JOURNAL 2
Journal 4: The Enchanted East Side
Today our fourth class started off in East Harlem, which is also known as Spanish Harlem or El Barrio. East Harlem is a uptown neighborhood of Manhattan, the boundaries of which are the Harlem River to the north, East 96t Street to the south, the East River to the east, and Fifth Avenue to the west (ENY, 85). Back in the day from hearing people talk about East Harlem and how bad of a place it was to be in and to go too, the neighborhood today has been experiencing a wave of gentrification in recent years. It is also one of the largest Latino communities in the country, despite the changes still remains distinctively in Latino favor. After World War I an influx of Puerto Ricans arrived in East Harlem, transforming it into "El Barrio" (ENY, 86). Due to the poverty of these new immigrants and the building of large housing projects that concentrated crime led to East Harlem becoming of the most dangerous places in New York City during the 1960s and 1970s. Which I still think today that even though they are going through the process of gentrification East Harlem is still a bad area to be in if you are not familiar to it or familiar with the people that live their.
After arriving in East Harlem we crossed Park Avenue where we had seen the Carver Houses, which are housing projects made up of 13 buildings that was created for low income residents of the neighborhood, that was completed in 1958. These project housing buildings are named after George Washington Carver, an African-American scientist, who developed hundreds of uses for the peanut, soybean, and sweet potato. Even though it was not a shock to me to see housing project buildings and the way these different people of cultures lived together it was interesting to learn more about them and the need for why they were built.
Next on the list of things to see today was Museum of the City of New York, which I had never heard of or even knew exited. It is located on 1220 Fifth Avenue , between 103rd and 104th Streets. The museum has different exhibitions focused on the history of New York City, "especially its heritage of diversity, opportunity, and perpetual transformation" (ENY, 87). It was founded in 1923 and originally housed in Gracie Mansion before the museum moved to its current location where it is today in 1932. Also when you visit the museum it is worth while to go watch the 22 minute documentary, "Timescapes," which provides an engaging multimedia of how New York City came a long way to the way it is today. The Museum of New York City also has a space for Coney Island, were they show what it was like back then and what the people were like and how they acted when being together on beach just hanging out and relaxing. After checking out the Museum of New York City we meet back in front of El Museo del Barrio were we had meet with Luc our tour guide to take us around East Harlem and show us some of the sights that he was familiar with and most popular throughout the neighborhood. On the corner of 104th Street we saw a mural dedicated to Rev. Pedro Pietri who was born in Puerto Rico. He was a lifelong resident in East Harlem, a community activist, and the founder of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe (ENY, 87). On the other side of the street is a mural called the "Spirit of the East." It was created by Hank Prussing in 1978, the mural captures the Latin influences on the street life in East Harlem in the 1970s (ENY, 87). Before painting this work of art he had spent several days photographing people on El Barrio and some of these individuals ended up being incorporated into his painting. Our next stop was the Modesto Tin Flores Garden located on LExington Avenue just next to the East Harlem Cafe. This garden is operated in collaboration with Hope Community and GrownNYC. Community Gardens like this one in East Harlem are scattered all over New York City that provide tranquil oases for those seeking to escape from the hectic pace of urban life (ENY, 88). In the center of the garden there is an outdoor fountain sculpture, called "Seed of Growth," designed by Lina Puerta, who's work explores the female body and female experience. It also celebrates the strength and diversity of women. Along the back of the park is one of East Harlem's most intriguing murals, "Soldadares." It depicts MExican artist Frida Kahlo and Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos with their hands and hearts intertwined with the flags of their respective countries behind them (ENY, 88). After experiencing and walking through East Harlem we had an hour and a half for lunch were we stopped at El Nuevo Caribeno Restaurant were I had chicken and rice, which was very good and enjoyable.
After lunch we began at the Vanderbilt Gate on Fifth Avenue at 105th Street. This impressive entryway to Central Park was made in Paris in 1894 and originally stood before the Vanderbilt Mansion on Fifth Avenue and 58th Street (ENY, 59). As you walk through the Vanderbilt Gate we found ourselves in the Conservatory Garden, which is the only formal garden in Central Park (ENY, 59). It is named for an 1898 greenhouse or conservatory that once stood on this site, but which was torn down in 1934. When your in the Conservatory Gardens you get a sense of a warm feeling when walking through or just relaxing by sitting in the park. We also walked along the Central Park Reservoir, which is 40 feet deep and holds over 1 billion gallons of water (ENY, 60). It is one of New York's best spots to go running and you'll have to share the 1.58 mile pathway around the reservoir with numerous health conscious Manhattanites. While running around the pathway you also get a greg view of New York City's uptown skyline.
To end the day the last four sites we saw was the Obelisk, the Rambles, Strawberry Fields, and the Dakota. The Obelisk is 3,500 years old and is the oldest monument by far in the City of New York. It was built on the Nile in honor of Pharaoh Thutmose III (ENY, 62). The Ramble is 38 acres and is Central Park's version of a forested glen, replete with winding trails and a cascading brook (ENY, 63). The Ramble is truly the one place in New York City where a person can get completely lost in nature. Strawberry Fields is dedicated to the memory of the former Beatle and peace activist John Lennon. In recognition of Lennon's work promoting peace, on October 9, 1985, Mayor Ed Koch dedicated 2.5 acres on the western edge of Central Park across from the Dakota as tribute to Lennon (ENY, 64). The last site of the day was the Dakota where John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono had bought an apartment and lived. John Lennon was also shot and killed in front of the Dakota by an obsessed fan named MArk David Chapman (ENY, 64). The Dakota is the most notable for being one of the first luxury apartment buildings designed for NEw York City's upper class.
