Carnegie Hill is a neighborhood within the
Upper East SideThe Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side is within an area bounded by 59th Street, 96th Street, Central Park and the East River....
, in the
boroughNew York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is segmented into five boroughs. A borough is a unique form of government that administers the five fundamental constituent parts of the consolidated city...
of
ManhattanManhattan is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River.New York County, which has the same boundaries as the Borough of Manhattan , is the most densely populated county in the United States, with a 2008 population of 1,634,795...
in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
. Its boundaries, which form an irregularly shaped
rectangleIn Euclidean geometry, the term rectangle normally refers to a quadrilateral with four right angles. This is a simple rectangle. A simple rectangle with vertices ABCD would be denoted as ....
, are presently
86th Street86th Street is a major two-way street in the Upper East Side and Upper West Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan.Until the years following World War II, Yorkville on the East Side was a predominantly German community, and East 86th Street was nicknamed the German Broadway...
on the south,
Third AvenueThird Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan, running from Cooper Square north for over 120 blocks. Third Avenue continues into The Bronx across the Harlem River over the Third Avenue Bridge north of East 129th Street to East Fordham Road at...
on the east, 96th Street (
Spanish HarlemSpanish Harlem, also known as El Barrio and East Harlem, is a predominantly low income neighborhood in Harlem, a neighborhood of New York City, New York, United States, in the north-eastern part of the borough of Manhattan. Spanish Harlem is one of the largest predominantly Latino communities in...
) on the north, and
Fifth AvenueFifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the center of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, USA. The section of Fifth Avenue between 34th Street and 59th Street is one of the premier shopping streets in the world. Fifth Avenue serves as a symbol of wealthy New York and is consistently ranked...
(
Central ParkCentral Park is a large public, urban park that occupies over a square mile in the heart of Manhattan in New York City. It is host to approximately twenty-five million visitors each year...
) on the west. The northern boundary has edged north in recent years. The neighborhood is part of
Manhattan Community Board 8The Manhattan Community Board 8 is a local government unit of the city of New York, encompassing the neighborhood of Upper East Side, Lenox Hill, Yorkville, and Roosevelt Island in the borough of Manhattan. It is delimited by the East River on the east, 59th street on the south, Central Park on the...
. Carnegie Hill is widely considered one of the most prestigious residential areas of the
Upper East SideThe Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side is within an area bounded by 59th Street, 96th Street, Central Park and the East River....
.
The neighborhood is named for the mansion that
Andrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie was a Scottish industrialist, businessman, entrepreneur, and a major philanthropist....
built at Fifth Avenue and 91st Street in 1901.
Carnegie Hill is a neighborhood within the
Upper East SideThe Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side is within an area bounded by 59th Street, 96th Street, Central Park and the East River....
, in the
boroughNew York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is segmented into five boroughs. A borough is a unique form of government that administers the five fundamental constituent parts of the consolidated city...
of
ManhattanManhattan is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River.New York County, which has the same boundaries as the Borough of Manhattan , is the most densely populated county in the United States, with a 2008 population of 1,634,795...
in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
. Its boundaries, which form an irregularly shaped
rectangleIn Euclidean geometry, the term rectangle normally refers to a quadrilateral with four right angles. This is a simple rectangle. A simple rectangle with vertices ABCD would be denoted as ....
, are presently
86th Street86th Street is a major two-way street in the Upper East Side and Upper West Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan.Until the years following World War II, Yorkville on the East Side was a predominantly German community, and East 86th Street was nicknamed the German Broadway...
on the south,
Third AvenueThird Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan, running from Cooper Square north for over 120 blocks. Third Avenue continues into The Bronx across the Harlem River over the Third Avenue Bridge north of East 129th Street to East Fordham Road at...
on the east, 96th Street (
Spanish HarlemSpanish Harlem, also known as El Barrio and East Harlem, is a predominantly low income neighborhood in Harlem, a neighborhood of New York City, New York, United States, in the north-eastern part of the borough of Manhattan. Spanish Harlem is one of the largest predominantly Latino communities in...
