Journals 5-9
5. Spanish Harlem & Central Park
Today we meet at our usual "classroom" area in Penn Station where Mike told us we would be exploring the east side of the city, which consisted of, East Harlem and Central Park. We took the 6 train to 103rd street and when we got off we walked towards fifth avenue. Our first stop was the George Washington Carver housing projects. According to ENY, these projects were completed in 1958 and consist of 13 buildings that were created for low income residents of the neighborhood (ENY 162). During the 1960s and 70s East Harlem was consisted to be one of the most dangerous areas in New York City. There was a high rate of crime, poverty, and unemployment going on at this time. Mike told us the projects were named after an African-American scientist, who discovered many uses for soybeans, peanuts, and sweet potatoes.
As we continued walking through Harlem we made our way to the Museum of New York City. I've never heard of this museum and I didn't even know it existed, so this was a new experience for me. The museum has many changing exhibits that focus on the history of New York City. The exhibits focus mostly on the heritage of diversity, opportunity, and perpetual transformation of the City (ENY 162). In the museum we watched a 22 minute video called "Timescapes". In this video we were taken all the way back to when New York was just a settlement with a few hundred Africans, Native Americans, and Europeans. "Timescapes" took us through the whole history of how present day New York City came about. I enjoyed the film and learned a lot of things I didn't know and it was interesting to see and hear about some of the places we visited during our trips throughout our class meetings. After we watched the video we went to see the Gilded New York exhibit. Here we saw how many of the people lived back in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The gilded era was a time when the wealthy expressed their high status through extravagant fashion, interior design, and architecture. The exhibit displayed many lavishing pieces of jewelry, costumes, portraits, and decorative vases. Many of the objects in the exhibit were created between the mid 1870s and the early 20th century.
After we exited the Museum of New York City we walked one block north to El Museo del Barrio. The museum was founded by a Puerto Rican activist from East Harlem in 1969 in a public school classroom in PS 125 (ENY 163). The activist was looking for a place to preserve his cultural heritage. Although we didn't explore the museum this is where we met our tour guide, Luke. Luke took us on a tour of the neighborhood where we saw many different pieces of artwork. We first stopped at Modesto "Tin" Flores Garden. This garden used to be a vacant lot and dumping ground, before Ernesto "Tin" Flores turned it into a garden for neighborhood inhabitants (ENY 163). When we first entered the garden we saw a fountain like sculpture. The sculpture actually looked like part of the female anatomy, the fallopian tubes to be exact. When Luke spoke about the sculpture that's exactly what he said it was. It was called "Seed of Growth". The fountain represents strength and diversity of women. It was designed by Linda Puerta, an artist whose most of her work explores the female body and female experience (ENY 163). As we walked further into the garden we saw a mural on the back wall. The mural is called "Solsaderas" and it was painted by Yasmin Hernandez. In the mural there are two women holding hands, Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos and Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. According to ENY, the mural is a tribute to the struggles of Puerto Rican and Mexican inhabitants of East Harlem and the ties that bind these two communities together (ENY 164). We learned that these two women had a few things in common. They were both feminist, political radicals, and very devoted to their homelands. In the mural there were also three fetuses, which represented the spirits of the unborn babies that Julia, Frida, and Yasmin had all lost due to miscarriages.
On 104th street and Lexington Avenue we saw another mural. This mural was called "Spirit of East Harlem" and it was made in 1978 by Hank Prussing. The mural represents street life of Latinos in East Harlem during the 1970s. According to ENY, before Prussing painted the mural he spent several days photographing the people in El Barrio and some of them were incorporated into the piece of art work (ENY 163). Our last stop in Spanish Harlem was the Botanica. The Botanica is a family business that started in 1912 and they have been serving the public with natural herbs and remedies for many years. In the shop there are also many faith and hope statues of saints. There were many candles and oils for different problems you many be faced with. Its a spiritual advisor for people looking for spiritual help. Mike told us every year he buys the Saint Candelaria skull bracelets and has a contest for the students to win them. He also told us the student who win them wear them all year round and have claimed it's opened up a lot of possibilities to them. With that being said, I was sold and bought one of them bracelets myself.
Now we were off to explore Central Park. We first stopped and admired the Three Dancing Maidens fountain which was in the middle of a beautiful garden. The fountain depicts three young woman who appear to have their wet dresses clinging to there bodies probably from playing with the fountain's spray. The sculpture was created by a German sculptor named Walter Schott in 1910 (ENY 151). The next sculpture we saw was the Francis Hodges Burnett Memorial Fountain. According to ENY, the two children in this sculpture represent the character's from The Secret Garden (ENY 151). As we kept walking through Central Park we passed by the Boat
Pond. This was actually the pond that was made famous from E.B. White's class children's movie, Stuart Little (ENY 154).
As our journey through Central Park continued Mike told us he would show us four important things in the park. These four things consisted of the oldest thing, the most beautiful thing, the saddest thing, and the purest thing. The oldest thing in Central Park is a manmade 3,500 year old Egyptian Obelisk. The Obelisk is also known as Cleopatra's Needle. The most beautiful thing is the Belvedere Castle which is made out of manhattan schist. The word Belvedere literally means "beautiful view" and it has been said if you go to the top of the "castle" you'll see some pretty impressive views of the park and the city (ENY 154). The saddest thing in the park is Strawberry Fields. Strawberry Fields is a monument dedicated to the memory of former Beatle John Lennon. According to ENY, a landscape artist, Bruce Kelly designed the memorial. He created a meditative environment centered upon a circular black and white tile mosaic with the title of one of Lennon's songs, "Imagine" (ENY 156). The purest thing was the Central Park Reservoir. The reservoir is 40 feet deep and holds over 1 billion gallons of water. It was built in the 1860s as a temporary water supply for New York City. However, after 131 years of service in 1993 it was shut down when it was deemed obsolete (ENY 151). Overall, today there were a lot of firsts for me and I enjoyed learning about Spanish Harlem and walking through Central Park.
