Category Archives: Collections

Flushing Highlights

Collections, Queens, , ,

Now an enclave of Korean and Chinese immigrants, Flushing was originally settled by the Dutch in the 1600s and remained an independent town until 1898, when Queens became a borough of New York City.

Among other distinctions, Flushing claims to be the birthplace of religious freedom in the United States. The Society of Friends (Quakers) had been outlawed; John Bowne was arrested for permitting Quakers to meet in his house (pictured in this gallery). Upon appeal to the Dutch government, Bowne was acquitted – establishing freedom of worship.

The most modern landmark, the RKO Keith’s Theater, is due to be replaced by a 17-story rental apartment building. Plans are to incorporate the landmark-designated theater lobby within the new structure.

Within a three-block radius are 10 buildings of architectural and historical interest (including the Queens Historical Society). And if you should get hungry while exploring the area, you just might find a Chinese or Korean restaurant or two….

Other Resources

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Historical Societies

Bronx, Brooklyn, Collections, Guides, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, , , , , ,

You’ll find historical societies in all five boroughs of New York; as you’ll see, they are architecturally interesting in themselves, and are valuable resources for learning more about the boroughs’ history.

Here are some capsule reviews of each, with contact info. Be sure to get current visitor and exhibit information – some sites have very limited hours of operation.

New York Historical Society

New York Historical Society

The New York Historical Society is both the oldest and among the youngest museums in New York. It was founded in 1804, but the building was renovated and reopened in November 2011. It now includes state-of-the-art interactive displays on three exhibit floors and a spectacular multimedia show – “New York Story” – which by itself is almost worth the price of admission. (The 18-minute show screens every half hour.) The Society is also young in its approach to history – it has a sense of humor that pops up and keeps the exhibits fresh. Where else would you find a “Beer Here” exhibit?

The permanent collection is displayed on the fourth floor (which has its own mezzanine); changing exhibits are on the first and second floors; a children’s museum, library and classrooms are on the lower level. The first floor also contains the auditorium, gift/book shop and cafe. New York Historical Society goes to great lengths to make its collection accessible to all – mobility, sight and hearing impairments are all accommodated.

The New York Historical Society museum and library covers all of New York City – unlike the other societies, which focus on single boroughs. Consequently, there’s some overlap between this museum and the Museum of the City of New York on Fifth Avenue.

Note that the Society’s library closes earlier than its museum – 3 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday (closed Sunday).

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Museum of the City of New York

Museum of the City of New York

This is not one of the historical societies, strictly speaking – it’s a New York City-operated museum which serves many of the same purposes.

You might also be interested in the Queens Museum of Art (which has a massive city panorama, updated from the original 1964 NY World’s Fair).

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Bronx County Historical Society

The Museum of Bronx History operates out of the Valentine-Varian House, a fieldstone farmhouse built in 1758. The Society also maintains a separate archive/library and the nearby Poe House (see below). In addition, the society operates tours.

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Poe Cottage

Poe Cottage

(Operated by Bronx County Historical Society)

This is where Edgar Allan Poe spent his last years; where his wife died and where he wrote some of his most memorable works. The docent gives an excellent talk about Poe, his life and times; there’s also an informative video shown in an upstairs bedroom. In the adjacent park, the Parks Department operates an educational center.

And if you need another reason to visit, the immediate neighborhood is rich in architectural treasures – including Kingsbridge Armory, two blocks west.

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Brooklyn Historical Society

Brooklyn Historical Society

Founded as the Long Island Historical Society in 1863; changed its name to Brooklyn Historical Society in 1985. The building is still going through restoration – the main floor gallery is the current (as of September 2012) project; most other areas, inside and out, are stunningly beautiful. In addition to the exhibit galleries, the Society houses an impressive research library.

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Queens Historical Society

Queens Historical Society

The Queens Historical Society operates out of Kingsland Homestead in Flushing, next to the historic Bowne House (currently closed for restoration). It’s a small operation, open only a few hours on just three days a week. But they do have a good selection of publications – books and pamphlets – about other historic sites in Queens. And, it’s a part of the Flushing “Freedom Mile” walking tour that includes 10 other significant buildings. (Kingsland Homestead was a part of the “Underground Railroad.”)

