Tag Archives: historic

Park East Synagogue

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Park East Synagogue is an “especially imaginative” example of the Moorish Revival architecture popular for 19th century synagogues, in the words of New York’s Landmarks Preservation Commission.

“A detailed description of this complicated facade,” said the Commission, “cannot recreate the liveliness and imagination with which the elements are composed. A multitude of readings is possible and each element is used in an original and sometimes surprising context. Elements that have structural roles are used ornamentally and in conjunction with other elements in a unique manner, such as the frequent use of balusters in place of columns or piers in arcades. This inventiveness adds a playful, almost whimsical, note to the profusely ornamented facade which is reminiscent of the character, if not the detail, of Northern Renaissance architecture.”

The report notes that the towers were originally topped by bulbous domes (similar to Central Synagogue).

The building’s inventiveness fit the congregation, which founding Rabbi Bernard Drachman described as a “harmonious combination of Orthodox Judaism and Americanism.”

At the same time, the synagogue was a huge jump for the architects, Ernst Schneider and Henry Herter, whose main work had been tenements in the Lower East Side and Clinton.

Park East Synagogue Vital Statistics
  • Location: 163 E 67th Street between Third and Lexington Avenues
  • Year completed: 1890
  • Architect: Schneider & Herter
  • Floors: 6
  • Style: Moorish Revival
  • New York City Landmark: 1980
  • National Register of Historic Places: 1983
Park East Synagogue Recommended Reading

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21 West Street

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21 West Street (aka Le Rivage), a slender 31-story Art Deco landmark, was converted from offices to apartments in 1998. The building complements the adjoining Downtown Athletic Club, designed by the same architects but built five years earlier.

When built in 1931 (at the same time as the Empire State Building), 21 West Street was across the street from the waterfront. Upper-story tenants then had an unobstructed view of the Hudson. Battery Park City was built on landfill placed in 1980 from excavation for the World Trade Center.

The exposed corners of the building are cantilevered, allowing corner windows. The building was promoted as “An office building with glass corners.” The original red window frames have been replaced by a more neutral tan matching the brick surrounds.

Starrett & Van Vleck used different-colored bricks to create a “woven” texture and to accentuate the building’s vertical lines. The Washington Street facade has setbacks at the 10th and 16th floors; all three facades have setbacks above the 21st, 26th, 29th and 30th floors.

21 West Street Vital Statistics
  • Location: 21 West Street at Morris Street
  • Year completed: 1931
  • Architect: Starrett & Van Vleck; conversion: SLCE Architects
  • Floors: 31
  • Style: Art Deco
  • New York City Landmark: 1998
  • National Register of Historic Places: 1999
21 West Street Recommended Reading

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Bowling Green Offices

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Bowling Green Offices is New York’s only “Hellenic Renaissance” style building.* It’s an architectural style invented by brothers William and George Ardsley as “a free but pure treatment of ancient Greek architecture.”

Whatever the style, it has crisp, lively ornamentation that stands out from its neighbors on “Steamship Row.” (When Bowling Green Offices was built, One Broadway was still a Queen Anne-style red brick building, and the Cunard Building had not yet been built; the Hudson River was just three blocks to the west.)

In plan, the building is U-shaped, with the base at the north, next to the Cunard Building. The light court in the middle of the U is aligned with the light court of One Broadway, the neighbor to the south.

This was the site of high drama: White Star Line, an early tenant, was besieged by worried relatives and friends of passengers aboard The Republic, which had been rammed by the Italian ship Florida in 1909. All passengers were safe in that incident, but three years later the offices were jammed again as news of the Titanic spread. Drama of a different sort hit the building in 1915: Seven elevators simultaneously fell; and seven months later, four elevators repeated the performance.

In 1920, the owners added a 17th floor and, at the north end of the building, a four-story tower.

Architect George Ardsley is better known as an author of 25 books on decorative art, and as a designer of pipe organs – including the famed Wanamaker organ in Philadelphia.

* The only other building in this style was the Layton Art Gallery in Milwaukee, now demolished.

Bowling Green Offices Vital Statistics
  • Location: 3-11 Broadway between Battery Place and Morris Street
  • Year completed: 1898
  • Architect: William James Audsley and George Ashdown Audsley
  • Floors: 21
  • Style: “Hellenic Renaissance”
  • New York City Landmark: 1995
Bowling Green Offices Recommended Reading

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Keuffel & Esser Company Building

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Keuffel & Esser Company Building, a New York landmark designed by De Lemos & Cordes, is well-preserved Renaissance Revival architecture on Fulton Street.

Like many commercial buildings in lower Manhattan, this has been converted (2010) to residential use – Compass Points Condominiums. “Compass Points” refers to two of Keuffel & Esser’s lines of business: Drafting/drawing instruments and surveying instruments.

Unlike many commercial buildings in lower Manhattan, this facade has been well preserved and restored. The Fulton Street side is the building’s most impressive facade, although the back of the building (42 Ann Street) is actually one story taller.

Architects Theodore W. E. De Lemos and August W. Cordes were successful designers of commercial buildings. Among their accomplishments are the Macy’s department store (original Broadway building), the Siegel-Cooper Department Store (now occupied by Bed Bath & Beyond) on Sixth Avenue, and the original Empire State Building (named for the Empire State Bank), 640 Broadway at Bleecker Street.

Keuffel & Esser Company Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 127 Fulton Street (block-through to Ann Street) between Nassau and William Streets
  • Year completed: 1893
  • Architect: De Lemos & Cordes
  • Floors: 8
  • Style: Renaissance Revival
  • New York City Landmark: 2005
Keuffel & Esser Company Building Recommended Reading

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