FIFTH AVENUE AND BEYOND

DOWNTOWN | GREENWICH VILLAGE | FLATIRON DISTRICT | FIFTH AVE AND BEYOND | MIDTOWN | UPTOWN

The Plaza (1907) @ 58th Street

Architect:  Henry Janeway Hardenbergh​ A member of Historic Hotels of America, The Plaza is one of America’s finest and most celebrated luxury hotels. Originally opened amidst much fanfare on October 1, 1907, The Plaza was reported as being the “greatest hotel in the world.”  They constructed the 19-story hotel—at the time considered a skyscraper—at the cost of $12 million, an astronomical amount in the early 20th century. Designed in the style of an opulent French Château, Henry Janeway Hardenbergh spared no expense. He placed the single largest gold-encrusted china order in history with L. Straus & Sons, along with an order for 1,650 crystal chandeliers. The first to register were Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt.  New York taxicabs made their debut. Bright red and imported from France, they sported gray upholstery and drivers in matching uniforms. Hotel guests rode for free; regular New Yorkers had to pony up 30-cents for the first half-mile. An unknown source once said, “Nothing unimportant ever happened at The Plaza.”  Less than a month after The Plaza officially opened, British actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell (her stage name) visited the Palm Court for dinner during her first night's stay at the hotel. She lit up a cigarette and was promptly asked to put it out by the restaurant's head waiter, as only men were permitted to smoke in public at the time. Campbell responded, "I understand this is a free country. I shall do nothing to change it." This luxurious hotel was constructed in the most fashionable residential section of New York City.  After being rejected from checking into the Waldorf Astoria hotel in 1908 thanks to her entourage of 12 servants, dogs, cats, owl, guinea pig, ibis, alligators and a bear, Princess Elisabeth of Hungary stayed at The Plaza, which even offered additional space for her exotic pets. A New York Times article from April of 1908 noted that the Princess was "indignant that American hotels do not furnish accommodations for pets as they do in Europe."  F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby features scenes from Jay Gatsby at the Plaza Hotel. F. Scott Fitzgerald may have been the most famous guest to first jump into the fountain outside at Grand Army Plaza. Ernest Hemingway suggested that Scott Fitzgerald should donate his liver to Princeton University and his heart to The Plaza. Keeping The Plaza going during Great Depression, barely, were “The Thirty-Nine Widows.” Extravagantly rich older women, they were permanent residents, so at least their checks were steady. Years later, when rent control arrived, the ladies weren’t such a bargain. In 1954, nearly 40 years after she had moved in, one woman was still in her suite. And who wouldn’t be, with views of Central Park and a rent of $200 a month? The best publicity came courtesy of flamboyant nightclub entertainer Kay Thompson. As part of her act, she sometimes did an impression of a precocious little girl, partly inspired by her godchild, Liza Minnelli. A friend encouraged Thompson to turn the character into a book. “Eloise” – who lived at The Plaza with a dog, her pet turtle and a nanny named Nanny – became an immediate sensation and invaluable advertising. Marilyn Monroe stayed at the hotel numerous times. She was accompanied by the entourage of photographers, hair stylists and makeup artists. One of Marilyn’s favorite New York hangouts was the Plaza Hotel, where in February 1956, she held a press conference with Sir Laurence Olivier – and, much to his amazement, chaos erupted when the strap on his co-star’s dress broke! Miles Davis recorded a live album in the Persian Room in 1958. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright moved into Suite 223-225 where he called The Plaza his residence for the next six years while working on his last major project – the Guggenheim Museum. The Beatles stayed at the Plaza Hotel during their first visit to the United States in February 1964. On November 28, 1966, in honor of the Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, the writer Truman Capote hosted his acclaimed "Black and White Ball" in the Grand Ballroom. Capote invited 540 of his closest friends to  'the party of the century.' List of invitees included the likes of  the president’s daughter Lynda Bird Johnson, Henry Fonda, the Sinatras, Andy Warhol, the most glamorous women of the time, the swans of 5th Ave —Babe Paley, Marella Agnelli, Slim Keith, Gloria Guinness, Lee Radziwill (Jackie Kennedy's sister), C. Z. Gues and family members of his lover of 18 years, writer and ex-dancer Jack Dunphy, one of his former schoolteachers; and a doorman from the U.N. Plaza. The ballroom was also the site, in 1993, of Donald Trump's wedding to Marla Maples in front of 1,500 guests. A stunning trend The Plaza Hotel displayed over the course of its history was the remarkable increase in property value. Conrad Hilton bought the Plaza Hotel for $7.4 million in October 1943 (equivalent to $107 million in 2018) and spent $6 million (equivalent to $86.9 million in 2018) refurbishing it. Donald Trump bought The Plaza for $390 million in 1988 (equivalent to $826 million in 2018). Trump commented on his purchase in a full-page open letter in The New York Times: "I haven't purchased a building, I have purchased a masterpiece – the Mona Lisa. For the first time in my life, I have knowingly made a deal that was not economic – for I can never justify the price I paid, no matter how successful the Plaza becomes." "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" was inadvertently responsible for changing The Plaza's lobby. In order to shoot a scene where actor Macaulay Culkin slid across the floor, the film crew was given permission to remove the wall-to-wall carpeting. To their surprise, the hotel found a beautiful mosaic tile floor beneath it, and the carpeting was banned thereafter to let the original floor shine. In 2005, The Plaza closed for an unprecedented complete $450 million renovation. It reopened in 2007, just in time for its 100th birthday.

