Daniel S. Levy - Manhattan Phoenix: The Great Fire of 1835 and the Emergence of Modern New York

ALSO BY DANIEL S. LEVY

Two-Gun Cohen: A Biography

The Great Fire of 1835 devastated Lower Manhattan, but the clearing away of the older sections of New York accelerated the citys unparalleled northward growth.

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Daniel S. Levy 2022

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ISBN 978-0-19-538237-2

eISBN 978-0-19-975246-1

DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780195382372.001.0001

For my Three Muses

Lillie, Clara, and Emma

Silence? What can New Yorknoisy, roaring, rumbling, tumbling bustling, stormy, turbulent New Yorkhave to do with silence? Amid the universal clatter, the incessant din of business, the all swallowing vortex of the great money whirlpool, the strife and the warfare, and the fever and the tremblingwho has any, even distant, idea, of the profound repose, the hushed lethargy of silence?

Walt Whitman, New York Aurora, March 19, 1842

As long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by my hometown, and in the fall of my sophomore year at New York University I took a class called Exploring Architecture in New York. The course was taught by Professor Carol Krinsky. For our final assignment she had us study a stretch of the city, and I diligently catalogued all the buildings along Sixth Avenue from 20th Street through 54th Street. As I prepared my paper, I went to see Professor Krinsky. While she was impressed that I had described all the structures, she then asked me to think about why, for instance, Richard Upjohns Gothic Revival Church of the Holy Communion stood on 20th Street, what brought about Bryant Park alongside 42nd, and what was the reason for the series of postWorld War II towers that march up the avenue in the 40s and 50s? Professor Krinsky made me realize that I needed to not only look at what was there, but to try and understand what went into the creation of an intricate urban area like New York.

I continued to study the citys history, explored the town with my high school friend Danny Luey, did research on the streams and waterways of Manhattan for South Street Seaport Museums Seaport magazine, and earned a masters degree in architectural preservation at Columbia University, where my thesis dealt with a firemens monument set in the shadow of Trinity Church, Upjohns first great creation.

Manhattan Phoenix is the result of years of thought and research on New York, and how and why it transformed from a large urban center to a world metropolis. There are numerous people along with Professor Krinsky and Danny Luey whom I would like to thank for helping me understand and explore the city I love. My agents Michael Carlisle and Ethan Bassoff at InkWell Management long knew of my interest in New York and encouraged me to put together the proposal. They then brought it by Oxford University Press, where Timothy Bent and Niko Pfund accepted the idea. Throughout the writing of this book, Tim has been a very, very patient editor who suggested insightful points, both large and small, for the volume you now hold.

I was fortunate to have three sharp-eyed readers. My old friend and Time magazine colleague David Bjerkliewho also read the manuscript for my previous book, Two-Gun Cohendiligently went through the pages and offered helpful thoughts, as did historians Marika Plater and Nicholas Sage.

Needless to say, as I worked on this volume I spent a lot of time in libraries and archives reading through old newspapers, letters, diaries, and planning records. One of my main homes away from home was the New-York Historical Society, that treasure trove of the citys past on Central Park West, and am grateful for the help of much of the staff, especially Edward OReilly, Mariam Touba, and Jean Ashton. Another hangout of mine was Columbia Universitys libraries, where I passed many months searching the stacks. Some of the other librarians who have assisted me over the years include Helen Beckert at the Glen Ridge Public Library, Lori Chien at the Jervis Public Library, Laura Ruttum at the New York Public Library, Marissa Maggs at Trinity Churchs archives, John Zarrillo at New York Universitys archives, Michelle Kennedy at South Street Seaport Museum, D.A. Levy at the Maritime Heritage Project, as well as those at the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the New York City Municipal Archives, Harvard Universitys Baker and Houghton Libraries, Yale Universitys Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, the Hagley Museum and Library, the Museum of the City of New York, the National Canal Museum Archives, the American Antiquarian Society, the Oberlin College Archives, and not to forget the digital libraries created and maintained by those at the Internet Archive, HathiTrust Digital Library, Google Books, and Newspapers.com.

Joseph Pierro helped me appreciate the forces at play in preCivil War America, and others whom I want to acknowledge include Peter-Christian Aigner, Anne Brown, William Liam Dickson, David Gary, Koko T.G.O. Levy, Lisa and Michael Luey, Jonathan Petropoulos, and Mike Wallace.

This book took a long time to write, and there was a running joke in my home where I would say to my wife, Lillie, and my daughters, Clara and Emma, Did you know that I am writing a book on preCivil War New York? They would without fail look surprised, smile, and say, Really! We didnt know that. Throughout, they encouraged my exploration of New York and embraced the volumes presence in our house with humor, patience, and love.

The fire that started at the Chambers livery stable spread quickly. Fueled by bales of hay, and whipped up by heavy winds from the west on that May evening in 1828, the blaze on Bayard Street between the Bowery and Elizabeth Street hopped to nearby buildings, so that by the time firemen like Morris Franklin of the Brass Back Engine Company arrived, a reporter for the New York American noted how the horizon was lighted up with bursts of flames, which were visible from various parts of the city.

The Bowery Theatre stood nearby. Manager Charles Antonio Gilfert had been busy finalizing plans for a festive benefit for his wife, the British actress Agnes Holman Gilfert, who was to appear in the tragedy