Today our fourth class started off in East Harlem, which is also known as Spanish Harlem or El Barrio. East Harlem is a uptown neighborhood of Manhattan, the boundaries of which are the Harlem River to the north, East 96t Street to the south, the East River to the east, and Fifth Avenue to the west (ENY, 85). Back in the day from hearing people talk about East Harlem and how bad of a place it was to be in and to go too, the neighborhood today has been experiencing a wave of gentrification in recent years. It is also one of the largest Latino communities in the country, despite the changes still remains distinctively in Latino favor. After World War I an influx of Puerto Ricans arrived in East Harlem, transforming it into "El Barrio" (ENY, 86). Due to the poverty of these new immigrants and the building of large housing projects that concentrated crime led to East Harlem becoming of the most dangerous places in New York City during the 1960s and 1970s. Which I still think today that even though they are going through the process of gentrification East Harlem is still a bad area to be in if you are not familiar to it or familiar with the people that live their.
After arriving in East Harlem we crossed Park Avenue where we had seen the Carver Houses, which are housing projects made up of 13 buildings that was created for low income residents of the neighborhood, that was completed in 1958. These project housing buildings are named after George Washington Carver, an African-American scientist, who developed hundreds of uses for the peanut, soybean, and sweet potato. Even though it was not a shock to me to see housing project buildings and the way these different people of cultures lived together it was interesting to learn more about them and the need for why they were built.
Next on the list of things to see today was Museum of the City of New York, which I had never heard of or even knew exited. It is located on 1220 Fifth Avenue , between 103rd and 104th Streets. The museum has different exhibitions focused on the history of New York City, "especially its heritage of diversity, opportunity, and perpetual transformation" (ENY, 87). It was founded in 1923 and originally housed in Gracie Mansion before the museum moved to its current location where it is today in 1932. Also when you visit the museum it is worth while to go watch the 22 minute documentary, "Timescapes," which provides an engaging multimedia of how New York City came a long way to the way it is today. The Museum of New York City also has a space for Coney Island, were they show what it was like back then and what the people were like and how they acted when being together on beach just hanging out and relaxing. After checking out the Museum of New York City we meet back in front of El Museo del Barrio were we had meet with Luc our tour guide to take us around East Harlem and show us some of the sights that he was familiar with and most popular throughout the neighborhood. On the corner of 104th Street we saw a mural dedicated to Rev. Pedro Pietri who was born in Puerto Rico. He was a lifelong resident in East Harlem, a community activist, and the founder of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe (ENY, 87). On the other side of the street is a mural called the "Spirit of the East." It was created by Hank Prussing in 1978, the mural captures the Latin influences on the street life in East Harlem in the 1970s (ENY, 87). Before painting this work of art he had spent several days photographing people on El Barrio and some of these individuals ended up being incorporated into his painting. Our next stop was the Modesto Tin Flores Garden located on LExington Avenue just next to the East Harlem Cafe. This garden is operated in collaboration with Hope Community and GrownNYC. Community Gardens like this one in East Harlem are scattered all over New York City that provide tranquil oases for those seeking to escape from the hectic pace of urban life (ENY, 88). In the center of the garden there is an outdoor fountain sculpture, called "Seed of Growth," designed by Lina Puerta, who's work explores the female body and female experience. It also celebrates the strength and diversity of women. Along the back of the park is one of East Harlem's most intriguing murals, "Soldadares." It depicts MExican artist Frida Kahlo and Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos with their hands and hearts intertwined with the flags of their respective countries behind them (ENY, 88). After experiencing and walking through East Harlem we had an hour and a half for lunch were we stopped at El Nuevo Caribeno Restaurant were I had chicken and rice, which was very good and enjoyable.
After lunch we began at the Vanderbilt Gate on Fifth Avenue at 105th Street. This impressive entryway to Central Park was made in Paris in 1894 and originally stood before the Vanderbilt Mansion on Fifth Avenue and 58th Street (ENY, 59). As you walk through the Vanderbilt Gate we found ourselves in the Conservatory Garden, which is the only formal garden in Central Park (ENY, 59). It is named for an 1898 greenhouse or conservatory that once stood on this site, but which was torn down in 1934. When your in the Conservatory Gardens you get a sense of a warm feeling when walking through or just relaxing by sitting in the park. We also walked along the Central Park Reservoir, which is 40 feet deep and holds over 1 billion gallons of water (ENY, 60). It is one of New York's best spots to go running and you'll have to share the 1.58 mile pathway around the reservoir with numerous health conscious Manhattanites. While running around the pathway you also get a greg view of New York City's uptown skyline.
To end the day the last four sites we saw was the Obelisk, the Rambles, Strawberry Fields, and the Dakota. The Obelisk is 3,500 years old and is the oldest monument by far in the City of New York. It was built on the Nile in honor of Pharaoh Thutmose III (ENY, 62). The Ramble is 38 acres and is Central Park's version of a forested glen, replete with winding trails and a cascading brook (ENY, 63). The Ramble is truly the one place in New York City where a person can get completely lost in nature. Strawberry Fields is dedicated to the memory of the former Beatle and peace activist John Lennon. In recognition of Lennon's work promoting peace, on October 9, 1985, Mayor Ed Koch dedicated 2.5 acres on the western edge of Central Park across from the Dakota as tribute to Lennon (ENY, 64). The last site of the day was the Dakota where John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono had bought an apartment and lived. John Lennon was also shot and killed in front of the Dakota by an obsessed fan named MArk David Chapman (ENY, 64). The Dakota is the most notable for being one of the first luxury apartment buildings designed for NEw York City's upper class.
