The Quondam Building - 450-460 Park Avenue South

 

On July 2, 1910, the Real Estate Record & Guide reported that the De Forest Estate Corporation had leased the southwest corner of Fourth Avenue and 31st Street to the Quondam Realty Co.  The article said, "Work is to be started on or about Aug. 1 for the new-story office structure."  The Bridgemen's Magazine noted that the architectural firm of Herts & Tallant had designed the plans.  "The building will be known as the Quondam Building, and will be in the gothic style of architecture, and is estimated to cost $200,000."

Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide, July 2, 1910 (copyright expired)

Those plans were soon expanded.  Construction was delayed as negotiations with Robert Goelet, who owned the abutting property, played out.  Goelet leased his plot at 450-454 Fourth Avenue to the Quondam Leasing Company, now giving the developers a parcel twice the width of the original.

Herts & Tallant filed the revised plans on March 28, 1911.  The Engineering Record noted that the "12-story brick and terra cotta commercial building" would now cost $450,000 to erect (about $15.3 million in 2026).  

Completed in 1912, Herts & Tallant had designed two buildings that successfully pretended to be one.  Faced in white terra cotta, the architects' design was a 1911 take on late Gothic and Tudor.  The two-story base included elaborate arched entrances below niches with intricate Gothic hoods.  Quatrafoil panels created spandrels within the eight-story midsection.  Above a molded bandcourse, the two-story top section drew inspiration from Tudor-style residences, like the Dalmeny House near Edinburg, Scotland, with its crenellated parapet and Tudor pinnacles.

Although they were two buildings, some floors were cut through to create full-width spaces for tenants like silk manufacturers Collins, Doorly & Franc.  When the firm moved into the building in 1912, they had already named two silk colors in honor of Presidential daughters--Alice Blue, for Alice Roosevelt, and Helen Pink, for Helen Herron Taft.  Now, on November 8, 1912, The New York Times reported, "Collins, Doorly & Franc, 450 Fourth Avenue, have obtained permission from Miss Eleanor Randolph Wilson, daughter of the President-elect, to name a new color 'Nell Rose,' in her honor."

Silk magazine, November 1912 (copyright expired)

Tenants in the buildings were highly varied.  Among them were Valentine Brothers, makers of oils and varnishes; Atlas Advertising Agency; the International Souvenir Spoon Company; and Wireless Age magazine.

Among the sales staff of Valentine Brothers in 1913 was George Pettit.  The 34-year-old was dealing with serious personal problems.  He was separated from his wife and living in a Brooklyn boarding house.  Additionally, despite his relative youth, he was suffering from rheumatism.  He remarked to his landlady, Annie Magno, "that he intended to jump from the Brooklyn Bridge," according to The New York Times.  Annie brushed it off.  But a few nights later, on September 10, 1913, she was standing outside Pettit's door and heard him exclaim, "I did it!  I did it all right!"

Pettit had swallowed poison.  Annie Magno first called a policeman and then telephoned the Swedish Hospital, but it was too late.  The newspaper said Pettit's name "was added last night to the long list of those who have committed suicide by taking Bichloride of mercury tablets."

Another fabric dealer to occupy a full floor was A. Wimpfheimer & Brother, dealers in "velvets, plushes and other pile fabrics," as explained by Dry Goods Economist in December 1916.  Other tenants in the building at the time were Cerag Company, makers of a "delicious food rich" laxative; Motorcycle & Bicycle Illustrated magazine; and the National Amateur Wireless Association.  (On January 14, 1916, The New York Times reported, "The President of the association is Guglielmo Marconi.")

The American Clock & Suit Review, June 1915 (copyright expired)

In 1917, The Merchants' Association embarked on an "Anti-Litter" campaign within the commercial district of 14th Street to 42nd Street.  As a part of the program, "block captains" were selected from one business per block.  On December 10, Greater New York reported, "The American Velvet Company, 450-460 Fourth Avenue, has appointed Mr. Michael Robertori, Block Captain."  In one of his reports, Robertori disclosed:

I have made a thorough examination of this street and found conditions very good with the exception of a coal and wood establishment that has a habit of leaving cakes of ice on the sidewalk.  I have notified him this day to refrain from doing this as the sidewalk must be absolutely free from all obstructions.  He promises to remedy this and I shall watch him closely.

