Rediscover the UWS's Main Street!
"West Seventy Today" introduces you to your business neighbors along West 72nd Street, from Central Park to Riverside Park in weekly installments.
Meet your neighbors, NOW:
Source for Trendy, Comfortable Footwear
“Even old ladies don’t want to wear old lady shoes” quips Lester Wasserman a co-owner with his father and sister of Tip Top Shoes at 155 West 72nd Street. The store was purchased from the original owners over 50 years ago, and has been in business since 1940.
 
Evolving with the times and the ever advancing trends in footwear, is a challenge Tip Top Shoes consistently meets with pride. This is particularly true regarding sneakers - which are a fashion world unto themselves. “The psyche has changed,” says Wasserman.  “People are living longer, staying healthier and working on being in shape. They care about looking active and fit.” This is certainly reflected in the colors and styles of what they wear.
Over time sneakers, shoes and boots sold at Tip Top have been trendier and pricier. The Wasserman’s have never lost sight of the importance of comfort. And, they've taken the idea of comfortable shoes to new heights. Certain standbys like Danko, Birkenstock, Timberland and UGG, change only very slightly, but other brands made throughout the globe may offer new styles every 6 or 12 months.

Shopping local at Tip Top means having access close to home to top footwear brands with such features as the softest leathers, the lightest sweat wicking fabrics and a wide variety of style. Wasserman says that years ago shoes had a longer shelf life, meaning you might wear the same style boot for a few years, not so much now when a particular heel quickly looks vintage.

In the days when Lester’s grandfather managed the store, sneakers were made in red, white and blue. High tops came in blue, black or white. KEEP READING
...and THEN:
Hypnotism by Mail Order!
by Tom Miller

The glory days of the once-residential West 72nd Street had been over for more than a decade in August 1922 when real estate operator Harry Alperstein leased the two 20-foot wide brownstone houses at 153 and 155.  He signed a 53-year lease, telling the press he intended to “erect a seven-story office and store building on the site,” as reported in the New-York Tribune.

He commissioned the architectural firm of Springsteen & Goldhammer to design the replacement building. Completed in 1923, the brick-faced structure was a mixture of styles—Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Romanesque predominating. The windows of the four-story midsection were flanked by shallow piers and connected by three picturesque rows of arched corbels. The more formal uppermost floor was clad in limestone and capped by a bracketed cornice.
On March 18, 1925 The New York Times ran an innocuous notice:

Edward W. Browning, realtor, is moving his headquarters…to commodious offices in the new office building at 153 and 155 West Seventy-second Street, just off Broadway. Mr. Browning is the owner of the World Tower and Herald Square Buildings, as well as many uptown hotels, &c. 

The millionaire had built impressive buildings around New York, including two on West 72nd Street–the identical Hotel Earlton and Royalton Hotel, both of them “apartment hotels.” Browning’s penchant for younger—much younger—women would bring unwanted publicity to 153-155 West 72nd Street.

It started soon after he moved in, when he placed an advertisement in newspapers that read “Wanted—Girl for Adoption.” Mary Louise Spas, a daughter of Bohemian immigrants, saw the ad. KEEP READING
KEEP READING the history of 155 W72nd at 72 Crosstown
72 Crosstown highlights the architectural and social histories of the buildings along West 72nd Street.

We are working on your suggestions -- if you have a building you'd like us to prioritize, or a business you think we should feature, let us know!
SUGGEST a business: landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org
See you on West 72nd Street again, next FRIDAY!
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45 West 67th Street NY NY 10023