I’m presenting an online webinar about my great grandfather Dr. Charles V. Paterno’s residential castle on January 19, 2023 from 8 to 9:30pm with Q&A to follow. Below are all the details from New York Adventure Club. I hope you’ll join me!

To reserve your spot, please register HERE for $10.

How did Dr. Charles V. Paterno, a 29-year-old living in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, get the sort of money to build a 4-story marble castle in 1907 overlooking the Hudson River? And what sort of lavish lifestyle did he and his family enjoy during its brief 30 year existence? Using rare documentation, historical maps, and extensive photographic evidence, it’s time to explore one of New York’s premier mansions of the Gilded Age like never before.

Join New York Adventure Club as we uncover the complete story behind the Paterno Castle of Washington Heights, from the initial inception, design, and function of the palatial residence to debunking many myths that have long-survived the structure since its demolition in 1938.

Led by Carla Golden, great-granddaughter of Dr. Charles V. Paterno, our virtual deep dive into the magnificent Paterno Castle will include:

• A brief overview of Dr. Paterno and how he made his fortune (hint: it wasn’t from being a practicing physician)
• A discussion of the inspiration behind Dr. Paterno’s luxurious residence in Washington Heights
• A look at features of the castle that reveal the family’s unique lifestyle, from hosting parties on the roof and growing culinary mushrooms in the basement
• The recent discovery and unveiling of never-before-seen blueprints of the massive castle addition
• What castle remnants still remain today after its demolition in 1938
• An evidentiary exploration of long-standing Paterno Castle myths including the number of indoor swimming pools, the report of an underground tunnel entrance from Riverside Drive, and the truth about ‘The Pumpkin House’

Afterward, we’ll have a Q&A with Carla — any and all questions about the Paterno Castle are welcomed and encouraged!

Can’t make it live? Don’t worry, you’ll have access to the full replay for one week!

To reserve your spot, please register HERE for $10.

On Wednesday, January 11, 2023 at 6pm EST I will be presenting with LandmarkWest! a webinar about the apartment houses and other buildings constructed by The Paterno Family on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Tickets are free for members and $5 for non-members. Registration can be accessed HERE.

From LandmarkWest!:

The Paterno Family: Chronicling an Architectural Legacy 
Wednesday, January 11th 6:00-7:00pm via Zoom
Free for LW! Members/$5 for Non-Members

One of Manhattan’s—and the Upper West Side’s– most successful real estate family dynasties of the 1900s was the mighty Paterno clan. Yet surprisingly, their entry into the world of bricks and mortar happened mostly by accident. Even more incredibly, nearly all of their buildings still stand generations later.

Carla Golden, great-granddaughter of Dr. Charles V. Paterno, is our guide to a fascinating history of the Paterno family’s real estate development legacy spanning from 1896 to 1964. As preeminent builders in the 20th century, the Paternos built a total of 164 buildings throughout Manhattan. On the Upper West Side, Paterno Brothers Construction, working with architects such as Gaetan Ajello, George F. Pelham, Schwartz & Gross, and Rosario Candela have left us a rich and lasting built history. 

Join Landmark West! for this special evening exploring the early history of the Paterno family (starting with the unexpected event that prompted them to emigrate from Castelmezzano, Italy to New York City) and why the immediate success of Paterno Brothers Construction on the Upper West Side was a case of being in the right place at the right time. Plus, we’ll take a closer look at many of the brothers’ most famous UWS buildings, including, of course, The Paterno at 440 Riverside Drive (photographed above).

The Paterno family is coming back to the Upper West Side!

Speaker Carla Golden started exploring her genealogy whole-heartedly during the 2020 pandemic shutdown and, in doing so, read a statement that claimed the Paterno family built over 100 buildings in Manhattan. Finding those buildings soon became a personal challenge; she began researching historic Manhattan buildings online and found 164 Paterno buildings. She’s now obsessed with learning everything she can about these structures, saying that “I feel they are just as much a part of my family as the people.” Carla lives on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Registration for this event HERE.

On November 9, 2022, at 12pm EST, I will present a webinar hosted by Untapped New York about the many monogrammed buildings constructed by my Paterno family. Details and registration link are below. Hope to see you there!

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THE PATERNO FAMILY: THE IMMIGRANT LINEAGE THAT HELPED BUILD UPPER MANHATTAN

The Paterno family monogrammed most of the apartment houses they built with treasured Manhattan architects Gaetan Ajello and Rosario Candela. Why? Let’s explore that question as we take a virtual tour around the Upper West Side and Upper East Side visiting the nearly 40 Paterno family structures that are adorned with various letters of the alphabet.

On November 9, join Untapped New York Insiders for a members-only virtual tour of the nearly 40 Paterno family structures with the great-granddaughter of Dr. Charles V. Paterno, Carla Golden. The event is free for Untapped New York Insiders (get your first month free with code JOINUS).

On the tour, we will discover the first Paterno building to showcase a monogram. As the tour continues, we will learn what effect brotherly competition had on the use of multiple monograms per building and which family member was the only one to employ un-matching monograms. Later, we will uncover which family members combined their initials to make a completely cryptic monogram and who thought it would be a good idea to stick his face on his building instead of a monogram.

REGISTRATION LINK

To date, the number of Paterno family buildings in Manhattan that I’ve been able to positively identify has been 163. Today I am delighted to add another to the catalog, though the 164th it is a very different kind of building.

The Paterno building that stood at 345 Riverside Drive at the corner of 107th Street in 1937 was not a tall apartment house, but a prefabricated steel tiny house. It was a curious Paterno project that began with great intentions for what would have been Dr. Charles V. Paterno’s last building project before his death after completing Castle Village. However a quirky deed restriction thwarted Dr. Paterno’s plans.

As was common practice by apartment house builders, narrow single homes and lots that averaged 25 feet wide street-side and 100 feet deep were purchased to conjoin four or five consecutive lots to become 100′ x 100′ or larger to accommodate an apartment house.

To orient the reader to the 1930 map above, find the white dot. It sits on a brick (denoted by the color pink) house on a lot that is numbered 326 along W. 107th Street. This is the address for this house. The number 30 below 326 designates the width of the lot. This lot is 30′ wide. The underlined 5 represents how many stories there are in the home with this one being 5-stories tall. The number inside the circle represents the depth of the main structure. This house is 58′ deep on a lot that is 100.11′ deep (see length of empty lot next door.) The 31 indicated on the lot (in the white area) marks it as being Lot 31 on Block 1892 (see the large numbers in the center of the block).