Journal 5: The Wild West Side
Today we started out in Midtown West, existing Penn Station on 34th Street were we passed Macy's Department Store which occupies the entire block between Broadway and 7th Avenue, which is the largest department store in the United States (ENY, 31). The founder of the Macy's store was Rowland Hussey Macy, a Nantucket Quaker, who between 1843 and 1855 he attempted to operate four retail stores in Massachusetts, all of which which failed. After his failures he eventually learned from his mistakes by opening up "R.H. Macy and Co" in 1858 on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, which was a location that was considered far uptown at the time. From the very beginning the store was a great success with New Yorkers, and he soon expanded his operations by buying the neighboring buildings in the area. Next stop was Broadway, which is the oldest and arguably the most important street in New York City (ENY, 32). Broadway runs 13 miles through Manhattan and the Bronx, and continues and additional 18 miles through Westchester County, terminating in Sleepy Hollow (ENY, 32). In 1811 New York adopted a grid plan that Broadway had preceded and represented something of an anomaly among Manhattan's major venues. Because Broadway didn't run north or south and crosses Manhattan diagonally, it runs through the Eastside in Lower Manhattan and then the Westside in Upper Manhattan. Also because their was so many major venues on Broadway and the city wanted to cut the traffic of cars going down Broadway they decided to build a place for New Yorkers to walk and hang out on. The venues their thought that this plan would hurt their business tremendously but after a while ended up helping them because there was more people walking around and going in and out of stores shopping.
When you arrive at 42nd Street you have arrives at the heart of Midtown known as Times Square. It is known as the world's busiest intersection as well as the world's most popular tourist attraction (ENY, 33). Rumor has it that even those who have never been to New York City know a little something about Time Square whether it be because it is the hub of the New York's theater district as well as being the place where the ball drops on New Year's Eve, a tradition that began in 1907. Times Square is also referred to as "The Crossroads of the World" and "The Great White Way,". It is also the biggest tourist attraction because there is so many different things to do while walking through Time Square and so many different people and cultures that come to visit to see what it's about. As we finished walking throughout Time Square we came upon the G.E. Building that is located at 1240-1256 6th Avenue. This skyscraper forms the heart of the Rockefeller Center complex in Midtown, which is why it is also referred to popularly as 30 Rock (ENY, 36). It was originally known as the RCA Building when it was completed in 1933 and is now best known for being the headquarters of the N.B.C. television network and the studio from which numerous popular television shows are broadcasted like "Saturday Night Live". When you walk out of 30 Rock and tour back is facing the building you can take in the rest of what is Rockefeller Center. This complex of buildings was constructed during the Depression and was one of the first architecturally coordinated developments in New York City, which represents the pinnacle of Art Deco architecture and style in New York City (ENY, 37). In 1928 John D. Rockefeller, Jr., then was one of the richest men in the United States, leased the land on this site from Columba University with the aim of building an opera house for the Metropolitan Opera.
Located on 11 West 53rd Street is the entrance to the world's famous Museum of Modern Art. It is one of the most important and influential museums of modern art in the world that houses an impressive collection of important works of art from the 19th and 20th centuries (ENY, 39). The core collection of the Museum of Modern Art is located on the fourth floor contains art from famous artists like de Kooning, Pollock, Rothko, Rauschenberg, Johns, and Warhol. Located on the fifth floor are paintings also from the famous artists known as Van Gogh, Picasso, Duchamp, Matisse, and Monet. After the Museum of Modern Art it was time for lunch were we ate Thai food at Yum Yum Bangkok located at 650 9th Avenue, which was very good and very filling for a three course lunch special for just under ten dollars.
After lunch we saw the neo-Gothic St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue and 50th Street. The main cathedral of the Archdiocese of New York and the largest Catholic Cathedral in the Unites States, St. Patrick's Cathedral can accommodate 2,200 people for worship (ENY, 45). The original cathedral of St. Patrick was located in lower Manhattan where it sell exists on Mulberry Street. The International Building was what Rockefeller envisioned to be like the La Maison Francaise and the BRitich Empire Building to attract tenants from foreign countries. Also located in the middle in the middle of the plaza is the bronze statue of Atlas holding up the heavens.
We ended the day in Hamilton Heights, which gets its name from Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury who resided in the area during his last years of life. Hamilton Heights is predominantly Latino with a sizable Dominican population. the same sort of gentrification that is happening all over is laos happening in Hamilton Heights, due to the availability of more affordable housing thanks available in other parts of the city and the encroachment of Columbia University into the neighborhood. While in Hamilton Heights we walked through the City College of New York that is a now a part of the CUNY educational system and is recognized for being the first free public institution of higher education in the United States. And last but not least to see was the Hamilton Grange National Memorial were we ended our class for the day. But some information on the memorial is that it was home to Alexander Hamilton, it was a two story federal style house designed by John McComb, and he only lived for two years in this house before dying in duel with Aaron Burr on July 11, 1804.
Today we started out in Midtown West, existing Penn Station on 34th Street were we passed Macy's Department Store which occupies the entire block between Broadway and 7th Avenue, which is the largest department store in the United States (ENY, 31). The founder of the Macy's store was Rowland Hussey Macy, a Nantucket Quaker, who between 1843 and 1855 he attempted to operate four retail stores in Massachusetts, all of which which failed. After his failures he eventually learned from his mistakes by opening up "R.H. Macy and Co" in 1858 on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, which was a location that was considered far uptown at the time. From the very beginning the store was a great success with New Yorkers, and he soon expanded his operations by buying the neighboring buildings in the area. Next stop was Broadway, which is the oldest and arguably the most important street in New York City (ENY, 32). Broadway runs 13 miles through Manhattan and the Bronx, and continues and additional 18 miles through Westchester County, terminating in Sleepy Hollow (ENY, 32). In 1811 New York adopted a grid plan that Broadway had preceded and represented something of an anomaly among Manhattan's major venues. Because Broadway didn't run north or south and crosses Manhattan diagonally, it runs through the Eastside in Lower Manhattan and then the Westside in Upper Manhattan. Also because their was so many major venues on Broadway and the city wanted to cut the traffic of cars going down Broadway they decided to build a place for New Yorkers to walk and hang out on. The venues their thought that this plan would hurt their business tremendously but after a while ended up helping them because there was more people walking around and going in and out of stores shopping.
