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Home , 29 East 32nd Street, Colony Club, Gilsey House, Hotel Wolcott, Madison Avenue, Madison Belmont Building

A Guide to Historic City Neighborhoods

M a d i s o n S q ua r e N o rt h The Historic Districts Council is New York’s citywide advocate for historic buildings and neighborhoods. The Six to Celebrate program annually identifies six historic neighborhoods that merit preservation as priorities for HDC’s advocacy and consultation over a yearlong period.

The six, chosen from applications submitted by community organizations, are selected on the basis of the architectural and historic merit of the area, the level of threat to the neighborhood, the strength and willingness of the local advocates, and the potential for HDC’s preservation support to be meaningful. HDC works with these neighborhood partners to set and reach preservation goals through strategic planning, advocacy, outreach, programs and publicity.

The core belief of the Historic Districts Council is that preservation and enhancement of New York City’s historic resources—its neighborhoods, buildings, parks and public spaces— are central to the continued success of the city. The Historic Districts Council works to ensure the preservation of these resources and uphold the New York City Landmarks Law and to further the preservation ethic. This mission is accomplished through ongoing programs of assistance to more than 500 community and neighborhood groups and through public-policy initiatives, publications, educational outreach and sponsorship of community events.

Support is provided in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Additional support is provided by City Councilmembers Margaret Chin, Inez Dickens, Matthieu Eugene, Daniel Garodnick, Vincent Gentile, Corey Johnson, Ben Kallos, Stephen Levin, Mark Levine, and Rosie Mendez.

232 East 11th , New York, NY 10003 tel 212-614-9107 fax 212-614-9127 e-mail [email protected] www.hdc.org 6tocelebrate.org

Copyright © 2015 by Historic Districts Council Madison Square North

Today’s Madison Square North neighborhood reflects successive waves of development, the earliest dating to the year Madison Square Park was created—1847. Until very recently, the neighborhood comprised almost exclusively buildings that pre-date 1930. From the park’s opening through the 1920s, Madison Square North evolved from being a fashionable residential enclave to an entertainment district of , clubs, restaurants and theaters, to a commercial hub of offices and mercantile loft buildings. Examples of each are still prominent today, often in startling juxtaposition. The 19th century saw a northward development trend, as new residential neighborhoods were established in response to growing commerce to the south. This pattern repeated itself numerous times up the length of Manhattan. From roughly 1850 to 1865, Madison Square North was fashionable with the city’s elite. Such boldface families as the Stokes, Livingstons, Vanderbilts, and Stewarts (of A.T. Stewart department store fame) were residents. Rowhouse construction, largely built in the popular Italianate style, began first along and spread to the side . Extant rowhouses from this period include two on West 24th Street (site #2) and four on West 29th Street (site #8).

After the Civil War, the neighborhood became host to a number of theaters, restaurants, men’s clubs and hotels. The trailblazer in the latter category was the , completed in 1858 on the northwest corner of and Fifth Avenue. The hotel was a social, cultural and political hub until its closure in 1908, at which point it was replaced by the commercial structure at 200 Fifth Avenue. Many hotels also functioned as “bachelor flats” or “ hotels” for extended stays. One of the city’s first apartment houses, constructed in 1872 after designs by the noted New York architect George B. Post, still stands at 251 Fifth Avenue. The prevalence of entertainment and commercial ventures on Broadway made it a bustling night-life district. Thus, beginning in the 1890s, Broadway from about 13th to 45th Street became one of the first thoroughfares to be illuminated by electric street lamps and billboards, leading to its lasting moniker “The Great White Way.”

