New York City Condos: Decades of History & Architectural Genius
By Zachary Randles

New York City is the largest populated city in the United States and is known for its glamorous and luxurious lifestyle.  Well-known, famous streets such as 5th Avenue, Park Avenue, Central Park West, and Madison Avenue have a true prestige for the rich lifestyle, one that comes with rich history.  These old, but well-maintained New York City condos house some of the richest and most famous people in the world.  The Riverside Park area in northern Manhattan also boasts many respected residential buildings where the architecture is as amazing today as it was 100 years ago. 

Luxury New York City condos and the families residing in them make up the city’s history.  From investment bankers to Hollywood Stars to old money billionaires, the residents of these New York City condos and co-ops demand luxury to fit into their fabulous lifestyle.  It is rare not to find a doorman or several doormen standing outside any of these mind-blowing buildings. It is also common to have drivers in town cars and limos waiting to whisk the residents away. 

A large number of the residents that live in these marvelous New York City condos have received the apartment from the generation before.  The immaculate old details and history of the buildings nearly forces the families to keep these unique homes.  Selling any of these New York City condos or co-ops would be a multi-million real estate transaction, but the families that own these properties are far from desperate for cash. 

Many of these buildings are over 100 years old and add to the impressive skyline of the city. New York City buildings began as low-scale European style buildings but quickly had to change to become more vertical and higher as the population dramatically increased.  It began in the downtown area of Manhattan and slowly spread its way up the entire island.

Areas of Manhattan such as Harlem, that were very popular with the African-American community contain some structures that could fill history book after history book.  At one time, this area was known as a major black cultural and business center and has now been revitalized, welcoming all cultures and lifestyles. 

Several residential communities of New York City have unique characters and details compared to the commercial skyscrapers in the downtown area.  Brownstones, rowhouses and apartment buildings began popping up around 1870 in downtown and continued a strong expansion until around 1930.  Stone and brick were the main building materials used in this 60 year period as an alternative to wood houses.  Due to fires, such as the Great Fire of 1835, using less flammable materials proved to be a smarter way to build.   In the past the stones used to build these amazing structures were all local, however today these stones come from places all around the world from places such as Norway, Uruguay, and Belgium.

After the 1950s, the federal government came in and made a huge change to the city’s appearance.  Large high-rise residential buildings started to replace older and more valuable structures.  If these buildings would have been restored, they would have been considered priceless landmarks due to their locations and artifacts.  Now with organizations like the Landmarks Preservation Commission,  New York Historical Society and the New York Landmarks Conservancy, tearing down or making changes to these old structures is nearly impossible. 

New York is popular for its diversity, culture and skyline.  Why do think over eight million people live in a 321 square mile island?