lounging rooms, dressing rooms, buffets, music, all modeled on the best Parisian plan...There are also ample storage for bicycles and cloak rooms for the public...The ice is surrounded by a broad promenade.  On one end is a great lounging room, shut off from the ice by plate glass.  This apartment is for the use of the public.  A great fireplace, on which logs will burn brightly, occupies one end of the room, and it is from this room that spectators will get the best and most comfortable view of the gay scenes on the ice."

On the opposite end were the private rooms of the St. Nicholas Skating Club members.  Among those who paid the annual $25 dues were "the Astors, Millses, Livingstons, Hewitts, Hoyts, Baileys, Mrs. Ladenburg, Whitneys, Remsens, Morgans, Belmonts, Hitchcocks, Kernochans...In fact, the list is just like that of the Patriarchs [Ball], or opera or Horse Show boxes," said the New York Herald.  So that social royalty need not share the ice with more pedestrian skaters, the rink was closed to the public on Sundays and Mondays and only members were admitted.

A uniformed attendant helps a woman with her skates while fashionably-dressed skaters glide by.  Upstairs women enjoy the ladies' buffet room.  The New York Herald, November 8, 1896 (copyright expired)

The other skaters paid "a small fee" for admission, and had access to most of the amenities of the St. Nicholas Skating Rink, including a tea room, smoking room, and reading room.  A band played during the mornings and evening sessions.  The New York Herald lamented that the St. Nicholas Skating Rink "probably will not be as lively and interesting" as a similar rink in Paris, "for we take our pleasures in a little more subdued, if not sadder, fashion than the French."  But, nevertheless, "the beauty, the novelty of the scene, is certain to be appreciated by everyone who finds his way within."

Leslie's Weekly, March 15, 1896 (copyright expired)

A branch of the St. Nicholas Skating Club was its hockey team, composed of well-to-do gentlemen with names like Astor, Brokaw and Vanderbilt.  Hockey, as The New York Times pointed out, had "come to be quite the vogue" and the men held their own among other teams.  In its March 1898 issue the New York Athletic Club Journal noted that a tight race for the Hockey League championship was between the New York Athletic Club, the St. Nicholas Skating Club and the Hockey Club.

Leslie's Weekly noted that the "indoor game" was played on "artificial ice."  April 1896 (copyright expired)

As it turned out, the St. Nicholas Skating Club took the championship that year.

Among the casually-posed champions in 1898 was the massively wealthy Irving Brokaw, wearing number 3. The Illustrated American, February 12, 1898 

The excellence of the skating surface prompted the National Amateur Skating Association to hold is annual contest for the figure skating championship here.  Irving Brokaw was not only a splendid hockey player, but a figure skater as well.  As the 1899 contest neared, newspapers noted that he would not participate this year.  "Brokaw is this season in Europe to compete in the world's championship at Vienna."

The rink as it appeared in 1898.  photo by Byron Company, from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

As the decades passed, the building would be reworked again and again.  The first major renovation came in October 1904 when architects Tracy & Swartwout designed new iron staircases, a new gallery, skylight, new fireproof dressing rooms and iron columns and beams.

Architect George A. Pearse's plans for remodeling in February 1911 used a puzzling description, calling the building a "brick garage and skating rink."  (There is no evidence that there was ever a garage in the building.) Other work in 1913, 1914 and 1915 resulted in new bleachers, repaired masonry and a new marquis.

In 1915 a fad swept New York--dancing on ice.  On November 21 The Sun reported "Fashion has set the seal of approval on the difficult art and the fox trotters are taking to the rinks."

Couples dance on blades at the St. Nicholas Rink.  The top couple is performing "The Hesitation."  The Sun, November 21, 1915 (copyright expired)

The following year, on October 22, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported "Ice skaters are indulging in their favorite recreation with more enthusiasm and in greater numbers this season than ever before in New York's history."  The article made note of the St. Nicholas Skating Rink's "Marimba Band and its corps of expert exhibition skaters." 

