Journal 1
Impressions of New York.
New York State along with New Jersey and Connecticut form the Tri-State area, and is located in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is surrounded by the Canadian city Quebec to the north, Ontario. New Jersey and Pennsylvania are limited the state to the south. On the other hand Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont are bordered New York to the southwest.
The State and the City had inherited their name from the 17th century Duke of York who became King James of England. Big Apple, Gotham City, Empire State, Capital of the World, World's Financial Capital, etc whatever the name one would would call it, New York is one of the greatest city of the world and the symbol of American success. A city of diversity where immigrants come in quest of glamour, leisure and opportunities.
New York is the land of diversity by excellence in America. In fact, like any city in the country, New York was inhabited by several Indian tribes; Mohican, Mohawk, Seneca, Delaware, Chautauqua, Iroquois, etc. The English explorer, Henry Hudson, commissioned by the Dutch kingdom reached New York Harbor in 1609 and a flow of the first migrants coming from The Republic of Dutch mainly and other European countries France, England began to arrive. As the rivalary among these European colonial powers continued, by 1664 the city was surrendered to British control.
As history follows its course, for several reasons; famine, wars, political and economical crisis throughout the world, other migrants; German, Italian, Yiddish, Greek, Polish, Chinese and West Indian will come to form a melting pot, a culture rich and vivacious. The city hosts many parades than any other cities in the nation in honor to celebrate these migrants' heritage; St Patrick's Day, Columbus Day, Porto Rican Day Parade, West Indian Carnival, etc.
New York is a vibrant and cosmopolitan city with an architecture diverse and inspirational, its buildings are pompous, its boroughs are interconnected by several well designed bridges and an adequate subway service. It contains some of the world most famous museums, parks, restaurants, aquariums, botanical gardens. The city is open to various kinds of ethnic groups and cultures, people tend to find their niche, and bring their beliefs, customs which make the city specificity.
Bodacious Brooklyn
Thursday May 6, 2013 the first day for our Core class is scheduled. I'm excited and nervous. Excited, it's going to be a new experience to acquire new knowledge and visit several places of this beautiful city, and the list is long; running the subway, visiting Coney Island, touring Brooklyn Heights and The New York Transit Museum, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, etc. Nervous, since I had missed the orientation session, I don't know what to expect, I don't know even my instructors contact number.
We all gathered at Penn Station, but Two because they live in Brooklyn. We had a short briefing before unfolding a very interesting and remarkable adventure. We started the day by taking one the best mass transit in the world to our first destination, Coney Island. In fact, according to the MTA website (http://www.ny.com/transportation/), "New York City Transit is one of the most extensive and complex public transportation systems in the world. With 24-hour-a-day bus and subway service throughout the five boroughs, the MTA system moves more than six million people a day..."
It is 12:12 noon, the train arrives to our first destination, Coney Island.
Coney Island Beach.
Coney Island maintains its name from its original geographical structure, an outer barrier island. However, it has been later on connected partially to the main land, and should be considered and called appropriately a peninsula. However, the tradition persists and it continues to be called Coney Island.
It harbors one of the most attractive beach of the city that shares the same name, Coney Island Beach which is a nice and enjoyable sand beach with a calm water, a well-designed boardwalk, several restaurants for all tastes, some famous rides; Wonder Wheel, The cyclone roller coaster, Parachute Jump, B&B Caroussel, Haunted Houses. According to (BG, p. 492, par1), Coney Island is "the birthplace of the hot dog and home of the world most terrifying roller coaster - a place remarkable for high and dubious taste."
Coney Island had its moment of glory at the beginning of the twentieth century, precisely in 1920's and 1930's. It used to be a very crowded place, people used to go in great number to sunbathe, for recreational activities, and having fun. However, as the city great park commissioner, Robert Moses took office and launched his ambitious project of modernizing the city by building parks, roads, highways, public transportation and public pools, New Yorkers had more leisure activities and consequently Coney Island became a less attractive pole of entertainment. Moreover, Coney Island was not exempted when the city was plagued with drugs, high rate of crimes in 1980's and some of its inhabitants had to leave and the neighborhood became decadent.
Fortunately, since the devastating passage of Hurricane Sandy, it seems that New Yorkers took it personal for Coney Island to regain its glory of the past, and the phoenix slowly is rising from its ashes, I should say from the sands. Businesses are booming, a presence of police is very noticeable just to assure the public, gentrification is coming...
