4 Park Avenue (formerly known as the Vanderbilt Hotel) is a 22-story building in the
Murray Hill neighborhood of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. Designed by
Warren and Wetmore
Warren and Wetmore was an architecture firm in New York City which was a partnership between Whitney Warren (1864–1943) and Charles Delevan Wetmore (June 10, 1866 – May 8, 1941), that had one of the most extensive practices of its time and w ...
, the structure was built for
Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt
Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Sr. (October 20, 1877 – May 7, 1915) was a wealthy American businessman, and a member of the Vanderbilt family. A sportsman, he participated in and pioneered a number of related endeavors. He died in the sinking of ...
and opened in 1912 as a hotel. It is along the west side of
Park Avenue
Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Av ...
between 33rd and
34th Streets. Following a renovation by
Schuman, Lichtenstein & Claman between 1965 and 1967, the top 18 stories have been used as residential apartments. The lowest three stories above ground, as well as three basement levels, are used as commercial space and carry an alternate address of 6 Park Avenue. , the building is owned by
The Feil Organization.
4 Park Avenue's facade was originally made of gray brick and white
architectural terracotta
Architectural terracotta refers to a fired mixture of clay and water that can be used in a non-structural, semi-structural, or structural capacity on the exterior or interior of a building. Terracotta pottery, as earthenware is called when not use ...
. The facade of the lowest four stories dates from the 1960s renovation and is made of glass and steel. Above that, the building retains its original facade and has two
light court
In architecture, a lightwell,light well, light-well sky-well,skywell, sky well or air shaft is an unroofed or roofed external space provided within the volume of a large building to allow light and air to reach what would otherwise be a dark or ...
s facing Park Avenue. The building has a steel
superstructure and had mechanical equipment in its basements. The hotel's lobby was designed in the
Adam style
The Adam style (or Adamesque and "Style of the Brothers Adam") is an 18th-century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practised by Scottish architect William Adam and his sons, of whom Robert (1728–1792) and James (17 ...
and is partially preserved as the modern residential lobby. The first basement had a grill room known as the Della Robbia Room, decorated ornately with
Guastavino tile
The Guastavino tile arch system is a version of Catalan vault introduced to the United States in 1885 by Spanish architect and builder Rafael Guastavino (1842–1908). It was patented in the United States by Guastavino in 1892.
Description
...
; part of the room survives and is designated as a
New York City interior landmark. The upper stories had close to 600 rooms, and the top two stories originally contained a private
penthouse apartment
A penthouse is an apartment or unit on the highest floor of an apartment building, condominium, hotel or tower. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features. The term 'penthouse' originally referred, and s ...
for A. G. Vanderbilt and his family.
After several years of planning and construction, the Vanderbilt Hotel opened on January 10, 1912, as one of the first large commercial developments in Murray Hill. The Vanderbilt soon became a popular meeting place for companies in the textile and women's apparel industries. A syndicate bought the hotel in 1925, and the
New York Life Insurance Company
New York Life Insurance Company (NYLIC) is the third-largest life insurance company in the United States, the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States and is ranked #67 on the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States ...
foreclosed on the hotel in 1935.
Manger Hotels acquired the hotel in 1941 and continued to operate it until the hotel closed in 1965. A group led by John Marqusee bought the building in 1966 and spent the next year converting the hotel into residences and offices. The building has undergone minor renovations over the years.
Site
4 Park Avenue (formerly the Vanderbilt Hotel) is in the
Murray Hill neighborhood of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, bounded by 33rd Street on the south,
Park Avenue
Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Av ...
on the east, and
34th Street on the north.
The building's
land lot has a total area of .
It measures from north to south and from west to east.
An entrance to the
New York City Subway's
33rd Street station is directly outside the building's southeast corner.
The building is on the same block as the
Madison Belmont Building
The Madison Belmont Building, also known as 183 Madison Avenue, is a commercial building at the southeast corner of Madison Avenue and 34th Street in Murray Hill, Manhattan, New York. It was designed by Warren & Wetmore in the Neoclassical st ...
to the west. Other nearby buildings include
2 Park Avenue
2 Park Avenue is a 28-story office building in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The structure, along the west side of Park Avenue between 32nd and 33rd Streets, was designed by Ely Jacques Kahn and was developed by A ...
to the south,
3 Park Avenue to the east,
B. Altman and Company Building to the northwest, and
29 East 32nd Street to the southwest.
The adjacent portion of Park Avenue slopes upward from south to north. The site was part of the 18th-century estate of merchant
Robert Murray.
In the 1860s, after the
Park Avenue Tunnel
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...
was built, the segment of Fourth Avenue between 34th and 40th Streets was renamed Park Avenue, while the avenue's name south of 34th Street remained unchanged.
Since the
house numbering
House numbering is the system of giving a unique number to each building in a street or area, with the intention of making it easier to locate a particular building. The house number is often part of a postal address. The term describes the num ...
system reset at the southern end of Park Avenue, the Vanderbilt Hotel and other buildings between 32nd and 34th Streets originally had Fourth Avenue addresses.
