Congregation B’nai Israel Chaim

353 West 84th Street

by Tom Miller

Prolific Upper West Side architect Clarence F. True designed a row of five brick and stone rowhouses for developer Richard G. Platt in 1896.  Completed the following year, the Renaissance Revival style homes stretched from 349 to 357 West 84th Street, just steps from upscale Riverside Drive.

The center house, 353 West 84th Street, was originally purchased by W. C. Fisk, who sold it in September 1902 to attorney Wolcott Griswold Lane and his wife, the former Edith G. Perkins.  Born in Sandusky, Ohio, Lane graduated from Yale Law School and was now a member of the law firm Lane & Trafford.  He was well known for his work in probate law as well as welfare work.  Edith, the daughter of General Joseph G. Perkins, was heavily involved in charity work.  Their country estate was in Old Lyme, Connecticut.

In February 1913, Wolcott and Edith purchased 15 East 74th Street, a brownstone erected around 1869.  They hired the architectural firm of Hewitt & Bottomley to transform it into a modern, five-story residence.  When the renovations were completed seven years later, they offered 353 West 84th Street for sale at auction.  The Record & Guide noted on September 3, “The house is in excellent condition, is near Riverside Drive, and would make an ideal residence for a medical practitioner.”  The article noted that nearby was the mansion of Isaac L. Rice, “the residence of William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper owner, and the former home of Bishop Potter.”

He was one of the more than 26,000 soldiers killed in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in 1918. 

The West 84th Street house was purchased by Walter Kerr, vice-president of the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company.  Kerr was born in Newburgh, New York in 1852.  He was hired by The New York Life Insurance and Trust Company when he was a young man and it was the only firm he had ever worked for.  Two years after moving into 353 West 84th Street, he became its president.

Living with Kerr, who was recently widowed, were his young adult children, Leila and George S.  When America entered World War I, George enlisted in the 165th Infantry.  He was one of more than 26,000 soldiers killed in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in 1918.

Being the only daughter of a wealthy executive had its advantages, and in 1919 Leila owned her own motorcar.  The 30-year-old incurred the ire of Magistrate House on June 6 that year after she was caught “operating her automobile on Park Avenue at 26 miles an hour as a second offense,” according to The New York Times.  Leila pleaded guilty, then received a tongue-lashing from the judge, who said in part,

I don’t like to say harsh things, but as sure as you are here before me now, if you ever come back again you will lose your license to drive.  I have been sending a great many repeaters to jail because we are going to discourage people from coming back here again.

Leila paid a hefty $50 fine—equal to more than $880 in 2024.

The following year, on the evening of April 24, 1920, William Kerr suffered a fatal heart attack in the house.  He was 67 years old.  His funeral was held in the parlor on the morning of April 27.

Leila inherited 353 West 84th Street.  She offered it for sale in August and moved into an 18th-floor suite at the Hotel Ambassador on Park Avenue.  Tragically, the loss of her entire family within a matter of a few years weighed heavily on the young woman.  According to her uncle, John B. Kerr, in December 1928, “she had been melancholy since the death of her parents and brother several years ago and had become virtually a recluse.”  On December 14, 1928, Leila Kerr dressed “in an afternoon frock,” as described by The New York Times, reclined on the bed, and fired a .38 caliber bullet into her temple.

In the meantime, the 84th Street house had been purchased by Felix Isman.  Born in February 1873 in Philadelphia, he married Irene Frizell on February 14, 1906.  Calling him an “audacious real estate speculator,” a year after his marriage, The New York Times said, “Although only 33 years old, he has amassed in six years a fortune estimated at from $10,000,000 to $30,000,000 and has handled a billion dollars’ worth of real estate.”  (Isman’s personal fortune in 1907 would translate to nearly $335 million on the higher end today.)

The Ismans filled the house with a fine collection of antiques and artworks.  The Times said he “has a fortune in paintings hung on the walls.  He has three Millets, one of the finest Daubignys owned in this country, paintings by Corot, Cazin, Harpignies, Delacroix, Jules Dupre, Isabey as well as some of the modern Dutch masters.”  His library contained a valuable collection of first editions.

“Although only 33 years old, he has amassed in six years a fortune estimated at from $10,000,000 to $30,000,000 and has handled a billion dollars’ worth of real estate.”

Irene dabbled in thoroughbred horses.  In 1906, she purchased Electioneer, which won about $25,000 for her within a year.

Irene Fenwick Isman died on December 24, 1936, at the age of 49.  Felix survived her by seven years, dying on September 12, 1943, at the age of 70.

The Isman house was renovated in 1955 by Congregation B’Nai Israel Chaim.  The first and second floors were converted to a synagogue.  The third and fourth floors now held one apartment each.  One of those apartments was home to Rabbi Haskel Besser and his wife Liba.

Born in Katowice, Poland, in 1923, Besser escaped from the Nazi and Soviet invasions of 1939 and arrived in New York in 1949.  After the war, he worked to locate Jews and to rebuild Jewish communities in Poland.  Rabbi Besser partnered with Ronald S. Lader and served as the director of the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation for Poland.

In 2004, Warren Kozak published The Rabbi of 84th Street: The Extraordinary Life of Haskel Besser.  Six years later, on February 9, 2010, the impactful cleric died.

Congregation B’nai Israel Chaim continues to own and occupy the former mansion.  Outwardly, it has changed little since W. C. Fisk moved in in 1897.

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

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