Tag Archives: New York City

Beacon Hotel and Theater

Manhattan, , , , , , , , ,

Beacon Hotel and Theater share a Broadway facade, but it’s the theater’s interior that keeps getting rave reviews. Conceived as part of the Roxy theater chain, the showplace was described by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) as “…a lavish space with stylistic effects drawn from the traditions of Greek, Roman, Renaissance, and Rococo architecture.”

The buildings are a collaboration of Samuel L. Rothafel – better known as Roxy – and The Chanin Construction Company. LPC explains, “Undoubtedly pleased with the success of combining three theaters with the Hotel Lincoln, thereby providing common building services for all, the Chanins saw a combination theater-hotel structure to be a logical solution for the site.”

Alas, Roxy’s plans did not pan out. Warner Bros. Pictures wound up with the theater lease. The Beacon continued as a movie theater until 1974, when the programs switched to live performances. The LPC designated the interior a landmark in 1979. In 1986 developers wanted to convert the Beacon to a disco – plans that were halted by a judge who said the conversion would irreparably harm the landmark’s architecture. Madison Square Garden Entertainment’s parent company, Cablevision, leased the Beacon in 2006. Cablevision restored the theater at a reported cost of $10 million. Madison Square Garden Company now manages the Beacon.

P.S. It’s called Beacon Hotel because of an airplane beacon on the roof.

Beacon Hotel and Theater Vital Statistics
  • Location: 2130 Broadway at W 75th Street
  • Year completed: 1929
  • Architect: Walter W. Ahlschlager
  • Floors: 24
  • Style: Beaux Arts
  • New York City Landmark: 1979 (theater interior)
  • National Register of Historic Places: 1982
Beacon Hotel and Theater Recommended Reading

Google Map

West End Avenue (W 76 – W 86)

Collections, Manhattan, , , ,

West End Avenue – the stretch of 11th Avenue above W 59th Street – is one of New York’s architectural time capsules. The avenue boasts four historic districts, from W 70th Street to W 94th Street. The West End Preservation Society even argued that the entire avenue should be an historic district.

Personally, I find this half-mile section between W 76th and W 86th to be the most picturesque.

West End Avenue Selected Buildings

Odd-numbered buildings are on the west side of the avenue; even-numbered buildings are on the east side.

  • Address/Name | Architect | Year Completed
  • W 75th – W 76th Streets
  • 333 WEA | Emery Roth | 1925
  • 336 WEA | Boak & Paris | 1932
  • W 76th – W 77th Streets
  • 341 WEA | Lamb & Rich | 1891
  • 343 WEA | Lamb & Rich | 1891
  • 345 WEA | Lamb & Rich | 1891
  • 347 WEA | Lamb & Rich | 1891
  • 349 WEA | Lamb & Rich | 1891
  • 351 WEA | Lamb & Rich | 1891
  • 353 WEA | Lamb & Rich | 1891
  • 355 WEA | Lamb & Rich | 1891
  • 357 WEA | Lamb & Rich | 1891
  • 340 WEA | Edward L. Angell | 1890
  • 342 WEA | Edward L. Angell | 1890
  • 344 WEA | Edward L. Angell | 1890
  • 346 WEA | Edward L. Angell | 1890
  • 348 WEA | Edward L. Angell | 1890
  • 350 WEA | Clarence True | 1892
  • 352 WEA | Clarence True | 1892
  • 354 WEA | Clarence True | 1892
  • 356 WEA | Clarence True | 1892
  • 358 WEA | Clarence True | 1892
  • W 77th – W 78th Streets
  • 365 WEA | Sugarman, Hess & Berger | 1924
  • 375 WEA | Schwartz & Gross | 1911
  • 360 WEA – West End Collegiate Church | Robert W. Gibson | 1892
  • 378 WEA | Schwartz & Gross | 1915
  • W 78th – W 79th Streets
  • 380-390 WEA – Apthorp Apartments | Clinton & Russell | 1908
  • W 79th – W 80th Streets
  • 411 WEA | George F. Pelham, Jr. | 1936
  • 400 WEA – Wexford | Margon & Holder | 1931
  • W 80th – W 81st Streets
  • 425 WEA | Townsend & Harde | 1900
  • 431 WEA – Calhoun School | Costas Machlouzarides | 1975
  • 420 WEA | Schwartz & Gross | 1916
  • W 81st – W 82nd Streets
  • 441-451 WEA | George F. Pelham | 1926
  • 440 WEA | Schwartz & Gross | 1928
  • 450 WEA | Boak & Paris | 1931
  • W 82nd – W 83rd Streets
  • 460 WEA – Mickey Mantle School (Public School 9) | C.B.J. Snyder | 1896
  • W 83rd – W 84th Streets
  • 483 WEA | Schwartz & Gross | 1915
  • 495 WEA – Hohenzollern | George F. Pelham | 1907
  • 490 WEA | Neville & Bagge | 1913
  • W 84th – W 85th Streets
  • W 85th – W 86th Streets
  • W 86th – W 87th Streets
  • 263 W 86th Street – Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew | R.H. Robertson | 1897
West End Avenue Recommended Reading

