Our Historical Neighborhood – An Anecdotal History of New York City with Glimpses into the Past of Particular Relevance to 300 West 23rd Street

Our neighbor Joe Polacek offers us this look at our surroundings – part memoir and part historical discourse – to enhance our appreciation for our building and neighborhood.

Chapter 3

From our building at 300 West 23rd Street, many of us can see the Consolidated Edison building on 14th Street. At the turn of the century, 14th Street was the Great White Way of its time, well before the theater district of Broadway came to be known by that name. Most of the legitimate theaters were located there on 14th Street. The term “great white way” comes from the fact that this area was lighted by electricity while its neighboring communities such as Chelsea and Greenwich Village were still lighted by gas. In Hello Dolly, Jerry Herman has Dolly tell us, “I went away from the lights of 14th Street …”

In the late 1800’s, there was a very famous singer and actress named Lillian Russell, who frequently dated or was seen with the famed “Diamond Jim” Brady (named for his huge fortune and huge appetite, frequently eating three to four dozen oysters as an appetizer!) One of their favorite restaurants was Luchows, a famous gathering place on 14th Street specializing in German food. This restaurant remained open until the early 1970’s. I was privileged to attend the closing gala!

Another favorite of Lillian Russell and Diamond Jim was Cavanaugh’s on West 23rd Street. It was a grand old restaurant, one that many of us enjoyed right up until the early 1970’s. The New Orleans-style wrought-iron exterior was demolished to make way for the current Cineplex!

After dinner at Cavanaugh’s, Lillian Russell simply had to cross the street to her brownstone.

300 West 23rd Street has had its share (and still does!) of noted persons. My own apartment, on the 14th floor, had only two previous tenants, one the gangster Joe “Socks” Lanza.

The first tenant, Socks Lanza, whose name came from the very bright socks he wore, was along with his “organization” responsible for the “fish market area.” His name appears in many items that speak of the Al Capone era and other mob history. In the movie Luciano, Socks Lanza is portrayed on the ship bidding farewell to Luciano on the occasion of his deportation.

An interesting story was told to me by several of 14th floor tenants, now deceased (by natural causes!), about how the FBI tried to catch Socks. For years the FBI tried to tap his telephones from the neighboring apartments, but access was never granted by the tenants. One lady in particular told me, “I couldn’t. Who he was was his business; but his wife and I were good friends.”

Finally, the FBI was able to tap the telephone by posing as repair men and accessing it through the basement. This evidence and much else helped to convict Socks and send him to jail. During his time in jail his wife remained in the apartment alone.

Eventually, Socks was paroled with the stipulation that he had to remain in the apartment from 8 p.m. until 8 a.m. every day, no exceptions. Today, that does not seem too bad, but at that time it was rough, with no air conditioning, no T.V., no video, no fancy nightlife! After one year, the routine was getting to be too much for Socks. The authorities were aware of this, and I have been told they encouraged his breaking his parole. One night while being entertained at Copacabana, he got very drunk and was photographed by one of the staff sitting under a conveniently placed clock that showed an hour much later than 8 p.m., and that was the end. He was sent to Sing Sing where he died from cancer. His wife stayed on for a short time then moved out.