More MISCELLANY

Another serving of items from times past and present.

First, there is this picture of the Tudor City neighborhood. The smokestacks of the ConEd plant were painted red, white and blue, how festive! 

     

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Made in in 1920s, this photo depicts the intersection of 42nd Street and 1st Avenue. Going north are three titans of meatpacking industry: New York Veal & Mutton, United Dressed Beef Company, and Wilson & Company. As for the building with the billboards, the main one advertises a Brake Specialist, while the others are indecipherable.   

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From the New York Times, March 24, 1927 [six months before opening].

The Tudor City businessman may commute for two months and still not travel as far as the average commuter does in a single day. For his commuting to the great midtown business district consists of a five-minute walk.

Tudor City has the dignity and repose of Park Avenue, but a more convenient ‒ quieter ‒ and with materially lower rentals.

Tudor City will be under the single management of the FRED F. FRENCH Companies, the guarantee of a most efficient service. . .

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Another item has turned up for the elusive Woodstock Tower Restaurant, this postcard of its interior.

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Finally, we have Missy Peregrym, one of the leads in the TV series FBI, photographed with the owner of the Tudor City Steakhouse, Mirso Lekic. 

PRADA in Tudor City

We'd like to welcome back the fashion shoot video, this one courtesy of the house of Prada. Although the short film ‒ a mere 1:49 long ‒ is pretty baffling in a typically Prada way, it's just plain pretty in its Tudor City imagery.

We begin on a rooftop terrace of No. 5, where a girl stands holding something up. (Directly above her is the new tower of Chase Bank, enthusiastically lit each night.)

Close up on the girl, played by actress Scarlett Johansson, who is airing out her Galleria bag.

In the North Park, she attempts to shake some moisture from the tree into her handbag. The Manor provides the background.

The story continues in the 41st street cul-de-sac where she records the sound of a medium-size dog barking. 

A final yap and the saga moves on. 

After several more oddball twists, the camera alights on a sphere nearly big as the room. Paging Stanley Kubrick! 

Scarlett Johansson is a global ambassador for Prada, and the face of its Galleria Bag. This short film entitled "Ritual Identities" was directed in 2025 by Yorgos Lanthimos, better known as the director of the movie "The Favorite."

See the complete short film here.

MISCELLANEA

 Here's another installment of Miscellanea for your viewing pleasure:

At a table in the Tudor City Steakhouse sit Cindy Adams, the New York Post's gossip columnist extraordinaire, along with Mirso Lekic, owner of the restaurant. Only in New York, kids.

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A photograph of 1st Avenue and 40th Street, looking downtown. On the right is No. 5, while across the street is the home of the WM INTNER MATTRESS CO. They seem to be reputable enough; the wall along 40th Street reads

MANUFACTURERS

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MATTRESSES

BOX SPRINGS

BOX COUCHES

PILLOWS

ROLL BOLSTERS

COT BEDS

METAL SPRINGS

Whether they supplied any bedding to Tudor City is unknown.

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The Sharansky Steps and the Isaiah quotation set the backdrop for this picture made on September 19, 1960. The protestors' poster says it all:

Down With Castro

CUBA  Yes

COMMUNISM  No!

Cuban Front  F.R.D.

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Part of the Tulip Celebration of 1939, this picture was made from a window in The Manor, showing the stage set for baritone Glenn Darwin. From the collection of Fabrice Frere, thanks Fabrice.

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Finally, proof there's life after fifty in Tudor City.  

MORE Miscellany

 

We begin with a puzzle from 1934: what is the man doing to the roadway at 1st Avenue and 41st Street? 

And what exactly does the extended leg mean?

Questions, questions! The man in the hat is sticking his pole into a hole, that we are sure of. We took a closer look at the sign, which reads

 

1st Ave 41st

14 ft North of BL

30½ ft W of E curb

Looking N.W.

Not a lot of help, with notations right out of a city almanac and no mention of an extended leg, either. The photo is from the NYC Municipal Library and is entitled "Looking northwest from 1st Avenue, 41st Street." Hmmm. . .

   

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This is an oil painting entitled "Tudor City" from artist Uo Suga that was listed last week for $397.84 on eBay. Too bad the listing ended early, with no explanation.

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"Party at the Ford Foundation" by our good friend, Garth Justice.

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This comes from regular contributor David Reiff. Fabled songwriter Neil Sedaka ‒ "Breaking Up is Hard to Do," "Calendar Girl," "Love Will Keep Us Together" ‒ recently passed away, and in 2012, there was a concert honoring him in the South Park. Above, the flyer and below, the guest of honor.

Sedaka at the Tudor City Greens concert

MISCELLANY Again

 Here are the latest odds and ends to digest in our ongoing Miscellany series.

First up is this mini-ad, part of a series that ran in 1936. We have seen the other five ads before, but never this one.

The tall building is the Prospect Hill Apartments, the building that is partly credited with convincing Fred French to take a chance with Tudor City. To its left, rowhouses on 41st Street about to undergo demolition.

The parks are now home to several antique cast iron urns, once owned by Billy Rose, the theatrical impresario who lived in a No. 25 penthouse; the urns decorated his outdoor terrace. When Rose left Tudor City in the 1940s, he sold them to the Walliser family. Mr. Walliser grew fond of the urns and said they belonged in the parks, and they were given to the Greens as a gift by his widow, Mrs. Ursula Walliser, after his death. Above left, in the South Park and right, the North Park.

This item was gleaned from the newsletter of Tudor City Greens. Read the latest issue here.