Pulitzer Fountain (1916) @ 58th Street

When newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer died in 1911, he bequeathed $50,000 "for the erection of a fountain like those in the Place de la Concorde, Paris, France."​ Karl Bitter's bronze sculpture represents Pomona, the Roman goddess of abundance holding a basket of fruit.  ​Rams' heads with horns of plenty flank the fountain, again emphasizing the theme of wealth and material comfort. Karl Bitter's studio was in Weehawken, NJ He had all but completed the plaster model and wanted to celebrate. That very evening, April 9, 1915, Karl Bitter and his wife went for a night out at the Metropolitan Opera. After the performance, the couple stepped outside onto Broadway to catch a streetcar home. Seconds later, they were ran over by a Ford automobile. His wife survived, but the sculptor himself was crushed to death. The Pomona was finished by Bitter’s old friend and colleague Isidore Konti.  The model is either Doris Doscher or the tragic Audrey Munson (born 1891) or, most likely, both.

The Sherry-Netherland (1927) @ 59th Street

Since opening in 1927, The Sherry-Netherland in New York City has attracted society’s elite with its five-star service and high-end accommodations.​ Opened in 1927 by ice cream magnate Louis Sherry and Waldorf-Astoria manager Lucius Boomer.  38-story apartment hotel Designed and built by Schultze & Weaver The building houses 165 apartments that were converted to co-ops in 1954. There are only 50 hotel rooms and suites, but in the tower above the 24th floor there are single apartments to a floor.  At the time of the hotel's construction, the Vanderbilt mansion, diagonally across Fifth Avenue, was being demolished. In March 1927, construction was almost completed and the property was turned over to Louis Sherry, Inc. Louis Sherry was a noted restaurateur, famous for ice creams and other confections, and had run a hotel and restaurant, Sherry's, at 44th Street and Fifth Avenue. Louis Sherry died in 1926, a year before the hotel opened in 1927.  Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, George Burns, Jack Warner, Francis Ford Coppola, and David Bowie have all lived there. The lobby was modeled after the Vatican Library and includes friezes salvaged from Cornelius Vanderbilt's mansion. Francis Ford Coppola lived here long enough to make it his daughter Sophia Coppola's childhood home, as depicted in New York Stories. Cipriani's is the restaurant here, founded by Harry Cipriani and patterned after his Harry's Bar in Venice. Also in the hotel since 1961 is A La Vieille Russie, an antique business founded in 1851 with a specialty in Faberge eggs (Malcolm Forbes was a frequent customer)

