BRONX TIMES REPORTER, A BTR UGUST 9-15, 2019 49
BRONX SCENE
Haffen Building is landmarked
I spent another pleasant
Wednesday morning this past
week with Nick DiBrino wandering
around the south Bronx.
This week we spent a couple
of hours rummaging around
the Hub. I’ve written about
many of the buildings and institutions
of that famed Bronx
locale over the yeas but one
building eluded me and that
was the old Haffen Building
that was constructed in 1902. It
is a landmarked structure and
is located at 2804 Third Avenue
between East 147th and East
148th streets. Actually it has
two entrances and addresses as
it can also be accessed from 507
Willis Avenue.
Michael J. Garvin served
as the architect for the building
which was commissioned
by Mathias Haffen, a son of the
founder of the Haffen Brewery
which was located on Melrose
Avenue between East 151st and
East 152nd streets. The entire
family worked at the brewery
which was founded in 1856 and
sold to Jacob Rupert in 1913.
The Haffen family was by this
time more involved with real
estate development and politics.
Mathias’ brother, Louis,
became the fi rst borough president
of the Bronx serving from
1898 to 1909 and Michael J.
Garvin of Morrisania was his
secretary. Garvin also served
as our borough’s fi rst Under-
Sheriff as well as our fi rst Commissioner
of Buildings and is
best known as the architect of
record for the beautiful Beaux
Arts Bronx Borough Courthouse
at East 161st Street and
Third Avenue constructed between
1905 and 1914. Needless
to say, the Haffen family was
extremely powerful in Bronx
politics and business. Regardless
of his political affi liation,
Garvin must have done a good
job as both of these buildings
are still standing over a hundred
years later and the Haffen
building is in apparent good
condition while the courthouse
is in need of some restoration
work but still maintains its
beauty. I recall viewing the interior
when it was the criminal
courthouse in the early 1970s
and it needed work even then.
It was declared a landmark in
1981 and the Haffen building
received its landmark status
on June 22, 2010.
Upon completion, the
ground fl oor of the Haffen
Building was occupied by a
branch of the Twenty-Third
Ward Bank and it is no surprise
that another Haffen brother,
John, was a vice president of
that banking institution. The
bank changed its name to the
Bronx County Trust Company
in 1925 and remained a tenant
there for many years although
its name and ownership continued
to change. It still survives,
albeit not at this location, and
became part of the JP Morgan
Chase banking family in 2004.
The next time you fi nd yourself
down at the Hub, stroll around
the area and take a closer look
at the Haffen Building with
special attention to the fl oral
work along the top. Quite a few
relics of the past remain in this
historic locale.
The Haffen Building.
REPRINTED FROM 11-18-2010
S SHOP OUR CLASSIFIED S
PAGES EVERY WEEK AND
SAVE MONEY
BY AL D’ANGELO
When do we stop the madness?
Hate rhetoric must stop in this country
and the media must stop fanning
the fl ames. Everyone points fi gures
to gain political points, yet everyone
is to blame.
The recent killings in El Paso,
Texas and Dayton, Ohio, are attacks
on the soul of our nation. We have
become so polarized that even these
tragedies are seen by some as a reason
to attack the President of The
United States.
You would think that we would
have the decency to mourn for our
brothers and sisters who’s lives were
changed forever by these despicable
acts. Maybe a moment of prayer is in
order rather than spewing more hatful
rhetoric.
Who is to blame? The President
for his tough talk, Democrats who
encourage people to go after Republicans
whenever and wherever they
see them, Black Lives Matter groups
with their violent anti-police chants,
ANTIFA who assault people with
opposing views, KKK and white supremacists
with their infl ammatory
speech, actor Robert DeNiro talking
about punching the President, Madonna
who said she thought about
blowing up the White House, Kathy
Griffi n who held up the severed head
of Donald Trump, police being vilifi
ed and assaulted or actions by the
news media who abuses their power
by not reporting the news but reporting
only what meets their political
agenda?
The animals who committed these
atrocities came from both ends of the
political spectrum - one from the far
right and one from the far left. Any
politician who tries to use these tragedies
to further their political career
is reprehensible. T
he citizens of this country must
use their power to vote out the hate
mongers and race baiters who look
to divide us. We must refuse to buy
or listen to news media which seeks
to put us in opposing camps. We are
one people, one family - the American
Family.
We are comprised of many colors,
races and religions; we have different
ideas, customs and traditions but
when all is said and done, we are all
Americans.
Take a moment to put yourselves
in the shoes of those poor people who
this day are suffering a heart rendering
loss and refl ect on their pain and
pray for some peace in their lives.