# Louis Abramson

Louis Allen Abramson (August 1, 1887 – January 15, 1985) was an American architect who practiced mostly in New York City, specializing in hospitals, nursing homes, and restaurants. He is best known for designing the Daughters of Jacob Geriatric Center at 1201 Findlay Ave in the Bronx. Early in his career, he designed a number of Jewish Centers; this was a new type of building which filled the religious, cultural, and educational needs of the community in a single structure, often including a gymnasium as well. Later commissions included several restaurants for the Horn & Hardart, Longchamps, and Brass Rail chains, a nightclub, and a large office building.
Abramson had little formal schooling in architecture; he took courses at Cooper Union, the Mechanics Institute, and Columbia University but did not complete a degree. Most of his training was on-the-job training in junior positions at well known New York City architecture firms. He used a variety of styles, including Neo-Renaissance, Moorish Revival, Neo-Classical, Tudor, Art Deco, and Art Moderne. Several of his buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

## Early life and education

Louis Allen Abramson (also known as Louis Abrahamson) was born in New York City in 1887. He and his wife Pearl had two daughters, Anita Claire and Judith.
Abramson did not have a traditional architecture education; he attended Cooper Union as a civil engineering student and then the Mechanics Institute but did not graduate from either. His introduction to architecture came when he took a job as an office boy and later a draftsman for John H. Duncan, a well-known New York City architect. After leaving Duncan's employ, Abramson moved to Seattle but did not stay there for many years. Upon his return to New York, he took extension courses at Columbia University and was hired by Louis Gerard as a draftsman where he learned to appreciate the Beaux-Arts style. By 1917, Abrams had opened an office of his own at 220 Fifth Avenue, in Manhattan.
Early in his career, Abramson developed an appreciation of the work of McKim, Mead & White, being especially fond of the University Club and Penn Station. When interviewed in 1980, Abramson said:
   When they started to destroy the Penn Station I used to go over there and cry. To me it was perfection, perfection. And then I'd walk, at times I'd commute to Grand Central. I had admiration for it, but in a totally different sense. Penn Station was ... I don't know how I can really say it. I felt meek in the presence of that building.
He was particularly impressed with the spacing of the bronze letters on the Seventh Avenue side of the building, which inspired him to study architectural lettering. Abramson also admired the work of Cass Gilbert, saying that he "admired [Cass's] modernity, if one may use that expression, his breakaway from the classical school".

## World's Fair competition

In 1936, Abramson submitted a sketch to a design competition for the 1939 New York World's Fair. The competition asked for designs of "a typical building" which could be used for applied arts exhibits, with limits on interior and exterior dimensions, and intended to be sited with two other exhibit buildings grouped together in a three-sided plot. In a review of the submissions, Pencil Points editor Kenneth Reid described Abramson's design:
   Louis Allen Abramson was given a mention but his plan has the obvious fault of forcing visitor to retrace steps against traffic to see entire show or else go through whole group and return – a foot-weary scheme. Elevations are simple but apparently resulted from desire to be modern.

## Buildings
### Home of the Daughters of Jacob

In 1916, Abramson designed the Home of the Daughters of Jacob on 167th Street between Findlay and Teller Avenues in the Bronx. The building consists of eight wings arranged radially around a central core, and has been described as "novel in design, being in the form of a wheel". The property consists of 36 lots which were previously part of Gouverneur Morris's estate; at the time of purchase by the Daughters of Jacob, it was still occupied by Morris's 1812 house which was torn down to make room for the new building.
The central core contained administrative offices and was topped by a tower, which at the time of its construction was the highest point in the Bronx. The eight wings were residences for more than 1,000 elderly men and women, replacing the existing home run by the Daughters of Jacob at 301 East Broadway in Manhattan, which could only house 200 people. The plans for the new building included a synagogue with seating for 1,000 people, a 600-seat dining room, as well as a hospital, library, and a Turkish bath, with construction costs estimated to be $300,000 (equivalent to $8,700,000 in 2024).
By 1973, the building was deemed no longer fit for its original purpose, owing to new health codes. Abramson, then 84 years old, was part of the design team which modernized the building, connecting it by pedestrian bridges to new buildings on the opposite sides of Findlay and Teller Avenues. Abramson told the New York Times, "At the time it was designed, it was philosophically right in that institutions felt they fulfilled their obligations to the elderly by providing them with bed and board. It was a question of providing wards with no recognition of individual dignity or privacy."

