Editing The Dakota (section)

=== Clark family ownership ===

==== 1880s and 1890s ====
[[File:The Dakota 1890b.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The Dakota as seen from Eighth Avenue circa 1890. The Upper West Side was sparsely developed; the only other buildings visible are Clark's row houses on 73rd Street to the left.<ref>{{harvnb|Alpern|2015|ps=.|p=61}}</ref>|alt=The Dakota Apartments as seen from Eighth Avenue circa 1890]]

The Dakota was completed by the week of October 24–27, 1884.<ref name="Hawes p. 94" /><ref name="Brockmann2002" /> The building was fully rented upon its completion,<ref name="Stern (1999) p. 564" /> though detractors considered the building to be isolated and criticized the Dakota as an "intrusion" onto Central Park's landscape.<ref name="Hawes pp. 93–94" /> According to historical records, the Dakota's earliest residents were active in a variety of industries.<ref name="Hawes p. 99" /><ref name=":0" /> The residents included lawyers, brokers, merchants, and clothiers, although they also included a cigar merchant, a coal-mine operator, and a stenographer.<ref name=":0">{{harvnb|Alpern|2015|ps=.|pp=97–100}}</ref> All of the Dakota's residents were wealthy, although not particularly famous.<ref name="NY1900" /><ref name="p110729327" /> None of the early residents were included in the "[[The Four Hundred (Gilded Age)|Four Hundred]]", a list of prominent individuals in New York society during the [[Gilded Age]].<ref name="NY1900" /><ref name="Hawes p. 99" /> This was because of its remoteness; in the days before telephones became popular, people tended to make in-person social visits. It often took an hour just to reach the Dakota from the [[Ladies' Mile Historic District]], which in the 1890s was the city's commercial center.<ref name="Hawes p. 100">{{harvnb|Hawes|1993|ps=.|page=100}}</ref>

A law, restricting the height of large apartment houses in New York City to {{convert|80|ft}},<ref name="Willis x276">{{cite web |last=Willis |first=Carol |title=Ten & Taller: the Skyscraper Museum |url=https://old.skyscraper.org/tenandtaller/residential.php |access-date=August 14, 2023 |website=The Skyscraper Museum}}</ref>{{Efn|This was the height limit for wider streets. Apartment buildings were limited to {{convert|70|ft}} on narrower streets.<ref name="Willis x276"/>}} passed the year that the building was completed.<ref>{{harvnb|Landau|Condit|1996|ps=.|p=134}}</ref><ref name="Stern (1999) p. 565" /> The Dakota's address was originally 301 West 72nd Street, since the [[House numbering|address numbers]] of buildings on Manhattan's west–east numbered streets were based on the building's distances from [[Fifth Avenue]]. In 1886, house numbers on the Upper West Side were renumbered based on distance from Central Park West (Eighth Avenue), so the Dakota became 1 West 72nd Street.<ref name="Alpern p. 37" /> In its first two years, the Dakota was not profitable,<ref name="nyt-1893-03-06" /> and the surrounding blocks were still not developed, particularly the lots to the north.<ref name="Hawes pp. 102–103">{{harvnb|Hawes|1993|ps=.|pages=102–103}}</ref> Even in 1890, the row houses on the same block were bringing more income than was the Dakota.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 12, 1890 |title=No More Big Flats in New York.: the Building of Them Has Stopped—they Do Not Pay Well. |page=4 |work=Chicago Daily Tribune |id={{ProQuest|174375368}}}}</ref> By the early 1890s, there was a waiting list for vacant apartments.<ref name="nyt-1893-03-06" />

According to the [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] (LPC), the Dakota, along with the [[American Museum of Natural History]] several blocks north, helped establish the "early character" of Central Park West.<ref name="NYCL p. 21" /> The Dakota's completion spurred the construction of other large apartment buildings in the area,<ref name="nyt-1893-03-06">{{Cite news |date=March 6, 1893 |title=West Side Family Hotels; Their Success Assures the Construction of Many More |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1893/03/06/archives/west-side-family-hotels-their-success-assures-the-construction-of.html |access-date=May 11, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511192505/https://www.nytimes.com/1893/03/06/archives/west-side-family-hotels-their-success-assures-the-construction-of.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYCL p. 21">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|p=21}}</ref> several of which were named after regions in the western United States.<ref name="Cromley p. 142">{{harvnb|Cromley|1990|p=142|ps=.}}</ref> Other buildings, including a church, fire station, and rowhouses, also were developed nearby.<ref name="Hawes p. 102"/> Nonetheless, the Dakota remained the only large apartment building in the neighborhood until the end of the 19th century.<ref>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|p=54}}</ref> A major reason was the lack of electricity in the area, since large apartment buildings needed electricity for their elevators, but the city did not install electric ducts along Central Park West until 1896. The Dakota had its own power plant, so the lack of municipal electric service did not affect the building.<ref>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|pp=15–16}}</ref>

