By Having abundant green personal space along with a view on the UWS has long come at a price. But, yes, it does promise to make daily life better. QG Floral and Landscape’s call-waiting message puts green/grass desirability this way: “Even if you live in a concrete jungle, you can spruce up your space with a touch of green.” This concept is truly taken to heart in buildings where luxe is non-negotiable.
Take, for example, the lifestyle enjoyed by a select few residents ever since The Copley Condominium & Club at 2000 Broadway. Completed in 1986, The Copley was designed by the firm Davis Brody & Associates (since 1990, Davis Brody Bond), whose recent work includes:
NYU Tisch School of the Arts & Steinhardt School of Music, New York, NY; Paulson Center, New York, NY; Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC), New York, NY; Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History & Culture Washington, DC, and the National September 11 Memorial Museum, New York, NY.
Putting aside features like the three-story spa, a swimming pool, and ultra-spacious living quarters, all apartments at The Copley offer views of the city and /or the chance to pinpoint routes of green connectivity with Central Park and Riverside Park. The three penthouses, with their large terraces, are particularly spectacular in this regard.
All residents of the 160-unit condo have access to a common landscaped garden on the second floor, planted and maintained by QG. Occupying a quarter acre, the garden faces 68th Street to the south and west, receiving plenty of light. The space offers lounge chairs under wide umbrellas, tables and chairs, and a playground.
Francisco Diaz, Acct. Manager for QG Floral and Landscape and his team have been managing The Copley Terrace Garden for the past three years. This group works with the condo board to make decisions about what is planted and the location of plantings.
The plantings QG highlighted over the past two years include:
Perennials 2023:
- Liriope Muscari ‘Variegata’
Shrubs 2023:
- 5-6′ Skip Laurel
- 30-34″W Boxwood ‘Green Velvet’
2024:
Spring: Cool Delta Pansies
Summer: Bigleaf Begonias Red/Pink, Coleus Mix
Fall: Garden Mums
Winter: a mixture of Cut Greens, Pinecones, and Dogwood branches.
Asked about what’s involved in the management of the garden, Francisco responded,” Overall plant care to ensure the best preformation of all plants throughout the season, which includes but is not limited to appropriate fertilization, water management, trimming and pruning, and integrated pest management.”
QG does not work on the penthouse terraces of The Copley and published descriptions of these terraces are not found via Google searches. However, going back a few decades, there is an account in The New York Times describing how pianist Constance Keene purchased a penthouse at The Copley in the 1980s. She shared her great love of this apartment in a February 1988 article by writer Barbara Whitaker, “Habitats/The Copley, 2000 Broadway; “Fine-Tuning Apartments to Accommodate Pianos.”
Possibly because the story was written in winter, views from the windows are noted, but nothing is mentioned about plantings. “The view spans virtually the entire Upper West Side, as well as the Hudson River toward the George Washington Bridge and beyond. To the east looms Central Park, with the towers of the East Side.”
Keene, who died in 2005 at the age of 85, is still well remembered in music circles and beyond. She was a supremely talented, successful pianist who toured internationally. Among her most famous recordings are Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Preludes, Etudes-Tableaux, Op. 33 and Etudes-Tableaux, Op. 39. Further acclaim comes from her recordings of pieces from Felix Mendelssohn, Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Carl Maria von Weber. Keene was also an exceptional teacher deeply devoted to her students at the Manhattan School of Music.
Having lived for 20 years on the East Side, she moved to The Copley shortly after it was built, combining two apartments. However, the petite, very elegant musician, always had her heart set on the penthouse she eventually purchased. She enjoyed having guests in the apartment that easily accommodated two grand Steinways and overlooked Lincoln Center.
Pianist Penny Johnson studied with Ms. Keene (pictured, left, circa 2004) during the last two years of her mentor’s life:
I should note that when I came to study with Ms. Keene for my doctoral studies in piano performance at Manhattan School of Music in 2003, Ms. Keene (then 82) was physically quite frail and had a very bad cough. Before she passed away in December of 2005, there had been a few scares with her health. Her physical condition during the final years may have prohibited her from enjoying some of the various offerings of her building. She had grit, though, and was as sharp as a tack and could still play the piano, indeed she did! She would practice daily, and demonstrate at lessons.
I do know that Ms. Keene loved to swim, and would regularly visit the pool room several floors below her unit. I even went with her once, swimming, that is, and she loved it. She was so at ease and comfortable, swimming there gave her life. I believe she would often practice her piano afterward. She seemed very comfortable in her home, always ready to host her friends and students.
Johnson’s memories of her interactions with her teacher are admirably detailed.
Ms. Keene was very committed to her students (a small group of us, maybe 6-8 at most) and would give us her all, hosting weekly performance classes every Sunday at 5:30 pm. At these gatherings, students would perform for one another and give critiques in a friendly manner. Ms. Keene would preside over and offer many wonderful stories and quotes from long ago.
After the performance portion of the class had finished, Ms. Keene and her husband, Milton (retired lawyer), would host us for refreshments in the dining room, which had a skylight. I do recall that every time she pointed out the window with her slender, long, artist’s hands, she always had great pride in the city of New York, in particular, the Upper West Side. It was an experience I shall never forget, especially with the twinkling nighttime Manhattan lights outside her window.