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Mr.
Stokes' Marvelous Creation
The Ansonia was built by Phelps-Dodge copper heir William Earl
Dodge Stokes, a noted builder and one of the leading developers
of Riverside Drive, the Upper West Side, and the Broadway Mall.
It was designed in accordance with his specific instructions
by the prominent European architect Emile Paul DuBoy, who also
designed the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument on Riverside Drive
at 89th Street. Construction began in 1899, and upon its completion
in 1904 (when it was named for the Connecticut community founded
by Stoke's grandfather, Anson Green Phelps of the Ansonia Brass
& Copper Company), The Ansonia was the largest residential
hotel of its day. Legend has it that Mr. Stokes wanted The Ansonia
to be much taller, but stopped at the 17th floor because he
liked the view.
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A
Hotel Unlike Any Other
In addition to 400 original residential suites and 1,218 rooms,
The Ansonia had every luxury of the period, including a pneumatic
tube system that allowed tenants to exchange messages and gossip;
Turkish baths; six passenger elevators, as well as large service
elevators and dumbwaiters for delivery to apartment kitchens;
several restaurants decorated in the Gilded-Age style of Louis
XIV; two swimming pools, including the world's largest indoor
pool; basement shops; |
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fresh eggs, courtesy of the chickens in Mr. Stokes' rooftop
farm; and seals that frolicked in its lobby fountain. A list
of The Ansonia's past guests and residents reads like a "who's
who" of the art and entertainment world. Some of its most
famous residents included musical immortals Enrico Caruso, Sergei
Rachmaninoff, Igor Stravinsky, Arturo Toscanini, Gustave Mahler,
Yehudi Menuhin, Lily Pons and Ezio Pinza; theatrical notables
Sol Hurok, Florenz Ziegfeld, Sarah Bernhardt, Bille Burke, Moss
Hart, Tony Curtis and Paul Sorvino; sports legends Babe Ruth
and Jack Dempsey; and writers Elmer Rice, W.L. Stodard and Theodore
Dreiser.
Glamour…Eccentricity…Intrigue
From the moment of its completion, The Ansonia inspired a unique
aura of glamour, eccentricity and intrigue. Legends about its
famous residents abound: Danish tenor Lauritz Melchior used
its halls for target practice; Theodore Dreiser wrote An American
Tragedy during his residence; the Secret Service foiled a German
plot to blow it up on the eve of the Atlantic Fleet's Naval
ball just before World War I; The Ansonia was the site of the
Chicago White Sox conspiracy to throw the 1919 World Series;
the building's vast size permitted ladies man Flo Ziegfeld to
keep his wife and mistress in separate apartments; Bette Midler
and Barry Manilow began their careers at the legendary Continental
Baths; and Babe Ruth's neighbors were grateful for its thick,
soundproof walls after living in The Ansonia inspired him to
take up the saxophone. |
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What
a Babe!
The Ansonia was Babe Ruth's first home in New York after the
owner of the Boston Red Sox "sold" him to the Yankees
to raise money to invest in the original production of No No
Nanette in order to impress his girlfriend. |
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| This is the origin of "The
Curse of the Bambino," which many believe is the reason
the Red Sox have never won a World Series. Living the life of
a bachelor, Babe Ruth sowed his wild oats at The Ansonia, then
New York's most elegant residential hotel. Legend has it that
he chased women up and down the halls and had one employee dedicated
to sorting his fan mail--"Keep the dough and the pictures
of the broads, and throw the rest out," were his reputed
instructions. He also became the beloved linchpin of "murderers
row," the 1927 Yankees team that included Lou Gerhrig. |
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Beloved
Landmark and Movie Star
The Ansonia is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places
and was designated as a New York City landmark on March 14,
1972 by the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission, which
called its effect one of "joyous exuberance profiled against
the sky." The Ansonia's landmark designation was supported
by a petition with over 25,000 signatures. The Ansonia has been
in numerous films and commercials. It made its film debut in
The Sunshine Boys. After starring in Single White Female, it
was featured in the Natalie Cole video Take A Look, played home
to Michael Keaton and Marissa Tomei in Ron Howard's The Paper,
and had a cameo role in White Man's Burden, Gregory Hines' directorial
debut. |
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History
