CB5 CELEBRATES 50 YEARS OF LANDMARKS lost but not forgotten
This report was prepared by the Landmarks Committee of Community Board Five. Special thanks to Buzz Beitchman, Renee Cafaro, Ina Clark, Sharon Connelly, David Golab, Joe Hagelmann, John Harris, Will Heyer, Sam Johnson, Ed Klimerman, Layla Law-‐Gisiko, Karen Pedrazzi, David Sandler, Jack Taylor, Tony Testa.
INTRODUCTION 50 ANNIVERSARY LANDMARKS LAW TH
This month, on April 19th, we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the New York Landmarks Law. Many buildings within CB5 played a central role in the passing of the law. As you know, the movement for a landmarks law was amplified by the demolition in 1963 of Penn Station, designed by McKim, Mead and White. After months of protests to save the Brokaw Mansions, located on 5th Avenue and 79th Street, the beautiful buildings dating 1910 were demolished in February 1965. The actual demolition of the Brokaw Mansions helped move the landmarks legislation out of the City Council Committee that was reviewing it, to a vote by the Council, and ultimately to the Mayor to be signed into law. On April 19th 1965, Mayor Robert Wagner signed the bill into law.
The Brokaw Mansions
The first building to be landmarked by LPC was the Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House, a Dutch colonial house in Flatbush, Brooklyn that dates to the mid-‐17th century. Some called the buildings a bunch of shacks, but LPC recognized the historic value of the humble structures.
Manhattan’s first landmark was the Merchant’s House Museum, an 1831-‐32 row house at 29 East 4th Street. A modest yet significant building.
The Sniffen Court Historic District on 36th Street between 3rd Avenue and Lexington is the first historic district ever designated in New York. Created on June 21, 1966, it is one of New York City's smallest historic districts.
Central Park was the first scenic landmark, designated in 1974.
In November 1974, the main interiors of the New York Public Library became the first interior landmark.
The tallest landmark is in CB5. It is the Empire State Building.
The youngest building to be designated was the Lever House, also in CB5. It was designated a landmark when it turned 30.
CB5 encompasses four historic districts, the Madison Square North Historic District and the Ladies Mile Historic District, the Irving Place Historic District and the Gramercy Park Historic District. It is home to the most iconic landmarks of New York, including the Empire State Building, the Chrysler building, the Flatiron Building, Grand Central Terminal, Rockefeller Center, St Patrick’s Cathedral, St Bartholomew Church, The Plaza Hotel, the Ethel Barrymore Theater, the Lunt-‐Fontanne Theatre, Carnegie Hall, The New York Public Library, to name just a few. We have a number of interior landmarks, two scenic landmarks with Central Park and Bryant Park. We have a landmarked lamppost, at the corner of 5th Avenue and 23rd Street, and a landmarked clock also at 5th Avenue and 23rd Street. We have many lesser-‐known landmarked buildings, because the god of landmarks is in the details. Over the past century, CB5 has lost a number of very significant buildings, some were lost before the passing of the landmarks law, and some were lost after. The wound of losing the Rizzoli building in 2014 is still very fresh to us. These buildings are lost but not forgotten. To honor our great architecture, this month, each member of the Landmarks Committee was asked to prepare a report on a lost building of CB5. You will read about Penn Station, researched by David Sandler, The Metropolitan Opera House researched by Tony Testa, The Hippodrome researched by Will Heyer, The Drake Hotel researched by Karen Pedrazzi, The Old Tammany Hall researched by John Harris, The Astor Hotel, researched by Sam Johnson, The Studebaker building researched by Ina Clark, The Ziegfeld Theater researched by Sharon Connelly, The Union Dime Savings Bank researched by Buzz Beitchman, the Fulton Theater, researched by Layla Law-‐Gisiko, and finally the Biltmore Hotel researched by Renee Cafaro. We hope you will enjoy reading about our lost treasures.
Old Pennsylvania Station
MANHATTAN COMMUNITY BOARD FIVE
CELEBRATES
50 YEARS OF LANDMARKS lost but not forgotten
Board Five. Special thanks to Buzz Beitchman, Renee Cafaro, Sharon Connelly, This report was prepared by the Landmarks Committee of Manhattan Community David Golab, Joe Hagelmann, John Harris, Will Heyer, Sam Johnson, Ed Klimerman, Layla Law-‐Gisiko, Karen Pedrazzi, David Sandler, Jack Taylor, Tony Testa.
Pennsylvania Station
David Sandler
Studebaker Building
Ina Clark
Ziegfeld Theater
Sharon Connelly
The Drake Hotel
Karen Pedrazzi
The Hippodrome
Will Heyer
Tammany Hall
John Harris
The Biltmore Hotel
Renee Cafaro
The Union Dime Savings Bank
James "Buzz" Beitchman
Astor Hotel
Sam Johnson
Helen Hayes Theatre
Layla Law-Gisiko
The Old Metropolitan Opera House
Tony Testa
The Savoy-Plaza Hotel
Joseph Hagelmann
Research by David Sandler
Pennsylvania Station
“…we will probably be judged not by the monuments we build, but by those we have destroyed.” -‐-‐ Ada Louis Huxtable. The New York Times, October 30, 1963
PLANNING & CONSTRUCTION The Pennsylvania Rail Road (PRR) commissioned the original Pennsylvania Station to connect existing train lines west of the Hudson River to New York City. Prior to its construction between 1905 and 1910, PRR passengers traveling from points south were forced to disembark at Jersey City and take a ferry across the river to Manhattan. The building became a reality due in large part to the New York Tunnel Extension Project beginning in 1903, which created new tunnels under the Hudson and East Rivers, and the development of the electric locomotive around the turn of the 20th century, which eliminated the build up of pollution previously caused by the use of steam engines.
DESIGN
Inspired by the Gare d’Orsay in Paris, PRR President Alexander Johnston Cassett hired Charles McKim of famed architecture firm McKim, Mead & White to build a terminal in the heart of New York City to serve as a travel hub, however, Cassett’s vision was for a structure twice the size of the Paris station.
The Gare d’Orsay in Paris, the first electrified urban train hub in the world, served as the inspiration for the original Pennsylvania Station.
Several existing buildings, in turn, inspired McKim. According to a 2014 PBS documentary, McKim studied the use of public buildings in Ancient Rome before laying out the design of the station. Indeed, the main waiting room, which was a block and a half long and 15 stories tall, was intended to recall the Baths of Caracalla in Rome.
