Pomander Walk - A Storybook Community
Pomander Walk is a delightful re-creation of a Tudor Village that cuts through 94th and 95th Street and is bounded by Broadway and West End Avenue. Views from the street of an L-shaped lot reveal the bulk of the 27 unique buildings that make up this private residential complex and highlight the mish-mosh of materials including brick, gray ashlar stone, stucco, painted wood trim, half timbering, painted shutters and flower boxes used to construct them. What is not visible from the street and may only be admired through the holes of two locked gates on either side of the walk-way, is what will surely stop you in your tracks.
A Peek Through the Gate
Through either entrance way (the one on 94th Street has a stone arch crowned by a quaint metal sign with a crowing rooster) and up a few flights of steps, lies a secluded pedestrian only street, lined on each side by eight two-story houses; each with its own unique façade. Two old style iron lampposts stand, like book ends, on each side and every building has a lovely garden out front. It’s like a scene straight out of a storybook.
A View Today
Built in 1921, it was the brainchild of Thomas Healy, a local nightclub operator. Healy’s ultimate goal was to build a 16 story hotel, so Pomander Walk was only meant to be an interim improvement to the land which would be demolished once the final hotel plans were in place. He commissioned the architectural firm of King and Campbell to design a complex that would resemble a small London street. The inspiration was to come from the set of a popular play, “Pomander Walk”, by Lewis Parker, which opened on Broadway in 1910. Healy met an early death in 1927, so Pomander Walk remained.
Pomander Walk in the 1920’s
By the 1970’s the neighborhood had changed dramatically and the Walk itself had become less magical and more run-down. Developers were beginning to eye the land, for redevelopment. Thanks to the Landmark Preservation Commission, Pomander Walk was successfully designated as an Individual Landmark in 1982. It was around this same time that the development was also converted to a co-op. Apartments range in size from small studios to large apartments which take up the entire building.
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Pamela Ajhar
94th Street Gate and Rooster Sign