Among the broad spectrum of tenants in the building at the time were the Corrective Eating Society and the American Trapshooting Association.  

The Hammondsport Products Company was occuping space when Prohibition was enacted.  The firm held a permit "for manufacturing and selling wine for sacramental purposes," according to Federal agents.  But it seems that the firm's clients were not merely synagogues and churches.

In October 1922, agents Izzy Einstein and Moe Smith, disguised as cigar clerks in a small store in Grand Street, made inquiries about how they could obtain alcohol.  They were told that "wine could be bought from the Hammondsport Products Company, Inc. 450 Fourth Avenue, by using a password."  

According to the New-York Tribune on October 13, "They said that they telephoned to N. Rosenblum, secretary of the Rabbinical Bureau...who is also said to be a salesman for the Hammondsport company, and arranged for the purchase of the ten cases of assorted wine."  When the cases were delivered to the Grand Street address, the agents paid the trucker with marked bills.  They then seized, "the wine, the bills and the truck."  There were another 20 cases of wine in the vehicle.

Advertising agency Winemiller and Miller, Inc. had occupied space as early as 1919.  They employed what were called "illustrative photographers," and a representative told Studio Light, "We prepared to meet every demand, from a convincing and dramatic scene of fireman rescuing patients from a burning hospital...to the most advantageous display of a box of hairpins."  

In the spring of 1925, Winemiller and Miller, Inc. initiated an ad campaign for the Glen Falls Insurance Company.  For publicity, the firm launched a nationwide contest for the best fire prevention slogans.  It received more than 150,000 entries and the 100 best were awarded prizes--from $5 to $500--in the firm's offices on March 28.  (The winning slogan was, "Answer the Burning Question with Fire Prevention.")

The offices of the Westminster Kennel Club were in the building as early as 1929.  The distinguished dog show was scheduled to take place in Madison Square Garden beginning February 11 that year, and on January 27 The New York Times reported that entries "are still pouring into the offices of the club."  The article said, "Up to last night more than 2,000 dogs had been listed, with a large pile of entry blanks still to be tabulated."

Mid-century saw a new type of tenant, beginning with Leo H. Spivack, Inc. which opened its furniture showroom in May 1959.  An advertisement in Interiors that month described the showrooms as, "Newly hatched...and fairly bursting with the freshest, finest, most comprehensive collection of Scandinavian imports you ever saw!"

The original first- and second-floor detailing survived in 1940.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Furniture dealer William L. Marshall, Ltd. followed in 1961.  On August 8, The New York Times said that Marshall "has been channeling his cargoes of Asian, African and South American timber into banks, a law school, restaurants, hotel lobbies, club, libraries, executive offices of major corporations."

In 1959, Fourth Avenue was renamed Park Avenue South.  The following year, according to The New York Times, "Iranians began to move into the rug-importing trade in the city in large numbers."  Now, in 1976, 450-460 Park Avenue South had become a center for rug importers, part of what was deemed the "Oriental rug district."

The district lasted through 1983, when, according to Jon S. Ansari, president of the Amiran Corporation here, rug dealers were exasperated by the rising rents.  Other tenants quickly moved in.  Ogilvy & Mather leased "several floors," as described by Newsday on May 23, 1984 for its corporate headquarters.  Subsequent tenants included Facts on File publishing, the Montserrat Tourist Board, and Franklin Spier, Inc., which leased 21,300 square feet in 1997.

On the ground floor, the cabaret Arci's Place opened in 1999.  In 2005, PS450 opened, a restaurant with "a menu of comfort food," according to The New York Times food critic Florence Fabricant on March 23.  And in September 2018, a Felix Roasting Co. coffee bar and cafe moved in.

Renovations to the first and second floors were initiated in 2017.  Sadly, the stripped-down modernization erased what was left of Herts & Tallant's wonderful terra cotta decorations.

The entrance of No. 460 in 2011 (from Google Streetviews)

...and in 2026

photographs by the author

The Lost Folies Bergere (Helen Hayes Theater) - 210 West 46th Street

 

The New York Architect - June 1911 (copyright expired)

The Forty-Sixth Street and Broadway Realty Co. was specifically organized to erect a unique theater at 206 to 212 West 46th Street.  Before ground was broken, on July 2, 1910, the Record & Guide reported that Henry B. Harris and Jesse L. Lasky had signed the lease.  The two producers envisioned a cabaret in New York City based on the restaurant-nightclub-theater in Paris, the Folies Bergère.

