Apartment Houses of the Metropolis, a 1908 survey of New York’s residential buildings, describes “The Grand View” at St. Nicholas Avenue and 155th Street: “There are three apartments on a floor of eight rooms and two baths each. The parlors and libraries are finished in white enamel, dining rooms in oak, paneled and beamed ceilings. The latter two rooms have parquet floors, while all other rooms have hardwood polished flooring.” Other amenities include long-distance telephone, electric lighting and plumbing and other material of “the highest character.”

The west side of Eighth Avenue, as it was known until 1977, underneath the Ninth Avenue El (which ran above Eighth Avenue from 110-155th Streets), 1932. The El was discontinued in 1940, having been made redundant by new subway services in the Bronx and along the IND Eighth Avenue Line.

In the 1920s, New York teams signed players who would appeal to a growing Jewish fan base, including second baseman Andy Cohen, signed by the Giants in 1926, and catcher Moe Berg, who played for the Brooklyn Robins (later Dodgers). Cohen achieved legendary status and had a Polo Grounds treat named for him: ice cream Cohens. Berg, known as “the brainiest guy in baseball,” later served as a spy for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II

As summer falls upon the city, New Yorkers have long-filled the public parks, pools, bike paths, tracks and stadiums to enjoy some friendly competition under the sun. These photos take you through some of the city's iconic outdoor sporting locales, from the public gymnastic rings that once drew crowds on the Hudson River, to the well-loved public pools that still scatter the city today.

Dunbar Apartments, March 6, 1928. The Dunbar Apartments — named for the African American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar — are a six-building housing development built by John D. Rockefeller between 1926-1928, in response to a housing shortage in Harlem. The buildings, designed by architect Andrew J. Thomas, were the first large-scale garden apartment complex in Manhattan, and, according to the New York Times, “the first large cooperative project in the country built for occupancy by blacks.” However, the Great Depression caused many middle class residents to default on mortgages, leading Rockefeller to foreclose on the properties in 1936. The buildings were subsequently converted to rental units. In 1970, the Dunbar Apartments were designated a New York City Landmark.

Polo Grounds ca. 1896 Known as the "Gothams" until 1885, the team that became the New York Giants, played their first game on May 1, 1883, at the Polo Grounds at 110th Between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Manhattan. They would close out the 1880s with pennant wins in 1888 and 1889. In the early 1890s, the team moved further uptown to the new Polo Grounds at 157th Street on the Harlem River, depicted here. The Polo Grounds was also home to the New York Cuban Giants, which became the first salaried professional black baseball team in 1885.

Dunbar Apartments ARCHITECT: Andrew J. Thomas DATE: 1926-28 STYLE: Apartment The Dunbar Apartments, named after the famous Black poet of the turn of the century, Paul Lawrence Dunbar (1872-1906), occupies the entire block bounded by 149th and 150th Streets and Seventh and Eighth Avenues. It was the first large cooperative built for Blacks and was Manhattan’s earliest large garden apartment complex. Financed by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and designed by the architect Andrew J. Thomas, the building was completed in 1928 and was destined, from the planning and sociological points of view, to occupy a pivotal place in the history of the Harlem community. The complex consists of six independent U-shaped buildings, containing 511 apartments, and is clustered around a large interior garden court. Eight arched entrance ways lead into the court and to public staircases. With its lawns, shrubs and trees, the garden court provides a quiet, green oasis removed from the traffic and noise of the surrounding streets. Architecturally, the dominant note is one of simplicity. The architect successfully avoided the cold monotony of many later housing projects by breaking up the massive walI surfaces. He varied the heights of the buildings from five to six stories, alternately projected and recessed adjoining units and introduced a variety of window alignments and sizes. The warm tones and varicolored brick are set off by decorative accents of limestone. Handsome wrought iron balconies and window guards and architectural terra-cotta at the roof level complete the decorative scheme.

822-888 St. Nicholas Avenue, east side, between West 153rd and 155th Streets, 1935. These four stately homes are inexplicably behind a large fence in this 1935 photograph. Upon closer inspection, the broken and open windows and the advertising on the homes themselves, indicate they are empty and deteriorating. The buildings date to at least 1899, when a real estate brochure listed them as in foreclosure. They are listed as the address of a number of residents in the first decade of the 20th century, including an officer in the Daughters of the American Revolution. It is unclear when the buildings were abandoned or demolished.

