JOURNAL 2
The Wild West Side
This week we took on Harlem! Our class started as usual in Penn Station and from there we walked down towards Times Sq. Times Sq is where I mostly spend a lot of my time when in the city. I learned today that Times Sq wasn’t always the most pleasant place to be due to from the 60s-70s it was filled with lots of drugs and prostitution. By the 1970s, the area was known for crime, drug dealing, and prostitution. Times Sq was no longer famous for its theaters and its neon, but notorious for its sleaze. The turn around began in the late 1980s, with new commercial real estate development in the West 40s and 50s (Blue Guide pg 218).
From Times Sq we continued to walk down Broadway, where I learned that Broadway doesn’t run straight, it runs diagonally and also became a pedestrian zone to encourage people to get out and communicate. Our next stop was The Museum of Modern Art, also known as MOMA, which is one of the city’s premier cultural institutions, one of the greatest repositories not only of modern painting and sculpture, but also of drawing, design, photography, and film (Blue Guide pg 260). Mike had told us prior to going in that the MOMA contains the best collection of 19th century art and that in 2004 it had gone through over an eight hundred million dollar restoration. In this museum I defiantly saw the different ways artist expresses their feelings and how people interpret art designs differently. One artist that caught my attention during our time through the MOMA was Jackson Pollock. I learned in the museum that Jackson was one of the most famous artist post World War II. Who was known for what I referred to it as splat painting, but is called “drip” painting in the Blue Guide. Another piece of art I truly enjoyed was the American Flag that was done by artist Jasper Johns. In this museum we got the chance to experience a variety of paintings and even had the chance to see sound art, which was defiantly something I wouldn’t have expected to see in the museum prior to entering.
From the MOMA we walked towards Hell’s Kitchen for Thai Food ! The neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen stretches from the Hudson River to Eighth Avenue, from about West 34th to West 57th St (Blue Guide pg 226). The food was delicious, and I am happy I took part in eating it, because before this I defiantly would have never went for Thai Food due to thinking I wouldn’t like it.
After lunch we took the 1 uptown to 110th street, which is known as Morningside Heights. Morningside Heights is bounded by Cathedral Parkway (110th St) on the south and the deep valley West 125th St on the north; it sits on the rocky ridge that runs the length of Manhattan Island (Blue Guide pg 417). When we arrived in Morningside Heights we walked over to the Hungarian Pastry Shop that is located on Amsterdam Ave and 111th street, right across form the Cathedral of St Johns. At the pastry shop we met with a guy ( I forgot his name!) who was going to take us on our tour throughout Morningside Heights and into Harlem. Our first stop of the tour was to St Johns, which was a beautiful cathedral where we were able to look inside and also get a history about the area along with the cathedral. We then proceeded to Columbia University, which on our way we saw St. Luke’s Hospital where we learned that it is the only hospital whose president is a nurse! Columbia was founded as a gentlemen’s college to “instruct youth in the learned languages and in the liberal arts and sciences” (Blue Guide pg 427) and has a beautiful campus that we had the chance to walk through before getting to Morningside Park. Morningside Park occupies about 30 acres, including a rocky cliff of Manhattan schist, which plunges down to the Harlem Plain (Blue Guide pg 426). We had learned the park had gotten its name due to being where the sun rises in the morning.
After exiting Morningside Park we walked towards 125th St in Harlem. Prior to getting to 125th St we saw a big statue of Harriet Tubman.
125th street was close to the statue and is where we walked passed the Apollo Theater, which is famous for housing superstars such as Michael Jackson. Our journey along 125th St was something I was very familiar with due to my old school CCNY being close. 125th St was a place I often went for shopping while in school.
Our day ended with a rain storm which allowed us to get back on the subway to Penn. I was home by 6:50 pm this class which was such a nice treat!
From Times Sq we continued to walk down Broadway, where I learned that Broadway doesn’t run straight, it runs diagonally and also became a pedestrian zone to encourage people to get out and communicate. Our next stop was The Museum of Modern Art, also known as MOMA, which is one of the city’s premier cultural institutions, one of the greatest repositories not only of modern painting and sculpture, but also of drawing, design, photography, and film (Blue Guide pg 260). Mike had told us prior to going in that the MOMA contains the best collection of 19th century art and that in 2004 it had gone through over an eight hundred million dollar restoration. In this museum I defiantly saw the different ways artist expresses their feelings and how people interpret art designs differently. One artist that caught my attention during our time through the MOMA was Jackson Pollock. I learned in the museum that Jackson was one of the most famous artist post World War II. Who was known for what I referred to it as splat painting, but is called “drip” painting in the Blue Guide. Another piece of art I truly enjoyed was the American Flag that was done by artist Jasper Johns. In this museum we got the chance to experience a variety of paintings and even had the chance to see sound art, which was defiantly something I wouldn’t have expected to see in the museum prior to entering.
