I Walked New York City's Eldorado

Situated at 300 Central Park West is the most northern of the famous twin-towered luxury apartments along Central Park West—The Eldorado. The Eldorado translates from Spanish into “the golden one.” Its name derives from an old Spanish legend from the 1530s about a South American Indian chief would cover himself in gold dust and dive into a mountain lake. The name also later derived into representing the name of the famous lost city of gold for which many explorers would fruitlessly attempt to discover.

New York City’s Eldorado is a 30-story Art Deco structure that is quite cube-like in appearance up until near the twin-towers where you may begin to note a series of terraced set-backs. Those twin-towers actually light up to a golden brilliance in the evenings, perhaps in recognition of their former namesake. The building was constructed from 1929-1931 and replaced a former eight-story apartment from 1902 by the same name which used to reside at this address. That former apartment was actually about a century ahead of its time in that it offered on the first garages with vehicle chargers for electric cars.

New York City's Eldorado

Tenants of the 216-unit Eldorado tend to have slightly less space than some of the other complexes along Central Park West. Of the little bit we do know about these apartments is their tenants are able to enjoy are the space’s 10-foot-high ceilings and decorative fireplaces. Also, tenants within each of the towers do maintain a single unit to themselves on each floor.

The less spacious co-op (at least in celebrity terms) has not deterred a healthy list of notable current and former tenants. Residents at the Eldorado have included Grouch Marx, Alex Baldwin, Marilyn Monroe, Richard Dreyfus, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Fox, Carrie Fisher and Moby.

Musical artist Moby’s former 2 bedroom-2.5 bath penthouse atop the south tower has surprisingly proven to be a difficult sell in recent years. Moby originally acquired the four-story apartment in 2005 for $4.5 million, however, when he attempted to sell the property in 2007 for $7.5 million he drew little to no interest. He had to undertake an aggressive promotion strategy to unload the property which included self-recording a video of the property and even offering a $75,000 referral fee to anyone who may help move the property. One deterring factor many people figure is the property’s relatively inconvenient access. To get to the unit individuals must take the elevator to the 29th floor before having to exit and walk up two additional flights of stairs.

Moby was eventually able to sell the property for $6.7 million, however, the stairwell must’ve gotten to the new tenant as well as the penthouse was on the market just two years later for just under $6 million. Now fast forward to the present and that price has continued to decline and was most recently listed for just under $5 million. So if you are in the market for a $5 million stair-master, please send all $75,000 referral fees to IWalked Audio Tours.

• Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eldorado
• Address: 300 Central Park West, New York City
• Cost: Free.

I Walked New York City's 1840s Semi-Suburban Home

Outside of the three-story home at number 152 East 38th Street you will no doubt notice a historical plaque that identifies this house, that is pushed back from the street a bit, was originally built in the 1840s. Famous residents have included the widow of the former eighth President of the United States, Martin Van Buren.

The building was remodeled from a period of 1934-1936 in the Federal Revival Style and during that time the property was subdivided into a home and office space (hence the two addresses on the low cement wall exterior). In addition, a one-story wall was built to divide the front yard, an ornate iron fence added (complete with sea shell ornamentation atop it), and the owner also had his grandchildren add their handprints in the sidewalk.

Sadly the most drastic of these alterations though was the erection of a gateway to hide the offices from street view. This home is a rare example of properties that are actually pushed back from the street within this area. It is unfortunate that we’re unable to have more insight as to other subtle differences, but it still warrants some of our attention for the variety it offers within the side streets of Midtown.

• Website: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/12/realestate/streetscapes-152-east-38th-street-1857-row-house-stood-back-its-neighbors.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
• Address: 152 East 38th Street, New York City, NY
• Cost: Free.

The Lever House NYC, Landmark Modernist Structure

Nearby the celebrated Seagram House is another landmark Modernist structure at 390 Park Avenue known as the Lever House NYC. This slender green-tinted glass tower stands at only twenty-one stories and appears as an inverted L from street-level. The building features an extended lobby floor that contains an art gallery and also a Sculpture Garden that was added in 1998. In the Sculpture Garden you can view works from Isamu Noguchi who also created the Red Cube which resides outside of 140 Broadway.

