journals 1-4
1. Impressions of NYC
I've lived in New York my whole life, Queens to be exact. Although I've lived in NY for 23 years, there's a lot I don't know about this amazing city. As cliche as it sounds I would definitely agree and say NY is the city that never sleeps. It's very fast paced, very crowded, and the people can be quite rude. However, there are many great places to site see and always something to do, whether it's visiting a museum during the day or going to a club at night.
As a child I was privileged with being picked up and dropped off everywhere I went. So, I've never really been a big fan of public transportation. However, I live pretty close to the 7 train so that's the only train I'm familiar with. I've taken it numerous times to Mets' games at City Field and to Time Square. Time Square is probably the only place in NYC that I've really been to countless times whether it was to visit Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, Ripley's Believe It or Not, or just to shop around with friends. I've been to a few Broadway shows, a couple of concerts at MSG, and basketball games too. My grandmother lives in manhattan on East 14th street as well. I visit her very often and could probably say Chinatown is my second home. We love to eat at Hop Kee on Mott Street or Sun Sai Kai on Canal Street. I've also been to Rockefeller Center and Bryant Park in the winter to go ice skating.
I know there's a lot of places I haven't been to in NYC so I'm looking forward to taking this class and exploring New York City like never before! My walking sneakers and metro card are ready!
I've lived in New York my whole life, Queens to be exact. Although I've lived in NY for 23 years, there's a lot I don't know about this amazing city. As cliche as it sounds I would definitely agree and say NY is the city that never sleeps. It's very fast paced, very crowded, and the people can be quite rude. However, there are many great places to site see and always something to do, whether it's visiting a museum during the day or going to a club at night.
As a child I was privileged with being picked up and dropped off everywhere I went. So, I've never really been a big fan of public transportation. However, I live pretty close to the 7 train so that's the only train I'm familiar with. I've taken it numerous times to Mets' games at City Field and to Time Square. Time Square is probably the only place in NYC that I've really been to countless times whether it was to visit Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, Ripley's Believe It or Not, or just to shop around with friends. I've been to a few Broadway shows, a couple of concerts at MSG, and basketball games too. My grandmother lives in manhattan on East 14th street as well. I visit her very often and could probably say Chinatown is my second home. We love to eat at Hop Kee on Mott Street or Sun Sai Kai on Canal Street. I've also been to Rockefeller Center and Bryant Park in the winter to go ice skating.
I know there's a lot of places I haven't been to in NYC so I'm looking forward to taking this class and exploring New York City like never before! My walking sneakers and metro card are ready!
2. Queens Finest
I started off my day by taking the "International Express" from Main Street, Flushing. According to ENY the 7 train has been given this nickname because it takes its riders through some of the most ethnically diverse communities. We got on the train and it was only one stop to Willetts Point. Since I was meeting everyone in Queens Mike told me to be there no later than 11:15am. However, my timing was a bit off and I arrived at 11:00am (the early bird catches the worm right?). While I waited for the rest of my classmates and Mike to arrive I killed some time walking on the bridge and sitting in some shade. When everyone else arrived we walked into Flushing Meadow Park. Mike had us stop and sit in "our classroom" on some steel bleachers facing a tennis court. Here is where we were all filled in on some of the history of Flushing Meadow Park. I learned that this park is the fourth largest park in NYC and it's even bigger than Central Park. The park used to be called the Corona Ash Dumps and was filled with horse manure, garbage, and ashes from coal-burning furnaces (ENY 217). It wasn't until the 1930's when Robert Moses had the parked cleaned up for the 1939-1940 World's Fair. I learned that the World's Fair was a time when people gathered from all over the world and shared their culture, products and technology, kind of like promoting their homelands.
