In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Let's Celebrate NYC's Architecture and Parks!

my walk in Central Park this morning 

just after it was opened for the first time to the public

front steps Bartow Pell Mansion museum in the Bronx

The beauty of NYC

an original Federal neighborhood in the West Village

If you read Nest by Tamara,
by now you know I passionately love NYC,
and as a 20-year resident I have come to appreciate
the rich history and beautifully preserved parks which surround us. 
Central Park is literally our life line to the natural world, 
and on any given day as I take my little Bridget for her morning walk, 
I encounter bikers, runners, and others enjoying the beauty of the park. 

the city's parks provide hundreds of sports facilities for our local schools

when my children were toddlers they'd run excitedly

through the park searching for the Balto statue perched high on the hill

Over the years as friends and family have visited from out of town, 

I am surprised at how amazed they are by Central Park, 
and similarly how unaware they are this park is the crown jewel of the city. 
 It's like our best kept secret.  

So, of course when we were barraged by the ravages of 
Hurricane Sandy it is concerning.  
Not only are we worried about the lives and safety of those who live here,
 but our dear architecture and beautifully tended gardens are at stake.  
This morning I walked bridget to the bottom of the hill next to the MET museum 
and the park is still roped off.  Worry grows.  

What's a girl to do but write a blog post to 
show all of you the beauty, hard work, public and private funding 
that has gone into keeping this city beautiful.
Just last week a local New Yorker donated the most amount of money
 in record to Central Park, 
and thankfully we New Yorkers value the park that was designed many moons ago by
architect Fredrick Olmstead.  
I have no doubt we will clean up this mess, 
with many volunteers chipping in to boot.  
We have a tough road ahead but as Mayor Bloomberg eloquently put it

"We New Yorkers are at our best in times of crisis, 
we are tough and we will put this behind us"

So let's celebrate NYC's vitality, gardens, architecture, beauty 
but most of all our perseverance:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

this gorgeous bronze statue is tucked in a side street

a real federal mansion holding court on the Upper East Side

details on the Metropolitan Museum of Art and surrounding buildings

  image of workers furiously working in record time
 to build the Empire State Building during the Great Depression

Andrew Carnegie's former country estate now home to the Cooper Hewitt 
museum of decorative arts

 The Barow Pell Mansion is a historic museum in the Bronx.  It's one of NYC's most precious gems thankfully preserved (many similar ones like this were destroyed).  On a personal note, stay tuned as I'll be writing more about this historic building and the Christmas Tree I'll be decorating for their month-long holiday extravaganza.  It's part of their efforts to bring the community into the building and properties.  I will be one of 8 designers and artists to decorate trees throughout the home using the inspiration from children's book stories.  I chose the Velveteen Rabbit, and of course I'll bring you photographs soon.

  many art deco detailing in Midtown.

 the famous Gracie Mansion on East End Avenue is a historic, 
wooden home recently refurbished

photographs I took from a recent visit to the Gracie Mansion
 

the beauty of Central Park

 Alice In Wonderland Sculpture

sheep's meadow

Stop back for more design goodness soon

Happy Nesting XO

photography note:  
many of these photographs are my own 
but some are courtesy of Flicker.com and the Central Park website. 

 views of a historic area on Barrow Street from a client's apartment

photographs in photo collages by Gabby Stephenson

*please see updates on the park's website about hurricane Sandy 
and progress to restore the park