The glass curtain design by Gordon Bunshaft of the firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill was relatively new and innovative at the time. Similar to the added bronze beams on the Seagram House for aesthetic purposes, the glass curtain design contained an added outer wall of glass that was not structural. Although the glass was not operational, it did serve as a low-cost material to keep out the elements and allow for a high degree of natural lighting within the building. Lever House NYC was the second significant structure within the city to make use of the glass curtain design. The first was the U.N. Secretariat Building which had also been built in 1952.

The Lever House NYC was built as the American headquarters for the British soap company Lever Brothers. Lever Brothers president, Charles Luckman, expressed to Bunshaft that he wish for a “sparkling” design that would align with the company’s image. Bunshaft, in turn, responded with a shiny glass tower that would reflect the ideal image for a soap manufacturer.

 Lever House NYC

As to the Lever Brothers, it would go on to merge into Unilever in 1930. The Lever Brothers division remained in the building until 1997 when it relocated to Greenwich,CT. The parent company, Unilever, does still maintain a small presence in the building though. Lever Brother’s former president, Charles Luckman, who many labeled the “Boy Wonder of Business” would go on to architect some magnificent buildings of his own including the existing Madison Square Garden.

In the 1990s the Lever House NYC fell into a period of decline when nearly all of its original glass, so meticulously selected for a uniform appearance, had been haphazardly replaced over the years. Forty years after its unveiling, ninety-nine percent of the glass had already been replaced at least once, giving it the appearance of a patchwork quilt. In 1998, though building’s owners began an extensive renovation which has since restored the building to its original luster of uniformity and elegance along Park Avenue.

I Walked New York City's Cartier Building

The Cartier Building is a former mansion that is now home to the French jeweler and watch manufacturer. The building was constructed in 1904 and designed by English-born architect Robert W. Gibson (who is also known for his All Saints Cathedral in Albany, NY) as the home to millionaire Morton Freeman Plant. Plant acquired the land for his mansion from William K. Vanderbilt under the condition that the property not be used for commercial purposes for at least twenty-five years. The resulting mansion was a six-story Neo-Italian-Renaissance palazzo that features an exterior of marble and granite.

Plant resided in this building for just over ten years with his wife, Mae Cadwell Manwaring (aka Maisie). At the time of their union, Plant was sixty-one years old while Maisie was thirty years younger. In 1917, the Plants began to consider moving uptown as were many of their notable neighbors including the Vanderbilts. It was during this time that Maisie discovered an object of her desire and of considerable cost. On a visit to the Cartier store of the time, Maisie fell in love with a pearl necklace that was being showcased and estimated to have been valued at $1.2 million. Feeling it to have been a wise investment at the time, the Plants sold their six-story mansion to the Cartier store for the strand of pearls along with $100 in cash. The Plants, in turn, moved to a new home located near 86th Street.

Unfortunately for the Plants, the value of pearls declined in the ensuing years by a significant amount due to the commercialization of cultured pearls. When the necklace was sold the year after Maisie’s death (in 1957) it sold for a paltry $170,000. Sadly, the whereabouts of the necklace today have been lost to time, although Ms. Maisie is said to still to obsess over its existence. Supposedly within a hotel in Clearwater, Florida that was formerly built by Morton’s father, there resides a disturbed female ghost who appears to be looking as though she lost her most prized possession.

Upon acquisition of the former mansion in 1917, the Cartier Corporation transformed the building into what some now refer to as the House of Cartier. The interior was reportedly completely redone by architect William Welles Bosworth, less the second floor music room. Cartier was founded in 1847 in Paris by Louis Francois Cartier. The family became well known in 1902 when it was hired to design a series of twenty-seven tiaras for the coronation of King Edward VII. A New York location was opened in 1909 by Louis’ son, Pierre who would eventually move the store to this locale in 1917.

• Website: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=14047
• Address: 651 Fifth Avenue, New York City, NY
• Cost: Free.

