Everything about Tudor City totally explained
Tudor City is an apartment complex located on the East Side of
Manhattan in
New York City. It is bordered by E
40th Street to the South,
First Avenue to the East,
Second Avenue to the West and E
43rd Street to the North. Tudor City takes its name from England's
Tudor dynasty (1485-1603), a golden age of arts and letters.
History
Before Tudor City,
tenements and
slums dominated the area, which bordered a
power plant and
slaughterhouses, along First Avenue on the
East River. It was known as "Goat Hill" (goats and squatters ruled the area) and later "Prospect Hill". In the 1920s, the real estate developer Fred French sought to lure tenants to Tudor City, his vision of an urban Utopia—a "human residential enclave" that boasted "tulip gardens, small golf courses, and private parks." The complex was built to bring in
middle-class residents who had begun leaving the city for the outer
boroughs and suburbs. A 1994 feature in
The New York Times reported:
The
historicist architecture of the buildings can be classified
neo-Gothic rather than
Tudor or the related English revival styles
Tudorbethan (Mock Tudor) and
Jacobethan. An earlier 1920s residential development in Manhattan,
Hudson View Gardens, also built for suburban appeal, made explicit use of such Tudorbethan features as
half-timbering.
Originally, two gardens flanked 42nd Street, with the south garden featuring a "miniaturized" 18-hole golf course. The new owners quickly set about converting Tudor City into
co-op apartments, as was happening across the city. Conversions were completed with little problem but when the real estate market and economy slowed in 1989-1994, some co-op prices dropped significantly, as owners and investors were concerned that the co-ops themselves would become insolvent. In April 2008,
New York Magazine recalled the 1989 slump:
In 1988 Tudor City was named an historic district by New York. Preservation efforts leading up to the designation had started ten years earlier when Harry Helmsley proposed building towers on top of two parks within the complex.
Location and features
The natural topography of the area is such that east-west streets slope downward from Second Avenue to First Avenue. As a result, Tudor City is at a different elevation at First Avenue and is accessible to vehicular traffic only via Second Avenue. A service entrance to 5 Tudor City Place is available from the "D" level, which is four floors below the lobby level. The service entrance exits at 40th and 1st Avenue allowing residents and building service staff to enter from 1st Avenue. A viaduct connects the two halves of Tudor City bisected by
42nd Street, with staircases providing pedestrian access between 42nd Street and the complex. A separate staircase known as the
Sharansky Steps connects Tudor City with
Ralph Bunche Park and First Avenue.
Directly across First Avenue is the
United Nations Headquarters and a new (controversial and pending) development. Only a few apartments face the United Nations because when the area was completed in 1928 there were slaughterhouses to the east; most apartments were built facing the opposite direction because of the stench and filth that came from them. In the 1940s, the slaughterhouses were demolished and the United Nations Headquarters was built in their place. Today, only some apartments have high-priced views of the UN Headquarters and
East River. Instead, the majority of apartments face inland parks and the
Midtown skyline. Many apartments have good views of the
Chrysler Building and
Empire State Building.
Tudor City's buildings are home to over 5000 residents. The complex includes restaurants, a hotel, grocery and convenience stores, a hair salon, laundry and dry cleaners. Three garden parks and a children's playground are there.
Tudor City is well known for its
TUDOR CITY sign overlooking 42nd Street.
Popular culture
Tudor City is featured in a number of film and television programs. Movies filmed in Tudor City include
The Godfather Part III,
The Peacemaker,
Spider-Man and
Spider-Man 2,
Splash,
U.S. Marshals,
Taxi Driver, and
The Bourne Ultimatum. In the movie
Scarface, a bomb is planted under the Governor's car at 5 Tudor City Place. Also Tudor City appeared in the opening credits of
The Jeffersons. The
Law & Order episode "The Wheel" and the episode "Death Roe" also had brief exterior scenes filmed at the complex.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Tudor City'.
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