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at Been Turns fifty.com. Episode

1:02

Four Thirty One Of The Bowery Boys.

1:05

This. Story of Park Avenue.

1:07

Hey the Bowery Boys, Hey.

1:23

Hi there! Welcome to the Bowery Boys! This

1:26

is Greg Young. And this

1:28

is Tom Myers. And today

1:30

we are turning to our

1:32

attention to the story of

1:34

an avenue. A very famous

1:36

avenue and perhaps the swank

1:38

he has to address and

1:40

the entire city this is

1:42

an avenue is very name

1:44

seems more expensive. And.

1:46

That. Would be of course Greg Park

1:48

Avenue. Yes, we danced

1:50

around it and traveled up

1:53

and down it in show's

1:55

over the years, but we've

1:57

never fully explained the entire

1:59

story. Until now, right?

2:01

It is an avenue or

2:03

a boulevard really, that has

2:05

rather humble beginnings. But boy

2:07

does that change. By the

2:09

early twentieth century, it was

2:11

a prime address, and by

2:14

the nineteen sixties, just the

2:16

name parts Avenue was shorthand

2:18

for luxurious living and you

2:20

know, kind of New York

2:22

sophistication. In

2:37

the Park Avenue. Yes

2:41

of Park Avenue. How's the

2:43

Eva Gabor stamp of approval

2:45

as we just heard her

2:47

sing in the theme song

2:49

to the I'm Uproarious Cb

2:51

comedy Green Acres only one

2:53

of the best single on

2:55

it's not a theme songs

2:57

ever is also great karaoke

2:59

song. oh it was us

3:01

of course. Yes, there's also

3:03

a flip side to that

3:05

wealthy connotation. However, all that

3:07

wealth learning. Park Avenue can also

3:09

serve as a shorthand for these

3:12

massive inequality that defines New York

3:14

and even America. You're in a

3:16

way. It's a bit like the

3:18

phrase wall Street's you know, which

3:21

is both a streets and an

3:23

idea. Might. In idea that

3:25

is centered around money. You

3:28

know, centered around this idea of the

3:30

so called American Dream and we did

3:32

to sell on Ma Streets history last

3:35

year. So kind of like in that.

3:37

So in today's episode we will first

3:39

discuss how Park Avenue was created like

3:42

how it is literally built out of

3:44

the train jets and of course how

3:46

it's got it's name. Were.

3:49

Their parks on Park Avenue

3:51

we'll see in our second

3:53

house will look at how

3:55

Park Avenue became associated with

3:58

wealth and with some. Hiring

4:00

Architecture. The Genus

4:02

as we take a penthouse

4:05

view. Or thirty. Years.

4:10

Or come on look, I'm not saying

4:12

en. Route

4:23

on. The whole.

4:27

Your. Mother.

4:39

Or good. So glad that we

4:41

are stored industrial Park Avenue with

4:43

Irving Berlin's late nineteen twenties had.

4:46

Put. Non the Rents their first Greg

4:48

You Didn't just is the Fred

4:50

Astaire version. Oh no no You

4:52

have included the Nineteen Eighty Two,

4:54

a remake of I Ducks Music

4:56

Sensation of a Taco. Oh I

4:58

love tacos more than to say

5:00

hi like that every day of

5:03

the want. Ads

5:05

that was a major hit for me,

5:08

maybe for the rest of world and

5:10

then esteem and to kind of gossip

5:12

only electronica. I think I

5:14

remember during a kind of like a hot sort

5:17

of robotic dance and the dance floor? you know,

5:19

having suffered. An

5:21

iphone and your top hat and

5:23

tales of course in my taco

5:25

says arm and had says does

5:27

This does underscored the fact that

5:30

Still in Nineteen Eighty Two when

5:32

he recorded that songs Park Avenue

5:34

Men Something Ritzy, It's Still Men

5:36

Something Red Sea in the Nineteen

5:38

Eighties, although parts of it were

5:40

looking a little long in the

5:43

tooth in Nineteen. Eighty two. But

5:45

let's not get ahead of ourselves, so

5:47

would you care to situate us this

5:49

the seems. Fairly. Straightforward literally

5:51

sits up an arbitrary to trade

5:54

deficit. well, Park Ave. It's an

5:56

avenue on the Island of Manhattan

5:58

and in the. It

6:01

is on the east side at

6:03

lies between Madison and Lexington Avenue

6:06

is at. Without giving too much

6:08

I can you actually describing the

6:10

routes? Yes Well let's start down

6:13

at Cooper Square. Okay, where were

6:15

the Bowery hits? East Fourth Streets.

6:18

Now. Look at this on a map.

6:20

The Bowery continues up as. Cooper.

6:22

Square And then it asked

6:25

her place. It continues north

6:27

as Fourth Avenue Yes, the

6:29

old. Old vestige of

6:32

Fourth Avenue. Yes, a a

6:34

favorite New York City trivia question

6:36

might hear those blocks, but it

6:38

doesn't last long. of course, because

6:40

this little bit a fourth continues

6:43

up to Union Square where it

6:45

becomes Union Square East for a

6:47

couple of blocks before at the

6:49

seventeenth Street becomes Park Avenue South.

6:51

and even here at Union Square,

6:53

the street is laid out with

6:55

flowers and trees and such as

6:58

more than just an avenue. Oh,

7:00

it's already feeling ten a classicist.

7:02

And how long does this Park

7:05

Avenue South distinction last Up until

7:07

we get to Thirty Seconds Streets

7:09

where it's name changes over to

7:12

Park Avenue but also at Thirty

7:14

Third Street north bound. Car traffic

7:16

seats continue along the avenue or

7:19

it can enter into a tunnel.

7:21

Today it's called the Murray Hill

7:23

Tunnel. Up for seven blocks until

7:26

traffic exits and you continue up

7:28

along Park Avenue. And actually. Over

7:30

the Viaduct yes, the odd little

7:33

viaducts takes traffic and Park Avenue

7:35

around Grand Central Terminal, which sits

7:38

right in the middle of the

7:40

avenue. And that happens at Forty

7:42

Second Street. just the viaduct wraps

7:45

run all of that and then

7:47

at Forty Six Street. Park Avenue

7:50

continues northward and from here it's

7:52

really straight shot north with multiple

7:54

lanes of traffic heading north and

7:57

south, divided down the middle by

7:59

very. Well maintained, planted displays,

8:01

malls we could call them

8:03

and if I were taking

8:05

tab up Park Avenue, what

8:08

might I see on either

8:10

side of the streets? Well

8:12

at first once you get

8:14

north of for Central ended

8:16

and the other buildings are

8:18

you would see blocks that

8:20

are line by high and

8:22

office buildings and hotels and

8:24

then it Fifty Seventh Street

8:26

it switches over to residential

8:29

apartment blocks. Mostly many of

8:31

the city's most expensive apartment

8:33

buildings are located along those

8:35

blocks, and in or rather

8:38

plus situation continues north for

8:40

dozens of blocks, basically the

8:42

length of the Upper East

8:45

Side. Yes, there is

8:47

a a pretty big chains and

8:49

Ninety Seventh Street where train tracks

8:51

suit out of the tunnel that

8:54

has been buried under Park Avenue.

8:56

and train tracks continue up on

8:58

to the Park Avenue Viaducts which

9:00

continues open air up the center

9:03

of Park Avenue straight up to

9:05

the top of Manhattan and One

9:07

Hundred and Thirty Second Street and

9:09

Part Yet this is important to

9:12

know. Park Avenue doesn't stop at

9:14

the Harlem River. it continues. On

9:17

to the other side of the

9:19

river ensued the Mott Haven section

9:21

of the Bronx yes, and it

9:23

continues up through the Bronx neighborhoods

9:25

of More Same Yeah and Claremont

9:28

before terminating at Fordham Plaza I'm

9:30

and Fordham University right next to

9:32

the New York Botanical Garden. So

9:35

that is an epic sweep. Of.

9:37

An avenue have been Nice overview

9:40

of what will be discussing today.

9:42

So when did the Park Avenue

9:44

story began? Months let us rewind

9:47

to before there was even a

9:49

road here at all. My pre

9:51

commissioners plan when part of today's

9:54

lower Park Avenue was actually the

9:56

property of the Murray family of

9:58

Murray Hill. Same. According to

10:01

not, there was indeed a

10:03

hill here, making it literally

10:05

Murray's Hills. They own the

10:08

hell yes. And let us

10:10

not forget that the American

10:13

forces in September, Seventeen, Seventy

10:15

Six, and the opening days

10:17

of the American Revolution sled

10:20

Brooklyn when British forces are

10:22

led by General How attacked.

10:25

And. The American forces pass through

10:27

here and then the British were

10:30

on their tail and according to

10:32

a rather delightful legend, marry at

10:34

Lindley Murray. The matriarch of the

10:37

Murray family, along with the other

10:39

ladies in the family assisted the

10:42

American forces by throwing on the

10:44

charm and stopping the advancing British

10:46

troops in their tracks as they

10:49

pass through the farm because they

10:51

insisted that they stopped for t

10:54

time. What British. Troops

10:56

and this period could possibly

10:58

resist a good see time

11:00

even in battle. Apparently it

11:02

is a delightful if ludicrous

11:04

story, but regardless, the legend

11:06

of legend has it said.

11:09

This tiebreak, i can I

11:11

buy The Murray Women helps

11:13

give Washington's forces enough time

11:15

to escape of the island.

11:17

So does early heroics down

11:20

here. greg around what would

11:22

become one day Park Avenue

11:24

from simmering patriotism. Assists

11:26

Steeping and the other knew that

11:29

we're discussing today would actually be

11:31

laid out here. You know, like

11:33

just a few decades later, the

11:36

Commissioner's plan which would lay out

11:38

those avenues just thirty five years

11:40

later with eighteen Eleven. And

11:43

are obviously some differences in the

11:45

Commissioner's plans than what actually ended

11:47

up happening. For example, the avenues

11:50

you know we're simply name first,

11:52

second, third, fourth, Fifth, and so

11:54

on. And there were no Lexington

11:56

or Madison Avenue's either was there

11:59

apart. Fourth Avenue. Would.

