History and Significance of the Southern Area

The Southern section of the Harlem River Study Area consists of the northern end of Central Harlem on the Manhattan side, and southern Mott Haven and the Bronx Terminal Market on the Bronx side. This portion of the study area has developed primarily through a mixture of industrial development, the advent of above and below ground infrastructure connecting the Bronx and Manhattan, and the migration of populations from downtown and beyond in search of jobs. The Harlem River’s role in this development scheme and long history is a complex one. It was the river’s presence that initially attracted industries to the shores of the Bronx, this development trend then spread across the body of water to Harlem with the promise of jobs. With the disappearance of industry, however, the river’s role was considerably diminished, and in the latter half of the twentieth century, portions of its shores have become a magnet for attempts at renewal and improvement in city life.

The Southern section’s built landscape reflects the history of these neighborhoods’ development. Industrial structures define much of the Bronx Terminal Market and Mott Haven areas, each telling the story of once important enterprises, ranging from raw iron to pianos. Today, the world’s most famous baseball stadium sits alongside what was once the busiest terminal market on in the United States, in a neighborhood of industrial buildings that once broke new ground in design and working conditions for their employees. Just across the river in Harlem, rows of tenement apartments from the 1890s give way to the once revolutionary masonry clad towers of the early public housing projects. Also found in Harlem are the 1960s modernist expression of subsidized housing, Riverbend and Riverton Houses. The Southern section of the Harlem River, as a whole, continues to bustle with activity along massive city infrastructure projects, such as bridges and elevated freeways, each of which testifies to the shifting phases of development and commerce witnessed by the area.

The two Bronx neighborhoods, Mott Haven and the Bronx Terminal Market area, were initially linked together by the manufacturing industry that began with Mott’s Iron Works in the 1840s. However, these can be more closely linked by the development of transportation systems. Large-scale conduits into the Southern area began with elevated railroads. In 1841, the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad constructed a bridge over the Harlem River at Park Avenue creating the first connection between Manhattan and the Bronx. Taking advantage of the new crossing, mostly Irish and German immigrants began moving into Mott Haven to work in its factories. Although the Manhattan Elevated Railway, which crossed the Harlem River into Mott Haven in 1886, was at the time considered a revolutionary mass transit system, the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT), with its cheaper fare and faster travel, further opened up the Southern area to new residents.

The IRT subway had opened its downtown and midtown stations by 1904; it continued to expand north and northeastwardly into the Bronx throughout the first decade of the twentieth century. In addition to rail-based network of connections between Harlem and the Southern Bronx, six bridges were constructed in the area between 1895 and1954: the Macomb’s Dam, 125th Street, Madison Avenue, Park Avenue, Third Avenue, and Willis Avenue Bridges. Over the next decade, subway expansion provided an arterial connection that would forever change the Southern section, providing cheap rapid transit that drew Yugoslavians, Armenians, Italians, and especially Central and Eastern European Jews.¹ As was the case in most industrial cities at the time, residential areas were built up nearby to house workers of factories. At the turn of the twentieth century, census records indicate that workers at the various piano factories in Mott Haven lived in the area immediately adjacent to their work.²

Later infrastructure that made way for automobiles is equally important to the development of the Southern section. The Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx and the Harlem River Drive in Manhattan are the two major expressways of the Southern area. Built under the City’s Department of City Planning’s philosophy of the time, which held that expressways were an important constituent of urban renewal, the relatively un-used Harlem River waterfronts were perfect locations for their construction. Not only did these paved conduits relieve congestion on local streets and connect the Southern area with the regional highway system, but in some cases, they improved the city’s waterfront by landscaping surrounding areas with parks and recreational zones. These improvements, however, came at a price paid by neighborhoods cut off from direct waterfront access or cast into shadows by highway overpasses.

In analyzing the significant architectural diversity found in the Southern area, it is important to understand its patterns of development and the role the Harlem River has played in the area’s evolution, cohesion, and separation. Devising effective preservation tools and plans for the ongoing survival of this built landscape further requires a brief overview of the trends that spurred the development of its three neighborhoods: Harlem, Mott Haven, and the Bronx Terminal Market area.

Harlem:

The large manufacturing facilities built along the Southern section of the Harlem River and the employment opportunities promised by the railroads and commercial businesses stimulated a substantial migration from Southern Manhattan to Harlem and the South Bronx in the 1890s. The less congested and better-designed housing stock, with amenities such as bathrooms and kitchens, lured many immigrants to the region, particularly from Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The construction of the subway system contributed to the development of this area.

Beginning in the 1920s, African Americans from the Southern United States, who had been arriving in the City as part of the Great Migration, moved to Harlem and added to the diversity of the immigrant population already living there. The Great Depression of the 1930s brought about a significant period of economic decline in the Southern section of the Harlem River, during which time workers in all sectors lost jobs. The citywide housing shortage at the end of World War II aggravated the situation, resulting in the government’s decision to start building large-scale public housing projects, most notably the Harlem River Houses, built in 1937, and the Abraham Lincoln Houses and Riverton Houses, both constructed in 1948. The post-War era also saw the early phases of large-scale immigration of Puerto Rican families into Harlem and the South Bronx. In the 1970s, large numbers of Dominicans began to arrive in the area, creating the second mass migration of Spanish-speaking individuals to the neighborhood.

By the 1960s, with the de-industrialization of New York City, most of the factories along the Bronx waterfront had moved elsewhere, leaving many residents jobless in their wake. Beginning around this time, the Southern area of the Harlem River sank deep into another economic downturn. These conditions, coupled with advancing social challenges, such as crime and vandalism, spurred the city into a second wave of subsidized housing development, this time sponsored by New York State and targeted at the fleeing middle-income residents. Although this approach was met with some success, the area remained a target for urban renewal projects and highway development while not necessarily replacing lost jobs. This cycle of depression and rebirth has left many of Harlem’s once tidy buildings in states of extreme neglect, leaving some areas of dilapidated tenement buildings alongside vacant lots.