There are several ways for people to get to Coney Island. Using the public transportation via New York City subway, these trains; B, F, N and Q run to the Coney Island station, and the buses; B56, B64, B74, B82 run to the bus terminal located near the station.
We all gathered at Penn Station, but Two because they live in Brooklyn. We had a short briefing before unfolding a very interesting and remarkable adventure. We started the day by taking one the best mass transit in the world to our first destination, Coney Island. In fact, according to the MTA website (http://www.ny.com/transportation/), "New York City Transit is one of the most extensive and complex public transportation systems in the world. With 24-hour-a-day bus and subway service throughout the five boroughs, the MTA system moves more than six million people a day..."
It is 12:12 noon, the train arrives to our first destination, Coney Island.
Coney Island Beach.
Coney Island maintains its name from its original geographical structure, an outer barrier island. However, it has been later on connected partially to the main land, and should be considered and called appropriately a peninsula. However, the tradition persists and it continues to be called Coney Island.
It harbors one of the most attractive beach of the city that shares the same name, Coney Island Beach which is a nice and enjoyable sand beach with a calm water, a well-designed boardwalk, several restaurants for all tastes, some famous rides; Wonder Wheel, The cyclone roller coaster, Parachute Jump, B&B Caroussel, Haunted Houses. According to (BG, p. 492, par1), Coney Island is "the birthplace of the hot dog and home of the world most terrifying roller coaster - a place remarkable for high and dubious taste."
Coney Island had its moment of glory at the beginning of the twentieth century, precisely in 1920's and 1930's. It used to be a very crowded place, people used to go in great number to sunbathe, for recreational activities, and having fun. However, as the city great park commissioner, Robert Moses took office and launched his ambitious project of modernizing the city by building parks, roads, highways, public transportation and public pools, New Yorkers had more leisure activities and consequently Coney Island became a less attractive pole of entertainment. Moreover, Coney Island was not exempted when the city was plagued with drugs, high rate of crimes in 1980's and some of its inhabitants had to leave and the neighborhood became decadent.
Fortunately, since the devastating passage of Hurricane Sandy, it seems that New Yorkers took it personal for Coney Island to regain its glory of the past, and the phoenix slowly is rising from its ashes, I should say from the sands. Businesses are booming, a presence of police is very noticeable just to assure the public, gentrification is coming...
There are several ways for people to get to Coney Island. Using the public transportation via New York City subway, these trains; B, F, N and Q run to the Coney Island station, and the buses; B56, B64, B74, B82 run to the bus terminal located near the station.
New York Transit Museum.
A Museum is generally defined as a building or institution dedicated to the collection, conservation, study, examination and educational presentation of any object of great importance which could be either found in nature or made, modified, designed and sculpted by human. Thus, there are several types of museums; archaeological, natural history, maritime, locomotive, aircraft, military and war, etc.
In fact, considering the importance of the subway in the daily life of New Yorkers, a museum destined to preserve and exhibit any heritage in this domain of train and bus transportation would be a well-deserved testimony for its greatly contribution.
On July 4, 1976, to celebrate the bicentennial of American Independence, The New York Transit Museum was open for a temporary exhibit. However, considering the appreciation and enthusiasm manifested by the public, the New York City Transit had decided to keep the museum open permanently. Located in downtown Brooklyn at the corner of Boerum Place and Schermerhorn, the museum can be reached through public transportation by different buses and trains services respectively B25, B26, B38, B41, B45, B52, B57, B61, B103. Also, the following train lines; A, C, F, R and 2, 3, 4, 5 run very close to the museum.
The museum functions on a two level former subway service. It displays on its upper level the majority of its exhibits, some materials related to history of the systems; wheel barrows, pipelines, turnstiles, pictures of the City before the construction of the subway, pictures of some of these city dwellers who risk their own lives to make New York an enjoyable and prosperous city. On the lower or platform level, there are two operational tracks that house several model of trains and two buses.
According to (BG, page 468), the museum offers: "Other exhibits include fare collection devices, from an early wooden ticket chopper to full body turnstile known as the "iron maiden" to mosaics from early stations (intended partly as decoration but also to assist riders who could not read English. On occasion the museum offers tours and special events, for example trips to the city's first subway station, locked away under City Hall Park."