12:01

Become Park Avenue. But largely

12:03

over all is mostly the

12:06

street grid that we know

12:08

today. So Park does exist.

12:10

On this map, it's called

12:12

Fourth Avenue. Yes! And starting

12:15

in Eighteen Thirty two, the

12:17

New York in Harlem Railroad

12:19

began running a force car

12:21

line, a kind of horse

12:23

drawn railroads from Prince Street,

12:26

up the Bowery and then

12:28

Fourth Avenue to Union Square.

12:30

Quite a voyage. Not not exactly

12:32

a long voyage eyes maybe I

12:34

could walk sad and probably sixty

12:36

minutes just. but everything was more

12:38

fun on a horse and him

12:40

to the latest thing to be

12:43

pulled by a horse on rails,

12:45

you know, and eighteen Thirty Two.

12:47

But the journey would soon become

12:49

longer says that railway line would

12:51

soon continue north up to a

12:53

new depot that was constructed a

12:55

Fourth Avenue and Twenty Six Street

12:57

and maxi by eighteen Forty nine,

12:59

the line would go all. The way

13:01

up to One Hundred and Thirty Second Street. So.

13:04

That Depot twenty six and

13:06

source of we have just

13:09

recently talked about that in

13:11

or Madison Square Shell actually.

13:13

Yes, We did just that, would open

13:15

around eighteen, forty five and a deeper

13:18

would go all the way from Fourth

13:20

Avenue back to Madison Avenue. Word sat

13:22

at the north east corner of the

13:24

park. So this is where you know

13:27

if he lived downtown and you made

13:29

it up to the station big you

13:31

are heading north. This is where you

13:33

got off the horse car and he

13:35

stepped on to explain and those or

13:38

strong frames you know that left from

13:40

this depot would soon be replaced by

13:42

steam engines. But. When that

13:44

frame pulled Norris, there was actually

13:46

quite a hill there on Fourth

13:49

Avenue. There still is the of

13:51

the aforementioned Murray's Hell Six exactly.

13:53

It takes a lot of power

13:55

to get up that hill and

13:57

steam trains had up the middle

14:00

of for the avenue were also

14:02

quite a hazard. I'm and and

14:04

created traffic jams says that the

14:06

railroad cut in open friends right

14:08

through the hill from Thirty Second

14:11

straight up Fourth Avenue to Fortieth

14:13

Street. It was kind of like

14:15

an open tunnel right that lasted

14:17

for about eight blocks. A slight

14:19

improvements also sounds a little bit

14:22

dangerous to sort of walking around

14:24

their yeah the neighbors agreed with

14:26

you. So in eighteen Forty Six,

14:28

the City Council ordered. The Railway

14:31

to build traffic bridges across

14:33

Thirty Four Street. And

14:35

across Thirty eighth Street over

14:37

that, friends. But if they're

14:40

sub is still pretty dangerous.

14:42

So in eighteen Fifty, they

14:44

forced the railroad to cover

14:46

that big friends with a

14:49

kind of roofs and these

14:51

coverings created the new areas

14:53

for plan scenes and landscaping

14:55

enough for the development of

14:58

lovely outdoor sort of park

15:00

like malls. And so by

15:02

eighteen sixty, this stretch of

15:04

six. Blocks A long Fourth Avenue.

15:07

With. These green spaces down

15:09

the middle of them was

15:11

rechristened Park Avenue. So the

15:14

first Park Avenue this name

15:16

is born. Seared starts off

15:18

as just a handful of

15:21

blocks of Fourth Avenue a

15:23

top or around this buried

15:25

tunnel yes some us of

15:28

shades of the hype around

15:30

here pretty significantly from an

15:32

open railroad trends to some

15:35

nice little manicured areas just

15:37

ended. I've seen, you know,

15:39

sort of gruesome new construction

15:41

to the area, some early

15:44

mansions and upscale housing. although

15:46

I also read about something

15:48

that Chris for Gray and

15:50

The New York Times called

15:53

club unsightly wooden finals in

15:55

the malls they had to

15:57

somehow ventilate. Those tunnels were.

16:00

Get to a lot of sense in

16:02

the stories that are a lot of

16:04

unpleasant Vance. So this is this is

16:06

where that that subplots starts. But. Yeah,

16:09

and I've been. Anybody who knows

16:12

you know the iconic Orange and

16:14

White Stripes events for the Seems

16:16

is shown off putting. Imagine what

16:18

these events might have looked like

16:20

with steam trains running under the

16:22

avenue? Yes. So while all of

16:24

that was happening in Eighteen Fifty

16:27

seven another railroad, the New York

16:29

and New Haven. Open their terminal

16:31

just next to the New York

16:33

and Harlem at Twenty Seventh and

16:35

Fourth Avenue. Suggested Jason to that

16:37

other station and I mentioned before

16:39

which meant even more trains down

16:41

here of course, and the neighbors

16:44

fought all of these new steam

16:46

trains coming in tunnel or no

16:48

tunnel. But finally, following

16:50

the Civil War, the City successfully

16:52

banned all steam trains south of

16:54

Forty Second Street and whom. Which

16:56

is why Greg's ah, I think

16:58

I know where this parts going.

17:01

Commodore Vanderbilt constructed a news

17:04

station called the Grand Central

17:06

Depot to services New York

17:08

Central Railroad, which consolidated several

17:11

of these railroads up at

17:13

Forty Second Street right in

17:15

the middle of Fourth Avenue,

17:17

and that Sea Bug opened

17:20

in eighteen, Seventy One, At

17:22

which point he stopped running

17:24

those steam trains south of

17:27

Forty Second Street, thus leading

17:29

those bands and depots to

17:31

be transformed. Into something else

17:33

I didn't just like wipe them

17:35

away, they turn them into a

17:38

show. Palaces was by the late

17:40

eighties seventies would be referred to

17:42

as a. Madison. Square Garden.

17:45

Exactly. But that tunnel

17:47

and you know, the planted malls

17:49

above them stayed puts. In fact,

17:52

the railroad continued to use the

17:54

tracks for a horse drawn Frawley

17:56

so you could take a horse

17:59

drawn trolley. Than up Fourth

18:01

Avenue, through that Park Avenue

18:03

Murray Hill Tunnel, and up

18:05

to Grand Central Depot at

18:07

which point you would switch

18:09

to esteemed frame for destinations

18:12

you know, like New Haven,

18:14

Earth many points north and

18:16

west. And so Grand Central

18:18

Depot. Sitting here in the

18:20

middle of Fourth Avenue opened

18:22

and eighteen seventy One and

18:25

you've painted a beautiful picture

18:27

of what that scene is

18:29

like south. Of it. But

18:31

what was happening along Fourth Avenue

18:33

north of The Depot? Well,

18:36

and quite frankly, it was a

18:38

mess. It was pretty much an

18:40

open frame yard up to Fifty

18:42

Ninth Street where the trains. Then

18:45

ran straight up Fourth Avenue

18:47

at street level until Sixty

18:49

Eighth Street, when they then

18:51

entered. An open thoughts you

18:53

know as as kind of Vog

18:55

train disks that ran up Fourth

18:58

Avenue to Ninety Sixth Street, where

19:00

then they continued north over some

19:02

stone viaducts up the island just

19:05

to paint a picture. emageon that

19:07

you were north of the station

19:10

for example, on Sixty Fifth Street

19:12

and you were crossing from Madison.

19:15

East Right You wanted to walk

19:17

over to Lexington at Fourth Avenue.

19:20

You encountered paralleled train tracks, sometimes the

19:22

Roxy trains just resting on them, blocking

19:24

the way, and even if there weren't

19:26

friends, you had to look very carefully

19:29

up and down the tracks to see

19:31

if anything was coming. An

19:33

article published in The New

19:35

York Times on November eighteenth,

19:37

eighteen seventy one just after

19:39

the Depot open gives of

19:41

reporters a observing about a

19:43

hundred and fifty people crossing

19:45

the tracks north of the

19:47

depot between four pm and

19:49

six pm on one day.

19:51

Many of these pedestrians were

19:53

assisted by railroad employees who

19:55

were acting kind of like

19:57

crossing guards, but most of

19:59

the. People actually risked it on their

20:01

own. Quote. About

20:04

one third of the number

20:06

crossed with comparative these and

20:08

but little dangerous but the

20:11

remainder barely escaped been run

20:13

over. And would have been in

20:15

many instances. but for the men looking out

20:17

for them. He. Goes on then

20:20

to describe elderly women who were

20:22

running for their lives across the

20:24

tracks and later quote between six

20:27

and seven o clock everybody who

20:29

crossed ran as fast as their

20:31

legs would carry them. And

20:34

remember sometimes the tracks had

20:36

trains parked on them. The

20:38

article says that quote for

20:40

hours at these crossings people

20:42

have to crawl under and

20:44

over the freight cars the

20:46

block the alpha know this

20:48

sounds so with treacherous what

20:50

was the be done here

20:52

of this clearly wasn't good

20:54

for the city and obviously

20:56

not for the residents and

20:58

the landowners. Know

21:00

the Times even ran an editorial

21:03

asking that very same question. Next

21:05

to the article I just read,

21:07

there's a little article. a small

21:09

piece is amazing to read in

21:12

retrospect and lamenting the situation and

21:14

the danger to all the residents.

