User:JPRiley/Gruzen

Gruzen Samton was an American architectural firm based in New York City. It was founded in Jersey City in 1937 as Kelly & Gruzen by architects Hugh A. Kelly (February 6, 1888 – January 31, 1966) and B. Sumner Gruzen  (July 25, 1903 – September 27, 1974). Gruzen assumed control of the firm in 1941 and moved its main office to New York City in 1946. It was renamed Gruzen & Partners in 1967, Gruzen Samton Steinglass in 1986 and Gruzen Samton in 1994. In 2009 the firm was acquired by IBI Group of Toronto.

Partners and history
Kelly & Gruzen was established in 1937 in Jersey City, New Jersey as the merger of the practices of architect and engineer Hugh A. Kelly and architect B. Sumner Gruzen.

Hugh Ambrose Kelly Jr. was born February 6, 1888 in Jersey City. He was educated in the public schools and was employed as an engineer by the city before entering private practice. He joined the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1916, was licensed as an architect in 1917 and joined the American Institute of Architects in 1923. In 1924 he formed the partnership of Kelly & Cowan with architect Leroy A. Cowan which lasted into the early years of the Great Depression.

Barnett Sumner Gruzen was born July 25, 1903 in Riga, Latvia. His family moved to the United States in 1905, and Gruzen was naturalized in 1925. He was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating with a BArch in 1926 and an MArch in 1928 with further study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. After work for Boston and New York City architects Gruzen opened his own office in Jersey City in 1932.

In 1941 Gruzen became the chief executive of Kelly & Gruzen and in 1946 relocated the main office to New York City, with Kelly maintaining the Jersey City office. Kelly retired from the partnership in 1950. For fifteen years after 1950 Gruzen was the sole partner, but with several associates, in Kelly & Gruzen. Kelly died in 1966, and Gruzen initiated a larger reorganization. In 1967 the firm was renamed Gruzen & Partners and the partnership was expanded to include six new partners, including Norval White and Julian Whittlesey. Three were former associates and three, including White and Whittlesey, were outside architects. As head of the firm Gruzen developed its specialty in large housing developments, and was responsible for ten such projects in New York City and others elsewhere before 1967. They were also known for large public projects such as One Police Plaza (1973) and for projects for Jewish institutions in the New York area. The elder Gruzen retired from the partnership in 1971 but remained a consultant to the firm until his death in 1974. After his retirement his son and partner since 1965, Jordan Gruzen took over as chief executive.

Jordan Lee Gruzen was born April 5, 1934 in Jersey City. He was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Pennsylvania, graduating from the former in 1957 with a BArch and from the latter in 1961 with an MArch. He joined Kelly & Gruzen in 1962 as design director and became a partner in 1965.

As head of the firm Gruzen pursued new types of projects, including hotels, affordable housing and correctional facilities, beginning with Bayside State Prison (1970).


 * Bayside State Prison, 4293 Rte 47, Leesburg, New Jersey (1970)
 * Whitaker College Building, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1982)
 * Embassy of the United States, Presnensky District, Moscow, Russia (2000)

In 1982 the firm was renamed to the Gruzen Partnership to reflect their expanding staff and business, and in 1986 was renamed again to Gruzen Samton Steinglass to reflect the growing importance of two partners, Peter Samton and Ralph Steinglass.

Peter Samton was born February 26, 1935 in Berlin. He was a classmate of Jordan Gruzen at MIT, graduating with a BArch in the same year, followed by postgraduate study at the Sorbonne in Paris. He worked for Hugh Stubbins & Associates and Marcel Breuer & Associates before establishing his own New York City practice, Samton Associates, in 1962. He joined Kelly & Gruzen in 1963 as a designer but continued to maintain his own practice on the side for several years. In 1967 he was one of the group of associated admitted to partnership and was also made design director, replacing Jordan Gruzen.

Ralph Steinglass was educated at the Cooper Union and at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, graduating from the latter in 1964 with an MArch. He worked for Welton Becket & Associates, for whom he was project manager for the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill (1976) in Washington, D.C. Steinglass joined Gruzen & Partners in 1977 and became a partner in 1983, leading the firm's hotel projects.