Mott Haven:

Once dominated by farmland and rural estates, Mott Haven was established in 1828 when Jordan L. Mott purchased a plot of land at the southern most part of Westchester County. The area Mott selected would eventually be strategically located at the confluence of water (Harlem River) and rail (New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad), making it an ideal location for industrial activity.

After the New York & Harlem Railroad linked the southeast Bronx to Manhattan in 1840 and Mott built his canal in 1850, Mott Haven began to flourish as an industrial center. Known for its metal works, saw mills, and stone yards, Mott Haven’s industry expanded into the fields of piano factories, lumberyards, furniture manufacturers, and food and ice producers over the course of the nineteenth century. By the early twentieth century, the area had one of the largest concentrations of manufacturing buildings and facilities along the Harlem River.

Architecturally, the majority of Mott Haven’s industrial buildings were load-bearing masonry structures. Each building, or complex of buildings, was monolithic, grand in scale, and able to handle hundreds of workers along with heavy machinery. Later manufacturing facilities were of the “daylight” factory style, with reinforced concrete beam and slab construction and large bays of casement windows designed to provide workers with plenty of natural light and ventilation. By the mid-twentieth century, Mott Haven factories mass-produced a wide variety of products from iron to refrigeration systems, enamel products to paper box containers, mechanical printing presses to machine made furniture.

The Great Depression of the 1930’s began a period of sustained economic decline in the manufacturing and building materials sectors. Although temporarily interrupted by increased demand during World War II the decline has continued until the present day. Manufacturing left Mott Haven because of changes in manufacturing practices and consumer tastes. Manufacturing involving serial production evolved to take full advantage of assembly line methods. These methods require large, ground level factories to serve regional and national markets. Locations in Mott Haven were not able to offer the economies of scale demanded by these businesses. Markets for many consumer goods collapsed during the depression and were replaced by other products in the post-War years. A good example of this phenomenon is the piano industry, which was replaced by radio and then television. As a result of this change in consumer tastes the Estey Company declared bankruptcy during the 1950’s. This decline in the manufacturing sector citywide, thus marking the end of Mott Haven’s period of economic prosperity. The area and many of its buildings thereafter fell into a long period of disuse, leaving many of its late-nineteenth-century masonry and concrete daylight factories vacant or neglected. Present day Mott Haven sits at the crossroads of development, as new uses are being sought for these long overlooked buildings. The potential new influx of residents to the neighborhood would signify nothing new for Mott Haven, but rapid real estate development there profoundly threatens the important existing historic built fabric.

Bronx Terminal Market Area:

Already a small-scale waterfront industrial area, at the turn of the twentieth century, city politicians proposed the creation of a terminal market system anchored in the west Bronx. Driven by a desire to make New York’s food distribution process more efficient, sanitized, centralized, and easily controlled for the city’s mushrooming population, Mayor John Hylan selected the Bronx Terminal Market site for its proximity to the Harlem River, road connections to Manhattan and beyond, and railroad lines. The creation of the Bronx Terminal Market was seen as a means for putting the much-despised pushcart vendors out of business, as well as reinforcing New York City’s role as a leader in technology and ingenuity.

The Bronx Terminal Market’s buildings were designed so that food could be unloaded and stored, prior to distribution, with a maximum amount of efficiency. The two original market buildings, built between 1925 and 1929, were praised as exemplary of this idea of storage and distribution efficiency. While still under construction, however, the Bronx Terminal Market fell victim to the era’s endemic political corruption and quickly became an embarrassing “white elephant” for the city. In 1935 Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, then early in his mayoral career, set about rectifying the situation by revitalizing the original markets and by building a series of more modest buildings to be added to the complex. In contrast with the original two fortress-like structures, these new buildings were small-scale concrete stalls, designed with a more modern look and even more efficient organization, conveying an image of efficiency and sterility. These later buildings made the Bronx Terminal Market a source of civic pride and profit until operations were moved to Hunts Point, Bronx in 1976, initiating a long period of decline for the Bronx Terminal Market area.

Parallel with the development of the Bronx Terminal Market itself, a number of other important industries flocked to the area immediately to the complex’s south and east. Similar to Mott Haven, masonry factory buildings began to spring up, quickly followed by concrete and casement window daylight factories in the first decades of the twentieth century. Reflective of increasingly progressive working conditions, these new buildings allowed for greater natural light and air circulation, all encapsulated in the more modern, sleek designs. Also like Mott Haven, however, with the departure of these industries, along with the move of the Market itself, the area has been in decline now for decades.

In 2004, the lease for the city-owned Bronx Terminal Market site was sold to Reliable Development Corporation and current plans call for razing the old market buildings. Damaged by years of inappropriate alterations, arson, neglect, and lack of maintenance, the buildings have fallen into a considerable state of disrepair. Already condemned, the Cold Storage Building has been identified as the first building to be torn down prior to redeveloping the site as a retail and office complex.

The legacy of the Southern area’s development has resulted in several square miles of historic structures that have been left to decay as industry, jobs, and communities have moved elsewhere. Preservation of these resources simultaneously hinges on, and can be an instrument for, restoring the Harlem River to its once prominent role in New York City. But application of the proper preservation tools and recommendations will only come through analysis of the Southern section’s history, identification of its resources, and an examination of the current community’s challenges.

Significant Resources

Below is an inventory and description of the significant resources found in the Southern section of the Harlem River Study Area. For an explanation of the recommended acknowledgements and a key to the represented symbols, please see the Evaluating Criteria portion of this plan. For further information about our significance criteria, please refer to Appendix X: Researching Methodology.

