London terrace’s ‘city within a city’

In New York City, the manmade landscape frequently changes. But London Terrace, a block-wide luxury apartment complex bordered by Eighth and Ninth Avenues and 23rd and 24th Streets, has been a fixture of Chelsea since the early 1930s.

Like much in Chelsea, London Terrace’s story begins with Clement Clarke Moore, a well-known Episcopal layman, professor at the General Theological Seminary, developer and, above all, author of “The Night Before Christmas.” Starting in the 1820s, Moore began dividing his estate, known as Chelsea, into lots and building houses.

In 1845, according to Andrew Alpern’s “Luxury Apartment Houses of Manhattan,” excerpted on londonterracetowers.com, Moore erected a row of Greek Revival townhouses, which he called London Terrace, on 23rd Street. On 24th Street, he built the Chelsea Cottages, described by Alpern as “wood-framed two-story houses for working people.”

Over the years, these houses began to deteriorate. Some of them were divided into apartments or rooming houses, while others were combined into homes for institutions. The situation was tailor-made for developer Henry Mandel, who envisioned a grand luxury development that would entice tenants back to the older areas of the city. He hired the architectural Farrar & Watmaugh to design the Tuscan-styled complex.

Little by little, Mandel gained control of all 80 houses on the block. Save, for a time, a single residence. Mrs. Tillie Hart, of 429 West 23rd St., refused to leave. In a standoff that lasted months, she barricaded her door, and threw bricks, rocks and other items at anyone who approached. When sheriffs finally broke in and carried her out, a crowd of people outside cheered, the New York Herald Tribune of Oct. 29, 1929, reported.

Soon afterward, on Dec. 18, 1929, Clement Clarke Moore — the great-great grandson of the original Clement Clarke Moore — laid the cornerstone for Mandel’s new development. In May, the first two buildings opened for rental. The Herald Tribune of May 11, 1930, quoted the managing agent, Charles Weingart, as saying that the development had replaced “shabby gentility” (the original houses) with “modern luxury.”

According to Alpern, the project was completed in two phases, with the 10 inner buildings finished in 1930 and the four corner buildings completed the next year.

In their massive “New York 1930: Architecture and Urbanism Between the Two World Wars,” Robert A.M. Stern, Gregory F. Gilmartin and Thomas Melins put it thusly: “In many ways, London Terrace qualifies as a city within a city. It incorporated not only shops and housekeeping services, but also revolutionary features that included Manhattan’s largest swimming pool and a rooftop clubhouse. Three restaurants served the complex, the most elegant of which overlooked the grand courtyard. A separate garage was built a block away.”

Among the other amenities were maid service, a message center and a fixit shop for household appliances. True to the development’s name, the doormen were dressed as London bobbies. The swimming pool was used by New York University’s swim team as well as by residents.

The tenants also had their own newsletter, known as the “Tatler.” The issue of January 1934, which is excerpted on the “Living the High Line” website, spotlighted the “West Side cowboys” who rode on horseback in front of street-level freight trains on 10th Avenue to warn pedestrians—a phenomenon that the High Line soon made obsolete.

Throughout the early ‘30s, the Herald Tribune announced prominent citizens moving into London Terrace. Among them were attorneys, engineers, corporate executives, Wall Street brokers and other high-profile types, as well as many secretaries. At the development’s 1932 Christmas party, children were treated to a special Santa Claus — New York Yankees star Babe Ruth. By the beginning of 1934, the complex was 94 percent rented.

While the early residents of London Terrace were having a great time, Mandel, the developer, wasn’t. According to the “Daytonian in Manhattan” website, “In March of 1932, he filed voluntary bankruptcy with liabilities of $14 million and assets of $380,000. He owed $5.5 million on London Terrace alone.” Despite the legal morass, however, London Terrace continued to be a desirable address.

In the 1940s, it was divided into two developments: London Terrace Towers (the corner buildings), which now are co-ops; and London Terrace Gardens, the center buildings, which are still rentals.

Among notable residents who have lived in London Terrace, according to Wikipedia, are former first daughter Chelsea Clinton, singer Deborah Harry of Blondie, celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz, author John O’Hara, former mayoral candidate Christine Quinn, essayist Susan Sontag, Bill Hader of “Saturday Night Live” and others.