### Jewish centers

Abramson designed a number of Jewish Centers, not all of which contained that phrase in their name. Historian Anthony Robbins describes this type of building as:
   A new, and particularly American, synagogue innovation ... which served not only as a place of worship, but also as a center of community life. Besides a sanctuary, a Jewish center would include classrooms and social halls and, in larger synagogues, even gymnasiums and swimming pools.
According to Jewish historian Jacob J. Schacter, the Jewish Center was an invention of wealthy Jews living in New York's fashionable Upper West Side and Yorkville neighborhoods in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.$^{:211–212}$ New York Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan envisioned transforming the synagogue:$^{:215–216}$
   From being only a house of worship to encompassing the physical and social dimensions of the human experience as well; from solely a place of prayer to also a place of recreation: from a congregation to a Jewish center ... a place for Bible and basketball, Gemara and games, learning and luncheons, prayer and ping-pong.

#### 86th Street Jewish Center

Abramson designed the Jewish Center at 131 West 86th Street in Manhattan. Built in 1917–1920, this 10-story brick and stone building is part of the Upper West Side / Central Park West Historic District and has been variously described as being in the Neo-Renaissance style or Italian Renaissance styles.
In a February 1917 report, the building was described as being planned to be 8 stories tall, 66 by 100 feet (20 m × 30 m) on a 77 by 100.8 feet (23.5 m × 30.7 m) lot which had been purchased the previous April. At that time, the structure was estimated to cost $350,000 (equivalent to $8,600,000 in 2024) after purchase of the land. In addition to a large synagogue the building was to include a second smaller one, an auditorium, clubrooms, handball and squash courts, a swimming pool on the sixth floor, and space for a possible Turkish bath to be installed later. The cornerstone was laid on August 5.
By February 1918, when the building was almost finished up to the fourth floor, construction costs were said to have been $150,000 (equivalent to $3,700,000 in 2024), and the lot as being 60 by 100 feet (18 m × 30 m). Planned future work included addition of the gymnasium, pool, baths, sleeping accommodations, as well as a banquet hall and associated kitchens and pantries. A temporary Certificate of Occupancy was issued on March 1, 1918, noting that the remaining construction was to be completed within five years. The first services were held on March 22–23, 1918, with the building officially dedicated on March 24.$^{:236–238}$
As this was an Orthodox synagogue, the seating areas for men and women were to be separated from each other. Instead of the arrangement commonly used at the time where women were seated in an upstairs gallery, the space was designed to have men and women on the same level, but separated by a partition known as a mehitza.$^{:236}$
The expansion to the originally planned full height of 10 stories was announced in July 1919, with six additional stories to be added at a cost of approximately $175,000 (equivalent to $3,200,000 in 2024).

#### Brooklyn Jewish Center

The Brooklyn Jewish Center at 667 Eastern Parkway between New York and Brooklyn Avenues was built in 1922, designed by Abramson in collaboration with Margon & Glasser. Francis Morrone, an architectural historian, describes it as being a long building, suitable to the site:
   The lower portion is fully rusticated, as are the end bays of the upper portion, creating exactly the kind of rhythm that is so necessary along a wide, long boulevard [...] As a building tailored to its location, it could hardly be improved.
Morrone compares the design to the nearby Catholic High School, which he says similarly fits into the Eastern Parkway environment. The building, which included a synagogue, gymnasium, catering facilities, classrooms and a swimming pool, was built on 11 lots.