By the 1890s and early 1900s, industries including photography, architecture, construction and banking planted roots in the area, constructing commercial high-rises designed in styles such as Gothic Revival, Beaux-Arts and . Many of these buildings were also constructed for the wholesale garment industry to initially support the Ladies’ Mile shopping district to the south, which, until they moved to in the early 1900s, was home to the R. H. Macy & Co. and B. Altman & Co. department stores. The neighborhood’s growth was spurred on by nationwide industrial trends for ready-to-wear clothing, and later, wholesale household décor. This period of prolific development left a lasting impact, as mercantile loft buildings remain the area’s architectural hallmark. In 2001, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Madison Square North Historic District, 96 buildings from roughly 25th to 29th Streets between Sixth and Madison Avenues. Community members and preservationists are advocating for an extension to the district, to encompass roughly 374 buildings from 23rd to 34th Streets and Sixth to Park Avenues. This area includes the surviving buildings of Tin Pan Alley on West 28th Street (site #5), where the American popular music publishing industry was headquartered from roughly 1890 to 1910. 1 — Historic Districts Council — Madison Square North 1

Madison Square Park (1847; redesigned by Ignatz Pilat and William Grant, 1870) Designated a public space in the first city charter of 1686, the area of Madison Square Park was enlarged and changed hands several times throughout the 18th century for use as farmland. In 1780, the city reacquired 37 of its acres, which it then subdivided. Within the current confines of the park, the city constructed an in 1807 and designated a 44-block area, from the present day 23rd to 34th Streets and Third to Seventh Avenues, as a military parade ground. (It was later reduced in size.) The arsenal and parade provided a key military post for maneuvers and drills during the War of 1812. In 1814, the parade ground was renamed Madison Square in honor of , the then President of the .

After the park’s opening in 1847, magnificent residences and hotels cropped up along the park and the neighborhood became the city’s most elite address. Just west of the park, a small triangular parcel was created between 24th and 25th Streets where Broadway and Fifth Avenue intersect. The lot became an extension of Madison Square Park, and in 1857, a 51-foot granite obelisk designed by James Goodwin Batterson was erected to honor General William Jenkins Worth, for whom Fort Worth, Texas, and in are named. Statues of several other notable men can be found within the park: William H. Seward (Randolph Rogers, 1876), Admiral David Glasgow Farragut (Augustus Saint-Gaudens and , 1881), Roscoe Conkling (John Quincey Adams Ward, 1893) and Chester Alan Arthur (George Bissell, 1898). When the city’s first Department of Public Parks was established in 1870, the park was redesigned with formal and picturesque components, including walkways, open lawns and a large circular fountain at the south end. The park retains this general layout today, after a comprehensive restoration of the park was completed in 2001.

LEGEND OF DESIGNATIONS National Historic Landmark: NHL National Register of Historic Places—District: NR-D National Register of Historic Places­—Property: NR-P New York City Historic District: NYC HD New York City Individual Landmark: NYC IL New York City Interior Landmark: NYC INL 2 — Historic Districts Council — Madison Square North Immediately outside the park, on the southwest corner of 26th Street and , once sat one of the city’s most dazzling entertainment venues—. The site was initially developed in 1845 as a passenger depot for Cornelius Vanderbilt’s New York and Railroad. After the construction of the first Grand Central Depot uptown in 1870, P. T. Barnum leased the space and converted it into his famous “Hippodrome,” the site of his first circus performances beginning in 1873. In 1877, Cornelius Vanderbilt’s son William inherited the property and resumed its operation under the name “Madison Square Garden.” Vanderbilt expanded the complex with a grand new structure designed in the Spanish Revival style by McKim, Mead and White (1889- 90). Stanford White, who designed the new Madison Square Garden and had an apartment in its tower, was murdered by millionaire Harry Thaw during a theatrical performance on the building’s roof garden theater on June 25, 1906. White, a society man and famous architect, once had an affair with Thaw’s wife, the actress and showgirl Evelyn Nesbit. Thaw’s murder trial was covered sensationally in the press, and was dubbed the “Trial of the Century.” Due to financial deficits, Madison Square Garden moved uptown (first to and Eighth Avenue and then to its present home at 33rd Street and Eighth Avenue), and the building was razed in 1925. In 1928, Cass Gilbert’s New York Life Insurance Building was constructed on the site.

