Brooklyn Heights -- 25 Clark Street History
Photo by Suzanne Spellen

The BOTD is a no-frills look at interesting structures of all types and from all neighborhoods. There will be old, new, important, forgotten, public, private, good and bad. Whatever strikes our fancy. We hope you enjoy.

Address:
25 Clark Street, on corner of Willow Street
Name: Leverich Towers Hotel
Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights
Year Built: 1928
Architectural Style: Romanesque
Architects: Starrett and Van Vleck
Landmarked: Yes

Brooklyn Heights had some impressive hotels. The near-by St. George was the largest hotel in the city, the Bossert and the Margaret were also Brooklyn icons, and then we have this one, the Leverich Towers.

It was the last of the great hotels, built in 1928. Starrett and Van Vleck were commercial architects, more famous for their Manhattan department stores: Lord and Taylor, Saks, Bloomingdale’s, and the main store building of our own Macy’s, formerly Abraham and Straus.

The hotel’s towers, along with the Emery Roth tower of the St. George Hotel, rise above this part of the Heights, and are quite visually arresting, in all the best ways.

The style is actually an amalgam of Romanesque themes, the towers quite Venetian, with their terra-cotta colonnades, pergolas, balconies and other features seen on the upper stories.

The building is now a Jehovah’s Witness residence. Back when it was a hotel, the four towers were lit by spotlights at night, and must have been quite magical.

Brooklyn Heights -- 25 Clark Street History
Photo via Brooklyn Eagle
Brooklyn Heights -- 25 Clark Street History
Photo via eBay
Brooklyn Heights -- 25 Clark Street History
Photo via eBay
Brooklyn Heights -- 25 Clark Street History
Photo by Suzanne Spellen
Brooklyn Heights -- 25 Clark Street History
Photo by Suzanne Spellen
Brooklyn Heights -- 25 Clark Street History
Photo by Scott Bintner for Property Shark

What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

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  1. I thought this was started as an apartment building, but when the Depression hit, it was finished as a hotel. There used to be really great interior ballrooms, but they’ve been destroyed by the Witnesses. There were also some good restaurants. I have postcards of both.

    The one good thing the Witnesses did recently was to take all the room air conditioners out and replace them with central A/C, which has made the surrounding streets much quieter.

    The Towers, as it’s commonly called, was apparently in very poor shape when the Witnesses bought it. Much of the structural steel had to be replaced, and I think if they’d known what was going to be involved, the JHs wouldn’t have bought the place. There is also a tunnel from the Towers under the street, so that clothing to be washed can be transported directly to other buildings on Columbia Heights.

  2. Thanks, MM. Our dining room and kitchen have great views of both the Leverich and the St. George. We’ve always called the Leverich the Jehovah’s Hotel… thank you for the correct name. At sunset the building glows. Would love to have seen the towers of the Leverich illuminated.

  3. Lovely towers.

    I’ve never really seen them, as they are so high up.

    Why am I so impressed when beauty in architecture is high up in the sky, where we often can’t really even see it well?