Friday, October 26, 2012
The Ansonia
According to Wikipedia, The Ansonia (a hotel on the Upper West Side) had a rooftop farm back in the early 20th century that "included about 500 chickens, many ducks, about six goats and a small bear." Dairy cows could be stabled on the roof. A bellhop would bring free fresh eggs to hotel inhabitants every morning. Can you even imagine?
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How did you come across that? The rest of the hotel's history is pretty interesting too -- it was the site of a gay bathhouse, a heterosexual swingers' club, and Bette Midler's debut!
ReplyDeleteNext time we're both in New York, I think we should take a little side trip to see this place. Apparently now it's mostly an apartment building. I wonder if the roof retains any traces of the farm, or if the inside retains any traces of the bathhouse.
ReplyDeleteI heard about the old Ansonia hotel in a Kindle book about marriages between American heiresses and impoverished English aristocrats at the turn of the century (pretty interesting and informative book!). The niece of the man who developed the hotel was one of the American heiresses. She became Baroness Halkett of Hanover, but later divorced the Baron and went on to write and illustrate children's books.