The Sherry-Netherland is a 38-story

apartment hotel An apartment hotel or aparthotel (also residential hotel or extended-stay hotel) is a serviced apartment complex that uses a hotel-style booking system. It is similar to renting an apartment, but with no fixed contracts and occupants can "check ...

located at 781

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 ...

on the corner of East 59th Street on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...

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 designed by

Schultze & Weaver Schultze & Weaver was an architecture firm established in New York City in 1921. The partners were Leonard Schultze and S. Fullerton Weaver. History Leonard B. Schultze was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 5, 1877. He was educated at the Ci ...

with

Buchman & Kahn Ely Jacques Kahn (June 1, 1884September 5, 1972) was an American commercial architect who designed numerous skyscrapers in New York City in the twentieth century. In addition to buildings intended for commercial use, Kahn's designs ranged throug ...

. At , it was the tallest apartment hotel in New York City when it opened. The building is located in the

Upper East Side Historic District The Upper East Side Historic District is a landmarked historic district on the Upper East Side of 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 N ...

, which was created in 1981.

Features

The building houses 165 apartments that were converted to

co-op A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

s in 1954. There are only 50 hotel rooms and suites, but in the tower above the 24th floor there are single apartments to a floor. The

Neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

roofline with

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed Grotesque (architecture), grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from ...

s disguises the

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

History

The site had been occupied since the early 1890s by the Hotel New Netherland, designed by William Hume for

William Waldorf Astor William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor (31 March 1848 – 18 October 1919) was an American-English attorney, politician, hotelier, publisher and philanthropist. Astor was a scion of the very wealthy Astor family of New York City. He moved t ...

, a member of the prominent

Astor family The Astor family achieved prominence in business sector, business, Socialite, society, and politics in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries. With Germans, German roots, some of their ancestry goes back to th ...

. The building that was to replace it would occupy the same footprint and frontage on Fifth Avenue. Demolition began in the early winter of 1926, and construction began before the year was out, but the upper floors suffered a spectacular fire when wooden scaffolding caught alight on April 12, 1927, before the building was completed. The fire burned for 12 hours and flames were said to have been visible from

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. It ignited a debate in the press concerning the ability of the available technology to put out fires in high-rise buildings. At the time of the hotel's construction, the Vanderbilt mansion, diagonally across Fifth Avenue, was being demolished. High relief carved limestone panels by

Karl Bitter Karl Theodore Francis Bitter (December 6, 1867 – April 9, 1915) was an Austrian-born American sculptor best known for his architectural sculpture, memorials and residential work. Life and career The son of Carl and Henrietta Bitter, he was ...

from the Vanderbilt's '' porte-cochere'' and ornamental

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 ...

roundels from that mansion were installed in the Sherry's classicizing groin-vaulted lobby, where massive marble-veneered pilasters with gilded Italian Renaissance capitals articulate walls paneled in small rectangles, Jacobean-fashion. Because of Prohibition, the Sherry was designed with smaller public restaurant square footage than other pre-war hotels. In March 1927, construction was almost completed and the property was turned over to

Louis Sherry Louis Sherry (June 6, 1856 – June 9, 1926) was an American restaurateur, caterer, confectioner and hotel, hotelier during the Gilded Age and early 20th century. His name is typically associated with an upscale brand of candy and ice cream, and a ...

, Inc., a subsidiary of Boomer-duPont Properties Corporation. Lucius Boomer was a noted hotel operator and was also affiliated with the

Waldorf-Astoria Hotel The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story, Art Deco landmark des ...

, while

was a noted restaurateur, famous for ice creams and other confections, and had run a hotel and restaurant,

Sherry's Sherry's was a restaurant in New York City. It was established by Louis Sherry in 1880 at 38th Street and Sixth Avenue. In the 1890s, it moved to West 37th Street, near Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (Ne ...

, at 44th Street and Fifth Avenue, closing it soon after

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

. Sherry had died before his name became associated with the new venture. In 1940, the famous stock trader

Jesse Livermore Jesse Lauriston Livermore (July 26, 1877 – November 28, 1940) was an American stock trader. He is considered a pioneer of day trading and was the basis for the main character of ''Reminiscences of a Stock Operator'', a best-selling book by Edw ...

committed suicide in the cloakroom of the hotel. In 1949, the hotel was sold to

Floyd Odlum Floyd Bostwick Odlum (March 30, 1892 – June 17, 1976) was an American lawyer and industrialist. He has been described as "possibly the only man in the United States who made a great fortune out of the Depression", referring to the Great Depre ...

and Boyd Hatch's

Atlas Corporation The Atlas Corporation is an American investment firm that was formed in 1928. History Atlas corporation was formed in 1928, in a merger of the United Corporation, an investment firm started in 1923 with $40,000, with Atlas Utilities and Investo ...

. When the

New York City Landmarks Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and c ...

created the

on May 19, 1981, the Sherry-Netherland was included within its boundaries. In 2014, the lobby ceiling was restored by Evergreene Architectural Arts. The frescoes on the ceiling were based on

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

's frescoes in Cardinal Bibbienna's Loggetta at the

Apostolic Palace The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, the head of the Catholic Church, located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Papal Palace, the Palace of the Vatican and the Vatican Palace. The Vatican itself refers to the build ...

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

. The style was recreated by artist Joseph Aruta in the 1920s.

References

Notes

External links

Official website
*
The Sherry-Netherlands Hotel Fire
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherry Netherland Hotel buildings completed in 1927 Hotels established in 1927 Skyscraper hotels in Manhattan Upper East Side Fifth Avenue 1927 establishments in New York City 1920s architecture in the United States 59th Street (Manhattan)

Features

History

See also

References

External links