857 Fifth Avenue

Designed in 1963 by Robert L. Bien and Fifth Avenue’s sole example of Jetsons Moderne, 857 Fifth Avenue is as eye-catching in its way as any Victorian pile. The building was criticized by historian Andrew Alpern as “a gauche assemblage,” although he praised its sophisticated interiors.  As a piece of mid-century kitsch it is nearly… Continue reading

The 107th Infantry Memorial

Charging down the length of East 67th Street, the 107th Infantry Memorial commemorates the members of the 107th New York Infantry Regiment, famed as the “silk stockings” regiment and mustered largely from the blue-blooded sons of the district’s leading citizens.  Better known for their lavish Victorian lair on Park Avenue, home to some of Louis… Continue reading

2 East 67th Street aka 856 Fifth Avenue

A handsome limestone design by Rosario Candela, 2 East 67th Street was completed in 1928.  The façade incorporates an upper-level loggia, a device associated with the Italian Renaissance and not commonly seen in New York City. During construction, the developer was engaged in a lawsuit with a neighbor over who had the rights to the… Continue reading

854 Fifth Avenue, the R. Livingston Beeckman House

One of a relative handful of Fifth Avenue mansions surviving from the Gilded Age, the R. Livingston Beeckman House of 1905 at 854 Fifth Avenue is a temperate essay in French Beaux Arts by Warren & Wetmore, best known for Grand Central Terminal. Unusually narrow for a house of its type, it appears more so… Continue reading

Just Off Fifth: The Lotus Club, 5 East 66th Street

A private club with a focus on arts & letters, the Lotus Club was founded in 1870 and has counted Mark Twain, Orson Welles, Margaret Mead and Wynton Marsalis.  The organization takes its name from the poem “The Lotus Eaters” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who describes a land “in which it seemed always afternoon”.  Its… Continue reading