Dr. Charles V. Paterno first purchased the empty corner lot at 328 West 107th Street (Block 1892 Lot 32) in 1923 which ended up being the problematic lot. Perhaps Dr. Paterno didn’t learn about the stipulation until after the purchase (unlikely) or he was not dismayed by the stipulation thinking that he could easily satisfy or maneuver around it.

Curiously Lot 32 was the only lot on the block which had never been developed.

The stipulation was that for Lot 32 at 328 West 107th Street, the first building to be constructed had to be a single-family residence. Dr. Paterno was not in the business of single-family homes. He was a well-known developer of fine apartment houses.

When Charlotte Anne Mount (1836-1904) owned Lot 32 she was approached by Samuel Gamble Bayne (1844-1924) who was, at the time, the President of the Riverside Drive Property Association and lived in a grand mansion at the corner of 108th Street and Riverside Drive. Bayne asked neighboring property owners to sign a restriction agreement on 9 December 1897 stating that only “high class residences” with no more than two detached homes were to be built on each lot. When Charlotte’s Mount’s estate sold Lot 32 to Dr. Charles V. Paterno in 1923, along with it came the deed restriction.

Nonetheless, Dr. Paterno went on to purchase the lot and structure at 326 West 107th Street (Block 1892 Lot 31) in May 1930 and three more lots and structures at 320, 322, and 324 West 107th Street (Block 1892 Lots 28, 29, and 30) in June of 1930. This assembled for Dr. Paterno a five-lot site measuring 100.11 feet by 125.2 feet which is adequate for an apartment house. It seems that in 1930 Dr. Paterno was ready to construct a new apartment house facing Riverside Drive, however, the stipulation could not be ignored and had to be honored. Additionally, at that time, The Great Depression was descending.

Here are the four row houses at 320, 322, 324, and 326 West 107th Street with the empty lot at the corner along Riverside Drive. (photo source)

The Depression (1929-1939) put a halt on most new building construction. In the meantime, Dr. Charles V. Paterno and his son Carlo Paterno leased office space in 1936 on the 64th floor of the 77-floor Chrysler Building at 405 Lexington Avenue which opened in 1930 and was designed by William Van Alen.

[Side story: Carlo, my grandfather, recounted to his grandchildren that before they left their office for lunch each day they had to call down to the lobby receptionist to see if it was raining outside. Being so high up in the clouds, it wasn’t possible to know the current weather status at street level.]

Perhaps it is here that Dr. Paterno and Carlo became aware of and/or met William Van Alen, the architect of the Chrysler Building, who in 1935 had started working with a new company National Houses, Inc. designing prefabricated steel houses to offer affordable housing during The Depression. While this tiny steel house may not have met Bayne’s “high class” residence demand it did meet the “private residence” demand. To finally satisfy the deed restriction for 328 West 107th Street, Dr. Paterno had Van Alen design and construct a tiny steel house.

In 1936 Dr. Charles V. Paterno, representing Karlopat Realty Corporation, filed for a new building permit (NB 281-1936) at 328 West 107th Street for a 1-story dwelling.

In 1937 The New Yorker wrote about the “small, square, white-pointed, single-story modernistic house at the corner of Riverside Drive and 107th Street…accessible by a flight of steep wooden steps” which clearly was perched upon Manhattan schist boulders.

The Van Alen-designed structure cost between $3,000 and $4,000, measured 29.7′ x 24.7′, and included a compact kitchen, a dinette paneled with stained plywood, a 12×12 living room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. Made from 2-by-4-foot steel panels bolted together, with four windows, it met Federal Housing Authority standards and was classified as a “low cost workingman’s residence.”

After resolving the deed dilemma with the tiny home in place, Dr. Charles V. Paterno got busy in 1938 demolishing his residential castle to build Castle Village and building his new Greenwich, CT, estate home called Round Hill. The Van Alen steel tiny home stood for approximately five years and was demolished in 1941 (DP 214-41). Dr. Paterno’s wife died in 1943 after a prolonged illness, he remarried later that same year, and he died in 1946. Perhaps he was too busy with other construction projects and personal life events, not to mention national attention on World War II (1939-1945), to focus on building an apartment house at 345 Riverside Drive. His son, Carlo, sold the five lots – all now free and clear of deed restrictions – in 1951 to the builder who would construct the 6-story apartment house that still stands at 345 Riverside Drive today.

Welcome to the 164th Paterno building! It clocks in as the smallest Paterno project that just happened to be designed by a very famous architect.

Deep appreciation is owed to Tom Fedorek who did an extensive amount of research on 345 Riverside Drive to create a 70th anniversary presentation for his fellow-residents of the apartment house that was completed in 1951. You can view his presentation video on my research page HERE.

I was invited to write a guest column for We The Italians website and magazine which I was honored to do. I encourage you to read it online at the link below:

IT and US: Paterno Family, Chronicling a New York Real Estate Legacy

La Basilicata nel Mondo (People from Basilicata in the World) was an illustrated monthly magazine produced by Giovanni Riviello in Naples, Italy. It was one of the mostly widely distributed Italian magazines abroad. It regularly featured natives from the southern Italian region of Basilicata (also known by its ancient name Lucania) who were excelling in America.

Doctor Charles V. Paterno

The builder of Hudson View Gardens in New York

Here is a man, of whom it can truly be said that he heard the voice of destiny, and had the merit and the daring to follow it, going decisively along that path of life, which the invisible traced to him. Small, thin, nervous, with extremely lively, mobile and penetrating eyes, he immediately appears, to those who know him, as a bundle of intelligence and vibrant energies, thus radiating from his person that powerful vitality, which is concrete and almost translated logically in the speed of decisions and in the fervor of action and thought. His physique has all the characteristics of the Italian race, animated by the gentle Latin blood: and his mustache and his typical beard, which seems taken from a Van Dyck painting, perhaps demonstrate his primitive inclination for the profession of doctor, together with his innate artistic aptitudes.

