MUSEUM & THEATER

Park Avenue Armory

“The Seventh Regiment Armory set a standard of quality in the care taken with the building itself and especially in the lavish appointments on the interior that was never achieved elsewhere.” - Robert A.M. Stern, Architect

The Armory was built by New York State’s prestigious Seventh Regiment of the National Guard, the first volunteer militia to respond to President Lincoln’s call for troops in 1861. Members of what was known as the “Silk Stocking” Regiment included New York’s most prominent Gilded Age Families including the Vanderbilts, Van Rensselaers, Roosevelts, Stewarts, Livingstons and Harrimans. Built as both a military facility and a social club, the reception rooms on the first floor and the Company Rooms on the second floor were designed by the most prominent designers and artists of the day including Louis Comfort Tiffany, Stanford White, Herter Brothers and Pottier & Stymus. The Armory’s 55,000 square foot drill hall, reminiscent of the original Grand Central Depot and the great train sheds of Europe, remains one of the largest unobstructed spaces of its kind in New York. A marvel of engineering in its time, it was designed by Regiment veteran and architect Charles W. Clinton, later a partner of Clinton & Russell, architects of the Apthorp Apartments and the famed, now demolished, Astor Hotel.

Let me give you my take-away from the tour.

The Upper East Side of New York has been the neighborhood for the wealthy for many years.  In 1806, not that long after the Revolutionary War, cities formed militias for the protection of their communities.  New York had several regiments around the city, each with its own armory.  There was the Irish regiment, the Italian regiment, and the wealthy had their regiment.  The 7th Regiment had the best armory, the finest galas, and the best of everything a gentlemen's club would wish for.  Louis Comfort Tiffany was a member and designed one of the rooms in the armory.

At the beginning of the War between the States, Lincoln appealed to the 7th Regiment of New York City to come to Washington to protect the Capitol from the Southerners.  The 7th Regiment responded by going to Washington, DC in their Brooks Brothers uniforms with their meals being catered by Delmonico's Restaurant in New York City.  The South never attacked and the 7th Regiment returned home.

World War I changed everything for the 7th Regiment.  They were federalized and the "club" became a true military unit.  Approximately 50% of the members of the 7th Regiment that went to Europe were killed or injured.  Joining the 7th Regiment was not so much fun as when it was primarily a social club for the wealthy men of New York City and it slowly fell in membership and the armory fell into disrepair.

The armory is being refurbished back to its original glory to be used as a performance space.



Tonight we are attending Women of Will.

The play deconstructs and conjures William Shakespeare's most famous female characters. Actor Nigel Gore plays the Romeo to Ms. Packer's Juliet, the Petruchio to her Kate. Together Packer and Gore's stage alchemy creates the Shakespeare experience that Ben Brantley of The New York Times calls, “Marvelous!” and Jennifer Farrar of Associated Press hails as “Boundless and irresistible!”

Every scene was a "biggie."  That means almost 3 hours of rants, crying, threats, and love sonnets.  Pretty intense, but good.



Today it happened.  Spring is in full bloom!

No coats or sweaters. Beautiful weather.  And, the flowers are blooming all over the city.  Greeley Plaza is alive with flowers and people.