When you arrive at 42nd Street you have arrives at the heart of Midtown known as Times Square. It is known as the world's busiest intersection as well as the world's most popular tourist attraction (ENY, 33). Rumor has it that even those who have never been to New York City know a little something about Time Square whether it be because it is the hub of the New York's theater district as well as being the place where the ball drops on New Year's Eve, a tradition that began in 1907. Times Square is also referred to as "The Crossroads of the World" and "The Great White Way,". It is also the biggest tourist attraction because there is so many different things to do while walking through Time Square and so many different people and cultures that come to visit to see what it's about. As we finished walking throughout Time Square we came upon the G.E. Building that is located at 1240-1256 6th Avenue. This skyscraper forms the heart of the Rockefeller Center complex in Midtown, which is why it is also referred to popularly as 30 Rock (ENY, 36). It was originally known as the RCA Building when it was completed in 1933 and is now best known for being the headquarters of the N.B.C. television network and the studio from which numerous popular television shows are broadcasted like "Saturday Night Live". When you walk out of 30 Rock and tour back is facing the building you can take in the rest of what is Rockefeller Center. This complex of buildings was constructed during the Depression and was one of the first architecturally coordinated developments in New York City, which represents the pinnacle of Art Deco architecture and style in New York City (ENY, 37). In 1928 John D. Rockefeller, Jr., then was one of the richest men in the United States, leased the land on this site from Columba University with the aim of building an opera house for the Metropolitan Opera.
Located on 11 West 53rd Street is the entrance to the world's famous Museum of Modern Art. It is one of the most important and influential museums of modern art in the world that houses an impressive collection of important works of art from the 19th and 20th centuries (ENY, 39). The core collection of the Museum of Modern Art is located on the fourth floor contains art from famous artists like de Kooning, Pollock, Rothko, Rauschenberg, Johns, and Warhol. Located on the fifth floor are paintings also from the famous artists known as Van Gogh, Picasso, Duchamp, Matisse, and Monet. After the Museum of Modern Art it was time for lunch were we ate Thai food at Yum Yum Bangkok located at 650 9th Avenue, which was very good and very filling for a three course lunch special for just under ten dollars.
After lunch we saw the neo-Gothic St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue and 50th Street. The main cathedral of the Archdiocese of New York and the largest Catholic Cathedral in the Unites States, St. Patrick's Cathedral can accommodate 2,200 people for worship (ENY, 45). The original cathedral of St. Patrick was located in lower Manhattan where it sell exists on Mulberry Street. The International Building was what Rockefeller envisioned to be like the La Maison Francaise and the BRitich Empire Building to attract tenants from foreign countries. Also located in the middle in the middle of the plaza is the bronze statue of Atlas holding up the heavens.
We ended the day in Hamilton Heights, which gets its name from Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury who resided in the area during his last years of life. Hamilton Heights is predominantly Latino with a sizable Dominican population. the same sort of gentrification that is happening all over is laos happening in Hamilton Heights, due to the availability of more affordable housing thanks available in other parts of the city and the encroachment of Columbia University into the neighborhood. While in Hamilton Heights we walked through the City College of New York that is a now a part of the CUNY educational system and is recognized for being the first free public institution of higher education in the United States. And last but not least to see was the Hamilton Grange National Memorial were we ended our class for the day. But some information on the memorial is that it was home to Alexander Hamilton, it was a two story federal style house designed by John McComb, and he only lived for two years in this house before dying in duel with Aaron Burr on July 11, 1804.
Journal 6: Lower Manhattan
Today our class started out in Lower Manhattan, which is the section of the island between New York Harbor to the south and City Hall to the north, is where it all began for New York (ENY, 1). On the southernmost tip of Manhattan is where the Dutch had established their colony of Nieuw Amsterdam in 1624, where about only 1,000 people lived in the Dutch colony, even though most of the people were of non-Dutch origins. It was also known as North America's first great melting pot because no less than 18 languages were spoken throughout the colony. Also none of their homes that were built back then of wood or brick have survived to today, but the streets in this part of Manhattan that were originally laid out by the Dutch still exit and possess many of their original names. Lower Manhattan was also where the British and later the American City of New York, was originally centered and established (ENY, 1). This area has historically been the seat of the New York Government, and for a beef period in time served as the Capital of the newly formed United States of America (ENY, 1). In the 19th century, Lower Manhattan was home to Wall Street, one of the nation's largest corporations, each of which strove to outdo each other in producing even more towering office buildings. Later in years to come this area of Lower Manhattan would become scarred both emotionally and physically because of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2011. Because of this terrorist attack people feared this art of Lower Manhattan would be the end of its dominance as a commercial center, but the opposite has happened, since 2001 the neighborhood has bounced back stronger and more vibrant than ever.
