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Friends of the Upper East Side

@friendsoftheues

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Preserving the architectural legacy, livability, and sense of place of the Upper East Side Since 1982.

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Happy Halloween from FRIENDS! Here are some highlights of stoop decorations from nearby our office. Hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloweekend🎃 by @friendsoftheues

While the Upper East Side is known for its gilded-age Beaux Arts gems, there is also a lesser-known Modernist history in the neighborhood. Pictured here is the building that houses the Asia Society and Museum at 725 Park Avenue, built in 1979. Designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes and constructed using red Oklahoma granite, the building is a wonderful example of a new wave of architecture in the late 20th century in the Upper East Side.

Join us for a walking tour featuring this building and more on this Saturday, October 31st, led by historian John Arbuckle. Members receive discounted tickets, so sign up at our website today!

Image: Urban Archive NYC

#nychistory by @friendsoftheues

If you’ve ever walked past the Millan House on 68th Street, you might have noticed the ornate animal designs in the doorway as pictured here. The building was completed in 1931, and designed by architect Andrew J. Thomas, hired by John D. Rockefeller who owned the land. No one knows exactly why the facade features animals of various expressions, but a 2011 New York Times article found that the answer could be revealed in the architect himself, who was reportedly fond of zoo animals and had exotic pets in his home.

Image 1: New Yorkitecture Website
Image 2: Compass Real Estate

#nychistory #uppereastsidenyc by @friendsoftheues

FRIENDS at 45✨

You can see all photos from our celebration last week at the link in our bio. Thank you to all who joined us! by @friendsoftheues

Tenement architecture is underrated, in our humble opinion. Though often dismissed as non-contributing vernacular buildings, the tenements of the Upper East Side tell us the stories of building regulation and zoning in New York City that influence how our city scape looks. Pictured here are two eras of tenement buildings; an “old law” (first image) and a “new law” (second image) tenement which are distinguished by the passing of the 1901 Tenement House Law which decreed the necessity for design that allowed light and air for all residents.

FRIENDS is partnering with Village Preservation to host a webinar tomorrow, Wednesday, October 14th @ 6pm to take viewers through a virtual tour of the most compelling tenements in both neighborhoods. Sign up at the link in our bio!

Image 1: City and Suburban Homes Company, 79th and York Ave (Wikimedia Commons).

Image 2: 3rd Avenue between 74th and 75th (NYC Municipal Archives).

#nychistory by @friendsoftheues

Have you ever been curious about the history of our iconic Central Park’s Northern End, and the new updates that have been made to it? Join us this Saturday, October 10th for a stroll through the northern end guided by Ginny Poleman. Pictured here first is the Gottesman Pool and Rink which recently reopened to the public as part of the Davis Center. Also featured on the tour are the Vanderbilt Gates, which once opened up to a gilded mansion owned by Cornelius and Alice Vanderbilt. Today, the mansion is no longer there but the gates remain and open up to the north end gardens.

You can sign up on the FRIENDS Events page, at our link in bio. Members receive discounted tickets!

Image 1: Gottesman Pool and Rink, AIA New York
Image 2: Vanderbilt Gates, Daytonian in Manhattan

#nychistory by @friendsoftheues

Join Village Preservation and @friendsoftheues for an exciting free online program on Wednesday, October 14 at 6pm: “Downtown and Uptown: How The Tenements of Lower Manhattan and Yorkville Redefined Affordable Housing in New York.”

Tenements have long been derided as blight and eyesores, erased by ‘urban renewal’ and overlooked by serious architectural historians. But this essential building block of New York architecture and design not only embodies generations of immigrant and working-class history and life; in many cases, in spite of the common perception to the contrary, they included florid ornamentation, innovative designs, and nods to both ethnic heritage and the loftiest architectural styles of the day.

Few neighborhoods have as vast an intact an array of late 19th and early 20th century tenements as the East and South Village and Yorkville on the Upper East Side. Both were teeming immigrant districts over a century ago, with in some ways intertwined histories, and both have undergone tremendous change in recent years. But both neighborhoods also have active historic preservation organizations that have made a priority of documenting, celebrating, and seeking to preserve the rich architectural, cultural, and social history manifested in these essential building forms.

