Bretton Hall Garage aka Church of the Redeemer

150 West 83rd Street

by Tom Miller

In 1910, when most vehicles in Manhattan were still pulled by horses, Max A. Cramer established the Bretton Hall Garage Co. and hired George F. Pelham to design an automobile garage at 150 through 156 West 83rd Street.  Pelham, known mostly for designing apartment buildings, fashioned the four-story, brick-faced structure in the Arts & Crafts style.  Below terra cotta panels on the four central ground floor piers were lamps.  Their milk glass globes were nestled in clawlike holders on cast iron arms.  The openings of the upper section were separated by rusticated brick piers.

Shortly after its completion, the Bretton Hall Garage building figured in a city investigation into graft within the Building Department.  On April 4, 1911, The New York Times reported on a scandal concerning inspectors taking bribes from contractors.  One piece of evidence came from the Keystone Construction Company, which did the ironwork for the Bretton Hall Garage building.  It was a bill for $10 to the iron inspector, who requested, “Kindly send check so this won’t show up on our books and oblige.”

In 1913 Max A. Cramer employed 50 men here.

The Bretton Hall Garage not only provided parking for clients, but maintained their automobiles, fueled them, and very often worked as an intermediary between customers and potential buyers when selling their cars.  A typical advertisement appeared in The New York Times on October 23, 1912, for a 7-passenger, 1913 model Packard touring car.  “Car used less than 4,000 miles.  Completely equipped,” said the ad.  Anyone interested was directed to contact the Breton Hall Garage.

To perform the many services offered—including washing the vehicles–a large staff was necessary.  In 1913 Max A. Cramer employed 50 men here.  

A decade after its opening, the Bretton Hall Garage still helped to liquidate its patrons’ cars.  An ad in the New York Herald on February 6, 1921, read:

For Sale—Locomobile limousine, special Healey body, 1916 model; has had careful use; Westinghouse shock absorbers; one new extra tire; may be seen any time at the Bretton Hall Garage, 150 W. 83d st.

Two months later, a client who was leaving the country for an extended period was looking to rent not only his vehicle, but his chauffeur.  His ad, titled “Exceptional Opportunity,” offered, “Party going to Europe will rent 7 passenger Pierce-Arrow touring car, late model, perfect condition, with reliable chauffeur.  Car can be seen at Bretton Hall Garage.”

The building was altered in 1970 for partners Oded Benary and Josef Billig, who operated Jo-Don Cycles, Inc., a Honda motorcycle showroom, as well as the Midget Trucking Corporation.  The Israeli-born Josef Billig, described by The New York Times in 1974 as “short and red-headed,” was president of Honda of New York.  On January 7, 1974, The Times described 150 West 83rd Street as “hardly in the high-rent district.”  Nevertheless, the partners employed about a dozen people, and their overhead, including payroll and rent, amounted to $200,000 a year—about $1.25 million in 2024.

It appears that Josef Billig devised a way to cut costs—by not paying parking tickets his 30 trucks amassed.  By the beginning of 1974, the unpaid fines had ballooned to $30,000 (about $185,000 today).  On January 22, police officers John G. Armstrong and Henry Junge arrived at 150 West 83rd Street to execute judgments.  Once again, Billig looked for a cheaper way out.  He offered the policemen a $50 bribe, which they refused.  When he raised the amount to $500 each, they accepted and agreed to return the next day to get payment.  Armstrong and Junge immediately went back to their stationhouse and reported the bribe.  When they returned the next day, they arrested Billig for attempting to bribe his way out of paying the judgments.

On January 22, police officers John G. Armstrong and Henry Junge arrived at 150 West 83rd Street to execute judgments.

In the meantime, in 1989, a group of about 15 people established a prayer group which would grow into the Redeemer Presbyterian Church.  In 2011, it acquired the former Bretton Hall Garage building and hired the firm of Gertier & Wente Architects to renovate it into the W83 Ministry Center—a seven-story worship and community center.  According to the website of Sciame Construction, “Redeemer required that their new building…serve the practical needs of the church, yet blend aesthetically with the neighboring residential apartments and brownstone buildings.”

Tragically, in February 2011, two ironworkers lost their footing while installing steel beams on the fifth floor of an elevator shaft.  Brett McEnroe, 49, and Roy Powell, who was 51, fell 65 feet to their deaths.  The New York Times reported on February 8 that they “were not wearing harnesses—which are not required by law—when the fell.”  (Possibly partly because of this tragedy, safety harnesses are now required by New York City at elevations over six feet.)

Completed in March 2012, the W83 Ministry Center holds a 725-seat concert hall, a roof terrace, an art gallery, and two floors of classrooms and meeting spaces, as well as the worship space.

Tom Miller is a social historian and blogger at daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com

Be a part of history!

Stay local to support the nonprofit currently at 150 West 83rd Street: