Riverside Drive – West 80th -81st Street Historic District

The Riverside Drive – West 80th – 81st Street historic district is located in the western section of the Upper West Side, alongside Riverside Park. Formerly a part of the Bloomingdale Farm during the eighteenth century, the land that comprises this district changed hands several times before it was purchased by Francis Price in 1827. Although the land was surveyed and subdivided into lots for development, the area remained primarily undeveloped until well into the late nineteenth century.

One of the biggest boosts to Upper West Side development was the creation of Riverside Park and Drive. Designed by Fredrick Law Olmsted, his plan took advantage of the contours of the land, creating gently curving roads and scenic perspectives. Construction of the park and drive began in 1876 and was completed in 1900. By the turn of the century, the area had become one of New York's most desirable neighborhoods.

This small district consists of thirty-two row houses and townhouses built in the 1890s by primarily two architects: Charles H. Israels and Clarence F. True. The oldest buildings in the district are five row houses, 306-314 West 81st Street, built by Israels in 1892 for Jewish developer Bernard S. Levy. He constructed six additional houses for Levy in 1894 at 307-319 West 80th Street. From 1897 to 1899, twenty-one townhouses were designed and built by True, who was also influential in the development of lower Riverside Drive. Influenced by the Beaux-Arts style of McKim, Mead & White, the designs of both architects are generally freer and more picturesque, with medievalizing details such as bow fronts, oriels, parapets, and chimneys, and embellished with Roman brick, brownstone, limestone, leaded-glass windows, terra cotta, tile, and wrought iron. All the row houses were built on speculation as three- or four-story, single-family houses. Three turn of the century tenements and a neo-Classical style apartment building constructed in the 1920s comprise the remainder of the district. ©2014