Upper East Side, 71st Street Between York Avenue and FDR Drive

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This is the last block on East 71st Street. Looks a little cold, doesn't it? You think a hospital might be on this block?




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Yep. The Hospital for Special Surgery. But it's . . . it's pretty!

It began life in 1863 as the Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled.


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Upper East Side, 71st Street Between First and York Avenues

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And here is another surprise. This is a Czech gymnasium built in 1896 and still in operation, though much diminished, since the days of the Eastern European settlement of the Upper East Side.

Did you know there used to be more than 40,000 Czech's living on the Upper East Side? They had moved there from the Lower East Side because the tobacco industry was uptown. Yes! Tobacco. Cigars, in fact. They were cigar cutters and came uptown to cut cigars. What happened to them? Where did they go? Out to the suburbs. Blame New York Hospital, the United Nations and all the rest of the big developments that tore down housing and put up institutions.

Christopher Gray had a column about the Sokol in 1989 and said that although there were regular offers from developers, it looked like it would be there "at least for the foreseeable future." That was 20 years ago. There it is.

By the way, according to Gray, it used to have a cornice and a portico, but they were "crudely removed" in the 1960's, "probably destroying the building's chances for landmark designation."


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Upper East Side, 71st Street Between First and York Avenues

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This is the block between First and York. No surprises here, you think?







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Well, look at this sweet little antiques store.  Sweet but serious.  It is Yew Tree House Antiques and they specialize in 17th and 18th century English furniture.  Bring lots of money.



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Upper East Side, 71st Street Between Second and First Avenues

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Such a modest church for such a weighty history.





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And here we have Cilantro, a modest restaurant.

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Upper East Side, 71st Street Between Second and First Avenues

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Next block.



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I was interested in this building because I thought even though it's a beat up old relic, it looks better than those boring newer buildings next to it. And it has a cornice.

I left it extra large in the enlargement so you can see the details.  Check out how the window moldings are mostly gone.


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Upper East Side, 71st Street Between Third and Second Avenues

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Now it's 3:32 and there's no one outside at the mysterious Per Lei.  Inside, the bartender relaxes, makes himself a drink.

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Upper East Side, 71st Street Between Third and Second Avenues

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I hate to show you this skewed photograph but you do need to know that Marymount Manhattan College is on this block.  Although the college is small, (about 2,000 students), it seems as if there should be more to it than this one building, but, if so, where is it?

Marymount used to be affiliated with the Catholic Church but now isn't, due to the decision to bestow an honorary degree (in 2005) on Senator Hillary Clinton, " one of Congress's most outspoken and strident advocates of abortion rights."  The college was sticken from "The Official Catholic Directory."  Well done, Marymount!  Also Hillary!  Read about it here.


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Upper East Side, 71st Street Between Third and Second Avenues

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Looks lovely, secluded, quiet. It's 3:20 now and it seems they have the place to themselves.







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It's easy enough to ignore the guys in the truck.


This is Grace's Trattoria, next door to Grace's Marketplace.

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Upper East Side, 71st Street Between Lexington and Third Avenues

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Lunch over, I'm resuming my walk on 71st Street. This is the block between Lexington and Third.




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And this is a building on the block. I don't know anything about it except that it's a condominium. Nice windows.



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Upper East Side, 71st Street at Lexington Avenue; Lexington Avenue between 71st and 70th Streets

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It was after 1:00 and I was beginning to get hungry, so it was a lucky thing that I was approaching Lexington Avenue, the avenue of many restaurants. I walked down Lexington to 70th Street and then up to 72nd Street. I had spotted a likely restaurant on the downtown side, but it was a little crowded, so I decided to give them some time.






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This is the west side of Lexington between 70th and 71st.






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And this is back at the corner of 71st and Lex.

I'm trying to give you an overview of the block. I know that many a time you've exclaimed, oh, I just wish I had an overview! Well, here it is.


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Upper East Side, 71st Street Between Park and Lexington Avenues

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Tonight is Architecture Night; we consider the cornice. You may have thought, as I did, that a cornice is merely a decorative part of a building, the piece which projects from the top of a building and seems to finish it. However, Wikipedia states that it has a function as well, and that is to keep rainwater away from the building. If your building does not have a cornice, it must have other ways to accomplish this, like having gutters, for example.

Now notice that our middle building lacks a cornice. Its design is overall more simple. See how the window treatments are simpler than its neighbors windows? But the lack of a cornice creates a silly looking gap between it and its corniced neighbors. And where are the gutters? And it does have a cornice over its doorway.

By the way, this is the New York Center for Cosmetic Dentistry. You don't think the gap at the top was an allusion to having a missing tooth, do you? I hope not.

