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.   

BIRTHDAY GREETINGS to Hotel Tudor

Happy birthday to Hotel Tudor, opened October 1, 1930, and ninety years old today! Now known as the Westgate New York Grand Central, it has had six different names over its lifetime. Like most city hotels, it's temporarily closed at present because of the pandemic, although its sign still shines, a beacon of hope for the future.

Although the hotel is a splendid example of skyscraping art deco, it's rather underappreciated because its 42nd Street façade is, well, nothing special. But around the corner on its lesser-seen 41st Street face, it lets its moderne flag fly via a jazzy mix of setbacks and raised brick. In honor of Hotel Tudor's birthday, a photographic salute to its stunning south side:

UP CLOSE: The Prospect Tower Plaque

A salute to the stone plaque at the entrance of No. 45, whose epic presentation reflects the building's status as the first to open in Tudor City. A close-up look, below, from top to bottom.

Under the pointed arch at the top of the plaque, the seal of New York.

Prospect Tower, announced in a Gothic typeface.

Beneath a mythological winged beast, Designed and Constructed by The Fred F. French Company. 

The year No. 45 opened ‒ Anno Domini One Thousand Nine-hundred Twenty Seven ‒ partly rendered in Latin to lend gravitas to the enterprise. At the base, a snail, a seahorse and other aquatic figures, heraldic symbols of fortitude.

DETAILS: Stained Glass

No. 25's stained glass was installed in 1928, as advertised.

Tudor Tower is home to the finest collection of stained glass in the colony, and here are some particularly beautiful panes along the north wall of what was originally the Tudor City Coffee House (now the Metrokids Preschool). The glass was made by Richard N. Spiers & Son, an esteemed firm whose commissions included windows for Riverside Church, St. Bartholomew's and Temple Emanuel. 

Spiers' designs are based on standard heraldic imagery. Above, a castle (symbol of grandeur), and a helmet (symbol of rank).

A plume of feathers (serenity of mind), and another helmet (rank).

A shield with a cross (faith), and holly leaves (truth)

⸺⸺⸺⸺

A big thanks to Jessica Xiao at Preschool of America for the opportunity to photograph these treasures as they are meant to be seen, from the inside out.

Secret Tudor City: WEATHERVANE Edition

Hidden in plain sight atop a pavilion on No. 5 is Tudor City's very own weathervane.

This copper vane has been in place since 1930, and appears to be in good shape, though the N and W letters are missing. It was made by E.G. Washburne and Co., a prominent manufacturer of the time, again demonstrating Fred French's penchant for employing the finest craftsmen for Tudor City's details ‒ firms like Atlantic Terra Cotta and Richard Spiers & Son (who did the stained glass).

No. 5's weathervane is the sole survivor of a trio of vanes that once lined Tudor City Place, as pictured below.

The vanes atop Nos. 25 and 45 are both gone with the wind, who knows why or when. What remains today, below.

Vane holder, No. 45

Vane holder, No. 25

STAINED GLASS History Lesson

Today, a look at two windows on No. 25, home of the best collection of stained glass in the complex. These particular panes reference neighborhood history long before the arrival of Tudor City. Although the facts are rather shaky, the general idea is there.

The Dutch Colonist De Voor Settled Here in 1677 
on Spring Valley Farm. 

The date's right, but the geography's wrong. More accurately, the panel should read "De Voor settled near here in 1677." Spring Valley Farm lay north of Prospect Hill, its actual farmhouse at the foot of 53rd Street.

About 1800, This Part of Spring Valley Farm Became Turtle Bay Farm.

The statement is incorrect, for the area had been known as Turtle Bay Farm since 1636, when it was founded as a tobacco plantation. In 1791, New York merchant Francis Bayard Winthrop bought the land (which included Prospect Hill, future site of Tudor City) and continued to operate it as Turtle Bay Farm well into the 1800s.

PICTURES OF THE DAY

The water tower of The Hermitage, housed in an elaborate square pavilion. The roof is guarded by four terra cotta rams (heraldic authority symbols), and accessorized with satellite dishes.

ANATOMY OF A ONE-ROOM APARTMENT, 1928

Hatfield House one-room apartment

Today, a look at what a Tudor City one-room apartment came equipped with, circa 1928.

Designed as living rooms that can be easily transformed into bedrooms, the apartments are cleverly planned to make maximum use of limited spaces. Beds fold into walls, pantries are hidden behind folding doors, and so on.

The apartments are targeted toward young, upwardly mobile types who are impressed by the name-brand furnishings ‒ Frigidaires, Murphy beds, Fenestra casement windows, Standard bathroom fixtures ‒ and don't mind the small dimensions. They aren't home that much anyway ‒ they're living in Manhattan during the Roaring Twenties, after all.

Above, a 1928 blurb. Below, specific features.

Murphy beds, which fold up into a narrow closet, become a signature feature of Tudor City apartments (and the subject of many jokes). Above, a twin-bedded unit, with one bed down and the other up. 

The service pantry ‒ a 1920s take on a modern wet bar ‒ offers a sink and a small Frigidaire, but no heating elements. The idea is that hot food can be ordered up from the downstairs restaurant via room service. How convenient!

Ventilation is an important feature of the design, hence the Fenestra casement windows which can be angled to catch the breeze, along with front-door ventilators (above right) with movable louvres. Later deemed a fire hazard, these ventilators have been sealed up for decades.

Bathrooms sport white subway-tiled walls, checkerboard floors and radiators. . .

. . . and are also equipped with a Standard commode, pedestal sink, and cast-iron tub glazed with enamel.  

Original details: a glass doorknob and a ceiling light fixture.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

A lantern in the elevator bank of Windsor Tower, No. 5.

DETAILS: Stained Glass Edition

Introducing a new series, Details, that will zoom in on examples of hidden-in-plain-sight local beauty. We begin with some window panes on No. 25, Tudor City's stained-glass Valhalla. Today the windows of the pre-school, they originally lined the Coffee House.

Much of Tudor City's stained glass depicts symbolic heraldic figures, and this selection includes a knight (symbol of protection), a pair of shields bearing a falcon (power) and Tudor Rose (England), along with a grapevine (fertility).

More Coffee House stained glass here.

PICTURES OF THE DAY

The roofline of The Cloister, guarded by terra cotta lions wearing crowns and clutching copper tridents topped by fleur-de-lis. Lions symbolized courage and valor in heraldry, while the fleur-de-lis symbol ‒ a stylized, three-petaled lily ‒ has been around since the Mesopotamian era. In heraldic times, it stood for purity.

Tudor City Artifact: DOWNSPOUT Edition

This installment of our Artifact Appreciation series features a wonderful downspout and splash block on the North Roof of No. 45. It appears to have been in place since the building opened in 1927.

The copper downspout empties onto a scalloped limestone splash block. We like our artifacts to have some patina, and this beauty has seen a lot of rain.

And speaking of No. 45's long-under-repair North Roof, word is it will be scaffold-free and back on the scene this coming spring.

Secret Tudor City -- NO. 45'S CEILING

This installment of Secret Tudor City showcases the ceiling of the elevator bank in No. 45. Embellished with gilded plaster bas-reliefs of heraldic animals, these decorations are in keeping with the other heraldic inflections throughout the enclave.

Above, the difficult-to-photograph ceiling. Below, close-ups of select creatures.

A lion, symbol of courage, nobility and valor.

An owl, representing vigilance.

The mythological beast Pegasus, a winged horse symbolizing poetic genius and refinement. 

A dolphin, standing for charity and a love of music.