The Man Who Demolished Manhattan’s Millionaires' Row

Discover the shocking story of Anthony Campagna, the developer whose ambition led to the demolition of some of Manhattan's most stunning and historically significant mansions.
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[@pameladulany1457]

I think it was horrible what he did . He destroyed such beautiful craftsmanship that can never be retrieved.😢

[@JeffDavis-gw1yh]

Agreed.

[@Kodakcompactdisc]

Never

[@cathyhopf6532]

I agree and it is happening in Deal NJ a gorgeuse town on the Ocean in Monmouth County NJ These people known as Serian Jews buy up these old mansions then Raze them and rebuild ugly contemporary Box homes with Black window frames. You should look up this town it is or was amazing

[@hewitc]

These homes were abandoned by the owners. There was no governmental or charitable organization willing to pay for them or the ongoing expense to maintain them. Without someone stepping up they would be foreclosed for nonpayment of taxes or condemned as unsafe. Their demise was not the fault of Campagna. He built 960 Fifth, designed by Warren & Wetmore and Rosario Candela, on the land occupied by Clark's Folly. It is a first class cooperative apartment building that contains or contained many ultra-luxurious and interesting apartments. [from Wikipedia] "The building was started in 1927 and completed in 1928. Apartments average 14 to 17 rooms, with 8 maids' rooms, and is one of the few in New York with its own in-house restaurant (the Georgian Suite--still there). The original apartments were priced from $130,000 to $325,000 and more than 75 percent of the apartments were sold before the frame of the building was enclosed. The largest initial stockholder in the building was Dr. Preston Pope Satterwhite who reportedly paid $450,000 for his 20-room apartment, which was considered the most expensive cooperative sale ever paid at the time." Dr. Satterwhite's living room was 30 by 58 with a double ceiling height. Search for a picture. Unfortuantely it is no longer intact.

[@chubbybrain]

Idiot !

[@nunnya-biz32]

It's a shame, but most of the country had its history demolished between the 1950s-1970s.

[@mdorn6592]

wrong...the demolitions and ridiculous fire stories happened (mostly) between 1890's thru the 1930s...some even say as early as the civil war here in America...but have continued until present to be 'restored' - which is code for stripped down or 'uglified' into modern monstrosities they build today

[@ji8044]

Much of the history demolished in that time period was the result of earlier demolition to build the houses torn down in the 1950's

[@reynemayer2942]

the mansions in question were mostly lost after WW1 -- when the servants required to staff them became too expensive and difficult to hire (who who has the choice of a good company job, wants to be a valet or maid?), styles changed such that even the builders' families didn't want them, and excess like pate' made out of butterflies' tongues (read Thorstein Veblen) went out of fashion. and a lot still remains, if you look around. quite a few of the more modestly sized mansions on 5th Avenue survived, the side streets are crammed with old townhouses (some really small mansions), and train passengers into NYC now go through either Penn's Moynihan Train Hall (the restored 1911 post office) or Grand Central (1913, preserved).

[@georgeneuhauser4752]

And replaced by brutalist architecture!

[@reynemayer2942]

@@georgeneuhauser4752 The first wave of replacement was with Art Deco buildings, some of which are quite attractive and even have truly splendid lobbies. Clark's mansion was replaced by an apartment building designed by the same architects as Grand Central Station. the actual brutalist architecture that came later, i could do without, though.....

[@louchat333]

Sounds like he would have destroyed the Coliseum in Rome if he thought he could make money off of it.

[@camillagainey]

😂😂😂😂

[@ji8044]

The Colosseum was destroyed at, least parts of it, many times. What we see today is largely restoration and preservation carried out starting in the 18th Century.

[@kenetickups6146]

Capitalism

[@mariecolette9066]

Well said. Developers are bad people. They do NOTHING for communities or to give back to others. It’s all for their greed.

[@ji8044]

@@mariecolette9066 Greed was what enabled these families to build the mansions in the first place. What a warped perspective.

[@Portia-oc6mr]

Campagna saw that there was much money to be made housing a lot of people in nondescript high-rise apartments and was willing to demolish exquisite historic buildings to achieve that. His own mansion is similarly swanky as the ones he destroyed and replaced with such bland buildings, while his home was preserved. Thanks you, Ken.

[@lawrencesiskind3554]

You're wrong about those apartment buildings; they're the finest ever constructed and still valued in the millions of dollars for each one and they always will be.

[@linkergenosse363]

The clarke house was 16 years old when it was demolished. The Blair house was 19 years old! These were not historical buildings

[@m.woodsrobinson9244]

I'd never heard of him before. Now that I have, I wish I hadn't.

[@paco7992]

💯 his name should be scrubbed from history. Just listing him as "a short-sighted fool with lots of money."

[@johnscanlan9335]

What an extremely foolish thing to say!

[@robhersey1796]

@@johnscanlan9335 what an extremely foolish thing for you to say!

[@johnscanlan9335]

@@robhersey1796 Please explain why that is

[@newmobile1455]

he was no different than the auto industry

[@dk50b]

I'm an architectural historian, and mourn the loss of these irreplaceable structures along with everyone. However, it's preposterous to retroactively claim Anthony Campagna was motivated by a desire to destroy grandeur. As noted below, introduction of the Federal Income Tax in 1913 played a major role in making such excess untenable. The notion these mansions could've been preseved as museums or hotels ignores that 5th Avenue was already recognized as perhaps the world's wealthiest residential street. Neither zoning law or neighbors would allow such uses. Nor would they generate the income to pay the property tax. When Campagna bought Clark's mansion in 1927, he did so at half its construction cost, with The City valuing the land alone at $1 million. Further, he was the only bidder.

[@ceejay960]

Agreed. Not to mention that if he hadn't done it, somebody else probably would've. The architectural landscape of the entire area was switching from mansions to high rise buildings. In short...everyone was doing it.

[@lawrencesiskind3554]

Excellent points about the history and economics of the transition from the Gilded Age to the relatively more progressive early Twentieth Century. It is silly to demonize any one person despite his taking advantage of the economic political change that was occurring in this period. If Campagna hadn't done this development, surely someone else would have, and I'm sure many others did. Historically, New York, as much as any other place on the planet, has renovated itself throughout its history, destroying the old as it developed the new, all the way up the island of Manhattan and beyond. Fortunately, the redevelopment of Fifth Avenue from mansion to apartment buildings happened largely in the prosperous twenties before the Depression and the Second World War. The post-war apartment developments are much less attractive and valuable. The apartment buildings constructed uptown along Fifth, Madison, and Park Avenues, in the first three decades of the century are some of the finest ever designed and constructed and continue to be valued and copied by architects today. Fortunately, many mansions have been preserved and repurposed as museums and consulates for the most part. There are many mansions such as these in Europe and one could say that all these Gilded Age mansions were largely derivative, in style and function, of the European palaces. On the other hand, New York's grand apartment buildings designed by, Rosario Candella, JW Campenter, Carriere and Hastings, Emery Roth, and the Chanins are New York's unique and innovative contribution to architectural history. Those buildings have not been destroyed; they are far too valued, aesthetically and financially, and they didn't need to be repurposed. They're still the luxurious primary homes of most of the wealthiest New Yorkers. Though many have had their interiors remodeled beyond early Twentieth Century recognition to meet modern tastes, not all have. Take a look on Zillow. Mansions in the sky!

[@CheeseBae]

Except after WW2 there absolutely was a desire to destroy European styles of architecture, partially due to anger over the two world wars. 5th Ave was desirable precisely because mansions like those existed. There's a certain irony in destroying the thing that makes a street desirable in the first place, and even greater irony in trying to justify it.

[@buckodonnghaile4309]

​@@CheeseBaeprovide examples then, the original commenter did.

[@rogerwilco2]

All these things are a choice. North America has demolished nearly all its historic cities in their entirety. The only one I know that is significantly intact is Quebec City. You simply don't care. Money and the holy automobile are more important.

[@williamcordell38]

I think it is aboramt that so many of those historical homes were turned down. Unforgivable

[@linkergenosse363]

The clarke house was 16 years old when it was demolished. The Blair house was 19 years old! These were not historical buildings

[@cameronlewis1218]

We’re talking about NYC!! Huge history of tearing down perfectly good buildings, like Penn Station. If not Campagna, it woulda been someone else…

[@StamperWendy]

Nothing was safe, except his house

[@jefflawrentz1624]

From your presentation it seems he must have been all about greed for money in destroying such architectural heritage - especially those row houses. What a shame so much was lost because of this. Thanks Ken for another fine presentation !

[@donchandler755]

It's too bad there weren't laws to prevent what Campagna did.

[@borandolph1267]

So, it's definitely sad what he did, but remember these weren't antique houses when they were demolished. They were outdated, out of style, 15yo used homes. It would be like destroying a building built in 2009 today.

[@Emppu_T.]