Brooklyn Heights
Brooklyn Heights is a historical and cultural neighborhood of great importance. Perched on high ground over the East River, Brooklyn Heights presents a unique view of Manhattan that defies imagination. It offers a variety of architectural styles which can make someone pulse beats faster, from house to house, blocks to blocks, one can observe that Greek Revival, Gothic Revival and Italianate brownstones lined up side by side to compete and complete each other for the enthusiasm and satisfaction of the visitor. It contains some prestigious landmarks; Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims and Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Cathedral, mansions and churches. It seems that every house is a piece of history that takes the visitor back to the neighborhood and all its previous inhabitants and their architecture.
Also, from a historical perceptive, Brooklyn Heights is a testimony of Georges Washington military strategist ability and skillful tactician. In fact, during the American revolutionary war, particularly the battle of Brooklyn, as the British army advanced on Long Island, killing thousand of American troops, inflicted massive losses, a capitulation was imminent and pending.
Georges Washington was able to evacuate his troops of 9,500 men before dawn from the height to the ferry, to be transported out of the siege through fishermen boats. One can read in the (Blue Guide, page 467), "After the disastrous Battle of Brooklyn, Aug 27, 1776, in which the American force were surrounded and slaughtered, the remaining colonial army retreated to Brooklyn Heights. In a half day of fighting , some 1,200 American troops had been killed and an additional 1,500 wounded or captured...After dark on Aug 29, Washington silently brought his troops down from the height to the ferry landing (near present Fulton St). Waiting there with commandeered boats was a regimen of fishermen from Massachusetts. The fishermen rowed back and forth all night, hidden by fog, evacuating Washington's entire force of 9,500 men by daybreak".
Also, from a historical perceptive, Brooklyn Heights is a testimony of Georges Washington military strategist ability and skillful tactician. In fact, during the American revolutionary war, particularly the battle of Brooklyn, as the British army advanced on Long Island, killing thousand of American troops, inflicted massive losses, a capitulation was imminent and pending.
Georges Washington was able to evacuate his troops of 9,500 men before dawn from the height to the ferry, to be transported out of the siege through fishermen boats. One can read in the (Blue Guide, page 467), "After the disastrous Battle of Brooklyn, Aug 27, 1776, in which the American force were surrounded and slaughtered, the remaining colonial army retreated to Brooklyn Heights. In a half day of fighting , some 1,200 American troops had been killed and an additional 1,500 wounded or captured...After dark on Aug 29, Washington silently brought his troops down from the height to the ferry landing (near present Fulton St). Waiting there with commandeered boats was a regimen of fishermen from Massachusetts. The fishermen rowed back and forth all night, hidden by fog, evacuating Washington's entire force of 9,500 men by daybreak".
Brooklyn Bridge.
The construction of Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1883, and it was considered to be the longest suspension bridge until the Year of 1903. Its span measures 1,595 feet length and 85 feet width, and stretches 267 feet above the water. It is supported by a hybrid system which combines granite towers and steel cables. It allows several thousand commuters to travel daily between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The Brooklyn Bridge was initially designed by John Augustus Roebling who was an immigrant from Germany with extended knowledge in construction. He was a remarkable inventor, manufacturer and engineer. He had built several bridges; such as Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct, Waco Suspension Bridge in Texas, and the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge in Cincinnati, Ohio. However, the Brooklyn Bridge was by far his most daring and prestigious construction. Unfortunately , he was succumbed from tetanus due to an infection from injuries that he sustained while he was surveying the project.
Washington Roebling, the beloved and competent son of Roebling senior was called to continue with the famous bridge and was up to the challenge. Regrettably, soon he was incapacitated due to caisson disease. However, from his bedside, he was able to manage the project by instructing his competent wife, Emily. According to (BG, page 466), "As the towers rose and the cables ran across the river, Roebling watched over the proceedings with binoculars from his home in Brooklyn heights, delivering detailed to his engineers through his highly numerate wife."
Brooklyn Bridge is a very important landmark in New York city, and along with Manhattan Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge facilitate communication among citizens of the same city. The importance of Brooklyn Bridge has been justified recently in two occasions; during the terrible attack of 2001 and the blackout of 2003. Remarkably, thousand of people were able to be evacuated quickly from Manhattan. Importantly, on a daily basis the bridge allows approximately 145,000 cars and numerous pedestrians to travel between Manhattan and Brooklyn with no fee.
