Blandings: New York

Wodehouse lived in New York, off and on, over five decades. This page covers the many appearances of this lively city in his books. The numbered streets and avenues exist, other real places are indicated; those not so marked are possibly inventions. See also the sketch maps of the whole New York City area and South Manhattan. Places in other parts of New York state are listed under Long Island or as part of the wider USA page.

5th Avenue: Contains the home of Ruth Winfield in The Coming of Bill. The Guaranty Trust Bank is at 5th and 43rd (Barmy in Wonderland).
6th Avenue: (Near Washington Square) contains the second-hand book shop run by Kate Bennett in Crowned Heads.
468 Broadway: Offices of Lehmac Productions Inc. in Barmy in Wonderland.
East 4th Street: No. 84 is home to Billy Windsor in Psmith Journalist.
30th Street and 4th Avenue: Psmith and Mike rent a flat here in Psmith Journalist.
9 East 41st Street: Site of Major Selby's rooms in Jill the Reckless.
42nd Street.: In the heart of the theatre district where it crosses Broadway and used as a site for Reigelheimer's in Uneasy Money.
57th Street: Bertie Wooster had an apartment here in Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest.; 18 E 57th Street, claimed by Major Selby as his address in Jill the Reckless.
61st Street: Contains the homes of Mr and Mrs Kirk Winfield (his studio/apartment) in The Coming of Bill and Alice Croker in Bill the Conqueror (East 61st).
East 67th Street: Home of J. W. Stoker when in New York, as stated in Thank You, Jeeves.
69th Street: Home of Myra Jennings and Mrs Ed Silver in Fate.
East 79th Street: Number 16 is home to the Waddingtons in The Small Bachelor, near Lexington Avenue.
97th Street: Holds the boarding house home of Jerry Mitchell in Piccadilly Jim, between Riverside Drive and Broadway.
133rd Street: Home of Joe Danby, a retired vaudevillian in Extricating Young Gussie.
Algonquin: A real hotel at 59 West 44th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. Lancelot Biffen has a date there in The Small Bachelor. PG stayed here in January 1914 and probably later as well.
Alvin Theatre: A real theatre at 250 W 52nd Street, New York. It opened in 1927 and was renamed the Neil Simon in 1983. Mentioned in Life with Freddie.
Amsterdam Avenue: 10th Avenue from 59th Street northwards. Mentioned in Jill the Reckless.
Astor Hotel: An expensive hotel, it has a restaurant in the roof garden and faces onto Times Square between 7th Ave. and Broadway. Used in Psmith Journalist, The Prince and Betty (US edition), and others.
Astor Theatre: A real theatre from 1906 to 1925, then becoming a cinema. Mentioned in A Gentleman of Leisure.
Astoria: A real area of New York City, on Long Island opposite Manhattan. Home of Mr McGee in Mr McGee's Big Day.
Auditorium: A musical theatre, putting on four shows a day in Extricating Young Gussie.
The Battery: An area at the southern end of Manhattan Island. Mentioned in The Coming of Bill.
Beales' Art Gallery: On West Forty-Fifty Street in The Indiscretions of Archie.
Bergdorf Goodman: A real department store including a fur salon. Mentioned in Barmy in Wonderland when it was at 5th and 58th.
Bijou Dream: A cinema in The Colour Line.
Biltmore Hotel: Once a real hotel on 43rd Street and Madison Avenue, with 1000 rooms, it is now the Bank of America Plaza. Freddie Rooke stayed there in Jill the Reckless. Wodehouse stayed there in April 1921.
Blackwell's Island: An island in the East River, including a prison of the same name. Smith is imprisoned there in The Prince and Betty (US version) and it is mentioned in Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest and others. The island was re-named Roosevelt Island in 1973; the prison closed in 1935.
Bleeck's: A place that newspaper men go for refreshment. Mentioned in Frozen Assets.
Blinky's: Properly known as Anderson's Parisian Café and Restaurant, the East Side Delmonico's, prop. Blinky Anderson, featured in A Job of Work.
Bloomingdale: A real lunatic asylum from 1808 to 1894 (when it moved to White Plains) in what are now the grounds of Columbia University at Morningside Heights. Not to be confused with Bloomingdale's, the famous department store at 1000 3rd Avenue. (Mentioned in several books.)
Booth Theatre: A real theatre at 222 W 45th Street, opened in 1913. Fillmore Nicholas put on The White Rose there for a week in The Adventures of Sally.
