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.'”
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.
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
Our lighthouse is at the Bronx Botanical Garden annual holiday display, Photo by Vicki Feinmel
Rose window at Chapel of the Good Shepherd Laura Hussey & Ed Litcher got it right!
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
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated:
DAYTONIAN IN MANHATTAN
RIHS (C) FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
The tree—a 60-footer from the Adirondacks—made its debut in Madison Square on December 21, 1912, lit with 1,200 colored lights donated by the Edison company. It was such a hit, decorated Christmas trees soon became the norm in many city parks and squares.
I haven’t been able to confirm the date of the painting. Cornoyer moved to New York City in 1899 and spent several years here, so if the tree in this nocturne isn’t the very first park Christmas tree, it’s likely to be one of the firsts.
What a beauty it is, next to what could be the tower of Madison Square Garden in the blue glow of a winter’s night!
Manhattan Bridge over the Lower East Side NINA LUBLIN, ED LITCHER, ARON EISENPREISS, GLORIA HERMAN AND LAURA HUSSEY GOT IT RIGHT!
RIHS/NYPL ZOOM PROGRAM ON DECEMBER 21, 2021 AT 6:30 P.M.
WITH MELINDA HUNT, FOUNDER OF THE HART ISLAND PROJECT
UPDATE ON HART ISLAND
HART ISLAND, THE HOME OF THE NYC MUNICIPAL CEMETERY HAS HAD MANY CHANGES IN THE LAST FEW YEARS. THE ISLAND IS NOW ADMINISTERED BY THE NYC PARKS DEPARTMENT.
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 Deborah Dorff All image are copyrighted (c)
EPHEMERAL NEW YORK
FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
Standing across the street at Grand and Orchard, you just know this unusual building with the black cornice and curvy corner windows has a backstory. Though it’s a little rundown and has a strange pink paint job, this was once the home of a mighty 19th century department store known as Ridley’s.
Ridley’s story begins in the mid-1800s. Decades before Ladies Mile became Gilded Age New York’s premier shopping district, browsing and buying fashionable goods meant going to Grand Street, which was lined with fine shops and dry goods emporiums east of Broadway in the antebellum city.
The best known of these dry goods emporiums and a rival to neighbor Lord & Taylor (located on Broadway and Grand) was Ridley’s.
Founded by English-born Edward A. Ridley as a small millenary store at 311 Grand Street in 1848, according to a Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) report, Ridley’s expanded by buying many of the former residential buildings on the block. Ridley then built a new mansard-roof structure at the corner of Grand and Allen Streets accessible to street car lines and the ferry to Grand Street in Brooklyn.
In the 1880s, Grand Street was still a shopping district but no longer elite. Lord & Taylor had already relocated uptown to a prime Ladies Mile site at Broadway and 20th Street. But Ridley’s sons, who had taken over the business, commissioned a new building at the corner of Grand and Orchard Streets.
Five stories tall with a cast-iron facade, the new Ridley’s opened in 1886. The space featured a “curved, three-bay pavilion that may have been originally crowned by a squat dome, or a flagpole,” the LPC report stated.
Inside, 52 “branches of trade” sold everything from clothes to furniture to toys and employed approximately 2,500 people. Stables behind the store “provided parking for horses and carriages,” according to The Curious Shoppers Guide to New York City, by Pamela Keach.
The amazing thing is, the new block-long Ridley’s would only occupy the space for 15 years. In 1901, Ridley’s went out of business, according to an Evening World article that year—partly a victim of its increasingly unappealing location on the crowded Lower East Side.
After Ridley’s departed, the space was chopped up into smaller retail outlets. Above is the building in 1939-1941 with a housewares store on the ground floor. Today, a men’s clothing store exists there.
The Ridley’s store today in pastel pink
A PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT
Ron Crawford’s new print of the Queensboro Bridge is available at the kiosk, a perfect holiday gift, $35-
RIHS/NYPL ZOOM PROGRAM ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2021 AT 6:30 P.M. WITH MELINDA HUNT, FOUNDER OF THE HART ISLAND PROJECT
UPDATE ON HART ISLAND HART ISLAND, THE HOME OF THE NYC MUNICIPAL CEMETERY HAS HAD MANY CHANGES IN THE LAST FEW YEARS. THE ISLAND IS NOW ADMINISTERED BY THE NYC PARKS DEPARTMENT. REGISTER ON THIS LINK:
William Marcy “Boss” Tweed A guest at the Penitentiary for a year
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
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated:
EPHEMERAL NEW YORK
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You can always spot a New York newbie by their pronunciation of wide, bustling Houston Street—as if they were in Texas rather than Manhattan
But the way New Yorkers pronounce the name of this highway-like crosstown road that serves as a dividing line for many downtown neighborhoods begs the question: Why do we say “house-ton,” and what’s the backstory of this unusual street name, anyway?