The Baths of Caracalla in Rome were a direct inspiration for the main Waiting room of Charles McKim’s Pennsylvania Station.
McKim designed a barrel-‐vaulted ceiling that was as tall and as long as the nave in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.
The original Pennsylvania Station was a colossal achievement of design and engineering.
A work of art itself, Pennsylvania Station also housed numerous sculptures, including 22 eagle sculptures originally perched around the cornice of the building.
Although 22 Eagles originally surrounded the Station, only three currently reside in NY.
Eighty-‐four granite columns adorned the façades of the structure, with the Seventh Avenue façade dominated by a colonnade of pillars modeled after the Brandenburg Gate in the center of Berlin. This colonnade led passengers in taxis into a carriageway, while those on foot passed through an elegant Italian-‐style shopping arcade.
th The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, formerly leading directly to the city palace of the Prussian monarchs, inspired the 7 Avenue façade of McKim’s Pennsylvania Station
Pennsylvania Station was the first modern train station that reserved separate concourses for arriving and departing passengers. The main departure concourse employed a massive steel and glass train shed, which allowed natural sunlight to spill down and flood the train platforms themselves, which were 45 feet below ground in the City’s bedrock. McKim created an experience of grandeur for the traveler and an architectural icon for the City.
USAGE
Pennsylvania Station stood for over half a century. During that time, countless “Pennsy” trains arrived and departed from major cities like Chicago, St. Louis, Washington, and Philadelphia. In addition to scores of passengers traveling from one city to another, however, Pennsylvania Station quickly saw a massive influx of local traffic, as the New York Tunnel Extension Project allowed the opening of the City to the surrounding suburbs. Indeed, by 1920, upwards of two-‐thirds of the daily passengers using Pennsylvania Station were commuters. The peak usage of the Station occurred during World War II. By 1945 some estimates showed that more than 100 million travelers visited the station each year. By the mid 1950s, however, those numbers began to dwindle with the introduction of the Jet Age and the creation of Interstate Highway System. As fewer and fewer passengers turned to train travel, the cost of maintaining the structure soon became prohibitive for the PRR.
DESTRUCTION
Although McKim, Mead & White envisioned their creation standing for hundreds of years, it only managed 53. In 1962 the PRR, facing competition from the airline industry and close to financial ruin, made the decision to demolish the building and make way for a new Madison Square Garden entertainment complex, with a subterranean train terminal using the existing tracks. Although the PRR quietly negotiated the destruction of the building, following a 1961 article in the New York Times announcing the plan, public reaction was swift. A group of architects formed the Action Group for Better Architecture in New York (AGBANY) and appealed to the Planning Commission to consider the architectural and historic attributes of the building. Ultimately, the Commission refused to do so and unanimously voted to grant the necessary zoning variances and demolition permits for the plan to go forward.
The demolition of Pennsylvania Station took three years.
LEGACY
Pennsylvania Station was the result of a decade’s worth of planning and design. It required the vision of Alexander Johnston Cassatt and the genius of Charles McKim. It coincided with the development of the electric locomotive, the improvement of the environmental impact of the train industry, and spawned new engineering and tunneling techniques. The station and the supporting infrastructure of tunnels under the Hudson and East Rivers cost $114 million dollars upon completion, which would be approximately $2.7 billion today. The PRR funded the project in total. Most agree today that the structure should never have been demolished, as it was an icon of the City and a beacon of creativity. Proving the adage that “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone,” the destruction of Pennsylvania Station ultimately spurred public action. Despite its failure to prevent the demolition of the station, AGBANY successfully galvanized the City and proved the worth of preserving historic sites. In 1965 legislation was signed to help protect New York City’s architectural heritage. (The United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the New York City Landmarks Law in 1978). This legislation ultimate helped to create the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, which was the first of its kind in the United States. Since its creation in 1965 the Commission has helped preserve multiple buildings and neighborhoods, perhaps most notably, Grand Central Station, which was threatened in the late 1960s.
APPENDIX
The loss of McKim’s masterpiece is as monumental as the structure was itself. It serves to remind us that preservation is not merely worthwhile but critical.
Research by Ina Clark
The Studebaker Building 1600 Broadway (Northeast Corner of Broadway and 48th Street)
Date Built 1902-‐1903 Architect The Studebaker Building was designed by James Brown Lord, the designer of Delmonico’s at 44th Street and Madison Square Park’s Appellate Division of New York State (considered his most important commission). Style and Materials Red brick and terra cotta with a large roof cornice and arched windows framed by ornamental stonework medallions. Each floor was about 2 feet higher than the standard of the time, creating spaciousness both internally and externally. Description and History The Studebaker Building (not to be confused with the far uptown building of the same name) was built at 1600 Broadway – on the northeast corner of Broadway and 48th Street – by the Juilliard Estate in 1902. It was ten stories high and occupied the entire block front between Broadway and 7th Avenue, with 113’ frontage on Broadway. In 1903 The Studebaker (vehicle) Company gained a lease on the building for both a factory and office as well as sales rooms on the first floor. The building included a large elevator to move cars and equipment throughout the building. Studebaker was known for luxurious horse-‐drawn carriages, single-‐seat vehicles, and early automobiles. Studebaker moved to 57th Street in 1910. The building was then leased to Bustanoby Frères, owner of the Café des Beaux Arts, for 99 years, and they originally planned to significantly alter the building (with designs by Trowbridge and Livingston) “in line with the original design,” including two additional floors and a roof garden, at a cost at that time of up to $3 million. With additional extensive changes, including a possible hotel, they planned to rename the building the Palace of Fine Arts. Ultimately the Bustanoby brothers instead transferred their lease to Benz & Cie in 1911, while the building remained the property of Helen Cossitt Juilliard, who died in 1916. Baseball legendary John McGraw leased the second floor of the building in January 1912 to open a billiard and poolroom. In the 1910s, the Mutual Film Company had both offices and storage space at the Studebaker (Charlie Chaplin was a contract player there). Max
Fleischer Studios (the largest animation studios outside of Hollywood) were housed there in the ‘20s and ‘30s. They created the first Betty Boop animated cartoon at the Studebaker in 1930 and Popeye was created there in 1933.
