VACATION TIME I was just away on a long-needed cruise. Our trip was to start on Monday, September 4th. The ship, the Norwegian Joy was delayed due to the hurricane in Bermuda. This gave the 4,000 passengers an extra day in New York (at the cruise lines expense). I asked many of my fellow travelers how they spent the day. Here is one families story.
The father was in New York, in 1942, a member of the Royal Navy and waiting to sail to Europe to the battle front. As any good sailor, he found his way to Jack Dempsey’s Bar on Times Square. He sent a postcard home to England. His family kept the card and his story of having Jack Dempsey autograph it personally.
They came to our city with the mission to photograph the Jack Dempsey’s.
When told the site was the Brill Building I knew there was another story behind the address; the home of many in the music industry.
I could not wait to get home and read Daytonian in Manhattan to find our more about the Brill building.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2023
JACK DEMPSEY’S BAR
&
THE BRILL BUILDING
ISSUE# 1078
The current Jack Demsey’s is a reproduction of the original at a new location.
The 1931 Art Deco Brill Building — Tragedy and Musical History
Nothing, it seemed, could go wrong for Abraham E. Lefcourt prior to 1930. Born on New York’s Lower East Side, he started business manufacturing ladies’ apparel. In 1910 he built his first building, a 12-story structure at 48-54 West 25th Street that housed his factory on two floors.
In 1914 he created the Alan Realty Company–named after his 2-year old son–and continued building, erecting structures throughout the Midtown area. In 1924 Lefcourt gave his now 12-year old son ownership of a $10 million office building being erected at Madison Avenue and 34th Street. His purpose, he said, was to “inculcate in his son…a sense of thrift and responsibility.”
By 1929 Lefcourt not only commanded a vast real estate empire, but was president of the Lefcourt National Bank & Trust Company. On October 3 of that year he announced that he would build the tallest building in the world at the northwest corner of Broadway and 49th Street – the Lefcourt Building. Exceeding the Chrysler Building by four feet in height, it was to cost an estimated $30 million. Negotiations began for leasing the land from brothers Samuel, Max and Maurice Brill, where their Brill Brothers clothing store stood, and the architect Victor A. Bark, Jr. was commissioned for the project.
Nothing, it seemed, could go wrong for Abraham E. Lefcourt.
Suddenly, however, Lefcourt’s fortunes plummeted. Three weeks after his announcement, the stock market crashed. The plans for the skyscraper were quickly reworked, reducing the structure to a $1 million, 11-story office building.
Tragically, one month after the lease of the site was finalized in January 1930, 17-year old Alan Lefcourt died suddenly of anemia. Coupled with the intense grief caused by his son’s death, Lefcourt was forced to deal with a crumbling empire. In August he resigned his bank presidency to devote more time to his real estate holdings. By the end of the year he had sold no fewer the eight Manhattan buildings and investors brought suit against the bank alleging “improper investments.”
The developer continued to lose millions even as the Lefcourt-Alan Building was completed in 1931. By the fall of that year Lefcourt defaulted on the agreement with the Brill Brothers, who foreclosed. The building which he intended as a monument to his son was renamed the Brill Building.
In November 1932, with a judgment pending against him and his world collapsing, Lefcourt suddenly died. While the official report blamed a heart attack, rumors of suicide persisted. His one-time $100 million fortune was reduced to a few thousand.
The polished brass portrait bust of young Alan Lefcourt over the main entranceCompleted in 1931, the striking Art Deco Brill Building remained, in a sense, a memorial to Alan Lefcourt. Above the entrance doors an elaborate niche holds a brass bust of the handsome youth. Another, larger bust, possibly terra cotta, graces façade at the 11th floor. Only the smaller bust is documented as being of Alan (mentioned in Abraham Lefcourt’s obituary in The New York Times as “his son’s bust over the entrance”); however the New York Landmarks Commission feels the evidence suggests the larger bust “too, represents the son, or, perhaps, an idealized male tenant.”
