Ca. 1910-
In 1934, Theodore Andre Beck earned a bachelor’s degree in sculpture from Yale University’s School of Fine Arts. Not much is known about his life, other than he won a competition to create a sculpture for the University of Tennessee, in Knoxville, in 1931. Beck’s design became the official representation of “The Volunteer”, the school symbol for its “spirit and ideas”, and the University had a series of small- scale reproductions manufactured and distributed. Construction of the full-size statue, however, would be delayed until 1965 due to a series of funding issues and the onset of WWII. By then, students and faculty were unfamiliar with the design and objected to it, stating that it didn’t fully reflect the Volunteer’s ethos. Beck agreed to make a series of modifications, and the new nine-foot statue was unveiled in 1968. It is currently located at the University’s Circle Park. Photo: “Pig with Apple”, unattributed.
1904-1958
Son of a well-known sculptor, Burr Churchill Miller Jr. was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Connecticut, and graduated from Yale University in 1928 with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. Miller studied architectural sculpture at the Yale School of Fine Arts under the guidance of Swiss sculptor Robert G. Eberhard, and traveled to Paris where he trained with sculptor Henri Bouchard. He later moved to New York, where he studied stone carving with celebrated artist José de Creeft, author of the Alice in Wonderland sculpture in Central Park. In 1939, Miller had his first one-man show and was part of the World’s Fair. He also had exhibitions at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the National Academy of Design, and the Golden Gate Exposition. Miller was a member of the Sculptors Guild, the National Sculpture Society, the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors, and the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts. Photo: “Man with Accordion”, unattributed.
1906-1992
Theodore Cotillo Barbarossa was born to Italian parents in Ludlow, Vermont. They relocated to Boston, Massachusetts in the early 1910s, where Barbarossa attended the Massachusetts College of Art and Yale University, receiving an honorable mention at the 1934 Prix de Rome. He then moved to New York, working primarily with bronze, wood and stone, gaining notoriety for his animal and figure sculptures. Much like his contemporaries, Barbarossa was part of President Roosevelt’s WPA New Deal art initiative, for which he created relief sculptures depicting national ideals such as industry, education, and agriculture for post offices and other federal buildings. One of his best-known works are the five statues on the façade of the Boston Museum of Science. He was a fellow of the National Sculpture Society, a member of the National Academy of Design, the Allied Artists of America, the Audubon Artists, the International Institute of Arts and Letters, and the New England Sculptors Association. Photo: “Woman with Doves” attributed to Theodore Barbarossa.
1901-1988
Born to Polish immigrants, Joseph Kiselewski studied at the Minneapolis School of Art, the National Academy of Design and the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design. While he worked as an assistant to sculptor Lee Lawrie, he won the Parisian Beaux Arts competition in 1925 and received the Prix de Rome in 1926. Kiselewski established a highly successful studio in New York in 1929, and in 1936 was appointed an Associate of the National Academy of Design. By 1944, he had become a faculty member. Kiselewski’s work designing numerous medals for the US Air Force and the US Army earned him the J. Sanford Saltus Medal in 1970 for excellence in the art of medallic sculpture. Among his most known sculptures are four pieces at the Bronx County Courthouse, the Bas-Relief above the doors for the George Rogers Clark Memorial. For the 1939 World’s Fair, Kiselewski created a 30-foot-high by 140-foot-wide sundial called “Time.” He retired in 1980 to Browerville, Minnesota. Photo: “Gossip” by Joseph Kiselewski.
1900-1967
Born in the French city of Metz, then part of Germany, Carl Ludwig Schmitz studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. He immigrated to the US in 1923, continuing his studies at the Beaux- Arts Institute of Design in New York. Throughout his career, Schmitz had exhibitions at several prestigious institutions, such as the Architectural League, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum and the National Academy. He also received many awards for his work, including a gold medal from the 1937 International Exposition in Paris, the George D. Widener Memorial Medal for his relief sculpture “Foreign Trade,” and a National Sculpture Society Award in 1945 for his model of Our Lady of Victory. At the 1939 World’s Fair, his sculpture “Drama” was part of the Court of Peace façade of the Hall of Nations. Schmitz also became an instructor at the National Academy of Design, and was later a fellow and secretary of the National Sculpture Society. He lived in New York all his life and had a studio at 246 W 80th St. Photo: “Woman and Child” by Carl Schmitz.
1888-1975
The son of a well-known Russian scientist, Gleb W. Derujinsky studied law and graduated in 1912 from the University of St. Petersburg. Simultaneously, he attended drawing school, gaining praise for his artistic aptitude. He traveled to Paris to study under renowned sculptors, entering the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1913, where he participated in exhibitions, received several prizes and was nominated for a Prix de Rome. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, he fled to Crimea and then to New York as a sailor on a cargo boat. By the early 1920s, Derujinsky was an active member of New York’s art scene. He was elected as a member of the National Sculpture Society, became a teacher at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design, and several of his commissions were awarded medals. For the 1939 World’s Fair, he created a fountain group called “Europa and the Bull”. Among Derujinsky’s most known pieces are the busts of Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt, as well as pianists Alexander Siloti, Sergei Prokoflev and Sergei Rachmaninoff, for which he was given the Anna Hyatt Huntington Prize at the National Academy of Design in 1949. Photo: “Woman with Harp” by Gleb Derujinsky.
1910-1995
George Kratina was an American sculptor of Czech descent. Both of his parents were artists, his mother Rose was a painter, and his father Joseph was a noted sculptor. After learning from his father at the Sculptors Guild, Kratina attended Syracuse University where he studied chemistry and wood technology, and later trained in sculpture at Yale University. While there, he competed in the “sculpturing” category at the 1932 and 1936 Olympics, in Los Angeles and Berlin respectively. In 1938, Kratina received the Prix de Roma and completed his studies abroad. When he returned to New York, he became a design and sculpture professor at Cooper Union and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he was greatly loved by his students. Kratina worked with wood, bronze, enameled steel and aluminum, often in monumental dimensions. He was awarded many prizes and won several competitions, including a monumental sculpture for the Catholic Welfare Conference Building in Washington D.C., and the Liturgical Arts Society Award. Photo: “Man with Umbrella” by George Kratina.
At the time of Parkchester’s conception, projects under the New Deal programs allowed for thousands of paintings, sculptures, and works on paper to be produced by American artists and displayed in public settings. The 1939 World’s Fair also provided a major platform for artists to present their work to a wider audience, furthering the concept of accessible art that could be part of people’s everyday lives, of which the Parkchester Complex is a unique and remarkable example. Nine prominent sculptors were hired to create artwork for the project. Together, they produced nearly 100 individual original designs of glazed terra cotta sculptures, medallions and plaques. Over 500 pieces were manufactured by the Federal Seaboard Terra Cotta Corporation, which were distributed throughout the buildings’ exteriors and open space. Unfortunately, this feature would not be included in the following developments by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. To date, only a handfull of sculptures have been paired with their author. Over the last few years, several pieces have been removed by the current owners without clear information of their future. In response, the community is actively documenting and cataloguing the remaining artwork of Parkchester.
As part of Parkchester’s self- sustainability, the heating system was 5.5 designed around a central plant strategically located near the railroad track border of
the North quadrant. Four boilers produced steam that was distributed through 14,000 feet of piping to boiler rooms in 29 buildings, which in turn, distributed it to the remaining buildings. The project also made provisions for a future conversion to coal or electricity. With the goal to reduce traffic within the quadrants, five garages for residents were built on the outskirts of the Complex. The 5-story structures had a combined capacity of 3,500 to 4,500 vehicles. Two flanked the heating plant, one was located on the West quadrant, and two more were on the East quadrant. Currently, only three of them are still in operation, since one of the garages in the east quadrant was demolished in 2006. Photo: Former Heating Plant.
In total, the Complex has Parkchester 12,271 apartments in 171 red- rick buildings, grouped into 51 clusters. Heights range from 7 to 13 stories, creating a heterogeneous skyline that ensures access to sunlight to each unit. The buildings were also placed at least 60 feet apart, to facilitate air circulation. The tallest structures are at the corners of the main avenues and around the open spaces, as not to obstruct light, while the rest of the buildings are informally arranged throughout the interior of each quadrant. To keep construction costs low and the timeline tight, the buildings were designed using a modular unit system. Three different “core” structures were created, which contained the main services -staircases, elevators, trash chutes and ventilation- as well as kitchens and foyers. These “cores” were combined with five different “wings” which included living rooms, bedrooms, and other living spaces. The layout standardization allowed for materials to be purchased in bulk, providing a variety of apartment units without compromising the project’s affordability. Photo: View of the southeast quadrant under construction, ca. 1939, by Architectural Forum.
