79th St Between East End Ave and York Ave
In an attempt to get a different perspective on these streets, this week's posts all feature photos taken at night.
This, the eastern-most point on 79th Street before the FDR, is exclusively a residential street. For me, the interesting thing is the dichotomy between the north side and the south side of the block. On one hand you have the City and Suburban Homes, built between 1898 and 1915, while on the other you have a collection of miscellaneous high-rise condos, all seemingly built in the last 30 years. It's an interesting comparison, because even though the C&S side could be considered tenements, the character and architectural beauty they offer is far greater than the fancier buildings right across the street. Granted, they're not the most stunning row of beige buildings ever, but the devil's in the details. I found it very interesting how as the block went on, each individual unit had slightly different construction and detailing from the last, though from afar they all seemed to exist as one body.
I should make it clear, I have no problem with newer construction, and there are plenty of new buildings that I really like. But in this particular case it seems to work at a disadvantage for the new ones.
Monday, February 23, 2009 at 8:00AM
Reader Comments (3)
The photo taken looking "up the skirt" of the building is cool. The fire escapes look like aliens that have attached themselves to the bodies of our homes and appear to multiply up to the sky. Very neat angle.
Diggin' the night shots! Can't wait to see the rest of the week's!
Your site was referred to me by one of our viewers. The apartments were rather unique for Yorkville. Most of the tenements in other parts of Yorkville were railroad style. These were rather a breath of fresh air. I went out with a girl that lived in on of them on 78th street, across from the pool. The aparetment was box style with the living room then the kitchen with the bedrooms off to the sides rather than railroad.
The person who referred me wanted to use the present day's pics and compare them to the old Yorkville. In this case, the apartments are the same as the picture that I have of 78th street.