The 1925 Hotel Olcott - 27 West 72nd Street

 

image via compass.com

The Nathan Straus family had lived in the brownstone mansion at 27 West 72^nd Street for decades when the 27 West 72^nd Street Corp. demolished it and three abutting residences at 29 through 33 in 1924.  The firm hired architect George F. Pelham to design a modern residential hotel on the site.  Residential hotels differed from apartment buildings in that the apartments did not have kitchens and residents enjoyed the amenities of a hotel, like maid service.  They differed from regular hotels in that the tenants were long-term.

 
George F. Pelham was noted for his use of historic styles, notably neo-Tudor.  But for the Olcott Hotel he turned to a 1920’s take on the Italian Renaissance.  Completed in 1925, an advertisement described the building as being “constructed of steel, gold-colored tapestry brick, with the first three floors of limestone.”  There were 227 suites of one to four rooms and, while there were no kitchens, each apartment had a “complete serving pantry,” which included a “mechanical refrigeration [and] circulating ice water.”
 
On the ground floor were the lobby, the residents' dining room, four “convertible lounging and dining rooms,” two doctors’ offices with apartments, and the hotel offices.  The rooftop included a children’s playground, large sun parlors, and a billiard room.  The location was highly touted by the Olcott’s management.  An advertisement said the building had unobstructed views of “the extensive and beautiful gardens of the Dakota apartments.”
 
The Olcott Hotel attracted professional, moneyed residents.  Among the first were Sol Bashwitz, described by The New York Times as a “wealthy retired wholesale clothier,” and his wife.  In May 1929, the couple returned from Europe and three weeks later Bashwitz made an appointment to meet with his attorney, Harry S. Sondheim, in the apartment at 4:00.  It was a convenient time since Mrs. Bashwitz would be out visiting their daughter on West 86^th Street.
 
At 4:00 on June 4, the front desk telephoned the apartment but received no answer.  After several more attempts, Sondheim and a bellboy went to the apartment with a passkey.  They found the 56-year-old Bashwitz lying on his back in the smoking room with a bullet wound through the heart.  A .32-calibre automatic pistol lay at his side.  While the family insisted it was murder, there was no evidence to suggest anything but suicide.
 
At the time, Sol Anderson and his wife lived here.  He had retired in 1920 after running a florist shop at 71 Broadway for 25 years.  He was better known to New Yorkers as the Captain of the Old Guard.  Perhaps the city's most venerated military organization, it was formed in 1826 as the Tompkins Blues.  Over the decades it had served as honor guard at the funeral of President James Monroe and traditionally was present in all Gubernatorial and Mayoral events, such as inaugurations.
 
Among the most colorful residents was George Mayer.  Like Sol Anderson, he was retired, having been a partner in the Strause-Adler corset company until 1927.  He was known as a “perfect first-nighter.”  On October 16, 1930, The New York Times reported, “For forty-eight years, with the exception of his absence on a trip to Europe several years ago and to Honolulu nine months ago, Mr. Mayer never missed a first night in New York, which was the place of his birth.”  If two plays opened on the same night, Mayer would buy four tickets and give two away so as not to break his streak.  A bachelor, he had attended more than 5,000 Broadway performances.  The New York Times added that he “had never been late or left before the final curtain.  He always bought the same seats, A1 and A3, which, though aisle seats, he refused to exchange, in order not to disturb others.”
 
Resident Antonina Marco was the widow of a coal dealer.  While she was at the Blackstone Hotel at Miami Beach on February 13, she removed $40,000 of her jewelry from her safety deposit box in the hotel vault.  It turned out to be a fortunate move.  The following day five “cool bandits,” as described by The New York Sun, “selected sixteen of the eighty-two deposit boxes…including Mrs. Marco’s, and walked out with a total of nearly $200,000 in jewelry and cash.”  Antonina Marco lost a string of pearls with a diamond clip, and four diamond bracelets—in all $100,000 in jewelry and $2,000 in cash.  (That amount would equal about $1.9 million today.)

Antonina Marco.  The New York Sun, June 15, 1939.

Back in New York, her luck would not improve.  On the evening of June 15 Antonina was invited to the apartment of Bessie Williams at 135 West 79^th Street for a “friendly card game.”  While the women were playing, three men knocked on the door and the maid let them in.  Saying they were from police headquarters and were responding to a complaint of “the noise of a roulette game,” the men started searching the apartment.  Suddenly they turned to the elegantly-dressed women and declared, “This is a stick-up.”
 