Of the 129 acres of land purchased by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, only 37% was used for buildings. This is consistent with the “Tower in the Park” model, as it optimized the design of residential buildings in order to provide ample open space in urban environments, without forgoing density. In addition to the Metropolitan Oval, the layout for Parkchester included a central lawn on each quadrant, surrounded by pathways filled with plants and shrubs. Landscaping was also used as a noise barrier, with over 4,000 maples, birches, honey locusts, pines, oaks, dogwoods, and magnolias planted throughout the Complex. The courtyards around each building were left open, with no private backyards, providing visual continuity and ensuring accessibility. Recreational facilities were also part of the open space planning, with a total of 43 courtyards distributed among the four quadrants, as well as eight playgrounds and a softball diamond to the north. Photos: (top) View of interior court and path, (bottom) Aerial view of a quadrant’s central lawn, 1940. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
1589 Unionport Rd
The point where Unionport Road intersects with Metropolitan Avenue is articulated by a large roundabout park named Metropolitan Oval. Since those are the main thoroughfares of the Complex, and were designed to have heavier traffic, the Oval also acts as a speed regulator for vehicles. The two-acre park features a large decorative wading pool with a fountain named “Fantasia”, created in 1939 by renowned sculptor Raymond G. Barger for the New York World’s Fair, and installed at The Oval in 1941. Seating areas and landscaped flower beds surround the pool, and on the southwest section there is a memorial for servicemen who died in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. It was recently renamed the Aileen B. Ryan Oval after a former resident and prominent New York State Assemblymember and Bronx Council Member-at-Large.
Metropolitan Ave & Unionport Rd
As the main thoroughfares of the Complex, Unionport Road and Metropolitan Avenue were conceived as mixed-use corridors. The largest shopping center is located at the southwest corner of Metropolitan Avenue, and includes a Macy’s Department Store, the first branch after its 34th Street flagship store in Manhattan, a USPS office, and the former Loew’s American Theater, designed by prominent architect John Eberson in 1940. The rest of this commercial area was planned to have roughly 200 stores i Moderne-style buildings with glazed terra cotta panels, curving facades, and stylized signage. Until 1985, this was also the location of the Parkchester branch of the New York Public Library. Through a partnership established in 1942, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company gave the library, rent-free, a fully furnished 4,600 square-foot space at 1384 Metropolitan Avenue, becoming the first sub-branch in the city to be located in a housing development. By 1950, circulation outranked many of the city’s full branches, and several requests were made to extend the initial 32-hour weekly operation.
1939-40, MetLife Board of Design: Gilmore D. Clarke, Irwin Clavan, Robert W. Dowling, Andrew J. Eken, George Gove, Henry C. Meyer & Richmond H. Shreve
The layout of the Parkchester Apartment Complex draws heavily from Le Corbusier’s “Towers in the Park” model, which gained popularity among public housing developments between the mid-1950s and 1970s. The style is characterized by clusters of high-rise residential buildings surrounded by green space, providing dense, low-cost housing for urban workers while also reducing congestion. MetLife established a Board of Design led by architect Richmond H. Shreve to develop a plan for Parkchester. Among their first decision was the incorporation and expansion of an existing street that divided the property diagonally. An intersecting second avenue was then added, creating four quadrants that would organize the entire complex. This also allowed for more manageably size sections, fewer paving needs and controlled vehicular traffic. Buildings were distributed in groups of different heights to maximize access to light and air. Open space was prioritized, with playgrounds, ball fields, gardens, sitting areas and tree-lined walkways occupying more than 70% of the land. Service structures and commercial corridors were also included, creating a self-contained community.
1759 Castle Hill Ave
1897-98, George H. Streeton
In 1842, Bishop John Hughes purchased land in Westchester Village to establish a church and parish school. The area was then farmland, and an old barn was used as a temporary church while funds for a new building were raised. Another plot was added to establish a cemetery, and both were dedicated in 1845 during the feast of St. Raymond Nonnatus, giving the parish its name.
Over the next few years, St. Raymond’s grew significantly, and by 1850 it had at least nine new mission chapels in The Bronx under its tutelage. Their expansion continued, and in 1865 a large piece of land was added to build a Catholic Protectory. This institution was created to provide housing and education to orphaned Catholic children, also offering training in trades and domestic work. The Protectory remained in operation for over 70 years, with facilities designed in the Victorian Gothic style. In 1938, the property was sold to the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company for the construction of Parkchester. During the second half of the 1800s residential development continued in The Bronx, increasing the number of St. Raymond’s parishioners. A new cemetery was established, and plans began for a new church. Architect George H. Streeton was commissioned to design this Byzantine Revival structure, which was completed in 1898. A new building for the elementary school was completed in 1909, while construction of a new convent and rectory was halted until 1931 due to the First World War. The opening of Parkchester prompted St. Raymond’s to expand their educational programs further, opening a larger elementary school in 1951 and establishing new high schools for girls and boys in 1960 and 1962, respectively. Both the church and its schools have evolved over the years to reflect the neighborhood’s demographic and cultural changes, remaining a community staple. Photos: (top) Exterior of St. Raymond’s, courtesy of Bronx Catholic (bottom) Exterior of St. Raymond’s Academy for Girls, by Hugo L. González.
1315 Olmstead Ave
1940-41, Eggers & Higgins
In 1940, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York purchased a site at the corner of Westchester and Olmstead Avenues to build a church and school for the residents of the recently inaugurated Parkchester Complex. It was estimated that St. Helena would have around 10,000 parishioners. The design was commissioned to the prominent firm of Eggers & Higgins, responsible for the construction phase of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and the West Building of the National Gallery of Art. They had been longtime associates of renowned architect John Russell Pope, who died in 1937. The massive brick structure adeptly contains a church, a rectory, a parochial school and a convent, all while clearly representing its ecclesiastical purpose from the exterior. Ornamentation is kept simple, expressed mostly through limestone trim and setbacks. The interior has coffered ceilings with stenciled beams, and stained-glass windows designed by the Payne Spiers Studios, Inc. in New York City. Construction was completed in 1941, and was dedicated in 1942 by Archbishop Francis J. Spellman. The church quickly became a community staple, acquiring more land in the late 1940s to expand the school facilities. This included, among other structures, a business school that operated from 1957 to 2002. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.
74 Hugh J. Grant Circle
1940-42, Halsey, McCormack & Helmer
Founded in 1887, the Dollar Savings Bank was the first savings institution organized in The Bronx. Its founders were local businessmen, and the funds were used to finance improvements in the borough. The sustained growth of the institution prompted its fourth president, Howell Taylor Manson, to start an expansion campaign in 1926, with the first branch office opening at Grand Concourse in 1932. By 1936, Dollar Savings had become the 18th largest bank in the country. Following the opening of the Parkchester Complex, the bank purchased a lot at the southeast corner of 177th Street and Hugh J. Grant Circle to build a new branch office, with architect Adolf L. Muller of Halsey, McCormack & Helmer heading the design. The firm specialized in bank buildings, with works like the Williamsburg Savings Bank, and the main headquarters for the Dollar Savings Bank (NYC Landmark, 1992). The interior had murals by renowned artist Arthur Crisp, who also created pieces for other branches of the bank.
Hugh J. Grant Circle
1916-17, Squire J. Vickers
Opened in 1920, this elevated station was built as part of the east Bronx extension of the Pelham Bay Park branch of the Lexington Avenue subway. It is located within the Hugh J. Grant Circle, a roundabout that was part of Louis A. Rise’s proposal for connecting main thoroughfares. This, in order to adopt a grid street plan during the annexation of East Bronx in 1895. The two-story concrete structure features Art Deco and Neoclassical details, including large rounded street-level openings, projecting corner piers with vertical bands of geometric terra cotta tiles, and decorative bands of polychrome ceramic tile on the façade. The building was designed by Squire J. Vickers, who served as the Design Architect of the New York City Subway System from 1906 to 1942. He was responsible for most of the Dual System and later IND stations, and was known for featuring simple but colorful and creative tile work in his designs. Vickers graduated from Cornell University, and was also a talented painter. Many of his works were translated into mosaic plaques and are displayed throughout the system. The station underwent repairs in the 1960s and 1990s, with major renovations completed in 2010.
3041 Kingsbridge Ave
1905, McKim, Mead & White
This former Branch of the New York Public Library was established in 1894 by Dr. James Douglas as the Kingsbridge Free Library. A local resident, Douglas was a vestryman at the Church of the Mediator, and in 1902 he offered to donate this property so that a new Library could be built in the neighborhood. With funds contributed by Andrew Carnegie, this neo-Federal style building opened in 1905, and became the second NYPL branch in The Bronx. The one-story, three-bay, red brick structure has splayed stone lintels characteristic of the style, as well as an oversized pedimented entrance. By the late 1920s, the library was overcrowded but no plans to renovate or expand it were ever implemented. In later years, the opening of new branches in Van Cortland and Riverdale prompted the reduction of the library’s service area, and in 1959 it was replaced by a new building at 280 West 231st street. The original building was sold to the Church of the Mediator in 1960, and in 1982 it was converted to a Preschool, which still uses the property today. Photo courtesy of the NYPL.
