Washington, George, 220
Weinstein, Frederic, 76–77, 146, 149, 152, 153, 154, 159, 161, 162–64, 223
Weinstein, Mrs. Suzanne, 76, 77, 152, 153, 159, 161, 163, 164
Weisgal, Meyer, 211
Wertmuller, Lina, 215
West, Dr. Davenport, 61
West, Mrs. Davenport, 60–61, 62, 110
Wharton, Edith, 11, 15, 17
White, E. B., 231
Williams, Tennessee, 193
Wise, Rabbi Stephen, 120
Wood, Josephine, 141
Worth, Irene, 122
Wright, Theresa, 85
Yates, Peter, 227
Zeckendorf, William J., 86, 89, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 109, 188
Zeckendorf, Mrs. William J., 96
Ziegfeld, Florenz, 112, 120
Acknowledgments
A book about an apartment house is, of necessity, a book about people, and there are a number of people at the Dakota whom I would like to thank for their impressions, memories, anecdotes and for sharing with me their feelings for the building. In particular, I am grateful to Miss Lauren Bacall, Mr. Ward Bennett, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Blanchard, Mr. and Mrs. Sanford Blank, Miss Adele Browning, Mr. George Davison-Ackley, Mr. Edward O. D. Downes, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Ellman, Mr. Peter Fink, Miss Roberta Flack, Miss Ruth Ford, Mr. Paul Goldberger, Miss Sheila Joan Herbert, Miss Anne Ives, Mrs. C. D. Jackson, Mr. Warner LeRoy, Mr. Richard Lukins, Mr. David Marlow, Mr. Jimmy Martin, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Maysles, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Nitze, Mrs. Pauline Pinto, Mr. Rex Reed, Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Paul Segal, Dr. and Mrs. B. Scott Severns, Mr. Guedaliahou Shiva, Mr. and Mrs. Allen Staley, Mr. Anthony Victoria, Mr. Frederick Victoria, Mr. Michael Wager, Mr. and Mrs. Frederic Weinstein and Mrs. Dorothy P. West.
For the woman who is considered “the heart of the Dakota,” Miss Winifred Bodkin, a special word of thanks.
I am also indebted to a number of others—former Dakotans as well as men and women who at one point or another have had the Dakota’s interests at heart and helped determine its fortune—among them Mr. Ernest Gross, Miss Marya Mannes, Mr. George Beane, Mr. William Miller, Mr. William Quinlan, Mrs. Charles Quinlan, Mr. Louis J. Glickman, Mrs. W. Rodman Fay, and Mr. Stephen C. Clark. For making available to me their files on the Dakota’s architectural and social history, I would like to thank especially Mr. Andrew Alpern, A.I.A., and the trustees and staff of the New York State Historical Society in Cooperstown, New York.
The finicky eye, intelligence and taste of my editor at Random House, Charlotte Leon Mayerson, has affected nearly every page that follows. And, as always, I must thank my friend and agent, Mrs. Carol Brandt, for her cool guidance of the project from the outset.
While all of these people contributed in some way to this book, I alone must hold myself accountable for any errors or shortcomings.
S. B.
About the Author
Stephen Birmingham is an American author of more than thirty books. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1932, he graduated from Williams College in 1953 and taught writing at the University of Cincinnati. Birmingham’s work focuses on the upper class in America. He’s written about the African American elite in Certain People and prominent Jewish society in Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York, The Grandees: The Story of America’s Sephardic Elite, and The Rest of Us: The Rise of America’s Eastern European Jews. His work also encompasses several novels including The Auerbach Will, The LeBaron Secret, Shades of Fortune, and The Rothman Scandal, and other nonfiction titles such as California Rich, The Grandes Dames, and Life at the Dakota: New York’s Most Unusual Address. Birmingham lives in southwest Ohio.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
Copyright © 1979 by Stephen Birmingham
Cover design by Angela Goddard
ISBN: 978-1-5040-2631-4
This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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