The Astor Market was an indoor public market built in 1915 at 95th Street and Broadway on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It was financed by Vincent Astor with between $750,000 and $1,000,000.

History

It was designed by Tracy and Swartwout in 1915 and financed by Vincent Astor who wanted to provide fresh produce at lower prices for the people of Manhattan. The

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

was a mural by William Mackay. Jules Guérin created banners for the flagpoles that were placed on the roof. The market closed in 1917 and was later demolished. At the time of the market's demise, one published account summarized the causes of its failure as follows:

Laudable as were the motives of the would-be reformer, the Astor Market, like other similar experiments, failed because its founder failed to consider the whims of human nature. One can count on his fingers the number of grocery and produce stores which have succeeded in attracting trade from any considerable distance to purchase staple articles of food. People will come into the shopping district to compare values on rugs, furniture and dresses, but not on oranges, Bread and fish. This is an age in which convenience and service are as vital to the grocer's success as good merchandise and an attractive store. Most people, on account of service and convenience, prefer to buy at the neighborhood corner grocery, with the result that in this country there is one grocery store for every 400 people.

References

External links

* {{Upper West Side 1915 establishments in New York City Buildings and structures demolished in 1917 1917 disestablishments in New York (state) Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan Retail markets in the United States Food markets in the United States