Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation 232 East 11th Street
New York, New York 10003 (212) 475-9585 www.gvshp.org
Executive Director Andrew Berman
President Arthur Levin
Vice President Justine Leguizamo
Vice President Trevor Stewart
Secretary /Treasurer Allan G. Sperling
Trustees Mary Ann Arisman Tom Birchard Richard Blodgett Kyung Choi Bordes Tom Cooper
Elizabeth Ely Cassie Glover David Hottenroth Anita Isola Leslie Mason
Ruth McCoy Andrew S. Paul Robert Rogers Katherine Schoonover Marilyn Sobel
Judith Stonehill Naomi Usher Linda Yowell
F. Anthony Zunino III
TESTIMONY OF THE GREENWICH VILLAGE SOCIETY FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN SUPPORT OF LANDMARK DESIGNATION of 827‐831 BROADWAY October 17, 2017 My name is Andrew Berman, and I am the Executive Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. In June of 2016, GVSHP alerted the Landmarks Preservation Commission to plans to demolish these buildings and replace them with a 300 ft. tall tower. We submitted detailed information about the buildings’ significance and requested that the LPC consider them for landmark designation. That request was rejected. In May and again in August of this year, we submitted additional research and information about these buildings, along with letters of support from elected officials, preservation organizations, art world luminaries, and hundreds of New Yorkers, again requesting that the LPC consider landmark designation. Following those submissions, the LPC moved ahead and calendared these buildings for consideration. I am here today to urge you in the strongest of terms to finish the job, and confer landmark status upon these buildings. 827 and 831 Broadway exemplify why the Landmarks Preservation Commission exists. These century‐and‐a‐half‐old survivors are architectural stunners, and testaments to New York’s rise as both the commercial and cultural capitol of the world. Both buildings were designed by Griffith Thomas, called “the most fashionable architect of his generation” by the American Institute of Architects and “among the best architects in the city” by cast‐iron preservationist Margot Gayle. They were built by the family which launched one of the world’s largest tobacco empires and created what’s been called the earliest known advertising campaign and the best known trademark in the world. They housed the company of the inventor of one of the earliest sewing machines, which revolutionized the landscape of American manufacturing and domestic life. And they housed “antique dealer to the stars” Howard Kaplan. But perhaps most importantly the buildings served as an almost unparalleled nexus of art world activity starting in the mid‐20th century. Willem de Kooning had his last New York home here during one of his most productive periods, in one of the first artist’s live/work lofts in a commercial space. Elaine de Kooning painted John F. Kennedy’s presidential portrait here. MoMa director William Rubin, who defined the museum’s direction in the 1970s and 80s, had a loft here designed by a young Richard Meier which served as a gathering place for Abstract Expressionist artists. Color Field painting school leader Jules Olitski, and painters Paul Jenkins and Larry Poons lived and worked here (Poons still does). De Kooning and others were drawn here to the ample light and the proximity to other art world centers like the Cedar Tavern and the East 10th Street galleries.
It may be too late to save many of those other sites, but it’s not too late to save 827‐831 Broadway. These buildings and their irreplaceable architecture and incomparable history speak to much of what has made New York great over the last two centuries, and what a landmark is. 827 and 831 Broadway came very close to succumbing to the wrecking ball – too close. I urge you to act as quickly as possible to designate these buildings New York City landmarks, and prevent another great piece of our city’s history and shared heritage from being destroyed. * * * * * * Both the architectural and historic significance of 827‐831 Broadway make them worthy of landmark designation. Griffith Thomas was one of the most sought‐after and prolific architects in 19th century New York. He was one of the first architects to popularize the Italian palazzo and French Second Empire styles in America, and one of the earliest proponents of using cast‐iron for building facades. 827‐831 Broadway are in fact a relatively early example of the cast‐iron architecture which came to define much of late 19th century New York, and their facades remain almost entirely intact with the exception of the grand art nouveau storefront later added to #827. Griffith Thomas designed some of the most notable buildings in mid‐19th century New York. Among his other works are the Astor Library addition of 1859, now the center section of the Public Theater, an individual landmark; 10 Astor Place/444 Lafayette Street, built in 1876 and included in the NoHo Historic District; the Gunther Building at 469‐475 Broome Street/55 Greene Street of 1871, located within the SoHo Cast‐Iron Historic District; the Fifth Avenue Hotel at 200 Fifth Avenue of 1859, which has been demolished; the original section of