Our first stop of the day was New York City Hall, which the arena around it is known as the Civic Center because the neighborhood houses most of the city's government offices. This is also home to some of the city's most historical sites such as the Brooklyn Bridge, City Hall, St. Paul's Chapel and the Woolworth Building (ENY, 2). The New York City Hall houses the offices of teethe Mayor and the New York City Council. It was built in 1803 and is actually New York's third city hall. The First city hall was built by the Dutch in the 17th century on Pearl Street and the second was built in 1700 on Wall Street, which eventually later became Federal Hall. When it came time to build a new City Hall for New York, a competition was held in 1802 and won by a Frenchman Joseph Francoise Mangin, who also designed the Old St. Patrick's Cathedral and New Yorker John McComb, Jr., who was responsible for Castle Clinton in Battery Park (ENY, 2). When it came time to build the city hall, the City Council objected to the estimated costs and forced McComb and Mangin to reduce the side of the building and use cheaper brownstone for the rear instead of the more expensive limestone and granite tat covers the rest of the building.
Directly across the street from City Hall is the towering Municipal Building, one of the largest governmental buildings in the world. The building is currently home to thirteen municipal agencies of the City of New York and until 2009 housed the Manhattan Marriage Bureau, where 18,000 people were married each year in the building's second floor chapel (ENY, 2). In the 19th century, the public business of New York City was undertaken in City Hall and when the five boroughs joined together to form the greater City of New York in 1898, it soon became apparent that more room was needed to house the city's numerous government agencies. Due to the fact that City Hall couldn't be expanded without destroying its architectural symmetry, a series of competitions were held to choose designs for an entirely new structure.
Located on Chambers Street in the middle of the block is the Tweed Courthouse also known as the Old New York Courthouse. it was built between 1861 and 1881, the Italianate-style courthouse was designed b two of New York's most prominent 19th century architects, who were John Kellum and Leopold Eidlitz (ENY, 4). It has also been called one of the city's grandest and most important civic monuments by New York Landmark's Preservation Commission. The creation of the courthouse was the brainchild of William "Boss" Tweed, one of New York's notoriously corrupt politicians. He was six feet tall and weighed over 300 pounds, he came to control Tammany Hall political machine that ran New York in the late 19th century. To build the courthouse, Tweed appropriated $14 million of which he then pocketed 10 million from the money to fund the project.
On Park Place is were the Woolworth Building is located. Frank Winfield Woolworth was the founder of a successful chain of 5 and 10 cent stores that still bear his name (ENY, 4). When he built his headquarters in Lower Manhattan he was determined that it would rise higher then any other in the world. The building was designed in a neo-Gothic style by Cass Gilbert, who was inspired by medieval cathedrals that he had seen in France. This style is different from the entrance on Broadway, which resembles a European cathedral entrance. It was completed in 1913 and reigned supreme as the second tallest building in the World and was the tallest in New York City for 17 years until the Chrysler Building was finished in 1930.
On 209 Broadway is St. Paul's Chapel designed by Thomas McBean in a Georgian-style out of Manhattan schist and was inspired by the Church of St. Martin in the Fields of London (ENY, 5). It was completed in 1766, and is New York's only pre-Revolutionary War Church that is still intact to this day. It is also the oldest surviving church in Manhattan and as well as the oldest continuous building in use in New York City. In 1776 this chapel managed to survive a great fire that destroyed mush of the original city of New York. This chapel is also wee George Washington would go to worship during the period when New YOrk was the capital of the United States.
At the corner of Liberty Street and Greenwich Street is the 9-11 Memorial Museum, located in the World Trade Center complex. The World Trade Center was a 16 acre commercial complex built between 1966 and 1987, which contained seven buildings and an underground shopping mall centers around a large plaza (ENY,5). The center pieces of the complex were the Twin Towers that were completed in 1972. They were the tallest buildings for almost forty years and the tallest in the world until the Sears Tower in Chicago was completed in 1973 (ENY, 6). They had become symbols of the city's economic might and its role as the center for global capitalism. They were 110 stories each and home to 430 companies with 35,000 workers from around the world. But due to an unfortunate ever on September 11, 2001 were 19 terrorists from Al Qaeda hijacked four commercial airlines, crashing one into the Pentagon in Virginia, two into the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan and the last one into an abounded field in Pennsylvania. To demonstrate their resilience in 2003 Lower Manhattan Development Corporation was created with the aim of redeveloping the World Trade Center. A competition was held to for the best design to replace the Twin Towers was won by Daniel Libeskind, whose design called for the creation of new towers to replace those that had been destroyed around an 8 acre memorial for those who lost their lives during 9-11. The 9-11 memorial was opened in 2011 as a result of the competition launched by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation in 2003. Construction began in 2006 on the new building and was completed on May 10, 2013, almost twelve years after the destruction of the original World Trade Center. At 1,776 feet, 1 World Trade Center, which is referred to as the Freedom Tower is now the tallest building in the United States and the fourth tallest in the world.
After the 9-11 Memorial our next stop was Governors Island. We took the three o'clock ferry to Governors Island were we spend most of the day walking around the island and checking out the sites. If you didn't want to walk around the island you were able to rent bikes to ride around and see the sites. Even though there was to many places to stop and eat on the island we managed to find a food truck were we stopped and had lunch. You could also check out the parks on the island and lay in the hammocks and relax. But if that didn't do anything for you, you could walk around the island by the water and see how beautiful the city looks from across the river.
When we returned from Governors Island our last stop of the day was Fraunces Tavern Museum. It was originally built in 1719 by the wealthy merchant Stephen Delancey and served as his home until 1730 when he moved uptown to the Lower East Side. In 1763 the building passed to an innkeeper Samuel Fraunces, who established a prominent haven here known as Queen's Head a popular meeting place for the NEw York Son's of Liberty (ENY, 10). After the British evacuation of New York, General George Washington had a farewell dinner held here for the officers of his army on December 4, 1783. So after years of being use as a rooming house and beer parlor, in 1904 the building was purchased by the Sons the Revolution and restored to some resemblance of its original Georgian style, where today it is used as a restaurant on the first floor and the upper floors have become a museum with with interesting periods and life of colonial New York.
