Sportsman’s Row Brooklyn

James Jimmy McLoughlin was one of the best jockeys to ever ride a horse in the late 1880’s. His abilities and skills made him a household name in Brooklyn, and made him rich.

Most of the time, he raced for Brooklyn’s own Dwyer Brothers Stables, and when the opportunity arose, he bought a fine brownstone on Eighth Avenue, on the block across from the Montauk Club, between St. Johns and Lincoln Places. His house was right next door to Mike Dwyer, the younger of the Dwyer brothers.

Phil and Mike Dwyer, Jimmy McLaughlin, and another famous jockey, Snapper Garrison, all had houses on this block, and it soon became known as Sportsman’s Row.

Sportsman’s Row Brooklyn
Photo via Wikipedia

The other homeowners on the block may or may not have enjoyed the notoriety of being on Sportsman’s Row, but it certainly made their addresses memorable to the press, whenever anything newsworthy occurred on the Row. And there was plenty of newsworthy gossip to cover.

Mike Dwyer was a serious high stakes gambler, and Jimmy McLaughlin was a high stakes cheater. In December of 1888 Jimmy was sued by Nelson King, for the loss of affection of his wife, Libbie.

Sportsman’s Row Brooklyn
Photo via Google Maps

The Brooklyn Eagle said, The story of his [McLaughlin’s] domestic difficulties has been published, and it is pretty well understood that, however successful McLaughlin may be upon the turf, his family affairs are the reverse of pleasant.

That was an understatement. Mrs. McLaughlin, who the Eagle usually referred to as Mrs. Jockey McLaughlin, would sue for divorce the next year and win handily. The Eagle would refer to the affair as the unfortunate entanglement of the famous jockey with a dashing dressmaker of this city which eventuated in the parting between the knight of the pigskin and his wife.

Mrs. McLaughlin got the kids and a $15,000 mortgage on the house on Sportsman’s Row, with a stipulation that in the event of a sale, she would receive a handsome payoff on that as well. She moved into a house on Seventh Avenue, and 24 Eighth Avenue was put up for sale.

Sportsman’s Row Brooklyn
Photo via GOogle Maps

The prospective buyer was the mayor of Brooklyn, Alfred C. Chapin. He was the Democratic mayor of Brooklyn for one term between 1888 and 1891.

The sale was held up for a time while Mrs. McLaughlin decided if she wanted to relinquish control of the house, or keep collecting on her mortgage payoffs, but eventually Chapin got the house in the spring of 1889 for $23,000.

The neighbors were excited, as they were sure that their property values would rise with the mayor on the block. The Eagle mentioned that the Mayor would add dignity and statesmanship to the block, while picking up a few racing tips from his new neighbors. Oh, if they had only known what would happen next.

Sportsman’s Row Brooklyn
Photo via Google Maps

By 1896, the makeup of the block had totally changed. Philip Dwyer was the only sportsman left on the block. Mike Dwyer sold his house to an ex-Judge Troy, Snapper Garrison had also sold, and by this time, ex-mayor Chapin would sell his house to ex-Justice Mirabeau Lamar Towns, for $25,000.

Also on the Row were theatrical producers Richard Hyde and Lewis Behman, as well as Commissioner of Jurors William Furey. Robert Pinkerton the famous detective would buy a house on the next block up, in 1896, but technically, he was not on the Row.

By 1898, Philip Dwyer had sold to Judge William Gaynor, and technically, Sportsman’s Row was no more. But the name stuck, at least until the Great Unsportsmanlike Affair of 1901, where money and influence met real estate, property rights, and the Montauk Club.

Sportsman’s Row Brooklyn
Photo via Wrestlingtradingcards.com

As you may remember, Sportsman’s Row is directly across the street from the Montauk Club, the posh meeting place of Brooklyn’s movers and shakers, a very influential club with the cream of Brooklyn society’s men on their membership rolls.

That list included the men of Sportsman’s Row. The club was the only building on that side of the block. Sometime after buying Jimmy McLaughlin’s house, ex-mayor Chapin would also acquire the empty lots across the street, next to the Montauk Club, all the way through to what is now called Plaza Street West.

He bought the lots with a restriction on them mandated by the seller, that only four story dwellings could be erected on the lots. Chapin eventually sold the lots, with the same restrictions on the property.

In 1899, prominent Park Slope builder and resident, Charles Peterson, bought the land, with the purpose of building 4 story houses on the lot. No one thought much of it, Peterson was a respective builder who had a great hand in the development of Park Slope.

