It's About Time

Time Heals All Wounds: September 11th

2007-09-11T16:36:00.000-04:00

Survivors all.

St. Paul's Chapel
Broadway between Fulton and Vesey Street
1764-1766
Thomas McBean, Architect
1794
Tower and Steeple
James Crommelin Lawrence, Architect

Some suggest that it was God's hand that helped this steeple withstand the force of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the church's neighbor to the east. But as the oldest (and now only) extant pre-Revolutionary War building, this chapel saw more than its fair share of disasters (including fires in 1776 and again in 1832) before that horrific day six years ago. While its strength might have something to do with the divine spirit, the realist (and architectural preservationist) in me prefers to think that the Manhattan schist from which it was built had a little something to do with it.

Century 21
22 Cortlandt Street
1971
Emory Roth & Sons, Architect
Refurbished and renovated in 2002

Defying the odds, New York's "best-kept" secret" (unless, of course, you've done jury duty downtown) re-opened less than six months after the attack. I shop, therefore I am a New Yorker?

formerly The New York Evening Post Building
20 Vesey Street
1907
Robert D. Kohn, Architect

You might not be able to smoke inside this great old building, but at least you can still buy smokes in its lobby. Another testament to the unfailing (and still burning) New York spirit.

The sculptures on the building's facade were created by Gutzon Borglum, better known for a little group of busts he created in South Dakota.

Out of Fashion

2007-08-26T22:01:00.000-04:00

Petticoats or jeans. Times change.

Sneak Jeans
160 Delancy Street
Removed

Garment Center Showroom
Gone

Gee Whiz

2007-08-26T15:03:00.000-04:00

While this manufacturer's showroom was in the city, its factory was in New Jersey. Out of business now, you can still find some of its beautiful hand-rolled scarves on eBay. Alas, not the clock.

Sally Gee
1 West 37th Street
Demolished

It's Only a Paper Box

2007-08-26T14:44:00.000-04:00

Manufacturing -- not shopping -- was once the main business on Lower Broadway. Sadly, most firms have either relocated or gone out of business. Thankfully, A. Fleisig has chosen to stay around. And fix its clock too.

A. Fleisig
434 Broadway

Taken to the Cleaners

2007-08-25T21:26:00.000-04:00

S. Bernier
Broadway and 90th Street
Demolished

I'll Drink To That

2007-08-25T17:15:00.001-04:00

Or not.

E. Halper Liquors
Delancy Street
Demolished

Life might begin at 8AM, but I'm not sure drinking should. Think this sign would make a cool refrigerator magnet? Click here to purchase one!

Location information lost, along with the clock.

Discount Liquor
Broadway at 105th Street
Demolished in 1991

Still Hungry?

2007-08-25T13:57:00.000-04:00

Broken clocks come in all ethnic varieties.

Mexican in Tribeca
Pancho Villa's
Hudson and Duane Street
Vanished

Italian on the Upper West Side
Panerella's Resstaurant
509-611 Columbus Avenue between 84th and 85th Street
Vanished

Japanese in Chelsea
Vanished

Italian on the Lower East Side

Chinese in Chinatown
Silver Palace Restuarant
Canal and Broadway
Vanished

Time to Eat?

2007-08-25T13:11:00.000-04:00

Blimpie's
370 7th Avenue
Broken

Just don't try to use this clock to help you make a train at nearby Penn Station.

Or Here

2007-08-25T12:56:00.000-04:00

Lou G. Seigel
209 West 38th Street

Having abandoned its restaurant, Siegel's operates a catering establishment on 14th Street. Check out its website, though. There's a cool photo of its original 1930's restaurant and clock!

Abe Couldn't Eat Here Any More

2007-08-25T12:46:00.000-04:00

formerly The 2nd Avenue Deli
at 10th Street
Closed

A sad chapter in the life of New York City.

A Chase bank has replaced this famous institution.

The Pretenders

2007-08-25T12:32:00.001-04:00

Samba's
Location unknown

The clock says it all: CLOSED.

M T Deli
Third Avenue at 23rd Street

Goldilocks Deli
Downtown
Out of Business

Smile, though your heart is aching

2007-08-25T11:04:00.000-04:00

The delis remain (and some gastronomes want to know why) but the facades have been remodeled clocks removed.

Smiler's
726 8th Avenue
Removed

Smiler's
637 9th Avenue
Removed

Smiler's
Downtown
Removed

Smiler's
7th Avenue
Removed

Canvas The Area

2007-08-24T17:06:00.000-04:00

and I'll bet you won't find many advertising clocks like one. In fact, you won't find this one there either.

