New York

Architecture
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05/13/13 9:00am

Vintage Photos: Jackie O in New York City

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New York
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Jackie O at the hearing on St. Bartholomew's Church, Albany, 1984

Shortly after John and Jackie Kennedy moved into the White House in 1961, Jackie made it her mission to restore her new home to its former history and grandeur. The White House restoration project was more than a mere redecoration; it was an act of historic preservation, ensuring that the rooms would be protected from any drastic alterations in the future. Jackie O’s restoration project sparked a lifelong interest in historic preservation. When she moved to New York City full time, after the death of her second husband, Aristotle Onassis, she became a member of the Municipal Art Society’s board of directors. She fought to protect important city landmarks such as Grand Central Station, which faced demolition in 1975, and St. Bartholomew’s Church.

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Architecture
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05/10/13 3:00pm

The New York City that Never Was: The National Memorial to the American Indian

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New York
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(Lewis) Rodman Wanamaker was the son of John Wanamaker, the founder of Wanamaker’s Department Store. In addition to being a patron of the arts, and donating works to the likes of Princeton, Valley Forge, Madison Square Park, and even Westminster Abbey, Wanamaker was fascinated by American Indians. Fearing their imminent extinction, Wanamaker set out to document and memorialize this vanishing people. Between 1908 and 1914, he organized photographic expeditions to documents the tribes and their way of life. Additionally, he dreamt up the colossal National Memorial to the American Indian, which was to be placed on Staten Island.

drawing of american indian memorial

Source: NW History Course

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Architecture
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05/10/13 2:00pm

The Players Club Might Be Shut Down After 125 Years on Gramercy Park

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New York
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The Players_Club_New York City_Gramercy Park-5

We recently learned the distressing news that The Players Club, Gramercy Park’s members-only theater club, might be shut down due to financial mishandling. The Players, which we visited in February on a behind the scenes tour, recently celebrated its 125th anniversary, making it the oldest private club in New York City still in its original location.

The Players Club was founded in 1888 by Edwin Booth, a Shakespearian actor and brother of John Wilkes Booth, together with fifteen incorporators, including Mark Twain and General William Tecumseh Sherman. The Players occupies a beautiful five story Greek revival townhouse and members have access to a key that opens Gramercy Park. It was originally an all male club for actors to get to know society men. The club has an incredibly rich history, as evidenced by the many artifacts housed there, including Mark Twain’s pool cue, Booth’s costumes from Shakespearian dramas, and even the skull of an admirer that Booth used in Hamlet’s soliloquy. Portraits of the club’s members, including Carey Grant, Gregory Peck, Tommy Lee Jones, Liza Minelli, Jimmy Fallon, and many more hang on the wall by the staircase.

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Architecture
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05/10/13 11:00am

Long Island’s Gold Coast – Transport to the Great Gatsby Era

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New York
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UntappedCitiesNewYork_JackieSpear_CoeHall_GreatGatsbyMansion_GoldCoast_7

To contextualize the characters of a F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, you have to first understand their relation to their surroundings. In Fitzgerald’s most celebrated novel, The Great Gatsby, Long Island’s Gold Coast region provides the necessary amount of drama, grandeur, opulence and richness to sustain the immortal characters in the novel.  In Fitzgerald’s book, the West and East Egg of Long Island become leading characters themselves that entangle the characters into their fabric. To fully understand the magnitude of this literary landscape set during the golden era of the “Roaring Twenties,” we ventured out to the real Long Island Gold Coast to explore the Coe Hall Estate at Planting Fields with SideTour.

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Architecture
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05/10/13 9:00am

#untappedcities Instagram “Pic” of the Week: New York by Gehry

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New York
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This week's Untapped Cities Instagram "Pic" of the Week

This week’s Untapped Cities Instagram “Pic” of the Week by @bhushanyc

Introducing the #untappedcities Instagram “Pic” of the Week. We’ll be pulling images from our Untapped Cities Photo Pool, which you can submit to simply by hashtagging #untappedcities in your Instagram and Twitter photos.

This week’s Untapped Cities “Pic” of the Week goes to this stunning shot of the Gehry Building in Downtown Manhattan. The photo, entitled “New York by Gehry” was submitted to us by @bhushanyc.

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Architecture
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05/09/13 2:00pm

Hugh Hardy’s Theater of Architecture Book Trailer

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New York
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The launch of architect Hugh Hardy’s new book, Theater of Architecture from Princeton Architectural Press, comes with a film trailer, which is fitting given Hardy’s work in civic architecture. He began his career under the celebrated scenic designer Jo Mielziener and has designed and restored celebrated New York City locations like The Lincoln Center Beaumont Theater, Brooklyn Academy of Music, the cafe in Bryant Park, the New York Botanical Garden Visitor Center and Radio City. According to Hardy, architecture is itself a theatrical experience, a form of showmanship with which the audience can readily interact. Here are videos of his work that are featured in the book.

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