21:16

The Fourth Avenue quotes what then

21:18

is to be the fate of

21:20

Fourth Avenue. Crowded. With

21:23

tracks and Swiss trains day and

21:25

night with all their noise, smoke

21:27

and dust to say nothing of

21:29

the sites or risk of human

21:32

life, dwellings and retail stores are

21:34

out of the question. So

21:37

how did they turn this

21:39

around? Like, how could they

21:41

turn this around? Well, the

21:44

New York's Central Railroad proposed

21:46

the massive Quotes Fourth Avenue

21:49

Improvement Project, which was quite

21:51

an undertaking of infrastructure in

21:53

the city. I mean, this

21:56

thing included sections of something

21:58

tracks covered tracks, And even

22:00

viaducts along Fourth Avenue. And this

22:03

is miles and miles of trucks.

22:05

And this sounds really expensive. Yeah,

22:07

so who who would pay for

22:10

this. Well, it would

22:12

be split. This is a bit. as

22:14

he said, very expensive. costs six million

22:16

dollars which was a lot of money

22:19

in the eighties seventies they went back

22:21

and forth and you know people followed

22:23

the story in the press, but the

22:25

city and the railroad finally agreed to

22:28

go how fast and the seeds project

22:30

got underway. As part of it, they

22:32

added additional rails for freight trains and

22:34

north of the station than they sunk

22:37

that sachs into an open picked up

22:39

to Fifty Six street where. The tracks

22:41

than entered into a partially enclosed

22:43

tunnel that run all the way

22:46

up to Ninety Six Three words:

22:48

They would then resurface and be

22:50

carried by new viaducts up to

22:52

the top of the islands. And

22:55

Depress was enthusiastic. The Daily Herald

22:57

of wrote in Eighteen Seventy Five

22:59

that quote these noble viaducts and

23:02

tunnels that quote straight through the

23:04

heart of two thirds of New

23:07

York Ireland were really one of

23:09

the finest specimens of engineering in

23:11

America. Suddenly

23:13

Fourth Avenue Reuters

23:15

reports crawling under

23:18

trained, just incredibly

23:20

dangerous, is now

23:22

relatively peaceful. Yeah.

23:24

And it. Also. Must have seemed

23:26

like quite an opportunity Mike

23:28

Wallace and Edwin Boroughs point

23:31

out in their book Gotham

23:33

that close. With his useful

23:35

keen eye for developmental possibilities,

23:37

Commodore Vanderbilt began buying a

23:39

Plan C Plus along the

23:42

still unappealing four thousand Ill.

23:45

Will get to these

23:47

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service right after this.

23:54

Check. Out The New York Historical

23:56

Society's fascinating podcast for the Ages

23:58

posted by David. Rubenstein historian

24:01

and he marshall joins David

24:03

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24:05

creating. A Confederate. Kentucky's a

24:07

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27:28

Glenn. Central Depot had been

27:30

situated at Forty Second Street.

27:33

And Force Avenue and the stretch

27:35

south of the Depot was called

27:37

Park Avenue to around Thirty Second

27:39

Street. and then the rest of

27:41

it was rolling down and called

27:43

Fourth Avenue. And the train

27:45

tracks north of the depot we're

27:47

not sunken and sixty six straight

27:50

they were hidden all the of

27:52

their work. Ventilation covers every now

27:54

and again of the avenue yes,

27:56

it's important to ventilate your your

27:59

training tunnels. Added that

28:01

it actually railroad. Yes, I

28:03

mean let's assume this new

28:05

improvement plan made it nicer

28:07

than it had been. We're

28:09

not debating that, but with

28:11

set gigantic pit and then

28:13

you know, with these ventilation

28:15

and areas, I'd hardly say

28:17

anyone was preferring to stroll

28:19

along Fourth Avenue versus the

28:21

big all Central Park which

28:23

by the way is just

28:25

a couple avenues over on

28:27

the west and that starts

28:29

at Fifty. Ninth Street. I'm sort

28:31

of runs up the island but

28:33

the area around these vents they

28:35

were detonated landscaped in such a

28:38

way with trees and shrubbery so

28:40

that maybe you couldn't see the

28:42

ventilation covers as you were crossing

28:44

the street or walking along by

28:46

by you didn't see them, you

28:48

didn't notice some and till a

28:50

train passed beneath the of run

28:52

blame under the street. and don't

28:54

forget that they were Bell Team

28:56

Black Smoke Up bragged you know

28:59

exhibits came out. Of all of

29:01

that landscaping, some. Of

29:04

these images in this era just

29:06

like really bizarre A real we

29:08

were real as a as well.

29:10

As with it's just not entirely

29:12

not completely different from what we

29:15

have today. but it there's major

29:17

major changes. will widow get sooner

29:19

bits Yeah, now during the Gilded

29:21

age, there's sort of a Halo

29:24

assess south of Grand Central. In

29:26

terms of development. you hinted at

29:28

this earlier of course, near. The

29:30

Depot glamorous hotels would open

29:32

up on the avenue and

29:35

even north of here there

29:37

were some new singled apartment

29:39

buildings have a very modest

29:41

type. Stuff began popping up

29:43

around here, but still for

29:45

the most part it was

29:47

factories, stockyards, things like that.

29:50

However, interestingly tom these northern

29:52

tracks as they plow through

29:54

here ended up cutting see

29:56

the sights of a proposed

29:58

city parks. Really? And I'm

30:01

supposed to be an actual park on

30:03

the side of what would become Park

30:05

Avenue? Yeah, will have on paper it

30:07

was a part of was another one

30:10

of these kind of proposed ideas that

30:12

never really panned out. This area between

30:14

Third and Ces Avenues and Sixty Six

30:17

Street and Sixty Nine Streets, there was

30:19

some city on property which day called

30:21

Hamilton Square. Named. After Alexander

30:23

Hamilton, it does pop up on

30:26

a few maps, but it was

30:28

never really fully developed. And then

30:30

of course once Central Park opened,

30:32

there wasn't really a need for

30:34

this square so the city to

30:36

started to parse with off and

30:38

then by eighteen eighty the city

30:40

gave over part of that land

30:42

for use as an armory. Which.

30:44

Was also the headquarters for

30:46

the Us National Guards were

30:48

they were located at Fourth

30:50

Avenue and Sixty Six Streets.

30:52

Now you know, being the

30:55

heights of the Gilded age

30:57

and being a fairly prestigious

30:59

commission that that's the cities

31:01

of finest architects worked on

31:03

the Armory yeah Charles Clinton

31:05

as the chief architect and

31:07

his Veterans Room designed by

31:09

no less than Stanford White

31:11

and Louis Com for Tiffany.

31:14

It is extraordinary isn't it? I

31:16

mean it is fabulous and it

31:18

really. Looks like something that might

31:20

have been located. Over on Fifth

31:22

Avenue you were seems a

31:25

little out of place, as

31:27

it would draw a little

31:29

bit of grand or residential

31:31

development around it and an

31:33

area that would be known

31:35

in time as Lenox Hill

31:37

mostly. However, I'd say that

31:39

the Armory, and you know,

31:41

those few palatial outposts were

31:43

a bit of an aberration

31:45

over here on the East

31:47

side of Fourth Avenue. Generally

31:49

speaking, Fourth Avenue. was already

31:52

shaping the overall real estate

31:54

market here. So the height

31:56

of the Gilded age their

31:58

eighties, seventies a. The Native:

32:00

To reiterate, you're one of

32:03

our regular seems that always

32:05

pops up on our show.

32:07

You know it was during

32:09

the Gilded Age that most

32:11

wealthy New Yorkers were moving

32:14

north of the Island of

32:16

Manhattan to build bigger, fancier

32:18

mansions, most primarily oriented over

32:20

on Fifth Avenue and Madison

32:23

Avenue. And eventually that. Fabulous

32:25

process and northward would make it's

32:27

way to the area Ces avenue

32:30

say seen. Central. Park And

32:32

you know the area got it's

32:34

official Gilded Age seal of approval

32:37

when Carolyn Astor opened her new

32:39

Richard More Hunt Design Chateau at

32:41

Ces Avenue and Sixty Fifth Street.

32:43

in Eighteen Ninety six deaths of

32:46

the greatest of many great police

32:48

Oh man. since over here and

32:50

so generally we can say that

32:53

most of that real estate on

32:55

the East side a Central Park

32:57

became the most highly sought after.

33:00

The location of. The largest number

33:02

of gilded age mansions in the

33:04

United States. You're. Saying in

33:07

that area, I'm from central

33:09

parts east all the way

33:11

over to Fourth Avenue just

33:13

west of Fourth Avenue. The

33:15

neighborhoods and blocks east of

33:17

Fourth Avenue however, developed very

33:19

differently. Either be combined. We

33:21

might call it the Upper

33:23

East Side today, but back

33:25

then it's Fourth Avenue created

33:27

or at least helps creates

33:29

what I think we could

33:31

say was a wealth gap

33:33

in particular in the region

33:35

between seventy. Six and Ninety

33:37

Six. So you're further north

33:40

of the Armory. it became

33:42

a more middle class and

33:44

working class neighborhood primarily defined

33:47

by German immigrants. Justice.

33:49

Visit a neighborhood called Yorkville and

33:51

we have an entire show on

33:53

the history of York Sell or

33:55

that we recorded back and twenty

33:58

twenty of notes and eighty. Fifty

34:00

Nine on Fourth Avenue. in fact,

34:02

just north of the Armory they

34:05

built what was known as the

34:07

German Hospitals Know there's still a

34:09

hospital net sites day, but we

34:12

will not yet spoil that surprise

34:14

men the show. but just remember

34:16

that's anyway. North of Yorkville. then

34:19

we get another enclave of Italian

34:21

immigrants in the region of East

34:23

Harlem also east or Fourth Avenue

34:26

and both of these regions are

34:28

then served by to. Elevated

34:30

train lines along Second and

34:32

Third Avenue. right? So

34:35

in contrast, they are not

34:37

running elevated train lines along

34:39

this and Madison Avenue's that's

34:41

for sure. Snowbirds. There

34:43

were many friends that were running

34:46

on Fourth Avenue. they were just,

34:48

you know, discreetly hidden. Deborah? Yeah,

34:50

Subway for undeterred. The landscaping under

34:53

the avenue. Yes, very discreet. So

34:57

to recap. Then Fourth Avenue then

34:59

sort of sat between these vastly

35:01

different neighborhoods with Mrs. Astor's Upper

35:04

East Side so to speak you

35:06

know, asked his don't the west

35:08

of it and then the communities

35:10

of York Ill and East Harlem

35:13

to the east, and Fourth Avenue

35:15

itself had to wait process in

35:17

north and south and down the

35:20

middle of the avenue, a series

35:22

of newly landscaped. Ventilated

35:24

area as little garden

35:26

with open pits under

35:28

will frame for constantly

35:31

passing. Though

35:33

maybe sensing the growth

35:35

difficulties of this particular

35:38

layouts it Eighteen Eighty

35:40

Seven, the city decided

35:42

to rename in. This.