Harlem:

12 and 16 East 132nd Street
Tax Block/Lot: 1756/61; 1756/62
Date: 1895
Architect: F.P. Dinkelberg
Recommended Acknowledgement: Appropriate Signage
The two residential apartment houses at 12 and 16 East 132nd Street in Harlem are examples of progressive design in New York City housing. Two out of the original three apartment houses survive as examples of the city’s attempt to improve the quality of housing in Harlem. Frederick P. Dinkelberg designed the houses at the end of the nineteenth century. Later, Dinkelberg worked for the firm of D.H. Burnham, where he was involved with the design of such noteworthy structures as the Flatiron Building. These two buildings in Harlem are characteristic of Dinkelberg’s early work in residential design. The T-shaped design of these structures was advanced for residential apartment buildings of this time, as this plan was not generally used until six years later when New York City tenement laws mandated the plan and design of apartment houses. Dinkelberg’s houses are of brick construction and feature brownstone lintels and doorframes.
12 and 16 East 132nd Street have been renovated and altered since their erection. 14 East 132nd Street, the third building that comprised the original unit, has since been demolished. In its place is a landscaped playground, which is a rarity in this neighborhood.³ While many of the physical components of this complex have changed through time, the remaining elements are a testament to the neighborhood’s evolution and movement to improve living conditions.

Madison Avenue Bridge
Date: 1884, 1910
Architect: Alfred P. Boller
Recommended Acknowledgement: Educational Element
Alfred P. Boller, architect of four of the Harlem River bridges, designed the Madison Avenue Bridge, a swing bridge between Madison Avenue in Manhattan and 138th Street in the Bronx. The bridge was primarily used for trolley traffic during, but in 1910, a steel swing bridge, also designed by Boller, replaced the original bridge. It was designed to relieve traffic congestion between Manhattan and the Bronx, and was open to pedestrians and automobile traffic. The approaches were built of reinforced concrete rather than traditional masonry.⁴

369th Regiment Armory *
2360 Fifth Avenue
Tax Block/Lot: 1740/17
Date: 1921-24 (drill shed), 1930-33 (administration building)
Architect: Tachau and Vought (drill shed); Van Wart and Wein (administration building)
Landmark Status: New York City Landmark (1985)
This city landmark was one of the last armories constructed in New York City. The administration building features both the medieval motifs typical of the building type and Art Deco elements typical of the period. It was home to the African-American regiment, the Harlem Hell Fighters.⁵

Dunbar Apartments *
202 West 150th Street
Tax Block/Lot: 2305/1
Date: 1928
Architect: Andrew J. Thomas
Landmark Status: New York City Landmark (1970), National Register (1979)
Financed by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the Dunbar Apartments were one of the first attempts to provide quality affordable housing to Harlem’s African-American residents.⁶ The five-acre complex includes a playground, stores, and a bank.

Harlem River Houses *
West 151st Street to West 153rd Street, Macombs Place to Harlem River Drive
Tax Block/Lot: 2307/11; 2016/60
Date: 1936-37
Architect: Archibald Manning Brown, chief architect
Landmark Status: New York City Landmark (1975), National Register (1979)
The Harlem River Houses are the earliest example of public housing in the Harlem River area and are a New York City Landmark. Archibald Manning Brown designed the Harlem River Houses to provide quality affordable housing to African-American residents; the events following the 1935 Harlem Riots inspired city planners to build suitable housing for the city’s African-American community, which was prevented from residing in certain areas. These are the first example of federally subsidized public housing in the country.

Abraham Lincoln Houses
East 132nd Street and East 135th Street; Fifth Avenue to Park Avenue
Tax Block/Lot: 1757/1; 1757/20
Date: 1948
Architect: Edwin Forbes, Louis Skidmore of Skidmore Owings and Merrill, and John Vertner Tandy
Recommended Acknowledgement: Appropriate Signage
The Abraham Lincoln Houses are representative of a major public housing projects built during the urban renewal era in New York City. The buildings occupy a “superblock”, bound by East 132nd and 135th Street and bisected by Madison Avenue. Architects Edwin Forbes, Louis Skidmore, and John Vertner Tandy designed the complex in 1948; Tandy was the first African-American architect registered in New York State. The development consists of eight fourteen-story cruciform masses and six six-story low-rise structures, with a path running through the surrounding landscape. A communal green space unifies the buildings and serves as a gathering spot for residents. Each building, in combination with the green space and surrounding structures, contributes to the creation of a visually compelling composition.

The concrete slab construction features red brick cladding. The overall design follows Le Corbusier’s “tower in the park” concept that is typical for many New York City Housing Authority projects; Le Corbusier called for high-density housing mixed with open space. This particular project was an early manifestation of a style that later proliferated in public housing throughout New York City. Housing developments such as the Abraham Lincoln Houses were sources of debate in post-war New York City. While they altered the aesthetic fabric of the city, they provided homes for many New Yorkers.⁷

Riverton Houses
Fifth Avenue to Madison Avenue; East 135th Street and East 138th Street
Tax Block/Lot: 1760/101; 1760/1
Date: 1948
Architect: Irwin Clavan
Recommended Acknowledgement: Appropriate Signage
Built in response to the nation’s and New York City’s needs for public housing after World War II, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company built Riverton Houses as privately funded housing for middle-income residents. Designed in 1948 by Irwin Clavan, this complex reflects Le Corbusier’s “tower in the park” concept. The site includes seven thirteen-story cruciform buildings arranged around expanses of open space. The brick façade and concrete bands demarcating each floor are typical of other high-rise apartment buildings constructed during this era.
Erected during a period of racial tension, Riverton was built in a predominately African-American area to meet the needs of that community, which had been excluded from many other housing projects; Metropolitan Life’s Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Villages offered middle-income housing to white residents only, a decision that prompted criticism and resulted in Riverton’s construction. Riverton Houses provided high-quality, comfortable living accommodations that were worthy of pride.