But it is the fate of the Paternos from Castelmezzano, which makes them builders, from father to son, and from generation to generation.

Charles Paterno studied medicine and graduated brilliantly from Cornell Medical School in the year 1899. Very young, fervent with ingenuity and aspirations, cultured and sagacious, he certainly already enjoyed all the joy of making a name for himself in the field of medical science, vast and so human, when the death of his father suddenly improvises him. The parent left the construction of a building on 112th Street unfinished. And Charles put aside, he temporarily hoped, the medical books and surgical instruments, to carry out, together with his brother Joseph, the filial duty of carrying out the last paternal effort. It was the first sign of his destiny as a builder, from which he would never free himself again.

Either it was the fascination of that tremendous art of building, which gradually crept into his subtle soul as an adventurous artist, or his brotherly love, which drew him to share his fate with his brother Joseph, certainly and that having finished the building and sold it, Charles Paterno does not return, as if it was proposed, to his life as a scientist. The case operates once again. Attached to the building was a construction area, which was assigned to the two Paterno brothers, as part of the payment, so that Charles is still hired as a contractor for new construction work. With about $3,000 in capital, the two brothers, who were still almost boys, boldly took on a new job, from which they made an almost equal amount of net profit. At this point, Charles Paterno truly finds himself at the crossroads of his life. Return to his profession as a doctor, or continue to be a builder? Not brief, not without perplexity, not without torment of the spirit, were to be the struggle, which is stirred in the soul of the young man. To return to his profession as a doctor meant, in a certain way, an ideal denial of his father’s profession; remaining as a builder meant the end of his dream of youth and of the long vigils of study and preparation for the severe discipline of science. Were also to consider the risks and prospects of both careers; but, finally, he won in him, and perhaps the loving advice of his brother Joseph, his father’s profession, was not extraneous to his decision. Charles Paterno definitively became a builder.

Thus begins the industrial ascension of the two young and great architects of New York construction.

Their constructions follow one another with a constant and dizzying crescendo; their fame rises and spreads, as does their fortune. They raise a 7-story building on West Street, from which they make a profit of $40,000. Their projects become more and more important and grandiose, they impose themselves, due to the majesty and harmony of architectural lines and proportions, to the admiration of the building technicians, conquering the two brothers the popularity in the environment of the builders, the sympathy and the buyers’ esteem. Manhattan, the colossal Manhattan, is completed by their works, with a speed that tastes of vertigo.

The ascension of the Paterno brothers is complete. And when, in 1907, the construction crisis broke out, which overwhelmed many of the most accredited firms in New York, the position of the Paterno was already so solid, that they were among the few who were able to cope with the chaos of their industry, and overcome, with infinite shrewdness and sagacity, very rough moments. When the crisis was over, in 1909, they therefore found themselves among the most experienced and equipped builders in New York, more ready for a building revival in a big way, and they launched a new start in the increasingly intense and feverish work.

But Charles Paterno, in whom the spiritual quarrel had never completely subsided, again suffered the fascination and the lure of books and science. And this time he decided to really go back to his profession as a doctor. During the construction crisis, he had stayed by his brother’s side, not to leave him alone in the storm. But, having overcome the danger, the last ideal reason for him to remain as a builder disappeared, while his soul inclined more and more towards science, and the renunciation of it seemed to him more and more hard and bitter, as a sterile thing to him he seemed to continue to mortify his genius, for whose sacrifice he could not find, in his nobility, adequate compensation, the large gain.

The two brothers shared their assets. Joseph remained in his place, in the construction sites. Charles began to be a doctor, with that success, which could not fail to smile at his worth in the field of science. But fate did not hold back from tempting him. And here, one day, in his cabinet, a man appeared, who was not a sick person, who, instead of a medical consultation, asked Charles Paterno if he had ever by chance intended to buy a large building plot on the West Side between West End Avenue and Broadway. The offer was advantageous, and presented itself to Doctor Paterno not only as another admonition of fate, but surrounded by all the seductive colors, from which the temptations must present themselves to Saint Antonio in the desert. Again he was struggling with himself. He gave in to fate, which he wanted so. He buried the surgeon’s tools, he closed his cabinet, broke off all medical contracts, and returned – this time forever – to the construction site.

“A man, to be truly worthy of being a man, said Leonardo da Vinci, must demonstrate that he can be excellent in everything, whatever he sets out to do.” And of Charles Paterno it can certainly be said that, whatever the field of his activity, he would still have achieved success.

Let’s follow a little, on the basis of some data, the gigantic activity of this titan of New York building art. The culminating period of its construction activity coincides, fatally, with the tragic period of the European war. Destiny, which had so irresistibly roped him. Destiny, which had so irresistibly called him to the sacred art of his father, now seemed to want to make his way to triumph bristling with obstacles, so that Charles Paterno had given proof of all his extraordinary energy, and engaged in the struggle all his male genius, giving of himself the whole measure of the man of exception. At the beginning of 1914, when no one could think that the greatest war which the history of the world can remember would be unleashed on old Europe, Dr. Paterno started a colossal lot of housing construction on Madison and Park Avenues between 47th and 48th Streets, for the fabulous sum of $ 10,000,000.

In 1918, when the war had not only devastated Europe, but had also made its tragic repercussions felt in the United States of America, forced to intervene, Doctor Paterno had already completed the work. Only such a man could, in that immense upheaval of values, of men and of things, triumph in such an enterprise. Every day, the working conditions became more harsh and harsher, every day it was necessary to face the unexpected, lavishing energy and spending large sums to grab the raw materials, the price of which was becoming more and more even, and the hand of work , which, as a result of the war, also became very expensive and rare, not only, but less efficient and specialized than that of normal times. To all these reluctances of fate, Dr. Charles Paterno was able to oppose the cold, calm tenacity of man, who wants to win at all costs, and knows that his victory is the reason for his whole life. But, once the works were completed, the tragedy became bitter. The consequences of the war weighed heavily, with the stagnation of emigration, business, the human movement, and the large houses of Doctor Paterno remained desperately empty of tenants, while their maintenance and fiscal rights continued to gobble up money. The builder did not lose heart. A man of action, he also knew how to be the man of waiting. “Knowing how to wait, said Bismark, is a great virtue.”The warning was treasured by Doctor Paterno. And that storm passed too. Little by little, the normality of life and trade resumed, until the repercussions of the war disappeared, and not a room of a thousand and a thousand, of which Doctor Paterno’s houses were capable, remained empty of tenants. Destiny was finally kissing his predestined one. The waves of men returned. The multitudes became so large that Manhattan seemed unable to accommodate them all. The urgent need for new constructions arose. Dr. Paterno’s apartments gave an income of $900,000 for 1919, which rose to $1,200,000 in 1922.

