2 Tudor City Place: Review and Ratings

Review of 2 Tudor City Place by Carter Horsley

This twin-towered, 14-story building at Two Tudor City Place on the south side of 40^th Street was erected in 1955.

It was erected as a rental by the Fred F. French company and converted in 1981 to a co-operative with 333 apartments. 

It was designed by William I. Hohauser.

Bottom Line

Later addition to the original housing complex straddling East 42^nd Street does not have historic Tudor-style detailing but does have good, large layouts, good transportation and close proximity to the United Nations across First Avenue.

Description

This address has two red-brick towers joined by a central lobby with a canopied entrance between the two towers.

It has discrete air-conditioners.

Amenities

The building has 24/7 doorman service, storage and laundry facilities, a garage, a bicycle room, sidewalk landscaping and a landscaped courtyard.  Pets are allowed.

Apartments

Apartment 12EN is a two-bedroom unit with a 15-foot-long entry foyer that leads to a 12-foot-wide dining room and an 11-foot-wide home office near to a 17-foot-long, windowed enclosed kitchen and a 17-foot-long living room that opens onto a 24-foot-long terrace.

Apartment 14CN is a two-bedroom unit with an entry foyer that leads to a 21-foot-long living room with a large terrace, a 12-foot-wide dining area and a kitchen with an island.

Apartment 11AN is a two-bedroom unit with a 21-foot-long entry foyer that leads past an enclosed 18-foot-long kitchen to a 23-foot-long living room with a small terrace.

Apartment 1BS is a one-bedroom unit with an entry foyer that leads past an enclosed and windowed, 14-foot-long kitchen to a 13-foot-long dining area, a 25-foot-long living room and a 14-foot-long den.

Apartment 2JN is a one-bedroom unit with a 9-foot-wide entry foyer that leads to a 22-foot-long living room with an 8-foot-wide dining room and a 7-foot-wide open kitchen with an island.

Apartment 1GN is a one-bedroom unit with an entry foyer that leads past an enclosed and windowed 18-foot-long kitchen to a 25-foot-long living room.

History

A promotional brochure in the 1920s described Tudor City as boasting “tulip gardens, golf courses and private parks.”

This building’s website provides the following commentary:

“At the time, the waterfront along the East River had turned to squalor as noxious meat packing houses, a gas works plant, and a glue factory fractured the landscape.  It was French’s vision that Tudor City would be positioned high upon Prospect Hill, rising above the stench and creating an urban oasis characterized by a strong feeling of community.

“It was a goal worthy of an area rich in New York City history.  In 1636 a tobacco plantation was established on the site.  It was part of Turtle Bay Far, a 40-acre parcel of land granted by the Dutch governor of New York to two Englishmen, George Holmes and Thomas Hall.

“To this day, there is much discussion as to this use of the word ‘Turtle.’  Some sources claim that turtles indeed inhabited the bay, while the more accepted explanation is that the name is a corruption of the Dutch word ‘deutel,’ meaning barrelhead, which was used to descried the shape of the bay.  Semantics aside, Turtle Bay Farm passed hands several times until its purchase in 1792 by Francis B. Winthrop for L1500.  By some accounts, Winthrop is credited with the construction of Mount Pleasant Mansion on Prospect Hill, in what is now the center of 41^st Street between Windsor and Tudor Towers.  Another reference, the Randall Map, show it standing at the intersection of First Avenue and an extension of 41^st Street.  Yet another account attributes construction of the Mansion to James Beekman and places it around today’s 50^th Street.

“Despite these differing theories, one thing is certain: the area was topologically spectacular.  Edgar Allen Poe is known to have rowed all the way up to and around Blackwell Island, now Roosevelt Island, reveling in scenery of ‘frame and antique houses,’ ‘magnificent cliffs,’ and ‘stately trees.’  At the same time, Poe bemoaned pending plans to break up the city into grids and squares that would eventually give rise to housing developments.

“The rate of growth of New York City in the 1850s was impressive but uneven.  The spectacular hills were razed to provide cross streets and avenues were paved, but development focused mainly on the northern part of the city.  In midtown, the area around Fifth and Madison Avenues was sparsely settled – while, according to one census report, more than 10,000 squatters inhabited the fare ‘north of 42^nd Street and in communities, such as Dutch Hill between 38^th and 44^th streets along the East River.’  By the time of the Civil War, the magnificent estates had been replaced by modest housing.  Prospect Hill became known as Goat Hill as goats and squatters overran the area, ruled by an ill-reputed Paddy Corcoran and his ‘Rag Gang.’  The headquarters of ‘Corcoran’s Roost’ is thought to be where Prospect Tower stands today….

“By 1868, slaughterhouses, packing sheds, cattle pens and railroad piers marked the area.  As the waterfront continued to be commercialized, middle class housing was constructed in the form of row houses…The construction of the Second and Third Avenue Els also contributed to the industrialization of the East River, and middle class families soon fled to the suburbs….By the 1920s, the area had become a slum….

“On at least one cold winter, the [tennis] courts were flooded to create an ice skating rink for the community….

“After the War, another great real estate deal cast Tudor City again into the spotlight. Developer William Zeckendorf, who had acquired most of the land along this part of the East River, convinced John D. Rockefeller to buy the land and make it available as a site for the planned United Nations….Creating the approach, however, meant significant changes to the neighborhood.  A tunnel that channeled 42^nd Street traffic beneath Tudor City to First Avenue was eradicated and replaced by the current bridge…..

“In the 1960s, the French Company sold Tudor City to the Rabinowitz Corporation, which in turn sold it to the Helmsley Corporation in the 1970s.”