Next, we made our way towards the Queens Museum. Before reaching the museum we made a pit stop and observed the Unisphere. The sphere is 12 stories high, weighs 900,000 pounds, and is 120 feet in diameter (ENY 218). It was a very beautiful and refreshing site, considering there was a nice mist and it was very hot. According to ENY the Unisphere was designed by Gilmore D. Clarke and made specifically for the 1964-1964 World's Fair. It was built to represent the ideal of global interdependence. Once we reached the museum we waited for our tour guide and we were given little pink dot stickers to wear. According to ENY, the building in which the Queens Museum is located was originally the New York City Building created for the 1939-1940 World's Fair and it was also used temporally as the headquarters for the United Nations from 1946-1951. Our first exhibit we saw in the museum was a piece of work by an Asian artist named Liu Wei from Beijing, China. He made sculptures of buildings out of Chinese school books, wood, iron, and hardware. Our tour guided told us it represented the chaos that was going on in his native city. After, we headed into the Panorama of New York City. This was an incredible site to see! The whole New York City was on display in a room that measured more than 900 sq. feet and it contained more than 895,000 buildings (ENY 221). When we were finished at the museum we walked back to the train to head to our next destination, Jackson Heights.
When we arrived in Jackson Heights Mike gave us a run down on some of it's history and how multicultural this area is. We stopped to have lunch in "Little India" at Jackson Diner. This was my first time actually having real authentic Indian cuisine and I have to say I did enjoy it. I'm not a very picky eater and it was a free meal so you can't go wrong with that. Thanks again Mike! After we finished lunch we were off again on the train, heading to Astoria.
I used to live in Astoria, well really Woodside to be exact. So, when we got off the train and walked upstairs I knew exactly where we were. We stopped and gathered for a moment for mike to tell us a little about the history of the area and how gentrification was taking place here. Then we made out way to the Museum of Moving Images. This was a first for me. As bad as it may sound I've lived in queens all my life and would pass this museum all the time, but I have never been to it before. I didn't really know what to expect when we went into the museum, but Mike told us we were on out own to explore and get our hands dirty. The museum is said to be the most popular tourist attraction in Queens and has one of the largest collections of film artifacts in the world (ENY 224). I saw a lot of different things in the museum. There were exhibits on how the television set had transformed over the years, as well as cameras used to make movies. I particularly liked the display on the optical illusions. I learned that Peter Mark Roget had inspired the theory of visual persistence. In his theory, our eyes could retain an image for a fraction of a second, permitting a series of still images to become "fused" as a moving image. Many scientists have doubted Roget's theory and continue to investigate the perception of motion. However, whether his theory is right or wrong I always find it fascinating how when we see a rapid sequence of still images, they appear to look like their moving. I also liked the mutoscope. The mutoscope applies the principle of flip book to the presentation of moving images. The way the mutoscope works is there are a sequence of film stills attached to a wheel and when the wheel is turned, the still images flip past and appear to be moving.
Our next destination was Long Island City. According to ENY, Long Island City has been transforming over the years from a predominately industrial area to a highly desirable community for New Yorkers that want to be close to Manhattan, without having to pay Manhattan real estate prices (ENY 225). Gentrification! We sat down and spoke a little about the architecture of the buildings across the East River. I learned there are three main types of architecture for many of the skyscrapers in our city. Art deco is characterized as having a high degree of stylization and uses polished metals like aluminum and steel. Modernist styles involved "less is more", emphasizing simplicity in the design and post modern styles involved playing with any style of architecture (ENY 37). We took a stroll along the East River and stopped to take some pictures in front of the Pepsi-Cola sign. Our last and final site we saw in Queens was Gantry Plaza State Park. Here is where the Long Island sign located. The park is named after the 19th century railroad gantries that were used to transfer cargo from ships to trains and were transported throughout Long Island (ENY226). Overall, today was a great experience. I got to explore and see many cites of my own borough that I didn't even know were here.
I started off my day by taking the "International Express" from Main Street, Flushing. According to ENY the 7 train has been given this nickname because it takes its riders through some of the most ethnically diverse communities. We got on the train and it was only one stop to Willetts Point. Since I was meeting everyone in Queens Mike told me to be there no later than 11:15am. However, my timing was a bit off and I arrived at 11:00am (the early bird catches the worm right?). While I waited for the rest of my classmates and Mike to arrive I killed some time walking on the bridge and sitting in some shade. When everyone else arrived we walked into Flushing Meadow Park. Mike had us stop and sit in "our classroom" on some steel bleachers facing a tennis court. Here is where we were all filled in on some of the history of Flushing Meadow Park. I learned that this park is the fourth largest park in NYC and it's even bigger than Central Park. The park used to be called the Corona Ash Dumps and was filled with horse manure, garbage, and ashes from coal-burning furnaces (ENY 217). It wasn't until the 1930's when Robert Moses had the parked cleaned up for the 1939-1940 World's Fair. I learned that the World's Fair was a time when people gathered from all over the world and shared their culture, products and technology, kind of like promoting their homelands.