Other plans for the building included a restaurant and a roof lease for the installation of a commercial sign (at $25,000 a year the highest price paid for electric signage). The ground floor and basement became the restaurant Folies with the upper floors modified for commercial tenants. Major electric signs that filled the space over the years included Maxwell House, Chevrolet, Braniff and, finally, Sony. The ground floor was home over the decades to Ripley’s Believe it or Not Odditorium (1939), Howard Clothes (1940), and Tony Roma’s A Place for Ribs. The C.B.C. Film Sales Company (later renamed Columbia Pictures by founders Harry Cohn, Jack Cohn, and Joseph Brandt) had its first offices at 1600 Broadway, with Frank Capra an early director for the company.
The Ballroom on the ground floor was originally called Rector’s and at various times was named the Boardwalk and the Café de Paris. It became the Cinderella Ballroom in 1924 and the Paul Whiteman Club for a few months in 1927, after which it was christened the Club New Yorker. Among the headliners there were the legendary Bix Beiderbecke, with a marker designating the Cinderella Ballroom as the location of his New York debut. In 1979 the Studebaker Building was recommended for landmark consideration by LPC; no action was taken. Contributing factors to the lack of attention included the misattribution of construction to 1912, no notice of its cultural status as the original Studebaker Building, and the lack of identification of the architect as James Brown Lord. The report stated that it was designed by a “minor firm.” Although the owner had suggested that the cornice was dangerous, a report in 1987 found it safe. The cornice, however, was removed in 1988, further harming the chances for landmark designation. In the 1990s additional signs were mounted around the building, culminating in a four-‐story sign for Absolut Vodka.
According to the New York Times, when applying for permits to demolish the Studebaker, Jeffrey Katz, the chief executive of property owner Sherwood Equities (which purchased the building in 1986), said that he had seriously explored renovating the 102-‐year-‐old structure but that doing so would not be feasible. "It's drastically out of place at this time," Mr. Katz said. "It wants now to become something else." The Studebaker Building was demolished in 2004 to make room for an apartment tower, a twenty-‐ five story, 136 units, luxury condominium designed by architect Einhorn Yaffee Prescott.
Research by Sharon Connelly
The Ziegfeld Theatre 1341 Sixth Avenue, corner of 54th Street
The Ziegfeld Theatre
Location: 1341 Sixth Avenue, corner of 54th Street Architect: Joseph Urban and Thomas W. Lamb Built: 1927 Demolished: 1966 Style: Art Deco Construction: Stone Clad Type: Theater Seats: 1,660 Owners/Managers: Florenz Ziegfeld (1927-‐1932), Billy Rose (1943-‐1965) History The Ziegfeld Theatre was a Broadway Theater located at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and 54th Street, several blocks Northeast of the theatre district. It was built in 1927 and was razed in 1966. The theatre was an art deco masterpiece with a unique egg-‐shaped auditorium. The Ziegfeld Theatre was named for the famed Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, who built it with financial backing from William Randolph Hearst. Designed by Joseph Urban and Thomas W. Lamb, it opened on February 2, 1927 with the musical Rio Rita, followed by Jerome Kern's landmark musical Show Boat, which opened on December 27, 1927. Due to the decline in new Broadway shows during the Great Depression, after Ziegfeld's death in 1932, it operated as a movie theater, the Loew's Ziegfeld, for a decade until producer Billy Rose purchased the theatre in 1944. The Ziegfeld housed a series of long-‐running hits over the next decade, but its uptown location eventually made it less popular. NBC leased the Ziegfeld for use as a television studio from 1955 to 1963. The Perry Como Show was broadcast from the theater beginning in 1956. It was also used to present the televised Emmy Awards program in 1959 and 1961.
In 1963 the Ziegfeld reopened as a legitimate Broadway theater. This was short-‐lived however, as Rose began to assemble abutting properties for a new real estate project. The musical Anya (opened November 29, 1965 for 16 performances) was the last musical to play at the theater prior to its demolition in 1966. Notable Broadway premieres • Rio Rita (1927) • Show Boat (1927–1929) • Ziegfeld Follies of 1931 (1931) • Brigadoon (1947–1948) • Kismet (1953–1955) Notable Broadway revivals • The Red Mill (revised version) (1945) • Show Boat (revised version) (1946-‐1947) • Of Thee I Sing (1951) • Music in the Air (1951) • Antony and Cleopatra and Caesar and Cleopatra on alternative nights (1951-‐1952) • Porgy and Bess (1952)
Bill Morrison collection, courtesy of the Shubert Archive.
A fragment of the Joseph Urban facade, a female head, can be seen in front of the private home at 52 East 80th Street. The box from the cornerstone and its contents are in the New York Public Library's Billy Rose Theater Collection. Sculpture fragment from the Ziegfeld Theatre facade. Photo: Wikipedia
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Architecture Joseph Urban Joseph Urban was one of the originators of the American Art Deco style. Remaining buildings in New York City include the The New School building and the base of the Hearst Tower. In addition to architecture, Joseph Urban also designed stage designs, including for the Ziegfeld Follies. All of his architectural and stage designs were theatrical, flamboyant, decorative, and illusionistic. Urban believed that public space should be designed with the same sense of total environment and aesthetic pleasure with which one created a stage setting. The idea behind the Ziegfeld Theatre was the creation of an architectural design which should express in every detail the fact that here was a modern playhouse for modern musical shows. The strong decorative elements of the facade have nothing to do with usual architectonic proportions. They are meant as a poster for the theater. The interior was designed with no moldings so that everything would flow together smoothly, "like the inside of an egg," and the decor was envisioned as a single, unifying, encompassing mural. "The carpet and seats," explained Urban, "are in tones of gold, continued up the walls to form the base of the mural decoration where heroes of old romance form the detail in flowering masses of color interspersed with gold." For Urban this was not merely decoration, but a carefully thought–out scheme for enhancing the experience of the spectators: "The aim . . . was to create a covering that would be a warm texture surrounding the audience during the performance. In the intermission this design serves to maintain an atmosphere of colorful gaiety and furnish the diversion of following the incidents of an unobtrusive pattern." Thomas W. Lamb Thomas W. Lamb achieved recognition as one of the leading architects of the boom in movie theater construction of the 1910s and 1920s. Lamb was instrumental in establishing and developing the design and construction of the large, lavishly decorated theaters, known as "movie palaces", as showcases for the films of the emerging Hollywood studios. His first theater design was the City Theatre, built in New York in 1909 for film mogul William Fox. His
designs for the 1914 Mark Strand Theatre, the 1916 Rialto Theatre and the 1917 Rivoli Theatre, all in New York's Times Square, set the template for what would become the American movie palace. Among his most noted designs that have been preserved and restored is Warner's Hollywood Theatre (1930) in New York (now the Times Square Church). Aside from movie theaters, Lamb is noted for designing (with Joseph Urban) New York's Ziegfeld Theatre, as well as the third Madison Square Garden (1925) and the Paramount Hotel in midtown Manhattan. Demolition and Redevelopment Billy Rose had bought adjoining properties to make the location attractive to developers, but died before he could close a deal. His estate sold the property for demolition, and the Ziegfeld Theatre was torn down in 1966 to make way for a 625 foot, 50 floor skyscraper, the Fisher Bros. Burlington House (later renamed the Alliance Capital, and then Alliance Bernstein building). It was designed by Emery Roth & Sons and completed in 1969. It is an unrelieved slab structure in corporate international style, faced with dark glass. Its small plaza is dominated by its sprinkling fountain like a dandelion seedhead.
