The Judge Building, originally the Goelet Building, is a ten-story edifice built in 1888 at 110

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

and 16th Street in the

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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 is named after ''

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

'' magazine, which was printed there. It covers a site measuring . It was designed by

McKim, Mead, and White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm based in New York City. The firm came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in ''fin de siècle'' New York. The firm's founding partners, Cha ...

. The building was acquired by the

New York Times Company The New York Times Company is an American mass media corporation that publishes ''The New York Times'' and its associated publications such as ''The New York Times International Edition'' and other media properties. The New York Times Company's ...

in 1985, upon which it became occupied mostly by the Times Company magazine, ''

Family Circle ''Family Circle'' was an American women's magazine that covered topics such as homemaking, recipes and health. It was published from 1932 until the end of 2019. Originally distributed at supermarkets, it was one of the " Seven Sisters," a grou ...

''.

History

The property was owned by the Goelet family. In May 1922, Mary R. and Robert Goelet obtained a $250,000 loan on the establishment from the Union Dime Savings Bank. In 1889 the Judge Building was expanded at the expense of a piano warehouse owned by William Knabe & Company at 112 Fifth Avenue. After May 1, 1889, the warehouse was absorbed by the newer structure. An exhibition of three thousand dolls was put on at the Judge Building beginning on the night of December 15, 1890. It was the first of its kind in the United States and featured a large Albani doll sent from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

by Mademoiselle Albani. From an historic or cultural point of view, the most famous tenant of the Judge Building (top floor) was probably Gianni Bettini (1860-1938). He introduced (and soon sold) serious musical recording selections by the early 1890s, especially in the field of Opera and Politics - and possessed examples by Sarah Bernhardt and Mark Twain. He was also a prolific inventor, with many patents to his credit, both US and foreign. He also had commercial connections with the major sound recording companies of the time, such as Edison (National), Columbia, and Norcross; he maintained an extensive network of advertising and supply around the World, in machines, accessories, and records. However, his niche business of catering to the Carriage Trade was essentially ended by the development of "gold-moulding" in 1902 - the mass production of cylinder records. Former business establishments also located in the Judge Building included the firm of Sackett, Wilhelms & Company (Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing & Publishing Company), which had a

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in whi ...

there in 1891. In the mid-1980s the New York

Historic Districts Council The Historic Districts Council (HDC) is a New York City-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that serves as the advocate for New York City's historic buildings, neighborhoods, and public spaces. HDC's YouTube channel provides a large catalog o ...

replaced a rotted out

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

made of light-gauge metal sheets with one composed of molded fiberglass. The new cornice projected from the top of the building in a stepped design, with ornamental blocks (

dentil A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Rev ...

s) arranged in a prominent row. The original third floor arches were also rebuilt. The arches were lost in 1903, a year in which three floors were added to the structure.

References

{{Fifth Avenue Office buildings in Manhattan Office buildings completed in 1888 Cultural history of New York City Fifth Avenue McKim, Mead & White buildings Goelet family Flatiron District