2

West 24th Street between Sixth and Fifth Avenues

The south side of this block is within the Ladies’ Mile Historic District, while the north side remains unprotected. Walking west toward , there are two 1850s rowhouses that stand as reminders of the neighborhood’s early residential character. Number 7 (c. 1857-58) and number 17 (c. 1850-51) were designed in the Italianate style popular at that time. The Renaissance Revival style loft building at number 49 (Hill & Stout, 1908) features interesting brick coloration and moldings. Across the street is the imposing Masonic Hall (Harry P. Knowles, 1907-09), within the historic district. Its grand exterior gives way to lavish interiors, as well.

3 — Historic Districts Council — Madison Square North 3a

Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sava & Parish House, 15 West 25th Street (Richard Upjohn, Cathedral: 1850-55; Parish House: 1860) Across from one another on this block are two – NYC IL notable structures. On the north side is the 3b brownstone-clad Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sava, designed in the English Gothic Former Arlington Hotel Revival style by Richard Upjohn, one of the 18 West 25th Street most prominent church architects of his day, as an uptown branch chapel of Trinity Church. (Israels & Harder, 1901) The opening of the church was a major indicator of the neighborhood’s wealth in the mid-19th century. Famed novelist Edith Wharton was married here in 1885. The West 25th Street façade of the church features a steep gable with an impressive rose window and a pointed arch entry with slender columns. Next door to the east is the Parish House, also designed in the English Gothic Revival style, which features a charming arched belfry at its crown. Facing this complex is the Renaissance Revival style Arlington Hotel (now a Comfort Inn). It is richly decorated with sculpted limestone quoins, bandcourses, window surrounds and a dentilled cornice.

In 2001, the Landmarks Preservation Commission 4 designated the Madison Square North Historic District, encompassing 96 buildings from roughly 25th to 29th Madison Square North Streets and Madison to Sixth Avenues. Contained within the district are fine examples showcasing the Historic District highlights area’s historical evolution. Six hotel buildings still stand – NYC HD within the district boundaries, including the Beaux-Arts style former Prince George Hotel (Howard Greenley, 1904-05), located at 14 East 28th Street. It was one of the largest hotels in the city at the time of its opening. The earliest commercial buildings in the district were converted rowhouses, but the first purpose-built commercial buildings were small in scale and varied in 1170 Broadway their architectural styles. These include 1180 Broadway (Stephen Decatur Hatch, 1870), a five-story, Classical Revival structure with a cast- iron façade and 21 West 26th Street (Thomas Stent, 1883), a red brick Queen Anne style building. Taller structures, most commonly in the Classical Revival and Beaux- Arts styles, began replacing the area’s earlier dwellings, hotels and theaters in the 1890s. One of the most magnificent of these is 1170 Broadway (Shickel & Ditmars, 1902-03), formerly an office building known as the Johnston Building, but recently converted into the NoMad Hotel. Its Beaux-Arts limestone façades reach their

4 — Historic Districts Council — Madison Square North crescendo with a dome at the rounded corner bay. A late example of a large-scale commercial building in the district is 261 Fifth Avenue (Buchman & Kahn, 1928- 29), a 28-story, Art Deco style showroom building with rich polychrome terra-cotta ornament. Many financial institutions opened branches to serve prosperous new businesses in the neighborhood at the turn of the century. The ground floors of many office structures were converted into banks, like the Lincoln National Trust at 208 Fifth Avenue (John Duncan, 1902) 21 West 26th Street, 1180 Broadway, 208 Fifth Avenue, and the Emigrant Savings Bank at 206 Fifth 250 Fifth Avenue, 261 Fifth Avenue, 14 East 28th Street Avenue (Townsend, Sternle & Haskell, 1919). Structures built specifically as banks are the Lincoln National Trust’s Beaux-Arts style building at 204 Fifth Avenue (C. P. H. Gilbert, 1913) and the Second National Bank of the City of New York at 250 Fifth Avenue (McKim, Mead & White, 1907-08), an imposing institutional structure designed in the Classical Revival style.

