Jim Dykes New York City Tours Blog

HBO's THE GILDED AGE is a popular show and has awakened many people to that period of extravagance in late 19th century-early 20th century. Many scenes were filmed at the grand homes in Newport, Rhode Island, which were built during the "gilded age" as summer houses for the New York wealthy including the Astors, the Vanderbilts and many others. Many are now museums. Rosecliff is my favorite  "Gilded Age" mansion....the home of silver heiress Theresa Fair (later Mrs. Hermann Oelrichs). Theresa (Tessie) grew up in a mining town in Nevada but after her father struck his silver lode and became fabulously wealthy, she adapted to life as a wealthy woman easily. She was known for her kindness, natural class and common sense. Designed by Stanford White for the lovely Theresa, Rosecliff is best visited in May/June when the gardens that surround the home are in bloom. Attached to each chandelier, notice the small clear crystals at the bottom. Theresa had these filled with

  ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING location As a New York City private tour guide over the years, people always want to see their favorite movie & TV locations because New York is full of them. In this blog I’ll mention many of them from the “Carrie Bradshaw” brownstone in SEX & THE CITY, to the white marble mansion on WHITE COLLAR to many other locations. ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING is a television show produced for HULU and most was recently viewed on ABC and it's a quirky mystery/comedy entering its 4 th season. It’s about a group of neighbors doing a true crime podcast in their Upper West side luxury apartment building dubbed The Arconia- and they actually stumble onto various murders and assorted crimes in their building!  It stars Steve Martin (also a producer), Martin Short and the youngest Selena Gomez as a very unlikely group of curious neighbors. Lately this is the building every tourist asks about…I’ve had tourists from South Carolina, Texas and most recently

Vanderpump rules! Was able to meet the very nice Lisa Vanderpump on a recent trip to Los Angeles at a Bravo party, arranged by my good friend Lisa DiGiovine, one of my dearest friends and a longtime Los Angeles TV producer.  Lisa was with her husband Ken Todd and her adorable puppy Jiggy. We were all mingling in the space at the famed WILTERN THEATRE in L.A. located at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue.  I looked up and there was Lisa and Ken, smiling. I quickly said, "Lisa would you mind if we snapped a picture?" And she said "of course dahling...." Originally from England, Lisa was an actress and now she and Ken own restaurants and nightclubs all over the world including several in LA and a new place in Las Vegas. But she first gained fame as one of the REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS on Bravo.  Lisa is a huge animal lover and has many pets including dogs and horses, etc.  I asked her about her little dog Jiggy and she said "I take the old

 Visiting Mae West’s grave Unless you’re a fan of classic Hollywood films, you probably have never heard of Hollywood movie-star and famous “sexpot” Mae West. She was known for her sexy image (which she invented with lots of glitz & sparkle, bleached blond hair piled high and a carefully cultivated image). She was the “queen” of the double entendre—many of which she wrote herself and inserted into her screenplays and stage appearances.    She started in burlesque, vaudeville and made many Broadway appearances before making her first movie at age 39 when she signed a contract with Paramount Pictures in Hollywood. Recently, my blond actress friend Elizabeth called me excitedly to tell me she had just been cast as MAE WEST in the Broadway play DIRTY BLONDE. She was devouring all books and reading material about Mae West including Simon Louvish’s book MAE WEST: It Ain’t No Sin. (pic attached) Elizabeth went on to say: She lived in Hollywood for 40 years but she’s from Brooklyn and that