Shelton Hotel ARCHITECT: Arthur Loomis Harmon DATE: 1924 STYLE: Lombard Revival, Hotel Even while it was under construction the Shelton Hotel was recognized as the first successful embodiment of the massing requirements of the 1916 Zoning Law, notable for its soaring expression of height, powerful simple massing, striking silhouette, and exceptional handling of materials and details. The 31-story-plus-penthouse building is designed in the Lombard Revival style incorporating Medieval and Renaissance details. Above a beautifully detailed limestone base, its facades are clad with multi-hued greyish-brown brick and terra cotta. There are three setbacks, stepping up to a central tower, and a picturesque hipped-roofed penthouse.

William Lescaze House and Office ARCHITECT: William Lescaze DATE: 1933-34 STYLE: Modern The Lescaze House of 1933-34, designed by William Lescaze for his own use as a combined residence and architectural office, is an embodiment of the theory and practice of one of the most influential exponents of modern architecture in the United States. The sudden appearance on East 48th Street of this startlingly “modern” facade of 1934 set between deteriorating brownstones of the post-Civil War period, had a dramatic impact upon the streetscape and the neighborhood.

In the mid-summer of 1863, tensions in New York had reached a boiling point. To replenish the Union Army after devastating casualties, Congress had passed the enrollment act, enacting the first draft. In New York, many of the newly arrived immigrants had been pushed by Tammany Hall and other political machines to become citizens, which made them eligible for this new draft. These newly minted citizens became incensed by the prospect of being drafted, and the anger quickly grew. The drawing of the draft numbers was a spark that drove the city into what would become the worst race riot of its history. Days later, anywhere from a hundred and twenty to more than a thousand were killed, thousands more injured, and with many prominent African-American and Abolitionist buildings destroyed.

"First Avenue, north west corner of East 51st Street showing P.S. 135, 1920." Though most of the still standing ornate public school buildings in the five boroughs were designed by C.B.J. Snyder, BOE Superintendent of Buildings from 1891 to 1923, a few remain from an early time. Public School 35 (later no. 135) was the final structure designed by Snyder's predecessor George W. Debevoise. Built on the land of the once James Beekman mansion (built 1763), the Romanesque Revival building of brick and brownstone, with large window openings, was to house 1354 students. The school missed the opening of the 1892 school year and its next two planned opening dates in November and March 1893. After a fire in February 1893 and more than $15,000 in damage, the school finally opened in May. In 1897 the school became P.S 135 and the Assembly Hall was used for twice-weekly free lectures for adults. Later in its life, the school would become known for its dancing-as-gym program, open air classrooms during the tuberculosis scare of 1910s, and a fully-equipped school unit for children with cerebral palsy in the 1940s.

Beaux-Arts Apartments ARCHITECT: Kenneth M. Murchison; Raymond M. Hood; Raymond Hood, Godley & Fouilhoux DATE: 1929-30 STYLE: Beaux-Arts Designed by Raymond Hood, among the most prominent American architects of the twentieth century, and built-in 1929-30, The Beaux-Arts Apartments is one of the earliest examples in New York City to reflect the trend toward a horizontal emphasis in the aesthetic of modern European architecture of the 1920s. Conceived as a corollary to the neighboring Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (a designated New York City Landmark), the Beaux-Arts Apartments at 310 East 44th Street and its twin building on the opposite side of the street were intended to provide residential and studio accommodations for architects and artists, as well as others interested in living in what was anticipated as a midtown artistic community.

Lexington Avenue at East 47th Street, east of the Grand Central rail yards, August 25, 1914. The building at left, with smokestacks, was the station's steam powerhouse until 1929, when it was demolished in favor of electric power. After the Waldorf-Astoria was completed in 1931, across 49th Street, certain of the hotel's most prominent guests made use of a private train platform originally built for service cars calling at the powerhouse.