Bergdorf-Goodman (1928) ​@ 58th Street

There is only one Bergdorf Goodman store in the world, a globally renowned institution located at the world's crossroads of fashion at Fifth Avenue and 58th Street​ The company traces its origins to 1899 when Herman Bergdorf, an immigrant from Alsace, opened a tailor shop just above Union Square in downtown Manhattan. The store was the brainchild of Herman Bergdorf, an immigrant from Alsace. A 23-year-old named Edwin Goodman became his apprentice, and within two years, the store was operating under the two men and with a new name, Bergdorf Goodman. Goodman soon bought Bergdorf’s interest in the company, and Bergdorf retired to Paris. In 1914, Goodman moved the store uptown and became the first couturier to introduce ready-to-wear fashion In 1928, Goodman moved the store yet farther uptown to its present location Today, Bergdorf Goodman sits on the site of the former mansion of Cornelius Vanderbilt II One of his first tenants was the jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels, which is still a tenant today. The store thrived throughout the 1930s and became successful enough to expand to other places. But Goodman preferred to keep the store to one location, where he could keep a close eye on the quality of the merchandise and service. Goodman stayed on as the store’s landlord and lived in a penthouse on the top floor of the building. Although the store is known for its ethos of luxury and beauty, it is perhaps most famous for its stunning window displays. Number Nine perfume ("Love Potion Number Nine") developed in Bergdorf Goodman Until 1969 Bergdorf Goodman was the only large high-quality specialty store in the U.S. that remained independently owned. However, its decision not to build suburban branches left it with a relatively modest profit margin. Goodman remained the landlord of the store and kept a penthouse apartment on the building's top floor.​ After a day of shopping on 5th Avenue, BG Restaurant on the 7th floor is the perfect lunch spot.

Tiffany's (1940) @ 57th Street

​Founded in 1837 by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young as a stationery and fancy goods store The company became famous in the early 20th century under the artistic direction of his son Louis Comfort Tiffany. Color 1837 is patented as Tiffany Blue and not available commercially Since 1940, Tiffany's flagship store has operated at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street In 1887 Charles Tiffany bought 1/3 of the French Crown Jewels in an auction at the Louvre. On public display is the famous Tiffany Diamond - one of world's largest (287 carats) yellow diamonds, found in Africa in 1877.  It was set in a necklace worn by Audrey Hepburn in publicity photographs for Breakfast in Tiffany's. "Breakfast at Tiffany's" based on Truman Capote's novel was filmed in 1961 The nine-foot Atlas holding a clock above the entrance has graced Tiffany's main store since 1853; it's wood painted to look like bronze, made by a sculptor of ship figureheads.

Trump Tower (1983) @57th Street

58-floor, 664-foot-tall (202 m) mixed-use skyscraper​ on 5th Ave between 56th and 57th Streets Trump Tower serves as the headquarters for the Trump Organization Trump Tower houses 263 residences A distinctive design that creates many corner windows Designed to create as many "corner" apartments as possible.  There are 263 luxury condominiums on floors 30 through 68 and residents have a private entrance on 56th Street. Upscale retail shops and fine dining occupy the lower floors of Trump Tower. When it was completed, it was at that time, the tallest glass building in Manhattan, rising over 600 feet into Manhattan’s skyline and sitting on less than a acre of land. It houses the penthouse condominium residence of the building's namesake and developer, U.S. president Donald Trump Opened in 1983, the residential units were sold out within months of opening The tower attracted many rich and famous residents, including Johnny Carson, Sophia Loren, and Steven Spielberg.  The public atrium is five-story-tall  Atrium features a 60-foot waterfall and mounds of pink Italian marble. The building contains four establishments for eating or drinking: Trump Bar, Trump's Ice Cream Parlor, Trump Cafe, and Trump Grill all with very low reviews. Donald Trump, his wife Melania, and their son Barron maintain a three-story residence on the penthouse floors with breathtaking views of Central Park and Manhattan. The Trump apartment, decorated in 24K gold and marble, was designed by Angelo Donghia in Louis XIV style. Before Trump became president, his offices were located on the 26th floor, and he had a private elevator between the penthouse and his office. Trump Tower, once the crown jewel in Donald Trump’s property empire, now ranks as one of the least desirable luxury properties in Manhattan (according to Bloomberg) Currently there are 15 units for sale from 2 to 24 million and 9 for rent - up to 30,000 per month Formerly on the site was Bonwit Teller, department store founded in 1897 and moved here in 1930, to an Art Deco store designed by Warren & Wetmore and almost immediately redesigned by Eli Jacques Kahn. Surrealist Salvador Dali smashed the window here on March 15, 1939, furious that the store had altered the display he had designed. ​

