S.J. Kessler and Sons was an American architectural firm based in New York City, and active through at least 1980.
Founded in early 20th century by architect and engineer Samuel J. Kessler, the namesake firm quickly grew to become one of the premier architectural firms in New York City during the 1950s. During this period of time, the firm, initially headed by Sam Kessler and then his sons Matthew J. Kessler, Melvin E. Kessler and grandson Stuart thereafter, was responsible for the design and construction of numerous buildings in the New York City area, later expanding their reach to northeastern Pennsylvania, including the cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, and Hershey. They also designed buildings in Boston, Massachusetts, and St. Louis, Missouri. Its later buildings include the 12-story apartment complex the A.K. Houses in East Harlem, on Lexington Avenue between East 127th and East 128th Streets, built in 1980. [1]
Following an investigation by the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency in late 1954, during the development of Manhattantown (later called Park West Village) on Manhattan's Upper West Side, New York City mayor Robert Wagner placed a five-year moratorium on "Title I", [2] urban renewal projects involving Manhattantown's initial private participants. This included Melvin E. Kessler, who had taken an equity position in the development but whose fees had been misrepresented in the sponsors' public filings. [3]
Among the buildings constructed by S.J. Kessler & Sons in New York City are Lincoln Towers, [4] West Park Village, Lenox Terrace in Harlem, [5] Washington Square Village, [6] Park West Village (with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, [7] and One Sherman Square Apartments. [8]
Outside New York, the firm also designed One Hershey Plaza.[ citation needed ]
John Burgee is an American architect noted for his contributions to Postmodern architecture. He was a partner of Philip Johnson from 1967 to 1991, creating together the partnership firm Johnson/Burgee Architects. Their landmark collaborations included Pennzoil Place in Houston and the AT&T World Headquarters in New York. Burgee eased Johnson out of the firm in 1991, and when it subsequently went bankrupt, Burgee's design career was essentially over. Burgee is retired, and resides in California.
Sixth Avenue, also known as Avenue of the Americas, is a major thoroughfare in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The avenue is commercial for much of its length, and traffic runs northbound, or uptown.
The Lenox Avenue Line is a line of the New York City Subway, part of the A Division, mostly built as part of the first subway line. Located in Manhattan, New York City, it consists of six stations between Central Park North–110th Street and Harlem–148th Street, all of which are situated within the neighborhood of Harlem in Upper Manhattan.
Lenox Avenue – also named Malcolm X Boulevard; both names are officially recognized – is the primary north–south route through Harlem in the upper portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan. This two-way street runs from Farmers' Gate at Central Park North to 147th Street. Its traffic is figuratively described as "Harlem's heartbeat" by Langston Hughes in his poem Juke Box Love Song.
Manhattanville is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan bordered on the north by 135th Street; on the south by 122nd and 125th Streets; on the west by Hudson River; and on the east by Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and the campus of City College.
Horace Trumbauer was a prominent American architect of the Gilded Age, known for designing residential manors for the wealthy. Later in his career he also designed hotels, office buildings, and much of the campus of Duke University.
Washington Square Village (WSV) is an apartment complex in a superblock in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. WSV was developed by Paul Tishman and Morton S. Wolf. To design the housing complex, the developer selected architects S. J. Kessler and Sons, with Paul Lester Weiner as consultant for site planning and design; landscape architects were Sasaki, Walker & Associates.
Cross & Cross (1907–1942) was a New York City-based architectural firm founded by brothers John Walter Cross and Eliot Cross.
Mount Morris Park Historic District is a 16-block historic district in west central Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. It was designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1971, and is part of the larger Mount Morris Park neighborhood. The boundaries are West 118th and West 124th Streets, Fifth Avenue, and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard.
Schwartz & Gross was a New York City architectural firm active from at least 1901 to 1963, and which designed numerous apartment buildings in the city during the first half of the 20th century. The firm, together with the firm Neville & Bagge and the firm owned by George F. Pelham, accounted for about half the apartment houses in Manhattan's Morningside Heights neighborhood.
Lucien Lagrange is an architect and a former partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, who founded his own firm, named Lucien Lagrange Architects in 1985. The studio is a representative of New Urbanism and New Classical Architecture.
The Corinthian is a 57-story apartment building at 330 East 38th Street in Murray Hill, Manhattan, New York City. It was New York City's largest apartment building when it opened in 1988.
1301 Avenue of the Americas is a 609 ft (186m) tall skyscraper in Manhattan, New York City. It is located on the west side of Sixth Avenue between 52nd and 53rd Streets.
Frederick W. Garber was an American architect in Cincinnati, Ohio and the principal architect in the Garber & Woodward firm with Clifford B. Woodward (1880–1932). The firm operated from 1904 until it was dissolved in 1933 Their work has been described as in the Beaux-Arts tradition and included buildings on the University of Cincinnati campuses, schools, hospitals, commercial buildings, "fine residences" and public housing.
970 Park Avenue is a luxury residential housing cooperative in Manhattan, New York City.
Barnett, Haynes & Barnett was a prominent architectural firm based in St. Louis, Missouri. Their credits include many familiar St. Louis landmarks, especially a number related to the local Catholic church. Their best-known building is probably the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. A number of the firm's works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
271 North Avenue is a 13-story art-deco office tower located in the downtown section of New Rochelle in Westchester County, New York.
720 Park Avenue is a historic residential building in Lenox Hill on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, U.S. A cooperative, the building has 34 apartments, a gymnasium and storage spaces. It is secured by a full-time doorman.