It might seem odd, but pop artist Andy Warhol lived on the Upper East Side, where he spent his days roaming antique and toy stores, and hanging out at Serendipity. It was at night that he went downtown to work at his famous Factory — there were four of them over time — creating films and paintings, and nurturing his coterie of hangers-on. Warhol expert and enthusiast Thomas Kiedrowski has just published a book, “Andy Warhol’s New York City,” detailing both the famuos and lesser-known haunts of the artist, mythmaker and master media manipulator. This Warhol’s New York. — SHEILA MCCLEAR
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Serendipity 3, 225 E. 60th St., between Second and Third avenues
Because of its proximity to the Design & Decoration building, this ice cream parlor, which first opened in 1954, served as a meeting spot for art directors. According to Kiedrowski, “Andy would go there to network. They also asked him to put his drawings up in the windows.”
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Church of St. Vincent Ferrer, 152 E. 66th St.,at Lexington Avenue
“[His friend] Benjamin would pick him up [in the morning], and the first place they would go was church. Warhol would go in for five or 10 minutes to pray, and then they would start his day. On religious holidays he would take the kids from [his publication] Interview magazine and say, ‘You’re giving back [to the community]’ and take them to work in soup kitchens.”
Lawrence Schwartzwald
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Edie Sedgwick’s apartment, 16 E. 63rd St., between Fifth and Madison avenues
The Factory starlet lived in a 3 1/2 bedroom here, where she fell asleep while smoking a cigarette, setting the place on fire. A fireman pulled the leopard-print leotard-wearing waif from the apartment window. “After [the fire] she went to live at the Chelsea Hotel, where she set her room on fire there, too,” says Kiedrowski. “She had this dream that Andy was going to make her a star, but when she went off on her own and made a movie with someone else, and got more into drugs, he dropped her. He had a habit of dropping people. She was with Warhol for about a year, in ‘65, and that was it.”
Lorenzo Ciniglio/Freelance
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Hairpieces by Paul, 147 W. 42nd St. (building razed)
This is where Warhol used to buy his white wigs. “But he wouldn’t go there to pick them up himself,” says Kiedrowski. “Paul would deliver the wigs to him two at a time. I think they cost $350 a piece. It was 1955 [when he was 32] that he started wearing them. He was losing his hair early; his whole family was bald.”
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Andy Warhol’s residence, 57 E. 66th St.,between Park and Madison avenues
Between 1974 and 1987, Warhol lived in this huge, five-story townhouse, which became a depository for his antiques — of which he was a huge collector, says Kiedrowski. “He would go antiquing every day, often at Vito Giallo Antiques [on Madison Avenue and 76th Street, now closed]. He’d come home, drop his purchases off in a room, and then do it again the next day. He didn’t use the stuff, he would just put it in boxes. When the Sotheby’s auction came up after his death, they said everything was in their boxes with the Vito’s stickers left on. [Warhol] had never opened any of it. But he was so excited when he found out he could write [the purchases] off on taxes as a business expense for Andy Warhol Enterprises.”
William Farrington
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The Andy Warhol Building, 57 Great Jones St., between Lafayette Street and Bowery
In 1970, Warhol purchased a pair of buildings that were connected with a back courtyard. “He rented [apartments and studios] out to whoever was working for him. Basquiat lived at 57 Great Jones — Warhol kicked someone else out to move him in. Some of Basquiat’s greatest paintings were created at 57 Great Jones, which is also where he [fatally] overdosed.”
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