Scavenger Hunt: The Knights of Pythias (UWS)

The UWS is filled with interesting historical buildings that are now apartments filled with yuppies with 2 children and a dog.  Before I describe the landmark that is the subject of this post, let me digress briefly. In the summer of 2009, I thoroughly enjoyed living in a cute co-op studio apartment at 73rd and West End.  I liked my little bodega across the street where I would stumble to get my coffee in a hungover daze on Sunday mornings (Saturday mornings I stumbled to P57 in a hungover daze to get my fitness on).  I enjoyed living one block off of Riverside Park and 3 blocks away from Central Park not to mention living super close to a million fabulous places to have brunch.  For whatever reason, while I lived there, I did not notice what I'm about to bitch about. Strollers and dogs.

It occurred to me while living in NYC for more than 8 weeks that the UWS is like the suburbs in Manhattan.  No, really.  That's what it felt like. Don't get me wrong, I can see the appeal of quiet streets and lots of awesome restaurants and shopping, but really? Does everyone need a double-wide stroller and a dog? Whenever I would meet my friend Jess up there, I felt almost like I was going out of town (probably because I lived in tourist-frenzied midtown).  I mean, not as "out of town" as Brooklyn (because that takes a day trip) but still, it felt far despite it being 2 subway stops away. And rent's more expensive up there.

Anyway, so on to my scavenger hunt. Just for some context, the Knights of Pythias headquarters (which I'll describe in a moment) are about 10 blocks north of the Lincoln Center, which I discussed last week.  We're slowly making our way north.  I don't promise that this will continue in a similarly logical fashion since my current method of picking things to blog about is scanning through my photos and picking a topic that way.

Anyway, I keep getting sidetracked! So, in the era after WWI the U.S. saw a growing interest in secret societies (the authors of the book postulated is was the result of people getting a taste for secrecy during Prohibition). (Ch. 143) Anyway, Knights of Pythias became popular during a "wave of interest in the Middle East" following the discovery of King Tut's tomb. (Ch. 143) It was founded in 1864 as a fraternal organization "dedicated to healing the deep wounds of the Civil War". (Ch. 143) The order's motto was "If fraternal love held all men bound, how beautiful this world would be", which immediately made me think of this song for some reason.

The headquarters was finished in 1926 and you can totally see both the Eastern motifs and the influence of Art Deco.

You can see the winged Babylonian lions to the left of the photo and the ornate tiled entryway.  For being almost 90 years old, the colors are still so vibrant (although this is probably because it's been touched up but I can still be impressed).

One thing I miss about the city is the sky reflected in windows.
The original building did not have any windows to protect the secrecy of the rituals within.

Some further information on the building.

Of course, much like the other buildings I've mentioned (including my favorite, Hearst Tower!), the Depression negatively affected the Pythians.  They were able to keep their headquarters until 1950 and after that, the building had tenants including a recording studio, where Bill Haley and His Comets recorded "Rock Around the Clock" (How cool is that!?).  It sadly became an apartment building in the 1980s.

As for the Knights of Pythias, a quick google search indicates that they are still alive and kicking and raise money for the American Cancer Society.  Also, my husband would like to let you know that, sadly, this fraternal organization had nothing to do with Battlestar Gallatica but maybe they both were inspired by the Oracle at Delphi? Alas, google shattered that dream too.

Anyway, next Friday expect to read about another famous (perhaps more so) fraternal organization, The Shriners. This is so I can cross chapter 143 of my list! Hope everyone has a great weekend and go Patriots!