Schwartz and Gross

Schwartz and Gross was a New York City architectural firm active from at least 1901 to 1963, [ [http://www.emporis.com/en/cd/cm/?id=schwartzgross-newyorkcity-ny-usa Emporis.com: Hyperlinked list of Schwartz and Gross buildings] ] and which designed numerous apartment buildings in the city during the first half of the 20th century. The firm, together with the firm Neville & Bagge and the firm owned by George F. Pelham, accounted for about half the apartment house in Manhattan's Morningside Heights neighborhood.

Principals

Simon I. Schwartz and Arthur Gross were each an American architect of Jewish background.Dolkart, Andrew J. " [http://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/win99/36.html Morningside Heights: A History of Its Architecture & Development] ," "Columbia Forum," 1998, Columbia University Press. Retrieved 3 April 2007] The two met as students at the Hebrew Technical Institute, in Manhattan's East Village neighborhood, in the 1890s. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7DE1739F932A15752C1A965958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all Steinhauer, Jennifer. "F.Y.I." (column)] , "The New York Times", November 21, 1993] After working for other firms, they founded their own company in 1902. They primarily designed apartment houses on the Upper East Side and the Upper West Side, and while the firm continued through at least 1963, stopped personally designing buildings sometime after the Great Depression. Each died in the 1950s.

Notable works

The firm was dominant during its height, designing, along with New York firms Neville & Bagge and George F. Pelham's firm, around half of the apartment buildings in Morningside Heights, as well as numerous other buildings throughout New York City. Schwartz and Gross designed eight of the historic buildings along Central Park West that are considered contributing properties to the Central Park West Historic District, including 55 Central Park West, colloquially known as the "Ghostbusters" Building" after its prominent appearance in that 1984 movie. [http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=5590 Central Park West Historic District] , (Java), National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, New York's State and National Registers of Historic Places [http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/default.asp Document Imaging Project] , New York State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved 3 April 2007.]

One building, The Majestic at 215 West 75th Street, was completed in 1924 as a brothel and de facto men's clubhouse, with hidden stairways and secret doorways. [http://www.215w75.com/html/1920s_history.html Jacobs, Lisa. "Majestic Towers’ Dirty Little Secret"] , 215 West 75 Street building newsletter, Winter 2002] A bordello run by Polly Adler boasted such patrons as Robert Benchley, New York City mayor Jimmy Walker, and mobster Dutch Schultz.

Schwartz and Gross also designed at least one building on Long Island: The Wychwood, later converted to co-op, in Great Neck, New York. [http://www.wychwoodbuilding.com/ The Wychwood] ]

Critical assessment

"The New York Times" architectural columnist Christopher Gray quoted Albert Mayer, an architect who once worked with Schwartz and Gross, who described the duo as having "excellent floor plans, but no talents for facades".

Notes

External links

* [http://www.nyc-architecture.com/HAR/HAR016.htm New York Architecture Images - Harlem and the Heights: The Colosseum Apartments]
* [http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/html/resources/man_excelsior.shtml New York City Department of Administrative Citywide Services: Excelsior Building]
* [http://www.audubonparkny.com/AudubonParkGrinnell800RiversideDrive-1016.html Audubon Park: The Grinnell (800 Riverside Drive)]