Fifth Avenue Presbyterian (1873-75) @56th Street

With a capacity of nearly 2,000, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church is the largest Presbyterian sanctuary in Manhattan. ​ The Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church is older than nearby St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The original 19th-century clock, made by E. Howard & Co. of Boston, is still in use and was recently restored.  ​The clock is original and is not electrified and must be wound once a week by hand.  ​The Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church sanctuary itself is six floors high, with no right angles. The brownstone neo-Gothic structure was designed by Carl Pfeiffer.

St Regis Hotel (1904) @55th Street

The St. Regis was built by one of the wealthiest men in America, John Jacob Astor IV, as a companion to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, of which he owned half. The 18-story French Beaux-Arts style hotel, the tallest in the city when built, was designed by architects Trowbridge & Livingston One of the city's most elegant hotels, it may have been the first in the world to be air-conditioned, and originally boasted 47 Steinway pianos.  When Astor built the St. Regis in 1904, it overlooked Fifth Avenue's row of mansions and, at just 18 stories high, was the tallest hotel in the city. It was modeled after the extravagant hotels of Europe that had not yet become ubiquitous in the U.S. There are few hotels as legendary as New York City’s St. Regis. The property, which opened on the corner of 55th Street and 5th Avenue in 1904, was the tallest hotel in Manhattan at the time, and also one of the most expensive, costing a whopping $5.5 million to build. Its grandeur has been well-preserved in the century since, as has its landmark status in the world of luxury hospitality. At that time, it was common for the very rich to live in luxurious hotels like the St. Regis for long stretches of time.  The lobby, with its frescoed ceiling and elaborate marble staircase, has not been altered since Astor died. And the thousands of leather-bound books that he collected have been preserved on the same bookshelves for 100 years.​ "The key element to everything in the hotel is the discretion," said Paul Nash, the general manager. "We have heads of state, royal families, entertainers, politicians." The hotel's presidential suite, which costs a cool $21,000 per night, is routinely occupied by the same guests for three months straight. Visitors preparing for an extended stay often want the furniture in their rooms completely rearranged. Like his guests, Astor enjoyed a pampered existence as a member of one of New York's most powerful families. But he was also a keen inventor — creating an early form of air conditioning by blowing cold air over the hotel's wall vents — and an avid bibliophile. With the help of Thornwillow Press, a small publisher of limited-edition books, the hotel is in the process of restoring and cataloguing the nearly 3,000 books that Astor left behind. The St. Regis says the Bloody Mary was invented here in 1934, and there are six variations of it on the menu, including the Mary Terranea (made with Grey Goose, St. Regis Bloody Mary mix, extra virgin olive oil and basil) for $25.  King Cole Bar having hosted just about every bold-faced name you could imagine, from Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio to Ernest Hemingway and John Lennon. The hotel has always had a number of permanent residents, as well as guests. The artist Salvador Dalí and his wife Gala lived at the hotel every fall and winter from 1966 to 1973. William Paley (the chief executive of CBS) and his wife Babe maintained an apartment there, as did Marlene Dietrich. In Donald Spoto's biography of Alfred Hitchcock, The Dark Side of Genius, he states that Hitchcock stayed in "his favorite" 5th floor suite at least a dozen times. ​Nikola Tesla resided at the hotel in 1922. When Marilyn Monroe stayed here during the filming of The Seven Year Itch, her fight with soon-to-be ex-husband Joe DiMaggio over the famous subway grate scene reportly woke up the whole floor. Robert De Niro picks up Cybill Shepherd here in Taxi Driver; Mia Farrow is a cigarette girl here in Radio Days; Michael Caine and Barbara Hershey tryst here in Hannah and Her Sisters. Price of room without breakfast - $2,500

Peninsula Hotel (1905) @ 55th Street

​​The 23-story Beaux Arts hotel was built in 1905 as the Hotel Gotham--and bankrupted in 1908 because it was too close to the Presbyterian church to sell liquor.

