Look Up: Martinis and Old School Stars at the Knickerbocker

The story of the famed Times Square hotel.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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In 1903, the Pennock Brothers of Philadelphia set out to build a lavish hotel in the newly renamed Times Square district. They engaged the firm of Marvin and Davis, who along with Bruce Price, designed a spectacular grand building in the style of the Second Empire. Unfortunately, during the first year of construction, they had financial troubles, and John Jacob Astor IV, who still owned the land, took over. At the time of the hotel’s construction, the IRT was also being built and Astor secured a deal where a private entrance from the subway would connect directly to his building. The sign for the Knickerbocker (142 West 42nd St.) still remains visible from the east end of the Track 1 platform of the shuttle train.

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In the 1940s and ’50s Newsweek magazine made the Knickerbocker their home, and the building was renamed briefly. Before that it was also affectionately referred to as the “42nd Street Country Club,” as during its heyday, it was home to prominent Broadway stars.

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The rhythm of the standard sized windows in the façade is punctuated with a staggering pattern of Juliet balconies and decorated arched cornices. The center third of the façade on 42nd Street is also slightly pushed in, breaking up the otherwise enormous massing of the building. The central double windows of the two flanking abutments are further accentuated with larger balconies and cornices decorated in turn with reclining cherubs and baskets of fruit holding a central garland of apples.

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