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Photo: The Story Behind The Loneliest Brownstone Ever
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 28, 2014
Modified Apr 11, 2018
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 28, 2014
Modified Apr 11, 2018
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(Courtesy of LIFE)
Many years ago we came across a striking photo of a brownstone on the Upper East Side. The last one standing, with a field of rubble behind it. The photo, from the LIFE magazine archives, was accompanied by little information—the caption simply read: "Construction in NYC: land being cleared for 20 story building in East 60s—still occupied brownstone is soon to go."
After a little digging we found out the photo, taken in 1959, was of a brownstone located at 215 East 68th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. Across the street where the numbers were even, there were 16 brownstones that got to stay—the NY Times once pointed out that they were "built as a piece in 1881 [by] developer John D. Crimmins—'No more than six of them will look alike, and no monotony will spoil the aspect of this new row of houses.'" While those have survived (to this day), back on the north side the brownstones were being leveled for a new development.
The brownstone seen standing here was at one time the home of poet and writer Stephen Vincent Benet, according to this illustration at the Museum of the City of New York (dated 7 years after his death, however).
215 East 68th Street, 1950. (Courtesy of the MCNY)
Additionally, the 1960 film Bells Are Ringing also has ties to the brownstone. The director, Vincente Minnelli, "wanted some establishing shots of New York, including an exterior of the shabby building where Susanswerphone's basement headquarters was located. He was having no luck finding the right location, until he saw a picture in LIFE magazine of a lone brownstone standing in the middle of a razed block on East 68th Street." Below, you can see the building as seen in the film (at the 1:20 mark):
And around the 45-second mark here:
The building that took over the space contains around 600 rental units, and was just given a facelift last year—"the old, deteriorating white brick façade of the building has been removed and the entire building has been re-clad with terra cotta panels." And the circle of life continues...
(And no, this is not the Batteries Not Included* building—you can learn more about THAT brownstone right here.)
Tagged
215 east 68th street
flashback
history
ues
upper east side
original
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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