University Club (1900) @ 54th Street

​​The club was founded in 1865 to promote art and literature; members were required to have college degrees, hence the name. Women were not admitted until 1987. ​10-story "Florentine super-pallazo beyond the Medicis' wildest dreams" (AIA Guide), designed by Charles McKim, a member (along with Meade and White).

St Thomas Church (​1914) @ 53rd Street

​Architects Ralph Adams Cram and Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, the French High Gothic Revival style The original church on this site was designed by Richard Upjohn in the Gothic style. After a fire destroyed it in 1905, it was rebuilt "as medievally as was possible in early Twentieth-Century New York" ​ The fourth church built to house this congregation  The previous structure was the site of wedding of Consuelo Vanderbilt (1877–1964) to Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough (1871–1934), the first cousin of Winston Churchill. It was destroyed by fire in 1905 The fourth and current church was designed Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson, and featuring an elaborate reredos designed by Goodhue and sculptor Lee Lawrie  Cram and Goodhue are also noted for having designed Saint Bartholomew's Church, the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, the chapel and a large portion of the campus at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York St. Thomas has the scale of a large parish church (which it is), and, except for its length, the proportions of major European cathedrals The church is built of stone on stone, without any steel reinforcing.  The High Altar and Reredos of Saint Thomas Church designed by architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (1869–1924) and sculptor Lee Lawrie (1877–1963) The windows for the present structure were designed beginning in 1929 by the great English stained glass artist, James Humphries Hogan 33 windows, with their 9 million pieces of glass.

Petit Chateau 660 5th Ave (1882-1926) @ 52nd Street

​Petit Chateau, a mansion designed by Richard Morris Hunt for  William Kissam Vanderbilt Sr and Alva Vanderbilt ​Demolished in 1926 ​Famous Party of the Century was given to welcome Consuelo Yznaga (aka  Lady Mandeville, Consuelo Montagu, Duchess of Manchester) 1,200 guests in elaborate costumes showed up for the Party of the Century: the Masked Ball given March 26, 1883 As per Gilded Age custom, the dance started after 11 pm and the dinner (prepared by the chefs of Delmonico’s) was served at 2 am, followed by more dancing which lasted into the small hours in the morning. The ball cost $250,000 (equivalent to nearly 6 million dollars today), with $65,000 spent only on the champagne served to the astounding number of guests – 1200! A renowned beauty of the day, she was known as one of the the Buccaneers (A novel by Edith Wharton describing young american heiresses who married into English aristocracy)

The Vanderbilt Triple Palace: 640 and 660 Fifth Avenue (1882 - 1941) @ 52nd Streets

​The Vanderbilts ultimately built 15 structures on or near Fifth Avenue above 50th Street These three townhouses, built in 1882 and known as the “Triple Palaces,” were given to the daughters of William Henry Vanderbilt The Triple Palace, three Vanderbilt mansions designed by John Butler Snook all paid for by William Henry Vanderbilt. Upon William Henry Vanderbilt's death, he left his side of the Vanderbilt triple palace in New York City, which he had built for him and his daughters, to his youngest son George Vanderbilt. Upon George Vanderbilt's death it was to pass to George's eldest son, if he had a son. George Vanderbilt died without a son, so the Vanderbilt mansion at 640 Fifth Avenue, along with $1 million, passed to the eldest son of the eldest son of William Henry Vanderbilt, Cornelius Vanderbilt III and his wife, Grace Wilson. Grace Vanderbilt moved to another New York City townhouse, which was now in the heart of the fashionable district, which had formerly belonged to William Starr Miller, Grace called it "The Gardener's Cottage" because it contained only 28 rooms, compared to the 85 rooms at 640 Fifth Avenue. The William Starr Miller Mansion Today is the home of Neue Gallery.

