Tudor City
{{Use American English|date=April 2023}}
{{Short description|Apartment complex in Manhattan, New York}}
{{good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Tudor City Historic District
| nrhp_type = hd
| coordinates = {{Coord|40|44|58|N|73|58|11.5|W|type:landmark_region:US-NY|display=title,inline}}
| image = Tudor City jeh.JPG
| caption = Prospect Tower in Tudor City
| designated_other1_name = New York City Landmark
| designated_other1_date = May 17, 1988{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=1}}
| designated_other1_abbr = NYCL
| designated_other1_color = #FFE978
| designated_other1_number = 1579
| designated_other1_link = New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
| architect = H. Douglas Ives, with the staff of the Fred F. French Company (first 12 Tudor City buildings){{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=72}}
William Hohauser (2 Tudor City Place)
| builder = Fred F. French Company
| alt = Prospect Tower in Tudor City, as seen from 42nd Street. The tower is topped by a large sign with the complex's name.
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-marker = building
| mapframe-zoom = 13
}}
Tudor City is an apartment complex on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, bordering the Turtle Bay and Murray Hill neighborhoods. It lies on a low cliff east of Second Avenue, between 40th and 43rd Streets, and overlooks First Avenue to the east. Designed and developed by the Fred F. French Company, the complex is named for its Tudor Revival architecture. Construction commenced in 1926, making it one of the first residential skyscraper complexes in the world. Tudor City was also one of the first and largest examples of a planned middle-class residential community in New York City.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=10}} The complex is a New York City designated landmark district and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The 13-building complex consists of 11 housing cooperative structures, one rental apartment building, and one short-term hotel, which collectively house 5,000 people. Most of Tudor City's buildings are arranged around 41st and 43rd Streets, which slope upward east of Second Avenue; the eastern ends of the two streets are connected by Tudor City Place, which crosses over 42nd Street. Two parks flank 42nd Street, and there was originally an 18-hole miniature golf course in the southern park. The buildings generally contained stone, brick, and terracotta facades, as well as ornate Tudor-style details. The Fred F. French Company advertised Tudor City heavily, erecting large signs on the roofs of two buildings on 42nd Street.
Before Tudor City was constructed, tenements and slums dominated the area. Following the development of the nearby Grand Central Terminal and office buildings during the early 20th century, Fred F. French began planning a residential enclave in Midtown Manhattan. French announced plans for Tudor City in December 1925, and the first 12 structures were completed in phases between October 1927 and late 1930. The section of 42nd Street through Tudor City was widened in the 1950s with the construction of the nearby United Nations headquarters, and the complex's last residential building, 2 Tudor City Place, was finished in 1956. The French Company sold the Hotel Tudor in 1963. Harry Helmsley bought most of the remaining buildings in 1970 and, over the next decade and a half, attempted to redevelop Tudor City's private parks. Helmsley resold the buildings in 1984 to Philip Pilevsky and Francis J. Greenburger, who converted most of these structures to co-op apartments.
History
= Background =
File:Exterior-Tudor City penthouse-01.jpg
The site was historically part of the Turtle Bay Farm, which had been acquired in 1795 by Francis Winthrop, who named the area Prospect Hill because it overlooked the East River.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=18}} Prospect Hill rises eastward from Second Avenue to a granite cliff about 40 feet above First Avenue. Neither 41st nor 43rd Streets reach First Avenue but end at a three-block-long north–south street called Tudor City Place, which crosses 42nd Street on an overpass. The topography provides a measure of seclusion.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=14–15}} Until the mid-19th century, the area was farmland. The huts and farms in the area attracted many squatters, and the bluff itself was controlled by "Paddy" Corcoran, who lived in a hut at the top of the hill.{{cite news |date=February 15, 1942 |title=Tudor City Development Occupies Property Where 'Squatters' Lived in Civil War Era |page=RE1 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|106188251}}}}
The area was first developed following the Civil War when the streets between First and Second Avenues were largely built up with brownstone-fronted row houses erected for the middle class. Development of single-family houses in the Tudor City area peaked in 1870,{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=10, 12}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|pp=4–5}} and horse-drawn streetcar lines were built along Second and Third Avenues.{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|511765475}} |title=Proposed Site for 'Tudor City' Linked With New York History: Prospect Place, Overlooking East River, Once Was Popular Meeting Place of the Townspeople Once a Succession of Farms Will Have "Riverside Drive" |date=December 23, 1925 |page=3 |work=The Christian Science Monitor}} The Church of the Covenant established a mission called Covenant Chapel in 1870, which had relocated to Prospect Hill by the end of the 19th century.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|pp=4–5}} Elevated railway lines were erected on Second and Third Avenues in the late 1870s. Soon afterward, the blocks east of First Avenue were taken over by noxious industries: abattoirs and meat packing houses, a gasworks, an animal glue factory, and the Waterside Generating Station.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=10, 12}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|pp=4–5}} Middle-class families abandoned their row houses, and lower-income workers moved into these buildings, which became tenements or boarding houses.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=10, 12}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|pp=4–5}}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|pp=18–19}} By the early 20th century, many of Manhattan's wealthier residents had moved to the suburbs, commuting to Midtown through the then-new Grand Central Terminal.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=10, 12}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|pp=4–5}}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|pp=20–21}}
= Development =
== Site selection ==
File:Tudor City Apr 2023 131.jpg
A real estate operator named Leonard Gans believed there was a market for middle-class apartments within walking distance of Grand Central Terminal and that Prospect Hill was an advantageous location for it.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=20}} He persuaded Paine Edson – a long-time employee of the real-estate development firm Fred F. French Company – who convinced Fred French himself.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=13, 14}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=21}} French wished to create a residential enclave in Midtown Manhattan, as he believed the New York City Subway was overcrowded and unsanitary, and traffic congestion in the city was growing.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|pp=20–21}} According to author Lawrence R. Samuel, Prospect Hill's topography and proximity to the East River made it "an ideal spot to situate a group of high-rise buildings that would offer thousands of residents sanctuary from the various transportation woes that plagued the city".{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=23}} With Gans's help, the company quickly acquired nearly a hundred properties.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=13, 14}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=21}}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=24}} The site covered {{Convert|5|acre}} and had cost approximately {{Convert|23|$/ft2}}.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=24}} It took five weeks to buy all the parcels on the site;{{Cite news |date=December 8, 1946 |title=Tudor City Marks 21st Birthday; Pioneer East Side Deals Recalled |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1946/12/08/archives/tudor-city-marks-21st-birthday-pioneer-east-side-deals-recalled.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406190519/https://www.nytimes.com/1946/12/08/archives/tudor-city-marks-21st-birthday-pioneer-east-side-deals-recalled.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=December 20, 1925 |title=Entire East Side May Be Claimed for Residences |page=B1 |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113597556}}}} on average, Gans bought three land lots per day.
On December 18, 1925, French announced plans for Tudor City, a large residential development on Prospect Hill.{{Cite news |date=December 18, 1925 |title=Tudor City to Rise on 5 East Side Acres; Tract Near Grand Central Valued at $7,500,000 Bought for $25,000,000 Project. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/12/18/archives/tudor-city-to-rise-on-5-east-side-acres-tract-near-grand-central.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404162346/https://www.nytimes.com/1925/12/18/archives/tudor-city-to-rise-on-5-east-side-acres-tract-near-grand-central.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=December 18, 1925 |title=$100,000,000 'City' to Rise On East Side |page=1 |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1112875062}}}} In contrast to French's earlier apartment buildings on Park Avenue, which mainly attracted wealthy people because of their upscale addresses, the new Tudor City targeted middle-class managers and professionals who had previously commuted from the suburbs.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|pp=29, 31}} Reflecting his intentions for Tudor City, French popularized the phrase "walk to work" in connection with the buildings' development.{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Mellins|1987|p=438}} The buildings would also be highly visible from Grand Central, further increasing their appeal to potential residents. The assemblage was valued at $7.5 million in 1925 dollars, and the project was to cost $22.5 million in total. French selected one of his company's architects – H. Douglas Ives, who had formerly worked for Cass Gilbert – to supervise the project. The buildings were to be designed with many elements of the Elizabethan and Tudor architectural styles, which dated from 16th-century England.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=25}}
== Construction and opening ==
File:Tudor City Apr 2023 133.jpg
French ordered more than 10 million pieces of face brick in 1926; at the time, it was the largest such order in New York City.{{cite news |date=December 27, 1926 |title=10,000,000 Brick Ordered For Tudor City: Record Contract for Fred F. French Co. Apartment Project, 40th to 44th St |page=22 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1112691905}}}}{{Cite news |date=December 27, 1926 |title=Tudor City Breaks Face Brick Records; Fred F. French Order for 10,000,000 Goes Over Medical Centre Top by 6,000,000 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/12/27/archives/tudor-city-breaks-face-brick-records-fred-f-french-order-for.html |access-date=April 5, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405031553/https://www.nytimes.com/1926/12/27/archives/tudor-city-breaks-face-brick-records-fred-f-french-order-for.html |url-status=live }} The first structure in the development, the 22-story Prospect Tower, was announced in June 1926.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=25}}{{cite news |date=June 27, 1926 |title=Start Tudor City by Tall Apartment; Twenty One Story Building on Prospect Hill, Overlooking the East River. |page=RE1 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|103726202}}}} The French Company filed plans with the New York City Department of Buildings for the Cloister, right across the street, that September.{{cite news |date=September 5, 1926 |title=Tudor City Apartment: Plans Completed for Second Unit to Cost $2,500,000 |page=RE1 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|103781363}}}} Plans for the third building, the Manor, were filed in December 1926,{{cite news |date=December 9, 1926 |title=Tudor City New Apartments Will Cost $1,300,000 |page=41 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1112789639}}}}{{Cite news |date=December 9, 1926 |title=Plans Filed for Ten-Story Unit In the Tudor City Project |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/12/09/archives/plans-filed-for-tenstory-unit-in-the-tudor-city-project.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404150454/https://www.nytimes.com/1926/12/09/archives/plans-filed-for-tenstory-unit-in-the-tudor-city-project.html |url-status=live }} and excavations for the first two buildings were completed soon afterward.{{cite news |date=January 9, 1927 |title=Third Tudor City Unit.: Ten-story Apartment on East 43d Street to Cost $1,250,000. |page=RE1 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|104286609}}}} French, who expressed optimism about the project, soon increased the estimated cost to $40 million.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=27}} In February 1927, the French Company filed plans for another 22-story building{{cite news |date=February 17, 1927 |title=Tudor City Plans Filed; Fourth Unit to Cost $2,500,000 |page=40 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|104223080}}}} and began constructing the steelwork for the first three buildings.{{cite news |date=February 8, 1927 |title=To Set First Steel Today On Tudor City Development |page=40 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|104242335}}}} The steelwork for the Manor and Prospect Tower was finished by that April.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=33}} French had wanted to rent out apartments for $500 per year,{{sfn|Samuel|2019|pp=27–28}} but the development had garnered much more interest than French had intended.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=33}} As early as March 1927, the French Company had rented out 44 apartments in the first two towers;{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=25}} by that June, the company was receiving 250 applications per week from potential residents.{{cite news |date=June 26, 1927 |title=Flats in Tudor City Are Renting Rapidly |page=RE2 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|104130607}}}}{{cite news |date=June 26, 1927 |title=250 Applications Received Weekly for Tudor City Suites: Success of Interesting Development Overlooking River Assured; 165 Leases Are Signed for Apartment |page=C1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1114343436}}}}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=35}}
The Manor and Prospect Tower opened on September 30, 1927,{{Cite news |date=October 1, 1927 |title=Tudor City Opening Marked by Luncheon; F. F. French, Head of Development, Sketches Historical Background of Site. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/10/01/archives/tudor-city-opening-marked-by-luncheon-f-f-french-head-of.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404162344/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/10/01/archives/tudor-city-opening-marked-by-luncheon-f-f-french-head-of.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=October 1, 1927 |title=Operator Adds to Upper West Side Holdings |page=26 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113573777}}}} followed by the Cloister soon afterward.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=35}} When the first two buildings opened, apartments in Prospect Tower without housekeeping services were already being rented for $800 to $2,050, and units with housekeeping were being rented at higher prices.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|pp=27–28}} By November 1927, ninety percent of the apartments in the Manor and Prospect Tower had been rented,{{Cite news |date=November 20, 1927 |title=Renting Conditions on the East Side; Tudor City Apartments on East Forty-second Street Arc 90 Per Cent. Rented. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/11/20/archives/renting-conditions-on-the-east-side-tudor-city-apartments-on-east.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404164305/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/11/20/archives/renting-conditions-on-the-east-side-tudor-city-apartments-on-east.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Barton |first=William E. |date=November 20, 1927 |title=Real Estate Conditions Are Healthy: Activities of Well Known Builders in Leading Sections of City Had Effect of Restoring Confidence |page=C1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113656073}}}} a figure that had increased to 99 percent by May 1928.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=25}} The remaining towers in the complex, similarly, were nearly fully occupied soon after they were completed.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=25}} The fourth building in the complex, the Hermitage, was completed in early 1928, followed that May by Tudor Tower.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=45}} The French Company bought a rowhouse on 42nd Street in December 1927{{Cite news |date=December 17, 1927 |title=French Company Increases Holdings in Tudor City Area |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/12/17/archives/french-company-increases-holdings-in-tudor-city-area.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404163655/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/12/17/archives/french-company-increases-holdings-in-tudor-city-area.html |url-status=live }} and acquired additional property on 41st and 42nd Streets in February 1928.{{Cite news |date=February 11, 1928 |title=French Takes Two Plots; Tudor City Interests Acquire 41st and 42d Street Sites. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/02/11/archives/french-takes-two-plots-tudor-city-interests-acquire-41st-and-42d.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404163701/https://www.nytimes.com/1928/02/11/archives/french-takes-two-plots-tudor-city-interests-acquire-41st-and-42d.html |url-status=live }} The firm filed plans for buildings at 312–324 East 42nd Street and 314 East 41st Street in March 1928.{{Cite news |date=March 13, 1928 |title=Two More Tall Apartments For Tudor City Development |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/03/13/archives/two-more-tall-apartments-for-tudor-city-development.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404165153/https://www.nytimes.com/1928/03/13/archives/two-more-tall-apartments-for-tudor-city-development.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=March 4, 1928 |title=Tudor City New Houses To Cost $2,850,000 |page=D1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|111434064}}}} By then, seven structures were being planned or under construction in Tudor City,{{cite news |date=April 15, 1928 |title=Tudor City Will House 12,000: in Three Years: Completed Project Will Represent 50,000,000 Investment |page=D1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113365610}}}} including a 60-story apartment building that was to be the world's tallest.{{cite news |date=June 24, 1928 |title=The World's Tallest Apartment House for First Avenue: Many New Projects. Blocks Being Improved. |page=RE1 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|104531911}}}}
