UNSUNG HEROES OF THE UPPER WEST SIDE Awards Ceremony Tuesday, June 7, 2011 6:00 to 8:00 PM |
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"Unsung Heroes" are those individuals and institutions who—in some way, shape or form—help to advance the cause of preserving our neighborhood’s special architecture and sense of place. Exterior Preservation |
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Reserve your tickets online or arrange to pay by check. Contact LW! at (212) 496-8110 or landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org. |
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| Exterior Preservation American Youth Hostel, 891 Amsterdam Avenue; Cutsogeorge Tooman & Allen Architects Many Upper West Siders remember when 891 Amsterdam Avenue was a decaying ruin, abandoned and slated for demolition. Constructed in 1881-83 as the Association Residence for Respectable Aged Indigent Females (a charitable institution for poor military widows), the original brick-and-brownstone building was designed by Richard Morris Hunt, the influential architect of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s grand Fifth Avenue façade, the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and other masterpieces of the Gilded Age, and is one of his few works surviving in New York City. Charles A. Rich, a prolific architect responsible for many of the apartment buildings lining the Upper West Side, designed a matching addition to Hunt’s original in 1907-08. Designation as a New York City Individual Landmark in 1983 was a first step towards preserving the building, which then sat vacant and neglected. Through the efforts of committed historic preservation advocates, political leaders, the NY Council of American Youth Hostels, and the Valley Restoration Local Development Corporation, it was saved from demolition and given a new life as a youth hostel. Today, 891 Amsterdam Avenue is a vibrant community anchor, hosting thousands of visitors to the city from all over the world and offering proof that even the most dilapidated historic structures can be restored and revitalized. Nearly twenty years after the first repairs, the Hostel worked with Cutsogeorge, Tooman & Allen Architects to restore the mansard roof and replace asphalt shingles with slate to match the original. The team also restored the French-Gothic-style brownstone dormers and turrets using as much original material as possible and fabricating new replica stones where necessary. The striking coated-copper finials that once topped the turrets were recreated based on historic photographs—a crowning flourish on a West Side architectural showpiece! Visit the American Youth Hostel and Cutsosgeorge Tooman & Allen Architects online. |
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| Community Steward Margarita Curet Since Margarita Curet landed on the Upper West Side scene in September of 1960, Amsterdam Houses, a New York City Housing Authority development, has never been the same. Margarita has redefined the role of Residents' Association President. Rather than an odious obligation, Margarita views her duties and responsibilities to her "extended family" as a labor of love. Margarita understands that pride in one's community is the first step toward successful neighborhood preservation. With the enthusiastic support of her fellow Residents' Association board members, monthly meeting attendance has skyrocketed, from 15 up to 70 people, since Margarita was elected President in 2007! Margarita also created a quarterly newsletter, issued in both English and Spanish. And regardless of the season, Margarita can plan a holiday-themed community event to match, from an annual Halloween party, to a Turkey Raffle, to a festive Valentine's Day celebration. An all-ages athletic league, summer chess program, and annual Family Day are yet more opportunities for Amsterdam Houses residents to come together and celebrate their community. Thanks entirely to Margarita's good introduction, LW!'s youth education program is now working with elementary students at neighboring P.S. 191. We look forward to continued opportunities for partnershiop with Margarita and her "family"! |
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| Future Generations Samantha Deutsch Among the 75 teachers LW! has the privilege of working with each year through our Keeping the Past for the Future youth education program in the Upper West Side's public and private schools, Samantha Deutsch stands out. Always eager to help her students—mostly English language learners—uncover and explore the history and architecture of their immediate neighborhood, Samantha brings her enthusiasm and ingenuity to each classroom session. From her base at P.S.145 (The Bloomingdale School) on West 105th Street near the Manhattan Avenue Historic District and the former New York Cancer Hospital at 455 Central Park West, Samantha embraces the surrounding neighborhood, working each year with LW! to design a new study of a nearby site. Together, we have studied the tangled history of 455 CPW (Samantha’s students were especially interested in the rumored ghost stories!), as well as the architectural quirks of the rowhouses in Manhattan Valley. West End Presbyterian Church—one of LW’s 25 priorities for future Landmark designation, and whose tower you can see and bells you can hear from the windows of Samantha’s classroom—is a prime example of how Samantha uses the neighborhood’s architecture to reinforce classroom learning. After studying the history, style, and materials of the building, the students wrote letters to the Landmarks Preservation Commission requesting that West End Presbyterian be granted Landmark status, with Alejandro writing that “its bells make me happy,” and Marisol explaining that the church is “very special to the people in our neighborhood.” What we love most about Samantha is that she recognizes the importance of place in shaping people’s daily lives. Every day, these young students are learning to be stewards of their own special neighborhood. And with Samantha as an example, they are sure to be smart, informed, passionate leaders. Visit P.S. 145 (The Bloomingdale School) online. |