But to their horror, the property owners of Sportsman’s Row woke up one day to find that Peterson had planned four houses on his lot, FACING PLAZA STREET. As the Eagle stated in an article on February 7th, 1901, the residents of the block awakened to the horrifying fact that houses were going to be built with their rear exposures on the sacred avenue.

The fancied security of the house owners of Sportsman’s Row who had thought complacently of the four story dwelling restriction, was violated and invaded, and they were helpless to resist the invader.

Peterson, the developer, enjoyed himself on this one. He had his men tinker around on the lot, doing some preliminary digging, but not all that much work. After a month or so, the residents of the Row figured they had gotten wrong information, and thought Peterson would not build his houses as feared.

Then all of a sudden, there was a flurry of activity on the site, and more workmen showed up, and work began in earnest on Plaza St. The Eagle continues, There could no longer be any doubt of the awful truth. They met on the street and held long conversations wondering what could be done.

At almost any hour of the day a group of men, club members or residents, could be seen on the Eighth Ave walk before the plot, talking, gesticulating and pointing with their walking sticks the different parts of the rapidly deepening cellars.

They would find Peterson, try to reason with him, postulate with him, even threaten him, but he would pull out his bill of sale, his building permits for the allowed four story dwellings, and his blueprints showing the buildings.

He had broken no restrictions, he said, and had permission from the city to build his houses. He decided to face them on Plaza Street for the park view, and he was sorry if that upset anyone, but that was his right to build, and the restrictions on his lots never said which way the houses had to face.

The men of Sportsman’s Row, along with prominent local members and leadership of the Montauk Club met to see what they could do. They offered to buy Peterson out. He said he would sell the land for $35,000. They countered that the land was worth no more than $20K.

Peterson disagreed, but said he’d sell them the plots for $32K. The men, which included the president of the Montauk Club, Charles Moore, and the Lt. Governor of NY, Timothy Woodruff, who lived further down on Eighth Ave, as well as other members and Row owners, figured they could persuade Peterson to take $12,000 to turn the houses around, and make them face Eighth Ave.

Judge Gaynor, Row homeowner, decided that actions needed to speak louder than words, and he started a fund to collect the $12,000 to offer to Peterson. He put up $1,000, and got promises from seven others to do the same.

With full confidence that the Montauk Club would back him up, because their property adjoined Peterson’s and would be aesthetically affected by these houses as were they in the Row, Judge Gaynor asked the Club to make up the balance of $4,000.

The board of directors of the club met, and decided not to participate. The Judge, as can be expected, was not happy. He was a member of the club, as were the other Row homeowners, and all of their friends.

The board explained that while they sympathized with the Row, they couldn’t ask their membership to pay for something that didn’t affect them all personally. Members who did not live in the immediate area didn’t see why they should pay for something that had nothing to do with them, or their own homes.

The Judge and his faction argued that the houses presented a loss of property value to the Montauk Club itself, and that the club was not being neighborly, but their pleas fell on deaf ears.

One member of the Row and the Club put it this way, as he prepared to sell his house and move elsewhere, The club refused to help us. We are all of us on this side of the street members of the club and we regarded the refusal of the club as anything but neighborly.

Besides, the club is the largest property owner on the block and the four back yards are right alongside the front of the club property. The trustees of the club, however do not seem to feel that it is their duty to prevent the club property from being injured.

Some members of the club do not see why they, living as they do so far away from the neighborhood, should have to pay anything…as soon as the club refused to join, Judge Gaynor withdrew his subscription, and all of us have done the same. We see no reason why we should pay our money for the benefit of the stingy, if not mean, big neighbor, the Montauk Club.

Meanwhile, Charles Peterson reported that work on the houses would continue, unless those people want to pay my price. Today, we can see that the Sportsman’s Row did not pay Peterson’s price to stop the building, or even face the houses the other way.

The four houses at 5-11 Plaza Street West, designed by Frederick Tyrrell in 1901 are still there, landmarked too, with their backyards facing Eighth Avenue. They sit alone on the block with the grounds of the Montauk next door.

Two modern garages stand next door to the magnificent Montauk Club entrance. Were the Sportsman’s Row homeowners right? Should the Montauk have paid up, and offered Peterson enough money to change his mind? Was there sportsmanship in the last hurrah of Sportsman’s Row?

[Photo by Suzanne Spellen]


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  1. Had dinner at the Montauk Club twice last week. It’s a great place, with a new chef and a good menu. They are actively seeking new members – it would be great if they could open during the day for lunch, but they’d need more members to do that. Still, a gorgeous place inside and well worth checking out (they have trial memberships for not much money). And that lot next door was a tennis court, I believe – would have been a nice offset to squash at the Heights Casino.