==== 1900s to 1950s ====
[[File:Dakota Flats, N.Y. LCCN90712246.jpg|alt=View of the Dakota Apartments from Central Park in 1903|thumb|In 1903, the area was still sparsely developed, though street lamps and street signs had been added.<ref name="Alpern p. 62" />]]
The Clarks tried to sell off an adjacent plot to the north, between 73rd and 74th streets, in 1902 with the proviso that no building on that site be taller than the Dakota. The Clarks were unable to sell the plot with that restriction, and the Langham apartment building was erected on the site.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gray |first=Christopher |date=1998-09-20 |title=Streetscapes/The Langham, Central Park West and 73d Street; Tall and Sophisticated, and Just North of the Dakota |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/20/realestate/streetscapes-langham-central-park-west-73d-street-tall-sophisticated-just-north.html |access-date=2022-05-14 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514180450/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/20/realestate/streetscapes-langham-central-park-west-73d-street-tall-sophisticated-just-north.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Images show that, in the first decades of the 20th century, some dormer windows were added on the roof of the building.<ref name="Alpern p. 62">{{harvnb|Alpern|2015|ps=.|p=62}}</ref> Through the early 20th century, the Clark family retained ownership of the Dakota. A ''New York Herald Tribune'' article in 1929 noted that the Clarks have "for years resisted all attempts at purchase".<ref>{{cite news |date=July 14, 1929 |title=West 72d Street Now Undergoing Radical Changes: Old Dwellings, Well Known Hotels Are Giving Way to New Apartment Projects |page=D1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1111992147}}}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote in the 1920s that the Dakota "has always maintained its old-time popularity".<ref>{{cite news |date=August 15, 1926 |title=West Side Street Has Been Rebuilt |page=RE1 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|103602096}}}}</ref> Whereas the Dakota underwent few alterations in its first fifty years, the neighborhood changed dramatically during that period. The Dakota's main entrance on 72nd Street originally faced some shacks and gardens, but the high-rise Majestic Apartments overlooked the main entrance by the early 1930s.<ref name="nyt-1933-11-21" /><ref name="Alpern p. 106">{{harvnb|Alpern|2015|ps=.|p=106}}</ref>

Edward S. Clark died in 1933, just before the Dakota's 50th anniversary, and his brother Stephen Carlton Clark took over the building's operation.<ref name="Alpern p. 107" /><ref>{{cite news |date=October 1, 1933 |title=2 Brothers Get Clark's Estate Of $30,000,000: Stephen C. and Frederick A. Clark Inherit Bulk of Sewing Machine Fortune Hint of Million Charity Large Bequests Contingent Upon 'Certain Projects' |page=26 |work=New York Herald Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1114669365}}}}</ref> Stephen Clark intended to continue operating the Dakota and preserve the garden to the west.<ref name="Alpern p. 107" /><ref name="p1125467766" /> At the time, two of the tenants had lived there since its opening, and four of the other original tenants had died in the preceding three years.<ref name="nyt-1933-11-21" /><ref name="p1125467766" /><ref>{{harvnb|Alpern|2015|ps=.|pp=106–107}}</ref> For the next three decades, the Dakota remained largely unchanged,<ref name="nyt-1959-09-07" /> and the building even retained its original elevators.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Berger |first=Meyer |date=February 6, 1956 |title=About New York; Quakers in Gramercy Park Area Look to Union --73-Year-Old Elevator Still Going Strong |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/02/06/archives/about-new-york-quakers-in-gramercy-park-area-look-to-union.html |access-date=May 12, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512183347/https://www.nytimes.com/1956/02/06/archives/about-new-york-quakers-in-gramercy-park-area-look-to-union.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The Clarks were responsible for all repairs and maintenance and were subject to little, if any scrutiny.<ref name="Alpern p. 161">{{harvnb|Alpern|2015|ps=.|p=161}}</ref>

By the 1950s, the servants' quarters on the upper stories had been converted to apartments. At the time, many tenants were diplomats, theatrical figures, or publishers.<ref name="nyt-1959-09-07" /> The building particularly appealed to theatrical figures because of its proximity to the [[Theater District, Manhattan|Broadway Theater District]], which was also on the West Side.<ref name="Alpern p. 124" /> There was also a long waiting list of potential tenants, and apartments rented for a relatively low $6,000 to $7,000 per year (equivalent to between ${{Inflation|index=US|value=6000|start_year=1950|fmt=c}} and ${{Inflation|index=US|value=7000|start_year=1950|fmt=c}} in {{Inflation/year|index=US}}).<ref name="AF p. 124" /><ref name="nyt-1959-09-07" /> Some tenants, most of whom were friends of Stephen Clark, did not pay rent at all.<ref name="p510962323">{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|510962323}} |title=One of New York's oldest status symbols |first=June |last=Carroll |date=March 6, 1967 |page=12 |work=The Christian Science Monitor}}</ref> Residents tended to live in the building for several decades, leading ''The New York Times'' to observe: "It is reported that no Dakotan leaves the building permanently unless it is feet first".<ref name="nyt-1959-09-07" />