AUDUBON PARK HISTORIC DISTRICT Designation Report New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission May 12, 2009 Cover photograph: (l-r) 156-08 Riverside Drive West, 756 Riverside Drive, 790 Riverside Drive, 788 Riverside Drive and 780 Riverside Drive, by Christopher D. Brazee, 2009. AUDUBON PARK HISTORIC DISTRICT Designation Report Prepared by Jennifer L. Most Edited by Mary Beth Betts, Director of Research Additional Research by Olivia Klose Photographs by Christopher D. Brazee Olivia Klose and Jennifer Most Map by Jennifer Most Commissioners Robert B. Tierney, Chair Pablo E. Vengoechea, Vice-Chair Frederick Bland Christopher Moore Stephen F. Byrns Margery Perlmutter Diana Chapin Elizabeth Ryan Joan Gerner Roberta Washington Roberta Brandes Gratz Kate Daly, Executive Director Mark Silberman, Counsel Sarah Carroll, Director of Preservation TABLE OF CONTENTS AUDUBON PARK HISTORIC DISTRICT MAP......................................................................... 1 TESTIMONY AT THE PUBLIC HEARING ................................................................................ 2 AUDUBON PARK HISTORIC DISTRICT BOUNDARIES........................................................ 2 SUMMARY.................................................................................................................................... 3 THE HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE AUDUBON PARK HISTORIC DISTRICT ................................................................................................................... 5 Early History and Development.................................................................................................. 5 John James Audubon and Family ............................................................................................... 7 The New York City Apartment House ....................................................................................... 9 Late 19th- and Early 20th-Century Improvements ..................................................................... 10 Apartment House Development in Audubon Park ................................................................... 12 The Buildings of Audubon Park .............................................................................................. 15 Subsequent History ................................................................................................................... 17 FINDINGS AND DESIGNATION .............................................................................................. 19 BUILDING PROFILES................................................................................................................ 21 Broadway, Nos. 3757-3779 (West Side, between West 156th & West 157th Streets) .............. 21 Edward M. Morgan Place, Nos. 2-20 (West Side, between W. 157th & W. 158th Streets) ...... 24 Riverside Drive, Nos. 780-788 (East Side, between West 155th & West 156th Streets)........... 24 Riverside Drive, Nos. 790-798 (East Side, between West 156th & West 157th Streets)........... 32 Riverside Drive, Nos. 800-808 (East Side, between West 157th & West 158th Streets)........... 39 Riverside Drive, No. 810 (East Side, between West 158th & West 160th Streets).................... 43 Riverside Drive, Nos. 763-809 (West Side, between West 155th & West 158th Streets) ......... 43 Riverside Drive West, No. 156-08 (East Side, between West 155th & West 158th Streets) ..... 68 West 155th Street, Nos. 635-639 (North Side, between Broadway & Riverside Drive)........... 70 West 156th Street, Nos. 601-641 (North Side, between Broadway & Riverside Drive)........... 70 West 156th Street, Nos. 640-642 (South Side, between Broadway & Riverside Drive)........... 79 West 157th Street, Nos. 605-617 (North Side, between E. M. Morgan Pl. & Riverside Dr.)... 79 West 157th Street, Nos. 600-630 (South Side, between E. M. Morgan Pl. & Riverside Dr.)... 79 West 158th Street, Nos. 609-611 (North Side, between Broadway & Riverside Drive)........... 85 West 158th Street, Nos. 614-624 (South Side, between Riverside Dr. & Riverside Dr. W.).... 90 ARCHITECTS’ APPENDIX........................................................................................................ 91 ILLUSTRATIONS ..................................................................................................................... 