Today our class started out in Lower Manhattan, which is the section of the island between New York Harbor to the south and City Hall to the north, is where it all began for New York (ENY, 1). On the southernmost tip of Manhattan is where the Dutch had established their colony of Nieuw Amsterdam in 1624, where about only 1,000 people lived in the Dutch colony, even though most of the people were of non-Dutch origins. It was also known as North America's first great melting pot because no less than 18 languages were spoken throughout the colony. Also none of their homes that were built back then of wood or brick have survived to today, but the streets in this part of Manhattan that were originally laid out by the Dutch still exit and possess many of their original names. Lower Manhattan was also where the British and later the American City of New York, was originally centered and established (ENY, 1). This area has historically been the seat of the New York Government, and for a beef period in time served as the Capital of the newly formed United States of America (ENY, 1). In the 19th century, Lower Manhattan was home to Wall Street, one of the nation's largest corporations, each of which strove to outdo each other in producing even more towering office buildings. Later in years to come this area of Lower Manhattan would become scarred both emotionally and physically because of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2011. Because of this terrorist attack people feared this art of Lower Manhattan would be the end of its dominance as a commercial center, but the opposite has happened, since 2001 the neighborhood has bounced back stronger and more vibrant than ever.
Our first stop of the day was New York City Hall, which the arena around it is known as the Civic Center because the neighborhood houses most of the city's government offices. This is also home to some of the city's most historical sites such as the Brooklyn Bridge, City Hall, St. Paul's Chapel and the Woolworth Building (ENY, 2). The New York City Hall houses the offices of teethe Mayor and the New York City Council. It was built in 1803 and is actually New York's third city hall. The First city hall was built by the Dutch in the 17th century on Pearl Street and the second was built in 1700 on Wall Street, which eventually later became Federal Hall. When it came time to build a new City Hall for New York, a competition was held in 1802 and won by a Frenchman Joseph Francoise Mangin, who also designed the Old St. Patrick's Cathedral and New Yorker John McComb, Jr., who was responsible for Castle Clinton in Battery Park (ENY, 2). When it came time to build the city hall, the City Council objected to the estimated costs and forced McComb and Mangin to reduce the side of the building and use cheaper brownstone for the rear instead of the more expensive limestone and granite tat covers the rest of the building.
Directly across the street from City Hall is the towering Municipal Building, one of the largest governmental buildings in the world. The building is currently home to thirteen municipal agencies of the City of New York and until 2009 housed the Manhattan Marriage Bureau, where 18,000 people were married each year in the building's second floor chapel (ENY, 2). In the 19th century, the public business of New York City was undertaken in City Hall and when the five boroughs joined together to form the greater City of New York in 1898, it soon became apparent that more room was needed to house the city's numerous government agencies. Due to the fact that City Hall couldn't be expanded without destroying its architectural symmetry, a series of competitions were held to choose designs for an entirely new structure.
Located on Chambers Street in the middle of the block is the Tweed Courthouse also known as the Old New York Courthouse. it was built between 1861 and 1881, the Italianate-style courthouse was designed b two of New York's most prominent 19th century architects, who were John Kellum and Leopold Eidlitz (ENY, 4). It has also been called one of the city's grandest and most important civic monuments by New York Landmark's Preservation Commission. The creation of the courthouse was the brainchild of William "Boss" Tweed, one of New York's notoriously corrupt politicians. He was six feet tall and weighed over 300 pounds, he came to control Tammany Hall political machine that ran New York in the late 19th century. To build the courthouse, Tweed appropriated $14 million of which he then pocketed 10 million from the money to fund the project.
On Park Place is were the Woolworth Building is located. Frank Winfield Woolworth was the founder of a successful chain of 5 and 10 cent stores that still bear his name (ENY, 4). When he built his headquarters in Lower Manhattan he was determined that it would rise higher then any other in the world. The building was designed in a neo-Gothic style by Cass Gilbert, who was inspired by medieval cathedrals that he had seen in France. This style is different from the entrance on Broadway, which resembles a European cathedral entrance. It was completed in 1913 and reigned supreme as the second tallest building in the World and was the tallest in New York City for 17 years until the Chrysler Building was finished in 1930.
On 209 Broadway is St. Paul's Chapel designed by Thomas McBean in a Georgian-style out of Manhattan schist and was inspired by the Church of St. Martin in the Fields of London (ENY, 5). It was completed in 1766, and is New York's only pre-Revolutionary War Church that is still intact to this day. It is also the oldest surviving church in Manhattan and as well as the oldest continuous building in use in New York City. In 1776 this chapel managed to survive a great fire that destroyed mush of the original city of New York. This chapel is also wee George Washington would go to worship during the period when New YOrk was the capital of the United States.
At the corner of Liberty Street and Greenwich Street is the 9-11 Memorial Museum, located in the World Trade Center complex. The World Trade Center was a 16 acre commercial complex built between 1966 and 1987, which contained seven buildings and an underground shopping mall centers around a large plaza (ENY,5). The center pieces of the complex were the Twin Towers that were completed in 1972. They were the tallest buildings for almost forty years and the tallest in the world until the Sears Tower in Chicago was completed in 1973 (ENY, 6). They had become symbols of the city's economic might and its role as the center for global capitalism. They were 110 stories each and home to 430 companies with 35,000 workers from around the world. But due to an unfortunate ever on September 11, 2001 were 19 terrorists from Al Qaeda hijacked four commercial airlines, crashing one into the Pentagon in Virginia, two into the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan and the last one into an abounded field in Pennsylvania. To demonstrate their resilience in 2003 Lower Manhattan Development Corporation was created with the aim of redeveloping the World Trade Center. A competition was held to for the best design to replace the Twin Towers was won by Daniel Libeskind, whose design called for the creation of new towers to replace those that had been destroyed around an 8 acre memorial for those who lost their lives during 9-11. The 9-11 memorial was opened in 2011 as a result of the competition launched by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation in 2003. Construction began in 2006 on the new building and was completed on May 10, 2013, almost twelve years after the destruction of the original World Trade Center. At 1,776 feet, 1 World Trade Center, which is referred to as the Freedom Tower is now the tallest building in the United States and the fourth tallest in the world.