The Brooklyn Bridge was initially designed by John Augustus Roebling who was an immigrant from Germany with extended knowledge in construction. He was a remarkable inventor, manufacturer and engineer. He had built several bridges; such as Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct, Waco Suspension Bridge in Texas, and the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge in Cincinnati, Ohio. However, the Brooklyn Bridge was by far his most daring and prestigious construction. Unfortunately , he was succumbed from tetanus due to an infection from injuries that he sustained while he was surveying the project.
Washington Roebling, the beloved and competent son of Roebling senior was called to continue with the famous bridge and was up to the challenge. Regrettably, soon he was incapacitated due to caisson disease. However, from his bedside, he was able to manage the project by instructing his competent wife, Emily. According to (BG, page 466), "As the towers rose and the cables ran across the river, Roebling watched over the proceedings with binoculars from his home in Brooklyn heights, delivering detailed to his engineers through his highly numerate wife."
Brooklyn Bridge is a very important landmark in New York city, and along with Manhattan Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge facilitate communication among citizens of the same city. The importance of Brooklyn Bridge has been justified recently in two occasions; during the terrible attack of 2001 and the blackout of 2003. Remarkably, thousand of people were able to be evacuated quickly from Manhattan. Importantly, on a daily basis the bridge allows approximately 145,000 cars and numerous pedestrians to travel between Manhattan and Brooklyn with no fee.
The Tale of Three Villages.
As long as all three angles of a triangle will sum up to 180 degrees; Greenwich Village, Lower East Village and East Village will be different neighborhoods of the same borough, the borough of Manhattan. They present several aspects and complete each other.
Greenwich Village
In fact, before visiting Greenwich Village my perception about this neighborhood was very limited, it was seen as place where gays and lesbians hang out together. During my visit there, I was stunned by the quietness of the area, streets are smaller, traffic is slower than any part of the city. It seems that people live at a different pace and maybe this could be the reason why Greenwich Village has its reputation of a very tolerant neighborhood. People are able to take time to think outside the box, to avoid any cliche to open and accept others.
The Greenwich Village had produced several actors, novelists, painters, poets activists. It is also known for the prestigious university located in the area, New York University, La Guardia Place, The Northern Dispensary, bookstores, theaters and several squares; Washington, Washington Square North, Washington Square South, Sheridan, etc.
For instance, The Northern Dispensary is a triangular building which construction dated back to the nineteenth century. According to (BG, page 130), "is a triangular building on a triangular plot , the only public building from the Federal period still standing. Built in 1831 by a local mason and carpenter, this austere little brick building offered free medical care to the poor."
Fiorello La Guardia was a well known and admired Mayor of the city between 1934 and 1945, a period very tumultuous, only a couple years after the Great Crisis of 1929 to the end of World War Two. Born to a Jewish mother and Italian father, raised from the teaching and values of Episcopalian and, he was married respectively to a Catholic and a Lutheran women. La Guardia was a reformer who stood up against the powerful corrupted machine of Tammany Hall machine. During the New Deal of president Roosevelt, he secured federal aid to build public clinics, parks and playgrounds, sewers, bridges and La Guardia Airport.
Christopher Place is very remarkable small park that reflects the spirit of the neighborhood, openness to others' sexual orientation. It contains Georges Segal 's symbol of Gay Liberation (1992). One can observe four bronze statutes of two same sex couples.
East Village
The East village preserves a contrast of several types of architecture that marked the neighborhood, inhabited by different group of immigrants and social classes throughout its history. It has been populated successively by Slavs, Jews from Eastern Europe, Germans and recently by Latinos. It has been several times theater of tensions between different ethnics, and it seems that a certain equilibrium has been found among them.
The village has still kept the vestige of some cafes, bookstores, theaters and some famous building Grace Church, The ST. Mark's Historic District, The Cooper Union Foundation Building, The Ukrainian Museum, St Mark's Place, Tompkins Square Park. it has numerous botanical gardens initiated and created by people of the neighborhood who are engaged in keeping their environment clean and safe. Also, it is the theater of an going power struggle between big corporations and activists and sometimes the city had to intervene either to do expel some (illegal tenants), to do gentrification or find some modus vivendi with its citizens.
I was able to visit some of these botanical gardens and be lectured on multitude issues related to the neighborhood; the riots in Tompkins Park, the history of squatters, etc. In fact, on the wall of the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, one can read a very significant message that traces the history of the neighborhood, "AFTER YEARS OF NEGLECT, the Lower East side was left at least 500 vacant lots by mid 1980's. Faced with hundred of abandoned buildings and high rates of homelessness, people began to occupy the buildings. They worked together to return these building to habitability, and by 1990's they were hundreds of squatters in the neighborhood. The squats displayed here, and others, transformed into centers for community action in Loisade. They often practice skill shares, collective decision-making and the re-purposing of objects."