#### Young Israel of Flatbush

Built in 1923, Abramson's Young Israel of Flatbush building at 1012 Avenue I in Brooklyn used a "Semitic" or Moorish revival style popular in the 1920s and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. Featuring moorish influences, this style was also used for contemporary Jewish buildings in Brooklyn by Shampan & Shampan in their 1920 Temple Beth-El of Borough Park at 4802 15th Avenue, and by Tobias Goldstone in his 1928 Kol Israel at 603 St. Johns Place. Anthony Robbins describes the style as:
   ... combining Moorish ornament with Judaic motifs, a phenomenon that can be traced back to mid-19th century Europe and a belief that the Moorish represented a more “Eastern,” and therefore more culturally appropriate style for Jewish buildings, as opposed to styles based on church architecture
Moorish details in Abram's design included slender minarets, arches in both ogival and horseshoe styles, and polychromatic tile and brick. The Avenue I fasçade uses purple, red, and brown brick laid in irregular geometric patterns. In addition to these Moorish details are more traditional Jewish motifs including the Magen David (six-pointed star of David) and Hebrew inscriptions.
An entrance vestibule and the synagogue office are on the first floor. The second floor includes a public space and classrooms. The main sanctuary on the third floor is two stories tall with large polychromatic leaded glass windows including both geometric patterns and the names of the twelve tribes from Jewish tradition to provide light. The basement was built as a gymnasium and in later years doubled as an auditorium.

#### Astoria Center of Israel

Abramson designed the Astoria Center of Israel, a synagogue located at 27-35 Crescent Street in Astoria, Queens. The two-story building was built in 1925–1926 as a religious school and community center associated with the adjacent Congregation Mishkan Israel synagogue and continues to be used for its original purpose. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009; the registration form describes it as "a two-story building faced in Flemish-bond striated red brick with faux limestone cast-stone trim and a masonry foundation" and notes that the design "is typical of 1920s American synagogues, combining classical detailing with Judaic symbols".

#### Ocean Parkway Jewish Center

Abramson's influence can be seen in the Ocean Parkway Jewish Center, designed by Samuel Malkind and Martyn Weinsten; Malkind had worked in Abramson's office early in his career, and followed Abramson's lead "combining neo-Classical ornament with Judaic symbols".

### New Israel Hospital

In 1919, Abramson designed a four-story building for the Israel Hospital in Brooklyn, to be located on Tenth Avenue, occupying the entire 200-foot (61 m) block between 48th and 49th streets. The building, with capacity for 200 patients was to provide expansion space for the New Utrecht Dispensary, which later became Maimonides Medical Center. By this time, Abramson had acquired a reputation for designing hospital buildings. Construction cost was originally estimated in May 1919 to be about $250,000 (equivalent to $4,500,000 in 2024). This grew to $400,000 (equivalent to $7,300,000 in 2024) by September of that year.

### 210 West 78th Street

Abramson designed this 1926 nine-story apartment building in the Tudor style with "a ... facade of irregular brick, peaked gables, and stucco panels framed by wooden strips". It was built at a time when Manhattan's West Side was undergoing extensive development and replaced houses previously numbered 206–212. The previous year, Schwartz & Gross had designed another nine-story building facing it across the street at number 215, which similarly replaced houses at 211- 217. Both of these buildings were set back 5 feet (1.5 m) from the standard building line, complying with a covenant dating back to 1887.

### 116 John Street

116 John Street is an Art Deco 35 story office building in a sub-section of Manhattan's financial district where many insurance companies have their offices. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, developer Julian Kovacs purchased adjacent lots totaling 11,000 square feet (1,000 m$^2$) with existing low-rise structures and hired Abramson to design an office tower. Despite the stock market crash a year earlier, real estate development was ongoing in this area, with Art Deco designs being popular, as they "were considered an elegant and stylish form of Modernism". Abramson's design "reflect[ed] the geometric influences of Cubism and Futurism", featuring "chevron patterns and organic abstractions" typical of the style, with setbacks as required by New York City's 1916 zoning code.
Shortly after construction began, however, a lawsuit was filed by the owners of the adjacent 111 John Street claiming that the setbacks were insufficient. Based on the width of the street, the suit claimed that the first setback should be at approximately 130 feet (40 m) instead of the planned 250 feet (76 m). The developers of 116 John Street claimed that the setbacks were appropriate based on proximity to the wider public space at Burling Slip. By this time, the foundation had already been completed, contracts for 90% of the required steel had already been issued, and a number of leases had been signed. The suit was dismissed on the basis that it had not been filed soon enough and the cost to correct the problem would be excessive, but the judge did comment that the law should be clarified to prevent future disputes of a similar nature. A 1988 lawsuit during the construction of 108 East 96th Street cited similar concerns.