Today we meet at our usual "classroom" area in Penn Station where Mike told us we would be exploring the east side of the city, which consisted of, East Harlem and Central Park. We took the 6 train to 103rd street and when we got off we walked towards fifth avenue. Our first stop was the George Washington Carver housing projects. According to ENY, these projects were completed in 1958 and consist of 13 buildings that were created for low income residents of the neighborhood (ENY 162). During the 1960s and 70s East Harlem was consisted to be one of the most dangerous areas in New York City. There was a high rate of crime, poverty, and unemployment going on at this time. Mike told us the projects were named after an African-American scientist, who discovered many uses for soybeans, peanuts, and sweet potatoes.
As we continued walking through Harlem we made our way to the Museum of New York City. I've never heard of this museum and I didn't even know it existed, so this was a new experience for me. The museum has many changing exhibits that focus on the history of New York City. The exhibits focus mostly on the heritage of diversity, opportunity, and perpetual transformation of the City (ENY 162). In the museum we watched a 22 minute video called "Timescapes". In this video we were taken all the way back to when New York was just a settlement with a few hundred Africans, Native Americans, and Europeans. "Timescapes" took us through the whole history of how present day New York City came about. I enjoyed the film and learned a lot of things I didn't know and it was interesting to see and hear about some of the places we visited during our trips throughout our class meetings. After we watched the video we went to see the Gilded New York exhibit. Here we saw how many of the people lived back in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The gilded era was a time when the wealthy expressed their high status through extravagant fashion, interior design, and architecture. The exhibit displayed many lavishing pieces of jewelry, costumes, portraits, and decorative vases. Many of the objects in the exhibit were created between the mid 1870s and the early 20th century.
After we exited the Museum of New York City we walked one block north to El Museo del Barrio. The museum was founded by a Puerto Rican activist from East Harlem in 1969 in a public school classroom in PS 125 (ENY 163). The activist was looking for a place to preserve his cultural heritage. Although we didn't explore the museum this is where we met our tour guide, Luke. Luke took us on a tour of the neighborhood where we saw many different pieces of artwork. We first stopped at Modesto "Tin" Flores Garden. This garden used to be a vacant lot and dumping ground, before Ernesto "Tin" Flores turned it into a garden for neighborhood inhabitants (ENY 163). When we first entered the garden we saw a fountain like sculpture. The sculpture actually looked like part of the female anatomy, the fallopian tubes to be exact. When Luke spoke about the sculpture that's exactly what he said it was. It was called "Seed of Growth". The fountain represents strength and diversity of women. It was designed by Linda Puerta, an artist whose most of her work explores the female body and female experience (ENY 163). As we walked further into the garden we saw a mural on the back wall. The mural is called "Solsaderas" and it was painted by Yasmin Hernandez. In the mural there are two women holding hands, Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos and Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. According to ENY, the mural is a tribute to the struggles of Puerto Rican and Mexican inhabitants of East Harlem and the ties that bind these two communities together (ENY 164). We learned that these two women had a few things in common. They were both feminist, political radicals, and very devoted to their homelands. In the mural there were also three fetuses, which represented the spirits of the unborn babies that Julia, Frida, and Yasmin had all lost due to miscarriages.
On 104th street and Lexington Avenue we saw another mural. This mural was called "Spirit of East Harlem" and it was made in 1978 by Hank Prussing. The mural represents street life of Latinos in East Harlem during the 1970s. According to ENY, before Prussing painted the mural he spent several days photographing the people in El Barrio and some of them were incorporated into the piece of art work (ENY 163). Our last stop in Spanish Harlem was the Botanica. The Botanica is a family business that started in 1912 and they have been serving the public with natural herbs and remedies for many years. In the shop there are also many faith and hope statues of saints. There were many candles and oils for different problems you many be faced with. Its a spiritual advisor for people looking for spiritual help. Mike told us every year he buys the Saint Candelaria skull bracelets and has a contest for the students to win them. He also told us the student who win them wear them all year round and have claimed it's opened up a lot of possibilities to them. With that being said, I was sold and bought one of them bracelets myself.
Now we were off to explore Central Park. We first stopped and admired the Three Dancing Maidens fountain which was in the middle of a beautiful garden. The fountain depicts three young woman who appear to have their wet dresses clinging to there bodies probably from playing with the fountain's spray. The sculpture was created by a German sculptor named Walter Schott in 1910 (ENY 151). The next sculpture we saw was the Francis Hodges Burnett Memorial Fountain. According to ENY, the two children in this sculpture represent the character's from The Secret Garden (ENY 151). As we kept walking through Central Park we passed by the Boat
Pond. This was actually the pond that was made famous from E.B. White's class children's movie, Stuart Little (ENY 154).
As our journey through Central Park continued Mike told us he would show us four important things in the park. These four things consisted of the oldest thing, the most beautiful thing, the saddest thing, and the purest thing. The oldest thing in Central Park is a manmade 3,500 year old Egyptian Obelisk. The Obelisk is also known as Cleopatra's Needle. The most beautiful thing is the Belvedere Castle which is made out of manhattan schist. The word Belvedere literally means "beautiful view" and it has been said if you go to the top of the "castle" you'll see some pretty impressive views of the park and the city (ENY 154). The saddest thing in the park is Strawberry Fields. Strawberry Fields is a monument dedicated to the memory of former Beatle John Lennon. According to ENY, a landscape artist, Bruce Kelly designed the memorial. He created a meditative environment centered upon a circular black and white tile mosaic with the title of one of Lennon's songs, "Imagine" (ENY 156). The purest thing was the Central Park Reservoir. The reservoir is 40 feet deep and holds over 1 billion gallons of water. It was built in the 1860s as a temporary water supply for New York City. However, after 131 years of service in 1993 it was shut down when it was deemed obsolete (ENY 151). Overall, today there were a lot of firsts for me and I enjoyed learning about Spanish Harlem and walking through Central Park.
