444 East 58th Street

444 East 58th Street
444 East 58th Street in September 2025
General information
Type	Housing cooperative
Architectural style	Beaux-Arts
Location	444 East 58th Street, New York, NY, US
Coordinates	40.758077°N 73.960789°W / 40.758077; -73.960789
Completed	1901
Cost	$55,000
Owner	444-446 East 58th Owners Corp
Management	New Bedford Management Corp
Technical details
Floor count	6
Lifts/elevators	1
Design and construction
Architect	George F. Pelham
Other information
Number of units	26

444 East 58th Street is a six-story Beaux-Arts architecture residential cooperative in the Sutton Place neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Designed by George F. Pelham and completed in 1901 for Abraham Levy & Isaac Haft, the building was originally constructed as a middle-class walk-up rental before being retroffited with and elevtor in 1956. Its tripartite façade, enriched with mascarons, cartouches, and a projecting cornice, exemplifies early twentieth-century Beaux-Arts apartment design. One of only three George F. Pelham commissions in Sutton Place - alongside 422 East 58th Street (1900) and Stonehenge 58 (1928) - the building reflects the stylist transition from brownstone rowhouses to architect-designed apartment houses in Midtown East. Converted to cooperative ownership in 1984, 444 East 58th Street has housed a range of notable residents, including cartoonist Crockett Johnson, pianist Mario Braggiotti, and sufragist Joy Montgomery Higgins.

History

Early Development (1811-1900)

444 58th Street stands on what was part of the Thomas C. Pearsall Farm in 1815

444 East 58th Street is located at 444 East 58th Street on the Sutton Place neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City.

As of 1815, the 444 East 58th Street area was farmland. According to The Iconography of Manhattan Island, Block 1369, which is where 444 East 58th Street lies, was at the Thomas C. Pearsall Farm.

In 1872, according to Trow's New York City Directory, Charles H Lyons, who lived on site, made butter, consistent with the first lower class brownstones built in the 1870s by Effingham B. Sutton.

By 1879 the street grid had been implemented and two townhouses had been built, on 444 E 58th Street and on 446 E 58th Street. Close by Riverview Garden had also been erected.

In 1886, according to the New York City directory, a laces maker, Jacob Schwab, lived at 444 E 58th St (brownstone).

The 1891 map shows no changes. On February 27, 1893, 444 East 58th was sold for $9,525, while its assessment was $6,000. On June 15, 1893, it was sold again, now for $10,250, with an assessment of $6,500).

On May 12, 1899, Elenor Koffman sold 444 East 58th Street to John C Mayforth.

Abraham Levy and Isaac Haft (1901-1904)

On Feb 19th 1901, 446 East 58th Street went into an auction, and was acquired by Joseph B Bloomingdale.

On March 8, 1901, 444 East 58th street was sold by John C Mayforth to Isaac Haft and Abraham Levy, while 446 East 58th street was sold by Joseph B Bloomingdale to Isaac Haft. With that, Abraham Levy & Isaac Haft were able to consolidate ownership of both properties, and could build the current 444-446 East 58th Street (as called originally), architected by George F. Pelham.

444 East 58th Street was built in 1901 for $55,000, originally as a middle-class walk-up rental building, as reported in Engineering News.

On January 15, 1903, Isaac Haft and wife sold their part of the building to Abraham Levy for $46,500.

On March 2, 1904, Abraham Levy and the World Realty Company sold 444 and 446 East Fifty-eighth Street to the Schlessinger brothers.

Schlessinger Brothers (1904-1906)

Hyman Schlessinger and his brother kept the builing from Marh 5th 1904, until they sold it to Gustav Lewkowitz and Herman Fuld on May 15, 1906.

Gustav Lewkowitz and Herman Fuld (1906-1928)

Gustav Lewkowitz and Herman Fuld purchased 444 East 58th Street on May 16, 1906, and owned it for 22 years until September 1928, when the property was sold to Lawrence T. Berliner.

Lawrence Berliner (1928-1928)

Berliner purchased the property for investment on September 1928, expecting to tear it down and create a bigger, more modern building. But in December 1928, he sold it to Nicholas Zurla.

Nicholas Zurla (1928-1982)

From December 1928 until 1982, Nicholas Zurla's companies (or companies belonging to his heirs, as he died in 1978), controlled the building, still as a rental building.

Rental prices over the years, pre elevators:

• Nov 4th 1929: $65-$70 for a 2-bedroom/1-bath apartment.
• Feb 7th 1930: $65-$75 per month.
• Jan 20th 1943: $55-$65 per month.

In 1956, a major improvement was performed: the addition of an elevator.

