120-122 West 72nd Street View of 120 West 72nd Street from north. Courtesy NYC Municipal Archive Harsen House by Tom Miller On December 20, 1890, the Real Estate Record & Builders’ Guide opined, “Seventy-second street is probably the best street on the West Side…on a fine afternoon it rivals 5th avenue in the elegance of the numerous...
By Claudie Benjamin Babacar Fall is not the owner of Gartner’s Hardware at 162 West 72nd Street. But, over the past 30 years, this shop with its hundreds of bolts, screws, tools, appliances, brushes, brooms, light bulbs and cleaning products along with rental and repair services has become his domain. “In charge of everything,” is...
310 West 72nd Street View of 310 West 72nd Street from north. Courtesy NYC Municipal Archive Rent Control[ling] by Tom Miller The change of West 72nd Street from an exclusive residential neighborhood to a vibrant street of shops and apartment buildings was nearly complete in 1924. That year the 316 West 72nd Street Corp....
72nd Street Kiosk 1907 View of West 72nd Street IRT Kiosk. Courtesy Museum of the City of New York. The Sherman Square Station by Tom Miller When the idea of a subway line in New York City was first bandied about in 1864, the Upper West Side was mostly undeveloped, rocky terrain. It was not until February 1900 that the Rapid Transit...
305 West 72nd Street View of 305 West 72nd Street from southwest. Courtesy NYC Municipal Archive LINK The Luxonia by Tom Miller One of the earliest signs that change was coming to the mansion-lined West 72nd Street arrived in December 1912, when architect Gaetan Ajello filed plans “for the 12-story apartment house to be erected in the...