Bowery: that part of Manhattan (roughly) between the East Village (and 4th Avenue) and the Lower East Side, run down during PG's time. (Frequently mentioned.); Brentano's; A real New York bookstore on 5th Avenue, founded in 1853. Mentioned in Feet of Clay.
Brevoort Café: A real cafe in the basement of the Brevoort Hotel on Fifth Avenue, between East 8th and 9th Streets, it attracted Greenwich Village artists and writers including Wodehouse (see preface to The Small Bachelor). The hotel was demolished in 1954.; Frequented by Robert Penway, artist, in The Coming of Bill.
Broadhurst Theater: Putting on the play 'Sacrifice' in Barmy in Wonderland. A real theatre at 235 West 44th Street.
Bronx: The area of New York City to the north and east of Manhattan Island, separated from it and Long Island by the East River. Mentioned in Barmy in Wonderland.
Broome Street: Home to Bat Jarvis in A Prince for Hire. A real street in the East Side that housed the real gang that Jarvis was based on.
Broster Street: Named as site of a slum tenement in the Lower East Side in The Prince and Betty (US version). Not on any contemporary map of Manhattan.
Bryant Hall: On 6th Avenue, just off 42nd Street. Used for stage rehearsals in Jill the Reckless. A real hall, at least between 1913 and 1929.
Hotel Burbage: Mentioned in French Leave as where the Comte d'Escrignon (Jeff) once worked as a waiter.
Bushwick: A real vaudeville theatre in Brooklyn which later became a cinema and now houses a High School. The Marvellous Murphys performed in it as mentioned in The Adventures of Sally.
Butterfly Club: New York. Mrs McCall gave a lecture there in The Indiscretions of Archie. Also mentioned in The Girl in the Boat.
Cadillac Hotel: A real hotel from 1915 to 1923 when it was demolished to make way for a new hotel, the Book-Cadillac. Sited at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Washington Boulevard. Mentioned in The Coming of Bill.
Canal Street: A real street running from the Lower East Side to the Hudson River. Mentioned in The Prince and Betty US Version.
Century Roof: The real roof theatre on the Century Theatre at Central Park West and 62nd and 63rd Streets (1909-29). Mentioned in Jill the Reckless.
City Hall Park: A real park just north of the financial district, bordering Broadway, mentioned in Three from Dunsterville. Contains City Hall which is mentioned in Piccadilly Jim.
Coffee-House Club: A real club for literary and artistic people at 70 W 45th Street. PG was a member. Mentioned in The Indiscretions of Archie.
Coney Island: A group of amusement parks, including Luna Park, Dreamland and Steeplechase Park, at the south-west corner of Long Island. Mentioned in A Gentleman of Leisure, Company for Henry and others.
Copacabana: Night club mentioned in Barmy in Wonderland. A real nightclub at 10 E 60th Street from 1941 into the 70s (it re-opened and moved twice but was not the same).
Hotel Cosmopolis: A large, quality hotel featuring in The Indiscretions of Archie and The Colour Line, and mentioned in Jill the Reckless.
Hotel Delehay: Scene of the action in Mr McGee's Big Day.
Delmonico's: On 44th Street. Delmonico's existed as a small chain of restaurants, including one at this address. Jimmy and Ann lunched here in Piccadilly Jim.
Diamond Horseshoe: Night club mentioned in Barmy in Wonderland, probably the real 'Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe' that was in the basement of the Paramount Hotel in Times Square from 1938 - 51.
Ellis Island: The island in New York harbour where new arrivals to America were 'processed'. Mentioned in Mike's Little Brother.
The Flower Garden: A restaurant with dancing in The Adventures of Sally.
Fontelli's Italian Restaurant: Bat Jarvis 'persuades' the owner to give Betty Silver a job in The Prince and Betty (US version).
Forty-ninth Street Theatre: A real theatre at 235 West 49th Street from 1921 until its demolition in 1940. Mentioned in Uneasy Money.
Friar's Club: A real club for people in entertainment, originally at 107 West 45th Street and mentioned in The Indiscretions of Archie.
Geisenheimer's: A restaurant with a dance floor and balcony, featured in At Geisenheimer's and The Man with Two Left Feet and mentioned in Jill the Reckless.
Gotham Theater: On 42nd Street. A working theatre that also contains the offices of Gobel and Cohn in Jill the Reckless. (Not real, although the Central Theatre changed its name to Gotham Theatre in 1944 - after the book was written.)