The Marimba Band was new--part of yet another renovation.  In 1915 a $20,000 improvement resulted in "enlarged and redecorated lounging, locker and club rooms" and new quarters for the visiting hockey teams.  Another significant change came the following year; one that had nothing to do with the structure, but with its policies.  According to The Evening World on October 7, 1916, "There will be no private sessions this season."  The ultra-wealthy had moved on.

By 1916 the rink was less ornate; however the columns and their capitals imitated ice and the railings and benches mimicked the rustic details of the natural Central Park skating area.  from the collection of the New-York Historical Society.

The days of skaters and hockey games came to an end in October 1918 when the rink was leased for ten years to The Palace Carnival.  The Record & Guide reported that the group "expect to make alterations costing $100,000 to convert the structure into a dancing establishment."

The Evening World, January 18, 1919 (copyright expired)

The Dancing Carnival would remain for years, a popular destination for footloose couples.  One group of young people enjoyed a night here on March 10, 1921; but a light-hearted bet landed one of them in jail.

Elsie Fisher was 22-years-old and worked as a stenographer downtown.  She and her friends left at around 11:00 that night, but their suspicious movements caught the attention of a cop.  The New York Sun reported "Patrolman William Stalba...followed a crowd that came out of the St. Nicholas skating rink...and found the object of the crowd's pursuit was a slender young man who looked innocent enough."

Intent on discovering why the group was so interested in the fellow, Stalba pushed through the group, until "the policeman's keen eye spied the end of a blonde curl sticking out from under the soft hat.  He took the curl, which was growing on a girl's head, to the Wet Sixty-Eighth street station, where after much argument, the curl's owner admitted she was Elsie Fisher."

Elsie had taken a bet that she could walk a mile in men's attire without being detected.  Cross-dressing in 1921 was a crime and Elsie was held at the West 13th Street station overnight.  The next morning she appeared in court, "dressed in the garb of her sex, which friends had brought her."  The judge listened to her story, gave her a suspended sentence, and warned her to stop "trying to paint the lily white."  The Sun reported "She told him she would."

Another group got in trouble eighteen years later.  The New York Sun reported on January 7, 1929 that 33 young women had been arrested in the "St. Nicholas dance hall" the previous Saturday night.  "They were arraigned as wayward minors yesterday before Magistrate Bushel in the Women's Court."

The Great Depression resulted in the Corn Exchange Bank Trust Company's taking possession of the building.  Calling it "The Crystal Palace, a dancing pavilion," The Sun reported on its sale in March 1934 to Jean Sunnenfeld for $340,000, a significant $6.38 million today.  It was the end of dancing in the old St. Nicholas building.

The structure was renovated as a meeting space, and sports and performing arts venue, now known as the Royal Windsor Hall.  On April 29, 1938 the New York Post announced "More than fifty New York University students will take part in 'That's Life,' the annual varsity show, which will be presented to night at the Royal Windsor."    Less light-hearted were the massive union meetings and rallies held here for years.  On May 26, 1940, for instance, The New York Times reported on the New York State Convention of the Communist Party here.

Wrestlers Hans K. and H. Olson battled it out in 1936.  photograph by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

But it was professional boxing and wrestling, for which the hall was best known to most New Yorkers.  A raised ring was moved into the center of the hall for bouts.  Over the years newspapers would report on the fights of greats like Kid Chocalate, Rocky Graziano, Floyd Patterson (who fought his first professional match here in 1952) and Cassius Clay (who later took the name Muhammad Ali).  Tuesday night matches were aired on television to fans across the country.

When the last boxing match was held on May 28, 1962, more than 30,000 bouts had reportedly played out here.  The old St. Nicholas Skating Rink building limped along until the 1980's when it was demolished for the expansion of the ABC TV offices.