Panhellenic Tower ARCHITECT: John Mead Howells DATE: 1927-30 STYLE: Gothic-inspired, Art Deco Erected in 1927-29 as a residence and clubhouse for women belonging to national Greek-letter college sororities, the Panhellenic Tower provided affordable housing for young college-educated women who were entering the workforce in record numbers in the 1920s. The tower is renowned for its dramatic volumetric massing and bold vertical striping created by deeply recessed window-and-spandrel bays set between narrow piers which rise unbroken from a two-story base to a parapet crown. Though sparsely decorated, the building incorporates handsome Gothic-inspired Art Deco ornament by the leading architectural sculptor Rene Chambellan.

Hotel Shelton, 1924. The Shelton Hotel was the brainchild of James T. Lee (grandfather of Jackie Kennedy). He wanted to build a massive bachelor hotel. And massive it was. When completed in 1923, the structure, designed by Arthur Loomis Harmon, had 1200 rooms. Designed in a Romanesque Revival style, the building was considered the first major successful example to adhere to the massing requirements of the 1916 Zoning Law. The three setbacks culminate in a central tower. The building became a model for other skyscrapers and its architect would go to design the Empire State Building a few years later. Originally opened as a men's only residence, the building began admitting women and families soon after it opened. Georgia O’Keeffe and photographer Alfred Stieglitz lived on the 30th floor from 1935 until 1937. And in 1926 Houdini had himself locked in a box and submerged in the basement swimming pool, eventually emerging unharmed. Today the building is the New York Marriott East Side.

Upon its completion in 1931, the new Waldorf Astoria became both the tallest and the largest hotel in the world. At 625 feet, and with 1.68 million sq. ft. in floor area, the Waldorf occupied an entire city block between Lexington and Park Avenue and offered more than 2,000 rooms. Designed by architect Lloyd Morgan of the firm Schultze and Weaver, the new Waldorf Astoria was a mountain of construction, with its limestone base matched above with gray bricks, custom-made for the hotel and named “Waldorf Gray.” The wide base was topped by two towers which were filled mostly with private residences. Ornamental spires with a streamlined classicism gave the hotel a modernist “Art Deco” character. Dubbed “New York’s Unofficial Palace,” the Waldorf Astoria’s luxurious suites have been home to many high-profile residents, including William Randolph Hearst Jr. and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Every president since Herbert Hoover has stayed in the hotel’s Presidential Suite, and the Waldorf is the official residence of the United States’ UN Ambassador.

277 Park Avenue, 1962. This Emery Roth & Sons office tower is a quintessential example of the modernist steel and glass towers that sprung up along Park Avenue in the late 50s through the 60s. This building is still owned by the Stahl Organization, the original developer of the project. The tower has 1.74 million square feet of office space spread over 50 stories. The famed architecture firm Emery Roth & Sons were known for "marketable designs that maximized the net rentable area," particularly after World War 2. This block-spanning lot had previously been occupied by a McKim Mead & White apartment building, though it was never meant to stand the test of time. In order to prepare for Midtown's development as a business district, the New York and Harlem Rail Road Company, who owned the lot at the time, had a foundation poured that could support a 75-story tower.

The Vanderbilt YMCA, ca. 1937. Opened in 1932 and designed by Warren and Wetmore, this Young Men's Christian Association building was originally called the "Railroad YMCA" because of its housing program for railroad workers. In 1972, it was renamed the Vanderbilt YMCA, to recognize Cornelius Vanderbilt, the railroad tycoon.

This synagogue building (seen at center at 221-223 East 51 Street) began its life as the Good Will Chapel, a Presbyterian mission of the nearby Madison Avenue Church, sometime in the late 19th century. The building was then purchased by Congregation Orach Chaim, a Orthodox congregation, in 1898. The congregation occupied the ornate building for only eight years before moving uptown to an even more elaborate structure. In 1906 the building was purchased by Congregation Beth Hamedrash Hachodosh Talmud Torah, an Orthodox synagogue established in 1901. By the mid 1950s the congregation had became a conservative synagogue known as the East 51st Street Synagogue. In the 1960s and 1970s many changes came to the building and the nearby streetscape. The congregation purchased the land at nos. 225 and 227 and constructed a new building, while also selling the parcel at no. 221 to the Rockefeller family. No. 221, along with two properties to the west, became Greenacre Park, a “vest pocket park,” with a 25 foot waterfall next door to the new Sutton Place Synagogue.

