Hotel Marseilles
{{Short description|Residential building in Manhattan, New York}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Hotel Marseilles
| image = Broadway Manhattan Jul 2024 14.jpg
| image_alt = View of the Marseilles from the intersection of Broadway and 103th Street. The facade is largely made of red brick, except at the base, where it is made of stone. The top of the hotel contains windows within a black mansard roof.
| caption =
| location = 2689–2693 Broadway, New York, NY, 10025
| location_country = United States
| coordinates = {{Coord|40.7992|-73.9691|region:US-NY_type:landmark|format=dms|display=it}}
| architectural_style = Beaux-Arts
| start_date = 1902
| opening_date = October 1905
| developer = J. Arthur Pinchbeck
| architect = Harry Allan Jacobs
| number_of_units = 134
| floors = 11
| embedded = {{Designation list
| embed = yes
| designation1 = NYCL
| designation1_date = October 2, 1990
| designation1_number = 1660{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|p=1 }}
}}
}}
The Hotel Marseilles (also known as the Marseilles) is a residential building at 2689–2693 Broadway, on the corner with West 103rd Street, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Constructed between 1902 and 1905 as one of several apartment hotels along Broadway on the Upper West Side, the Marseilles was designed by architect Harry Allan Jacobs in the Beaux-Arts style. The building is a New York City designated landmark.
The building is 11 stories tall. Its facade is largely made of red brick and stone, with ornamentation made of architectural terracotta and wrought iron. The limestone base is three stories high and contains a main entrance on 103rd Street; the building also contains an interior light court facing south. The structure is topped by a two-story mansard roof with asphalt tiles. When the Marseilles operated as a hotel, it contained several dining rooms and other spaces for guests. The upper stories were arranged into more than 250 guestrooms, which have since been converted into 134 apartments for the elderly.
The Marseilles was developed by J. Arthur Pinchbeck, whose Netherlands Construction Company developed the structure as an apartment hotel. The hotel was completed in October 1905 and was originally operated by Louis Lukes before being resold several times in the 20th century. The ground-story rooms were replaced with shops in the 1920s. The structure contained a refugee center for Holocaust survivors in the 1940s, and the Marseilles became a single room occupancy hotel in the late 20th century. Two attempts to convert the building into affordable housing for elderly people failed in the 1960s and 1970s. The West Side Federation for Senior Housing sponsored a third, successful conversion, which was completed in 1980.
Site
The Marseilles is located at 2689–2693 Broadway, at the southwest corner with 103rd Street, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It occupies the eastern end of the city block bounded by Broadway to the east, 103rd Street to the north, West End Avenue to the west, and 102nd Street to the south.{{Cite web |title=2689 Broadway, 10025 |url=https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/1/1874/52 |access-date=January 1, 2021 |publisher=New York City Department of City Planning}}{{cbignore }} The hotel has an alternate address of 2693 Broadway.{{Cite aia5|page=388}} The rectangular land lot covers {{cvt|12,110|ft2}}, with a frontage of about {{convert|101|ft|0}} on Broadway and {{convert|120|ft}} on 103rd Street. Nearby buildings include the Master Apartments two blocks west, the Horn & Hardart Building one block north, and the Association Residence Nursing Home one block east. In addition, an entrance to the New York City Subway's 103rd Street station is immediately across 103rd Street from the building.{{cite web |date=April 2018 |title=MTA Neighborhood Maps: 103rd Street (1) |url=https://new.mta.info/document/2101 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829193927/https://new.mta.info/document/2101 |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |access-date=January 5, 2021 |website=mta.info |publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority}}
Before European colonization of modern-day New York City, the site was part of the hunting grounds of the Wecquaesgeek Native American tribe.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2015|ps=.|page=8 }}{{cite book |last=Wakin |first=D.J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1TyCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT30 |title=The Man with the Sawed-Off Leg and Other Tales of a New York City Block |publisher=Arcade |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-62872-849-1 |page=30 |access-date=October 21, 2024}} After the British established the Province of New York, the area became part of the land holdings of Isaac Bedlow in the late 1660s;{{cite book |last=Stokes |first=Isaac Newton Phelps |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z5lQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA267 |title=The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498–1909 |publisher=Robert H. Dodd |year=1922 |volume=4 |page=267}} he owned the land on what is now the west side of Manhattan from 89th to 107th streets. Humphrey Jones acquired the land between 99th and 107th streets in 1752.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2015|ps=.|page=9 }} While the Manhattan street grid was laid out as part of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, the neighborhood remained undeveloped through the late 19th century. The sites on Broadway's western sidewalks from 89th to 109th streets were still vacant as late as the 1890s.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2015|ps=.|page=11 }}
Architecture
The Hotel Marseilles was designed by Harry Allan Jacobs and is one of multiple apartment hotels on Broadway designed in the Beaux-Arts style.{{cite landmarks |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=o8ym5NeiylkC&pg=PA427 427]}} The building is 11 stories high and is U-shaped, with a light court on its southern side.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|page=5 }}
= Facade =
File:Broadway Manhattan Jul 2024 01.jpg
The facade is made of brick and stone, although some decorative details are made of architectural terracotta and wrought iron. On Broadway, the facade is divided into seven bays, while on 103rd Street, the facade is divided into nine bays.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|pages=5–6 }} The design of the Marseilles is similar to that of the Manhasset Apartments several blocks north, which also has a brick facade and a mansard roof. The western elevation, which is partially visible from the street, is clad with plain brown brick and has three windows on each story.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|page=6 }}
