Upper West Side Historical Photo Challenge No. 30

By Rob Garber for the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group

Welcome to another installment in the Rag’s Historical Photo Challenge. A different kind of challenge this week: Can you put these images in chronological order, starting with the oldest?  Your solution can just be a series of letters with years (D 1941, G 2004, A 1911, etc.) but to show off your knowledge, tell us what you know about the images. (Example: “I bought bialys here on my way to see the opening of the subway in 1904,” or “the Stones stayed with my grandparents before they opened for Bette Midler at the Café Eclair.”)

Ready? If you think you know where and, especially, when the photos were taken, post your answers as a comment on this column.

Solution to Historical Photo Challenge #29
Subject:  Interior of Schinasi Mansion
Location: Riverside Drive and West 107th Street
Year: 1971
Image Source: Sam Kornhauser
Clues: This one was worthy of Hercule Poirot—how to identify a location using just the interior view of a single room?  And a room that looks like a thousand other rooms of a certain age, with dark wood trim.  Nothing on the walls…well, the decorative detail on the ceiling does look quite exceptional.  But the kids’ clothing and hairstyles didn’t give much away, and anyway who has a climbing structure in their apartment?  So, you got a second clue that was intended to connect the view out the window to some beautifully weathered copper around a bay window on the building next door.  And to the far right, a touch of white—is that marble?

Yes, this is the Schinasi Mansion.  Where else is there a pure white marble building next to an equally lovely building with coppered bay windows?  But what’s the deal with kids romping on a play structure in the stately Schinasi manse?

The rest of the story: Between its origins as the home of tobacco millionaire Maurice Schinasi and its current life as a residence owned by a Goldman Sachsionaire, 351 Riverside went through several owners.  Many Rag readers know that a Columbia law professor bought it for a song in the 1970s and worked on it for nearly 40 years.  But long before that, the Schinasi family sold it to Mrs. T. Darlington Semple, who ran a tony finishing school for Southern belles.  After Mrs. Semple, it was owned by St. Hilda’s and St. Hugh’s School, which in turn swapped it to Columbia University in exchange for the 114th Street lots on which St. H’s & St. H’s school still stands.  Columbia didn’t quite know what to do with its marble mansion, but this was the late 1960s—so after a year or so as Barnard’s Experimental College, it was converted to a day care.  A band of aspiring architects walked by one day, saw the “Children’s Mansion” sign, knocked on the door, and talked themselves into free rent in the Schinasi attic (I’m not making this up) in return for designing and building playground equipment.  Thus, the terrific-looking climbing structure.  Thanks to Sam Kornhauser for the insider details.

…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.

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