Elliot Riseman, who recently finished his senior year at Irvington High School, has once again brought together his interest in history and his remarkable filmmaking skills to explore the history of the Cosmopolitan Building, an iconic structure that overlooks Irvington’s waterfront.  The Cosmopolitan Building was built by John Brisbane Walker in 1896 as the new headquarters for the Cosmopolitan Magazine.  Walker published the magazine in Irvington until 1905 when he sold the company to William Randolph Hearst.  Hearst continued to publish the Cosmopolitan Magazine in the Irvington until 1910, when he moved his publishing operations back to New York City.

Ten years later, the British filmmaker Charles Urban purchased the building and moved his filmmaking and publishing empire to Irvington.  He was also the owner of Kinemacolor, an early technology for making color films and the founder of the Urban Institute, which hoped to develop educational films using Spirograph technology.  His hype exceeded reality, however, and his business collapsed into bankruptcy four years later.  The building later served as a silent film studio and an industrial site during World War II.  In recent years, the building has served as office space for a range of local and national businesses.

Elliot traces this history and then makes the case that the Cosmopolitan Building has an important role in the future of the Village.  Drawing from the Village’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan, there has been renewed focus on the possible redevelopment of the Irvington waterfront district.  This could include new residential, business, and mixed use opportunities, which the current owner of the Cosmopolitan Building is hoping to support through changes and upgrades to the building.  As Elliot notes, the Cosmopolitan Building reflects the many changes in the Village over the years, “but also tells the story of what the Village might be in the future.”