1955Manhattan / New York CityCivic / Commercial

New York Coliseum — Columbus Circle

Joseph's list puts him on the New York Coliseum in 1955 — the same year a major section of the exhibition-hall formwork collapsed during construction.

New York Coliseum, Columbus Circle, New York City. Photographed in 1956.

1956 · Photo: Gottscho-Schleisner Collection · Public domain · Source

01The story

Why this project matters

Project identity: Verified
Kelly connection: Family source
Masonry scope: Strong

Rita’s list

Rita Bartscherer’s handwritten entry: N. Y. Coliseum — 1955

Transcription: N. Y. Coliseum — 1955

Recorded by Rita Bartscherer · Bartscherer family record

Entry

KM-023

Sheet

1 of two

As written

“N. Y. Coliseum — 1955”

The Coliseum was built from 1954–56 and demolished in 2000 for the Time Warner Center.

Why it matters

Robert Moses's New York Coliseum was meant to announce a modern convention city. It rose in 1954–56, survived a deadly formwork collapse during construction, and hosted trade shows for four decades before demolition in 2000. Deutsche Bank Center now occupies the site. Rita's 1954 date preserves Joseph's place at the beginning of a building that many New Yorkers still remember—and others know only through what replaced it.

02What Kelly did

What Kelly did here

Kelly connection

Family source

Scope confidence

Strong

Substantial exterior glazed-brick masonry on the New York Coliseum complex, with a granite base, plus likely interior CMU/block service walls and partitions. Contemporary 1956 reporting explicitly describes the Coliseum's exterior as glazed brick with a granite base.

This scope is recorded as strong, not documented. It is a disciplined reading of the building and the trade practice of the period, not a contract-level record of Kelly’s work.

03Who built it