Turtle Bay Gardens, 1937. Purchased by socialite Charlotte Hunnewell Martin in 1918, the eleven 1860s-built townhouses on the south side of 49th Street and nine on the north side of 48th Street underwent two years of renovation. The extensive work included the creation of a communal garden space at the center of the block. The individual backyards are separated only with low brick walls, while a broad esplanade at the center is shared by all. When the work was complete on the homes, Martin did the unexpected; she sold the homes at cost (to her friends). Residents of the homes have included Katharine Hepburn, Tyrone Power, Stephen Sondheim, and E. B. White.

Loew's Lexington Theatre, 1925. This structure was originally called the Lexington Opera House and was opened by Oscar Hammerstein I in 1914. Due to a negotiation with the Metropolitan Opera which disallowed Hammerstein from staging opera, the so-called "opera house" opened with a program of vaudeville acts and films. Hammerstein sold the theater to Marcus Loew, who utilized it as one of his circuit's most popular venues. Leow's Lexington Theatre was kept in pristine condition, and the Beaux Arts design was hardly altered until its demolition in 1961. The theatre sat 2,500 and had 40 boxes. It was razed to make room for another of Loew's ventures, the Loew's Summit Hotel

"The second Waldorf Astoria (without the hyphen) is the present one located at Park Avenue and East 49th Street. Opened in 1931, it was the largest, the tallest and the most expensive hotel ever built, not just succeeding its illustrious predecessor , but surpassing it in every way imaginable. Today, more than eighty years after its completion, the Waldorf Astoria remains the epitome of the grand hotel. New York City’s Waldorf Astoria may well be the best known hotel in the world. Synonymous with grandeur, luxury and sophistication, its name has been appropriated by numerous pretenders from London to Shanghai, by the Waldorf’s own ubiquitous salad, and, somewhat amusingly, by one of Jim Henson’s Muppets. The Waldorf Astoria has been celebrated (and occasionally excoriated) in both song and verse by such talents as Irving Berlin, Langston Hughes, Cole Porter, Wallace Stevens, and Thomas E. “Fats” Waller. It has been featured in countless books, plays, and movies, including a top-billed role in M-G-M’s 1945 melodrama, Weekend at the Waldorf. Thousands of people who have never set foot through its doors know the Waldorf Astoria by sight and reputation. Set in the very heart of the fashionable Fifth Avenue residential district, the new hotel was intended to cater specifically to the socially prominent ladies and gentlemen of New York and the increasing number of distinguished foreign visitors to the city from abroad. To them, the Waldorf proffered the finest in French cuisine, a telephone in every room, and the privacy of meals served in their chambers, the first room service. It surrounded them with the art and trappings of a European royal court and an army of servants seeing to their every wish. Clearly, the Waldorf was their hotel. And how did all this come about? It begins as a tale of two cousins..." To learn more about all the Waldorf Astoria, check out William Alan Morrison's article in Gotham: A Blog for Scholars of New York City History.

An exterior photograph looking North on Lexington Avenue. The intersection at 55th Street is visible in the distance. Apartment houses line the street, with several businesses, such as a laundry and a grocer, occupying the ground floor. In the distance, there is a throng of pedestrians and streetcars and a horsedrawn carriage can be seen. To the extreme right, there is a statue of a Native American in front of a shop.

135 East 52nd Street, 1912. Constructed on land purchased with donations by a number of wealthy New York society women, the Young Women's Christian Association building was completed and dedicated in 1912. The building housed the national headquarters of the charity. The section of the building entered through 135 East 52nd Street was known as "the Annex;" it provided space for the National Board Training program and residences for its trainees. Affectionately known as as "600," it was the first building to be built in the United States solely for the use of a woman's movement. The National Board of the organization decided to sell the building (which they had received many previous offers for) in 1981. The building was demolished and redeveloped. The Y.W.C.A moved into a number of rented headquarters through the 1980s and 1990s, including a stint in the Empire State Building. Following a reorganization in 2003, they consolidated their activities into their Washington, D.C. office.

