If a building could be called a Drama Queen, then NYC's most drama-filled building is the Ansonia on West 73rd-74th street and Broadway.
I've blogged about it a few times over the years -- and, again, did so long before many others, being ahead of my time!
It was built in the 19th-century by a copper heir named W.E.D Stokes who wanted to make it an urban Utopia -- a place where its residents could retreat from city's nuttiness and enter into a world of peace and happiness. It had sound-proof walls so that families could live quietly, and Stokes even had the idea of a roof-top farm (he was well-ahead of his time).
But soon the Ansonia became a den of inequity, with its rich tenants using its sound-proof apartments for parties and affairs. The Continental Baths opened in the basement, becoming a gathering for gay men. And it's also where Plato's Retreat existed for many years, NYC's most famous swingers club.
It's where the 1992 movies Single White Female was set (I've blogged about that too).
But it's not only sex and psychos that made the Ansonia drama filled -- from Day 1 it was a money-pit, Stokes's creation driving him into poverty. And it is the most litigated building in NYC history, with lawsuits flying between tenants and owners for decades.
The Ansonia is, of course, the inspiration for the fictional Arconia in Only Murders in the Building (although it's not filmed there).
Yes, the Ansonia is so drama-filled that it's had podcasts and videos made about it (see below). It's quite a saga!
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