The New York Sun reported, “Apparently some one had put the finger on Mrs. Marco because they were most interested in the jewelry and money she had.  The others won scant attention.”  The newspaper said the robbers “divested her of three rings valued at $6,000, a $1,500 wrist watch and $700 in cash.”
 
Another interesting resident was attorney Abraham Felt, a member of the bar since 1912.  Born in Jersey City in 1881, he had a broad resume.  A 32^nd degree Mason and a past master of the National Lodge of Masons, he was a composer and poet as well.  He and his wife, the former Dora Mandell Felt, maintained a summer home in Deal, New Jersey.  On August 8, 1957 he suffered a fatal heart attack on the train back to New York from Deal.
 

The entrance was modernized and a streamlined marquee installed by the time Roy Colmer took this photograph in 1976.  from the collection of the New York Public Library.

While most apartment hotels had been converted to apartments by the last decade of the 20^th century, the Hotel Olcott hung on.  Joseph Berger, writing in The New York Times on April 25, 1992, said, “It is not really a hotel you can check into for the night.  Many of its 240 residents checked in 30 years ago and never repacked their suitcases.  It is a residential hotel, an apartment house mostly for lazy people who do not want to make beds, cook dinner or buy furniture.”
 
Monthly rent for a four-room suite at the time was $3,000--the equivalent of $6,520 today.  Among the “lazy” residents in 1992 were entertainer Tiny Tim, Academy Award winning actor Martin Balsam, and Franco-Russian ballerina Nina Youshkevitch.  Berger’s article said, “Madame Youshkevitch raised her son, Robert, in the Olcott.  She felt secure about his coming home from school and fortunate that he had Lincoln Center within a short walk.  She even found the hot plate adequate for the steak and vegetables they ate.  ‘We made big dinners,’ she said.”
 
By 1996 a Dallas BBQ Restaurant occupied ground floor space.  It became a thorn in the side of its West 72^nd Street neighbors.  The restaurant was flooded with noise complaints.  One of the owners, Greg Wetanson, fired back, “We’re a family restaurant.  I don’t have young punks.  I have wonderful customers.  And I try to do what I can for the community.”

A more period appropriate marquee graces the entrance today.  image via compass.com

The end of the line for the residential hotel came in 2005 when Brack Capital and Stellar Management converted the building to condominiums.

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George F. Pelham's 1927 Beekman Hotel - 575 Park Avenue

 

photograph by Deans Charbal

On October 16, 1926, an advertisement appeared in the New York Evening Post that announced, "A City Home Palatial in Appointments and Conveniences."  Construction of the Beekman residential hotel was nearly complete at the time and "reservations" were being taken.  Designed by George F. Pelham for the 571 Park Avenue Corporation in the Italian Renaissance style, it loomed 15 stories above the southeast corner of Park Avenue and 63rd Street.  Pelham's tripartite design included a three-story rusticated base, and a nine-story midsection faced in variegated brick.  Stone balconies both carried on the Renaissance motif and provided interest.  The three-story top section sat above a decorated bandcourse.  It was distinguished by double-height terra cotta arches with engaged columns.

Potential tenants could chose among suites of "2, 3, 4 rooms or larger with private bath for each chamber."  Like transient hotels, residential hotel suites did not have kitchens.  To make up for this, the ad explained, "They contain individual serving pantries with automatic refrigeration and circulating ice water."  Residents would enjoy "unexcelled maid service."  On the ground floor was the Beekman Restaurant, described in the advertisement as being "owner-managed" and providing "a type of service and a quality of food that would delight the epicure."  Completed early in 1927, the Beekman Hotel cost its owners $600,000 to erect--or about $10.3 million by 2024 conversion.

Among the first residents were Benedict J. Greenhut and his wife, who signed a lease in July 1927.  He was the son of Captain Joseph B. Greenhut, who had distinguished himself in the Battle of Gettysburg.  In 1902, Benedict and his father purchased the massive Siegel, Cooper & Co. department store on Sixth Avenue.  Two years later, they purchased the Benjamin Altman store across the avenue, merging the two as the Greenhut & Co.  Upon Captain Greenhut's death in 1918, Benedict became president of Greenhut & Co.  The store failed that year, however, Greenhut's other business interests and extensive real estate holdings preserved his wealth.