Hotel Beverly, 1930. Built in the "hotel alley" of Lexington Avenue north of Grand Central Terminal as part of the two decade development known as Terminal City, the Beverly Hotel was completed in 1927. Designed by Emery Roth with tiered, set back massing, the hotel was marketed to “sophisticated New Yorkers” and advertised their "many sunny outdoor terraces." The building's striking silhouette made it a favorite subject for artists. Today, the neo-Romanesque building is the boutique Hotel Benjamin, and has retained (or been returned to) its original appearance.

Church of St. John the Evangelist ca. 1928 Philip DiFalco constructed this model of an East Side parish church over a period of years while he lived at 304 East 59th Street with his father and sisters. The Church of St. John the Evangelist stood at First Avenue and 55th Street from 1881 into the 1970s. The parish had been founded in 1840, on East 50th Street. News coverage of the church's dedication noted that the edifice was 14th-century Gothic in style designed by architect Arthur Crooks, with a campanile tower on the north end and 18 large stained glass windows imported from Munich.

312 East 53rd Street CLIENT: R. V. J. Cunningham ARCHITECT: Robert & James Cunningham DATE: 1866 STYLE: French Second Empire This attractive little wood house, one of a pair, was built for R. V. J. Cunningham in 1866. Simple as it is, it nonetheless reflects faithfully the post-Civil War architecture so much influenced by French Second Empire models. Here are the Mansard roof and the carefully framed windows and front door, all displaying cornices carried on brackets. The arrangement of the windows is somewhat unusual as the two long ones at the left of the door follow an asymmetrical pattern, while the two above are symmetrically placed with reference to the center of the building, as are the two dormers above them. They are all the double-hung type with the broad central muntin intended to simulate casement windows. This was characteristic of our desire to look French while retaining the practicality of double hung windows.

General Electric Building, January 27, 1937. Built in 1931 as the RCA Victor Building, this 50-story skyscraper was designed by the firm of Cross & Cross. The building combines the general form of Gothic architecture (emphasized verticality,piers and butresses, and pinnacles) and Art Deco motifs and ornamentation. Both of the base and the tower boast fantastic design and ornamentation. The top of the tower has the look of Gothic tracery (or the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window), but includes Deco depictions of electricity and radio waves. The facade of the building uses three brick colors (orange, buff, and tawny) which are also the brick colors of the adjacent domed St. Bartholomew's Church, which can be seen in this image at the bottom center.

Rosario Candela played a major role in shaping the architectural legacy of 20th-century Manhattan: the distinctive "prewar apartment buildings that define the cityscapes of streets like Park and Fifth Avenues and Sutton Place." Even today, almost a century after they were built, Candela's buildings rank among the most prized in the city.

277 Park Avenue, 1926. This apartment building designed by McKim Mead & White was completed in 1925. The structure took up the entire block with its 12 sections and 432 apartments and included a "drive-in...giant interior court" according to the New York Times. The building was funded by the New York & Harlem Rail Road through the construction of the new Grand Central Depot, who's railyards below prompted a redevelopment of Park Avenue. One notable previous tenant was John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign. In 1931, the Real Estate Record and Guide noted that of this part of Park Avenue, "no further long-term leases are being granted," to make way for the area's growth as a business district. The building was leased in 1923 for a maximum of 63 years, though in 1948 it was repossessed by the New York and Harlem Rail Road Company. After a much-disputed demolition in the 50s, construction began on a new 50-story office tower to take its place in 1962. Surprisingly, the foundation which the (much shorter by comparison) original apartment sat on had been cast strong enough to support a 70-story building. The rail company had anticipated a tower all along.

Lexington Avenue between East 53rd and 54th Streets, ahead of subway construction. The northward extension of the IRT East Side Line, later dubbed the Lexington Avenue Line would be completed more than six years later, in 1918. This view includes two important landmarks of Lexington Avenue religious life: at left, the 1870s-era Central Synagogue; at far right (No. 619), St. Peter's Lutheran Church. The latter building has since been replaced with an angular granite structure described by the New York Times's David Dunlap as "New York’s most architecturally successful postwar sanctuary."