From the 1890s to around 5 1910, this row of structures, which mostly date to the 1850s Tin Pan through the 1870s, was home to Alley influential music publishers and 41-55 West songwriters’ studios. The row is 28th Street known as the birthplace of the modern music industry, where sheet music was first developed, categorized into genres and marketed as a commodity for mass distribution. Publishers also hired piano players to demo songs for high-profile performers, launching the careers of many American songwriters, such as Scott Joplin, George M. Cohan, and Irving Berlin. Famous tunes originally published here include Albert Von Tilzer’s “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” (1908) and one of the first ragtime compositions, Ben Harney’s “You’ve Been a Good Old Wagon, But You’ve Done Broke Down” (1896), now a Blues standard. The origin of the name “Tin Pan Alley” is not clear, though many attribute it to the tinny sound of pianos emanating from rehearsal rooms. Tin Pan Alley emerged here because of the nearby theaters (the New Fifth Avenue Theater was right next door) and its location in the Tenderloin District; saloons and vaudeville halls were excellent places for show business networking and testing out new songs. By 1911, however, the industry had moved uptown. Plans to demolish the buildings never came to fruition, in part due to the Great Depression, and the area was spared from urban renewal initiatives in the 1950s and 1960s. With the area’s rise in desirability, the demand for hotel sites has threatened small buildings. In 2013, Tin Pan Alley’s remaining buildings were sold to a developer. Without landmark protection, many fear this could signal the disappearance of this legendary cultural landmark.

5 — Historic Districts Council — Madison Square North Walking north on Sixth Avenue, a modest, but 6 striking, commercial building stands out on its east side. 830 Sixth Avenue was originally 830 a two-family dwelling, but was converted to Sixth Avenue lofts for light manufacturing and given a new façade in the Beaux-Arts/Art Nouveau style. (Oscar Lowinson, Its noteworthy architectural features include 1908-09) an elegant entrance and curving cornice.

The Second Empire style Gilsey House 7 commands the corner of Broadway with its white, cast-iron façades and Gilsey House chamfered corner. The building was 1200 Broadway designed to recall the Second Empire penchant for pavilions, created by the (Stephen Decatur Hatch, use of columns and convex mansard 1869-71) towers. Built in 1870, the structure – NYC IL and NR-P was a hotel for roughly 40 years during the neighborhood’s reign as an entertainment district. When the theaters moved uptown to , the building found itself standing in the new garment district and was converted to loft space. In 1980, the building was restored and converted into cooperative .

The Italianate rowhouses 8 at numbers 11, 13 and 15 West 29th Street were 9 West 29th developed together in Street the mid-19th century. In 1900, numbers 13 (c. 1857; altered: and 15 were joined into John B. Snook & Sons, one structure. Number 1900-01) 11, which was altered 11 West 29th with stores and show windows in 1902, was the first home of Street the American Geographical Society. Number 9 was originally constructed as a rowhouse, but subsequently functioned (c. 1859; altered: as a clubhouse and meeting place for members of the Bar John B. Snook & Sons, Association. The structure was altered with the present 1902) Renaissance Revival style cast-iron façade in 1900 by John B. 13-15 West 29th Snook, an important architect of his day who was responsible Street for the design of the original 1846 A. T. Stewart Department Store on Broadway and Chambers Street. A prolific builder, (c. 1859) Snook was well known for working with cast-iron.