However a 2009 building wasn't built with passion or pride like the time those where built.

[@EJH783]

No. Those old houses were not built with machines and modern construction dynamics. They were careful craftsmen and artists who were paid well to make these things

[@gregorymalchuk272]

The government shouldn't have the authority to deprive you of the right to your property by listing it on a preservation order. If they want the building kept, they should either buy it outright or pay an annual stipend for the added upkeep on an old building.

[@lawrencesiskind3554]

In these cases, the government is responding to the desires of the city's community as a whole. It is not necessarily true that the buildings lost their value, they could still be bought and sold, just not altered without approval of historical boards.

[@Emppu_T.]

People live in a city and have to live with what's in it. It's a bit different than having your land. We should be good stewards of what we have

[@EJH783]

FYI no American actually owns their property. It’s owned by the IS federal govt. look it up. Eminent domain

[@deanjoon1527]

Nice touch inserting your image and dialogue! Your videos are tremendous. THANKS

[@nick2128]

I’m pretty sure they would be destroyed regardless, a high rise makes more sense then a single family mansion in nyc

[@RubenEditIT]

i doubt that, for some places there always people liking to pay for something special.

[@paco7992]

I'm sure this fool just filled the landfill, never salvaging anything. He should have been held accountable.

[@dak85016]

That's what I was thinking. 😥

[@stevepotfora7461]

All he did was buy a house from someone who was bankrupt and needed to sell their house. It is how capitalism works. If you were bankrupt you would probably sell your house too and then you would have no say over what the new owner does with it. He is a developer, not a museum. Blame the people who sold the house. He took a single-family home and turned it into a 200 family residence.

[@reynemayer2942]

that assumption is completely wrong. someone who had been successful enough to get to he position of buying up mansions, was not going to waste an opportunity to make money. quite a bit of these properties was salvaged. the fools may have been those who poured so much money into vanity projects -- including pillaging Europe to decorate them -- when they sometimes knew no one else would want them (Clark, who built that first one, said as much), or even ordered them destroyed on their deaths so no one else could have them.

[@kenetickups6146]

@@stevepotfora7461 No blame the system that encourages destruction for profit

[@stevepotfora7461]

@@kenetickups6146 Yes, you are right. The same system that has been around for two thousand years that we still live under today. Ridiculous to say this is the fault of ANY developer. Broke owners sell their homes and always will and the city, or anyone, can purchase them if they want to make a museum.

[@roystrickland3363]

Campagna's apartment buildings, always best in class, define their times as much as any of the demolished mansions did. Their elegant plans, big and airy rooms, and refined exteriors set the standard for luxury in the 1920s, as they do to the present day. And it's ironic to blame him for being profit-driven. Exactly how did the families of the old houses get the money to pay for their mansions?

[@silverstem2964]

His architecture was BORING!

[@sunshineimperials1600]

@@silverstem2964And? Most of these houses were cheap imitations of old European chateaus.

[@EJH783]

Businesspeople do things for profit. Nothing more. To a businessman, the money is the most important thing. It even takes priority over your nation. That’s how these people think.

[@BRADMEDICI983]

Now I am all for preserving historic properties, but this man does not deserve to have his house preserved at all !!!

[@miscellania4263]

Don’t destroy the beautiful craftsmanship the artisans made in his house just because the man who owned it was terrible.

[@jamespercival3111]

AMEN!

[@johnscanlan9335]

Obviously you have zero idea what you're talking about!

[@linkergenosse363]

The clarke house was 16 years old when it was demolished. The Blair house was 19 years old! These were not historical buildings

[@classiccarfanatic]

@@linkergenosse363but they were incredibly beautiful that should’ve been preserved. It’s actually sadder they were that new when destroyed because it’s more of a waste.

[@seed_drill7135]

In London there remains the entranceway of a Medieval cathedral that was raised for a skyscraper. Few still go to church in the UK and District One is largely too expensive for natives to live in, so down it came.

[@lewiswetzel8617]

England is fucked.

[@neilboulton9813]

Please details as I do not know what you are going on about unless the followed amage in the Second World War.

[@seed_drill7135]

@@neilboulton9813 I just remember a tour guide pointing out that they had raised a medieval church to build an office building, but left the stone arch entranceway of the church to serve as the entrance of what was otherwise a generic looking building.

[@laurielaurie8280]

Too much of this went on and still goes on in America. So much beautiful history has been demolished.

