Gracie Towers, 1961. Completed in 1961 to the designs of architects Sylvan and Robert Bien, this 21-story Modern apartment building was advertised as a "Riviera on the River." Directly across from Gracie Mansion and Carl Schurz Park, the bright white glazed brick building featured balcony on nearly every floor that provided sweeping views across the river. Though unabashedly Modern, the architects embraced traditional features usually seen in older, classical style apartment buildings, including an entrance court with circular driveway, a grand double floor lobby, and an interior courtyard with formal gardens. Another selling point for the building was its swimming pool on the roof terrace (on the 22nd floor) and model apartments created by leading interior designers of the period. Yet even with all of these features, this structure was panned like so many Modern style buildings. William Knowlton Zinsser referred to it in his book, City Dwellers (1962) as, " a leviathan of ... dreariness."

Our Lady of Good Counsel, ca. 1975. This late 19th century Roman Catholic Church stood across from the Ruppert & Company brewery in Yorkville for more than 70 years. Our Lady of Good Counsel was part of a wave of new churches built by the Archdiocese of New York to serve Yorkville’s growing population, including the German immigrant communities who made up Ruppert’s workforce. The brewery complex closed in 1965 and was later razed, opening new sightlines architect Thomas Poole’s Gothic facade — described in the AIA Guide to New York as “robust, undisciplined, deeply three-dimensional.”

“308 and 310 East 94th Street, south side, east of Second Ave. Upon the excavation at the right was constructed a 2-story garage (No. 304-306). April 21, 1917.” The storefront at 308 East 94th reads J Reich Fancy Groceries.

304 East 94th Street, ca. 1917. Constructed as a garage in the late 1910s or early 1920s as a garage during the influx of cars in the city, this 94th Street building has been home to Telesca-Heyman for more than half a century. Telesca-Heyman is a custom cabinet shop which alters, resizes and retrofits wood furniture and architectural woodwork.

Gracie Mansion in East River Park (now Carl Schurz Park), from East end Avenue below 86th Street, ca. 1900.

Gracie Mansion, undated (1970-90). The Archibald Gracie Mansion was built between 1799 and 1801 on the site of a former Revolutionary War fort, overlooking Hell Gate and the East River from a promontory on Manhattan’s east side, then some five miles north of city development. Gracie, a Scottish-born merchant, entertained elite guests at his new country mansion, including John Quincy Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and the future King of France, Louis Philippe I. He sold the house in 1823, in order to ease financial pressures. In 1890, the estate and its grounds were incorporated into East River Park (renamed Carl Schurz Park in 1910), with the mansion initially put to use for park functions. From 1924 to 1932, Gracie Mansion was the first home of the Museum of the City of New York. After the Museum moved to its current home on Fifth Avenue, the mansion operated as an historic house museum. However, Robert Moses had different plans. In 1942, the Parks Commissioner designated Gracie Mansion the official residence of the mayor. Fiorello La Guardia was the first mayor to occupy the house. Sixty years later, the billionaire three-term mayor Michael Bloomberg elected not to take up residence at Gracie, allowing extensive restoration work to take place during his tenure.

"That Gracie Mansion, the official home to the Mayor of the City of New York, has survived this long can be credited to its being a shape-shifter. History knows Archibald Gracie more for his house than for him. He was hard-working, industrious, scrupulous, and successful until President Jefferson’s embargo in 1807. Thereafter, it was all downhill. To pay off his debts, Gracie sold the house in 1823 to Joseph Foulkes, who later sold it to Noah Wheaton whose family kept it until his death in 1896. The family sold it to the City of New York, and not knowing what to do with it, the City of New York allowed it to languish, but never to the point where it was beyond rescue. It served time, variously as an ice cream parlor, a public bathroom, and the Museum of the City of New York. In its rooms today are fine old Georgian furniture, paintings, carpets, and some cannonballs from the days when this site was a Revolutionary battlement..." Read this post in its original context here.

Frame House at No. 412 East 85th Street, 1932. This still standing, three-story, Italianate style, wood-frame home was likely built in 1861 for a James R. Reed. It is a somewhat unlikely survivor. Only a few years after its construction, a law was passed banning the building of wood-frame structures below 86th Street. Similarly these wooden structures were often targeted for demolition and redevelopment in the late 19th century, being seen as fire hazards and detriments to neighborhood improvement and progress. In the 1890s the original single family house was converted into three apartments with a commercial ground floor space. From the first decade of the 20th century until the 1950s the ground floor was occupied by J. Herbst and Sons, a monument and gravestone business (samples of their products can be seen in this photograph). During the later part of the 20th century the house fell into disrepair, but in 1996 new owners restored its facade to closely resemble the earliest known look of the building.

