#152. [Life at the Dakota: New York's Most Unusual Address], [[Stephen Birmingham]]

When this apartment building was built 1880-84 it was said in New York City to be so far west it must be in the Dakota Territory and the Clark family named it thus. The Dakota was extremely unique in its architecture, construction and the layout of the apartments but it had two major issues to overcome. New York society was settled in large mansions on the east side, led by Mrs. Astor and secondly although apartments (flats) were common in Europe they weren’t in America and the Dakota was trying to set a new trend. One that took some time to be accepted.
Birmingham, in a long, slow style, goes into great detail on the history of the Dakota up to the late 1970’s: the various tenants, the decor of different apartments, the renovations and the removal of much of the original wood and plaster work, the turning of an original elevator car into a bar, the turning of it into a co-operative in the early 1960’s and much more.
The detail was more than I expected. Perhaps if I were an American instead of a Canadian perhaps the family names would have meant more, although I expect one needs to be from New York City to fully appreciate the ‘who’s who’ details. He even goes into the accounts and the accompanying correspondence. By the end of it I was scanning the chapters. I think most readers would find it dense.

Reviewed September 4, 2022

📚📚1/2 ( )

I give this book three stars, but it would be 3 1/2 if possible. I wasn't expecting much when I started the book on a whim. While it dragged in some spots (sometimes Mr. Birmingham didn't seem to know when to rein it in), the history of the building and it's residents was quite entertaining. The book was nicely formatted in a way that I could read it in bits over several days without losing the thread of the story. (Mostly because there wasn't much of a thread to lose.)

I recommend this book, if for nothing other than the omg, really!? history of Isaac Singer, inventor of Singer sewing machines and the 1970's-tastic description of Roberta Flack's apartment. ( )

Life At The Dakota: New York´s Most Unusual Address
by Stephen Birmingham
1979 / 1996
Syracuse University Press/ Open Road Media

I enjoyed this lively and enthusiastic history of one of New Yorkś most well known apartment buildings, The Dakota. It was openly snubbed by high society on the ¨East Side¨, especially the Astor Family, for being on the less desirable West Side. However, since its opening in 1884, there were no vacancies until 1929. 90% of the original families came from man-made first generation money, and remained in the Dakota until their death.
From its inception, there have been many unexplainable events. The elevators, the first to be installed in a residential building were said to be haunted. Objects moved by themselves. Soft voices mumbling were heard in the walls. Odd creaks were frequent. Freak accidents, some resulting in death, surround the building and its sidewalks. It was managed by Elise Vesley for years. As one of the leaders of the Vedantist movement promoted by Christopher Isherwood and Swami Prabhavanda, many tenants feared her. She also believed she had the power of psychokinesis. When her only son was struck and killed by a speeding truck in front of the building, Elise never recovered.
Roman Polanski used the Dakota exterior for his film ´Rosemaryś Baby´. There are many strange and interesting stories of the tenants that lived here and although it was published years ago, in 1979 originally, it is still vibrant and fascinating. I never realized how many unexplainable events happened at The Dakota.
Some interesting tenants include Roberta Flack, the first African American to live there; Judy Holliday; Jose Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney; Judy Garland; Lauren Bacall; Leonard Bernstein and John Lennon.
The Dakota went from being a private apartment building in 1884, to a being a part of a foundation in the 1960Å›. It is an interesting and intriguing part of the history of New York. And itÅ› past.
Recommended. ( )

It took four years to build from `1880-1884, it was, and still is a monument to New York City's image of love and care of older structures. It continues to be the home of many famous people. Most people heard of this building because John Lennon, and Yoko Ono lived there, and John was shot at the front of the building.

It was interesting to learn of the building, but I thought the book tended to drag for too many pages.

This was an entertaining social history of the Dakota apartment building in New York. The early parts of the book discusses the early history of the building, its first tenants, & its place in the history of the city & this is where the book is at its most interesting. Who knew that early apartment buildings & hotels were frowned upon because they were so much like the tenements of the day?

The last bit of the book is a bit gossipy, but that's also delicious in its own way, although somewhat disconcerting after the earlier historical writing. There are some cool photographs, as well, but I would've liked to have seen more photos of the interior of the building - maybe not the insides of people's apartments, but surely there's a picture of the lobby somewhere!

I love the notion of this building going up on the west side of Central Park & being called the Dakota because at the time it was so far out west. Its original budget was a million dollars & it took four years to build - from 1880 to 1884.

This, of course, is where John Lennon lived & where he was shot. The exterior of the building has been used in a couple of movies, Rosemary's Baby most notably, but they don't allow filming inside.

This is an enjoyable, if not terribly scholarly, book. ( )