Haddon Hall, Hardwicke Hall, and Hatfield House on East 41st Street all opened on January 1, 1929, and were 60 percent rented within six weeks.{{Cite news |date=February 17, 1929 |title=Three New Houses Enlarge Tudor City; East Forty-first Street Unit Provides Hotel and Housekeeping Suites. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/02/17/archives/three-new-houses-enlarge-tudor-city-east-fortyfirst-street-unit.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404163650/https://www.nytimes.com/1929/02/17/archives/three-new-houses-enlarge-tudor-city-east-fortyfirst-street-unit.html |url-status=live }} Woodstock Tower on 320 East 42nd Street was completed in 1929; at 23 stories, it was the tallest apartment building in New York City at the time.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|pp=45–46}} It was followed soon afterward by the opening of Essex House.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|pp=45–46}} The French Company filed plans for Windsor Tower, on the east side of Prospect Place between 40th and 41st Streets, in January 1929.{{Cite news |date=January 5, 1929 |title=27-Story Hotel in Tudor City To Cost $4,250,000 Is Planned |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/01/05/archives/27story-hotel-in-tudor-city-to-cost-4250000-is-planned.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404220953/https://www.nytimes.com/1929/01/05/archives/27story-hotel-in-tudor-city-to-cost-4250000-is-planned.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=January 6, 1929 |title=$4,250,000 Apartment Hotel for Tudor City: 27-Story Structure Will Occupy an Entire Block Front |page=D1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1111941784}}}} This was followed in February by plans for a 53-story hotel just to the west,{{Cite news |date=February 26, 1929 |title=French Files Plans for 53-story Hotel; New Tudor City Apartment House to Cost $8,800,000 Will Accommodate 1,783 Families. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/02/26/archives/french-files-plans-for-53story-hotel-new-tudor-city-apartment-house.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404163657/https://www.nytimes.com/1929/02/26/archives/french-files-plans-for-53story-hotel-new-tudor-city-apartment-house.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=February 26, 1929 |title=53-Story Tudor City Hotel $8,800,000 |page=41 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1111421964}}}} although plans for that tower were abandoned because of the French Company's inability to acquire the row house at 8 Prospect Place, whose owner wanted $250,000 for the property.{{Cite news |last=Cooper |first=Lee E. |date=June 22, 1945 |title=Tiny Plot Which Halted Tudor City Plan Finally Acquired by Fred French Company |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/06/22/archives/tiny-plot-which-halted-tudor-city-plan-finally-acquired-by-fred.html |access-date=April 5, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405031551/https://www.nytimes.com/1945/06/22/archives/tiny-plot-which-halted-tudor-city-plan-finally-acquired-by-fred.html |url-status=live }} The French Company also remodeled one of the houses on 43rd Street and converted it into a kindergarten in October 1929.{{Cite news |date=October 19, 1929 |title=Kindergarten Is Added To Tudor City Facilities |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/10/19/archives/kindergarten-is-added-to-tudor-city-facilities.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404220955/https://www.nytimes.com/1929/10/19/archives/kindergarten-is-added-to-tudor-city-facilities.html |url-status=live }} Windsor Tower opened on January 1, 1930, and was the eleventh{{efn|Windsor Tower was the ninth structure to be finished if Haddon Hall, Hartwicke Hall, and Hatfield House are considered a single structure.}} structure in the complex to be completed.{{Cite news |date=December 22, 1929 |title=Tudor City Addition; Will Open 23-Story Windsor Tower This Week. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/12/22/archives/tudor-city-addition-will-open-23story-windsor-tower-this-week.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}{{cite news |date=December 22, 1929 |title=Largest of Tudor City Houses Opens Next Week |page=E2 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1112017405}}}} The French Company opened an indoor golf course at the base of Windsor Tower in March 1930.{{Cite news |date=March 1, 1930 |title=Tudor City Adds to Golf Facilities. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/03/01/archives/tudor-city-adds-to-golf-facilities.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404163652/https://www.nytimes.com/1930/03/01/archives/tudor-city-adds-to-golf-facilities.html |url-status=live }}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=55}} The last of the original Tudor City buildings to be completed was the Hotel Tudor, which opened in late 1930{{cite news |date=August 10, 1930 |title=Tudor City Grows: Twelfth Unit, Containing 600 Rooms, Will Open This Fall |page=RE1 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|98548218}}}}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=58}} and was 70 percent rented upon its completion.{{Cite news |date=October 1, 1930 |title=Hotel Tudor 70 Per Cent Rented. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/10/01/archives/hotel-tudor-70-per-cent-rented.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406182439/https://www.nytimes.com/1930/10/01/archives/hotel-tudor-70-per-cent-rented.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Sun|page=43|date=October 1, 1930|title=New Tudor City Hotel Open Today|url=https://www.fultonhistory.com/Login_18/New%20York%20NY%20Sun/New%20York%20NY%20Sun%201930/New%20York%20NY%20Sun%201930%20-%207108.pdf|via=fultonhistory.com|access-date=April 3, 2023|archive-date=May 15, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515010151/https://www.fultonhistory.com/Login_18/New%20York%20NY%20Sun/New%20York%20NY%20Sun%201930/New%20York%20NY%20Sun%201930%20-%207108.pdf|url-status=live}}
= French Company ownership =
==1930s==
File:Tudor City Apr 2023 126.jpg
Throughout 1930, the French Company continued to advertise Tudor City as an investment opportunity.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|pp=55–56}} Of the original buildings in Tudor City, the Hotel Tudor was the only structure that did not originally rent apartments by the year;{{sfn|Samuel|2019|pp=45–46}} instead, rooms were rented on a nightly or weekly basis.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=58}} Excluding the 600-room hotel, the complex had 2,800 apartments and 581 staff members upon its completion.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=58}} French advertised the units to people who were working in Midtown Manhattan, particularly at large structures such as the Graybar Building and Chrysler Building, and he also tried to entice diners at the complex's restaurants to rent at Tudor City.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=57}} The complex had cost $30 million, or $10 million below the original projected cost. The buildings were still not fully occupied by the end of 1930, prompting rental managers to reduce the prices of the remaining apartments.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=58}} As the Depression continued, the French Company continued to lower prices and advertised the buildings' proximity to transit options and Midtown Manhattan offices.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=60}} Advertisements also promoted the area's "old-world charm" and sense of community, though the writer Lawrence Samuel says the wording may have implied that the residents were largely white.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=62}}
The French Company had acquired nearly the entire block between Prospect Place (later Tudor City Place), Second Avenue, and 40th and 41st Streets by September 1928.{{cite news |date=September 30, 1928 |title=Realty Sales Again Center On East Side: French Interests Add to Tudor City Holdings; Dwelling in 86th Street Is Sold for $160,000 |page=D1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113709073}}}} The exception was the row house at 8 Tudor City Place, whose owner would only sell for a very high price.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=76}} The company cleared the rest of the plot and built a miniature golf course, which replaced the southern park's mini-golf course. Due to the French Company's inability to buy the house at 8 Tudor City Place, the redevelopment of that site was delayed. The French Company announced in 1933 that it would open a set of tennis and handball courts at Tudor City,{{Cite news |date=May 7, 1933 |title=Tennis for Tudor City Tenants. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1933/05/07/archives/tennis-for-tudor-city-tenants.html |access-date=April 5, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405031550/https://www.nytimes.com/1933/05/07/archives/tennis-for-tudor-city-tenants.html |url-status=live }}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=64}} and the Tudor City Tennis Club began operating the tennis courts that June.{{Cite news |date=June 17, 1933 |title=Richards Conquers Hall in Two Sets; Triumphs at Opening of Tennis Courts at Tudor City – Miss Taubele Beats Miss Moore. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1933/06/17/archives/richards-conquers-hall-in-two-sets-triumphs-at-opening-of-tennis.html |access-date=April 5, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405011842/https://www.nytimes.com/1933/06/17/archives/richards-conquers-hall-in-two-sets-triumphs-at-opening-of-tennis.html |url-status=live }} A ski slope was installed on the site of the tennis courts during early 1937.{{Cite news |date=January 3, 1937 |title=Erect Ski Side in Tudor City |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/01/03/archives/erect-ski-side-in-tudor-city.html |access-date=April 5, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405010356/https://www.nytimes.com/1937/01/03/archives/erect-ski-side-in-tudor-city.html |url-status=live }} French intended for these activities to create a sense of community within the complex.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=64}}
The French Company's stockholders continued to own the complex after French died in 1936.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=62}} Twenty thousand tulips from the Netherlands were planted across the complex that year.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=64}}{{cite web | title=Tulip Show Brings Touch of Holland; 20,000 Blooms in Tudor City Put on Display Near Site of Old Dutch Settlement. | website=The New York Times | date=May 13, 1936 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/05/13/archives/tulip-show-brings-touch-of-holland-20000-blooms-in-tudor-city-put.html | access-date=April 15, 2024 | archive-date=April 16, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240416190444/https://www.nytimes.com/1936/05/13/archives/tulip-show-brings-touch-of-holland-20000-blooms-in-tudor-city-put.html | url-status=live }} Over the next several years, new tulips were planted in the complex's gardens every summer.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=64}} The French Company banned dogs from Tudor City's apartments in 1937,{{Cite news |date=October 7, 1937 |title=Dog-lovers Fume at Apartment Ban; Condemn New Tudor City Policy, Holding Careless Owners, Not Pets, Are to Blame |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/10/07/archives/doglovers-fume-at-apartment-ban-condemn-new-tudor-city-policy.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406182439/https://www.nytimes.com/1937/10/07/archives/doglovers-fume-at-apartment-ban-condemn-new-tudor-city-policy.html |url-status=live }}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=68}} making it New York City's largest apartment complex with such a restriction.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=68}} In its early years, the enclave also hosted events such as tulip exhibitions{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=66}}{{Cite news |date=May 7, 1941 |title=Tulip Time Despite War; 10,000 Bloom in the Botanical Garden – Fete at Tudor City |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/05/07/archives/tulip-time-despite-war-10000-bloom-in-the-botanical-garden-fete-at.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} (which quickly grew in popularity throughout the 1930s{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=67}}) and springtime festivals.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=66}}{{Cite news |date=May 9, 1941 |title=Spring Festival Held; Tudor City Program Includes Drill, Dancing and Style Show |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/05/09/archives/spring-festival-held-tudor-city-program-includes-drill-dancing-and.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406182437/https://www.nytimes.com/1941/05/09/archives/spring-festival-held-tudor-city-program-includes-drill-dancing-and.html |url-status=live }} The French Company also tried to reorganize Woodstock Tower in 1938, but this was rejected.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=68}}{{cite web | title=French Plan Rejected; Reorganization of Tudor City Unit to Come Up Again. | website=The New York Times | date=February 4, 1938 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/02/04/archives/french-plan-rejected-reorganization-of-tudor-city-unit-to-come-up.html | access-date=April 15, 2024 | archive-date=April 16, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240416190530/https://www.nytimes.com/1938/02/04/archives/french-plan-rejected-reorganization-of-tudor-city-unit-to-come-up.html | url-status=live }}
==Early 1940s==
With the economy improving, in 1940, the French Company resumed advertisements that targeted a variety of potential tenants, such as newlyweds and families.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=69}} Following the onset of World War II, the complex began hosting patriotic drills and wartime fundraisers.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=70}} As a wartime precaution, air-raid drills were frequently conducted inside the buildings; a scrap-metal pile was created on 42nd Street; and first-aid stations were established in their basements. Residents rejected another proposal to convert Tudor City's gardens to victory gardens where fruits and vegetables would be grown.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|pp=72–73}} The war itself caused a citywide housing shortage,{{sfn|Samuel|2019|pp=71–72}} so the buildings remained fully occupied during the war, with 2,800 families.{{cite news |date=April 9, 1944 |title=Renewing Tudor City Leases |page=RE1 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|106896164}}}}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=71}} These apartments had a total of 4,000 residents in 1942.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=71}} By the early 1940s, the company reported that around 1,100 families had lived in Tudor City for at least five years and that around 400 families had lived there for at least ten years.{{cite news |date=October 11, 1942 |title=Sets Rental Record: 740 Leases Signed in September for Tudor City Suites |page=RE3 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|106292867}}}}{{cite news |date=August 22, 1943 |title=Playgrounds Pay Dividends, Managers Find: More Than 1,100 Families Have Lived at Tudor City Five Years or Longer |page=B6 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1267967082}}}}
Tudor City's popularity in the 1940s was attributed in part to the complex's recreational facilities,{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=71}} which included the tennis courts, five sun decks, and a water playground.{{cite news |date=July 26, 1942 |title=Tudor City Tenants Enjoy Play Areas: Tennis Courts and Parks Well Patronized in Summer |page=RE4 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|106856167}}}}{{cite news |date=July 26, 1942 |title=Tudor City Tennis Club Popular With Tenants: Two Blocks East of Grand Central Station |page=C3 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1264399589}}}}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=71}} The recreational facilities helped entice Tudor City residents to remain within New York City, at a time when wealthy city dwellers tended to travel to the suburbs during the summer.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=71}} After World War II ended, a shortage of affordable apartments in Manhattan caused demand for Tudor City's apartments to increase.{{Cite news |last=Fowler |first=Glenn |date=June 18, 1970 |title=Tudor City Sold for $36-Million |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/06/18/archives/tudor-city-sold-for-36million.html |access-date=April 7, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407164645/https://www.nytimes.com/1970/06/18/archives/tudor-city-sold-for-36million.html |url-status=live }} The company announced plans in August 1944 for a 12-story building on the southwestern corner of 41st Street and Tudor City Place, contingent on the company's acquisition of 8 Tudor City Place.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|pp=75–76}} The building would have had a 70-spot parking garage and 167 apartments,{{Cite news |date=August 31, 1944 |title=New Unit Planned on Tudor City Site; Apartment for 167 Families Be Built After War in East 41st Street |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/08/31/archives/new-unit-planned-on-tudor-city-site-apartment-for-167-families-be.html |access-date=April 5, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405010640/https://www.nytimes.com/1944/08/31/archives/new-unit-planned-on-tudor-city-site-apartment-for-167-families-be.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=August 31, 1944 |title=New Apartment House Planned For Tudor City: Large 12-Story Building Will Complete Midtown Colony; Chelsea Site Sold |page=25 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1283101810}}}} each with three or four rooms.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=76}} The French Company finally acquired the site 8 Tudor City Place in June 1945,{{cite news |date=June 23, 1945 |title=Syndicate Sells Apartment Site On Park Avenue: Contract Awarded for 18- Story House at 36th St.; Park Row Corner Sold |page=22 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1291221793}}}}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=76}} at which point all of the structures surrounding that lot had been demolished several years prior. The 12-story structure there was never built because of a lack of money.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=95}}
== United Nations headquarters improvements ==
File:Tudor City Summer Night.jpg and Dag Hammarskjöld Library behind Prospect and Tudor Towers, with North Park at the bottom left]]