Riverview Welfare Center
1951 Park Avenue
Tax Block/Lot: 1780/1
Date: 1950
Architect: A.J. Daidone
Recommended Acknowledgement: Appropriate Signage
The Riverview Welfare Center, at 1951 Park Avenue, was built in 1950 to provide public assistance to New Yorkers. The building was the first municipal facility designed as a welfare center. Erected early in the development of federally funded social service programs, the building continues to symbolize public commitment to eradicating urban poverty.⁸ This concern was previously addressed in the construction of several public housing projects in close proximity to the Center, including the Abraham Lincoln and Harlem River Houses.
A.J. Daidone, a Department of Public Works architect, designed the building. The four and one half story structure is a combination of Neo-classical and Modern design. Four limestone columns mark the entrance at the east façade of the building and are typical of the Neo-classical influence and monumental design of civic architecture. The bold horizontal limestone bands wrapping around the edges of the building serve to give Modernist expression to a classical structure.

Park Avenue Railroad Lift Bridge
Date: 1956
Architect: Hardesty and Hanover
Recommended Acknowledgement: Appropriate Signage
The Park Avenue Railroad Lift Bridge crosses the Harlem River from Park Avenue in Harlem to Mott Haven. It replaced two earlier railroad bridges—the 1841 fixed bridge with an iron drawbridge, and the 1893 steel swing bridge designed by Alfred P. Boller. In 1956, the New York New Haven, and Hartford Railroad commissioned the existing steel truss vertical lift bridge, designed by the Hardesty and Hanover, with two double tracks that operate independently with separate lifting mechanisms.⁹ The bridge is one of only six vertical lift bridges in New York City, and one of two that are exclusively railroad bridges.

Riverbend Houses
2289, 2301, 2311, 2333 Fifth Avenue
Tax Block/Lot: 1763/1
Date: 1967
Architect: Davis/Brody Architects
Recommended Acknowledgement: Individual Designation (New York City and National Register)
Harlem’s Riverbend Houses represent a shift in attitude towards the design of New York City subsidized housing. Located between East 138th Street and East 142nd Street along the Harlem River Drive, the buildings were constructed to allow views of both the Harlem River and the South Bronx. Constructed between 1962 and 1966, the project was created pursuant to the Mitchell-Lama housing program of 1954. This policy was created by New York City in an effort to encourage middle-income residents to remain in the city, giving them the benefits of both urban and suburban living. Architects Davis/Brody designed Riverbend to provide a safe environment for middle-income tenants; amenities included gated entries, private gardens, and walkways between each unit.
The complex’s design is a stark contrast to traditional “faceless” public housing; its modern design, as well as the use of large red bricks and the presence of terraces and balconies creates an aesthetic effect rare in subsidized housing projects. The interior organization of the towers provides multiple means of egress and circulation.

Mott Haven:

Mott Haven Industrial District
The proposed Mott Haven Industrial District, which is explained in further depth as part of the recommendations section of this plan, consists of 114 factories, warehouses, and residences constructed in response to Mott Haven’s growth as an industrial area in New York City. These buildings were erected between 1880 and 1928, and were significant in Mott Haven’s development as an industrial sector. The structures below represent a small sampling of this district; buildings recommended below for “individual” designation are envisioned as part of this district, in addition to those calling for “contributing” designation. This area is recommended for designation through the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, the New York State Historic Preservation Office, and the National Register for Historic Places. This proposal is further discussed in the following sections.

Mott Iron Works
2401 Third Avenue, 2413 Third Avenue, and 220 East 134th Street
Tax Block/Lot: 2319/98; 2319/2
Date: 1880-1892
Architect: Thomas McAvoy; A.G. Thomas (additions)
Recommended Acknowledgement: Individual Designation (New York City and National Register)
The grounds and four remaining buildings from the original Mott Iron Works complex are among the most notable historic resources in Mott Haven, and the Bronx as a whole. In 1828, Jordan L. Mott, the inventor of the anthracite coal-burning stove, purchased a plot of land at the southernmost part of Westchester County (now the Bronx) along the Harlem River at Third Street. He constructed a foundry complex with the hope of drawing other industrialists to the area. Mott’s foundry complex manufactured a wide range of products, including kitchen and bathroom fixtures, stable fittings, gates, statuary, and garden furniture, in a variety of metals, including iron, brass, bronze, and nickel-plate. Originally, the foundry complex consisted of eight buildings, each of which served a specific function and were enclosed in a stepped brick wall. This compartmentalization was common in foundry design, as it decreased the potential damage from fire.
The remaining structures in the complex are one of the two original iron foundries, two original machine shops, and the original casting shops. In 1850, Mott commissioned the Mott Haven Canal for the transportation of products from the inland iron foundry to the Harlem River. Intended to encourage local industrial development by facilitating transportation of goods manufactured in the area, the canal occupied the site northwest of the remaining foundry buildings. In 1965, after many years of neglect, it was filled in.
The four extant buildings were constructed between 1880 and 1892 during a period of growth. They were expanded in the early 1890s prior to the relocation of the Iron Works to Trenton, New Jersey in 1906. The single-story building has load-bearing brick walls and a double-ridged roof with gabled ends. The five-story brick machine and casting shop is a largely utilitarian structure, with the exception of an elaborate raised brick lettering, on the south façade, stating the building’s original name. The Third Avenue elevation features delicate, decorative floral pattern terra-cotta blocks. The six-story brass foundry and machine shop is a functional, austere brick structure. Located in the six-story U-shaped brick building with a central circulation core, the cleaning shops prepared and stored the cast products before they were shipped. Historic Belgian block paving also remains throughout the complex. Viewscapes within the original Iron Foundry complex afford vistas of the Manhattan skyline and the Harlem River, as well as the Triborough Bridge.

