RESCHEDULED FOR JULY 14th!

Carnegie Hill Historic District: A Walking Tour

Saturday, July 14th
1:00pm
Tour meets on the NW corner of Fifth Avenue and East 86th Street

$10 members, $15 non-members

Designated in 1974, and expanded in 1993, the Carnegie Hill Historic District is the second largest historic district on the Upper East Side. Named after industrialist Andrew Carnegie – who constructed his elaborate mansion on Fifth Avenue and East 91st Street in 1901 – it remains one of the city’s most prestigious neighborhoods. The area is characterized by a rich mixture of freestanding residences, intact rows of townhouses, and stately apartment buildings. Its rare architectural integrity is enhanced by a sloping terrain, making for a delightfully distinctive urban experience. Bernie Cohen, of Bernie’s New York Walking Tours, will lead this tour of spectacular architecture along New York City’s “Gold Coast.”

Tickets

Non-Member$15.00 USD Member$10.00 USD Student$10.00 USD I cannot attend but donate $30 for FRIENDS’ 30th Anniversary$30.00 USD

A video from the 4.5-hour City Council hearing is now available online. Just click here to watch!

You can also read recaps of the hearing in the New York Observer, A Quiet War on Landmarks, or Fixing the Problems with the Preservation Commission?; Brownstoner, Opening Shots Fired With Bills Involving Landmarks Law; The Real Deal, LPC speaks out against controversial landmarks bills; and DNAinfo, Proposed Bill a ‘Deliberate Attack’ on Landmarks Law, Opponents Say.

Still worried? Us too.

Please send a letter with your concerns about these bills to the Chair of the Land Use Committee, Council Member Leroy Comrie (Comrie@council.nyc.gov); the Chair of the Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Uses, Council Member Brad Lander (Lander@council.nyc.gov); and the Policy Director for Council Member Brad Lander, Michael Freedman-Schnapp (MFreedman-Schnapp@council.nyc.gov).

City Council announces public hearing for bills proposing RADICAL CHANGES to the Landmarks Law!

FRIENDS and colleagues received the following hearing notification today:

 ***

I am writing to inform you about a joint hearing that the City Council’s Committee on Housing & Buildings and Committee on Land Use will be holding next week, Wednesday, May 2, 2012 at 10:00 AM at 250 Broadway, 14th Floor.

The hearing will cover a number of bills regarding the Landmarks Preservation Commission and landmarked buildings.  The official agenda with links to the bills being heard is available by clicking here.  The agenda will be updated and bill numbers will be assigned once they are introduced at the Council’s Stated Meeting on Monday, April 30, so please check back on the hearing webpage on Monday afternoon for an updated agenda.

-Councilmember Brad Lander

 456 5th Avenue, 3rd Floor * Brooklyn, NY 11215 * 718-499-1090

***

 While the Landmarks Preservation Commission certainly needs reform, important policy changes should not be made in haste. Come to the hearing on Wednesday and let the City Council know that five days notice is not enough!!

On Tuesday, April 17th, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted for the  individual designation of the Barbizon Hotel for Women!

Situated just outside the recently designated Upper East Side Historic District Expansion, the Barbizon represents one of the earliest residential alternatives for women looking to take advantage of the new professional opportunities in New York City during the 1920s. Constructed in 1927 by architects Murgatroyd & Ogden, the building displays an eclectic blend of Italian Renaissance, Gothic and Islamic architecture.

This twenty-three story hotel is similar to many buildings constructed during the 1920s, combining the latest in steel-cage construction with a number of setbacks required by the 1916 Zoning Resolution. The second floor features tall arched windows connected by decorative columns. Each window has a handsome railing of twisted iron, accented with a large, cursive “B” in its center. At the corners of the eighteenth floor, open arched windows are supported by classical columns, while the building’s numerous setbacks display a distinct corbelled brick pattern. Three gigantic arched windows are located below one massive arched window at the hotel’s penultimate setback. Finally, the building is crowned by a broad red pyramidal roof.

The residents of the Barbizon Hotel for Women were largely made up of aspiring models and actresses, who paid as little as $12 a week for nine-foot by twelve-foot cubicles. As referenced in a Vanity Fair article from April 2010, this “elite dollhouse” harbored the greatest concentration of beauty east of Hollywood, including Grace Kelly, Joan Crawford, Lauren Bacall, Liza Minnelli, Candice Bergen and Cloris Leachman. Eileen Ford also stabled her young models at the Barbizon. In addition, the hotel accommodated future writers such as Joan Didion, Ann Beattie and Sylvia Plath, who described a fictionalized version of the Barbizon in her book “The Bell Jar.”

Despite its meager lodging, the hotel served as a sheltered entry point into New York City society for proper young women. For most of its existence, men were not allowed above the ground floor of the hotel and strict dress and conduct rules were enforced. The establishment loosened these restrictions when it began admitting men as guests in 1981. Twenty years later, a $40 million renovation was completed and the name was changed to the Melrose Hotel. Finally, in 2006, the building was converted for condominium use, at which point it reclaimed the Barbizon name.

Significant for its social and cultural contributions, as well as its distinctive architectural presence, FRIENDS believes this remarkable building not only meets, but exceeds, the Landmark Preservation Commission’s requirements for an individual New York City landmark. On a more personal note, it was at the Barbizon Hotel, in Room #803, that FRIENDS had our very first office!  In sum, we are absolutely thrilled about its induction as the Upper East Side’s 127^th landmark!