It all started in 1788 with Nicholas Bayard III, owner of a 100-acre farm located roughly in today’s SoHo (one boundary of which is today’s Bayard Street).
Bayard was having financial difficulties, so he sold off parcels of his farm and turned them into real estate in the growing young metropolis, according to a 2017 New York Times piece. “The property was converted into 35 whole or partial blocks within seven east-west and eight north-south streets, on a grid pattern,” explained the Times.
Bayard decided to name one of those east-west streets after the new husband of his daughter Mary, William Houstoun (above)—a three-time delegate to the Continental Congress from Georgia. Houstoun’s unusual last name comes from his ancient Scottish lineage, states Encyclopedia of Street Names and Their Origins by Henry Moscow.
The street name, Houstoun, is spelled correctly in the city’s Common Council minutes from 1808, wrote Moscow, as well as on an official map from 1811, the year the grid system was invented. (It’s also spelled right on the 1822 map above).
In the 19th century, the city developed past this former northern boundary street. East Houston Street subsumed now-defunct North Street on the East Side and extended through the West Side (above photo at Varick Street in 1890). At some point, the spelling was corrupted into “Houston.”
The Times proposes a possible reason why the “u” was cut: Gerard Koeppel, author of City on a Grid: How New York Became New York, thought it could have to do with Sam Houston emerging in the public consciousness in the 1840s and 1850s as senator and governor of Texas.
Whatever the reason, the new spelling stuck—with the original late 18th century pronunciation.
RIHS/NYPL ZOOM PROGRAM ON DECEMBER 21, 2021 AT 6:30 P.M. WITH MELINDA HUNT, FOUNDER OF THE HART ISLAND PROJECT
UPDATE ON HART ISLAND HART ISLAND, THE HOME OF THE NYC MUNICIPAL CEMETERY HAS HAD MANY CHANGES IN THE LAST FEW YEARS. THE ISLAND IS NOW ADMINISTERED BY THE NYC PARKS DEPARTMENT. REGISTER ON THIS LINK:
STRECKER LABORATORY AFTER IT WAS ABANDONED IN THE 1960’S
SOURCES
EPHEMERAL NEW YORK
[Top Image: Danny Lyon/US National Archives and Records Administration via Wikipedia; Second image: Wikipedia; third image: Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc.; fifth image: New-York Historical Society; sixth image: MCNY 1971 by George Roos x2010.11.763]
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 FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
We have been celebrating the people and artists Amanda and Brad Matthews from Lexington, Kentucky. We are shocked to hear of the devastation and death on the State. Our prayers are for all the wonderful people of Kentucky at this terrible time.
This morning Amanda texted me “We got home in the dark last night. Our farm and animals all seem to be fine, but have family members list homes and businesses and who have friends who died in the storms.”
Hurray for The Girl Puzzle and the people who have brought it to Roosevelt island. Piece by piece, RI is becoming an urban outdoor analogue to the installations that appear in the Storm King Art Center along the Hudson upstate, but for the most part, the statuary here helps us know our history. A continuing tribute to the leader of the RIHS.
And the photo looks like automobiles exiting into Manhattan from the 59th St Bridge… But let’s keep using RI as the venue for art teaching us about our history.
The old bollards to which vessels tied up in the West Channel near the Otterness statues extolling real estate. The prow of a vessel jutting out from the Island into the West Channel. The Becker restoration and renovation of the Octagon. The buildings along Main Street and the new construction at Cornell Tech. The preserved ruins telling more of our history Then the elegance of FDR Memorial. What a wonderful place our Island is! Thanks to the people with the vision and talent to create it!!
Sent recently from an iPhone transmitting near my home planet
Jay Jacobson
Judith, it was my pleasure entirely. All the fiends who joined me thought it was a very special afternoon celebrating an extraordinary woman, the artist, you, and all the civic work it took to make the installation happen. I’m now on the Advisory Board of another nonprofit in Lexington, MA working to put up the first monument to women in town. They selected Meredith Bergmann as sculptor.
The thing about Amanda’s work is that she makes the women and the work come alive. That’s no easy task.
