Photo by myself along Central Park West, at 73rd Street.
The Dakota, on the left, and The Langham on the right, are two pre-war buildings on Central Park West.
Both were built around the turn of the (20th) century, back in the day when each residential building had a distinctive name.
Click here to see The Dakota when it was first erected, with virtually nothing around it. It's pretty striking.
What amazes me is that the design of the Dakota anticipated what New York would become. It was not a rambling building in the landscape, but a compact fortress. New York was predestined to be a built-up city, like London.
The building extends one city block in the north-to-south direction, but there are buildings built just next to it on the west (the side opposite the park).
For a close-up from an earlier visit, click here.
Related posts: Dusk Among Towers, Details, Details and At the Foot of the Manhattan Bridge.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
The Rooftops on Central Park West
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7 comments:
"The Dakota when it was first erected, with virtually nothing around it. It's pretty striking. "
Indeed! Wow!
ah, lovely pic...i lived on that street for 5 years. never got tired of the walk home and always wished i could have sneak peek into the dakota. yoko ono always lit candles in her window on john lennon's birthday...that's the only sign of life i ever saw in that building.
I love walking around these beautiful old cities like Paris, London and NY and lifting my eyes up. There's so much to see, so much to be amazed about.
Hi Chimesey
Glad you liked the link!
Hi Shirin
Ah, you lucky duck to have lived over there. How cool about the candles?
I have to say it's true...for some reason the inhabitants of the buildings shy away from the windows, which always seem dark.
Hi Susu
We are kindred spirits. There is nothing like a walk outside for me. I love it.
I lived at 9 W 73rd St in the mid-1960's (pre-Lincoln Center!) -- my very first apartment in NYC. My most vivid memory of the Dakota is the windows of the apartment on the 2nd floor along 73rd St. They were always sparkling clean and never had any shades or blinds in them and there was a huge model of a sailboat in one of the windows. It's like it was yesterday!
Hello and Welcome, Tom!
Your experience on the UWS during that time must have been incredible. Was it dangerous, walking around?
These days whenever I'm by the Dakota, many of the blinds are drawn and no one is ever near the windows. I'm sure it was a more inviting place when you were nearby.
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