The New Ziegfeld Theatre A second Ziegfeld Theatre, named in honor of the original, is located at 141 West 54th Street, a few hundred feet from the site of the original Ziegfeld Theatre. Designed as large single screen movie theater (1,131 seats), the last of its kind in Manhattan, it opened in 1969 and remains in operation today. It is one of the last large-‐scale movie palaces built in the United States. It was constructed by Emery Roth & Sons from designs by Irving Gershon and interior Research by Karen Pedrazzi designs by John J. McNamara (who had been an associate of original Ziegfeld architect Thomas W. Lamb).
The Drake Hotel
50 East 57th Street, New York, NY (between Park Avenue & Madison Avenue)
The Drake Hotel was a hotel located at Park Avenue and 57th Street, in New York. The hotel was built in 1926-‐27 by the real estate organization of Bing and Bing and designed by Emery Roth. It was a 21 floor complex with 495 rooms. "It boasted innovations such as automatic refrigeration as well as spacious, luxurious rooms and suites." Fauchon chocolates was located on the ground floor. A mid-‐block addition to the hotel, which was on the northwest corner at 56th Street, was erected in the 1960s. It shared the Park Avenue block front with the handsome black office tower with arched windows at 450 Park Avenue. The Drake had a polished red-‐granite one-‐story base beneath two limestone stories. The 21-‐ story, beige-‐brick building had three setbacks and beautiful three-‐story columns supporting large broken pediments on its avenue frontage at the top of its base and attractive façade decorations at its top. It had a large entrance marquee on the side street with sidewalk landscaping and a large lobby. In the early 1960’s, a nightclub and discotheque at the hotel, known as Shepheard’s, handsomely outfitted with Egyptian-‐style décor, became the city’s first major public disco. In an episode of NBC's Today Show from the mid-‐1960s, Shepheard's Club at The Drake Hotel was featured in a segment with Barbara Walters. Shepheard's was touted as the most fashionable nightclub of the time, where people like Lee Radziwill and Julie Newmar danced The Frug to a live disc jockey. Shepheard’s was a hotspot. It was hip and posh and cool. The club was open seven days a week, served cocktails, dinner and supper, and was open until 3pm. It was a famous dance scene. On April 26, 1964, the infectious new dance the ‘Jamaica Ska,’ just imported from the Caribbean island by dance lovers of New York’s jet set made its controversial U.S. debut, at Shepheard’s nightspot.
Jimmy Hendrix at the Drake Hotel
Silent film star Lillian Gish lived at the hotel from 1946-‐1949. Other notable guests included Frank Sinatra, Muhammad Ali, Judy Garland, and Glenn Gould. Restauranteur Toots Shor lived there in his final years. Songwriter Jerome Kern collapsed on the sidewalk in front of the Drake on November 5, 1945. In the 1960s and 1970s the Drake Hotel was the preferred accommodation in New York for a number of touring rock bands, such as Led Zeppelin and The Who. During their stay there in 1973, Led Zeppelin had $180,000 stolen from a safe deposit box at the hotel. The money was never recovered and the identity of the thief or thieves has never been discovered. The band later sued the Drake Hotel for the theft. Jimmy Hendrix was also a regular.
Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin arguing about his hair with a New York old lady in the lobby of the Drake Hotel in 1973. The scene was immortalized in Led Zeppelin music video of Traveling Riverside Blues.
In 2006 the hotel was sold for $440 million to developer Harry Macklowe. Demolished in 2007, the site remained vacant until 2011. On September 26th, 2011 Macklowe Properties and CIM Group began excavating the construction site for 432 Park Avenue. What has been named the Western Hemisphere’s tallest residential building is currently completing construction in Manhattan’s Midtown East neighborhood between 56th and 57th Streets. The 1,400 foot tall building known as 432 Park Avenue comes from CIM Group and Macklowe Properties. Architect Rafael Vinoly’s innovative slender design includes 6 components, two-‐story breaks every 12 floors to reinforce the building’s structural integrity and reduce wind load. The tower is designed to have eighty-‐four 3,969-‐square-‐foot stories, each with six 100-‐ square-‐foot windows per face. Residents on higher floors will experience expansive views while looking down upon New York City’s skyline, including the nearby Chrysler Building and Empire State Building. The building has received mixed reviews, praised by some, while vilified by others. “Some genuinely distinguished architecture is being created once again in Manhattan.” wrote James Gardner of the Real Deal website. And Paul Goldberger noted in Vanity Fair that “Viñoly’s 432 Park, on the outside, is as sophisticated as One57 is glitzy.” While, Martin Filler wrote in The New York Review of Books: “ not one of New York's postmillennial claimants to that lineage possesses an iota of the aesthetic élan that distinguished those early skyscrapers, internationally renowned as America's signal contribution to modern architectural form.”, adding “Much as the new super-‐tall New York condos Research by Will Heyer may serve that same general purpose, these are no works of art. If, as Goethe posited, architecture is frozen music, then these buildings are vertical money. —
The Hippodrome
1120 Avenue of the Americas (Between 43rd and 44th Streets, on the east side of Sixth Avenue) Original address was (756 Sixth Avenue)
Built in 1905 Architect: Thomas W. Lamb, J.H. Morgan Use & Description Theater with 5,200 person seating capacity The exterior of the red brick and terra-‐cotta building was Moorish in style, with two corner towers, each of which was topped by a globe covered in electric lights. The stage was 12 times larger than any Broadway "legit" house and capable of holding as many as 1,000 performers at a time, or a full-‐sized circus with elephants and horses. There was also an 8,000-‐gallon clear glass water tank that could be raised from below the stage by hydraulic pistons for swimming-‐ and-‐diving shows. Historical and Cultural Significance, Notable Quotes & Happenings Largest and most successful theater of its time Performances included Lavish spectacles complete with circus animals, diving horses, opulent sets, and 500-‐member choruses. Popular vaudeville artists of the day Harry Houdini, in 1918, made a 10,000-‐pound elephant disappear. He created a sensation. When Houdini fired a pistol, Jennie vanished from view. The Hippodrome opened on April 12, 1905 with a production titled "A Yankee Circus on Mars."