On Broadway, the first through third stories are clad in rusticated stone blocks, interspersed with some horizontal courses. There are some storefronts on the first story along Broadway, which are separated vertically by piers; a cornice runs above these storefronts. There are keystones and voussoirs above the second-story windows, which are arched. The windows on the third story are smaller, and there are large console brackets flanking the second-outermost windows, as well as narrow slit windows flanking the third and fourth bays from the south. A cornice runs above the third story. On the fourth to seventh stories, the facade is generally made of red brick, except for the stone window sills. The second-outermost bays are flanked by vertical quoins, which support small cornices above the seventh story. The entire eighth floor is clad in stone, while the ninth floor is clad in brick, with a terracotta cornice running horizontally above it. There is a mansard roof above the ninth story, which was re-clad with asphalt tiles in the late 20th century. The tenth-story windows in the mansard roof are topped by pediments, while the eleventh story has double-hung windows within the roof.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|pages=6–7 }}
The design of the base along 103rd Street is similar to on Broadway, except that the ground slopes up from east to west, and there is a recessed areaway in front of the ground story. There is an iron fence in front of the areaway, which was replaced at some point in the 20th century. The original main entrance to the building is in the central bay on 103rd Street, on the second story, through an arch measuring {{Convert|15|ft}} tall.{{cite magazine |date=October 14, 1905 |title=Hotels |url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_036&page=ldpd_7031148_036_00000617&no=4 |magazine=The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide |pages=575 |via=columbia.edu |volume=76 |number=1961}} The entrance is flanked by Tuscan-style fluted columns with bands, and there is an ornate entablature above the columns. In addition, a cartouche with mask and swag motifs is placed above the entrance. The bays directly next to the entrance are arched and contain rectangular panes with an oculus above them. On the third through seventh stories, the window in the central bay is flanked by slit windows. The upper stories are similar in design to the Broadway facade.
= Features =
Early plans for the hotel called for a basement with mechanical equipment, including power generators, steam generators, refrigerators, and water and air filters.{{cite magazine |date=September 13, 1902 |title=West End Section to Have a Magnificent Apartment Hotel—Cost $750,000. |url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_030&page=ldpd_7031148_030_00000470&no=2 |magazine=The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide |pages=362 |via=columbia.edu |volume=70 |number=1800}} When the building opened, it was a full-service hotel, and it had several restaurants and central kitchens. The ground story included offices, parlors, a palm court, a {{convert|40|by|100|ft|adj=on}} main dining room or ballroom, and three smaller dining rooms for private use. In addition, some space was rented out to merchants. There were additional dining rooms on the mezzanine, as well as a dining room for maids and children on the second floor. The dining room was replaced in 1925 with storefronts.{{cite news |date=June 25, 1925 |title=Two More Broadway Hotels To Have Stores on Street Level |work=The New York Times |page=36 |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|103450686}}}}
On the third through ninth stories, there were about 31 rooms on each floor, along with 18 private bathrooms and two shared bathrooms. There were 17 suites per floor, each of which had one to three rooms. The tenth floor contained bedrooms for the servants, housekeeper, and housekeeping assistants, in addition to public baths; there was a roof garden above the building. In addition, each floor was served by a freight lift, two passenger elevators, and a mail chute. After a renovation in 1980, the building had 134 apartments.{{Cite web |last=Director |first=Roger |date=June 8, 1981 |title=Budget cuts may give her new life an old ending |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-budget-cuts-may-give-her-new/157577803/ |access-date=October 21, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=65 |language=en-US |issn=2692-1251}} These units were composed of 31 studio apartments and 103 one-bedroom units. Each of the apartments' bathrooms has emergency buzzers, and about one-tenth of the apartments are set aside for disabled residents.{{Cite news |last=Lester |first=Elenore |date=November 26, 1978 |title=Urban blight war makes progress in West Side hotels' rehabilitation |work=The New York Jewish Week |page=33 |id={{ProQuest|371502770}}}}
History
During the early 19th century, apartment developments in the city were generally associated with the working class. By the late 19th century, apartment hotels were becoming desirable among the middle and upper classes.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|p=2 }}{{cite New York 1930|page=206 }} Between 1880 and 1885, more than ninety apartment buildings were developed in the city.{{cite magazine |date=February 7, 1885 |title=How the Great Apartment Houses Have Paid |url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031138_001&page=ldpd_7031138_001_00000152&no=10 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506014424/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031138_001&page=ldpd_7031138_001_00000152&no=10 |archive-date=May 6, 2022 |access-date=May 6, 2022 |journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide |pages=127–128 |volume=35 |issue=882}} The city's first subway line was developed under the adjacent section of Broadway starting in the late 1890s, and it opened in 1904 with a station at Broadway and 103rd Street.{{cite book |last1=Walker |first1=James Blaine |url=https://archive.org/details/fiftyyearsrapid00walkgoog |title=Fifty Years of Rapid Transit — 1864 to 1917 |date=1918 |publisher=Law Printing |location=New York, N.Y. |pages=148, 186}} The construction of the subway spurred the development of high-rise apartment buildings on Broadway.{{Cite New York 1900|page=383 }}{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|page=3 }} Several apartment hotels had been built along Broadway in advance of the subway's opening, including the Belleclaire and Ansonia to the south, as well as the Manhasset Apartments to the north.
