Just a Kid from Hell's Kitchen - In Remembrance of TC Murray

Tramps of all varieties used the vestibule of 363 to loiter, sleep and a myriad of other
purposes. The vestibule’s front door was always unlocked and opened into a small
mailbox area where the tenants’ name and the bell for one’s respective apartment was
located A second door led to the front set of stairs that led one to Dr. Greenwald’s Dental
Office and the three first floor apartments. It could be accessed only by key or buzzer.
Being next to the Corner Bar didn’t help either, as drunk’s often slept if off in the
vestibule. Problems were multifold: snoring, muttering of unintelligible sounds, body
odor and the stench of urination. It was very annoying while trying to straddle the
intoxicated individual in the narrow vestibule while trying to open the locked door on the
interior side of the building’s entrance. Mrs. Miller, the hefty super, often gave these sots
the old heave-ho.
Thieves were not as common but break-ins did exist. It was easy for anyone to gain
access to the building. Just press a tenant’s button, and when he buzzed you in, simply
hold the unlocked door for a while, go up the staircase and do your dastardly deed. Once
a crook gained entrance to one’s apartment, he could gain access to others by using the
fire escape. Fortunately, no break-ins or robberies of our apartment took place in our
twenty-two years of residence at 363. Security and vigilance were the watchwords of the
tenants living in 363. We looked out for each other.
WEST 57 TH STREET
West 57 th Street was a two-way, heavily trafficked, cross-town street. The brownstones in
mid-block would soon be replaced by the upscale, eight story, Westmore Apts, replete
with their parquet floors and sunken living rooms. Adjacent to 363 stood the imposing
twenty-four story, Henry Hudson Hotel, at the time a Woman’s Club. Prior to it’s
erection in 1932, the developers of the hotel had made a failed attempt to buy 363 and
another building at the corner of 58 th Street and 9 th Avenue for the purpose of razing
them, therefore allowing hotel frontage on 9 th Avenue. Across the street from the
Westmore, were the older and larger Parc Vendome apartments – the grand dame of west
57 th Street. She reigns supreme on West 57th Street today.