Designed by the same firm as the Empire State Building, 245 Park Avenue replaced the 1911-built Grand Central Palace. Completed in 1967, the 48-story skyscraper has variously been called the American Tobacco Company Building, the American Brands Building, and the Bear Stearns Building (before they moved to 383 Madison Avenue). In the late 1970s, the publishing firm Doubleday was headquartered here. Today tenants include Heineken, Major League Baseball, and the asset and wealth management groups ofJ.P Morgan Chase.

North side of West 44th Street towards Lexington Avenue, August, 13, 1914. This street scene of 1914 provides a view of Grand Central Terminal that is no longer available. Looking from the east, today the 1927 Graybar Building stands at 420 Lexington Avenue blocks the view of GCT from East 44th Street. The business at right is a baggage delivery firm which advertised their services for 25 cents.

When you think of classic New York brands, you might come up with Nathan's or the Yankees before thinking of Steinway & Sons. However, the historic piano maker has deep roots in the five boroughs.

48th Street west across Third Avenue. The Shelton Hotel is the tall building at center, February 1, 1938.

209-211 East 48th Street, February 1, 1938. This 1934 townhouse (seen at the right) is considered the first modernist residence in New York City. Called the William Lescaze House for the architect who designed and lived in the home, the house employed the newest available technology, materials, and methods of construction.With his partner George Howe, Lescaze pioneered modernism in America, building the first International style skyscraper in the U.S. in Philadelphia in 1930. The concrete and glass home was designed to be beautiful, economical, and efficient, as per Lescaze's opinion on the merits of modernism. The structure was not an entirely new building, but the massive gut renovation, exterior redo and addition to a pre-Civil War brownstone. This house was the first recorded structure in the city to use glass blocks, an architectural feature now common in vernacular architecture.

St. Bartholomew’s Church ca. 1995 St. Bartholomew’s Church on Park Avenue and 51st street was designed by Bertram Goodhue and completed with the addition of the dome designed by Mayers, Murray, and Phillips in 1927. One of the largest congregations of the Episcopal Church, St. Bartholomew’s with its “Cross of Triumph” at 148-foot above street level, still keeps its grand scale among towering apartment buildings. The 570-ft RCA Victor Building immediately behind it has identical brick and its Gothic style crown make it appear as an extension of the church’s style and presence.

The East 54th Street Baths opened in 1911 with 79 showers for men and 59 for women. In 1895 a New York State passed a law requiring that cities over 50,000 provided free public bathhouses. In the era of cramped tenement living (with no indoor plumbing), this socially progressive initiative allowed the city's working class a free sanitary facility. The neo-classical building also housed recreation activities such as a pool, gymnasium, jogging track, and basketball court. Despite its very functional purpose, the building featured unique and decorative interior and exterior details, including Guastavino tile vaulted ceilings and colorful brickwork patterns on the facade. Originally under the control of a newly formed city agency called the Public Recreation Commission, the baths and recreation center are now under the auspices of the Parks Department. And though the need for free public showers has changed, the building still houses recreational and athletic activities.

St. Bartholomew's Church, ca. 1921. The parish of St. Bartholomew's Protestant Episcopal Church was founded in 1835. The congregation's first church was located on the corner of Lafayette at Great Jones Street in the neighborhood now known as NoHo. In the early 1870s, the congregation moved uptown to a new church designed by James Renwick, Jr. While in this location the church became very involved in social services, establishing six Sunday schools in five languages, a rescue mission, and a medical clinic. A new pastor in the early years of the 20th century advocated for a new church as, "a great gift of beauty to the city." In 1914 the church purchased a new plot of land at Park Avenue and 51st Street and Bertram Goodhue was hired as architect. The resulting structure was a grand edifice in a Byzantine-Romanesque style. The original design was scaled back quite a bit due to financial debts. The first mass was held in a very unfinished building in 1918 and the largely completed church was officially consecrated in 1923.

