Editing The Dakota (section)

==== 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" />