Next, we made our way towards the Queens Museum. Before reaching the museum we made a pit stop and observed the Unisphere. The sphere is 12 stories high, weighs 900,000 pounds, and is 120 feet in diameter (ENY 218). It was a very beautiful and refreshing site, considering there was a nice mist and it was very hot. According to ENY the Unisphere was designed by Gilmore D. Clarke and made specifically for the 1964-1964 World's Fair. It was built to represent the ideal of global interdependence. Once we reached the museum we waited for our tour guide and we were given little pink dot stickers to wear. According to ENY, the building in which the Queens Museum is located was originally the New York City Building created for the 1939-1940 World's Fair and it was also used temporally as the headquarters for the United Nations from 1946-1951. Our first exhibit we saw in the museum was a piece of work by an Asian artist named Liu Wei from Beijing, China. He made sculptures of buildings out of Chinese school books, wood, iron, and hardware. Our tour guided told us it represented the chaos that was going on in his native city. After, we headed into the Panorama of New York City. This was an incredible site to see! The whole New York City was on display in a room that measured more than 900 sq. feet and it contained more than 895,000 buildings (ENY 221). When we were finished at the museum we walked back to the train to head to our next destination, Jackson Heights.
When we arrived in Jackson Heights Mike gave us a run down on some of it's history and how multicultural this area is. We stopped to have lunch in "Little India" at Jackson Diner. This was my first time actually having real authentic Indian cuisine and I have to say I did enjoy it. I'm not a very picky eater and it was a free meal so you can't go wrong with that. Thanks again Mike! After we finished lunch we were off again on the train, heading to Astoria.
I used to live in Astoria, well really Woodside to be exact. So, when we got off the train and walked upstairs I knew exactly where we were. We stopped and gathered for a moment for mike to tell us a little about the history of the area and how gentrification was taking place here. Then we made out way to the Museum of Moving Images. This was a first for me. As bad as it may sound I've lived in queens all my life and would pass this museum all the time, but I have never been to it before. I didn't really know what to expect when we went into the museum, but Mike told us we were on out own to explore and get our hands dirty. The museum is said to be the most popular tourist attraction in Queens and has one of the largest collections of film artifacts in the world (ENY 224). I saw a lot of different things in the museum. There were exhibits on how the television set had transformed over the years, as well as cameras used to make movies. I particularly liked the display on the optical illusions. I learned that Peter Mark Roget had inspired the theory of visual persistence. In his theory, our eyes could retain an image for a fraction of a second, permitting a series of still images to become "fused" as a moving image. Many scientists have doubted Roget's theory and continue to investigate the perception of motion. However, whether his theory is right or wrong I always find it fascinating how when we see a rapid sequence of still images, they appear to look like their moving. I also liked the mutoscope. The mutoscope applies the principle of flip book to the presentation of moving images. The way the mutoscope works is there are a sequence of film stills attached to a wheel and when the wheel is turned, the still images flip past and appear to be moving.
Our next destination was Long Island City. According to ENY, Long Island City has been transforming over the years from a predominately industrial area to a highly desirable community for New Yorkers that want to be close to Manhattan, without having to pay Manhattan real estate prices (ENY 225). Gentrification! We sat down and spoke a little about the architecture of the buildings across the East River. I learned there are three main types of architecture for many of the skyscrapers in our city. Art deco is characterized as having a high degree of stylization and uses polished metals like aluminum and steel. Modernist styles involved "less is more", emphasizing simplicity in the design and post modern styles involved playing with any style of architecture (ENY 37). We took a stroll along the East River and stopped to take some pictures in front of the Pepsi-Cola sign. Our last and final site we saw in Queens was Gantry Plaza State Park. Here is where the Long Island sign located. The park is named after the 19th century railroad gantries that were used to transfer cargo from ships to trains and were transported throughout Long Island (ENY226). Overall, today was a great experience. I got to explore and see many cites of my own borough that I didn't even know were here.