From the MOMA we walked towards Hell’s Kitchen for Thai Food ! The neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen stretches from the Hudson River to Eighth Avenue, from about West 34th to West 57th St (Blue Guide pg 226). The food was delicious, and I am happy I took part in eating it, because before this I defiantly would have never went for Thai Food due to thinking I wouldn’t like it.
After lunch we took the 1 uptown to 110th street, which is known as Morningside Heights. Morningside Heights is bounded by Cathedral Parkway (110th St) on the south and the deep valley West 125th St on the north; it sits on the rocky ridge that runs the length of Manhattan Island (Blue Guide pg 417). When we arrived in Morningside Heights we walked over to the Hungarian Pastry Shop that is located on Amsterdam Ave and 111th street, right across form the Cathedral of St Johns. At the pastry shop we met with a guy ( I forgot his name!) who was going to take us on our tour throughout Morningside Heights and into Harlem. Our first stop of the tour was to St Johns, which was a beautiful cathedral where we were able to look inside and also get a history about the area along with the cathedral. We then proceeded to Columbia University, which on our way we saw St. Luke’s Hospital where we learned that it is the only hospital whose president is a nurse! Columbia was founded as a gentlemen’s college to “instruct youth in the learned languages and in the liberal arts and sciences” (Blue Guide pg 427) and has a beautiful campus that we had the chance to walk through before getting to Morningside Park. Morningside Park occupies about 30 acres, including a rocky cliff of Manhattan schist, which plunges down to the Harlem Plain (Blue Guide pg 426). We had learned the park had gotten its name due to being where the sun rises in the morning.
After exiting Morningside Park we walked towards 125th St in Harlem. Prior to getting to 125th St we saw a big statue of Harriet Tubman.
125th street was close to the statue and is where we walked passed the Apollo Theater, which is famous for housing superstars such as Michael Jackson. Our journey along 125th St was something I was very familiar with due to my old school CCNY being close. 125th St was a place I often went for shopping while in school.
Our day ended with a rain storm which allowed us to get back on the subway to Penn. I was home by 6:50 pm this class which was such a nice treat!
Lower Manhattan and Captivating Chelsea
Today’s class started by taking the 2 train into the Financial District. One of the first things we stopped to talk about was the Woolworth Building, which was gothic style and was once known as the tallest building from 1913-1930, until the Chrysler building was made. From there we had a chance to take a tour of City Hall. After going through security we met with a lady who was going to be a tour guide throughout City Hall. She had stated by giving us a very detailed background on how the Dutch and English colonies started. City Hall was founded in 1811 and is one of New York’s architectural treasures, which houses a noteworthy collection of portraits of city mayors and 19th century celebrities, including 13 paintings by John Trumbell, who was best known for his depiction of people and scenes associated with the Revolutionary War (Blue Guide pg 83). Before heading into City Hall we learned about the federal architectural style of the building along with the pillars and Roman arches over the windows. City hall once had a jail in its basement and is known to be where the Mayor, city watch, legislature, and the courts, including civil and criminal spend much time. Inside City Hall we saw the Mayors side along with a statue of President George Washington in the lobby. Up the beautiful staircase we entered the Governor’s Room, which contained numerous paintings of past presidents, war generals, and other important people. An interesting fact I learned from this tour was that after the deaths of both President Lincoln and President Grant City Hall had opened up to the public for people to have the opportunity to say their goodbyes to them.
After City Hall we headed to St Paul’s Chapel, which housed many first responders during the aftermath of 9.11.2001. Inside the Church were numerous memorials for all of the people who had passed from the terrorist attacks. In the back of St Marks is a cemetery which is directly across from the 9.11 memorials and Freedom Tower. After spending time at the 9.11 memorial we walked to Trinity Church, which is probably New York’s most famous house of worship, because of its dramatic setting (Blue Guide pg 65). It is in this churchyard where Alexander Hamilton is buried, but due to the government lock down his tombstone was blocked off.
Our next stop was Battery Park, which we learned the name recalls a row of cannons that defended the original fort and stood near the present sidewalk west of the Custom House (Blue Guide pg 46). In Battery Park we had a beautiful mock classroom setting with the Statue of Liberty in the distance. From Battery Park we took the 1 train to 14th street which put us in the meat packing district. We walked towards Chelsea Market where we stopped for lunch before returning to the streets of Chelsea to go visit Highland Park. Highland Park is located on the tracks of where freight lines used to run, which we walked across from Gansevoort St to 23rd street. While walking along Highland Park you get to see beautiful views of the river along with the Chelsea Piers.
