An Urban Tale: NYC's East 93rd Street

"Sloping down from the crest of Carnegie Hill, East 93rd Street from Madison to Fifth Avenues is a peaceful block in the Carnegie Hill Historic District, with a mix of old brownstones and later town-house renovations of the 1920s and 1930s. Now workers' trucks double-park here as several renovations bring a fresh wave of change.

The first houses were built in clumps, like the four from 14 to 20 East 93rd, which were put up in 1893 by Walter Reid, a developer. They were bought by well-to-do people like Sender Jarmulowsky, who moved into No. 16.

He had come to the United States from Russia in the 1870s, establishing a bank on the Lower East Side, and was the president of the Eldridge Street Synagogue when it built its Moorish-style sanctuary south of Delancey Street in 1887.

On the west side of Mr. Jarmulowsky's stoop is one of the sights of the street: the separate blocks of stone have weathered down to wildly different levels, their bedding planes pitching and diving. The spot is like a brownstone Grand Canyon."