N o r t h e r n   M a n h a t t a n

* some sights of interest *

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150th - 160th Streets

bullet   Artists Unite

Artists Unite is a not-for-profit organization serving the artistic communities of Washington Heights and Inwood. Its mission is to link artists of all disciplines, to support the creation of a broad-based, multi-cultural arts community, and to strengthen the connection between the artists and the community.

bullet   The Church of the Intercession
       550 W. 155th Street at Broadway
       © Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, Inc. The Church of the Intercession
This cathedral-like Episcopal Church was designed in the Gothic style by Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue and built, along with a vicarage and parish house, during 1912-14 on a hill overlooking the Hudson River. Once the largest chapel of the Wall Street Trinity Parish, it became independent in 1976 and features a tower, arched cloisters, and a beautiful interior with stone piers and windows that appear medieval. Part of the interior was built by the Guastavino Fireproof Construction Company. The architect's memorial tomb is part of one wall. Restoration by Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, Inc.
For information about the Church school, bible study and prayer groups, its sports club, etc., call 212-283-6200.
 

bullet   Trinity Cemetery and Mausoleums
       153rd-155th Sts, Amsterdam Ave.-Riverside Dr.
       © Photo by John Kristoff Trinity Cemetery
As soon as you enter Trinity Cemetery at 153rd Street and Riverside Drive, you find yourself on 24 acres of bucolic beauty. This bluff along the Hudson was once part of the farm of John James Audubon, founder of the wildlife conservation society, and it still gives one a sense of Manhattan's original topography.  Audubon is buried here (under a 16-ft. runic cross), as are John Jacob Astor, the scholar Clement Clark Moore (author of the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas"), Madame Jumel (the former Eliza Bowen who also married Aaron Burr) and members of Charles Dickens' family, including his son Alfred Tennyson Dickens.  A suspension bridge over Broadway connected the two halves of the gounds until it was demolished in 1911 to make way for the Chapel.  Trinity is Manhattan's only remaining active cemetery.
 

bullet   The Bailey Residence
       10 St. Nicholas Ave.at 150th St.
       Photo © HATT The Bailey Residence
James Anthony Bailey, partner with Phineas T. Barnum of the Barnum and Bailey circus, had this mansion built for himself in 1888.  The fanciful design includes a corner turret, a Dutch gable, half-moon dormers and granite walls.  It is said that neighborhood children call the building, which now houses a funeral home, the "Beauty and the Beast House."
 

bullet   Audubon Terrace Historic District
       Broadway between 155th-156th Sts.
       © American Numismatic Society American Numismatic Society
Three museums, a church and a college are clustered around this Renaissance-style court designed by Charles Pratt Huntington on what once was the 24-acre estate John James Audubon's called "Minnie's Land" after his wife. The site is now on the National Register of Historic Places. (C.P. Huntington was the cousin of the philanthropist Archer Milton Huntington, who had bought the Audubon estate. Anna Hyatt Huntington, creator of many of the Terrace's sculptures, was A.M. Huntington's wife.)
       © Hispanic Society of America Hispanic Society of America

-   The Hispanic Society of America was founded by A.M. Huntington. It maintains a museum (in 1908 the first on this plaza to open) and a reference library for art, literature and cultural history of Spain from pre-Roman times to the present. There are paintings by Goya, Velázquez, and the Cretan painter known as El Greco as well as sculpture, furniture, textiles and earthenware. The Society has expanded into the palazzo-like building vacated by the Museum of the American Indian (see my note below). Its interior boasts a Guastavino vault. Admission to the museum and the library is free. For more information, please call 212-926-2234.

-   The American Numismatic Society, established in 1858, is the largest private museum for coins, medals, and paper money. The association publishes journals and every year organizes a conference on coinage of the Americas. Its galleries and reference library of 70,000 volumes are open to the public. Info at 212-234-3130.

-   The National Institute / American Academy of Arts and Letters is housed in two landmark buildings, designed by McKim, Mead & White, and Cass Gilbert. It honors a limited 250 distinguished practitioners of the fine arts, including the American Impressionist Childe Hassam, whose works are displayed permanently. The museum also holds original manuscripts and first editions of works by members past and present. These include Mark Twain, Henry James and Edith Wharton and, more recently, Alison Lurie, John Guare, and Kurt Vonnegut. For gallery schedules, call 212-368-5900.

-   The Church of Our Lady of Esperanza was the second Spanish Roman Catholic church when it was established in 1912. It still has the stained glass windows, skylight and lamp contributed to its green and gold interior by the Spanish king Alfonso III at its opening. For information about services, please call 212-283-4340.

-   Boricua College moved its main campus into the building vacated by the American Geographical Society when the latter joined the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Boricua is a non-residential, non-profit private liberal arts college offering associate and bachelor's degrees to its 1,000-plus students. The first U.S. college to offer bi-lingual education in Spanish and English, it was fully accredited in 1980. It is a member of the White House Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), participates in the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) and has a faculty representative for the Harry Truman Scholarship Foundation (Francia L. Castro, e-mail bcm@pipeline.com). One alumnus of local fame is Gilberto Citrón. The College's contact information is 3755 Broadway, New York, NY 10032, 212-694-1000; see also the Boricua College Library.

NOTE:   the Museum of the American Indian-Heye Foundation used to be on Audubon Terrace, but in 1992 it moved into the former U.S. Custom House (Cass Gilbert, 1907) at 1 Bowling Green. The holdings, which in 1922 consisted of the private collection of George Gustav Heye, have been taken over by the Smithsonion Institution and now encompass the prehistory of the Western hemisphere as well as the anthropology and history of the North, Central and South American Indian.  212-825-6700 for information.
 

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