Designed by Herts & Tallant, the Folies Bergère cost $200,000 to erect--about $6.62 million in 2024.  The windowless façade was covered with a tapestry of polychrome terra cotta tiles--"old ivory, turquoise blue, and gold," according to The New York Architect in June 1911.  (The journal felt the exterior "presents a convincing argument for a more extended introduction of color in the facades of buildings of all descriptions.")  Below the "wrought bronze cornice" was a panel by eminent muralist William de Leftwich Dodge.  The New York Architect explained, "This frieze represents, in allegory, all the characters of vaudeville."

The Heating & Ventilating Magazine, October 1911 (copyright expired)

Inside the three entrances, the lobby was decorated in white marble with colored mosaic floors.  William de Leftwich Dodge supervised the decoration of the auditorium, drawing on the French roots of the Folies Bergère.  Gilded plaster festoons and paintings by Dodge created a decidedly Parisian atmosphere.  In its July 1911 issue, The Green Book said the auditorium suggested, "with its delicate color scheme, nothing else so much as the interior of a jewel box," adding, "The walls and pillars are covered with damask the shade of salmon, or crushed strawberry, or old rose."

The New York Architect, June 1911 (copyright expired)

Harris and Lansky departed from the traditional theater by treating the orchestra level and the front of the first balcony as a restaurant.  The Green Book Album wrote:

When you enter the auditorium you see, instead of the ordinary orchestra chairs, row after row of tables.  Each row is elevated a foot or so above that ahead of it, so that a good view of the stage is to be had from every seat, and an iron rail separates one company of diners from the next.

Wait staff in white tie assemble in the orchestra and front balcony.  The Heating & Ventilating Magazine, October 1911 (copyright expired)

Patrons in evening dress ordered from menus written in French and were served by white-tied waiters.  Diners would enjoy orchestra music from 6:00 to 8:15, when the curtain rose.  As the evening drew to a close, a call boy glided from table to table asking who needed a taxi.  Those patrons who did were handed numbered cards, eliminating the need for a curbside wait.

The Folies Bergère opened on April 27, 1911.  The New-York Tribune reported, "Dinner with music, dancing and fiery little tabloid shows as an accompaniment, will be served from 6 p.m. to 8:15, when the curtain will go up on 'Hell," a profane burlesque in one act by Rennold Wolf, with music by Maurice Levi...The revue will satirize plays and people of present public interest."  The revue was followed by the American premier of the ballet, Temptation, by Alfredo Curti; which was followed by another revue, Gaby.  

The article noted, "Supper will be served from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.  During the revues and the ballet refreshments will be served and smoking permitted in all parts of the house."  The supper portion of the evening was accompanied by the cabaret show, "giving New York the first midnight music hall."

Later that year, Harris and Lasky produced A La Broadway.  The "satirical burlesque in one act" opened on September 22.  The Sun reported, "It consisted or large quantities of girls, many changes of costumes and a pair of really funny comedians."  What audiences and critics could not know was that they were seeing the first appearance of an 18-year-old Brooklyn girl who would eventually shake American theater to its foundations.  "Miss Mae West had a song or two that went pretty well and she danced with considerable grace and originality," said the article.

Unfortunately, Mae West's first Broadway show closed after eight performances.  Lasky's and Harris's bold concept had not turned a profit.  On September 30, Variety reported on the closing of the Folies Bergère.  "While it is claimed that the restaurant portion of the enterprise has yielded a profit, the scheme has proved itself impractical owing to the limited seating capacity of the house under the present policy."

That year another producer, Beatrice DeMille, introduced Jesse L. Lasky to her son, Cecil B. DeMille.  Lasky would team with him and Samuel Goldwyn to form the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company, a moving picture firm.  Harris traveled to London in April 1912 to arrange a play.  He was lost on the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912.

With its auditorium remodeled with traditional seating, the theater reopened as the Fulton Theatre.  It offered both live plays and occasional moving pictures.  On November 24, 1915, for instance, an advertisement in The Evening World announced four screenings a day of Fighting In France, "The French Government Official Motion Pictures taken by order of the Great General Staff of the French Army for the National Archives."