= Use as apartment hotel =
== 1900s to 1920s ==
File:Broadway Manhattan Jul 2024 19.jpg
J. Arthur Pinchbeck, who owned the Netherlands Construction Company,{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|page=4 }} acquired a {{Convert|100|by|125|ft|adj=on}} site at the southwest corner of Broadway and 103rd Street in March 1902, with plans to erect a nine-story apartment hotel there.{{cite magazine |date=March 29, 1902 |title=Apartments, Flats and Tenements |url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_029&page=ldpd_7031148_029_00000668&no=3 |magazine=The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide |pages=560 |via=columbia.edu |volume=69 |number=1776}}{{cite web |date=March 29, 1902 |title=In the Real Estate Field; Twenty-eighth Street Apartment House Sold – Builder Buys Broadway and 103d Street Corner. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1902/03/29/archives/in-the-real-estate-field-twentyeighth-street-apartment-house-sold.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times}} Following an architectural design competition,{{cite magazine |date=April 5, 1902 |title=Apartments, Flats and Tenements |url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_029&page=ldpd_7031148_029_00000714&no=5 |magazine=The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide |pages=600 |via=columbia.edu |volume=69 |number=1777}} Pinchbeck hired Harry Allan Jacobs to design an apartment hotel on the site the next month.{{cite magazine |date=April 26, 1902 |title=Apartments, Flats and Tenements |url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_029&page=ldpd_7031148_029_00000887&no=4 |magazine=The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide |pages=753 |via=columbia.edu |volume=69 |number=1780}}{{Cite magazine |date=May 3, 1902 |title=Hotels |magazine=The Construction News |page=331 |volume=13 |issue=18 |id={{ProQuest|128400019}}}} Jacobs devised blueprints for a brick-and-stone structure with a steel frame,{{cite magazine |date=June 21, 1902 |title=Estimates Receivable |url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_029&page=ldpd_7031148_029_00001320&no=6 |magazine=The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide |pages=1144 |via=columbia.edu |volume=69 |number=1788}} and he filed plans for the hotel with the Manhattan Bureau of Buildings in July 1902, at which point the structure was planned to cost $750,000.{{cite news |date=July 11, 1902 |title=Plans for Hotel Filed |work=New-York Tribune |page=13 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|571144339}}}}{{cite news |date=July 11, 1902 |title=The Building Department.: List of Plans Filed for New Structures and Alterations. |work=The New York Times |page=12 |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|96231755}}}} The Netherlands Construction Company received the general contract to construct the building. By June 1904, the building's interior finishes were nearly ready.{{cite magazine |date=June 25, 1904 |title=Estimates Receivable |url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_033&page=ldpd_7031148_033_00001769&no=2 |magazine=The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide |pages=1627 |via=columbia.edu |volume=73 |number=1893}} The hotel was completed in October 1905, and Louis Lukes signed a 21-year lease to operate the hotel that month, paying a total of $1.45 million.{{Cite web |date=October 2, 1905 |title=Hotel Marseilles Leased |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-eagle-hotel-marseilles-leased/157563358/ |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=Brooklyn Eagle |page=3 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=October 1, 1905 |title=Big Mortgage Loans |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-big-mortgage-loans/157570461/ |access-date=October 21, 2024 |work=New-York Tribune |page=10 |language=en-US |issn=1941-0646}} A promotional brochure described the hotel as offering "first-class accommodations" and "home-like refinement".