[@sacramentotoday]

As much as it is appalling that such beautiful houses could be destroyed, it does raise the question, should the government have the power to stop private property sales among citizens? How much government involvement should there be in a business deal between two private parties?

[@EJH783]

It’s called historical preservation and btw the government does exactly what it wants when it wants. There’s a 50 block park in the middle of Americas business city. The government if it wants to preserve old building can do it while still respecting fair business laws

[@calvincoolidge1207]

Exactly. I am a fan of historic architecture but I am a bigger fan of property rights.

[@jamescarnes5550]

I hate when people gentrify neighborhood loses a lot of its identity I love those beautiful old houses

[@ji8044]

Those beautiful old houses gentrified the neighborhoods which existed before they were built.

[@luisllorens70]

That wasn't gentrification. It was the destruction of gentrification.

[@lewiswetzel8617]

Gentrification = white people buying back the neighborhoods that were bought by jew and rented to blacks. O no. The bad white people bringing back civilization

[@Crazy-Clown-In-Town]

The Lenape natives hated it too when their houses and greenies were destroyed and replaced by concrete buildings 😂

[@mixrousefamily687]

The Blair house, wow. Can you imagine what it could be today?

[@lawrencesiskind3554]

If you lived in an apartment in 2 West 70th Street, the building that replaced Blair House, you wouldn't be sorry. That is an example of a fantastic building.

[@johnsonrepp]

I want to know where the underground train went …. That home must’ve been the epitome of opulence. Please tell us more.

[@joeleonard8624]

Csmpagna en listed the architect Rosario Candela to design his buildings. Candela was a genius in architecture and cryptography. He designed the buildings which to this day have the most sought after apartments in Manhattan. See 740 Park Avenue, 834 Fifth Avenue, 4 Sutton Place, as well as many other. Not only are they beautiful, their floor plans reveal Candela’s genius for cryptography and puzzles. So this wonderful video, segues into another interesting story about New York City.

[@EJH783]

I’ve been in Manhattan a while and in and out of most buildings, which are decent interior and exterior but nothing like the images in this video. I wish we still had those

[@cross75man75]

Most of the mansion in Manhatten were demolish when income taxes was introduced, they became untenable for the 1% to hold on too.

[@LaurenceDay-d2p]

The increase in real estate values and taxes also played a big part, unfortunately.

[@SpanishEclectic]

Aha! You knew we'd be itching to lambast this guy! It's always easier and cheaper to tear down and rebuild, when a restoration and repurposing would have save so much beautiful craftsmanship. Sure, people needed places to live, but the choices made seem purely based on profit for him...which he then used to build his own mansion, which was preserved. He sure made his mark, but not in a good way. Here in San Diego, our 1929 Downtown Fox Theater was restored as a home for the Symphony, and a modern tower built around it, so at least the beautiful interiors are intact, and can still be enjoyed by the public.

[@lawrencesiskind3554]

Fortunately, in New York, this has also been the case in many instances.

[@creativo4ever564]

Let's face it, its not possible to save everything. Mansions along 5th Avenue would be a very bad use of space. That said, SOME could and should be preserved but whats the criteria? Some currently exist and are lovely for their perspective. But what happened in other cities and to some of the grand houses in NYC when the Depression came along and we lost so many? They were expensive to build AND to maintain......and many, if not most, WEREN'T. And turning mansions into apartments isn't cheap and the resulting rents in a growing city would be very expensive. Change is endemic. I'm glad for the preservation movement but like all things, it must be selective.

[@k.r.baylor8825]

You are right. These were beautiful mansions, but as the city grew they became white elephants. Perhaps a couple should have been preserved in the guise of museums or nonprofits, but most would have eventually been torn down simply because the property tax would have grown untenable and the buildings lay unused and falling apart as all neglected houses become. They were beautiful homes built in the _wrong_ place. If these were built upstate in the Hudson Valley, they'd still be with us today. But that country location was not the place for displaying opulence and wealth for those who won big in NYC's 1890s Gilded Age.

[@andyiswonderful]

My grandfather, Rosario Candela, worked with Campagna for many years, and was the architect of many beautiful high rise buildings in Manhattan, including 960 Fifth Avenue that you showed here.

[@lawrencesiskind3554]

Fantastic, there's no apartments better than Candela designed ones! My best friend grew up in a fantastic duplex of his design at 133 East 80th. It was a mansion ten floors above the street! You could blast the stereo in his room and it would not be heard in the adjacent bedroom! Nobody who hasn't been in one of these buildings can imagine the quality of their construction and craftsmanship.