6. The Westside
This morning Mike told us we would be exploring the west side of the city. We took the E train and headed to Lexington and 53rd then we transferred to the 6 and got off at 68th st. Our first stop was the Frick Collection. We spent about an hour on a guided tour at this location. The Frick Collection is housed in the former residence of Henry Clay Frick. It was designed by Thomas Hastings and constructed in 1913 to 1914. When Mrs. Frick passed away in 1931, may changes and additions were made to the building by an architect by the name of John Russell Pope. The Frick Collection has been open to the public since 1935. They were really strict with their rules here, as far as, no photography and no children under the age of ten were allowed to enter. But considering the Collection includes many expensive pieces or art, eighteenth century furniture, oriental rugs, porcelain, and sculptures, I understand why their so strict.
At home entertainment was like trying to impress your guests. If it was a party to honor someone it was usually in a restaurant. The Frick's moved in in October 1914 but had been entertaining guests since May 1914. Mr. Frick wanted four paintings of woman looking down on him in the dining room. Who you chose to do your portraits said a lot about you. Therefore, Gainsborough was the lead portraitist. Two of the works were of married woman who had two different life styles. In the "Room of Great Men" this is where Mr. Frick and his men would come to relax. In this room Mr. Frick had only one religious painting of St.Francis painted by Giovanni Bellini and we were told he probably only had it because of the landscape. The "Drawing Room" was where the women would come to relax. In this room their were four very large paintings, all telling a love story with cupid. The great gallery is where Mr. Frick had many different collections of paintings from all over the world. At night when he couldn't sleep he would come down here and walk around looking at the paintings.
After we left the Frick Collection we took a stroll through Central Park and arrived at Lincoln Center. We saw the beautiful crystal chandelier in the opera hall. Then we walked to go get Thai food for lunch at Yum Yum. This walk was a lot longer than we expected and the weatherman definitely lied about todays forecast. It was a lot hotter than I thought it would be, but I guess I shouldn't complain because it was better than walking around in the rain. As we journey on our walk to Yum Yum, Mike stopped us for a second to tell us about Amy's Bakery. He said they had really good brownies and if we were interested in some dessert after lunch we should come back here. We finally arrived at Yum Yum and we were all relieved. This was my first time having Thai food so it was an experience, but a good one. I ordered the sweet and sour chicken with white rice and Thai ice tea. It was very good and I really enjoyed it. When we finished our lunch Mike had a trivia session to give away his Saint Candelaria skull bracelets. Then we were off to continue our day. We walked to 42nd street and passed through Timesquare to hop on the 3 train to135th street. Now we were in Central Harlem.
In Central Harlem we met with our tour guide, Jim. He gave us a run down on some the history of Harlem before we starting exploring. The first thing we saw was the beautiful mural on the outside wall of the Harlem Hospital Center. Jim told us the mural was commissioned by the Works Project Administration. It stands at 65 feet tall and spans almost the whole city block. The colorful, 12,000 square foot glass mural depicts African Americans at work and at play throughout history.
We stopped and admired Mother African Metodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church on West 137th street. The church is said to be the oldest black church in New York State. It was founded by a group of black Methodists in 1796 (ENY 180). The church has a gothic revival style of architecture. According to ENY, George W. Foster Jr., whose one of New York's first registered black architects was the man who designed Mother AME Zion Church. Next, we headed to Striver's Row. Here is where 130 of the best preserved row houses in Manhattan are located. Jim told us in 1890 the land where these row houses are was bought by David H. King and he planned to build homes for the upper middle class white people. King argued that New York's homes should be sunny, tasteful, and commodious even if their not millionaires (ENY 181). These row houses are unique because they do not all look alike. King had the homes built by three different architectural firms. Jim also told us that King's plan to sell the homes to white families had failed and were sold to black families for $8,000. According to ENY, Striver Row gets its name from the home being sold to upwardly mobile leaders in the black community- or "striver" (ENY 182). As we kept walking we came across another row of row houses. These were beautiful yellow brick row houses with terra cotta trimming. According to ENY, these homes were designed in colonial revival style by Bruce Price and Clarence S. Luce (ENY 182). Our last and final stop was the Harlem Walk of Fame. It stretches from 135th street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Frederick Douglass Boulevard. The walk was commissioned by the Harlem Chamber of Commerce in 1995 (ENY 183). There were a series of many different bronze plaques spaced out on the side walk. Every few steps I took I learned about a different African American who notably contributed to music, science, art, or public service. Two that stood out to me were Ella Fitzgerald and Malcolm X. Ella Fitzgerald was an American Jazz vocalist and she was dubbed the "First Lady of Song". Fitzgerald won 13 Grammy awards and sold over 40 million albums. Malcolm X was a Muslim minister and a human rights activist. We ended in the heart of Harlem on 125th street where I got on the 2 train back to Penn Station.
