Upper East Side History, Architecture and Art Tour: The Gilded Age Revisted

The Tour is on! Yes potential for rain - we go inside 5X at least including 3 art galleries, a historic church plus a gilded age mansion. Building scaffolding helps too along the route. Come prepared!

This tour is free with a voluntary donation to your guide/organizer at the end via cash, Venmo or Zelle.

Feel free to bring water to drink and snacks. Sun protection recommended (unless overcast of course). Optional lunch gathering in Central Park after the tour by the Boathouse Cafe or Le Pain Quotidien (food available for purchase). Bring your lunch if you like as it gets very busy in the summer with tourists.

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. We'll cover the history of this area and how and why it developed as an enclave for NYC's wealthy elite.

Starting out at the garden of the Cooper Hewitt museum, 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, including a gilded age mansion.

Restrooms before the tour: Tarulucci e Vino Cafe at the Cooper Hewitt Museum. You can enter the cafe via the garden from 90th Street without having to pay admission to the museum. There may be a quick bag inspection by a security guard. There are also public restrooms at the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest across the street from the garden at 90th Street & 5th Avenue. Once inside the church turn immediately to your right (one stall).

Other nearby options: Met Museum (opens at 10am) pay what you wish for NY residents. There's an "express" Education Center entrance to bathrooms by 81st Street, south of the main entrance. No admission required there. During the tour, we'll have a break and restrooms at the Met Museum's education entrance.

Tour ends at 76th Street & Madison Avenue or thereabouts.

Your organizer and guide,

Hank Orenstein
hankorenstein@gmail.com
646-596-3005

(photo: James B. Duke House, 1 East 78th Street, now NYU's Institute for the Fine Arts). Courtesy of bigoldhouses.blogspot.com