[@caitlinelizabeth7808]

That is so cool! I love Ken’s videos and reading all of the interesting comments. Thank you for sharing!❤

[@user-sg6ji2kk3u]

Blair House and many of the Beautiful Mansion’s this man had demolished were just architectural marvels and probably took 2-4 years to build . What a horrible waste of!! All to build eyesore Apartment Buildings less significant and nothing to look at . Such a waste of money,time and such Beauty .😢😮

[@rickwilliamson1417]

This should have never been allowed

[@crookedbird6589]

Greed is the main problem in this world.

[@ji8044]

Greed was the basis of the houses which were destroyed.

[@lawrencesiskind3554]

You may be right about that, but don't forget that the Gilded Age mansions of Fifth Avenue, some which have been preserved, many which have been torn down, are the ultimate monuments to the greed of which you write!

[@crookedbird6589]

@@lawrencesiskind3554 You are right but I always think of the hard work and he craftsmanship that is lost forever when they are torn down. The efforts of the common man are also lost.

[@jetsons101]

When the land value goes up so much, historical preservation is a game of give and take, "You win some and lose some." Choose the most important to really save along with some of lesser importance to use as bargaining chips to save the former. Hate to say in cities like NY, Boston, San Francisco and so on progress can't be stopped but can be worked with.

[@CuriousEarthMan]

Thanks Ken! It's amazing that one person can be so 'destructive' in pursuit of his goals. I do realize that not everyone loves the old grand structures as much as I do, or you do.

[@kirksway1]

I'm all for historic preservation but I believe that there was and is a need for more housing in the city and I understand the justification.

[@MrLobba]

So crazy how much he destroyed! He could still have built his condo buildings somewhere else, just imagine how the city would have looked like with all those old buildings

[@subwayjoefrombrooklyn4471]

I love your videos. I love urban history and classic architecture.

[@darryljorden9177]

Time marches on. Consider the example of the opulent Waldorf-Astoria Hotel built in the late 1800's. It was sold to developers and torn down in the early 1930's to be replaced with...the Empire State Building.

[@Gardens_of_Vanha_Talo_Soumi]

he couldn't have bought what wasn't for sale. why did the people sell their mansions, knowing fully well they would only be torn down? campagna was a jerk, but so were all the people who sold him their mansions

[@jimbo1637]

Between the great depression and the introduction of income tax, many people were no longer able to afford their massive houses.

[@shawnvalencia8124]

Spot on.

[@lauraguida8482]

Besides income tax, some of the very wealthy passed their mansions down to their relatives for decades. At some point the family money runs out and the costs for the upkeep, utilities, and staff have risen, therefore living in a large mansion becomes impractical and the owner needs to unload the burden. Some of the families donate their mansion to a college or city, and oftentimes they can't keep up with the costs of repairs, so they are torn down and used to build whatever else is needed.

[@EJH783]

What, so ALL the families happened to really need the money so bad that they sold it to a bad actor?

[@NGMonocrom]

Quite frankly, greed devoured greed. Not as though anyone was going to move into those mansions after they were abandoned. With demand and real estate prices, even back then. He came up with a pragmatic solution. Doesn't hurt that he completely benefited from those decisions.

[@johnfitzgerald2339]

5:17 Check out the $2.89 plastic "NO TRESPASSING" sign on the left gate-tower.

[@cathyhopf6532]

Writer Stephen Crane his summer house still stands on 4th Avenue in Asbury Park N.J. They actually had enough sense to turn it into a museum

[@SURENITY]

I nearly broke my phone over this. Unforgivable.

[@pavelow235]

Would have happened eventually, the lack of density would annoy those complaining about rent/mortgage costs...

[@andrewgates8158]

Build into central park

[@sunshineimperials1600]

@@andrewgates8158All to save some single-family mansions? No thanks, preserve Central Park and keep it green. Most of these mansions were dumps by the time they were demolished anyways.

[@KennethLi-b9h]

Not really, some rich people really like Historical Architecture

[@EJH783]

wtf re you talking about? They put a 50 block park called CENTRAL PARK in the middle of Manhattan, the busiest place in America. If they wanted to preserve, they could have.

[@jasone830]

Everyone saying what this guy did was horrible and unforgivable and what a terrible human being he is. Yet the city allowed for all of this to happen. He was just a businessman doing what he knows what to do, develop. Holy so many of you guys need to check yourselves. 🙃

[@SJam491]

Heartbreaking.