In its early years, the Marseilles served both short-term visitors and long-term residents. Among the permanent residents was U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt's mother Sara Roosevelt, along with the author Dorothy Parker.{{cite web |last=Silverstein |first=Andrew |date=August 3, 2023 |title=just like Jewish refugees did after WWII |url=https://forward.com/culture/556143/migrants-refugees-nyc-jewish-holocaust-wwii-roosevelt-marseilles-park-west/ |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The Forward |archive-date=July 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712104031/https://forward.com/culture/556143/migrants-refugees-nyc-jewish-holocaust-wwii-roosevelt-marseilles-park-west/ |url-status=live}} It hosted events such as political speeches,See, for example: {{cite web |date=December 14, 1911 |title=Socialist Mayor 'Brands' Roosevelt; As Twilighters Advertised, Rev. Mr. Lunn Said the Colonel's Teachings Were Immoral. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1911/12/14/archives/socialist-mayor-brands-roosevelt-as-twilighters-advertised-rev-mr.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=April 12, 1912 |title=Mayor's Talk Wins With Methodists; Quite Sure Some of Them Right There, Like Many Others, Have Miserable Political Prejudices. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1912/04/12/archives/mayors-talk-wins-with-methodists-quite-sure-some-of-them-right.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times}} dinners,See, for example: {{cite news |date=January 16, 1913 |title=Dinner for W. M. Chandler: Progressives Honor Their Only Congressman-elect in City |work=New-York Tribune |page=9 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|575037477}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=December 12, 1916 |title=The Real Estate Field; Hotel Grenoble Purchased for New Hostelry – Madison Avenue Investment – Deal on Front Street – Bronx and Brooklyn Activity – Suburban Home Buyers. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1916/12/12/archives/the-real-estate-field-hotel-grenoble-purchased-for-new-hostelry.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times}} and club meetings,See, for example: {{cite news |date=February 3, 1907 |title=Notes of the Club |work=New-York Tribune |page=B4 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|571934494}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=April 1, 1906 |title=Coaching Club's Plans; Pioneer to Start Seven Weeks' Season, Beginning Easter Monday. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1906/04/01/archives/coaching-clubs-plans-pioneer-to-start-seven-weeks-season-beginning.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=April 2, 1916 |title=Missouri Day at Southland Club. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1916/04/02/archives/missouri-day-at-southland-club.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times}} as well as a 1921 Zionist convention. The hotel's operators defaulted on a $66,000 mortgage in mid-1907,{{cite magazine |date=June 29, 1907 |title=The 'Bismarck' in a Trade. |url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_039&page=ldpd_7031148_039_00001299&no=6 |magazine=The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide |pages=1249 |via=columbia.edu |volume=79 |number=2050}} and it was offered for sale as part of a foreclosure proceeding although the sale was postponed several times.{{Cite web |date=August 28, 1907 |title=The Real Estate Market |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sun-the-real-estate-market/157571235/ |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The Sun |page=7 |language=en-US}} A firm led by Henry S. Clement Sr. leased the building that October.{{Cite web |date=October 8, 1907 |title=Three Large Leases |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-three-large-leases/157572547/ |access-date=October 21, 2024 |work=New-York Tribune |page=9 |language=en-US |issn=1941-0646}}{{Cite web |date=August 10, 1911 |title=Brackett in Hotel Lawsuit |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sun-brackett-in-hotel-lawsuit/157573739/ |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The Sun |page=8 |language=en-US}} Shortly afterward, the building was again offered for sale;{{Cite web |date=December 28, 1907 |title=To Sell the Hotel Marseille |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-to-sell-the-hotel-marse/157571372/ |access-date=October 21, 2024 |work=New-York Tribune |page=8 |language=en-US |issn=1941-0646}}{{Cite web |date=December 28, 1907 |title=In the Real Estate Field |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times-in-the-real-estate-fi/157572642/ |access-date=October 21, 2024 |work=The New York Times |page=14 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} the building was taken over by the Netherlands Construction Company's creditors for $656,119.{{cite magazine |date=January 18, 1908 |title=The Auction Market |url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_041&page=ldpd_7031148_041_00000174&no=2 |magazine=The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide |pages=132 |via=columbia.edu |volume=81 |number=2079}} Clement's son Henry S. Clement Jr. was designated as the receiver for the Marseille.{{Cite web |date=October 31, 1908 |title=Receiver for the Hotel Marseille |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times-receiver-for-the-hote/157571575/ |access-date=October 21, 2024 |work=The New York Times |page=17 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The businessman Herbert Du Puy bought the structure in October 1909, at which point the structure was known as the Langham.{{cite web |date=October 19, 1909 |title=In the Real Estate Field; Herbert Du Puy Buys Hotel Langham, at Broadway and 103d Street – Deal for Upper Riverside Drive Apartment House. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1909/10/19/archives/in-the-real-estate-field-herbert-du-puy-buys-hotel-langham-at.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times}}{{Cite web |date=October 19, 1909 |title=The Hotel Langham Sold |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-the-hotel-langham-sold/157572776/ |access-date=October 21, 2024 |work=New-York Tribune |page=8 |language=en-US |issn=1941-0646}} Du Puy also took over the building's $525,000 mortgage.{{cite magazine |date=October 23, 1909 |title=(()) |url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_044&page=ldpd_7031148_044_00000777&no=5 |magazine=The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide |pages=735 |via=columbia.edu |volume=84 |number=2171}}
