Claremont Riding Academy
175 West 89th Street | Upper West Side | built 1892
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1892
Edward Bedell builds the Claremont stable on West 89th Street
Builder Edward Bedell erects a five-story brick and stone livery stable designed by Frank A. Rooke, with 135 stalls and ramps connecting its floors. A stepped stone arch carved with a horseshoe frames the entrance. Bedell sells the stable to Charles F. Havemeyer, who leases it to brothers Lee and Darius Tallman.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1893
Bedell sells the new stable for $90,000 and the Tallman brothers lease it
On March 2, 1893, developer Edward W. Bedell sold the newly finished Claremont public stable for $90,000 to Charles F. Havemeyer. Havemeyer and his brother-in-law leased it to Lee and Darius Tallman, who added their own name to the business, so city directories for 1893-94 list it as Tallman's Claremont Stables. The Landmarks Commission thinks the name likely came from the Claremont Inn on Riverside Drive, a popular destination for riders and carriages in the mid-1890s.
- 1928
The stable becomes the Claremont Riding Academy
Owner Emil Wellner announces on January 6, 1928, that he is converting the West 89th Street livery stable into a riding academy, hiring 15 to 20 instructors to teach dressage and jumping. The change reflects a wider shift as Manhattan's carriage stables lose business to automobiles and riders take to Central Park's bridle paths instead.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1937
City rejects owner Emil Wellner's plan to replace the stable with a garage
In 1937, nine years after the building became a riding academy, owner Emil Wellner filed plans with the city to tear it down and put up a garage. The city turned the plans down because the proposed garage would have stood too near a public school. The academy carried on instead, and Wellner kept running it until he sold it years later.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1965
The city condemns the riding academy for the West Side Urban Renewal Area
On May 12, 1965, the city condemned the Claremont Riding Academy for demolition. It stood on Site 32 of the West Side Urban Renewal area, a twenty-square-block zone. Plans for the site changed, and the stable was never torn down. When the Landmarks Preservation Commission wrote its 1990 report, the city still owned the building and leased it to Paul J. Novograd, who had become the academy's president in 1984. His father Irwin had bought the business in December 1943.
- 1981
The film Eyewitness shoots an extended sequence inside the academy
The 1981 film Eyewitness includes an extended sequence shot on location inside the Claremont Riding Academy on West 89th Street. Michael Korda's 2003 book Horse People devotes a detailed chapter to Claremont, covering its horses and the people around it.
“The 1981 film Eyewitness features an extended sequence shot on location in the riding academy.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1990
The city designates Claremont Riding Academy a landmark
The New York Landmarks Preservation Commission designates the Claremont Riding Academy building a landmark in 1990. The city had proposed an urban renewal project for the area in 1956 and condemned the property, but the 1977 fiscal crisis ended the plan. Owner Paul Novogard sought landmark status to protect the building, and the city sold it back in 1998.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1998
The city sells the stable back to the Novograds after 37 years of renting
In 1998, 37 years after condemning the stable, the city sold it back to the Novograd family. The academy had spent the intervening years as a month-to-month tenant. A $2 million restoration followed, though Daytonian in Manhattan notes that it brought heavy increases in real estate taxes and property insurance.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 2007
Claremont Riding Academy closes after 115 years
Claremont Riding Academy, billed as the oldest stable in Manhattan, closes on April 29, 2007, after 115 years. Central Park's bridle paths had opened to cyclists and joggers and gone unmaintained, making riding there difficult. A costly restoration added taxes and insurance to the burden.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 2010
The Stephen Gaynor School buys the former stable
In 2010 the Stephen Gaynor School bought the building. The school's main building at 148 West 90th Street stands behind it. The school adapted the old stable as an arts center and an early learning center, and it added a rooftop addition in 2012.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Claremont Riding AcademyWikipedia
- The Claremont Riding Academy - 175 West 89th StreetDaytonian in Manhattan
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