2. Bergdorf Goodman once had a penthouse apartment
Bergdorf Goodman once had a seventeen-room apartment overlooking Fifth Avenue and Central Park. The apartment had six bedrooms and a bathroom for each one — featuring walnut paneling that was actually a trompe l’oeil made of plaster. When Edwin Goodman, who bought out Herman Bergdorf’s share of the company in 1903, decided to move the store to its current location at 58th Street and Fifth Avenue, he made sure that the new building included a private apartment for his family. He may have drawn the first sketch of the building on a cocktail napkin in the bar of the Plaza Hotel. Bergdorf Goodman even had a private elevator that only made two stops — Goodman’s office on the seventh floor and the penthouse suite.
The apartment was turned into the John Barrett Salon — which offers amazing views and $150 haircuts. Andrew Goodman and his wife Nena lived there until the 1980s. They often threw parties in the penthouse, including one memorable evening that culminated in a midnight dinner when Barbra Streisand showed up after performing on Broadway. New York Magazine raved that even the coat check “boasts a bird’s-eye view of Fifth Avenue and Central Park.” The salon closed this location in 2019 and the ninth floor of Bergdorf Goodman is now the Yoshiko salon.