The Gilded Age Revisited! Upper East Side Art & Architecture Tour

About this event

Note this tour has been rescheduled for of Friday, November 20th at 2:00pm. Meeting place is OUTSIDE the garden. You can access restrooms inside the Cafe from the garden which also has a short menu for coffee and food. Security performs a quick bad check. Cost: This tour is free with a voluntary donation to your guide/organizer at the end via cash, Venmo or Zelle. Overview This tour we will indulge in the East 80's between 5th Avenue and Park Avenue and the residential architecture of the gilded age which consists of mansions and elegant townhouses often built in the Beaux Arts, and Renaissance Revival styles, and even the Chateau style. We'll cover the history of this area and how and why it developed as an enclave for NYC's wealthy elite and how gilded age wealth gave rise to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and helped establish the Upper East Side as a center of the art world. Starting outside the garden of the Cooper Hewitt museum (pictured in photo), which was originally the mansion home of Andrew and Louise Carnegie, we'll visit several local art galleries during our journey, along with several other indoor locations with spectacular architecture. We will venture inside several buildings that were constructed as gilded age mansions and are now public spaces. Other restrooms options before the tour. There is a a public restroom at the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest across the street. Once inside the church veer immediately to your right (just one stall). Other nearby options: The Met Museum has an education entrance near 81st Street where you can go to the rest room without visiting the museum. Met Museum pay what you wish for NY residents with ID. And of course any of the other local museums - Guggenheim, Jewish Museum, Neue Gallery all on 5th Avenue (admission charge for non-members). Other option is NYU's Insitute for the Study of the Ancient World which has a free museum-style exhibit currently at 15 East 84th Street. Admission is free and restrooms are in the basement via elevator. https://isaw.nyu.edu/ We'll have a break for restrooms during the tour. Tour ends at 84th Street & Park Avenue convenient to the 4,5,6,Q trains and numerous bus routes including the M86 crosstown. Optional afterparty at a local happy hour. Your organizer and guide, Hank Orenstein [email protected] 646-596-3005 (photo courtesy of the Cooper Hewitt Museum).