By 1946, the community had 5,500 residents.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=82}} Around that time, the developer William Zeckendorf had bought up the old slaughterhouses east of Tudor City for the development of the United Nations headquarters.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=82}}{{cite news | last=Gray | first=Christopher | title=The U.N.: One Among Many Ideas for the Site | website=The New York Times | date=April 25, 2010 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/realestate/25streets.html | access-date=December 26, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227180449/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/realestate/25streets.html | archive-date=December 27, 2017 | url-status=live | df=mdy-all }} Both the French Company and the Tudor City newsletter's newsletter supported the development.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=84}} In advance of the UN headquarters' construction, the New York City Board of Estimate proposed new zoning regulations for the area around Tudor City, limiting the height of new buildings.{{Cite news |date=January 23, 1947 |title=New Zoning Curbs Due Near U.N. Site; Commission to Act Speedily, Chiefly to Avert Realty Speculation in Area |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/01/23/archives/new-zoning-curbs-due-near-un-site-commission-to-act-speedily.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408182219/https://www.nytimes.com/1947/01/23/archives/new-zoning-curbs-due-near-un-site-commission-to-act-speedily.html |url-status=live }}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=85}} A lawyer for Tudor City unsuccessfully sought an exemption from the regulations, which were passed in May 1947.{{cite news |date=May 2, 1947 |title=Zoning of U. N. Site Approved by City: Tudor City, Only Objector, Silenced by O'Dwyer |page=14 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1318016561}}}}{{Cite news |date=May 2, 1947 |title=Zoning Change Voted to Protect U.N. Site |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/05/02/archives/zoning-change-voted-to-protect-un-site.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408182221/https://www.nytimes.com/1947/05/02/archives/zoning-change-voted-to-protect-un-site.html |url-status=live }} The regulations prevented the French Company from constructing residential skyscrapers in Tudor City, as they had intended. Furthermore, the company had difficulty financing any new buildings, and the federal government restricted them from raising rents as well.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=85}}
To improve access to the United Nations headquarters, the city government proposed widening both 42nd Street and Tudor City Place and narrowing Tudor City's parks in mid-1948.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=87}} This would eliminate two service roads on 42nd Street and require the relocation of several buildings' entrances.{{cite news |last=Yerxa |first=Fendall |date=July 22, 1948 |title=Tudor City Protests City's Plans To Develop Approach to U.N. Site |page=1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1327415594}}}}{{Cite news |date=December 22, 1949 |title=U. N. Approach to Be Beautified By Redevelopment of 42d Street |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/12/22/archives/u-n-approach-to-be-beautified-by-redevelopment-of-42d-street-plans.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827172403/https://www.nytimes.com/1949/12/22/archives/u-n-approach-to-be-beautified-by-redevelopment-of-42d-street-plans.html |url-status=live }} Many residents opposed the widening of Tudor City Place and the shrinking of both of the enclave's parks,{{Cite news |date=July 22, 1948 |title=Protest City's UN Projects in Tudor City |page=652 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122447052/protest-citys-un-projects-in-tudor-city/ |access-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407185406/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122447052/protest-citys-un-projects-in-tudor-city/ |url-status=live }}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=87}} and more than 2,400 residents signed a petition protesting the plans.{{Cite news |date=July 22, 1948 |title=Plans for U.N. Site Arouse Tudor City; Petitions Circulated Against Street Widening at Expense of Two Private Parks |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/07/22/archives/plans-for-un-site-arouse-tudor-city-petitions-circulated-against.html |access-date=April 7, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405202107/https://www.nytimes.com/1948/07/22/archives/plans-for-un-site-arouse-tudor-city-petitions-circulated-against.html |url-status=live }}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=87}} French Company vice president Charles N. Blakeley also objected to the plan, saying it would force tenants of the affected buildings to use stairs or escalators to reach their own front doors.{{Cite news |date=July 23, 1948 |title=Ramp for Hospital in U.N. Plan Likely |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/07/23/archives/ramp-for-hospital-in-un-plan-likely.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409124156/https://www.nytimes.com/1948/07/23/archives/ramp-for-hospital-in-un-plan-likely.html |url-status=live }} City officials contended that the street widening was necessary because 42nd Street already carried high amounts of vehicular traffic to and from the nearby FDR Drive. The New York City Planning Commission approved the plans in September 1948.{{Cite news |date=September 17, 1948 |title=Approach to U.N. Mapped; City Planning Proposal Would Widen 42d Street to 100 Feet |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/09/17/archives/approach-to-un-mapped-city-planning-proposal-would-widen-42d-street.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406190517/https://www.nytimes.com/1948/09/17/archives/approach-to-un-mapped-city-planning-proposal-would-widen-42d-street.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=September 17, 1948 |title=Street Widening for U. N. Approved by City Board |page=8 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1326785598}}}} The Board of Estimate, overriding the residents' objections, approved $1.848 million for the project that December.{{cite news |date=December 17, 1948 |title=Tudor City Plea To Save Park Area Rebuffed: Estimate Board Also Tells 42d Street Group It Must Make Way for U. N. Plan |page=42 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1336513318}}}}{{Cite news |date=December 17, 1948 |title=City to Add Land for U.N. Approach; Board Votes to Take Over Strip for Widening of Street to Speed Development |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/12/17/archives/city-to-add-land-for-un-approach-board-votes-to-take-over-strip-for.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406190517/https://www.nytimes.com/1948/12/17/archives/city-to-add-land-for-un-approach-board-votes-to-take-over-strip-for.html |url-status=live }} The board provisionally authorized the street widening in June 1949, and Manhattan's borough president announced in December 1949 that work would commence shortly.{{cite news |date=December 22, 1949 |title=Plan for Remodeling 42d St. As an Approach to U. N. Site |page=11 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1326825009}}}}{{Cite news |date=December 22, 1949 |title=U. N. Approach to Be Beautified By Redevelopment of 42d Street |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/12/22/archives/u-n-approach-to-be-beautified-by-redevelopment-of-42d-street-plans.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827172403/https://www.nytimes.com/1949/12/22/archives/u-n-approach-to-be-beautified-by-redevelopment-of-42d-street-plans.html |url-status=live }} The project entailed reducing the width of the parks by {{convert|22|ft}}.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=88}}
In 1950, the New York City Art Commission tentatively approved plans for two municipal parks near Tudor City Place, one on either side of 42nd Street.{{Cite news |date=July 11, 1950 |title=2 Parks Approved by Art Commission; At East End of 42d St., They Are to Be Part of Plan for Beautifying U.N. Area |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/07/11/archives/2-parks-approved-by-art-commission-at-east-end-of-42d-st-they-are.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406225250/https://www.nytimes.com/1950/07/11/archives/2-parks-approved-by-art-commission-at-east-end-of-42d-st-they-are.html |url-status=live }} The neighboring stretch of 42nd Street was temporarily closed in February 1951.{{Cite news |date=October 2, 1952 |title=East 42d St. Block Reopens to Traffic |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/10/02/archives/east-42d-st-block-reopens-to-traffic.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409124158/https://www.nytimes.com/1952/10/02/archives/east-42d-st-block-reopens-to-traffic.html |url-status=live }} The work was supposed to be completed by early 1952, but the project was significantly delayed.{{Cite news |date=March 21, 1952 |title=U.N. Area Buildings Get 'faces' Lifted; Church and Apartments, Left High if Not Dry by Street Alterations, Face Losses |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/03/21/archives/un-area-buildings-get-faces-lifted-church-and-apartments-left-high.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406225250/https://www.nytimes.com/1952/03/21/archives/un-area-buildings-get-faces-lifted-church-and-apartments-left-high.html |url-status=live }} After the service roads were removed, the main entrances to the Hotel Tudor, Church of the Covenant, and Woodstock Tower were stranded up to {{Convert|17|ft}} above the new grade of 42nd Street.{{cite news |date=October 7, 1951 |title=Tudor City Sues For Million on 42d St. Grading: Alleges New U.N. Approach Left Woodstock Tower's Entrance Hanging in Air |page=27 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1313667587}}}} The owners of all three buildings lowered their entrances{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=29}}{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=18–19}}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=91}} and sued the city government for damages.{{cite news |date=March 28, 1952 |title=Woodstock Tower Awarded $405,000: Property Damaged by New Level of 42d St. |page=7 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1322199795}}}}{{efn|Woodstock Tower's owners requested that the city pay $875,000; about half of this amount was attributed to a decline in the building's value. After a city appraiser found that the project had actually caused Woodstock Tower's valuation to increase,{{Cite news|date=January 30, 1952|title=Regrading for U.N. Called Realty Aid; Appraiser for City Estimates Effect on Tudor Unit, Which Reduces Damage Claim|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/01/30/archives/regrading-for-un-called-realty-aid-appraiser-for-city-estimates.html|access-date=April 6, 2023|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 9, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409130242/https://www.nytimes.com/1952/01/30/archives/regrading-for-un-called-realty-aid-appraiser-for-city-estimates.html|url-status=live}} the award was reduced to $426,000. The owner of the Hotel Tudor filed a claim for about $166,400, while the church filed a claim for $115,000; both buildings received a fraction of these claims.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=91}}}} Rows of houses near the top of the hill on both sides were replaced with public parks{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|pp=29, 47–48}} designed by J. J. Levison.
During the late 1940s and early 1950s, rumors persisted that the French Company was planning to sell Tudor City, prompting further fears that existing residents would be evicted.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=88}} The construction of the UN headquarters also disrupted daily routines; residents had to sidestep sidewalk and park construction, and they hosted meetings because of fears that the area could be targeted during the Cold War.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=91}} These issues were exacerbated by allegations of racial discrimination in the community, including a lawsuit filed by a black man who claimed that he was twice prohibited from using one of the community's elevators.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=92}}{{cite web | title=Negro Wins $1,000 in Exclusion Case; Jury Finds Dancer Was Twice Denied Use of Tudor City Passenger Elevators | website=The New York Times | date=May 26, 1948 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/05/26/archives/negro-wins-1000-ih-exclusion-case-jury-finds-dancer-was-twice.html | access-date=April 22, 2024 | archive-date=April 22, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422133046/https://www.nytimes.com/1948/05/26/archives/negro-wins-1000-ih-exclusion-case-jury-finds-dancer-was-twice.html | url-status=live }} By 1952, UN–related construction was largely completed.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=92}} The block of 42nd Street between First and Second Avenues was reopened in October 1952 after the widened street and the new overpass were completed. The widening of 42nd Street within Tudor City ultimately cost $1.4 million.{{Cite news |date=October 8, 1952 |title=Work Nearing End at U.N. Plaza Site; City Has Paid $8,079,000 of $10,505,000 Spent on Street, Highway and Ramp Jobs |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/10/08/archives/work-nearing-end-at-un-plaza-site-city-has-paid-8079000-of-10505000.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409130244/https://www.nytimes.com/1952/10/08/archives/work-nearing-end-at-un-plaza-site-city-has-paid-8079000-of-10505000.html |url-status=live }}
== New building and late 1950s ==
No new buildings were developed until 25 years after the rest of the complex was completed.{{cite news |date=November 13, 1955 |title=Tudor City Suites Ready Next Month |page=R1 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|113170589}}}}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=93}} William I. Hohauser was hired in 1954 to design an apartment building on a {{Convert|55000|ft2|adj=on}} site at 2 Tudor City Place. The building was to rise 15 stories from Tudor City Place and 41st Street; the 40th Street side was three stories below the Tudor City Place side.{{cite news |last=Cooper |first=Lee E. |date=April 4, 1954 |title=Tudor City Block Gets Apartments: East Side Site Now Being Improved With Housing for 334 |page=R1 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|113123795}}}}{{cite news |date=April 4, 1954 |title=Apartments To Rise in U. N. Area |page=29 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1313729918}}}} Work on the building, known as Tudor Gardens,{{cite news |date=August 7, 1955 |title=New House in Tudor City Is First Built by 'Outsider' |page=2C |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1323362513}}}} began in April 1954. Unlike the other structures in the enclave, Tudor Gardens was developed by a third-party group led by builder Gandolfo Schimenti. The group had leased the site from the French Company for 89 years. on the condition that they could not sell the land or mortgage the property. Tudor Gardens opened in 1956, lacking the Tudor-style ornament of all the other buildings except the Hotel Tudor.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|pp=29, 62}} After 2 Tudor City Place was finished, Tudor City had no more space for additional buildings.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=95}}
File:Fluffy Snow In Tudor City.jpg
In response to increasing noise complaints from the enclave's tenants, 1,500 residents formed a committee in 1955 to reduce noise from traffic and other buildings in the surrounding neighborhood.{{Cite news |date=June 26, 1955 |title=Noise Draws Fire From Tudor City; Residents of Development on East River Name Group to Muffle Cacophony |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/06/26/archives/noise-draws-fire-from-tudor-city-residents-of-development-on-east.html |access-date=April 7, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412070712/https://www.nytimes.com/1955/06/26/archives/noise-draws-fire-from-tudor-city-residents-of-development-on-east.html |url-status=live }} The French Company acquired additional land over the years. By 1959, the company owned the entire block between 40th Street, First Avenue, 41st Street, and Second Avenue, which included the southernmost part of Tudor City.{{Cite news |date=July 20, 1959 |title=Fred F. French Co. Buys A Corner on East Side |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/07/20/archives/fred-f-french-co-buys-a-corner-on-east-side.html |access-date=April 7, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}
== 1960s ==
The French Company leased the site west of the Hotel Tudor and announced plans in 1962 to develop a 17-story office building there, designed by William Lescaze. Local media described it as Tudor City's first office building.{{cite news |date=August 2, 1962 |title=Tudor City Is Planning To Add Office Building |page=19 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1325535615}}}}{{Cite news |date=August 2, 1962 |title=Tudor City to Get an Office Building |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1962/08/02/archives/tudor-city-to-get-an-office-building.html |access-date=April 7, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412202338/https://www.nytimes.com/1962/08/02/archives/tudor-city-to-get-an-office-building.html |url-status=live }} Several office buildings had been developed in the neighborhood during the last several years, including the Pfizer Building and an expansion to the Daily News Building.{{cite news |last=Fowler |first=Glenn |date=March 12, 1963 |title=Tudor City Sets New Sights With First Office Tower |page=R1 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|116602734}}}} The French Company sold the Hotel Tudor in June 1963 to a group of investors who planned to renovate it.{{Cite news |date=June 19, 1963 |title=Tudor City Hotel is Sold to Group; Landmark on E. 42d St. Bought From F.F. French |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/06/19/archives/tudor-city-hotel-is-sold-to-group-landmark-on-e-42d-st-bought-from.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404171533/https://www.nytimes.com/1963/06/19/archives/tudor-city-hotel-is-sold-to-group-landmark-on-e-42d-st-bought-from.html |url-status=live }}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=29}} The new office building on Second Avenue had been completed by late 1963.{{cite news |last=Gilbert |first=Felix |date=November 17, 1963 |title=Activity is Brisk Near the River: New Office Buildings and Motels Brighten 42d Street's Tarnished Image 42d Street Gets Building Boom |page=R1 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|116709862}}}} Concurrently, the Ford Foundation announced plans to construct its headquarters on the north side of 42nd Street, surrounded on three sides by Tudor City's apartment buildings; that structure was completed in 1967.{{Cite news |last=Huxtable |first=Ada Louise |date=November 26, 1967 |title=Architecture; Ford Flies High |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/11/26/archives/architecture-ford-flies-high-ford-flies-high.html |url-status=live |access-date=June 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626170050/https://www.nytimes.com/1967/11/26/archives/architecture-ford-flies-high-ford-flies-high.html |archive-date=June 26, 2020 |issn=0362-4331}}
The French Company also announced plans in March 1964 to refurbish Tudor City's 12 apartment buildings, none of which had ever been renovated. The project included redecorating each building's lobby; installing electric ranges in studio apartments; replacing the elevators; and adding wallpaper and carpeting in hallways.{{cite news |last=Fowler |first=Glenn |date=March 8, 1964 |title=Renovations Set for Tudor City: 35-year-old Complex Gets Extensive Modernization |page=R1 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|115551745}}}} By then, the company had also replaced four-fifths of the London plane trees on the sidewalks with sturdier ginkgo trees.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|pp=29–30}}