Let’s stay in touch. Here are some beautiful photos. – Namita Luthra
Manhattan end of Queensboro Bridge, lower deck, approaching Second Avenue. Small structures to left of the bridge traffic are stairs to and from the underground trolley terminal for cars crossing the bridge that stopped at the then-Welfare Island, where elevators brought passengers to the surface level. Bonus history factoid: photo is after June 4, 1951, when First and Second Avenues were converted to one-way traffic. Andy Sparberg
Hara Reiser, Gloria Herman, Aron Eisenpreiss, Alexis Villafane also got it right!
SOURCES
EPHEMERAL NEW YORK
[Top Image: Danny Lyon/US National Archives and Records Administration via Wikipedia; Second image: Wikipedia; third image: Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc.; fifth image: New-York Historical Society; sixth image: MCNY 1971 by George Roos x2010.11.763]
Tags:Houston Street 1970s, Houston Street Name NYC, Houston Street Old Photos, Houston Street Origin NYC, Houston Street Pronunciation Posted in East Village, Lower East Side, Lower Manhattan, Maps, Random signage, SoHo, Transit, West Village
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 FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
Judith Berdy, Rebecca Seawright, Ben Kallos, Susan Rosenthal, Tad Sudol with Nellie
You can touch the miniature and feel the Braille text
Christina Delfico tests the surface
Susan Rosenthal and Shelton Haynes with restored lighthouse
Reflecting in the orb
That was a large bow!
The gulls were a receptive audience
After event at The Sanctuary. A perfect afternoon celebrating Nellie, Amanda and our Island
CONFLUENCE Speech by Judith Berdy at Dedication
We are at a major confluence. The joining of the East and Harlem Rivers, and the Long Island Sound. This Island, where the bodies of water meet, sometimes as a swirling sea. A location with many turbulence, including shipwrecks, on the unseen rock formations in the rivers.
This site was adopted as a fort by an asylum inmate to protect us from the imagined invasion that never came.
Nellie Bly came here to see and experience the turbulence of an asylum that was in turmoil, and was not a peaceful respite space for those whose lives had been upended. Lives interrupted by illness, madness and complicated situations for women towards the end of the late 19th century; those women depicted here by Natalie, Cutia, Audrey and Mioko.
At this northern tip of Blackwell’s Island, many were disillusioned, uncaring and failed to recognize human suffering. Elizabeth Cochrane used her pen to start a movement and work to make those lives better.
For many years, I heard from dozens of writers, playwrights and actors who wanted to know more about the girl in the madhouse. They were all intrigued by this one small aspect of Nellie’s life – only 10 days. Her life of advocacy went around the world to tell the stories that were hidden from view.
A few years back, Susan Rosenthal, our highly driven president of RIOC, initiated a campaign to recognize and celebrate Ms. Bly here on Roosevelt Island.
As a member of the team I was happily amazed at Amanda’s design which materialized into The Girl Puzzle, not only celebrating one person but representing so many women.
Lighthouse Park is very special to me. When I arrived here 44 years ago, it was just a muddy field with a dark lighthouse and little more than that. I was here at its dedication in 1980. This has always been my favorite park, with its panoramic views, the river traffic and, so many times, people fishing & catching bass from the river. On the coldest days of winter, the seagulls sun themselves here, their only respite from the biting cold.
The calmness here will now be lit by this wonderful restoration of the Lighthouse by Tom Fenniman especially with the rebuilt and historically correct top glowing in the night, reflecting the faces of the Girl Puzzle.
I cannot say Thank You enough to everyone who worked so long and hard to make this day come true. I also welcome all our friends from Coler, our closest neighbors, to come to this park, to continue to enjoy the ambiance and remember that out of the swirling waters will arise an area of communal meeting and enjoyment.
Judith Berdy President Roosevelt Island Historical Society
p.s. Thanks to all the RIOC staff and Administration who worked so hard to make this day memorable
Red tailed hawk on RIvercross terrace, probably scouting dinner!
