Webster Apartments

419 West 34th Street | Hudson Yards | built 1922

Open on the map4 entries

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1916

    Charles Webster's will funds a residence for working women

    Charles Webster, a cousin of department-store founder R. H. Macy, dies and leaves nearly his entire fortune to create a residential hotel for working women. His will directs that it run without profit and offer unmarried working women a home and inexpensive meals. His brother Josiah Webster becomes the first president when it opens.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1922

    February 1

    A justice rejects the city's challenge to the Webster Apartments' charitable status

    As the building nears completion, New York City sues, arguing the Webster is not a true charity and so should not be tax-exempt. Supreme Court Justice Lehman rules against the city. He finds that the residence serves the public welfare by housing self-supporting working women at or below cost.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1922

    Parish & Schroeder's Webster Apartments near completion

    In 1922 the Webster Apartments at 419 West 34th Street, designed by Parish & Schroeder, are nearing completion as a large red brick hotel with limestone trim for working women. The city is suing the sponsoring corporation over its tax-exempt charitable status. The building stands a few blocks west of Macy's on 34th Street.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1923

    November 15

    The Webster Apartments open to working women

    The Webster opens with Josiah Webster as president, housing retail clerks, secretaries, teachers, and milliners. A lower-floor room with two meals a day costs $8.50 a week, and an upper-floor room costs $12. The building also provides sewing machines, an infirmary, a roof garden, and a library.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

Nearby

All 27 buildings with stories in Hudson Yards