The rink sat just to the east of the corner.  image via Google Earth

The Lost Elizabeth Clark House - 347 West 89th Street

The glass-covered wing curving toward 89th Street appears to be conservatory or picture gallery--in fact it was a bowling alley.  The Architectural Record, November 1902 (copyright expired)

In 1896 Elizabeth Clark was among the wealthiest widows in the country.   Born Elizabeth Scriven, she had married Alfred Corning Clark on October 20, 1869 in the parish church of Withecombe Raleigh in Devonshire, England.  He was the only son of Singer Sewing Machine magnate and real estate developer Edward C. Clark.   They had four sons, Edward Severin, Robert Sterling, Frederick Ambrose and Stephen Carlton.

The Clarks had maintained two residences in the city.  Their main home was at No. 7 West 22nd Street.  A sprawling apartment in The Dakota, which his father had built, was used mainly for entertaining.  Edward Clark died in 1882 leaving an estate valued at between $15 and $20 million.  Alfred inherited extensive property on the Upper West Side, including the Dakota.

The family summered at what the New-York Tribune described as "a large country place at Cooperstown, New York."  The estate, called Fernleigh, had been previously owned by James Fenimore Cooper.

On April 8, 1896 Alfred Corning Clark died in the 22nd Street house.  The New-York Tribune explained "Mr. Clark's death was caused by an acute attack of Bright's disease."  The article mentioned "Comparatively few people in the city knew that he was the possessor of many millions, because he was a retiring and modest man who studiously avoided notoriety."

Elizabeth inherited the bulk of her husband's estate, including extensive properties.  Mourning did not interfere with her plunging into real estate development.  Seven months later she transferred ownership of a block of land--from Tenth to Eleventh Avenues between 68th and 69th Streets--to the newly-formed City and Suburban Homes Company in exchange for stock.  The Sun noted the "city homes" would be designed by Mr. [Ernest] Flagg."

It was by no means the last time Elizabeth and Flagg would work together.

A year later, on September 28, 1897, The New York Times reported "Cyrus Clark has sold, for about $215,000, a plot, equivalent to about ten lots, at the northeast corner of Riverside Drive and Eighty-ninth Street."  The site engulfed half of the block, the other half filled with the Cyrus Clark's own mansion.   The article noted "Mr. Clark said yesterday that the buyer is an individual, an not an estate, as has been reported, but refused to make any further disclosures." (Clark, incidentally, was not related to the Alfred Clark family.)

A month later the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide added that the "buyer is reported to be Frederick Clark."   The report was close.  The buyer of record was "the Clark estate," or, in reality, Elizabeth Clark.

Ernest Flagg filed plans in April 1898.  He produced a four-story Georgian mansion of red brick trimmed in white marble which appeared to have been plucked from the English countryside.  The Evening World called it "one of the most striking residences on that beautiful thoroughfare."  Flagg place the entrance to the side, giving it the address of No. 347 West 89th Street.

"In fact," said The Evening World, "it looks more like a public building than a private house."  The Architectural Record noted "The house is finished front and back, inside and out, with equal care, and the workmanship and appointments are the best that money can buy.  Probably no better built or ventilated house was ever put up."  The journal made it clear that Elizabeth was highly involved in the details.  "It was the desire of the owner that it should be plain, substantial and dignified."

Elizabeth Scriven Clark was a devout Episcopalian and highly involved in philanthropies.   The New-York Tribune mentioned in July 1902 "Mrs. Clark...is well known to the people of the city, not merely because of her great wealth and large real estate holdings, but also because of her many charitable gifts, notable among which is the Alfred Corning Clark Memorial Chapel, work on which was begun last spring."

The floorplan shows an immense dining room and entrance hall on the first floor.  The Architectural Record, November 1902 (copyright expired)

She contributed enormously to Cooperstown, providing parks, buildings and statues.  The Evening World said "She is immensely wealthy and the Episcopal Church of this diocese owes much to her generosity."  Her social and religious activities put her in close contact with the New York bishop, Henry Codman Potter, who was, not coincidentally, at the laying of the cornerstone of the Alfred Corning Clark Memorial Chapel and delivered an address.

