Manhatten mystery

I enjoyed reading Walk New York!. The Ansonia (2017-2019 Broadway), formerly a hotel and now a block of flats, was also the home of the early20th-century Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin, who was very highly regarded in this city, and of Florence Ziegfeld, a producer of Broadway musical extravaganzas. The famed American baseball player Babe Ruth also stayed at the Ansonia – he was so taken with all that musical talent that he took up the saxophone. Meanwhile, Mahler may well have resided at the Majestic Hotel (115 Central Park West) in 1907, as the article says. He did not, however, reside at the building illustrated in the photo, as it was built from 1929-31. The former Upper West Side homes of Amy Beach, Aaron Copland, Charles Ives and Emma Steiner are all on my patch and close to the modern Lincoln Center. I can vouch that Copland’s home, the Empire Hotel, is still standing.

Arthur Tenenholtz, New York, US The editor replies:

Thank you all for your fascinating letters on the back of Brian’s piece, and we naturally apologise for the wrong photo, lovely building though it is…