Intersection of East 46th Street and Lexington Avenue, March 2, 1917. The building seen at left is the Grand Central Palace. Designed by the team of associated architects that created Grand Central Terminal (Warren and Wetmore and Reed and Stem) the Palace was an 13-story exhibition hall completed in 1911. It replaced the the 1893 Grand Central Palace which at Lexington Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets had to be demolished for the new train station. The 1911 Beaux-Arts building hosted large-scale events and exhibitions, including auto, boat, flower, and trade shows on its lower three floors. In 1911 the First Industrial Aeroplane Show, the first time most New Yorkers had ever seen a plane, was presented at the Palace. It was also the home of the Westminster Dog Show for many years. The upper floors were leased as offices. The final exhibitions were installed in 1953 and a decade later the building was demolished, two years before the Landmarks Law was passed. The replacing building was the 44-story 245 Park Avenue.

View north along the east side of Lexington Avenue toward 49th Street, October 20, 1915.

Alma Gluck-Zimbalist Residence, 1927. With the carved stone violin and singing angel that sits above the entrance, this double lot home is marked as the residence of musicians. Constructed in 1926 the Tudor style house was home to Efrem Zimbalist, a famous violinist, and his equally famous opera singer wife, Alma. The house served as the NYPD 17th Precinct station house for a time in the 1950s before being divided into rental apartments.

Roger Horne, a Mohawk ironworker, grasping a rope in each hand and looking upward on a construction site at Park Avenue and 53rd Street in New York City. 1970 - 1971. David Grant Noble photographs. Courtesy of the National American Indian Memorial.

Beaux Arts Institute of Design ARCHITECT: Frederic C. Hirons; Dennison & Hirons DATE: 1928 STYLE: Beaux-Arts Founded in 1893 by American architects who had studied at the prestigious Parisian Ecole des Beaux-Arts, the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects had a profound impact on architectural practice in this country by its dedication to fostering the principles established by the Ecole. The Beaux-Arts Institute of Design, chartered in 1916 to accommodate the expanding educational programs of the Society, served as the national headquarters for architectural instruction based on the curriculum of the Ecole and influenced several generations of American architects.

Hotel Barclay, 1928. Opened in 1926 as a residential hotel, the Barclay was designed by the architectural firm of Cross & Cross. Right in the center of the hustle of Terminal City (the lobby had a ticket booth for rail travel) the hotel was luxurious and popular among the glamorous social circles of the city. Between 1939 and 1962 the Cornell Club was headquartered in this building. The hotel was purchased by the InterContinental Hotel Group in 1978 and has seen a number of renovations in the last 40 years. The most recent renovation of the now named InterContinental New York Barclay Hotel was completed in 2016. Between 1926 and 2010 when the hotel closed briefly for renovation, it hosted the flagship location of Caswell Massey, the oldest apothecary and perfumery in the country (established 1752).

Waldorf Astoria Hotel, 1931. Originally two separate 19th century hotels that become one, on the land later occupied by the Empire State Building in the 1930s, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel opened its doors at 50th Street and Park Avenue in 1931. At the time it was the tallest and largest hotel in the world. President Hoover mentioned the hotel in a White House address, saying, "The opening of the new Waldorf Astoria ... marks the measure of nation's growth in power, in comfort, and in artistry." Built on the plot of land previously occupied by the New York Central Railroad powerhouse, the 47-story Art Deco building was designed by architects Schultze and Weaver. The main hotel occupied the lower 20-floors, while the central twin Waldorf Towers (topped with bronze-clad cupolas) were designed for 100 suites, with a portion of them leased as long term residences. Famous tenants of the building have included Herbert Hoover, General Douglas MacArthur, Bugsy Siegel, Lucky Luciano, and Cole Porter.

