These four rowhouses along the southeast corner of West End Avenue and W. 102nd Street were designed by the firm Schneider and Herter and built from 1892 to 1893. The three rowhouses facing West End Avenue are at 854, 856, and 858 addresses; the rowhouse behind them, facing W. 102nd St., is at 254. The brownstone-covered brick rowhouses feature a corner turret, inset porches, balconies, and dormers in a combination of Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival styles. The grouping of four rowhouses was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2021 and have been New York City Landmarks since 1990.
The Gershwin Family Residence is a historical building in New York City which was home to composer George Gershwin and lyricist Ira Gershwin, along with other Gershwin family members, from 1925 to 1931. The building is commemorated with a marker that was erected in 1982 by the 102 and 103 Streets Block Association. The inscription reads, “George Gershwin - composer and Ira Gershwin - lyricist created many memorable works here”. George and Ira Gershwin are remembered and celebrated as songwriters who defined the Jazz Age. George Gershwin is widely renowned for his orchestral compositions including Rhapsody in Blue (1924), An American in Paris (1928), Swanee (1919), Fascinating Rhythm (1924), I Got Rhythm (1930), and the opera Porgy and Bess (1935). (1)(2)
The Master Building is a twenty-seven story Art Deco structure built between 1928 and 1929 and home to the Master Institute of United Arts, the Roerich Museum, and hundreds of apartments. Nicholas and Helena Roerich led the effort to create the art institute and museum with the financial backing of Louis L. Horch. The building was designed by Harvey Wiley Corbett and is regarded as one of the best examples of the architect's work. While the financial downturn of the 1930s led to the building being placed in receivership and the Roerich Museum moved out of the building, it remains historically significant because for its effort to build a mixed-use structure that combined the study of art with everyday life. The Master Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Located at the top of a staircase that connects Riverside Drive and West 106th Street, the monument honors the life and military career of Franz Sigel (1824-1902). Born in Sinsheim, Baden (now Germany), he immigrated to the United States in 1852 and worked as a school teacher, journalist, and newspaper publisher before becoming an officer in the Union Army during the Civil War. During the conflict, Sigel encouraged German-American enlistments and rose to the rank of major general. In 1861, he led troops in small engagements against pro-Confederate forces near St. Louis and Carthage, Missouri, helping to secure the federal arsenal in St. Louis and keep the state in the Union. The following year, Sigel secured his greatest victory at the Battle of Pea Ridge in northwestern Arkansas. Only two years after his death in 1902, the Sigel Monument Association commissioned sculptor Karl Bitter to design a memorial to honor the German-American’s life and military career. The monument, a bronze over-life-sized equestrian statue on a granite pedestal, was dedicated in October 1907.
Brothers Morris and Solomon Schinasi, immigrants from Turkey, became successful businessmen in Manhattan by selling Turkish tobacco, a stronger version than what was available in the United States. The sale of Schinasi brands became a highly lucrative business for the brothers, and in 1907, Morris began work on an expansive new home at the corner of 107th and Riverside Drive. The home is a New York City Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Nicholas Roerich Museum commemorates the life of Nicholas Roerich, a Russian artist, writer, and visionary. While the scope of the museum might initially seem limited, the incredibly diverse range of ideas with which Roerich engaged mean that the museum is vibrantly varied. Roerich painted over seven thousand works, designed costumes and sets for revolutionary theater performances such as Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, and documented and explored cultures in the Himalayas. The Roerich Museum functions as a cultural center and features over two hundred of Roerich’s paintings, hosts recitals, awards an annual prize for poetry, and advocates for the protection of cultural heritage sites.
Located in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Straus Park is named in honor of Isidor (1845-1912) and Ida (1849-1912) Straus, a New York couple who tragically died during the sinking of the RMS Titanic in April 1912. Isidor Straus, along with his brother, Nathan, owned R.H. Macy and Company (Macy’s). Their store at Herald Square was the largest department store in the world at the time. Only a few months after the tragedy, the New York City Board of Aldermen adopted a resolution that renamed Bloomingdale Square, a small triangular park near the Strauses former residence, in honor of the deceased couple. Afterward, a memorial committee formed and began raising funds through public subscriptions to erect a monument in the park to commemorate the Strauses. In all, $20,000 was raised. After holding a design competition, the committee awarded the commission to sculptor Augustus Lukeman and architect Evarts Tracy. Dedicated on April 15, 1915, three years to the day of the sinking of Titanic, the monument consists of a curved, granite exedra topped by a reclining bronze female figure representing “Memory.” At the center of the exedra, just beneath the statue, a bronze lion’s head once spouted water into a reflecting pool. Etched into the back of the monument is a biblical verse, 2 Samuel 1:23: “Lovely and pleasant were they in their lives and in their death they were not divided.” In the 1990s, the reflecting pool was converted into a flowerbed.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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Walk through Bloomingdale neighborhood history and see this neighborhood's ties to Gershwin tunes, the Civil War, Turkish tobacco, protection of world cultural items in wartime, & the Titanic.
