Image via Complex Original
Once known as Dutch Hill, the eastern end of 42nd Street used to be one of the most blighted parts of New York City. A granite cliff just west of First Avenue hemmed in slaughterhouses, tanneries, breweries and stockyards. Thousands of squatters lived in shacks. On the hill at East 40th was a brownstone referred to as Corcoran’s Roost, home to a lawless gang led by Jimmy Corcoran. During the late 1870s many of the shanties were bulldozed and replaced by row houses. However, the stench emanating from the industries along the East River kept further development at bay.
By 1920, the architect and real estate developer Fred F. French made plans to transform the area into an urban Utopia. French sought to build a “city within a city,” similar to the commercial development underway at the same time at Rockefeller Center, that would serve as a residential enclave. It was called Tudor City.
Tudor City 1
Stretching from East 40th to East 43rd Streets between First and Second Avenues, Tudor City, named after the English dynasty, was the first residential skyscraper complex in the world and the largest residential development in Manhattan at that time.
Tudor City - Arrangement
The buildings, all heavily decorated with neo-Gothic and Tudoresque motifs, are arranged in a U-shape that opens to the west. The eastern facades of the towers have significantly fewer windows than their western counterparts.
These two design decisions were made primarily to protect the residents from the stenches coming from the waterfront. Only later, as the United Nations was developed and the views of Queens becoming more interesting, did it seem like a bad decision to provide so few windows.
The interiors of the apartments are configured to face west, and considering the landmarked status of the building, adding easterly windows seems unlikely. In fact, because it's a landmark, the large neon “Tudor City” sign that for years has been turned off at the request of the UN—they believed it interfered with their communication equipment—has not been removed, despite its rust and precarious position, for fear of altering the appearance of the building.
Tudor City - Parks and Bridge
Within the U-plan of the towers are several small parks, and, once, a miniature golf course. In the mid-1900s, 42nd Street was joined to First Avenue through the granite cliff to provide better access for the UN, but the two adjoining side streets remain separated from the east, and instead rise up to Tudor City Place, a dead-end loop that feels significantly removed from the bustle of the city. A bridge was constructed to span 42nd Street and new stairs to connect to First Avenue to the east.
Tudor City - Style
The buildings are very English in style. Gargoyles litter the rooflines, and unicorns adorn the top of Woodstock Tower, the central tower within the complex.
Near the top of Woodstock tower appears a triplet of balconies that is crowned by an even higher pulpit that resembles the window from which the lowly people would gaze up at their king. Much of the rest of the ornament is based heavily on Gothic tradition while also integrating the white and red rose motif of the Tudor family.
Because of its charm, Tudor City has been the site for numerous films and TV shows, perhaps most famously appearing in the most recent Spider-Man film series.