Cartier (1905)  @ 52nd Street

​This entire block was the site of the Catholic Orphanage until 1900. The Vanderbilts bought up most of the land in 1902 to prevent a hotel from being built on this corner ​ The Morton F. Plant House was sold to  Cartier in 1915 for $100 and a million-dollar pearl necklace. ​The jewelry house, founded in 1847, is credited with inventing the first practical wristwatch in 1904.

The Marble Twins (​1905) No. 645 bw 52nd and 51st Streets

Architects Hunt & Hunt ​In 1900, millionaire George Vanderbilt purchased a large lot, formerly occupied by the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, that was diagonally opposite his mansion, where he planned to erect two fine townhouses. George Vanderbilt's Mansion was part of a Triple Palace on the west side of 5th Ave The homes were made to mirror each other and designed as a double house. The cost of the project totaled $100,000 ($2.7 million in today's money). Because of the all marble exterior, the homes were nicknamed "The Marble Twins". Except it was never marble but a limestone. The Marble Twins were simply a holding action, a large investment aimed at locking up the use of the land. Gianni Versace has leased 647 Fifth Avenue for 20 years for a new store (a $6 million to $7 million renovation.) The original buildings were faced with Indiana limestone. Only some details on the ground floor of the surviving building, from a much later alteration, are of Cremo Italian marble. It's now the only surviving Vanderbilt building on 5th Avenue.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral (1858 - 1879) @51st Street

Architect​: James Renwick Ridiculed as “Hughes’ Folly,” as the proposed, near-wilderness site was considered too far outside the city, Archbishop Hughes, nonetheless, persisted in his daring vision of building the most beautiful Gothic Cathedral in the New World in what he believed would one day be “the heart of the city.” More than 5 million visitors each year step foot inside St. Patrick's Cathedral.  In 1920, author Scott Fitzgerald married his bride, Zelda Sayre. He was 23. She was 19.  St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in New York is the largest Gothic Roman Catholic Cathedral in the United States. The Cathedral was named after St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland To get married there you must be a parishioner living in the Archdiocese of New York St. Patrick’s main doors are made of bronze and each weigh 9,200 pounds but one person can open them with a single hand. Funerals were held here for Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman (1891), Gov. Alfred E. Smith (1944), slugger Babe Ruth (1948), conductor Arturo Toscanini (1957) and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (1968). ​

Rockefeller Center (1933)

Years: 1930-1939 Architects: Associate Architects led by Raymond Hood The greatest urban development project of the 20th century Constructed during the great depression America's first multi-use business, retail, dining and entertainment complex Rockefeller negotiated the lease in order to create a new location for the Met Opera but after the Met pulled out, Rockefeller developed the project The main building is 30 Rock. The first main tenant was RCA (now GE) giving the complex nickname of a Radio City The plaza was created to comply with zoning laws and to provide as much as possible light and air to the office structures I.M. Pei called the Plaza - the "most successful urban space in America" 14 buildings are interconnected beneath the plaza The focal point is the space where the Christmas Tree stands during the holidays  The promenade leading to it is call "the Channel". It is flanked by the British Empire Building and the Maison Francaise The idea was to attract international business, a prequel to the World Trade Center  The Rockettes opened in 1934 Incredible scope of public art.  Prometheus is said to be the best-known sculpture in Rockefeller Center and the most photographed monumental sculpture in all of NYC. Created by famed American sculptor Paul Manship The most complete notable Art Deco complex ever designed Diego Rivera was hired to paint a fresco in the main lobby with themed "a man at the crossroads, looking with uncertainty but with hope and high vision to the choosing of a course leading to a new and better future." His vision was too communist, he was fired and the fresco was destroyed. Present fresco is by Jose Maria Sert entitled "American Progress, the triumph of man's accomplishments Through physical and mental labor" Rockefeller Center was instrumental in moving New York business district from Financial District to Midtown 610 (corner): This 1933 building used to house the French Consulate, and it still has the Librairie de France bookstore, L'Occitane, a Provencal beauty products store, and Movado, a Swiss watch company. ​Over the entrance is Alfred Janniot's bas-relief, The Friendship of France and the United States