412 EAST 85TH STREET HOUSE, MANHATTAN Address: 412 East 85th Street c. 1860 This Italianate style house stands as a reminder of Yorkville’s transition from farmland and country estates to a denser, residential character. The building appears to date to circa 1860, though it is possible that it was built earlier as an ancillary farm structure, moved to this location and renovated in the Italianate style, as this was a common practice. If it was, in fact, constructed circa 1860, it is one of the last frame buildings to be constructed before the city fire code outlawed wood frame construction south of 86th Street. The house has sustained some changes over the years, including conversion to apartments with a commercial ground floor, the removal of some of its details and the re-cladding of the façade. However, it has been cared for time and time again. In 1996, a major restoration was undertaken to simulate the building’s original appearance.

Doctor's Hospital, 1937. Founded in 1929, the Doctor's Hospital was a private medical facility that was known as a "fashionable treatment center for the well-to-do." (By the first few decades of the 20th century, hospitals were where everyone visited for medical treatment, and while New York City had plenty of public hospitals, this facility filled the need for those whose who did not wish to visit public wards.) The 14-story building opened in 1930 and had 264 private rooms, with an additional 32 hotel-like rooms for patient's families. The interiors were unsurprisingly lavish, as was the service (champagne with dinner delivered to your room on silver). And for much much of its history patients did not need to be ill to be admitted, they could simply need some time for rest. Famous folks treated here include Marilyn Monroe, Eugene O'Neil, Robert Moses (who came for "rest") and Huguette Clark. The reclusive heiress checked into Doctor's Hospital in 1991 at age 85 stayed the rest of her life (another 20 years). By the 1970s the hospital no longer only catered to the wealthy. In 1987 Beth Israel Medical Center purchased Doctor's. It closed in 2004 and was razed in 2005 (Huguette Clark was transferred in 2004 to another Beth Israel facility where she died seven years later at 104).

St. Joseph’s Church, the tallest building on the block in this 1934 photo, was built in 1884 by architect William Schinckel. The congregation was founded a decade before by Jesuit priests, seeking to serve the growing German population of Yorkville. The Romanesque Revival building at 420 East 87th Street still retains much of its architectural integrity, including the ornate rose window and distinctive copper-clad bell tower. Throughout its history, St. Joseph’s has been dedicated to fostering German culture and traditions. In 2008, German-born Pope Benedict XVI led a prayer service in St. Joseph’s during his visits to New York City.

Gracie Mansion ca. 1923 Built originally by Archibald Gracie, this house is beautifully situated on the East River. As the one-time home of the Museum of the City of New York, it was preserved for us; as the Mayor's house, it is well cared for today. It is probably the only one of the old country seats of Manhattan which remains a family dwelling.

St. Joseph's Roman Catholic, April 7, 1928. The origins of St. Joseph’s Parish date to the 1860s when a small German-speaking community of Catholic immigrants worshiped the chapel of an orphanage on the Upper East Side. In 1873 the community approached the Jesuits who ran the first church in the neighborhood (St. Lawrence O’Toole Church, now St. Ignatius Loyola) and requested a German-speaking priest. St. Joseph's was established that year and a new, modest, brick church was dedicated the following year. The German community, Yorkville, boomed over the next few decades. A school was established and the church passed from the jurisdiction of the Jesuits to the Archdiocese of New York. By the middle of the 1890s, the church building was deemed too small. William Schickel, a well-known architect and German immigrant, himself, was commissioned to design a larger space. Completed in 1895, the Romanesque Revival church included extensive stained glass windows and a new, modern organ. The bell tower was not completed until 1926 (seen here a few years later). The local German community grew even larger in the first decade of the 20th century, with German speakers leaving Kleindeutschland and moving to Yorkville. Though there is little trace of the once vibrant German population here today, the church continues to serve the local community from its 19th century home.

Rowhouses at East 87th Street and East End Avenue, ca. 1882. The corner building is No. 558 East 87th Street. This development of 32 Queen Anne houses, built between 1880-1882 by the Lamb & Rich firm and developer John Henderson, comprises the Henderson Place Historic District (so named for the one-block dead-end alley at the rear of the homes pictured).

1770 Second Avenue, June 7, 1940. The small two-story building has hosted a number of divergent tenants. In 1904 a Henry D. Hoppe sold milk (and likely other items) here. In the 1920s it was the home of the Lexington Cigar Company. In the mid century, a firm of plumbing and heating contractors worked from here. Since 1990 the building has cycled through a series of restaurant, with its most recent tenant, Manny's (a sports bar) closing in 2017. A fun fact about this building. In 2007 the lot was considered by the MTA as a possible location for a vent plant at the southern end of the planned 96th Street Station on the Second Avenue line. The fact that the building only had a single commercial tenant made the impact of demolition much lower than other options in the neighborhood. In the end, concerns about the structural stability of the neighboring buildings (had this one been razed) caused the MTA to look elsewhere for the vent plant. And this tiny two-story survivor remains!