In this jointly sponsored program, Village Preservation’s Executive Director Andrew Berman and Friends of the Upper East Side’s historian and researcher Lucie Levine will take you on a virtual tour of some of the most interesting and compelling tenements in their neighborhoods, sharing the stories behind them and the work they’ve done to document their histories and fight for their preservation. They’ll talk about some of the obstacles that they’ve faced, the successes they’ve had, and why understanding the importance of tenements and helping to preserve them may be more important now than ever, as the city wrestles with questions about housing affordability and development.

Go to Village Preservation’s link in bio to register.

#NYC #NYChistory #NYCarchitecture #tenements #tenementarchitecture #Yorkville #EastVillage #EastVillageNYC #SouthVillage #SouthVillageNYC #affordablehousing by @friendsoftheues

The Lillian S. Dodges House at 6 East 67th Street sits within the Upper East Side Historic District (designation in 1981). Built in 1881 and designed by James E. Ware, and purchased by Victory Henry Rothschild in 1882. The townhouse is in the Queen Anne architectural style with Beaux Arts accent elements added by the woman of the building’s namesake, Lillian Dodges, who bought the home in 1922. Today, the building is the Ambassador’s residence and offices for the Representative of the Slovak Republic.

This building is on the Landmark Preservation Commission’s (LPC) upcoming public hearing. Sign up for the latest LPC updates on our site to get insight into any changes happening on the UES!

Image 1: Daytonian in Manhattan
Image 2: NYC Municipal Archives

#nyclandmarks by @friendsoftheues

We have another exciting walking tour coming up on this Saturday! Pictured here is the Church of the Holy Trinity, located on East 88th Street, which was built in 1897 and designated as a local landmark in 1967. Part of this church is the Rhinelander memorial, which was created by Serena Rhinelander in honor of her father. This church was held as a vital resource and hub for the growing immigrant community that began to surround it in the late 19th century, as many houses of worship provided during this time in the Upper East Side.

Join FRIENDS and historian/preservationist Gregory Dietrich for an enlightening tour featuring the Church of the Holy Trinity and more places of worship on the Upper East Side, on Saturday, September 26th at 12pm. Sign up at the link in our bio, and become a member today for discounted tickets!

Image 1: via Sallie Slate Productions
Image 2: via NYC municipal archives

#nychistorytour by @friendsoftheues

Due to popular demand, our walking tour series “Our Crowd” in Carnegie Hill will return this fall. This tour highlights the visible histories of Jewish families in the built environment of Carnegie Hill where people lived, worshipped, and placed roots. Major historic New Yorkers like Otto Kahn, Billy Rose, and Elie Nadelman all walked the streets that we will walk on the tour. Pictured here is the Felix Warburg Mansion, built in 1908, now home to the Jewish Museum and one of the key stops on our tour.

Be sure to sign up for our newsletter now at the link in our bio to be the first to get tickets, and become a member today to receive discounts on tickets. We’ll be unveiling our fall programs next week, so keep an eye out!

Image 1: 1940s, via NYC Municipal Archives
Image 2: 2023, via Ephemeral New York

#nychistory #uppereastside #jewishhistory by @friendsoftheues

Thank you Zura Alavidze, co-owner of Oda House (406 East 73rd Street), for sitting down with us for an interview!

It was lovely to interview Zura as part of Always Shaped by Immigrants, our new digital media series celebrating contemporary immigrant-owned small businesses across Yorkville!

Oda House is one of the first Georgian restaurants in Manhattan, and Zura curates the restaurant’s extensive wine list.

Georgia is the world-historical cradle of wine making, and the nation’s 8,000 year-old Qvevri wine-making method is recognized by UNESCO as part of the world’s intangible cultural heritage.

“In Georgia, almost every family makes wine,” Zura told us. “I was making wine with my grandfather all my childhood.”

Today, Zura brings Georgia’s special wine culture to Yorkville by keeping in close touch with Georgian vintners, and sharing his passion for Georgian wine, history and hospitality with Oda house customers.

“Every guest,” he says, “I explain about wine, about culture, about cuisine, and we are building our friends and friendships.

Learn more about Oda House and Georgian wine in our full interview with Zura Alavidze, now on our website! Link in Bio! by @friendsoftheues