Lastly in Chelsea, which runs from about West 14th St through the West 20s and from the Hudson River to Sixth Avenue or Broadway (Blue Guide pg 185) we went gallery hopping. Two galleries that caught my attention was the Philip Lorca Docorcia one titled Hustlers and the Post Culture one which had contained a lot of experimental art. Although I never thought I’d be one to enjoy art I liked the idea of looking in the different galleries, because prior to this class it is something I wouldn’t have had the courage to do. Like many other places we explored during this class we learned that Chelsea is another place where Gentrification is taking place and is certainly a place I would love to live!
With only one class left I am certainly feeling more confident on how to navigate the city along with having a ton of places I cant wait to go back to see with friends and family ! Although I have never walked as much in one day as I have in this class I am sad knowing that there is only one day left!
After City Hall we headed to St Paul’s Chapel, which housed many first responders during the aftermath of 9.11.2001. Inside the Church were numerous memorials for all of the people who had passed from the terrorist attacks. In the back of St Marks is a cemetery which is directly across from the 9.11 memorials and Freedom Tower. After spending time at the 9.11 memorial we walked to Trinity Church, which is probably New York’s most famous house of worship, because of its dramatic setting (Blue Guide pg 65). It is in this churchyard where Alexander Hamilton is buried, but due to the government lock down his tombstone was blocked off.
Our next stop was Battery Park, which we learned the name recalls a row of cannons that defended the original fort and stood near the present sidewalk west of the Custom House (Blue Guide pg 46). In Battery Park we had a beautiful mock classroom setting with the Statue of Liberty in the distance. From Battery Park we took the 1 train to 14th street which put us in the meat packing district. We walked towards Chelsea Market where we stopped for lunch before returning to the streets of Chelsea to go visit Highland Park. Highland Park is located on the tracks of where freight lines used to run, which we walked across from Gansevoort St to 23rd street. While walking along Highland Park you get to see beautiful views of the river along with the Chelsea Piers.
Lastly in Chelsea, which runs from about West 14th St through the West 20s and from the Hudson River to Sixth Avenue or Broadway (Blue Guide pg 185) we went gallery hopping. Two galleries that caught my attention was the Philip Lorca Docorcia one titled Hustlers and the Post Culture one which had contained a lot of experimental art. Although I never thought I’d be one to enjoy art I liked the idea of looking in the different galleries, because prior to this class it is something I wouldn’t have had the courage to do. Like many other places we explored during this class we learned that Chelsea is another place where Gentrification is taking place and is certainly a place I would love to live!
With only one class left I am certainly feeling more confident on how to navigate the city along with having a ton of places I cant wait to go back to see with friends and family ! Although I have never walked as much in one day as I have in this class I am sad knowing that there is only one day left!
Immigrant NY
This Friday started off a little different than the past 6 Friday mornings. Instead of my usual 10:20am train I took a 7:26am train from Merillon
into Penn which got me in at about 8:00ish. From Penn I took the A train up to 168th street to New York Presbyterian’s Columbia Campus, to get
cleared in order to start employment there this week. Although I had gotten back to Penn by 10:30am it seemed as if I already was in the city for so long. Class
meet at our usual meeting spot at 11am and here was where Mike took attendance and explained what our last class was going to consist of, which was adventures through the Lower East Side. Before you know it we were on our way out of Penn to walk over to the F train, which we took to Delancy Street.
During this time we learned how the Lower East Side was known from immigrants. In the 1850s the Irish and German immigrated over to this side of
Manhattan and where known for their filth, being uneducated and increasing crime rates. Then in the 1860s eastern European Jews came to settle in the lowe0.r.
east side because of persecution that was going on in Europe. After the Jews occurred in the lower east side in the 1860s the Italian and Chines came in the
80s, making the lower east side in the 1900s the most densely populated area in New York. With all these immigrants arriving in New York one cannot help but
think where they all were housed and it was buildings known as tenements that majority of them lived in.
After getting off the F train and arriving in the lower east side we walked over the Essex Markets where we had a chance to explore the market for a
few minutes. The market consisted of butcher shops, fish, spices, bakery, and even a little coffee shop, along with other stations. Here we learned that the
Essex markets were created by Mayor LaGuardia who made a place for the push carts to be housed instead of on the streets in hopes of making the food
handling process more sanitary. The market was built in 1904 and offers food of all tastes ranging from Latino, Jewish, and upscale urbanite: chicken, gizzards,
nopales (cactus stems), sherry vinegar, fish cheeks, prime cuts of beef and artisanal cheeses (Blue Guide; pg. 123). Back in the 1860s when immigration was
in such a high many of them would come to NY with no money and many of their first jobs were as push cart peddlers selling such things as fruits and
vegetables. Originally there was 4 markets but only one remains open due to the other 3 being owned by NYU, like many things in the NYC seem to be!
