MANHATTAN PARKING GARAGES 1897 – 1930: SIGNFICANCE AND PRESERVATION Hilary Grossman Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in Historic Preservation Graduate School of Architecture Columbia University May, 2013 Table of Contents Introduction: Abstract ................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: History .................................................................................................................................... 2 1897 – 1906: The Beginnings ................................................................................................................... 4 1907 – 1910: Development of the Automobile Industry and Garage ..................................................... 12 1911 – 1916: The Garage becomes Widespread .................................................................................... 15 1917 – 1930: The Age of the Automobile .............................................................................................. 18 Chapter Two: Survey ................................................................................................................................. 27 Survey: .................................................................................................................................................... 28 Analysis of Survey: ................................................................................................................................. 76 Chapter Three: Significance ....................................................................................................................... 88 55 East 90th Street (1904): ....................................................................................................................... 92 102 West 107th Street (1906): ................................................................................................................ 94 214 West 80th Street (1906): ................................................................................................................... 96 137 West 89th Street (1906): ................................................................................................................... 97 622 West 57th Street (1908): ................................................................................................................. 100 147 West 83rd Street (1908): ................................................................................................................. 101 159 – 165 East 77th Street (1913): ......................................................................................................... 102 Post-1916 Zoning Resolution Micro-District Garages: ........................................................................ 103 337-343 East 64th Street (1917): ........................................................................................................... 105 3-17 East 102nd Street (1924): ............................................................................................................. 106 4650 Broadway/ 2 Sherman Avenue (1926): ........................................................................................ 108 152 East 87th Street (1929): ................................................................................................................... 109 406 East 91st Street (1930): ................................................................................................................... 110 Chapter Four: Preservation ....................................................................................................................... 120 Preservation Recommendations: ........................................................................................................... 127 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................. 134 Introduction: Abstract This thesis is a survey and study of the purpose built garages erected between 1897 and 1930 with a focus on upper Manhattan north of 50th Street. This study is bracketed between the years 1897, when the first commercial garage was opened in Manhattan and 1930 when new zoning regulations and an economic downturn ended the construction of purpose built garages in Manhattan. This thesis identifies and defines purpose-built garages as a distinct and significant architectural type and makes a case for their preservation by highlighting their historical development, architectural design, technical features, and cultural significance. In conclusion, this thesis puts forth a complete study of the early 1900s upper Manhattan purpose built garage building from its development to the present day. 1 Chapter One: History Introduction: The emergence of the automobile industry changed the streetscape of Manhattan in the early twentieth century. The automobile brought forth new infrastructure projects such as bridges, tunnels, and widened streets. In addition, it brought forth new building types such as the gas station and the garage, which developed alongside the automobile. The history of early garages is important because it expresses the development of the auto industry in New York. In tracking the garage’s development, I have identified four time periods: 1897 – 1906 (The Beginnings), 1907 – 1910 (Development of the Automobile Industry and Garage), 1911 – 1916 (The Garage becomes Widespread), and 1917 – 1930 (The Age of the Automobile). Each time period is defined by its own developments in technology, infrastructure, culture, and stylistic preferences. 1893 was the year when the first automobile made in the United States was sold in this country. By 1895, over five hundred auto patents were filed in the United States. Automobile trade magazines like The Horseless Age and Motorcycle hit the presses during this period. Early automobiles were expensive. Their use was limited to good weather days due to their open carriage design and type of construction. When exposed to cold or moisture early automobile radiators would freeze, doors warped, fenders bowed, paint flaked, and frames cracked due to the quality of the materials.1 Therefore these early vehicles were marketed and sold for recreation, leisure, and sport. They were not for everyday transportation.2 The prime form of transportation in the 1890s and into the early 1900s was the horse and carriage. This is reflected in the fact that in 1896 there were 4,649 stables in Manhattan alone.3 These stables varied from small private stables to large public commercial stables. The private stables were small, and usually two to three stories with an apartment on the top floor for a caretaker. These private stables adopted the styles of the townhouses of the upper middle class and wealthy residents in Manhattan, using Beaux-Arts and Romanesque Revival in order to blend into the surrounding fabric and to conceal their utilitarian interiors. 1 (Whalberg 1998) 2 (Fink 1970) 3 (Jackson 210) 2 On the other hand, the large public commercial stables were usually four to five stories tall and had no live-in accommodations. Their interior boasted open plans, with elevators to bring the carriages up to the higher floors and ramps for the horses.4 An example of an early commercial stable following this form is 201 - 205 West 75th Street, the New York Cab Company Stable. [Plate 1.1] The New York Cab Company Stable was designed in 1888 in the Romanesque Revival Style by C. Abbott French & Company. The stable had separate levels for horses and carriages, along with a blacksmith shop and a maintenance facility. There were ramps that brought the horses from the ground to the second level for storage. The third to fifth floors were reached by an elevator for the carriages. The stable housed only New York Cab Company cabs.5 In 1910 the New York Cab Company Stable was converted to a garage. Today the building still functions as a garage. Horse and carriage transportation being the popular form of transportation in the last decade of the nineteenth century, the only known garage that stored cars in Manhattan was the Electric Vehicle Company garage at 1684 Broadway. This garage, which opened in 1897, only stored the Electric Vehicle Company’s cars. The cars were manufactured within the facility. It was not open to the public. When cars started to be produced for the commercial market in 1898, there were few places that would store automobiles. Stable owners refused to store automobiles because the noise and fumes from the car would frighten the horses, and the ammonia from animal waste could tarnish the metal frames of the cars. This made it problematic and inefficient to store automobiles and horses within the same facility.6 In reaction to the limited storage opportunities in 1899, a group of wealthy automobile owners founded the Automobile Club of America. George F. Chamberlain, the founder of the club, said that, “the necessity of a club was forced upon him by the difficulty he encountered in trying to find a livery stable keeper who would store and care for his motor carriage. When the proprietor of a stable learned that the vehicle was horseless he looked upon it as an enemy to his business and not to be harbored at any price… to establish a depot for the proper storage and care of vehicles, and where all forms of automobiles… may be properly housed and cared for by competent mechanics,