Google Map

215 W 75th Street

Manhattan, , , , , , , ,

215 W 75th Street, aka Majestic Towers, is a sedate Upper West Side cooperative now – but it roared in the ’20s as a brothel and speakeasy!

According to a history originally published on the building’s now-dormant website, the structure was designed as a bordello. Celebrities and celebrated madam Polly Adler called this home. During police raids, patrons could escape via reputed “secret” staircases. (Naysayers pooh-pooh the idea, and say the stairs were just fire escapes required by the building code of the time.)

Architecturally, the building follows the traditional base-shaft-crown organization. The three-story crown is the most expressive feature, with white terra cotta decoration.

Majestic Towers became a cooperative in 1989.

215 W 75th Street Vital Statistics
  • Location: 215 W 75th Street at Broadway
  • Year completed: 1924
  • Architect: Schwartz & Gross
  • Floors: 15
  • Style: Renaissance Revival
215 W 75th Street Recommended Reading

Google Map

Brooklyn Fire Department Headquarters

Brooklyn, , , , , , , , ,

Brooklyn Fire Department Headquarters, “architecturally one of the finest buildings in Brooklyn,” has been restored to its 1892 magnificence. Amazingly, the downtown landmark was renovated without displacing tenants – and all 18 units of the formerly city-owned building were retained as “affordable housing.”

In his “Streetscapes” column, Christopher Gray notes that this building was Brooklyn’s answer to Manhattan’s Fire Department Headquarters (now the home of Engine 39/Ladder 16). After the City of Brooklyn became part of New York City in 1898, the headquarters functions shifted to Manhattan. The fire department used the building into the 1970s, then the city leased it to Polytechnic University. In 1989 the city converted the building to 18 apartments for low-income and senior residents.

After years of decay, the city launched a complex rehabilitation plan in 2013. As reported in The Brownstoner, the rehab involved The Pratt Area Community Council (PACC) as the developer, with financing from the City of New York (HPD), the Community Preservation Corp (CPC), and LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation). The project also received funding though Historic Preservation Tax Credits, and a grant through the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation. Nomad Architecture was the project architect, and the Historic Preservation Consultant was Thomas A. Fenniman, Architect. MDG Design & Construction was the development partner and the contractor.

The arched doorway no longer admits fire trucks, and the legend “FIRE HEAD-QUARTERS” has been replaced by terra cotta scrollwork. Otherwise, welcome back to 1892 and the City of Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Fire Department Headquarters Vital Statistics
  • Location: 365 Jay Street between Willoughby and Tillary Streets
  • Year completed: 1892
  • Architect: Frank Freeman
  • Floors: 7
  • Style: Richardsonian Romanesque
  • New York City Landmark: 1966
  • National Register of Historic Places: 1972
Brooklyn Fire Department Headquarters Recommended Reading

Google Map

Bronx County Hall of Justice

Bronx, , , , , , , ,

Bronx County Hall of Justice reverses centuries of tradition: The aluminum and glass facades are designed for openness and transparency instead of monumental intimidation.