The H. S. Clement & Son Company sold its leasehold of the Marseilles to James C. Ewing in 1911,{{cite web |date=August 12, 1910 |title=In the Real Estate Field; Demand for West Side Apartment House Property Continues Strong – Manhattan Railroad Acquires Additional Harlem River Frontage – Astor Estate Rumor – Bronx and Suburban Sales. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1910/08/12/archives/in-the-real-estate-field-demand-for-west-side-apartment-house.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times}}{{Cite web |date=August 20, 1910 |title=Real Estate |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-life-real-estate/157575757/ |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=Brooklyn Life |page=24 |language=en-US}} and the hotel's manager, Charles A. Weir, announced plans for a roof garden atop the building two years later.{{cite magazine |date=May 24, 1913 |title=Roof Garden for Hotel Marseilles |url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_051&page=ldpd_7031148_051_00001281&no=2 |magazine=The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide |pages=1099 |via=columbia.edu |volume=91 |number=2358}} To protect views from the Marseilles, Du Puy acquired a house to the west of the hotel in 1916;{{cite web |date=September 1, 1916 |title=The Real Estate Field; Manhattan and Bronx Apartments in $600,000 Trade ;- Edward B. Close Buyer of the $1,000,000 on Fifth Avenue ;- Another Marble Hill Deal. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1916/09/01/archives/the-real-estate-field-manhattan-and-bronx-apartments-in-600000.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times}} he bought several additional buildings to the south and west the following year.{{cite web |date=April 4, 1917 |title=The Real Estate Field; Real Estate Transfers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/04/04/archives/the-real-estate-field-real-estate-transfers.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times}}{{Cite web |date=April 4, 1917 |title=Du Puy Buys Broadway Block |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-du-puy-buys-broadway-bl/157576065/ |access-date=October 21, 2024 |work=New-York Tribune |page=15 |language=en-US |issn=1941-0646}} During the early 1920s, the ground-store storefront was leased to the Marseilles Dress Shop.{{cite news |date=March 2, 1921 |title=Commercial Leases |work=The New York Times |page=27 |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|98460664}}}}{{cite magazine |date=March 3, 1921 |title=Realty News: Corner of 33d and Madison in $1,000,000 Lease. |magazine=Women's Wear |pages=38 |volume=22 |issue=50 |id={{ProQuest|1666067311}}}} Du Puy sold the hotel and his other properties on the block in February 1925 to Samuel Brener for about $6.5 million.{{cite news |date=November 3, 1925 |title=$5,500,000 Realty Figures In Exchange: Frank N. Hoffstot Gives Sam uel Brener Lower Broadway Building in Part Payment for West Side Block |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |page=33 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113116359}}}} The new owner hired Charles N. Whinston & Bros. the same year to add storefronts to the ground floor,{{cite magazine |date=June 25, 1925 |title=Realty News: Two Broadway Hotels To Instal Retail Stores |magazine=Women's Wear |pages=41 |volume=30 |issue=148 |id={{ProQuest|1677045909}}}} which cost $100,000.{{cite news |date=September 10, 1925 |title=35 Dwellings Planned For Forest Hill West |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |page=36 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1112829483}}}} Afterward, one of the new storefronts was leased to Irving Eisler as a drugstore.{{cite news |date=November 6, 1925 |title=Store in Hotel Marseilles Leased for $150,000: Space Will Be Used as Drug Shop: Others Rented in Different Sections |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |page=33 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113119112}}}} Brener leased the Marseilles to Harry Tannenbaum's Marseilles Operating Corporation in 1926 for 21 years at a total cost of $3 million.{{cite news |date=February 12, 1926 |title=Hotel Marseilles Figures In $3,000,000 Deal: Property at Broadway and 103d St. Taken Over by Syndicate Headed by H. Tannenbaum |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |page=28 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1112717553}}}}{{cite web |date=February 12, 1926 |title=Baltimore Firm Gives Business to Employes; Murrill & Keizer, Manufacturers of Machinery, Divide Stock Among Workers. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/02/12/archives/baltimore-firm-gives-business-to-employes-murrill-keizer.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=March 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308105729/https://www.nytimes.com/1926/02/12/archives/baltimore-firm-gives-business-to-employes-murrill-keizer.html |url-status=live}} The leasehold was sold later that year to the hotelier Edward Arlington for $2.2 million.{{cite news |date=November 16, 1926 |title=Buys Hotel Marseilles: Edward Arlington Will Operate It as Part of His Chain |work=The New York Times |page=47 |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|103824494}}}} At the time, the hotel had 280 rooms, and Arlington operated three other hotels in Upper Manhattan.{{cite news |date=November 17, 1926 |title=Edward Arlington Gets Leasehold of Hotel Marseilles: $2,200,000 Involved in Deal for Building at Broadway and 103d Street; Demand for Midtown Section Space |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=40 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1112652549}}}}