1176 Franklin Ave
1904-06, J. O’Connor
The school was originally part of the Roman Catholic parish of St. Augustine, the first one founded in the Bronx. The complex included a church, the school, and an annex. The oldest building was St. Augustine’s Church, which opened in 1895 and was designed by noted architect Louis C. Giele. It closed in 2011, and was demolished in 2013. The school opened in 1906 to serve the growing population of the Bronx. It is a three-story Classical Revival brick structure with a stone base, and features a full-height projecting central bay at the main façade, capped by a classical pediment. This element is highlighted by glazed blue and white terra cotta sculptures. It was designed by architect J. O’Connor, whose work is also featured in the Fieldstone and Upper East Side Historic Districts. In 2011, St. Agustine School closed and the building became the Harriet Tubman Charter School. This institution, founded in 2004, has a focus on science and offers kindergarten through 8th grade education.
266 E 163rd St
1923, William E. Erb & Paul R. Henkel
By the end of the 19th-century, a sizeable Catholic population concentrated
in the Melrose area of The Bronx, which prompted the establishment of St. Luke’s Church in 1897 and SS. Peter and Paul in 1898. The following year, this property on 163rd St was purchased to create a third parish, for which Father Thomas W. Wallace was appointed as pastor. Since he had two sisters who were Ursuline nuns, the parish was named after the founder and patron saint of the order. The first church was a small wooden building which opened in 1900, with the rectory located on Morris Avenue between 162nd and 163rd Streets. The parish school was established in 1907 in a small parish hall on Grant Avenue. Plans for a new church and school were announced in 1920, with the school being completed first. The three-story brick structure features limestone trimming and carved ornamentation. It consisted of 22 classrooms, a gymnasium in the basement, and a large auditorium. Construction of the new church at the corner of Morris Avenue never materialized, and the school auditorium became the permanent church.
3053 Kingsbridge Ave
1908-14, Henry Vaughn
This congregation’s first church was a wooden structure that opened in 1857. After 50 years, they were able to begin construction of a new building, but it would take another six years to be completed. Nicknamed the “Little Cathedral of the Bronx, it was officially named Church of the Mediator in 1921. Designed by famed architect Henry Vaughan, this Gothic Revival structure rises approximately four stories in height, with a steep pitched roof. The main façade features a double-height pointed- arch stained-glass window, flanked by a pair of stone buttresses, beneath of which is the entrance with an enclosed porch. A stone tower rises at the northwestern corner of the building, with Gothic arched windows with wooden tracework. Vaughan’s work includes the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., as well as three Chapels of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, the Mother Church of the Diocese of New York. This is believed to be the only church where he included internal buttresses in the structure. Photo courtesy of the NY State Historic Preservation Office.
3033 Kingsbridge Ave
1907-09
The St. John’s parish was founded in the 1860s as a mission in Yonkers, and was later attached to the Jesuits of Fordham University. In 1870, they purchased this plot of land and built a small timber-framed church, formally establishing the parish in 1877. In the following decades, the church grew considerably, allowing for a new building to be erected in 1893.This Neo-Gothic structure was built a few years later, during Rev. Daniel O’Dwyer tenure as Pastor, and used part of the former building’s basement. It features buff brick with limestone accents, with a double-height stained-glass window set above three arched wooden entrance doors at the main façade. At the southwest corner there is a tall spire installed in 1966 as part of a large renovation project, which also reportedly removed some of the exterior ornamentation. Photo courtesy of the NY State Historic Preservation Office.
891 Home Ave
1909, Thompson & Frohling
Located in the Morrisania neighborhood, this small one-story brick structure was originally built for the Ebenezer Baptist The congregation purchased the land from Charlotte S. Church. Trowbridge, and hired the Manhattan-based architectural firm Thompson & Frohling to design this two-tone Gothic style building. Frohling was a Swedish-born architect who resided in the area, and would later become known for his design of Charleston, South Carolina’s first “skyscraper”, the People’s Building. The church features a semicircular apse at the corner of Home Street and Intervale Avenue, where the altar is located and is highlighted by a polygonal belltower. Both facades are identical, with three pointed-arch windows and a hipped roof with dormer windows. From the mid-1920s to the mid-1940s, the building hosted the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and the Immanuel Spanish Church. It was later used as a synagogue, by 1955 it was handed over to its current owner, the Mother Walls A.M.E. Zion Church. Directly across the street, at 1213 Intervale Ave, stands FDNY Engine 82/Ladder 31. The building was prominently featured in Dennis Smith’s 1972 book about firefighting in the South Bronx Report from Engine Co. 82.
1343 Fulton Ave
1896-97, J.W. Walter
This Gothic style two-story brick structure was originally built as the St. John’s German Lutheran Church. The congregation was founded in 1860 as the Deutsche Evangelische Lutherische St. Johannes Kirche, and initially met at a local beer saloon and social hall managed by Conrad Hubner, one of the founding members. Their first building was a wood frame structure on the north side of East 169 Street, dedicated in 1865. In 1893, they purchased this lot on Fulton Avenue for a new church building. The property also included two houses, one of which was renovated into a parish house, and the other as the parsonage. In 2010, the congregation disbanded and the building became Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ), an independent Nontrinitarian Christian church, founded in 1913 in the Phillipines.
1205 Washington Ave
Ca. 1850
Originally built by the Disciples Church, this brck structure became the First Presbyterian Church of Morrisania in 1865. The congregation had been organized in 1849, and was placed under the supervision of Reverend Arthur Potts, from New York, in 1865. Soon after, they were able to request recognition and began plans for a new church. Instead of building a new structure on existing lots in their possession, the congregation decided to sell the land to purchase and renovate this church on Washington Avenue. Upon learning of the efforts made by the son of their late Pastor, Rev. George Potts D.D, the congregation of the University Place Church in Manhattan made a donation of $9,000 ($167K today) to help with the repairs. This included the addition of a new spire, a bell, and changes on the finish both of the exterior and interior. The church’s name was changed to “Potts Memorial Presbyterian Church”, as a tribute to their Pastor. In 1967, the building was purchased by the Evangelical Church of God.
1198 Franklin Ave
1894, Michael J. Garvin
During the late-19th century, Franklin Avenue was one of the most prominent residential streets in Morrisania. The area was once part of the Bathgate Estate, which in 1888 was developed to create the Crotona Park. Many mansions were built on the surrounding streets, although almost none of them survive today. This Queen Anne three-story structure was designed by noted American architect and Bronx resident Michael J. Garvin. A graduate of Manhattan College, Garvin served as the first Building Commissioner of the borough from 1897 to 1903, and its first Under Sheriff. His prolific career coincided with the borough’s growth at the turn of the 20th century, and he was best known as the architect of record for the Bronx Borough Courthouse, the Haffen Building and the Fire House, Hook and Ladder 17, all designated as a NYC Landmarks. He also had to face a series of controversies surrounding the authorship of his work and political influences. The house is set back from Franklin Ave, with a large front yard framed by a stone wall with an iron picket fence. It features a tower at the southwest corner, capped by a conical roof and weathervane, and a mansard roof with dormer windows. The main façade has a porch with a front facing gable and decorative spindlework. The first residents were Conrad Müller and his family, who had emigrated in 1872 from Switzerland. He was a steam engineer, and lived at the house until the 1930s with his youngest son Frederick, a teacher, and his wife. The house would later become a multi-family residence.
1300 Southern Blvd.
Ca. 1920
El Maestro Inc. is a community organization focused on the social and cultural development of the Puerto Rican, Latin American, and Caribbean community of the South Bronx. Through sports and cultural activities and programs, the organization provides support to people of all ages and advocates for improving their quality of life. The center first opened as a boxing gym in 2003 by Fernando “Ponce” Laspina, an aspiring boxer who was sent to prison before he could start training. After Ponce’s release, he became involved in education and social justice, and by 1987 he had received a Master’s Degree and was a lecturer at Hostos University. While working for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), Ponce was hired as director of an afterschool boxing initiative in 1997. The success of this program motivated him to create his own, and in 2003 he rented a space at Elton Avenue and 156th St. Ponce chose the name El Maestro in honor of Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos, the first Puerto Rican to graduate from Harvard University. Over the years, rent increases have forced the club to relocate to smaller venues. Their latest efforts have been focused on purchasing the two- story commercial building they currently occupy at Southern Boulevard. This, however, has not hindered the growth of the club’s cultural work, expanding their scope of work to community engagement and education. El Maestro has become a stabilizing institution, helping to preserve and revitalize the local community. Photos: (top) exterior view of El Maestro. (bottom) Training session, courtesy of Place Matters.
749 Brook Ave
Ca. 1970 original
Casitas are inspired by vernacular housing from Puerto Rico’s countryside. The typology originated during the 1920s and 30s, and consisted in balloon-frame structures that were made from scrap materials and were easy to disassemble. Casita Rincón Criollo, also known known as La Casita de Chema, was built in the late 1970s by José Manuel “Chema” Soto, when he and his neighbors reclaimed an abandoned, garbage-filled lot on the corner of 158th Street and Brook Avenue. It soon became a place to gather, garden, hold community events and pass down musical and cultural traditions. From 1987 to 1997, La Casita de Chema was part of the city’s GreenThumb community garden program, until the City’s Department of Housing, Preservation and Development (HPD) announced the lot would be auctioned for the development of low- income housing. Thanks to the efforts of community organizations, the structure was reassembled on its current location at Brook Avenue. This new iteration, although smaller than its predecessor, maintained the same layout, with a large front porch adorned by a diagonal cross balaustrade. The lot was also replanted with fruit trees and gardens of flowers and vegetables. La Casita is managed by community members, and welcomes people of all ages, becoming a powerful tool for community organizing and activism. It was listed on the State Register in 2023, and is being considered for the National Register of Historic Places.