According to the architects, “The image of the courthouse in society was of primary concern in the design of the building. The program is organized in a linear manner around an open civic space and layered from public to private, with the public circulation, animated by a series of cantilevered stairs, facing the open space. Within the courtyard sets a free-standing public building that serves as the jury assembly room, gives scale to the space, and is the symbolic as well as formal focus of the project. The exterior wall design responds to the various functions within and orientations of the building. The curtain wall facing the south and west takes the shape of a folded plane with integrated light shelves that reflect light into the courtrooms and shade the adjacent corridor. The intent is to express the building as open and inviting, a metaphor for the transparency of the judicial process.”

The building is a dazzling contrast to the Bronx Criminal Court, next door, and the Bronx County Building (originally Bronx County Courthouse) at Grand Concourse, just two blocks west.

Despite its openness, the Hall of Justice was built with security in mind: The glass walls are bullet- and blast-resistant.

While the building’s design was exceptional, the construction was anything but. The construction site was contaminated, the low-bidding contractor was disqualified for suspected mob ties, the underground garage was deemed unsafe, and air conditioning for the court computers didn’t work. The four-year, $325 million project stretched accordion-like to six years and $421 million, opening in 2008.

Bronx County Hall of Justice Vital Statistics
  • Location: 265 East 161st Street between Sherman and Morris Avenues
  • Year completed: 2008
  • Architect: Rafael Viñoly Architects
  • Floors: 10
  • Style: Postmodern
Bronx County Hall of Justice Recommended Reading

Google Map

131 Buckingham Road

Brooklyn, , , , , , , ,

131 Buckingham Road is widely cited as New York City’s most unusual residence – a century-old Japanese-style wood-frame home, in the heart of Victorian Flatbush.

In the words of the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, “The most exotic and certainly the best-known house in Prospect Park South is this Japanese style wood and stucco structure designed in 1902 by Petit & Green for Dean Alvord. The dwelling is further evidence of Petit’s ability to design in many architectural styles, but in order to give the building a genuine oriental quality, he was assisted by three Japanese artisans: Saburo Arai, who worked as a contractor; Shunso Ishikawa, who was responsible for the original color scheme and decorations, and Chogoro Sugai, who designed the original garden.”

According to the Commission, “The cost of building this house was estimated in 1902 as being $12,000, and in 1903 the price for the purchase of the building was quoted as $26,500, very high for a building in Prospect Park South. By advertising this exotic structure, Alvord hoped to attract potential buyers who were curious about this dwelling, but would buy the less expensive structures in the area. Alvord noted in a boldly printed box at the bottom of the advertisement that ‘many other houses equally artistic and distinctive, at varying prices, are ready for inspection.’ “

The Flatbush Development Corporation house tours frequently feature this home – see the FDC website or call 718-859-3800 for information.

This gem is just one of the jewels of the Prospect Park South Historic District and adjacent Beverley Square West development.

131 Buckingham Road Vital Statistics
  • Location: 131 Buckingham Road between Church Avenue and Albemarle Road
  • Year completed: 1902
  • Architect: Petit & Green
  • Floors: 3
  • Style: Japanese
  • New York City Landmark: 1979
131 Buckingham Road Recommended Reading

Google Map

2 Park Avenue

Manhattan, , , , , , , , , ,

2 Park Avenue is “one of [Ely Jacques] Kahn’s most dramatic and successful works and survives today as one of the most beautiful and distinctive office towers of the Art Deco period,” in the words of the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC).

LPC continued, “Kahn was able to successfully integrate a new decorative type produced by the application of colorful terra-cotta panels in geometric designs to a tall, commercially successful office/loft structure. 2 Park Avenue was one of the important late 1920s buildings that helped create the visually lively and iconic city of the early 20th century.”

According to the commission, the building’s developers were not sure what they wanted to do with the structure. The neighborhood was in transition, and the dominant commercial tenant was unknown. The owners asked Kahn to design a building that could be used as offices and showrooms or for light manufacturing.

