The local paper for the Upper East Side ETERNAL BEAUTY FROM AN ENDURING EN NDURING CULTURE ◄ P.12
The breweries and elevated trains are gone. The churches, social halls and French Flats remain. But for how long? A new book chronicles the neighborhood’s history — and ponders its future amid a megabuilding boom BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN
As a burst of oversized and out-ofscale development projects radiate from the path of the Second Avenue Subway, a preservation group is fighting back — by publishing a book to document the area’s glorious past. The Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts is delving into the boundless historical, cultural, architectural, mercantile and ecclesiastical treasures of Yorkville — at a time that heritage seems most in jeopardy. “Shaped by Immigrants: A History of Yorkville” plumbs the Old World roots of a neighborhood where Czechs, Slovaks, Germans, Hungarians and Irish lived and worked, dined and courted, shopped and prayed. It salutes the immigrant ethos that made the community great and
BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
We’re not going to stop development. But I certainly hope we can preserve the flavoring and seasoning of the neighborhood, a great deal of which has already been lost.” Franny Eberhart, president of Friends of the Upper East Side
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2018
79th Street bus route is faster since introduction of off-board fare payment, officials say
defines its character to this day — even though no one calls 79th Street “Goulash Avenue” anymore, or 86th Street the “German Broadway.” Against the backdrop of a built environment that has largely endured for 150-plus years, the book raises several existential questions: What hath the Q train wrought? And how can Yorkville’s immigrant past — which lives on in its low-rise, small-scale buildings, serving residential, religious, commercial, social and recreational needs — be safeguarded amid a building boom? In the foreword, Franny Eberhart, president of Friends of the UES, says
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22-28 MTA TOUTS PERFORMANCE OF M79 SBS
THE SUBWAY AND THE SOUL OF YORKVILLE PRESERVATION
WEEK OF NOVEMBER
now that the subway is here, and travel to and from Yorkville is faster than ever, the word most commonly used to describe the Q is “transformative.” “But what other sorts of transformation will occur?” she asks. “And what might Yorkville lose in the process? What needs to be protected, preserved and celebrated?” The book, and a 15-minute, minidocumentary film accompanying it, is an attempt to answer those questions by detailing a neighborhood’s brick and mortar, character and charm. Drawing on over a decade of research, the advocacy group authored what it bills as the first-ever comprehensive history of Yorkville, an illustrated account replete with archival images and contemporary photos commissioned for the project. “Numerous out-of-scale developments, many that subvert long-established zoning rules meant to encourage predictable development, are changing the face of Yorkville,” said Rachel Levy, executive director of the Friends group. With its vitality and uniqueness threatened, “Shaped by Immigrants” celebrates the rich legacy of
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The landmark Cherokee Apartments, at East 78th Street and Cherokee Place, was built between 1909 and 1911 as the Shively Sanitary Tenements. They were originally designed as airy, healthy model apartments to combat tuberculosis among the poor. Photos: Trix Rosen Photographer Ltd / Friends of the UES Historic Districts
Crosstown bus service on the 79th Street corridor has seen increases in speed and ridership since the introduction of select bus service last year, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority data. The M79 bus is eight percent faster on average since the M79 SBS route launched in May 2017. M79 SBS buses spend 21 percent less time paused at bus stops and five percent less time stuck in traffic that they did in the route’s previous iteration, according to transit data presented to Manhattan community boards this month. Riders traveling west during the evening rush hour experienced the greatest time savings, with buses completing their runs nearly three minutes faster on average, a 12 percent speed increase. Transportation officials attribute the speed increase to the SBS offboard payment system, which reduces dwell time spent at bus stops for fare collection, as well as street improvements implemented by the city’s Department of Transportation, including newly painted bus lanes and traffic light timing adjustments.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 19 Zion-St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, a small stone church on East 84th Street off First Avenue, built in 1889 in the late Victorian architectural style, proclaims its German heritage in a facade inscription that reads, “Deutsche Ev. Kirche V. Yorkville.”
Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday, November 23 – 4:15 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com
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