This morning Mike told us we would be exploring the west side of the city. We took the E train and headed to Lexington and 53rd then we transferred to the 6 and got off at 68th st. Our first stop was the Frick Collection. We spent about an hour on a guided tour at this location. The Frick Collection is housed in the former residence of Henry Clay Frick. It was designed by Thomas Hastings and constructed in 1913 to 1914. When Mrs. Frick passed away in 1931, may changes and additions were made to the building by an architect by the name of John Russell Pope. The Frick Collection has been open to the public since 1935. They were really strict with their rules here, as far as, no photography and no children under the age of ten were allowed to enter. But considering the Collection includes many expensive pieces or art, eighteenth century furniture, oriental rugs, porcelain, and sculptures, I understand why their so strict.
At home entertainment was like trying to impress your guests. If it was a party to honor someone it was usually in a restaurant. The Frick's moved in in October 1914 but had been entertaining guests since May 1914. Mr. Frick wanted four paintings of woman looking down on him in the dining room. Who you chose to do your portraits said a lot about you. Therefore, Gainsborough was the lead portraitist. Two of the works were of married woman who had two different life styles. In the "Room of Great Men" this is where Mr. Frick and his men would come to relax. In this room Mr. Frick had only one religious painting of St.Francis painted by Giovanni Bellini and we were told he probably only had it because of the landscape. The "Drawing Room" was where the women would come to relax. In this room their were four very large paintings, all telling a love story with cupid. The great gallery is where Mr. Frick had many different collections of paintings from all over the world. At night when he couldn't sleep he would come down here and walk around looking at the paintings.
After we left the Frick Collection we took a stroll through Central Park and arrived at Lincoln Center. We saw the beautiful crystal chandelier in the opera hall. Then we walked to go get Thai food for lunch at Yum Yum. This walk was a lot longer than we expected and the weatherman definitely lied about todays forecast. It was a lot hotter than I thought it would be, but I guess I shouldn't complain because it was better than walking around in the rain. As we journey on our walk to Yum Yum, Mike stopped us for a second to tell us about Amy's Bakery. He said they had really good brownies and if we were interested in some dessert after lunch we should come back here. We finally arrived at Yum Yum and we were all relieved. This was my first time having Thai food so it was an experience, but a good one. I ordered the sweet and sour chicken with white rice and Thai ice tea. It was very good and I really enjoyed it. When we finished our lunch Mike had a trivia session to give away his Saint Candelaria skull bracelets. Then we were off to continue our day. We walked to 42nd street and passed through Timesquare to hop on the 3 train to135th street. Now we were in Central Harlem.
In Central Harlem we met with our tour guide, Jim. He gave us a run down on some the history of Harlem before we starting exploring. The first thing we saw was the beautiful mural on the outside wall of the Harlem Hospital Center. Jim told us the mural was commissioned by the Works Project Administration. It stands at 65 feet tall and spans almost the whole city block. The colorful, 12,000 square foot glass mural depicts African Americans at work and at play throughout history.
We stopped and admired Mother African Metodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church on West 137th street. The church is said to be the oldest black church in New York State. It was founded by a group of black Methodists in 1796 (ENY 180). The church has a gothic revival style of architecture. According to ENY, George W. Foster Jr., whose one of New York's first registered black architects was the man who designed Mother AME Zion Church. Next, we headed to Striver's Row. Here is where 130 of the best preserved row houses in Manhattan are located. Jim told us in 1890 the land where these row houses are was bought by David H. King and he planned to build homes for the upper middle class white people. King argued that New York's homes should be sunny, tasteful, and commodious even if their not millionaires (ENY 181). These row houses are unique because they do not all look alike. King had the homes built by three different architectural firms. Jim also told us that King's plan to sell the homes to white families had failed and were sold to black families for $8,000. According to ENY, Striver Row gets its name from the home being sold to upwardly mobile leaders in the black community- or "striver" (ENY 182). As we kept walking we came across another row of row houses. These were beautiful yellow brick row houses with terra cotta trimming. According to ENY, these homes were designed in colonial revival style by Bruce Price and Clarence S. Luce (ENY 182). Our last and final stop was the Harlem Walk of Fame. It stretches from 135th street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Frederick Douglass Boulevard. The walk was commissioned by the Harlem Chamber of Commerce in 1995 (ENY 183). There were a series of many different bronze plaques spaced out on the side walk. Every few steps I took I learned about a different African American who notably contributed to music, science, art, or public service. Two that stood out to me were Ella Fitzgerald and Malcolm X. Ella Fitzgerald was an American Jazz vocalist and she was dubbed the "First Lady of Song". Fitzgerald won 13 Grammy awards and sold over 40 million albums. Malcolm X was a Muslim minister and a human rights activist. We ended in the heart of Harlem on 125th street where I got on the 2 train back to Penn Station.
7. Lower Manhattan
This morning we met at our usual reserved spot in Penn Station and Mike told us what our day would consist of, Lower Manhattan. We would be visiting City Hall. I've never been there and I heard it's pretty hard to get inside so that should be exciting. We would also be visiting the African American burial grounds. Also another first for me. And last but not least the 9/11 Memorial. We took the 3 train and got off at Park Place.
As we made our way out of the subway station up to Park Place the first thing we saw was the Woolworth building. It was completed in 1913 and was the second tallest building in the world after the Eiffel tower and the tallest building in New York City until 1930 when the Chrysler building was built. According to ENY, the building was designed by Cass Gilbert (ENY 46). Just looking at the building you can tell it's a neo-gothic style of architecture. Gilbert was inspired by medieval cathedrals that he had seen in France (ENY 46). Next, we took a short cut through City Hall Park and saw a beautiful fountain. Then we continued walking towards the Brooklyn bridge where we stopped to talk about some of the buildings in that area. The 8 Spruce Street building is 870 feet tall and its one of the tallest residential buildings in the world. The building was designed by Frank Gehry and made with stainless steel that reflects changing light, giving the appearance of the building to look as if its changing throughout the day. The second building we looked at was the Municipal Building, which is one of the largest governmental buildings in the world. The building was designed by McKim, Mead, and White. According to ENY, the building has a combination of Italian Renaissance, Roman, and Classical architecture styles (ENY 42). When observing the Municipal Building you can see the dates of when New Amsterdam (1626) and New York (1664) were founded. You can also see that there is a civic fame statute at the top of the building. Mike told us this is the third largest statue. We walked through the colonnade into an arcaded area of the building. Here Mike told us we would witness one of the most boring, but fascinating things in New York City and that was Guastavino tile. These were the tiles that were holding up the roof all by itself with nothing else, just the tiles! A man by the name of Ralphael Guastavino developed this method of supporting arches and vaults by using interlocking terra cotta tiles (ENY 42).