One year following the opening of Luna Park, Frederick Thompson & Elmer Dundy built the Hippodrome, one block away from the newly named Times Square. The goal was to radically change the world of Times Square in two ways. First, its low admission prices were aimed at the middle class, who had been unable to visit the costly Broadway theatres. Second, it brought the high-‐tech pleasures of the amusement parks to the inner city. The combination of these two factors made the Hippodrome what Thompson called a "gigantic toy" for the masses. "The toymaker of New York," however, designed the theater not for children, but for adults. In Thompson's opinion, the turn-‐of-‐the-‐century American adult suffered from too much work and too little play. He had first created the enlarged playground that allowed them to return to their childhoods. As was the purpose of Luna Park, the fantastic shows at the Hippodrome would temporarily offer an escape for its visitors away from their grim world. • Electricity was used in every conceivable way in the Hippodrome, from the obvious to the inventive. The entire block-‐long facade was itself an electrical billboard that "threw a fire and glare of electric illumination for miles." When approaching the theatre, "a tumult of sudden light hit you on the eyeballs ... you couldn't possibly pass it by unnoticed." The Hippodrome threw the spark that would forever light Times Square. The inside of the theatre was as much an unequalled lighting spectacle. The amount of current used by the Hippodrome's stage was more than the average electrical station could supply at the time. • In 1925, movies were added to the vaudeville, but within a few years competition from the newer and more sumptuous movie palaces in the Broadway-‐Times Square area forced Keith-‐Albee-‐Orpheum, which was merged into RKO by May 1928, to sell the theatre. Several attempts to use the Hippodrome for plays and operas failed, and it remained dark until 1935, when producer Billy Rose leased it for his spectacular Rodgers & Hart circus musical, "Jumbo," which received favorable reviews but lasted only five months due to the Great Depression. Demolished August 16, 1939 Replaced with The Hippodrome Center 21 Floor Office Building (originally built as a parking garage) Built 1951
Research by John Harris
Tammany Hall 141 East 14th Street
Tammany Hall -‐ The 2ND Headquarters (1867 -‐1927) of the “Tammany Hall” Political Machine
“Tammany Hall” has become synonymous with political corruption and outrageous patronage. But there really was a Tammany Hall—in fact, this was the second of them. The first was on Frankfort and Nassau Streets, and the New York Sun newspaper moved in when the Tammany Society, a fraternal and patriotic social society founded in 1789, moved out. This Tammany Hall was situated on 14th Street, between Third Avenue and Irving Place. The cornerstone was laid on the 4th of July in 1867 and the hall was officially dedicated when it welcomed the Democratic National Convention the following year. (The convention, by the way, selected Horatio Seymour as its nominee for president. He was soundly trounced by Ulysses S. Grant.) The three-‐story red brick building had a huge auditorium, plus a smaller one that became Tony Pastor's Music Hall, where vaudeville had its beginnings. The basement contained the Café Ausant, where one could see tableaux vivant, gymnastic exhibitions, pantomimes, and Punch and Judy shows. There was also a bar, a bazaar, a Ladies' Cafe, and an oyster saloon. But all of this was just a sideshow to the political institution built by Boss William M. Tweed, who laid the groundwork for Tammany to control the New York Democratic Party for 70 years. An estimated $75 million to $200 million were swindled from the city by Tweed and his friends between 1865 and 1871. But that’s not how they stayed in business. Tammany maintained control by befriending and assisting the immigrants who were pouring into New York. In return, they expected newly minted citizens to vote for Tammany candidates. In l888, 12,000 municipal jobs and a payroll of $12 million in just Manhattan and a slice of the Bronx were handed out through Tammany’s patronage. This was a bigger distribution of resources than all of Andrew Carnegie’s iron and steel works. In 1854 Fernando Wood became the first Tammany Democrat mayor of the city. For the next 80 years, until Fiorello LaGuardia became mayor in 1934, the antimachine reformers only controlled the city for a total of 10 years. In 1927 the building on 14th Street was sold to make way for a tower being added to the Consolidated Edison Company Building. Tammany built itself a new headquarters at Union Square ….. Photo Source: NYC Architecture Article Source: Time Shutter New York
Tammany Hall
Photo Source: Time Shutter New York Location: 141 East 14th St. (Near Union Square) Date Built: 1867 – 1868 Architect: Not Readily Determined (not surprising given history of Tammany Hall) Style: Italianate Materials Used: Rendered Brick Type: Political Club and Theater Club Sold/Demolished: Consolidated Edison Purchased in 1927 and Demolished Replacement: Expansion of the Consolidated Edison Company Building Information Source: NYC Architecture & Time Shutter New York
Photo Source: NYC
Research by Renee Cafaro
The Biltmore Hotel
Madison Avenue between 43rd & 44th Streets
The Biltmore hotel was originally assigned to design team Charles A. Reed and Allen H. Stem in 1903, but before Reed’s death in 1911, William & Wetmore partnered up and finished the project that opened on New Year’s Day 1913. Thus these same architects who designed the adjacent Grand Central Terminal are noted as the architects of record for the Biltmore. It was one of the first three hotels in the original “Terminal City” development. Architecturally, it had many interesting features including solid masonry façade, and its own entrance to the train terminal, called “The Kissing Room.” It had two towers between which was a garden terrace that was used as an ice skating rink in the winter. The Biltmore was seen as the epitome of Jazz Age luxury. Among its well-‐known interior features was a direct connection to Grand Central Terminal, one of the first indoor swimming pools and Turkish baths, rooftop gardens on the sixth floor setback, and a Palm Court with a golden timepiece made famous in popular culture by the saying, "Meet me under the clock." It has a rich historical background The Treaty of the Danish West Indies of 1916 was signed at the hotel, which transferred possession of the Danish West Indies, from Denmark to the United States, making them the now the US Virgin Islands. In 1942, the hotel was the location of the Biltmore Conference, a meeting of mostly Zionist groups that produced the Biltmore Program, a series of demands regarding Palestine. It also has a place in literary history as it was written about by F Scott Fitzgerald and was a regular meeting place for J.D. Salinger. The Biltmore was at the epicenter of the women’s movement when the city Human Rights Commission ordered the hotel to open its Men's Bar to women in the 1960s. The bar, which was subsequently renamed the Biltmore Bar, was located on Madison Avenue and 43rd Street.