United Nations officials announced plans in 1968 to develop additional office buildings west of the United Nations headquarters, abutting the Cloister and the Manor in Tudor City.{{Cite news |last=Bennett |first=Charles G. |date=April 12, 1968 |title=2-Block U.N. Expansion Is Planned for East Side; 2 Blocks Are Set Aside for Expansion of the U.N. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/04/12/archives/2block-un-expansion-is-planned-for-east-side-2-blocks-are-set-aside.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} The original plan, which was canceled in 1970, would have displaced hundreds of families in Tudor City.{{Cite news |last=Clarity |first=James F. |date=October 23, 1971 |title=Neighborhoods: Village of Tudor City |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/23/archives/neighborhoods-village-of-tudor-city.html |access-date=April 5, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} Some residents of Tudor City objected to the plans, claiming that the UN plan would force them out; others alleged that the Ford Foundation was planning to buy Tudor City, although the foundation denied these claims.{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Rudy |date=December 8, 1968 |title=Tenants Near U.N. Fight Expansion; 150 Pickets Fear Eviction From Midtown Area |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/12/08/archives/tenants-near-un-fight-expansion-150-pickets-fear-eviction-from.html |access-date=April 7, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407185407/https://www.nytimes.com/1968/12/08/archives/tenants-near-un-fight-expansion-150-pickets-fear-eviction-from.html |url-status=live }} In response, city and state officials specifically excluded Tudor City from the UN plan.{{Cite news |date=June 18, 1970 |title=Tudor City Complex Sold for $36 Million |page=282 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122451873/tudor-city-complex-sold-for-36-million/ |access-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407185405/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122451873/tudor-city-complex-sold-for-36-million/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Teltsch |first=Kathleen |date=January 7, 1969 |title=McCloy Heads Board to Develop 2 Blocks for U.N. Expansion |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/01/07/archives/mccloy-heads-board-to-develop-2-blocks-for-un-expansion.html |access-date=April 7, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407185403/https://www.nytimes.com/1969/01/07/archives/mccloy-heads-board-to-develop-2-blocks-for-un-expansion.html |url-status=live }} In early 1969, the New York City Planning Commission considered rezoning Tudor City to prevent office development there.{{Cite news |date=April 17, 1969 |title=Planners Propose Tudor City Zoning |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/04/17/archives/planners-propose-tudor-city-zoning.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404222746/https://www.nytimes.com/1969/04/17/archives/planners-propose-tudor-city-zoning.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=March 27, 1969 |title=Zone Change Pledge Given To Tudor City |page=100 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122450937/zone-change-pledge-given-to-tudor-city/ |access-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407185404/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122450937/zone-change-pledge-given-to-tudor-city/ |url-status=live }} The enclave's residents continued to express concerns that the United Nations or the Ford Foundation would develop structures that encroached on Tudor City.{{Cite news |last=Nobbe |first=George |date=May 17, 1970 |title=The Expanding UN—Boon or Boondoggle? |pages=40, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95388913/daily-news/ 41] |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122452329/the-expanding-ungeorge-nobbe/ |access-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407185403/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122452329/the-expanding-ungeorge-nobbe/ |url-status=live }}
= Helmsley ownership =
Harry Helmsley's company Helmsley-Spear bought most of the apartment buildings (except Hotel Tudor and 2 Tudor City Place), as well as the enclave's private parks, in June 1970 for $36 million. By then, Tudor City's population was largely composed of older people living in rent-regulated apartments; by 1971, one out of four residents had lived there for over 15 years. Many younger people were moving into apartments that had been vacated by rent-regulated tenants. Following the sale, Helmsley controlled 11 of 12 apartment buildings in Tudor City, comprising a total of 3,500 units; these apartments housed between 7,500 and 10,000 people by the 1980s.{{Cite news |last=Gaiter |first=Dorothy J. |date=May 21, 1983 |title=City Acts to Block Tudor City Survey |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/21/nyregion/city-acts-to-block-tudor-city-survey.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409184236/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/21/nyregion/city-acts-to-block-tudor-city-survey.html |url-status=live }} Helmsley said he "can't afford to buy a park and pay taxes on it", and he soon announced plans to replace Tudor City's parks with luxury apartment buildings, to much controversy.{{cite magazine |last1=Furman |first1=Phyllis |last2=Sommerfield |first2=Frank |date=August 28, 1989 |title=Leona's Way: How Typical? Having the Firm Pick Up the Tab |magazine=Crain's New York Business |volume=5 |issue=35 |page=1 |id={{ProQuest|219158243}}}} Over the next decade, residents stalled the redevelopment of Tudor City's parks by stealing construction materials, filing lawsuits,{{Cite news |last=Goldman |first=Ari L. |date=May 27, 1980 |title=Tenants of Tudor City Fighting For Oasis of Trees and Courtesy; An Oasis of Politeness and Trees |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/05/27/archives/tenants-of-tudor-city-fighting-for-oasis-of-trees-and-courtesy-an.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404222741/https://www.nytimes.com/1980/05/27/archives/tenants-of-tudor-city-fighting-for-oasis-of-trees-and-courtesy-an.html |url-status=live }} and, in one case, placing themselves in front of a bulldozer.{{Cite news |date=May 26, 1980 |title=The City; Bulldozer Halted At Tudor City M.T.A. Unit Decries Plan to Raise Fares Gains Are Reported In P.B.A. Pact Talks |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/05/26/archives/the-city-bulldozer-halted-at-tudor-city-mta-unit-decries-plan-to.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409231013/https://www.nytimes.com/1980/05/26/archives/the-city-bulldozer-halted-at-tudor-city-mta-unit-decries-plan-to.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Duke |first=Biddle |date=December 4, 1987 |title=Tudor City: Judge Spares Parks From the Bulldozer |page=35 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122578753/tudor-city-judge-spares-parks-from-the/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409231012/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122578753/tudor-city-judge-spares-parks-from-the/ |url-status=live }}
== Initial park-development proposals ==
File:At New York, USA 2017 160.jpg
By November 1971, two hundred residents were formulating plans to save Tudor City's parks,{{Cite news |date=November 8, 1971 |title=Tudor City Residents Here Fight to Save Their Parks |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/08/archives/tudor-city-residents-here-fight-to-save-their-parks.html |access-date=April 7, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412202340/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/08/archives/tudor-city-residents-here-fight-to-save-their-parks.html |url-status=live }} backed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers.{{Cite news |last=Clarity |first=James F. |date=November 14, 1971 |title=5 Lawmakers to Oppose Plans To Build in Tudor City Parks |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/14/archives/5-lawmakers-to-oppose-plans-to-build-in-tudor-city-parks.html |access-date=April 7, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407185405/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/14/archives/5-lawmakers-to-oppose-plans-to-build-in-tudor-city-parks.html |url-status=live }} The Save Our Parks Committee, a group dedicated to preserving the parks, had 500 members by July 1972, when they requested that the New York City Planning Commission rezone the parks to prevent any development there.{{Cite news |date=July 31, 1972 |title=Plan to Build on Parkland Upsets Tudor City |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/07/31/archives/plan-to-build-on-parkland-upsets-tudor-city-residents-of-the-3300.html |access-date=April 7, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} Helmsley announced plans in September 1972 to construct an apartment building spanning 42nd Street, which would replace the two parks.{{Cite news |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=September 1, 1972 |title=A High-Rise Over E. 42d St.? |page=161 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122453076/a-high-rise-over-e-42d-stowen-moritz/ |access-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407185403/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122453076/a-high-rise-over-e-42d-stowen-moritz/ |url-status=live }} City officials prepared several alternatives that would either preserve at least one of the parks or allow Helmsley to construct a new park above 42nd Street.{{Cite news |last=Clines |first=Francis X. |date=September 20, 1972 |title=City Offers Tudor City Alternatives In an Effort to Preserve Parkland |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/09/20/archives/city-offers-tudor-city-alternatives-in-an-effort-to-preserve.html |access-date=April 7, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412202342/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/09/20/archives/city-offers-tudor-city-alternatives-in-an-effort-to-preserve.html |url-status=live }} The City Planning Commission voted in November 1972 to create a special zoning district for the private parks, preventing Helmsley from developing them,{{Cite news |date=November 9, 1972 |title=City Planners Vote To Bar Apartments In 2 Midtown Parks |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/11/09/archives/city-planners-vote-to-bar-apartments-in-2-midtown-parks.html |access-date=April 7, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412202336/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/11/09/archives/city-planners-vote-to-bar-apartments-in-2-midtown-parks.html |url-status=live }} and the New York City Board of Estimate finalized the zoning district the next month.{{Cite news |date=December 8, 1972 |title=Board Preserves Tudor City Parks |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/12/08/archives/board-preserves-tudor-city-parks-20to2-estimate-vote-shifts.html |access-date=April 7, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407185403/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/12/08/archives/board-preserves-tudor-city-parks-20to2-estimate-vote-shifts.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Toscano |first=John |date=December 8, 1972 |title=Ban High-Rise Over 2 Parks in Tudor City |page=273 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122453511/ban-high-rise-over-2-parks-in-tudor/ |access-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407185408/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122453511/ban-high-rise-over-2-parks-in-tudor/ |url-status=live }} The parks would become public parks, and Helmsley would be allowed to shift the parks' air rights to another site in Midtown Manhattan.
Tudor City's owner of record – Ramsgate, controlled by Helmsley – defaulted on its mortgage after the parks were rezoned, prompting Helmsley to request that a state judge overturn the rezoning.{{Cite news |date=January 31, 1974 |title=City Action Opening Tudor City Parks To Public Is Voided |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/01/31/archives/city-action-opening-tudor-city-parks-to-public-is-voided.html |access-date=April 7, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407185405/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/01/31/archives/city-action-opening-tudor-city-parks-to-public-is-voided.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=January 31, 1974 |title=Court Balks Plan to Halt Tudor City Park Building |page=7 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122453838/court-balks-plan-to-halt-tudor-city/ |access-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407185405/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122453838/court-balks-plan-to-halt-tudor-city/ |url-status=live }} Helmsley submitted documents to the Attorney General of New York in December 1973, indicating that he wished to convert Tudor City to condominiums.{{Cite news |last=Fried |first=Joseph P. |date=December 23, 1973 |title=Condominiums Sought at Tudor City |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/12/23/archives/condominiums-sought-at-tudor-city.html |access-date=April 7, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407185404/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/12/23/archives/condominiums-sought-at-tudor-city.html |url-status=live }} He would have first converted 100 condos at Essex House. The next month, a state judge invalidated the city's rezoning of the enclave's parks; according to The New York Times, the rezoning had represented an "unconstitutional taking of property".{{Cite news |last=Wedemeyer |first=Dee |date=September 26, 1982 |title=Special Zone Rules Changing |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/26/realestate/special-zone-rules-changing.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415182230/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/26/realestate/special-zone-rules-changing.html |url-status=live }} Tudor City's tenants also organized in opposition to the planned condo conversion.{{Cite news |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=February 25, 1974 |title=Tenants Organize To Fight Helmsley On Condominiums |page=61 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122454086/tenants-organize-to-fight-helmsley-on/ |access-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407185405/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122454086/tenants-organize-to-fight-helmsley-on/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=April 21, 1974 |title=State Curb Urged On Making Co-ops Of Rental Buildings |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/21/archives/state-curb-urged-on-making-coopsof-rental-buildings.html |access-date=April 7, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408010830/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/21/archives/state-curb-urged-on-making-coopsof-rental-buildings.html |url-status=live }} After all of Tudor City's workers went on strike in 1976,{{cite news |date=May 3, 1976 |title=Tudor City Jumps Gun On City Building Strike |page=12 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|922590656}}}} the enclave's residents sued for rent rebates because they "suffered a cutback in services".{{Cite news |last=Horsley |first=Carter B. |date=September 21, 1980 |title=Realty News Tudor City Case Near Settlement; Tudor City Lawsuit Is Near Settlement |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/09/21/archives/realty-news-tudor-city-case-near-settlement-tudor-city-lawsuit-is.html |access-date=April 8, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408010830/https://www.nytimes.com/1980/09/21/archives/realty-news-tudor-city-case-near-settlement-tudor-city-lawsuit-is.html |url-status=live }}
== Land-swap proposal ==
By 1978, Helmsley was again proposing to replace Tudor City's private parks with apartment buildings, prompting renewed protests.{{Cite news |last=King |first=Martin |date=July 31, 1978 |title=Tenants to Harry: Keep Off the Grass! |page=186 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122536152/tenants-to-harry-keep-off-the/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409005812/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122536152/tenants-to-harry-keep-off-the/ |url-status=live }} As a compromise, Helmsley proposed erecting a 50-story tower at First Avenue and 43rd Street, across from the United Nations Secretariat Building.{{Cite news |last=Horsley |first=Carter B. |date=February 9, 1979 |title=Builder Offers to Swap First Ave. Parks With City |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/09/archives/builder-offers-to-swap-first-ave-parks-with-city-special.html |access-date=April 8, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409005812/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/09/archives/builder-offers-to-swap-first-ave-parks-with-city-special.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=February 6, 1979 |title=50-story apartment tower near UN planned by Helmsley |page=238 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122534470/50-story-apartment-tower-near-un/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409011045/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122534470/50-story-apartment-tower-near-un/ |url-status=live }} The structure would have had 376 apartments and would have adjoined Prospect Tower, which had almost no windows facing eastward. City officials seriously considered Helmsley's proposal, which would have preserved the two private parks. If that plan were not approved, he planned to build a pair of towers, rising 28 and 30 stories, on the site of the private parks. Residents threatened to file lawsuits to preserve the parks, but legal experts said the residents had no legal standing because Helmsley owned the sites.{{cite news |last=Morehouse |first=Ward III |date=June 3, 1980 |title=Battle over tiny park is 'David vs. Goliath' story |work=The Christian Science Monitor |id={{ProQuest|1039138029}}}} By early 1979, Helmsley had not decided what to do with the private parks.{{Cite news |date=November 12, 1978 |title=Realty News A Rash of New Building Projects |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/12/archives/realty-news-a-rash-of-new-building-projects-a-rash-of-new-building.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707235222/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/12/archives/realty-news-a-rash-of-new-building-projects-a-rash-of-new-building.html |url-status=live }} The city government proposed swapping Tudor City's private parks with part of the nearby Robert Moses Playground in April 1979, allowing Helmsley to construct a skyscraper on the Moses site while the city took over Tudor City's parks.{{Cite news |last=Fowler |first=Glenn |date=April 21, 1979 |title=A Public Park Is Offered In Dispute at Tudor City |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/21/archives/a-public-park-is-offered-in-dispute-at-tudor-city-parks-chief-not.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405110856/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/21/archives/a-public-park-is-offered-in-dispute-at-tudor-city-parks-chief-not.html |url-status=live }} The New York State Legislature passed a law the same year to allow the land swap.{{cite news |last=Goldberger |first=Paul |date=January 26, 1981 |title=Helmsley Plan for Tudor City Land Swap |page=B1 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|121509070}}}}
