The grand and expensive construction of the Odd Fellows Temple was a reflection of pre-Depression era lavish spending of the Roaring 20s. Built in 1928 for $1.2M ($19M present day), the Odd Fellows Temple was created as a grand hall for the Odd Fellows fraternal organization. Designed by Hugo Taussig in the Romanesque Revival style, the Indiana limestone, brick, and terra cotta structure is 11 stories high, measures 100’ x 100’, and originally contained an auditorium, bowling alleys, dining rooms, club rooms, and 15 lodge rooms.

In the fall of 1930, only a year after completion and the 1929 Stock Market Crash, the New York Times recorded a foreclosure and auction notice, with the building selling for $552,000 or less than half its construction cost.

In the fall of 1945, RKO-Pathe News and Pathe Industries, Inc., purchased the building for a motion-picture studio and film laboratory. Pathe would be the major tenant but rented spaces to other tenants. The building came to be known as the Pathe Building, for the newsreel company. NBC -TV became involved as a client of Pathe’s newsreel and film processing labs and by the late 1940s was producing shows in an “uptown” studio space there, including—according to its current owner—the beloved children’s program “The Howdy Doody Show” and a Friday night variety show hosted by Dave Garroway of the “Today” show. By 1960, the building was vacant again. In ensuing years it saw various uses, with Astral Recording Studio and other media studios setting up in the 1970s, as well as office space for the NYC Department of Transportation.

In 1971, Burnetta “Bunny” Jones founded Astral Recording Studios and rented out the fifth floor for her label Gaiee records. The studio and label provided a much-needed platform for recording artists and engineers throughout Harlem. Jones was also known for employing members of the LGBTQ+ community stating that she wanted her label “to give gay people a label they can call home.”

She ended up penning the lyrics to "I Was Born This Way" which would later become a disco hit. Written as an LGBT anthem, the many iterations of the song would ultimately inspire Lady Gaga's “Born This Way.” Listen to the original recording and subsequent versions and get the full backstory here: https://www.genremag.com/2018/06/month-of-historic-gay-anthems-i-was-born-this-way-1977

Jones was forced to shut down her studio 16 months after opening due to expenses. Yet even in that short time, Jones made a sizable impact in the music industry, having worked with Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, and Stevie Wonder (to name a few), and even collaborating on Stevie Wonder's blockbuster hit "Isn't She Lovely." Astral Recording Studios (also known as Astral Sound) is said to be the first Black, woman-owned recording studio in the United States. Learn more about Bunny Jones' trailblazing career here: https://www.genremag.com/2018/06/month-of-historic-gay-anthems-i-was-born-this-way-1977

Around 2000, Phil Mancino purchased the building and opened Metropolis Studios, the only fully-digitized recording studio in Manhattan at the time. It hosted the production of music videos featuring Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, and Ringo Starr. Cable TV cooking shows, game shows, and judge shows were also filmed there.

Many will remember it as the original home of the BET show, “106th and Park” before BET was purchased by Viacom and moved the show to its own studios downtown. Today, the building also hosts the Young Women’s Leadership School, an all-girls high school established in 1996.

Though there have been many owners throughout its almost 100-year history, the façade has remained remarkably intact. The building is not yet a city-designated individual; landmark, but it certainly is an icon of East Harlem’s architectural and cultural heritage. The building is currently undergoing exterior renovations and LEH commends Mr. Mancino for his decades of thoughtful stewardship of this important building.