Clark stepped away from Georgian when he added a French-style marquee above the marble entrance.  The Architectural Record, November 1902 (copyright expired)

Potter was not only powerful, but wealthy.  He and his wife, the former Eliza Rogers Jacob, lived in a stately home at No, 10 Washington Square North.  His name appeared in the society columns nearly as frequently as the Astors or Vanderbilts.   Eliza died "of heat prostration" on June 29, 1901.  But the bishop would not remain unmarried for long.

A year later, on July 12, 1902, The Evening Post announced that "it was authorized to make public the engagement of the Right Rev. Henry C. Potter, Bishop of New-York, and Mrs. Alfred Corning Clark."  At the time Potter was in Paris and Elizabeth was at Fernleigh.

Neither the 66-year old Potter nor his intended bride were saying much.  A week later The Evening World noted "Friends of the Right Rev. Bishop Potter and Mrs. Alfred Corning Clark have made up their minds in the absence of a formal announcement of the wedding plans that the ceremony will take place at Mrs. Clark's country home, Fernleigh, at Cooperstown, N. Y., and will be performed with extreme quiet.  The wedding is expected to take place before the middle  of September."

The focus of the society columnists on the details of the prominent couple's romance greatly overshadowed another Clark engagement.  Almost simultaneously Frederick Ambrose Clark's engagement to Florence Stokes, daughter of millionaire Henry D. Stokes, president of the Manhattan Life Insurance Co., was announced.   Not surprisingly, Bishop Potter performed the ceremony at Stokes country estate on Orienta Point in Mamaroneck, Long Island, on September 20, 1902.  The New-York Tribune reported that his mother "and the party have come down from Cooperstown to be present," and The Evening World noted it "was a brilliant society affair, the 120 guests all being members of the ultra-fashionable set."

Frederick and his wife received lavish presents from their parents.  The Evening World said "Mr. Stokes gave his daughter a steam yacht and town house in Manhattan."  Elizabeth provided them a new country estate, Iroquois Farm, near Cooperstown.

Exactly two weeks later, on October 4, Elizabeth was married to Henry C, Potter in Christ Church in Cooperstown.

The 52-year old bride.  The Evening World, September 12, 1902 (copyright expired)

The national coverage of the romance and the frequent mentions of Elizabeth's generosity had resulted in an unexpected side effect.  On October 12 The New York Times reported "From July until October, the interval between the announcement of the engagement of Mrs. Alfred Corning Clark and Bishop Potter and their recent wedding...Mrs. Clark was in receipt of more than a thousand letters asking for money.

"The letters were from people in all parts of the country.  Some asked donations for themselves or some sick friend; others wanted to complete a college education; some had gilt-edged schemes of investment full of promise, and others represented various institutions."

And while her secretary plowed through the correspondence, Elizabeth and the bishop had lengthy discussions about their coming living arrangements.  The Evening World had reported on September 12 that "For the last few weeks the Bishop has been visiting Mrs. Clark at her summer home, Fernleigh, on the shores of Otsego Lake, and there, it is said, they have been planning with great care for the disposition of their town and country houses, when the union shall have combined the two valuable estates."

The bishop, friends said, "expressed a preference" for his Washington Square mansion.  It appeared they had made up their minds and The Evening World reported "Friends of Bishop Potter's bride-to-be, Mrs. Alfred Corning Clark, say she purposes abandoning her magnificent mansion at the corner of Riverside drive and Eighty-ninth street, and will give the house to some charity to be designated by the Bishop."

In the end, it was the Washington Square house which was given up.  No. 347 West 89th Street earned the much-used name of "the Bishop Potter Residence."

