The Beekman School

Amster Yard is a small enclave in the East Midtown and Turtle Bay neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, consisting of a courtyard and a group of five surrounding structures. The "L"-shaped yard, created by the artist James Amster between 1944 and 1946, is in the middle of the block bounded clockwise from south by 49th Street, Third Avenue, 50th Street, and Second Avenue. The five buildings were remodeled by Ted Sandler and Harold Sterner. Since 1999, the yard and its surrounding structures have been owned by the Instituto Cervantes New York, a non-profit organization created by the Spanish government. The entrance to the yard is underneath two buildings on 49th Street. Amster created the yard with plantings, a walkway, and a courtyard surrounded by multiple 19th-century low-rise buildings. There were commercial shops on the ground level and six apartments above. The three structures in the rear of the courtyard are replicas of the original structures. Beneath the yard itself are numerous spaces for the Instituto Cervantes, including an auditorium, library, and gallery. The building was originally a 19th-century boarding house, a station of the Boston Post Road and a commercial yard, but was abandoned by the time Amster bought it in 1944. Amster Yard became a popular meeting place within the Turtle Bay community in the decades after its completion. In 1966, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the yard as a city landmark. Amster died in 1986, but his longtime partner Robert K. Moyer continued to live there until 1992, when he was the last residential tenant to move out. Amster Yard was acquired in 1999 by the Instituto Cervantes, which installed new facilities under the original yard and replaced several structures in the rear with replicas.

219 East 49th Street, also known as the Morris B. Sanders Studio & Apartment, is a building in the East Midtown and Turtle Bay neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, along the northern sidewalk of 49th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. The house, designed by Arkansas architect Morris B. Sanders Jr. and constructed in 1935, replaced a 19th-century brownstone townhouse. It contained Sanders's studio, as well as a residence for him and his wife Barbara Castleton Davis. The five-and-a-half-story building contains a facade of dark blue bricks as well as glass block windows. The glass blocks were installed to provide insulation and privacy while also allowing illumination. The house was designed with two residential units: Sanders's seven-room apartment on the fourth, fifth, and partial sixth floors, as well as a six-room unit on the second and third floors that was rented to others. The ground story, with a white marble facade and a slightly angled entrance doorway, was used for Sanders's studios. Upon completion, 219 East 49th Street was largely praised for its design. Davis bought the previous structure in mid-1934 and originally intended to remodel it. Ultimately, the old brownstone was removed and replaced with the current building, which was completed in December 1935. Sanders lived in the house until his death in 1948, and it was sold the year afterward. Since 1980, the house has been owned by Donald Wise. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building as an official landmark in 2008.

Lafayette was a French restaurant in New York City located at 202 East 50th Street. It was established in 1965 and closed in the late 1970s. W magazine referred to it in 1972, as one of "Les Six, the last bastions of grand luxe dining in New York." The other five named were La Grenouille, La Caravelle, La Côte Basque, Quo Vadis, and Lutèce; of these, only La Grenouille remains open. In its heyday the restaurant was known for the quality of its cuisine, its celebrity clientele, and the legendary rudeness of its proprietor, Jean Fayet.

Turtle Bay is a neighborhood in New York City, on the east side of Midtown Manhattan. It extends from roughly 43rd Street to 53rd Streets, and eastward from Lexington Avenue to the East River's western branch (facing Roosevelt Island). The neighborhood is the site of the headquarters of the United Nations and the Chrysler Building. The Tudor City apartment complex is to the south of Turtle Bay.Turtle Bay is named after a former cove of the East River. The neighborhood was originally settled as a Dutch farm in the 17th century, and was subsequently developed with tenements, power plants, and slaughterhouses in the 19th century. These industrial structures were largely demolished in the 1940s and 1950s to make way for the United Nations headquarters. Today, Turtle Bay contains multiple missions and consulates to the nearby United Nations headquarters. Turtle Bay is part of Manhattan Community District 6, and its primary ZIP Codes are 10017 and 10022. It is patrolled by the 17th Precinct of the New York City Police Department.