Matera Canvas
5 Lispenard Street (near 6th Avenue)
Broken and eventually removed

And Store This

2007-08-24T16:21:00.001-04:00

Before Fairway moved uptown, we'd use this clock as our mileage marker. When returning from visit upstate, spotting this timepiece from the West Side Highway assured us that we were only minutes from our apartment.

Originally Lee Brothers Warehouse
then Manhattan Mini Storage
571 Riverside Drive at 134th Street
Seth Thomas Clock
Circa 1935

Factor This

2007-08-24T15:03:00.000-04:00

I have veered a bit from my original intention . . . to showcase lost/forgotten/broken exterior clocks in Manhattan.

Let me return with one of my favorites, wrecked (along with the entire building) in the late 1990's to make way for the Times Square Redevelopment.

(Factors, by the way, are really bankers, asset-based lenders, to use their own terminology. The firm, in case you are in need of money to jump-start your fashion house, is still in business.)

Originally Commercial Trust Building
then Rosenthal and Rosenthal Factors
1451 Broadway at 41st Street
1907
Demolished

And another

2007-08-24T14:04:00.001-04:00

Originally
Central Savings Bank
now Apple Savings Bank
2100 Broadway at 73rd Street
York & Sawyer, architects
Samuel Yellin Studo, Ironworks
1928
Landmark

Look closely. The wings of these griffins have been removed from their bodies and used as the pedestal for this entranceway's clock. The meaning? Time flies, perhaps

Another Variation

2007-08-24T11:10:00.001-04:00

Fuller Building
41 East 57th Street
1929
Walker & Gillette, architects
Ellie Nadelman, sculptor

With a nod to the classical form, Elie Nadelman brought sculpture into the "moderne" age. Gone are the characters from Greek and Roman myth, replaced with the "new" American worker set against the futuristic skyline. Not an inappropriate symbol for the headquarters (the first being The Flat Iron Building, of course) of this New York City developer.

Variation on a Theme

2007-08-22T18:33:00.000-04:00

Originally New York Central Building
then New York General Building
Helmsley Building
230 Park Avenue
Warren & Wetmore, architects
Edward McCartan, sculptor
Seth Thomas Clock
1929

Once a temple to Cornelius Vanderbilt and his railroad, this building will stand forever as a monument to the recently deceased "Queen of Mean" Leona Helmsley and her husband, real estate tycoon, Harry. A stipulation agreed to at the time of its sale ordered The Helmsley name to remain on the building in perpetuity. Who says you can't live forever?

The magnificent 24-foot figures surrounding the 45-foot-wide and 19-foot-high clock were created by sculptor McCartan during his three-year tenure on the New York City Art Commission and represent, appropriately, Transportation and Industry. According to the McCartan website, "Transportation, who symbolizes the spirit of speed, rests his arm on a winged wheel of Progress and holds the staff of Mercury. On the right is a female figure, Industry, who embraces a staff in her arm, while resting on a beehive. Several other smaller symbolic figures round out the design including the Liberty Cap."

It's All Greek To Me

2007-08-17T22:35:00.001-04:00

Originally
Bowery Savings Bank
now Capitale
130 Bowery
(between Grand and Broome)
1894
McKim, Mead & White
sculptures by Frederick MacMonnies
Landmark

What better way to say permanence, stability, strength than by adopting the monumental architecture of the ancient Greeks? Spinning the ideals of Greek democracy and egalitarian representation into capitalism and free-enterprise, 19th-century industrialists and financiers built "temples" to their own businesses, complete with mythological iconography rooted in the classics.

In the pediment of this building two figures created by Frederick MacMonnies">Frederick MacMonnies flank a substantial clock. Minerva, the Goddess of Wisdom and Justice, reclines opposite Hercules, the powerful warrior, surounded by two tame lions. The message (which 19th and 20th century Americans would have understood) was clear: Wisdom demands that you depost your money in an institution as strong and ferocious as Hercules.

Wisdom and strength gave way to partying, however, in the 1990's, as the bank became an "event" space, a rental hall for private functions.

Time Stands Still

2007-08-16T18:44:00.000-04:00

Bowery Bank
Second Avenue at 34th Street

This is an example of how a great photograph can make an ordinary object extraordinary. On the street this looked rather cheap and pedestrian, but in Ed's photograph it became majestic and powerful.

Drop Anchor

2007-08-16T18:15:00.000-04:00

Anchor Savings Bank
1700 Broadway

Anchor Savings Bank
90th Street and Broadway
Vanished

Anchor Savings Bank IS still around, but these two clocks -- as well as 8.903% interest -- aren't.

Cross Out Another Bank

2007-08-16T18:02:00.000-04:00

File this under "one good turn deserves another." Crossland Savings swallowed The Greenwich Savings Bank and then was swallowed by Washington Mutual.

