| William F. Kenny |
1927 USPC |
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| 44 East Twenty-Third Street, New York, NY 10010 | ||
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Good bet that "A.D." in the USPC record stood for Andrew Dougherty, Co. a card distributor located about 7 blocks north on 30th Street and 4th Avenue. |
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William F. Kenny was a
multi-millionaire contractor of New York City (built power
plants). In 1926, construction was completed on the two
penthouse floors of Kenny's building at 44 East Twenty-Third
Street & 4th Avenue (now 304 Park Avenue South). In those
penthouse floors was Kenny's "Tiger Room." The place was
decorated with the tiger motif throughout and had a card room
(Kenny liked to play poker).
The tiger motif was chosen
because the location was the social gathering place of the most
powerful and wealthy of the Tammany Democrats--whose symbol was
a tiger. Kenny was a lifelong friend of Al Smith, Governor of
New York when the chips were ordered and was Smith's principal
financial backer during his run for president in 1928.
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Below is from New Yorker Magazine, October 2005: |
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Below is from the Hartford Courant, 29 May 1927: |
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| Below is from the Baltimore Sun, May 11, 1928: | ||
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| The follow obit is from the New York Times, August 14, 1951: | ||
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| A pic of the Kenny Building today at 304 Park Ave. Park South. The pic on the right shows the location of the Tiger Room. | ||
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