Pythian Temple (New York City)
40°46′37″N 73°58′52″W / 40.776837°N 73.981054°W
The Pythian Temple is a historic
Architecture
The building is a flamboyant
In addition to the 13 lodge rooms and the spacious theater, the building had a gym and a bowling alley. The theater had Broadway-quality staging facilities for the fraternal association's professionally produced pageants.[1]
In 2009, the architectural historian Christopher Gray wrote in The New York Times:
The Pythian Temple's ground-floor colonnade, with Assyrian-type heads, is centered on a brilliantly glazed blue terra-cotta entry pavilion. The windowless middle section steps back at about 100 feet up, with four seated Pharaonic figures similar to those of Ramses II at Abu Simbel. Two more setbacks rise to a highly colored Egyptian-style colonnade, and to giant urns carried by teams of yellow, red and green oxen. In a rendering, the urns are lighted with fires. Published photographs of the lobby show a double-height space in what appears to be polished black marble, with Egyptian decor, like a winged orb, or perhaps Isis, over the doorway.[1]
History
As the organization's popularity declined in the early 1940s, the Pythians leased space in the building to
On October 21, 1958,
Days after the Soviet suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, actor and Communist Party activist Paul Robeson spoke at the Temple. Angry demonstrators threw eggs and fruit at Robeson, audience members, and a number of Pythians who had not attended the speech as they left the building.[1]
In May 1958, the building was purchased by the New York Institute of Technology as that college's main campus.[6] At the time, the building still contained the Pythians' memorabilia.[7] Decca's recording studio remained in use into the 1960s.
In 1986
Notable residents
The parents of singer Lady Gaga moved into the building in 1993.[9]
Robert Altman lived in the building from the 1990s until his death in 2006.[10]
References
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
- ^ NYC Architecture listing for The Pythian
- ^ a b Willensky, Elliot; White, Norval, The A.I.A. Guide to New York City, Third Edition (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988). Cf. especially p.357 on the Pythian Temple.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
- ^ a b c Simons, David (2004). Studio Stories - How the Great New York Records Were Made. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. Cf. pp.168-169.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
- ^ "David Gura - Architects". www.dgarch.com. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
- ^ "Lady GaGa house profile" on the Celebrity Detective website
- ^ "Robert Altman archives at the University of Michigan"