6 — Historic Districts Council — Madison Square North 9a

Marble Collegiate Church 272 Fifth Ave (Samuel Warner, 1851-54) – NYC IL 9b

Church of the Transfiguration 1 East 29th Street (church: 1849; guildhall, transept and tower: 1852; lych-gate: Frederick C. Withers, 1896; Lady Chapel: 1906; Mortuary Chapel: 1908; rectory: c. 1849-50) Farther east on 29th Street are two – NYC IL and NR-P notable churches. contains components of several architectural styles, resembling a Colonial wood frame church in its form, but with Gothic and Romanesque Revival style details. The symmetrical marble edifice, which gives the church its name, features an impressive central tower with a belfry, clock and octagonal spire, as well as Romanesque arches, molded cornices and octagonal turrets on its façades. Church of the Transfiguration, known since the 1870s as “The Little Church Around the Corner,” is made up of several Gothic Revival style buildings, all of red brick with brownstone trim. The church is accessible through a small lych-gate, one of the site’s most striking features, and a gift from Mrs. Franklin Hughes Delano (great aunt of Franklin Delano Roosevelt) in 1896. The lych-gate, a common feature of English churches, was originally meant to provide a covered place for pallbearers to rest coffins ahead of funeral services (“lych” is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning body or corpse). The church’s main entrance is within the tower, which features Gothic arches and a peaked roof with dormer windows and a cross at its crown. To the west of the tower is the rectory building, a five-story, Gothic Revival structure with a mansard roof and an octagonal extension with a full-height, projecting window bay and a cast-iron balcony. The church is noted for its ties to the theater community, a group once viewed as social outcasts by other religious institutions.

7 — Historic Districts Council — Madison Square North 10a

The Wilbraham Former 284 Fifth Avenue (Charles W. (D. and J. Jardine, 1888-90) Romeyn, 1890) – NYC IL – NYC IL b 10 Former St. Louis Hotel 34 East 32nd Street 4 West 31st Street (George F. Pelham, 1903)

(John H. Duncan, 1902-04) – NYC IL Former Aberdeen Hotel Just around the corner from one another are two grand hotels. Built as an apartment 17 West 32nd Street hotel, catered to professional bachelors of means. This was one of (Harry B. many such buildings in the neighborhood, due to its proximity to a thriving business Mulliken, 1902-04) – NYC IL district and many social clubs. The Romanesque Revival style structure is clad in brick, brownstone and cast-iron, as well as rock-faced stonework and intricate carvings. The Hotel Wolcott, a 12-story Beaux-Arts style building clad in pink brick and limestone, was home to such illustrious residents as Isadora Duncan and Henry Miller, and hosted the 1938 inaugural ball for Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.

The Madison Avenue Baptist Church once 11a stood on the corner of 31st Street and Madison Avenue, just next door to this Madison Avenue small structure. An example of the early Baptist Church 1930s trend of building skyscraper church Parish House buildings, the church was replaced in 1930 30 East 31st Street with a 17-story residential hotel with space for the church in the first four stories. The (Butler & Rodman, previous church had been constructed in 1906-07) 1858 in the Romanesque Revival style, b 11 which informed the design of this lovely Parish House. The structure retains a 36 East 31st Street rather special porcelain enameled “panel (Walter Haefeli, 1914) reflector” neon sign.

On a much grander scale, just down the block, is an Eclectic loft building at number 36, which originally housed garment industry firms. The structure features double- height fluted columns at the first and second stories and the top two stories, as well as ornamental brickwork and carved stone accents.

8 — Historic Districts Council — Madison Square North 12a

Former Grolier Club 29 East 32nd Street (Charles W. Romeyn, 1890) – NYC IL b 12 This Romanesque Revival, 3-story clubhouse, one Former St. Louis Hotel of only three that survive in the area, was the home 34 East 32nd Street of the Grolier Club, a society devoted to the book arts, from 1890 until it moved uptown in 1917. The (George F. Pelham, 1903) club, named for the 16th century French bibliophile 12c Jean Grolier, formed in 1884 and continues to operate today. The building’s bold arches, Roman Former Aberdeen Hotel brick and stone moldings form a strong overall 17 West 32nd Street (Harry B. symmetry and texture. Just east across the street Mulliken, 1902-04) – NYC IL is the former St. Louis Hotel, a Beaux-Arts style structure of red brick with a rusticated limestone base and rich ornament, including bracketed cornices and balconettes, as well as projecting bay windows and a mansard roof with three dormers. This structure bears a strong resemblance to and shares many of the same architectural details with another magnificent hotel just one block west, the former Aberdeen Hotel. The Aberdeen had originally been built as an apartment hotel, but began accepting transient guests in 1912 and was one of the first hotels to accept unaccompanied women in the 1920s.