The couple's moving into the Beekman Hotel in July may have upset their summer plans.  For whatever the reason, they did not occupy the five-room suite they had reserved for eight weeks at the Briarcliff Lodge in Briarcliff Manor, New York.  The following year, on November 22, 1928, The Larchmont Times reported that Greenhut had been ordered to pay the luxury resort the $110 per day rental--a total judgment of $4,480 "less cost of meals."  (The Greenhuts' bill, equal to $78,600 today, reflects the amounts that well-heeled New Yorkers spent on summer accommodations.)

Morton D. Hutzler and his wife, the former Antoinette Salomon, were also initial residents.  Born in 1878 in Baltimore, he was initially associated with his family's business, the Hutzler Brothers Department Store.  In 1905, he changed course, purchasing a membership on the New York Stock Exchange.  He became a member of Salomon Bros. & Hutzler in 1910.

The Hutzlers chose an unexpected spot to spend the summer of 1928.  On August 25, The Reform Advocate reported, "Mr. and Mrs. Morton D. Hutzler of 575 Park avenue, New York, will visit Chicago before returning to their home.  They have been vacationing at Battle Creek, Michigan."

On September 29, 1927, the New York Evening Post reported, "Mr. Thomas W. Strong has taken an apartment at 575 Park Avenue.  He will come down from Lenox on Saturday, where he has just sold his place."  The wealthy bachelor would not enjoy his new home for long.  He died on September 7, 1928.  Strong's will received national press coverage when it was revealed he had left his chauffeur of 20 years, Thomas Walsh, $25,000 (a significant $445,000 today).  The wife of a nephew, Cyril K. dos Passos, told The New York Times that Walsh was "worth every cent he got," noting that he had "proved faithful and able."

Another wealthy bachelor in the Beekman Hotel at the time was Edward Dean Richmond, who traced his American roots to 1635.  The grandson of Dean Richmond, the first president of the New York Central Railroad, he graduated from the University of Virginia in 1915.  Shortly afterward, he moved to New York "to engage in the investment banking business and to manage his family's estate," according to the New York Sun.  In addition to banking, Richmond was secretary and director of the United States Dairy Products Company, and secretary of three major corporation.

Richmond's library was later described as "splendid."  The American Art Association called it "a remarkable collection of Oscar Wilde manuscripts, first editions and associated items."  It included first editions of James Boswell, Samuel Johnson, George Moore, Rupert Brooke, Aubrey Beardsley and others.

On November 14, 1929, The New York Times reported on the engagement of Elizabeth Cecilia Detwiller to Edward Dean Robinson.  The article listed the 37-year-old Robinson's numerous club memberships, which included the St. Nicholas Society, the Mayflower Descendants, Society of Colonial Wars and Society of the Cincinnati.

The wedding was planned for January 25, 1930 in St. Bartholomew's Church.  But shortly after the announcement, Robinson fell ill.  On January 16, The New York Times reported, "Owing to the illness of Edward Dean Richmond, his marriage to Miss Elizabeth Cecilia Detwiller...has been indefinitely postponed."  The article explained that Richmond, "who has been ill at his home, 575 Park Avenue, suffered a relapse yesterday."  

Unfortunately, the wedding would never come to be.  On July 4, 1933, Robinson died at the age of 41.  The Sun commented, "His long illness compelled him to withdraw from most of his business activities."

Another Beekman resident who suffered a long ailment was Benedict J. Greenhut.  He fell ill in 1931, his condition worsening to the point that he was confined to bed in November.  He died in the apartment at the age of 61 on March 29, 1932.

Resident Henry Theodore Leggett had a broad resume.  Born in Brooklyn to Theodore Leggett, one of the founders of the Francis H. Leggett Company, he was the administrative assistant to Herbert Hoover during World War I.  At the time, the future President was head of the Food Administration.  A member of the Union Club, Leggett was a well known artist by the time he moved into the Hotel Beekman.  He died in his apartment on March 24, 1947, at the age of 74.

In 1946, the first Macy Foundation Conference was held in the dining room here.  Sponsored by the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, they "brought together at regular intervals some of the greatest minds of the twentieth century," according to Jean-Pierre Dupuy in his 2000 book On the Origins of Cognitive Science.  The group pioneered what would be known as the cybernetics movement.  It would meet at the Beekman Hotel every year through 1952.

