Ruppert Yorkville Towers
Years ago, while sitting at one of my favorite Upper East Side bars, the Third Avenue Ale House (located on Third Avenue and 92nd Street), I noticed some interesting framed maps and advertisements on the wall. Upon closer inspection, I noticed they were images of a lost brewery, the Jacob Ruppert Brewery, which happened to be across the street where the condominium complex Ruppert Towers now stands!
Colonel Jacob Ruppert
Photo by Landis
Jacob Ruppert, nicknamed ‘The Colonel’ for his service in the National Guard, and as I learned, is a bit of an uncelebrated hero of New York City. Born in 1867, he was the son of German immigrants and after attending Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School he went on to work in the family’s small brewery as a barrel washer. In 1886, Jacob enlisted in the National Guard and would eventually be elected to Congress in 1889 for four straight terms.
Ruppert Brewery’s Tap Room
Photo by NYPL Digital Archives
He was always involved in his family’s brewery, but when his father passed he took over completely, inheriting the business and expanding its foothold even more.
Ruppert Brewery looking north on Third Avenue and 90th Street
Photo by NY Times
Jacob had always been a huge baseball fan and after many years of pursuing the purchase of a team he finally got his chance when the owners of the New York Highlanders sold the team to him in 1912. He would go one to change the name to the New York Yankees and after convincing George Herman ‘Babe’ Ruth to leave the Boston Red Socks to play for him, everything changed for the Yanks. It also probably helped that Ruppert brought in Lou Gehrig and Joe Dimaggio!
Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth and Tony Lazzeri
Photo by NYPL Digital Archives
It only took a few years before the Yankees outgrew their home field, the Polo Grounds, in northern Manhattan. Therefore, Ruppert bought land across the Harlem River in the Bronx from the estate of William Waldorf Astor and opened Yankee Stadium in 1923. Under his leadership the Yankees of the 1920's and 1930's dominated baseball and laid the foundation for the franchise we know today. Fun fact: Ruppert redesigned the uniforms, adding numbers to them so they could be easily identified, something the rest of the league quickly adopted.
Yankee Stadium late 1920’s
Photo by NYPL Digital Archives
So not only did Jacob Ruppert develop the Yankees we know today, he historically changed and improved the game of baseball! Who knew?
Ruppert’s Plaque in Monument Park in today’s Yankee Stadium
Photo by WikiCommons
Jacob Ruppert passed in 1939 a year after they won their seventh series title. After his heirs mismanaged the family brewery it was eventually sold off in 1965 along with the land it sat on.
In 1975, Ruppert Yorkville Towers opened, a complex of four 34-story towers comprising 1,258 apartments. Today they are sought after condominium apartments in a great Upper East Side location with a number of desirable building amenities.
Ruppert Yorkville Towers looking south on Third Avenue and 92nd Street
Photo by Streeteasy
So the next time you find yourself on the Upper East Side passing by Ruppert Yorkville Towers, give a salute to Jacob, creator of modern day baseball and unsung hero of New York City.