Nor is this the culmination of his fortune as a builder. Two projects, translated into reality in the most admirable way, have made Dr. Charles Paterno deserving of construction in New York, giving him great popularity and the undisputed title of poet and esthete of the building art. The first is Hudson View Gardens which was defined as the experimental station of harmoniously blended beauty and architectural novelty.

Such a place of spiritual rest would have been very suitable for the construction of a cathedral, so much is the sense of serenity and mysticism, which infuses the divine peace of greenery and waters. And Doctor Paterno’s soul as an artist felt this fascination, because to the buildings, which rise solemnly in their severe architectural lines, on the natural grandeur of the rock, he gave an air and an outward appearance of houses of prayer.

But even aside from the beauty of the place and the stately aesthetics of the buildings, many advantages make life blissful in Hudson View Gardens, for the infinite comforts, which make it immensely cheap, and for the bonds of friendship, which unite all the inhabitants as in true spiritual community, although only from October 1, 1924 the houses of the enchanting place began to be inhabited.

Hudson View Gardens stands on a rocky rise overlooking the Hudson River.

The place is famous in the history of the United States of America, as, during the Revolution, it was the scene of warlike episodes, and the siege and bombing, which took place on November 16, 1776, by the British, against General Greene and Colonel Magard, who were defending Fort Washington, which, at that time, stood right on the heights of the Hudson.

In the construction of the houses, Doctor Paterno wanted and was able to find, as we have already pointed out, a style that harmonized well with the beauty of the place, and happily chose the Tudor architecture of the 16th century, so sweet and solemn and almost mystical even in its light and changing harmony. The executor of the projects was Mr. George Fred Pelham, a valued architect, who, avoiding any monotonous repetition, was able to give the buildings a distinct tone of originality, which arouses the admiration of the observer.

Lawns and gardens, with all sorts of flowers and rare and beautiful trees, adorn and enhance the beauty of these houses.

But, according to the Horatian precept “omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci” [“He gains everyone’s approval who mixes the pleasant with the useful.”] the apartments of Hudson View Gardens are equipped with infinite, refined modern comforts. Especially the kitchens are equipped in such a way as to eliminate, up to the incredible, any waste of time, starting with the washing of the dishes – which is performed by a machine in a very short time – up to the most minute and various needs, which are facilitated by a wise arrangement of tools, utensils and accessories, essential to the needs of modern cuisine. Even in this, Dr. Paterno wanted and knew how to be a fine psychologist.

The American woman, who often considers herself a slave when she is forced to work hard in the kitchen, finds, on the other hand, with so many beautiful means at her disposal, almost fun, and as interesting as a sport, the preparation of the familiar daily lunch.

It is not uncommon for the work of a maid to be required in the home. Well, Dr. Paterno has also provided for this by providing the inhabitants of Hudson View Gardens with a body of expert housekeepers, who work on an hourly basis.

In this way, the harassment of using unknown and not always practical people has also been eliminated.

In case the need arises or if you prefer to eat outside the home, it was also thought to install a first-class restaurant in the neighborhood, which lacks nothing, from ballrooms to radio sets.

It is also worthy of much interest to install radio sets in each apartment, so that everyone can enjoy concerts, conferences, etc. according to their tastes.

Hudson View Gardens consists of six four-story buildings, on the west side, overlooking the Hudson River and nine six-story buildings on the other side of Pinehurst Avenue, built on an elevation of land high enough to give even to these the view of the river. In all there are 354 apartments with 4 to 6 rooms, equally furnished and equipped with the same modern means of comfort.

Everything has been thought of in this model neighborhood and Charles Paterno has neglected nothing to make it the ideal New York home. There is even a “daycare,” a kind of nursery school, to which mothers can entrust their babies with the utmost safety. For older children, there is a gym equipped and maintained to form their delight.

The wealth of Hudson View Gardens is completed by an infinite number of other comforts, including a laundry, a hairdresser, a barber shop, a tailor’s shop, founded by Nicola d’Alessandro, also a son of Basilicata, a post office and even a private police service.

Every family, however modest it may be, has the opportunity to buy one of these houses on their own, with an infinite number of facilitations due to the cooperative ownership method. In this way, 354 families can become owners of an apartment without responsibility and with minimal expense. A small deposit is paid at the signing of the contract and at the time of granting the house the payment of a part of the established sum is made; the remainder is paid in small monthly installments, applying the interest of 6%.

It is clear that Hudson View Gardens is a great institution, and one cannot help but be astonished, as one thinks that everything was conceived and created by a single mind, that of Dr. Charles V. Paterno, who, by creating the garden city of New York, it pursued a magnificent humanitarian and civil purpose rather than industrial purposes.

For this man, a magnificent example of the vitality of the Lucanian lineage, any praise is inadequate. All the manifestations of his personality, industrialist, scholar, head of the family, citizen, philanthropist, patriot, very Italian heart, touch the highest sign.

The waters of the Hudson sing the most beautiful praise of him, on which he realized his beautiful dream of beauty and elevation of life, with the construction of that Hudson View Gardens in which he himself, together with his family, has the his residence, in a haven of peace and poetry, a respite from the battles of his tumultuous existence.

The other project, which has attracted the attention of the New York building world to Charles Paterno, is the construction of a sumptuous and beautiful fifteen-story building, which will be completed for the upcoming spring, on the elegant and very important Riverside Drive artery, between 100th and 101st streets, and in which apartments are available for a number of two hundred families. The plan of this building is so harmonious in its architectural structure, the graces of the Latin style are so perfectly merged with the synthetic simplicity of American building, the apartments are so happy, that, as always happens for the buildings of Doctor Paterno, the sale and rent of the apartments are already complete, even before the building is completed.