Rental prices over the years, post elevators:

• On December 4, 1955, the newspaper ad for an apartment in the building read "58 St 444 E Off Sutton Place, Apartment #10, 4 rooms, modern, 2 floor walk-up, professional & living only. $165/month. After elevator installation, $175/ month".
• On May 15, 1966, and apartment listed for $242 as rent controlled, Eat-in Kitchen, French windows, Air Conditioner, sublet 1.5 years.
• On Dec 20th 1970 an apartment on the building was listed to rent for $305 as a “Superior older building off Sutton Place with elevator. Tastefully furnished 2 bedroom apartments".
• On Dec 3rd 1972 an apartment was listed with a modern kitchen, A/C, newly decorated for $350.

Barry Levites and Howard Parnes (1982-1984)

On March 4, 1982 Barry Levites and Howard Parnes purchased the building.

The Cooperative Years (1984-present)

On September 7, 1984, the 444 58th Street became a cooperative, known as 444-446 E 58TH OWNERS CP.

Since conversion, the cooperative has maintained the building's pre-war character while implementing modern amenities. The building features an elevator, a video intercom system, and a common laundry room in the basement. The co-op board's purchasing policies are flexible, generally allowing for co-purchases, parents buying for children, gifting, and pied-à-terres, and the building permits cats but prohibits dogs.

Sale of air rights

On July 30, 2015, Sutton 58 purchased the air rights of 444 East 58th Street for $16,912,626, which allowed the cooperative to be debt-free.

Tenants and demographics

Between 1910 and 1950, census records show a steady decline in household size and a shift from predominantly immigrant families to more U.S.-born residents.

1910 census

In 1910, the U.S. census recorded primarily immigrant families from Austria, Bohemia, Russia, England, Romania, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, and Armenia. Heads of household included bakers, machinists, hatmakers, merchants, decorators, hotel workers, carpenters, plumbers, policemen, bartenders, dressmakers, and janitors. A total of 82 people lived in the building, averaging 3.15 persons per apartment.

1920 census

The 1920 census recorded a higher proportion of U.S.-born residents, alongside immigrants from Bavaria, Germany, Russia, Puerto Rico, Austria, Hungary, Canada, England, Ireland, Holland, Poland, and Slovakia. Occupations included plumbers, cigar makers, librarians, taxi drivers, bakers, clerks, barbers, teachers, druggists, and jewelers. Ninety-four people lived in the building, averaging 3.62 per apartment.

1930 census

The 1930 census listed tenants from Sweden, Russia, Norway, Holland, Canada, Germany, England, Italy, the Philippines, and Northern Ireland. Professions included building superintendent, glass glazer, fur cutter, grocery owner, teacher, hotel chef, film director, musician (Mario Braggiotti), and dance instructor (Gloria Braggiotti Etting). Sixty-six people lived in the building, averaging 2.53 per apartment.

1940 census

By 1940, the census reflected fewer immigrants, with residents from France, England, Sweden, Wales, Germany, Austria, and Hungary. Occupations included draftsman, advertising publisher, radio writer, teacher, fashion artist, songwriter (Jerry Seelen), and real estate manager. Fifty-seven people lived in the building, averaging 2.19 per apartment.

1950 census

The first post–World War II census recorded residents from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria, France, Germany, and Canada. Occupations included painter, speech pathologist (Esti Freud), broadcasting editor, clothing designer, sales engineer, and airline reservation agent. Forty-five people lived in the building, averaging 1.7 per apartment.

Overall, the census data illustrates the building’s transition from a largely immigrant, working-class population in 1910 to a smaller, more professionalized and U.S.-born tenant base by 1950, with a much lower number of tenants per apartment.

Architecture

444 East 58th Street was designed by George F. Pelham in the Beaux-Arts style and was built for Abraham Levy & Isaac Haft in 1901 for $55,000, originally as a middle-class walk-up rental building. In 1956, the building was upgraded with an elevator.

Form

The building has 6 floors, with 2 apartments per floor, and 2 basement units with private access to the backyard. The common laundry room is located on the ground floor, in between the two units. The basement units are therefore elongated, covering the building from front to back. The first floor was originally devised to hold two commercial establishments on the front, so apartments have a different layout than apartments on floors 2 to 6. A central air shaft exists to allow for a corridor window and a walking closet window for apartments B and C.

Façade

The building's façade exemplifies the Beaux-Arts style through a tripartite composition consisting of a rusticated base, a repetitive brickwork shaft, and a crowning top story with round-arched windows and a prominent projecting cornice. The overall design emphasizes symmetry, with five evenly spaced bays and a central axis reinforced by the entrance and stacked fire escapes. The hierarchy of window openings progresses from rectilinear lower and middle floors with enriched lintels to the upper level's round arches framed by archivolts and keystones.