The segment from 32nd to 34th Streets, outside the current building, was renamed Park Avenue in 1924,
at which time the building gained a Park Avenue address.
Even before the renumbering, the Vanderbilt Hotel had marketed itself as being at "East 34th Street and Park Avenue" despite technically being on Fourth Avenue.
Fourth and Park Avenues in Murray Hill had been developed with upscale residences by the 1870s. The residences included those of the
Vanderbilt family
The Vanderbilt family is an American family who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthr ...
, who built
Grand Central Depot
Grand Central Terminal is a major commuter rail terminal in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, serving the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem, Hudson and New Haven Lines. It is the most recent of three functionally similar buildings on the same s ...
(later
Grand Central Terminal) for the New York and Harlem Railroad several blocks north in 1871. The Vanderbilt family moved uptown in 1880 but retained ownership of the site.
Just before present-day 4 Park Avenue was developed, the land had been occupied by six buildings.
Architecture
4 Park Avenue was designed by
Warren and Wetmore
Warren and Wetmore was an architecture firm in New York City which was a partnership between Whitney Warren (1864–1943) and Charles Delevan Wetmore (June 10, 1866 – May 8, 1941), that had one of the most extensive practices of its time and w ...
in the
neoclassical style
and developed by
Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt
Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Sr. (October 20, 1877 – May 7, 1915) was a wealthy American businessman, and a member of the Vanderbilt family. A sportsman, he participated in and pioneered a number of related endeavors. He died in the sinking of ...
in 1912.
Numerous other contractors were involved in the construction process.
As built, it was 22 stories high and contained three full basements, as well as a partial fourth basement level.
Emporis cites the building as being 20 stories and high.
The building's modern appearance dates to a renovation by
Schuman, Lichtenstein & Claman between 1965 and 1967.
Form and facade
Lowest stories
When the building was constructed, it was decorated with gray brick and white
architectural terracotta
Architectural terracotta refers to a fired mixture of clay and water that can be used in a non-structural, semi-structural, or structural capacity on the exterior or interior of a building. Terracotta pottery, as earthenware is called when not use ...
.
The terracotta at the base was designed by the
Hartford Faience Company.
The ornament consisted of cream-colored
low relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impres ...
s, while the walls were made of mottled, semi-glazed brick in blue-grey and plum colors.
Originally, the base of the building contained large windows with semicircular
lunette windows at their tops. The lunettes were surrounded by
Adam style
The Adam style (or Adamesque and "Style of the Brothers Adam") is an 18th-century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practised by Scottish architect William Adam and his sons, of whom Robert (1728–1792) and James (17 ...
frames that resembled fans.
The entrance was at the center of the Park Avenue elevation and contained a canopy.
There is a sealed service entrance on 49 East 33rd Street, leading to a tunnel.
In 1967, the lowest three floors were redesigned with a glass and travertine facade.
Some of the original ornamentation from the lowest floors, including three medallions measuring and twenty-four pieces of relief, are preserved in a private garden at 433 East 58th Street in
Sutton Place, Manhattan
York Avenue and Sutton Place are the names of a relatively short north-south thoroughfare in the Yorkville, Lenox Hill, and Sutton Place neighborhoods of the East Side of Manhattan, in New York City. York Avenue runs from 59th to 92nd Streets ...
.
The entrance to the apartments on the upper floors is directly on Park Avenue and carries the address 4 Park Avenue. The offices on the lower floors are accessed from 33rd and 34th Streets and originally carried the address 6 Park Avenue.
Upper stories
![Park Av Apr 2022 72](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Park_Av_Apr_2022_72.jpg)
Above the base, the building is designed with two
light court
In architecture, a lightwell,light well, light-well sky-well,skywell, sky well or air shaft is an unroofed or roofed external space provided within the volume of a large building to allow light and air to reach what would otherwise be a dark or ...
s facing Park Avenue. These divided the upper stories into three wings, arranged in an "E" shape. When the building was used as a hotel, this allowed each guest to have an exterior window.
Each wing measures three
bays wide, while the side elevations measure five bays wide. There is a
band course
A course is a layer of the same unit running horizontally in a wall. It can also be defined as a continuous row of any masonry unit such as bricks, concrete masonry units (CMU), stone, shingles, tiles, etc.
Coursed masonry construction arranges ...
of brick and stone above the 4th story, as well as balustrades in front of the light courts on that story. The 5th-story windows contain ornate terracotta frames, while the 6th- through 18th-story windows have a simpler design.
The western frontage was designed as a fireproof barrier without any windows. The light courts, combined with the narrowness of the site, required that the hotel be taller than most others in New York City at the time of its construction (with the exception of the
Belmont Hotel).
The brick and terracotta facade was preserved when the building was renovated in the 1960s.
On the top three stories, the building was ornately decorated with terracotta motifs such as
lozenges, lions' heads, helmets, and
colonnettes.
At the 19th story, each window has a shallow pediment, which supports a balustrade that protrudes from each of the 20th-story windows. In addition, each of the 20th-story windows is separated by a terracotta panel with a pattern. There are stone
truss
A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure.