But the great lever of Dr. Charles Paterno’s building success does not consist only in his masterful technical expertise, in his exquisite artistic intuition, in the gracefulness of his modern architecture. It is above all constituted by the seriousness and honesty to all proof, by the rigid scrupulousness in the use of first quality materials in the factories, by the testing and strict control of the works, which he himself carries out in person, with supervision, which has eye for everything and never runs out. He is not only the soul and brain of his construction sites: tireless, prodigiously tenacious at work, he is the first worker, the ideal and material leader of his workers.

From the point of view of construction technique, the brilliant stone poet, who designed and built the Hudson View Gardens, can be defined as a revolutionary. Rightly, in fact, Charles Paterno thinks that the building technique has remained very backward, in comparison with modern evolution and the progress achieved in many other fields, and he strives his ingenuity in the search for means, which also adapt construction progress to others. To an American journalist, who had gone to interview him in his office, he once said, in this regard, as follows: “The art of building has made no progress. In all other fields great strides have been made, and It always advances. Doctors today have wonderful methods of sustaining life, which they did not have a hundred years ago. Their science is always progressing: every day a new discovery eradicates an evil in the human organism. (In these words, sympathetically and nostalgically, his vocation as a doctor, silenced, to follow destiny). But the art of manufacturing is the same, it is unchanged over the centuries. We raise the walls in the same way as the ancients Egyptians, Etruscans, Greeks, Romans, that is, by hand; we build with bricks, in the same way that was built hundreds of centuries ago, overlapping the bricks one by one, with the hand of man. If there were departments of research, as there is in the medical field, as in any other field; then, we might perhaps know at least why we don’t advance; and, knowing the hindrance, we could apply the remedies. Only in the method of excavation have we made progress: we have cranes, mechanical shovels, drills; but, when there is the rock to be drilled, we still use old methods.

To make real progress, manual labor, which is very slow, necessarily, must be eliminated, rationally replaced by the mechanical, rapid means, with the indefatigable machine. The art of construction is hampered by the lack of inventions, which limit the audacity and activity of man, and the inventors are in turn hindered by the workers’ organizations, which oppose themselves deafly, for a misunderstood spirit of safeguarding themselves, to the success of every expedient or mechanical discovery, tending to eliminate and restrict the use of manual labor. It seems like a vicious circle. But, add onto of all this, expedients are invented. There is one, which is currently being perfected, for laying the bricks. How the car works, I do not yet know perfectly. And already something. We will go a long way. I’m sure. And the workers, far from seeing in these discoveries an enemy of their employment, must, in the machine, in every new machine, see an ally and a collaborator of their intelligent work and their labor.”

Severe and tireless with himself, affable and cordial with other men of very high culture and noble sentiment, bold and cautious at the same time, very intelligent and full of initiatives and brilliant resources, Dr. Charles Paterno, as we have seen, summarily following his great industrial work truly has in itself all the requirements of the extraordinary man. But he lives modest and quiet. And he has kept alive the cult of his distant, small native village – Castelmezzano di Basilicata – and he is proud of his Italian origin. The voice of the great distant homeland exerts a powerful fascination on his spirit, and to the Italian architecture, which he esteems and cultivates sovereignly, he intones the motifs of his constructions.

In the affability of intimate conversations, he always talks, with a Manzoni-like humor, of his truncated career as a doctor. “At one time, he recalls, I was selected as director of the Italian hospital in East River. After all – he adds, and smiles finely – I have not completely ceased to practice my profession. I am the doctor of my workers.”

And, in fact, it is so.

To his family, he consecrates all of himself, and is proud of his son, a young man of great talent, who studies engineering at Yale University.”He is studying engineering – his father says of him – but he could also become a surgeon!” And he smiles, satisfied. And if you ask him what plans he has for his son’s career, for the future: “I don’t know – he replies – I don’t know, because he’s my son. I too wanted to be a doctor … and instead I became a builder. “

But the personality of the builder of Hudson View Gardens in New York is too varied and complex for one article to be enough to make it whole. As a characteristic of his phenomenal activity, we will only recall that, among his occupations, which alone would absorb the activities of many men, he also finds the time to write a nice magazine, Hudson Views, in which the salient facts of the New York garden city life are written. And as proof of his great love for Italy we will only remember that we owe only to him the initiative of the Italian Hospital in New York, and that, to the House of Italian Culture at Columbia University he donated the entire library, for a value of $30,000. This man, so well-deserving, has also experienced what human ingratitude is. His own country, to which he has consecrated his work and his talent in a foreign land, has not even made him a knight.

But Charles Paterno finds in himself, in his own conscience and in his own spirit, the greatest satisfaction, the noblest reward and the most serene praise for his work, which imposes himself on the admiration, even tacit, of all, and confers on him the highest title of nobility and Italian character.

In Basilicata, Charles Paterno also gives frequent and beneficial proofs of his filial devotion.

And we, proud, as his fellow countrymen, of the nobility and grandeur of his work, offer him our greetings and best wishes for ever new triumphs.

I’m presenting an online webinar about my Paterno family and their Manhattan architecture on October 21, 2022 from 8 to 9:30pm. Below are all the details from New York Adventure Club. I hope you’ll join me!

How did one of Manhattan’s most successful real estate family dynasties of the 1900s happen mostly by accident? And how could it be that almost all of their buildings still stand generations later? Fortunately, a great-granddaughter of the family has meticulously cataloged each of their projects and New York story like never before. From 35th Street to 188th Street between Riverside Drive and East End Avenue, it’s time to explore the real estate legacy of the Paterno family and their significant contribution to New York architecture.

Join New York Adventure Club as we chronicle the Paterno family’s real estate development legacy spanning from 1896 to 1964. As one of New York’s preeminent apartment house building empires of the 20th century, the Paterno family built a total of 164 buildings throughout Manhattan, nearly all of which are still standing.