East Harlem
Also, known as Spanish Harlem or El Barrio is predominantly populated by Latinos, particularly Puerto Ricans and an increase of Dominican and Mexican populations recently. It presents another aspect of the city, people are jovial and epicurean. They enjoy their lives on a daily basis. It is common to listen to different Latinos' beats on the streets; Salsa, Merenge, Bachata, Rumba. It reflects the ambiance of any typical Caribbean or South America Latino cities such; San Juan, Santo Domingo, Havana, and even Buenos Aires, etc. These people keep some very important elements to their Cultures; good camaraderie, their cuisine, and hobbies. One can observe the viejos (elderly) gather for hours and take turn, playing dominoes while the youngsters sing or dance the latest salsa hit.
It also offers a particular kind of arts. In fact, while in other parts of the city, people have to go to museum to contemplate a painting, in Harlem, people live through art. Artists exhibit their talents on the walls of every corner, and sometimes they depict people of the neighborhood and their daily activities. Art is defined through the daily reality whether is pleasant or malicious.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Met for short is one of the most prestigious institution artistic in the world, and the largest one. According to (BG, page 366), "The building occupies 1.5 million square feet (roughly 31 times the size of an American field or 47 times the footprint Westminste Abbey) and its collections include more than two million objects, whose range includes the whole and the entire sweep of human civilization".
Every year it is attended by more than Five million people. It can be reached by public transportation; the trains 4,5 or 6 to 86th St. and buses M1, M2, M3 and M4 run to the area. It is open five days a weeks with a variable schedule; on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday from 9-30 to 5-30 and on Friday, Saturday from 9-30 to 9-00. it closes on Monday except for federal holidays and always closes on Wednesday.
During my visit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, there were several exhibits; Punk cultures, decorative arts, European sculptures, Chinese vase painting and enormous paintings exhibition. I was stunned and impressed by the impressionist exhibit.
Impressionism and Claude Oscar Monet
Impressionism is an artistic movement that took place in France in the nineteenth century. it had known a certain expansion particularly between 1870's and 1880's. In fact, this movement had to face though opposition from conformists. It inherited its name from one of his avant-garde Claude Oscar Monet with his famous painting; Impression, Soleil Levant which can be translated in English as (Impression, Sunrise), where he portrayed in 1872 the landscape of Le Havre port.
Monet was born on November 14, 1840 to Catholic parents, however; later on he became an atheist. He attended Le Havre secondary school of arts and quickly he revealed his outstanding talent in manipulating brush and playing with the effects of light and its variations.
This movement was a very daring and rebellious to the art of the epoque. These artists did not follow the rules of academic painting , such as lines and contours, and most of paintings at time, whether still lifes, portraits or landscapes; a center figure usually had precedence whether the painting is commissioned by Catholic church or a noble. By contrast, impressionist artists will be free in their imagination, their paintings will be more like a snapshot. They will abandon the comfort of studio to paint en plein air (outdoors), which confer to their paintings an intense vibration of colours.
This movement gave birth to numerous of artists whom paintings later on became well-appreciated by amateurs and connoisseurs of arts alike, to name a few of them, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissaro, and Claude Monet whom by far was the most prolific. Monet's paintings are kept in different galleries throughout the world; Tokyo, Louvre in France, Washington, D.C., and naturally at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Several of his pieces were at display at the Metropolitan Museum. Some of his famous paintings are: Impression, Soleil Levant (Impression, Sunrise), 1872- Woman with a Parasol, 1875- Haystacks (Sunset), 1890-1891 and Water Lilies, 1916.
Greenwich Village
In fact, before visiting Greenwich Village my perception about this neighborhood was very limited, it was seen as place where gays and lesbians hang out together. During my visit there, I was stunned by the quietness of the area, streets are smaller, traffic is slower than any part of the city. It seems that people live at a different pace and maybe this could be the reason why Greenwich Village has its reputation of a very tolerant neighborhood. People are able to take time to think outside the box, to avoid any cliche to open and accept others.
The Greenwich Village had produced several actors, novelists, painters, poets activists. It is also known for the prestigious university located in the area, New York University, La Guardia Place, The Northern Dispensary, bookstores, theaters and several squares; Washington, Washington Square North, Washington Square South, Sheridan, etc.