444 East 58th St Façade, example of angry mascaron

444 East 58th St Façade, example of Corinthian columns

444 East 58th St Façade, example of lunette with dragons

444 East 58th St Façade portion

444 East 58th St Façade, example of mascaron in a King motiff

444 East 58th St Façade, example of mascaron depicting a lady

Ornamentation is integral to the composition. The cornice features paired modillions and carved soffit panels, creating a pronounced shadow line. The arched openings are accentuated with archivolts and keystones, often carved as mascarons or other sculpted heads. Additional decoration includes cartouches, leafy grotesques, and high-relief panels of swags, garlands, and wreaths. The entrance is framed by paired columns with simplified classical capitals supporting an entablature with a decorated frieze, underscoring the ceremonial character of the portal. Stringcourses and belt courses further organize the elevation, visually tying the stories together.

The façade materials consist of a buff or grey brick field contrasted with limestone, cast stone, or terra-cotta trim for lintels, arches, keystones, and sculptural reliefs. This combination of restrained wall surfaces with exuberant ornament is characteristic of Beaux-Arts architecture in New York at the turn of the twentieth century.

Reception

Although 444 East 58th Street has not been individually landmarked or widely reviewed in architectural publications, it has been recognized by historians and researchers as a representative example of early Beaux-Arts apartment design in Manhattan. Its tripartite façade, ornamental detailing, and modest scale reflect the stylistic transition from brownstone rowhouses to architect-designed elevator buildings in the Sutton Place area.

The building is one of three known commissions by George F. Pelham in Sutton Place, alongside 422 East 58th Street (1900) and Stonehenge 58 (1928). Together, these buildings illustrate Pelham’s adaptation of Beaux-Arts principles to medium-scale residential architecture. Architectural guides such as the AIA Guide to New York City and Robert A. M. Stern’s New York 1900 have cited Pelham’s work as emblematic of the period’s speculative apartment development.

In recent years, the building has drawn attention from researchers and preservationists for its intact façade and continuity of occupation. Its survival amid the high-rise transformation of Sutton Place has made it a subject of comparative studies on neighborhood scale and architectural layering.

Notable Residents

• Crockett Johnson, between his birth in 1906 and his sister's birth in 1910. He was an American cartoonist, children's book illustrator, and writer.
• Mario Braggiotti, in 1930, with his younger sister Gloria. He was a pianist, composer and raconteur, whose career was launched by George Gershwin, who became his friend and mentor.
• Gloria Braggiotti Etting, in 1930, with her older brother Mario. She was a dancer, newspaper columnist, photographer, and writer, later married to Emlen Etting.
• Dr Rubert S Anderson, from 1932 to 1941, at least.
• Joy Montgomery Higgins, in 1934. She was an American suffragist, social worker, writer, and cultural advocate who championed women's rights, community welfare, and the arts.
• Jerry Seelen, in 1940. He was a prolific American lyricist and screenwriter whose career spanned radio, television, and musical theater from the 1930s through the 1960s.
• Esti Freud, from 1943 until at least 1960. She was an Austrian-American speech therapist (logopedist / speech-language pathologist) and Sigmund Freud's daughter-in-law.
• Carl A Berntsen Jr, in 1948. He was an American physician, pathologist, and medical historian.
• Cornelius P. Rhoads, in 1948. He was an American pathologist and oncologist
• Charles Carshon, in 1949. He was an actor, director, teacher, Off-Broadway pioneer.
• Peter Turgeon, in 1949. He was an American stage, film, and television actor, as well as a stage manager. He worked steadily from the 1940s through the 1980s and became a familiar supporting player on Broadway and in Hollywood.
• Detlev F. Vagts, in 1958. He was a leading American scholar of international law, known for his long career at Harvard Law School and his contributions to the study of international economic and business law.
• Nicolai Abracheff, in 1978. He was an abstract painter and director of the Abracheff School of Art.
• Luther Greene, in 1985. He was an American theatrical producer, particularly active in New York during the mid-20th century.

See also

• Sutton Place, Manhattan
• George F. Pelham
• Beaux-Arts architecture in New York City
• Architecture of New York City
• List of buildings, sites, and monuments in New York City

Further reading

• Dolkart, Andrew S. Guide to New York City Landmarks. 4th ed., Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. ISBN 978-0470289631.
• Gray, Christopher. New York Streetscapes: Tales of Manhattan’s Significant Buildings and Landmarks. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2003. ISBN 978-0810944418.
• Stern, Robert A. M.; Gilmartin, Gregory; Mellins, Thomas. New York 1900: Metropolitan Architecture and Urbanism 1890–1915. New York: Rizzoli, 1983. ISBN 978-0847804534.
• White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran. AIA Guide to New York City. 5th ed., New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0195383867.