It Ain't Brooklyn But...

We occasionally bemoan the aesthetic deterioration that can occur in certain areas that are not protected by landmark laws. Although we can’t remember spending any quality time on the block of 101st Street between Park and Lexington Avenues, it sounds like the block has maintained a unique charme precisely because it hasn’t been restricted. We would guess that the reason it’s all worked out for the best is that the block has a cohesiveness and sense of permanence that can only come from long-term owners occupying their own buildings:

Black and white photographs from the 1940’s show that a few of the brick houses on the north side were obviously painted – but a walk down the street now can strain even a Roget of pigmentation: mocha, cream, café au lait, cocoa, buff, red, maroon, red-orange, brick-red, baby blue, light blue, royal blue, forest green, bright green, hunter green, and on and on. Across the street, Clement Poussaint’s house at 112 East 101st has one of the most interesting color assortments on the block. He said that his father, Christopher, put the current Permastone (imitation stone) facade on the first two floors in the 1950’s and picked out the irregular brick shapes in bright colors, a tradition the younger Mr. Poussaint has kept up in pink, aqua, yellow, rust and other colors. “He did things like that, so they wouldn’t look dull,” Mr. Poussaint said.

A Street of Bright Colors [NY Times] GMAP