At the northwest corner of York Avenue and East 83rd Street is an unassuming 19th-century walkup with a realistic mural depicting a glockenspiel. Titled Glockenspiel, it honors the German community that populated Yorkville in the first half of the 20th century. Its name evokes the glockenspiel clock at Munich city hall, where statues circle around the clock.
The mural was painted in 2005, when Jules Demchick, the developer of the Cielo tower at 450 E. 83rd Street, agreed with the owner of the tenement across the street to have this wall painted. Instead of medieval knights, two munted NYPD officers are depicted below a clock with zodiac emblems, forever stuck at 4:00. Like the clock, public art represents the moment when it was painted. The hanging clothes painted here represent a dry cleaner that was here for many years, but has since been replaced by a corner grocer. Also concerning small businesses, the Logos Bookstore on this block is still in business, given fame by Penn Badgley’s character in the Netflix series You.
Richard Haas’ portfolio in New York City also includes a bank in Forest Hills, former Department of Education building in downtown Brooklyn, Con Ed substation near South Street Seaport, and a beloved wall in Soho that was first painted in 1974 and restored in 2023.
The juxtaposition of the mural-clad tenement across from a high-end condo tower is also seen across York Avenue, where the Morad Executive apartments face a tenement with a corner turret.
Kevin last visited this corner in 2009, when he wrote a detailed essay on Yorkville’s public clocks. To see a working clock with statues dancing in a circle, visit the Delacorte Clock in Central Park.
Sergey Kadinsky is the author of Hidden Waters of New York City: A History and Guide to 101 Forgotten Lakes, Ponds, Creeks, and Streams in the Five Boroughs (2016, Countryman Press), adjunct history professor at Touro University and the webmaster of Hidden Waters Blog.
Check out the ForgottenBook, take a look at the gift shop. As always, “comment…as you see fit.” I earn a small payment when you click on any ad on the site.
7/9/2025
3 comments
This is one of those many delightful “Easter Eggs” that are scattered, in plain sight, across our City!
Across the street was your classic NY candy store,soda fountain,penny candy
newspapers,etc.I would sometimes see Caroline Kennedy pop in for
her daily bag of penny candy,she went to Brearley nearby.I always gave her
a wide berth,I was afraid I would get tackled by secret service if I got too close
Another Kennedy used to also procure a different kind of candy just a few blocks away. A young RFK could be seen wandering these same blocks, zooted to the heavens. He’s since abandoned the street drugs that cause brain worms. Now he just gets high on snake oil.