Life at the Dakota (37 page)

Mies van der Rohe,
157

Miller, Mrs. Jennifer,
see
Clark, Mrs. Jennifer Miller

Millis, Walter,
85

Mizner, Addison,
29

Morgan, J. P.,
51
,
182

Morgan family,
3

Morris, Lloyd,
15
,
17
,
43

Murrow, Edward R.,
160

Navarro, Juan de,
18

Nitze, Peter,
160–61,
195

Nitze, Mrs. Peter,
160–61

Noble, Joseph J.,
107

North, William,
178–79

Novak, Gyora,
156–57,
158
,
159
,
211
,
220

Novak, Mrs. Judy,
156–57,
158
,
159
,
220

Olmsted, Frederick Law,
140
,
142
,
145
,
146
,
147
,
148

Olrig, Adolph,
47

Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy,
172
,
214
,
216

O'Neal, Patrick,
210

O'Neal family,
210

O'Neill, Nance,
120

Ono, Yoko (Mrs. John Lennon),
38
,
62
,
77–79,
85
,
161
,
185
,
192
,
207
,
211
,
212
,
217
,
230

Palance, Jack,
85

Paolozzi, Christiana,
185

Parker, Dorothy,
233

Paynter, John,
79

Peter II, King of Yugoslavia,
182

Phelps family,
61

Pinto, Mr.,
60

Pinto, Pauline,
59–60,
221
,
222

Pinto family,
221

Pipsey, William,
47

Plimpton, George,
216

Polanski, Roman,
73

Porter, Cole,
222

Portman, Eric,
85

Post, Emily,
64–65

Prabhavananda, Swami,
69

Pratt, Harry,
160

Pratt, William Henry,
see
Karloff, Boris

Prentice, Mrs. Alta Rockefeller,
222

Proctor, Mrs. Lillian Sanford,
222

Pulitzer, Joseph,
4

Pupin, Dr. Michael Idvorsky,
181–83

Quinlan, Charles J.,
69
,
176

Quinlan, Mrs. Grace,
69
,
108
,
110
,
176
,
177

Quinlan, William J.,
107–8,
109
,
110
,
176

Quinlan family,
116
,
176
,
177

Quinn, Daniel and Barbara,
210

Rader, Dotson,
85

Rathbone, Basil,
65

Ratoff, Gregory,
85

Reed, Rex,
74
,
75
,
85
,
111
,
135
,
165
,
171
,
193
,
195
,
207
,
230

Reid, Whitelaw,
4

Reisinger family,
23

Renfield, Robert,
211

Restell, Madame (abortionist),
141

Ridge, Richard,
75

Robards, Jason,
216
,
218

Rockefeller, John D.,
160
,
182

Rockefeller brothers,
45
,
113

Rockefeller family,
3
,
233

Roebling, John,
6

Rogers, Mr. and Mrs. Bernard,
152
,
161

Rogers, William,
120

Rolling Stones,
185

Roosevelt, Mrs. Franklin D.,
93

Root, Elihu,
143

Ross, Mrs. Judy,
161
, 188–89,
190

Ross, Wilbur L., Jr.,
74
,
152
,
161
,
168
,
188–89,
190
,
192
,
194–95,
196
,
197
,
198
,
199
,
200
,
201
,
202
,
203
,
204
,
217
,
231

