Every autumn, the New York Landmarks Conservancy names “Living Landmarks,” honoring citizens who have made important contributions to the city. It’s a distinguished, disparate group—fashion designers, performers, politicians, financiers, from Candice Bergen and Joan Rivers, Diane von Furstenberg and Oscar de la Renta, Harry Belafonte and Tommy Tune, Mario Cuomo and Felix Rohatyn—nearly 100 of them, including six new names added to the roster at a gala dinner held recently at the Plaza Hotel.
To celebrate this year’s honorees, we’ve devised a city “tour” that stops by locations associated with their lives.
Start in Madison Square Park, which is located between 23rd and 26th Streets, and between Madison and Broadway/Fifth Avenues, (madisonsquarepark.org)
A hundred years ago this neighborhood was at the heart of the city, a spot where the actual torch of the Statue of Liberty was exhibited so that visitors would contribute funds to install Lady Liberty in the harbor. Eventually the city “moved” uptown and the area declined, until friends of Madison Park organized a conservancy. In 2003, that group took on the project of designing and installing an upscale food kiosk.
To operate it, they paired with distinguished restaurateur Danny Meyer, who had established the nearby Union Square Café and subsequently, the Gramercy Tavern, 11 Madison Park, Blue Smoke. Like its sisters eateries, the park’s Shake Shack has flourished, making the park a popular destination for diners and also helping revitalize that historic, important patch of lower Fifth Avenue.
Because of his role in revitalizing the neighborhood, Madison Square Park is an appropriate place to salute the contributions of Living Landmark Danny Meyer, a member of the Madison Square Park Conservancy. He is CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, operating restaurants that have earned two dozen James Beard Awards and his book, “Setting the Table,” was a New York Times bestseller.
Catch the R or Q subway at Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street, or walk up to 44th Street between 6th Avenue and Broadway to the Algonquin Hotel at 59 West 44th St., (algonquinhotel.com)
In 1940, an 11-year-old future actress and her twin brothers landed in New York and, she admits, “It’s always been a magical city to me.” Her first night here was spent at the red brick and limestone Algonquin Hotel, the literary and theatrical gathering place which has hosted the witty “Round Table,” and presented notable cabaret acts from Michael Feinstein to Andrea Marcovicci. Gertrude Stein, Sinclair Lewis, Maya Angelou are among the notables who have helped establish its intellectual reputation.
A city landmark itself, it is the perfect tribute to beloved Living Landmark Angela Lansbury, whose 70-year-career has seen her appear in nearly 60 motion pictures. Just steps from here on Broadway she won the first of five Tony awards for her portrayal of “Mame.” Her long-running TV series, “Murder, She Wrote,” led to four of her six Golden Globe Awards. In addition to Kennedy Center Honors and lifetime achievement awards, she is an inductee of the TV Hall of Fame.
Walk west on 44th to 8th Avenue and then one block north to 45th Street. Just to your left, look up to see the marquee of the Al Hirschfeld Theatre at 302 West 45th Street, (hirschfeldtheatre.org)
Designed to be the most opulent theater of its time, the Hirschfeld opened in 1924 as the Martin Beck Theatre, named for vaudeville promoter Martin Beck, who equipped it with 1292 seats and dressing rooms for 200 actors. In 2003, it was renamed in honor of beloved “NINA” caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, whose drawings immortalized actors and productions.
Leading the campaign for the rechristening was the artist’s widow Living Landmark Louise Kerz Hirschfeld whose supervises her late husband’s legacy, organizing educational programs and exhibits revolving around his artwork. An editor, writer, and television producer, she is now married to another new Landmark (more about that later).
Retrace your steps to 7th Avenue and walk north to 50th Street, where you catch the #1 subway to 66th Street. Walk up Columbus Avenue one block to the to the ABC Studios, 149 Columbus Ave., at the corner of West 67th Street, (livewithregis.com).
This studio is the setting for daily tapings of “Live! with Regis and Kelly,” the popular daytime show featuring Living Landmark Regis Philbin. Fans wait in the lobby to appear in the studio audience and make purchases at the souvenir booth.
November 18 is the designated retirement day for this popular media fixture who has tackled talk shows, game shows, acting, singing and taken home an Emmy for hosting. During his career spanning 50 years, Regis has earned Guinness Book of World Records title for “Most Hours on Camera.” Growing up in the Bronx, Regis attended Our Lady of Solade grammar school and Cardinal Hayes High School before graduating from Notre Dame.
Walk a block east to Central Park West and catch the M10 bus north to 81st Street. Half a block back toward Columbus Avenue is the entrance to the Cullman Hall of the Universe on the lower level of the Museum of Natural History’s Rose Center for Earth and Space, Central Park West at 79th Street, (amnh.org).
Exhibiting and illuminating the stunning discoveries of modern astrophysics, the Cullman Hall’s interactive displays answer questions about the universe, galaxies, planets, and tell how the atoms the constitute us were created in the hearts of stars.
Cullman Hall at the Museum of Natural History is just one of many features contributed to the city by Living Landmark Lewis B. Cullman. A leverage buyout pioneer and founder of At-A-Glance calendar items, Mr. Cullman and his late wife, Dorothy, also made substantial philanthropic contributions to the New York Public Library, the New York Botanic Garden, the Metropolitan and Modern Museums of Art, and dozens of other city institutions. Last year he and Landmark Louise Kerz Hirschfeld were married.
Leaving Cullman Hall, walk west to Broadway. Two blocks south at 79th Street, catch the #1 subway line to 96th Street. Get off and walk across the platform to transfer to the #2 or #3 train and exit at 125th Street. Walk five blocks north to 130th Street and turn left onto Astor Row, 130th Street between Lenox and Fifth Avenues).
The stretch of 130th Street from Lenox Avenue east to Fifth Avenue is called Astor Row. The semi-attached row houses on the south side of the street were the first townhouses built in Harlem, and the design with front yards and wooden porches is unusual in Manhattan. Developed by the family of John Jacob Astor, the houses created a neighborhood known as “the block beautiful,” occupied by both white and Afro/American citizens. After falling into decline, the homes were landmarked in
The 106th mayor of the city, David Dinkins has had a distinguished civic career serving as a State Assemblyman, President of the NYC Board of Elections, City Clerk, and Manhattan Borough President. Active in New York City Global Partners and the Council of Foreign Relations, he is currently Professor in the Practice of Public Affairs at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