In 1993 Steinglass left the partnership to pursue other projects, and the firm was renamed Gruzen Samton. Several new partners joined during the 1990s. Shortly before 9/11, the firm moved its offices into 90 West Street, which was heavily damaged by the collapse of the South Tower. The office was substantially destroyed but all members of the staff survived. The office was shortly thereafter restablished on 13th Street. In 2009 the firm was acquired IBI Group of Toronto.

Works in Manhattan

 * YM&YWHA of Washington Heights, 54 Nagle Ave, New York City (1953)
 * Milton Steinberg House, 50 E 87th St, New York City (1955, demolished)
 * JHS 022 Gustave Straubenmuller School (former), 111 Columbia St, New York City (1956)
 * High School of Graphic Communication Arts, 439 W 49th St, New York City (1959)
 * Chatham Green, 185 Park Row, New York City (1961)
 * Lincoln Guild, 303 W 66th St, New York City (1961)
 * United States Mission to the United Nations, 799 United Nations Plz, New York City (1961, demolished)
 * New York Buddhist Church, 332 Riverside Dr, New York City (1963)
 * Riverview Towers, 626 Riverside Dr, New York City (1964)
 * The St. Tropez, 340 E 64th St, New York City (1964)
 * Chatham Towers, 170 Park Row, New York City (1965)
 * Bache Plaza, 100 Gold St, New York City (1969)
 * The Axton, 733 Amsterdam Ave, New York City (1971)
 * Japan House, 333 E 47th St, New York City (1971)
 * Southbridge Towers, 90 Beekman St, New York City (1971)
 * NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital staff residence, 69 Gold St, New York City (1972)
 * One Police Plaza, 1 Police Plz, New York City (1973)
 * Metropolitan Correctional Center, 150 Park Row, New York City (1975)
 * NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital ambulatory care center, 170 William St, New York City (1975)
 * Schomburg Plaza, 1309 Fifth Ave, New York City (1975)
 * Murry Bergtraum High School, 411 Pearl St, New York City (1976)
 * 265E66, 265 E 66th St, New York City (1978)
 * Library and residence hall, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York City (1983)
 * Dag Hammarskjold Tower, 240 E 47th St, New York City (1984)
 * The Montana, 247 W 87th St, New York City (1986)
 * Rector Square, 225 Rector Pl, New York City (1986)
 * Evans View, 303 E 60th St, New York City (1987)
 * Greenwich Court, 275 and 295 Greenwich St, New York City (1988)
 * Schapiro Hall, Columbia University, New York City (1988)
 * The Regatta, 21 South End Ave, New York City (1989)
 * PS 005 Ellen Lurie School, 3703 Tenth Ave, New York City (1992)
 * Stuyvesant High School, 345 Chambers St, New York City (1992)
 * PS 008 Luis Belliard School, 465 W 167th St, New York City (1996)
 * PS 004 Duke Ellington School, 500 W 160th St, New York City (1996)
 * Kraft Center for Jewish Life, Columbia University, New York City (1999)
 * Alfred Lerner Hall, Columbia University, New York City (1999)
 * Tribeca Pointe, 41 River Ter, New York City (1999)
 * River & Warren, 22 River Ter, New York City (2001)
 * Lenfest Hall, Columbia University, New York City (2003)
 * Thurgood Marshall Academy, 200-214 W 135th St, New York City (2004)
 * 41 Cooper Square, Cooper Union, New York City (2009)

