Rex Cole Showroom, interior, 1931.

University Avenue, west side, south from Fordham Road, ca 1913. In the late 1920s this streetscape would be replaced with St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church (near the corner) and brick apartment houses further south on the block.

St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church, 1937. The Roman Catholic parish of St. Nicholas of Tolentine was founded by Augustinian friars in 1906. After years of worship in smaller structures, work on the current Collegiate Gothic church, designed by Delaney, O'Connor & Schultz, began in 1927. The so-called “lower church” was completed in 1928, but work continued on the upper section of the building into the 1950s. The completed church was consecrated in 1957.

2121 Grand Concourse, 1936. Designed by the architect of so many Grand Concourse Art Deco apartment houses, Horace Ginsbern, 2121 is called by the AIA Guide to New York City "the most stylish on the Concourse." The zigzag facade and corner wrapping windows are visually striking in a way that even the other sleek, classy Art Deco buildings on the Concourse can not compare. Don McGregor, a graphic novel pioneer and Marvel Comics writer and editor (he is well known for his work on the Black Panther) once lived here.

"Grand Concourse, west side, north from but not including E. 184th Street, showing W.P.A. men repaving the west lane of the thoroughfare. Shown, too, is Loew's Paradise Theatre." The Loew's Paradise Theatre (seen the distance, flags flying in front) is one of five Loew's 'Wonder Theatres' opened in the New York City/New Jersey area in the 1929 and 1930. This large movie house, opened in September 1929, was designed by architect John Eberson in the Atmospheric style. In this type of design, particular to movie palaces, the construction and decoration of the interior gave the illusion of being in an outdoor setting, complete with celing paintings of the night sky. Both the exterior and interior of the theatre are landmarked and it is currently used as the home of the World Changers Church New York.

Rex Cole Showroom, 1931. Rex Cole was a local tri-state area appliance store in the early to mid 20th century. The man himself was a lamp manufacturer, who in the 1920s became associated with General Electric, and was chosen as the main retailer of GE's new white enamel Monitor Top refrigerators. By the 1930s, more than 15 Rex Cole showrooms dotted the city and surrounding areas and Cole was making a reported $15 million a year in appliances. This Art Deco inspired store (along with other all over the city) was designed by famed Deco architect Raymond Hood. Hood is best known as the senior designer of Rockefeller Center and architect of McGraw-Hill Building on 42nd Street. The Hood-designed showrooms were impressive and perfect for the marketing of shiny new appliances; here he created a two-story-high central window to display the wares. Despite the quick success of the Rex Cole stores in the early 1930s, Cole was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1935. He closed a number of stores as a result, and the few that remained survived only until the mid 1950s.