3. Fuhgeddaboudit Brooklyn
I was really looking forward to today's class considering that we were going to Coney Island and I've never been there before. Yes I know I've lived in Queens all my life and I don't get out much haha. This week I took the LIRR and met everyone at Penn Station. From Penn Station we took the F train all the way to Coney Island. Coney Island is located on the Atlantic in Southwest Brooklyn. It's home to 60,000 residents, but is best known for its amusement park and seaside attractions (ENY 193). Mike spoke to us about some of the history of Brooklyn and then we were free to roam and get some lunch. We took a stroll on the boardwalk and probably took a little too long to decide what we were having for lunch. We finally decided on Popeye's. We brought our lunch and ate it on the beach. The Cyclone is one of the greatest icons of Coney Island, standing at 85 feet tall this wooden roller coaster has been running since 1927 (ENY 195). I've always heard about the infamous Cyclone and still I didn't get a chance to ride it! We didn't have enough time since we couldn't figure out what to eat. However, I told myself next summer I have to come back and go on all the rides. After we left Coney Island we got back on the F train and headed to Brooklyn Heights.
Our first stop in Brooklyn Heights was the Transit Museum. I was very fascinated by the Transit Museum. The whole idea of the museum actually being a real subway was pretty cool to me. When we arrived we had a tour guide give us a short summary on some of the history of how the subway system began. I learned that dating all the way back to 1827 horses were the first form of transportation. By 1900 there were over 2000 horses being used for transportation and there was 2.5millions pounds of poop covering the streets. As a result this caused filth and disease, which lead to death. In the 1870's the first elevated above ground trains were created and traveled at 12mph. In 1888 there was a terrible storm that took place and ended the elevated train system. There were 50 inches of snow and 15,000 people were stuck on the elevated trains. Due to this disaster, the underground subway system was created in the 1900's and in 1904 the first subway system opened. I also learned about the sandhogs. Sandhogs were workers who specialized in working under very harsh conditions. During underwater tunneling sandhogs were putting themselves at risk for drowning in a flooded tunnel or suffering from the "bends". The "bends" is a painful and sometimes fatal disorder which includes, dizziness, muscle spams, partial paralysis, abdominal pain, and difficulty breathing. This disorder was caused by a release of gas bubbles in body tissue after a rapid decrease in air pressure occurring after a stay in a compressed air atmosphere. After the guided tour we were free to roam the museum. It was very interesting to see how over time the trains have transformed into today's trains we use, as well as the turn styles we use to enter the subway station. Overall, the Transit Museum was a great learning experience.
Next we stopped at Brooklyn Borough Hall and admired it's architecture. The building has a Greek Revival structure and is considered to be one of the finest in New York (ENY 203). According to ENY, Brooklyn Borough Hall is the oldest public buildings in Brooklyn. It was built by Gamaliel King from 1845-1848 (ENY 203). We also walked down the Brooklyn Promenade which had a beautiful view over the water. From here we headed to Dumbo (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) and I saw Jane's (my) carousel. The carousel was originally built in 1922 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company (ENY 207). It was badly damaged by a fire in 1984 and bought by Jane Walentas and her husband. She spent 20 years repairing all 48 wooden horses and the carousel is now housed in a $9 million transparent "jewelry box" (ENY 208). After we left Dumbo we stopped at Jacques Torres ice cream shop. Then we were off to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge!
The Brooklyn Bridge was originally designed by a German immigrant named John Roebling. However, he passed away and left his son, Washington Roebling in charge to finish the bridge. There must of been something going on with these Roebling men because soon Washington became incapacitated and his wife Emily took over as liaison. It took six hundred workers fourteen years to finally complete building the Brooklyn Bridge at a cost of 15 million dollars (ENY 208). This was my first time walking over the 1.1 mile bridge and it had a very beautiful of the new york skyline. Overall, today their were a lot of firsts for me in Brooklyn and I really enjoy all these new experiences.