In 1950, the Beekman Restaurant closed.  It was replaced by the famous Park Avenue French restaurant Voisin, which had operated from 375 Park Avenue since 1913.  The fame of the restaurant earned it a place in Ian Fleming's 1956 Diamonds are Forever.  Set in 1953, Fleming's spy James Bond is staying at the Hotel Astor.  The author wrote, "Bond...had his fourth shower of the day and went to Voisin's where he had two Vodka Martinis, Oeufs Benedict and strawberries."

The closing of the Beekman Restaurant foreshadowed the closing of the Beekman Hotel.  In 1951, the building was converted to apartments, nine each on floors two through fifteen, and five in the new penthouse level.  The "Hotel" was dropped from its name and the building was now known as The Beekman.

Another change in the restaurant would once again foretell of changes in the building.  In 1962, Voisin moved to the Colony House at 30 East 65th Street.  A renovation completed two years later resulted in reconfigured apartments.  In 1969, The Beekman was converted to a cooperative.

The residents continued to be white collar professionals, like Frank Schulman, the chairman of four paper manufacturing companies; and Michael J. Merkin, the senior vice president and director of the Federation Bank and Trust Company, chairman of the Lewis Asphalt Engineering Company, a director of the Edison Savings and Loan Association, and the First Westchester Corporation.  He was also a director of the 1964 New York World's Fair and president of the 575 Park Avenue Corporation.

The former Voisin's space became Le Perigord Park, formerly on East 52nd Street.  It received an unusually tepid review by Raymond A. Sokolov of The New York Times on June 23, 1972, who sniffed in part, "Its menu is among the most unremittingly complex French bills of fare in the city.  The food does not quite fulfill one's expectations, but it is very good all the same."

Attorney Moses Polakoff was one of several well-known attorneys living in The Beekman in the 1970s.  On February 6, 1977, he received a telephone call from another resident, Sylvia Sherman, who lived on the 15th floor.  The 60-year-old worked for a real estate firm and Polakoff had recently drawn up her will.  She said succinctly, "I'm going to jump, Moe.  Take care of my things."

Polakoff blurted, "Wait a minute," but the 60-year-old had already hung up.  He notified an building employee who went to Sherman's apartment and found an open window.  Sylvia Sherman had leapt to her death.

Born on the Lower East Side in 1896, Moses Polakoff was a widower.  His wife, Ruth Kitsch, whom he married in 1924, died in 1955.  He was appointed an Assistant United States Attorney in 1921, then resigned in 1925 to establish his private practice.  He became best known for representing notorious gangsters like Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky.  He remained in his apartment until his death at the age of 97 on June 14, 1993.

Equally well-known was lawyer and politician Louis J. Lefkowitz, who was married to Helen Schwimmer.  Lefkowitz had served in the New York State Assembly in the late 1920s, and in 1957 was elected New York Attorney General.  Known as "the people's lawyer" he spurred investigations and initiated laws to protect the public against such dangers as unscrupulous cruse ship operators and unregulated theater ticket sales.  Following his death at the age of 92 in 1996, the State Office Building at 80 Centre Street was renamed in his honor.

Another celebrated attorney, Chauncey Belknap, and his wife Dorothy Lamont lived here in the 1970s.  Born in 1892 in Roselle Park, New Jersey, Belknap was orphaned at the age of 3.  He graduated from Princeton University in 1912 and the Harvard Law School in 1915.  His career started at the top--he became legal secretary to Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes of the United States Supreme Court.

Back in New York, he co-founded the law firm of Stetson, Jennings & Russell.  The New York Times recalled later, "His partners included Raymond B. Fosdick, who had been Under Secretary General of the League of Nations; Robert Patterson, a former Federal judge and Secretary of War; and Robert M. Morgenthau, Manhattan District Attorney.  Dorothy Belknap died in 1980.  Her husband survived her by four years, dying in their apartment here on January 25, 1984.

In the early 1990s, Woody Allen leased a suite here not as his residence, but as an editing space.  On November 2, 1995, The New York Times writer Ira Berkow interviewed the filmmaker, actor and comedian "in his home-away-from-home, the suite at the Beekman Hotel on Park Avenue where he edits his movies."  In her The Unruly Life of Woody Allen, Marion Meade wrote that rather than being driven, "he preferred walking the thirteen blocks to his office at 575 Park Avenue, usually following the same route."

