early New York City history - resources needed

Here is the site for NYC tax maps, past and present. I think it's not Mac friendly though: I'm having trouble getting into the FAQ.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/property/property_info_taxmaps.shtml

If anyone wants to give this a shot, see what they got?

Erica, I will see what I can find.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dakota

Suggest you research the architect..

Are you casing the joint??

http://www.startsandfits.com/hardenbergh/dakota.html

Here's something else

Rather than copy the 25+ references, I will direct you to them on Wikipedia for The Dakota.. Some of the books mentioned are on Google Books.

I checked the NY maps link you sent and I was able to open it. It has both current and historical tax maps. When I opened an old tax map and entered a block number (a number on the deed of my husband';s grandfather's farm which didn't lead to that property), I got a block number on a rectangle with street names around it. If you have more specific information, I can see what I can find for a particular property.

Fay found the same Wikipedia reference that I did.

Keep it coming, people!

My mother went to parties in the 1960s in this building hosted by a Countess Pina (?) something. She met all kinds of people there -- Eurotrash, film people, stage people ... never met John Lennon and Yoko Ono, though.

I'm also pretty sure there's a book (at least one) about the Dakota. Did anyone check google books or http://worldcat.org ?

Ah, the architect should definitely be in the Project! Also the building owners in the past (I believe it's cooperative now and has been for a long time).

Also, the original farm it was built on!

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/UWS/UWS017.htm
http://nymag.com/listings/attraction/the-dakota/

Oh - I had forgotten that "Rosemary's Baby" was filmed there.

Here are some names to find profiles on geni that I can make MPs and load to the Project I'll start:

The Dakota is also famous for being the home at one point or another of many other celebrities—Judy Garland, Yoko Ono, Lauren Bacall, Leonard Bernstein, Rex Reed, William Inge, and Connie Chung. When it was completed in 1884, this grand apartment building was located in an unfashionable and desolate district, which prompted New Yorkers to quip that it was as distant as the Dakota Territory. The name stuck even as the building’s fame and success spurred the area’s subsequent transformation into the populous Upper West Side. Designed by architect Henry J. Hardenbergh of Plaza Hotel fame, the nine-story Dakota still stands out among its posh neighbors.

Here's the book I was thinking of, the writer is really great:

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Dakota-Yorks-Unusual-Address/dp/081560338X

Amazon had the book for a penny plus shipping, so I treated myself. I'm excited.

The Dakota? I thought you were talking early New York City history. One of my immigrant relatives was a constable type on Staten Island, both when it was New York and New Amsterdam. If they are still cutting down trees and farming on Manhattan Island, that's early New York City to me.

Gedeon "La Plante" Merlet

I've got these books on my amazon wish lists:

http://www.amazon.com/Manhattan-Maps-1527-1995-Paul-Cohen/dp/084782...

http://www.amazon.com/Mannahatta-Natural-History-York-City/dp/08109...

http://www.amazon.com/Mapping-New-York-Black-Publishing/dp/19061558...

http://www.amazon.com/Historic-Maps-Views-New-York/dp/1579125948/re...

Also this one for fun:

http://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-New-York-Views-Metropolis/dp/006075...

Lol, oops sorry. I see you wanted specific info about the Dakota. I was skimming.

Just created a profile for Henry Janeway Hardenbergh.

Henry Janeway Hardenbergh

Just created a profile for devloper of the Dakota, and co-founder of the Singer Sewing Machine Company, Edward C. Clark (Singer Sewing Machine Company)

My husband's great uncle Robert A. Slattery Jr. was NYPD who enlisted in WWI. He was the first NYC policeman killed in the war, in the Battle of Meheil, France. Slattery Park in the Bronx is named in his honor. Anyone familiar with the park and its location? (I live in Texas).
My father-in-law was also NYPD. He used to work in Fort Apache the Bronx, if you have ever seen the Paul Newman? movie. My husband wears his ring with badge number.
His great-grandfather was a stone cutter who helped carve those beautiful decorations on the buildings of NYC. He was an immigrant from Germany.

Nice work, Peter!

Sounds like you're up for a Dakota Project? I just think it would be nice to work in a little more current time for once :)

Not to mention the 1980 historical event ...

Yoko Ono
John Lennon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_David_Chapman doesn't seem to have a Geni profile ....

This is very interesting! What's up with John and Yoko, though--they should definitely be made Master Profiles so they can go up in the Celebrities section!

I haven't encroached on "celebrity dom" yet myself. But I can feel it coming on thru a Dakota Building project .... they had some wild parties there I've been too ...

Someone should go make a Mark David Chapman profile. :)

I think I read the other day that Lauren Bacall was living in the building in 1980 and heard the four gunshots, although she thought it was a motorcycle backfiring. I will put aside my strong feelings on the matter and see about making a profile for Chapman.

Laura

LOL. And to feel better, how about Lauren Bacall? Post her URL and see if there's an MP to be stolen I mean made there. I adore Lauren.

Here's Chapman's profile: Mark David Chapman
According to the research I found (which may be sketchy but is at least somewhat sourced, here: http://www.wargs.com/other/chapman.html) he can be traced back to fairly prominent Connecticut lines, including some Mayflower relatives. Needs a lot more research, though.
Here's Lauren Bacall (AKA Betty Perske)'s profile. Lauren Bacall
There are only a couple of duplicates which I will see about merging. I adore her (and Humphrey!) too!

Wait a minute -- Chapman ties to the Mayflowers??? That is kind of hilarious, isn't it.

Well done and keep going. I just put my curatorial mark on him and Betty. You did grab Jason Robards and the sublime Humphrey too, right?

Who hoo I stole some movie stars! heh. The Dakota rocks.

Did the Dakota pass through various ownership, or has it been one owner? When did it turn cooperative and through what kind of process (contentious or business like)? Is there a list of former presidents of the coop board?

For instance, Mary Tyler Moore is in a famous building, her husband was president, and they got into a big battle about the falcons that nested on the bldg (they objected to the mess the birds made: the rest of the residents thought they had bird brains when such a wonderful thing had happened to their building ...)