Co-sponsored by Friends of the Upper East Side

Tenements have long been derided by some as blight and eyesores, erased by ‘urban renewal’ and overlooked by serious architectural historians. But this essential building block of New York architecture and design not only embodies generations of immigrant and working-class history and life; in many cases, in spite of the common perception to the contrary, they included florid ornamentation, innovative designs, and nods to both ethnic heritage and the loftiest architectural styles of the day.

Few neighborhoods have as vast an intact an array of late 19th and early 20th century tenements as the East and South Village and Yorkville on the Upper East Side. Both were teeming immigrant districts over a century ago, with in some ways intertwined histories, and both have undergone tremendous change in recent years. But both neighborhoods also have active historic preservation organizations that have made a priority of documenting, celebrating, and seeking to preserve the rich architectural, cultural, and social history manifested in these essential building forms.
 

In this jointly sponsored program, Village Preservation’s Executive Director Andrew Berman and Friends of the Upper East Side’s historian and researcher Lucie Levine will take you on a virtual tour of some of the most interesting and compelling tenements in their neighborhoods, sharing the stories behind them and the work they’ve done to document their histories and fight for their preservation. They’ll talk about some of the obstacles that they’ve faced, the successes they’ve had, and why understanding the importance of tenements and helping to preserve them may be more important now than ever, as the city wrestles with questions about housing affordability and development.

Their mission goes beyond traditional historic preservation. Friends of the Upper East Side is also the leading voice for common-sense development on the Upper East Side.

It has played – and continues to play – an important role in maintaining and improving the zoning laws which govern development on the area’s avenues and residential side streets.