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New York circa 1905. "Hotels Netherland and Savoy, Fifth Avenue and East 58th." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
Thanks to Helares for bringing this photo back to our attention. I don't know that I'd actually want to live back then, but if I could be magically transported to any particular Shorpy year and location I think it would be New York City in 1905. The combination of horse-drawn conveyances, streetcars and automobiles; the women in white blouses and long dark skirts and huge hats; the profusion of striped awnings; the beautiful and varied ornamentation of the architecture; the vibrant street life (accentuated by the movement blurs in these photographs); the spirit of infinite possibility even before the age of modern communications and the internet -- I want to take a vacation to that place and time!
The building shown to the right of the Hotel Savoy is the Bolkenhayn Apartment House, situated at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 58th Street and designed by Alfred Zucker in the 1890's. I have attached a picture taken from an article taken from the Heating & Ventilation Magazine of date: November 15, 1895 describing the building's revolutionary heating system. The article can be read here.
I was a bellman at the Sherry Netherland (which is across 59th Street from the GM building) in the mid/late 1980s. There's a great photo of the tower on fire during its construction in 1927.
(on the far right) according to the New York Times of March 10, 1922, signed a 10-year lease for $30,000 a year. A fraction of one month's rent in 2011.
The Hotel Savoy Plaza has been replaced by the General Motors Building where, in a post last week, I described the 5 year old Apple Store occupying the basement, now a local Landmark. The Savoy, architecturally, was much more impressive than the GM structure. To make matters worse it was once owned by Donald Trump.
Interesting. Just saw the documentary "BillCunninghamNewYork" last weekend--much of the background action centers around this very street, block and area. Today's Park Savoy lists its address as 158 W 58th, the Sherry Netherland as 781 5th Ave.
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