In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...
es across the light courts at this level. On the top two stories, there are double-height round arches made of terracotta. The windows at the 21st story contain pediments above them.
Instead of a protruding
cornice, the Vanderbilt Hotel was topped by a curved parapet that contained classical heads and lace decorations, as well as electric lights.
The hotel was one of the first buildings in New York City to illuminate its roof at night.
The parapet measured tall.
The roof was coated with
asbestos as a fireproofing measure.
The terracotta at the pinnacle was made by
New York Architectural Terra Cotta.
The roof has 36 sculpted terracotta heads, each measuring high and weighing . Each sculpture depicts either the grinning classical god
Bacchus
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...
, who had a beard, or a smiling face of unclear gender, who did not have a beard. Another 18 sculptures, along with the parapet, were removed in 1966 when four
penthouse apartment
A penthouse is an apartment or unit on the highest floor of an apartment building, condominium, hotel or tower. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features. The term 'penthouse' originally referred, and s ...
s were built on the top floors.
Renovation architect Peter Claman, an unnamed art dealer, and the
Brooklyn Museum each took some of the busts,
which ended up as far away as
Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Mechanical and structural features
The mechanical equipment was placed in the hotel's subbasements. There were several
Babcock & Wilcox
Babcock & Wilcox is an American renewable, environmental and thermal energy technologies and service provider that is active and has operations in many international markets across the globe with its headquarters in Akron, Ohio, USA. Historicall ...
boilers, which were fed by automatic
stokers. Each stoker was supplied by a traveling
hopper
Hopper or hoppers may refer to:
Places
*Hopper, Illinois
* Hopper, West Virginia
* Hopper, a mountain and valley in the Hunza–Nagar District of Pakistan
* Hopper (crater), a crater on Mercury
People with the name
* Hopper (surname)
* Grace H ...
with a capacity of about , filled by a coal
conveyor
A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves materials from one location to another. Conveyors are especially useful in applications involving the transport of heavy or bulky materials. Conveyor systems allow ...
with continuously moving buckets. Additionally, there were three
direct current
Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or eve ...
electric generators that were capable of generating at any one time, as well as a central oiling system and two garbage incinerators.
The steam pipes in each room were hidden by marble countertops and asbestos curtains.
The hotel had an
ice machine
An icemaker, ice generator, or ice machine may refer to either a consumer device for making ice, found inside a home freezer; a stand-alone appliance for making ice, or an industrial machine for making ice on a large scale. The term "ice machin ...
, which had a capacity of , for the refrigeration and cooling systems.
The iced water was then pumped to pantries on seven stories.
There was also a machine capable of filtering , which cleaned the air for the Della Robbia Room in the basement.
The original boilers were removed in the 1960s.
There were six elevators in total,
each with crimson tapestries and a wooden veneer.
The elevators were
hydraulically powered, with hydraulic cylinders in the basement. In the 1960s, the elevators were converted to cable-hauled cabs, but the old hydraulic cylinders were left in place.
The Vanderbilt Hotel was erected with a steel
superstructure, which was then reinforced with masonry. The outer walls of the building contained masonry walls that tapered in thickness from at the bottom to at the top. During the 1960s renovation, the thickness of the exterior walls was reduced by up to 4 inches. The masonry was not laid on a perfectly straight axis. In some of the intermediate stories, the masonry was misaligned by as much as , requiring the installation of custom plumbing fixtures for each of the upper-story apartments, rather than mass-produced fixtures.
The upper stories contain floor slabs made of concrete arches.
The ceilings of the original hotel measured high. During the 1960s, these were lowered by as much to to accommodate utilities in the ceiling.
In the service hallways, the floor slabs are of cement and the walls were wainscoted with thin iron plates. The partition walls are made of gypsum.
Interior
Lobby
Like the lower part of the facade, the lobby was designed in the Adam style.
The lobby was treated as a single, large open space with a vaulted ceiling.
This decision was informed by the fact that the Vanderbilt Hotel was actually intended as an
apartment hotel
An apartment hotel or aparthotel (also residential hotel, or extended-stay hotel) is a serviced apartment complex that uses a hotel-style booking system. It is similar to renting an apartment, but with no fixed contracts and occupants can "chec ...
for long-term residents. Thus, the building did not contain a large ballroom or other spaces that characterized transient hotels.
The restaurant and palm garden were separated from the rest of the lobby by screens and plants. At the 34th Street end, the men's bar and writing room were enclosed with partitions. The women's writing room was housed within a long alcove off the lobby. The space also contained black furniture.
Next to the lobby, there was a cashier's office with a bronze screen designed by
Louis Comfort Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art NouveauL ...
.
This room had a Numidian-marble floor.
A children's playroom was added to the lobby in 1913.
A "Far East Room" was created in the lobby after World War I in advance of a dinner in which
Ferdinand Foch
Ferdinand Foch ( , ; 2 October 1851 – 20 March 1929) was a French general and military theorist who served as the Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. An aggressive, even reckless commander at the First Marne, Flanders and Ar ...
was a guest; it remained in operation through the late 1950s.
