PATTI SMITH’S OLD PLACE
This ninth-floor apartment is owned by Jessica Salzer’s family. She says that, when her parents first went to look at it, around 1986, “there were industrial moving blankets hanging over the windows as curtains, pizza boxes everywhere, stains all over the carpetings, a pool table in the middle of the entryway, and—my mom said—gold records on the wall.”
In the 1830s, a four-story red brick townhouse stood at this address. It changed hands between various wealthy society types, and, most notably, it housed Misses Green’s School for girls. Winston Churchill’s mother, Jennie, was a student there. Elihu Root, who would later become secretary of State, and Andrew H. Green, who steered the construction of Central Park and the New York Public Library, were both teachers.
The…