Tudor City

Tudor City Historic District
Sign atop Prospect Tower in Tudor City
Coordinates40°44′58″N 73°58′11.5″W / 40.74944°N 73.969861°W / 40.74944; -73.969861
Built byFred F. French Company
ArchitectH. Douglas Ives, with the staff of the Fred F. French Company (first 12 Tudor City buildings)[2]
William Hohauser (2 Tudor City Place)[3]
NRHP reference No.86002516[1]
NYCL No.1579
Significant dates
Added to NRHPSeptember 11, 1986[1]
Designated NYCLMay 17, 1988[4]

Tudor City is an apartment complex on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, bordering the Turtle Bay and Murray Hill neighborhoods. It lies on a low cliff east of Second Avenue, between 40th and 43rd Streets, and overlooks First Avenue to the east. Designed and developed by the Fred F. French Company, the complex is named for its Tudor Revival architecture. Construction commenced in 1926, making it one of the first residential skyscraper complexes in the world.[5][6] Tudor City was also one of the first and largest examples of a planned middle-class residential community in New York City.[7] The complex is a New York City designated landmark district and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The 13-building complex consists of 11 housing cooperatives, one rental apartment building, and one short-term hotel; these buildings collectively house 5,000 people. Most of Tudor City's buildings are arranged around 41st and 43rd Streets, which slope upward east of Second Avenue; the eastern ends of the two streets are connected by Tudor City Place, which crosses over 42nd Street. Two parks flank 42nd Street, and there was originally an 18-hole miniature golf course in the southern park. The buildings generally contained stone, brick, and terracotta facades, as well as ornate Tudor-style details. The Fred F. French Company advertised Tudor City heavily, erecting large signs on the roofs of two buildings on 42nd Street.

Before Tudor City was constructed, tenements and slums dominated the area. Following the development of the nearby Grand Central Terminal and office buildings during the early 20th century, Fred F. French began planning a residential enclave in Midtown Manhattan. French announced plans for Tudor City in December 1925, and the first 12 structures were completed in phases between October 1927 and late 1930. The section of 42nd Street through Tudor City was widened in the 1950s with the construction of the nearby United Nations headquarters, and the complex's last residential building, 2 Tudor City Place, was finished in 1956. The French Company sold the Hotel Tudor in 1963. Harry Helmsley bought most of the remaining buildings in 1970 and, over the next decade and a half, attempted to redevelop Tudor City's private parks. Helmsley resold the buildings in 1984 to Philip Pilevsky and Francis J. Greenburger, who converted most of these structures to co-op apartments.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference NPGallery was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, p. 72.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference p113177746 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, p. 1.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference nyt-gray was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Manhattan Skyscrapers was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Dolkart 1986, p. 10.