Hi. Just read about the unusual birds of NY. This one was on the Rivercross stoop in September. He wasn’t bothered by the group who gathered to observe and try to help what we thought was a lost baby. Ignored us for the most part and then when someone brought a box to keep him safe until help could come he just flew away…Marcia Ellis
SOURCES
Roosevelt Island Historical Society
Funding Provided by: Roosevelt Island Corporation Public Purpose Funds Council Member Ben Kallos City Council Discretionary Funds thru DYCD Text by Judith Berdy
Edited by Deborah Dorff ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT RIHS. 2020 (C) PHOTOS IN THIS ISSUE (C) JUDITH BERDY RIHS
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
TODAY AT NOON. THE EASY WAY TO GET CLOSE TO THE LIGHTHOUSE PARK IS TO TAKE Q102 BUS GOING NORTH. YOU CAN GET THE BUS IN FRONT OF FOODTOWN. THE BUS WILL DROP YOU OFF AT THE COLER ENTRANCE. THERE IS A CLEAR WALKWAY TO LIGHTHOUSE PARK.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2021
The 542nd Edition
5 FAMOUS BIRDS
THAT HAVE CALLED
NYC HOME
from UNTAPPED NEW YORK
Few birds have thrown New Yorkers into such a frenzy as the mysterious Mandarin Duck did in 2018. The tiny bird made a big splash when he turned up at the Central Park Pond near the Hallett Sanctuary that fall. Mandarin Ducks are usually found in East Asia, so how this guy got to Central Park was quite puzzling. Although the bird had a band on its leg, no one claimed it. When the duck first appeared, the NYC Parks Department told Untapped New York, “It is likely that this duck escaped captivity or was released. Unfortunately, it’s not totally uncommon for people to release pets into a park when they can no longer care for them. This is both against Park rules, and bad for the animal. We have confirmed that it did not come from any of the local zoos.”
Before the Mandarin Duck disappeared as mysteriously as it emerged, there was Mandarin Duck fever in New York City. Dogs were dressed up as the duck, t-shirts were made, The Cut branded the bird “Hot Duck,” and the bird even made it to the pages of gossip website TMZ! The duck made trips to New Jersey and Brooklyn while he was in New York, and was last spotted in March 2019, right before the spring mating season.
In certain parts of Brooklyn, you may catch a flash of green against a tangled nest of twigs and branches. The brightly colored birds who make these massive communal homes are Monk Parrots. The grey hoods that color their foreheads inspired their name. Native to Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, they have been famously spotted in the spires of Green-Wood Cemetery and at Brooklyn College. New Yorkers have also seen the parrots in Brooklyn neighborhoods like Red Hook, Bay Ridge, Manhattan Beach, and Canarsie and in some parts of Queens and the Bronx.
According to Stephen Baldwin, an enthusiast who runs the site BrooklynParrots.com, tens of thousands of Monk Parrots were sent to the United States from Argentina in the 1960s. Argentina had an overabundance of these birds and they were ruining crops. It’s unclear however how exactly the parrots came to be “in the wild.” The most popular story is that they arrived in an unmarked crate at New York’s JFK Airport in 1967 and were accidentally released by a curious airport employee. Another theory states that the birds are released pets, set free by buyers who regretted their talkative purchases. A final version of the origin story is that they all flew away from a shuttered pet shop on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. As of 2020, Baldwin estimates there are about 40 birds at Brooklyn College, 60 at Green-Wood Cemetery, and perhaps another 50 in all of South Brooklyn (including Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Canarsie).
All photos from the MTA Photos Flickr
The high bridges and skyscrapers of New York City make the perfect home for a population of Peregrine Falcons. These predatory birds, native to the East Coast, can be found nesting on the Brooklyn Bridge, Verrazano Bridge, Throgs Neck Bridge, George Washington Bridge, Metropolitan Life Building, Bank of New York, St. Regis Hotel, and Riverside Church. The high perches of New York City’s architecture and infrastructure offer the falcons a great vantage point for hunting their prey. From their lookouts, they can swoop down at speeds of 200 miles per hour!
New York City’s falcons were among the first animals to receive aid from the Endangered Species Act of 1973. According to the NYC Parks Department, over 145 falcons have been successfully hatched and banded by biologists since 1983. Now, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Protection, while Peregrine Falcons are listed as an endangered species in New York State, New York City has the largest urban population of them.
The most recent celebrity bird sighting happened in February 2021 when a rare Snowy Owl took up residence in Central Park. The appearance of the majestic white bird was a welcomed bright spot in an otherwise gloomy second winter of the pandemic. With little else to do, crowds of New Yorkers flocked to the park to catch a glimpse of this visitor. Wild City author Thomas Hynes spent a snowy Saturday night with the Snowy Owl and counted a crowd of roughly 100 admirers, which included actor and comedian Steve Martin! The owl didn’t disappoint when it appeared atop one of the turrets on the 1864 pump house at the Reservoir.
Before the Snowy Owl appeared last winter, the last sighting of this species in Central Park was in 1890, more than 100 years ago! While these owls are usually found in the Arctic regions of North America, Europe or Asia, they pass New York in their normal winter migratory patterns. You can see a Snowy Owl specimen on display in the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall of the American Museum of Natural History. This specific bird was shot by Theordore Roosevelt himself near his home on Long Island in 1876 and donated to the museum in 1911.