By then, Le Perigord Park had been gone for several years.  It had been replaced by Huberts in 1987, which gave way to the Park Avenue Café by 1993.

photo by Deans Charbal

After nearly a century, George F. Pelham's dignified neo-Italian Renaissance structure survives unchanged outwardly.  

many thanks to reader "Fregan" suggesting this post

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The Lost John Innes Kane Mansion - 1 West 49th Street

 

image from "Charles Follen McKim, A Study of his Life and Work, 1913 (copyright expired)

Born on July 29, 1850, John Innes Kane was the great-grandson of John Jacob Astor I.  His maternal grandmother was Dorothea Astor.  Kane married Annie Cottenet Schermerhorn on December 12, 1878, her wedding gown designed personally by Parisian couturier Charles Frederick Worth.  Kane was among the social class known as "gentlemen," meaning he lived on inherited wealth.  Rather than work, he was interested, according to The New York Times, "in scientific matters, especially those dealing with discovery and exploration."

In the spring of 1904, Kane purchased "the old Matthiessen residence," as described by The Sun, at the northwest corner of 49th Street and Fifth Avenue.  Weeks later, on April 9, the Real Estate Record & Guide reported he had purchased the abutting four-story houses at 612 and 614 Fifth Avenue.  The article said, "It is understood that Mr. Kane...will erect for his own occupancy a large modern dwelling on the site."

Four months later, on August 6, the journal reported, "McKim, Mead & White...have completed plans for a residence for John Innes Kane."  Saying the four-story mansion would be clad in limestone, the article noted, "It is estimated to cost $200,000."  The figure would translate to about $7 million in 2024.

According to his biographer, Charles McKim, who was a personal friend of Kane, took the reins in designing the residence.  In his 1913 Charles Follen McKim, A Study of His Life and Work, Alfred Hoyt Granger mentioned, "He builded for his friends many beautiful houses, of which the most beautiful in my judgment is the Kane house on the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and Forty-ninth Street."  The Sun, however, attributed the design to Stanford White, saying "Mr. White saw that the Italian renaissance was the style best suited to her [i.e. Annie Kane's] ideas."

At a time when many Manhattan millionaires were erecting frothy Beaux Arts confections, the Kane mansion's Italian Renaissance design was subtle.  On June 2, 1907, The Sun explained, "When Mr. and Mrs. Kane gave the order for the house they made but one condition with the architects.  They wanted the house to be the plainest in New York."  The journalist presumed, "This desire was probably inspired by the house they had lived in for many years previously."  (That was Annie's parents' mansion at 49 West 23rd Street.)  

The entrance of the mansion opened onto West 49th Street.  The Architectural Review, 1907

The Sun said, "It is considered a rarely pure specimen of Italian renaissance, even to the hatchment that hangs over the entrance."  While the exterior was Italian, the Kanes "decided that [the interiors] should be English."  Mrs. Frank Millet was commissioned to scour Europe for the appropriate furnishings.  "The furniture selected by Mrs. Millet was exclusively English of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries," said the article.

Two views of the entrance hall.  The Architectural Review, January 1919 (copyright expired)

The ground floor held the "dining rooms and the library," while two large drawing rooms were on the second.  The bedrooms were located on the third floor.

In 1904, the same year ground was broken for their townhouse, the Kanes' cottage, Breakwater, in Bar Harbor, Maine was completed.  It was designed by Fred L. Savage in the Tudor Revival style.  The couple also maintained a residence in Lenox, Massachusetts that Annie inherited from her father.

The Kane cottage in Bar Harbor.  image via maineencyclopedia.com

Because Kane had no business responsibilities, he and Annie had unlimited leisure time and the ability to travel extensively.  On October 15, 1911, The New York Times reported, "Mr. and Mrs. John Innes Kane will be leaving shortly for Europe, and will later proceed to Egypt, where they will be joined by a party of eleven of their friends, who will be their guests on a long trip up the historic river."  Seven months later, on June 9, 1912, The Sun announced, "Mr. and Mrs. John Innes Kane, who passed part of the winter in Egypt, returned from Europe recently.  They will go to Bar Harbor for the summer."

A sitting room (above) and a breakfast room had seemingly identical ceilings.  from the collection of the Columbia University Libraries.

John Kane did not enjoy his limestone palazzo for especially long.  Early in the summer of 1912, he fell ill while at Bar Harbor.  His condition worsened over the months.  Finally, on February 2, 1913, The New York Times wrote, "John Innes Kane, a member of one of New York's oldest families and a great-grandson of John Jacob Astor, died yesterday at his residence, 1 West Forty-ninth Street, from pneumonia."  Kane was 62 years old.  In reporting his death, the newspaper added, "His forty-ninth Street residence attracted immediate attention, when completed in 1909 [sic], because of its attractive simplicity."

from the collection of the Columbia University Libraries.