Helmsley, the Tudor City Tenants Association, and city and state officials announced a tentative agreement in June 1980, which would indefinitely postpone the two parks' demolition.{{cite news |last=Horsley |first=Carter B. |date=June 2, 1980 |title=Details Released On Plan to Save Tudor City Parks: Demolition to Be Delayed to Prepare Plan on Swap New Park Facility Possible Court's Approval Sought Plan Is Detailed To Keep Parks For Tudor City Sentiment on Planning Unit |page=B1 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|121158224}}}} The City Planning Commission approved the land swap in February 1981,{{cite news |last1=Toscano |first1=John |last2=Cosgrove |first2=Vincent |date=February 10, 1981 |title=Plan unit OKs Helmsley park swap |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122273410/plan-unit-oks-helmsley-park-swap/ |access-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404210953/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122273410/plan-unit-oks-helmsley-park-swap/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Gargan |first=Edward A. |date=February 10, 1981 |title=Tudor City Swap Gains Approval of Planning Unit |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/10/nyregion/tudor-city-swap-gains-approval-of-planning-unit.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409152653/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/10/nyregion/tudor-city-swap-gains-approval-of-planning-unit.html |url-status=live }} but the swap received much opposition, including from the East End Hockey Association{{cite news |last=Gottlieb |first=Martin |date=March 2, 1981 |title=Moses wants to save playground from Helmsley |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122273670/moses-wants-to-save-playground-from-helm/ |access-date=April 4, 2023}} and two city officials.{{cite news |last=Purnick |first=Joyce |date=July 18, 1981 |title=Tudor City Parks Exchange Opposed by 2 City Officials |page=27 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|120696815}}}} Hundreds of roller-hockey players signed a petition opposing Helmsley's plans.{{Cite news |last=King |first=Martin |date=June 17, 1979 |title=Skating along to rescue their park |page=542 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122536064/skating-along-to-rescue-their/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409011047/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122536064/skating-along-to-rescue-their/ |url-status=live }} Mayor Ed Koch, an initial supporter of the plan, announced in March 1981 that he would oppose the project{{Cite news |last=Ivins |first=Molly |date=March 6, 1981 |title=Koch, in Reversal, Opposes Tudor City Land Exchange |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/06/nyregion/koch-in-reversal-opposes-tudor-city-land-exchange.html |access-date=April 5, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405003734/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/06/nyregion/koch-in-reversal-opposes-tudor-city-land-exchange.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Toscano |first=John |date=March 13, 1981 |title=Officials mull 51st St. site in Tudor City parks swap |page=80 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122568579/officials-mull-51st-st-site-in-tudor/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409184236/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122568579/officials-mull-51st-st-site-in-tudor/ |url-status=live }} after rival developer Donald Trump argued that the playground was more valuable than Helmsley's proposed building.{{Cite news |last=Purnick |first=Joyce |date=January 29, 1982 |title=Tudor City Parks Again Imperiled by Helmsley's Development Plan |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/29/nyregion/tudor-city-parks-again-imperiled-by-helmsey-s-development-plan.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409152654/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/29/nyregion/tudor-city-parks-again-imperiled-by-helmsey-s-development-plan.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=January 29, 1982 |title=Tudor to Lose Parks |page=97 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122571193/tudor-to-lose-parksowen-moritz/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409201738/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122571193/tudor-to-lose-parksowen-moritz/ |url-status=live }} The city's housing commissioner sued the same month to prevent the land swap, claiming that the private parks were "essential services" for Tudor City's 1,200 rent-controlled tenants.{{Cite news |last=Toscano |first=John |date=March 18, 1981 |title=Hairy for Harry? City sues to block construction |page=139 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122568697/hairy-for-harry-city-sues-to-block/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409184237/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122568697/hairy-for-harry-city-sues-to-block/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=March 18, 1981 |title=The City; Cases Are Rested In Crimmins Hearing |page=B6 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|121592983}}}} That May, a member of Manhattan Community Board 6 drafted a proposal to preserve the parks,{{Cite news |date=May 28, 1980 |title=The City; 2d Harlem Leader Yields on Sydenham Irving Trust Plans $85 Million Building Tudor City Proposal |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/05/28/archives/the-city-2d-harlem-leader-yields-on-sydenham-irving-trust-plans-85.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415145137/https://www.nytimes.com/1980/05/28/archives/the-city-2d-harlem-leader-yields-on-sydenham-irving-trust-plans-85.html |url-status=live }} and a state senator proposed a six-month moratorium on the parks' demolition.{{Cite news |date=May 31, 1980 |title=Steps Taken to Preserve Small Tudor City Park |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/05/31/archives/steps-taken-to-preserve-small-tudor-city-park.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409184237/https://www.nytimes.com/1980/05/31/archives/steps-taken-to-preserve-small-tudor-city-park.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Kramer |first=Marcia |date=May 31, 1980 |title=6-month reprieve seen for Tudor parks |page=5 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122568429/6-month-reprieve-seen-for-tudor/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409184237/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122568429/6-month-reprieve-seen-for-tudor/ |url-status=live }}
As an alternative to the land swap, Helmsley proposed erecting a tower at First Avenue and 51st Street, in exchange for transferring Tudor City's private parks to the city, in early 1981.{{Cite news |last=Ivins |first=Molly |date=April 10, 1981 |title=New Plan Drawn Up for Exchange Of Land in Tudor City Controversy |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/10/nyregion/new-plan-drawn-up-for-exchange-of-land-in-tudor-city-controversy.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409152656/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/10/nyregion/new-plan-drawn-up-for-exchange-of-land-in-tudor-city-controversy.html |url-status=live }} Koch rejected this plan as well, deeming it financially infeasible.{{Cite news |last=Purnick |first=Joyce |date=January 12, 1982 |title=Mayor Expected to Reject Swap With Tudor City |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/12/nyregion/mayor-expected-to-reject-swap-with-tudor-city.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406171913/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/12/nyregion/mayor-expected-to-reject-swap-with-tudor-city.html |url-status=live }} After his revised plan was rejected, Helmsley announced in January 1982 that he would again try to develop the private parks, since Fred F. French had originally intended to build towers on these sites. The Board of Estimate vetoed the land swap that March.{{cite news |last=Chadwick |first=Bruce |date=March 29, 1982 |title=At East Side Park, the kids are ready to roll |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122272742/at-east-side-park-the-kids-are-ready-to/ |access-date=April 4, 2023 }} The private parks had attracted large numbers of non-residents, especially during lunchtime on weekdays, but Helmsley began stationing guards outside both of Tudor City's parks in May 1982 to keep out non-residents.{{Cite news |last=LaRosa |first=Paul |date=May 12, 1982 |title=At Tudor City parks, a lunchtime letdown for non-residents |page=103 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122571271/at-tudor-city-parks-a-lunchtime/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409201738/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122571271/at-tudor-city-parks-a-lunchtime/ |url-status=live }}
== Further disagreements and lawsuits ==
File:Tudor City Apr 2023 45.jpg
The buildings were still in high demand, and there was a six-month waiting list for an apartment by 1980. This led some tenants to sublease their apartments in violation of New York City's rent-regulation laws, prompting complaints from other residents.{{Cite news |last=English |first=Bella |date=May 21, 1983 |title=Say Helmsley tried to weed out unwed |page=3 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122571078/say-helmsley-tried-to-weed-out/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409201737/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122571078/say-helmsley-tried-to-weed-out/ |url-status=live }} Helmsley sent a questionnaire to Tudor City's residents in May 1983 to determine if residents were illegally subleasing their apartments, which led city officials to accuse him of trying to evict unmarried residents. City officials requested an injunction to prevent Helmsley from mailing out the questionnaires, but the New York Supreme Court ruled that the questionnaires were valid;{{cite news |date=July 9, 1983 |title=Tenant Questionnaire Is Upheld |page=25 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|121871080}}}} nonetheless, Helmsley did not force the remaining residents to complete the forms.{{Cite news |last=Wedemeyer |first=Dee |date=September 9, 1984 |title=Enforcing Primary-residence Rules |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/09/realestate/enforcing-primary-residence-rules.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415182228/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/09/realestate/enforcing-primary-residence-rules.html |url-status=live }}
Meanwhile, Helmsley sold the Hermitage to Philip Pilevsky, head of Philips International,{{Cite news |last=Wedemeyer |first=Dee |date=May 8, 1985 |title=Major Holdings in Tudor City Are Being Sold |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/08/nyregion/major-holdings-in-tudor-city-are-being-sold.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409201737/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/08/nyregion/major-holdings-in-tudor-city-are-being-sold.html |url-status=live }} in February 1983 for $3.3 million.{{Cite news |date=February 8, 1984 |title=Helmsley Selling 2nd Tudor Holding |page=16 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122575065/helmsley-selling-2nd-tudor-holding/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409201740/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122575065/helmsley-selling-2nd-tudor-holding/ |url-status=live }} The structure remained a rental building but was resold several times, including to developer John Zaccaro, husband of U.S. vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro.{{cite news |last=Harris |first=Amanda |date=January 8, 1985 |title=Zaccaro Pleads Guilty in Real Estate Scheme: Zaccaro Pleads Guilty for Role In Fraudulent Real Estate Deal |page=1 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|1470015186}}}} The city's Rent Control Office ruled in July 1983 that Tudor City's private parks counted as "essential services" and that residents had to be compensated if the parks were destroyed.{{Cite news |date=July 30, 1983 |title=The City; Rent Office Blocks Tudor City Towers |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/30/nyregion/the-city-rent-office-blocks-tudor-city-towers.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409184235/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/30/nyregion/the-city-rent-office-blocks-tudor-city-towers.html |url-status=live }} 2 Tudor City Place, the sole apartment building in the complex that Helmsley-Spear had never acquired, was converted to a housing cooperative by another developer in 1984. A state court ruled in October 1984 that the private parks were essential services, which ended the dispute over the parks.{{Cite news |date=October 4, 1984 |title=The City; Helmsley Loses Tudor City Ruling |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/04/nyregion/the-city-helmsley-loses-tudor-city-ruling.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409201741/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/04/nyregion/the-city-helmsley-loses-tudor-city-ruling.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last1=Flynn |first1=Don |last2=Fulman |first2=Ricki |date=October 4, 1984 |title=Tudor City tenants win court round |page=149 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122574863/tudor-city-tenants-win-court-rounddon/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409201739/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122574863/tudor-city-tenants-win-court-rounddon/ |url-status=live }}
= Pilevsky and Greenburger ownership =
== Sale, co-op conversion, and landmark status ==
Helmsley agreed to sell the Manor to a partnership of Pilevsky and Francis J. Greenburger's company, Time Equities, in February 1984{{Cite news |last=Roberts |first=Sam |date=February 7, 1984 |title=Helmsley, to Quit Rental Market, Tries to Sell Tudor City Buildings |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/07/nyregion/helmsley-to-quit-rental-market-tries-to-sell-tudor-city-buildings.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404163659/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/07/nyregion/helmsley-to-quit-rental-market-tries-to-sell-tudor-city-buildings.html |url-status=live }} for $14 million.{{Cite news |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=May 8, 1985 |title=Helmsley plans Tudor City sale |pages=2, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122584278/tudor/ 22] |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122573311/helmsley-plans-tudor-city-saleowen/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409201737/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122573311/helmsley-plans-tudor-city-saleowen/ |url-status=live }} Time Equities filed plans to convert that building into a co-op.{{Cite news |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=August 23, 1984 |title=Tudor king won't abdicate |page=12 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122574317/tudor-king-wont-abdicateowen-moritz/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409201739/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122574317/tudor-king-wont-abdicateowen-moritz/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Kirk |date=November 16, 1984 |title=Tudor City: A Home of Parks, Co-ops and Acrimony |page=A29 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|122429692}}}} This prompted objections from residents who believed that the post-conversion prices of the apartments were too high;{{Cite news |last=Celona |first=Larry |date=August 21, 1984 |title=Tudor trouble |page=363 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122574919/tudor-troublelarry-celona/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409201737/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122574919/tudor-troublelarry-celona/ |url-status=live }} at the time, an 800-square-foot unit cost approximately $145,000.{{cite web | last=Hughes | first=C. J. | title=Living In Tudor City – Merry Old Efficiency | website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 | date=January 25, 2013 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/realestate/living-in-tudor-city-merry-old-efficiency.html | access-date=December 22, 2024}} In May 1985, Helmsley agreed to sell six additional apartment buildings, four preexisting brownstone houses, and both private parks to Pilevsky and Greenburger. These apartment buildings were also converted to co-ops; each building's co-op offering plan went into effect after at least 15 percent of the co-ops had been purchased.{{cite magazine |last=Moss |first=Linda |date=August 31, 1987 |title=Tudor City Co-Op Deal Races the Clock |magazine=Crain's New York Business |volume=3 |issue=35 |page=14 |id={{ProQuest|219121839}}}} By mid-1987, five of the seven buildings' offering plans had gone into effect.
Helmsley sold his three remaining apartment buildings—Hatfield House, Hardwicke Hall, and Haddon Hall—to Tudor City I Associates, a partnership of Pilevsky, Michael H. Gold, and Alfred S. Friedman. These structures became co-ops in 1987.{{Cite news |last=Shaman |first=Diana |date=July 17, 1992 |title=About Real Estate; Aggressive Co-op Board Turns Building to Profit |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/17/business/about-real-estate-aggressive-coop-board-turns-building-to-profit.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409201739/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/17/business/about-real-estate-aggressive-coop-board-turns-building-to-profit.html |url-status=live }} The sole remaining rental-apartment building, the Hermitage, was partially renovated before becoming involved in a corruption scandal; the DBG Property Corporation bought that building in 1986.{{Cite news |last=Gutis |first=Philip S. |date=August 31, 1986 |title=Postings: Tudor City; Trying Again |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/31/realestate/postings-tudor-city-trying-again.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405191140/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/31/realestate/postings-tudor-city-trying-again.html |url-status=live }}
Tudor City residents continued fighting to preserve the complex's two gardens.{{Cite news |last=Sherman |first=Beth |date=March 6, 1988 |title=Tudor City is a peaceful enclave in the middle of Manhattan |page=100 |work=The Standard-Star |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122384416/tudor-city-is-a-peaceful-enclave-in-the/ |access-date=April 6, 2023}}{{Cite news |last=Gutis |first=Philip S. |date=August 31, 1986 |title=Postings: Tudor City; Trying Again |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/31/realestate/postings-tudor-city-trying-again.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404220957/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/31/realestate/postings-tudor-city-trying-again.html |url-status=live }} To facilitate the co-op conversions, Greenburger promised that he would not develop either of the private parks, and he promised to provide funds for the parks' maintenance.{{Cite news |last=Gutis |first=Philip S. |date=January 5, 1986 |title=Tudor City Residents Near Victory in Battle for Parks |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/05/realestate/tudor-city-residents-near-victory-in-battle-for-parks.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409231013/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/05/realestate/tudor-city-residents-near-victory-in-battle-for-parks.html |url-status=live }} In the co-op conversion, the gardens were spun off to The Trust for Public Land, a national conservancy organization. Tudor City Greens Inc., which had been established in January 1987, took title to the parks that May.{{Cite news |last=Depalma |first=Anthony |date=May 1, 1987 |title=Tudor City Accord Gives Tenants Two Parks |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/01/nyregion/tudor-city-accord-gives-tenants-two-parks.html |access-date=April 5, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406182844/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/01/nyregion/tudor-city-accord-gives-tenants-two-parks.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=May 10, 1987 |title=Resolution to preserve Tudor City parks |page=425 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122580181/resolution-to-preserve-tudor-city-parks/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409232926/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122580181/resolution-to-preserve-tudor-city-parks/ |url-status=live }} In exchange, the trust received an easement that prohibited construction and unruly behavior.{{cite web |url=https://www.tudorcitygreens.org/history |website=Tudor City Greens |title=Our History |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413193616/https://www.tudorcitygreens.org/history |archive-date=April 13, 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=April 26, 2019}} Greenburger and Pilevsky donated $820,000 to fund improvements to the parks, and Tudor City residents hired landscape architect Lee Weintraub to restore the parks to their original design, with wrought-iron gates and fountains. In December 1987, a state Supreme Court judge certified that Tudor City Greens Inc. was in control of the parks.