681 Kelly St
1915, C.B. J. Snyder
Built during C.B. J. Snyder’s tenure Superintendent of School this five-story Buildings, Collegiate Gothic brick structure was originally P.S. 52, and is almost identical to P.S. 179 in Kensington, Brooklyn. Besides its remarkable the young architectural features, school became a hub for musicians during the 1950s. At the time, a group of local alumni needed a rehearsal space for their new band, and found the school auditorium to be an ideal place to practice in, as it had a piano and could accommodate the sound of trumpets. In exchange, they played for free at Friday night dances. Band members included Eddie Palmieri, Orlando Marín, and Joe Quijano, who would later become famed figures in Latin music. They alternated performances with Gilbert Maldonado’s band from the Bronx Vocational High School, and featured musicians like Johnny Pacheco and Barry Rogers. The experience gained through these performances allowed them to build up audiences, and eventually play at larger venues like Hunts Point Palace. The school became an incubator for new talent, constantly exposing local children to all aspects of music through the school band and frequent dances. Other noted P.S. 52 alumni in Latin music include Charlie Palmieri, Hector Rivera, Ray Barretto, and Manny Oquendo. Photo courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives.
Kelly St bet, Av St John and Leggett Av
1958
This playground in Longwood is named after the advocacy group “52 People for Progress”. The group was organized in 1980, and was one of the first to collaborate with the Parks Departments to help revitalize and maintain their neighborhood park. Built in 1958 as a school playground for P.S. 52, it had a wading pool, basketball courts, and a comfort station. During the social and economic crisis of the 1970s, the park and its structures deteriorated, causing concern among residents. This prompted the creation of 52PFP, who volunteered to rehabilitate the park. The site was transferred to the Parks Department in 1986, and in 2017 it underwent extensive renovations. An adjacent parcel of land was also purchased to add basketball courts to the playground. In 1990, the playground was rededicated to commemorate the contribution made by 52 People for Progress. Photo courtesy of NYC Parks.
1000 Morris Ave
1927
Operated by the Consolidated Amusement Company, the former Fleetwood Theatre opened in 1927 with a 1,600-seat capacity. In 1940, the company had a total of 22 locations in Manhattan and The Bronx, but soon began to withdraw from the film industry. In 1941, they announced the leasing of 18 of their venues to J. J. Theaters Inc. for a 25-year period, including the Fleetwood. Renovation work was done in 1945 by architect Julius Bleich, and in 1953 the theatre and adjacent stores were sold. The theater closed in 1958, and two years later it was purchased by Seymour M. Tannenbaum to be converted into a bowling center. It later housed a Fedco Foods store, a company owned by prominent African-American businessman J. Bruce Llewellyn in the late 1960s. Over the years it maintained its commercial use, with the upper floors most recently occupied by a church. The interior has been mostly gutted, but the façade maintains its ornamental brickwork, terra cotta pilasters and classical pediment. Photo courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archive.
421 E 161 St
1916-21, Schaefer & Lavelle
Plans for the construction of the Melrose Theater were first announced in 1916, but the onset of World War I caused most construction projects to be put on hold, then delayed due to increased costs over the following years. It was finally completed in 1921. Conceived as a movie theater with a capacity for 1,100 people with a roof garden, it featured a symmetric façade with two entrances marked by pilasters and intricate carved classical ornaments. Designed by local architect Charles Schaefer Jr. and Swiss-born architect Paul La Velle, the theater is the pair’s only known collaboration, after which La Velle relocated to White Plains, while Schaefer continued his career designing buildings in The Bronx and Manhattan. In the 1940s, the theatre was converted into the Embassy Ballroom, which became one of the most important venues for the Latin music movement, hosting legends like Tito Puente and Celia Cruz. It is one of the last remaining examples of the borough’s Latin clubs. Most recently, the building served as a day care center.
436 E 149th St
1913, George Keister
The Bronx Opera House was conceived by noted Broadway producer George M. Cohan and his partner Sam Harris, as a sister theater to the old Grand Opera House on Eighth Avenue. This new venue was a combination theatre, meaning it would host touring theater companies which performed singular plays. It offered Broadway plays at popular prices, becoming one of the most successful theaters in The Bronx. The Italian Renaissance Revival building was designed by famous theater architect George Keister, responsible for the Apollo, Belasco and Selwyn, among others. With an exterior of brick, limestone and terra cotta, it had a seating capacity of 1,900 people on three levels. Over the years, the theater hosted vaudeville shows and movies, but lost its license in the 1940s. It regained notoriety as a Latin music hub during the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and was purchased in the 1980s by a Pentecostal church. In 2010, plans began for a conversion into a boutique hotel, which opened in 2013 as The Opera House Hotel. The original façade, lobby and restaurant space were connected to a new structure built on the site of the auditorium, which had been demolished years before. It was designated as an NYC Landmark in 2023.
2640 3rd Ave
1897, J.B. McElfatrick & Sons
Conceived as a live performance venue, the Metropolis was one of the first theaters built in The Bronx, and praised for its ornamented design by leading theater architects J.B. McElfatrick & Sons. The arch separating the stage from the auditorium was adorned with a scene from the opera Don Giovanni, which was Isaid to have been exhibited at the Paris Salon. It also included a roof garden, offices, and the basement was reported to have had a bar and restaurant. Despite the booming theatre scene in The Bronx and across New York at the turn of the century, the Metropolis was not a financial success. During the next decades it underwent a series of changes in management, and was adapted to host vaudeville, films, Italian stage shows, and finally burlesque. The theater was eventually shut down by the police in 1926, and was purchased by Loew’s in 1929 for use as a warehouse. It was partially demolished in the 1940s, leaving only a portion of the building that includes the façade along Third Avenue. It was listed on the National Register in 1980 as part of the Mott Haven Historic District, which expanded the boundaries of the 1969 local designation.
The Bronx Park East Community Association is located in the Allerton section of the Bronx and works to highlight and bring awareness to the historic treasures of the neighborhood, including The Coops, a pioneering example of 1920s non-profit workers’ cooperative housing built by the United Workers Association.
HDC will work with the Bronx Park East Community Association to highlight and bring awareness to the neighborhood’s architectural and cultural history, including The Coops.
3021 Grand Concourse
1898-99 church & rectory
1948 school
The Church of St. Philip Neri was established in 1898 by Rev. Daniel Burke, for the Italian laborers who were constructing the nearby Jerome Park Reservoir. This Neo Gothic structure has a cruciform plan, and was built with stone quarried from the reservoir by the parishioners themselves, hauled to the church site after work. The rectory is located north of the church, a three-story structure also in Neo-Gothic style.
In 1912 a fire destroyed the altar, but the stained-glass window in the rear and several pieces of statuary were saved. Eighty-five years later, another major fire devastated the century-old church, burning the slate roof and gutting the sanctuary. After several years of reconstruction, it was dedicated in 2002.
Adjacent to the rectory is the St. Philip Neri Elementary School, founded in 1913 by the Ursuline Sisters. The school building dates from 1948, and it’s a long, rectangular three-story brick structure with two projecting Gothic Revival style entrances on the Grand Concourse elevation: a three-story stone-clad entry pavilion with engaged towers suggesting it’s the primary entry, and a secondary entry clad in brick featuring a tall vertical window suggesting a stair hall.
HDC will support Friends of Mosholu Parkland work to create a Master Plan for Mosholu Parkway to improve the quality of life for the local communities, including Bedford Park and Norwood. We will also assist in their preservation efforts for sites including The Bronx Victory Memorial and Frank Frisch Field.
HDC will support the Garifuna Coalition USA, Inc., an organization representing a culturally differentiated Afro-indigenous community who began migrating to New York City in the 1930s, in their efforts to be more effective in their strategy to identify the historic resources in their community and promote the community’s significance.
Located in the East section of The Bronx, Van Nest started developing as a family community by the 1890s. Much of its architecture is in the Queen Anne, Italianate, and Art Deco styles and includes brick construction from the 1950s, and a few tenements. Richard Vitacco, leader of the East Bronx History Forum, will work with HDC to promote the overlooked, architecturally significant buildings of the neighborhood.
Parkchester is an extraordinary complex of more than 50 buildings, located on 129 acres of land, three-quarters of which is left to open space. This pioneering housing development influenced mid-twentieth-century thinking on the planning and design of large apartment complexes and is considered a model of good high-density housing. Parkchester features an extraordinary collection of terra cotta details and public sculptures designed by leading artists. In 1978, the Landmarks Preservation Commission conducted a Bronx survey that recommended the designation of Parkchester as a historic district. More than 40 years later, that designation has yet to happen. HDC will continue working with HDC Board Director Susan Tunick and Sharon Pandolfo of The Parkchester Project. The Parkchester Project aims to save the historic character of Parkchester and advocate for its landmark designation.