The first-floor lobby was clad in imitation Caen stone,
which was actually made of plaster.
The main lobby had a
vaulted ceiling
In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while rin ...
supported by square piers.
These piers curved directly onto the ceiling and were clad with sandstone.
Crystal chandeliers, each with 24 lamps, were suspended directly from the ceiling.
In the lobby was a
frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
created by Beatrice Astor Chanler in
relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
.
The frieze was a dull gold color, while the reliefs were designed in the style of Italian ceramic artist
Luca della Robbia
Luca della Robbia (, also , ; 1399/1400–1482) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence. Della Robbia is noted for his colorful, tin-glazed terracotta statuary, a technique which he invented and passed on to his nephew Andrea della ...
.
The rugs were designed specifically for the hotel. Two such rugs were ordered for the lobby entrance, each measuring .
Each rug was decorated with Chinese motifs and was colored a "royal Chinese blue", with central medallions.
The piers on the walls contained shelves with blue vases, within which were placed lighting fixtures.
During the 1960s renovation, Intramural Associates redesigned a part of the old hotel lobby,
which was preserved as the building's residential entrance.
The lobby was redesigned with a color palette of red, white, and blue, and the lobby walls were wainscoted in cherry wood.
Barbara Comfort designed a tapestry for the lobby, which was unveiled in 1967. The tapestry depicts a scene from the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
in which Mary Lindley Murray, an 18th-century resident of the site, distracted British troops during the
Landing at Kip's Bay
The Landing at Kip's Bay was a British amphibious landing during the New York Campaign in the American Revolutionary War on September 15, 1776. It occurred on the East River shore of Manhattan north of what then constituted New York City.
Heav ...
, giving American troops time to escape.
Della Robbia Room
![New York architect v6 1912 pl 41](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/New_York_architect_v6_1912_pl_41.jpg)
The basement originally contained a double-height grill room with a vaulted ceiling and elevated gallery.
[ ] It was known as the Della Robbia Room, after Luca Della Robbia,
and could fit a thousand guests.
The bar at the southern section of the restaurant was originally nicknamed the "Crypt".
There was a kitchen below the bar, as well as a laundry room at the north end of the grill room.
The spaces were split across multiple levels, each only slightly above the other. A door from Park Avenue led to a central corridor directly above the kitchen, where a staircase led down to the main grill room. The bar was three steps below the corridor to the south, while the gallery was three steps above the corridor to the north. A staircase also led from the grill room to the lobby, and the bar also had its own door from 33rd Street.
The restaurant was extensively decorated with ceramic
Guastavino tile
The Guastavino tile arch system is a version of Catalan vault introduced to the United States in 1885 by Spanish architect and builder Rafael Guastavino (1842–1908). It was patented in the United States by Guastavino in 1892.
Description
...
s manufactured by the
Rookwood Pottery Company
Rookwood Pottery is an American ceramics company that was founded in 1880 and closed in 1967, before being revived in 2004. It was initially located in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, and has now returned there. In its heyda ...
;
these tiles depicted motifs such as flowers and faces.
Most of the grill room was replaced with a
parking garage in 1967,
but the Crypt and a portion of the grill room remain in their original condition.
The remaining section is less than one-fifth the size of the original grill room.
The extant portion of the Della Robbia Room is designated as a
New York City interior landmark, one of a few restaurants in the city with such a designation,
and has contained
Wolfgang's Steakhouse since 2004.
Along with the Rathskeller at the
Seelbach Hotel in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, the Della Robbia Room contains one of the few extant examples of Rookwood tiles in the world.
The space is also one of the few interiors in New York City with Guastavino tiles.
Placed along the Della Robbia Room's length were double-height square piers, which divided the room into bays.
The room was generally decorated in a cream and blue color scheme.
The piers were covered in tiles, decorated with tropical birds, fish, flowers, and foliage "in a slightly humorous vein";
they contained
fretwork
Fretwork is an interlaced decorative design that is either carved in low relief on a solid background, or cut out with a fretsaw, coping saw, jigsaw or scroll saw. Most fretwork patterns are geometric in design. The materials most commonly use ...
at their corners and
capitals.
The gallery was placed behind the piers and had an Adam-style balustrade.
This gallery was used by the grill room's workers.
At the top of the room was a golden cornice.
The two southernmost bays of the gallery remain largely intact and are used as the rear of the modern restaurant space.
A wooden platform has been placed above the original floor. These remaining bays are accessed by a staircase that leads from the bar area.
The main floor of the restaurant, now the parking garage, has been stripped of most decoration except for some small patches of marble.
![Wolfgang's Steakhouse on Park Ave](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Wolfgang%27s_Steakhouse_on_Park_Ave._NYC_%2851794560988%29.jpg)
The former Crypt, now the main dining room,
consists of nine bays in a three-by-three grid. The ceiling is supported by freestanding square piers in the center of the space, with wooden
wainscot
Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.