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Staten Island Historical Society

Church of St. Andrew

Historic Richmond Town is a score of restored/reconstructed homes, farms, businesses, schools and churches, dating from the 1700s and 1800s. It’s quite rural compared to the rest of the city and very popular for school outings. There are several themed tours – consider this an all-day trip – or several trips!

If you’re very ambitious, there’s a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home (see “The Wright Stuff” gallery.) and a lighthouse at the top of the hill overlooking Historic Richmond Town, and a beautiful church and cemetery across the street.

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Other Sites of Interest

Spires, Crowns & Cupolas

Architecture, Collections, Manhattan, , , ,

Landmark skyscrapers are often topped by elaborate cornices, spires, crowns and cupolas.

It’s always fascinated me that architects put so much design up where most people won’t – or can’t – see it. Why not impress at street level?

There are at least three reasons, it turns out.

First, as buildings got taller it became less practical – and less affordable – to decorate an entire building’s facade. Decorative elements, whether simple brick patterns or terra cotta or carved marble, cost money to design, manufacture and install. So this “problem” of tall buildings was solved by equating the building with a classical column: base, shaft and crown. The shaft is undecorated, the base and crown contain the flourishes.

Second, architects and owners want their creations to stand out at a distance – to be a recognizable part of the skyline. A plain roof, no matter how lofty, is rather anonymous. The Donald would not approve.

Third, tall buildings need water tanks, elevator and ventilation machinery on the roof; all are ugly enough to warrant hiding behind a decorative screen.

In some cases, the crowns might also be designed to alleviate aerodynamic stresses. Wind speed increases with height, so turbulence can be a factor.

A few spires have practical functions – even if the idea is ultimately found impractical. The Empire State Building’s mast was designed for mooring dirigibles, before it was proved unworkable (and dirigibles became extinct). Now the mast is used to mount television broadcast antennas.

And in more than one case, a spire or cupola has been added simply to increase the building’s height, for “tallest” bragging rights. The Chrysler Building’s spire was designed that way.

Here are a few of my favorite spires, crowns and cupolas. Enjoy!

Lefcourt Buildings

Collections, Manhattan, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Abraham E. Lefcourt is no longer a household name, but in his time – the 1920s – he rose from newspaper boy and bootblack to one of New York’s leading real estate developers. Lefcourt Buildings stood from 49th Street to Broad Street, from Seventh Avenue to Madison Avenue. Once dubbed “the Miracle Man of Realty,” from 1910 to 1932 Lefcourt developed 32 loft and office buildings – 20 in New York City – with an aggregate 5 million square feet of space on 477 floors, occupied by 200,000 people! The landmark Essex House on Central Park South was originally developed by Lefcourt as the Sevilla Towers – though it was foreclosed and auctioned off in 1931, before it was opened. He also launched a bank – and then, in the Great Depression, he lost his fortune, his son and his life.

At least 17 New York buildings remain [map and details below]. He built well, specializing in garment industry buildings that contained showrooms, factories and warehouses. However, only the Brill Building has NYC Landmark status; several have been drastically changed from their original appearance.

For more about Abraham E. Lefcourt and Garment District development, a few excellent resources are listed below. Also, the Skyscraper Museum‘s 2013 exhibit “Urban Fabric” was a fascinating view of Garment District development – the people and conditions as well as the brick and mortar. (The Skyscraper Museum is located in Battery Park City.)

Lefcourt Buildings Suggested Reading
Lefcourt Buildings Map

Printable 2-page walking guide


View Lefcourt Buildings in a larger map – print 2-page walking guide

Lefcourt Buildings – by year built (completed)

48 W 25th Street – between Sixth Avenue and Broadway
48 W 25th Street lobby detailHas been converted to cooperative apartments.