Meanwhile, the battle over Tudor City's parks had led to a preservation campaign. Residents had asked the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to designate Tudor City as a historic district in early 1972,{{efn|According to Newsday, Tudor City residents had asked the LPC to consider designating the historic district "exactly 13 years and 242 days" before the LPC considered the designation on December 10, 1985.}} and they began advocating for Tudor City to be designated as a historic district at both the local and federal levels in January 1985.{{Cite news |last=Fulman |first=Ricki |date=January 16, 1985 |title=Tudor City landmarking eyed |page=100 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122573839/tudor-city-landmarking-eyedricki-fulman/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409201739/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122573839/tudor-city-landmarking-eyedricki-fulman/ |url-status=live }} The designation would prevent the buildings' exteriors from being modified without the LPC's permission,{{Cite news |last=Shepard |first=Joan |date=November 29, 1985 |title=Landmark status sought |page=158 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122574156/landmark-status-soughtjoan-shepard/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409201740/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122574156/landmark-status-soughtjoan-shepard/ |url-status=live }} including such small features as windows.{{Cite news |last=Dunlap |first=David W. |date=May 18, 1988 |title=Tudor City Given Status As Landmark |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/18/nyregion/tudor-city-given-status-as-landmark.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108192138/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/18/nyregion/tudor-city-given-status-as-landmark.html |url-status=live }}{{efn|Tudor City's residents cited the preservation of the windows as a major factor in applying for landmark designation.}} A hearing on the city district was held in December 1985,{{cite news |last=Polsky |first=Carol |date=December 10, 1985 |title=Tudor City' Eyes Landmark Status |page=37 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|285276022}}}} at which point the district was planned to cover 19 buildings in addition to the parks. On September 11, 1986, Tudor City was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district,{{cite web |title=Tudor City Historic District |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/86002516 |website=National Park Service NPGallery |access-date=May 15, 2024 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404180444/https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/86002516 |url-status=live }} and the city historic district was officially designated on May 17, 1988.{{Cite news |last=Moss |first=Michael |date=May 18, 1988 |title=Housing Complex Declared Landmark |pages=9, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122583617/tudor-city/ 24] |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122583395/housing-complex-declared/ |access-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409232928/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122583395/housing-complex-declared/ |url-status=live }} By the late 1980s, the complex still had some rent-regulated tenants whose monthly rents were as low as $300, but studio apartments were selling for up to $120,000, and one-bedroom apartments cost up to $180,000. The co-ops largely attracted first-time homeowners and small investors.
==1990s to present==
File:Tudor City Apr 2023 01.jpg
When the real estate market slowed during the early 1990s recession, some co-op prices dropped significantly, as owners and investors were concerned that the co-ops themselves would become insolvent.{{cite news |last=Idov |first=Michael |date=February 11, 2008 |title=The Stench of '89 |work=New York |url=http://nymag.com/news/features/43574/ |url-status=live |access-date=April 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119021434/http://nymag.com/news/features/43574/ |archive-date=November 19, 2018}} After the Black Monday stock market crash of 1987, Pilevsky and Greenburger began offering the studio apartments for as low as $77,000 to anyone who had a good credit rating.{{Cite news |last=McCain |first=Mark |date=January 3, 1988 |title=Stock Plunge Chills Co-op Resale Market |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/03/realestate/stock-plunge-chills-co-op-resale-market.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415205052/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/03/realestate/stock-plunge-chills-co-op-resale-market.html |url-status=live }} Ultimately, Time Equities struggled to finish the co-op conversions and could not pay the co-ops' taxes, mortgage, and maintenance fees. Several banks bought out Time Equities' stakes in these buildings by 1990, covering each co-op's high maintenance fees. Philips International took over each co-op's sales.{{cite magazine |last=Grant |first=Peter |date=February 26, 1990 |title=Banks Assume Key Obligations of Big Sponsor |magazine=Crain's New York Business |volume=6 |issue=9 |page=3 |id={{ProQuest|219125091}}}} New York magazine recalled in 2008 that Time Equities ended up selling apartments at a significant discount, reporting: "In 1992, if the new owner were willing to assume the accrued debts, a Tudor City one-bedroom could be had for $3,500." 2 Tudor City Place, the only co-op in the complex that was not sponsored by either Time Equities or Pilevsky, did not have problems selling its co-ops.{{Cite news |last=Brooks |first=Andree |date=March 4, 1990 |title=Talking: Sublets; Co-ops Easing The Rules |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/04/realestate/talking-sublets-co-ops-easing-the-rules.html |access-date=April 10, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410180246/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/04/realestate/talking-sublets-co-ops-easing-the-rules.html |url-status=live }}
During the mid-1990s, Tudor City Greens spent $170,000 to renovate the enclave's private parks. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation simultaneously renovated the complex's two public parks, which had become dilapidated over time.{{Cite news |last=Howe |first=Marvine |date=April 10, 1994 |title=Neighborhood Report: East Side; Park Battle: For Dogs Or Toddlers? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/10/nyregion/neighborhood-report-east-side-park-battle-for-dogs-or-toddlers.html |access-date=April 10, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416025936/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/10/nyregion/neighborhood-report-east-side-park-battle-for-dogs-or-toddlers.html |url-status=live }} Prospect Tower's co-op requested the LPC's permission to remove the "Tudor City" sign from the tower's roof in 1995, but the commission refused. When the Tudor City Hotel became the Crowne Plaza at the United Nations in 1999, the owner proposed replacing the hotel's original neon sign with one that displayed its new name; many residents also expressed opposition to the replacement of that sign.{{Cite news |last=Critchell |first=David |date=September 5, 1999 |title=Neighborhood Report: Midtown; Uneasy Lies the Crowned Tudor |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/05/nyregion/neighborhood-report-midtown-uneasy-lies-the-crowned-tudor.html |access-date=April 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404222743/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/05/nyregion/neighborhood-report-midtown-uneasy-lies-the-crowned-tudor.html |url-status=live }} Tudor City's co-op boards, which had leased the land under the complex, extended their land lease by 99 years in 1999, forty-three years before the lease was to expire.{{cite magazine |last=Shane |first=Alice |date=January 18, 1999 |title=Finding NY's co-opportunities |magazine=Crain's New York Business |volume=15 |issue=3 |page=43 |id={{ProQuest|219199227}}}}
By the first decade of the 21st century, many of the smaller apartments were being combined, although most tenants still lived there for long periods. In particular, many of the studio apartments were protected by rent regulation and thus charged extremely low rents, giving their occupants little incentive to sell.{{cite web |last=Barbanel |first=Josh |date=March 19, 2012 |title=Selling Tudor City Treasure |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304692804577286003872833824.html |access-date=April 10, 2023 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=January 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115170610/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304692804577286003872833824.html |url-status=live }} Between seven and eight percent of the enclave's apartments changed ownership every year, and the average apartment sold for more than $350,000 in 2005, a steep increase from the 1990s. Tudor City mostly retained a peaceful reputation, although the co-op boards sometimes experienced infighting, as in 2007 when several members of Tudor Tower's board were replaced.{{Cite news |last=Knafo |first=Saki |date=July 1, 2007 |title=A Firestorm Engulfs an Idyllic Little Enclave |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/nyregion/thecity/01coop.html |access-date=April 10, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410190222/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/nyregion/thecity/01coop.html |url-status=live }} The Procaccianti Group bought the Tudor Hotel for $109 million in 2007; the hotel was then renovated, and Hilton Hotels & Resorts took over as its operator.{{cite web |last=Pilgrim |first=Lexi |date=October 24, 2017 |title=304 East 42nd Street – Hilton NYC Grand Central |url=https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2017/10/24/the-hilton-at-grand-central-hits-the-market/ |access-date=April 11, 2023 |website=The Real Deal |archive-date=April 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411003354/https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2017/10/24/the-hilton-at-grand-central-hits-the-market/ |url-status=live }} Westgate Resorts acquired the former Hotel Tudor in 2018 and renamed it the Westgate New York City.{{cite web |last=Rebong |first=Kevin |date=June 7, 2018 |title=Hilton New York Grand Central |url=https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2018/06/07/heres-how-much-westgate-paid-for-the-hilton-at-grand-central/ |access-date=April 11, 2023 |website=The Real Deal |archive-date=April 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411003355/https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2018/06/07/heres-how-much-westgate-paid-for-the-hilton-at-grand-central/ |url-status=live }} Tudor City's public playgrounds were again renovated in the early 2020s.{{cite web |title=Mary O'Connor and Tudor Grove Playground Reconstruction |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/planning-and-building/capital-project-tracker/project/9327 |access-date=August 27, 2023 |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |archive-date=October 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221005090145/https://www.nycgovparks.org/planning-and-building/capital-project-tracker/project/9327 |url-status=live }}
Site and layout<span class="anchor" id="Layout"></span>
Tudor City extends roughly between Second Avenue to the west, 40th Street to the south, and First Avenue to the east; its northern boundary is halfway between 43rd and 44th Streets. The complex contains 13 apartment buildings, of which 11 are co-ops;{{efn|name=Haddon}} there is also a rental building called the Hermitage, as well as a short-term hotel.{{cite news |date=May 11, 2004 |title=Close-Up on Tudor City |newspaper=The Village Voice |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2004/05/11/close-up-on-tudor-city/ |access-date=May 16, 2019 |author-first=Tad |author-last=Hendrickson |archive-date=May 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517022013/https://www.villagevoice.com/2004/05/11/close-up-on-tudor-city/ |url-status=live }} These structures collectively have 5,000 residents. The apartment buildings surround two blockfront-long parks belonging to the complex.{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Mellins|1987|p=438}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|pp=16, 21}} The buildings are clustered to the north, east, and south, creating a "U".{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Mellins|1987|p=438}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|pp=16, 21}} The complex borders the neighborhoods of Turtle Bay, to the north of 42nd Street,{{Cite news|last=Hughes|first=C. J.|date=2008-03-30|title=In the Many Enclaves, One Neighborhood|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/realestate/30livi.html|access-date=2023-04-11|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404195822/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/realestate/30livi.html|url-status=live}} and Murray Hill, to the south of 42nd Street.{{Cite news|last=Lipson|first=Karin|date=2021-12-15|title=Murray Hill, Manhattan: Flush With History, Now 'Seeing a Transformation'|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/15/realestate/murray-hill-nyc.html|access-date=2023-04-13|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325193025/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/15/realestate/murray-hill-nyc.html|url-status=live}}
The New York City historic district includes all of Tudor City's apartment buildings,{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=32}} as well as six structures which predate Tudor City: the Church of the Covenant at 310 East 42nd Street,{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|pp=4–5, 11–12, 43}} the Prospect Hill Apartments at 333 East 41st Street,{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=38}} and four brownstones, typical of the dozens on the site before Tudor City, at 337 East 41st Street and 336–340 East 43rd Street.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|pp=39, 56–57}} Also included are Tudor City's two private parks (open to the public from 7 am to 10 pm daily){{cite web |title=About the Greens |url=https://www.tudorcitygreens.org/thegreens |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806155733/https://www.tudorcitygreens.org/thegreens/ |archive-date=August 6, 2018 |access-date=April 13, 2019 |website=Tudor City Greens}} and two city-owned parks.{{cite web |title=Tudor Grove Playground |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/tudor-grove-playground/history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204022917/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/tudor-grove-playground/history |archive-date=February 4, 2018 |access-date=April 13, 2019 |website=NYC Parks}}{{cite web |title=Mary O'Connor Playground |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/mary-oconnor-playground/history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204022514/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/mary-oconnor-playground/history |archive-date=February 4, 2018 |access-date=April 13, 2019 |website=NYC Parks}} The U.S. historic district is nearly the same as the New York City historic district but excludes 2 Tudor City Place and the two city-owned parks.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=2, 23}}
= Streets =
Tudor City is principally accessed via 41st and 43rd Streets. Traffic within Tudor City travels eastward on 41st Street from Second Avenue, then turn onto Tudor City Place (a north-south road that crosses 42nd Street), and then turns again onto 43rd Street.{{Cite magazine |last=Barnett |first=Jonathan |date=February 1968 |title=Innovation and Symbolism on 42nd Street |url=https://www.usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1968-02.pdf |magazine=Architectural Record |volume=143 |page=107 (PDF p. 97) |access-date=May 15, 2024 |archive-date=March 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315211818/https://usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1968-02.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite report |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1969.pdf |title=Ford Foundation Building |date=October 21, 1997 |publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission |page=3 |access-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405020240/http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1969.pdf |url-status=live }} One architectural critic – speaking about the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice, whose main entrance on 320 East 43rd Street is surrounded by Tudor City's buildings – said the complicated approach path to the Ford Foundation building was "not an accident but conscious contrivance". 41st and 43rd Streets both dead-end east of Tudor City Place. The Sharansky Steps, named in honor of Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky, descend from the end of 43rd Street to Ralph Bunche Park at First Avenue, just across from the United Nations Secretariat Building.{{cite book |last=Feirstein |first=Sanna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1jITCgAAQBAJ |title=Naming New York: Manhattan Places and How They Got Their Names |publisher=NYU Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8147-2711-9 |page=115}}{{cite web | title=Ralph Bunche Park Highlights | publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation | date=January 23, 1990 | url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/ralph-bunche-park/history | access-date=April 8, 2023 | archive-date=February 25, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225024612/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/ralph-bunche-park/history | url-status=live }} The corner of Tudor City Place and 43rd Street is known as John McKean Square, after a retired banker who became a tenants' rights advocate for the enclave in the 1970s.{{Cite news |date=February 20, 1994 |title=Neighborhood Report: Honorific Street Names; Turn Left at Ailey Place |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/20/nyregion/neighborhood-report-honorific-street-names-turn-left-at-ailey-place.html |access-date=April 10, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410180250/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/20/nyregion/neighborhood-report-honorific-street-names-turn-left-at-ailey-place.html |url-status=live }}
Tudor City Place was once known as Prospect Place and remained a privately-owned street long after the complex was completed.{{cite news |date=April 28, 1940 |title=Private Streets tend Charm to New York City: Shinbone Alley's Location a Mystery to the Mayor at Information Booth Westchester House Bought by Distilling Co. Executive |page=C2 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1243081740}}}} Prospect Place was renamed in 1948 because residents' mail kept getting diverted to similarly named streets in the Bronx and Brooklyn.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=86}} The eastern sidewalk of Tudor City Place is lined with three 22-story buildings – Windsor, Tudor, and Prospect Towers – which collectively housed 1,600 families. The French Company developed the parks on the western side of the street, which act as a courtyard for all of the structures. The interior of the complex also includes four 10-story buildings that collectively housed 600 families; the 32-story Woodstock Tower; and the Hotel Tudor for short-term guests.{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Mellins|1987|p=438}} The overpass that carries Tudor City Place above 42nd Street has historically been a popular location for photos of Manhattanhenge, during which the setting sun or the rising sun is aligned with Manhattan's east–west streets.{{Cite news |last=St. Fleur |first=Nicholas |date=May 29, 2018 |title=Manhattanhenge July 2018: When and Where to Watch |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/science/manhattanhenge-dates-time-locations.html |access-date=April 5, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405202701/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/science/manhattanhenge-dates-time-locations.html |url-status=live }}
42nd Street cuts through the middle of Tudor City.{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Mellins|1987|p=438}} When the complex was built, service roads on either side of 42nd Street sloped up to Tudor City Place.{{Cite news |date=March 28, 1952 |title=$405,000 for Hotel on 42d St. Changes; Woodstock Tower Award Result of Work on New Approach to U. N. Building |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/03/28/archives/405000-for-hotel-on-42d-st-changes-woodstock-tower-award-result-of.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408171724/https://www.nytimes.com/1952/03/28/archives/405000-for-hotel-on-42d-st-changes-woodstock-tower-award-result-of.html |url-status=live }} Traffic on 42nd Street had reached First Avenue via a 40-foot-wide cut through Prospect Hill. The service roads, which measured 30 feet wide, were both lined with buildings and were supported by retaining walls. At the time, 42nd Street dipped below Tudor City Place to reach First Avenue. The city government widened 42nd Street from 40 to {{convert|100|ft}} and widened Tudor City Place from {{convert|37|to|60|ft}} during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The tunnel under Tudor City Place was replaced by the present overpass in 1952. The city also constructed two stairways, one from either side of 42nd Street to the western side of Tudor City Place, to replace the service roads; each staircase contains 40 steps.{{Cite news |last=Kugel |first=Seth |date=September 24, 2008 |title=Small Parks, With a Bit of Peace in Every Nook |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/travel/28Weekend.html |access-date=April 10, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416034517/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/travel/28Weekend.html |url-status=live }}
= Parks =
Tudor City's private parks, referred to as Tudor City Greens,{{Cite web |title=About the Greens |url=https://www.tudorcitygreens.org/thegreens |website=Tudor City Greens |access-date=August 27, 2023 |archive-date=August 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806155733/https://www.tudorcitygreens.org/thegreens/ |url-status=live }} were not part of French's original scheme. In 1926, the company wrote that the sites would become hotels when the other buildings' apartments had been leased out.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=16}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=23}} By early 1927, French had made the parks a key part of the development's advertising campaign.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=16}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=23}} The parks originally encompassed approximately {{convert|64000|sqft|m2 acre ha}} and followed the precedent of Gramercy Park in that only residents could receive keys for the parks.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=16}} In addition, early promotional materials for Tudor City showed that the gardens were to be used for relaxation and contemplation, as in Gramercy Park, rather than for active recreation. Both parks were substantially narrowed, re-landscaped, and renovated after they were constructed;{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=23}}{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=16}} by the late 20th and early 21st centuries, only one of the parks' original metal lampposts survived.
