![]() Since then I've been happy to lead it each year, with the exception of three years when the weather was simply too brutal for us to hold it. The Block Association offered to get involved and our Annual Solstice Caroling was born. In 1983 I thought it would be nice to do some holiday caroling and initially organized friends in my building to wander around singing. ![]() I then served in that function for 13 years consecutively. I suggested to the board that we hold a Yard Sale in the spring to bookend the one 104th Street does each fall - I guess that was around 2004? I offered to manage the vendors in order to kick it off. I've always believed that if I'm not part of the solution then I'm part of the problem. After stepping down I've continued being active I deeply believe in community involvement. ![]() I was a board member for seven years and spearheaded the efforts to stagger traffic lights on West End and have stop signs installed on the Riverside Drive service road. I've been active with the Block Association in many ways since then. It's terrific to feel so at home in supposedly uncaring, unfriendly Manhattan. I used my students - along with the many other things I do, I've taught singing since 1978, trained by my own teacher to do so - and I was immediately embraced by this wonderful community. So how long did it take you to get involved in the Block Association?Īnthony: Not long! Lil Oliver, an 865 neighbor and Sy Oliver's wife and head of the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), invited me to produce a show for one of the Block Parties - titled "On the Streets Where You Live" given in the early 1980's. I'm still here.Ĭaitlin: Ha! With echoes of Elaine Stritch. I really wanted to try "the City thing" for a while and Bloomingdale reminded me so much of my native Park Slope I felt right at home. And, now, as a little hors d'oeuvre, read on for my sit-down with Anthony.Ĭaitlin: How long have you lived in the neighborhood?Īnthony: I moved into 865 West End immediately after graduating from Pratt Institute School of Architecture in 1979. So keep your eye out tomorrow for the blog post with the video. You'll enjoy the intimacy of Anthony's talk as he infiltrated almost every Candela on West End to bring alive the architectural features that Candela was known for and that make living in one of his buildings a classic New York experience. With fine examples of his work at 800, 820, 865, 875, 878, and 915 West End and more south of here, you can't hold a candle to us! The Upper East Side boasts a fair number of them, but Candela Corners belong to us, Bloomingdalers. Now it's time to pay some mind to the great Sicilian American architect Rosario Candela who left a mark on the way New Yorkers live by way of the incredible number of residential buildings he designed in the 1920s and 1930s. I've written before about the early buildings like the Townsend House and my personal favorite, the St. 102nd Street and West End Avenue where most every pre-war era collides in an explosion of styles and housing variations. In the meantime, I caught up with Anthony, a former Block Association board member and longtime neighbor. Blog subscribers will have to click on the title of the blog to view the embedded video online. ![]() The recording will be posted here tomorrow for your viewing pleasure. If you missed Anthony Bellov's "Candela Corners" talk for the West 102nd-103rd Streets Block Association last week, fret no more.
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