After the 9-11 Memorial our next stop was Governors Island. We took the three o'clock ferry to Governors Island were we spend most of the day walking around the island and checking out the sites. If you didn't want to walk around the island you were able to rent bikes to ride around and see the sites. Even though there was to many places to stop and eat on the island we managed to find a food truck were we stopped and had lunch. You could also check out the parks on the island and lay in the hammocks and relax. But if that didn't do anything for you, you could walk around the island by the water and see how beautiful the city looks from across the river.
When we returned from Governors Island our last stop of the day was Fraunces Tavern Museum. It was originally built in 1719 by the wealthy merchant Stephen Delancey and served as his home until 1730 when he moved uptown to the Lower East Side. In 1763 the building passed to an innkeeper Samuel Fraunces, who established a prominent haven here known as Queen's Head a popular meeting place for the NEw York Son's of Liberty (ENY, 10). After the British evacuation of New York, General George Washington had a farewell dinner held here for the officers of his army on December 4, 1783. So after years of being use as a rooming house and beer parlor, in 1904 the building was purchased by the Sons the Revolution and restored to some resemblance of its original Georgian style, where today it is used as a restaurant on the first floor and the upper floors have become a museum with with interesting periods and life of colonial New York.
Journal 7: Immigrant New York
Today we started our last class of our gotham experience by taking the F train to the Tenement Museum. When we arrived at the Tenement Museum I did not know what to expect or what we were going to see. But some of the kids in our class had been to the museum before and shared some knowledge of it being hot and uncomfortable. Lucky for us when we entered the museum it wasn't hot or uncomfortable at all. This tenement was kept exactly the way it was to be a museum for people to see how individuals survived and carried on with their day to day lives during their times of struggle. From 1863 to 1935 when the tenement building had closed, 17,000 people had come and gone from this building. It had four floors with five apartments on each floor allowing for 20 families to live in this building. It was actually unbelievable to see how these families lived in these tenement houses back then because each apartment only consisted of three rooms and some families consisted of 12 people that would all live together in these small three room apartments. These three rooms consisted of a kitchen, one bedroom, and a parlor in the last room .We also had an amazing tour guide who was enthusiastic and very knowledgeable about this tenement building and some of the families that lived their. She also noted that no matter what time of the year it was the the stove and coal would always be burning because of the cooking, cleaning and laundry that had to be done throughout the day. Like I mentioned before they were able to meet and speak to two families that had lived their during this time and were able to have an interview with them to gather information about what life was like for them living in this tenement building and for everyone else around them.
The first family we learned about that had lived their was a family from Germany. We learned that the husband did work and the wife took care of the house while he was at work. They had four children but unfortunately Isaac their youngest child had passed away from diarrhea, which was very common for people to die from back in the day. Eventually the husband left his wife abandoning them, leaving the wife to care for herself along with her three children that they had. So in time she became a dressmaker to provide for her and her family. Back then a dressmaker was known as a higher quality job over a seamstress and meant that as a dressmaker she was a business owner and had her own customers. Her new job made her enough money to pay for the rent and to provide for her and her three children. Later on she did eventually move from the tenement building to a better place and neighborhood from the money that was left behind for her husband from her father-in-law. She inherited the money because she went to court and had witnesses state that her husband never came home one day and didn't know what happened to him.
The second family was an Italian family that had also lived in this tenement building. The husband first came to America from Palermo, Sicily and planned on moving back but loved it so much in America that he made his wife move their with him, to also start and raise a family. They had two children, one of which was named Josephine who was found and asked for an interview to share her side of the story of what it was like to live in those tenement buildings. She remembered playing games with her father at the kitchen table, eating specific foods cooked by her mother on certain days, and being raised by both her mother and her father. Also she remembered a mother crying so much because she really missed her family back home in Sicily and knew that she would never see them again. So she bought a radio and listened to Italian music on the radio and Italian operas to make her feel better and more at home like she was back in Sicily.
After the tenement museum our class had each been divided into four groups and given a piece of paper with direction on it to go out on our own and explore the beauty and culture of Chinatown. The first place we stopped at was on Mott Street to get bubble tea, which was very good but was not to find of the bubbles at the bottom of the drink. The list had also places to get really good pork buns and ice cream to eat. After checking out the awesome food places to eat and drink at, we headed over to Canal Street. It is known for selling good knock off products to people for a very cheap price. After walking down Canal Street we saw Little Italy were we took a stroll through to see what it was all about with the good restaurants and stores on each side of the block.
After our little adventure that Mike and Don had sent us on we stopped for lunch at the Congee Village where they had unbelievable food that i thought was excellent and would not hesitate to go back and eat their. After lunch we had one last tour from Jim, who is an excellent tour guide and knows his stuff. One of the sites we stopped at was the oldest candy store still around, which had every piece of candy you could think to buy. We also passed a lot of synagogues and churches that were in the area and learned a little bit of history about each one. And our last stop of the say to end our class and gotham experience was the most beautiful synagog called St. Eldridge Street Synagogue.
