Harmony Row (West 28th Street)

New York City has had two different places that went by the name of “Harmony Row.”
 
“Harmony Row” was the name for the music publishers assembled on West 28th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. This block had also been called “Tin Pan Alley,” “Melody Lane” and “Ragtime Rialto.” “Pathos, a lot of it, say the humane publishers, is found in ‘Harmony Row’” was printed in The Evening Post (New York, NY) on December 6, 1907. “A few days ago denizens of that mysterious thoroughfare which runs from Broadway to Sixth Avenue, and is known in common parlance as West Twenty-eighth street, but which, in the ranks of the ‘perfesh,’ goes by the names of ‘Tin Pan Alley’ or ‘Harmony Row’” was printed in the Topeka (KS) Daily Capital on February 13, 1908. The music publishers started leaving the area by the 1920s, and the “Harmony Row” name is historical today.
 
“Harmony Row” was also the name of Park Avenue, between 58th and 59th Streets. Several musical societies were located here, such as the Arion Society, the Liederkranz of New York City and Fidelio. Liederkranz located here in the 1880s, but in 1936, the buildings were sold to the Columbia Broadcasting System, ending “Harmony Row.”
 
 
Wikipedia: Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City which dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in the Flower District of Manhattan; a plaque (see below) on the sidewalk on 28th Street between Broadway and Sixth commemorates it. In 2019, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission took up the question of preserving five buildings on the north side of the street as a Tin Pan Alley Historic District. The agency designated five buildings (47–55 West 28th Street) individual landmarks on December 10, 2019, after a concerted effort by the “Save Tin Pan Alley” initiative of the 29th Street Neighborhood Association.
 
Wikipedia: Liederkranz of the City of New York
The Liederkranz of New York City is an organization devoted to cultural and social exchange as well as the sponsorship of musical events. Its activities are dedicated to the support, development and preservation of culture in New York City. Its objective once was to enhance German-American relations.
 
Wikipedia: Arion Society of New York
The Arion Society was a German-American musical society. It was founded in January 1854 to promote “the perpetuation of love for some of the characteristic elements of German civilization”. It was disbanded because of Anti-German sentiment following World War I.
 
Old Fulton NY Post Cards
6 December 1907, The Evening Post (New York, NY), pg. 8, col. 6 ad:
The Evening Post
on Saturday, Dec. 7
(...)
A Clean Up in “Tin Pan” Alley
Pirates have fled but victims still write. Pathos, a lot of it, say the humane publishers, is found in “Harmony Row.”
 
Newspapers.com
13 February 1908, Topeka (KS) Daily Capital, pg. 6, col. 1:
HOW MUSIC
“PUBLISHERS”
PROSPERED
(...)
A few days ago denizens of that mysterious thoroughfare which runs from Broadway to Sixth Avenue, and is known in common parlance as West Twenty-eighth street, but which, in the ranks of the “perfesh,” goes by the names of “Tin Pan Alley” or “Harmony Row,” were aroused by a visit paid by certain officers of the United States Postoffice department, says the New York Evening Post.
   
28 May 1936, New York (NY) Times, pg. 18, col. 6:
BROADCASTERS BUY
OLD “HARMONY ROW”
Columbia System Acquires the
Homes of Arion, Fidelio and
Liederkranz Societies.
WILL ERECT NEW BUILDING
Acquisition of 29,000 Square Foot
Plot Is One of Largest Deals
of Kind in Years.
Three outmoded buildings that were landmarks in the heyday of German singing societies in this city will make way for a structure that will contain the latest in modern broadcasting facilities, it was revealed yesterday, when the Columbia Broadcasting System announced that it has purchased the southeast corner of Park Avenue and Fifty-ninth Street and adjoining property.
 
In one of the largest real estate transactions of its kind in recent years, the Columbia System has assembled a plot of about 29,000 square feet in an area that was once the center of German saengerfests and musicals. Among the three structures to be razed in this latest step in the gradual transformation of Park Avenue south of Fifty-ninth Street from a row of luxurious apartment houses into a distinctive shopping district is the building at 489 Park Avenue, which is the “key” property in the plot assembled.
 
An example of the early Italian Renaissance style of architecture, the corner building was once the home of the Arion Society and more recently was occupied by the Anderson Galleries before the latter’s amalgamation with the American Art Association.
 
Included in the purchase at 110-112 East Fifty-ninth Street, once the home of the Fidelio Club, and abutting the property at 111-119 East Fifty-eighth Street, for half a century the quarters of the Liederkranz Society. The three buildings are sometimes referred to as “Harmony Row.”
 
Newspapers.com
6 August 1936, Hardwick (VT) Gazette,  “Lights of New York” by L. L. Stevenson, pg. 7, col. 4:
Other singing societies, including the Arion and Fidelio, came into existence and Park avenue frontage was acquired. Thus, the start of “Harmony Row,” the name by which the properties are still known. Also, later, a 15-story apartment house was built on the corner. The other societies gave up and for some time the Liederkranz has been seeking other quarters. Recently, the Columbia Broadcasting company acquired “Harmony Row” and will build a new home on it. Thus, in a way, “Harmony Row” will be preserved. The new building will have frontage on both Park avenue and Fifty0ninth street and will be L-shaped. And the thrift of the first Liederkranz president is the reason.