Co-op of the Day: 175 Eastern Parkway, #6N

Brownstoner:

This looks like a "Depression Special" like thousands of other pre-war apartments hacked into small units when things got tough in the 30's and 40's. Likely it was the tail end of a once grand apartment with proper foyer, living room, dining room and -- probably -- maid's room(s).

Years ago I was perusing a book on New York and came on an early photo of 175, probably part of its original marketing campaign. A terrific, long-nosed limousine was parked in front. (A Packard, Lincoln, or Pierce Arrow?) It wasn't likely that prospective tenants wanted a couple of awkward rooms and a pullman kitchen like the ones now for sale. Before they went broke, they were probably "garmentos" (garment factory owners and managers) looking for the Brooklyn equivalent of Fifth and Park Avenue apartments in walking distance of the Union Temple at Grand Army Plaza, socially one of the most prominent synagogues in the city.

During the 50's I had a friend in the building. It had doormen and elevator operators, sure signs of "class." I don't recall the potted fronds, but cinched curtains were behind the doors' plate glass just as they are now -- and as they were in that early photo!

My last visit to the place happened during the Kennedy administration. The lobby elevator doors slid open and out came a gaggle of ladies in pill box hats doing their Jackie immitations. It was the middle of the day. Apparently, there were still Brooklyn "ladies who lunch" frequenting 175. The elevator operator bowed slightly, then whisked me to my friend's floor.

His family's apartment was relatively large, with enough of the original plan and detail to make it impressive for a kid. Comparing the apartment above with my memory of his makes me think units in the building must be wildly different and that the experience of living in one can be entirely different from living in another, more Depression side affects.

By the 60s, Eastern Parkway was one of the few streets where white families still lived in Crown Heights. I recall during the late 50s and early 60s pals of mine moving there, their families lingering a few years before pushing on to the suburbs.

Nearly $400,000 for a small place on the Parkway? It would have been unimagineable then, when big new houses in Westchester and Long Island could be had for the low five figures!

Nostalgic on Park Avenue

Posted by: NOP at April 30, 2009 12:47 AM