Greenwich Village: Home to the Sheridan Apartment House and Purple Chicken Restaurant. (The Small Bachelor); Wodehouse lived here, on and off, from 1909 - 1914.
Groome Street: Home of Bat Jarvis's Groome Street Gang in The Prince and Betty (US version) and Psmith Journalist. In reality, it was Broome Street (see above).
Guildenstern's: A department store in The Girl in Blue.
Herald Square: Real, the name given to the corner of Broadway and 6th Avenue at 34th Street, mentioned in Psmith Journalist and In Alcala.
Highfield Athletic and Gymnastics Club: Also known as 'Swifty Bob's', it holds 'exhibition' boxing contests in Psmith Journalist.
Holland House Hotel: Real, at 30th Street and 5th, mentioned in Jill the Reckless.
Jefferson Market: A court house and jail in Greenwich Village, near Washington Square. Mentioned in Psmith Journalist and others.
Judson Hotel: A real New York hotel on the south side of Washington Square (at least up to 1932 which is the last date I have) built to fund the nearby Judson Memorial Church. Mentioned in Crowned Heads.
Knickerbocker Hotel: Overlooked the intersection of 42nd Street and Broadway. It was a hotel from 1903 - 21 but is now merely 6 Times Square having had many uses over the years. Mentioned in The Prince and Betty (US version) and Psmith Journalist.; PG records lunching there.
Cafe Lafayette: A real cafe on the ground floor of the Hotel Martin in University Place which was demolished around the 1950s. (The Small Bachelor)
Lamb's Club: Theatrical club, used by Wooster in The Inimitable Jeeves and mentioned in Piccadilly Jim and others. A real club established in 1874 at 128 West 44th Street, New York (until it moved in 1975).
The Latin Quarter: A real nightclub, from 1942, fading in the 60s, at 200 W 48th Street. It is mentioned in Barmy in Wonderland.
Leon and Eddie's: A real nightclub on 52nd Street, New York (in the 50s but with scanty information). It is mentioned in Barmy in Wonderland.
Little Church Round the Corner *: Mentioned in Uneasy Money and others.
Longacre Square: Re-named Times Square in 1904. (Three from Dunsterville)
Macdougall Alley: Scene of a studio party, mentioned in Ring for Jeeves. A real street just north of Washington Square.
Madison Square Garden: A real arena and sports venue in south Manhattan. Mentioned in Jill the Reckless and Life with Freddie.
Magnolia Hall: West 93rd Street. A music hall in Back to the Garage.
Majestic Theatre: A real theatre built 1903 at 5 Columbus Circle (fronting 58th and 59th Streets next to Central Park). It changed names many times before closing in 1954. (It is not the same as the current Majestic Theatre.) Mentioned in A Gentleman of Leisure.
Manhattan (Theatre): Put on Choose Your Exit in The Artistic Career of Corky. Several theatre and music halls have had this name before and since the story was published, but none was open at the time.
Mazarin Restaurant: Between Madison and Park Avenues, part owned by Russell Clutterbuck in French Leave.
Hotel McAstor: New York. Mentioned in Spring Suit. Possibly a variation on the real Astor Hotel.
Melody: Theatre putting on The Island of Girls in In Alcala.
Mike's Place: A bar. (Barmy in Wonderland)
Miss Finch's School: A real school for girls at 77th and Madison Ave. Mentioned in Barmy in Wonderland.
Mosenstein's: A theatre, probably vaudeville, in Extricating Young Gussie.
Mouquin's: A real French restaurant in Fulton Street, New York, it expanded to 20 Ann Street by joining two buildings before closing with Prohibition. (Crowned Heads)
Nassau Street: A real street in the financial district, mentioned in Piccadilly Jim. Mr Waring has offices in the real Morton Building in Psmith Journalist.
Park Avenue: Home of Mrs Moon in Big Money.; #1000 contains the offices of James Schoonmaker in Service with a Smile.; #1000. Wodehouse lived at this address from 1948 to 1958, alternating with Remsenburg, until moving to the Long Island house permanently. It is an apartment block on the north-west corner of Park Ave and 84th Street, built in 1915 and still in use (2005). PG had the penthouse.
Park Row: Holds the offices of the New York Chronicle in Piccadilly Jim. A real street in the financial district.
Pearl Street: A real street in South Manhattan's financial district. Allegedly a home of crooks in Three from Dunsterville.
Pen and Ink Club: A club, probably on Fifth Avenue, in The Indiscretions of Archie. While there are now real clubs with this name, PG seems to have got there first.