Following her period of mourning, Annie Kane resumed her seasonal routine.  On October 10, 1915, for instance, The Sun reported, "Mrs. John Innes Kane has arrived at Lenox from Bar Harbor, where she has been passing the summer.  She will return to 1 West Forty-ninth street about the middle of next month."

Annie's significant fortune was increased upon the death of her sister, Fannie Schermerhorn Bridgham in 1919.  On November 10, 1920, The New York Times reported that Annie had inherited $590,538--just over $9 million in today's money.

Disaster struck while Annie was at Bar Harbor in August 1921.  A crew of workmen were in the 49th Street townhouse, one of whom was on the second floor on August 23 when he heard something fall in the library.  He opened the door to discover, as worded by The New York Times, "the library was a furnace."  His opening of the door caused a backdraft, which "spurted out so quickly that the workman was hardly able to close the door without catching fire himself."

Crowds crammed Fifth Avenue as flames burst through the windows of the mansion.  Although the fire spread to the dining room, McKim, Mead & White was credited for saving the residence.  "The rooms were fireproofed so perfectly that the firemen were able to confine the flames, and, although everything in the library was burned, some of the furniture in the dining room was saved," said The New York Times.  The solid construction was also reflected in the fact that there was relatively little water damage.  "Another remarkable feature of the fire was that the thousands of gallons of water pumped into the burning rooms did not seep through to the ceilings of the floors below, but cascaded down a marble stairway," said the article.

Tragically, "priceless portraits and heirlooms of the Schermerhorn and Kane families" were destroyed.  The Evening World reported, "The fire was extinguished in a quarter of an hour, but in that time the two rooms had been gutted, the great carved ceilings reduced almost to charcoal, family portraits, marbles, tapestries and bric-a-brac burned to a cinder or blackened beyond repair."

The twin beds in this bedroom cleverly shared a single canopy.  from the collection of the Columbia University Libraries.

Annie Cottenet Kane died at the age of 69 "after a long illness," according to The New York Times, on July 24, 1926.  Her will divided her extensive estate among "worthy charities and other organizations."  The New York Orthopaedic Dispensary and Hospital received $1 million to found the Annie C. Kane Fellowships to provide fellowships to young surgeons, for instance, and Columbia University received two $500,000 bequests, one in memory of Annie's father William C. Schermerhorn.

The Kane mansion would not survive much longer.  Two years after Annie's death, John D. Rockefeller Jr. set in motion the ambitious 22-acre Rockefeller Center project.  In 1933, Raymond Hood's La Maison Francaise was completed on the site of the mansion.

photograph by Epicogenius

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The 1895 Solomon Sayles Building -- 434-438 Sixth Avenue

 

Noticeably missing, the cornice was removed in 1961.

Solomon Sayles was a successful "meat and provisions dealer" in the last decade of the 19th century.  His operation sat on Sixth Avenue, directly opposite the Jefferson Courthouse complex.  In February 1893 the Record & Guide reported that J. Dalmage Trimble had sold "the old building" at the southeast corner of Sixth Avenue and 10th Street "to Solomon Sayles, the butcher, who occupies adjoining premises."  He had ambitious plans for the site.

Sayles commissioned architect Ralph S. Townsend to design a large commercial building on the site of the combined properties.  Completed in 1894, the six-story brick-and-stone structure was designed in the Italianate Renaissance manner of the Eclectic period.  The ground floor of the two-story stone base provided a store for Solomon Sayles's grocery business.  The windows of the upper floors were grouped in threes.  Those of the third floor were framed in terra cotta and separated by engaged, spiral Scamozzi columns.  Paired, double-height fluted pilasters divided the window groupings of the fourth and fifth floors; while the sixth floor openings, above an intermediate cornice, were also graced with the spiral columns, each group separated by an ornate terra cotta panel.

A Renaissance-inspired hood crowns the entrance to the upper floors.

For awhile it seemed that Solomon Sayles had overextended himself.  In 1899 he was forced to assign his business, often the first step before bankruptcy, and in May 1897 he transferred title to the Sixth Avenue building to Charles A. Hess "for the benefit of creditors," according to the Real Estate Record & Guide.  Hess told reporters that the actions were merely to placate "an overly aggressive creditor."