I was really looking forward to today's class considering that we were going to Coney Island and I've never been there before. Yes I know I've lived in Queens all my life and I don't get out much haha. This week I took the LIRR and met everyone at Penn Station. From Penn Station we took the F train all the way to Coney Island. Coney Island is located on the Atlantic in Southwest Brooklyn. It's home to 60,000 residents, but is best known for its amusement park and seaside attractions (ENY 193). Mike spoke to us about some of the history of Brooklyn and then we were free to roam and get some lunch. We took a stroll on the boardwalk and probably took a little too long to decide what we were having for lunch. We finally decided on Popeye's. We brought our lunch and ate it on the beach. The Cyclone is one of the greatest icons of Coney Island, standing at 85 feet tall this wooden roller coaster has been running since 1927 (ENY 195). I've always heard about the infamous Cyclone and still I didn't get a chance to ride it! We didn't have enough time since we couldn't figure out what to eat. However, I told myself next summer I have to come back and go on all the rides. After we left Coney Island we got back on the F train and headed to Brooklyn Heights.
Our first stop in Brooklyn Heights was the Transit Museum. I was very fascinated by the Transit Museum. The whole idea of the museum actually being a real subway was pretty cool to me. When we arrived we had a tour guide give us a short summary on some of the history of how the subway system began. I learned that dating all the way back to 1827 horses were the first form of transportation. By 1900 there were over 2000 horses being used for transportation and there was 2.5millions pounds of poop covering the streets. As a result this caused filth and disease, which lead to death. In the 1870's the first elevated above ground trains were created and traveled at 12mph. In 1888 there was a terrible storm that took place and ended the elevated train system. There were 50 inches of snow and 15,000 people were stuck on the elevated trains. Due to this disaster, the underground subway system was created in the 1900's and in 1904 the first subway system opened. I also learned about the sandhogs. Sandhogs were workers who specialized in working under very harsh conditions. During underwater tunneling sandhogs were putting themselves at risk for drowning in a flooded tunnel or suffering from the "bends". The "bends" is a painful and sometimes fatal disorder which includes, dizziness, muscle spams, partial paralysis, abdominal pain, and difficulty breathing. This disorder was caused by a release of gas bubbles in body tissue after a rapid decrease in air pressure occurring after a stay in a compressed air atmosphere. After the guided tour we were free to roam the museum. It was very interesting to see how over time the trains have transformed into today's trains we use, as well as the turn styles we use to enter the subway station. Overall, the Transit Museum was a great learning experience.
Next we stopped at Brooklyn Borough Hall and admired it's architecture. The building has a Greek Revival structure and is considered to be one of the finest in New York (ENY 203). According to ENY, Brooklyn Borough Hall is the oldest public buildings in Brooklyn. It was built by Gamaliel King from 1845-1848 (ENY 203). We also walked down the Brooklyn Promenade which had a beautiful view over the water. From here we headed to Dumbo (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) and I saw Jane's (my) carousel. The carousel was originally built in 1922 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company (ENY 207). It was badly damaged by a fire in 1984 and bought by Jane Walentas and her husband. She spent 20 years repairing all 48 wooden horses and the carousel is now housed in a $9 million transparent "jewelry box" (ENY 208). After we left Dumbo we stopped at Jacques Torres ice cream shop. Then we were off to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge!
The Brooklyn Bridge was originally designed by a German immigrant named John Roebling. However, he passed away and left his son, Washington Roebling in charge to finish the bridge. There must of been something going on with these Roebling men because soon Washington became incapacitated and his wife Emily took over as liaison. It took six hundred workers fourteen years to finally complete building the Brooklyn Bridge at a cost of 15 million dollars (ENY 208). This was my first time walking over the 1.1 mile bridge and it had a very beautiful of the new york skyline. Overall, today their were a lot of firsts for me in Brooklyn and I really enjoy all these new experiences.
4. Charming Chelsea & the Village
Today we were all in for a surprise when we arrived at Penn Station. Mike told us we would not be needing our Metro cards because we were walking all day! And boy did he mean it. We started our day off by hearing a little bit about the history of Penn Station. Penn Station was originally built in 1910 by McKim, Mead, and White. It was considered to be a masterpiece of Beaux-Arts styles and was one of the most impressive building in New York City (ENY 114). Unfortunately, due to the costly maintenance to maintain the beautiful building it was torn down in 1963. According to Mike, for lack of a better word the current day Pennsylvania Station now has a "shitty" style.
