The curtain may finally be falling for dozens of tenants of Carnegie Hall, whose studios helped form a Bohemia on 57th Street because of the many musicians, dancers, painters and other artists who lived in them.
Carnegie Hall announced yesterday that it would embark on a major expansion that would create more offices, rehearsal and practice rooms and space for large ensembles, as well as renovate backstage areas. The plan would gobble up all of the studios in the building and its two towers, Carnegie said, and would mainly serve Carnegie’s expanding educational wing.
While detailed plans have yet to be drawn up, the cost would be in the range of $150 million to $200 million, said Clive Gillinson, Carnegie’s executive and artistic director, to be financed through a capital campaign. He said that leases would not be renewed after June 30, and that work would not begin for at least two years.
Residents received letters with the news yesterday.
Carnegie and many of the tenants have been at odds at various points over the last three decades, with the hall in recent years having taken over some space to expand its offices as its programs have grown. Eviction worries have come and gone. The hall said that its policy has been to give preference to cultural types in renting the studios, but that it was never under any obligation to provide studio space.
Mr. Gillinson stressed that he was trying to give as much advance notice as possible to the tenants and promised that Carnegie Hall would work with them in finding new homes. Of the tenants, 8 are rent-controlled residents, 10 are market-rate residents and 33 are commercial renters, he said.
“These are people who have lived here a long time,” Mr. Gillinson said. “They have an emotional commitment to Carnegie Hall. We really need to be very sensitive to that.” At the same time, he said, the hall is prepared to evict the rent-controlled tenants if necessary.
The studios form a unique pocket of New York. Al Jolson studied voice there. Isadora Duncan rehearsed dances there. A young assistant conductor at the New York Philharmonic named Leonard Bernstein lived in Studio 803.
“People talk about the history and the ghosts and experiences here just like they do in the concert hall,” said Josef Astor, a photographer who has had a commercial studio in the building. “That tradition is coming to a close, and that’s a tragedy.” His eighth-floor studio has a skylight and 20-foot ceilings, he said. “It’s like a mini ‘La Bohème’ set in here.”
Antonia Cimino, a retired floral designer and resident for more than 30 years, said she had been moved once before to a different studio by a Carnegie expansion. “We’re all in a terrible state,” she said. “I’ll have to look for a place in the city. I don’t want to go back to Maspeth, where I was born. There’s no place like the city.”
Other tenants include the New York Grand Opera Company, actors and voice teachers, an architectural firm, a vintage poster gallery and a literary agent.
“I think I’ll just ask them to build another building,” the founder and artistic director of New York Grand Opera, Vincent La Selva, said. “Nothing lasts forever.” He said he had a meeting planned with Carnegie officials next week.
Mr. Gillinson said the studios took up about 33,000 square feet, which was roughly the amount of space that would be added for the hall’s educational mission. He said the decision to take over the studios was based on a careful analysis that showed the studio space was vital to its artistic plans. Some of its programs now operate in locations elsewhere.
“Our primary concern has to be the mission of Carnegie Hall,” he said. “Carnegie Hall doesn’t exist to provide accommodation but extraordinary music.” Mr. Gillinson, who rents an apartment in Carnegie, said he would be moving out in June to set an example.
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