Sheffield A. Arnold designed the northern park, which was completed in 1927.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=16}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=23}} Measuring {{convert|104|by|200.75|ft}} across, it was the first private park to be built in Manhattan in nearly a century.{{cite news |date=July 24, 1927 |title=Park for Tudor City: English Garden for Tenants in East Forty-second Street Area. |page=RE2 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|104129555}}}}{{efn|The most recently constructed private park in Manhattan had been Gramercy Park in 1831.}} It included mature trees, gravel pathways, a fountain, lamps, benches, a pergola, and a lychgate; an iron fence also encircled the park.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=16}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=23}} The southern private park became a miniature golf course{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=23}}{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=16}} with 18 holes, which was described in The New York Times as Manhattan's first outdoor mini-golf course.{{cite news |date=September 25, 1927 |title=Tudor City Tenants to Have Golf Course |page=RE23 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|104127143}}}} When a new course was opened across 41st Street in 1930, the southern park was redesigned similarly to the northern park, with a gatehouse, lampposts, and two gazebos.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|pp=23–24}} About 2,500 specimens of irises, representing 100 species, were planted in the southern park in 1941.{{cite news |date=October 12, 1941 |title=2,500 Irises, 100 Types, In Tudor City Planting |page=A19 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1253973982}}}} The two parks retained a similar design through the 1980s, although the southern park had a sandbox instead of playground equipment.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=47}} By the 1980s, the northern park contained lampposts, benches, an iron fence, bluestone pavement, and some trees, as well as playground equipment such as a swing set.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=49}}
Tudor City also contains two public parks: the Mary O'Connor Playground to the north and the Tudor Grove Playground to the south. The Mary O'Connor Playground measures {{convert|117|by|86|ft}} and opened as the Tudor City North Playground in July 1950; it was renamed in November 1991 after local activist Mary O'Connor. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation rebuilt the playground between 1993 and 1995.{{cite web |title=Mary O'Connor Playground Highlights |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/mary-oconnor-playground/history |access-date=April 5, 2023 |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |archive-date=February 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204022514/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/mary-oconnor-playground/history |url-status=live }} The Tudor Grove Playground, measuring {{convert|100|by|84|ft}}, was rebuilt in 1995.{{cite web |title=Tudor Grove Playground Highlights |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/tudor-grove-playground/history |access-date=April 5, 2023 |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |archive-date=February 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204022917/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/tudor-grove-playground/history |url-status=live }} Both public parks were reconstructed in 2022–2023.
Buildings
Tudor City was one of the world's first residential skyscraper complexes.{{Cite news|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=1994-05-15|title=Streetscapes/Tudor City Parks; The Changing Centerpiece of a 'City Within a City'|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/15/realestate/streetscapes-tudor-city-parks-the-changing-centerpiece-of-a-city-within-a-city.html|access-date=2023-04-11|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=November 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108192123/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/15/realestate/streetscapes-tudor-city-parks-the-changing-centerpiece-of-a-city-within-a-city.html|url-status=live}}{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/manhattanskyscra00nash_0 |url-access=registration |chapter=Tudor City |last=Nash |first=Eric Peter |title=Manhattan Skyscrapers |year=1999 |publisher=Princeton Architectural Press |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/manhattanskyscra00nash_0/page/43 43] |isbn=1-56898-181-3}} The twelve original apartment buildings were developed by ten separate subsidiaries of the French Company, known as "units". Each unit was given a number between 1 and 11 according to when their respective buildings were constructed. For example, Prospect Tower was developed by the Tudor City First Unit, while the Hotel Tudor was developed by the Tudor City Eleventh Unit.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|pp=24–25}} There was no third unit.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|pp=24–25}}{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=6}}
The three large towers on Tudor City Place (Prospect Tower, Tudor Tower, and Windsor Tower), as well as Woodstock Tower and Hatfield House, were built as apartment hotels and were legally permitted to be taller than conventional apartment houses. Many of the units in the apartment houses were studio apartments.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=18}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=22}} Because of the presence of the industrial buildings on First Avenue, the towers on Tudor City Place originally had very few windows facing east.{{cite web |last=Davidson |first=Justin |date=April 9, 2017 |title=An Interactive History of 42nd Street's Dramatic Transformation Over 164 Years |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/04/nyc-walking-tour-of-42nd-street.html |access-date=April 13, 2023 |website=Intelligencer |archive-date=April 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230413145317/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/04/nyc-walking-tour-of-42nd-street.html |url-status=live }} The Manor, the Hermitage, the Cloister, Essex House, Haddon Hall, and Hardwicke Hall were all built as traditional apartment buildings. The smaller apartment buildings' units ranged in size from studios to six rooms.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=17}}
Tudor City's original shops included three restaurants (providing room service for a fee), grocery, liquor, and drug stores, barber shop, and beauty parlor. Services included a post office, indoor playground, private nursery, maids, laundry and valet service, private guards, theater ticket agency, garage, a furniture repair and rug cleaning service, and a radio engineer who would repair and connect aerials.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=17}}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=56}} These services were intended to attract a variety of tenants, from bachelors to families.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=56}} The enclave also contained such amenities as an ice-skating rink, tennis courts, photographers' darkrooms, a library, babysitting service, and bowling alley.{{Cite news |last=Healy |first=Patrick O'Gilfoil |date=June 19, 2005 |title=A Place Apart Becomes a Place Discovered |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/19/realestate/a-place-apart-becomes-a-place-discovered.html |access-date=April 5, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405195816/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/19/realestate/a-place-apart-becomes-a-place-discovered.html |url-status=live }} Prospect Tower and Tudor Tower both contained two rooftop decks, while the Manor contained another roof deck; there was also a water playground for children. The New York Times wrote in 2005 that the complex still hosted numerous shops, such as "a cleaner's, nail parlor, salon, bike shop, two delis, flower shop, post office, toy-balloon store and pewter dealer".
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=South side of 41st Street=
File:Tudor City and the Chrysler Building from the East River.jpg and the MetLife Building in the background]]On the south side of 41st Street west of Tudor City Place are Hatfield House, Hardwicke Hall, and Haddon Hall, which comprise Tudor City's eighth unit; these structures are respectively located at 304, 314, and 324 East 41st Street from west to east. All three structures were named after rural English manors, namely Hatfield House, Hardwick Hall, and Haddon Hall.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=7}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=33}} The westernmost structure, Hatfield House, is 15 stories tall, while the other two structures are 11 stories tall.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=46}}{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=7}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=33}} The facades of all three buildings are clad with stone at their bases, brick on the upper stories, and water towers or mechanical towers on their roofs.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=7}} Haddon Hall was built with three penthouses and 43 apartments with three to five rooms; Hardwicke Hall had three penthouses and 52 apartments with up to five rooms; and Hatfield House contained 87 apartments, many with only one room.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=33}} Haddon Hall, Hardwicke Hall, and Hatfield House form a single co-op and, since 1959, have had a single entrance.Confidential. [http://www.tudorcityconfidential.com/2017/07/special-canopy-edition.html July 23, 2017] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129211252/https://www.tudorcityconfidential.com/2017/07/special-canopy-edition.html |date=November 29, 2023 }}.
{{anchor|2 Tudor City Place}}On the southwestern corner of 41st Street and Tudor City Place is a 14-story red-brick apartment building.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=62}} Originally known as Tudor Gardens, it is located at 2 Tudor City Place. Designed by William Hohauser,{{cite news |last=Foley |first=Maurice |date=May 1, 1955 |title=Tudor City Unit Among Latest Apartments Rising on East Side |page=R1 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|113177746}}}}{{cite news |date=May 1, 1955 |title=Tudor City Project Has Roomy Site: New House Uses Garden Setting |page=4C |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1323177168}}}} it was constructed from 1954 to 1956, over two decades after the rest of the complex had been finished.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=62}} There were originally 333{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=62}} or 334 apartments.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=93}} The apartments are grouped into two sections and separated by a glass-enclosed lobby,{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=62}} designed in a post-World War II style.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=94}} Each unit was built with two to five-and-a-half rooms, for a total of 1,110 rooms. Of the original apartments, 25 opened out onto a private garden, while 50 had their own terraces; there were also three "professional offices" at ground level. The building was planned with a 300-space parking garage beneath it.
The southeastern corner of 41st Street and Tudor City Place contains Windsor Tower, the complex's ninth unit, which carries an address of 5 Tudor City Place. At 22 stories tall, Windsor Tower is the complex's largest building. Of the three buildings on the east side of Tudor City Place, Windsor Tower is the only one that extends the entire depth of the block to First Avenue on the east, where there is a pedestrian arcade at ground level. The building has a brick-and-terracotta facade and is topped by a weather vane.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=9}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=59}} In the late 20th century, Windsor Tower was variously cited as containing 787{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=59}} or 790 apartments.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=9}}
=41st to 42nd Streets=
Essex House at 325 East 41st Street, the complex's tenth unit, is a 10-story building on the north side of the street.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|pp=45–46}}{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=6}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=36}} The structure consists of two wings flanking a light court, which contains an entrance portico at ground level. The facade is largely made of brick, but the first story is clad with limestone, and the building's corners contain terracotta bays.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=6}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=36}} Essex House was built with 100 apartments, containing one to six rooms each.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=36}}
Just east of Essex House are the Prospect Hill Apartments at 333 East 41st Street, designed by Toensfeldt-Boughton, who also served as the building's engineers.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=7}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=38}} The six-story structure predated the rest of the Tudor City by a few months.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=6–7}} As such, unlike the other apartment buildings in Tudor City, it was largely designed with simple brick walls and fire escapes; the stone doorway was the only part of the building designed in the Tudor Revival style.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=6–7}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=38}} The Prospect Hill Apartments originally housed 36 families.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=38}}
To the west of Essex House is the Hotel Tudor at 304 East 42nd Street, which was Tudor City's eleventh unit. The hotel is 20 stories tall and contains a facade of textured bricks, topped by a pavilion. The main entrance is on 42nd Street, though the hotel extends the entire depth of the block to 41st Street. The Hotel Tudor was the only building in the complex that was not intended to house long-term tenants, as well as the only one not designed in the Tudor Revival style. It contains setbacks that more closely resembled those in Art Deco–style buildings.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=6–7}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=41}} The Hotel Tudor contained 619 units with one to three rooms; a 100-seat cafeteria; and a music room.{{Cite news |date=September 3, 1930 |title=Give $1,000,000 Mortgage; French Companies Get Loan on New Hotel Tudor. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/09/03/archives/give-1000000-mortgage-french-companies-get-loan-on-new-hotel-tudor.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408171722/https://www.nytimes.com/1930/09/03/archives/give-1000000-mortgage-french-companies-get-loan-on-new-hotel-tudor.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=September 3, 1930 |title=$1,000,000 Advanced on New Tudor City Building |page=37 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113756316}}}} Some of the units on the upper floors had private terraces behind the setbacks.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=41}} The hotel has variously been known as the Crowne Plaza at the United Nations, the Hilton New York Grand Central,{{cite web |last=Mest |first=Elliott |date=June 8, 2018 |title=Westgate Resorts acquires, rebrands former Hilton New York Grand Central |url=https://www.hotelmanagement.net/conversions/westgate-resorts-acquires-rebrands-former-hilton-new-york-grand-central |access-date=April 10, 2023 |website=Hotel Management |archive-date=April 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410180247/https://www.hotelmanagement.net/conversions/westgate-resorts-acquires-rebrands-former-hilton-new-york-grand-central |url-status=live }} and the Hilton Manhattan East over the years. Since 2018, Westgate Resorts has operated the former Hotel Tudor as the 300-room Westgate New York City.