The F.M. Schaeffer Brewing Company was the longest operating brewery in New York City and the oldest lager beer company in the United States. It was officially founded in 1842 by two brothers who had immigrated from Wetzler, Prussia, Germany to NYC and brought with them the recipe to a popular lager beer from their hometown. Lager beer was unheard of in America at this time but thanks to the Schaeffer brothers, quickly became the beer of choice for New Yorkers and East Coast Americans. Their headquarters and brewing facilities remained in the city for over a century, and they were the last brewing company to operate in New York until the late 1970s. Their locations include Seventh Avenue and 17th Street (present-day Barneys!) where they stayed briefly and later moved to Park Ave from 50th to 52nd Street. They remained in their Park Avenue location until the early 20th century. They then moved to Kent Avenue in Brooklyn, where they remained until officially closing their New York plants in 1976. Today, Schaeffer Beer is owned by the Pabst Company, who still brew Schaeffer beer under the Miller Company to this day.

Summit Hotel, undated postcard. The Summit Hotel (completed 1961) was the first major New York project for architect Morris Lapidus. Known for his oversized and somewhat garish Miami hotels (the Fontainebleau Hotel, particularly), Lapidus introduced a new type of building geometry to the staid rectangular forms of midtown. The 51st Street frontage is rendered as a subtle curve, with a uniform facade pattern of windows tucked between protruding white-brick masonry. Architectural critic Ada Louise Huxtable said of the hotel: ''The Summit is a glittering display of gaudy confusion...\[m]osaics, marbles, woods, enamels, fabrics, synthetics, colors and crafts have been poured forth and combined with profligate abandon and aggressive insensitivity.'' Others have described it as jolly and welcome surprise among the city's grid. The architect himself noted many years after its completion that it was the "most hated" hotel in the city. But despite its scorn, it can be credited with—if not directly inspiring other eclectic building— at least laying the foundation for later experiments in architectural geometry. The hotel has changed hands a number of times in the last few decades and has had extensive alterations. Today it is the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Metropolitan. While many of the more ostentatious features have been removed or toned down, the groovy eight-story sign on the Lexington Avenue facade, which now spells out Doubleday on its oval protrusions, remains.

General Electric Building ARCHITECT: Cross & Cross DATE: 1929-31 STYLE: Art Deco Designed by the firm of Cross & Cross in the Gothic mode of the Art Deco style which is both symbolic and expressive of the function of the building, this tower is a major example of Art Deco architecture. The massing and articulation of the building, shown through the use of ornament and color, is remarkable and laudable. Not only does this treatment illustrate the breadth of the Art Deco, but it also gives the General Electric Building exemplary status. Moreover, the building is the successful culmination of the Cross & Cross firm’s efforts to develop a coherent and cohesive articulation for tall office buildings.

Lexington Avenue between East 51st and 52nd Streets, February 18, 1915. At center left is the Lexington Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, built in 1861. In 1937, the historically Swedish congregation moved to a new sanctuary on East 62nd Street, known as the Lexington United Methodist Church.

St. Bartholomew's Church ca. 1926 When the new Saint Bartholomew's was built in early twentieth century, the handsome entrances, designed in 1902 for the earlier church, were moved from Madison Avenue and incorporated in the new structure. They were inspired by the Romanesque Church of Saint Giles at Arles, France, and blended singularly well with the Byzantine splendor of the new edifice. The tower of the General Electric Building, which rises directly behind Saint Bartholomew's, used the same warm-colored brick as the church to harmonize with it- a farsighted bit of planning rarely encountered today

"First Ave., west side, south from East 52nd Street. Shown at the N.W. corner of East 51st Street, is P.S. No. 135, 1928." In 1960 the nearby P.S 53 opened and most of the students were moved into that school. For a decade and a half the massive school only housed the cerebral palsy unit, then the small UN International School and later a private school. In the late 1970s the school was sold to a developer who planned to demolish the building. The neighborhood reacted harshly and enacted a "Coalition to Save 931." The preservation efforts paid off as the building was listed on the National Register and the Board of Estimates confirmed the desire for preservation. The city put the building up for auction in 1983 with the caveat that the facade remain intact. More than a decade passed before appropriate plans were developed. Between 1996 and 2004 a proposal was agreed on, and construction commenced on a luxury high-rise apartment building which incorporated the exterior walls of P.S. 135.