2 Park Avenue Vital Statistics
  • Location: 2 Park Avenue between E 32nd and E 33rd Streets
  • Year completed: 1928
  • Architect: Ely Jacques Kahn (Buchman & Kahn
  • Floors: 29
  • Style: Art Deco
  • New York City Landmark: 2006
2 Park Avenue Recommended Reading

Google Map

767 Third Avenue

Manhattan, , , , , , , ,

767 Third Avenue represents the personality of developer Melvyn Kaufman more than it stands for an architect or style of architecture.

FxFowle Architects designed a beautiful building, to be sure. Subtle brick detailing outlines the ribbon windows; corners are sinuously rounded; the whole tower is raised on pilotis, revealing a lobby sheathed in oak-framed glass (instead of metal or stone). The more playful details are on E 48th Street, in the courtyard behind the building. A three-story chessboard adorns the wall of 212 E 48th Street; huge steel footprints are welded to the sidewalk utility grates; a stage coach and a 1929 Ford truck are parked in the plaza.

The New York Times’ obituary for Melvyn Kaufman noted, “Though he was not an architect, his buildings were generally acknowledged to have sprung as much from his own vision as from the architect of record’s — a vision Mr. Kaufman realized with the aid of designers like Pamela Waters and Rudolph de Harak.”

The Times continued, “Mr. Kaufman had a lifelong fascination with office buildings as public spaces with which tenants and passers-by could engage. If one was going to erect a leviathan, his design philosophy seemed to go, at least make it leviathan with levity.

“He deplored lobbies, the sine qua non of office buildings since the dawn of recorded history. ‘Marble and travertine mausoleums are bad for the living and terrific for the dead,’ Mr. Kaufman told The Times in 1971.”

Kaufman seemed fond of this stretch of Third Avenue: He built other office buildings at 711, 747, and 777.

767 Third Avenue Vital Statistics
  • Location: 767 Third Avenue at E 48th Street
  • Year completed: 1981
  • Architect: FxFowle Architects
  • Floors: 40
  • Style: International
767 Third Avenue Recommended Reading

Google Map

Prospect Park South Historic District

Brooklyn, Collections, , , ,

Prospect Park South Historic District is a neighborhood with a mission: To “illustrate how much of rural beauty can be incorporated within the rectangular limits of the conventional city block.” The myriad home styles were the vision of a single developer: Dean Alvord.

According to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, “The most important event in the progress of suburbanization in Flatbush was the purchase in 1899 of approximately fifty acres of land by the real estate developer Dean Alvord for $280,000. Most of this land had been owned by the Dutch Reformed Church and the Bergen family. Alvord intended to lay out a ‘high-class’ suburban community to be called Prospect Park South.

“…Alvord’s objective in Prospect Park South was, in his own words, ‘to create a rural park within the limitations of the conventional city block and city street.'”

Alvord laid out the utilities, put up brick gateposts, and planned lawns and malls. He hired a landscape gardener, and hired architect John J. Petit to design large comfortable houses in a variety of styles. The LPC notes examples of Colonial Revival, neo-Tudor, Queen Anne, Swiss chalet, and even Japanese pagoda.

“The architecture of Prospect Park South is representative of a phenomenon common among the suburbs that were built up in America at the turn of the 20th century. The buildings erected in these developments represent an eclectic mix with houses of many different styles placed next to each other on each street. Each house at Prospect Park South was designed as a separate entity with no consideration given to the style of the surrounding structures or to the appropriateness of the use of a certain stylistic variant for a specific site…. At Prospect Park South houses with Colonial, Queen Anne, Italianate, French Renaissance, Japanese, Elizabethan, Jacobean and other stylistic details were freely juxtaposed. This free mixture of stylistic forms often resulted in such seeming incongruities as the placement of a stucco Spanish Mission style home beside a frame Swiss Chalet.” [LPC Designation Report]

Prospect Park South Historic District Vital Statistics
  • Location: South of Prospect Park; the area between Church Avenue and Beverley Road, from Stratford Road to Buckingham Road.
  • Year completed: 1900-1930
  • Architect: John J. Petit, lead architect; many others designed homes in the development.
  • Style: Mixed
  • New York City Landmark: 1979
Prospect Park South Historic District Recommended Reading

WikiMapia Map

Mapping New York City

Guides,

Mapping New York City is a full-time endeavor of hundreds, if not thousands, of amateur and professional digital cartographers. Thanks to the paid and unpaid users, it’s getting easier and easier to find anything or any place in the Big Apple.