The Lefcourt-Alan Building rises above Broadway on September 10, 1930 with the upper-story bust in place — photo by Edwin Levick — NYPL Collection
Perhaps more significant than the Brill Building’s striking Art Deco architecture, with its contrasting brass and polished black granite, and terra cotta reliefs, it is subsequent place in American music history.
Early tenants were music publishers, many having roots in Tin Pan Alley. Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and Tommy Dorsey had offices here along with their music publishers.
By the 1950’s radio disk jockey Alan Freed and Nat King Cole leased space here. Leiber and Stoller wrote for Elvis Presley here; Red Bird Records, famous for its “girl groups” was on the 9th Floor, and Burt Bacharach and Hal David met here in 1957 after which they wrote over 100 songs together.
Throughout the years the building was home to publishing houses such a Lewis Music, Mills Music and Leo Feist, Inc. and composers Johnny Mercer, Billy Rose, Neil Sedaka and Rose Marie McCoy. By 1962 there were 165 music businesses here.
The larger, possibly terra cotta bust above the top floor
Initially the entire second floor –approximately 15,000 square feet—housed The Paradise, a cabaret where music for the floorshows was supplied by bands like Glenn Miller and Paul Whiteman.
Later it became the Hurricane with tropical palms and flowers, headlining Duke Ellington. In 1944 it was Club Zanzibar where Nat King Cole, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Jordan and the Ink Spots entertained guests in evening attire.
In the 1960’s the songs for the girl groups and teen idols that emanated from the offices here gave rise to what was called “The Brill Building Sound.” It was, according to Robert Fontenot, “poppier, more laden with strings, more giddy with romantic possibility than some of the earthier R&B stuff…This was, in other words, sophisticated pop for teens in the first blush of love, and it’s precisely that combination of classic songwriting technique and post-rock modernism that helped it get over and kept it fresh and exciting in the years since.”
Abraham Lefcourt’s striking Art Deco monument to his son was designated a New York City landmark in 2010.
PLEASE JOIN US ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20th 4-7 P.M. AT THE “DOUBLE TAKE” MOSAIC OPPOSITE THE SUBWAY STATION ROOSEVELT ISLAND, NEW YORK
MTA ARTS & DESIGN ROOSEVELT ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION
TRAVEL INSTRUCTIONS TO ROOSEVELT ISLAND: BY TRAM: TAKE TRAM AT 59TH STREET AND SECOND AVENUE TO ISLAND, WALK 3 BLOCKS NORTH TO SITE OUTSIDE SUBWAY STATION.
BY SUBWAY: TAKE Q TRAIN TO 63RD STREET/LEXINGTON AVENUE STATION. FOLLOW SIGNS TO “F” TRAIN SHUTTLE TO ROOSEVELT ISLAND STATION. SHUTTE OPERATES 3 TIMES PER HOUR TO ROOSEVELT ISLAND. PROCEED UPSTAIRS TO EVENT. SEE BELOW FOR FULL DETAILS
BY FERRY: NO SUGGESTED DUE TO RIVER CLOSURE FOR UNITED NATIONS ACTIVITIES AND RIVER ACCESS CLOSURE
FROM THE ARCHIVES
WEEKEND, SEPTEMBER 16-17, 2023
WE WILL BE BACK NEXT WEEK
STAY TUNED
ISSUE# 1077
NOW IN EFFECT
THE SHUTTLE OPERATES 5 A.M. TO MIDNIGHT DAILY
The “F”SHUTTLE TRAIN WILL ONLY RUN BETWEEN 21 ST/QUEENSBRIDGE, ROOSEVELT ISLAND TO LEXINGTON AVE./63 ST. STATIONS. THERE IS ONE “F” SHUTTLE TRAIN ON ONE TRACK GOING BACK AND FORTH FROM 5 A.M. TO MIDNIGHT DURING THE WEEK.