### Restaurants

Abramson designed two restaurants for Horn & Hardart in 1931; one on West 33rd Street in midtown Manhattan, the other on West 181st Street in Washington Heights. These were both automats done in a modern style to meet Horn & Hardart's preference. The first had "a terra-cotta faced, modernistic, two-story facade with the blocky modern reliefs, abstract grillework, stylized floral patterns, and dramatic indirect lighting so typical of the period." In a 1980 interview, Abramson said he had not understood what the client was asking for, so he "simply designed what he liked". The second restaurant was described as "one of the most extravagant of all New York's Automats". The interior featured "extravagant colored glass ceilings" in which "the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings [...] rose towards each other, their spires meeting electrically over a central schematic diagram of the Manhattan street grid".
Starting in 1934, Abramson designed six restaurants for the Longchamps chain in collaboration with artist Winold Reiss. Abramson worked on the exteriors with Reiss producing images related to New York City for the interiors. American Architect and Architecture magazine wrote of the collaboration:
   For fhe past two years the happily collaborative talents of an architect and a painter have resulted in better appearance and better business for a well established chain of New York restaurants. Fairly standard in basic elements of form, each restaurant is decorated around a different theme. The most recent in this group uses as its central motif the historical contrasts of New York City. The faqade, mainly of plate glass and satin finished chromium, has its structural parts decorated with glass mosaics in blue, silver and off white.
A 1937 commission was for the Riviera nightclub in Fort Lee, New Jersey. The club was built atop the Palisades, with views of the Hudson River, the George Washington Bridge, and Manhattan; the semi-circular building included unbroken expanses of glass to take advantage of these views and the roof of the building could be opened to the sky on clear nights. A year after the club opened, Abramson added a series of abstract murals painted by Arshile Gorky. The club was closed in 1953 and demolished in 1954 when the Palisades Interstate Parkway was built.
Abramson designed the Brass Rail restaurant at Idelwild Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy Airport), located in the "temporary terminal building", a quonset hut type structure. Metro Airport News described it as "a restaurant ahead of its time". He also designed, in collaboration with Voorhees, Gmelin & Walker, the Brass Rail concessions at the 1939 New York World's Fair.

### West 135th Street library addition

In 1941, Abramson designed an Art Moderne addition to 103 West 135th Street, which at the time was known as the West 135th Street branch of the New York Public Library. This doubled the size of the original 1905 McKim, Mead & White building, extending it to 104 West 136th Street, occupying the site of two townhouses previously owned by Madam C. J. Walker. The cornerstone was laid on October 28, 1941, with construction expected to be completed in early 1942 at a cost of approximately $200,000 (equivalent to $4,300,000 in 2024). As of 2024 this is known as the Countee Cullen Library, honoring American writer Countee Cullen, and is part of the larger Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, which was designated a New York City landmark in 1981.

### Personal residence

Abramson bought a property on Indian Hill Road in Yorktown, New York, in 1945 for his personal use as a country retreat. The property came with an undistinguished Cape Cod–style house, which he incrementally expanded to include stone walls, stairways, and porches which provided better views of the surrounding area. Abramson sold the property in 1984. In 2017, the house was listed as a Home of Historic Distinction by the Yorktown Landmarks Preservation Commission.

## Death

Abramson died on January 15, 1985, in Manhattan at the age of 97.