Old Vanderbilt Mansion On Billionaire's Row To Be Demolished

A former Vanderbilt mansion in Midtown, most recently home to kosher delis, will now be knocked down ahead of a likely redevelopment.

By Nick Garber, Patch Staff

Aug 2, 2021 11:59 am EDT | Updated Aug 2, 2021 1:40 pm EDT

The five-story building at 35 West 57th St. sits just south of Central Park, and steps from the other supertall high-rises that have transformed the street in recent years. (Google Maps)

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A former mansion on Billionaire's Row is set to be demolished, permits show, about two years after its owner managed to evict two longtime kosher restaurants from the space.

The five-story building at 35 West 57th St. sits just south of Central Park, and steps from the other supertall high-rises that have transformed the street in recent years.

The French-style townhouse was gifted in 1891 to Mary Louisa Vanderbilt Shepard, great-granddaughter of the magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, upon her marriage. She and her husband only lived there until 1898, when "the hustle and bustle of that area made the residence undesirable," according to the historian Wayne Craven's book, "Gilded Mansions."

On Friday, demolition permits were filed by an executive at Solow Realty: the firm owned by the late billionaire developer Sheldon Solow, whose other projects include the neighboring, sloped skyscraper at 9 West 57th St.

Solow purchased the site at 35 West 57th for $24.4 million in 2006, records show. In 2019, the New York Post reported that the building's tenants — Great American Health Bar and Café Classico — had been issued eviction notices after 19 years in the building.

The landlord, who had not yet been identified as Solow, tried to push out the restaurants by claiming their $1 million insurance policy was less than the $2 million required in their lease. A legal bid by the tenants to maintain their lease in the building is ongoing, though the restaurants — Cafe Classico and Great American Health Bar — have both closed.

Observers speculated that Solow, who died in November 2020, was hoping to build on the site or sell it to another developer. The empty next-door lot — formerly home to the Rizzoli bookstore, among other recently demolished buildings — is owned by fellow developers Vornado and LeFrak.

The Solow company is now run by Sheldon's son, Stefan Soloviev. The company's plans for the site are not clear, as no new building permits have been filed.