The Preservation Battle: Demolition began suddenly on August 14, 1981, taking many by surprise. In an intense three-‐day effort, preservation groups such as the Municipal Art Society (MAS) and New York Landmarks Conservancy (NYLC) rushed to get a court restraining order to stop what they called a "sneak attack" demolition as August 14th was a Friday. With a restraining order in place, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) toured the building to determine if any interiors could possibly be designated along with the hotel's exterior, but found the interiors on the lower floors of the hotel, including the famed Palm Court, almost entirely demolished. Nevertheless, the LPC scheduled a public hearing to determine granting landmark status to the building's exterior and its remaining significant interiors, including the ornate ballroom on the 19th floor, its foyer, and the stairway in the lobby. Compromise Reached: At a September 1981 Landmarks Preservation Commission meeting, landmark designation was not granted to the Biltmore Hotel or any of its interior spaces. However, a private agreement was reached between the Milstein’s and the NYLC that would restore the Palm Court (with its famous clock) to a "reasonable approximation'' of its architectural shape and space as of August 13th, the day before the hotel closed and demolition began. The agreement also retained several other features, but allowed the owners to demolish the ballroom and alter the exteriors. To assure the ''accuracy and adequacy'' of the restoration work on the Palm Court, the owners agreed to retain an architect acceptable to the NYLC to act as a consultant with the office building's designers. Two years later, the NYLC agreed to nullify the agreement requiring the owners to re-‐create portions of the Palm Court and other features of the hotel. The Milstein’s and the NYLC's appointed architect found that too much historic fabric had been lost and reconstructing the Palm Court would be a ''sentimental but artificial gesture.'' Some contended, however, that substantial portions of the Palm Court had been lost after the NYLC reached its agreement with the Milstein’s, and many preservationists blamed the owners for this loss.
The hotel was stripped down to its steel structural skeleton and rebuilt as Bank of America Plaza. In 2013, it became known just by its address 335 Madison Avenue. Current building: This address will be going through yet another transformation in the much-‐talked-‐about One Vanderbilt project that will be a very modern and very tall project. Renderings below:
Research by Buzz Beitchman
Union Dime Savings Bank Building 40th Street and Avenue of the Americas The
Union Dime Savings Bank was founded in 1859 with offices on the Lower East Side. An interesting anecdote is that it was the first bank to use the word “Dime” in its name. The practice was later copied at banks in New York and across the country. In 1874 the bank moved to its own sumptuous building on Greeley Square occupying the southern intersection of Broadway and 6th Avenue. The bank began its plan to move north in 1906 with the purchase of a plot, 110 (40th Street) by 98 feet (6th Avenue) for the sum of $550,000. Construction was begun in 1907 under a design by architect Alfred H. Taylor. The building was in Italian Renaissance style one of the designs popular for banks since the Silver Panic of 1893. Such stolid architecture gave banks the appearance of substantial wealth and permanence. New York continues to abound in former bank building constructed in this and similar neo-‐classical styles. Taylor engaged the then notable artist Henry Varnum Poor to decorate the large 48 foot-‐high central ceiling. Varnum Poor did so, as described in a 1927 New York Times article, with a tiled ceiling in the “Byzantine” style. This consisted of geometric shapes – stars, circles, squares, etc., surrounding Varnum Poor’s favorite themes – dogs, cats, flowers and babies, as related in the Times article. The bank moved to its new building in 1908/9, selling the Greeley Square building to a South African consortium for a record high price for the area of one million dollars or $250 per square foot. The old building was occupied by a haberdasher until its demise in the 1950s. The bank moved to its fourth location in 1956 and the building at 40th Street and 6th Avenue was demolished to make room for a high-‐rise tower that occupies the space to this day. The bank closed its independent operation in 1981.
Research by Sam Johnson
The Hotel Astor 1515 Broadway
The Hotel Astor: Architects: Clinton & Russell; Charles W. Clinton (l838-‐ l910) and William Hamilton Russell (1856-‐l907). Significance: Shortly before the opening of the Hotel Astor in 1904, the owner, William Waldorf Astor, predicted in The New York Times that the new building would be "the finest hotel in the world." Lavishness and elegance were apparent throughout the building, from the richly ornamented exterior to the carefully decorated public rooms and guest accommodations. The hotel was acclaimed for its fireproof construction and for its many technical innovations, including an incinerator, thermostat in every room, and air-‐ conditioning. Date of erection: Begun 1902 and opened in September 1904 Builder, suppliers: John Downey was the builder. The architects designed the interior decoration. The ornamental plaster work was carried out by Mr. Ringelke; and the following artists executed work on the interior : W. De Leftwich Dodge, Alexander Malcolm, Carlson Chapman, A. C. Rahn, Emens and Unitt, and Paul Grafe. The public rooms were furnished by W. & J. Sloan, and the bedrooms and suites by John Wanamaker. Historical Notes: Longacre Square was the former name of Times Square in Manhattan. It was renamed Times Square in 1904 in honor of the New York Times raising the first tall building in the neighborhood. The subway reached 42nd street in 1905. The hotel was built in a fashion similar to the ocean liners of its day. No expense was spared in the construction. There was no public electricity available in 1904. A coal-‐powered steam-‐ driven plant in the sub-‐basement supplied the entire building with DC current. The Engine Room employed 150 people. The plant had a coal furnace, a gigantic boiler, four large dynamos and a massive storage battery that powered the kitchen, elevators and 14000 electric lights, via 30 miles of copper cable. Kitchen 1904, Ventilated Stoves. The ventilation system that cooled the dynamos also served the electric stove and ovens by drawing heat away through the use of vacuum ducts, similar to those
found in the workings of an ocean-‐liner
In the early 1960’s, the building looked stark, stripped of all frills. It was a means of preparing a building for demolition. The same tactics were used in 1986 to deny 1600 Broadway of its historic status, making way for demolition. The management gradually removed all that is unique about the building, so that it became unworthy of preservation. Many people and organizations tried to prevent the demolition. The Miniskoff Theater was built at the base of 1515 Broadway as a concession to the protest that the palace of antiquity, which was New York’s premier venue for culture and entertainment, was being replaced by just another office building.