Smith & Wollensky is the name of several high-end American steakhouses, with locations in New York, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Houston, Miami Beach, Las Vegas, London, and most recently, Taipei. The first Smith and Wollensky steakhouse was founded in 1977 by Alan Stillman, best known for creating T.G.I. Friday's, and Ben Benson, in a distinctive building on 49th Street and 3rd Avenue in New York, once occupied by Manny Wolf's Steakhouse. Many of the restaurants have a wooden exterior with its trademark green and white colors. The individual Smith and Wollensky restaurants operate using slightly varied menus. In 1997, Ruth Reichl, then-restaurant reviewer for the New York Times, called Smith & Wollensky "A steakhouse to end all arguments.". Smith & Wollensky is owned by the Patina Restaurant Group.

Lutèce was a French restaurant in Manhattan that operated for more than 40 years before closing in early 2004. It once had a satellite restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip.It was famous for its Alsatian onion tart and a sauteed foie gras with dark chocolate sauce and bitter orange marmalade. In 1972, W magazine referred to it as one of "Les Six, the last bastions of grand luxe dining in New York." The other five were La Grenouille, La Caravelle, La Côte Basque, Lafayette, and Quo Vadis; of these, only La Grenouille remains open.

The Turtle Bay Gardens Historic District is a collection of twenty rowhouses in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. They consist of eleven houses on the south side of 49th Street and nine on the north side of 48th Street, between Second and Third Avenues.: 3–4  The rowhouses, dating from the 1860s, were renovated between 1918 and 1920 by Charlotte Hunnewell Sorchan to plans by Clarence Dean.The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Turtle Bay Gardens Historic District in 1966, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Sutton Place Synagogue (Jewish Center for the United Nations) is a Traditional Jewish congregation located at 225 East 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The congregation was founded in 1901 as Congregation "Beth Hamedrash Hachodosh Talmud Torah" (New House of Study for the Study of the Torah). Its first religious leader, Rabbi Meyer Freeman published a book entitled "The Talmud" to raise money for a synagogue building. The congregation, originally founded as an Orthodox Synagogue, acquired a synagogue building at 221 East 51st Street from Congregation Orach Chaim in 1906.In 1950, Rabbi David B. Kahane the youngest student to ever be granted a Rabbinical degree from Yeshiva University and a Columbia University P.H.D candidate became the congregations spiritual and longest tenured leader. On May 12, 1951, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion visited the then called East Fifty-First Street Synagogue, where he received blessings from Rabbi Kahane.On January 24, 1965, Sutton Place Synagogue announced plans for the construction of a Jewish Center for the United Nations, complementing similar religious centers near the UN Headquarters. The announcement was made by U. S. Sen. Jacob K. Javits, the honorary chairman of the project.The Inaugural Dinner, kicking off the Capital Campaign, was held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Sunday, May 2, 1965. The Honorary Chairmen were United Nations Ambassador Arthur Goldberg and US Senators Jacob K. Javits and Abraham A. Ribicoff. Ambassador Goldberg said this in his opening remarks for the evening: I am very much pleased to participate this evening in the Inaugural dinner for the Jewish Center for the United Nations. This dinner appropriately takes place on the 60th anniversary of the Sutton Place Synagogue Thus It both commemorates the Sutton Place Synagogue's venerable history of religious service and marks the extension of that worthy tradition through the creation of a center, which will serve both local and international Jewish communities. On an occasion such as this one, it is fitting to renew our dedication to the United Nations.Abby Rockefeller, in 1971, purchased property from the synagogue to develop Greenacre Park and, as a result, the congregation purchased property on East 51st and 52nd Streets. The congregation moved to the property on East 52nd street while the construction occurred on the new building on 51st street.On September 3, 1975, the congregation opened a new synagogue building and became known as "Sutton Place Synagogue - The Jewish Center for the United Nations."From the late 70's to early 80's Sutton Place Synagogue began to establish itself as the leading destination for singles, young couples and families. By 1985, they had grown the numbers of members to over 1850 families as their High Holiday service grew to over 2500 congregants when they moved their secondary services to the Waldorf-Astoria. Established by Rabbi Kahane in 1981, the synagogue's most famous program, the Jewish Town Hall, put the congregation at the forefront of political discourse. Cardinal-designate John O’Connor, Jackie Mason, Ellie Wiesel, Henry A. Kissinger, and Ariel Sharon all participated in a Jewish Town Hall at Suton Place Synagogue. On December 11, 1985, the synagogue became the owners of 229 East 51st Street, the current site of the Sachs Family Educational Center housing the Kaplan Nursery School and the Nathaniel and Fanny Stricks Jackson Religious School. In 1991, Rabbi David Kahane, who was referred to as one of the three most prominent Rabbis in New York and America's most powerful and eloquent speaker for over four decades, suffered a stroke. His son, Rabbi Reuven Kahane Esq. served successfully as the synagogue Rabbi for almost three years before moving to Jerusalem and becoming a prominent entrepreneur and Real Estate Developer in Israel and New York. https://www.amimagazine.org/2021/08/18/reuven-kahane/ Rabbi David Kahane died in January 1996.In 1994, the congregation elected Rabbi Richard Thaler to be its religious leader. Rabbi Thaler died on November 27, 1997.In 1998, Rabbi Allen Schranz became the religious leader of Sutton Place Synagogue. During his time as Rabbi of the congregation he instituted a film salon series and short story course, inviting such authors as Pete Hamill and Stephen Dubner. Rabbi Schranz died on April 16, 2015.Since 2012, the synagogue has been led by Rabbi Ain.