Beverly Hotel (now The Benjamin) ARCHITECT: Emery Roth DATE: 1926-27 STYLE: Romanesque Above a handsome two-story arcaded limestone base (largely reconstructed) the upper stories of grayish-brown brick terminate in a series of skillfully modeled setbacks that rise toward a lofty octagonal tower with wheel windows that is topped by a pavilion with tile roof and copper finial. The Beverly Hotel is richly ornamented with stylized Romanesque motifs and incorporates details such as pelican and owl sculptures and warrior-head corbels.

Towers of the Waldorf Astoria in the Midtown Manhattan skyline, ca. 1935.

Waldorf-Astoria Hotel ARCHITECT: Schultze & Weaver; Lloyd Morgan DATE: 1929-31 STYLE: Art Deco, Skyscraper, Hotel This building combined a transient hotel and a related but separate residential tower into a 625-foot-high skyscraper, one of the city’s tallest at the time, located in the major new skyscraper office building district developing around Park Avenue near Grand Central Terminal. The architect of the hotel and towers, Lloyd Morgan of the firm of Schultze & Weaver, designed the complex in a sedate but handsome version of the modernistic style now generally referred to as Art Deco, adapting the skyscraper form and an up-to-date look to a conservative traditional establishment.

Racquet and Tennis Club and the Seagram Building, ca. 1975. The Seagram Building, seen here at center, is a 1958 skyscraper that was built for the Seagram liquor company. The building was designed by German-born architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (who was once director of the Bauhaus, the art school which greatly influenced modern art, architecture, and design). Considered an icon of modernism, the simple, straightforward design of glass and metal, highlighted minimalist geometries and the underlying shape of the structure, without added ornamentation. From 1959 until 2016, the Seagram Building was also the home of the Four Seasons Restaurant, the bastion of mid century modern design, Americanized fine dining, and the power lunch.

231 East 47th Street, later the site of Andy Warhol's first "Factory," September 23, 1947. In 1963, as his Pop Art works began to gain traction, Andy Warhol rented a large studio space on 47th Street for an annual rent of $100. Sometimes described as the "Silver Factory" for its tin foil and paint decor, Warhol's fourth floor loft became a fashionable performance space, production studio, and party venue for the artist and his acolytes, known as the Warhol superstars. The Factory moved to a new downtown space in 1968, with the "Silver Factory" building slated for demolition.

Morris Sanders Studio and Apartment, April 26, 1940. Though not the first Modernist house in New York City (that honor belongs to the Lescaze House), the Morris Sanders Studio and Apartment is considered the second residence in the city to adapt the aesthetic principles pioneered by Le Corbusier and the European modernists. Designed by architect Sanders between 1934 and 1935, for his own use, the home certainly was eye-catching on a block of 19th century rowhouses. Unlike the Lescaze House, which altered an existing structure, this five and half story home was a completely new building. Lacking in ornamentation, with the upper floors looming over the set back ground level, and clad in glossy blue tile and glass blocks, the home was (perhaps surprisingly) well received. The Architectural League of New York City awarded it their highest prize in 1935 for domestic architecture and national and international architecture publications lauded it. The Architectural Forum wrote of how it rose “abruptly from a stodgy row of brown-faced houses, interrupting with brutal finality the orderly sequence of uniform facades." (They meant it as a compliment!)

Destroyed trolley after an explosion near the Grand Central Terminal Powerhouse at 50th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues, December 1910. On December 19, 1910 an explosion at the New York Central Railroad's Sub Station killed 13 people and injured dozens of others. At 8:22 A.M. the massive explosion (likely two blasts, one from a gas issue and one from the dynamite kept in the still-being completed powerhouse) rocked the area. The blast threw up brick, stones, beams, and other building materials, tossing them hundreds of feet. Windows in the area were blown out and a passing trolley felt the brunt of the force, killing at least four passengers.

Subway construction at East 46th Street and Lexington Avenue, September 14, 1917.