And that seems to have been true.  Solomon Sayles regained title to his property and his business thrived here for decades.  In the meantime, the upper floors filled with a wide array of tenants.   The early years of the 20th century saw apparel business, like milliner S. Meyer Co., as well as industrial and artistic tenants--the American Self-Lighting Appliances Co., the Pasbach-Voice Lithographic Co., and the Art Designing Works, for instance.

The Illustrated Milliner, January 1902 (copyright expired)

In September 1917, Ralph Townsend, now a partner in the architectural firm of Townsend, Steinle & Haskell, was called back to update the building.  The plans are vague, but most likely the work involved updating electricity and plumbing and such.

Solomon Sayle's business was renamed Sayles, Zahn Company at the end of World War I.  Advertising as "butchers and packers," it did business from the location into the Depression years.  Apparel-related firms were a minority on the upper floors.  By now, the artistic and industrial tenants had taken over.

Occupying space by 1920 was Montague Castle-London.  The firm was, perhaps, best known for stained glass windows, but fabricated "all forms of memorials in glass, mosaic, bronze and marble," as noted in an advertisement in 1920, and "mural decorations of every kind."

The address of 126-130 Sixth Avenue would be renumbered 434-438 in 1925.  Year Book of the Architectural League of New York, 1921 (copyright expired)

In 1925 Montague Castle-London Co. was looking for a self-reliant designer.  Apparently not wanting to waste time with applicants who overestimated their worth, the ad required them to state the salary they expected to earn.

Stained glass designer wanted, one having experience in designing along traditional lines; must essentially be individual, and be willing to come to New York and associate himself with an established firm; state remuneration expected.

Other tenants in the Depression era were the Eagle Water Heater Company, the Farrell Silvering Place Co., and the Century Metalcraft Corporation.

Scarsdale Inquirer, April 8, 1927 (copyright expired)

In 1956 the Robert Joffrey Theater Dancers was formed by six young dancers.  They hoped to spark interest in ballet by performing in school gymnasiums, small town theaters and other far-flung venues.  By 1960 the Joffrey American Ballet Center occupied the third floor of 434 Sixth Avenue.

Founders Gerald Arpino (left) and Robert Joffrey at a third floor window of 434 Sixth Avenue around 1960.  photo by Herbert Migdoll.

Before 1941 the structure's cornice was removed, and in 1961 metal storefronts were installed.  A more comprehensive renovation three years later resulted in stores and a post office on the ground floor, a factory space on the second, the Joffrey school on the third, a plating company (possibly Farrell) on the fourth, and apparel manufacturers on the two two floors.

As the neighborhood changed, so did the tenant list.  Around 1976 the Village Weaving Center occupied the fifth floor.  In addition to its retail shop, it offered classes in weaving.  The architectural firm of Edelman & Salzman moved in around the same time.

By the time this photograph was taken in 1941, the cornice had been removed.  photograph via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

In the meantime, the Joffrey Ballet's official school, the American Ballet Center, thrived in the third floor space, spreading into the fourth floor by 1979--this despite New York Magazine's description of the studio on September 10, 1979.  The article said, "cramped quarters make hallways, dressing rooms, and the waiting room noisy and hectic, and ventilation in the good-size studios is poor."

The article noted, "A large number of gifted children are granted generous scholarships here, and starting at twelve, selected students are given ample opportunity to perform in the Joffrey Ballet's concert group for up-and-coming young dancers."

More than six decades after signing its first lease, the Joffrey Ballet School continues at 434 Sixth Avenue.  Today it is among the foremost dance training institutions in the world.

photographs by the author

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Albert Wagner's 1896 37 East 12th Street

 

In 1895, the old building at 37 East 12th Street underwent a flurry of sales.  Emil Bloch purchased it from John W. Condit "for a sum less than $150,000," according to the Real Estate Record & Guide.  Shortly afterward, on October 11, he resold it to Jacob Hirsh, "for improvement."  And a month later, Hirsh sold the property to architect and builder Albert Wagner.  On November 30 the Record & Guide reported that Wagner "will improve the plot by erecting an eight or nine-story modern business structure."

Wagner was already responsible for many mercantile and loft buildings throughout the city.  For this eight-story structure, he turned to the Italian Renaissance for inspiration.  The two-story base was clad in cast iron and encrusted with intricate arabesques.  

