Upper West Side, Dec. 2016

Winter officially began. The holiday season nearly behind us, we will now have time to enjoy New York’s special winter activities.  This season’s Culturally Inclined focuses on the Upper West Side.  Once a rich farmland area that the Dutch called the Westside “Bloemendall”, later changed to “Bloomingdale” after the Netherland’s beloved tulip area and is now recognized as Broadway.  The mid-1800s was the arrival of Central Park and The Museum of Natural History.

Building Boom on the Upper West Side

One of the earliest building booms occurred in the mid to late 1800s. This boom went hand in hand with the advent of the IRT-Seventh Avenue subway line.  In October 1884, architect, Henry Janeway Hardenbergh following the trends of the Parisian’s “French Flat” changed the way in which New Yorker’s lived on the wild West Side.  The area at the time was sparsely inhabited and remote. Thus the historic Dakota cooperative residential apartment building located on 72nd Street name was a grand statement.  Its name reflects and mirrors the new territory: “The Dakota Territory”.  

Previously the middle class and well to do lived in mansions and variations of the townhouse. Similar to today’s discerning condo buyers, the Dakota won over the elite with its’ stately residences and full-scale amenities packages including door-to-door services for the horse-drawn carriages.  Other superstructures to follow: The Ansonia on 73rd Street (1904), the Eldorado on Central Park and 90th (1929), the twin-towered Majestic on CPW and 71st& 72nd (1930-31) and two-towered San Remo on CPW and 73rd & 74th St. (1929-1931).

The ’50s and ’60s began development of the 16.3 acres Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts including Fordham Law School and continue to evolve. As part of the Lincoln Center restoration, a modern, shimmering all-glass restaurant with green roof costing over $20 million was added to the area:  The Lincoln Restorante.  

One Block A Tale of Two Cities on West ’80s

When I first arrived in New York City I lived on the Upper West Side during another period of revitalization captured in an article written by David Blum in New York Magazine entitled “One Block A Tale of Two Cities on West 80’s”.  As an avid runner back in the 80s. Riverside Park overlooking the Hudson dotted with sailboats and Central Park was my sanctuary through the four seasons.  Long runs and hill work thorough the 6.2 Central Park loop or short runs through the reservoir, horse path, or lower loop by Tavern on the Green would challenge me while taking my breath away from sheer beauty and magic of Frederick Law Olmstead’s creation. The Park offers a place for picnicking with friends while delighting in the free professional Philharmonic and Contemporary Concerts, Shakespeare in the Park or the casual sunbathing, sing-along, roller skating and blading in the Dance Circle and ice skating in Wollman Rink, biking and a sundry of other sports activities.

New Developments on Upper West Side

Columbus Circle is now a vibrant shopping mecca including the below-ground Turn-style Market and home to the Time Warner Center, studio headquarters of CNN, Jazz at Lincoln Center.  The Mandarin Hotel prior to was the home to the Robert Moses’ New York Coliseum a nondescript concrete box.  

We are currently experiencing another period of Renaissance in the area with

  1. 200 Amsterdam Avenue, the Upper West Side’s soon to be Tallest Building a 669-foot tall structure, the restoration of the landmarked beaux-arts building 
  2. Chatsworth on 72nd Street
  3. The Astor on 75th Street,
  4. The iconic 360 Central Park West, 
  5. One West End a 42 story building between 59th and 60th developed by the renowned Larry Silverstein and designed with iconic architecture by  Pelli Clarke Pelli and interiors by hospitality visionary Jeffrey Beers,
  6. 400 West 61st Street, Building 1 of Riverside Center,
  7. 285 West 110th Street, 38 residences designed by FXFowle with a panorama of Central Park views, 
  8. 207 West 79th Street a 13 story is under construction a 19-unit condominium project by designed by architect Morris Adjmi, and
  9. 221 West 77th Street a contemporary boutique designed building by Thomas Juul-Hansen is to name a few of the exciting projects in the area.

Restaurants in Upper West Side

I would be remiss if I did not remind you to visit some special restaurants in the area: 

  1. The Leopard at Des Artiste previously Café Des Artiste,
  2. Storico in the New-York Historical Society,
  3. Tavern on the Green,
  4. Shun Lee West,
  5. Gingerman is one of the oldest restaurants in the area, 
  6. Café Luxembourg,
  7. The Loeb Boat House, 
  8. The Boat Basin Café at 79th Street,
  9. Boulud Sud,
  10. Jean George,
  11. La Boite en Bois,
  12. Celeste,
  13. Marea
  14. Milling Room, and 
  15. Isabellas the go-to when exploring the Planetarium or Museum of Natural History to name a few.

Stay In Touch

As a final farewell to 2016, thank you for your support.  I welcome your new ideas and questions to stretch me further.  My goal is to improve the lives of fellow New Yorkers.

Quote | New York

“Cherish your old apartments and pause for a moment when you pass them. Pay tribute, for they are the caretakers for your reinventions.” 
Colson Whitehead, The Colossus of New York