Carriages entering from Riverside Drive (left) would exit onto 89th Street.  (copyright expired)

The reason Potter was in Paris when the engagement had been announced was because "the condition of his health was not all that could be wished," according to the New-York Tribune at the time.  Now, just three months after the wedding, the newspaper reported that he was unable to preach at Yale University the day before "on account of illness."

from the collection of the New York Public Library

Elizabeth continued her generous works.  Alfred Corning Clark had lavishly patronized young artists, one of his favorites being sculptor George Grey Barnard.  He had commissioned a large bronze figure of Pan, originally intended as a fountain figure for the courtyard of the Dakota apartments.  But when he saw the designs, he decided it was too find a piece to be hidden and decided to donate it to Central Park.  He died before the statue was completed.

In 1907 Elizabeth picked up the project and had it cast.  The city's Art Commission, while conceding that "it was artistic enough to be worthy of acceptance by the city," according to the New-York Tribune on October 6, 1907, could not agree on a site.  Elizabeth seems to have lost patience and, instead, donated the three-ton piece to Columbia University.

The following spring Bishop Potter fell ill again.  After being bedridden for a week, his doctor, J. E, Janvrin, issued a formal statement on May 2, 1908, putting a positive spin on the situation.

A week ago Bishop Potter was taken seriously ill, suffering from three complaints--overwork, indigestion, and a bilious attack.  His condition to-day is much better than it was then, and he is getting along very satisfactorily.  I hope to have him out in a week's time."

But Potter's condition would not improve.  He died at Fernleigh on July 21 at the age of 74.   His funeral was held in Grace Church on October 20.  The New-York Tribune said the ceremony was "of extreme simplicity" and "there was no display at any time during the services."  Nevertheless, "the impressiveness of it all was profound."

Following the funeral, Potter's body was place in the crypt of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, below the main altar.  The structure at the time was, essentially, a construction site and Potter's was the first body to occupy a vault there.

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in 1908 was more construction site than church. New-York Tribune, October 21, 1908 (copyright expired)

A mere eight months later, on March 5, 1909, Elizabeth died unexpectedly in the Riverside Drive house from Bright's disease.  Newspapers reported in length about her long tradition of giving.  "She disliked social display," said The Times, "and was never prominent socially, always living quietly and retiringly, and contenting herself with benevolent activities."  The newspaper mentioned her many gifts to Cooperstown, including "the building used by the Young Men's Christian Association, a public library, park, and museum."

Edward was with her at her death, but Frederick and Stephen were in Europe and Robert was in China on "an expedition of exploration an scientific investigation."  The funeral, held in the Church of the Incarnation, was delayed until March 14 to enable Frederick and Stephen to return.   The New-York Tribune noted "Few funerals of private citizens in late years have been so well attended as was that of Mrs. Potter."

Her body was taken to Cooperstown where it was placed beside that of her first husband.

A tinted postcard view clearly shows the Riverside Drive carriage entrance and, in the background, the Cyrus Clark and John H. Matthews mansions.  (copyright expired)

Elizabeth left an estate of approximately $50 million--a staggering $1.27 billion in today's terms.  Frederick inherited the Riverside Drive house as well as Fernleigh.

Frederick and Florence remained in the Riverside Drive house until 1912 when he sold it to William H. Barnard and his wife, Lily.  The purchase price was not publicized, however the Record & Guide pointed out it "is valued at about $850,000."  In reporting on the sale the publication noted "The Clark residence...is one of the show places of the drive."

The Barnard family enjoyed the lifestyle of the wealthy.  Earlier that year, for instance, The Sun had reported "Mr. and Mrs. Barnard and their family will spend the greater part of the summer cruising on their yacht, Sagamore." 

Barnard was president of the International Salt Company, vice president of the Fidelity Trust Company, president of four other companies and a director in 24 corporations.  The couple's winter estate, Barnard Villa Place in Aiken, South Carolina consisted of 92 acres, a stone residence and several outbuildings.  Their summer home, The Manor, was in Rutland, Vermont.