Panelling was developed in antiquity to make ro ...
ing. The walls contain
engaged
An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...
pilasters and formerly included lighting
sconces. The bar room has a freestanding counter on the eastern wall, and several doorways on the walls have been modified or removed. The bar's original floor was made of marble, but this has since been covered by multiple types of materials, including carpets and hexagonal ceramic tiles.
The vaulted ceilings of the room and bar were made of Guastavino tiles in a blue, tan, and aqua color scheme.
The ceiling of the bar is about tall, lower than that of the grill room.
The vaults of the bar's ceiling are separated by arches with blue terracotta bands on their
soffit
A soffit is an exterior or interior architectural feature, generally the horizontal, aloft underside of any construction element. Its archetypal form, sometimes incorporating or implying the projection of beams, is the underside of eaves (t ...
s. The underside of each arch has ivory-colored flower motifs, some of which have grotesque heads placed atop them. From outside to inside, the vaults are surrounded by ivory-colored moldings; a blue tile band; a frieze with red, yellow, and green tiles and ivory-colored
rosettes; and an aqua tile band. Each of the ceiling vaults is made of textured tiles with a
meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...
motif.
The tiles are laid in a
herringbone pattern
The herringbone pattern is an arrangement of rectangles used for floor tilings and road pavement, so named for a fancied resemblance to the bones of a fish such as a herring.
The blocks can be rectangles or parallelograms. The block edge length ...
.
The ceiling of the northwestern bay is divided into two sections; the southern half retains its original vault while the northern half is a flat black ceiling. Brass and glass lamps are suspended from the ceiling. The gallery's ceiling was designed similarly, but the vaults were shallower.
The main grill room's ceiling also contained cut glass chandeliers.
Other stories
Originally, the Vanderbilt Hotel had 585
or 600 rooms.
The total included 457 bedrooms and 57
parlors.
The rooms could be rearranged into suites with several bedrooms leading off a parlor.
The units in the hotel's southern wing were designed as long-term residential apartments and had their own bank of elevators. The other wings were used as short-term transient accommodations and were served by a central bank of elevators.
The top two stories contained a private apartment for A. G. Vanderbilt's family
and had nine rooms, served by their own elevator.
There were also several dressing rooms on the mezzanine level for guests who wanted to attend a formal function, such as a dinner, without actually using a room at the hotel.
The third floor contained servants' suites, as well as pipes and electrical ducts.
When the hotel opened, its general manager said the hotel's design sought to "eliminate the red and gold idea in hotel decoration".
The rooms were mostly decorated in stone; the tops of each wall were decorated with stone friezes.
There were metal sockets embedded in the concrete floor slabs, to which the hotel's custom-made rugs were attached.
The walls were paneled,
and the
baseboards were made of marble.
On the upper floors, each room was designed in an Adam or Georgian style; each floor was designed differently.
''American Architect'' magazine said the hotel had an "Oriental flavor and a Renaissance grace to be seen everywhere", with furnishings inspired by
Chinese architecture
Chinese architecture ( Chinese:中國建築) is the embodiment of an architectural style that has developed over millennia in China and it has influenced architecture throughout Eastern Asia. Since its emergence during the early ancient era, ...
.
Each guest room's salon had a
reproduction of a classical
oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...
.
The decorative patterns extended to small details, such as
cameo heads on the cast-iron balustrades of the staircases.
The rooms also had
Wedgwood
Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...
doorknobs, which guests stole repeatedly.
The hotel also included other features for guest comfort. Each unit had its own bathroom with hot and cold taps.
An electric bell in each room allowed patrons to call for room service without leaving their rooms.
These bells were themselves placed within iron boxes to prevent the sound from disturbing other guests.
There were telephones on the desk of each room, as well as pneumatic tubes connecting each room with the hotel's main office.
As a fireproofing measure, the rooms did not contain wood decorations,
except for small wooden shelves in the rooms.
The building also contained hollow metal doors, trim, and window frames.
After 1967, the hotel was converted into 364 apartments on the upper stories, ranging from
studios
A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery ( ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...
to three-bedroom units.
Three of the apartments, each with two to three bedrooms, were fully furnished units for residents' overnight guests.
Six office floors were created below the apartments, and there were also storefronts and a garage.
The office floors measure and consist of three of the basement levels, as well as the first through third stories above ground.
The parking garage, accessed from 33rd Street, spans four levels and can fit 150 cars.
History
By the first decade of the 20th century, the upscale residences along Fourth and Park Avenues were being replaced with commercial structures.
The area bounded by
Madison Avenue, 34th Street,
Lexington Avenue, and 38th Street, including both sides of Park Avenue within that region, was excluded from such development.
This was because of the Murray Hill Restrictive Agreement, which was enacted in 1847 and restricted the development of non-residential buildings in that area.
The restriction extended south of 34th Street, including the future Vanderbilt Hotel site.
Development
![New York architect v6 1912 pl 49](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/New_York_architect_v6_1912_pl_49.jpg)
Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt acquired additional land next to his family's old estate in 1907.