Crossland Savings Bank
3 West 57th Street at 5th Avenue

Crossland Savings Bank
6th Avenue at 14th Street

The American Way

2007-08-05T21:08:00.000-04:00

While some people are beginning to bemoan the bankification (the proliferation of store-front branches of the major banks -- Chase, Citi, Washington Mutual -- in the heavily populated neighborhoods) of New York, the trend really began almost twenty years ago with the closings and consolidation of the small savings banks.
(the proliferation of store-front branches of the major banks -- Chase, Citi, Washington Mutual -- in the heavily populated neighborhoods) of New York, the trend really began almost twenty years ago with the closings and consolidation of the small savings banks.

The American Savings Bank's assets were purchased by the Ridgewood Savings Bank (whose building in Forest Hills has its own broken clock)in 1992 and then liquidated in 1995. I guess they ran out money trying to fix all these clocks.

American Savings Bank
First Avenue at 14th Street

American Savings Bank
20 Union Square East
at 15th Street
Landmark

American Savings Bank
15th Street at Union Square
flipside

Just to confuse you further, this building was the original site for the Union Square Savings Bank, created in 1924 by Henry Bacon, the designer of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. The building is now the home of the Daryl Roth Theatre.

American Savings Bank
335 Broadway
Broken

(the proliferation of store-front branches of the major banks -- Chase, Citi, Washington Mutual -- in the heavily populated neighborhoods) of New York, the trend really began almost twenty years ago with the closings and consolidation of the small savings banks.

The American Savings Bank's assets were purchased by the Ridgewood Savings Bank (whose building in Forest Hills has its own broken clock)in 1992 and then liquidated in 1995. I guess they ran out money trying to fix all these clocks.

American Savings Bank
First Avenue at 14th Street

American Savings Bank
20 Union Square East
at 15th Street
Landmark

American Savings Bank
15th Street at Union Square
flipside

Just to confuse you further, this building was the original site for the Union Square Savings Bank, created in 1924 by Henry Bacon, the designer of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. The building is now the home of the Daryl Roth Theatre.

American Savings Bank
420 Park Avenue South

If Time Were Money . . .

2007-07-31T13:47:00.000-04:00

Originally S. Jarmulowsky's Bank Building
54-58 Canal Street
Architects: Rouse & Goldstone
1912

. . . then Sender Jarmulowsky, the former pushcart peddler, would be very rich today. His grand symbol of capitalism lasted a lot longer than his bank, which was shuttered in 1917 amid rumors of fraud.

Manufactured Time

2007-07-30T12:06:00.001-04:00

1513 First Avenue
at 79th Street

Notice the acorn on the casing? No oak tree will be growing from this bank's clock.

Manufacturers Hanover Trust
40 East 42nd Street at Madison Avenue

Perfectly utilitarian, which is more than we can say for Manufacturers Hanover Trust these days.

Manufacturers Hanover Trust
10th Avenue between 56th and 57th Street

This mantle clock always reminded me of the Seth Thomas clock my mother inherited from an uncle. Hers didn't have the barbed wire pigeon-detractor, but it didn't work either.

It's a Chemical Thing

2007-07-30T12:03:00.002-04:00

Chemical Bank
275 Madison Avenue at 40th Street

A deco delight appropriately situated around the corner from the greatest deco edifice, The Chrysler Building.

Time to Save

2007-07-30T11:47:00.000-04:00

When I was about six years old, I started a savings account at a local bank. In exchange for giving the bank my stack of quarters (of which I was extremely proud) I received a "piggy" bank in the shape of a clock with the words, TIME TO SAVE, etched on the front. Today a more updated logo would read: TIME TO SAVE OUR SAVINGS BANKS.

The following clocks all represent banks that are no longer in business, having been dissolved into larger institutions or simply having gone out of business.

Bankers Federal
130 Second Avenue at St. Marks

Bank Leumi
533 Seventh Avenue at 39th Street

This deco design was always a favorite, something straight out of a Bette Davis movie. Why ask for the moon when we have this gorgeous clock?

Bank Leumi
85 Delancy Street

Deco meets Classical meets Roman. Meets Broken.

Originally The Industrial Bank,
then National Westminster Bank
72 Second Avenue at 4th Street
1926

Roaring eagles from the Roaring Twenties.

Originally Manhattan Savings Bank
(site of Wanamaker Department Store Annex)
770 Broadway at 9th Street

Too bad this space-age clock didn't make it into the 21st century.

Twilight Zone Time

2007-07-29T21:34:00.000-04:00

Submitted for your approval: Four funeral parlors, all with broken clocks.

A. Provenza Lanza
43 Second Avenue between 2nd and 3rd Streets
1920s

Alexander Blasius & Son, Inc.
207 Avenue A

Maybe more than just the clock has stopped at this establishment.