Here are some of the online maps that I’ve found particularly helpful for planning my explorations and researching buildings and neighborhoods. In the following samples, click the titles to open a new window with that map. Most links will load the location of 711 Brightwater Court in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn – a building that I was researching for a gallery.

Google Map

This is my default map – it loads quickly, and searches intelligently in the areas I browse most frequently. Street View lets me see the lay of the land quickly, and helps me verify the location of buildings that I’ve photographed. When I’m scouting new areas or a particular landmark, Street View helps me find the best vantage points. Google’s Transportation layer shows subways and bus routes – even bus arrival times – a boon when planning a trip to an unfamiliar neighborhood. Just remember to double-check the MTA maps, because Google’s info is sometimes out of date.

Google Earth

Google Earth is like having a personal helicopter – without the noise. Unlike other online maps, you can change the orientation any way that you want: North doesn’t have to be at the top of the screen. And unlike other aerial maps, you can change your angle of view – you aren’t locked in to a two-dimensional straight-down view.

Open Street Map

Open Street Map is a user-supported, open-source map. It contains details that you might not be able to find elsewhere. For example, I recently used this to find the boundaries of Forest Hills Gardens. (The development declined to provide a map, and my usual sources came up blank.)

WikiMapia

Like Open Street Map, WikiMapia is an open-source, user-supported map with lots of historical and architectural details, frequently including links to other sites. You can switch among 11 different interfaces (Google, Bing, OSM, etc.), making this easy to learn and use.

DOT Map

I refer to this whenever I want to find the best times for photographing a building without parked cars. This maps every traffic and parking sign in the city, so you can check to see when street-cleaning rules mandate “No Parking.”

NYC Map

New York City Map is 12 maps in one! And it’s a time machine – just select one of the seven historic aerial views going back to 1924. The default view is linked to the Department of Buildings database, but 11 other map themes lead to 311 service requests, tax maps, census information, Green Infrastructure, NYC Parks, street closures, zoning and more. Before you buy a condo or sign a lease, you’ll want to check the Department of Buildings site for violations, and the Rat Information Portal to make sure that you don’t have any unexpected roommates!

NYC SCOUT

There’s a crater in the middle of the street and you want to find out if it has been reported to 311? Here you go!

The Street Conditions Observation Unit (SCOUT) is a team of inspectors based in the Mayor’s Office of Operations. Their mission is to drive every City street once per month and report conditions that negatively impact quality of life to 311. SCOUT inspectors send reports of conditions they observe to the 311 system, and 311 assigns the conditions to the relevant agency for appropriate corrective action – the very same way that 311 handles complaints from the public.

Ride The City

This map for bike riders will show you how to pedal from point A to point B – so its search function requires a starting and ending address. You can request the direct route, safe route, or safer route – select according to your skill and traffic comfort level.

SunCalc

It doesn’t matter how much you spent on your camera. Your photos will only be as good as your light. Being in the right spot at the right time doesn’t have to be a matter of luck – you can predict the sun’s position with great accuracy using SunCalc. This is built on the Google Map interface, so it’s easy to navigate. Click on the landmark that you want to photograph, input the date (or click the NOW button) and drag the time slider to see how the sun angle changes during the day.

MapQuest

MapQuest is one of the earliest digital maps. It’s current claim to fame is travel – getting from point A to point B and finding a hotel and car rental when you get there.

MTA Subway Map

MTA’s website, mta.info, is complicated but essential for anyone who wants to use public transit in New York, especially on weekends when maintenance is in full swing. The map is interactive, and you can also download a pdf version.

MTA Bus Maps: Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island

Each borough has its own bus map; the links above lead to pdf downloads.

Mapping New York City Recommended Reading