For instance, The Northern Dispensary is a triangular building which construction dated back to the nineteenth century. According to (BG, page 130), "is a triangular building on a triangular plot , the only public building from the Federal period still standing. Built in 1831 by a local mason and carpenter, this austere little brick building offered free medical care to the poor."
Fiorello La Guardia was a well known and admired Mayor of the city between 1934 and 1945, a period very tumultuous, only a couple years after the Great Crisis of 1929 to the end of World War Two. Born to a Jewish mother and Italian father, raised from the teaching and values of Episcopalian and, he was married respectively to a Catholic and a Lutheran women. La Guardia was a reformer who stood up against the powerful corrupted machine of Tammany Hall machine. During the New Deal of president Roosevelt, he secured federal aid to build public clinics, parks and playgrounds, sewers, bridges and La Guardia Airport.
Christopher Place is very remarkable small park that reflects the spirit of the neighborhood, openness to others' sexual orientation. It contains Georges Segal 's symbol of Gay Liberation (1992). One can observe four bronze statutes of two same sex couples.
East Village
The East village preserves a contrast of several types of architecture that marked the neighborhood, inhabited by different group of immigrants and social classes throughout its history. It has been populated successively by Slavs, Jews from Eastern Europe, Germans and recently by Latinos. It has been several times theater of tensions between different ethnics, and it seems that a certain equilibrium has been found among them.
The village has still kept the vestige of some cafes, bookstores, theaters and some famous building Grace Church, The ST. Mark's Historic District, The Cooper Union Foundation Building, The Ukrainian Museum, St Mark's Place, Tompkins Square Park. it has numerous botanical gardens initiated and created by people of the neighborhood who are engaged in keeping their environment clean and safe. Also, it is the theater of an going power struggle between big corporations and activists and sometimes the city had to intervene either to do expel some (illegal tenants), to do gentrification or find some modus vivendi with its citizens.
I was able to visit some of these botanical gardens and be lectured on multitude issues related to the neighborhood; the riots in Tompkins Park, the history of squatters, etc. In fact, on the wall of the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, one can read a very significant message that traces the history of the neighborhood, "AFTER YEARS OF NEGLECT, the Lower East side was left at least 500 vacant lots by mid 1980's. Faced with hundred of abandoned buildings and high rates of homelessness, people began to occupy the buildings. They worked together to return these building to habitability, and by 1990's they were hundreds of squatters in the neighborhood. The squats displayed here, and others, transformed into centers for community action in Loisade. They often practice skill shares, collective decision-making and the re-purposing of objects."
East Harlem
Also, known as Spanish Harlem or El Barrio is predominantly populated by Latinos, particularly Puerto Ricans and an increase of Dominican and Mexican populations recently. It presents another aspect of the city, people are jovial and epicurean. They enjoy their lives on a daily basis. It is common to listen to different Latinos' beats on the streets; Salsa, Merenge, Bachata, Rumba. It reflects the ambiance of any typical Caribbean or South America Latino cities such; San Juan, Santo Domingo, Havana, and even Buenos Aires, etc. These people keep some very important elements to their Cultures; good camaraderie, their cuisine, and hobbies. One can observe the viejos (elderly) gather for hours and take turn, playing dominoes while the youngsters sing or dance the latest salsa hit.
It also offers a particular kind of arts. In fact, while in other parts of the city, people have to go to museum to contemplate a painting, in Harlem, people live through art. Artists exhibit their talents on the walls of every corner, and sometimes they depict people of the neighborhood and their daily activities. Art is defined through the daily reality whether is pleasant or malicious.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Met for short is one of the most prestigious institution artistic in the world, and the largest one. According to (BG, page 366), "The building occupies 1.5 million square feet (roughly 31 times the size of an American field or 47 times the footprint Westminste Abbey) and its collections include more than two million objects, whose range includes the whole and the entire sweep of human civilization".
Every year it is attended by more than Five million people. It can be reached by public transportation; the trains 4,5 or 6 to 86th St. and buses M1, M2, M3 and M4 run to the area. It is open five days a weeks with a variable schedule; on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday from 9-30 to 5-30 and on Friday, Saturday from 9-30 to 9-00. it closes on Monday except for federal holidays and always closes on Wednesday.
During my visit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, there were several exhibits; Punk cultures, decorative arts, European sculptures, Chinese vase painting and enormous paintings exhibition. I was stunned and impressed by the impressionist exhibit.