Today we started our last class of our gotham experience by taking the F train to the Tenement Museum. When we arrived at the Tenement Museum I did not know what to expect or what we were going to see. But some of the kids in our class had been to the museum before and shared some knowledge of it being hot and uncomfortable. Lucky for us when we entered the museum it wasn't hot or uncomfortable at all. This tenement was kept exactly the way it was to be a museum for people to see how individuals survived and carried on with their day to day lives during their times of struggle. From 1863 to 1935 when the tenement building had closed, 17,000 people had come and gone from this building. It had four floors with five apartments on each floor allowing for 20 families to live in this building. It was actually unbelievable to see how these families lived in these tenement houses back then because each apartment only consisted of three rooms and some families consisted of 12 people that would all live together in these small three room apartments. These three rooms consisted of a kitchen, one bedroom, and a parlor in the last room .We also had an amazing tour guide who was enthusiastic and very knowledgeable about this tenement building and some of the families that lived their. She also noted that no matter what time of the year it was the the stove and coal would always be burning because of the cooking, cleaning and laundry that had to be done throughout the day. Like I mentioned before they were able to meet and speak to two families that had lived their during this time and were able to have an interview with them to gather information about what life was like for them living in this tenement building and for everyone else around them.
The first family we learned about that had lived their was a family from Germany. We learned that the husband did work and the wife took care of the house while he was at work. They had four children but unfortunately Isaac their youngest child had passed away from diarrhea, which was very common for people to die from back in the day. Eventually the husband left his wife abandoning them, leaving the wife to care for herself along with her three children that they had. So in time she became a dressmaker to provide for her and her family. Back then a dressmaker was known as a higher quality job over a seamstress and meant that as a dressmaker she was a business owner and had her own customers. Her new job made her enough money to pay for the rent and to provide for her and her three children. Later on she did eventually move from the tenement building to a better place and neighborhood from the money that was left behind for her husband from her father-in-law. She inherited the money because she went to court and had witnesses state that her husband never came home one day and didn't know what happened to him.
The second family was an Italian family that had also lived in this tenement building. The husband first came to America from Palermo, Sicily and planned on moving back but loved it so much in America that he made his wife move their with him, to also start and raise a family. They had two children, one of which was named Josephine who was found and asked for an interview to share her side of the story of what it was like to live in those tenement buildings. She remembered playing games with her father at the kitchen table, eating specific foods cooked by her mother on certain days, and being raised by both her mother and her father. Also she remembered a mother crying so much because she really missed her family back home in Sicily and knew that she would never see them again. So she bought a radio and listened to Italian music on the radio and Italian operas to make her feel better and more at home like she was back in Sicily.
After the tenement museum our class had each been divided into four groups and given a piece of paper with direction on it to go out on our own and explore the beauty and culture of Chinatown. The first place we stopped at was on Mott Street to get bubble tea, which was very good but was not to find of the bubbles at the bottom of the drink. The list had also places to get really good pork buns and ice cream to eat. After checking out the awesome food places to eat and drink at, we headed over to Canal Street. It is known for selling good knock off products to people for a very cheap price. After walking down Canal Street we saw Little Italy were we took a stroll through to see what it was all about with the good restaurants and stores on each side of the block.
After our little adventure that Mike and Don had sent us on we stopped for lunch at the Congee Village where they had unbelievable food that i thought was excellent and would not hesitate to go back and eat their. After lunch we had one last tour from Jim, who is an excellent tour guide and knows his stuff. One of the sites we stopped at was the oldest candy store still around, which had every piece of candy you could think to buy. We also passed a lot of synagogues and churches that were in the area and learned a little bit of history about each one. And our last stop of the say to end our class and gotham experience was the most beautiful synagog called St. Eldridge Street Synagogue.
Journal 8: Overall Experience
My overall experience for this class was an amazing one. I got to see sties and buildings that I never even heard of or knew existed before. I also learned how to take the LIRR to the city and how to navigate my way through the city by walking on foot and taking the subway. I even learned how the streets and avenues run in the city from east to west and north to south. It was great to see certain sites that I had been to years ago and how they changed, if some of them had even changed in time.
To me after this gotham experience has definitely confirmed for me that New York City is definitely a place that never sleeps and is always on the move. I also knew the city was diverse but never had the chance to actually see how it was in person until this class walking around and seeing the different cultures that live together in certain places and through out the city. Even before this class i still loved to go and hang out in the city but this class just out it over the top for me seeing places that I had never seen before or ever even thought of seeing. In my opinion the city is definitely the place to be if you want to hangout and have a good time. And everything about this class that I heard of was correct about how enjoyable and fun this class really is. I would most certainly recommend this class to other students for them to take especially with our amazing professors Mike and Don to lead us through the City of New York. Even though this class is over I would definitely consider going back to spend more time at certain places where we didn't have that much time to check them out.
My overall experience for this class was an amazing one. I got to see sties and buildings that I never even heard of or knew existed before. I also learned how to take the LIRR to the city and how to navigate my way through the city by walking on foot and taking the subway. I even learned how the streets and avenues run in the city from east to west and north to south. It was great to see certain sites that I had been to years ago and how they changed, if some of them had even changed in time.
To me after this gotham experience has definitely confirmed for me that New York City is definitely a place that never sleeps and is always on the move. I also knew the city was diverse but never had the chance to actually see how it was in person until this class walking around and seeing the different cultures that live together in certain places and through out the city. Even before this class i still loved to go and hang out in the city but this class just out it over the top for me seeing places that I had never seen before or ever even thought of seeing. In my opinion the city is definitely the place to be if you want to hangout and have a good time. And everything about this class that I heard of was correct about how enjoyable and fun this class really is. I would most certainly recommend this class to other students for them to take especially with our amazing professors Mike and Don to lead us through the City of New York. Even though this class is over I would definitely consider going back to spend more time at certain places where we didn't have that much time to check them out.