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| Preservation By Design Milton Glaser For anyone who’s ever wondered why the LANDMARK WEST! logo ends with an exclamation point, June 7th will be your night for answers. While the founding “mother” of the organization gave us our spirit, Milton Glaser’s logo design established LANDMARK WEST!'s no-nonsense look. How, you might be pondering, was LW! ever so lucky as to work with a renowned graphic artist--indeed, his work has been celebrated the world over, from New York to Rio de Janiero, from Venice to Tokyo--like Milton Glaser? It's simple: Milton Glaser is a West Sider to the core. Along with his wife Shirley, Milton was a longtime resident of the West 67th Street Artists Colony Historic District (from 1977 to 2007). With the founding of LANDMARK WEST! in 1985, he lent his graphic talents to a young organization dedicated to preserving the neighborhood he and his wife, Shirley, loved. Twenty five years later, his LW! logo continues to motivate and inspire us. Milton co-founded the revolutionary Pushpin Studios in 1954, founded New York Magazine with Clay Felker in 1968, established Milton Glaser, Inc. in 1974--a very busy twenty years. Throughout his career, Milton has been a prolific creator of posters and prints. His artwork has been featured in exhibits worldwide, including one-man shows at both the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Milton is a renowned graphic and architectural designer with a body of work ranging from the iconic logo (does "I [heart] NY" ring a bell?) to complete graphic and decorative programs (at the restaurants in the World Trade Center). Among many awards throughout the years, Milton has received the 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, and the 2009 National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama. On June 7th, it is we, the Upper West Side community, who add to his list of accomplishment and accolades the mantle of Hero. Visit Milton Glaser Studio Inc. online. |
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| Preservation Advocate Roberta Brandes Gratz A Greenwich Villager by birth; a world traveler, lecturer and writer by profession; an Upper West Sider by choice! Roberta Brandes Gratz began her preservation journey as a copy girl and went on to pen an award-winning—and game-changing—series of articles probing the city’s then-nascent landmarks process for the New York Post in 1973. Her coverage led directly to strengthening the Landmarks Law and set the stage for protecting more than 25,000 places covered by the Law in the years since. Not only is Roberta one of the world’s keenest observers of cities, she’s also one of the most hands-on activists. She founded and led the Eldridge Street Project to restore the historic Eldridge Street Synagogue on the Lower East Side, a Herculean task accomplished through elbow grease and sheer force of will, without compromising the landmark. In 2005, Roberta collaborated with legendary activist (and mentor) Jane Jacobs to launch the Center for the Living City to build on Jacobs' legacy with new generations of urbanists. Roberta’s most recent book, The Battle For Gotham: New York in the Shadow of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs, joins her other volumes and many articles as classics in the fields of preservation, city planning and urbanism. As a member of the Landmarks Preservation Commission from 2003 to 2010, and right on till today, Roberta is an outspoken defender of the New York’s historic neighborhoods, including her own beloved West Side. Visit Roberta Brandes Gratz's official webpage. |
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| Archival A-Team Office for Metropolitan History: Christopher Gray & Suzanne Braley Building by building, block by block, journalist Christopher Gray and researcher Suzanne Braley put the story of New York City at the world’s fingertips. From a studio above H&H Bagels on Broadway, they act as stewards of the single-most comprehensive resource on New York’s architecture, history and development, the Office for Metropolitan History (founded by Christopher in 1975). In addition to its professional research services and collection of 18000 photographs, 8000 architectural drawings, and 40000 film negatives, OMH maintains www.metrohistory.com, a pioneering, public, searchable database of NYC building permits and first stop for anyone interested in researching the history and evolution of most sites in Manhattan. Readers of The New York Times discover the treasures of OMH each Sunday in Christopher’s illuminating and award-winning “Streetscapes” column in the Real Estate Section, now in its 24th year of publication. Suzanne and Christopher collaborate on lectures and books showcasing New York’s landmarks, including many on the Upper West Side—and not just the iconic Dakota Apartments, Ansonia Hotel, and the American Museum of Natural History. Suzanne and Christopher draw attention—sometimes fondly, sometimes critically—to often overlooked buildings, unofficial landmarks keeping time in our city’s neighborhoods, such as the former Dakota Stables on Amsterdam Avenue and 77th Street (now demolished) and Euclid Hall on Broadway between 85th and 86th Streets (likely to become an official landmark as part of the expanded Riverside-West End Historic District currently under consideration). OMG, where would NYC be without OMH! Visit (and explore!) the Office for Metropolitan History online. |
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Artwork by Ron Barrett
www.ronbarrettart.com
LANDMARK WEST!
45 West 67th Street 
NYC 10023
t: (212) 496-8110 f: (212) 875-0209
landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org