44 West 34th Street

 office building  Add category

5-story office building originally completed in about 1850 as a mansion for Thomas and Elizabeth Smyth. Typical of the period, it was a dour brick structure with a wide stoop above an English basement. Both died in 1860, and the house became the residence of civil engineer James L. Greenleaf until 1893. The house had already been used by a Democratic political organization as its headquarters when, in 1895 it was purchased by banker Charles H. Leland. On June 18 he filed plans for altering the former dwelling - the renovation left no trace of the former residence.

Above the retail space at street level, now modernized with white-painted brick and a recessed glass entrance, two floors were fronted in expansive black cast-metal show-windows, projecting in the center. Swags and other decorative elements are embossed into the metal panels. The upper two floors are treated as a unit, connected by long double-height arches separated by pilasters. This upper portion, clad in yellow Roman brick, gives nobility to the structure. Brownstone trim and contrasting brick, along with the painted metal frames and spandrels, add visual interest.

Some of the early tenants were the Apollo player piano company, and the Cortina Academy of Languages. As World War I erupted, the Academy produced foreign language booklets for soldiers. A major renovation to street level came in 1945 when the Bank for Savings opened a branch office, obliterating any remaining first floor architecture. Then, through the 1950s a Red Cross Shoe store was here.