By Rob Garber for the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group
Welcome to another installment in the Rag’s Historical Photo Challenge. In honor of the UWS’s own Marty Reisman, table tennis legend and inspiration for the movie “Marty Supreme,“ here are images of four ping pong emporiums. How many can you identify? Post your identifications to the comments section, then check in to see what your neighbors have to say and come back two weeks from now when the solutions will be posted, you’ll learn the stories behind the images, and a new UWS Historical Photo Challenge will be presented.
Solution to Historical Photo Challenge No. 16
Subject: Billboard blight on Riverside Drive
Location: Riverside Drive looking northeast from West 94th Street
Year: 1913
Image Source: Report of the Mayor’s Billboard Advertising Commission of the City of New York
Clues: Last week’s challenge featured two photographs. Together, they present several clues that suggest their location. If you didn’t recognize the façade of 244 Riverside Drive on the SE corner of West 97th Street in the top photo, then the lower photo, showing the backside of a fence supported by props, might be the key. At its top center you can see the exuberant cornice of The Peter Stuyvesant at 258 Riverside Drive, now alas removed. The tops of buildings sticking up from 96th Street in the upper photo complete the identification—the photographer was standing on the short 96th Street viaduct, now sometimes called Riverside Bridge. Designed by Carrère & Hastings, the viaduct was adorned with ornate railings and splendid lampposts, all stolen for the value of their bronze in the mid-1970s. But none of this is the reason for challenging you with these two photos…
The rest of the story: … these photos were taken to illustrate a turn of the century billboard blight. A surprising amount of Manhattan real estate was still held in an undeveloped state in the 1910s, waiting for the property to appreciate enough to either sell it or build on it. While it was empty, property owners erected fences, partly to keep squatters off but also to generate income by renting it as ad space. Everything from vaudeville shows to beer was advertised. And one row of ads wasn’t enough—”double deckers” were common and “triple deckers” were a real eyesore. Much of this vacant land was in Upper Manhattan, but it could also be found in some surprising places, including right next door to Andrew Carnegie’s mansion on Fifth Avenue.
An attempt was made to rein in the billboards through the work of Mayor William Gaynor’s Commission on Billboard Advertising. The commission’s recommendations were not enacted but did become part of the influential City Beautiful movement, which ultimately increased awareness of urban aesthetic considerations and historic preservation. Thanks to such efforts, the scourge of outdoor advertising has been vanquished from the Upper West Side. Wait, what?
Shoutout to readers: This one wasn’t much of a challenge—many Rag readers recognized the 96th Street bridge. Anthony Bellov added some commentary on the Cliff Dwelling building; he and Alex and Tom Adams homed in correctly on the date as the mid-1910s.
…and that’s the story behind the mystery image. Now scroll back to the top of the column and take on your next challenge, Sherlockians! If you’ve missed any pictures in this series, here is the complete collection.
About the author: Rob Garber has lived on the Upper West Side since the late 20th century and is a member of the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group. To learn more, visit their website at upperwestsidehistory.org. All photos in Upper West Side Historical Photo Challenge are used by permission.
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