That November, Vanderbilt leased part of the estate to the City Leasing Company, which planned to erect a building on the site.
Later that month, Warren and Wetmore filed plans for a 21-story office and loft building, to be built on the west side of Park Avenue between 33rd and 34th Streets.
The building would have cost $1 million.
There would have been stores on the ground floor, manufacturing lofts on the next four stories, and offices above. The first six stories would have had a brick and limestone facade; the remaining floors would have been made of brick and terracotta.
The building would have had a metal roof high.
At the time, the site was diagonally across from a trolley depot. ''The New York Times'' said: "Mr. Vanderbilt would not do this unless he had definite knowledge as to the future of the Fourth Avenue car barn block."
In December 1908, Vanderbilt filed plans for a 19-story hotel on the site.
Existing tenants were asked to leave the site by June 1909.
Part of the hotel was to be within the Murray Hill restricted zone. However, the neighborhood's residents did not file any lawsuit against his plans in the year after he filed them.
The law firm of
Carter Ledyard & Milburn (who represented financier
J. P. Morgan Jr., a supporter of the restricted zone) told Vanderbilt that it might file an
injunction against him if the hotel plans proceeded,
but Vanderbilt proceeded anyway. By August 1909, the buildings on the site were being cleared.
''The New York Times'' said the Vanderbilt Hotel, along with the Cameron Building at Madison Avenue and 34th Street, was evidence of the "weakening" of the Murray Hill restricted zone.
The
United Hotels Company of America
United Hotels Company of America, also known as United Hotels Company, was a chain of upscale hotels in the United States. The company was headquartered in Niagara Falls, New York, with administrative offices in New York City. The company was foun ...
, which was formed in 1910, agreed to operate the Vanderbilt Hotel as one of its first properties.
The William L. Crow Company started constructing the hotel in March 1910.
That July, Warren and Wetmore filed plans for a two-story structure at 45–47 East 33rd Street, directly to the west, to protect westward views from the hotel. That building was used as a ventilation shaft for the
Pennsylvania Railroad's
East River Tunnels
The East River Tunnels are four single-track railroad passenger service tunnels that extend from the eastern end of Pennsylvania Station under 32nd and 33rd Streets in Manhattan and cross the East River to Long Island City in Queens. The tracks ...
.
The bricklayers' unions went on
strike
Strike may refer to:
People
* Strike (surname)
Physical confrontation or removal
*Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm
*Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
in September 1910, temporarily halting all work on the hotel. Work was again paused in September 1911, when all laborers went on strike in support of the marble polishers' union, which had gone on strike for several weeks. At the time, the marble was being installed in the hotel.
Most laborers returned to work shortly afterward,
but the marble laborers continued striking until the end of the year.
By the end of 1911, the hotel was ready to receive guests.
The hotel cost $4 million,
of which $700,000 was spent on furnishings alone.
Hotel use
1910s and 1920s
The hotel opened to guests on January 10, 1912, under general manager Thomas M. Hilliard and assistant manager Walton H. Marshall.
At the time, the furnishings were incomplete. Three days after the hotel opened, the third floor was damaged in a fire, though the hotel's fireproof construction limited the extent of the damage.
The Vanderbilt Hotel originally contained New York City's first women-only bar; barely any women used the bar, so it was converted to a men's bar two weeks after the hotel opened.
All work at the hotel was completed by March 1913,
and a children's playroom opened on the hotel's first floor that October.
A. G. Vanderbilt lived at his penthouse apartment for only three years, dying during the sinking of the in 1915.
The
Women's City Club of New York leased Vanderbilt's apartment as a clubhouse early the next year,
but it only occupied the apartment until 1918. The Vanderbilt penthouse was occupied in the 1920s by figures such as tenor
Enrico Caruso and politician
William Gibbs McAdoo
William Gibbs McAdoo Jr.McAdoo is variously differentiated from family members of the same name:
* Dr. William Gibbs McAdoo (1820–1894) – sometimes called "I" or "Senior"
* William Gibbs McAdoo (1863–1941) – sometimes called "II" or "Ju ...
.
The Vanderbilt soon became a popular meeting place for companies in the textile and women's apparel industries.
In its early years, the hotel hosted events such as luncheons, meetings for the private Paul Jones Club, and a party for
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...
's
1920 presidential campaign.
The hotel was frequented by guests such as businessman
Diamond Jim Brady
James Buchanan Brady (August 12, 1856 – April 13, 1917), also known as Diamond Jim Brady, was an American businessman, financier and philanthropy, philanthropist of the Gilded Age.
Early life and family
Brady was born in New York City to ...
, actor
Rudolph Valentino,
ballroom dancer
Irene Castle
Vernon and Irene Castle were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dancers and dance teachers who appeared on Broadway and in silent films in the early 20th century. They are credited with reviving the popularity of modern dancing. Castle was a st ...
and actresses
Maude Adams
Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden (November 11, 1872 – July 17, 1953), known professionally as Maude Adams, was an American actress who achieved her greatest success as the character Peter Pan, first playing the role in the 1905 Broadway production ...
