The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-06-12
In New York
BY PAUL HARRISON


 New York--Proud old Fifth Ave. nue is becoming . street of memo. ries, . boulevard of vanished glory. The Vandergoulds don't live thero any more.
 Of course 1t still has q lot of the finest stores, the smartest shops, and on 1t are to be seen some of the most beautiful women, the and highest hats in all America. Fifth Avenue is too costly even for some of tho richest families. They're moving to homes in side streets, or into luxurious apart ments. And dozens of the old mansions stand vacant, dcJected, awaiting the wrockers' hands. Nobody Home
 Tho George Brokaw mansion has been sold for m apartment devel- opment. So has the famous sound proof residence of Joseph Pulitzer, on Scventy-thlrd street For moro than c year the James Speyef house, with its silk.hung reception rooms, golden ballroom and great hSan hSl wtn d'n.on marble fo"ntains, nn ,,.i, has Fifth Avenue house, and now don't live in it And the Thomas Fortune Ryan mansion has been shut tight since 1920. The curtains arc yellow and ragged and no one walks in tho adjoining million dollar garden.
 The social secretary of n wealthy woman tolls mo that not more than 200 people now occupy private homes on Fifth avenue. And most of these houses are owned by nowly.rich families about whom we seldom hear All There Is To lt
 Of course, just US Broadway" is understood to moan the brief ten blocks north of Forty.Sccond that I've been talking about refer sections. Thoro'B much more to tho avenue than that, but it is as dif- forcnt as nro tho spectral castles Of departed wealthy families.
 
 At>the south, where the famous street starts from Washington Square. Greenwich Village crowds stronghoids of aristocrats who hoods. Tho Hotel Brovoort, one- time gathering place of the lite. rnti, remains, but q lot of land marks have fallen --- among them tho homo of Mark Twain, on tho southcaht corner at Ninth street.
 Going northward you soon en- counter factory and loft buildings, the fringos Of the fur and garment sections. Then there's the dingy vlatiron Building, dwarfed now by modern skyscrapers. And Madison Square, no longer the homo of Madison Square Garden. Soon the better stores are in evi. dence, and also couple of five. and.tens. These rod .front estab. lishmonts seemingly inc0ngruous on an avenue famed for its costly gowns and fabulous jcwelry, taka in more money than any other stores in the far-fung chain. The End
 Fifth Avoune is only a one-sided thoroughfare whore 1t skirts the east side of Central Park. And here are the remaining mansions. At One Hundred and Tenth stree. t turns couple of corners anJ shoots on northward through re- glons Of diminishing tono. Autono- bile repair shops, undertakcrs, cafes, box-like apartments. Police comb this area for wanted men. Shyster concerns hire offices hero 50 thoy can have Fifth Avenue addresses for out-of-town maiIings.
 Next comes Harlem. Tenemen,s and stores. Taxicabs and huckster carts. Pickaninnies and fuzzy white dogs. HIgh-brown dandics strut.ing with their gals. Pretty soon Fifth Avenue comes to the East River and expires. Tloily waters lap the bank, and pieces of boxes ride on the dark tide. A hobo sleeps In Q scrapped auto. mobile in the shadow of q sign that says NO Dumping"
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