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John Harvey and David Hocker

John Harvey, the son of the Rev. Charles Woodroffe Harvey and grandson of John Harvey, the yacht builder and designer was born in the USA in 1915. He had a long career in the theatre as a lighting and scenery designer, especially working for Jo Mielziner. He worked on the sets of most of the well-known American musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. John died in 1997.

His life partner, David Hocker, was born in the USA in 1911. He had a long and varied career in the theatre and concert world. David died in 1978.

For a number of years John and David lived in Manhattan in this block on Park Avenue:

One of the most interesting buildings on Park Avenue, this 18-story structure was designed by DePace & Juster in an eclectic style that incorporates many Venetian-style ornaments.

The three-story base of the building is covered in a warm, yellow marble and the rest of the building, which was erected in 1930, has a dark brown masonry facade that has an unusual, delicate and simple design pattern that divides the facade into bays. The building's facades are punctuated by several terracotta ornamental balconies and cornices with pointed arch designs.

The facade detailing is excellent and fascinating as the eye darts about it. Some recent restoration near the top was done with a lighter color brick, but time and New York's less than always pure air should "weather" eventually.

The building was converted to a cooperative in 1955 and has 80 large apartments.

It is located in the heart of the Carnegie Hill neighborhood and is down the block from the very attractive St. Thomas More Roman Catholic Church. Other religious buildings are nearby as are many charming restaurants, major museums and many of the city's finest schools.

The area has excellent public transportation with frequent cross-town bus service on 86th Street and an express subway station at Lexington Avenue and 86th Street. A large supermarket is two blocks away on Madison Avenue and an excellent food store is two blocks away on Lexington Avenue near a major Barnes & Noble bookstore, an HMV music store and several movie theaters.