Image Courtesy of Ravensbeard Wildlife Center
Little Rockefeller, a small Saw-Whet Owl brought some Christmas cheer to New York City in 2020 when he hitched a ride from Oneonta to Rockefeller Center inside the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. Though her stay in New York City was brief, the tiny owl with big eyes captured the hearts of New Yorkers who followed her story of rehabilitation. After he was discovered by a crew member on the Christmas tree transport team, Little Rockefeller, as she was dubbed, was sent to the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in Saugerties to recover from his journey. Though it looks like a baby, Rocky, as the owl was affectionately called, is a full-grown Saw-Whet Owl. Saw-whet Owls are the smallest owls in the northeast. At Ravensbeard Wildlife Center, Rocky was given fluids and fed “all the mice she would eat.” After receiving a clean bill of health from the vet, the owl was released back into the wild at dusk. If you ever get the chance to go see a rare bird in New York City, please keep in mind the Audubon’s guide for ethical bird photography, which reminds us to avoid causing birds any unnecessary stress or disruption.
THURSDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY THE LIGHTHOUSE FROM COLER HOSPITAL 1950’S BY ELEANOR SCHETLIN
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
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated:
UNTAPPED NEW YORK
RIHS (C) FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
Today at 3 p.m. the glass was being installed at the top of the structure, a project in the works for more than a decade. Thomas Fenniman, architect has worked diligently to re-create the wonderful cap to the structure. It will be finished within the next months, but is worth a visit to see it along with THE GIRL PUZZLE.
Lighthouse Park lives!
Lighthouse Park with and elaborate landscape in the early 20th centuryThe plaque is gone now, and hopefully it will be reconstructed on the site.
This small Lighthouse stands at the northern tip of Roosevelt Island on a projection of land which was at one time a separate island connected to the main land by a wooden bridge. Local legend maintains that during the 19th century a patient from the nearby Lunatic Asylum was permitted to build a stone fort on this outcropping as he feared an invasion by the British. When plans were formulated to build the Lighthouse, this patient was allegedly persuaded to surrender the fort only after much cajoling and a bribe of bogus money. The tale continues that the patient himself demolished the fort and built the new Lighthouse, carving the inscription:
This is the work Was done by John McCarthy Who built the Light House from he bottom to the Top All ye who do pass by may Pray for his soul when he dies.
While construction of the Lighthouse cannot actually be credited to the diligent Mr. McCarthy, the warden of the Lunatic Asylum did specifically mention in his annual report of 1870 an “industrious but eccentric” patient who had built near the Asylum a large section of seawall, thereby reclaiming a sizable piece of land. The warden further remarked that this patient “is very assiduous, and seems proud of his work, and he has reason to be, for it is a fine structure, strong and well built.” Whether or not this patient was the model for the legend of the fort and Lighthouse builder, a connection of the Lighthouse and the Lunatic Asylum is a historical fact. In May 1872, City official resolved to “effectually light” the Asylum and the tip of the island. The following September, the Lighthouse was completed , with lamps furnished by the U.S. Lighthouse Service. The stone structure was built under the direction of the Board of Governors of the Commission of Charities and Correction, the body which administered the numerous City institutions on the island., At that time. The supervising architect for this Commission was James Renwick, Jr.
James Renwick, Jr. (1818-1895), was son of a highly regarded professor at Columbia College. He began his notable career in 1836 as an engineer supervising the construction of the great Distributing Reservoir at 42nd Street for the Croton water supply system. In 1840, his drawings were selected in a competition for the design of Grace Church, which, at that time, was New York’s wealthiest and most fashionable congregation. Renwick, only twenty-five and entirely self-trained as an architect, achieved instant recognition. During his long and highly successful career he designed many important buildings, including the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, the Main building at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, the William E. Dodge Villa (now Greyston Conference Center) and St. Patrick’s Cathedral-both designated landmarks, as is Grace Church. As an art collector and yachtsman, Renwick’s association with the Charities and Corrections Board, in all likelihood, had philanthropic motivations. He designed the Workhouse, City Hospital and Smallpox Hospital on Blackwell’s Island (as Roosevelt Island was then known); the Inebriate and Lunatic Asylum on Ward’s Island; and the main building of the Children’s Hospital on Randall’s Island. He also designed several smaller structures, among them, the Lighthouse on Roosevelt Island.
