By Rob Garber for the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group
Welcome to another installment of the Rag’s biweekly historical photo challenge. The image above was taken somewhere on the Upper West Side, some time in the past. Your task is to identify where and when it was taken, and then to take a victory lap by telling us how you knew. Each photo includes clues that will help you identify the scene, if you’re a dedicated UWS history sleuth. Post your identification to the comments section (remember—where, when, & how you knew), check in to see what your neighbors have to say, and come back two weeks from now when the solution will be posted, you’ll learn a story behind the image, and a new UWS Historical Photo Challenge will be presented.
Solution to Photo Challenge #25
Subject: Isaac Rice’s chess room
Location: West 89th Street and Riverside Drive
Year: Approximately 1904
Image Source: American Chess Bulletin January 1916
Clues: This image pretty much required you to know the story of the redoubtable polymath Isaac Leopold Rice, who—with his wife Julia—so valued their peace and quiet that they built a basement room into the Manhattan Schist below their mansion, so that Isaac could concentrate on his chess game (and host tournaments), and Julia could escape the noise of the outside world. In 1900, that meant horn-tooting boats on the Hudson River more than heavy automobile traffic on Riverside Drive. The only clue in the photograph was the unusual number of chess boards, so I added a second clue—a chess game with the pieces arranged in the Rice Gambit, a chess opening invented by Professor Rice. If, like me, you don’t know your gambits, there’s probably an AI that will read the board and tell you what it represents.
The rest of the story: The tale of Isaac Rice and his physician wife Julia has been well told elsewhere, but it has so many interesting angles that it’s always fun to dig into. Isaac was a German Jew who was seriously good at many things—chess, music, mathematics. He got a law degree from Columbia in 1880 but was so devoted to teaching the theory of law that he had to be arm-twisted into practicing it when he reluctantly agreed to take the case of a wealthy client (who had observed Rice’s keen intelligence when they played a game of chess!) The case introduced Rice to the world of railroad law, and he soon became seriously wealthy. In the 1890s he bought several lots at the corner of 89th and Riverside Drive and commissioned the architects Herts and Tallant to design a mansion with some innovative features, including an “automobile stable” whose floor and walls were made of marble! Rice was an enthusiast of electric cars, so “electric wires from a power station will lead into the automobile room, so that it will be possible to charge the vehicles on the premises. This will be a great convenience.” This was in 1900! The house also had a gymnasium for the six children of the family, an elevator, and features of an Italian villa that appealed to Rice’s desire “to get away from the ordinary plan and to make his new home thoroughly distinctive.” Surprisingly, the Rices only lived in Villa Julia for a few years. It has been suggested that Isaac Rice suffered financial reverses in the Panic of 1907, or that he and his wife simply wanted to spend more time abroad. In any event, they sold it at a loss in 1907 to Solomon Schinesi, Turkish tobacco magnate whose brother Morris was simultaneously building his own marble palace up Riverside Drive at 107th Street.
…and that’s the story behind the mystery image. Scroll back to the top of the column and take on your next challenge, Sherlockians! If you’ve missed any pictures in this series, you can find the complete set on my author page. All photos used with permission.
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.
Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here. And you can Support the Rag here.
Moorish Gardens Theater, 110th St between Broadway and Riverside Dr
I think it was more toward Morningside Ave and CP.
Moorish Gardens Theater on 110th Street (1913)
Photo in “Reel Life” October 18, 1913
Photo also shown and discussed here:
https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/59895
https://www.westsiderag.com/2022/12/16/the-history-of-your-building-block-and-neighborhood-is-yours-to-discover-here-are-the-tools
Yes, West Side Rag used this photo back in 2022.
This is the storage yard behind the New York Stadium Seating Manufacturing Company, which was on West 84th Street. They made all the seats for Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds, and Ebbets Field. The photo dates from the fall of 1922 when Yankee Stadium was under construction. Babe Ruth lived nearby and made it a point to inspect every seat before it was transported to the Bronx. These seats had just been painted and were being left to dry. The company eventually went bust in 1929 as the owner had been speculating on margin in the stock market and was wiped out by the Crash.
I never knew about the chess room in the famous Isaac L. Rice home. It makes me want to re-watch the 1967 movie “Fitzwilly” (Dick Van Dyke and Barbara Feldon). I’ve always wondered if the interior scenes were filmed inside the actual building; and, if so, perhaps the chess room makes an appearance.
MOORISH GARDENS THEATER!
I work in the school that is the famous Rice Mansion. Some of the features in the image are still in the room to this day. In fact, it’s still called the chess room over 100 years later!
The roof of the Riviera Theatre, just north of the also demolished Riverside Theatre on Broadway just north of West 96th St. I remember and patronized both. I never saw the roof of the Riv, but had heard about it.