Upper East Side, 71st Street Between Madison and Park Avenues

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Here're some shots of a wrapped building on East 71st Street. 






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Kind of spectacular in its way.







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I googled "wrapped buildings" and found Phil Gyford with 93 images of wrapped buildings.  But they're in London or thereabouts.

Upper East Side, 71st Street Between Fifth and Madison Avenues

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The yellow caution banner seems to indicate something is wrong. I'm pretty sure it's those columns.



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Upper East Side, 71st Street Between Fifth and Madison Avenues

X
I had the greatest day today. To start out with, the weather was perfect. Perfect. Somewhere in the 70's, sunny and breezy, so you had pockets of warmth and coolness, but never too warm or too cool. Next, when I got out of therapy at 11:45, I didn't have anything I had to do for the rest of the day. Except a photowalk. I have a new camera with more pixels (12.2 megapixels) and this week I'd found out what I had to do to make Photoshop read its raw files, so today it was usable and I was taking it out for the first time. I was going to the Upper East Side, first time in a long time and I thought this was the time to use my wide angle lens, so I got a new bag which held my camera and an extra lens. I had a good dinner waiting at home, that is, leftovers from a good dinner. A Portuguese dish of clams and chorizo, and ham and tomatoes, wine and olive oil, onions and garlic. Paprika. So I had all the time in the world. My shoes were comfortable. My bags were well distributed and didn't cut into my shoulders. I thought I would probably have a good lunch somewhere. (And I did.)

About 10 months ago, I got an email from someone, let's call him Chris, who asked about a particular building he was interested in, 9 East 71st Street. I told him that when I got there, I would be sure to photograph it and send him some shots, but he would have to be patient because it might be quite a while before I got there. He has been very patient.







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So finally today I set out for East 71st Street. This is the building. A cruel joke. You can hardly make it out behind the trees, and what you can see of it is obscured by shadows. Chris, if you're still out there, I promise I will go back when the leaves have fallen and the sky is gray and I will get you a good picture.





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Here's the doorway to No. 9.

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Upper West Side, Broadway, looking South from 72nd Street

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So now it's back to the subway, too cold to continue. This is an important subway stop – 72nd Street on the No. 1 – because it has an actual building you enter before descending, making it a bit more dignified than those stairways cut into the sidewalk that you scurry down like some, uh, . . . well, I won't say what. You see the side of the building to the left. That's the old building. There's a new one across the street. Tomorrow night you will see it.

Upper West Side, 71st Street Between Riverside Boulevard and West End Avenue

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Here we see a pretty painted brownstone which serves to provide contrast to the tree in front. And how do we know it's a brownstone? It has an English basement (first floor halfway under ground) and a wide stairway to the second floor. And, of course, it's made of brownstone.

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Upper West Side, 71st Street at Riverside Boulevard

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This is the building at the end of the block – you can see it in last night's photograph – the building on the right.

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Upper West Side, 71st Street Between West End Avenue and Riverside Boulevard

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I finally escaped the magnetic field of 71st between Broadway and West End and sailed right on through to the end of this street. According to Streetscapes, in October 2004, this street was then a complete dead end, stopping at a steep embankment over the old railyards. And the residents liked it that way. Along came Donald Trump with his apartment buildings and a new street was cut and named Riverside Boulevard, and consequently 71st street was cut through at the end of that year. But, as you see, not for traffic. Only pedestrians. Not beautiful but it does keep the pesky cars out.

And notice: the sun is out now. But don't notice: I've been saying Riverside Drive for the last five nights when it should be West End Avenue. I'm changing it right now. You would think. . .

This little map shows the 3 Trump apartment buildings just south of 71st Street.


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Upper West Side, 71st Street Between Broadway and West End Avenue

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This is Septuagesimo Uno, a vestpocket park (between two buildings), whose name means 71, as in 71st Street. It used to be named 71st Street Plot, but our Parks Commissioner, Henry Stern, renamed it in 2000 in honor of the millennium. Names were important to him. See question number 5 in the Gawker Interview.

It is .04 acre. That's 4 one-hundredths of an acre. Not big. But big enough to accommodate an amorous couple on the bench just out of view behind that evergreen tree. We spotted each other at the same time; they straightened up and I withdrew.

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Upper West Side, 71st Street Between Broadway and West End Avenue

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This is a doorway to, not a church, but an apartment building. Pretty fancy. I kept looking at it. Something seemed odd.




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It wasn't until I looked at the photos at home that I realized what was peculiar about it. So it takes me a while. Look how plain the rest of the building is. No ornamentation at all.

Here's more of the building.


Mary Sargent © 2008 ……….. click to enlarge


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