100 Audubon Park Historic District Audubon Park Historic District Borough of Manhattan, NY Riv Landmarks Preservation Commission ers ide Dr Calendared: February 17, 2009 Public Hearing: March 24, 2009 8 1 0 Designation: May 12, 2009 611 609 W 158 St Boundary of Historic District 624 614 Tax Map Lots in Historic District 1 1 2 8 0 08 8 E Boundary of Existing Districts d w a Tax Map Lots in Existing Districts rd M M o rg a n r P D 2 l B e r d o N i 617 605 s a o r e d W N v 157 St i w a R a m 641 600 3 y 7 e 7 9 R N i v o e N r s a i m d e e D r 1 W 5 3 6 7 - 0 5 8 7 630 601 W 156 St 642 640 Existing Historic Districts H e Audubon Park Historic District n Audubon Terrace r 0 y 8 3 Historic District H 76 7 u d s o Manhattan n P y 639 635 Bronx W 155 St 150 Feet Graphic Source: MapPLUTO, Edition 06C, 2006. May 12, 2009. JM. N o N a m e Landmarks Preservation Commission May 12, 2009, Designation List 414 LP-2335 TESTIMONY AT THE PUBLIC HEARING On March 24, 2009, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation of the Audubon Park Historic District (Item No. 10). The hearing was duly advertised in accordance with the provisions of the law. Seven people spoke in favor of the proposed designation, including one neighborhood resident and representatives of New York State Senator Bill Perkins, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, the Society for the Architecture of the City, the Municipal Art Society, the Historic Districts Council, and the Riverside Oval Association. There were no speakers in opposition to the designation. The Commission also received a letter of support from New York City Council Member Robert Jackson representing Council District 7. AUDUBON PARK HISTORIC DISTRICT BOUNDARIES The Audubon Park Historic District consists of the property bounded by a line beginning at the intersection of the southern curbline of West 156th Street and the western curbline of Broadway, extending northerly across West 156th Street and continuing northwesterly along the southwestern curbline of Edward M. Morgan Place to its intersection with the southeastern curbline of Riverside Drive, continuing northeasterly across Edward M. Morgan Place to the intersection of the northeastern curbline of Edward M. Morgan Place with the southern curbline of West 158th Street, easterly along the southern curbline of West 158th Street to a point formed by its intersection with a line extending southerly from the eastern property line of 609 West 158th Street, northerly across the roadbed and along said property line to the northern property line of 609 West 158th Street, westerly along said property line and the northern property line of 611 West 158th Street (aka 810 Riverside Drive) to the western property line of 611 West 158th Street (aka 810 Riverside Drive), southerly along said property line to the northern curbline of West 158th Street, westerly across Riverside Drive and along said curbline to a point formed by its intersection with a line extending northerly from the western property line of 807 Riverside Drive (aka 620-624 West 158th Street), southerly across the roadbed and along said property line to the northern property line of 801 Riverside Drive, westerly along a portion of said property line to the western property line of 801 Riverside Drive, southerly along a portion of said property line to the northern property line of 779 Riverside Drive (aka 779-789 Riverside Drive), westerly along said property line to the western property line of 779 Riverside Drive (aka 779-789 Riverside Drive), southerly along said property line to the northern property line of 775 Riverside Drive (aka 773-777 Riverside Drive), westerly along a portion of said property line and along the northern property line of Manhattan Tax Map Block 2134 Lot 250 to the northeastern curbline of Riverside Drive West, southeasterly and easterly along said curbline, continuing easterly along the southern curbline of Riverside Drive, easterly across Riverside Drive to the eastern curbline of Riverside Drive, southerly along said curbline to its intersection with the northern curbline of West 155th Street, easterly along said curbline to a point formed by its intersection with a line extending southerly from the eastern property line of 780 Riverside Drive (aka 780-784 Riverside Drive; 635- 639 West 155th Street), northerly along said property line and along the eastern property line of 788 Riverside Drive (aka 786-788 Riverside Drive; 640-642 West 156th Street) to the southern curbline of West 156th Street, easterly along said curbline to the point of the beginning. 2 SUMMARY The Audubon Park Historic District, located in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, is a cohesive landscape of 19 large apartment houses and one free-standing duplex house indicative of the area’s transformation in the early 20th century into a densely developed residential neighborhood. The boundaries of the historic district encompass all or part of five blocks extending from West 155th Street to West 158th Street, from Broadway and Edward M. Morgan Place to Riverside Drive West. The district complements the Audubon Terrace Historic District that adjoins it