Watch “The Paterno Family: Chronicling a New York Real Estate Legacy” video on YouTube
Read ‘The Paterno Brothers & Their Manhattan Apartment Houses‘ Look Book
THIS BUILDING DOES NOT HAVE AN INDEPENDENT BUILDING NUMBER. It has been joined to 202 West 106th Street and the conjoined building was renamed 204 West 106th Street at the old 202 entrance door.
1898 204 West 106th Street
– 106th Street is now known as Duke Ellington Boulevard
NYC DOB NB 370-1898
Paterno, John to Geo S Hamlin, of Rutherford, N J. 106th st, No 204, s s, 125 w Amslerdam av, 25×100.11. Oct 8 1898, 3 years. 28,000 (source)
– built five-story walk-up on the north side of 106th Street between Broadway & Amsterdam with Mr. [James] McIntosh (per Kelley Paterno page 83)
Elevator
– Paterno and [James] McIntosh broke every record. In six months the five-story building – the first apartment building with an elevator on this side of town – was finished and all the units had been sold. (Renato Cantore)
– West 106th, off Broadway. One Bedroom for the price of a studio. ELEVATOR building. Bright 4th floor apartment with queen-sized Bedroom with a double-wide large closet. Spacious Living room with a second large closet. Open Kitchen is minimalist (no dishwasher) but includes a gas range with oven. (Zillow)
#202 1877-37 (new #204)
#204 1877-38 (conjoined to new #204)
“In 1886 Granddad [Giovanni Paterno], together with a Scotch stonemason, Mr. McIntosh, formed a construction company. Land in the downtown area was too costly, so they ventured way uptown in Manhattan. In that period, that location was far removed from the heart of the City. Practically everything above 100th Street was still virgin land and farms. The horse-drawn trolleys with pot belly stoves terminated just below 100th Street. They constructed many three-story brownstone walk-up houses, between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues, and between Broadway and Amsterdam, then extended their activities as far north as 112th Street. About 1892, Mr. McIntosh wanted to dissolve the partnership, and Granddad continued on his own. Meanwhile his three older sons, Saverio, Charles and Joseph, helped him in his work after school hours. Saverio, my father, worked as a carpenter’s helper.” The Paterno Family Heritage Book by Michael J. Paterno 1 January 1985 page 7 [Carla’s note: I don’t think these dates are accurate. Paterno and McIntosh didn’t build until 1896. They built together three 5-story brownstones in 1896 and 1897.]
I suspect that the address for this building has changed. The question is between 202 West 106th Street and 204 West 106th Street. The map below, from the 1940s NYC project, shows 200 at the corner with a gap before 202. Then 202 and 204 are flush against one another.
The 1940s NYC project shows 204 below with no gap on either side.
A current Google map street view shows 200 with a gap and then 204. I suspect that the building to the right of marked 204 is actually the Paterno building. The original 202 and 204 may have been joined as one building with one entrance and the address taken was 204. I believe the Paterno building is the right of the two and was originally marked as 204. This hypothesis is supported by the Bloomingdale Building Database entry 4 images above.
The two buildings (202 & 204) were conjoined sometime between 1951 and 1973 according to the Certificates of Occupancy listed below.
New – York Tribune (1866-1899); New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 18 Mar 1898: 11.
New York Times (1857-1922); New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 18 Mar 1898: 10.