I Walked New York City's Soldiers and Sailors Monument

The 95 foot tall white marble Soldiers and Sailors Monument was an addition to this area in 1902. It was dedicated on Memorial Day in honor of those New Yorkers who had dedicated their lives and fought so gallantly as part of the US Civil War. Originally New York did not have any serious plans or consideration for a Civil War monument until 1893 when it formed an association to begin to research the possibility. The committee held a public competition for the design of a memorial to be erected at the site of the Pulitzer Fountain over on the southeast corner of Central Park. This plan was later abandoned and the site was reconsidered to the current locale on the edge of Riverside Park. The winning design which was selected was titled, “Temple of Fame” and by Charles and Arthur Stoughton. The ornamentation which is so rich across the monument was actually done by the same man who designed the Ansonia hotel over on Broadway.

To describe the monument it largely resembles the famous Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens. This original Athens monument was created in approximately 355 B.C. and funded by a choregos (or public sponsor of theater) to award to the top performer. If you are familiar with the San Remo on Central Park West you may also recognize the shape and design as that situated atop each of its twin towers.

The rounded marble structure consists of twelve Corinthian pillars atop a large base and with a highly ornamented crown atop it. On this crown are a number of intricately carved eagles. Each of the pillars below contains the names of the New York regiments which fought in the Civl War and the battles they fought in.

Entrance to the interior of the monument is guarded via a large bronze door protected by a sculpted Gryffindor or monkey with wings. Visitors used to be able to enter the monument at all times but are now only open once annually at the Open house New York.

• Website: http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/riversidepark/highlights/12871
• Address: Intersection of Riverside Drive & West 89th Street (on the west side of Riverside Drive just inside of Riverside Park), New York City
• Cost: Free

I Walked New York City's 15 Central Park West

The building at number 15 Central Park West is a 2007 addition to this area, making it one of the newest additions. It consists of two limestone towers situated one in front of the other. The shorter 20-story tower and taller 43-story tower, although appearing to be attached, are actually separated via a courtyard.

Apartments for this building currently run from about $6 million for a 2-bedroom to $55 million for a 5-bedroom. Amenities include a 75-foot swimming pool and 20-person theater. Tenants for this locale have included Alex Rodriguez, Sting, Bob Costas and Denzel Washington.

Prior to construction of this latest structure this site was formerly occupied by a 1926 Neo-Renaissance building known as the Mayflower Hotel. Movie buffs may have recalled this address from the 1994 film Wolf starring Jack Nicholson. The Mayflower was where Jack’s character, Will Randall, checked into after his job demotion.
The Mayflower was shut down and eventually demolished in 2004.

• Website: http://www.15cpw.com/home.html
• Address: 15 Central Park West, New York City, NY
• Cost: Free.

The Falconer Central Park New York City

Located just south of Strawberry Fields is a bronze sculpture perched atop a rocky cliff known as The Falconer. The male figure holds his right arm in a crook while his left arm extends for the graceful falcon with extended wings to land atop his fingers.

The Falconer was dedicated on May 31, 1875 after being commissioned by an Irish merchant who lived in New York City, George Kemp. Kemp commissioned British sculptor George Blackall Simonds to create a replica of a similar statue that Simonds had done that resided in Trieste, Italy. Simonds, an avid falconer himself, hailed from Reading, England where he was declared by the Reading Borough Library system as the winner of their 2005 ‘Great People of Reading’ poll. Simonds had this statue cast in Florence, Italy by Clemente Papi and a second replica was later cast to reside in Lynch Park (Beverly, Massachusetts).

Despite its rather isolated location atop a series of rocks, the Falconer has been the subject of multiple incidents of vandalism and wear-and-tear over the years. In 1937, the sculpture was feared to possibly fall off its perch and had to be restabilized. Twenty years later in 1957, the sculpture was the victim of vandalism inclusive of its falcon being stolen. A replacement falcon was added that year. Then, in 1982, another falcon had to be recast along with The Falconer’s left arm for replacement. Since then, the statue has thankfully had a more peaceful existence in the park. The sculpture was most recently restored and cleaned in 1995.

• Website: http://www.centralparknyc.org/visit/things-to-see/south-end/the-falconer.html
• Address: Central Park, New York City, NY (Mid-Park, South of 72nd Street)
• Cost: Free