psychiatrist archive

iwalkedaudiotours:

IWALKED 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.

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 29^th 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.

IWalked Audio Tours To See This Site: New York City’s Upper West Side (Free Bonus Edition)

iwalkedaudiotours:

IWALKED NEW YORK CITY’S THE BERESFORD

The upscale Beresford apartments were designed by architect Emery Roth and constructed in 1929. It replaced the former 6-story Hotel Beresford which resided here and had been designed by Alva Walker. The existing Italian Renaissance structure is a 23-story co-operative (as it has been since 1962) with 175 units. The first three-floors are decorated with a limestone base before giving way to a beige brick exterior the remainder of the way up. The exterior is most recognized for its three octagonal towers atop it which light up each evening. The towers are situated on each corner of the building less the northwest corner. One of these towers actually acts as a clever cover for the apartment’s water supply.

If you are in the market for an apartment in price range of $2.5 to $31 million (mind you with a maximum allowable financing of 50%), you can live amongst the likes of famous former and current residents. These include the ranks of Rock Hudson, Diane Sawyer, Calvin Klein, Diana Ross, Tony Randall, John McEnroe, Glenn Close (who was reportedly trying to sell her apartment in late 2010), and her neighbor, Jerry Seinfeld.

Mr. Seinfeld is noted within the Beresford as having his own regulation named after him, dubiously titled the “Seinfeld Rule.” After undergoing lengthy alterations of his 1998 2,000 square foot duplex which he had acquired for $4.35 million, the co-op’s board elected to require owners to pay a fine of $500 per day that construction went passed its scheduled deadline. In reference to Mr. Seinfeld’s alterations, I was unable to find the specific period over which they occurred but I found multiple references to the term “multiple years.” One last tid bit about Jerry if you’re interested is that he also owns a townhouse just around the corner on West 82^nd Street. This is where he supposedly stores approximately 20 of the nearly 50 Porsches from his collection.

 

Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beresford

Address: 211 Central Park West, New York City, NY

Cost: Free.

IWalked Audio Tours To See This Site: New York City’s Upper West Side

iwalkedaudiotours:

IWALKED NEW YORK CITY’S THE ANSONIA

The Ansonia was conceptualized and developed by William Earle Stokes who was largely responsible for developing much of the Upper West Side especially along Riverside Drive. Much of his wealth had derived as being the heir to the Phelps-Dodge Corporation which was an American mining company.

In 1899, Stokes hired European architect Paul Duboy to design what he envisioned as the largest and grandest hotel in all of New York. Duboy is probably best known for having designed much of the ornamentation on the nearby Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Stokes oversaw much of the designs himself and some believe he forced Duboy out of the equation and even took credit for his work. What is known is that upon completion of the designs Stokes paid Duboy a lump sump of $5,000 for services rendered and sent him back on his merry way to Paris. Duboy attempted to sue Stokes later in 1907 but the incident had left Duboy in a fragile mental state which Stokes used to his advantage in easily defending versus the suit.

While constructing the Ansonia from 1899 to 1903, Stokes spared no expense in ensuring it was indeed the most elaborate hotel in the city. Stokes had the Beaux Arts building designed with rounded towers, a two-story Parisian style mansard roof, and covered the façade with various metal ornamentation (much of which was unfortunately melted for scrap during World War II). One bit of constraint Stokes did demonstrate was in determining the building’s final height. He had originally envisioned a much taller structure but upon completion of the building’s 17^th floor he decided that this was the ideal height which offered the optimal view. He thus capped off his construction at this level.

Atop this capped level Stokes added one of a handful of unique attributes for this hotel. On the roof Stokes opened a small farm complete with 500 chickens, ducks and a goat. The farm fresh eggs were dispersed each morning to the hotel’s guests until 1907, that is, when the Department of Health intervened and closed the farm due to health concerns.

Other features unique for this period introduced when the Ansonia first opened included rooms with air conditioning, electric stoves and pneumatic tube systems so guests could send message amongst themselves. Complete kitchens were located on each floor to service guests. And in the lobby guests were welcomed via a fountain in the entryway complete with live seals and a caged bear on occasion.

Such luxuries obviously drew a rather prestigious clientele and the Ansonia has continued to draw in the likes of the rich and famous. Past and present tenants have included Eric McCormack, Jack Dempsey, Natalie Portman, Angelina Jolie, and Babe Ruth, who took residence here immediately after moving to New York from Boston in his infamous trade.

During his residency the Babe tested other guests’ patience in numerous fashions. He was said to be seen chasing women around the hotel and when in the confines of his room began to take up the saxophone. Luckily for the Babe’s neighbors, the Ansonia had been designed with 3-foot thick soundproof walls. My favorite story around the Babe though was that he supposedly had a full-time employee who was designated for opening and managing his fan mail. The Babe’s instructions? “”Keep the dough and the pictures of the broads, and throw the rest out.”  

One less esteemed baseball player stayed here the early 20^th century, Arnold “Chick” Gandil. Gandil, is you are unfamiliar, was the first baseman for the infamous Chicago White Sox (Black Sox later known) who threw the 1919 World Series. It is here at the Ansonia that Gandil organized the first meetings amongst eight team members to propose intentionally losing the series. A series which they did end up losing five games to three versus the Cincinnati Reds. Upon uncovering the scandal all eight of the White Sox players received a lifetime ban from the sport.

Another famous tenant which occupied the entire basement from 1968-1977 was the Continental Baths. The Baths were a luxury gay spa complete with orgy room and a K-Y jelly dispensing candy machine. For a period guests were entertained by “Bathhouse Betty,” aka Bette Midler, who sang along with her piano player Barry Manilow. The Baths were eventually replaced by a swingers club called Plato’s Retreat that was actually shown in the 1999 Spike Lee movie, Summer of Sam. Plato’s Retreat, however like its predecessor, has since gone by the wayside.

Since 1992 the Ansonia has actually been a condominium as opposed to a hotel. It was also in 1992 that the film Single White Female was based inside the Ansonia. While the movie was set to occur here, in actuality only exterior and stairwell shots were filmed inside the Ansonia.

 

Website: http://www.ansoniarealty.com/

Address: 2109 Broadway, New York City, NY

Cost: Free.

IWalked Audio Tours To See This Site: New York City’s Upper West Side

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Columbus Circle!

hislolita:

Bird’s-eye view of Tribute In Lights by noamgalai on Flickr.

I am the weird loud girl, but its beautiful, like this

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