Automat Fans Unite! Save the Former Horn & Hardart Automat (Broadway & W. 104th Street, Manhattan)
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We, the undersigned, support the preservation of one of the last surviving automat structures in New York City.
Located on Broadway and West 104th Street in Manhattan, this joyous Art-Deco survivor was designed by F.P. Platt & Brother and built in 1930. Telltale signs of its former use include the faзades monumental, arched show window (the better to reveal the technological marvels within) and ravishing polychrome terra-cotta ornamentation, which remain largely intact despite later storefront remodelings (for images, please go to http://www.landmarkwest.org/advocacy/automat.html).
Coin-operated glass-and-chrome wonders, Horn & Hardarts Automats revolutionized the way Americans ate when they opened up in Philadelphia and New York in the early twentieth century. In a country where the industrial revolution had just taken hold, eating at a restaurant with self-serve vending machines rather than waitresses and Art-Deco architecture instead of stuffy dining rooms was an unforgettable experience. The Automat served freshly made food for the price of a few coins, and no one made a better cup of coffee. By the peak of its popularity from the Great Depression to the post-war years the Automat was more than an inexpensive place to buy a good meal; it was a culinary treasure and an emblem of the times.
On Tuesday, October 17, 2006, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission will hold a public hearing to consider designating this building as an official NYC Landmark. We have lost too many former Automats already, most recently the one on West 57th Street in Manhattan. Let's not lose the opportunity to save this one!
Located on Broadway and West 104th Street in Manhattan, this joyous Art-Deco survivor was designed by F.P. Platt & Brother and built in 1930. Telltale signs of its former use include the faзades monumental, arched show window (the better to reveal the technological marvels within) and ravishing polychrome terra-cotta ornamentation, which remain largely intact despite later storefront remodelings (for images, please go to http://www.landmarkwest.org/advocacy/automat.html).
Coin-operated glass-and-chrome wonders, Horn & Hardarts Automats revolutionized the way Americans ate when they opened up in Philadelphia and New York in the early twentieth century. In a country where the industrial revolution had just taken hold, eating at a restaurant with self-serve vending machines rather than waitresses and Art-Deco architecture instead of stuffy dining rooms was an unforgettable experience. The Automat served freshly made food for the price of a few coins, and no one made a better cup of coffee. By the peak of its popularity from the Great Depression to the post-war years the Automat was more than an inexpensive place to buy a good meal; it was a culinary treasure and an emblem of the times.
On Tuesday, October 17, 2006, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission will hold a public hearing to consider designating this building as an official NYC Landmark. We have lost too many former Automats already, most recently the one on West 57th Street in Manhattan. Let's not lose the opportunity to save this one!
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Goal
248 signatures
Goal: 100
Latest Signatures
5 December 2015
248.
Kate S
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As a former resident of that neighborhood, I would like to add my name to those already here. It is a lovely building and one of the few left where on a nostalgic day, you can squint your eyes and feel the flavor of a different time. Please don't take it
18 November 2015
3 October 2015
246.
Marcella B
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the interesting and diverse architecture is one of the things that makes new york special. let's keep and treasure our diversity by landmarking those that are special.
21 September 2015
18 August 2015
12 August 2015
243.
Paulette R
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Please Preseve the automat --bring it back!
Address
106 Morningside Drive #89, NY,NY 10027
9 August 2015
17 July 2015
15 July 2015
11 July 2015
239.
Rick B
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One of the last memories of my father before he died was our trip to the automat somewhere near Times Square. I was twelve years old but I remember the day as if it were yesterday. My dad was amazed at the shear size of the place, and I was mesmerized by
5 July 2015
20 June 2015
24 May 2015
236.
Kevin K
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We and our children have grown up enjoying the view of the old Automat--one of the most beautiful buildings in a neighborhood that is rapidly being demolished by overdevelopment. If there is any edifice that deserves to be kept in its original form, it is
14 May 2015
5 May 2015
2 May 2015
25 April 2015
3 March 2015
3 March 2015
23 February 2015
14 January 2015
1 January 2015
31 October 2014
13 October 2014
3 October 2014
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