The Lescaze House is a four-story house at 211 East 48th Street in the East Midtown and Turtle Bay neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It is along the northern sidewalk of 48th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. The Lescaze House at 211 East 48th Street was designed by William Lescaze in the International Style between 1933 and 1934 as a renovation of a 19th-century brownstone townhouse. It is one of three houses in Manhattan designed by Lescaze. The four-story building contains a facade of white-painted stucco blocks and glass block windows. The glass blocks, the first to be used on a building in New York City, were installed to provide insulation and privacy while also allowing illumination. The house was designed to accommodate his office at the bottom and his family's residence on the upper floors. The Lescaze House was designed with a dining room at the first story, bedrooms on the second story, and a living room on the third story, as well as a basement and first-story annex in the back yard. Lescaze designed much of the furniture for his residence. William Lescaze and his wife Mary moved into the house in June 1934. Their son Lee Lescaze, in his adulthood, also moved his own family into the neighboring rowhouse at 209 East 48th Street. After William Lescaze's death in 1969, Mary continued to maintain the property. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Lescaze House as an official landmark in 1976, and the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The house was sold in 1985 to the William Kaufman Organization, which conducted renovations but largely maintained the house's historic design. In 2020, the house was sold again to Hendale LLC.

Greenacre Park is a privately owned, publicly accessible vest-pocket park located on East 51st Street between Second and Third Avenues in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, designed by Hideo Sasaki, former chairman of Harvard’s Dept. of Landscape Arch., in consultation with architect Harmon Goldstone. The park, which is owned by Greenacre Foundation, was a 1971 gift from Abby Rockefeller Mauzé, the philanthropist, the daughter of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and the granddaughter of John D Rockefeller.The 6,360-square-foot (591 m2) park was assembled from three lots, which had previously been occupied by a store, a garage, and part of a synagogue. It features a 25-foot (7.6 m) waterfall, a trellis with heat lamps for chilly days, chairs and tables, as well as honey locust trees, azaleas, and pansies, which together attract an average of 700 visitors a day.In 1980, when a planned building would have blocked the park's sunlight, a campaign was launched to block the construction of the building. Then, in May 2017, a city rezoning plan, which would allow the building of taller buildings nearby the park, caused a controversy when the Greenacre Foundation claimed that the taller buildings would put the park in shadow a great deal of time. A city shadow study indicated that the park would not be adversely affected by the rezoning, but a study commissioned by the Foundation claimed that buildings on six particular sites could put the park completely in the dark; because of this the Foundation called for height limitations on those sites. As of May 2017, their "Fight for Light" campaign is supported by the Municipal Art Society, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, New Yorkers for Parks, and Daniel R. Garodnick, the city councilman in whose district the park is located.In 2018, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Climate Museum is a nonprofit organization in New York City and the first museum dedicated to climate change and climate solutions in the United States. Its mission is "to inspire action on the climate crisis with programming across the arts and sciences that deepens understanding, builds connections, and advances just solutions." The Climate Museum presents free exhibitions, art installations, youth programs and other public programs at its seasonal exhibition hub on Governors Island, in public spaces citywide, and through virtual events. The Museum is currently scaling out to a permanent, year-round location in New York City.