== 1930s to 1970s ==
File:Broadway Manhattan Jul 2024 09.jpg
Childs Restaurants renovated one of the storefronts at the building in 1930, replacing the original windows with larger ones.{{cite news |date=June 1, 1930 |title=Childs Orders Ellis Bldg. In 33d St. Taken Down: Paid $150,000 for Property Two Months Ago |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=E2 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113666529}}}} At the time, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company held a $6 million mortgage on the hotel.{{cite web |date=January 28, 1932 |title=Seeks Bankrupt Status; Brooklyn Firm Lists Assets Much Above Liabilities. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1932/01/28/archives/seeks-bankrupt-status-brooklyn-firm-lists-assets-much-above.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times}} After the hotel's owner defaulted on about $744,000 worth of loans on the building, the Morewood Realty Corporation bought the building for $635,000 at a foreclosure auction in December 1937.{{cite web |date=December 14, 1937 |title=Ten-story Hotel Sold; Marseilles, at Broadway and 103d St., Brings $635,000 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/12/14/archives/tenstory-hotel-sold-marseilles-at-broadway-and-103d-st-brings.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times}}{{cite news |date=December 14, 1937 |title=Plaintiff Takes Uptown Hotel In Foreclosure: Morewood Corp. Bids In the Marseilles for $35,000 Over $600,000 in Liens |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=41 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1223155992}}}} The Anco Investing Corporation and Sovereign Investing Corporation also waived the liens that they had placed on the building's mortgages.{{cite news |date=November 9, 1937 |title=Manhattan Mortgages |work=The New York Times |page=42 |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|102178077}}}} Morewood owned the building until October 1944, when the structure was sold to a holding company named 240 West 103rd Street, Inc.{{cite web |date=October 18, 1944 |title=New Owners Purchase The Hotel Marseilles |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/10/18/archives/new-owners-purchase-the-hotel-marseilles.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times}} The new owner also took over responsibility for the Marseilles' $555,000 mortgage and negotiated an extension of the mortgage.{{cite news |date=October 18, 1944 |title=Syndicate Buys 11-Story Hotel On Broadway: Marseilles, at 103d Street, Transferred; 5th Avenue Corner To Be Improved |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=31 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1283070563}}}}
After World War II, the Marseilles housed Holocaust survivors, as did several other hotels in Upper Manhattan.{{cite web |last=Berger |first=Joseph |date=November 26, 2023 |title=What Today's Migrant Crisis Looks Like to a Holocaust Refugee |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/26/nyregion/migrant-crisis-holocaust-refugee.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=October 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241010080020/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/26/nyregion/migrant-crisis-holocaust-refugee.html |url-status=live}} The United Service for New Americans leased about 150 rooms to accommodate displaced immigrants,{{cite news |date=July 3, 1950 |title=Title Firm Sells, Rents Brooklyn Branch Office |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=15 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1327262943}}}} occupying about two-thirds of the Marseilles' available space. The Marseilles' reception room was used as an interview room for newly arrived migrants, and there were also a clothing-donation room, kitchen, classrooms, and clinics for refugees.{{cite web |last=Rosenberg |first=Edwin |date=September 10, 1948 |title='Grand Hotel' in America ... First Home for the Homeless |url=https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/jweekly/1948/09/10/article/40/?srpos=5&e=------194-en-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxTI-hotel+marseilles-------------1 |access-date=October 24, 2024 |work=J. Jewish News of Northern California |via=The National Library of Israel |archive-date=September 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230913040742/https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/jweekly/1948/09/10/article/40/?srpos=5&e=------194-en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxTI-hotel+marseilles-------------1 |url-status=live}} The organization also hosted English classes and cultural orientations at the hotel, in addition to entertainment and music performances arranged by refugees. The writer William B. Helmreich wrote that some of the refugees had never had a private room before they stayed at the Marseilles.{{cite book |last=Helmreich |first=William B. |title=Against All Odds |date=July 5, 2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-53343-0 |page=31}} During the Marseilles' time as a Jewish refugee center, the hotel hosted events such as Passover SedersSee, for example: {{cite web |date=April 14, 1949 |title=300 Refugees Attend First Seder in Years |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/04/14/archives/300-refugees-attend-first-seder-in-years.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=April 24, 1948 |title=Homeless Inspire Passover Prayers; Start of Holiday Is Observed in Homes and Synagogues – Scores of Seders Given |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/04/24/archives/homeless-inspire-passover-prayers-start-of-holiday-is-observed-in.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times}} and birthday parties for U.S. president Harry S. Truman.