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Posts & Stories(4)

Church of the Heavenly Rest (1868) image

Church of the Heavenly Rest (1868)
Post

In 1911 this stately row of buildings included the original building of the Church of the Holy Rest. Established in 1865 by Civil War veterans, as a memorial to those who had died during the war, construction on the church building at 551 5th Avenue began in 1868 (when the neighborhood was very much residential). The structure was grand with a large rose window fronting 5th Avenue and a tall mansard roof with decorative metal work at the top. The church was very involved with the local community, opening up a soup kitchen for the poor as early as 1890. By the 1920s, commercial enterprise had taken over the neighborhood, and newer nearby churches competed for parishioners. In 1924, the pastor negotiated the purchase of land uptown across the street from the Carnegie Mansion (now the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum), and the Church of Heavenly Rest moved into a new building complete in 1929.
Housing Density: High Rise and High Density image

Housing Density: High Rise and High Density
Story

Three examples of very dense high-rise housing developments suggest how the private market might have rebuilt parts of Manhattan for the middle class if the real estate boom of the late 1920s had not ended in the Great Depression. Two were created by the visionary developer Fred French: Tudor City (1927), a 14.5-acre enclave of a dozen towers on E. 42nd Street, and Knickerbocker Village (1934) on the Lower East side, which replaced some of the district’s oldest tenements with modern, but extremely dense, multifamily housing. The other, London Terrace (1930), packed 1,665 units into an avenue-long apartment block in Chelsea. The density of these middle-class developments averaged 463, 800, and 931 persons per acre, respectively. This story is adapted from an exhibition at the Skycraper Museum. The original version can be seen here.

Photos(32)

Church of the Heavenly Rest (1868) image

Church of the Heavenly Rest (1868)

Manhattan: 5th Avenue - 45th Street Fifth Avenue, east side, north from East 45th Street (right, not included). At the right is the Church of the Heavenly Rest (No. 551) that was built through the efforts of Dr. Robt. S. Howland then the Rector of the Church of the Holy Apostles. The parish originated in services held in the Hall of Rutgers Female College (q.v.) in 1865. Cast across the front, is the shadow of the Church of the Divine Paternity (Universalist) that stood at the S.W. corner of 45th Street. In the center is Windsor Hotel, prior to its destructive fire in 1899. The construction shown beyond is for the new St. Patricks Cathedral that was protected by Archbishop Hughs in 1850 from plans by James Renwick. The cornerstone was laid in 1858 and opened in 1879. 1892 saw it nearly completed with the exclusion of the Lady Chapel. The steeples were added in 1888. Possibly 1888 Collection of George T. Bagoe 86 Madison Ave., N.Y.C.