Now we were headed to Chelsea. We stopped in what looked like to be some kind of warehouse driveway and spoke about how Chelsea came about. According to ENY, Chelsea got its name from a former British army captain Thomas Clark, who purchased 94 acres of land along the Hudson in 1750 (ENY 83). The best way to see Chelsea is from above (ENY 84). So we headed off to High Line Park. In the 1930's the New York Central Railroad had elevated 30 feet above 10th avenue, but came to a stop in the 1980's (ENY 84). According to ENY, this elevated park was save by a non-profit community group in 1999. I had never been here before but it was very beautiful and had a relaxing vibe. There were many flowers and plants growing along both sides of the walk way and there were very nice views of Chelsea from up here. We could see beautiful murals that were painted on the side of buildings, as well as the water by the piers. I have to say we were all so caught up in taking in High Line Park that we lost Mike. This probably had to be the funniest thing ever because majority of the class kept walking and when we all gathered together we said "Where's Mike?". However, we weren't lost for long, we reunited with Mike and head to some art galleries in Chelsea.
We stopped in a few different art galleries and saw quite a few different works of art. I'm not really a big fan of art, but the two artists that stuck out to me the most were, Nick Cave and KwangHo Shin. Cave's series of work that were on display came from his collection called Rescue. Rescue comprises sculptures of ceramic dogs sitting on furniture with dreamlike dens surrounding them. I'm not really sure why his work stood out to me. Maybe it's because I'm an animal lover and have two dogs of my own at home. Shin's work came from his collection called Creation Under Collapse. In his exhibit it says he captures the complex relationship between the expression of emotion and the experience of the mind. I was drawn to the size of his portraits and the beautiful vibrant colors he used. After we finished gallery hopping we headed to the Village.
First we explored the West Village. In the 1960's this is the area where the Gay Rights movement took place and since then the West Village has been home to many people in the gay and lesbian population (ENY 89). We passed Christopher Street, in which the Stonewall Inn resides. The Stonewall Inn is said to be one of the most important historical sites connected with the Gay Rights movement (ENY 91). We continued on to Washington Square Park. We entered the park on the northwest corner, right where "Hangman's Elm" is located. I learned that this very tree was once used for public executions in the 19th century. "Hangman's Elm" is a 300 year old English elm and it stands at 110 feet tall (ENY 95). As we made our way through the park we encountered the "bird man". He was sitting on a bench with more pigeons than I've ever seen before surrounding him. The pigeons were even sitting on him! Before we left the park we encountered Stanford White's Washington Arch. According to ENY, the arch was modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and dedicated to the centennial of George Washington's inauguration.
In the East Village we stopped at the Merchant's House Museum. This house was built in 1832 by Joseph Brewster and was sold to the Tredwell family in 1835 for $18,000. The house was occupied by Mr and Mrs Tredwell, their eight children, four servants, and a few relatives (ENY 99). When Mr. Tredwell passed away in 1965 the house was passed down to his youngest daughter Gertrude. Gertrude was born in the house and she also passed away in the house, giving her a solid 93 years of life here. It has been said that the Merchant House is haunted by a ghost and it may be Gertrude's spirit that still lives in the house. It was really interesting to see how people in this era lived. I found it a bit disgusting that they didn't really shower back then, but I guess thats what they were used too. I also found the "call hour" to be interesting as well. Due to their lack of communication and technology, there were specific times during the day in which people would travel and stop in to say hello and talk. The last placed we visited was Tompkins Square Park. This park was named after Daniel D. Tompkins, who was governor of New York from 1807-1817 (ENY 107). Many riots took place in this park, but from 1991-1992 the park was closed for renovations and it is now a peaceful place to enjoy leisure activities. We ended our day at the Big Gay Ice Cream shop. Unfortunately, my stomach was bothering me so I didn't get to try the salty pimp. Overall, we did a whole lot of walking today, but I definitely learned a lot about Chelsea and the Village.