The east side of 13a Broadway between 32nd and 34th Former Hotel Martinique Streets, across from 1260 Broadway Greeley Square, features three (Henry J. Hardenbergh, 1897-98, monumental Beaux- 1901-03, 1909-11) – NYC IL Arts buildings. b 13 The former Hotel Martinique (now the 1270 Broadway Radisson Martinique), (Rouse & Goldstone, 1911-12) designed by the same man responsible for the , is a glazed c 13 brick, terra-cotta and limestone-clad structure with rusticated stonework, balconies, cartouches Former McAlpin Hotel and a bold mansard roof with ornate dormers. 1282 Broadway It was designed to make use of its commanding (Frank M. Andrews, 1911-12; corner overlooking the square. 1270 and 1282 expansion: Warren & Wetmore, 1917) Broadway were part of the major redevelopment

9 — Historic Districts Council — Madison Square North of West and Herald Square, inspired by the construction of Pennsylvania Station, one block to the west. 1270 Broadway, an imposing office building, features a decorative cast-iron storefront, rusticated limestone on its second and third stories, and a grand top story with paired-arch windows and a bracketed cornice. At 25 stories tall, the McAlpin was said to be the largest hotel in the world upon its completion in 1912. The structure’s three towers have a tripartite design, with rusticated limestone bases, brick shafts and decorative upper stories with large overhanging cornices.

14a

Empire State Building 350 Fifth Avenue (William F. Lamb of Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, 1929-31)NYC INL – NYC IL and 14b

339 Fifth Avenue (Renwick, Aspinwall & Russell, 1889)

At the corner of 33rd Street and Fifth Avenue, one can look up at the , a New York City and American icon. Its varied massing and impressive height are on especially prominent display from this vantage point, as is its Art Deco entrance on Fifth Avenue. An interesting juxtaposition just across the street to the east is the Renaissance Revival style carriage store at number 339, a rare survivor in this midtown context. The rather squat, but strong building features three-story, round-arch windows on both the Fifth Avenue and 33rd Street façades, as well as ornamental roundels between the arches, panels at the roofline and a dentilled cornice. 10 — Historic Districts Council — Madison Square North Like Madison Square Park, Madison Avenue was named after 15 James Madison, the fourth President of the United States. The Avenue begins at 23rd Street and extends to the Madison A walk down Avenue Bridge at 138th Street. When the Manhattan street Madison Avenue grid was mandated in 1811, there was no avenue between Fourth (now Park) and Fifth Avenues. Madison Avenue was (between 34th and carved out in the 1840s to address the wide distance between 28th Streets) Fourth and Fifth Avenues. This southern section of Madison Avenue is characterized by its fine assortment of large-scale hotels, lofts and office buildings.

The at number 181 (Warren & Wetmore, 1924) was A) constructed for the Cheney Brothers Silk Company, the country’s largest silk mill at the time, when this area was briefly known as the Silk District. Its overall Renaissance Revival style is accented by prominent Art Deco elements, and it was one of the first buildings in the United States to incorporate such motifs. Its elegant iron and bronze framing at the lower three floors and entrances was designed by Edgar Brandt, a pioneer of the Art Deco style in Paris. The building was designated both an Individual and Interior Landmark in 2011.

The Beaux-Arts style former Warrington Hotel at number 161 (Israels & Harder, B) Empire State Building 1902) features rich ornament, including sculpted panels, brackets, iron balconies and 350 Fifth Avenue limestone quoins. It was originally built as a residential hotel. (William F. Lamb of Shreve, Lamb and The Manice Building at number 159 (Wallis & Goodwillie, 1911-12) is a 12-story, Harmon, 1929-31) C) NYC INL Renaissance Revival style loft building, with arched openings at the ground level and a – NYC IL and large, bracketed, overhanging cornice.

The Terry & Tench Building at number 135 (J. B. Snook’s sons, 1910) was named D) 339 Fifth Avenue for the iron company that erected the building. Terry & Tench was also responsible for the steel construction of the Manhattan Bridge and . This loft (Renwick, Aspinwall & Russell, 1889) building was designed in the Edwardian style, a late Victorian style popular between 1901 and 1914 characterized by understated Classical influences.

