If you go to the brownstone at 52 East 80th Street between Madison & Park...
...you'llsee the decapitated limestone head of a Greco-Roman goddess in thefront yard next to some trash barrels (gives you some perspective onits size).
Below is a picture of New York's revered Ziegfeld Theater, a movie theater better described as a palace:
What do thetwo have in common? This head is the only remnant of the old Ziegfeldthat one can still see on a New York City street.
The ZiegfeldTheater, one of New York City's premier movie theaters, opened in 1927and had a glorious life as a movie theater, TV studio, and Broadwaytheater until it was torn down in 1966. According to the Ziegfeld's Wikipedia entry, this head was originally located on the front of the theater, though I'm not exactly sure where.
How did itcome to be here? Apparently, 52 East 80th was once owned by JerryHammer, a theatrical producer. In the 1960s, he was riding past theZiegfeld in a car with shithead developer ZacharyFisher, who mentioned he was tearing it down. Hammer jokingly asked ifhe could have one of the limestone heads. Four months later, he heardnoises outside of his Upper East Side home - it was a truck loweringthe head by crane into his front yard. Hammer moved out of the place in1998 but left the head behind.
Are those two heads on either side of the upper balcony? Can't tell...
In 1969, asecond Ziegfeld opened up a few hundred feet from the original, andwhile the exterior is a mind-blowingly bland compared to the original,the interior is actually one of the nicest places you can see a moviein New York.
High praiseto Hammer for asking for the head, and also for leaving it behind forNew York to enjoy. Definitely swing by 52 East 80th Street if you're inthe area to see the last remaining piece of the once great Ziegfeld.
More articles: www.scoutingny.com
PS - That's a pretty sick window array on the second floor of that brownstone.