Wagner used terra cotta to lavishly embellish the upper floors.  The three-story mid-section featured a centered, full-height, engaged Ionic column.  A complex band framed this area, which was flanked by two pairs of three-story, barley twisted colonettes.  The dramatic treatment of the top three floors included shell-carved pediments supported by Corinthian columns at the sixth floor, and an arcade of deep-set windows at the eighth.

The building was completed by December 1896 and it filled with garment manufacturers.  Among the first was Henry Cohen & Co., makers of ladies' silk waists, or shirtwaists.

In March 1902 Fromberg & Goldstein moved in, doing business as the newly-formed Fashion Cloak and Suit Company.  It was not long before the fledgling firm was in trouble.   In September Siegel Brothers had not been paid for 13 pieces of cloth, valued at $233 and filed a complaint.  But, according to The New York Times on September 12, when Assistant Deputy Mayforth went to the factory, he "found it closed, and was informed that it had been cleaned out on Saturday last."

The firm's creditors did not wait for authorities to find the missing owners.  The Fur Trade Review reported, "On September 18 a petition in involuntary bankruptcy was filed against the concern."

In the meantime, other apparel firms fared much better.  Operating from the building at the time was Edelman Bros., makers of "misses' and children's cloaks and suits."  In its January 1904 issue, Cloaks and Furs remarked, "Every season they turn out many new and exclusive styles for the young folks which make 'hits.'"

Cloaks & Furs, January 1904 (copyright expired)

Other apparel-related tenants were cloak manufacturer Moses Natelson; Horwitz & Goodman; A. Lehman & Co., makers of tailored suits; and La Mode Skirt Co.  

A. Lehman & Co. catered to the carriage trade.  An advertisement on September 9, 1908 touted its "Exceptionally attractive Designs made in the latest Fall models.  Critically correct to your measure."  The prices ranged from $15 to $35--the more expensive equal to about $1,000 today.

During the 1910's the building was home to D. Kaplan, makers of shirtwaists.  The firm employed two men and 26 women.  Other tenants were Nelson and Ladin, another shirtwaist manufacturer; A. Ratkowsky, "medium-priced furs;" and Kurshan Bros., importers of "venetians" (worsted fabrics used in suits, coats and dresses).  

The Depression years saw a change in the tenant list.  While at least one garment firm, Benjamin Margolis, maker of pajamas and blouses, moved in in 1931, a variety of industries were now represented.  That same year the Crown Footstool Corporation leased a floor.  They were joined by the Joy Packaging Co., Inc., which sold and distributed candy.

Most notable, however, was the Communist-based The Workers School Forum, which leased space on the second floor by 1932.  

from the Daily Workers, October 8, 1932

A tenant with a similar political bent, the newspaper L'Unita Oberaia, set up its operation here in 1935.   The two-year old publication was run, according to The Daily Worker on February 7, by "revolutionary Italian workers."  The article explained...

this Italian language newspaper has conducted the most relentless struggle against the penetration of Italian fascist propaganda and against the persecution of Italian workers in this country by the agents of Mussolini.  It has been the best guide of the Italian workers in all their daily struggles against the attacks of capitalism upon their standard of living and against the deportation weapon of the bosses.

The newspaper did not go unnoticed by the Federal Government.  The Massachusetts House Committee on Un-American Activities report of 1938 described it as "An Italian monthly which the Communist Party admits is under Communist influence."

Other tenants were decidedly less political, like the Clyde Furniture Co., here at the same time.  After mid-century the Acme Bulletin & Directory Board Corp. leased space in the building.

But the last quarter of the century saw significant change in the district, and around 1975 the Kenshire Galleries moved in.  In its December 7, 1987 issue, New York Magazine mentioned that "Nineteenth-century Italian gilt armchairs, $6,000 a pair, and an antique French Aubusson fire screen, $2,200," were available here.  The upscale store remained until around 2015.

In February 2015, The New York Times journalist Vivlian Marino reported on Edward J. Minskoff's upcoming conversion of 37 East 12th Street to residential space.  The president and founder of Edward J. Minskoff Equities, he announced that there would be just six units, pointing out "the room sizes are big and the ceiling heights range from 13 to 16 feet."

The renovation, which was completed in 2016, resulted in one apartment per floor from the second through sixth, and a four-bedroom duplex on the top two floors.  A three-bedroom, two-story maisonette (called The Townhouse by realtors) has a private entrance on the ground floor.

Albert Wagner's striking facade remains unchanged and is worth a pause to adequately appreciate.

photographs by the author

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