The Lighthouse is approximately fifty feet tall and is constructed of rock-faced, random gray ashlar. The stone (gray gneiss) was quarried on the island itself, predominately by convict labor from the Penitentiary on the island, and was used for many of the institutional buildings erected there. The Lighthouse is encircled by a small yard paved with flagstone. An entry walk at the south is flanked by stone bollards which have pyramidal tops carved with simple trefoils. The Lighthouse is octagonal in plan and vertically organized according to the tripartite division of the classical column-base, shaft and capital. The base is separated from the superstructure by a series of simple moldings which are interrupted to the south side by a projecting gable above the single entrance doorway. This doorway, which an incised pointed arch above a splayed keystone with flanking corbels, is designed in a rustic version of the Gothic style. The stepped stones of the Lighthouse are pierced above the doorway by two slit windows which light the interior staircase. The top of the shaft is adorned with Gothic foliate ornamentation in high relief, separated by simple moldings from the brackets which support the observation platform. These elements form the crowning feature of the Lighthouse. The octagonal lantern, originally surmounted by a picturesque conical roof is of glass and steel. It is surrounded by a simple metal railing.
The rock-faced stone and the sparing uses of boldly scaled ornamental detail give the Lighthouse the strength and character of a medieval fortification. In its isolated setting, the Lighthouse is a prominent and dramatic feature of Roosevelt Island.
A VIEW OF THE ISLAND FROM MANHATTAN SHOWING METROPOLITAN HOSPITAL JAY JACOBSON GOT IT!!
RIHS/NYPL ZOOM PROGRAM ON DECEMBER 21, 2021 AT 6:30 P.M.
WITH MELINDA HUNT, FOUNDER OF THE HART ISLAND PROJECT
UPDATE ON HART ISLAND
HART ISLAND, THE HOME OF THE NYC MUNICIPAL CEMETERY HAS HAD MANY CHANGES IN THE LAST FEW YEARS. THE ISLAND IS NOW ADMINISTERED BY THE NYC PARKS DEPARTMENT. WATCH FOR REGISTRATION DETAILS NEXT WEEK
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 Deborah Dorff All image are copyrighted (c)
FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
Dancing at the Lunatic’s Ball on Blackwell’s Island
City officials had good intentions when they built the New York City Lunatic Asylum, which opened in 1841 on Blackwell’s Island.
Rather than confining city residents who were deemed insane to prison cells (which had long been the preferred course of action), this new institution with the octagon entrance was all about “moral treatment,” explains Stacy Horn in her new book, Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th-Century New York.
Insanity was to be considered an illness, not demonic possession. And “therapy was focused on the patient’s emotional and spiritual needs,” wrote Horn. That meant exercise instead of shackles, work that would build self-esteem, and recreation to lift spirits.
What kind of recreation? Activities included lectures, concerts, magic lantern shows—and a periodic event dubbed the Lunatic’s Ball.“On special holidays they’d fit up one of the pavilions as a dancing hall and everyone—patients, attendants, and doctors alike—would dance,” . 1865 Harper’s Weekly covered one of these Lunatic’s Balls in an article titled “Dancing by Lunatics”. The Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island was the scene of a most interesting and remarkable spectacle on the night of November 6,” the article stated.“The completion of the first of a series of four frame buildings was celebrated by a ball, in which the patients of the Asylum were the dancers, ‘tripping the light fantastic toe’ after a fashion even more fantastic than Milton dreamed of in ‘L’Allegro.’”The new buildings were necessitated by an increase in asylum residents, causing overcrowding and making the place much less therapeutic and more dangerous than the city had hoped.1865, Harper’s Weekly covered one of these Lunatic’s Balls in an article titled “Dancing by Lu“A prominent fiddler, himself a patient, is lost in ecstasy in the sounds which he produces, and in their influence upon his fellows. Every variety of ‘pigeon wing’ is being cut by the active dancers. Now and then there darts out one who enchains the attention of all her acquaintance by her excellent execution of the most difficult pas.”“Occasions of this sort no doubt tend in a great degree to relieve the sluggish melancholy which too close confinement or too monotonous surroundings are apt to produce in our institutions for insane people. It is often the case that isolation renders incurable diseases of the mind which a more considerate treatment might ameliorate, or perhaps entirely relieve.”This is the same asylum Nellie Bly would go on to write about in 1887, when the Lunatic Asylum had become women-only and “sluggish melancholy” was the least of the problems residents encountered.Bly’s expose on the terrible conditions there ultimately led to its closing. Residents were relocated to a cleaned-up facility on Ward’s Island, one that didn’t seem to continue the Lunatic’s Ball tradition.[Top image: Lunatic asylum scene in 1868; second image, the Lunatic’s Ball, Harper’s Weekly; third image: NYPL, 1850s; fourth image: Lunatic Asylum in the 1890s; fifth image: Lunatic Asylum, undated]
Ron Crawford’s new print of the Queensboro Bridge is available at the kiosk, a perfect holiday gift, $35-
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
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated:
EPHEMERAL NEW YORK
RIHS (C) FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
TODAY IS THE 80th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2021
ISSUE #539
BIG BOYS’ TOYS
OF THE
GILDED ERA
STEPHEN BLANK
Detroit Boat Club
Big Boys’ Toys of the Gilded Era
A lot of really big, really famous yachts have been associated with New York City. Why not? So here is a brief overview of some of fanciest early private yachts.