The play Penny Arcade opened on March 24, 1930, a three-act drama about bootlegging and murder.  In the audience that night was Al Jolson, who was not taken with the performances of lead actors Eric Dressler and Lenita Lane, but with two supporting players, Joan Blondell and James Cagney.  According to Matthew Kennedy in his Joan Blondell, A Life Between Takes, Jolson purchased the motion picture rights to the play for $20,000.  "He quickly sold it to the Warner Bros. film studio in California, but only under the agreement that Blondell and Cagney come attached with a three-week contract to film the play."  It was the beginning of film stardom for the two unknowns.

The stage of the Fulton Theatre would see famous entertainers over the years.  On January 18, 1932, The New York Times reported, "Maurice Chevalier, the French film actor and entertainer, will begin a limited concert engagement of one and a half weeks at the Fulton Theatre."

Boris Karloff opened in the 1941 play Arsenic and Old Lace,; and on November 20, 1946, Lillian Hellman's Another Part of the Forest, the prequel to her 1939 drama The Little Foxes, opened with Patricia Neal as Regina Hubbard.  Also in the cast were Paul Ford and, Jean Hagen.  In 1951, Audrey Hepburn made her theatrical debut in Gigi.

On November 9, 1955, The New York Times reported, "The incandescent name of Helen Hayes will glow permanently on the marquee of a Broadway playhouse starting Nov. 21."  It was a great honor.  The only other living actress to have a theater name for her was Ethel Barrymore.  When told of the renaming, Helen Hayes remarked, "I burst into tears.  It was too much for me.  An actress' life is so transitory--suddenly you're a building."

The "extensively renovated" theater was dedicated on November 30, 1958 and opened the two nights later with Helen Hayes starring in Eugene O'Neill's A Touch of the Poet.  The New York Times reported the auditorium had been "refurbished in Louis XIV decor" and that the "theatre's seating capacity was increased by 113 to 1,152."  The new decorations included a "mirror-paneled lobby with white marble stairs," and "'royal enclosures' with custom arm chairs and cushions, a series of French Lalique basket lights and crystal chandeliers."

The Helen Hayes sign covered the Dodge mural and a new glass building-wide marquee was installed.  photo from the collection of the Library of Congress.

The Helen Hayes Theatre was the venue of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Long Day's Journey Into Night, and the long running Mary, Mary by Jean Kerr which opened on March 8, 1961 and ran for three years.

One of the "royal enclosures" with chandelier is seen in this photo of the renovated theater.  from the collection of the Library of Congress.

Henry Fonda was starring in the one-man show Clarence Darrow in the spring of 1974.  Following his performance on the night of April 23, he collapsed in his dressing room.  His wife, Shirley Mae Adams, told reporters the extra strain of the Tony ceremonies two nights earlier had caused exhaustion.   Five days later, The New York Times reported the 68-year-old actor was still hospitalized.  Although Fonda eventually recovered, the play did not.  It was replaced by another one-man show, Will Rogers, starring James Whitmore.

On March 23, 1982, The New York Times reported that demolition had begun on the Helen Hayes Theater.  Preservationists had obtained a temporary stay, but it was lifted by the United States Supreme Court, removing "the last major impediment to construction of the 50-story Portman Hotel in the Times Square area," said the article.  The demolition was part of what would become known by some as "The Great Theater Massacre of 1982."  Four other vintage theaters would be demolished with the Helen Hayes--the Morosco, the Bijou, the Astor and the Gaiety.

A day earlier, 1,000 demonstrators had gathered on West 45th Street to hear pleas from performers including Celeste Holm, Tammy Grimes, Jose Ferrer, Colleen Dewhurst, Estelle Parsons, and Treat Williams.  Producer Joseph Papp broke the news to the gathering.  "I'll tell you frankly, these theaters are going to come down.  The Supreme Court has lifted the stay."

Because of the architectural importance of the Helen Hayes Theater, Portman Properties agreed to preserve one-third of the façade.  But on June 9, 1982, The New York Times reported that the façade "collapsed during demolition work on the remainder of the theater."

photo by Fred R. Conrad, The New York Times June 9, 1982.

The vandalism was not only architectural.  Many saw the demolition of the theater as an affront to Helen Hayes.  The following year, the Little Theatre was renamed the Helen Hayes Theater.

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