Our Lady of Good Counsel, 1931. By the 1880 and 1890s, Yorkville was a booming area with a large influx of German and Irish immigrant families. During this time the only major Catholic church in the neighborhood was St. Lawrence O'Toole (now St. Ignatius Loyola) on 84th Street. To accommodate this growing community the diocese planned to built a few new churches. The Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel was one of these buildings. It was completed in 1892. The distinctive stone facade includes crenelated coping and turrets, and echos similar architectural details of the nearby Calvary Squadron A Armory (Madison between 94th and 95th Streets).

Gracie Mansion has had a long and rich history since merchant and shipowner Archibald Gracie built it in 1799 as his country residence. Innumerable important figures have crossed its threshold in the years since, and it remains one of the oldest surviving Federal-style wood structures in Manhattan. This tour seeks to impart some of the illustrious history of the building that is now called the "People's House."

Second Avenue El trestle at East 94th Street; March 6, 1941.

Henderson Place, 1927. Henderson Place was a grouping of 32 buildings constructed in 1881-1882 by developer John C. Henderson. These lovely Queen Anne style dwellings were built for “persons of moderate means.” Designed by the architectural firm of Lamb & Rich, the homes featured wide arched entryways, steep roofs, terra cotta details, and projecting bays windows. The eight homes on the west side of this quaint dead end street (seen here in the photo) were demolished by the time the enclave became a historic district in 1969. They have been replaced by a large residential tower. The homes on the east side of Henderson Place remain in excellent shape.

My Archive Summer 2019 “I took this picture in the late 1970s. I was fascinated by the woman leaning out the window and didn't notice the other person walking by until later when the roll of film was developed. It was a matter of luck. I was kicking through the neighborhood.” —Joe Raskin

Public School 150, 1920. Designed by famed school designer C.B.J. Snyder and completed in 1904, Public School 150 functioned as an elementary school until 1927. That year it became the home of the Hunter Model School, a laboratory school for teacher education established in 1870. The model school was joined in the building by the prestigious Hunter College High School. When the Hunter schools moved on to new buildings in 1940, the red brick school became Machine and Metal Trades High School. Today the 1904 building with Dutch Renaissance and Collegiate Gothic facade details houses the Life Sciences Secondary School.

Municipal Asphalt Plant, 1943. Built by Ely Jacques Kahn and Robert Allen Jacobs, and completed in 1941, the Municipal Asphalt Plant replaced an earlier asphalt plant on the same site. The complex, which provided asphalt for Manhattan streets included a number of small structures for materials storage as well as the main building, a mixing plant, seen here during construction. Given that the once commercial neighborhood had become semi-residential by the 1940s, the Borough Present (who spearheaded the project) wanted an industrial building that somehow would also fit in with the new residential developments along the East River. The parabolic arch shape of the building satisfied these requirements while also creating an efficient space for the plant's equipment. The style and shape of the reinforced concrete building were controversial at the time. Robert Moses called it the "Cathedral of Asphalt" and said that it was "the most hideous waterfront structure ever inflicted on a city by a combination of architectural conceit and official bad taste." (This is an ironic statement from a man who was often accused of similar vices.) The structure was lauded by others as representing bold progress in design and construction and as "functionalistic." By the late 1960s, the asphalt plant was no longer in operation and the outlying buildings were razed. Though a recreational field was added adjacent in the early 1970s, the city had plans to demolish the plant for high rise buildings and a school. Local residents George and Annette Murphy, along with other community members, fought this plan, citing the lack of recreational space in the dense neighborhood. They succeeded and in 1984 Asphalt Green, a community center that offers sports activities opened to the public. The plant was retrofitted with a gymnasium, classrooms, and an indoor turf field.

Many houses of worship on the Upper East Side are devoted to a myriad of individual traditions, which contributed to our neighborhood’s multi-ethnic identity. The Church of the Holy Trinity, at 316 East 88th Street, is somewhat unique because it was not built to support just one of these traditions, but welcomed everyone. Holy Trinity was conceived as a “Settlement Church” by Serena Rhinelander, a member of the prominent Rhinelander family, which held vast land in Yorkville and was known for real estate and philanthropy in the neighborhood. Originally founded in midtown in 1864 as a Protestant Episcopal Church, Holy Trinity was designed as a community complex by the architectural firm Barney and Chapman. Their work on the Holy Trinity includes a French Gothic bell tower, which the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission calls an “outstanding example of the French Gothic spirit adapted to a late Nineteenth Century brick and terra-cotta religious structure,” and a French renaissance Parish house that has served as a community oasis since it opened in 1897. Then as now, the Parish House offers an auditorium, classrooms, and meeting rooms serving the needs of neighbors of all ages. Holy Trinity was designated a New York City landmark in 1966 (so one of the City’s first) and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979

East side of First Avenue between 87th and 88th Streets, Glaser's Bakery (at no. 1670) is the light colored building second from right), October 9, 1934.

