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The last great building to go up along New Yorkâs Gold Coast, construction on 740 Park finished in 1930. Since then, 740 has been home to an ever-evolving cadre of our wealthiest and most powerful families, some of Americaâs (and the worldâs) oldest moneyâthe kind attached to names like Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Bouvier, Chrysler, Niarchos, Houghton, and Harknessâand some whose names evoke the excesses of todayâs monied elite: Kravis, Koch, Bronfman, Perelman, Steinberg, and Schwarzman. All along, the building has housed titans of industry, political power brokers, international royalty, fabulous scam-artists, and even the lowest scoundrels.
The book begins with the tumultuous story of the buildingâs construction. Conceived in the bubbling financial, artistic, and social cauldron of 1920âs Manhattan, 740 Park rose to its dizzying heights as the stock market plunged in 1929âthe building was in dire financial straits before the first apartments were sold. The builders include the architectural genius Rosario Candela, the scheming businessman James T. Lee (Jacqueline Kennedy Onassisâs grandfather), and a raft of financiers, many of whom were little more than white-collar crooks and grand-scale hustlers.
Once finished, 740 became a magnet for the richest, oldest families in the country: the Brewsters, descendents of the leader of the Plymouth Colony; the socially-registered Bordens, Hoppins, Scovilles, Thornes, and Schermerhorns; and top executives of the Chase Bank, American Express, and U.S. Rubber. Outside the walls of 740 Park, these were the people shaping America culturally and economically. Within those walls, they were indulging in all of the Seven Deadly Sins.
As the social climate evolved throughout the last century, so did 740 Park: after World War II, the buildingâs rulers eased their more restrictive policies and began allowing Jews (though not to this day African Americans) to reside within their hallowed walls. Nowadays, it is full to bursting with new money, people whose fortunes, though freshly-made, are large enough to buy their way in.
At its core this book is a social history of the American rich, and how the locus of power and influence has shifted haltingly from old bloodlines to new money. But itâs also much more than that: filled with meaty, startling, often tragic stories of the people who lived behind 740âs walls, the book gives us an unprecedented access to worlds of wealth, privilege, and extraordinary folly that are usually hidden behind a scrim of money and influence. This is, truly, how the other halfâor at least the other one hundredth of one percentâlives.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
December 18, 2007 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
- ISBN: 9780307418760
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780307418760
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780307418760
- File size: 1909 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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August 8, 2005
Of all Manhattan's fabled East Side dwellings of the super-rich, 740 Park Avenue has perhaps the best pedigree. Designed by Rosario Candela and developed by James T. Lee, Jackie O's maternal grandfather, as a cooperative haven for the elite, it had the misfortune to open just as the stock market crashed in 1930 and was forced to operate partly as a rental for some decades. The last sale was to Lee himself, for son-in-law "Black Jack" Bouvier, his wife and daughters Jackie and Lee. John D. Rockefeller Jr. signed a rental lease in 1936 for a massive apartment (more than 20,000 square feet), and Marshall Field III took another. Gross (Model
) has solidly researched the denizens of the building, who they were, what they did, and who and how many times they married. This information, while exhaustive, is also exhausting. Things perk up as we approach the modern era, and the old rich give way to a newer cast of sometimes dubious billionaires. Ron Perelman, Henry Kravis, Steve Ross and Steve Schwartzman are cited among the newer tenants. A bit of a bore for average readers, this will be a useful tome for those interested in New York's social history. Agent, Dan Strone
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October 15, 2005
In 1930, one of the grandest Manhattan apartment buildings opened for occupancy. Designed by leading architect Rosario Candela and built by developer James T. Lee, the grandfather of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, its simplexes, duplexes, and triplexes, with mansion proportions, provided comfortable shelter to many of the nation's wealthiest families and their servants. Gross (contributing editor, "Travel & Leisure" magazine; "Model") uses the building as a means of telling stories about its rich and famous inhabitants. Among those who lived at 740 Park Avenue were John D. Rockefeller Jr., the Bouviers, and, later, the Steinbergs, Perelmans, and Bronfmans. Gross tells the reader about Manhattan real estate development, social anti-Semitism, and how the richest live: their marriages, eccentric offspring, businesses reverses, and pet charities. It's a long book, much of it a work of synthesis from other titles, but it also offers quotes and anecdotes from the author's own interviews. In addition, it can sometimes be arduous to read, especially when Gross writes about one family, drops them for another, then picks them up in a later chapter. Floor plans on the book's endpapers (not seen) will help keep the reader oriented. Recommended for larger public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ "6/1/05.]" -Elaine Machleder, Bronx, NY"Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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