Size doesn’t matter, we are told. A yacht is a boat designed for the express pleasure of its owner, any size, any shape. In the heyday of the Dutch Republic, small, fast boats were sent to chase smugglers, pirates and criminals. Rich ship owners used these small “jaghts” to sail out to celebrate their returning merchant ships. It quickly became chic to use these “jaghts” to take friends out just for pleasure.
We are told that the first organized regatta was hosted by England’s King Charles II in 1661, a 40-mile race on the Thames between Katherine, Charles’s newly constructed yacht and Anne, the Duke of York’s new yacht. Katherine won, and a new sport was born. Soon some of the world’s wealthiest pushed into the Sport of Kings. The first yacht club in the world was the Cork Water Club, in Ireland in 1720, followed by the Starcross Yacht Club in 1772 in England.
Here, yachting began with the Dutch, but the first large, expensive ocean going yacht was American, George Crowinshield’s Cleopatra’s Barge, built in 1815. Crowninshield was the eldest son of an enormously wealthy Salem family. At a time when all American ships were either merchant or naval vessels, the concept of a pleasure yacht was unique and Cleo’s Barge set the bar for luxury and elegance for the grand yachts in the later 19th century.
The first continuing American yacht club, the Detroit Boat Club, was formed in 1839 but it was more of a rowing club. In 1844 John C. Stevens founded the New York Yacht Club – which became the most famous of all yacht clubs. Early on, racing for prize money was the objective. The Club contracted with designer George Steers for a 101 foot schooner christened America, launched on May 3, 1851. America crossed the Atlantic on her own bottom that year and challenged all of England’s fastest yachts to a match race. No yachts were willing to race her. Finally, America joined a free-for-all on Friday, August 22, racing against 15 yachts of the Royal Yacht Squadron in the club’s annual 53-nautical-mile race around the Isle of Wight. Finishing 8 minutes ahead of its closest rival. America won the Royal Yacht Squadron’s “Hundred Guinea Cup“, later called the America’s Cup to honor the yacht that won it.
America, Wikipedia
Watching the race was Queen Victoria, who supposedly inquired, “Which is first?” Told it was America, she asked, “Which is second?” “Ah, Your Majesty, there is no second,” was the reply. So the story goes. The NYYC defended the trophy from 1870 to 1983, the longest winning streak in sports history.
A few years later, yachts became a giant sign of success. “Boys will have their toys,” one article on 19th century yachts opens, “and the boys of the Gilded Age were no different. Only, their toys were behemoths, and cost a small fortune.” America’s Industrial Age captains poured as much money into yachts as they did into “castles.” Nothing exemplified the era’s ostentation more than their yachts. In this, as in their homes, bigger was better.
Yachts were built for ocean going excursions to Europe as well as coastal entertainment, and contained all the luxuries of home—a very rich man’s home. “Ice rooms, hot and cold running water, tiled baths and mahogany paneling, soft, sumptuous upholstered furniture, and electric lights were commonplace. After all, these families wouldn’t think of going abroad on a scheduled steamer of the day.”
This was the very beginning of the era of Atlantic steamships, in the 1890s with rising competition between German and British lines – finer than before, but still looking forward to the grand ships of the early 20th century. These private yachts, built in the early era of steam power, could rival the luxury of the Atlantic trade.
We know something about a few of the most famous. James Gordon Bennett, Jr. was publisher of the New York Herald, founded by his father, and founder of the International Herald Tribune. Bennett indulged in yachts, opulent private railroad cars, and lavish mansions. He was the youngest Commodore ever of the New York Yacht Club. In 1861, Bennett volunteered his newly-built schooner yacht, Henrietta, for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service during the Civil War. In 1866, he won the first trans-oceanic yacht race. The race was between three American yachts, the Vesta, the Fleetwing and the Henrietta. They started off of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, on 11 December 1866 amid high westerly winds and raced to The Needles, the furthest westerly point on the Isle of Wight.
However, he often scandalized society with his flamboyant and sometimes erratic behavior. In 1877, he left New York for Europe after an incident that ended his engagement to socialite Caroline May. According to various accounts, he arrived late and drunk to a party at the May family mansion, then urinated into a fireplace (some say grand piano) in full view of his hosts.