[@Shahrdad]

If it weren't him, others would have done the same. This is what happens everywhere were the land becomes too valuable.

[@cameronlewis1218]

This is exactly my feeling I have. It’s New York, where everything is about money!! A

[@silverstem2964]

St. Paul MN still has F. Scott Fitzgerald's rowhouse and it will never be demolished.👍

[@olivierdochez4141]

I lived in Brussels, the city of destruction of great architectural masterpieces. the thing is that, when these buildings were demolished, no one wanted them. they were a vision of the mast, of an elite that we didn't want to recognise and which the general public despised. The wealthier people moved into more discrete luxurious apartment buildings, just like in new York. The first one ever built was Residence palace in Brussels, which never fully got to it's potential due to the crash of 1929 and is now part of the European Union offices. Only one Lady, a countess, refused to sell her mansion and lived on the busy street (turned highway) until she died at the rightful age of 97 in the early 2000's unfortunately, since it was the only mansion left between all the high rises it was to be demolished too since no one could see any architectural beauty in the blackened by sooth facade and it was not in a location where one could open a museum. Today it is finally put up for sale, after a short stint as a restaurant and, without any protection so demolition is only around the corner.. it is one of three buildings from before WW2 still standing in the Rue de la loi, but the only one that still has it's original interior, grandeur, however the previous owner sold the gardens to the European commission to expand they IT offices. so now the back windows of the house has walls in front of it at only 50 cm away and the grand upstairs living space looks over the terraces of the food court. It will be domished for sure. Brussels has become the champion of what is called "facadism", we started to keep the facades of the buildings and build complete new modern interiors, usually with high rise above it, so to keep the look of the street intact. however many beautiful interiors were demolished, but then again, no one could have ever visited them, and you can't make every house to be fit for a millionaire or a museum. However, one daring entrepreneur demolished a house, in the middle of the night, from fable architect Victor Horta. it was listed and he didn't agree to that as he bought it a few months earlier unlisted. so during one night he drove bulldozers straight through the house from front to back, without even caring about the buildings next to it. Another gem lost right? well the city, the region and the federal law obliged him to rebuild the house, exactly as Victor Horta had created it in early 1900's and they didn't care that some stones or woods were no longer available or extremely expensive to get. He never thought they would go through with it, but he was forced to pay for it, out of his own pocket, as it was his own decision and he was not allowed to put himself in bankruptcy because they had done their due diligence and knew exactly how much he was worth personally just before the lawsuit started. The house s now fully rebuilt. they did allow for double glazing and modern electrics, but that was about it. And even then he had to face a few more lawsuits as the wood these days is no longer cut for the beauty of the grain, so that beauty no longer exists in the features of the rebuilt house, it is just a pale copy.

[@kidmohair8151]

luxury single family mcmansions (of their day) replaced with luxury mcapartments. sounds familiar. doesn't it.

[@BarrettRodriguez]

Chicago also lost quite a few noteworthy mansions within the city limits. In fact, very few are left today. In order to find them one has to go up the northern shore to places such as Winnetka, Kennilworth, Glencoe, Highland Park, Lake Forest and Lake Bluff. I'm not a fan of tearing down works of genius and craftsmanship but also understand theat the cost of maintaining them became difficult after income tax was enacted. Nevertheless, wouldn't it be nice if the preservation groups could protect at least some of these masterpieces.

[@danielpollak6075]

Priceless images, 🎥, thank you

[@myronfrobisher]

I would love to know his political persuasions.

[@pavelow235]

Why does it matter. Property Owners/developers by definition are capitalists.

[@ji8044]

You told us a lot about yours.

[@myronfrobisher]

@@pavelow235 It matters greatly - the type of capitalist can run from dishonorable monopoly oligarchic to free enterprise honorable capitalist.

[@myronfrobisher]

@@ji8044 in what way ?

[@user-rn2zb6be1u]

​@@pavelow235When you believe gêñdér is a spectrum with thousands of gêñdérs and people having multiple gêñdérs simultaneously *but have reduced politics to a binary between capitalists and Communists*

[@joelonzello4189]

Broad Street in Newark , NJ had some impressive architecture. All gone 🙁

[@xltrt]

The original Yankee Stadium should have never been destroyed. So much baseball history there, now all gone.

[@tt8807]

Cesars/Emperors/kings/Pharos weren’t even this bad! Sure some chiseled off noses on statues or built something bigger down the block but they left SO much for the world to enjoy! I want to visit Europe just so I can stay in a building older than 250 years.

