Landmarks Preservation Commission June 17, 1997, Designation List 282 LP-1954 Jonathan W. Allen Stable 148 East 40th Street, Borough of Manhattan. Built 1871; builder Charles E. Hadden. Landmark Site: Borough of Manhattan Tax Map Block 895, Lot 60. On November 19, 1996, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation as a Landmark of the Jonathan W. Allen Stable and the proposed designation of the related Landmark Site (Item No. 6). There were five speakers in favor of designation. The hearing was continued until January 14, 1997 (Item No. 3). At this time there was one speaker in favor of designation. There were no speakers in opposition to designation at either hearing. Both hearings had been duly advertised in accordance with the provisions of law. The Commission has also received numerous letters in support of designation. The current owner has expressed his concerns orally about the proposed designation. Summary This small structure was built as a private stable for Jonathan W. Allen in 1871 by Charles Hadden, a builder who was active in New York at the time. Allen was a broker who lived on East 42nd Street and wanted a stable convenient to his home. This unusual, two-story building with its mansard roof, large dormers, and delicate iron cresting is a rare survivor from that period of New York's history when horses were a vital part of everyday life and their care and housing were an integral part of the development of the city.

DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS Murray Hill' designed by William Easterbrook and owned by William R. Grace while he was mayor of New The area known today as Murray Hill is York. The Murray Hill Hotel, on Park A venue and bounded roughly by 34th Street on the south, 40th East 40th Street became a well-known meeting place Street on the north, Fifth Avenue on the west, and for New Yorkers and famous visitors such as Third A venue on the east. Murray Hill took its President Grover Cleveland and Mark Twain. name from the country estate of Robert and Mary After the tum of the century, when retailing Murray whose farm comprised a large hill. began to move into Murray Hill along Fifth A venue, According to legend, during the Revolutionary War, many of New York's wealthy families relocated Mary Murray invited the British General Howe and their residences further north.3 In 1914, as many his troops to her house (which stood approximately single-family residences were divided into multiple at the comer of what is today Park A venue and East dwelling units and apartment houses began to be 37th Street) for a meal, thus allowing General constructed, the Murray Hill Association was George Washington's army to escape to the north. formed (with J.P. Morgan as one of its directors) The character of the neighborhood was with the intention of preserving the exclusive determined in 1847 when local landowners signed a residential character of the neighborhood. covenant stipulating that only brick or stone houses of two or more stories could be erected in the area. 2 Shortly thereafter, many homes of wealthy and socially prominent people began to appear along Fifth and Madison Avenues. The Gothic Revival Horses were a vital part of the life and economy villa of Coventry Waddell, had already been of New York until the early years of the twentieth constructed on Fifth Avenue between 37th and 38th century. Horses were used to pull omnibuses, Streets in 1844. This, along with the Samuel P. firefighting equipment, and delivery wagons, as well Townsend mansion on Fifth A venue and 34th Street, as private carriages which transported people around built in 1853-55, set the tone for future the city. In 1896, it was reported that there were development. In the 1860s, A.T. Stewart purchased 4,649 stables in New York City, accommodating the Townsend mansion, to replace it with his own 73, 7 46 horses. 4 These included the private stables extravagant marble-fronted, mansarded dwelling. maintained by

… (truncated, full text in PDF)