Rutherfurd, Lewis,
16

Rutherfurd, Stuyvesant,
see
Stuyvesant, Rutherfurd

Ryan, Mrs. Jessie,
79
,
192

Ryan, Lisa,
79

Ryan, Robert,
78–79,
85
,
192

Schiff family,
3

Schirmer, Gustav,
45–47,
56

Schirmer, Mrs. Gustav,
45–47

Schirmer family,
56
,
85

Schlesinger, Arthur, Jr.,
216

Schubert family,
119

Schurz, Carl,
46

Scott, Mrs. Ruth Ford,
see
Ford, Ruth

Scott, Zachary,
85
,
110
,
119
,
216
,
217

Segal, Paul,
121
,
161–62,
171
,
204
,
207
,
230

Severns, Dr. Scott,
157
,
159
,
198

Severns, Mrs. Theodate Johnson,
157–58,
159
,
173
,
198
,
215

Sheppard, Eugenia,
85
,
207
,
214
,
217
,
230

Sherrick, Mrs. Edward,
172

Shiva, Gil,
130
,
211
,
212
,
214–15,
216
,
225

Shiva, Mrs. Susan Stein,
85
,
130
,
212
,
214–16,
225

Simon, Mrs. Paul,
85

Singer, Isaac Merritt,
21–32,
59
,
189

Singer, Mrs. Isabella Boyer,
26
,
28

Singer, Paris,
29

Smith, Kent,
85

Smith, Liz,
217

Spatt, Beverly Moss,
132
,
134–35

Spreckels, Mrs. Adolph B.,
221

Stein, Jules,
130

Stein, Susan,
see
Shiva, Mrs. Susan Stein

Steinway, Mrs. Frederic,
92
,
144

Steinway, Theodor,
45
,
46
,
121–22

Steinway family,
45
,
46
,
56
,
63
,
85
,
121–22

Stern, Isaac,
93

Strong, George Templeton,
11–12,
212

Stuyvesant, Peter,
16
,
34

Stuyvesant, Rutherfurd,
16
,
17

Suydam, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Lispenard,
12

Tatum, Tarant,
47

Tchaikovsky, Modeste,
46

Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich,
46–47

Terry, Mr. and Mrs. Seymour,
210

Thomas, Vassal,
212

Thomson, Virgil,
158

Tiffany, Charles L.,
12

Tiny Tim,
185

Twain, Mark,
45

Tweed, William Marcy “Boss,”
7
,
68

Vanderbilt, Gloria,
216

Vanderbilt, Mr. and Mrs. William H.,
222

Vanderbilt, Mrs. William K.,
14
,
141

Vanderbilt, Willie K.,
65

Vanderbilt family,
3
,
19
,
64
,
65
,
233

Vassichekof, Prince George,
216

Verdon, Gwen,
85

Vesley, Mrs. Elise,
69–70

Victoria, Frederick,
70
,
113–14
,
115–16
,
130
,
132–33
,
134
,
155–56
,
204

Victoria, Mrs. Frederick,
70

Wager, Michael,
158
,
159
,
161
,
211–12
,
213

Wakabayashi, Hiro,
85

Ward, Adela T.,
129

Warhol, Andy,
157
,
185

Warner brothers,
159

Washington, George,
220

Weinstein, Frederic,
76–77
,
146
,
149
,
152
,
153
,
154
,
159
,
161
,
162–64
,
223

Weinstein, Mrs. Suzanne,
76
,
77
,
152
,
153
,
159
,
161
,
163
,
164

Weisgal, Meyer,
211

Wertmuller, Lina,
215

West, Dr. Davenport,
61

West, Mrs. Davenport,
60–61
,
62
,
110

Wharton, Edith,
11
,
15
,
17

White, E. B.,
231

Williams, Tennessee,
193

Wise, Rabbi Stephen,
120

Wood, Josephine,
141

Worth, Irene,
122

Wright, Theresa,
85

Yates, Peter,
227

Zeckendorf, William J.,
86
,
89
,
93
,
94
,
95
,
96
,
97
,
98
,
109
,
188

Zeckendorf, Mrs. William J.,
96

Ziegfeld, Florenz,
112
,
120

Acknowledgments

A book about an apartment house is, of necessity, a book about people, and there are a number of people at the Dakota whom I would like to thank for their impressions, memories, anecdotes and for sharing with me their feelings for the building. In particular, I am grateful to Miss Lauren Bacall, Mr. Ward Bennett, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Blanchard, Mr. and Mrs. Sanford Blank, Miss Adele Browning, Mr. George Davison-Ackley, Mr. Edward O. D. Downes, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Ellman, Mr. Peter Fink, Miss Roberta Flack, Miss Ruth Ford, Mr. Paul Goldberger, Miss Sheila Joan Herbert, Miss Anne Ives, Mrs. C. D. Jackson, Mr. Warner LeRoy, Mr. Richard Lukins, Mr. David Marlow, Mr. Jimmy Martin, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Maysles, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Nitze, Mrs. Pauline Pinto, Mr. Rex Reed, Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Paul Segal, Dr. and Mrs. B. Scott Severns, Mr. Guedaliahou Shiva, Mr. and Mrs. Allen Staley, Mr. Anthony Victoria, Mr. Frederick Victoria, Mr. Michael Wager, Mr. and Mrs. Frederic Weinstein and Mrs. Dorothy P. West.

For the woman who is considered “the heart of the Dakota,” Miss Winifred Bodkin, a special word of thanks.

I am also indebted to a number of others—former Dakotans as well as men and women who at one point or another have had the Dakota's interests at heart and helped determine its fortune—among them Mr. Ernest Gross, Miss Marya Mannes, Mr. George Beane, Mr. William Miller, Mr. William Quinlan, Mrs. Charles Quinlan, Mr. Louis J. Glickman, Mrs. W. Rodman Fay, and Mr. Stephen C. Clark. For making available to me their files on the Dakota's architectural and social history, I would like to thank especially Mr. Andrew Alpern, A.I.A., and the trustees and staff of the New York State Historical Society in Cooperstown, New York.

The finicky eye, intelligence and taste of my editor at Random House, Charlotte Leon Mayerson, has affected nearly every page that
follows. And, as always, I must thank my friend and agent, Mrs. Carol Brandt, for her cool guidance of the project from the outset.

While all of these people contributed in some way to this book, I alone must hold myself accountable for any errors or shortcomings.

S. B.

About the Author

Stephen Birmingham is an American author of more than thirty books. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1932, he graduated from Williams College in 1953 and taught writing at the University of Cincinnati. Birmingham's work focuses on the upper class in America. He's written about the African American elite in
Certain People
and prominent Jewish society in
Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York
,
The Grandees: The Story of America's Sephardic Elite
, and
The Rest of Us: The Rise of America's Eastern European Jews
. His work also encompasses several novels including
The Auerbach Will
,
The LeBaron Secret
,
Shades of Fortune
, and
The Rothman Scandal
, and other nonfiction titles such as
California Rich
,
The Grandes Dames
, and
Life at the Dakota: New York's Most Unusual Address
. Birmingham lives in southwest Ohio.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

Copyright © 1979 by Stephen Birmingham

Cover design by Angela Goddard

ISBN: 978-1-5040-2631-4

This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

345 Hudson Street

New York, NY 10014

www.openroadmedia.com