Olympic Pool in Colonial Park (now Jackie Robinson Park), Harlem, 1939. The Colonial Park pool was one of eleven public swimming pools opened during the summer of 1936, at the direction of Robert Moses and funded by the WPA. Its opening ceremony drew 25,000 spectators.

Attached clapboard and brick buildings on West 155th Street, sharing a covered wooden porch. At left is the William McKinley Temple, a Masonic lodge built in 1925. The houses have long since been demolished. Today, the lodge is the Prince Hall Masonic Temple, named after the 18th century founder of African American Freemasonry.

The 159th Street Yard, ca. 1945. Just north of the Polo Grounds, the 159th Street Yard served the Ninth Avenue El until its closure in 1940. By 1942, the city was accepting bids for the yard to be dismantled, and for its scrap metal to be salvaged for the war effort. Eventually, the yard was cleared for the construction of the Colonial Park Houses (now the NYCHA Ralph Rangel Houses) between 1948-51.

North side of West 154th Street from St, Nicholas to Amsterdam Avenues, 1924. This row of seven houses (of an original 11) were constructed in 1883-1884 and designed by architect James Stroud. The Queen Anne style rowhouses have alternating models in a symmetrical order with no. 417 being the center of the grouping. No. 417 is seen at the center of this photography with the projecting gambrel gable and half timbered central pedimented dormer. These features were unique colonial style elements added to the Queen Anne buildings. George H. Putnam, head of the G. P. Putnam book publishing company, lived at no. 417 for some time around the turn of the 20th century. All of the homes are set back from the front lot line, have a stepped garden, and all are entered by a long double flight set of stairs. Today they are in various conditions, though most have not been drastically altered.

“Pedestrians and horse & buggies coming off of the 155th Street viaduct bridge, New York, 1899." In the foreground, pedestrians walk on the 155th Street Viaduct, over Coogan’s Hollow. In the background are the two spans of the Macombs Dam Bridge: first, a swing bridge over the Harlem River; second a camelback span over railroad tracks on the Bronx side.

The Polo Grounds from atop Coogan’s Bluff, ca. 1910. Home to the New York Giants baseball team, the stadium pictured is the third to use the name Polo Grounds: the first was located at the northeast corner of Central Park, and the second at an adjacent site in Coogan’s Hollow. A 1911 fire caused extensive damage, leading to the reconstruction of a concrete-and-steel stadium, the “fourth” Polo Grounds. In the background, the Macombs Dam Bridge (right), Putnam Bridge (left), Harlem River and the western edge of the Bronx are visible.

"The New York Elevated Railroad Company built a line on Third Avenue to 129th Street at the Harlem River in 1878; a year later the company upgraded the Ninth Avenue line and extended it to 155th Street in northern Manhattan. The Gilbert (after 1878, Metropolitan) Elevated Company built and opened a line on Sixth Avenue to 58th Street in 1878, built a connection to the Ninth Avenue line on 53rd Street, and by 1880 completed a line on Second Avenue. In 1879 the companies merged to form the Manhattan Railway Company. By 1880 all four elevated lines had reached the Harlem River. Early in 1954 the New York City Transit Authority, NYCTA, which succeeded the Board of Transportation, concluded that the Third Avenue line was no longer needed south of 149th Street. Supposedly, the Lexington Avenue subway and East Side buses had adequate capacity to carry former Third Avenue riders in Manhattan. In the best interests of the city, the El would be closed and demolished. With one exception, the Third Avenue El fleet was destroyed..." For more on the Third Avenue El, check out this article by Lawrence Stelter in Gotham: A Blog for Scholars of New York City History.

The 1930s were an important moment in history of recreation in New York City. In the early 1930s the Department of Parks came under the control of Robert Moses, who had very specific goals regarding citywide access to recreation facilities year-round. Moses employed the at-the-ready manpower of the New Deal's Works Progress Administration to create a spate of new, modern, and large-scale recreational facilities. This included the construction of 11 neighborhood Olympic sized pools. The pools all opened over a few weeks during the summer of 1936. The pools and accompanying play centers were constructed of inexpensive materials but featured advanced design and technology in filtration, chlorination, and heating systems and underwater lighting. Most were rendered in sleek Art Moderne styles. Each had a wading pool, lap pool, and diving pool and could accommodate thousands of swimmers at a time. In the non-summer months both the pools and the play centers were converted for paddle tennis, shuffleboard, volleyball, basketball, handball, roller skating rinks, and dance classes. These facilities in total had a capacity for nearly 50,000 people at the same time. They changed the way New York kids spent their summers. In a 1934 press release announcing the pools Moses said, “It is no exaggeration to say that the health, happiness, efficiency and orderliness of a large number of the city's residents, especially in the summer months, are tremendously affected by the presence or absence of adequate swimming and bathing facilities.”