Sacks 5th Avenue (1924) @ 51st Street

Saks Fifth Avenue was the brainchild of Horace Saks and Bernard Gimbel, who operated independent retail stores on New York's 34th Street at Herald Square in the early 1900s.​ Saks Fifth Avenue brought upscale shopping to what was then a largely residential neighborhood The combined financial input of these great merchant families led to the purchase of a site between 49th and 50th Streets on upper Fifth Avenue in 1924. By offering the finest quality men's and women's fashions, as well as an extraordinary program of customer services, Saks Fifth Avenue has become the byword for taste and elegance. Adam Gimbel became President of Saks Fifth Avenue, bringing with him the imaginative foresight that has carried Saks to the zenith of its success. Saks was a palace of hushed elegance—the type of store that Fitzgerald wrote about in “The Great Gatsby,” Adam Gimbel, who became the president of Saks in 1926, redecorated the Fifth Avenue store in the Art Moderne style of the Paris Exposition, with velvety sofas and elaborate moldings. His wife, Sophie, was the first American designer on the cover of Time magazine; women crowded into Sophie’s Salon Moderne at Saks for private fashion shows and had their dresses hand sewn in the store.  Customers had their hair cut into newly stylish bobs and took golf and ski lessons—indoors—from professional instructors. Adam Gimbel also established a Saks empire, with branch stores reaching from coast to coast. Saks Fifth Avenue has its own stamps and zip code -- 10022-SHOE, in honor of its enormous eighth floor shoe salon. ​

604 5th Ave (1925) @ 49th Street

The TGI Fridays here was originally the Childs Restaurant Building built in 1925, and it was designed by William Van Alen, better known for the Chrysler Building.​

Charles Scribner's Building (1913)  @ 49th Street

Designed in 1913 by Ernest Flagg​ (Charles Scribner's brother-in-law) From here were published some of the great American novelists, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Edith Wharton, Thomas Wolfe. It was one of the city's best bookstores, which closed in 1983.

579 5th Ave @ 49th Street (East side)

​This was the address of financier Jay Gould, a director of the Erie Railroad from1882  In 1952, when it was demolished, it was perhaps the last Fifth Avenue brownstone in Midtown. An insomniac, Jay Gould paced in front of his house each night with two bodyguards. After his death here on December 2, 1892, the house went to his daughter Helen Miller Gould Shepherd, an eccentric philanthropist. ​

565 5th Ave @ 47th Street (East side)

The address of the Windsor Hotel, opened 1874, home to John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie and a favorite dining spot for Jay Gould; other notable guests included writers Oscar Wilde and Matthew Arnold, and King Kalakaua of Hawaii. On March 17, 1899, during the St. Patrick's Day parade, the hotel burned to the ground, killing 33. On the afternoon of March 17, 1899 thousands of people crowded Fifth Avenue as the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade filed past the Windsor Hotel.  Around 3:00 a guest lit a cigar in an upstairs hallway and tossed the still-lit match which accidentally caught a curtain ablaze.  Panicking, the man rushed out of the hotel without summoning help. Dora Gray Duncan was conducting her dance class of forty boys and girls, aged 5 to 7.  Her 20 year old daughter, a famous dancer Isadora Duncan, was also there.  The maids of the children sat patiently by watching the class.  A maid who had just arrived to pick up one of the children, quietly whispered to Mrs. Duncan that the hotel was on fire.  By maintaining calm, Mrs. Duncan managed to safely lead all of the children out onto the street.  Others were not so lucky. The family of Alfred Atmore Pope also got out, along with some of their possessions, like the Claude Monet paintings The Haystacks and Boats Leaving the Harbor, visible being lowered down a ladder in one of the best-known news photos of the fire