Estey Piano Factory
112 Lincoln Avenue
Tax Block/Lot: 2309/1
Date: 1885, additions in 1906 and 1926
Architect: A.B. Ogden and Son
Recommended Acknowledgement: Individual Designation (New York City and National Register)
The Estey Piano Factory is one of twenty piano factories constructed in Mott Haven in the late nineteenth century. A.B. Ogden and Son designed the building in 1885 for the manufacture of upright pianos for a growing population of middle-income consumers. Manufactured in assembly-line fashion, the pianos were shipped from the factory by train to destinations throughout the country. As a result of the Estey Company’s success, the building was expanded in 1906 and again in 1926. The factory’s size and architectural detailing symbolize the increasing purchase power experienced by middle-income families after the Civil War.
The L-shaped, five-story factory with its seven and a half story clock tower, sits on the corner of Bruckner Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue. The factory’s wood-frame structure is typical of nineteenth century New England mills, featuring load-bearing brick masonry and terra-cotta details. Although the original wooden windows have been replaced and the sandstone belt course has deteriorated, the building remains remarkably similar to its original appearance. The corner tower is a dominant element of the factory’s façade, distinguishing the corner site and the factory’s orientation toward the Harlem River and the Third Avenue Bridge to Manhattan. The Estey Piano Factory follows a layout and plan typical of industrial buildings of the time period. Today, the building stands as a striking example of late nineteenth century industrial architecture in New York City.

Henry Spies Building, later Segar Factory
82-96 Lincoln Avenue
Tax Block/Lot: 2308/1
Date: 1888; alterations: 1895
Architect: C.C. Buck, Walter Hornum
Recommended Acknowledgement: Contributing Designation (Mott Haven Industrial District)
C.C. Buck designed the Henry Spies Building, a three-story brick structure with stores on the ground level and industrial space on the upper floors, in 1888. The building is typical of Romanesque Revival, which was popular in late nineteenth-century industrial architecture. The structure features two-story arches, corner turrets, and Queen Anne-style storefronts. The brick detail, typical of this era of industrial architecture, remains intact. Two towers, removed during the twentieth century, marked the Lincoln Avenue façade. The building, visible from the Harlem River, served as a visual landmark to boaters and Manhattanites.
The building once housed manufacturing facilities for cigars and, as a result, was called “The Cigar Factory.” The regional pronunciation for “cigar” remained, and now the building is known as “The Segar Factory.”

Haines Brothers Piano Factory
26 Bruckner Boulevard
Tax Block/Lot: 2308/15
Date: 1888
Architects: Kreitler and Hebbard
Recommended Acknowledgement: Contributing Designation (Mott Haven Industrial District)
Architects Kreitler & Hebbard designed the Haines Brothers Piano Factory on Bruckner Boulevard and East 132nd Street to meet the late nineteenth century demand for upright pianos. The factory was one of the first to manufacture all constituent parts of a piano in one facility. At the time, few piano manufacturers had the resources to produce everything “in-house,” and most had to use sub-contractors for parts such as the cast-iron frames, brass tuning pins, ivory for the keys, and other fixtures.

The factory stands five stories tall, with an L-shaped footprint, and is constructed of load bearing brick masonry with interior cast-iron columns. Most of the building’s original details remain unaltered. The interior, after renovations and alterations resulting from different uses, has been modified from its original open floor plan. The building’s dramatic arched windows and swirled sandstone flourishes make it a powerful example of the Romanesque revival industrial architecture, which was popular in the 1880s but had waned in prominence by the end of the nineteenth century.

Mott Haven Working-class Housing
340-354, 400, and 432-462 East 134th Street; 128 Willis Avenue; 39-69 Bruckner Boulevard; 126-134 Alexander Avenue
Tax Block/Lots (multiple): 2278/24, 2278/25, 2278/26, 2278/27, 2278/28, 2278/29, 2278/30, 2278/31, 2278/33, 2278/34, 2278/35, 2278/36, 2278/37, 2278/38, and 2278/39
Date: Circa 1890
Architect: Various
Recommended Acknowledgement: Contributing Designation (Mott Haven Industrial District)
While the neighborhood of Mott Haven is largely industrial, there is a sizeable portion of residential structures within the industrial district, including tenements and row houses. Consisting of two to three-story brick row houses along 134th Street and three to four-story brick tenement buildings along Bruckner Boulevard, the residences were constructed in the 1890s as speculative housing for employees of nearby industries, including the J. L. Mott Iron Works and the piano factories. The residences, typical of late nineteenth century workers’ housing, retain their original details such as cornices, elaborately pedimented entries, and storefronts. The houses display a diverse range of architectural styles, including Beaux-Arts, Renaissance Revival, and Romanesque Revival; yellow brick facades and cast-iron balustrades are notable details.
The row houses feature historic storefronts that once served residents and employees of Mott Haven factories. The Bruckner Boulevard apartments and stores contribute to the current revitalization of the area, particularly with the development of “Antiques Row,” a strip of new antique stores housed in the old storefronts.

Ruppert Ice House
20 Bruckner Boulevard
Tax Block Lot: 2308/5
Date: 1899
Architect: Julius Kastner
Recommended Acknowledgement: Contributing Designation (Mott Haven Industrial District)
The Ruppert Ice House took advantage of the growing need for manufactured ice after natural ice sources became too polluted. Before the advent of modern refrigeration, ice could only be produced by large icehouses, of which this building is a rare example in New York City. Ice was a particularly important component for the brewing of beer, and in 1899 this factory was designed and built by Julius Kastner for Jacob Ruppert, a well-known brewer.
The four-story steel frame factory with brick cladding utilized a steam powered ammonia compression system to manufacture ice and took advantage of the site’s proximity to truck, water and rail transportation for the shipment of the finished product to Ruppert’s brewery at Third Avenue and 92nd Street in Manhattan, in addition to other area merchants. The ice factory became obsolete with the invention of modern refrigeration in the 1940s, which made small-scale ice production a more feasible operation. The building is consistent with the surrounding factories and warehouses, contributing to the overall character of the industrial district.