Next we walked over to the courthouses on Foley Street. We sat down on the steps of the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse and Mike spoke to us about the area we were in. He told us these were the courthouses that are actually used in the popular television show Law and Order. The courthouse was designed by Cass Gilbert and was completed by his son Cass Gilbert Jr. in 1936 (ENY 43). This building was originally known as the Foley Square Courthouse up until 2001 when it was renamed in honor of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. According to ENY, Marshall served as a judge in this building for four years from 1961-1965 (ENY 44). Across the street in the middle of the square is a fountain called the "Triumph of the Human Spirit". Mike told us at one point this area was a pond that was the city's source of fresh drinking water. However, it was filled in in 1811 to prevent the spread of cholera and typhus since it had became very polluted. According to ENY, the "Triumph of the Human Spirit" was created by a Brooklyn sculptor by the name of Lorenzo Pace (ENY 43). In the middle of the fountain there is a 50 foot black granite monument that symbolizes a sailboat. Pace was inspired by African art and the sailboat symbolized the journey African slaves took across the Atlantic Ocean. Mike also told us this very area was once home to a massive African burial ground and we would later be visiting the monument.
Our next stop was City Hall. We met with our tour guide Gail Cornell in front of the building and she gave us a brief history on City Hall before entering. Gail told us the building had a neoclassical style of architect work and that it's 1000 feet wide. The current day City Hall is 202 years old and is one of the oldest buildings in New York City. The City Hall building we were looking at was actually the third one and it was designed by Joseph Francoise Mangin and John McComb Jr. Gail told us the first City Hall was built by the Dutch in the 17th century on Pearl Street and the second one was built in 1700 on Wall Street. According to ENY, City Hall houses the offices of the Mayor and the City Council (ENY 40). Gail also told us the plaza we were standing in holds a great history as well. On July 9, 1776 this was where George Washington on his white horse, first heard the Declaration of Independence. Upon entering City Hall, we first stopped and heard about the statue of George Washington. The statue was made at the end of the Revolutionary War by French sculptor Jean-Antonie Houdon. He went to Virginia and spent several months at Washington's home making the sculpture in marble. The one we were looking at was is a bronze replica. Gail told us this is the most accurate representation of Washington. She also told us the foot against the plow share was meant to symbolize Washington's love of his farm. When looking at the statue you'll notice a shiny toe on Washington's left foot. Gail told us this was because many people when they come to visit touch it for luck.
After our tour of City Hall we headed over to the African Burial Ground National Monument. We watched a video on how the burial ground was founded in 1991. According to ENY, from 1960 to 1794 there were an estimated 20,000 free Africans and slaves buried in a 6.6 acre burial ground right here where we were visiting (ENY 44). In the video we learned that the burial ground was lost under urban development and it was rediscovered in 1991 during an excavation of the land for a Federal Government office building. The building being constructed was the Ted Weiss Building (ENY 45). When the land was discovered they found over 400 remains of Africans and over 500 artifacts. These discoveries that they made have helped give us a better understanding of the history of New York City in the 17th and 18th century and how Africans lived during this time. In 2007, a memorial opened in the Ted Weiss Building to highlight the important roles that African slaves played in the development of New York City. When we finished watching the video we were free to go to lunch.
After lunch we headed to St. Paul's Chapel on Broadway. Mike told us this is the oldest surviving church in Manhattan and it's also the oldest building in continuos use in New York City. The chapel was designed by Thomas McBean in a Georgian style out of Manhattan schist and it was completed in 1766 (ENY 46). Mike also told us this is the Chapel where George Washington used to worship she New York was the capital of the United States. I also learned that the Chapel seems to be invincible. It survived the great fire of 1776 and when 9/11 occurred the chapel survived again without even a broken window. Considering that St. Paul's Chapel is located directly across the street from where the Twin Tower once stood I was kind of in shock that nothing happened to the chapel. The reason why nothing happened is because of a sycamore tree that stood in its cemetery deflected debris from the church.
Next up we went to the 9/11 Memorial site. I actually never visited the World Trade Center before the attack on 9/11 so this was my first time here. It was a beautiful memorial site packed with many people observing and taking pictures of the giant waterfalls. The site had two pools that were placed where each tower once stood. Around the pools are the names of all the people who passed away on this tragic day. According to ENY, Michael Arad and Peter Walker designed this memorial and its called "Reflecting Absence" (ENY 49). These are the largest manmade waterfalls in the United States, standing at 30 feet tall. At the memorial site I also saw the "Survivor Tree", which is a Callery pear tree that was originally planted at the World Trade Center Site in the 1970s. Just like St. Paul's Chapel this tree also survived the attack on 9/11. After the memorial we went to Holy Trinity Church. The church was designed by Richard M. Upjohn in a gothic revival style of architect. Right before we left, in the courtyard we saw the Trinity Root. According to ENY, this sculpture was was out of bronze and created by Steven Tobin in 2005 (ENY 50). This root was made to memorial the sycamore try that protected St. Paul's Chapel from the fallen debris on 9/11.
