Tag Archives: Hotels

What It Was Like Riding A Turn Of The Century New York Stagecoach

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New York Transportation In The Early 1900’s

Hamilton Fish Armstrong was the longtime editor of the magazine Foreign Affairs. His charming memoir, Those Days published in 1963 by Harper and Row is a wonderfully evocative description of an upper middle class boyhood spent in New York City, the Hudson Valley and Quebec. The book’s dust jacket description states that it is: “A lively, spontaneous re-creation of the childhood of a famous editor and writer at the turn of the century – an unforgettable picture of a vanished New York.”

It’s one of those out of print, forgotten books that deserve to be read by a new generation. I highly recommend it.

Here is an excerpt from pages 68-69 where Armstrong describes getting uptown to school from his home on 10th street via the Fifth Avenue coach which was pulled by horses.

When I was nine the time came for me to go to a “real” school uptown, and unless it was pouring pouring rain or snowing I went of course, on skates. When the weather ruled this out I used the Fifth Avenue stage or the Sixth Avenue El.

On the stage I rode by choice  on the outside, either perched up behind the driver or, if I was lucky, along side him. Continue reading →

Old New York in Postcards #2 – Old Hotels Of New York City

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A Longer Tour Around Old New York

Today we will look at the old hotels of New York.  In some cases these buildings still stand. For others the names have changed. Some have been converted to apartments or other uses. And some are just a memory.  Working our way from south to north let’s look at a dozen of the lesser known of New York’s hostelry’s.

Hotel Marlton just off of 5th avenue circa 1920. The center of Greenwich Village and now a street of endless cut price shoe stores, 8th Street was once a fashionable residential neighborhood. Many famous literary and artistic figures resided at the Hotel Marlton at one time. Starting in 1987 the Marlton was leased as a residence for students of The New School of Social Research. It is now closed as a hotel and a dormitory, and its future is undecided.  Notice on the side of the hotel there is an advertisement for the hotel proclaiming it “absolutely fireproof.” There was a  good reason for touting this feature. On St. Patrick’s Continue reading →