A B C D

11 — Historic Districts Council — Madison Square North The Roger Williams Hotel/Madison Avenue Baptist Church E) at number 129 (Jardine, Hill & Murdock, 1930) replaced the 1858 Madison Avenue Baptist Church structure that originally stood on this site. In 1930, this residential hotel, designed in the Art Deco style with Byzantine details, was constructed with the church incorporated into its first four stories.

Although it was altered in 1940, at which time the cornice, F) balconies and most of its ornamentation were stripped, number 121 (Hubert, Pirrson & Company, 1883) was originally the E Hubert Home Club, one of the earliest co-operative apartment buildings in the city.

The neo-Federal style American Academy of Dramatic Arts/ at G) number 120 (McKim, Mead & White, 1905) is a graceful six-story structure of red brick with limestone trim. This Individual Landmark features a shallow balcony supported by pilasters at the ground level, five arched window openings at the second story, a perforated stone cornice and five dormer windows at its crown. The Colony Club was the first women’s organization in the city to build itself a clubhouse for social and recreational activities. Its members included the wives of some of the city’s most prominent business and political leaders.

Another Individual Landmark, the Martha Washington Hotel (Robert Gibson, H) 1901), stands just east of Madison on East 30th Street. The 12-story Renaissance Revival style building was the first hotel built to house professional women in New York City, a function it served until 1998 when it was converted to a regular hotel. The brick and limestone structure features prominent quoins, Palladian windows, splayed lintels and iron balconettes.

The imposing store and loft building at number 105 (Buchman & Fox, 1912-13) I) is clad entirely in terra-cotta, much like Cass Gilbert’s famed , which was constructed at the same time. At 20 stories tall, it has a strong presence on Madison Avenue. The structure features Gothic Revival style ornament, with grand arches at the ground level and at the crown.

F G H I 12 — Historic Districts Council — Madison Square North Just east of Madison on East 29th Street at number 30-32 is the French J) Renaissance Revival style former New York Telephone Exchange Building (Cyrus Eidlitz, 1898; fifth floor added in 1903). The company formed in 1896 after merging with Bell Telephone Company. In this building, switch operators worked thousands of telephone lines in the Madison Square neighborhood. Eidlitz was famous for designing telephone buildings, including the first purpose-built telephone building for Bell Labs (today’s Westbeth Artists Community) in the West Village.

The Emmet Building at number 95 (Barney & Colt, 1911) was constructed for Dr. K) Thomas Addis Emmet, a prominent physician and advocate for Irish independence. He lived in a succession of houses on this site for over 40 years, but commissioned the 15-story office building due to observed changes in the neighborhood, especially the construction of the Metropolitan Life Tower in 1909. Like number 105, this striking French Renaissance Revival style building is also clad in terra-cotta and features elaborate Gothic Revival ornament.

The former Hotel Seville (currently the Carlton Hotel) at number 90 (Harry Allen L) Jacobs, 1901-03; annex: c. 1905) replaced the former Scottish Rite Hall, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. After 1900, area hotels grew in size to accommodate customers desiring close proximity to Ladies’ Mile and entertainment such as that offered at Madison Square Garden. This elegant Beaux-Arts hotel, whose architect was a prominent proponent of the style in America, was one such large hotel. Its red brick and limestone façades are graced with a rusticated base, alternating bandcourses at the second and third stories, decorative cornices, rounded copper bays from the fourth to the tenth stories and a limestone-clad chamfered corner, all mixed with Modern French ornamentation, such as lion head cartouches. An annex between 28th and 29th Streets was added a few years after its construction.

Just east of Madison on East 28th Street is the St. Anthony Club (James Renwick, M) 1879; alterations: J. A. Moore, 1899 and 1918), a Renaissance-inspired building that originally had a pyramidal roof that was removed when an extra one and a half stories were added in 1899. The red and yellow brick building was constructed for ’s Delta Psi fraternity and literary society, which occupied the building until 1912.

J K L M

13 — Historic Districts Council — Madison Square North