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About Us

Carnegie Hill Neighbors is a nonprofit neighborhood organization, 501 c 3 that preserves, protects, and advocates on behalf of Carnegie Hill and its residents.

One of New York City’s most attractive and varied neighborhoods, Carnegie Hill has been likened to a village within our great city. Peppered with a wide range of architectural styles, from Civil War-era clapboard houses to late 19th century rowhouses, from early 20th century mansions, remnants of industrial revolution wealth, to the quintessential pre-war apartment building, replete with beamed ceilings and wide plank floors. The area is also home to several significant institutions both secular and religious, cultural and educational. Finally, Carnegie Hill boasts an array of schools to serve all ages, in the public and private school systems.

Almost 50 years ago in June 1970, Carnegie Hill Neighbors was formed in response to the threats of high-rise construction projects and the disappearance of the neighborhood’s historic and architectural character. Today, we continue to be the voice of the neighborhood, offering guidance on topics such as scale and context on new building proposals, historic renovation projects and alterations to other existing buildings. We also work to enforce the zoning laws where infractions can have a pronounced impact on the character of our neighborhood.

Since its founding, Carnegie Hill Neighbors has developed and deployed numerous quality of life programs, including: security patrols, environmental guidance, cleaner streets, landscaping, tree care, and a host of community events. Chief among our aims is to remain a volunteer-centered organization, dedicated to maintaining our area. Carnegie Hill Neighbors has proved that by working together, active and engaged residents can shape their neighborhood into a truly satisfying place in which to live.

Our Historic District

The Carnegie Hill catchment area extends from 86th Street to 98th Street, from the east side of Fifth Avenue to just west of Third Avenue. The map shown to the left highlights the  historic districts within Carnegie Hill. The two original designations between 91st and 95th streets were made in 1974. In 1993, an expanded district was made to incorporate the two into a larger whole, the jewelbox district of Hardenbergh-Rhinelander was designated five years later, and last, in 2014, the Park Avenue Historic District was extended from below 86th Street to 91st Street.

The Carnegie Hill Architectural Guide, published by CHN in 2008, describes in detail close to 400 buildings in the neighborhood. This paperback volume is packed with information both historical and decorative and even as the neighborhood changes, the historical detail of the landmarks described within remain the same. Sturdy and portable, the book furnishes the reader with a collection of visual cues to look out for as well as a menu of self guided walking tours to follow alone or with a companion.

The Carnegie Hill Architectural Guide is good source material for students of architecture and design, the decorative and applied arts as well as students of New York City history among other academic pursuits, both accredited and as one’s hobby or passion.

Mission Statement

Carnegie Hill Neighbors, founded to preserve the architectural heritage of Carnegie Hill, endeavors to enhance the neighborhood with quality of life programs addressing beautification and security; to educate residents about topics ranging from environmental issues to the architectural styles in the neighborhood; and to address challenges to the community.

CHN Board of Directors

Because Carnegie Hill Neighbors is a staffed organization, active on many fronts with a community-minded board of directors, it is in the best position to address neighborhood concerns—from dirty sidewalks to threatening towers.

The CHN Board of Directors oversees the work of the organization. It is a working board with most members in charge of a committee or activity.  The board is comprised of members who are passionate about the community and their areas of interest, be it landmarks, streetscape, tree care, the environment, safety, fund raising, membership development, communications or just spreading the word about how CHN protects and improves Carnegie Hill every day.

David Stoll* – Chairman 
Lo van der Valk* – President
Mark Goldsmith* – Vice President
Barbara C. Coffey* – Secretary

Suzie Aijala
Irene Aldridge
Sarah Bramwell
Heather Brandes
Jenifer Brooks
Barbara Coffey*
Dixie De Luca

Jennifer Garrett
Susan Gottridge*
Anne Haubenstricker
Julie Herzig
Diane Jaffee
Jurate Kazickas
Linda Kurtz
Nicole Mellody
Virginia B. Pitman

Patricia Preston
Molly Rand
Kevin Roe
April Shelton
George Stonbely

Emeritus:
David Balderston
Cynthia MacGrath
Ronald Spencer

*Executive Committee

Letter from the Executive Director

Hello Neighbor,

Next year, we celebrate 50 years in serving Carnegie Hill, during which time we helped achieve landmarks protection for over 50 percent of the neighborhood and downzoned our commercial avenues and mid blocks in our residential enclave. This year, CHN marked 40 years of beautifying the Park Avenue malls, over 25 years of cruiser patrols, and the more recently added daily foot patrols, and decades of streetscape, street tree, garden care and an array of community events.

New leadership of CHN’s board and staff has powered significant outward change at CHN with larger headquarters, a new website, more social and digital media, and less paper communication.  New programming includes an annual film fete, small business initiatives and interdisciplinary enrichment partnerships with area schools and outreach organizations. From this, we see a new generation of community-minded preservationists, environmentalists and activists organizing and getting excited about what we do. We look forward to continuing in this vein with a succession of jubilee activities throughout the year when we will celebrate Carnegie Hill.

Our immediate goals for 2020 are to enjoy the fruits of our labors and to bring you along for the ride with a blowout benefit at the Guggenheim on Thursday, May 14 and a host of celebratory activities and kick off parties, leading up to the big event.

We hope you to see you in 2020 to celebrate with us!

Why do we do all of these things?

Because it’s our home.

Joanna Cawley
Executive Director, Carnegie Hill Neighbors
December, 2019

Staff

1326 Madison Ave
Garden Level
New York, NY | 10128
Tel: 212-996-5520

Office Hours:
Monday – Friday
10:00am – 6:00pm

Lo van der Valk – President
lovandervalk@chneighbors.org​

Joanna Cawley – Executive Director
joanna@chneighbors.org​

Nina Whiting – Marketing and Communications Manager
nina@chneighbors.org

Dagmara Kopiec – Member Relations Manager
dagmara@chneighbors.org

Josephine Mazur – Quality of Life Manager
josephine@chneighbors.org

Haiba Hamilton – Bookkeeper
haiba@chneighbors.org

Events
events@chneighbors.org​​

General Inquiries
info@chneighbors.org

Last Updated: 12/4/2019