Led by Carla Golden, great-granddaughter of Dr. Charles V. Paterno, our virtual deep dive into the Paterno family’s architectural portfolio will include:

• The early history of the Paterno family and what unexpected event prompted them to emigrate from Castelmezzano, Italy to New York City
• How an unfortunate event led a young Dr. Charles V. Paterno to join his younger brother as a real estate builder instead of ever practicing medicine
• Why the immediate success of Paterno Brothers Construction on the Upper West Side was a case of being in the right place at the right time
• The story of how one family member’s unpopular actions helped lead to the creation of New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission
• A discussion of how the Paterno buildings’ quality construction and timeless aesthetic helped form the iconic style of Manhattan that is treasured to this today
• A virtual visit to nearly every one of the existing and demolished Paterno buildings, ranging from 155 apartment houses, four family homes, and even a magnificent castle
• A closer look at some of Paterno Brothers Construction’s most famous buildings, including the Paterno Castle and The Paterno on 440 Riverside Drive

Afterward, we’ll have a Q&A with Carla — any and all questions about the Paterno legacy are welcomed and encouraged!

Can’t make it live? Don’t worry, you’ll have access to the full replay for one week!

Get all the details and register for $10 at New York Adventure Club.

La Basilicata nel Mondo (People from Basilicata in the World) was an illustrated monthly magazine produced by Giovanni Riviello in Naples, Italy. It was one of the mostly widely distributed Italian magazines abroad. It regularly featured natives from the southern Italian region of Basilicata (also known by its ancient name Lucania) who were excelling in America.

Excerpts below set the banquet scene and the speeches by Charles, Joseph, and Michael Paterno and Anthony Campagna are transcribed.

The Meaning of the Great Banquet Offered by the Basilicates of New York to Giovanni Riviello • Written August 1926

The historian, who aspires to give a complete picture of the unfolding of the life of the Italian people in the last fifty years, and who wants, together, to search for all the sources from which the fruitful energies that made it possible have arisen, in spite of enormous difficulties, his marvelous progress, will not be able to fully succeed in his intent, if he does not make an effort to relive the labor endured by that immense army of several million emigrants, who, animated by a tenacious will to work and triumph, in the short span of a few decades, they were able to lay the solid foundations of a greater Italy, especially in the free colonies of the two Americas.

The short-sighted politicians of thirty years ago, who tried to put a laughable halt to that immense exodus, and the flaccid sentimental poets of the time, who squeezed copious tears on what appeared to their eyes a painful spectacle of misery, did not realize that this overflow of masses beyond the borders of the homeland was but the providential outlet of too rapid development, and, better still, the first sure sign of a magnificent expansion and a new glorious awakening of our race.

To this grandiose movement, our province of Basilicata, which the hopes of a rebirth within the great family of the united homeland had seen, after a long, tormenting and patient waiting, turn into vain illusions, and which had been able to suffer stoically, in silence, has participated with a deployment of forces proportionally far superior to those of all the other regions of Italy. The phenomenon of emigration, while presenting itself as impressive as a whole, has just rippled the waves of life in the other provinces of the kingdom, which all, despite the more or less large contribution given to the emigrant crowds, have grown in population; but it has deeply disturbed the placid patriarchal life of our province, which has seen the total of its inhabitants decrease by almost ten per cent.

Keeping in mind the general demographic increase of the kingdom, which, from the census of 1881 to today, is measured in more than thirty-three percent, together with the decrease of the Lucanian populations, it is easy to calculate, especially if due account is also taken of the instinctive repugnance of the our good provincials to oppose the free play of the forces of nature and to listen to certain advice of caution, inspired by the theories of a great English economist, that more than two hundred thousand are the Basilicates living today far from their barren mountains and their valleys still today infested with malaria.

Question two hundred thousand Lucanians, scattered in strong nuclei from the banks of the San Lorenzo to those of the Rio della Plata, from the shores of the Atlantic to those of the Pacific, equally resistant to the frosts of Canada and the torrid climate of Columbia and Brazil, highlighting the their rich intelligence and all those beautiful qualities of tenacity, perseverance and thrift, which had remained inactive or succeeded unproductive in their naturally poor native land, have dramatically denied the rash assertions of certain sociologists, raving about alleged ethnic inferiorities , with which they thought to explain the state of abandonment, into which a region they had never visited had fallen.

The progress made in general by the Lucanian emigrants, who, in their great majority, illiterate peasants and shepherds, had to overcome enormous difficulties in a fierce competition with better prepared and aggressive people, was immense; but even surprising and such as to fill the soul with pride and the path by course of many of them, who have had the advantage of a modest culture and a set of technical or professional knowledge. And another characteristic and sympathetic trait distinguishes the Basilicatesi living abroad, and it is the tender nostalgia that keeps them tied to their humble region of origin, of which they cannot boast neither the magnificence of opulent cities nor the splendor of landscapes, combined with an intense affection for the great Italian homeland.

Aware of this very lively sentiment of our emigrated populations, and relying heavily on it for the success of his daring initiative and for the vitality of his noble enterprise, the lawyer Giovanni Riviello, tireless defender of the good rights of our province for forty unrecognized years, proud assertor of our most shining glories, and courageous and disinterested opponent, from his earliest youth, of those local politicians who, in the fulfillment of their personal ambitions, drowned the memory of the distant province, in need of help and thirsting for justice, he wanted and knew how to create, in this magazine, an effective instrument of cohesion between all members of the Lucanian people.

From our emigrants, who kept a vague and unpleasant memory of some weekly leaflet living a wretched life, which very often served as an ignoble weapon in those miserable local and personal struggles, in which lawyers without causes and gentlemen neglectful, badly exhausted their energies growing on the remnants of showy squandered patrimonies, the beautiful publication by Giovanni Riviello, splendid for its typography and all vibrant with noble ideals, was received with great enthusiasm and with a sense of sincere and profound satisfaction. Everyone felt that the most patient and silent region of Italy finally had a strong and virile voice.

On the evening of the first Sunday of last May, the most authoritative representatives of the vast Basilicata community of New York and the neighboring cities, which includes small colonies of almost all the one hundred twenty-six municipalities of the province and forms one of the most numerous, active and peaceful elements of the great Italian family of this metropolis, wanted to make manifest, in a solemn form worthy of the generous feeling that animated them, the high appreciation for the audacious work of the founder of “Le Basilicata nel Mondo,” offering him a banquet of almost a thousand seats in the most luxurious of those splendid New York hotels, which seem to huddle around the locality that is the center, where the life of this immense city pulsates more rapidly and almost whirlwindly.

