A 19th-century fad, octagonal houses don’t appeal to everyone. But that’s one more thing to love about them. Source: New York Times
Posts published in “Restoration and Renovation”
At 13, She Fled the Nazis. At 95, She Runs a Storied Bohemian Hotel.
By Gotham Rex on October 15, 2022
Dylan Thomas stayed there. So did Bob Dylan. And Rita Paul, its doyenne, welcomed them all. Source: New York Times
Plotting the Future of the Most Storied Studio in Jazz
By Gotham Rex on July 19, 2022
The New Jersey recording space built in 1959 by Rudy Van Gelder is filled with history. Can it regain its glory without getting stuck in the past? Source: New York Times
Manhattan’s New Green Space Was J.P. Morgan’s Side Yard
By Gotham Rex on June 10, 2022
The Morgan Library & Museum celebrates the restoration of a McKim building and unveils a garden with classical sculptures from the financier’s collection. Source: New York Times
Paul Gunther, Keeper of a Cultural Flame, Dies at 65
By Gotham Rex on June 2, 2022
In New York City, he helped engineer behind-the-scenes rescues of monuments, murals and museums and the preservation of Times Square’s dazzling lights. Source: New York Times
Delta’s Terminal C at La Guardia Airport Is Now an Art Destination
By Gotham Rex on June 1, 2022
With the opening of Delta Air Lines’s new terminal at La Guardia Airport, New York gets a distinctive new collection of public artworks. Source: New York Times
Museum of Natural History’s Renewed Hall Holds Treasures and Trauma
By Gotham Rex on May 5, 2022
Its oldest gallery, Northwest Coast Hall, reopens May 13 with rare cultural objects and a fresh emphasis on the lives of Indigenous people who made them. Source: New York Times
Met Museum to Renovate Its Ancient Near East and Cypriot Galleries
By Gotham Rex on February 9, 2022
Construction for the $40 million project is expected to start next year and finish in 2025. Source: New York Times
In a Reimagined Victorian Schoolhouse, an Artist Finds His Third Act
By Gotham Rex on February 8, 2022
By moving into a turn-of-the-20th-century building in upstate New York, the ceramist Dan McCarthy learned that he didn’t need the city that had defined him — and his career — after all. Source: New York Times
Eyesore or Monument? Preservationists Fight to Save a Grain Elevator in Buffalo
By Gotham Rex on January 22, 2022
The current owner of the Great Northern has been pushing to demolish the building — possibly the last grain elevator of its type in the world. Source: New York Times
Reign of Coney Island’s ‘Mayor’ Ends in a Sideshow by the Sea
By Gotham Rex on January 5, 2022
Dick Zigun, who spent decades restoring the Brooklyn enclave to its carnivalesque glory, is forced out of the organization he helped create. Source: New York Times
As the Mayor Promised Millions for New Monuments, Old Ones Crumbled
By Gotham Rex on December 29, 2021
Without dedicated funding for conservation, many of New York City’s public memorials and artworks are decaying from neglect. Source: New York Times
Sardi’s Is Back After 648 Days, Its Fortunes Tied to Broadway
By Gotham Rex on December 25, 2021
The caricatures are back up. But many shows are canceling performances just as Sardi’s reopens, a hurdle for a restaurant catering to the theater crowd. Source: New York Times
These Churches Have Been Closed, but Their Artifacts Live On
By Gotham Rex on December 24, 2021
In a warehouse on Staten Island, the Archdiocese of New York stores altars, statuary and other relics that can be reused in churches around the world. Source: New York Times
The Philharmonic Is Out of Its Hall This Year. It Doesn’t Pack Light.
By Gotham Rex on October 1, 2021
With David Geffen Hall under renovation, the orchestra — and eight of its cellos, six double basses, six timpani and two grand pianos — must move from hall to hall. Source: New York Times