This morning we met at our usual reserved spot in Penn Station and Mike told us what our day would consist of, Lower Manhattan. We would be visiting City Hall. I've never been there and I heard it's pretty hard to get inside so that should be exciting. We would also be visiting the African American burial grounds. Also another first for me. And last but not least the 9/11 Memorial. We took the 3 train and got off at Park Place.
As we made our way out of the subway station up to Park Place the first thing we saw was the Woolworth building. It was completed in 1913 and was the second tallest building in the world after the Eiffel tower and the tallest building in New York City until 1930 when the Chrysler building was built. According to ENY, the building was designed by Cass Gilbert (ENY 46). Just looking at the building you can tell it's a neo-gothic style of architecture. Gilbert was inspired by medieval cathedrals that he had seen in France (ENY 46). Next, we took a short cut through City Hall Park and saw a beautiful fountain. Then we continued walking towards the Brooklyn bridge where we stopped to talk about some of the buildings in that area. The 8 Spruce Street building is 870 feet tall and its one of the tallest residential buildings in the world. The building was designed by Frank Gehry and made with stainless steel that reflects changing light, giving the appearance of the building to look as if its changing throughout the day. The second building we looked at was the Municipal Building, which is one of the largest governmental buildings in the world. The building was designed by McKim, Mead, and White. According to ENY, the building has a combination of Italian Renaissance, Roman, and Classical architecture styles (ENY 42). When observing the Municipal Building you can see the dates of when New Amsterdam (1626) and New York (1664) were founded. You can also see that there is a civic fame statute at the top of the building. Mike told us this is the third largest statue. We walked through the colonnade into an arcaded area of the building. Here Mike told us we would witness one of the most boring, but fascinating things in New York City and that was Guastavino tile. These were the tiles that were holding up the roof all by itself with nothing else, just the tiles! A man by the name of Ralphael Guastavino developed this method of supporting arches and vaults by using interlocking terra cotta tiles (ENY 42).
Next we walked over to the courthouses on Foley Street. We sat down on the steps of the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse and Mike spoke to us about the area we were in. He told us these were the courthouses that are actually used in the popular television show Law and Order. The courthouse was designed by Cass Gilbert and was completed by his son Cass Gilbert Jr. in 1936 (ENY 43). This building was originally known as the Foley Square Courthouse up until 2001 when it was renamed in honor of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. According to ENY, Marshall served as a judge in this building for four years from 1961-1965 (ENY 44). Across the street in the middle of the square is a fountain called the "Triumph of the Human Spirit". Mike told us at one point this area was a pond that was the city's source of fresh drinking water. However, it was filled in in 1811 to prevent the spread of cholera and typhus since it had became very polluted. According to ENY, the "Triumph of the Human Spirit" was created by a Brooklyn sculptor by the name of Lorenzo Pace (ENY 43). In the middle of the fountain there is a 50 foot black granite monument that symbolizes a sailboat. Pace was inspired by African art and the sailboat symbolized the journey African slaves took across the Atlantic Ocean. Mike also told us this very area was once home to a massive African burial ground and we would later be visiting the monument.
Our next stop was City Hall. We met with our tour guide Gail Cornell in front of the building and she gave us a brief history on City Hall before entering. Gail told us the building had a neoclassical style of architect work and that it's 1000 feet wide. The current day City Hall is 202 years old and is one of the oldest buildings in New York City. The City Hall building we were looking at was actually the third one and it was designed by Joseph Francoise Mangin and John McComb Jr. Gail told us the first City Hall was built by the Dutch in the 17th century on Pearl Street and the second one was built in 1700 on Wall Street. According to ENY, City Hall houses the offices of the Mayor and the City Council (ENY 40). Gail also told us the plaza we were standing in holds a great history as well. On July 9, 1776 this was where George Washington on his white horse, first heard the Declaration of Independence. Upon entering City Hall, we first stopped and heard about the statue of George Washington. The statue was made at the end of the Revolutionary War by French sculptor Jean-Antonie Houdon. He went to Virginia and spent several months at Washington's home making the sculpture in marble. The one we were looking at was is a bronze replica. Gail told us this is the most accurate representation of Washington. She also told us the foot against the plow share was meant to symbolize Washington's love of his farm. When looking at the statue you'll notice a shiny toe on Washington's left foot. Gail told us this was because many people when they come to visit touch it for luck.
After our tour of City Hall we headed over to the African Burial Ground National Monument. We watched a video on how the burial ground was founded in 1991. According to ENY, from 1960 to 1794 there were an estimated 20,000 free Africans and slaves buried in a 6.6 acre burial ground right here where we were visiting (ENY 44). In the video we learned that the burial ground was lost under urban development and it was rediscovered in 1991 during an excavation of the land for a Federal Government office building. The building being constructed was the Ted Weiss Building (ENY 45). When the land was discovered they found over 400 remains of Africans and over 500 artifacts. These discoveries that they made have helped give us a better understanding of the history of New York City in the 17th and 18th century and how Africans lived during this time. In 2007, a memorial opened in the Ted Weiss Building to highlight the important roles that African slaves played in the development of New York City. When we finished watching the video we were free to go to lunch.
After lunch we headed to St. Paul's Chapel on Broadway. Mike told us this is the oldest surviving church in Manhattan and it's also the oldest building in continuos use in New York City. The chapel was designed by Thomas McBean in a Georgian style out of Manhattan schist and it was completed in 1766 (ENY 46). Mike also told us this is the Chapel where George Washington used to worship she New York was the capital of the United States. I also learned that the Chapel seems to be invincible. It survived the great fire of 1776 and when 9/11 occurred the chapel survived again without even a broken window. Considering that St. Paul's Chapel is located directly across the street from where the Twin Tower once stood I was kind of in shock that nothing happened to the chapel. The reason why nothing happened is because of a sycamore tree that stood in its cemetery deflected debris from the church.