TIMES TO REMEMBER: F SHUTTLE DEPARTS ROOSEVELT ISLAND STATION EVERY HOUR ON THE: :02 PAST THE HOUR :22 PAST THE HOUR :42 PAST THE HOUR
RETURNING F SHUTTLE DEPARTS 63 ST/ LEX STATION EVERY HOUR ON THE: .10 PAST THE HOUR .30 PAST THE HOUR .50 PAST THE HOUR
THERE ARE NO TRAINS GOING EAST TO QUEENS AFTER QUEENSBRIDGE. THERE ARE BUS CONNECTIONS FROM THAT STATION OPERATED BY THE MTA.
Q TRAIN CONNECTIONS AVAILABLE FROM 63/LEX STATION SOUTHBOUND Q TRAIN TO 57 STREET & 7 AVENUE Q TRAIN TO 42 STREET TIMES SQUARE (CONNECT HERE TO F TRAIN VIA PASSAGE) Q TRAIN TO 34 STREET (CONNECT HERE TO F TRAIN) Q TRAIN TO 14 STREET UNION SQUARE Q TRAIN TO CANAL STREET (OVER MANHATTAN BRIDGE TO BROOKLYN) Q TRAIN CONNECTIONS AVAILABLE FROM 63/LEX STATION NORTHBOUND (72 ST., 86 ST., 96 ST AT SECOND AVENUE)
Overnights between midnight and 5 a.m., F shuttle train service is suspended and free Q94 shuttle buses will connect the Roosevelt Island, 21 St-Queensbridge, and Queens Plaza stations. These are MTA buses.
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
VACATION TIME WE WILL BE TAKING A WELL NEEDED VACATION FROM SATURDAY UNTIL SEPTEMBER 18TH. THESE LAST FEW WEEKS HAVE BEEN EXHAUSTING. WHILE NOT A REPORTER, I FEEL OBLIGED TO GIVE INFORMATION ON THE SUBWAY PROJECT AND RIOC’S MESSAGING. AS I WRITE THIS THE “BLUE MOON” IS RISING TO THE EAST. SEE YOU SOON, JUDYB
FROM THE ARCHIVES
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2023
WHAT IS LABOR DAY?
A HISTORY OT THE WORKERS’ HOLIDAY
NY TIMES
ISSUE# 1076
What Is Labor Day? A History of the Workers’ Holiday.
President Grover Cleveland made it a national holiday in 1894, during a crisis over federal efforts to end a strike by railroad workers.
In the late 1800s, many Americans toiled 12 hours a day, seven days a week, often in physically demanding, low-paying jobs. Children worked too, on farms and in factories and mines. Conditions were often harsh and unsafe.
It was in this context that American workers held the first Labor Day parade, marching from New York’s City Hall to a giant picnic at an uptown park on Sept. 5, 1882.
“Working Men on Parade,” read The New York Times’s headline. The article, which appeared on the last page, reported that 10,000 people marched “in an orderly and pleasant manner,” far fewer than the organizers had predicted would attend. The workers included cigarmakers, dressmakers, printers, shoemakers, bricklayers and other tradespeople.
Sept. 6, 1882Credit…The New York Times
Because it wasn’t yet an official holiday, many of the attendees risked their jobs by participating in the one-day strike. On their signs, they called for “Less Work and More Pay,” an eight-hour workday and a prohibition on the use of convict labor. They were met with cheers.
The American labor movement was among the strongest in the world at the time, and in the years that followed, municipalities and states adopted legislation to recognize Labor Day. New York did so in 1887, and The Times reported that that year’s parade was larger than ever, even amid political tension over the role of socialist groups. Parks, shops and bars in the city were full.
ImageSept. 6, 1887Credit…The New York Times
“The barrooms were never more resplendent,” The Times wrote. “Liquidly, the first legal celebration of Labor Day may go down to history as an unqualified success.”
But it took several more years for the federal government to make it a national holiday — when it served a greater political purpose. In the summer of 1894, the Pullman strike severely disrupted rail traffic in the Midwest, and the federal government used an injunction and federal troops to break the strike.
It had started when the Pullman Palace Car Company lowered wages without lowering rents in the company town, also called Pullman. (It’s now part of Chicago.)
