Smart New York Tours

Above the doors of the Education building at the Bronx Zoo are the words "National Collection of Heads and Horns". To what does this refer? In today's world, it is hard to conceive of big game hunters as protectors of wildlife. Yet, that is how they saw themselves in the early 20th century. They saw collections of stuffed animal heads, horns and skins as tools for raising public awareness of the exotic creatures that inhabit different parts of the world. That awareness would ...lead to the protection and conservation of these magnificent animals and their habitats. The Zoo's first director, noted zoologist and conservationist William T. Hornaday (18541937), conceived the collection as early as 1906, finally building a home for it on the main court of the Zoo in 1922. Hornaday had been instrumental in the saving of the American bison in the late 19th century. He served as the Zoo's director from 1896 until 1926. The collection was dedicated "in memory of the vanishing big game of the world." By the 1940s, there were more than 2,000 examples of heads, horns, skins and other mounted objects. The remarkable collection was ironically removed in 1978 as inappropriate for the zoo. This reflected the changing attitudes towards such trophies and towards big game hunting in general, which by then was seen as contributing to the loss of such animals. At the time, less than 300 specimens remained. Today, the collection is the property of the Boone and Crocket Club and was until recently displayed at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming. It has since been removed to the Wonders of Wildlife Museum and Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri. The Boone and Crocket Club was founded by a group of big-game hunters, including Theodore Roosevelt, in 1887 with the purpose of preserving wildlife and habitats for future hunters. Many of the clubs members helped found the New York Zoological Society in 1895. From its institution, the zoo's purpose has been the conservation of wildlife and habitats for scientific purposes.

One of my favorite houses in Harlem is the Dutch Renaissance Revival residence of Josiah Lombard at 2064 Fifth Avenue designed by Cleverdon & Putzel and built in 188687. It has recently been rehabilitated. Unfortunately, the original stained-glass transom windows have been removed and the gently curved lintels straightened out, but otherwise the house looks better than it has in decades. Oil dealer Josiah Lombard Jr. (18421908) lived here with his wife, the former Alice Nao...mi Rathbun (18501927), and their four daughters, Emily, Ethel, Edith and Louise. He was from a prominent Chicago banking family, and they were married in Harlem in 1877. His oil business, Lombard, Ayers & Co., operated out of Oil City, Pennsylvania. They were one of the holdouts against John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company. When they later merged with Tidewater Oil and were subsequently sold to Standard Oil, Lombard made a fortune. Lombard was president of the Harlem Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Infirmary (founded 1882) at 144 E. 127th St. The Lombards were Congregationalists. Mr. Lombard was a Republican and enjoyed golf and tennis when he wasn't at his office at 12 Broadway. At the same time this house was being built, the Lombards were constructing a summer home called Red Gables in Watermill on Long Island (1887), which they shared with his business partner and cousin, Marshall Ayers (18391906), until it was sold in 1897. Around the same time, the Lombards sold their Fifth Avenue house. They moved to Lawrence Park, an art colony known for its prominent painters, writers and architects in Bronxville. Here they built a Norman-French and Elizabethan melange known as "The Chateau" where the family lived from 1904 until 1910. The Fifth Avenue house became the Sherwood Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Sanatorium (from at least 1901), founded by Doctor Albert L. Scott (18581928). [Did the Lombards sell or give the house to the infirmary when they moved to Bronxville?] The infirmary was advertised thus: "Is a non-charitable institution for the examination and treatment of diseases of the Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat. It is especially adapted to fill a want for special treatment by the wage-earning part of the community, who cannot afford to pay a high fee and are not willing to apply for charitable treatment at dispensaries or hospitals. It is entirely self-supporting." (The Survey, Vol. 14) The institution may have closed following Dr. Scott's death, though doctors' offices are listed here until at least 1936. Robert Cleverdon (b. 1860) and Joseph Putzel (b. 1859) established their architectural firm in 1882. It remained active until 1911 when the partners parted ways and acted independently thereafter. They designed many mercantile buildings as well as row houses for wealthy clients. Their efforts can be viewed in Mount Morris in Harlem, Carnegie Hill, Ladies Mile, SoHo, and the Upper West Side.

I recently visited H.H. Richardson's house on Staten Island. Architect Henry Hobson Richardson (183886) was raised on a plantation in Louisiana. Following a Harvard education, he attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris studying architecture. He returned to Boston in 1865, married Julia Gorham Hayden (18371914) two years later, and eventually settled in New York. Here he enjoyed the company of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. All thre were members of the American ...Institute of Architects and the Century Club. Olmsted introduced Richardson to Staten Island, where both would establish country homes. While living in a cottage on the island, Richardson designed his own stick-style house in a hilly area known as Arrochar. The family took up residence in 1869. He frequently worked from home, as Bright’s disease often prevented him from going into New York. Five children were born while living here. In 1872 he received the commission for Trinity Church in Boston. Two years later, he and his family relocated to Brookline outside Boston so that he could better supervise the project. The house in Arrochar was rented out until his death in 1886. Local businessman Adolphus L. King bought the estate at public auction in 1887. It was sold after his death to Abraham and Esthilde Eglinton in 1907. Their heirs divided the house into apartments. Since 1946, it has housed doctors’ offices. The house today suffers from modern additions and some loss of detail, but there is more than a hint of its original splendor.