[@ji8044]

Wow, you don't seem to get that houses old than 200 years were torn down to make way for these mansions in the first place.

[@LarrySporn]

Some of these homes were replaced by equally exquisite buildings. For example Caroline Astor's home on 5th avenue and 65th Street was demolished and replaced by Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York. At the time the largest Reform Jewish congregation in the country. It's sanctuary is larger than St. Patrick's which is ten blocks south on 5th Avenue.

[@jameswaltersdorf2783]

Living in NYC for years, I used to get angry about people like this guy. But it's all about tax revenue, as at least one comment noted. First, these mansions were built prior to the 1913 income tax. One of the last holdouts was Mrs. Vanderbilt, who is ended up selling all the furniture in her Fifth Avenue mansion before finally selling the house itself to the wrecker (1942?). Second, the property taxes on valuable realty require the generation of endless streams of income. Hence apartment buildings.

[@MichaelDavis-cy4ok]

It's so sad that people always seem to be in such a hurry to destroy history.

[@calvincoolidge1207]

To be fair, NYC is in desperate need of more apartments until average rents drop below $1,000 a month. It is time to knock down the Brooklyn brownstones and put up 50 floor apartments instead.

[@biggerock]

If he hadn't demolished them somebody else would have. Also, the original 1916 Rialto was demolished in 1932 and replaced by a new Rialto theater.

[@AaronSmith-kr5yf]

Its amazing how quickly those mansions went out of fashion. The lifestyle of living in one of those places(with the army of servants) became untenable as the middle class rose to prominence, income taxes, increase in property values, etc Not to mention the children and grandchildren who inherited these mansions just found them to be VULGAR/distasteful/didn't want that "lord of the manor" lifestyle, didn't want to host 300 person parties in a grand ballroom in their house.

[@TruDeinoz]

Interesting video. Keep up the good work. The video seemed to lack nuance though, as it didn't fully explore the complexities of the time or different angles. It would have benefited from a broader perspective instead of just doing the 'Evil Land Developer' trope.

[@ji8044]

Love your channel but I disagree with parts of this video. For instance the William Clark Mansion only existed for 16 years. It had zero historical or cultural value and was strictly the act of a single ego blown out of proportion. In one of the world's largest cities, it would make no sense to use this land strictly for old house tours and cultural events.

[@danielabbey7726]

Reminds me of a more recent New York developer who tore down the Bonwit Teller building, trashed the artwork inside, and replaced it with....Trump Tower.

[@anteeker]

I thought his house was really quite ugly, especially the interiors. Just not my taste.

[@danmcclaren5436]

but unfortunately if it wasn't for him we wouldn't have the crazy high rises we have today

[@jenniferjones3408]

Greed, power and lack of caring about history caused all these beautiful mansions to be destroyed. Unfortunately, uncaring men have set a horrible example. Other countries have preserved their historical buildings for future generations to enjoy. Sadly, our children and grandchildren will never have that opportunity.

[@ji8044]

An ironic statement since it was greed, power, and lack of caring, which created the fortunes which built them in the first place.

[@Kodakcompactdisc]

Never

[@Mboy245]

A lot of them were actually still pretty new when demolished. They built mansions that they ultimately couldn't afford to keep and maintain, especially after income tax was introduced. This man bought them and did with them what he pleased. It was his property to do with as he pleased, including demolishing the mansions and replacing them with apartments. You don't want to be told what you can and can't do with your own personal property that you paid for. Why do you think it's acceptable to try and posthumously crucify him for doing the same with the property he bought. I like seeing beautiful buildings preserved too, but it wasn't really feasible and not really their place to tell him what to do with his land

[@DasFlank]

On the one hand, those houses only served the wealthy, despite the cultural and beauty aspects they added. on the other hand he did destroy them. I would argue that, despite his clear greed. He did a positive for the city. At least from a simple housing aspect.

[@johnscanlan9335]

I grew up in Riverdale and I'm very familiar with the old Campagna mansion at 249th Street and Palisade Avenue. That neighborhood is still very bucolic and it's just across the street from another remarkable estate, Wave Hill. There's absolutely NO comparison between his former home and the very urban mansions he tore down and redeveloped in Manhattan. What exactly do the people so publicly weeping about these extinct structures think would be their fates in more modern times, such as 128-room Clark mansion at 5th Avenue and 77th Street? In the era of high income taxes, who would have had the assets to keep that kind of a palace fully operating? Sorry but this argument is nothing but nostalgia replacing logical thinking. I say thank God there was a man like Mr. Campagna who responsibly replaced those old mansions with outstanding buildings like 960 Fifth Avenue, one of the very top apartment buildings in New York City!