27 East 187th Street
1915-17
Anthony F.A. Schmitt
This beautifully preserved Romanesque Revival church, built for a parish founded in 1906, is the spiritual heart of the Belmont community. The twin-towered church has a triple portal, a great wheel window, and superb brickwork. Italian Catholic congregations typically built their churches in either Romanesque or classical styles, as opposed to Gothic, which they associated with Irish churches where Italian immigrants often found a frosty welcome.
The architect of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Anthony F.A. Schmitt, was a Roman Catholic architect with such credits as Holy Redeemer College (1934) in Washington, D.C., the Church of St. Pius V (1906-07) in Mott Haven, and Immaculate Conception School (1901) on Melrose Avenue and 151st Street.
The name “Our Lady of Mount Carmel”–shared by well-known churches in East Harlem and in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, as well as by the great shrine in Rosebank, Staten Island– refers to the 13th-century appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Simon Stock in Cambridge, England. She bestowed upon him the scapular (a devotional artifact in the form of a cloth pendant) of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. In the Old Testament, Elijah lived in a grotto in Mount Carmel in present-day Israel. In the 12th century, the Carmelite Order was founded there.
This block of 187th Street is one of the finest in Belmont. The sidewalks are wide on both sides of the street, the tenement buildings with stores in their bases are beautifully scaled to the street, there are plenty of street trees, and the church lends its special excitement. When one imagines a young Dion DiMucci singing a cappella on the corner near the church, a whole slice of New York’s rich ethnic past comes vibrantly to mind.
Photo by Hugo L. Gonzalez.
Adams Place & East 183rd Street
This irregularly shaped open space, bounded by Crescent Avenue, 183rd Street, Adams Place, and Arthur Avenue, was created in 1918 and named for John D’Auria and Henry Murphy, two young men from the neighborhood who lost their lives in World War I. Within the “triangle” is a large bust of Christopher Columbus, executed in marble ca. 1926 by the famous Bronx-based stone-carver and sculptor Attilio Piccirilli. It was originally placed in front of P.S. 45 at Bathgate Avenue and Lorillard Place, and moved to D’Auria-Murphy Triangle in 1992.
Across Arthur Avenue to the west is St. Barnabas Hospital (now known as SBH Health System). The hospital site was originally the estate of Jacob Lorillard (1774-1839). Jacob’s descendants deeded the land in 1874 to the Home for Incurables, and Jacob’s mansion served as a doctors’ residence until it was demolished in 1932. In 1947 the Home for Incurables changed its name to St. Barnabas Hospital.
This is the southern gateway to the main commercial section of Arthur Avenue. Across Crescent Avenue from D’Auria-Murphy Triangle, Prince Coffee Shop offers a generous sidewalk café, bordered by mature street trees, a surpassingly urbane segue to the bustle of Arthur Avenue.
Photo courtesy of NYC Park Department.
500 East Fordham Road
1929
William H. Gompert
This stately block-long building, with its distyle-in-antis portico, raises its distinctive cupola over Fordham Road. The architect, William H. Gompert (1875-1946), succeeded the long-serving C.B.J. Snyder as the New York City Board of Education architect in 1923, and served until 1927, though several of his designs, including Theodore Roosevelt High School, were not completed until after he had resigned. (A school designed by Snyder may be seen nearby: P.S. 32, at Belmont Avenue and 182nd Street, was built in 1900.)
Gompert, a New York City native, attended Pratt Institute and worked for McKim, Mead & White and for Maynicke & Franke before forming his own firm in 1906. He designed some 170 schools in the five boroughs, including the High School of Music and Art (1924) on West 135th Street, DeWitt Clinton High School (1929) in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx, James Madison High School (1926) at 3787 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, Jamaica High School (1927) in Jamaica, Queens, Seward Park High School (1929) on Grand Street in the Lower East Side, and, possibly his masterpiece, P.S. 101 (1929) in Forest Hills Gardens.
Notable alumni of Theodore Roosevelt High School include June Allyson, once one of the most popular movie stars in the world; Rocky Colavito, the slugging right-fielder who in his major league baseball career appeared in nine All-Star Games; Ace Frehley, lead guitarist of the rock band Kiss, and Jimmie “J.J.” Walker, comedian and star of the 1970s TV show Good Times. Perhaps most notable among the school’s alumni is Chazz Palminteri (b. 1952). Palminteri’s one-man play, A Bronx Tale, premiered off-Broadway in 1989 and is set in Belmont. In 1993, Robert De Niro adapted the play into a movie and a musical version, directed by De Niro, ran on Broadway from 2016 to 2018.
Photo courtesy of NYCago.
685 East 182nd St.
1940
Eggers & Higgins
This Roman Catholic girls’ high school was established in 1939. The inventive, complexly massed U-shaped building, Romanesque in style, greets the street with strong apsidal forms attached to wings that project from a recessed central section designed to resemble a Medieval cloister. The architects Otto Eggers and Daniel Higgins had just succeeded to the practice of their late employer, John Russell Pope, and were contemporaneously at work putting the finishing touches on the National Gallery of Art and the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Photo courtesy of Aquinas High School.
441 East Fordham Road
1997
Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson & Abbott
The main library of Fordham University houses the fine Fordham Museum of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Art, comprising the collection of William D. Walsh, who majored in Greek and Latin at Fordham before embarking upon a career in law, finance, and collecting. The museum is an excellent starting point for an afternoon’s stroll through Belmont.
3051 East Tremont Avenue
ca. 1880
This prominently sited brick church, designed in the High Victorian Gothic style, boasts a distinct steeple that can be seen from blocks away. Notably, Crow Hill, on which the church sits, was the site to which General William Howe and his troops retreated after being repulsed by American forces as they attempted to cross Westchester Creek. The use of polychromatic materials, such as the contrasting white stone trim and red brick, as well as the incorporation of banded arches into the facade, is emblematic of High Victorian Gothic architecture. The First Presbyterian Church of Throggs Neck was organized in the 1850s, and during the Civil War, church parishioners offered bowls of soup to soldiers passing through Throggs Neck via train so that they would not be tempted to visit nearby taverns. The congregation’s first structure burned down in 1870, and the date of current church is unknown, although some estimates date it to around 1880.
Commerce Avenue
In use: 1700s – 1914
John Ferris, one of the five original recipients of the 1667 patent for the Township of Westchester, included provisions for a family burial ground in his 1717 will. The Ferris family used and maintained the cemetery for almost another two centuries until Charles Ferris passed away in 1908, leaving two vaults and around thirty gravestones to decay in an increasingly industrial setting. In 1928, the Benjamin Ferris family vault was vandalized and desecrated, prompting reinterment of almost half the bodies to Kenisco Cemetery in Westchester County. Through the ensuing decades, the cemetery has seen both periodic neglect and restoration, including the installation of a new fence in the early 2000s. Notable members of the Ferris family include James Ferris, who survived a stay on a British prison ship during the Revolutionary War and his wife, Charity Ferris, who purportedly housed British Admiral Richard Howe and transmitted strategically significant conversations to General George Washington. Whereas much of the Westchester Square was once farmlands of the Ferris family, nearby Ferris Place is the only surviving reminder in The Bronx of one of the borough’s earliest settlers.
9 Westchester Square
1882-83, Frederick Clarke Withers; Addition, 1890-92, William Anderson
The Huntington Free Library and Reading Room is one of the earliest instituions on Westchester Square and was the first library building in this part of The Bronx. The original building was designed by Frederick Clarke Withers and completed in 1883. Born and educated in England, Withers became known for his Victorian Gothic designs, epitomized by his 1874 Jefferson Market Courthouse in Greenwich Village. Commissioned by the executors of the estate of tobacco merchant Peter C. Van Shaick, who left $15,000 for the construction of a free reading room for Westchester and in honor of his wife, Anna Mitchell Van Shaick, who died in 1876. The building sat vacant after the town government refused to accept the gift due to its limited endowment. In 1890, Collis Potter Huntington, a railroad magnate with a summer home in nearby Throggs Neck purchased the building, expanded it, and endowed it with funds to cover its operating expenses. The building is entered through an arched doorway set within a one-bay tower, which features a terra cotta plaque and rondels that commemorate Huntington’s donation. The Huntington Free Library was designated as a NYC Individual Landmark in 1994 as the “Van Shaick Free Reading Room / Huntington Free Library and Reading Room”.
12 Westchester Square
1942
Cross & Cross
Originally a Federal Revival style building, in 1940 architects Cross & Cross updated the structure to relfect the latest architectural fashion of the time. The architects employed stylized classical elements such as a sawtoothed balustrade and fluted pilasters which flank the entrance in a Streamline Moderne expression. A integral clock adorns the facade, with gemoetric shapes in place of numbers set within carved ribbing. This edifice still features its original name — The Bronx Savings Bank — carved into stone beneath the contemporary Apple Bank for Savings signage that currently exists. A local banking institution, The Bronx Savings Bank operated from 1905 until 1974, which branches throughout The Bronx and Westchester County.Cross & Cross were a prolific firm who designed many distinguished Art Deco skyscrapers such as the General Electric Building, Twenty Exchange Place and 90 Church Street, all in Manhattan.