{{cite web |date=May 9, 1949 |title=500 Refugees Mark Birthday of Truman |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/05/09/archives/500-refugees-mark-birthday-of-truman.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=February 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228153509/https://www.nytimes.com/1949/05/09/archives/500-refugees-mark-birthday-of-truman.html |url-status=live}} An estimated nine thousand Holocaust survivors passed through the Marseilles between 1946 and 1949, living there for an average of two weeks.{{cite web |date=June 18, 1949 |title=Phone is a Symbol of Freedom to Dp's; Instrument Fascinates Most of 9,000 Newcomers Whom Hotel Here Has Sheltered |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/06/18/archives/phone-is-a-symbol-of-freedom-to-dps-instrument-fascinates-most-of.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times}} By late 1949, the hotel housed 1,500 refugees simultaneously.{{Cite web |last=Quirk |first=David |date=December 9, 1949 |title=Refugee-Aid Haven Held by 500 Sit-Ins |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-refugee-aid-haven-held-by-500/157745963/ |access-date=October 24, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=264 |language=en-US |issn=2692-1251}}
Herbert Oberman and several partners bought the operating lease in July 1950 for 21 years, paying $945,000 and taking over a $25,000 mortgage.{{cite news |date=July 22, 1950 |title=Manhattan Mortgages |work=The New York Times |page=32 |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|111447736}}}} At the time, there were a total of 271 rooms in the building, divided into one- and two-room apartments.{{cite web |date=July 2, 1950 |title=Apartment Block on 'Heights' Sold; Syndicate Buys the Wadsworth Gardens on W. 188th Street --Hotel Marseilles Leased |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/07/02/archives/apartment-block-on-heights-sold-syndicate-buys-the-wadsworth.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times}} The United Service of New Americans surrendered its lease, and the new operators planned to add kitchenettes to the apartments. The renovation cost $75,000.{{cite web |date=May 4, 1951 |title=Knott Chain Sells the Cornish Arms; Louis Schleifer Buys 350-Room Building on W. 23d Street Lessee Gets Marseilles |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/05/04/archives/knott-chain-sells-the-cornish-arms-louis-schleifer-buys-350room.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times}}{{cite news |date=October 29, 1952 |title=Marseilles Lease Sold; Deal Involves Hotel Property at Broadway and 103d Street |work=The New York Times |page=50 |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|1322186614}}}} After the hotel was renovated, Oberman bought the building in May 1951 and transferred the operating lease to an unnamed syndicate represented by the lawyer Abe Silver.{{cite web |date=July 11, 1951 |title=West Side Parcel is Sold by Noyes; Plot of 16,000 Sq. Ft. on 42d and 43d Sts. Valued at $400,000—18th St. Lofts Bought |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/07/11/archives/west-side-parcel-is-sold-by-noyes-plot-of-16000-sq-ft-on-42d-and.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times}}{{cite news |date=July 11, 1951 |title=Hotel Marseilles Figures In $2,000,000 Lease |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=26 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1318541475}}}} Jack Glatstein and Bernie Edelson leased the building itself in October 1952 for 19 years, paying a total of $1.8 million.{{cite news |date=October 30, 1952 |title=Philadelphia's Shopping Center to Cost 40 Million |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=42 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1322360826}}}}{{cite news |date=October 29, 1952 |title=Marseilles Lease Sold; Deal Involves Hotel Property at Broadway and 103d Street |work=The New York Times |page=50 |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|112464980}}}} The lease was then resold in 1956 to the Marseilles Realty Corporation,{{cite web |date=July 20, 1956 |title=East Side to Get New Apartment; Plot Assembled on 65th St. Near Second Ave.--Lease Deals on Two Hotels |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/07/20/archives/east-side-to-get-new-apartment-plot-assembled-on-65th-st-near.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times}} which planned to renovate the building.{{cite news |date=July 20, 1956 |title=Hotel Marseilles Lease Purchased |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=B5 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1327173551}}}} By the late 1950s, neighborhood residents frequently complained that the Marseilles' tenants were dumping trash on the street, causing rat infestations.{{cite web |last=O'Kane |first=Lawrence |date=August 17, 1958 |title=Dirty Backyards Draw Protests; Sanitation Inspectors Warn West 103d St. Residents on Dropping Garbage |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/08/17/archives/dirty-backyards-draw-protests-sanitation-inspectors-warn-west-103d.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times}} In addition, Edna Crenshaw opened a barbershop at the hotel in 1959 after finding that there were no barbershops for black residents nearby.{{Cite news |date=March 21, 1959 |title=Ask Rocky To Extend Legislature |work=New York Amsterdam News |page=16 |id={{proQuest|225485907}}}}