The party turns out to be brilliant and eminently significant. The enthusiastic crowd of professionals, priests, traders, industrialists, businessmen and workers, almost all of them coming from Basilicata, gathered around the hundred tables, exquisitely set, in the magnificent and vast hall of the Commodore Hotel, it presents a picturesque symbolic picture of the progress made by our emigrants and, at the same time, an eloquent justification for the initiative of the celebrated publicist appeared.

But the exaltation of our region was not the exclusive reason for the celebration, that the image of all of Italy was always present. With happy thought, they wanted four other very worthy children of Basilicata to participate in the honors of the evening, the lawyer Anthony Campagna and the brothers Joseph, Michael and Doctor Charles Paterno, all from Castelmezzano, for their truly splendid generosity in favor of the House of Italian Culture. This institute, destined to make the relations of culture and friendship between Italy and the United States closer and more intimate, will have, thanks to these generous Lucanians, who march in the front row among the most enterprising builders of New York, in the Columbia University Campus, a seat entirely worthy of the high goals set and of the two noble nations concerned. As a tangible sign of the affectionate admiration and sincere satisfaction of the provincials, they were offered, in the name of the Basilicates of New York, four great gold medals, bearing on the right, in artistic bas-relief, the lines of the erected building of beautiful architecture Italian. And the delivery could not be made by hands more worthy than those of the President of the Banquet, the Grand Officer Doctor Antonio Stella, of Muro Lucano, a magnificent figure of eminent professional and fervent patriot, who vibrated in the moving words of praise for his they have the same proud and dignified Italian accent of good understanding that has long been signaled to the poisonous attacks of the most blatant bad faith by the supporters of the restrictive measures for our immigration to this country.

With the consent, support and cooperation of these men, and with the active enthusiasm of all the people, we are sure that “Basilicata nel Mondo” will be in a position to be able to fulfill its task effectively. All the Basilicata emigrants, who the monthly publication of Giovanni Riviello consider as a ring of Diana for all the people of Basilicata, want that in this glorious rebirth of our beloved Italian in which the Italian people, guided to bright destiny by a Man who knows to chastise all their weaknesses and awaken and make all the dormant intrinsic forces wonderfully active and fruitful, and on the way to rediscover the one that had been lost for centuries, that is the self-confidence even their beloved region resurrects to new life with the proper help of the government, but, even more, for the filial initiatives and with the work of all his children.

Written in New York, July 1926 by Francesco Maglietta

Over a Thousand Basilicates, Among Whom Were the Greatest Exponents of Intelligence, Wealth, and Work, Solemnly Reaffirmed, in New York, with a Banquet to our Director, Their Unconditional Solidarity with “La Basilicata nel Mondo.”

Introductions of the Banquet Chairman Grand Official Dr. Antonio Stella, Party President Knight Pasquale Margarella, Toastmaster Honorable Frank R. Galgano, Treasurer Knight Raymondo Guarini, Secretary Professor Francesco Maglietta, and many others.

The article list names of those who attended the banquet.

The banquet is further described and then, over coffee, Grand Official Dr. Antonio Stella addresses the audience before he introduces the Paterno Brothers and Anthony Campagna.

Paterno Brothers, Lawyer Campagna!

The citizens of Basilicata residing in America, taking the opportunity of this party in homage to the Lawyer Riviello, who, with his beautiful and spirited publication, illustrates the most worthy events and the most deserving personalities of our Region, have believed it logical and right to honor, among these personalities, first of all you individually, for the work of high patriotism and difference you are making in building the House of Italian Culture on the Columbia University Campus.

With your extraordinary and truly royal munificence you will not only erect a building, which will certainly be aesthetically perfect and modern, like all your marvelous constructions, but you will raise a true temple to Italian culture, where numerous children of our immigrants and their children will flock. Americans, who really love and want to know our country. Epicurus, this temple which you erect on the Acropolis of New York, in the enclosure of the University, which, by happy coincidence, also bears the name of a great Italian – the greatest Italian that perhaps ever existed, because he gave the world a new continent – You, I say, with this temple of Culture also lay the true cornerstone of that complete and permanent friendship between the United States and Italy, which can only take place when the culture of one people has penetrated that of the other.

Brothers Paterno, Lawyer Campagna, very worthy children of Basilicata, I have the honor to present to you, on behalf of fellow Lucanians in America, a commemorative medal that will forever remind you of our admiration for what you have done for the cause of Italian Culture in America .

Of you it can certainly be said that you have well deserved the homeland. Italy acclaims you, America honors you, Basilicata blesses you in this and every other future work.

Official Knight Joseph Paterno

Ladies and gentlemen and honored guest!

I am overwhelmed with joy at the honor conferred on me tonight and I am richer in this moment because of your loyalty to me.

I am a builder of stone and mortar, but tonight I feel that you, my friends, are greater builder than I can ever hope to be, because you have built in me a great desire to be worth of your loyalty.

If I can one day be sure that I have done real credit to those distant hills so beloved by my sainted mother, I shall be proud to realize that I have not failed. I shall never forget what it has meant to me, when I rode through the cold and snow of my native hills on my way to America, with only mother’s arms and a young heart to keep me warm.

God bless you, my friends, because you are friends of those rugged hills that inspired a rugged people.

Michael Paterno

Mr. Chairman, Honored Guest, Ladies and Gentlemen!

While listening to the interesting speeches of my predecessors this evening, one thought has been uppermost in my mind: “What a pity the Casa di Coltura Italiana [House of Italian Culture] was not erected before I grew up to manhood!” For if that Institution is to fulfill our hopes in the development of the younger generation of American-born Italians, it is just the kind of intellectual Center that would have attracted me, and, who knows but it might have changed my whole career.

But perhaps it is not all loss: for one thing. I should, in that case, have missed the pleasure of contributing with my coadjutors to this noble cause.

In conclusion I will say that it has been a great pleasure and an honor, in the course of the planning of this institution, to come into contact with all the public-spirited and cultured gentlemen who have this work at heart. I have particularly been impressed with the high-minded personality of the moving spirit in the whole affair. I refer, it is perhaps needless to say, to that eminent scholar and genial public man, Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler: Long may he be spared to reside over the greatest American University.

Doctor Charles Paterno

Mr. Toastmaster, Honored Guest, Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen!

