I like Flat Iron as two words; it doesn’t obscure the origin of the building’s name.
Aside from the streetcars navigating Broadway, the best part of the postcard is the caption on the back: “Facing Madison Square, these two buildings are among the most interesting in the uptown district.”
Uptown for 1905, I guess.
In the center is the still-standing, seven-story Western Union Building, by late 19th century starchitect Henry Hardenburgh.
And look—no Shake Shack!
Tags: 23rd Street streetcars, Fifth Avenue Building, Fifth Avenue Hotel, Flat Iron Building, Flatiron building, Henry Hardenburgh, Madison Square 1900, Madison Square Park, New York street, vintage New York postcards
Ephemeral New York 
February 14, 2011 at 10:50 am |
In the corner building from the Flatiron and the park is a small five or six storied building. There used to be a basement billiard hall in that building which contained 20 or 30 pool tables. We used to drop by in the afternoons for a game of pool or sit around and act as pool hustlers. The pool hall and buildings finally burned to the ground. Four or five firemen were lost in the blaze. A procession was held for them on 5th Avenue. A plaque was set up for them on the site. It can be seen on the building at 23rd Street off Broadway. An overly high rise building stands there now.
February 14, 2011 at 2:48 pm |
Thanks Mick for reminding me. That blaze shook the city. I think there’s a plaque on or near the ugly highrise.
https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/the-second-worst-fire-in-new-york-city-history/
February 15, 2011 at 7:32 am |
I recall that corner as an empty lot in the late 1960s as I passed by regularly with my dad on our way to his restaurant near Gramercy Park. I never made the connection that it was the location the tragic fire. By 1971 they had begun building the large apartment building.
February 14, 2011 at 6:53 pm |
Uptown: Custom and use lead, place names lag. While Penn Station and the Queensboro Bridge were years in the future, a glance at the 1902 edition of Appleton’s Dictionary of New York yields some numbers that suggest that Madison Square had already moved “downtown”.
Using 23rd Street as the postcard’s line marking “uptown”:
Hotels: 57 uptown, 28 downtown
Episcopal Churches: 52 uptown, 27 downtown
Synagogues: 33 uptown, 33 downtown
It takes a while to build a hotel, and quite a bit longer to organize a congregation and build a house of worship. To have attained the majority in 1902, “uptown” must have been the place to be for some time. It wouldn’t surprise if the tiny survey proved true when extended to other measures.
February 19, 2011 at 12:32 am |
Hardenburgh, EIGHTEENTH Century?
Ooops.
Really dig this blog, Keep it going, please.
February 19, 2011 at 2:02 am |
Corrected! Thank you.
April 26, 2012 at 3:54 am |
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