One of the most opulent was the Atalanta, was owned by Jay Gould, railroad executive, financier, and speculator, an important railroad developer who was one of the most unscrupulous robber barons of 19th-century American capitalism (and New Yorker). Built in 1883, the 235-foot, 3-masted steam yacht boasted a crew of 52, including three cooks and six servants. A New York Times article gushed over its elaborate carving decorations, its main saloon fully the width of the boat and 21 feet long, and the 7 large and handsomely furnished staterooms each with a washstand fitted with a silver plated toilet seat.
Jay Gould’s Atalanta (Library of Congress photo)
In 1886, the even longer 285-foot luxury steam yacht Alva was launched by Alva and William K. Vanderbilt, grandson of transportation tycoon (and New Yorker) Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt. The yacht had a piano, a library with a fireplace, seven guestrooms and a 10-room suite for the Vanderbilts, and quarters for a crew of 53.
Poor Alva was run down on the Nantucket Shoals by the Metropolitan Line Steamer H. F. Dimock making its way from Boston to New York. Happily the crew of 53 “worked like clockwork” and the Vanderbilt party was safely removed from the distressed yacht.
J.P. Morgan sometimes enjoyed commuting between his Hudson River estate and the office on Wall Street by boat. His second yacht named Corsair, which Morgan owned from 1890 to 1898, was certainly one of the most luxurious commuting vehicles the world has ever seen. During its heyday as Morgan’s luxury vessel, the boat served as the flagship of the New York Yacht Club, of which Morgan was Commodore from 1897 to 1899. The yacht was his pleasure cruiser on which Morgan hosted many social events with famous guests such as Theodore Roosevelt and Thomas Edison, and often took Morgan upstate and to various points on the eastern seaboard.
Many of these yachts served in wartime. When the United States hastily declared war against Spain in 1898, it did so without much in the way of a navy – the Great White Fleet was yet to be created by Theodore Roosevelt. Since war with Spain would necessarily involve naval battles and blockades, in order to bring the Navy quickly up to par, Congress authorized the purchase of more than 100 private yachts and corporate ships, among them: JP Morgan’s Corsair, Ogden Goelet’s Mayflower, J.D. Spreckels’ Fearless, two Standard Oil ships Atlas and Hercules, and Henry Flagler’s Alicia.
Today’s great yachts are owned by sports stars and young corporate magnates. They are often big and very lux, and some are even weird, but to me they lack the style of this early generation of big boys’ toys. And who has silver toilet seats? Sail ho!
TWEED COURTHOUSE LAURA HUSSEY & ARON EISENPREISS GOT IT!
Photography by Michael Rogol, Courtesy of the Art Commission of the City of New York.
The Old New York County Courthouse, better known as Tweed Courthouse, is architecturally one of New York’s greatest civic monuments. Built between 1861 and 1881, it is the product of two of New York’s most prominent 19th-century architects, John Kellum and Leopold Eidlitz. Tweed is a designated New York City landmark and sections of the interior are designated interior landmarks as well. The courthouse has retained its original spatial arrangement, encompassing 30 monumental courtrooms and a central rotunda. Their immense cast-iron structural and decorative elements are unparalleled in any American public building.
In December 1861, John Kellum won the commission to build the “New County Courthouse.” Kellum designed a rusticated basement, monumental Corinthian portico, and a dome, which was never built. On the interior, Kellum created neoclassical-style courtrooms and offices as well as the first two floors of the rotunda. After Kellum’s death, the City commissioned Leopold Eidlitz in 1874 to complete the interior and design a new south wing. Rather than following Kellum’s neoclassical style, Eidlitz incorporated elements of Romanesque architecture, including on the interior polychromed brick and richly-carved stonework as well as a spectacular laylight over the octagonal rotunda-one of the most impressive public spaces in New York City.
Tweed Courthouse is the legacy of Tammany Hall boss William M. Tweed, who used the construction of the building to embezzle large sums from the budget. Boss Tweed was tried in 1873 in an unfinished courtroom in this building and was convicted and jailed. After the Tweed Ring was broken up, work stopped on the building from 1872 to 1876. Construction progressed slowly after the Tweed years, and it was not until 1881 that the building was finally completed.#
In 1999, a comprehensive restoration began to return Tweed to its original grandeur. The front staircase, which had been removed in 1940 to widen Chambers Street, was reconstructed. The restoration also included the reapplication of the historic paint scheme, which includes faux brick painting and gold leaf appliqué.
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
FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