Many visitors to Staten Island have visited Snug Harbor, the former seaman's home given new life as an arts and cultural center. But how many know a similar complex of Greek Revival buildings built as a hospital for seamen and now abandoned and moldering overlooking the harbor in Clifton? The Seaman’s Retreat was established by the state legislature in 1831 to provide for sick and disabled seamen. It purchased 36 acres of farmland along Staten Island’s eastern shore. The f...amily farmhouse served as the hospital until a dedicated structure was built in 1832. Almost immediately, it was recognized that a larger facility would be needed. The present three-storey center pavilion with wings was erected in 183437. As demand grew, the north pavilion was added in 1848 and the south pavilion in 1853. All were designed by Abraham P. Maybie. When the state tax to support the hospital was revoked in 1882, it was acquired by the New York Marine Society, leased to the federal government, and renamed the U.S. Marine Hospital. The federal government purchased the site in 1903. The attic floor was raised in 1912, and a large new facility was built behind the old hospital in 1936. In 1951, the facility became the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital and operated as such until 1981. Today, the old hospital sits on the campus of Bayley Seton Hospital, named for Richard Bayley, New York City’s Health Office and Chief Physician at the Quarantine Station in Tompkinsville. He was the father of Elizabeth Bayley Seton, the first American-born saint.

An Art Deco Airport in Brooklyn Newark Metropolitan Airport opened in 1928 and was the first to serve New York City. But New York wanted an airport on its own soil. So it opened Floyd Bennett Field in 1931 on Barren Island in Brooklyn. It was a major flop. It was felt to be too far from Manhattan (compared to Newark). It was even proposed to offer seaplanes to ferry passengers from the airport to Manhattan. (I'm not sure this was ever implemented.) Only in 1934 was American A...irlines persuaded to shift its New York-based flights here. And even then, only the New York to Boston flights were scheduled with any regularity. When the U.S. Postal Service declined to shift its mail flights from Newark to FBF, the airport as a commercial venture was crippled. The opening of a new airport in 1939 at North Beach in Queens (LaGuardia) finally doomed FBF. The airport did prove a favorite with individual aviators. Wiley Post, Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes and others favored the airport for its clear visibility. "Wrong Way" Corrigan inaugurated his famous flight here landing in Ireland rather than the scheduled Los Angeles. Today, the Art Deco terminal and hangers are run by the National Park Service and offer a unique glimpse into what a state-of-the-art airport looked like in 1930.

How often have you passed these two surviving row houses when walking along West 49th Street near Rockefeller Center? Ever wonder what history they hold? No. 28 (left) was home (ca. 1868 to ca. 1912) to Supreme Court judge Henry Alger Gildersleeve (18401923) and Virginia Crocheron (18431923). He served in Sherman’s army as a Colonel in the Civil War. Among their children were civil engineer Alger Crocheron Gildersleeve (18691952) and educator Virginia Crocheron Gildersleev...e (1877-1965). Virginia was long dean of Barnard College (191147). She also wrote the Preamble to the Charter for the United Nations in 1945. The Gildersleeves later lived at 404 Riverside. No. 30 (right) was home to dentist J. Adams Bishop (18331910) and Emma Hanford (m. 1864). He had been associated with the inventor of the dental splint and specialized in broken jaws. Dr Bishop was called to Washington to attend William Seward, whose jaw was broken as a result of an assassination attempt the same night as the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The two families must have been among the first, if not the first to occupy these row houses built in the 1860s just after the Civil War. That they survive at all is a miracle.

I recently visited H.H. Richardson's house on Staten Island. Architect Henry Hobson Richardson (183886) was raised on a plantation in Louisiana. Following a Harvard education, he attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris studying architecture. He returned to Boston in 1865, married Julia Gorham Hayden (18371914) two years later, and eventually settled in New York. Here he enjoyed the company of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. All thre were members of the American ...Institute of Architects and the Century Club. Olmsted introduced Richardson to Staten Island, where both would establish country homes. While living in a cottage on the island, Richardson designed his own stick-style house in a hilly area known as Arrochar. The family took up residence in 1869. He frequently worked from home, as Bright’s disease often prevented him from going into New York. Five children were born while living here. In 1872 he received the commission for Trinity Church in Boston. Two years later, he and his family relocated to Brookline outside Boston so that he could better supervise the project. The house in Arrochar was rented out until his death in 1886. Local businessman Adolphus L. King bought the estate at public auction in 1887. It was sold after his death to Abraham and Esthilde Eglinton in 1907. Their heirs divided the house into apartments. Since 1946, it has housed doctors’ offices. The house today suffers from modern additions and some loss of detail, but there is more than a hint of its original splendor.

