Anatomy of a Photo: 1ST AVENUE

Today, another attempt at examining a photograph in detail. Exhibit A is the above, a view up 1st Avenue from 42nd Street, made in 1927.

Zooming in on the Little Renting Cottage as seen from 1st Avenue. 

Looking at 1st Avenue bordered by 42nd and 43rd Streets. Pedestrian traffic is light, and the deep shadows here suggest the photo was made early in the morning.

Across the way, the large sign at 42nd Street is temporarily blank.

In the middle of the photo are two more signs: MOTOR NEW YORK TRUCKS and CHARLES & CO. GROCERS.

Across the street, a view of the Queensboro Bridge, albeit obscured by various water tanks and smokestacks. At far left, the rising Panhellenic Tower hotel, later renamed the Beekman Tower hotel.

Our last close-up is of a hole in the street, this one at the northeast corner of 42nd and 1st. Watch your step.     

 

Instagram Sign Tribute

Time to say thank you to the talented Instagramers who contributed to this week's post, a celebration of the ever-engaging Tudor City sign.

by bretwills   

by allanfredrick         

      

by jeffrcasey        

by sinhadesign_llc  

by citymousenyc    

RENOVATIONS

A number of rare photos taken during the 1952 transformation of Tudor City into something more appropriate for a neighborhood that would mesh with the UN. Roads were widened, a parkside sidewalk was added, and the tunnel replaced by a modern overpass. The redesign also included a much disliked split-rail fence around the parks that remains in place for 41 years.

Looking south from a Manor window, Tudor City Place (at left) appears driveable, but the parks are in a state of wild disarray. Above, one can see the North Park's fountain basin (center bottom) and to its right, the pergola. They wouldn't last in the start-from-scratch plan. 

The opposite view, facing north, showing a new feature being installed: a parkside sidewalk.  

 

        Across the street, workmen in front of No. 25.

Finally, a pile of pipes lay near one of the gazebos. Like all of the decorative details of the park ‒ the lich gates, the fountain, the pergola ‒ the gazebos did not make the cut.

THEN AND NOW: The South Park

 The South Park, then and now.

1988

2025

The 'then' pictures were photographed by Steve Stempel in 1988 to record the state of the parks that the newly formed Tudor City Greens was about to inherit. The 'now' photos were made 37 years later.

1988

2025

A then-and-now post on the North Park, here.

Miscellany

Time for another round-up of various bits of Tudor Cityana.     

First off, a look at the corner of E. 41st Street and Prospect Place, later Tudor City Place; Haddon Hall lay in the distance. This southwest view would eventually become Tudor Gardens but for now was home to tennis courts and lined by taxicabs. At center is the tiny, dome-shaped booth of the dispatcher for Parmalee cabs, who had an exclusive contract with Tudor City.

More on the community and the cab here.

⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺

From a 1938 issue of Tudor City View comes the crossword puzzle for the colony.    

Alas, the answers were as vague as the subject.  

⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺

A postcard that shows 42nd Street ‒ Looking East from 6th Avenue ‒ New York. Is the building at the far end of the street Prospect Tower? 

Who's to say?    

⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺

A window at Hardwicke Hall.   

TUDOR CITY SERVICE covers

 A look back at the origins of Tudor City's monthly magazine, when it first appeared in 1934 as Tudor City Service. Although rather bland reading, it served its purpose and ran until 1938 when it changed its name to Tudor City View. Here are some of its earliest covers:  

To make up for last week's post, The Hermitage as it should be seen.

The Entrance to The Manor in aqua.

The Tulip Festival gets called out on the cover.

Location, location, location.

At times, they would even put a random painting on the cover. What the heck! 

More about Tudor City Service here and Tudor City View here.

HATFIELD HOUSE, THE CLOISTER, and THE HERMITAGE. . . almost

A return to the collaboration of the Works Progress Administration and the New York City Tax Department to compile a photographic record of all the buildings in the five boroughs. This group of photos shows part of Tudor City's buildings, and only just a part.

This first photograph depicts the awning of 304 E. 41st Street ‒ Hatfield House ‒ as well as two buildings to its west. Today, this anonymous duo has been replaced by Turken House, sponsoring Turkish students in New York.   

We now move to E. 43rd Street. The Cloister (far right) is overshadowed by the four-story building next door that takes up most of the picture. It was eventually demolished and replaced by the headquarters of the Consulate General of Malaysia.      

Then there is The Hermitage, which plays second fiddle to the 43rd Street rowhouses and the huge trunk of a car.

In this second shot, the camera has moved up the street for a more pleasing composition. At the top is the Tudor City sign.

The sequence ends with a shot of the other rowhouse on the western side of The Hermitage. It went away ‒ along with the adjoining Hospital for Special Surgery ‒ when the Ford Foundation headquarters replaced it in 1967.