Mayor Walker’s House at 6 St. Luke's Pl.: Showgirls, corruption, and a $25,000 renovation

15 unusually wide and opulent brick-and-brownstone houses were built on this quirky block
In this new series, Brick teams up with Tom Miller, creator of the Daytonian architecture blog

By Tom Miller | January 27, 2026 - 1:00PM

Have you ever passed by an interesting residential building in New York City and wanted to know more about its history? In this new series, Brick Underground teams up with Tom Miller, the creator of the Daytonian, a blog about Manhattan buildings and other historic architecture. Each week, we will run an excerpt from the Daytonian’s archives with a link to the full article.

This week is a look at 6 St. Luke’s Pl., once the home of New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker, a colorful figure who rose to office after serving in the New York State Assembly and State Senate.

St. Luke’s Pl. is an odd location, even in quirky Greenwich Village. It is the name of the block where Leroy Street curves away from Seventh Avenue and meets Hudson Street. After Hudson Street, it becomes Leroy again.

From 1851 to 1854, 15 nearly identical and unusually wide Italianate and Renaissance Revival brick-and-brownstone houses were built on this block. They featured opulent parlors, ornate plaster ceiling medallions and surrounds, and costly materials such as Italian marble and Honduras mahogany. Many boasted “triple-parlors,” with three rooms per floor.

Walker is described in Robert Caro’s “The Power Broker” as a fancy dresser, wearing a "pinch-waisted, one-button suit, slenderest of cravats, a shirt from a collection of hundreds, pearl-gray spats buttoned around silk-hosed ankles.”

But despite earning a reputation as a philanderer and a boozer, New York Governor Al Smith—a friend of his father—encouraged Walker to run for mayor in 1925. Walker won the race and decided his home on St. Luke’s Pl., now the mayoral residence, needed a $25,000 make-over.

For more about Walker’s home and his fall from public favor during the Depression, check out the full article.

Tom Miller

Partner Contributor

Born in Dayton, Ohio, Tom relocated to New York city in 1978. An author, blogger, lecturer and historian, Tom has written the histories of more than 5,000 locations in Manhattan (as of March 2025). He is the author of "Seeking New York", "Seeking Chicago", "Daytonian in Manhattan," contributed to several other books, and consulted for pieces in Architectural Digest, The New York Times, and similar publications.

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