The Kingdom of Jehovah’s Witnesses

409 Central Park West

by Tom Miller

In April 1908, Nathan Marks filed plans for a “two-story brick and stone light store” at 409 Central Park West.  (A “light store” meant there would be no heavy manufacturing done.)  A sort of one-man show, Marks acted as the owner, architect, builder and tenant for the project.  Completed within the year, the 25-foot-wide building cost him $12,000 to construct, or about $410,000 in 2024 terms.

Nathan Marks was the owner of the Central Carpet Cleaning Company.  His new building featured a large show window on the first floor.  The second floor was nearly double height to accommodate a mezzanine where, most likely, Marks’s office was located.  The façade at this level was more glass than masonry, flooding the interior with natural light.  On the roof, were racks for drying carpets.

An advertisement for Central Carpet Cleaning Company in the Jewish Daily News in April 1916 boasted its wide range of services.  It noted, “Oriental rugs washed, cleaned and repaired by experts,” as well as providing storing, dyeing, and renovating rugs and carpeting.  “Carpets in halls and stairways taken up, thoroughly cleaned, and relayed,” it promised.

A sort of one-man show, Marks acted as the owner, architect, builder and tenant for the project. 

Nathan Marks and his wife Myra sold the building in December 1921 to Oriental rug importer V. H. Burgujian, who had a second store at 349 Columbus Avenue.   Like Central Carpet Cleaning, V. H. Burgujian & Co. offered an array of services.  An advertisement in May 1927 listed, “cleaning, dyeing, repairing, storing” and appraisals of Oriental rugs and carpets.

Around 1932, United Carpet Cleaning & Repairing Co., Inc. occupied the second floor.  Considering the overlapping of services, it is likely that it and V. H. Burgujian were co-owned.  The two firms remained in the building through the late 1940s.

A somewhat surprising tenant signed a lease in 1950.  The Canadian Jewish Review reported on the newly organized Congregation Beth Moshe, saying “a five-year lease has been taken on the second floor of the building at 409 Central Park West…The interior of the synagogue is now being completed.  The synagogue will also have a kindergarten and Hebrew school.”

The congregation left in 1954, a year before the lease was up.  The ground floor was taken by Admiration, Inc., the publisher of the newly founded Admiration magazine, and the second floor by Parkview Studios, a charm school.  Admiration was described by Printers’ Ink that year as “a monthly fashion magazine for Negro women.”

The close relationship (and possibly identical ownership) of the two tenants was evidenced when the magazine sponsored the Miss Bronze America contest held at the Manhattan Center on June 27 that year.  On June 17, the New York Post reported, “A special television and movie screen test will be one of the prizes for the winner…Other prizes include a mink stole, a two-week expense-paid vacation and a 32-week scholarship at the Parkview Studios.”

An advertisement for Parkview Studios in The New York Age on October 30, 1954, began, “You can be the glamourous well-groomed, charming lady you’ve always wanted to be whether you are a career-woman, housewife, or college girl, self improvement is in store for you.”  Among the long list of “exclusive charm courses” were “graceful carriage,” “effective diction,” “wardrobe techniques,” “figure streamlining,” and “social graces.”

The 1908 design was altered to a nearly windowless, featureless façade.

Admiration magazine did not last.  In 1955, the first floor was leased to a tailor shop and dry cleaner.  When Parkview Studios left in the 1960s, the second floor was taken by the International Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses. 

The congregation purchased the building in 1975 and expanded into both floors.  The 1908 design was altered to a nearly windowless, featureless façade.  Only Nathan Marks’s cast iron frame survived.  A subsequent remodeling in 2005 resulted in a textured beige brick veneer and two stacked windows at the second floor. 

Shortly after those renovations were completed, on July 6, 2006, Cult News reported that the Jehovah’s Witnesses were selling the air rights.  The article explained, “The Witnesses want $4.5 million for the ‘air rights’ to this property and expect to stay on the first three [sic] floors, allowing a developer to build on top or adjacent to the property.”  The congregation, apparently, had no takers and the little building with its long history remains unchanged since its 2005 renovation.

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