35:44

Part of Fourth Avenue. After that

35:46

little part of the avenue below

35:48

the train depot you they they

35:50

were haven't real success with that

35:53

little section called Park Avenue. so

35:55

in other words they decided to

35:57

make everything north of it's They've

35:59

decided to. All that Park

36:01

Avenue. Yeah, that southern

36:03

part of Park Avenue. It really

36:05

didn't have the same kind of

36:08

problems right with from with trains

36:10

that the northern section had serves.

36:12

As you mentioned, they have some

36:14

improvements. They did have that sunken

36:17

tunnel in the middle of the

36:19

avenue for instance had in the

36:21

later nineteenth century that Murray Hill

36:23

Tunnel with been be used for

36:25

street car loans but you know

36:28

just to situate again if was

36:30

always nearer to wealthier and higher.

36:32

Traffic: commercial areas such as Union

36:34

Square, I'm and the aforementioned Madison

36:36

Square Park. There were simply more

36:39

people. that was more activity and

36:41

and greater land development down here.

36:43

And they had a busy street

36:45

car on it. So by the

36:48

Gilded age by the eighteen eighties,

36:50

the Avenue in a sense, it's

36:52

served as a different purpose. They

36:54

were new, graceful residences built up.

36:57

In. The area known as Murray

36:59

Hill east of the Avenue

37:01

and in a way them

37:03

that avenue kept it separates

37:05

from the commercial and recreational

37:07

interests of Madison Square and

37:09

Union Square to the west.

37:11

A lot of directions hear

37:13

a lot of even worth

37:15

of and by recreational interests

37:17

I guess you're getting at

37:20

you know like Madison Square

37:22

Garden and also you know

37:24

all the other theaters and

37:26

the vaudeville houses. That would

37:28

be found around Madison Square.

37:30

and just the Jim Rome,

37:32

you know, hustle and bustle.

37:34

This is a night lights

37:37

neighborhood. So Park Avenue, then

37:39

above Grand Central really divided

37:41

two very different residential neighborhoods.

37:43

But Park Avenue below Grand

37:45

Central created a line that

37:47

was kind of between the

37:49

busy commerce and entertainment to

37:52

the west of it and

37:54

quiet upscale residences to the

37:56

east of. It, But let's not

37:58

forget that a week. That's in

38:00

a Park Avenue at the

38:02

time was still a pits

38:04

lay. her kit that had

38:06

maybe shrubs. Perhaps it's still

38:08

a piss. And you know

38:11

with more people who be arrive every

38:13

day in New York City and more

38:15

people coming to and from New York

38:17

in Grand Central bike Frame I can

38:19

see how that pit was becoming a

38:22

real problem. People

38:24

were already identifying both the

38:26

celsius and even the dangers

38:28

of this Park Avenue Pit.

38:30

Like that, it had been

38:32

the location of dangerous pedestrian

38:34

activity decades before, and so

38:36

this was sort of a

38:39

new variation. I. Even started a

38:41

New York Times article from April

38:43

Twenty first, eighteen Eighty Nine titled

38:45

Dangers of The Tunnel on. I'd

38:47

like to kind of read it

38:49

and for because it really takes

38:51

an excellent. Picture. Of this

38:53

whole situation with case quotes. There.

38:56

Is as Sixty Fourth Street and

38:58

Park Avenue and opening in the

39:00

railway tunnel which is a threat

39:03

to the health of the children

39:05

living in that locality. It

39:07

is the first of the long

39:09

openings serving to ventilate the tunnel

39:11

and is an object of great

39:14

interest to the school children. They

39:16

spend most of their play hours

39:18

hanging over the railing which surrounds

39:20

the opening and gaze into the

39:22

dimly light. A place to watch

39:24

the trains with beneath them as

39:26

well as to listen to the

39:28

roar which seems to rise from

39:31

the depths of the earth. The.

39:33

Consequences of their curiosity is

39:35

that they inhaled the foul

39:38

gases of the picked up

39:40

tunnel and when the trains

39:42

pass they take into their

39:44

lungs considerable quantities of coal

39:46

gas and steam. Almost

39:48

any time of the day or

39:51

evening, thirty or forty children may

39:53

be found there watching the trains

39:55

go by. On quotes. So.

39:59

The. Definitely doesn't sound like

40:02

a healthy situation, especially considering

40:04

that there are more trains

40:06

and even larger cranes that

40:08

we're heading into the depot.

40:10

A depot which had gone

40:13

through Constance expansion and even

40:15

a name change in the

40:17

year nineteen Hundred to Grand

40:19

Central Station. Two

40:22

years later on soon ace

40:24

they Chino to it's terrible

40:26

disaster violently woke the city

40:28

up to the dangers faced

40:31

by these railroad tunnels. From

40:33

The New York Tribune quotes.

40:36

Fifteen persons were killed and thirty

40:38

six were injured seriously in the

40:40

railway tunnel on Park Avenue

40:42

near Fifty Sixth Street. yesterday morning

40:45

when he hardly local train dust

40:47

into the rear end of a

40:50

New Haven accommodation train. It was

40:52

the worst accidents in the

40:54

history of the New York's Central

40:56

Tunnel on Park Avenue. on quote.

40:59

This. Terrible tragedy, severely

41:01

cold attention to this

41:03

deadly massive a situation.

41:06

And one possible solution

41:08

to this problem was

41:10

already been adopted elsewhere:

41:12

Cranes that ran on

41:14

electricity instead of steam.

41:17

Yeah. Streetcars were already running

41:19

on electricity, and by the

41:22

eighty nineties there had been

41:24

some experimentation with main railroad

41:26

lines using electricity which you

41:29

know is a far cleaner

41:31

is perhaps more unpredictable alternative

41:33

to call. But by the

41:36

New century it was far

41:38

enough along that the New

41:40

York Central Railroad begin bringing

41:43

electric powered lines into the

41:45

system by day Chino for.

41:48

But. The Reverend couldn't possibly, you

41:50

know, just replace all of their

41:52

steam trains and thousands of miles

41:54

of track em nationwide And just

41:57

one fell swoop did have to

41:59

be censored. Yeah, let

42:01

us know that Betrays would still

42:03

run on coal generated steam you

42:06

know from wherever they were coming

42:08

from until they got to the

42:10

Harlem River which separates Manhattan from

42:13

the Bronx. At this point, then

42:15

they would detach and then be

42:18

pulled in by electric trains the

42:20

length of Manhattan, down the Park

42:22

Avenue debts and somewhat got to

42:25

the station binary Chino Eights Actually,

42:27

the state even made it illegal.

42:30

To bring smoke generating trains

42:32

into Manhattan be no from

42:34

any lines and this whole

42:37

scheme. Was. Incisions interestingly

42:39

by the Central Railroads chief

42:41

engineer a man named William

42:43

Will guess and by making

42:45

it's safer, they were also

42:48

making a cleaner. You know

42:50

all of this solve gases

42:52

that were damaging children's lungs

42:54

and an article the you

42:56

read seems like they were

42:59

gone with electricity? Yes, mostly.

43:01

But this was only the

43:03

beginning of interesting innovations by

43:05

Will Guess that would transform

43:07

the fortunes. Not always of

43:10

the New York's Central Railroad,

43:12

but of the entire city.

43:14

And these decisions would be

43:16

responsible for not only elevating

43:18

the prominence of Midtown Manhattan,

43:21

but it also created billions

43:23

of dollars in real estate's.

43:25

So. by electrifying the

43:28

tracks. You. Put in essence,

43:30

then stat the trains on

43:32

top of one another, because

43:35

do that with steam. Obviously,

43:37

I'm quoting from Mike Wallace

43:39

his book Greater Gotham Quotes

43:41

Will guess suggested the company

43:44

blast away all forty eight

43:46

acres of the landed own

43:48

the down to sixty feet

43:51

below grade and insert therein

43:53

to immense underground platforms one

43:55

above the other the lower

43:58

for local. Commuter service. And

44:00

the upper for long distance

44:02

trains on quote. This was

44:04

just a huge project and

44:06

it also meant that they

44:08

had to scrap you know

44:10

that old train station and

44:12

rebuild the a new one.

44:15

All. At the same time that they

44:17

continued service this is an unbelievable

44:19

undertakings them for he who kind of

44:21

look at it and think about

44:23

it and not massive new terminal. Called

44:26

Grand Central Terminal the one

44:28

we have today, the one

44:30

we know and love by

44:32

the architecture firms Redone Stern

44:35

and Worn Wetmore. He would

44:37

open on February second, Nineteen

44:39

Thirteen, instantly becoming an iconic

44:41

landmark in New York City.

44:44

And in terms than a Park

44:46

Avenue, the new Terminal did something

44:49

quite clever. During the nineteen teens

44:51

and twenties, New York's Central constructed

44:53

what is called today the Park

44:56

Avenue Viaduct and takes of vehicles

44:58

around the buildings and then deposits

45:00

the traffic. Nor said the station

45:03

at Park and Forty Six Street.

