This was the best! I decided that I should have a YouTube Channel for Heaven on the Hudson. My husband and I were shooting a video for it recently in Riverside Park and I was holding a book for the shot. A woman walked by, saw it, and called out,…
The delicious eye candy that is 3 Riverside Drive in NYC was once the Kleeberg mansion. Built in 1898, the five-story, 37-foot-wide, 11,000-square-foot limestone and brick home exudes charm with a twinkle. Gargoyles guard it at street level, and a chubby stone cherub perches at its peak, perhaps smiling down…
The original deed for the site of 1 Riverside Drive in NYC imposed “a ban on erecting a slaughterhouse, brewery, livery stable, carpenter shop, nail factory, sugar refinery, menagerie, ‘or any other manufactory, trade business, or calling which may be in anywise dangerous, noxious, or offensive to the neighboring inhabitants.’”…
The Eleanor Roosevelt Memorial stands, circled by oak trees, at the entrance to Riverside Park. Dedicated in 1996, it is the Park's newest statue.
Last month I had the lovely opportunity to read excerpts from Heaven on the Hudson to a group of other writers, at a meeting of the Italian American Writers Association. I chose a section from the Introduction, one of my favorite parts of the book because it gives a real…
I’ve traveled a lot this summer: to Croatia, where hubby and I biked up multiple, and very challenging, hills; Amsterdam, where, ironically, we did no biking at all; the Berkshires – biking again, also eating at our favorite Italian restaurant and sampling Chardonnay at our favorite winery with a view;…
I went to visit the goats this weekend.
I am so thrilled to share the news that the Victorian Society in America has chosen Heaven on the Hudson: Mansions, Monuments, and Marvels of Riverside Park as a recipient of its 2023 Book Award, "in recognition of its important contribution to the study of art and architecture in the Victorian era." Thank you, Victorian Society!
337 Riverside Drive reigns over Riverside Drive from 106th Street, the northernmost corner of a block termed "Paris on the Hudson" for its exquisite design. Also known as River Mansion, the red-brick beauty with distinctive limestone ornamentation at the entrance door and windows boasts 8,550 square feet.
Cyrus Clark. Egbert Ludovicus Viele. William R. Martin. Andrew Haswell Green. And, of course, Frederick Law Olmsted. These 19th century "social influencers" were the powers behind Riverside Park and Riverside Drive -- or at least, the initial versions of them.