During the prewar era there were obviously very many developers operating in New York City, and many were quite prolific. Like today, the major players in New York real estate had a degree of fame, and with it, name recognition. One of the best known was the firm of Bing & Bing. In a...

The architectural firm of Rouse & Goldstone was very successful in the early 20th Century, designing numerous high quality apartment houses, on both the Upper West and Upper East sides of Manhattan. They were among a select group of architectural practices with Jewish principals, including...

Gaetano (a.k.a. Gaetan) Ajello was born in Palermo, Sicily in 1883. He emigrated to the United States in 1902, dying in New York City in 1983 (at age 100). He practiced architecture for only about 20 years, from circa 1906 to 1926. Little is recorded of his architectural education, but most...

Schwartz and Gross were very talented and successful architects who designed buildings all over New York during the first half of the 20th Century. Their success is multi-layered, designing high quality buildings — and many of them — thereby contributing greatly to the Manhattan we know...

Emery Roth (Born in Sečovce, Austria-Hungary — now Slovakia — 1871, died New York City in 1948), is best known for defining the skyline along Central Park West, and designing the first twin towered building along that avenue. Roth was born to a comfortable, non-observant Jewish family. He...

Rosario Candela (born March 7, 1890 in Montelepre, Sicily, died October 3, 1953 in Mount Vernon, NY) is considered by many to be the most important architect of residential architecture during the prewar era. Candela immigrated to New York in 1906, returned to Sicily for study, and returned to...

James Edwin Ruthven Carpenter, Jr. (also known as J.E.R. Carpenter) (born January 7, 1867 in Maury County, Tennessee, died June 11, 1932 in New York City) was one of the most important architects of luxury apartment buildings in New York City during the prewar era. He was educated at the...