CHAOS at The Woodstock

Construction along 42nd Street, 1950. The Woodstock at upper right.

NY Herald-Tribune, Oct. 7, 1951

The arrival of the United Nations wrought many changes to Tudor City, as detailed earlier. But no building in the complex suffered more than The Woodstock, whose entrance had to be lowered 17 feet following the widening and re-grading of 42nd Street.

And so, the building's basement was converted into the first floor, new street windows installed, elevator shafts rebuilt, and part of the building's facade reclad. It was a real mess, and a costly one at that. In 1951, The Woodstock sued the city for damages in the amount of $1,011,477 ($611,477 in renovation fees, plus $400,000 in lost rents). In 1952, the City Board of Assessors awarded the building $405,000, the largest sum granted up to that time.

The Times reported that "access to the building for many months has been over a temporary wooden plank sidewalk high above the street surface." This aerial sidewalk can be seen center right in the photograph. 

The newly reclad northern facade, 1952.