East 73rd Street Historic District

Description

The East 73rd Street Historic District is a block of that street on the Upper East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is a neighborhood of small rowhouses built from the mid-19th to early 20th centuries.Many of the houses were originally carriage houses for wealthy residents of the Upper East Side, such as Edward Harkness, and their facades still reflect that origin. Among the architects who designed the buildings were Richard Morris Hunt and Charles Romeyn. Later owners included Joseph Pulitzer. Eventually the buildings were converted for automotive use. Some have become purely residential.The block has remained architecturally distinct even as those around it have seen larger and more modern construction replace all or some of their original buildings. In 1980 the individual buildings were designated New York City Landmarks, and two years later it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a single historic district.GeographyMost of the buildings on either side of 73rd Street between Lexington and Third Avenues are part of the 1.4acre district. Specifically, the fifteen buildings from 161 to 169 and from 166 to 182 East 73rd Street make up the historic district. This excludes the two large apartment buildings, constructed later at the intersection with Lexington Avenue on the west side of the block.