Today we were all in for a surprise when we arrived at Penn Station. Mike told us we would not be needing our Metro cards because we were walking all day! And boy did he mean it. We started our day off by hearing a little bit about the history of Penn Station. Penn Station was originally built in 1910 by McKim, Mead, and White. It was considered to be a masterpiece of Beaux-Arts styles and was one of the most impressive building in New York City (ENY 114). Unfortunately, due to the costly maintenance to maintain the beautiful building it was torn down in 1963. According to Mike, for lack of a better word the current day Pennsylvania Station now has a "shitty" style.
Now we were headed to Chelsea. We stopped in what looked like to be some kind of warehouse driveway and spoke about how Chelsea came about. According to ENY, Chelsea got its name from a former British army captain Thomas Clark, who purchased 94 acres of land along the Hudson in 1750 (ENY 83). The best way to see Chelsea is from above (ENY 84). So we headed off to High Line Park. In the 1930's the New York Central Railroad had elevated 30 feet above 10th avenue, but came to a stop in the 1980's (ENY 84). According to ENY, this elevated park was save by a non-profit community group in 1999. I had never been here before but it was very beautiful and had a relaxing vibe. There were many flowers and plants growing along both sides of the walk way and there were very nice views of Chelsea from up here. We could see beautiful murals that were painted on the side of buildings, as well as the water by the piers. I have to say we were all so caught up in taking in High Line Park that we lost Mike. This probably had to be the funniest thing ever because majority of the class kept walking and when we all gathered together we said "Where's Mike?". However, we weren't lost for long, we reunited with Mike and head to some art galleries in Chelsea.
We stopped in a few different art galleries and saw quite a few different works of art. I'm not really a big fan of art, but the two artists that stuck out to me the most were, Nick Cave and KwangHo Shin. Cave's series of work that were on display came from his collection called Rescue. Rescue comprises sculptures of ceramic dogs sitting on furniture with dreamlike dens surrounding them. I'm not really sure why his work stood out to me. Maybe it's because I'm an animal lover and have two dogs of my own at home. Shin's work came from his collection called Creation Under Collapse. In his exhibit it says he captures the complex relationship between the expression of emotion and the experience of the mind. I was drawn to the size of his portraits and the beautiful vibrant colors he used. After we finished gallery hopping we headed to the Village.
First we explored the West Village. In the 1960's this is the area where the Gay Rights movement took place and since then the West Village has been home to many people in the gay and lesbian population (ENY 89). We passed Christopher Street, in which the Stonewall Inn resides. The Stonewall Inn is said to be one of the most important historical sites connected with the Gay Rights movement (ENY 91). We continued on to Washington Square Park. We entered the park on the northwest corner, right where "Hangman's Elm" is located. I learned that this very tree was once used for public executions in the 19th century. "Hangman's Elm" is a 300 year old English elm and it stands at 110 feet tall (ENY 95). As we made our way through the park we encountered the "bird man". He was sitting on a bench with more pigeons than I've ever seen before surrounding him. The pigeons were even sitting on him! Before we left the park we encountered Stanford White's Washington Arch. According to ENY, the arch was modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and dedicated to the centennial of George Washington's inauguration.
In the East Village we stopped at the Merchant's House Museum. This house was built in 1832 by Joseph Brewster and was sold to the Tredwell family in 1835 for $18,000. The house was occupied by Mr and Mrs Tredwell, their eight children, four servants, and a few relatives (ENY 99). When Mr. Tredwell passed away in 1965 the house was passed down to his youngest daughter Gertrude. Gertrude was born in the house and she also passed away in the house, giving her a solid 93 years of life here. It has been said that the Merchant House is haunted by a ghost and it may be Gertrude's spirit that still lives in the house. It was really interesting to see how people in this era lived. I found it a bit disgusting that they didn't really shower back then, but I guess thats what they were used too. I also found the "call hour" to be interesting as well. Due to their lack of communication and technology, there were specific times during the day in which people would travel and stop in to say hello and talk. The last placed we visited was Tompkins Square Park. This park was named after Daniel D. Tompkins, who was governor of New York from 1807-1817 (ENY 107). Many riots took place in this park, but from 1991-1992 the park was closed for renovations and it is now a peaceful place to enjoy leisure activities. We ended our day at the Big Gay Ice Cream shop. Unfortunately, my stomach was bothering me so I didn't get to try the salty pimp. Overall, we did a whole lot of walking today, but I definitely learned a lot about Chelsea and the Village.