the former New York Life Insurance Building, at 346 Broadway of 1869, now the Clock Tower Building and an individual landmark; the Astor Mansion at 33rd Street and Fifth Avenue of 1856 and 1879, now demolished; and the Arnold Constable Building, at 881‐87 Broadway/115 Fifth Avenue at 19th Street of 1869, included in the Ladies Mile Historic District. The Lorillard family, which built 827‐831 Broadway, founded Lorillard Tobacco, one of the largest tobacco companies in America, in Lower Manhattan and introduced snuff to North America. Their snuff mill in the New York Botanical Gardens is a designated New York City landmark. Their logo of a Native American smoking a pipe beside a barrel of tobacco is considered by many to have launched the modern advertising industry, and became the basis for the “Cigar Store Indian.” Wilson Sewing Machines located its headquarters and showroom in 827‐831 Broadway not long after they were built. The company was founded by Allen Wilson, who invented one of the first sewing machines and through his company dramatically transformed the way in which clothing was produced and repaired both commercially and domestically. The company grew exponentially during its time at 827 Broadway, garnering international acclaim and awards. * * * * * *
The buildings truly shined in the 20th century, when they and their surroundings were at their grittiest. Starting in 1958 the upper floor of 831 Broadway served as the loft and studio of Willem de Kooning, one of the foremost Abstract Expressionist artists of the 20th century and leading figure of the ‘New York School’ of painting. It was here that he painted Rosy‐Fingered Dawn at Louse Point, the first of his paintings acquired by a European museum, and Door to the River, which is now in the Whitney Museum of American Art. It was also here that in 1962 he was photographed by noted portraitist Dan Budnik. That image, Willem de Kooning, 831 Broadway, New York, is now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. William S. Rubin resided at No. 831 in the late 1960s and until 1974 when Larry and Paula Poons took over his loft. Rubin was the Director of the Department of Painting and Sculpture of MoMA from 1973‐1988. During his time at No. 831, the loft served as a showcase for his own considerable collection, which included works by Hans Hoffmann, de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, and Herbert Ferber, who also lived at no. 827, among many others. When artist Larry Poons and his wife Paula took over the space from Rubin they continued his tradition of the space serving as a gathering place for artists. Ms. Poons tells the story of their long‐time friend and Bob Dylan’s former road manager, Bob Neuwirth, holding tryouts in the their loft one evening for the Dylan Rolling Thunder Review tour in 1975‐76, with Patti Smith and T‐Bone Burnett. We have included an oral history recently conducted with Ms. Poons about the buildings’ rich history as part of our submission to the LPC today. Abstract Expressionist artist Jules Olitski made his home at 827 Broadway during the 1970s. Olitski was one of the leaders of the Color Field school of painting, which involved the color staining of canvases, rejecting brushwork popular with other Abstract Expressionists. In 1969 Litski became only the third artist in history to have a one‐man show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Finally, in the late 20th century 827‐831 Broadway was located in the heart of what became New York’s antique district. But even within this milieu, Howard Kaplan’s Antiques, located here for thirty‐five years, stood out as perhaps New York’s most prominent and sought‐after antiques dealership. Mr. Kaplan was considered an “antiques mogul and designer” whose noted patrons included Faye Dunaway, Robert De Niro, Jacqueline Onassis, Woody Allen, Roone Aldridge, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, among many others. For all these reasons, we urge you to move ahead with landmark designation of 827‐831 Broadway as soon as possible.
1899 drawing NPYL http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e4-422c-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. "Broadway, West Side. 12th to 14th St." New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 10, 2016. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e4-422c-a3d9e040-e00a18064a99
Wilson’s sewing machine show room (interior) http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e1-05b9-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
1910 Photo ‐ NYPL
March 9, 1920 Photo – MCNY
Other Notable designs by Griffith Thomas Astor Library (1859, now center section of the Public Theater, NYCL)
10 Astor Place/444 Lafayette Street (1876, within the NoHo Historic District)
The Gunther Building, 469‐475 Broome Street (1871, SoHo Cast‐Iron Historic District)
Fifth Avenue Hotel, 200 Fifth Avenue (1859, demolished)
The original section of the former New York Life Insurance Building, 346 Broadway (1869, now the Clock Tower Building, NYCL)
Arnold Constable Building, 881‐87 Broadway/115 Fifth Avenue (1869, Ladies Mile Historic District)
Wlillem de Kooning in his studio at 831 Broadway, 1962. Photo by Fred McDarrah
