New York City Gargoyles, Part VIII: Upper West Side Carvings You Might Miss

You need to slow down and look carefully to spot some of the most interesting creature carvings on New York City buildings. Below are some panels carved into the facades of apartment buildings in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

From afar:

Up close:

From afar:

Up close:

From afar:

Up close:

—Gigi

New York City Gargoyles, Part VII: Upper West Side Doorway Details

It was incredibly difficult to narrow down my photos from the Upper West Side. In the neighborhood between West 82rd and West 85th Streets, you can't walk more than a few steps without looking up to find a stone carving looking down at you from above a doorway or under a window. Many of the stone figures in this area are in the Art Nouveau style. Below are some of these faces.

—Gigi

New York City Gargoyles, Part VI: Midtown and Lower Manhattan Architectural Details

Sometimes you need to look pretty hard to find the most stunning architectural details on skyscrapers.

The Flatiron building, designed by architect Daniel Burnham, is an icon of New York that continues to capture people's imaginations over a century after it was built—and if you look a little closer you can see even more unique details.

High on the Flatiron building are several detailed carvings, including the creepy Medusa head shown below. 

I caught a glimpse of the famous eagle gargoyles of the Chrysler building, but I have yet to find a good vantage point from which to view them. If anyone has ideas about a good place to get a view of those famous metal gargoyles, please let me know! 

None of my planned architectural walks included Lower Manhattan, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that many buildings in the financial district are ornamented, too.

—Gigi

New York City Gargoyles, Part V: Statues at the Brooklyn Museum Sculpture Garden

I was planning on having the next installment in my New York City gargoyles series feature gargoyles and grotesques of the Upper West Side. However, when I sat down to create that post, I was overwhelmed by the hundred photos I'd taken of architectural carvings from that neighborhood. On some streets in that neighborhood, you can't go more than a few steps without seeing another hidden creature peaking out from behind the trees. I need to sort those photos and figure out how to organize them.

In the meantime, there are plenty more interesting carvings from other neighborhoods. Two weeks ago I posted photos of the Faces of the Brooklyn Museum Sculpture Garden, which features carvings rescued from demolished New York City buildings. This week, here are some statues from that garden.

 —Gigi

New York City Gargoyles, Part IV: Cemetery Angels of Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn

On the day I visited the Brooklyn Museum sculpture garden, I also went to Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. Built in 1838, Green-Wood Cemetery was one of America's first rural cemeteries and is now a National Historic Landmark. As soon as we picked up a map of the grounds, I knew it would be impossible to tour the whole thing (478 acres!). I only toured a small corner of the cemetery, but found several beautiful stone angels.

—Gigi

New York City Gargoyles, Part III: Faces of the Brooklyn Museum Sculpture Garden

The first time I visited the Brooklyn Museum's sculpture garden, it was under construction. Overgrown ivy covered dozens of ragged stone carvings that had been rescued form New York City buildings scheduled for demolition. (You can see some of those earlier photos here and here.)

Since then, the garden has been cleaned up and renamed the Steinberg Family Sculpture Garden. There are fewer carvings there now, but the ones that are there are characters. Here are some of my favorite stone faces from this month's visit.

—Gigi

New York City Gargoyles, Part II: The Gargoyles and Grotesques of Gramercy Park

Shortly after returning home from a trip to New York last week, I posted a few quick photos of one of my favorite New York City gargoyles, a famous gargoyle in the Gramercy Park neighborhood (shown at left).

But there's much more to the neighborhood than that famous gargoyle. Stone carvers had a lot of fun in Gramercy Park, leaving the buildings covered with gorgeous carvings. Here are a some highlights below.

 

—Gigi