  • Built: 1910
  • Floors: 12
  • Architect: George & Edward Blum
  • Emporis database

134 W 37th Street – between Seventh Avenue and Broadway
134 W 37th Street

  • Built: 1915
  • Floors: 12
  • Architect: George & Edward Blum
  • Emporis database

42 W 38th Street – between Fifth and Sixth Avenues
42 W 38th Street

  • Built: 1915
  • Floors: 12
  • Architect: George & Edward Blum
  • Emporis database

Lefcourt National Building – 521 Fifth Avenue at E 43rd Street
Lefcourt National Building

  • Built: 1919
  • Floors: 40
  • Architect: Shreve Lamb & Harmon Associates
  • Emporis database

237 W 37th Street – between Seventh and Eighth Avenues
237 W 37th Street

  • Built: 1921
  • Floors: 14
  • Architect: George & Edward Blum
  • Emporis database

246 W 38th Street – between Seventh and Eighth Avenues
246 W 38th Street

  • Built: 1923
  • Floors: 14
  • Architect: George & Edward Blum
  • Emporis database

Lefcourt Central Building – 148 W 37th St between Broadway and 7th Avenue
Lefcourt Central BuildingAstoundingly little is written about this building, probably because it is a plain, relatively small (14 floors) structure.

  • Built: 1924
  • Floors: 14
  • Architect: George & Edward Blum
  • Emporis database

Lefcourt Madison Building – 16 E 34th Street
Lefcourt Madison Building

  • Built: 1925
  • Floors: 20
  • Architect: George & Edward Blum and Buchman & Kahn
  • Emporis database
  • SL Green (management company) website

Lefcourt Marlboro Building – 1359 Broadway at W 36th Street
Lefcourt Marlboro Building

  • Built: 1925
  • Floors: 25
  • Architect: George & Edward Blum
  • Emporis database

Lefcourt Clothing Center Building – 275 Seventh Avenue between W 25th and W 26th Streets
Lefcourt Clothing Center Building

  • Built: 1926
  • Floors: 26
  • Architect: Buchman & Kahn
  • Emporis database
  • Metro Manhattan Office Space entry
  • NY Times archive (fifth paragraph)

Lefcourt Manhattan Building / Fashion Gallery Building – 1412 Broadway at W 39th Street
Lefcourt Manhattan Building

  • Built: 1927
  • Floors: 25
  • Architect: George & Edward Blum
  • Emporis database

Lefcourt Normandie Building – 1384 Broadway at W 38th Street
Lefcourt Normandie Building

  • Built: 1928
  • Floors: 23
  • Architect: Bark & Djorup
  • Emporis database

Lefcourt State Building – 1375 Broadway at W 37th Street
Lefcourt State Building

  • Built: 1928
  • Floors: 27
  • Architect: Buchman & Kahn
  • Emporis database

ITT Building – 61 Broad Street
ITT BuildingOriginally built as the Lefcourt Exchange Building, the 35-story structure was purchased almost immediately by ITT, which added to the building to dominate the entire block.

  • Built: 1928
  • Floors: 35
  • Architect: Buchman & Kahn
  • Emporis database

Lefcourt Colonial Building – 295 Madison Avenue at E 41st Street
Lefcourt Colonial Building

Lefcourt Empire Building – 989 Sixth Avenue between W 36th and W 37th Streets
Lefcourt Empire Building

  • Built: 1930
  • Floors: 21
  • Architect: Buchman & Kahn
  • Emporis database

Brill Building (originally Alan E. Lefcourt Building) – 1619 Broadway at W 49th Street
Brill BuildingA Lefcourt building that bears the Lefcourt likeness instead of the Lefcourt name: A bust of Abraham Lefcourt’s son, Alan, is in a niche above the main entrance, and another bust is under the cornice. Leftcourt had announced an ambitious plan for a “world’s tallest” structure, but circumstances (and perhaps geometry – the site was too small to support a building of that height) prevailed. Lefcourt defaulted on the building’s lease, and the ground floor haberdasher, Brill Brothers, renamed the structure. The Brill Building went on to become a music industry landmark and, in 2010, a NYC Landmark.

Album: April, 2013

Collections, Manhattan, New Jersey, , , , , , ,

Highlights from photos shot in April, 2013 – but not yet added to a neighborhood or specific building gallery. Neighborhoods include Lower Manhattan, Greenwich Village, Midtown, Upper West Side – and Hoboken – Jersey City, New Jersey.