​​​Fred French Building (1926-27) @46th Street

Architect - H. Douglas Ives Art Deco-cum-Babylonian design The Fred F. French building was constructed in 1926-27 as headquarters of real estate developer Frederick Fillmore French (who built Tudor City, among other projects).​ Babylonian-inspired frieze up top, which pops with color and illustrates the ideals this city was built upon: Thrift & Industry (twin beehives), Integrity & Watchfulness (two Assyrian griffins) and, at center, Progress (the rising sun).​ MetLife purchased the building in 1985 and immediately began a major capital renovation which included a lobby renovation and modernization of the ten passenger elevator cabs.

Elena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden

​

New York Public Library​ (1911)

Architect: Carrere & Hastings Architectural style: Beaux Arts Was built to house libraries bequeathed by Samuel Tilden, Lenox and Astor Free and open to the public At 2 city blocks - almost as long as 2 football fields 2 lions are designed by Edward Clark Potter and first named "Leo Lenox" and "Leo Astor" were later renamed as "Patience" and "Fortitude"

The Grand Central Terminal (1913)

Designers: Reed and Stem, Whitney Warren The terminal has 44 platforms and 67 tracks ​The main concourse has the height of a 13 story building 750,000 visitors pass through daily The celestial ceiling of the main concourse depicts the zodiac, it's backwards and has 2,500 stars The first all-electric station, architects filled it with light bulbs (a novelty at the time) That information booth clock has four faces made of opal, estimated at a value of $10-20 million. The outside clock on the 42nd St. facade, is the world's largest example of Tiffany glass The clock is embellished by the sculptural group "Transportation" personified with Mercury (commerce) flanked by Hercules (strength) and Minerva (wisdom) There is a secret underground platform at the Waldorf Astoria. FDR used this platform to enter the hotel in his wheelchair unseen The departures are always listed as one minute earlier than their actual time Th oldest restaurant in the station is the Oyster Bar famous for oysters and Guastavino tile ceiling

The Chrysler Building (1930)

Architect: William Van Alen Height: 925′, 1,046′  Style: Art Deco The design reflects the aesthetic of Chrysler automobiles Decorations on the 31st floor are the cap of the God Mercury. These caps were used as radiator caps on Chrysler automobiles The gargoyles are replicas of eagle hoods ornaments from a 1920’s Chrysler Plymouth  When the building opened in 1930, there was an observation deck called “Celestial” on the 71st floor. It was closed to the public in 1945 The "vertex" was assembled secretly inside the building and set in place in 1 and 1/2 hours. The spire is 185 ft tall  and made of steel ​The Chrysler was 60 feet taller than the Eiffel Tower, becoming the tallest man-made structure ever built

The Empire State Building (1931)

Architecture firm: Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Height: 1,250′ (381 m)  Total Height: 1,454 feet or 443.2m to top of lightning rod Floors: 102/103 Steps: 1,872 from street level to the 103rd floor Windows: 6,514 Elevators: 73, including six freight elevators The Empire State Building took only one year and 45 days to build (410 days) There are observatories on both the 86th and 102nd floors. They attract around four million visitors annually. Visitors can see 80 miles into New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts on a clear day. The Empire State Building Run-Up is an annual race up the stairs to the 86th floor (1,576 steps) Cost to build: $40 million - below budget of $50 million It rose with the average speed 1 floor a day Height: The base of building rises five floors above the street. The entrance is four floors high. The lobby is three floors high. From the 60-foot setback on the fifth floor, the building soars without a break to the 86th floor. The mooring mast was supposed to be used by transatlantic dirigibles In reality there was just one accomplished dirigible mooring delivering newspapers from Wall Street  One of the biggest office buildings in the world (the biggest in time of construction),  it could fit both the Chrysler Building offices combined with offices of the 40 Wall Street (2 tallest in the world!), and still have room to spare   Due to bad economy the Empire State office space was not filled, they call it "Empty Building", however the observatory was profitable form the get-go and became quite a money-maker after being climbed by King Kong in 1933

BACK    |    NEXT