7 C R Y D E R P O I N T SEPTEMBER for the slew of building projects they undertook in and around the city after World War II. In an era when apartments were going up haphazardly all over the city, Chutick & Sudakoff prided itself on building middle-class apartments with an upper-class flair. Right after finishing Cryder Point, for instance, they bought William “Boss” Tweed’s former 10-acre country estate in Greenwich, Conn. and turned it into a five-building, 200-unit project called -- artfully -- Putnam Hill. Hundreds of apartments were built in a hurry in the years following World War II. Places to live in those years were so scarce, the federal government built Quonset-hut villages as temporary housing all over the city – including Jackson Heights, Middle Village, Jamaica Bay (on the future site of the airport) and Corona. George Gottlieb Miller, who designed Cryder, was an unusually prolific architect. He headed a successful Manhattan firm, Miller and Goldhammer, for a few, short years during the 1930s, when was known for his art deco –styled apartment buildings in Washington Heights, Inwood and the Bronx. Some of his pre-war work still stands on Central Park West and in the Audubon Park Historic District. By the 1950s, however, Miller was a gun for hire, it seems. He worked as chief designer for developer Samuel Lefrak, won some prizes from the Queens Chamber of Commerce for his Queens properties and is listed as the designer of more than 100 buildings during the era. In the case of Cryder Point, he was working with the firm of Kelly & Gruzen (now called Gruzen Samton Architects), a downtown architectural firm that also worked for LeFrak (and still works for his son, Richard). “Sam probably put us together for our design,” says Jordan Gruzen, who now runs the firm. The project was advertised as costing $6 million to build, the equivalent of $53 million today. Three six-story buildings with 328 suites on 28 acres, Cryder offered the opportunity of a new life to families who did not want to leave New York City. There is a recurring theme when you talk to the longest residents. “It was one step closer to the Island,” says Barbara Haravay when asked why her parents moved here. “Over the years, we thought about moving to the Island,” says Barbara Kramer, who has been living in the 21 building since the early 1970s. “But we never did. We just couldn’t. “My husband used to take the kids fishing off the dock,” she says. “They never caught anything, but that’s not the point. For apartment living -- you don’t get that anywhere else.” By the 1960s, Queens had begun to grown up around Cryder. LeHavre, built by one of the Levitt brothers, opened in 1958. The old Harvey Firestone mansion with its magnificent gardens was torn down to build Cryder House next door in 1962. And in the early 1960s, residents of Cryder Point had a ringside seat as the new Throgs Neck Bridge was constructed. “We used to sit on my mother’s balcony and listen to the workers – most of them were American Indians – yelling back and forth to each other as the bridge went up,” says Marty Lassman. “It was really something.” For a while, the city experimented with a direct ferry service from Cryder Point to Wall Street. Harry Sudakoff had wanted to install ferry service to the city at Cryder as far back as 1955. It was as if he wanted to re-create the days when Cryder was a yacht club, just an hour from Manhattan. The Times reported that he was making arrangements to charter a 60-foot cabin cruiser owned by a Capt. Thomas Duscio, described by another newspaper of the day as “the dean of City Island party boaters,” to make the daily trip to midtown and back. Sudakoff was a savvy promoter for his apartment projects. A month after announcing his private ferry service, the developer staged a three-day boat show on the Cryder grounds. “The show is described by the project’s owners as an attempt to demonstrate to tenants the theme of ‘Fun and Safety Afloat’ during the coming summer months,” read one report. The tenants were no doubt grateful for the safety tips – but it is fair to assume the event had more to do with drawing potential new tenants and showing them what Cryder had to offer. Finally, eight years later, in 1963, Sudakoff began running two boats between Cryder dock and the Battery in Manhattan. Weekdays only, two trips a day. It was first ferry on the East River since 1934, he told reporters. The cost: $40 a week. The maiden voyage of the 100-seat boats drew just 20 firstday passengers. Sudakoff’s ferry dream ended a year later. In 1984, the heyday of New York coop conversions, residents were offered the chance to buy their apartments. Some of the interior land was converted to accommodate more parking for shareholders. And around that time, Cryder’s Point lost its possessive, when new signs were commissioned for the newly minted co-op. It may well have been a simple misprint. But rather than order new signs, the signs were posted anyway. It has not seemed to make a difference. Cryder Point retains its magnificent grounds, a welcoming air for those who want a little bit of country in the city and – of course – that spectacular view. Special thanks go to Jill Davis and Jason Antos, who made incalculable contributions to this story. It was written by Michael Shain. WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM | SEPTEMBER 2014 | CRYDER POINT COURIER 7 At the pool, in 1971, a snap of Barbara Haravay and son David. The Harvey Firestone mansion from the 1920-30s next door. It was was torn down to build Cryder House. From the Eagle of 1954, an ad for Cryder’s Point (notice the possessive) beckoning Brooklynites to take a ride out to see the new place. Credit: Collection on Jason D. Antos
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