Borden Milk Distribution Center
40-50 Bruckner Boulevard
Tax Block/Lot: 2295/51
Date: 1901
Architect: Unknown
Recommended Acknowledgement: Contributing Designation (Mott Haven Industrial District)
The three-story building at 40-50 Bruckner Boulevard was built in 1901 by the New York Condensed Milk Company, which later changed its name to the Borden Milk Company. This building facilitated the distribution of dairy throughout the metropolitan area during the twentieth century. The building later changed ownership and housed a rag sorting and boiling business as well as a small-scale paper-manufacturing company. The interior accommodated manufacturing operations and office space; the building was also said to have stored rails from the nearby rail yards at one point in its history.
The exterior buff-colored brick and thin mortar joints exhibit fastidious workmanship. In addition, the façade is adorned with cast stone that is crafted to provide Neo-classical and Beaux-Arts style ornamentation. Three oversized classical pediments, along the Bruckner Boulevard façade, are unique examples of Mannerist architecture in Mott Haven. There are five loading docks with floors constructed of historic Belgian blocks.

Welte and Sons Piano Factory
27 Bruckner Boulevard
Tax Block/Lot: 2309/33
Date: Circa 1910
Architect: Unknown
Recommended Acknowledgement: Contributing Designation (Mott Haven Industrial District)
The Welte and Sons Piano factory, which predates the “daylight” factory, is one of the earliest industrial buildings in Mott Haven. Welte and Sons merged in 1921 with the Estey Piano Company, whose factory was located nearby. The four-story Welte and Sons facility, with its brick construction and steel frame windows, differs from the other piano factories with its square footprint, rather than an L-shaped plan. The building bridges the gap between older industrial buildings, such as the Estey Piano Factory, and newer industrial structures in the area with similar square footprints and large bands of windows. As one of the piano factories in this area, this building contributes to the larger industrial district, demonstrating the evolution of industrial design during the height of the area’s commercial vitality.
The Hudford Factory
2439 Third Avenue
Tax Block/Lot: 2319/37
Date: 1916
Architect: unknown
Recommended Acknowledgement: Contributing Designation (Mott Haven Industrial District)

The Hudford Factory, which still bears its name in terra cotta above its entrance, was constructed in 1916 as a floor-covering factory. The Hudford building maximizes the infiltration of natural light through the exterior walls. Its alternating window bay sizes distinguish it from other factories that typically have a more regular fenestration. With its white glazed brick and green terra cotta, the Hudford adds a particularly colorful contribution to a larger collection of industrial buildings constructed in Mott Haven during a time of rapid development.

2417 Third Avenue
Tax Block/Lot: 2319/100
Date: 1928
Architect: E.A. Kunze
Recommended Acknowledgement: Contributing Designation (Mott Haven Industrial District)

The former New Jersey Central Railroad Station is an eight-story “daylight” factory built in 1928 among other industrial structures in Mott Haven. It stands at the corner of Third Avenue and 134th Street. The New Jersey Central Railroad, the original owner, constructed the building as a facility for light manufacturing—an activity integral to the thriving rail-industry of the area. The steel windows cover more than fifty percent of its façade.

Modern construction techniques, including reinforced concrete construction, mushroom columns, and the maximization of interior space characterize this building.

Third Avenue Bridge
Dates: 1795, 1860, 1898
Architect: Thomas C. Clarke
Recommended Acknowledgement: Contributing Designation (Mott Haven Industrial District)

The Third Avenue Bridge has existed in multiple variations since the end of the eighteenth century. Erected in response to the need to facilitate travel between the southern area of the Bronx and the northeast vicinity in Manhattan over the Harlem River, the bridge provided a direct transportation route. This eased accessibility to the industrial and residential communities in the Bronx. The first bridge at Third Avenue was built in 1795 and was constructed of wood and used for private purposes. In 1860, the first iron bridge constructed in New York replaced the original. It was a swing bridge that allowed boats to pass under its platform. This bridge proved to be inadequate and was replaced in 1898 with a steel truss swing bridge designed by Thomas C. Clarke. In 1891, the bridge was altered to serve the Third Avenue Elevated Train, constructed by the Morrisiana and Fordham Railroad Company.¹⁰

The bridge eased problems caused by the increased traffic between Manhattan and the Bronx. In addition, it provided a route for people traveling between New York City and Boston. While traffic congestion continued to worsen, additional bridges were constructed to create alternate routes of travel. Although the Third Avenue Bridge required the construction of more methods of travel, it was the first means of connection between Manhattan and the Bronx in this area.

New Haven Passenger Railroad Station
82 Willis Avenue
Tax Block/Lot: 2260/62
Date: 1891
Architect F.S. Curtis
Recommended Acknowledgement: Individual Designation (New York City and National Register)

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Mott Haven’s development coincided with a boom in American industry spurred by railroad expansion. For many years, the New Haven Railroad Passenger Station, served as the hub for the railroad that connected Mott Haven and Manhattan to the rest of the country. F.S. Curtis, staff architect for the New Haven Railroad designed the massive, four-story structure to house railroad offices and a waiting station for passengers traveling to and from points in southeastern New England. The brick building, with cast stone lintels, measures 30’ x 300.’ Its Willis Avenue elevation faces the Mott Haven Rail Yards. With its extreme and unusual profile and simple design, this building expresses New Haven Railroad’s prominent position in the industrial development of Mott Haven.

