55 Fifth Avenue (Brookdale Center)

55 5th Avenue | also 1 East 12th Street | Greenwich Village | built 1912

Open on the map8 entries

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

  1. 1905

    October 11

    The Institute of Musical Art opens in the former Lenox mansion on this corner

    The Lenox mansion that once stood at Fifth Avenue and 12th Street found a second life as a music school. On October 11, 1905, the Institute of Musical Art, forerunner of the Juilliard School, opened inside the former mansion with 467 students in its first year. Most teachers were Europeans, although only Americans were admitted as students, and women made up most of the student body. Enrollment soon doubled.

    “The Institute of Musical Art opened in the former Lenox Mansion, Fifth Avenue and 12th Street, on October 11, 1905.”

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 1912

    Maynicke & Franke complete an 18-story neo-Renaissance office building at 55 Fifth Avenue

    Maynicke & Franke, described by the New York Times as a pioneer in modern loft buildings, designed the tower, which went up in 1912 on the site of the old Lenox mansion. The firm also designed the Germania Bank Building on the Bowery, the International Toy Center and the Sohmer Piano Building on Fifth Avenue. Village Preservation notes that, unlike those, this one has never been landmarked.

    Source: Village Preservation

  3. 1926

    Columbia Phonograph moves its recording studios into 55 Fifth Avenue

    In 1926 the Columbia Phonograph Company set up its recording studios in the building, and OKeh Records, a label known for early jazz and blues by Black artists such as Louis Armstrong, installed its own studio not long afterward. The studios stayed at this address until mid-1934. Village Preservation counts the sessions held here among the most consequential recordings in twentieth-century American music.

    Source: Village Preservation

  4. 1931

    August 17

    Kate Smith records "When the Moon Comes over the Mountain" in Columbia's studio

    On August 17, 1931, Kate Smith recorded "When the Moon Comes over the Mountain" at Columbia Records' studio at 55 Fifth Avenue, accompanied by the Ben Selvin Orchestra. Columbia released the disc in September 1931 as number 2516-D. The song is credited to Howard Johnson, Harry Woods and Smith herself, and she later sang it for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at the White House.

    Source: Wikipedia

  5. 1933

    John Hammond brings Billie Holiday to the Columbia studios to cut her first records

    Producer John Hammond, who later championed Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Aretha Franklin, made his first recordings at 55 Fifth Avenue, beginning with pianists Garland Wilson and Fletcher Henderson. In 1933 he brought in Billie Holiday, whom he had discovered singing at a Harlem speakeasy, to make her first records. At the same studios Hammond also recorded Benny Carter, Bessie Smith and Ethel Waters.

    Source: Village Preservation

  6. 1934

    Benny Goodman records his first top-ten hits with John Hammond at the Columbia studios

    Bandleader Benny Goodman cut his first top-ten hits at 55 Fifth Avenue in 1934, including "Ain't Cha Glad?", with Hammond producing. Village Preservation credits Hammond with pushing a hesitant Goodman to record alongside Black musicians and with arranging one of the earliest integrated sessions, bringing Goodman together with Billie Holiday and pianist Teddy Wilson. Columbia's studios left the building that same year.

    Source: Village Preservation

  7. 1963

    February 16

    W.W. Norton publishes The Feminine Mystique while based at 55 Fifth Avenue

    W.W. Norton & Company, the employee-owned publishing house, had its offices in the building when it brought out Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique on February 16, 1963. Friedan was a former Greenwich Village resident. Norton's list has also included Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange, Robert F. Kennedy's Thirteen Days and Dean Acheson's Present at the Creation.

    Source: Village Preservation

  8. 2006

    Cardozo School of Law expands and renovates the Brookdale Center

    Cardozo School of Law, part of Yeshiva University, occupies the Brookdale Center at 55 Fifth Avenue. A multimillion-dollar improvement plan in 2006 freed up space for a larger library, new offices and clinic rooms, a bigger lobby and a new moot court room. The Greenberg Center for Student Life, which honors former dean David Rudenstine, opened that fall with a student lounge and a third-floor cafe.

    “In fall 2006, the Greenberg Center for Student Life, given in honor of former Dean David Rudenstine, opened.”

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 518 buildings with stories in Greenwich Village