45:05

And that spots Spark and Forty

45:08

Six with a spot that hadn't

45:10

even existed before or since that

45:12

whole area had just. Been an

45:15

open frame Paris Subway, the

45:17

yard, the train yard. But

45:19

for our story then all of

45:21

these new changes that we've

45:23

just discussed meant a they had

45:25

just invented several new blocks of

45:28

land which they could now

45:30

development on and them be

45:32

is suddenly became less disgusting to

45:34

live and work on purpose

45:36

in here because it's not

45:38

as vents are no longer belts.

45:41

Enough unpleasant steam and gases.

45:43

And all of this then in the nineteen

45:45

teens and twenties. At a

45:48

moment when the traffic along

45:50

Parts Avenue was largely changing

45:52

from horse drawn carriages to

45:55

automobiles, the future with here

45:57

are some Old Avenue had

45:59

been real then and we

46:02

will get to the glamorous

46:04

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46:06

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46:12

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Zero Four Fifty Percent off. He.

47:51

Blue. says.

48:05

Nama. Go

48:07

on to the glow of Park

48:09

Avenue for at least. as you

48:11

just mentioned, In. The

48:13

automobile aids. Because when I think

48:15

you know, I think when I

48:18

imagine Park Avenue today, I think

48:20

about cars you know you want

48:22

along the sidewalks past door men.

48:25

Cars. Are speeding by right?

48:27

And then when you cross Park

48:29

Avenue you might make it halfway

48:32

across and find yourself kind of

48:34

the standing in front of those

48:36

little party malls. you know, admiring

48:38

the flowers and shrubs. Bomb what

48:40

traffic it zinc by in both

48:42

directions, right? I mean, cars are

48:44

part of this. Still under the

48:47

cars. Really part of a glamorous

48:49

dream here are You exit your

48:51

apartment building and step right into

48:53

a waiting car. Ride. So

48:55

many cars, so school he says.

48:58

And it's not an accident, right?

49:01

We? you don't see our any

49:03

sort of buses or public transit

49:05

running long. The Up: a new

49:07

Because it turns out that the

49:10

residents who made up the Neighborhoods

49:12

Park Avenue Association during the Nineteen

49:14

teens fought to keep public buses

49:16

off of the Avenue. a distinction.

49:19

That still stands today. Greg.

49:21

There are no public buses running

49:23

up and down the avenue between

49:25

Twenty Fifth and One Hundred and

49:28

Twenty History. Yeah.

49:30

I guess they were dealing with enough

49:33

transit. You're. Right down the

49:35

middle be avenue under underfoot. that's

49:37

true, but they didn't fight private

49:39

cars on the avenue. Oh no,

49:41

quite quite the contrary. In the

49:43

late nineteen twenties, Park Avenue got

49:46

a facelift, says it's not. It's

49:48

not the last on that would

49:50

happen on Park Avenue. No, not

49:52

at all. So. Many,

49:55

many, many faceless in

49:57

order to accommodate more.

50:00

Car is on the avenue. They

50:02

actually added for new traffic lanes

50:04

to the avenue to go in

50:06

north and to going south of

50:08

back in the day when the

50:10

city was adding car traffic lanes

50:13

of where did they get the

50:15

space Though it's like cars didn't

50:17

get slimmer see husband, other did

50:19

not. Tragically, they made room by

50:21

chopping down the sidewalks and those

50:24

planted malls. You can see it

50:26

if you look at photos of

50:28

Park Avenue from Might be. The

50:30

board the late nineteen twenties and then

50:32

look at what we have today From

50:35

you can see how the city top

50:37

five feet off of the with of

50:39

the sidewalks and both sides of the

50:41

streets and they cut the malls down

50:44

the middle of the street from forty

50:46

feet wide. they've been forty, he was

50:48

sound about twenty feet wide. Variety.

50:51

There is a big haircut and you

50:53

know, ice. We should note that to

50:55

this day, those malls are not exactly

50:57

pedestrian friendly. That. While they

50:59

were reworking you know, the landscaping

51:02

and cutting it down. They also

51:04

took the opportunity to cover up

51:06

as much as events as they

51:08

couldn't because you know they weren't

51:10

belt Chino black smoke anymore. And

51:12

then a couple years later, the

51:15

city actually did plan. Thousands of

51:17

trees is a long, these narrow

51:19

green spaces in the Northern Boulevard

51:21

in the middle. the avenue in

51:23

an axiom. Later in the nineteen

51:25

forties, thousands of flowers would be

51:27

planted there as. Well. And that

51:29

is of course, a tradition that lives on

51:32

today. For quite a

51:34

bit of work was being done

51:36

on the actual avenue. but what

51:38

about alongside the avenue? Know I

51:40

did miss an early. There were

51:42

some modest apartments structures built sort

51:45

of late nineteenth century, but like

51:47

when did the first? Like real

51:49

like large apartment buildings, the mass

51:51

of apartment buildings a Park Avenue's

51:53

known for one of those first

51:55

go up. Love the

51:58

first really large apartment buildings. On

52:00

part that I could find where

52:02

the twelve story Mayfair Apartments that

52:05

opened a park and Fifty Seventh

52:07

Street in Nineteen of Seven. and

52:09

then the next year and nights

52:11

you know, eight, the fourteen story

52:14

or nine Twenty Five Park which

52:16

was up at eighty A streets

52:18

and by this time in nineteen.

52:21

Oh wait, you know it was

52:23

finally becoming socially acceptable. You know

52:25

in that sets of even fashionable

52:27

some lives in upscale apartments. We

52:30

are the era of keeping a

52:32

single family mansion running of. That

52:34

was all coming to a close

52:37

here for for a number of

52:39

reasons which we have young elaborated

52:41

on a many times and past

52:43

says there was simply too expensive

52:45

to run and to staff and

52:47

yup and also that pesky thing

52:50

called income tax which was right

52:52

around the corner it was introduced

52:54

in Nineteen Thirteen. But that having

52:56

been said, you know luxury apartment

52:58

buildings were not new because. Remember

53:00

the Dakota opened over on Central

53:03

Park West and Seventy cents in

53:05

in Eighteen Eighty Four. But I

53:07

mean, you weren't really finding these

53:10

cards of apartment buildings on Fifth

53:12

Avenue Yeah, rights in the early

53:14

Twentieth century? No, no, no. the

53:17

first upscale apartment building to open

53:19

a long in of death stretch

53:21

of this avenue was Nine Ninety

53:24

Eight, that Atheneum and Eighty First

53:26

Street, which opened in my teens.

53:29

Twelve, So you know, A

53:31

few years after Park Avenue

53:33

got it's first Superman house,

53:35

but soon sauce small apartment

53:37

buildings were being constructed up

53:39

and down Park Avenue and

53:42

even in the blocks just

53:44

north of Grand Central. The

53:46

railroad itself was even building

53:48

apartment buildings like To Seventy

53:50

Parts which went up and

53:52

Nineteen Sixteen at Forty Seventh

53:55

Street and the from many

53:57

other upscale apartment buildings been

53:59

since. That kid a farther

54:01

up Park Avenue in the Nineteen

54:03

teens. You know, like Nine Seventy

54:06

Parts up at Eighty Third Streets

54:08

Open and Nine Eleven And then

54:11

the bus. Nine o' Three Part

54:13

in Nineteen Thirteen. The Nine Fifty

54:15

Five part open nights in Fifteen

54:18

at Those are. Just see him

54:20

for that went up in the

54:23

Nineteen teens. Yes, all of them

54:25

before World War One and the

54:27

construction frenzy along Park Avenue. Really?

54:30

Heated up further in the

54:32

Nineteen Twenties mix of meat

54:34

and white designed one of

54:36

the city's largest apartment buildings.

54:38

In Nineteen Twenty Five Step

54:40

is to seventy seven part

54:42

which stretched over the entire

54:44

block back to Lexington Avenue

54:46

and contains more than three

54:48

hundred apartments that rented from

54:50

two hundred to four hundred

54:52

dollars a month. And

54:55

then there was a very

54:57

very nineteen twenties addition. Tag.

55:00

According to the Park

55:02

Avenue Historic District designation

55:05

reports quotes, Penthouse.

55:07

Living also became fashionable

55:09

in the Nineteen twenties

55:11

and. They quoted journalist

55:13

Will Irwin, who described this

55:15

new type of living arrangement

55:18

at the time quotes. As

55:20

final touch of strange

55:22

luxury one see inhabited

55:24

stories above ground the

55:26

circle swings full turn.

55:28

The tenant has achieved

55:30

a detachment and exclusiveness

55:32

impossible to any dwellings

55:34

said on the ground.

55:37

There are no neighbors

55:39

to rights and last

55:41

only the tinted air

55:43

of Manhattan. Dell. Hundreds

55:45

of strangers, twelve just underfoot.

55:47

His only connection with his

55:49

six million fellow citizens is

55:52

the opening to his private

55:54

elevator. Soft, ah, just the

55:56

door of Hunt House of

55:58

Move. So where

56:00

was the first Pet house by

56:02

the way and the first in

56:05

this northern section of Park Avenue

56:07

that is to Park Avenue Historic

56:09

Districts was located at Eleven L

56:11

Five Park Avenue at Eighty Nine

56:13

Street. And that is a building

56:15

that was completed in nineteen. Twenty

56:17

Three. And by the

56:19

late nineteen twenties, the entire

56:22

avenue had been transformed. The.

56:24

Brooklyn Daily Eagle devoted a

56:26

two page spread to Park

56:28

Avenue on April tenth. Nineteen,

56:31

Twenty Seven, calling it quotes

56:33

the most exclusive residential avenue

56:35

in the world has developed

56:37

on former sight of stock

56:40

yard and open railroad terminal.

56:42

Quote: One. Of the

56:44

world's most exclusive streets, the

56:46

most exclusive thoroughfare in America.

56:49

That. Is Park Avenue

56:51

Manhattan? Here in the

56:53

center of New York is

56:56

a carefully restricted residents streets

56:58

located where a long the

57:00

major portion of it's length

57:02

a generation ago rose but

57:05

the smoke of tugging locomotives

57:07

and before that squatters shanties.