,
Dorothy Gish
Dorothy Elizabeth Gish (March 11, 1898June 4, 1968) was an American actress of the screen and stage, as well as a director and writer. Dorothy and her older sister Lillian Gish were major movie stars of the silent era. Dorothy also had great s ...
, and
Lillian Gish.
Even after Caruso's death in 1921, the hotel continued to serve his favorite casserole for decades.
The hotel was the subject of the United States' first
skywriting
Skywriting is the process of using one or more small aircraft, able to expel special smoke during flight, to fly in certain patterns that create writing readable from the ground. These messages can be advertisements, general messages of celebrat ...
advertisement in 1922, when
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
captain Cyril Turner spelled out "Hello USA", followed by "Call Vanderbilt 7200" (the hotel's phone number), over
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
. The hotel received 47,000 phone calls in the three hours following the stunt.
A syndicate led by
Edmund L. Baylies,
William A. Chanler
William Astor "Willie" Chanler (June 11, 1867 – March 4, 1934) was an American soldier, explorer, and politician who served as U.S. Representative from New York. He was a son of John Winthrop Chanler. After spending several years exploring Eas ...
, the general manager Walton H. Marshall, and the hotel's architect Charles D. Wetmore bought the hotel in October 1925.
The hotel continued to host events and meetings by groups like the
New York Newspaper Woman's Club, the
National Council of Women of the United States
The National Council of Women of the United States (NCW/US) is the oldest nonsectarian organization of women in America. Officially founded in 1888, the NCW/US is an accredited non-governmental organization (NGO) with the Department of Public In ...
, and the
United States Lawn Tennis Association
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis ...
. ''
Harper's Bazaar'' magazine described the hotel's Della Robbia Restaurant in 1929 as having "never lost its popularity".
1930s to 1960s
![Park Av Apr 2022 66](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Park_Av_Apr_2022_66.jpg)
The Park Avenue Club opened a clubhouse within the top three stories of the hotel in 1933.
In March 1935, the
New York Life Insurance Company
New York Life Insurance Company (NYLIC) is the third-largest life insurance company in the United States, the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States and is ranked #67 on the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States ...
moved to foreclose on the hotel's second mortgage loan of $200,000.
Marshall, who had directed the hotel from its opening, remained in his position as its general manager.
New York Life acquired the hotel that May at a foreclosure auction in which it bid $2.419 million.
By November 1935, the
Knott Management Corporation had taken over the Vanderbilt's operation for New York Life. Knott then appointed Oscar Banse as the hotel's new general manager.
During the late 1930s, the hotel hosted exhibitions such as the Pottery and Glassware Show. A guide in 1939 described the Vanderbilt as "one of the hotels in New York that has kept its popularity for many years".
Manger Hotels bought the Vanderbilt Hotel from New York Life in February 1941,
though the hotel's management was retained.
Plans for minor alterations to the hotel building were filed in 1948.
The next year, the Vanderbilt's general manager Thomas J. Kelly II announced that air-conditioning would be installed in 100 of the suites.
During the 1950s and 1960s, the hotel hosted events like an exhibit of furniture, a showcase of a rare Bible, and a stamp-issuance ceremony. The hotel was known as the Manger Vanderbilt by the mid-1950s.
The Della Robbia Restaurant continued to operate within the Manger Vanderbilt, and the hotel also had other eateries such as the Purple Tree.
The architectural firm of Finn and Jenter filed plans in 1956 for the installation of a central air conditioning system at the hotel, which was to cost $500,000.
By the 1960s, patronage at the Vanderbilt had dropped significantly from its heyday, and there was also rising demand for office space in Manhattan.
The ''
New York Daily News'' announced in December 1965 that the Vanderbilt Hotel would close to make way for an office building.
Manger closed the Vanderbilt on January 1, 1966.
The Vanderbilt was one of several hotels in New York City to close that year, removing a combined 5,489 rooms from the market.
Office and apartment use
Conversion and early tenants
A group led by John Marqusee bought the Vanderbilt from Manger Hotels in April 1966 for $3.625 million.
The lowest three stories and the basements were converted to offices, while the upper 18 stories would be modified into residences.
Setrick Construction Corporation was hired as the main contractor.
The project also involved architectural firm Schuman, Lichtenstein & Claman; structural engineers Jerry Belcher and Associates; and mechanical engineers Larry Mayer and Associates.
Marqusee chose to convert the existing building rather than replace it because, under
zoning
Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...
laws, a new building would have been restricted to a smaller floor area.
The project was one of several mixed-use buildings being developed in Manhattan at the time. Marqusee planned to market the apartments to office workers who lived in the suburbs and needed to stay in the city during weekdays.
To make way for penthouses atop the building, the contractors removed the statues on the roof in June 1966.
During the renovation, workers also discovered a room with women's clothes and shoes, which had been sealed off with brick and was not in the building's blueprints.
Even after the Vanderbilt's conversion had been completed in 1967, people sometimes visited the building in the belief that the hotel and its restaurants were still operational.
