Landmarks Preservation Commission November 17, 1987; Designation List 196 LP-1340 HUDSON THEATER, 139-141 West 44th Street, Manhattan. Built 1902-04; architects J.B. McElfatrick & Son and Israels & Harder. Landmark Site: Borough of Manhattan Tax Map Block 997, Lot 15. On June 14 and 15, 1982, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation as a Landmark of the Hudson Theater and the proposed designation of the related Landmark Site (Item No. 36). The hearing was continued to October 19, 1982. Both hearings had been duly advertised in accordance with the provisions of law. Eighty-two witnesses spoke or read statements into the record in favor of designation. One witness spoke in opposition to designation. The then owner, with his representatives, appeared at the hearing, and indicated that he had not formulated an opinion regarding designation. The Commission has received many letters and other expressions of support in favor of this designation. DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS The Hudson Theater survives today as one of the historic playhouses that symbolize American theater for both New York and the nation. Built in 1902-04, the Hudson was part of a burst in theater construction that shaped the character of Times Square as the new heart of New York's theater district. It survives today as one of the very few turn-of-the-century theaters in the Broadway/Times Square area. The Hudson was bui 1 t for Henry B. Harris, one of the era's top Broadway producers. Harris, who grew up in Boston, worked in theaters in Boston and on the road, managing such stars as Lilly Langtry. His many production successes enable him to come to New York in 1900, where he built the Hudson to showcase his stars and productions. Harris's theatrical career, which led to the construction of another of Broadway's handsomest theaters, the Folies Bergere (later the Helen Hayes, demolished), was cut short by his untimely death on the Ti tani£. The Hudson survives as the chief monument to his theatrical career. Begun by theater specialists J.B. McElfatrick & Son, the Hudson's design was completed by Israels & Harder, an active New York architectural firm. Its major facade on West 44th Street is a restrained but handsome design reflecting the Beaux-Arts classicism current in New York architecture at the turn of the century. For three-quarters of a century, beginning with Henry B. Harris's productions, the Hudson Theater has served as home to countless numbers of the plays through which the Broadway theater has come to personify American theater. As such, it continues to help define the Broadway theater district, the largest and most famous concentration of legitimate stage theaters in the world. 1

The development of the Broadway Theater District The area of midtown Manhattan known today as the Broadway theater district encompasses the largest concentration of legitimate playhouses in the world. The theaters located there, some dating from the turn of the century, are significant for their contributions to the history of the New York stage, for their influence upon American theater as a whole, and in many cases for their architectural design. The development of the area around Times Square as New York's theater district at the end of the 19th century occurred as a result of two related factors: the northward movement of the population of Manhattan Island (abetted by the growth of several forms of mass transportation), and the expansion of New York's role in American theater. The northward movement of Manhattan's residential, commercial, and entertainment districts had been occurring at a steady rate throughout the 19th century. In the early 1800s, businesses, stores, hotels, and places of amusement had clustered together in the vicinity of lower Broadway. As New York's various businesses moved north, they began to isolate themselves in more or less separate areas: the financial institutions remained downtown; the major retail stor

… (truncated, full text in PDF)