Many visitors to Staten Island have visited Snug Harbor, the former seaman's home given new life as an arts and cultural center. But how many know a similar complex of Greek Revival buildings built as a hospital for seamen and now abandoned and moldering overlooking the harbor in Clifton? The Seaman’s Retreat was established by the state legislature in 1831 to provide for sick and disabled seamen. It purchased 36 acres of farmland along Staten Island’s eastern shore. The f...amily farmhouse served as the hospital until a dedicated structure was built in 1832. Almost immediately, it was recognized that a larger facility would be needed. The present three-storey center pavilion with wings was erected in 183437. As demand grew, the north pavilion was added in 1848 and the south pavilion in 1853. All were designed by Abraham P. Maybie. When the state tax to support the hospital was revoked in 1882, it was acquired by the New York Marine Society, leased to the federal government, and renamed the U.S. Marine Hospital. The federal government purchased the site in 1903. The attic floor was raised in 1912, and a large new facility was built behind the old hospital in 1936. In 1951, the facility became the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital and operated as such until 1981. Today, the old hospital sits on the campus of Bayley Seton Hospital, named for Richard Bayley, New York City’s Health Office and Chief Physician at the Quarantine Station in Tompkinsville. He was the father of Elizabeth Bayley Seton, the first American-born saint.

An Art Deco Airport in Brooklyn Newark Metropolitan Airport opened in 1928 and was the first to serve New York City. But New York wanted an airport on its own soil. So it opened Floyd Bennett Field in 1931 on Barren Island in Brooklyn. It was a major flop. It was felt to be too far from Manhattan (compared to Newark). It was even proposed to offer seaplanes to ferry passengers from the airport to Manhattan. (I'm not sure this was ever implemented.) Only in 1934 was American A...irlines persuaded to shift its New York-based flights here. And even then, only the New York to Boston flights were scheduled with any regularity. When the U.S. Postal Service declined to shift its mail flights from Newark to FBF, the airport as a commercial venture was crippled. The opening of a new airport in 1939 at North Beach in Queens (LaGuardia) finally doomed FBF. The airport did prove a favorite with individual aviators. Wiley Post, Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes and others favored the airport for its clear visibility. "Wrong Way" Corrigan inaugurated his famous flight here landing in Ireland rather than the scheduled Los Angeles. Today, the Art Deco terminal and hangers are run by the National Park Service and offer a unique glimpse into what a state-of-the-art airport looked like in 1930.

How often have you passed these two surviving row houses when walking along West 49th Street near Rockefeller Center? Ever wonder what history they hold? No. 28 (left) was home (ca. 1868 to ca. 1912) to Supreme Court judge Henry Alger Gildersleeve (18401923) and Virginia Crocheron (18431923). He served in Sherman’s army as a Colonel in the Civil War. Among their children were civil engineer Alger Crocheron Gildersleeve (18691952) and educator Virginia Crocheron Gildersleev...e (1877-1965). Virginia was long dean of Barnard College (191147). She also wrote the Preamble to the Charter for the United Nations in 1945. The Gildersleeves later lived at 404 Riverside. No. 30 (right) was home to dentist J. Adams Bishop (18331910) and Emma Hanford (m. 1864). He had been associated with the inventor of the dental splint and specialized in broken jaws. Dr Bishop was called to Washington to attend William Seward, whose jaw was broken as a result of an assassination attempt the same night as the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The two families must have been among the first, if not the first to occupy these row houses built in the 1860s just after the Civil War. That they survive at all is a miracle.

The impressive Italianate country house on Richmond Road in New Dorp on Staten Island was built for David R. Ryers (18201903) in 185556. He lived here with his wife, Susan R. Ryers. A member of an old Dutch family on the island, Ryers owned the tavern at the Richmond County Hall hotel in Richmondtown. He sold the house in 1867. After several changes of ownership, it was purchased by confectioner and inventor Gustav A. Mayer (18451918) in 1889. He lived here with his wife, ...the former Emilie Becker, and their six children. They had married in 1875. In the 1870s, he set up a confectionery in Stapleton. He invented the Nilla Wafer for Nabisco. The large house also served as his laboratory for the creation of biscuits and other confections. Mayer's daughters, Pauline and Emilie lived here in seclusion following their father's death. The dilapidated interior and overgrown grounds have become popular for fashion shoots in recent years.