Works in the outer boroughs of New York City

 * Forchheimer Medical Science Building, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the Bronx (1955)
 * NYCHA Van Dyke Houses, 370 Blake Ave, Brooklyn (1955)
 * George W. Wingate High School, 600 Kingston Ave, Brooklyn (1956)
 * Luna Park Houses, 2879 W 12th St, Brooklyn (1961)
 * St. James Towers, 21 St James Pl, Brooklyn (1963)
 * Congregation Kneseth Israel, 728 Empire Ave, Far Rockaway, Queens (1964)
 * Spain Pavilion, 1964 New York World's Fair, Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens (1964)
 * Lindsay Park, 202 Union Ave, Brooklyn (1965)
 * Northwest Building, Montefiore Medical Center, the Bronx (1966)
 * Edna and Monroe C. Gutman Center, Montefiore Medical Center, the Bronx (1970)
 * Roy Reuther Houses, 711 Seagirt Ave, Far Rockaway, Queens (1971)
 * Academic Core Building, York College, Jamaica, Queens (1983)
 * Joseph P. Addabbo Federal Building, 155-10 Jamaica Ave, Jamaica, Queens (1989)
 * Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library, Queens College, Kew Gardens Hills, Queens (1988)
 * PS 6 Norma Adams Clemons Academy, 43 Snyder Ave, Brooklyn (1992)
 * PS 092 Harry T. Stewart Sr., 99-01 34th Ave, Corona, Queens (1993)
 * PS 051, 87-45 117th St, Richmond Hill, Queens (1994)
 * Long Island City High School, 14-30 Broadway, Long Island City, Queens (1995)
 * PS 161 Arthur Ashe School, 101-33 124th St, Richmond Hill, Queens (2000)
 * Reptile Wing, Staten Island Zoo, West New Brighton, Staten Island (2000)
 * Queens County Family Court, 151-20 Jamaica Ave, Jamaica, Queens (2001)
 * J Condominium, 100 Jay St, Brooklyn (2005)

Works elsewhere in New York and in New Jersey

 * Oratam Court, 46 Newman St, Hackensack, New Jersey (1950)
 * Van Buren Apartments, 2150 Eastern Pkwy, Niskayuna, New York (1950)
 * Elmwood Shopping Center and Grand Union headquarters, 100 Broadway, Elmwood Park, New Jersey (1951, demolished 2001)
 * Ivy Hill Park Apartments, 5 Manor Dr, Newark, New Jersey (1952)
 * Frelinghuysen, Hardenbergh and Campbell Halls, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey (1956)
 * Sunset Green, 159 Hawthorne Ave, Yonkers, New York (1956)
 * University High School, 55 Clinton Pl, Newark, New Jersey (1957)
 * Congregation B'nai Israel, 171 Ridge Rd, Rumson, New Jersey (1959)
 * Jewish Community Center, 999 Lower Ferry Rd, Ewing Township, New Jersey (1962, burned 2022)
 * Horizon House, 2 Horizon Rd, Fort Lee, New Jersey (1964)
 * Ackerson, Boyden and Conklin Halls and John Cotton Dana Library, Rutgers University–Newark, Newark, New Jersey (1967)
 * Earth and Space Sciences Building, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York (1967)
 * Temple B'nai Jeshurun, 1025 S Orange Ave, Short Hills, New Jersey (1968)
 * JCC MetroWest, 760 Northfield Rd, West Orange, New Jersey (1969)
 * Kelly Community, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York (1969)
 * Martin Lande House, 137-47 45th Ave, Flushing, Queens (1971)
 * Social and Behavioral Sciences Building, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York (1972)
 * Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, 201 Lyons Ave, Newark, New Jersey (1974)
 * Galaxy Towers, 700 Kennedy Blvd E, Guttenberg, New Jersey (1976)
 * New Jersey State Prison expansion, 600 Cass St, Trenton, New Jersey (1982)
 * Liberty Towers, 29 Hudson St, Jersey City, New Jersey (2003)
 * Port Imperial, 4800 Ave at Port Imperial, Weehawken, New Jersey (2006)

Works elsewhere

 * Rogers High School, 15 Wickham Rd, Newport, Rhode Island (1957)
 * Canton City Hall, 218 Cleveland Ave SW, Canton, Ohio (1961)
 * Ekbatan, Tehran, Iran (1977)
 * Maple Knoll Village, 11100 Springfield Pike, Cincinnati (1977)
 * Oak Park Heights Prison, Oak Park Heights, Minnesota (1982)
 * Riverfront Towers, 300 Riverfront Dr, Detroit (1984)
 * Two Hannover Square, 434 Fayetteville St, Raleigh, North Carolina (1991)