57:09

And now tower skyscrapers that?

57:12

how's more multi millionaires than

57:14

Says Avenue ever thought of

57:16

possessing in the it's sustainable

57:18

heyday. I like how the

57:21

writer even throws a little

57:23

shade over on Fifth Avenue

57:25

in their closets. Is it

57:27

back in it's heyday? Yeah.

57:30

This article also frozen some

57:32

fascinating facts and figures. For

57:34

example, They estimated that

57:37

these new Park Avenue

57:39

dwellers together spend an

57:41

average of nineteen thousand,

57:43

two hundred and thirty

57:45

dollars a day on

57:47

amusements and theater and

57:49

have or a attendance.

57:52

Have a raise. Or

57:55

Plus, I'm glad cabarets a part of

57:57

their budgets and it goes on more.

58:00

Fifty Seven thousand. Dollars a

58:02

day was being spent by

58:04

this group of people on

58:06

antique furniture and paintings. Thirty

58:08

eight thousand dollars a day

58:10

on automobiles and more than

58:12

seven thousand, six hundred dollars

58:14

a day on candy candy

58:16

Greg. I'm

58:20

a glad ever Won seven a good

58:22

time. So knackered because those good times

58:24

are about to hit a bit of

58:26

a speed bump. Here of the stories

58:28

gel. Because. Right around about

58:30

the same time that they were

58:33

member cutting back those sidewalks and

58:35

and planting nude freeze, the stock

58:37

market crashed and the country of

58:39

course fell into the Great Depression

58:42

and the city was hit very

58:44

hard and so were the buildings

58:46

that were going up along the

58:49

avenue. some projects over frozen, they

58:51

never even got started and according

58:53

to the New York Times, nearly

58:56

half of the apartment buildings when

58:58

into foreclosure. One. Of the new

59:00

constructions that was underway at

59:02

this time and actually opens

59:04

in October of nineteen Thirty

59:06

was Seven Forty Park Avenue,

59:08

a nineteen story Co ops

59:10

that is located between Seventy

59:12

First and Seventy Second Street

59:14

on the west side of

59:16

the Avenue and which was

59:18

built by Jackie O's grandfather

59:20

James Leave just the oh

59:22

me, oh I guess jerky

59:24

jockey bouvier of a time

59:26

actually grew up in this

59:28

building. Right? See did yes.

59:31

And this building Seven Forty

59:33

Park would become known as

59:35

one of the most exclusive

59:37

and quote restricted Culottes in

59:39

the city. Even Greg, if

59:41

you don't struggled to pay

59:43

all of it's bills and

59:45

all of it's debts for

59:47

many decades, people like John

59:49

the Rockefeller Jr. moved into

59:52

a fifteenth floor duplex here

59:54

in the building and nineteen

59:56

Thirty Seven and just kicked

59:58

off a tradition. Of New

1:00:00

New York's super elite moving

1:00:02

into this building and it's

1:00:04

a tradition that still holds

1:00:07

today. I would recommend checking

1:00:09

out the Two Thousand and

1:00:11

Five Books seven Forty Part

1:00:13

the story of the world's

1:00:15

richest apartment building by Michael

1:00:17

Bros. To go deeper into

1:00:19

this fascinating building it is

1:00:22

a really miss everything to

1:00:24

see, read and illustrates the

1:00:26

card of speculative development in

1:00:28

this case Co Ops. But

1:00:30

I'm in. There were so also

1:00:32

a lot of rentals here development

1:00:35

going up during the Nineteen twenties

1:00:37

and how most of that came

1:00:39

to a screeching halt by Nineteen

1:00:41

thirty, young and insects and then

1:00:43

really, when start up again until

1:00:45

after World War Two. Although I

1:00:48

think that compared to many other

1:00:50

the city's major avenues to post

1:00:52

war residential construction along Parks Genome,

1:00:54

it is rather limited. Many.

1:00:57

Of these original prewar buildings

1:00:59

still stands today and are

1:01:02

located within various historic districts

1:01:04

and are does protected. But

1:01:07

we also just use the

1:01:10

words exclusives and restricted. And

1:01:12

you really can't talk about

1:01:14

the luxury apartments you know

1:01:16

in New York City without

1:01:19

talking about how so many

1:01:21

of them for so many

1:01:23

decades were also closed to

1:01:25

certain tenants based upon their

1:01:28

race or ethnicity or religion.

1:01:30

And the luxury apartment buildings

1:01:32

on Park Avenue were no

1:01:34

difference. Most of them were

1:01:37

famously. Closed not only to

1:01:39

non whites, but also to

1:01:41

do with tenants and even

1:01:44

Catholics. and this is something

1:01:46

that lasted for decades. New

1:01:48

York Magazine published an article

1:01:51

about this in Nineteen Sixty

1:01:53

Nine called restricted Co Ops,

1:01:55

The Gentleman's Agreement and the

1:01:58

Singled Out You know, The

1:02:00

discrimination against and Jewish applicants

1:02:02

at buildings between Sixty Second

1:02:04

and Ninety Fifth Street mostly

1:02:07

along Fifth Avenue and Park

1:02:09

Avenue's The next year a

1:02:11

piece in The New York

1:02:13

Times in Nineteen Seventy reported

1:02:15

said according to the American

1:02:17

Jewish Committee quote. Jews

1:02:19

were apparently been excluded from

1:02:21

sixty percent of a sample

1:02:24

of one hundred and thirty

1:02:26

nine cooperative apartment buildings that

1:02:28

the committee investigated on Manhattan's

1:02:30

East Side, mostly on Park

1:02:33

and Fifth Avenue, Again,

1:02:35

This discrimination was happening in

1:02:37

housing stock across the city

1:02:39

at this time and well

1:02:41

into the twentieth century. But

1:02:43

it's notable and this story

1:02:45

due to the prominence of

1:02:47

these new buildings and the

1:02:49

sheer number of apartments that

1:02:51

were being made available. One.

1:02:55

Other notable change that I wanted

1:02:57

to mention that happened to Park

1:02:59

Avenue in the Nineteen thirties with

1:03:02

the discontinuation of that old street

1:03:04

car service in lower Park Avenue.

1:03:06

you know, the one that went

1:03:09

through that old Murray Hill tunnel.

1:03:11

In Nineteen Thirty Five, the tunnel

1:03:13

was renovated into a tunnel for

1:03:16

cars. More. It still is

1:03:18

still serves cars today. Yes, the

1:03:20

very same tunnel, although in two

1:03:22

thousand and nine the city converted

1:03:25

it into a northbound tunnel. only.

1:03:27

See, you can only travel north,

1:03:29

but you are traveling through the

1:03:31

same old tunnel that was cut

1:03:34

through Mrs. Murray Hill. Know.

1:03:36

Tom We often say on

1:03:38

this show that Ces Avenue

1:03:40

is the spine of New

1:03:42

York, especially as as the

1:03:45

avenue that splits the Island

1:03:47

of Manhattan into the East

1:03:49

and West. In terms of

1:03:51

addresses, yes, that's right. For

1:03:53

example, at Fifth Avenue and

1:03:55

Twenty Eighth Street, view would

1:03:57

be of the find: one

1:03:59

West Twenty Eight Three, and

1:04:01

one East Twenty Eighth Street.

1:04:03

And I guess yeah, using

1:04:05

that spine metaphor, then the

1:04:07

streets, you know they radiate

1:04:09

out from either side of

1:04:11

Fifth Kind of lights. Ribs.

1:04:14

Is. Gross. Her

1:04:17

for grew Up or a

1:04:19

graphic but after us But

1:04:21

I would like to offer

1:04:23

a counter narrative on additional

1:04:25

narrative that is. By the

1:04:28

nineteen fifties in New York,

1:04:30

Park Avenue would become the

1:04:32

spine or the most active,

1:04:34

most essential area in town

1:04:36

was a destination for wealthy

1:04:38

people to live as you

1:04:40

described as and that continues

1:04:42

into the store and into.

1:04:44

Today of course. But the

1:04:47

other critical reason for it's

1:04:49

important of is the rise

1:04:52

of mid town Manhattan overall

1:04:54

as a central district of

1:04:56

business and commerce after World

1:04:59

War One and the arrival

1:05:01

of major companies major corporations

1:05:03

to midtown. Yes,

1:05:06

we just recently touch up

1:05:08

that subject in a recent

1:05:10

show about the Chrysler Building

1:05:12

and the great skyscraper race

1:05:14

by the Nineteen twenties. Companies

1:05:16

built art deco office towers

1:05:18

around the area of Grand

1:05:20

Central in a large snow

1:05:22

in development concept that was

1:05:24

called Terminal City is it's

1:05:26

kind of like a mini

1:05:28

city within a city is

1:05:30

Us and Terminal City was

1:05:32

also a William Will Guess

1:05:34

idea because. They had

1:05:36

just created all of this

1:05:38

new real estate by burying

1:05:40

the tracks. It's more important,

1:05:43

they created new air rights.

1:05:45

Above all that real estate. So

1:05:47

in other words, the right to build

1:05:50

up. Much. Just as street

1:05:52

level. So this was found the

1:05:54

money. During. The Skyscraper aids,

1:05:56

of course, and both sides of

1:05:58

Park Avenue here. The closest to

1:06:01

Grand Central Terminal were quickly

1:06:03

developed, with new glamorous buildings

1:06:05

soon. Notable ones that I

1:06:07

was just like to point

1:06:09

out from this period include

1:06:11

New York Central's own skyscraper

1:06:14

which is a belts right

1:06:16

behind Grand Central Terminal, which

1:06:18

opened in Nineteen Twenty Nine.