Lynch Funeral Home
43-07 Queens Boulevard
(Queens!! Don't shoot me!)

The location of this broken clock always struck me as being wonderfully perfect. Adjacent to the entrance of 59th Street Bridge, it seemed to symbolize the moribund state of the county of Queens for me, and I always enjoyed watching it disappear in the rear view mirror as took the bridge into the definitely-not-daying city.

I recently took that route back into Manhattan and noticed, with mixed feelings, the funeral home's relatively new clock-less facade.. Maybe time doesn't stand still in Queens after all.

Hart-Davis Funeral Home Inc.
1879 Amsterdam Avenue

Years after Ed took this picture, I found myself teaching in this neighborhood in Harlem. Clocks aren't the only thing broken up there.

And On . . .

2007-07-29T12:34:00.000-04:00

FAO Schwarz Toy Store
767 Fifth Avenue

This two-faced sidewalk clock isn't the only emporium's timepiece. As you enter on Fifth Avenue you are greeted by a 3-story clock tower and his continuous refrain of "Welcome to our World of Toys." If you've outgrown building blocks, perhaps you'd like to read about the history of the site in this interesting article in The City Review.

And On . . .

2007-07-29T12:31:00.000-04:00

The Saratoga
(Apartment Building
First Avenue at 75th Street
1985

The smart, classy version of the street clock 100 years later. Kudos to the architects, Schuman Lichtenstein, Claman & Efron.

Time Marches On . . .

2007-07-29T12:05:00.001-04:00

ROLEX
Madison Avenue between 53rd and 54th Streets
Housing created by Kenneth Lynch & Company
Clockworks by Rolex
Erected by Tishman Speyer Properties
1983

With the introduction of cheap pocket watches and even cheaper wrist watches, the sidewalk clocks became an outdated and expensive way to tell time.

Now New York's few sidewalk clocks are merely decoration. Or advertisement.

Don't Forget

2007-07-29T12:02:00.001-04:00

Fifth Avenue at 44th Street
Seth Thomas Clock Company
1880s
Landmark

The Sherry-Netherland Hotel
E. Howard Clock Company
1880s
Landmark

The last of the remaining sidewalk clocks. Hard to imagine in this digital age a time when these magnificent 15 feet structures -- and the hundreds like them -- were the main source of timekeeping for the city's population.

Speaking of Sidewalk Clocks

2007-07-28T22:22:00.001-04:00

1510 Third Avenue
E. Howard Clock Company
1880s
Landmark

I might not have remembered to check the sidewalk clock on my way work, however, I always enjoyed the giant pocket watch on the Upper East Side. The E. Howard Clock Company was the first to mass produce pocket watches in America, and, while this clock had its beginnings as an advertisement for a pawnshop (the three arms above the screw and fob ring held the three golden ball symbols now lost), this over-sized timepiece must have also served as an advertisement for the clockmaker too. It stood, originally at 79th Street, but was later moved uptown five blocks after suffering from a near-fatal automobile accident and a botched-robbery attempt. (I guess you can't really steal or kill time after all.)

A Better Idea

2007-07-28T21:43:00.000-04:00

200 Fifth Avenue
Hecla Iron Works
Landmark

would probably have been to look ACROSS the street to the magnificent sidewalk clock near 24th Street. This landmark post clock (referred to by some as a "lollipop" clock, fitting, I suppose since it sits in front of The International Toy Center Building) is the second clock at this site. Obviously, some people were smart enough to check a working timepiece before going to work in the morning.

This 1990 photograph (as all the others in this blog) was taken by Edward E. Stern. From 1988 until the birth of our daughter in 1992, we walked the streets of Manhattan, camera, notebook and Elliot Willensky and Norval White's AIA Guide to New York City in hand. Alas, this was pre-internet, pre-laptop days and some of my research has been lost (can I blame that on my now-teenager?), but the photographs -- 35mm and beautiful -- remain.

I Didn't Know What Time It Was . . .

2007-07-28T20:30:00.000-04:00

935 Broadway
at 22nd Street

In 1979 I had my first "real" job as an editorial assistant at St. Martin's Press in the Flat Iron Building. Every day, I'd take the long subway ride down from my studio apartment on the Upper West Side. Emerging from the station, certain that I was late for work, I'd always check the clock directly behind my office. And every day, the clock read

1:55.

And every day for a year, I'd check that clock. And yes, every day, for that year (and all the years until Restoration Hardware renovated the building and restored the clock) it remained broken.

But I continued to look. And love that clock.

This blog is dedicated to that, and all other, clocks (broken, abandoned, forgotten) of New York City. And a few that were loved enough to be saved.

A plug for Renovation Hardware, by the way. Thank you for refurbishing my first love.