William McKinley Temple, data unknown. Built in 1925 for the William McKinley Lodge No. 840, today the building maintains this Masonic purpose. The Classical Revival style lodge was lost to foreclosure in 1936, though it seems that the groups continued to meet in the space for some time. From 1938 until the late 1980s, the building was occupied by the Savage School for Physical Education, a training school for physical education teachers. Today the building is the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge, a African American masonic community that was actively involved in the Civil Rights movement and continues to work on social service projects in the communities surrounding their lodges.

Washington Heights Free Library, undated postcard. The Washington Heights Free Library was originally established in 1868 as a fee-based membership institution called the Washington Heights Library. In the 1870s, J. Hood Wright, a Wall Street banker and member of the local community, became involved with the library. He began making donations with the agreement that the services be rendered free. The renamed Washington Heights Free Library constructed a neo-Classical building on St. Nicholas in 1900 after occupying a series of rented spaces. The cost of the building was underwritten by subscriptions from friends of the library, and a late donation from Andrew Carnegie helped the institution reach the required amount. In 1901, the Washington Heights Free Library was absorbed into the New York Public Library system. The small library building seen in this postcard was replaced with a larger more modern library facility a few block to the north at 1000 St. Nicholas Avenue in 1914. (This one was funded by entirely by Carnegie.) Today the Free Library building still stands, and is the long-time home to the Bethel Holy Church, who has occupied the building since 1949.

10 Nicholas Place at the corner of West 150th Street, as seen from St, Nicholas Avenue, 1935. Designed by Samuel Burrage Reed for famed circus producer James Bailey, the Romanesque Revival style mansion was completed in 1888. The stately home, despite being surrounded by apartment houses today and for much of the 20th century, was constructed in a still rural area. Impressive from both facades visible on the large corner plot, the house features a three-story corner tower at St. Nicolas Place and 150th Street and three smaller turrets at the other corners of the home. Supposedly the home was filled with trophies, animal skins, and other curios and artifacts from Bailey's circus travels. It also featured a number of pictorial stained glass mosaic windows. The house was so admired that Chester Wickwire got permission to build a mirror image replica in Courtland, New York . In the 1940s the home was owned by Dr. Franz Koempel, a doctor and pioneering X-ray specialist. When his widow put the house up for sale in the early 1950s, it was purchased by a local African American woman who had always admired it. The asking price: $86,000 (only $6k more than it had cost to build in 1888). She ran a funeral home on the first floor during the second half of the 20th century. In recent years it has seen a large-scale renovation. Along with its neighbors (no. 14-16 is pair of attached houses designed to look like one massive mansion), no. 10 stands newly restored, with a gleaming light colored stone facade, at a high point of the surrounding Sugar Hill neighborhood.

“St. Nicholas Avenue (Old Kingsbridge Road) at N.E. corner of 155th Street, showing houses numbered 906 to 918, adjoining the vacant corner. One of these, no. 906, antedates 1885; the others were built shortly after. Early in the 1920s 906 and 908, the two nearest to the camera, will be taken down and the block rebuild to the corner. About 1912.”

Independent Subway System Station (155 Street and St. Nicholas Avenue). Phone booth, 1932. This photograph depicts the booths at 155th Street Station of the IND Eighth Avenue Line (now a local station on the C train). This station opened on September 10, 1932. Because of the tiled walls, callers had issues with echoing and reverberations from the noise outside the booth. In the IND stations opened in 1940 on the Sixth Avenue Line, similar phone booths were constructed but with sound absorbing material on the upper halves of the niche. Signage near these later booths announced, "New Sound Absorbing Booths- You Hear Clearly."

Children in Colonial Park Swimming Pool.; Harlem

79-81 St. Nicholas Place, west side, between West 153rd and 155th Streets, showing a 6-story apartment house (no. 79), 1924.

From its beginning, the Forward covered sports – the sports of chess and fishing, that is. In fact, its early highbrow sports coverage was a bit of a joke around town. But by the 1920s, the Forward’s sports pages began to give its readers the baseball news they wanted.