Next up we went to the 9/11 Memorial site. I actually never visited the World Trade Center before the attack on 9/11 so this was my first time here. It was a beautiful memorial site packed with many people observing and taking pictures of the giant waterfalls. The site had two pools that were placed where each tower once stood. Around the pools are the names of all the people who passed away on this tragic day. According to ENY, Michael Arad and Peter Walker designed this memorial and its called "Reflecting Absence" (ENY 49). These are the largest manmade waterfalls in the United States, standing at 30 feet tall. At the memorial site I also saw the "Survivor Tree", which is a Callery pear tree that was originally planted at the World Trade Center Site in the 1970s. Just like St. Paul's Chapel this tree also survived the attack on 9/11. After the memorial we went to Holy Trinity Church. The church was designed by Richard M. Upjohn in a gothic revival style of architect. Right before we left, in the courtyard we saw the Trinity Root. According to ENY, this sculpture was was out of bronze and created by Steven Tobin in 2005 (ENY 50). This root was made to memorial the sycamore try that protected St. Paul's Chapel from the fallen debris on 9/11.
8. Immigrant New York
Today was a our last and final Gotham class gathering. I was also looking forward to today because we were going to Chinatown. We took the F train to Delancey Street and headed towards the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. The home was located at 97 Orchard Street and it was built in 1863. It was a multiple family dwelling and was home to an estimated 7,000 people from over 20 countries. Majority of the families were from Italy, Germany, Ireland, and Eastern Europe. According to ENY, the only way to actually see the tenement apartment you have go on a guided tour (ENY 67). So that's exactly what we did.
Our tour of the tenement home started out with the Levin apartment in November 1897. The Levin family consisted of a family of seven, Harris and Jenny, and their three children. Harris was a ladies tailor and worked out of his home. He was always in competition since there were twenty-three other garment shops on the same block as where he was working. Harris and his employees worked in poor conditions and worked long hours throughout the day. They worked six days a week, Sunday to Friday and worked ten hours a day, giving them a total of 60 hours a work week. One of the benefits of working at home was that Harris was still able to see his children grow up. The Levin family were Orthodox Jews so Saturday was their Sabbath. Many of the dresses made were advertised in the NY tribune for $13. Jenny had to share the kitchen with the presser who was ironing fabrics. She would have to go outside to the back for water since there was no running water in their home. In 1904 the Levin family moved across the Williamsburg bridge to Brooklyn.
The second family's apartment we learned about were the Rogaswskis (thats definitely spelt wrong) who came here in 1901. Their family consisted of Abraham and Fanny and their six children. There's now running water and gas light in the apartments. The toilets work also and there are two on each floor. The parents slept in a room, their two daughters slept head to toe on a bed and their sons slept on the couch or on crates and chairs. Abraham was out of work in 1909 for three months. There were four wages coming in because three of Abraham's children also had jobs. The children worked uptown on the day of rest are their parents were worried about not having their culture passed on. Fanny did her "grocery shopping" from push cart vendors on the street. The Rogaswskis were together on Fridays instead of sabbath. Abraham had tuberculosis and he passed away in July 1918. Fanny became the building super intendant and lived for free. She was able to practice their faith and raise her children. They stayed at the tenement until 1941 and then moved to Brooklyn also.
When we finished our guided tour we gathered outside to talk to Mike about what we thought about the experience. Then he told us we would be going on the great Chinatown adventure. Mike slip us up into groups of five, handed us a piece of paper, and told us to be back for lunch at 2:00pm. I'm very familiar with Chinatown and have been here many times so I knew exactly where our locations to visit were. I looked at Mike's directions, put them in my pocket, and lead my group on a whole different route. All that matters is we made it to Canal Street and explored everything on Mike's paper. We first stopped at the Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory on Bayard Street. Here they have a really good lychee ice cream. Then right across the street we stopped at Mai Li Wah coffee shop. They have very good sweet buns and pork buns here. Next, we went back to Canal Street to explore the many vendors and shops they had. We passed through Columbus Park which was filled with many people doing their own things. Then we headed back towards Delancey Street to have lunch at the Congee Village restaurant.
After lunch we went on another tour with Jim to explore some more ares in the Lower East Side. We stopped at the Economy candy shop on Rivington Street. This was an old time candy store that has been up and running since 1937 by the Cohen family (ENY 67). There were so many different types of candy in here I couldn't believe it! I bought some Big Slice Pops and some bubblegum. Yum! We continued our tour with Jim and headed to the Williamsburg Bridge. This bridge was constructed in 1896 and opened on December 19, 1903 (ENY 197). The bridge used to be known as the Jews Highway since there were so many Jewish immigrants traveling back and forth from the Lower East Side and Brooklyn. Jim also told us that this is how rapper Jay-Z got his name. The J and Z trains run under the Williamsburg bridge. Our next stop was the Bialystoker Synagogue. This synagogue was found in 1865 by Jews who came from the town of Bialystock in Poland (ENY67). After the synagogue we headed to the Henry Street Settlement. I'm a nursing student, so I found it to be interesting that Lillian Wald, a 25 year old nursing student actually founded the Henry Street Settlement. Wald was very upset with the conditions she witnessed in the Lower East Side while she was volunteering to teach classes about home health care to immigrant women (ENY 69). Therefore, she opened the Settlement in 1893 to continue educating and bringing nursing care to the immigrants in the community. According to ENY, Wald also started the Visiting Nurse Service, which meant nurses would come to your home and take care of you instead of going out to a clinic (ENY 69). Overall, today was a bitter sweet day. It was our last day of class. I was sad that it had to come to an end, but I was glad I didn't have to take anymore trains!
