Tenement Chic on the Upper East Side: A Walking Tour

The architecture of the Upper East Side evokes mini mansions and extravagant townhouses along the “Fifth Avenue Gold Coast,” but it is the richly ornamented side street tenements that housed the working and middle class residents of the neighborhood.

 

Join FRIENDS of the Upper East Side and the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy for a closer look at Yorkville’s not-so-humble tenement architecture with urban historian Barry Feldman. Admire the beautiful botanicals, mythical beasts, garish grotesques and ornate cornices that richly adorn 19th century tenements. Learn more about the anonymous artisans that created these treasures, and what motivated the building developers to employ them. Trace the development of the typical tenement from the mid-19th century to more contemporary housing styles and explore a middle class area which pre-dates the Civil War, and learn how building ornamentation influenced residential architecture in this ever-evolving immigrant enclave.

Co-sponsored by Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts and The Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy.

Notes

$18 members and seniors, $22 non-members. There is an additional $2 charge for tickets purchased on the day of the tour.

 

  • June 26, 2018
  • 5:00 pm