“East 94th Street, west from, but not including York Ave. Note in the foreground construction for the East River Drive. March 7, 1936.” Designed by Robert Moses, construction on the East River Drive (later, FDR East River Drive) began in 1934. The section from 125th Street to 92nd Street is the original 1934 construction, which was planned to as a controlled-access approach to the Triborough Bridge (opened 1936.) Today, the NYCHA Stanley M. Isaacs Houses (1965) and John Haynes Holmes Towers (1969) sit between First Avenue and the FDR Drive.

Our Lady of Good Counsel, at 230 East 90th Street, was built in 1892 as one of the first churches in Northern Yorkville. It was designed by architect Thomas H. Poole in a melange of styles including Gothic and Tudor elements. The church also features elaborate stained-glass windows by Franz Mayer and Co., a renowned German manufacturer. Our Lady originally served Yorkville’s Irish and German communities, comprised of workers from the nearby breweries and factories. Our Lady overlooked the looming bulk of the breweries that dominated the neighborhood’s streetscape. As the Parish grew, the church expanded in 1905 to include a school and convent, and in 1908 to offer a nursery and parish house. Today Our Lady still serves and reflects our community: In addition to Mass in English, the Church conducts Mass in Spanish and offers a Spanish Youth Group. With the breweries gone, the church now looks over Ruppert Park and its popular children’s playground

This pair of stately Romanesque Revival style brick apartment buildings was constructed at a time when apartment-style living was becoming more socially acceptable for New York’s burgeoning middle class. They exemplified the use of distinctive architecture and evocative naming to elevate the image of the multiple-dwelling building type, which had long been associated with the cramped and squalid quarters of Manhattan’s worst tenement districts. In this case, the choice of the noble-sounding names “Kaiser” and “Rhine” signaled the overwhelmingly German heritage of their presumed occupants, as well as the prominent Rhinelander family’s involvement in their construction and in broader real estate development in Yorkville. Although built as two separate structures joined along a party wall with interior courtyards, the buildings’ Second Avenue façades present a unified, monumental appearance. The decorative iron balcony and pent eave roof anchor the façade’s center bay, while the round arches that are a hallmark of the Romanesque Revival style play across the façade at different scales. The red-orange brick façade is embellished by rich geometric patterning and detailing, including corbels, quoins and window spandrels featuring delicate cartouches with ribbons. The building was recently restored with the removal of white paint obscuring the building’s subtle texture and fine ornament. With luck, the cornices that flanked the pent eave roof in this once-picturesque roofline will also be restored.

Carl Schurz Park, ca. 1936. This park consists of 13 acres, east of East End Ave., (left) to the East River and extending northward from Gracie Square (East 84th Street) to East 89th Street. The northern portion of this park was known as "Horn's Hook" and figured very prominently in the wars of the Revolution and 1812. This northern tip contains a spacious house, known as Gracie Mansion; built in 1813 by Archibald Gracie and later occupied by the Museum of the City of New York. The playground, walks, skating rink, landscape gardening, building improvements were all are the work of the W.P.A. Notice on the right the new Triboro Bridge (also a P.W.A. project) silhouetted against the curved span of the Hellgate.

The Kaiser and the Rhine, August 13, 1941. In 1886 Gertrude Rhinelander, a scion of a well-established and wealthy New York family, purchased a series of lots on the corner of Second Avenue and 89th Street. She commissioned architects Lamb & Rich to design two matching apartment buildings with ground floor commercial spaces. Christened The Rhine (nos. 1716-18) and The Kaiser (nos. 1720-22) by Rhinelander, the buildings were completed in 1887. Rendered in a Romanesque Revival style to look as though a single structure, the building did feature some unexpected architectural details, including an almost Modern style maze-like pattern of brickwork on the second floor facade. A massive and devastating fire in 1904 gutted the building. Gertrude Rhinelander, who still collected the rents herself, rebuilt. It was likely at this time that the Tuscan Revival style roofs were added. In the late 20th century the buildings were painted in muted grey and white tones, but in 2016 the paint was striped off, revealing the rich tones of the original red brick.