Tag Archives: New York City

General Grant National Memorial (Grant’s Tomb)

Manhattan, Parks & Monuments, , , , , , ,

Why not President Grant National Memorial? A National Park Service ranger explains that Ulysses’ record as General was more impressive than his record as President. General Grant National Memorial it is.

Either way, the memorial is probably better known as Grant’s Tomb. It is the largest mausoleum in the Western Hemisphere, and is said to be copied from the original Mausoleus’ tomb.

The memorial was financed by donations, not by the government, though the National Park Service now maintains the monument. There’s a small National Park Service visitor center well-hidden across the southbound lanes of Riverside Drive and down a flight of stairs.

“The Rolling Bench,” a series of 17 mosaic-covered concrete benches, was installed around the monument in 1974. Personally, I think the benches are an atrocious, grotesque defacement of the monument; bureaucratic vandalism. But that’s just my opinion, and what do I know?

P.S. – “Who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb?” Well, technically, no one. The General and his wife Julia are entombed (above ground), not buried (below ground).

General Grant National Memorial Vital Statistics
  • Location: Riverside Drive at W 122nd Street
  • Year completed: 1897
  • Architect: John H. Duncan
  • Style: Roman Revival
  • New York City Landmark: 1975
  • National Register of Historic Places: 1966
General Grant National Memorial Suggested Reading

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Riverside Park

Manhattan, Parks & Monuments, , , , , , ,

Riverside Park is another creation of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux – the powerhouse team who also designed Central Park and Prospect Park.

Riverside Park extends from 72nd Street to 158th Street along the Hudson River. It was built in 1875-1910; Robert Moses expanded and enhanced the park during the 1930s – adding the Henry Hudson parkway and covering up the former New York Central tracks, which had cut off access to much of the park. In the 1990s, Riverside Park South was created over the former Penn Central rail yards, in a Donald Trump-led development. (This photo gallery covers Riverside park’s main section, 72nd-125th Street.)

More information is available at the Parks Department and Riverside Park Fund sites: www.nycgovparks.org and www.riversideparkfund.org/.

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Riverside Drive

Collections, Manhattan, , , , ,

Riverside Drive was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted – part of the package with Riverside Park. As part of the park’s scheme, the route is scenic – full of curves, dips and rises – not straight as the city’s grid pattern would dictate. The buildings along Riverside Drive try to live up to the scenic expectation; most were built in the era when lavish decoration and detailing were fashionable.

Riverside Drive extends from West 72nd Street to 153rd Street; this photo gallery covers the area up to 123rd Street.

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Union Square

Collections, Manhattan, , , , ,

Union Square is ever-changing, though many surrounding buildings have stayed the same.

At one time known for political rallies and the annual May Day rally, the park was overrun by druggies in the ’70s. Union Square has since been cleaned up – figuratively and literally – with new fences, new landscaping and new pavement from East 14th Street to East 17th Street. The peddlers are still out in force, though their products are now veggies, art and souvenirs instead of drugs.

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Statues

Architecture, Collections, Parks & Monuments,

Statues are part of the “built environment” of architecture; they help to define and decorate our spaces. Some statues are better known than their locations; some are so obscure you’ll only see them by accident. New York has plenty of both categories, which we will include. However, we haven’t gone on a statue-hunting expedition – these photos are incidental to other categories, so this gallery will continue to expand over time.

We’re using an arbitrary definition of statue here – a representation of a real person. Thus, we include Hans Christian Anderson but exclude Alice in Wonderland (who lives happily ever after within the Sculptures gallery).

Sculpture

Architecture, Collections, Parks & Monuments,

Sculpture, like statues (see separate gallery), help define and decorate our environment; sculpture complements architecture.

What’s the difference between sculpture and statue? Completely arbitrary: For our purposes, statues are likenesses of real, identifiable people; sculptures are not. Alice In Wonderland lives happily ever after, right here with sculpture; Hans Christian Andersen is with the statues.

This is by no means a closed gallery – we’re just getting started! If there’s a particular piece that you think should be here ASAP, please let us know with a comment. Thanks!

Gramercy Park and Vicinity

Collections, Manhattan, , ,

Gramercy Park is a private park between E20th and E21st Streets, ending Irving Place and beginning Lexington Avenue. The park is restricted to tenants of the surrounding buildings; a high fence and locked gates keep it that way.