While working from Essex Markets to meet our tour guide we had views of the Williamsburg Bridge,which we learned was also known as “Jews highway”. Due to the lower east side being so dirty, unsanitary, poor, and violent the goal of the Jews and Italians in particular was to get out of the area and by doing so was taking the highway to get over to Brooklyn. The side of Brooklyn that the Williamsburg Bridge connects to is known as Williamsburg Brooklyn. This area was known to be the largest Hasidic Jewish population before gentrification began to take place. The Williamsburg Bridge decreased population and traffic by people leaving the
lower east side for Williamsburg. Before today I never been near the Williamsburg Bridge or even known that subways run over the bridge. The two
subways that do are the J and Z trains, and is where rapper Jay Z got his name from due to frequently using the subways from his Marcy Project house.
Housing projects provide adequate housing for the poor and are responsible for taking down many tenements due to the projects being able to
house more low income people. Projects reduce density and by the late 60s projects were considered breeding grounds for crimes due to having the poorest
of people.
After taking briefly about the Williamsburg Bridge we meet with our tour guide Jim who also had did our tour of Morningside Heights and Harlem. Our first
stop was to Economy candy which was certainly candy heaven! After grabbing quick snacks we hit the streets of the Lower East Side where we learned of the first
tenement apartment which was founded in 1833. Multiple- unit dwellings first came to New York in the form of tenant houses, or “tenements,” built for the
very poor, especially the Irish and German immigrants who flooded the city in the 1840s and 1850s (Blue Guide; pg. 18). Tenements would house up to 10
immigrants in an area with one bedroom, kitchen and no bathroom. Garbage would be thrown out the windows adding to the grunginess the lower east side already
had. Thankfully, in 1867 a law was passed saying that there had to be a bathroom for every 20 people. Although that is still not an ideal bathroom it would
hopefully improve living conditions at least by a little. Better yet in 1901 each room had to have a window and each apartment had to have their own
bathroom. Although I could still never imagine the hardships it was to live under these conditions in tenement buildings it was better that now they
actually all had to have their own bathrooms and windows. Another interesting fact learned was that any apartment building that has a fire escape outside was
built before 1916, because apartments built after 1916 have a fire stairwell built inside.
Out next stop was the Bialystoker Synagogue ,which was built in 1826 out of local stone. This synagogue is a Methodist architectural style and in 1826 when it was founded the area was said to be country like. It was outside this Synagogue where Jim brought to our attention the AME that lies on top of the front door, which stands for American, Methodist, Episcopal showing that although they are different congregations they come together to share a place of prayer. The Bialystoker Synagogue on Bialystoker Place, originally the Willett Street Methodist Episcopal Church, is a plain late Federal building with walls of random fieldstone. The Jewish congregation from Bialystoke brought the building in 1905 ( Blue Guide ; 123).
Up the block from the Synagogue was a building called Minka and is here Jewish women need to go to get purified before getting married. Next we were
brought to the settlement house in which we learned was a place set up for immigrants to settle and find help, but it is now used to house teachers and
students of NYU. Up the block and on the corner for the settlement house was St Teresa’s Church which is the 3rd oldest Roman Catholic Church in NYC.
The church also has a clock on the top which is the oldest continuously running clock. From here we had the opportunity to walk Canal St before meeting for our
Chinese food lunch.
After lunch, we had gone right around the block to the Tenement Museum, which defiantly is one of my favorite places we have been during this class. At the museum we had another tour guide whose name was Ruth. She had explained to us how this museum is like a time capsule due to being an original part of the tenement, which was built so immigrants would have a place to live. This building was built in 1863 and is one of the earliest forms of a tenement house constructed in New York. In the museum we had a brief history lesson on how immigrants took ships over to New Yorks Elis Island where they would be examined by doctors and “booked”. At this time organizations such as settlement houses were formed, which would help the immigrants find jobs, places to live, and even conduct classes. Our next part of the museum was learning about the Confino family whom actually lived in places occupied by the museum. We had learned that the family came to New York from a city in Greece around the time of 1916. In a really cool experience we went into a tenement apartment where we meet an actress who was known as Victoria Confino who helped teach us further about what life was back then and how she would help give ideas to my immigrant family on where we can find jobs along with where to buy food and even about schools. I found this museum extremely educational and fun at the same time. I loved the idea of the reenactments taking us back in time to understand how life was back then for these immigrating families, such as the tiny tenement spaces which would be crowded with up to 10 people in a tiny 3 room space.
Our completion of this class ended here! Although I am sad to be done I truly learned a lot and have a great amount of stories and places to take friends and family. The F train was up the block from the museum so me and a few other classmates hoped on the subway up to 34th where we walked over to Penn Station.