Research by Layla Law-‐Gisiko
The Helen Hayes Theatre
210 West 46th Street
The Helen Hayes Theater, aka Fulton Theatre was a Broadway theatre located at 210 West 46th Street in New York that was opened in 1911. It was renamed the Helen Hayes Theatre in 1955. The theatre was demolished in 1982. Since a new Helen Hayes Theatre now exists in Manhattan, the Fulton Theatre is now sometimes referred to as the First Helen Hayes Theatre. History Built by the architects Herts & Tallant for Henry B. Harris and Jesse Lasky, it was originally opened on April 27, 1911, under the name Folies-‐Bergère as a dinner theatre with vaudeville. The building featured three murals and a color scheme by leading American muralist William de Leftwich Dodge. Eighteen-‐year-‐old Mae West was discovered here by the New York Times at her Broadway debut on September 22, 1911. Closing after that, the theatre reopened on October 20, 1911, as the Fulton Theatre. The theatre was managed by Abraham L. Erlanger from 1921, until his death in 1930. In 1955, the theatre was renamed the Helen Hayes Theatre in honor of the renowned actress Helen Hayes and re-‐opened under that name on November 21. In 1982, the theatre was demolished, along with the Morosco, Bijou, Gaiety and Astor Theatres, to make way for the Marriott Marquis Hotel, which now houses the Marquis Theatre. Parts of the Helen Hayes Theatre were salvaged before the theatre's demolition and were used to build the Shakespeare Center, home of the Riverside Shakespeare Company on the Upper West Side, which was dedicated by Miss Hayes and Joseph Papp in September 1982. Since Helen Hayes was still living at the time of the demolition of the theatre that bore her name, it was decided to rename the nearby Little Theatre at 240 West 44th Street in her honor. Besides having had Mae West, the Fulton also had English actor Robert Morley in the title role of the play Oscar Wilde by Leslie and Sewell Stokes in 1938. The play ran for 247 performances and its success launched Morley's career as a stage actor on both sides of the Atlantic.
Audrey Hepburn starred in the Gilbert Miller production of Gigi, which opened at the Fulton on November 24, 1951, and ran for 219 performances. In 1973, it was announced that Atlanta-‐based hotelier John Portman, Jr. planned to build an immense and modern new hotel complex directly in the heart of Times Square. His intended location: right on Broadway, between 45th and 46th Street. This announcement electrified and galvanized city residents, both for and against the urban renewal project. On the one hand, many people (including those in city government) loved the idea
Susan Sarandon being arrested during a peaceful protest to save the Helen Hayes Theater of injecting so much capital and new construction into the heavily depressed theater district. On the other hand, actors, producers, and theater patrons alike decried the loss of three functioning Broadway stages along with two cinemas. Actors young and old, including Susan Sarandon, gathered in protest, sending letters and making phone calls to various members of city government, begging them to “save Broadway.” For a time, their efforts were rewarded with success: Portman seemed to back down. But in 1980, he came back at his detractors in full force, garnering support from city government including Mayor Ed Koch, who helped to secure financial subsidies for the hotel’s construction. In 1982, the wrecking balls arrived on the block. One by one, the near century-‐old theaters were reduced to piles of rubble.
Research by Tony Testa
The Old Metropolitan Opera House 1411 Broadway (between West 39 and West 40 Streets) th
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Description of The Old Met: The Metropolitan Opera House was once located at 1411 Broadway spanning an entire block between West 39 St and West 40 St. In the 1880s, a bold move was made to build an opera house ‘uptown’ closer to the wealthy along Fifth Avenue. Although a relatively plain exterior, the interior could rival any European opera house. The first performance was Gounod’s Faust on October 22, 1883 and the 3600+ seats were filled. Years of obstacles such as fire and the Great Depression put strain on the opera house, but it endured. That is, until the space and facilities became outdated. The new Lincoln Center facilities were too tempting and the Metropolitan Opera House decided to close its doors. Desperate attempts to landmark the building were made, but sadly the very young Landmarks Preservation Commission voted 6-‐5 against the status. In 1967 the building was demolished. Date Built: 1882-‐1883 with its first performance on October 2, 1883 Architect: Designed by J. Cleaveland Cady (Cady, Berg & See). In 1930 it was re-‐designed by the Carrére & Hastings architectural firm. Style: th
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Italian Renaissance, with an exterior that was considered architecturally unappealing by most critics of the day. Attempts at simple European design were made with successive rows of arches and a balustrade roof line. The Beaux Arts-‐style interior was considered lavish enough to contend with any European venue. Materials Used: Steel, Yellow Brick, Brownstone, Terra Cotta Interesting Facts about The Old Met: -‐This was the first home of the newly established Metropolitan Opera Company. -‐At the time, the size of the facility was very impressive: Stage: 92ft deep and 150ft wide, with the largest proscenium in America (Henry Abbey). The Auditorium was larger than La Scala in Milan. -‐It was nicknamed "The Yellow Brick Brewery" for its industrial looking exterior. -‐In a forward-‐thinking move, electrical wiring was run throughout the building “in anticipation of the happy time when the problem of electric lighting shall have been wholly solved,” said The Tribune. In the mean time thousands of gas jets provided a warm light. -‐The Tribune remarked on the building’s amazing fire-‐proof qualities, but ironically gutted by fire in 1892. -‐The Old Met’s seating capacity: 3,625 plus 224 standing room places. -‐On opening night, it was the largest opera house in the world. -‐The first performance was Gounod’s Faust on October 22, 1883. -‐In 1938 the Old Met was threatened by demolition but a quick response by public and private fundraising collected one million dollars to save it the structure. -‐The last opera: La Bohème was on April 16, 1966. -‐The last performance: Bolshoi Ballet on May 8, 1966 -‐The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted 6-‐5 against designating the building a landmark. -‐One victory is that the interior landmark status is thought to have stemmed from this building’s battle.