Willis Avenue Bridge
Date: 1901
Architect: Thomas C. Clarke
Recommended Acknowledgement: Contributing Designation (Mott Haven Industrial District)

Constructed to relieve the congestion of the Third Avenue Bridge, the Willis Avenue Bridge was the last swing bridge constructed on the Harlem River. The bridge was designed by Thomas C. Clark, at the location of a ferry service between Manhattan and the Bronx, which began in 1669.¹¹ Construction on the bridge began in 1894, but was not completed until 1901 due to conflicts between the city and the New Haven Railroad. This steel truss bridge served pedestrian, trolley and rail traffic before being adapted to automobile traffic in the early twentieth century.¹²

Bronx Grit Chamber *
158 Bruckner Boulevard
Tax Block/Lot: 2546/15
Date: 1937
Architect: McKim, Mead and White
Landmark Status: New York City Landmark (1982)

The Bronx Grit Chamber, built 1936-37, is a New York City landmark located on Bruckner Boulevard between Cypress Avenue and St. Anne Avenue. Part of the Ward’s Island Sewage Treatment Works, designed to be one of the world’s largest and most modern activated sewage disposal systems, the chamber continues to function in its original capacity. McKim, Mead, and White designed the chamber’s exterior.¹³ The chamber features Roman brick and limestone in an exaggerated Neo-classical style, and expresses McKim, Mead, and White’s belief that all buildings, regardless of their use, could be designed to be aesthetically pleasing.

Bronx Terminal Market:

Bronx Terminal Market District

The Bronx Terminal Market, due to its role in providing fresh food to the city of New York for decades, is part of a proposed for designation as a local, state and national landmark district through the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, the New York State Historic Preservation Office, and the National Register for Historic Places. This proposal will be further explained in the recommendations section of this plan, but each of the included contributing buildings of the Bronx Terminal Market Complex are labeled and described below.

Slips and Piers
Tax Block/Lot: 2539/2
Date: Circa 1891-1897
Recommended Acknowledgement: Contributing Designation (Bronx Terminal Market District)

Five slips and piers were constructed as a speculative investment between 1891 and 1897. They served as the foundation for industries that required access to the river, including a banana curing plant, coal yard, and gravel factory; the Bronx Terminal Market was built in its current location due to the proximity of the slips and piers. Although one slip has been filled in, they remain the last examples of their type along the Harlem River.

Refrigeration Plant
69 Major Deegan Boulevard
Tax Block/Lot: 2539/2

Wholesale Market and Storage Building
59 Major Deegan Boulevard
Tax Block/Lot: 2539/32
Date: 1925-1929
Architect: Elisha H. Janes and August W. Cordes
Recommended Acknowledgement: Contributing Designation (Bronx Terminal Market District)

Incorporating the existing Slips and Piers, the original Market designs combine two important technological innovations: refrigeration and transportation. As one of the largest refrigerated warehouses in the country, the Market Storage Building incorporated rail and truck loading bays devoted to market stalls, dry storage, cold storage, and freezer storage. This progressive design was the first of its type in New York City, and provided fresh goods to New York City residents.

The six-story Wholesale Market and Storage Building is a steel frame structure with a massive brick façade, limestone trim, and steel casement windows. The interior is concrete slab construction with cork insulation. The roof of this massive structure was topped by six turrets, which have since been removed. Originally, the second floor viaduct, connecting this floor to Exterior and Cromwell Streets permitted trucks to travel around and through the second floor of the building. Rail lines and truck roadways passed through the building on the ground floor for the efficient loading and unloading of goods. Six large freight elevators completed this system of transportation by allowing quick movement from train or truck to the upper storage levels and the first and second floor market stalls. Refrigeration was provided across Exterior Street through a series of underground conduits from the Refrigeration Plant.

The Bronx Terminal Market was the busiest market of its type in New York City, and one of the world’s most active. Like other markets in the city, such as the Essex Market on the Lower East Side, the Bronx Terminal Market provided an important service to New Yorkers.

Market Stalls, Farmer’s Bank and Hotel, & Restaurant Building
Tax Block/Lot:
Date: 1935
Architect: Samuel Oxhandler, John D. Churchill, and Albert W. Lewis
Recommended Acknowledgement: Contributing Designation

The design of the 1935 Market Stalls improved the transportation network of the market. The two-story buildings line both sides of Exterior Street with loading bays for trucks on one side, rail cars on the other, and setbacks on the second floor for offices. The complex was divided into forty-eight stalls, which had a continuous line of loading platforms that allowed food to be quickly unloaded from railcars, stored, and then shipped by truck with fewer transport steps, thus cutting labor costs and time. The reduced labor, increased order, and tighter control over the Market environs by the city also drove out the corruption that had colored the market’s early years, further cutting costs and increasing efficiency. After years of teetering on the verge of financial collapse, the Bronx Terminal Market was revived by this addition.

The 1935 addition also included the Farmer’s Bank and Hotel, and a late-night restaurant and bar to accommodate the Market’s operating hours (early evening to mid morning). These buildings provided amenities for the market’s users, including bathroom facilities, hot and cold plumbing, electrical lighting, covered sidewalks, and water hydrants.

The Moderne interest in efficiency and cleanliness is apparent in the streamlined concrete lines and steel casement windows of the 1935 buildings. The streamline effect is evident in the rounded corners and dramatic second-floor windows on the restaurant building. The Lombard strip detailing in the original buildings is reflected in the 1935 concrete additions, and unifies the aesthetic expression of the market complex. The cast-in-place concrete construction also is a more efficient and durable construction method than that of the earlier buildings. The quality of this method is evident in the stable structural condition of the stalls.

Public School 31 *
425 Grand Concourse
Tax Block/Lot: 2346/1
Date: 1897-99
Architect: C.B.J. Snyder
Landmark Status: New York City Landmark

This elementary school, designed by C.B.J. Snyder, was one of the first Collegiate Gothic schools constructed in New York City. It was built to accommodate the growing population of the Bronx in this period.¹⁴ Its interior lighting, designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, has been a topic of research throughout the twentieth century. It is currently undergoing a major renovation project.