The couple's daughter, Lilybel, was a bit rebellious and even before her debut into society had made headlines for the wrong reasons.  On March 21, 1909 she told her chauffeur to let her take the wheel and was spotted by Policeman McIntyre speeding along Riverside Drive.  He took chase and Lilybel merely stepped on the gas. At 190th Street she turned the car around, her chauffeur got in the driver's seat, and then took off again.

After what The Sun called "a long chase" both Lilybel and the driver were arrested.  "Miss Barnard was charged with going at twenty-four miles an hour and her chauffeur with going at twenty miles an hour."

Now, the summer after the family moved into the former Clark house, she shocked even her parents.  On the morning of July 22 Lilybel left the Vermont mansion to go for a drive with James Williams Salisbury.  The pair did not return home by noon for lunch.  Then, as reported by The Sun, "A telegram received at the Manor this afternoon from Bellows Falls, Vt., simply announced that Miss Barnard and Mr. Salisbury were married and were on a honeymoon,"

Her parent's surprise and possible anger abated and the newlyweds moved into the Riverside Drive house.    In 1915 the family was approached by George Kleine who was producing a silent film serial starring stage star Billie Burke, called Gloria's Romance.  He wanted to use the exterior of the mansion for "the scenes leading up to the capture of the escaped murderer," as reported later in The Times.  The Barnards rebuffed the $1,000 offer.

Lilybel later admitted that Assistant Director Kane had found her alone in the house and insisted "that thousands of feet of reel would be crippled if Gloria didn't romance through the late bishop's yard."  He sweetened the deal with a promise of $50 or an Easter bonnet for Lilybel directly.

She later admitted that  "in the absence of her family, [she] gave permission for the company to take exterior pictures."  When her husband came home to find a movie crew on the grounds, he was furious. Lilybel was entertaining women at a luncheon and said "My husband was very angry.  He said he had telephoned for the police.  I felt shamefaced because I was the only member of the family not opposed to taking the pictures."

William Barnard directed "that his wife accept for charity a check for $1,000," according to the Los Angeles Herald on January 19, 1917.  The article added "The grounds were utilized for four months." 

While her parents received the check, Lilybel did not forget Kane's promise to her.  On May 1, 1916 she wrote a letter from the Riverside Drive house which read:

Mrs, James Williams Salisbury wishes to make a request of $50,00 for her part in persuading Mr. Barnard to allow Mr. Kane and his people to continue their film work at 347 West Eighty-ninth Street.  Mr. Kane will, no doubt, recall his conversation with Mrs Salisbury and realize that it was due to her efforts that the picture company gained their permit.

Hoping Mr. Kane finds this request within reason,

Very truly yours,
LILYBEL B. SALISBURY

In March1921 Barnard bought up the old Cyrus Clark property, giving him the entire blockfront along Riverside Drive.   The New York Times said this "gave him possession of a splendid site available for apartment improvement."

But then he sold the combined properties on June 6, 1922 for $1.25 million.   The New York Times immediately reported "A statement, indicating that New York City is about to receive from an anonymous donor, the gift of an official residence for the Mayor, similar to the Governor's Mansion at Albany and the White House at Washington, was sent out last night by William A. White & Sons, who announce in this connection the sale of the former home of the late Bishop Potter at Riverside Drive and Eighty-ninth Street."


The statement said the purchased intended to donate the property to the City "for an official residence for the Mayor" and said the "Clark mansion takes rank with the finest homes of Fifth and Park Avenues and Riverside Drive."

If there ever were such a civic-minded philanthropist, his grand scheme never came to fruition.  Instead the Clark mansion was demolished to be replaced by the massive 16-story 173 Riverside Drive apartment building.  Designed by J. E. R. Carpenter, it was completed in 1925 and survives.

photo via streeteasy.com