In this album:
  • Standard Oil Building (26 Broadway)
  • Isamu Noguchi’s Cube – At 140 Broadway / Liberty Street
  • One World Trade Tower
  • City Hall
  • Washington Square Arch
  • One Fifth Avenue framed by Washington Square Arch
  • Courant Institute (NYU) – 251 Mercer Street
  • 2 Cornelia Street – aka 333 Sixth Avenue
  • Bigelow Building – 412 Sixth Avenue
  • The Villager – 450 Sixth Avenue
  • 434 Sixth Avenue
  • 37 Washington Square West
  • 186 W 4th Street
  • 120 E 12th Street – Facade of St. Ann’s Church in front of NYU dorm
  • 126 E 12th Street
  • Fifth Avenue Building clock
  • 488 Eighth Avenue – former Bickford’s (the last two Bickford’s in NYC closed in 1982)
  • Bank entrance at New Yorker Hotel
  • Lerner Building – 478 Seventh Avenue
  • 480 Seventh Avenue
  • The Westin New York
  • LOFT marquee – Times Square Tower
  • The Lyric Theatre
  • The New York Times Building
  • Knickerbocker Hotel (1906) – aka 6 Times Square
  • HBO Building – 1100 Sixth Avenue
  • Fred F. French Building
  • The Manhasset – 300 W 109th / 301 W 108th Streets at Broadway
  • Ariel East – 2628 Broadway (between W 99th and W 100th Streets)
  • Ariel West – 2633 Broadway (between W 99th and W 100th Streets)
  • Paterno – 440 Riverside Drive – aka 3 Claremont Avenue
  • 410 Riverside Drive
  • Cathedral of St. John The Divine
  • 512 W 112th Street
  • Hendrik Hudson – 380 Riverside Drive
  • St. Anthony Hall – 434 Riverside Drive
  • 452 Riverside Drive
  • Oxford Hall – 454 Riverside Drive
  • The Riverside Church
  • Grant’s Tomb
New Jersey photos also in this album:
  • Erie Lackawana Hudson piers – Hoboken, NJ
  • New York Sunrise – view from Hoboken
  • Willow Avenue / Willow Terrace South – Hoboken
  • Clinton Street / Willow Terrace South – Hoboken
  • All Saints Episcopal Day School – Hoboken
  • Stevens Institute – Hoboken
  • Scotland Yard pub – Hoboken
  • Second Street – Jersey City, NJ
  • Newport – Newport/Jersey City

Union Square and Vicinity II

Collections, Manhattan, , , ,

Union Square was once known for political rallies and the annual May Day rally. The park was overrun by druggies in the ’70s. Union Square has since been cleaned up – figuratively and literally – with new fences, new landscaping and new pavement from East 14th Street to East 17th Street. The peddlers are still out in force, though their products are now veggies, art and souvenirs instead of drugs.

While the square itself has gone through a transformation, many of the buildings ringing the park have retained their 19th century appearance. Here are some favorites:

  • One Union Square West aka Lincoln Building; R. H. Robertson, architect; Romanesque Revival; built 1900; NYC Landmark 1988
  • 5-9 Union Square West aka Spingler Building;
  • 31 Union Square West aka Bank of Metropolis Building; Bruce Price, architect; neo-Renaissance; built 1903; NYC Landmark 1988
  • 33 Union Square West aka Decker Building aka Union Building; John H. Edelmann, architect; Venetian/Islamic styles; built 1893; NYC Landmark 1988
  • 41 Union Square West aka Hartford Building; Beaux Arts; built 1895
  • 33 E 17th Street aka Century Building (now Barnes & Noble bookstore);
  • W Union Square Hotel; formerly Germania Life Insurance Company Building
  • 864 Broadway aka McIntyre Building; R. H. Robertson, architect; neo-Gothic; built 1892; in Ladies Mile Historic District

One landmark that didn’t survive is the S. Klein “On The Square” department store that sat empty for many years – now replaced by the Zeckendorf Towers.

Union Square Vital Statistics
  • Location: E 14th to E 17th Streets, between Park Avenue South and Union Square West
  • National Register of Historic Places: 1997
Union Square Recommended Reading

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