Much of the surrounding area is part of the Gramercy Park Historic District. The park itself is closed to the public, so this gallery is devoted to the beautiful architecture.

Enjoy! And visit!

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New York City Architecture – Web Resources

Architecture, Guides,

NewYorkitecture.com is intended as a recreational site – exploring the city’s buildings, parks and infrastructure just for the fun of it. But lots of people have been documenting the same subject for years, with more serious intent. So, if you want to dig deeper (metaphorically, or course) into New York City Architecture, here are some excellent Internet resources:

NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission: www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/html/home/home.shtml
If you’re interested in classic architecture, “they don’t build ‘em like this anymore” structures, here’s your shortcut to finding them. The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission “is responsible for identifying and designating the City’s landmarks and the buildings in the City’s historic districts. The Commission also regulates changes to designated buildings.”
The commission has a handy Glossary of Architectural Terms – www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/html/glossary/glossary.shtml – just in case I throw out some obscure term without explaining it (shame on me!).

City Realty: Cityrealty.com
I discovered this site by fortunate accident, while researching some addresses along Riverside Drive. Typing the address or building name in Google almost always returned references to CityRealty.com – which had detailed reports on the building in question. Architectural style, architect, year built, number of floors, famous residents, etc. Even architectural ratings and reviews!
Their secret is Carter B. Horsley, who spent 36 years as a reporter/editor covering architecture and real estate for The New York Times and The New York Post.

SkyscraperPage.com: Skyscraperpage.com
If you love skyscrapers, you’ll love this site! They have a huge database of skyscrapers around the world, including interactive maps, illustrations and fact sheets. And check out their store, for one-of-a-kind puzzles and posters. Check out their interactive NYC map: skyscraperpage.com/cities/maps/?cityID=8

NewYorkArchitecture.info: www.newyorkarchitecture.info/
NewYorkArchitecture.info is aimed more at people who are in the trade – architects, contractors, realtors, etc. Includes news and progress reports for new construction in the city.

GlassSteelAndStone.com: www.glasssteelandstone.com/
Glass Steel and Stone is another site for building trade professionals, but with a global perspective – you can check on buildings around the world.

Museum of the City of New York: www.mcny.org/
The Museum of the City of New York covers all things New York – with significant exhibitions on architecture and city planning. The museum also has lectures and tours to complement the exhibits – check and book early, they sell out quickly.

NYC-Architecture.com: nyc-architecture.com/
nyc-architecture.com contains news and reviews of historic and contemporary buildings of note, with archives by architectural style and building types (among other categories).

Buildipedia.com: Buildipedia.com
This is another building trades website, where you can become immersed in architecture’s state of the art – trends, best practices, etc., plus news of who’s building what, and where.

Emporis.com: emporis.com/city/newyorkcity-ny-usa
Emporis (formerly skyscrapers.com) is a global buildings database company – listing 403,420 buildings in 190 countries. If you have the name and/or address of a specific structure, you’ll find not only the architects, but also the engineers, suppliers, and contractors involved; when construction started and finished; the construction type, architectural style, height, number of floors, intended use – and photos. The link above brings you to the New York City page.

Wikimapia.org: wikimapia.org/#lat=40.7048512&lon=-74.0117115&z=18&l=0&m=b
This site is a Google map mashup that gives you building-by-building details for many of the city’s historic (and some not-historic) districts. Zoom in to see individual building outlines, traced around Google satellite images; click for building details, which often includes history, statistics, photos and links to the emporis.com database and/or Wikipedia. Amazing site, highly recommended. The link above puts you right into the heart of the Financial District.

Columbia University – Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library: library.columbia.edu/indiv/avery/guides/nycbuild.html
This is a site devoted to researching New York City Buildings. For the serious architectural scholar or historian.

City Island

Bronx, Collections, ,

Although part of the Bronx, City Island has a distinct personality that seems imported from New England, reflected in the island’s architecture.

City Island Avenue is the island’s main north-south thoroughfare; side streets are one or two blocks long east and west. Rule of thumb: The most interesting homes are at the ends of the street, overlooking the water.

It may seem that the most interesting homes are all at the southern end of the island; not necessarily. I must confess, the sun was getting low in the sky, forcing me to rush a bit – I didn’t explore every block.

Getting There: Take the number 6 to Pelham Bay (end of the line), transfer to the Bx29 bus, which goes all the way to the southern end of the island.

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