I am indeed most grateful to the participants of this Testimonial Dinner and members of the Province of Basilicata for the thought expressed by the magnificent gold medal presented to me this evening. I accept it with great honor and it shall ever be a memorial to me of this gathering of friends from the Province of Italy where I was born, to do honor to our guest of the evening, my friend Lawyer Giovanni Riviello.

Lawyer Riviello has done, and is doing excellent work, and is giving his best years of his life in forgoing ahead a monthly magazine “La Basilicata nel Mondo.” It is a real service which Lawyer Riviello is rendering to the Italian people and especially to those of the Province of Basilicata.

I am sure you all appreciate the fact that the monetary gain from this work is very little. Lawyer Riviello in fact, is practically a public benefactor, and as such he should receive your full support in a real manner.

What a wonderful country America is: I love it, but as much as I love America, I can never forget my Mother County. Italy has had its struggles and difficulties, but as a result of the strong hand of Mussolini at the helm, we have had a remarkable development in Italian industry, and there will continue to be great achievements in Italy in the next few years, under the leadership of Premier Mussolini.

I remember reading some time ago a reported declaration of Mussolini to his follower, which was quoted in substances as follows: “If I advance, follow me. If I retreat, kill me. If I am killed, vindicate me.”

A part of this famous statement seems to fit very well tonight for our guest of honor, that is, as Lawyer Riviello advances with his good work, let us all get together and follow him with real support and render to him all of the assistance we can for the promotion and advancement of “La Basilicata nel Mondo.”

Official Knight Lawyer Anthony Campagna

Mr. Chairman, Mr. Toastmaster, Distinguished Guest, Ladies, Fellow-Citizens!

This is one of those moments, when words seem inadequate to express the most intimate feelings.

I am deeply touched and filled with pride to find myself for the first time in this great family of ours and to receive with an old friend and dear relatives this cordial tribute, which reflects the known kindliness of our people.

The generous testimony of your affection is for us a high reward in the service of a patriotic ideal and this token which contains the symbol of our brotherhood in that ideal, will remain among the sacred remembrances of my life, and will be handed to my children as a pledge of honor and duty toward our native land and toward our Italy, great and immortal.

When, from the majestic hill of Columbia University, will rise, like a radiant beacon light, the House of Italian Culture, we shall rejoice in the serene conscience that to erect that temple to the Italian genius and civilization, contributed not only the efforts and financial support, but the initiative and ideality of the sons of Basilicata.

I thank Dr. Antonio Stella for his benevolent remarks and wish to extend to him my felicitations for the distinction once more deservedly conferred to the talent, virtue and patriotism of this illustrious leader of our colony.

It is now a welcome privilege to tender my hearty greetings to our guests of honor, Lawyer Giovanni Riviello. It is a welcome privilege, because Giovanni Riviello is to me not only a fellow-citizen, distinguished for intellectual merits and nobility of purpose, an able publisher, and earnest and untiring apostle of a deep father, but he is my friend of the early years of adolescence.

In seeing you again, friend Riviello, twenty years nearly of oblivion in this New World, in a new and always intense activity, twenty years have seemed to fade away and, with you, I have seen the school days, and the sweet memories of far-away Spring.

You have been true to your dream, and we are happy to render this sincere homage to you, whose disdaining indifference and skepticism, facing numerous obstacles, sacrificing the fruits of years of labor, have succeeded in building a great medium, under the proud name of “La Basilicata nel Mondo.”

Of that “Basilicata nel Mondo” you have met here a strong body, devoted to work, on the main road to progress, and after only fifty years, already in the front line with those of other nations, who were first to establish their possession over this hemisphere, brought to light by Columbus.

But, do not let us forget that at the base of our envied progress of today is the obscure army of our immigrants of yesterday, who forced by want and hunger beyond their mountains and beyond the seas, abused and vilified, suffered in the silence of their hearts the insult, the slavery, the sacrifice, because carved in their hearts they carried the adored image of a family and a country.

In the unknown heroism of those humble workmen is a whole tragedy of blood and soul which you, Giovanni Riviello, should reveal with flaming words in your magazine, to let all Italy know the true and sad history of our American immigration.

We are grateful to you, friend Riviello, for your beautiful magazine which, for us, away from our Mother Country, is like a distant melody, that makes us forget at short intervals the urge and hustle of American life and revives the longing desire for our native hills.

But, through the pages of that magazine, if we are warmed by old remembrances and affections of the land of our origin or both, if we exalt at the glories of the past and the wonderful examples of the present, those pages bring us also, from that land, the melancholic note of tears, a restrained cry of sorrow, despair, anxiety for the morrow, the moan of that continuous and unequal struggle against the hardship of Nature and the negligence of Governments.

Honor be to you, friend Riviello, for having dared to cast that cry to your brothers Lucani, scattered, as you say, in the lanes of the world.

Everything you have given, everything you have sacrificed for the triumph of your faith that never waters, and on us is now incumbent the duty to sustain your mission with all power, moral and financial.

“La Basilicata nel Mondo” is today one of the strongest organs for the resurrection of our Province; but the effort of one or a few will be insufficient to reach the goal.

We want of that magazine a live, powerful instrument, which must deal in a concrete manner with the necessities, the aspirations, the complex problem of our Region; but facts are needed and not words.

Brother Lucani, let us be equal to the task and let it be said that if the Basilicata is poor of material resources, the Basilicatesi are rich of intelligence and willpower.

While Italy is making great strides toward a new and sunny horizon, guided and inspired by its indefatigable Leader, who lights a new flame in the Italian hearts, by decreeing the rising of Rome to the splendor of the first Empire, our Province cannot, must not remain humbled and forgotten. It is demanded, by the national dignity, by the faithfulness and Lucanian frugality, by that imposing army of emigrants who have repaid the indifference of the past Governments with love and the treasure of their savings; it is demanded by the revered dead of Basilicata who gave their blood for the glory of Italy.

Looking forward to greater destinies, and always ready to the call of duty, we here declare our undying love for our Mother Country, with a vote and wish of success to Giovanni Riviello and “La Basilicata nel Mondo.”

-The event continued with words from Lawyer Giovanni Riviello, telegrams were read, and all the guest names were listed. Details can be viewed on the pages below.