South of Union Square logo
South of Union Square
Story
Steinway City

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.

ByUrban Archive logoUrban Archive
Start
1
345 Park Avenue
345 Park Avenue icon

345 Park Avenue

When Heinrich Steinwig built his first piano in New York (483 overall) in a small shop on 85 Varick, it must have been hard to imagine how iconic Steinway pianos would become. Ten years later, however, he had changed his name to Steinway and had a factory that encompassed a full block between 52nd and 53rd streets on Park Avenue. This factory was able to build thousands of pianos a year and allowed Steinway and his sons to modify and improve their designs. Yet this was still only a shadow of what Steinway and Son's would become!
1
2
Steinway & Sons/Steinway Hall (1864)
Steinway & Sons/Steinway Hall (1864) icon

Steinway & Sons/Steinway Hall (1864)

William Steinway (one of Heinrich's sons) sensing an opportunity built a showroom with a concert hall in the back. Opened in 1866 (at considerable expense) the hall sat 2,500 guests and was one of the largest auditoriums in the city. Over the next 25 years, it was the home of the New York Philharmonic. The success of Steinway Hall in promoting Steinway's instruments was considerable, so much so that his competitors, the Aeolian Company and Chickering & Sons, felt the need to open concert halls as well.
2
3
Steinway & Sons Piano Factory
Steinway & Sons Piano Factory icon

Steinway & Sons Piano Factory

Between 1870-80, due to the overwhelming success of their business, Steinway & Son's built a factory and company village in what is now Astoria. This company town, known as Steinway Village, contained everything from employee housing to civil services to a foundry and sawmill. Built at the same time as Steinway's Hamburg factory village, both complexes are still used to make Steinway pianos to this day.
3
4
Steinway Hall
Steinway Hall icon

Steinway Hall

The second Steinway Hall's opening coincided with the closure of the first in 1925. Built across the street from Carnegie Hall, the second Steinway Hall was meant to complement and capitalize on the larger hall by offering more intimate concerts as well as serving as a showroom for the company's pianos. Landmarked in 2001, Steinway Hall was sold and bought back by the company before finally being sold again in 2014.
4
5
Steinway Mansion
Steinway Mansion icon

Steinway Mansion

Though not created for the piano maker, the Italianate villa was purchased by William Steinway in 1870. The home was in close proximity to the piano manufacturing facility and workers village that Steinway was building. The large home was rendered using rough-hewn granite stone blocks and features both classical and medieval architectural elements in what the Landmarks Preservation Commission called a "asymmetrical and rambling" layout. The exterior includes a slate-covered gable roof, a four-story tower topped by an octagonal cupola, and domed rotunda topped with a stained glass skylight.
5
6
Steinway & Sons Piano Factory
Steinway & Sons Piano Factory icon

Steinway & Sons Piano Factory

Though the Steinway family no longer runs Steinway & Sons, their name is recorded on the pianos they built, the buildings they patronized, and their very own street in Queens.
6
7
Steinway Mausoleum
Steinway Mausoleum icon

Steinway Mausoleum

The final resting place of much of the Steinway Clan is in Greenwood Cemetery. The Steinway Mausoleum was built in the 1870s at a cost of $80,000 (equivalent to over $1.5 million today.) Designed by sculptor and funerary architect, John Moffitt is the cemetery's largest, with room for between 150 and 200 interments
7
Privacy PolicyTerms of Service