Woodstock Tower, the complex's eleventh unit, is located at 320 East 42nd Street. At 32 stories, it is the tallest building in Tudor City. Woodstock Tower contains a limestone base, which was increased to four stories in 1952 after the adjacent section of 42nd Street was lowered. The tower also has several setbacks, and it was originally topped by a flèche.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=8}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=44}} Woodstock Tower was built with 454 apartments.{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Mellins|1987|p=438}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=44}} Most of these were single-room units, but the upper stories contained some two- and three-story apartments.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=44}}
The block west of Tudor City Place contains two preexisting buildings. There is a brownstone row house at 337 East 41st Street, built in 1870 and designed by Hubert & Pirsson.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=7}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=39}} It is the only surviving row house of nineteen on the block.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=39}} Just northwest of the row house is the Church of the Covenant at 306–310 East 42nd Street, constructed between 1871 and 1872. The eastern half of the church was demolished in 1927 and replaced with a Tudor-style church house that complemented the design of the apartment houses; the church's granite base dates to 1950, when 42nd Street was lowered.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=8}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=43}}
Tudor Tower, the enclave's fourth unit, is a 22-story building at 25 Tudor City Place, on the eastern sidewalk from 41st to 42nd Street.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=45}}{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=9}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=63}} It has a brick facade with stained glass, leaded glass, and cream-colored facade decorations.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=9}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=63}} The building was built with 442 apartments.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=63}}
=42nd to 43rd Streets=
On the south side of 43rd Street is the Hermitage, the complex's sixth unit, a 10-story structure at 330 East 43rd Street.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=45}}{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=8–9}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=52}} The first four stories are clad in limestone and terracotta, while the upper floors are topped by a square pavilion. The building was constructed with three penthouses, as well as 61 apartments with up to five rooms.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=52}}
Just east of the Hermitage are three brownstone row houses at 336–338 East 43rd Street, all designed by John Sexton in the Italianate style and built around 1870.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=9}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=56}} They were part of a group of six row houses that predated Tudor City's construction.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=56}}
The east side of Tudor City Place, between 42nd and 43rd Streets, contains the complex's first unit, the 22-story Prospect Tower at 45 Tudor City Place.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=25}}{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=9}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=66}} The building has a brick facade, which is divided horizontally into three sections and is ornamented with yellow sandstone and terracotta details.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=9}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=66}} The eastern elevation of the facade originally only had two bays of windows, which illuminated the corridors. The roof contains a neon sign with the words "Tudor City". The building was built with 402 apartments of one or two rooms, as well as duplex studio apartments on the top two floors.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=66}}
=North side of 43rd Street=
The Cloister, the fifth unit in Tudor City, is located at 321 East 43rd Street. The building is ten stories tall and has a stone base with a four-story entryway made of stone and terracotta.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=8}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=50}} The upper stories are clad in brick, except for terracotta decorations on the ninth and tenth stories.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=50}} There is a decorative water tower pavilion above the roof.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=8}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=50}} The Cloister was built with six penthouses, each with a separate roof garden, as well as 142 apartments with up to four rooms.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=50}} {{As of|2011}}, it had 143 apartments.{{cite web |last=Horsley |first=Carter |date=January 6, 2025 |title=The Cloister, 321 East 43rd Street |url=https://www.cityrealty.com/nyc/turtle-bay-united-nations/the-manor-333-east-43rd-street/review/4842 |access-date=January 6, 2025 |website=CityRealty}}
The Manor at 333 East 43rd Street was Tudor City's second unit. It is also ten stories high and is mostly clad with brick; the corners of the facade contain terracotta ornamentation patterned after that of the Sutton Place estate in Surrey, England.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=8}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=53}} The building originally had nine penthouses (each with a terrace on the roof), as well as 215 apartments, which ranged between two and four rooms, with one or two bathrooms.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=53}} {{As of|2011}}, it had 215 apartments.{{cite web |last=Horsley |first=Carter |date=January 6, 2025 |title=The Manor, 333 East 43rd Street |url=https://www.cityrealty.com/nyc/turtle-bay-united-nations/the-manor-333-east-43rd-street/review/4842 |access-date=January 6, 2025 |website=CityRealty}}
Architecture and design
All of Tudor City's architects and designers were employees of the Fred F. French Company, including chief architect H. Douglas Ives.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=10, 15}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|pp=16–18}} From the beginning, the project was referred to as Tudor City, after its style of architectural ornament.{{Cite news |last1=Schoeneman |first1=Deborah |last2=Netburn |first2=Deborah |last3=McGeveran |first3=Tom |date=August 20, 2001 |title=N.Y.U. Gal Kay LeRoy Bags $2.9 M. Loft Blocks From Campus |page=21 |work=The New York Observer |id={{ProQuest|333467336}}}} Known as Tudor Revival, the style mixed the Tudor and Elizabethan styles from 16th-century England.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=25}}{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=10, 15}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|pp=16–18}} In early 20th-century America, these architectural motifs had come to symbolize the comforts of suburban living. Tudor City was conceived as an urban response to the suburban flight of the middle class, and therefore was designed with the architectural forms expected in a suburban development. By the time of Tudor City, the Neo-Tudor style had already been used on a limited number of urban apartment buildings, including Hudson View Gardens in Washington Heights, Manhattan, and several erected by the Fred F. French Company.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=10, 15}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|pp=16–18}} The use of the Tudor and Elizabethan styles also contrasted with the increasing popularity of Art Deco architecture in New York City, giving each building an "old world" feeling.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=25}}
= Exteriors =
File:Tudor City Apr 2023 128.jpg
Generally, the lower stories of each building were clad in sandstone and limestone, while the upper stories were clad in reddish-brown brick with terracotta trim.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=25}} The complex's designers used Tudor Revival details, including oriel windows, bay windows, four-centered arches, quatrefoils, fish bladder moldings, balustrades, Tudor roses, portcullises (a symbol of the Tudor sovereigns), and lions. The tops of each building have towers, chimneys, gables, parapets, and finials. Carved or cast stone and terracotta detail was used extensively.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=2, 6, 15}} There are also allegorical stained glass windows on the first story of each building.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=2, 6, 15}}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=26}}
The wooden entrance doors are carved with such Tudor forms as linenfold panels and fish-bladder tracery, and decorated with hardware based on sixteenth-century precedents. Public lobbies include half-timbering, carved woodwork, beamed ceilings, arched openings, plaster friezes and rosettes, and Tudor-style fixtures and furnishings. Although the buildings are unified by the consistent use of Tudor detail, there is a significant amount of variety since no two buildings have the same decoration. The stone, terracotta, woodwork, ironwork, and glass used were of the highest quality.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=2, 6, 15}} Windsor, Tudor, and Prospect towers all contain three-story windows on their highest stories;{{Cite news |date=August 1, 1991 |title=Who Lives There, Anyway? Faces Behind the Walls: Astoria; Tara in Queens, Built in 1832 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/01/garden/who-lives-there-anyway-faces-behind-walls-astoria-tara-queens-built-1832.html |access-date=April 10, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410180248/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/01/garden/who-lives-there-anyway-faces-behind-walls-astoria-tara-queens-built-1832.html |url-status=live }} the tops of these towers also contain columns with gargoyles and griffins.
= Interiors =
Like the facades of most of the buildings, the lobbies contained Tudor-style detail.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=25}} Among the surviving Tudor-style lobbies in the complex are that of Essex House,{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=6}} as well as that of Tudor Tower, which was described in The New York Times as having the "hue of a chapel, with stained-glass windows" depicting the seal of New York City.{{Cite news |last=Hughes |first=C. J. |date=January 25, 2013 |title=Merry Old Efficiency |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/realestate/living-in-tudor-city-merry-old-efficiency.html |access-date=April 10, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410235134/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/realestate/living-in-tudor-city-merry-old-efficiency.html |url-status=live }}
In contrast to the facades and lobbies, the interiors of the apartments had contemporary appliances and amenities. These included garbage incinerators, hookups to radio stations,{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=26}} and 1,000 Frigidaire refrigerators.{{cite news |date=April 24, 1928 |title=Frigidaire Sells to Chains: Fulmer System Latest to Purchase Refrigerating Equipment 1,000 Units in Tudor City Development |page=5 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|130567986}}}} Many of the apartment houses' units had Murphy beds and serving pantries but no stoves.{{Cite news |last=Healy |first=Patrick O'Gilfoil |date=June 19, 2005 |title=A Place Apart Becomes a Place Discovered |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/19/realestate/a-place-apart-becomes-a-place-discovered.html |access-date=April 10, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407082032/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/19/realestate/a-place-apart-becomes-a-place-discovered.html |url-status=live }} They were marketed to single people and childless couples who previously would have lived in brownstones. Other units were used as pieds-à-terre for businesspeople and professional workers.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=22}}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=33}} At one time these efficiencies developed a reputation as "love nests" for mistresses and prostitutes.{{cite web |author-last=Wilson |author-first=Claire |date=March 16, 2016 |title=Tudor City: The peaceful East 40s enclave that's more than just its architecture |url=https://www.brickunderground.com/blog/tudor_city_the_peaceful_east_40s_enclave_thats_more_than_just_its_architecture |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412223305/https://www.brickunderground.com/blog/tudor_city_the_peaceful_east_40s_enclave_thats_more_than_just_its_architecture |archive-date=April 12, 2019 |access-date=April 12, 2019 |website=Brick Underground}}{{cite web |author-last=Fons |author-first=Hannah |date=April 2002 |title=Castles in the Sky |url=https://cooperator.com/article/castles-in-the-sky/full |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160922062730/https://cooperator.com/article/castles-in-the-sky/full |archive-date=September 22, 2016 |access-date=April 12, 2019 |website=The Cooperator New York |publisher=Yale Robbins Publications}} After the wiring in the buildings was replaced in 1964, the French Company installed electric cooktops in the studio apartments.
As co-ops, some of the single-family units have been combined into larger apartments.{{cite web |date=March 26, 2007 |title=New York's Neighborhood: Tudor City |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/services/new-york-neighborhood-tudor-city-article-1.219145 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506231722/http://www.nydailynews.com:80/services/new-york-neighborhood-tudor-city-article-1.219145 |archive-date=May 6, 2016 |access-date=April 22, 2019 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251}} These buildings also included a few apartments with full kitchens, and penthouses with roof terraces.{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=17}} The tops of Windsor, Tudor, and Prospect towers collectively contained 14 penthouse apartments, some of which contained outdoor terraces. These penthouses attracted residents such as actor Charlton Heston and lawyer Brooks Thomas; in the 2010s, some of the penthouses were still occupied by rent-regulated tenants.
Community
From 1934 to 1969,{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=78}} residents published their own magazine.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=62}} One issue was published every month and was distributed to residents for free. Originally published by W. L. Lightfoot as the Tudor City Service, the magazine was renamed the Tudor City View in 1938;{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=78}} the magazine was unaffiliated with the French Company.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=79}} Warren C. Eberle was the magazine's longtime publisher,{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|113213268}} |title=Mrs. Warren C. Eberle |date =21 Sep 1955 |page =33 |work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331}} printing 351 issues from January 1941 to May 1969.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=79}} The magazine reported on events in residents' lives, including weddings, births, and deaths, in addition to other society news stories, such as residents' vacations to remote locales.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=78}} Under Eberle's leadership, the magazine also printed stories about Tudor City's history.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=79}}
There were other organizations within Tudor City as well.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=62}}{{sfn|Samuel|2019|pp=80–81}} These included a camera club,{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=62}} a debate forum, and a "Tudor City Club" where residents could play games, attend events, or read magazines.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|pp=80–81}} The Tudor City Tennis Club attracted players such as Pancho Segura, Bobby Riggs, Bill Tilden, Rudy Vallée, and Katharine Hepburn from the 1930s to the 1950s,{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=93}} and the courts hosted the United States Pro Championship for the only time in 1936.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=64}} The United Nations Tennis Club also used Tudor City's tennis courts following World War II.{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=94}}
<span class="anchor" id="The sign"></span> Rooftop sign
The Fred F. French Company advertised Tudor City heavily until 1943. Included in the early campaign were two rooftop signs composed of incandescent light bulbs, one on either side of 42nd Street – on the north roof of Tudor Tower and the south roof of Prospect Tower – that could be seen from blocks away.Confidential. [http://www.tudorcityconfidential.com/2018/10/picture-of-day.html October 14, 2018] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927104625/https://www.tudorcityconfidential.com/2018/10/picture-of-day.html |date=September 27, 2023 }}. The signs measured about {{convert|30|by|50|ft}}. Tudor Tower's sign was obscured by the Woodstock and was removed {{circa}} 1933.
The sole remaining sign is that atop Prospect Tower, which was retrofitted with neon in 1939. After falling in a storm in September 1949, it was replaced. By the early 21st century, the replacement sign had lost its lighting tube several years prior and was a neglected, rusting iron shell.Confidential. [http://www.tudorcityconfidential.com/2017/05/the-sign-part-one.html May 8, 2017] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930001913/https://www.tudorcityconfidential.com/2017/05/the-sign-part-one.html |date=September 30, 2023 }}, [http://www.tudorcityconfidential.com/2017/05/the-sign-part-two.html May 10, 2017] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929231304/https://www.tudorcityconfidential.com/2017/05/the-sign-part-two.html |date=September 29, 2023 }}, [http://www.tudorcityconfidential.com/2017/05/the-sign-part-three.html May 12, 2017] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927114557/https://www.tudorcityconfidential.com/2017/05/the-sign-part-three.html |date=September 27, 2023 }}. In 1995, the co-op board of Prospect Tower requested the LPC's permission to remove the sign, calling it ugly and dangerous, but the commission refused, on the ground of historical significance.{{Cite news|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=November 26, 1995|title=Streetscapes: Tudor City;Landmarks Won't Let a Co-op Fiddle With Its Roof|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/26/realestate/streetscapes-tudor-city-landmarks-won-t-let-a-co-op-fiddle-with-its-roof.html|access-date=April 5, 2023|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=November 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108193717/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/26/realestate/streetscapes-tudor-city-landmarks-won-t-let-a-co-op-fiddle-with-its-roof.html|url-status=live}} As of 2020, the sign's steel support structure and pan letters have undergone a complete restoration but plans to re-illuminate the sign have not materialized.Confidential. [http://www.tudorcityconfidential.com/2020/01/at-last.html?m=1 January 8, 2020] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404201737/http://www.tudorcityconfidential.com/2020/01/at-last.html?m=1 |date=April 4, 2023 }}.
Critical reception
Immediately after the project was announced, an article in The New York American stated that "the decadent section east of Third Ave. is resurrecting".{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=22}} An editor for The New York Times wrote that "New York is promised – or threatened with, as the event may prove – a vast community settlement overlooking the East River from the high ledge at the foot of Forty-second Street".{{sfn|Samuel|2019|p=22}} The Christian Science Monitor compared the proposed development to the luxurious residences along Riverside Drive on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. In designating the buildings as city landmarks, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission described Tudor City as "a highly successful attempt to urbanize" medieval architecture, and the commission cited the complex as having inspired similar apartment complexes.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=2}} Similarly, the buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places because of "Fred F. French's plan to build an apartment complex with a unified Tudor design theme".{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|p=2}}
According to author and architect Robert A. M. Stern, the complex was French's vision of a "dense urban suburbia".{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Mellins|1987|p=437}} In the words of architectural historian Andrew Dolkart, the site was "a complex of apartment houses and residence hotels that would be so convenient, well-planned, well-built, and well-priced that middle-class families and single people would be more attracted to these Manhattan buildings than to houses or apartments in the outer boroughs or the suburbs."{{sfn|Dolkart|1986|pp=13, 14}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988|p=21}} A reporter for The New York Observer wrote in 2001 that "because of its location between the U.N. and Grand Central, Tudor City is a particular kind of place". In 2014, the New York Daily News characterized Tudor City as "obscure and mysterious to those who live beyond its borders".{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1518906338}} |title=A peek at Tudor City |first=Beth |last=Stebner |date=April 25, 2014 |page=3 |work=New York Daily News|issn=2692-1251}} Justin Davidson wrote of Tudor City for New York magazine in 2017: "Though the city has evolved around it, a verdant retreat in midtown Manhattan still seems like an incongruous apparition."
See also
References
=Notes=
{{notelist}}
=Citations=
{{reflist}}
=Sources=
- {{cite report |author-last=Dolkart |author-first=Andrew Scott |author-link=Andrew Dolkart |date=August 11, 1986 |title=New York SP Tudor City Historic District: National Register of Historic Places Inventory–Nomination Form |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/86002516.pdf |publisher=National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service}}
- {{cite book | last=Samuel | first=Lawrence R. | title=Tudor City: Manhattan's Historic Residential Enclave | publisher=The History Press | series=Landmarks | year=2019 | isbn=978-1-4396-6823-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hnytDwAAQBAJ }}
- {{Cite NY1930}}
- {{cite report |title=Tudor City Historic District Designation Report |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1579.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404062125/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/TUDOR_CITY_HISTORIC_DISTRICT.pdf |archive-date=April 4, 2019 |url-status=live |date=May 17, 1988 |publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission |ref={{harvid|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1988}}}}
External links
{{Commons category|Tudor City}}
Images:
- [https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?utf8=✓&keywords=%22Tudor+City%22 New York Public Library Digital Collections]
- [https://collections.mcny.org/CS.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&VBID=24UAYWDW4ZG4O&SMLS=1&RW=1849&RH=969 Museum of the City of New York Collections Portal]
- [https://www.loc.gov/photos/?q=%22Tudor+City%22 Library of Congress]
{{Midtown East, Manhattan}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York}}
{{Manhattan}}
{{portal bar|Architecture|New York City|NRHP}}
Category:1927 establishments in New York City
Category:1920s architecture in the United States
Category:Condominiums and housing cooperatives in Manhattan
Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan
Category:Multi-building developments in New York City
Category:Neighborhoods in Manhattan
Category:New York City designated historic districts
Category:New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan
Category:Residential buildings completed in 1927