In Conversation: "Work & Play" featuring John Gendall and Andrew Huff, Co-Founders of Chapter Agency

BY DAVID GRAVER

Yorkville residents John Gendall and Andrew Huff are the co-founders of the PR and strategic communications consultancy Chapter Agency, which specializes in architecture, landscape architecture and design. They are also married. Both their professional and personal developments are owed to a kismet connection, pertaining to one shared work trip. Gendall had been an architecture critic for many years, prior to leading business development and marketing for a New York City architecture firm. At the same time, Huff worked for a range of communications agencies focused on culture. Today, these Upper East Side residents represent a swathe of global firms, including many who have designed residences and schools in their own neighborhood. Grounded in their unique perspective and understanding of the Upper East Side, and underscored by their love of storytelling, Huff and Gendall shared their Upper East Side tale with us.

Can you tell us a little bit about your personal history with the Upper East Side? Do you live there? Work there?

John Gendall: Until we moved to the Upper East Side, our personal history with the neighborhood was mostly limited to museum visits and an occasional dinner. In 2021, when we were looking for a place to settle, it was athletics that sealed the deal. Andrew is a lifelong competitive swimmer, so the Olympic- sized pool at Asphalt Green was a draw.

Andrew Huff: John is an avid long-distance runner, so access to Central Park was key, too. That, plus the museums we have long loved and easy access to the airports (we travel a lot for work) and trips upstate make it ideal.

What makes it quintessentially New York City? And yet what makes it a distinct enclave?

JG: The neighborhood does quintessential New York so well: pizza slices, bagels, cuisines from all corners of the world. But it does feel distinct, yes. Having easy access to Central Park and the East River gives it a specific character: a place to unwind from our busy work lives.

To you, what are the most appealing attributes of Upper East Side living?

AH: We both have backgrounds in architecture and art, so the fact that we can wake up on a Saturday morning and decide on a whim to walk over to the Met or the Guggenheim is something we do not take for granted. Central Park and Carl Schurz Park bring an appealing tranquility.

Why do you think the Upper East Side continues to find residents like yourself?

JG: There’s an understated timelessness to the neighborhood that will always be a draw. One of the emblematic moments for us was when The Frick Collection occupied Marcel Breuer’s Whitney on Madison. To see Rembrandts and Vermeers hung against those Modernist concrete walls: so cool.

Do you have personal recommendations for restaurants? For shops and stores Galleries? For activities?

JG: Andrew used to work at Gladstone Gallery, which has a space on 64th Street in a townhouse designed by Edward Durell Stone.

AH: John speaks French, so he loves the Albertine bookstore, which is tucked away inside the old Payne Whitney Mansion on Fifth Avenue and updated by the French designer Jacques Garcia. For restaurants, we love the East Pole or QUATORZE for dinners out. We cook a lot, too, so we have wound our way through Agata & Valentina more times than we could possibly count.

Can you paint us a spectacular picture of something you’ve done for/with a client?

AH: To realize any architecture or building project, it takes a long time, a lot of hard work, and such admirable talent. So when we place stories about our clients in media platforms like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, or Architectural Digest, we feel such a sense of accomplishment. Though much of our work is across the U.S. and around the world, it has been rewarding to work on local projects, too. We represented Studio Gang for several years, and we worked with them on the opening of the Gilder Center at the American Museum of Natural History. That was so meaningful to work with a major New York institution—and to be able to bike across Central Park for meetings.