M. H. Lanston leased one of the storefronts, using a portion of the Della Robbia Room as a storeroom,
while Lerner Parking leased another portion of the restaurant space as a parking garage.
Other early commercial tenants included
Childs Restaurants, a branch office of stock brokerage
EF Hutton
EF Hutton was an American stock brokerage firm founded in 1904 by Edward Francis Hutton and his brother, Franklyn Laws Hutton. Later, it was led by well known Wall Street trader Gerald M. Loeb. Under their leadership, EF Hutton became one of ...
, and
United Cerebral Palsy
United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) is an international nonprofit charitable organization consisting of a network of affiliates. UCP is a leading service provider and advocate for adults and children with disabilities. As one of the largest health nonpro ...
.
1980s to present
By the 1980s, Louis Feil of
The Feil Organization owned the building.
The
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
(LPC) conducted studies in 1984 to determine whether the former Vanderbilt Hotel was eligible for city-landmark status. The LPC found that, because the lower section of the facade had been substantially altered, the exterior did not hold as much architectural significance as the remaining parts of the interior.
In 1987, Italian restaurant Fiori opened within the former Della Robbia Room. After the demolition of the
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
-style Marine Grill at nearby
Herald Square
Herald Square is a major commercial intersection in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, formed by the intersection of Broadway, Sixth Avenue (officially Avenue of the Americas), and 34th Street. Named for the now-defunct ''New ...
in 1991, preservation group Friends of Terra Cotta started advocating for the remaining section of the room, the onetime Crypt, to be designated as an interior city landmark. The group started a petition and collected 500 signatures in support of this designation.
The Crypt was designated as a New York City interior landmark in 1994.
By 1999, the Crypt was occupied by a restaurant called J. T.'s American-Italian Grill, operated by National Integrated Food Services. In 2002, Israel Berger & Associates restored the terracotta on the facade for $700,000. Afterward, architectural historian Mosette Broderick said the ground-floor alteration was old enough to be designated as a landmark, but Broderick did not believe that the modified facade still carried historical significance.
The Crypt became the Vanderbilt Station restaurant in 2002. Two years later, Wolfgang's Steakhouse opened within the space.
During the 2010s, 4 Park Avenue contained the offices of property manager Charles H. Greenthal & Co.,
as well as a
Crunch gym.
The building underwent a capital renovation in the late 2010s and early 2020s.
In 2021, the
State University of New York's
Empire State College
Empire State College (SUNY Empire or ESC) is a public university headquartered in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Empire State College is a multi-site institution offering associate, ...
leased the mezzanine and second floor; the Feil Organization still owned 4 Park Avenue.
At the time, the building's other commercial tenants included ground-level stores for
Duane Reade
Duane Reade Inc. ( ) is a chain of pharmacy and convenience stores owned by Walgreens Boots Alliance. Its stores are primarily located in New York City, and known for high-volume, small store layouts in densely populated Manhattan locations. In 2 ...
and Wolfgang’s Steakhouse, as well as two companies within the basements.
Impact
![Stieglitz-NewYorkOldNew](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Stieglitz-NewYorkOldNew.jpg)
When the hotel opened, one writer said: "The Hotel Vanderbilt
..shows so liberal an appreciation of the modern spirit applied to hotel needs. It shows also an understanding of up-to-date construction and of refinement of decoration."
Another magazine called the hotel "one of the most distinctive and imposing buildings in New York, and its position is commanding", as it was close to Grand Central.
A contemporary observer said the Della Robbia Room was "an example of the most successful work of this kind that has been accomplished by American potters".
Christopher Gray
Christopher Stewart Gray (April 24, 1950 – March 10, 2017) was an American journalist and architectural historian,Schneider, Daniel B (August 27, 2000)"F.Y.I. Hell's Kitchen in the Raw" ''The New York Times''. March 4, 2010. noted for his week ...
of ''The New York Times'' described the Della Robbia Room as a "vast double-height grotto of ceramic art", comparing the columns to trees and the ceiling to a forest canopy.
Following the building's 1960s renovation, Richard Peck of the ''Times'' wrote that the hotel had been "stripped of much of its former effulgence". According to architect
Norval White
Norval Crawford White (June 12, 1926 – December 26, 2009) was an American architect, architectural historian and professor. He designed buildings throughout the U.S., but he is best known for his writing, particularly the '' AIA Guide to New Y ...
, "the ravages to the ground floor have taken it off the preservation list".
The Vanderbilt Hotel has been shown in some works of media. As the building was being constructed in 1910,
Alfred Stieglitz took a picture entitled ''Old and New New York'', contrasting the growing steel frame of the emerging Vanderbilt Hotel with the old low-rise blocks of the street below. The hotel was also used as a filming location for ''
So Young, So Bad'' in 1950.
See also
*
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Condominium website
{{portal bar, Architecture, Hotels, New York City
1912 establishments in New York City
Defunct hotels in Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan
Murray Hill, Manhattan
New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan
New York City interior landmarks
Office buildings completed in 1912
Office buildings in Manhattan
Park Avenue
Manger hotels