March 3, 2007
ARCHITECTURAL ORPHAN
Not every block featuring notable buildings can be landmarked an entire historic areas. Sometimes buildings have to fend for themselves when developers come knocking down. Occasionally this will result in a single building weathering the storm; then it must stand alone, simultaneously out of place and remarkable. Pictured to the right is an example. On the southern border of Manhattan's Murray Hill neighborhood, at 207 East 32nd St., is a building worth stopping and examining for a few minutes.
It's hard to miss because it's an incredible Beaux Arts rowhouse rich in architectural detail that has lost its row-neighbors. According to the AIA Guide to New York City, the building was built ca. 1910 with no known architect listed. Its original purpose was to serve as The Tammany Central Association Clubhouse. Even 30 years after Boss Tweed's death, Tammany Hall was still a powerful political machine. Under the leadership of 'Silent' Charlie Murphy, Al Smith--a man who grew up watching the Brooklyn Bridge being constructed outside his childhood home near the Fulton Fish Market--would be elected Governor of New York in 1918. Tammany Hall's power began to wane significantly with the election of FDR to the Presidency and the New Dealer's funneling of patronage money away from the organization. I could not identify when 207 E32nd St. left Tammany hands.
The building features three rows of identical-sized windows that are nonetheless widely divergent in styles and ornamentation. There's a mansard roof crowned with twin chimneys and two lion heads appear to serve as rain spouts at the top of the facade. More details about the building's features can be found here.
Somewhere along the line, 207's neighboring row houses were razed and it now has no abutting neighbors, but rather stands alone as an ornate architectural sliver of 32nd Street's past. To its west on the corner of 32nd St. and 3rd Ave. now stands an enormous and charmless highrise, whose only salient feature is a column of identical balconies, the likes of which I would probably have to jump from if I ever found myself living in such a building. To 207's east, is an asphalt playground for a neighboring school. The flatness of the lots to the east only accentuate the crushing overshadowing to the west. It's an interesting sight.
Currently, 207 East 32nd is the home of Milton Glaser's design studio. "Art Is Work" is painted on the transom above the building's main entrance. New York is nothing if not continuous history. Glaser is the man who designed the "I ♥ NY" logo in 1977.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at March 3, 2007 4:44 PM
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