The Future of Upscale

An interesting thing sometimes happens when buildings are torn down. The backs and sides of the buildings on the other side of the block are revealed. Sometimes you can see a ghostly outline of the demolished building on the face of the adjacent property. Sometimes you see decades-old painted advertisements for long-gone businesses. At this lot on West 55th Street, next door to the Peninsula Hotel, you can see the backs of some of the mansions of "Millionaire's Row" on 54th St. Most of what's exposed is the rear of #11 West 54th St., designed by McKim, Mead and White. It had been home to James Goodwin, a cousin of J.P. Morgan, and later was home to the Rhodes Preparatory School. To the left, you can see the back of the Lehman House. Who knows how long those big bay windows were facing the back of some other buildings?

The lot was previously occupied by four turn-of-the-century townhouses, also designed by McKim, Mead and White. The architectural details of the buildings were stripped away, which is a sneaky trick real estate people pull to keep buildings from being designated landmarks, clearing the way for them to be demolished. In 2017, Skyline Developers, which also owns the Rockefeller townhouses on 54th, purchased the lots for $83 million. In recent weeks, before the pandemic shutdown, construction crews were in there, seemingly preparing to start building something. It's unclear what is going to go up there, but the giant signage out front promises it will be THE FUTURE HOME OF UPSCALE.


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