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:
New Banking Reality
by Claudie Benjamin

Noon on a Wednesday, Citi Bank’s spacious entry floor is nearly empty: no lines, just one interaction occurring between a customer and bank teller. Upstairs on the 2nd floor where complex business matters are conducted, Branch Manager, VP Raysa N. Lapaix works in a space designed for many more than the three employees now at their desks.

Tall, dressed in black and masked, Lapaix is a glamorous presence in the hushed 2nd floor corporate space. Individual work areas are defined by floor to ceiling glass partitions. Muted black & white photos of urban buildings hang on the walls. In the central waiting area that looks out on 72nd Street, comfortable turquoise upholstered chairs are well-spaced with large X-signs on the floor signaling required ample-spacing between customers as a Covid prevention.
The subdued atmosphere is very different from the pre-Covid pace of life at this Citi branch. Lapaix assures that bank business is robust. She explains that communications and business operations are being conducted differently than in pre-Covid times.
She notes that “many neighborhood customers have moved out of the city to their country homes in Long Island, Upstate, New York and Connecticut. “We know because we haven’t heard from them, we’ve called to follow up.”

Phone and Zoom communication now define how business is done. This complicates transactions Lapaix says because matters like authenticating signatures, for example, involve more steps when not done in person. While some people prefer to come in to do banking, far more opt to use remote options for everything including check deposits, transferring money between accounts and applying for loans. Many existed pre-Covid, but were not as generally used as they are now. KEEP READING
...and THEN:
Beef Over Roast Beef
by Tom Miller

Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart opened their first restaurant in Philadelphia on December 22, 1888. When “waiterless restaurants” began to appear overseas around the turn of the century, Frank Hardart traveled to Europe to see them in action. Customers chose food items from glass-doored compartments, inserted a coin and removed the food. The concept required fewer personnel and, therefore, reduced prices. Diners enjoyed quick service and inexpensive meals. 

Horn & Hardart brought the concept to the United States. The result was a sensation and in 1912 they branched into New York City. Shop girls, office workers and laborers found they could stretch their meager pay in clean, attractive surroundings where five cents would buy tasty, freshly-made food. 

The coin machines accepted only nickels and women “nickel throwers” were on hand to make change. Because the coins dirtied the cashiers’ hands, they work black uniforms. 
Despite the low food prices, Horn & Hardart did not scrimp on the interiors. Marble, white tile and shining chrome were kept spotless and the cafeterias were often termed “classy.” Joseph Horn’s approach to the restaurant business was simple. “There is no trick to selling a poor item cheaply. The real trick is to sell a good item cheaply.”

Originally the firm used the Philadelphia architects Stuckert & Sloan to design the cafeterias. But in 1916 it turned to local firm F. P. Platt & Co. for its New York projects. Frederick Putnam Platt took his brother, Charles Carsten Platt, into his architectural business around 1919, creating F. P. Platt & Bro. The brothers would design numerous automats for Horn & Hardart and as the Jazz Age engulfed Manhattan, their designs turned to the sleek and modern Art Deco. KEEP READING
KEEP READING the history of 170 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!
LANDMARK WEST!
45 West 67th Street NY NY 10023