From Grand Central Station west to the Hotel Manhattan and beyond, c. 1900. Library of Congress.
There are three great streets in Manhattan: Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and 42nd Street. Carol Herselle Krinsky spoke about the last of these, highlighting stories featured in her new, free, online book, Building 42nd Street: A Chronicle. Her in-person talk took us from colonial times to the present, touching on nineteenth-century structures such as the Egyptian Revival reservoir and Crystal Palace, early versions of Grand Central, modest and lavish hotels, and commercial buildings from skyscrapers to bonbon shops. Among the vast urban array of 42nd Street, Professor Krinsky illustrated tenements, theaters, transportation facilities, lobster palaces and cafeterias, automats, a peep show, lost churches, and a private club. Of course she included the greatest public library in the Americas.
Carol H. Krinsky
Carol H. Krinsky is Professor Emerita of Art History at New York University where she taught for fifty-nine years. When she wasn't teaching, she was writing five other books, including Rockefeller Center, Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Synagogues of Europe, and Contemporary Native American Architecture. Dr. Krinsky received the Distinguished Teaching of Art History award from the College Art Association, similar awards at NYU, and is a past President of the Society of Architectural Historians.
The video begins with a brief introduction by Museum Director Carol Willis, followed by Carol Krinsky's talk.