Mansions and Monuments of Mid-Riverside Drive: 86th-107th Streets Walking Tour
Tuesday, Sept. 24th, 5:30-6:45pm
LW! continues its focus on Riverside Drive’s rich history, notable architecture, colorful residents, and secrets—from exquisite interior design details to delicious scandals—with another engaging walk led by Stephanie Azzarone, author of the award-winning book, Heaven on the Hudson: Mansions, Monuments, and Marvels of Riverside Park.
Strolling along the middle section, from 86th to 107th Streets, you’ll hear how Riverside Park and the Drive came to be and what makes them so very special. Azzarone will take you back to the days when William Randolph Hearst ensconced his movie star paramour and a fortune of European treasures inside a Riverside Drive mansion. You’ll visit the Drive’s tallest apartment building, its only privately owned freestanding villa (whose owner stiffed his architect) and so much more!
Elections in the Gilded Age
Thurs., Oct. 10, 2024 6-7pm via Zoom Free for LW! members
Ah, politics. Had enough yet?
Jeff Broxmeyer, an expert on 19th-century politics, is ready to show us how crazy things could be. He’s taking us back to an infamous era that embraced a “creative intertwining” of capitalism and party politics. In the Gilded Age, party leaders found incredibly novel ways to become wealthy. Control over political property and political offices was everything.
As we enter the final innings of our modern election season, let’s go back and uncover how the Gilded Age’s most infamous elections worked and how politicians expected to (gasp!) profit from their political work.
Only Murders In The Building: Staging the Scene of the Crime VIDEO
This event has passed, but a link to the full 1.5 hour video can be purchased below
A murder. A trio of neighbors-turned-crime investigators-turned-podcasters. A landmarked building. A perfect evening! If you’ve been pulled into the whodunnit world inside the luxe Arconia building (aka the Belnord on the UWS), you can’t miss this “how-dunnit” special event.
Emmy-winning Production Designer Curt Beech and Set Decorator Rich Murray and Art Director Jordan Jacobs from the hit Hulu show Only Murders In The Building will share their secrets on everything from scouting the perfect NYC building for this caper of capers to creating the entire glittering world within.
OMITB fans have been gushing over the lavish and eclectic interior set design crafted by our über-talented speakers that has made the fictional Arconia a full-fledged cast member. That courtyard! The lobby! Even the elevator! And of course, the unbelievable rambling pre-war apartments for each character: maximalist Oliver, sophisticated & quirky Charles, inscrutable Mabel and a host of others (no spoilers). Hear how every detail, color palette, texture and style were carefully curated to create a set that feels real and wholly New York City.
The Historic Districts Council and Landmark West! invite you in for an evening to peek behind the designer curtains (there will be photos!) of one of the most popular series that also features one of our city’s finest landmarks!
Holding the Safety Net in San Juan Hill VIDEO
Wednesday, January 25th 6-7pm via Zoom
Please join Landmark West! and architectural historian Jessica Larson in this exploration of the ways in which Black charity and reform initiatives shaped the landscape of San Juan Hill, the community Robert Moses demolished to make way for the Lincoln Center for the Perforning Arts complex, in the early decades of the 20th century. Larson will focus in on the architecture of the buildings constructed to facilitate this social work, and together we will look at how the built environment of San Juan Hill was shaped by community-driven efforts to address poverty and improve the quality of life for the residents. Because charity work was deeply gendered, Larson will emphasize the significance of women to the spatial and welfare programs of the neighborhood.
Speaker Jessica Larson is a Ph.D. candidate in Art and Architectural History at the CUNY Graduate Center. Her dissertation examines the architecture of charitable and reform institutions built in Manhattan for Black aid recipients between the Civil War and World War I, with a focus on how women reformers directed to these designs. She has held fellowships with the American Council of Learned Societies, the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the Library of Congress. She has also worked for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Princeton University Art Museum, and the Bruce Museum. Jessica is currently a Fellow at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Museum of American History.
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Looking for VIDEOS of past LW programs? LW! Members have free access HERE with passcode!
Need the passcode? Email us at Landmarkwest@Landmarkwest.org – all recordings are available for free viewing for members