) on the north, and
Fifth AvenueFifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the center of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, USA. The section of Fifth Avenue between 34th Street and 59th Street is one of the premier shopping streets in the world. Fifth Avenue serves as a symbol of wealthy New York and is consistently ranked...
(
Central ParkCentral Park is a large public, urban park that occupies over a square mile in the heart of Manhattan in New York City. It is host to approximately twenty-five million visitors each year...
) on the west. The northern boundary has edged north in recent years. The neighborhood is part of
Manhattan Community Board 8The Manhattan Community Board 8 is a local government unit of the city of New York, encompassing the neighborhood of Upper East Side, Lenox Hill, Yorkville, and Roosevelt Island in the borough of Manhattan. It is delimited by the East River on the east, 59th street on the south, Central Park on the...
. Carnegie Hill is widely considered one of the most prestigious residential areas of the
Upper East SideThe Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side is within an area bounded by 59th Street, 96th Street, Central Park and the East River....
.
History
The neighborhood is named for the mansion that
Andrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie was a Scottish industrialist, businessman, entrepreneur, and a major philanthropist....
built at Fifth Avenue and 91st Street in 1901. Today the mansion houses the
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design MuseumCooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, a subsidiary of the Smithsonian Institution, is the United States' national museum of design history and contemporary design and the only museum in the U.S. whose collection is solely focused on contemporary and historic design...
, a branch of the
Smithsonian InstitutionThe Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its shops and its magazines...
. Facing it on 91st Street is the Otto Kahn House (
illustration below), a Florentine palazzo, now housing the Convent of the Sacred Heart. A number of other townhouses in the area have been converted to schools, including the recent purchase of the William Goadby and Florence Baker Loew House on 93rd Street by the
Spence SchoolThe Spence School is an American all-girls independent school in New York City, founded in 1892 by Clara B. Spence. The School is popular with elite families in New York City. -Overview:...
. The Lycée Français, housed in the former Virginia Graham Fair Vanderbilt House, held an additional townhouse space on 93rd between Fifth and Madison Avenue until 2005, when the property was sold to a private owner.
The architecture of the neighborhood includes apartment buildings along Park Avenue and Fifth Avenue,
brownstoneBrownstone is a brown Triassic sandstone which was once a popular building material. The term is also understood to be a terraced house clad in this material.-Brownstone dwellings:...
s (with
stoopStoop may refer to:* Adrian Stoop , English-naturalised rugby union player* Georgie Stoop , English professional tennis player* Urban stoop, a small staircase or porch* a mild form of kyphosis...
s) and
townhouseHistorically in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in many other countries, a townhouse was a residence of a peer or member of the aristocracy in the capital or major city. Most such figures owned one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year...
s on the side streets,
condosA condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
,
co-opsA housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes subject to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. The...
and a handful of mansions, some of which are now used by organizations including the Cooper-Hewitt Museum,
The Jewish MuseumThe Jewish Museum of New York, an art museum and repository of cultural artifacts, is the leading Jewish museum in the United States. With over 26,000 objects, it contains the largest collection of Jewish art and culture outside of museums in Israel...
, the
National Academy of DesignThe National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design—known simply as the "National Academy"—is an honorary association of American artists, with a museum and a school of fine arts....
and the Dalton School. From the 1950s to 1991, the
National Audubon SocietyThe National Audubon Society is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservancy. Incorporated in 1905, it is one of the oldest of such organizations in the world...
was housed in the Willard Straight House, a red brick Colonial Revival townhouse at 1130 Fifth Avenue. When it moved to
NoHoNoHo, for North of Houston Street is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, roughly bounded by Houston Street on the south, The Bowery on the east, Astor Place on the north, and Broadway on the west. NoHo is wedged between Greenwich Village, west of Broadway, and the East Village...
, the
International Center of PhotographyThe International Center of Photography is a photography museum, school, and research center located in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
moved in but later consolidated its operations in Midtown near
Bryant ParkBryant Park is a 9.603 acre privately-managed public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is bounded by Fifth Avenue, Sixth Avenue, 40th Street and 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan. The central building of the New York Public Library is in the park...