  

Finally, one of the rare advertisements for No. 2, Tudor Gardens, upon its opening in the fall of 1955.   

Penthouse 7

Behold Penthouse 7 in No. 5, once again on the market. It is a two bedroom, two bath affair, spread out over three levels, the top being a roof terrace ‒ with another terrace on the first floor. This is also the penthouse that movie star Charlton Heston rented in the 1950s as his New York City base, and where he gave his celebrated interview with Edward R. Murrow on Person to Person.

The price is listed by its real estate agent, Douglas Elliman, at $4,795,000.

The living room has views toward the east and south, 18-foot ceilings, and a wood-burning fireplace. 

The first terrace, a long strip which winds down the building. 

The roof terrace.

Check out its page on the Douglas Elliman site, here. And for more on Charlton Heston, click here.

RESTAURANTS: La Bibliotheque

Now it is finally time to investigate a somewhat forgotten Tudor City restaurant, La Bibliotheque, located at 341 E. 43rd Street. For reasons unknown, the building that housed it was never considered a part of Tudor City. Perhaps it was the fact that its main entrance was on First Avenue. 

The restaurant opened in late 1969, and very quickly announced itself as an upscale establishment. They had hired a high-powered press agent to spread the word, and early visitors included Ginger Rogers, Rosalind Russell, Mel Brooks, and Anne Bancroft.

There were three Times reviews over the years ‒ three two-star reviews ‒ noting successful dishes (the "excellent" broiled red snapper) and some not so successful (the "overcooked" roast duck). There was nothing wrong with its wall of books, UN views, and makeshift outdoor space, however.

   

The menu was printed on a facsimile of the French newspaper, Le Monde.

On the inside pages, the menu was laid out. The autograph is unknown, perhaps that of the chef.

This was its story for the next decade. Then, in 1983, came the startling news that the owners had skimmed $790,000 in profits, and soon thereafter they were convicted, and the restaurant closed. The Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Bhutan to the United Nations took over the space in 1985.

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A special thanks to Fabrice Frere who supplied the matchbook that inspired this post.

The Mayors of Tudor City

Today's subject is an interesting one, an animal and a person who claim to be the Mayor of Tudor City. What the job exactly entails was never spelled out, neither the salary, nor the length of service, but all the same, the recipient valiantly accepted the position. 

Daily News, April 28, 1930

First to be named Mayor ‒ at least by the press ‒ is Snoopy the cat, who assumes the title after successfully taking on every dog in the neighborhood. But Snoopy does not regard the Mayor business very seriously and it's over before he knows it.

Great Falls Leader, April 12, 1932

Then some years went by until 1956, when columnist Walter Winchell broke the following story:

Daily News, 1956

It was a somewhat fishy story, and it quickly faded away. Not a word about how it felt to be Mayor. Nothing.

Stradella had an interesting backstory, however. After the war, he established a bar/restaurant named Danny's Hide-A-Way on East 45th St. His mother did the cooking, and he acted as bartender and waiter. Somewhere along the way, the place attracted the television crowd and became well-known among show biz types. Danny decorated the walls with photos of himself and the famous.

 

With Marilyn Monroe

 
Roy Rogers

Judy Garland and husband Sid Luft

Dean Martin and Dick Martin

Stradella closed his business in 1975 over a labor dispute. The mystery of the Mayor of Tudor City endures. . .

More MISCELLANY

 We bring you some odds and ends to start the New Year.

BEAUTY REVIEWS NEW YORK

Marian Marsh, the famous film star recently acclaimed the most popular of the younger generation of the film fraternity, forms a striking picture when viewing New York giants from a giant ‒ seen on the roof of her hotel with the skyscrapers surrounding her, showing the Tudor City residential district on right.

So reads the photo caption attached to this publicity still. This was taken around 1931, when Marian Marsh's hopes for Hollywood stardom were on the rise. After signing a contract with Warner Brothers, she was selected to appear opposite John Barrymore in Svengali (she played Trilby). It was not a smash-hit success, however, and after appearing in a number of other pictures, Marsh's contact was not renewed.

Her career never recovered. She eventually made more movies at sketchier studios, finally giving it up when she married in 1939. Her own press clippings were sold at auction years later, led by ‒ what else ‒ a Barrymore souvenir for Svengali, below.

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This cartoon ran in 1953 in the Daily News. Not much more can be said about it.

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A reader forwards a picture of what once was a New York taxicab ‒ a genuine Checker Marathon ‒ now retooled, repainted black and reserved for private use. It was photographed in the 43rd St. cul-de-sac opposite the United Nations.  

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NEW YORK, Jan. 27 ‒ WINTRY SCENE ‒ Pedestrians plod through the snow past the split rail fence enclosing Tudor City Park on New York's East 42nd Street last night after a winter storm deposited four inches of snow in the city. The area still had snow left from last week's storm. (AP Wirephoto)   

Another press photo to illustrate a more general topic, winter. It could have run any time, but the park's fence (and the parked car's tail lights) suggest the date was the early 60's. 

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Finally, a year ago, we ran a piece about repair work in Tudor City, which at the time included every building except The Cloister. A year later, the scaffolding has been removed from The Hermitage, No. 25, No. 5, the rowhouses along 43rd St., the city-owned playgrounds, the Church of the Covenant, and the 42nd St. entrance of Hotel Tudor (nka The Westgate New York).

The Manor, No. 45, No. 2, the 3-H's, Essex House, The Woodstock, and the 43rd St. entrance of Hotel Tudor remain under repair.

Happy New Year!