Pennsylvania Station: At West 32nd and 7th by Madison Square Gardens, serving points west from Manhattan. (Spring Fever)
Hotel Piazza: Used in The Luck of the Bodkins and Barmy in Wonderland.
Hotel Pierre: A real hotel at 2 East 51st Street at Fifth Avenue, mentioned in Mr McGee's Big Day.
Pine Street: A real street in the financial district of Manhattan, the workplace of Mr Pett in Piccadilly Jim.
Players: A real club at 16 Grammercy Park. Founded in 1888 by Edwin Booth, with General W. T. Sherman and Mark Twain among others. Mentioned in In Alcala, The Indiscretions of Archie and Barmy in Wonderland.
Plaza Hotel: A real hotel at 768 Fifth Avenue and W58th at Central Park South. Mentioned in Psmith Journalist, Jill the Reckless and Galahad at Blandings.
Pleasant Street: Ironically named street in a slum area in Psmith Journalist.
Polo Grounds: Home of the New York Giants (and other baseball teams). Demolished in 1964, it was in the northern part of Manhattan Island at 155th and 8th Avenue. (Mentioned in Piccadilly Jim.)
Purple Chicken: In Greenwich Village. You can still get 'it' if they know you (during prohibition.) Featured in The Small Bachelor and briefly in The Old Reliable.
Rector's Restaurant: The first music user licensed by ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) in October 1914. The Prince and Betty (US) and In Alcala.
Reigelheimer's: 49th Street. Restaurant with a dance floor and speciality dance act. (Uneasy Money) Also mentioned in The Aunt and the Sluggard. Although not real, it might have been modelled on the Brevoort Hotel and café (see above) which had its cafe/restaurant in the basement and a ballroom with thick pillars.
Renfrew Hotel: East 66th St - an apartment / hotel used by Barmy Phipps and Mervyn Potter in Barmy in Wonderland.
Ritz-Carlton Hotel.: Used as a meeting place in The Small Bachelor and mentioned in Fate as on 46th Street.
Riverside Drive: Home to Mr and Mrs Peter Pett in Piccadilly Jim (in the 100s - Streets) and to Fillmore Nicholas in The Adventures of Sally. A real, long road on the west side of Manhattan.
St. Aurea: Bertie Wooster stayed there in The Aunt and the Sluggard and it gets a passing mention in Jill the Reckless which implies a restaurant. There is a real saint of the name but I cannot find a real hotel.
St. Regis: A real hotel at 2 East 55th Street at 5th Avenue. Mentioned in The Adventures of Sally.
Shamrock Hall: A dance saloon near Groome Street in The Prince and Betty (US version).
Sherry-Netherland: A real hotel at 781, 5th Avenue. Used in Thank You, Jeeves.
Singer Building: The tallest building in the world in 1908-09 at 612ft. In 1968 it became the tallest ever demolished. It stood at the corner of Liberty Street and Broadway. Mentioned in several early books.
Staten Island: An island, part of New York City. Home to Jane Oakley in The Prince and Betty (US version) and A Prince for Hire.
Stephano's: Restaurant used by Eddie and Mary in Three from Dunsterville.
Stroller's Club: After 11pm it is given over to the stage, mainly actors etc. but also theatre-goers. Used in A Gentleman of Leisure.
Tiffany's: The famous jewellers at 727 Fifth Avenue and 57th Street. Patronized by Sybil Bannister in The Coming of Bill.
Waldorf Hotel: New York. It opened in 1893 and merged with the Astoria to form the Waldorf=Astoria (sic). The current hotel is not the same building as mentioned in The Gem Collector.
Washington Square: Lord Wetherby has a studio there in Uneasy Money, Smith stayed in a hotel there in The Prince and Betty (US version) and it is the home of Bruce Corcoran in The Artistic Career of Corky. It is mentioned in others as an area of artists and Bohemians. It is a real place which was then frequented by artists.
Waverly Place: Where Lord Ickenham once stepped on a cat (Uncle Dynamite). A real road split by Washington Square. It also includes the Hotel Earle, at number 163, which PG made his base when in New York (between 1904 and 1913). It is now the Washington Square Hotel.
Webster Hall: A real nightclub, dating from 1886, at 125 East 11th St between 3rd and 4th Avenues. (Hot Water)
Woolworth Building: A real building that opened in 1913 and was the tallest in New York until 1930. Mentioned in several books.

New York, NY

Books/Stories