1:06:20

Today. That is known as the

1:06:23

Helmsley Building. And since

1:06:25

I said Park Avenue Viaducts that

1:06:27

we talked about earlier which elevates

1:06:29

the traffic around the terminal, the

1:06:32

The Vita was designed specifically to

1:06:34

wrap around the New York's Central

1:06:36

skyscraper as well. Yes, and A

1:06:38

bundles them all together. Wrapping around

1:06:41

them depicts for a rather shadowy

1:06:43

drive I must say to that

1:06:45

portion of Midtown, but still very

1:06:48

innovative. I love it up there

1:06:50

with yes, miss mysterious Rothys Elsa

1:06:52

wanted to call out one. Other

1:06:55

structure built on Park Avenue and

1:06:57

Forty Ninth Street just three blocks

1:06:59

up complete as in Nineteen Thirty

1:07:02

One. And that is of course

1:07:04

the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The Waldorf

1:07:06

Astoria the most famous had tell

1:07:09

in the world of which originally

1:07:11

stood. At the corner of

1:07:14

Thirty Fourth and Fifth Avenue and

1:07:16

was replaced by the Empire State

1:07:18

Building. So naturally they caught the

1:07:21

Art Deco skyscraper fever and built

1:07:23

themselves or new Waldorf Astoria here

1:07:25

on Park Avenue. And they were

1:07:28

when they open. the largest hotel

1:07:30

in the world. But Greg earlier,

1:07:32

you posited that Park Avenue between

1:07:35

the spine of New York in

1:07:37

the Nineteen sixties. What was that

1:07:39

about? The Nineteen Fifties? Why did

1:07:42

you choose. That decade, well,

1:07:44

post World War Two.

1:07:47

New. York City had even

1:07:49

garnered greater international prominence, which

1:07:51

them inspired another great wave

1:07:53

of construction and development that

1:07:56

parallel the little bit of

1:07:58

what had happened in the

1:08:01

Nineteen twenties and west Midtown

1:08:03

Manhattan firmly established as a

1:08:05

business center of New York

1:08:08

City by this time overtaking

1:08:10

the Lower Manhattan business district.

1:08:12

of course, it's not surprising

1:08:15

the Park Avenue would be

1:08:17

the location of a whole

1:08:20

bunch of brand new, very

1:08:22

interesting and even unusual office

1:08:24

towers builds not an art

1:08:27

deco. Of. Course, because we're

1:08:29

past that period, but in the

1:08:31

new post war style not. There

1:08:33

are some nuances to each of

1:08:35

these buildings on the avenue, of

1:08:37

course, but overall, we might lump

1:08:39

them altogether as being part of

1:08:41

the international style. I

1:08:43

know this is what are your

1:08:46

favorite topics. I can hear it

1:08:48

in your boys. Are you gonna

1:08:50

get to talk as glass curtain

1:08:53

scratch? Oh yes, the last person.

1:08:55

Architecture? Yes Yes! Here come the

1:08:57

arrival of blast skyscrapers. Everybody's favorite

1:09:00

skyscraper. And apparently from the look

1:09:02

of the skyline today, they still

1:09:04

really stops building dusk. I feel

1:09:07

loss. but more or less the

1:09:09

international style boom began here in

1:09:11

the late nineteen forties. With

1:09:13

Park Avenue and in particular

1:09:15

sort of Mid Town East

1:09:18

generally as a sort of

1:09:20

modernist skyscraper region. The

1:09:22

styles often associated with European

1:09:25

architects like Macabre Ca, an

1:09:27

American architects such as Philip

1:09:30

Johnson what facilitated all this

1:09:32

wave of the future Building

1:09:34

These new structures were significant

1:09:37

changes in the city's zoning

1:09:39

laws and as we mentioned

1:09:41

in the Chrysler Building show

1:09:44

buildings you Know give these

1:09:46

are deco skyscrapers could only

1:09:49

go high if it contains

1:09:51

setbacks. You know, which made them

1:09:53

look a little bit like wedding cakes?

1:09:55

Even the Waldorf Astoria hotel itself is

1:09:58

designed you know, with setback. Yeah,

1:10:01

that's the sort of classic

1:10:03

style of New York architecture,

1:10:05

both with modifications to the

1:10:08

zoning law. Over time, skyscrapers

1:10:10

could now go higher straight

1:10:12

up. Without. Setbacks if

1:10:14

they incorporated public places which often

1:10:17

works to set back the tower

1:10:19

so that it wasn't completely blocking

1:10:21

out son and heir. This was

1:10:24

officially be codifies in the zoning

1:10:26

law of Nineteen Sixty One, but

1:10:28

little teachers had been made along

1:10:31

the way and these changes gave

1:10:33

us some of the superstars of

1:10:35

Park Avenue. At the top should

1:10:37

give you to some very quick

1:10:40

tour of some of my favorites

1:10:42

international style models. Here since

1:10:44

please do. Let.

1:10:46

Us. Start with the Lever House

1:10:49

headquarters of the British So company,

1:10:51

The Lever Brothers, which is located

1:10:53

at Park between Fifty Third and

1:10:56

Fifty Fourth, Completed and Nineteen Fifty

1:10:58

Two and designed by Gordon Bunshaft

1:11:00

a Natalie Deploy This is a

1:11:03

three hundred and some foot tall.

1:11:05

Office. Building which by the

1:11:07

way, it's actually love. Really,

1:11:09

it's years to that old

1:11:11

zoning law because it's be

1:11:14

all slab is actually quite

1:11:16

slender in comparison to other

1:11:18

buildings, but the Lever House

1:11:20

kind of threw down the

1:11:22

red carpet in a way

1:11:24

for international style structures to

1:11:26

start. flu or shame on

1:11:28

Park Avenue on Park and

1:11:30

Forty Ninth Street, we have

1:11:32

the Colgate Palmolive building completed

1:11:34

in nineteen Fifty five. Designed

1:11:36

by Emery Ralston Sons and

1:11:38

then even north of that,

1:11:40

a Park and Fifty Ninth

1:11:42

speeds up the Pepsi Cola

1:11:44

building at Five Hundred Park

1:11:47

Avenue. also designed by Bunshaft

1:11:49

and deploy Miss the Fans

1:11:51

are it's We've got soap,

1:11:53

toothpaste, mouthwash, and Pepsi says.

1:11:56

So basically, by the nineteen fifties,

1:11:58

Park Avenue had. Basically. Become

1:12:01

an aisle at. The grocery store.

1:12:05

On top of honey been done

1:12:07

because the granddaddy. Of Park

1:12:10

Avenue's international style squad here

1:12:12

is the elegant, sleek, slightly

1:12:14

off putting in a good

1:12:16

way I think Seagram buildings

1:12:18

a Park Avenue between Fifty

1:12:20

Second and Fifty Third him

1:12:22

designed by several leading architects

1:12:24

of the day with lewd

1:12:26

big News Van der Rohe

1:12:29

a who is the leading

1:12:31

architect A five hundred and

1:12:33

fifteen foot model Us built

1:12:35

for the Canadian distiller, Seagram.

1:12:37

known for mainstay whiskey brands.

1:12:39

Like Crown Royal and Seven,

1:12:41

Crown and Tumble also been

1:12:43

they make wine coolers. Not.

1:12:47

Here they don't make them. Here are yes

1:12:50

a special produce the wine coolers here but

1:12:52

you know. You're

1:12:54

describing an entire avenue. a

1:12:57

major consumer products. Yes,

1:13:00

and Odyssey. There are many, many

1:13:02

more examples of the i don't

1:13:04

have time to lists except the

1:13:07

one. and I would say just

1:13:09

of. By the way that the

1:13:11

Seagram Building is quite beloved today.

1:13:13

a has a certain elegance to

1:13:16

add. The Four Seasons Restaurants was

1:13:18

located here for four decades, but

1:13:20

the opposite of deaths in terms

1:13:23

of affection came along. And Nineteen

1:13:25

Sixty Two, the Pin Him Building.

1:13:27

Built. For the airline of

1:13:30

course. And unlike the other

1:13:32

modernists masterpieces which line of

1:13:34

Park Avenue to the east

1:13:36

and west, the Pan Am

1:13:38

building is actually placed between

1:13:40

in Grand Central and the

1:13:43

Helmsley building between these two

1:13:45

sections of Park Avenue. feeling

1:13:47

know some was very sleek,

1:13:49

but. In. The opinion

1:13:51

of many people. Disruptive

1:13:53

and unavoidable. Just. Today

1:13:56

it's called the Metlife Building

1:13:58

and they still kind. Feals,

1:14:00

disruptive, an unavoidable are fed up.

1:14:02

and because it also feels like

1:14:04

it's blocking us right from from

1:14:07

seen a straight line up and

1:14:09

down Park Avenue or half. But

1:14:11

in reality, I mean, you never really

1:14:13

could see all the way down Park Avenue.

1:14:15

So I think that maybe the. Critics are

1:14:18

kind of the overdoing it a

1:14:20

bit. Everybody needs to combat. Yeah,

1:14:22

we actually have a pretty old.

1:14:25

So. And her best catalogue.

1:14:27

Believe it or not, All

1:14:29

About The Pentagon Building. Episode

1:14:31

Sixty One my goodness I

1:14:33

have you wanna hear more

1:14:35

about and was controversial Structure

1:14:37

had to that show. But

1:14:40

long story short hair this

1:14:42

architectural movement the international style

1:14:44

modernists architecture redefined Park Avenue

1:14:46

in the Mid Town area.

1:14:48

And was this scene. Also.

1:14:51

Happening south of Grandson from on

1:14:54

Park Avenue. Sure, I'm

1:14:56

into a much lesser and

1:14:58

less glamorous degree. I would

1:15:00

say I should add. That.

1:15:03

Although you know only a

1:15:05

small part of this below

1:15:07

Grand Central is is Park

1:15:09

Avenue still right? as we?

1:15:11

As we said, most of

1:15:13

it is actually Fourth Avenue.