. In 2001, it again became a
private residence. In 1989, the Jewish Museum demolished the 1963
modernistMid-Century modern is an architectural, interior and product design form that generally describes mid-20th century developments in modern design, architecture, and urban development from roughly 1933 to 1965...
addition and courtyard, replacing it with an new extension opened in 1993 that mimicks the
French GothicFrench Gothic architecture is a style of architecture prevalent in France from 1140 until about 1500.-Sequence of Gothic styles: France:The designations of styles in French Gothic architecture are as follows:* Early Gothic* High Gothic...
details of the Warburg Mansion, the museum's home since 1947. The limestone was crafted in Morningside Heights at the
Cathedral Stoneworks.
Frank Lloyd Wright'sFrank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 projects, which resulted in more than 500 completed works....
originally maligned and now celebrated
Guggenheim MuseumThe Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opened its doors on October 21, 1959 and is one of the best-known museums in New York City and one of the 20th century's most important architectural landmarks...
opened on Fifth Avenue in 1959
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/skyline/2009/05/25/090525crsk_skyline_goldberger http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/exhibitions/on-view-now/frank-lloyd-wright. The
New York Road RunnersNew York Road Runners , founded in 1958 with 47 members, has grown into the foremost running organization, with a membership of 40,000. NYRR conducts more than 100 events each year, including races, classes, clinics, and lectures...
occupies a townhouse around the corner at 9 East 89th Street, a block informally known as
Fred LebowFred Lebow was an avid road runner and founder of the New York City Marathon. Born in Transylvania, Romania, he transformed the marathon from a small race with 55 finishers in 1970 to one of the largest marathons in the world with over 36,544 finishers in 2004.Fred ran in the inaugural NYC...
Place
http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=11248.
Similar to the official lines of the historic district, the borders of the neighborhood form an irregular rectangle and the northern boundary, which traditionally was 96th Street, has edged into what was traditionally
Spanish HarlemSpanish Harlem, also known as El Barrio and East Harlem, is a predominantly low income neighborhood in Harlem, a neighborhood of New York City, New York, United States, in the north-eastern part of the borough of Manhattan. Spanish Harlem is one of the largest predominantly Latino communities in...
.
The northern section neighborhood was once seen as a less fashionable end of the
East Side-Municipalities:* East Side Township, Mille Lacs County, Minnesota, United States* East Side, Pennsylvania, United States-Neighborhoods:Canada* Eastside, Ontario, a neighborhood in Sault Ste...
, but is now prized for its esthetic sensibility, museums and restaurants. Besides,
Andrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie was a Scottish industrialist, businessman, entrepreneur, and a major philanthropist....
,
Marjorie Merriweather PostMarjorie Merriweather Post a.k.a. Marjorie Merriweather Post Close Hutton Davies May was a leading American socialite and the founder of General Foods, Inc...
, Margaret Rockefeller Strong and
John Hay WhitneyJohn Hay Whitney , colloquially known as "Jock" Whitney, was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, and a member of the Whitney family.-Family:...
all made their homes north of 90th Street.
Preservation
The Carnegie Hill Historic District, designated as such by the Landmarks Preservation Commission on July 23, 1974 and then expanded on December 21, 1993, runs from 86th Street in the south to just north of 98th Street in the north. Its western boundary is Central Park, and its eastern boundary varies from Madison Avenue in some parts to Lexington Avenue further east in others. There are efforts to expand this district in order to protect undesignated landmarks , including 179 East 93rd Street, where the
Marx BrothersThe Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...
were raised. Proponents include the
93rd Street Beautification Association and
Carnegie Hill Neighbors, an organization which, seeking to preserve the village-like environment, spurred the creation of the historic district and actively monitors its well being. In its more than thirty years of operation, its well-publicized battles have included advocating against an adult education center near the
92nd Street YThe 92nd Street Y is a multifaceted cultural institution and community center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Its full name is the 92nd Street Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association ....
, plans for more high rise apartments and additions to existing brownstones.
See also
- Museum Mile
- Yorkville
Yorkville is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Yorkville's northern, eastern and western boundaries include: the East River on the east, 96th Street on the north, Third Avenue on the west and 79th Street to the south. However, its southern boundary is a subject of debate...
- Carnegie Hill Review