When angry workers complained, the owner, George Pullman, had them fired. They decided to strike, and other workers for the American Railway Union, led by the firebrand activist Eugene V. Debs, joined the action. They refused to handle Pullman cars, bringing freight and passenger traffic to a halt around Chicago. Tens of thousands of workers walked off the job, wildcat strikes broke out, and angry crowds were met with live fire from the authorities.
During the crisis, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill into law on June 28, 1894, declaring Labor Day a national holiday. Some historians say he was afraid of losing the support of working-class voters.
“There were many political advantages at that moment to provide recognition for Labor Day,” said Joshua B. Freeman, a distinguished professor of history at Queens College and the City University of New York Graduate Center.
n in Chicago’s Haymarket Square in support of an eight-hour workday and against police killings of protesters. The authorities opened fire in response, and seven officers and four protesters were killed.
The episode made headlines around the world, and the police response in Chicago was fierce. “The Anarchists Cowed,” read the headline on a front-page Times article on May 8, with a subtitle, “Forced to Seek Hiding Places — The Disorderly Element Thoroughly Frightened.” Eight anarchists were convicted, and four were hanged. Critics argued the trial was conducted poorly, and seven years later, Gov. John P. Altgeld pardoned the three who were still alive.
May 8, 1886Credit…The New York Times
In the years that followed, May Day became an occasion for protesting the arrests of socialists, anarchists and unionists. As it became associated with the radical left — and as Labor Day was recognized by more and more states — the latter came to be the dominant holiday in the United States.
In recent decades, Labor Day has been dominated more by barbecues, sales and last-chance beach days than strident labor protests. The labor movement has weakened, and in New York, there are scheduling conflicts, such as out-of-town vacations and the large West Indian American Day Parade in Brooklyn, which generally includes a sizable labor contingent.
A correction was made on Sept. 1, 2018 :
Because of an editing error, an earlier version of a picture caption with this article misstated the year that Labor Day was made a national holiday. It was 1894, not 1984.
NOW IN EFFECT
THE SHUTTLE OPERATES 5 A.M. TO MIDNIGHT DAILY
The “F”SHUTTLE TRAIN WILL ONLY RUN BETWEEN 21 ST/QUEENSBRIDGE, ROOSEVELT ISLAND TO LEXINGTON AVE./63 ST. STATIONS. THERE IS ONE “F” SHUTTLE TRAIN ON ONE TRACK GOING BACK AND FORTH FROM 5 A.M. TO MIDNIGHT DURING THE WEEK.
TIMES TO REMEMBER: F SHUTTLE DEPARTS ROOSEVELT ISLAND STATION EVERY HOUR ON THE: :02 PAST THE HOUR :22 PAST THE HOUR :42 PAST THE HOUR
RETURNING F SHUTTLE DEPARTS 63 ST/ LEX STATION EVERY HOUR ON THE: .10 PAST THE HOUR .30 PAST THE HOUR .50 PAST THE HOUR
THERE ARE NO TRAINS GOING EAST TO QUEENS AFTER QUEENSBRIDGE. THERE ARE BUS CONNECTIONS FROM THAT STATION OPERATED BY THE MTA.
Q TRAIN CONNECTIONS AVAILABLE FROM 63/LEX STATION SOUTHBOUND Q TRAIN TO 57 STREET & 7 AVENUE Q TRAIN TO 42 STREET TIMES SQUARE (CONNECT HERE TO F TRAIN VIA PASSAGE) Q TRAIN TO 34 STREET (CONNECT HERE TO F TRAIN) Q TRAIN TO 14 STREET UNION SQUARE Q TRAIN TO CANAL STREET (OVER MANHATTAN BRIDGE TO BROOKLYN) Q TRAIN CONNECTIONS AVAILABLE FROM 63/LEX STATION NORTHBOUND (72 ST., 86 ST., 96 ST AT SECOND AVENUE)
Overnights between midnight and 5 a.m., F shuttle train service is suspended and free Q94 shuttle buses will connect the Roosevelt Island, 21 St-Queensbridge, and Queens Plaza stations. These are MTA buses.