[@davidbrims5825]

It’s very short sighted, these old buildings could’ve been adapted to hotels or museums or whatever, and millions of tourists from around the world would come and visit them, they don’t want to see the concrete boxes.

[@parrotconservative]

Absolutely unacceptable

[@JanBanJoovi-ol1qv]

0:07 Henry VIII is that you?

[@Lizzy.786]

These mansions could have been repurposed. Such a shame 😢

[@nicm6949]

This goes to show even the rich are not immune to being erased. I think about what stood before these building were erected. The rich should not get more respect than the poor. All of it was motivated by greed and power.

[@Mboy245]

Absolutely and in an Ironic twist, Greed both built them and subsequently destroyed them

[@Spaceman719]

I can’t imagine how New York might of looked like now if it wasn’t for the greed of money! Now it has hardly any architectural history what little history it had over Europe to begin with. It’s not like it had a lack of land to buildout with?

[@andreaberryhill6654]

So... we're allowed to feel disgust with this man? 🙄

[@stevepotfora7461]

No, If you ended up broke I imagine you would sell your home too, right? Individual homeowners decided to sell their houses and this man built high-rise apartment buildings. That is how capitalism works, why would you find this man disgusting?

[@lilbluefoxie]

They need height restrictions in parts of the city so you don’t get ridiculous towers like that super thin building by Central Park Also I was half expecting to see Bob Moses’ name in this video

[@asylumlover]

KEN, THIS GUY SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED THE SAME JUSTICE AS THOSE WHO DESTROYED THOUSANDS OF OTHER INCREDIBLE LANDMARKS, INCLUDING THE HARPER BUILDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IN MEMORIAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@JanBanJoovi-ol1qv]

What a crime he did. Can’t believe the government let him do it

[@FrancoisBert]

A crying shame! Which leads me to this question: which city or cities in NA do you think have effected the best preservation of their heritage buildings?

[@kazikian]

I am absolutely a preservationist advocate, but I’m certain those buildings would be gone with or without him. Manhattan is constantly evolving and it’s unreasonable to expect 2-story mansions to exist at 70th and 5th Ave.

[@LaurenceDay-d2p]

When it comes to quick bucks and historical beauty, quick bucks wins. If I was a billionaire I would buy some of these old mansions and preserve them. Well, at least his own mansion is preserved, ironically.

[@metal87power]

Don't people's thought processes from the perspective of the present. For them, those buildings were normal, and average, for us they became significant. It's a thin line.

[@yayagazab4449]

The world is too much with us!

[@maryrnbsn5114]

What else were they supposed to do? Make the homes condos? The gilded age was a time of haves and have nots that was no longer sustainable.

[@TheGreatness-gg1jx]

He would've never done that in Italy. But Americans let it happen. A lesson with current value.....

[@Broadway789]

What street is this home ( that was built in 1930 ) on? Riverside drive?

[@CarlaGolden]

640 West 249th Street in Riverdale

[@coced]

imagine all the billionaire that could live in these today 🤧 today they are left with pitiful millionaire's condos

[@mistersharkfilms]

Very interesting. His own estate now looks extremely run down.

[@earlofsmeg]

That was a real culturecide.

[@GlennMandeville154]

Let me get this straight. He tore down fabulous mansions and then built one of his own.. As we used to say, "What's wrong with this picture?

[@danielcarter491]

If he were alive today, he'd likely be sitting at the top of BlackRock. How disgusting.

[@philidor3652]

The houses demolished were obsolete and too extravagant to maintain. The families who built them wanted to escape. Not all of them could become house museums. Or be extravagantly reconstructed to become apartments. I'm glad that some have been saved and others documented. But, realistically, a lot had to be demolished.

[@TWOCOWS1]

Damn his soul

[@GoodbyeKamala2024]

Whitemarsh Hall was another beautiful mansion destroyed.😟

[@martybadboy]

Many of these buildings were less than 20 years old when demolished. Have some perspective.

[@michaelwalter3399]

Many of those huge, opulent houses were demolished because they were relics of another time and a different economic climate, too expensive for the heirs to maintain.

[@SURENITY]

This man is a historical criminal.

[@suebecker2893]

Your commentary is always well researched. Unfortunately this type of demolition seems to be the American way.

[@markwagner4909]

It’s a double edged sword.