Prominent Visitors: Enrico Caruso (opera, Aida) Arturo Toscanini (conductor) Leopold Stokowski (conductor) Chris&na Nilsson (soprano) Henry Irving & Ellen Terry (actors) Sofia Scalchi (mezzo-‐soprano) Lionel Mapleson (violinist) Jean de Reszke (tenor) Significant Events Linked to The Old Met: -‐The Metropolitan Opera House was among the first structures to be considered by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission for landmark status in 1965, though it was ultimately demolished. -‐ In 1973, an amendment was added to the 1965 Landmarks Law that would allow the LPC to designate publicly accessible interiors. This amendment would only apply to buildings with “interiors that are ‘customarily open or accessible to the public’ as was the interior of the Opera House”. The loss of the old Opera House was used numerous times as an example of why the amendment to the law was necessary. Demise: Closed April 16, 1966 and Demolished January 1967 (metopera.org, nypap.org, daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com )
Research by Joseph G. Hagelmann III
Savoy Plaza Hotel 767 5th Avenue
The Savoy-‐Plaza Hotel was a Beaux-‐Arts 33-‐story hotel overlooking Central Park at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street in New York City, New York. It opened in 1927 and was demolished in 1965. A very elegant, formal, design that culminated in two tall chimneys, it was directly across Fifth Avenue from the Plaza Hotel. The previous occupant of 767 Fifth Avenue, The Savoy-‐Plaza, opened their doors on October 1, 1927, exactly two decades after The Plaza Hotel. In fact The Savoy-‐Plaza was developed by then owner of The Plaza, Harry S. Black, as a newer companion to the older establishment. This was designed by the architecture firm McKim, Mead & White – although this was well after the deaths of Charles Follen McKim and Stanford White, and several years after William Rutherford Mead had retired from practice. Bookending the southeast corner of Central Park, the 33 story, 420 feet tall skyscraper, which housed nearly one thousand rooms, was deemed an architectural tour de force. Its masculine, geometric design embodied Art Deco’s marriage between man and machine, featuring cubist buttresses, arched entrances, and a Tudoresque slant roof with twin chimneys. In its heyday, the Savoy-‐Plaza was considered a triumph of 1920s prosperity; it weathered the financial hardships of the Great Depression. Within four years of its completion, the Savoy-‐Plaza was joined by two taller, lither hotel counterparts; the 38 story, 570 feet tall, The Sherry-‐Netherland, at 781 Fifth Avenue, designed and built by Leonard Schultze & S. Fullerton Weaver with Albert Buchman & Ely Jacques Kahn, and the 525 feet tall The Pierre, at 2 East 61st Street at Fifth Avenue, which was also designed by Schultz & Weaver. This trio of hotels is deemed great works constructed during the golden age of Beaux Arts-‐style architecture. In 1958, Hilton Hotels acquired The Savoy-‐Plaza, and renamed it The Savoy Hilton. During the time of Hilton’s operation, the hotel was the New York home for Trader Vic’s Polynesian-‐themed restaurant. In 1964, The Savoy Hilton was acquired by Western International Hotels, who renamed it The Savoy Plaza, without the original hyphen. The hotel would remain in operation through the duration of the 1964/1965 New York’s World’s Fair. However, the plans for demolition were announced on August 21, 1964. This news brought significant public outcry and protest. On December 16, 1964, it was announced that the hotel would be replaced by the eastern headquarters of General Motors. Trader Vic’s was moved across the street to the basement of The Plaza hotel, where it would remain until 1989, as then owner Donald Trump considered this to be tacky and inconsistent with his vision for that hotel. Since 1968, 767 Fifth Avenue has been the site of the 50 stories, 705 feet tall General Motors Building, designed by the renowned Edward Durrell Stone, with Emery Roth & Sons credited as associate project architects. Taking cues from International Modernist architecture, GM’s façade is an expression of unbroken verticality in
glistening white Georgia marble and glass. There have been several modifications to the building. FAO Schwartz which had been in the neighborhood at 745 Fifth Avenue since 1931 moved into the southern portion of the building’s retail space in 1986. At the north of the building lobby, General Motors showroom closed in the late 1990’s, and was replaced by the studios for CBS’s Early Show, which has been more recently replaced by Cartier. Around the turn of the 21st Century, while in the ownership of Donald Trump and Conseco, the building’s sunken pedestrian plaza was raised, and on May 19, 2006, the Apple’s 32-‐foot high glass cube was unveiled. This addition was the creation of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, an award winning architecture firm known for emphasizing a strong relationship between buildings and their physical surroundings, and early advocates of sustainable design. .
The Savoy-‐Plaza only existed at 767 Fifth Avenue for a brief period of 38 years. Had it not been demolished so that the property could be re-‐developed for the existing General Motors Building, it may have been designated by New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission as an Individual Landmark, much like its “older sister” hotel The Plaza had on December 9, 1969. At the very least, had this survived, The Savoy-‐Plaza might have been included in the Upper East Side Historic District which was created in 1981, and includes The Sherry-‐Netherland and The Pierre. We can’t predict what will be designated as a landmark. It is regrettable that The Hotel Pennsylvania, which opened in 1919, and is a structure of similar scale and style to The Savoy-‐Plaza, also designed by the renowned architecture firm McKim, Mead & White, is still in existence but is likely to be demolished before it reaches its centennial anniversary.
In 1915, before The Savoy-‐Plaza was constructed, there was an earlier 12 story Hotel Savoy, built in 1890-‐92 to the designs of Ralph S. Townsend, adjacent to seven story The Bolkenhayn Apartments building, built in 1894-‐95, designed by Alfred Zucker. Both of these late 19th Century skyscrapers were demolished in 1926 in order to develop the 33 stories Savoy-‐Plaza. Likewise, The Hotel New Netherland, the 17 story Neo-‐Romanesque structure on the north side of East 59th Street, which was built in 1892-‐93 to the design of William H. Hume, would be razed in 1927, to make way for the landmark Sherry-‐Netherland we know today.
It’s regrettable that The Savoy-‐Plaza could not be preserved. In a few years from now, it is likely that The General Motors Building will be a half-‐century-‐old. Should it be included as part of the Upper East Side Historic District? Should it be designated as an Individual Landmark? Will it have the same fate as The Savoy-‐Plaza and be demolished to make way for an even taller skyscraper? Only time will tell. Community Board Five -‐ April 2015