The Marseilles had become a single-room occupancy structure by the early 1960s, when it housed many people living on welfare.{{cite web |last=Burks |first=Edward C. |date=January 15, 1960 |title=Landlords Given Stiff Sentences; State and Court Hand Out Jail Term, Heavy Fines and Rent Reductions |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/01/15/archives/landlords-given-stiff-sentences-state-and-court-hand-out-jail-term.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times}} There was also an unsuccessful proposal to convert the building into housing for the elderly in 1969.{{cite web |last=Tomasson |first=Robert E. |date=September 15, 1974 |title=Owners Seeking Uses For West Side Hotels |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/09/15/archives/owners-seeking-uses-for-west-side-hotels-user-sought-for-west-side.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times}} By the following decade, one source described the Marseilles as "one of the worst single room occupancy sore spots of the West Side". The New York Times reported that residents of the building frequently threw debris at passersby.{{cite web |last=Schumach |first=Murray |date=November 23, 1970 |title=Welfare Cases in Hotels Called a Modern Horror |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/11/23/archives/welfare-cases-in-hotels-called-a-modern-horror-welfare-cases-in.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times}} The New York Public Service Commission also investigated allegations that the Marseilles was charging its residents excessively high prices for phone service.{{cite web |date=August 26, 1971 |title=P.S.C. Is Studying Charges by Hotels For Phone Service |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/08/26/archives/psc-is-studying-charges-by-hotels-for-phone-service.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times}}{{Cite web |last=Carroll |first=Robert |date=August 26, 1971 |title=21 Hostelries Suspected of Padding Phone Bills |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-21-hostelries-suspected-of-pa/157577459/ |access-date=October 21, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=9 |language=en-US |issn=2692-1251}} Emily Kwoh bought the building in 1972, relocated all the tenants there, and began renovating it into housing for elderly Asians. Subsequently, the building was abandoned for five years.
= Use as elderly housing =
File:Broadway Manhattan Jul 2024 02.jpg
Starting in 1978, the 102nd–103rd Streets Block Association petitioned local residents to convert the building into affordable housing for elderly people. At the time, the proposal required $20,000 in seed money until the federal government of the United States could provide further funds for the conversion; the block association raised $2,000 of that amount through small donations. The West Side Federation for Senior Housing sponsored the building's conversion,{{cite news |date=October 28, 1979 |title=Facility for aged has grant for care at homes |work=The New York Jewish Week |page=21 |id={{ProQuest|371535937}}}} and the federal government provided an annual subsidy to help pay off the building's $5 million mortgage. In addition, the Jewish Association for Services to the Aged held group activities in the building. The affordable-housing conversion was completed in 1980.
Following the renovation, the Marseilles had 134 units of subsidized housing; all of the apartments were occupied within a year. Some of the building's apartments were rented to elderly Jewish people who lived in tenements nearby. A Thai restaurant opened within the building in 1982.{{cite web |last=Sheraton |first=Mimi |date=February 19, 1982 |title=Restaurants; Thai atmosphere and a lively pub. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/19/arts/restaurants-thai-atmosphere-and-a-lively-pub.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=October 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006210358/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/19/arts/restaurants-thai-atmosphere-and-a-lively-pub.html |url-status=live}} The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission began considering whether to designate the Marseilles as a city landmark in 1988,{{cite web |last=Dunlap |first=David W. |date=April 18, 1988 |title=Landmarks Panel to Study Stable and Pepsi-Cola Sign |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/18/nyregion/landmarks-panel-to-study-stable-and-pepsi-cola-sign.html |access-date=October 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=March 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321183633/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/18/nyregion/landmarks-panel-to-study-stable-and-pepsi-cola-sign.html |url-status=live}} and the building was officially designated as a landmark two years later on October 2, 1990.{{Cite web |last=Shepard |first=Joan |date=October 3, 1990 |title=No to bigger jail |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-no-to-bigger-jail/157757617/ |access-date=October 24, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=257 |language=en-US |issn=2692-1251}} The cornice above the eighth floor was also replaced in 1990 after it had deteriorated.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|page=7 }} In the 21st century, the Marseilles continues to function as a subsidized-housing development for elderly residents.
See also
References
{{notelist}}
=Citations=
{{reflist}}
=Sources=
- {{cite report |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1660.pdf |title=Hotel Marseilles |date=October 2, 1990 |publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission |ref={{harvid|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990}}}}
- {{cite report |url=https://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2464.pdf |title=Riverside-West End Historic District Extension II |date=June 23, 2015 |publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission |ref={{Harvid|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2015}}}}
External links
- {{Commonscat-inline|Hotel Marseilles}}
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{{Upper West Side}}
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Category:1905 establishments in New York City
Category:1900s architecture in the United States
Category:Beaux-Arts architecture in New York City
Category:Buildings with mansard roofs
Category:New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan
Category:Hotels established in 1905
Category:Residential buildings completed in 1905