145th Street Bridge
Date: 1905
Architect: Alfred P. Boller
Recommended Acknowledgement: Appropriate Signage

Alfred P. Boller, architect of the Madison Avenue, University Heights, and Macombs Dam Bridges, designed the 145th Street Bridge in 1905. It connects 145th Street in Manhattan to 149th Street in the Bronx. This steel truss swing bridge, used electricity rather than steam to power its machinery. Specification at that time required the prudent use of the materials, which resulted in the use of reinforced concrete and steel for the approaches, and a more austere design than that of the nearby Macombs Dam Bridge.

General Baking Company
360 Gerard Avenue
Tax Block/Lot: 2344/112
Date: 1922
Architect: The Ballinger Company
Recommended Acknowledgement: Appropriate Signage

The General Baking Company building, constructed in 1922, originally served as a factory with attached stables in the rear. Although the windows have been filled in, the building retains most of its original ornamentation and materials. The factory has elaborate brick ornamentation at the cornice and carved limestone detailing on the Gerard Avenue elevation. General Baking’s attention to detail, in comparison with earlier industrial buildings in the Terminal Market area, demonstrates an evolution of industrial design from the masonry structures to the daylight factories of the late 1920s onward.

Yankee Stadium
161st Street and River Avenue
Tax Block/Lot: 2491/1
Date: 1923
Architect: Osborn Engineering
Recommended Acknowledgement: Educational Element

Yankee Stadium is one of the best-known unofficial landmarks and tourist destinations in New York City. Home to the New York Yankees Major League Baseball Team, the stadium was completed in 1923 and significantly renovated in 1976. It is one of the oldest operating major league baseball parks in the country.

The Lehigh Bronx Building
385 Gerard Avenue
Block/Lot: 2349/90
1928
Architect: Unknown
Recommended Acknowledgement: Individual Designation (New York City and National Register)

The Lehigh Bronx Building, commissioned by the Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1928, is a twelve-story reinforced-concrete “daylight” factory. Built rapidly from company plans, the building included a ground-level storage area for the railroad, as well as areas for other types of storage and light industry that could be rented by others. Originally, rail cars would travel across the Harlem River by boat, then connect to rail lines on the opposite side which led to the Lehigh-Bronx building, where they would unload cargo. The construction of the Major Deegan Expressway, as well as the new focus on automobiles use during World War II, resulted in the Lehigh Valley Railroad’s decision to sell the building in 1944 for use as a mixed office space. The building is fully occupied, and serves as an important visual landmark in the area.

Built with reinforced concrete slab construction, the Lehigh-Bronx, as a “daylight factory,” has large pivot steel casement windows that remain on all four exposures. This fenestration allows a large amount of natural light and ventilation to reach all areas of the building. Mushroom structural concrete columns support the floor slabs, and loading docks dominate the front and rear sides, allowing trucks to load and unload cargo. The six freight elevators remain as well.

The factory’s entrance is marked by a tower element that is set at an angle to the rest of the building. Polychrome terra-cotta details on the tower, above the entrance and on several spandrel panels, are atypical of the later industrial buildings in the Bronx. Such details indicate the Lehigh Railroad’s aspirations for this building to be the centerpiece of the new Bronx industrial district.

Cashman Laundry Building
340 Gerard Avenue
Tax Block/Lot: 2344/96
Date: 1932
Architect: Cory and Cory
Recommended Acknowledgement: Individual Designation (New York City and National Register)

The Cashman Laundry Building, designed by Walter and Russell Cory in 1932, occupies a site at the northeast corner of East 140th Street and Gerard Avenue. The building’s historic and architectural importance lies in the progressive example it set for the laundry building type, both in program and in style. The Cashman is one of the earliest examples of the Moderne style in the United States. The building uses its reinforced concrete construction, streamlined form, and minimalist orientation to convey physical expression to its function. Its massing consists of a prominent off-center tower element and horizontal bands of steel casement windows. The tower element gives the building a monumental presence, while serving as the main entrance and vertical circulation shaft.

The interior columns are flared mushroom columns, which permitted open interior space while allowing factory functions to run in continuous lines; this reflects the late 1920s push for greater industrial efficiency. The building’s program also indicates changes in working conditions during this time. The women who worked in the Cashman Laundry building enjoyed amenities such as a cafeteria, locker rooms, and large windows with plenty of fresh air and natural light. Most factories at the time lacked these facilities, and the whole design coincides with contemporary reforms that sought to make factories more humane working places in the early twentieth century.

In 1995, the building was converted to a New York City magnet high school, and as a result, many alterations to the building have taken place; however, many of these interventions are reversible such as the changes to fenestration. Despite these modifications, Cashman Laundry Building continues to hold an important place in the history of the United States’ labor movement and in the development of modern architecture in New York.

¹ History of Bronx New York, World Travel Gate, (2004), http://www.americatravelling.net/usa/new_york/bronx/bronx_history.htm, (1 March 2004).

² US Census, 1900.

³ Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, (New York: Vintage Books, 1975), 337.

⁴ Sharon Reier, The Bridges of New York, (New York: Dover, 2000), 85.

⁵ Andrew S. Dolkart, Guide to New York City Landmarks. (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1998), 170.

⁶ Dolkart, 167.

⁷ Noonan, Darby. Project II: Columbia University Historic Preservation Studio I. Fall 2003.

⁸ David A. Rochefort, American Social Welfare Policy. (Boulder and London: Westview Press, 1986), 102.

⁹ Reier, 82.

¹⁰ Reier, 85.

¹¹ Reier, 68.

¹² Reier, 85.

¹³ Dolkart, 245.

¹⁴ Ibid.

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