2555 Tratman Avenue
1966; 1910 Annex
Although its current home was constructed in 1966, Public School 12’s history stretches back to include at least three buildings in the vicinity of Westchester Square. The first PS 12, replete with a spire-topped tower, was completed in 1886 and stood at the current site of the playground on Frisby Avenue. A later addition to the original structure, built around 1910, was designed in the Renaissance Revival style and still stands as an office annex connected to the four-story, yellow-brick Modern style classroom building, built in 1966. This building was the city’s first school building purpose-built for the specialized education of students with behavioral issues. This building is divided into two architectural components: the corner portion, which features minimal fenestration, blank brick walls, and the school entrance; and the classroom wing, with the upper three stories characterized by contrasting bands of windows and panels. Interestingly, one of PS 12’s most beloved and longest-serving principals, Dr. John Condon, made headlines in 1932 as the designated intermediary between Charles Lindbergh and the kidnappers of his child.
2626 East Tremont Avenue
ca. 1912
This three-bay, three-story building features a limestone facade and pedimented entryway. The building was originally constructed as the Wyoming Masonic Temple to host the local Wyoming Lodge of the Free & Accepted Masons (“Freemasons”). Legend holds that as a Westchester Lodge already existed, members selected the name “Wyoming” after randomly pulling a bank note issued by the Pennsylvania-based Bank of Wyoming. While the exact date of construction is unknown, the Wyoming Masonic Temple is referenced as a venue for Freemasons as early as 1912. Historic photographs demonstrate that while the Freemasons consistently occupied the upper floors of the building, the ground floor space was rented to a range of tenants over the years. With international roots that stretch back centuries, the Free & Accepted Masons is a fraternal organization that focuses on civic engagement, which is demonstrated by the variety of community events advertised at the Wyoming Masonic Temple over its long history. Of the seven masonic temples that originally served The Bronx, six remain standing. Only the City Island Temple retains its original function, housing the Wyoming Lodge along with the three other lodges currently active in the borough.
44 Westchester Square
ca. 1921
Known locally as “The White Elephant,” this three-story white brick structure stretches the entire length of a prominent block. The monochrome brick is complemented by a striking variety of multicolored glazed terra cotta, including a band above the first floor retail fenestration and diamond patterning that covers the entirety of the facade above the building’s main entrance. Interestingly, the central archway, now occupied by a retail storefront, once opened inward to feature a round arched hallway lined with tilework. Although this structure never served as a theater, one may infer the building’s intended use from the terra-cotta detailing, which includes representations of theatrical masks and instruments. The White Elephant has hosted a variety of tenants over its long history, including cafes, realtors and an office of The Bronx Gas & Electric Company.
Lane Avenue & Westchester Square
1925, John Oakman
Dedicated in 1925 and relocated to this spot in the early 1940s, this fifteen-foot-high pink granite monument was donated by the “people of Westchester” to honor local residents who served in World War I. This monument takes the form of a pylon: It is rectangular in plan, grounded on a plinth and tapering in tiers to culminate with a cornice. The memorial carries the inscription: “To perpetuate in grateful remembrance the sacrifice, heroism, and devotion of the men and women of the old town of Westchester who in the World War answered the call of their country that justice and righteousness should not perish.” Along with listing the names of soldiers who died in the war, the monument carries the names of the battles in which they perished, including the Battles of Cambrai, the Somme, and Vittorio Veneto, among others. Owen F. Dolen, a local educator who led the six-year initiative to construct the monument, gave a twenty-five minute speech at its dedication ceremony before suddenly dying of a heart attack minutes later. This monument is one of 103 memorials in New York City parks dedicated to those that served in World War I.
2551 Westchester Avenue
Park: 1907; Recreation Center: 1927; Alterations: 1983, John Ciardullo
Acquired by the city through two purchases in 1907 and 1909, this park was known as Westchester Square until 1925, when it was renamed after Owen Dolen, a local educator who died after speaking at the dedication ceremony for the park’s World War I monument. Benson Street divided the two parcels of this park until 1993, at which point a portion of the street was closed and replaced with vegetation that expanded the footprint of the park. The recreation center, built in 1927, was initially designed to serve as the park’s comfort station before being converted to a branch of the New York Public Library in the 1930s. Designed with elements of the Spanish Revival style, the recreation center consists of a two-story, five-bay central building and two three-bay, one-story wings, all of which are characterized by large round arch windows and entryways. In 1982, the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation hired John Ciardullo Associates to redesign the building for use as the Owen Dolen Golden Age Center, which included a new entryway with a triangular facade built of architectural concrete, as well as ample space for programming serving senior citizens.
Photo courtesy of NYC Municipal Archive.
2551 Westchester Avenue
Owen F. Dolen Park
1987, David Saunders
David Saunders designed this bronze sculpture, sited on a base of engraved Stony Creek granite. Dedicated in 1987, it references 19th century monuments that often featured a seated figure. Seat encourages viewers to consider themselves in the chair and is thus a monument to everyone. Beneath the chair rests a dictionary open to a plate depicting the “Common Birds of America”, while the granite boulder itself is engraved with imagery of a wild boar with her four piglets on the sides. Commissioned by the Public Art Fund, Seat was the winner of the New York City Art Commission’s 1985 Excellence in Design Award. David Saunders, a native New Yorker, has completed public sculptures displayed both elsewhere in The Bronx and abroad and has work featured at the Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others.
East Tremont Ave. & Westchester Ave.
1920
Squire J. Vickers
Completed in 1920 as part of the Dual Contracts subway system expansion, the Westchester Square — East Tremont Avenue station sits on the Interborough Rapid Transit Company’s Pelham Line, which stretches from the South Bronx to Pelham Bay Park. Westchester Square had retained the feel of a rural village center until the arrival of the subway, upon which the area rapidly developed into a residential commuter community with a variety of housing stock. A 1916 Public Service Commission report on the plans for the Pelham Line outlines the construction of three ornamental concrete stations, including one at Westchester Square, as well as a fixed bridge spanning The Bronx River and New Haven Railroad right of way. This elevated station consists of a steel frame structure and concrete facade, with a stair tower on the western side decorated with inlays of blue, green and orange ceramic tiles arranged in geometric patterns. Squire Vickers, who designed a majority of stations constructed as part of the Dual Contracts and Independent Subway Systems, was known for his utilitarian spaces complemented by colorful tilework. The interiors of the station mezzanine and stair tower were renovated in 1993 to include new terrazzo floors, ceramic wall tiles, glass block openings and a new stained glass window titled City of Light and designed by Romare Bearden. The Westchester Square — East Tremont Avenue station is listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places.
East Tremont Ave. & Westchester Ave.
1993
Romare Bearden
This three-paneled glass installation, also known as a triptych, greets commuters as they ascend the first flight of stairs at the elevated Westchester Square/East Tremont Avenue station. The colored glass vividly portrays a city skyline with a black subway train threading through the buildings. The artist, Romare Bearden, was a social worker in New York CIty for three decades who produced art in his free time, experimenting with a variety of mediums but primarily known for his collages. His only work in glass, City of Light was initially executed as a collage maquette before Bearden submitted his proposal to the MTA in 1983. Although Bearden died in 1988, glass fabricators Benoit Gilsoul and Helmut Schardt faithfully followed the artist’s sketches to produce the work that now graces the subway station stairway. This work was funded through the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Percent for Art program, which has competitively selected over 300 artists to produce permanent works throughout the agency’s properties since the 1980s.
LGBTQ
2847 Dudley Avenue, The Bronx
ca. 1923
Jorgensen Realty and Construction Co.
Christine Jorgensen (1926-89) was a transgender woman who famously underwent gender reassignment surgery in 1951-53, becoming the first person in the United States to be widely known for doing so. Upon returning home from Denmark, where the surgery was performed, she was mobbed by reporters both at Idlewild (now John F. Kennedy) Airport and at her childhood home in The Bronx, and became a household name. Jorgensen used her fame to advocate for transgender rights and saw herself as being at the forefront of the sexual revolution. Her story encouraged others to question gender as a set binary and was largely responsible for bringing the word “transsexual” into the American vocabulary. After her surgery, she became a well-known actress and singer into the 1960s and published an autobiography entitled “Christine Jorgensen: A Personal Autobiography” in 1967. Jorgensen’s childhood home was built by her father’s construction company and still stands today as a reminder of Jorgensen’s legacy and contribution to trans history.
Photo by Christopher D. Brazee/NYC LGBTQ Historic Sites Project.