Today was a our last and final Gotham class gathering. I was also looking forward to today because we were going to Chinatown. We took the F train to Delancey Street and headed towards the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. The home was located at 97 Orchard Street and it was built in 1863. It was a multiple family dwelling and was home to an estimated 7,000 people from over 20 countries. Majority of the families were from Italy, Germany, Ireland, and Eastern Europe. According to ENY, the only way to actually see the tenement apartment you have go on a guided tour (ENY 67). So that's exactly what we did.
Our tour of the tenement home started out with the Levin apartment in November 1897. The Levin family consisted of a family of seven, Harris and Jenny, and their three children. Harris was a ladies tailor and worked out of his home. He was always in competition since there were twenty-three other garment shops on the same block as where he was working. Harris and his employees worked in poor conditions and worked long hours throughout the day. They worked six days a week, Sunday to Friday and worked ten hours a day, giving them a total of 60 hours a work week. One of the benefits of working at home was that Harris was still able to see his children grow up. The Levin family were Orthodox Jews so Saturday was their Sabbath. Many of the dresses made were advertised in the NY tribune for $13. Jenny had to share the kitchen with the presser who was ironing fabrics. She would have to go outside to the back for water since there was no running water in their home. In 1904 the Levin family moved across the Williamsburg bridge to Brooklyn.
The second family's apartment we learned about were the Rogaswskis (thats definitely spelt wrong) who came here in 1901. Their family consisted of Abraham and Fanny and their six children. There's now running water and gas light in the apartments. The toilets work also and there are two on each floor. The parents slept in a room, their two daughters slept head to toe on a bed and their sons slept on the couch or on crates and chairs. Abraham was out of work in 1909 for three months. There were four wages coming in because three of Abraham's children also had jobs. The children worked uptown on the day of rest are their parents were worried about not having their culture passed on. Fanny did her "grocery shopping" from push cart vendors on the street. The Rogaswskis were together on Fridays instead of sabbath. Abraham had tuberculosis and he passed away in July 1918. Fanny became the building super intendant and lived for free. She was able to practice their faith and raise her children. They stayed at the tenement until 1941 and then moved to Brooklyn also.
When we finished our guided tour we gathered outside to talk to Mike about what we thought about the experience. Then he told us we would be going on the great Chinatown adventure. Mike slip us up into groups of five, handed us a piece of paper, and told us to be back for lunch at 2:00pm. I'm very familiar with Chinatown and have been here many times so I knew exactly where our locations to visit were. I looked at Mike's directions, put them in my pocket, and lead my group on a whole different route. All that matters is we made it to Canal Street and explored everything on Mike's paper. We first stopped at the Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory on Bayard Street. Here they have a really good lychee ice cream. Then right across the street we stopped at Mai Li Wah coffee shop. They have very good sweet buns and pork buns here. Next, we went back to Canal Street to explore the many vendors and shops they had. We passed through Columbus Park which was filled with many people doing their own things. Then we headed back towards Delancey Street to have lunch at the Congee Village restaurant.
After lunch we went on another tour with Jim to explore some more ares in the Lower East Side. We stopped at the Economy candy shop on Rivington Street. This was an old time candy store that has been up and running since 1937 by the Cohen family (ENY 67). There were so many different types of candy in here I couldn't believe it! I bought some Big Slice Pops and some bubblegum. Yum! We continued our tour with Jim and headed to the Williamsburg Bridge. This bridge was constructed in 1896 and opened on December 19, 1903 (ENY 197). The bridge used to be known as the Jews Highway since there were so many Jewish immigrants traveling back and forth from the Lower East Side and Brooklyn. Jim also told us that this is how rapper Jay-Z got his name. The J and Z trains run under the Williamsburg bridge. Our next stop was the Bialystoker Synagogue. This synagogue was found in 1865 by Jews who came from the town of Bialystock in Poland (ENY67). After the synagogue we headed to the Henry Street Settlement. I'm a nursing student, so I found it to be interesting that Lillian Wald, a 25 year old nursing student actually founded the Henry Street Settlement. Wald was very upset with the conditions she witnessed in the Lower East Side while she was volunteering to teach classes about home health care to immigrant women (ENY 69). Therefore, she opened the Settlement in 1893 to continue educating and bringing nursing care to the immigrants in the community. According to ENY, Wald also started the Visiting Nurse Service, which meant nurses would come to your home and take care of you instead of going out to a clinic (ENY 69). Overall, today was a bitter sweet day. It was our last day of class. I was sad that it had to come to an end, but I was glad I didn't have to take anymore trains!
9. Gothman Reflection
Overall, I really enjoyed this class. I met a lot of new students I have never seen around Molloy campus and I had a lot of first time experiences. Many of the places we visited on our class meetings I have never been too or even heard of. With that being said I learned a whole lot of new things about many places in New York that I didn't even know existed. I liked that Mike and Meritta didn't bring us to all of the known tourist spots to visit in New York also. If I had the chance to take the class again I definitely would! Thank you Mike and Meritta for allowing me to take this opportunity to experience my city like never before.
Overall, I really enjoyed this class. I met a lot of new students I have never seen around Molloy campus and I had a lot of first time experiences. Many of the places we visited on our class meetings I have never been too or even heard of. With that being said I learned a whole lot of new things about many places in New York that I didn't even know existed. I liked that Mike and Meritta didn't bring us to all of the known tourist spots to visit in New York also. If I had the chance to take the class again I definitely would! Thank you Mike and Meritta for allowing me to take this opportunity to experience my city like never before.