1:15:15

But in Nineteen Sixty Nine,

1:15:18

when the fortunes of this

1:15:20

area were being completely overshadowed

1:15:22

by the actual Park Avenue

1:15:24

north of the Terminal, the

1:15:26

City then officially renamed Fourth

1:15:28

Avenue from Seventeenth Two, Thirty

1:15:30

Second Street, Park Avenue South.

1:15:32

Okay, However, to cook the

1:15:35

New York Times quotes, the street

1:15:37

appeared to be trapped in real

1:15:40

estate limbo. The was neither here

1:15:42

nor there, brushing by brand named

1:15:44

enclaves like Gramsci Park and Flood

1:15:47

I, but not belonging to them

1:15:49

and never really developing a personality

1:15:51

of it's own. On. Quotes.

1:15:54

South Park Avenue South.

1:15:57

Stretches. From Union

1:15:59

Square. Basically up to

1:16:01

Thirty Second Street, where

1:16:04

Park Avenue proper begins.

1:16:06

Greg. Even if it does, Park

1:16:09

Avenue South recording to the times

1:16:11

pales in comparison to other the

1:16:13

other Park Avenue I mean is.

1:16:16

Still, Is a nice. Place

1:16:18

and it didn't play a pretty

1:16:20

important. Role in your life. So

1:16:22

many businesses. Your very first City Park

1:16:25

City apartment was located right here. The

1:16:27

I split my nine on Park Avenue

1:16:29

South at Twenty Third Street you know

1:16:31

and I can tell you I can

1:16:33

confirm it was sort of a nothing

1:16:36

still rothys on which is why I

1:16:38

could afford it so I could live

1:16:40

there. Zones along. those were the days.

1:16:43

The. Coolest thing that actually happened on

1:16:45

Park Avenue South at this time

1:16:47

is probably the rock clubs masses

1:16:49

Kansas City, which was before my

1:16:51

time, but it was down on

1:16:53

seventeen streets or during the nineteen

1:16:55

seventies. But. I must say

1:16:58

the modern story of Park Avenue

1:17:00

tends to be a little less

1:17:02

exciting. as you can imagine, those

1:17:04

bell to for malls with their

1:17:06

greenery and trees didn't fare too

1:17:08

well in the Nineteen seventies. In

1:17:10

Nineteen Eighty, the Park Avenue Malls

1:17:12

plants in project began as a

1:17:14

private conservancy to bring beauty back

1:17:16

to the area, and every year

1:17:19

since Nineteen Forty Five, the malls

1:17:21

have been decorated with Christmas trees.

1:17:24

Although there have been even more

1:17:26

vigorous calls you know to have.

1:17:28

Even. More greenery and more access

1:17:31

to these malls because after all,

1:17:33

you can't really watch. You know

1:17:35

the inside does medians. You can't

1:17:38

really walk around in their know,

1:17:40

nor would you want to. Honestly,

1:17:42

they they saved away any decent

1:17:44

walking path to create traffic lanes.

1:17:47

as you mentioned, not that I

1:17:49

don't wander upon them. You know

1:17:51

I'm on more adventurous jaunts to

1:17:54

the city. It's not impossible, it's

1:17:56

just not pleasant. If anything, the

1:17:58

real scenes. Along. The Park

1:18:00

Avenue isn't you know, below or

1:18:03

even ask ground level but something

1:18:05

that's high in the sky. Looking

1:18:07

down at Park Avenue I am

1:18:10

the super tall right? We ended

1:18:12

our Chrysler Building show with a

1:18:15

Super Tall and now. Sadly,

1:18:17

I think that we need to end this show.

1:18:19

With the super doubles as well greg. Yeah,

1:18:22

so this is an ever changing

1:18:24

part of the story. Of course,

1:18:26

I feel like I've already spoken

1:18:28

my piece about a for Thirty

1:18:30

two Park Avenue of the tallest

1:18:33

building on The Avenue at Fifty

1:18:35

Seventh Street. For years, I worked

1:18:37

at Five Fifty Madison Avenue when

1:18:39

they were constructing this building and

1:18:41

I quite literally remember when the

1:18:43

buildings are blocking the sun permanently

1:18:45

from ever answering my office window.

1:18:47

However, there is a plan super

1:18:49

tall as Three Fifty Park Avenue.

1:18:51

On Fifty Second Street that

1:18:54

will actually overtake it's on

1:18:56

the skyline. Great.

1:18:58

Well. Why don't we wrap up

1:19:00

the story with an actual. Landmark The.

1:19:04

Better yet of she would says

1:19:07

and the story here. with the

1:19:09

description of three places on Park

1:19:11

Avenue that are not apartment buildings

1:19:13

and that are not office buildings,

1:19:16

I would actually like to start

1:19:18

us first above Ninety Sixth Street

1:19:20

where it becomes an elevated train

1:19:23

for Metro North. There is a

1:19:25

little piece of history at around

1:19:27

One Hundred and Eleven Streets that

1:19:29

predates Seagram, Colgate, Pepsi Cola, and

1:19:32

yet it is also a markets.

1:19:34

He might be able to buy

1:19:37

some of those plastic stance as

1:19:39

far as easy to replace called

1:19:41

lama touch her arm and open

1:19:43

air Market Place has been open

1:19:45

since nineteen thirty Six and it

1:19:47

was created when Mayor Fiorello Laguardia

1:19:49

pushed to get independent food vendors

1:19:51

off the streets. And you know,

1:19:54

It has changed with the times,

1:19:56

of course, over the decades, still

1:19:58

operating as a marketplace premier for

1:20:00

Hispanic communities of East Harlem. Yes,

1:20:03

It is a fun and case

1:20:06

seats place to visit and so

1:20:08

kid that's a great stop in

1:20:10

since you're calling out a couple

1:20:13

of non apartments things on Park

1:20:15

Avenue. What about that German Hospital

1:20:17

the you mentioned earlier in the

1:20:20

cell? Oh right, right right. Park

1:20:22

Avenue and Seventy Seven Streets? Well,

1:20:25

it's just grew steadily you know

1:20:27

over the decades on this particular

1:20:29

block and you through on surrounding

1:20:32

blocks even especially. As the

1:20:34

German community of Yorkville continue

1:20:36

to grow throughout the nineteenth

1:20:38

century, But. When World War

1:20:40

One arrived to Perhaps you

1:20:42

didn't seem prudent to keep

1:20:44

the name German Hospital. So

1:20:47

and Nineteen eighteen instead they

1:20:49

switched to the name Lenox

1:20:51

Hill Hospital. And

1:20:53

as you mentioned earlier, Lenox Hill

1:20:55

was the name of that small

1:20:57

neighborhood around the Armory that became

1:20:59

quite sustainable in the early twentieth

1:21:02

century. And they're the reason I

1:21:04

wanted to make note of this

1:21:06

in particular for the South, because

1:21:08

there's so many. Medical. Practices

1:21:10

and private doctors' offices on Park

1:21:12

Avenue and on the Upper East

1:21:14

Side generally as well as as

1:21:16

of course many major hospital facilities

1:21:18

all over the neighborhood. But the

1:21:21

So you could say that they

1:21:23

could have started that trend tear

1:21:25

apart and Seventy Seven streets. Finally,

1:21:27

I wanted to point out maybe

1:21:29

my Saber It building on Park

1:21:31

Avenue know that there are a

1:21:33

few houses of worship on Park

1:21:35

Avenue at up and down the

1:21:37

whole length to bed. But my

1:21:39

favorites. Sits a couple blocks

1:21:42

south of the Seagram building

1:21:44

and of the place called

1:21:46

St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church as

1:21:48

Park and Sixty S. Constructed

1:21:50

in Nineteen Seventeen and Eighteen

1:21:52

Eighteen, the reason it's so

1:21:54

distinctive is because it looks

1:21:57

nothing like it's surroundings. It's

1:21:59

a. The team revival

1:22:01

style structure and at sea

1:22:03

of art deco a modernist

1:22:05

towers. It's an incredible place

1:22:07

and it actually looks like

1:22:09

it's been sitting there for

1:22:12

centuries but in fact same

1:22:14

parts was constructed test in

1:22:16

the years following the opening

1:22:18

of Grand Central Terminal you

1:22:20

know and constructed right on

1:22:23

the spots were just one

1:22:25

decade earlier. There. Had

1:22:27

been an open train tunnel.

1:22:30

On. Our website Bowery Boys history.com

1:22:32

will have many images of my

1:22:34

personal trucks up and down Park

1:22:36

Avenue in the past couple of

1:22:38

weeks, but as I took traipsing

1:22:41

down the malls, looking up at

1:22:43

the skyscrapers and looking for evidence

1:22:45

to the past. Plus will have

1:22:47

a list of other related Bowery

1:22:49

Boys episodes relevant to this show

1:22:52

that you can listen to. Some

1:22:54

that we've already mentioned Death Bowery

1:22:56

Boys history.coms as well You can

1:22:58

find us on Facebook. Instagram

1:23:00

and On Threads. And

1:23:03

we would love to have you join

1:23:05

us join our fabulous tour guides on

1:23:07

one of our small group walking tours

1:23:10

all over New York City. We have

1:23:12

several towards the clinic's hi into this

1:23:14

show in fact like our Grand Central

1:23:17

Terminal tour and are gilded. Age Mansions

1:23:19

of Fifth Avenue to or even. The

1:23:21

ghosts of be elevated rail roads

1:23:23

to are all kind of takes

1:23:25

place in this neighborhood downtown. We

1:23:27

have a new Chinatown food and

1:23:30

history to or that has been

1:23:32

selling out but there's still some

1:23:34

seats at the table on Darwin's

1:23:36

been really fun. Join a public

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to or or you can both

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a private tour for your group,

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your family or your work organization.

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Find out more and walk through

1:23:46

time with us over Bowery Boys

1:23:48

lox.com. This. Episode was produced

1:23:51

by Tearing Gannon. Said.

1:23:53

Thank you very much for listening. Have a

1:23:55

great New York weeks with you! Live here

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A nice see real soon. No

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