LATINO
2474 Westchester Avenue, The Bronx
1867-68, Leopold Eidlitz
The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD!) was founded in 1998 “[for] women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community to have a physical space in The Bronx to experience and/or create dance, theater, visual art, written work, and performance that is empowering to them free from the prejudices of society,” as described in BAAD!’s vision statement. Its founders are Arthur Aviles, a renowned dancer and choreographer, and Charles Rice-Gonzalez, a writer and activist. At the time of BAAD!’s founding, its mission to provide a safe and welcoming environment for LGBTQ artists and artists of color was an extraordinary social advancement since the foundations of gay rights were still fragile in the late 1990’s. The academy continues to be a progressive force for good in The Bronx and beyond. Originally located in a south Bronx community center, BAAD! rented space in the American Bank Note Company Printing Plant in Hunts Point before moving in 2013 to its present location in the chapel of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Westchester Square. This part of The Bronx was once the town of Westchester, the county seat of Westchester County, which was formed in 1683. The Victorian Gothic-style chapel, designed by a former apprentice to Richard Upjohn (architect of Trinity Church in Manhattan), stands on the site of the town’s old courthouse. More information about St. Peter’s Episcopal Church is available in our 2018 Westchester Square guidebook. BAAD! is an Individual Landmark and listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places.
2500 Westchester Avenue
Church: 1855, Chapel: 1868, Leopold Eidlitz; Cemetery: ca. 1750s
Founded in 1693, the parish of Saint Peter’s saw its first church completed in 1700 with funds collected through a tax on residents in the towns of Westchester, Eastchester, and Yonkers, along with the manor of Pelham. The Gothic church standing today was completed in 1855, and was designed by Leopold Eidlitz, who had recently completed St. George’s Church in Stuyvesant Square, Manhattan. Rough-cut beige stone is utilized throughout the facade, including the archways and frames. Key features include a four-sided spire with clock faces and the entrance steps’ marble walls with Gothic carvings. The church’s cemetery, which contains graves dating to the 1750’s, includes both modest headstones and elaborate tombs and serves as the final resting place of soldiers killed during the Revolutionary War. The Chapel was also designed by Eidlitz following the same Gothic style, and was completed in 1868. It has served as the home of The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD!) since 2013. For more information on BAAD!, see HDC’s 2018 Cultural Landmarks guidebook St. Peter’s Church is a NYC Individual Landmark.
48-01 90th Street
1900 by Boring & Tilton
1921 by C.B.J. Snyder
1931 by Walter C. Martin
1958 by Maurice Salo & Associated
One of Elmhurst’s and Queens’ most prominent buildings, the Newtown High School is the result of several building campaigns, which began with the construction of a small, wooden school house in1866 to serve children from the Village of Newtown and the surrounding farms.
The school’s first expansion took place in 1898-1900, when a much larger, brick building, designed by the architectural firm Boring & Tilton, was added to the site. It was renamed the Newtown High School in 1910, after the lower grades were moved out.
As Elmhurst’s population grew in the early twentieth century, Newtown High School needed to expand. Plans began in 1917 for an addition to be designed by C.B.J. Snyder, the noted Superintendent of School Buildings for the Board of Education, but the First World War delayed construction until 1920. The new impressive Flemish Renaissance Revival-style wing was opened in 1921, featuring stepped gables and a dramatic 169-foot, centrally-placed tower topped by a cupola and turrets.
Two Flemish Renaissance Revival-style wings designed by Walter C. Martin were constructed in 1930-1931, and the Boring & Tilton’s turn-of-the-century wing was replaced by an International Style addition in 1956-1958, designed by the Manhattan architectural firm Maurice Salo & Associates.The remarkably intact Newtown High School now serves a diverse body of 4,500 students and employs more than 200 teachers. Newtown High School is a New York City Individual Landmarks and listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places.
Photo by Jim Henderson
87-37 Whitney Avenue
1902-1903
A. F. Leicht
Before the Civil War, there was a Baptist Chapel at Queens Boulevard, but the congregation eventually disbanded. In 1900, a series of cottage prayer meetings resulted in the organization of a new congregation, who started a fundraising campaign to build a church after Cord Meyer donated a plot of land. Since the site was located in the midst of the new upper- class Elmhurst community, the congregation was anxious to build a structure that would be an ornament and an asset to the neighborhood.
Designed by the church architect A. F. Leicht, the plans called for a stone building with an octagonal interior and a concave ceiling finished in hardwoods with a seating capacity of 500. The cornerstone was laid on July 1902 and the congregation moved into the building in 1903. The formal dedication ceremony took place in the summer of that same year.
Photo by Jim Henderson
Filled with green space, picturesque churches and remarkable historic streetscapes, The Bronx has long been one of New York City’s hidden treasures. In the face of the massive development pressure sweeping across the city, the Historic Districts Council has gathered residents and activists from across The Bronx to create a coalition focused on promoting and preserving historic buildings and neighborhoods throughout the borough. Together, we will be able to better mobilize against inappropriate development and work to protect what makes The Bronx unique.
2403 Third Avenue
sections c. 1860s; main building: Babcock & McAvoy,1882; expanded c. 1890s
Jordan L. Mott, inventor of the first coalfired cooking stove, established his first iron works in Lower Manhattan in 1828. After he purchased a large tract in the Bronx in 1841 to create the hamlet of Mott Haven, he moved his manufacturing operation to a choice location on the Harlem River between the Third Avenue bridge and the newly opened New York and Harlem Railroad line. The earliest buildings were of wood frame construction and burned down at least twice. Mott kept rebuilding and the oldest surviving parts of the complex, the twin gabled-ended sheds in the northwest corner, likely date to the 1860s. The much larger five-story brick buildings were built a couple decades later, at the beginning of the neighborhood’s transit-sparked boom. The long and narrow structure has a narrow decorative façade on Third Avenue and patterned brickwork spelling out “The J. L. Mott Iron Works” on the facade facing the river. As it grew, the company expanded its product line, producing a whole range of household goods such as tubs and sinks, as well as decorative work like fountains and fences. Many drain and manhole covers in the neighborhood still bear the foundry stamp of the J. L. Mott Iron Works. In 1902 the company announced it was moving to Trenton, NJ. Mott Haven, now the dense neighborhood originally envisioned by Jordan Mott, apparently no longer had open space for the works to expand. Today the buildings house a variety of commercial tenants.
1925 and 1981-85, respectively
In the early 20th century, the City owned all but four acres of Hart Island. Those four acres on the southern tip of the island belonged to John Hunter, a member of the same family that sold the larger portions of the island to the City in 1868. Hunter offered to sell the four acres to the City in 1922, but the City passed on the offer, so he sold the acres to Solomon Riley, a millionaire and Harlem developer, for $35,000 in 1924. Riley announced plans in 1925 to open an amusement park on Hart Island for Harlem blacks, who were not permitted to visit amusement parks in nearby Rye and Dobbs Ferry. The planned amusement park became known as “Negro Coney Island.” According to The New York Times, “Mr. Riley’s workers constructed a dance hall, eight boardinghouses, and a 200-foot boardwalk, and converted an old ice boat into a bathing pavilion. In June, Mr. Riley announced plans to buy a fleet of 60 motorboats to ferry customers from the mainland. Corrections officials cringed, suddenly afraid that the park would invite escape attempts, smuggling and unrest among the prison population…” So, to prevent Riley from progressing further, the City acquired the property by condemnation and purchased it from him for $144,000. The City then demolished the buildings and used the land for a sewage treatment facility. The location later became the burial site for sixteen AIDS victims who died in 1985.
Image ©2017 Alon Sicherman l-vision courtesy The Hart Island Project
date unknown
The first burial on Hart Island was that of Louisa Van Slyke, who died at age 24 from tuberculosis. In the 20th century, this building housed tubercular and chronically-ill patients. Starting in 1950, it was used to house homeless men suffering from alcohol addiction. The Committee on Alcoholism of the City’s Welfare and Health Council set up a clinic to provide physical and mental rehabilitation as an alternative to multiple short stays for disorderly conduct on Rikers Island. The clinic had space for 2,000 patients plus medical staff. In 1952, the City set up a court for alcoholics on Rikers Island and sentenced men to undergo treatment for one to six months on Hart Island. From 1967 to 1976, the building was used by Phoenix House for drug treatment under the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Judges could commit addicts to medical treatment on Hart Island for up to five years. A phoenix can be seen painted on the side of the building. Phoenix House was ordered to vacate Hart Island in 1976 after ferry service was reduced during the city’s fiscal crisis.
Image ©2018-Greg Gulbransen courtesy The Hart Island Project
c. early 20th century
Early in the 20th century, these red-brick buildings replaced the Civil War-era barracks where workhouse inmates resided. The buildings were designed without bars, offering an alternative approach to that of Blackwell’s Penitentiary on Roosevelt Island. Young men convicted of misdemeanors who resided on Hart Island were required to work as part of their rehabilitation. They were instructed in “useful trades” such as ironwork, shoemaking, landscaping, agriculture and burying the dead. Workhouse records were kept in a guardhouse facing a U-shaped cell block. The facility closed in 1966 and the inmates moved to Rikers Island, but in 1982, Mayor Koch re-opened a work camp on Hart Island of about 50 inmates who were tasked with restoring the buildings damaged by vandals. They resided in the Nike base military barracks. In 1985, residents of City Island filed a lawsuit preventing the DOC from reopening a prison on Hart Island, so the inmates left and the land formerly reserved for institutions became burial grounds.
Image ©2018 Greg Gulbransen courtesy The Hart Island Project
c. 1935
Regarding a new chapel on Hart Island, The New York Times was quoted on October 26, 1931:
“The cornerstone of the new Catholic Chapel at the Hart’s Island prison, the only separate prison building set aside for Catholic services, was laid yesterday afternoon…prisoners numbering about 1000 were grouped at the rear of the crowd…The new chapel will cost about $60,000, which is being raised by voluntary subscription under the direction of Cardinal Hayes and Father Zema.” By the time it was completed, the Hart Island Chapel cost Catholic Charities roughly one million dollars, a large sum in the Depression years. The one-and-a-half story, red brick building was abandoned in 1966, when the Hart Island workhouse closed. The stained glass was removed by the Catholic Diocese and the church bell was stolen by vandals, but the structure itself still stands in surprisingly good condition.
Image©2004 Melinda Hunt courtesy The Hart Island Project
1912
Following a review in 1904, the City Council passed legislation to build a new reformatory for “youthful offenders,” young men ages 16-30. This measure involved removing older male prisoners from Hart Island and erecting new buildings unlike conventional prison structures, as well as remodeling existing structures using inmate labor. This group of buildings, completed in 1912, provided power and a source of employment for young men living in the reformatory. They worked shifts in the laundry, cared for farm animals and harvested food grown on Hart Island that was consumed locally and distributed to City Hospitals. There was shoe making and ironwork training. Hart Island depended on coal deliveries by boat and water piped in from the mainland but was otherwise self-sufficient. This physical plant operated until 1976, when drug treatment center Phoenix House was ordered to vacate Hart Island.
Image©1992 Joel Sternfeld courtesy The Hart Island Project
1885
When the Department of Charities and Correction was formed in 1860, it greatly expanded the city’s healthcare- and reform-oriented penal institutions. The Pavilion on Hart Island was one of several lunatic asylums and charity hospitals at various locations in the greater New York area, and today it is the only 19th century building still standing on Hart Island. It was one of the first asylums constructed during Thomas Brennan’s time as Commissioner after he opened the morgue at Bellevue Hospital. Thus, the structure stands as a reminder of the island’s relationship to Bellevue Hospital. At the time, there was precedent for institutions relating to the healthcare and penal systems to be positioned in proximity to one another and to places of burial. In the 18th century, City Hall Park in lower Manhattan was host to an almshouse, gaol, workhouse and dispensary, as well as a burial ground.
Image©2004 Melinda Hunt courtesy The Hart Island Project
est. 1869
The first municipal burial on Hart Island took place on April 20, 1869, and was performed by a team of convicts from the Blackwell’s Penitentiary Workhouse on present-day Roosevelt Island (Blackwell’s Penitentiary closed after Rikers Island opened in 1927). Nearly 150 years later, the burials on Hart Island are still performed by inmates assigned by the DOC. After the Civil War, Thomas Brennan, Commissioner of the Department of Charities and Correction and Warden at Bellevue Hospital, set up the first municipal morgue in North America and adopted the Civil War practice of photographing bodies not identified by a medical examiner. Families could review photographs at Bellevue and identify their relatives and request return of their remains. At first the “unknown” were buried in individual graves and the “unclaimed” in large trenches. The enormity of these common graves made disinterment difficult, so a grid system was introduced in 1872, which is largely unchanged today. Each plot is numbered and marked, now using GPS, but previously with wood or cast concrete markers. The system was developed on battlefields during the Civil War, allowing for later disinterment should a family come forward to claim a body. In 1931, New York City began recycling graves over 50 years. This was later changed to over 25 years old, at which point the City is no longer obligated to return remains to family members. Because the graves can be reused, New York City has a sustainable system with no shortage of space for public burials. In May 1989, public burials expanded to the southern part of Hart Island formerly reserved for penal and healthcare facilities.
Image: Jacob A. (Jacob August) Riis (1849-1914) / Museum of the City of New York. 0.13.1.86
c. 1878
When the City purchased Hart Island in 1868, part of the property was to be used for a workhouse and industrial school for delinquent boys from the House of Refuge on Randalls Island. Additionally, a commercial ship, the Mercury, was to be converted to a naval vessel and used as a nautical school or “school ship” to teach the boys navigational skills. The school was managed by the Department of Charities and Correction from 1869 to 1875. The short-lived program ended in part due to lack of funds following the financial panic of 1873 and following the drowning deaths of two boys just off Hart Island, for which this memorial, the oldest on Hart Island, was dedicated. The memorial is located on the rise of “cemetery hill” overlooking the oldest part of City Cemetery. It was described in 1878 by The New York Times as “a shapely cross made by laying upon the ground white pebbles from the sea-shore…On each side of the stone cross is a little grave…In each of these lonely graves lies a little sailor boy. When the school-ship Mercury lay off Hart’s Island, not long ago, two of her little sailors died, and they were laid, messmates on ship-board, side by side in the grave, as if they had gone into that dismal pit hand in hand…” The cross now has white painted boards within the outline of white painted river stones. The memorial stands as a reminder of both the workhouse and the Mercury school ship program, and illustrates the connection between the burial process and the young men required to work in custody of the DOC.
Image©2004 Melinda Hunt courtesy The Hart Island Project
1948
During World War II, Hart Island was used as a disciplinary camp for Navy, Coast Guard and Marine personnel. Three German prisoners of war captured from a U-boat that surfaced in the Long Island Sound were imprisoned on Hart Island. After the war, ten acres at the northern end of the island were taken over by the U.S. Army. The DOC simultaneously used the area for burials, and inmates petitioned for permission to build a peace monument at the island’s highest point. In 1948, they built a 30-foot reinforced concrete memorial with the word “peace” written on one side and a simple cross on the other. The monument is elevated on a stepped base decorated with planters. This area was previously the location of Civil War-era barracks that were repurposed as prison facilities by the City. These structures are long gone except for a cistern exposed in 2012 as a result of Superstorm Sandy on a steep bank northeast of the Peace Monument.
Image©2004 Melinda Hunt courtesy The Hart Island Project
c. 1950s
During the late 1950s, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers was tasked with construction of the nation’s first anti-aircraft missile defense, the Army’s Nike System. The weapon itself, the Nike Ajax, was the first surface-to-air guided missile placed into service in the United States when it became operational in 1953. The missile was named after Nike, the Greek Goddess of Victory, and Ajax, a fleetfooted hero of the Trojan War, and was characterized as “a finned cylinder 12 inches in diameter and 20 feet long, fired by a booster rocket that could travel at supersonic speed for a range of approximately 25 miles.” The Launch Area included two underground storage magazines with elevators to lift the m¬issiles onto launching racks, a fueling area, a missile assembly building, a generator building and various ancillary support and service buildings. Precast concrete planks now cover the remaining elevators and a concrete plug was recently installed over the hatchways to prevent access to the underground magazines.
Image©2017 Alon Sicherman l-vision courtesy The Hart Island Project
1954-1969
These are the only remaining structures from the Nike NY-15 Launch Site, which is emblematic
of the development of military protection for the former New York Defense Area from enemy attack during the Cold War period. The Hart Island site is also significant as one of the first Cold War-era sites built in defense of the New York Metropolitan Area, as well as the first Nike missile battery to be located on two separate islands, with the control site at the former Fort Slocum on David’s Island and the launch site with underground missile storage magazines on Hart Island (site 9). All other buildings from this period have been razed. The DOC housed a small contingent of inmates here from 1982 to 1991 and continues to use the compound as a base for operations on Hart Island.
Image©2017 Alon Sicherman l-vision courtesy The Hart Island Project
1907
In 1907, the City Mission Society of the Episcopal Diocese of New York and a member, Mrs. William Greer, raised $600 to commission and erect a granite cross bearing the inscription “He Calleth His Own By Name” on the base. Manufactured by the Harrison Granite Company, the base is four feet by four feet and the foundation is six feet by six feet deep. In his dedication later in 1907, Bishop Doane declared: “in putting this cross here, among these graves of the nameless and unknown children of men, that it shelter their dust in its sacred shadow.” The cross overlooks the burial sites of generations of New Yorkers.
Image ©1992 Joel Sternfeld courtesy The Hart Island Project
During the Civil War, this area served as a parade ground for the 31st regiment of the United States Colored Troops, which had consolidated with the 30th Connecticut Colored Volunteers and a number of black Canadians and other foreign-born people of African descent who also served in the New York regiments. From Hart Island, the 31st regiment, under the command of Colonel Henry C. Ward, departed for Virginia, where it was active in several battles, including the siege of Petersburg. The Hart Island regiment was present at the Battle of the Crater and later fall of Petersburg, Virginia, to Union troops on April 2, 1865. It pursued Lee’s Army from April 3 through April 9 and was at Appomattox before, during and after the Confederate surrender on April 9, 1865.
Image: Illustrated London News, August 12, 1865