Impressionism and Claude Oscar Monet
Impressionism is an artistic movement that took place in France in the nineteenth century. it had known a certain expansion particularly between 1870's and 1880's. In fact, this movement had to face though opposition from conformists. It inherited its name from one of his avant-garde Claude Oscar Monet with his famous painting; Impression, Soleil Levant which can be translated in English as (Impression, Sunrise), where he portrayed in 1872 the landscape of Le Havre port.
Monet was born on November 14, 1840 to Catholic parents, however; later on he became an atheist. He attended Le Havre secondary school of arts and quickly he revealed his outstanding talent in manipulating brush and playing with the effects of light and its variations.
This movement was a very daring and rebellious to the art of the epoque. These artists did not follow the rules of academic painting , such as lines and contours, and most of paintings at time, whether still lifes, portraits or landscapes; a center figure usually had precedence whether the painting is commissioned by Catholic church or a noble. By contrast, impressionist artists will be free in their imagination, their paintings will be more like a snapshot. They will abandon the comfort of studio to paint en plein air (outdoors), which confer to their paintings an intense vibration of colours.
This movement gave birth to numerous of artists whom paintings later on became well-appreciated by amateurs and connoisseurs of arts alike, to name a few of them, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissaro, and Claude Monet whom by far was the most prolific. Monet's paintings are kept in different galleries throughout the world; Tokyo, Louvre in France, Washington, D.C., and naturally at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Several of his pieces were at display at the Metropolitan Museum. Some of his famous paintings are: Impression, Soleil Levant (Impression, Sunrise), 1872- Woman with a Parasol, 1875- Haystacks (Sunset), 1890-1891 and Water Lilies, 1916.
This building dated back to the nineteenth century.
Tompkins Square Riots, Merchant's Museum and Central Park.
I would not finish to write my Journal without mentioning these three places, Tompkins Square, Merchant' s Museum and Central Park which mark the history of the city for different reasons.
Tompkins Square
Tompkins Square is well-known for these two famous riots that occurred approximately a century apart, and respectively on January 13, 1874 and on August 6 to August 7 of 1988.
The first riot was caused amid citizens protests, demonstrations and requesting for public works that would create jobs rather than government's assistance and New York city Police's response to the population's gathering and protesting. In fact, as the great depression of 1873 left thousand of New Yorkers unemployed, unable to make two ends meet. A group of concerned citizens formed The Committee of Safety in New York City and attempted to meet with city officials, particularly Mayor William F. Havemeyer with the demand of obtaining $100.000 for a Labor Relief Bureau created by the Committee.
As their request turned down, members of the committee had planned to organize protests at Tompkins Square. Another organization leaded by Patrick Dunn opted for more radical action, and intended to march to City Hall. Indeed, between January January, 5th and 9th several demonstrations took place in the city. However, It had been rumored in the city that the committee was supported financially by money stolen from jewels'robbery by a group called communards in Paris and that weapons had been bought, and there would be even a plan to assassinate the Mayor.
The Police Board decided not to allow any manifestation to City Hall. Moreover, a permit that was delivered by the Department of Parks for a protest to be held in Tompkins Park on January 13 had been revoked the previous day. It seems that most of the protesters were not aware of the permit revocation, and as planned, on that several thousand gathered and the police response to the demonstration was uncalled for and out proportion. It had been reported that men, women and children all were brutalized by New York City Police Department. The report of (BG, page 167) cannot be any more corroborative in describing police brutality that day. "The first riot occurred in 1874 when police mounted on horseback and wielding clubs, suppressed a gathering of 7,000 unemployed people hoping for work relief during a financial depression."
The second Tompkins Square Riot was subsequent to a city decision to establish a curfew of 1:00 a.m in all city parks. This decision has been diversely appreciated throughout the city and particularly by inhabitants of East Village. Some residents welcomed the decision, and they had seen the Park at night as a refuge for drug users, homeless and skinheads. Others, on the other hand perceived the curfew as a city attempt to do gentrification, to push away the poorer ones or a restraint from their rights.
A previous protest was held on July 31 which caused clashes between participants and Police. Another protest was scheduled on August, 6th and the New York City Police's response was inadequate and the confrontation between protesters and police continued until dawn. The New York Times published an editorial under the title, "Yes a Police Riot" (http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html) to establish police responsibility or irresponsibility, depend on the context.
It is not fortuitous to mention that Tompkins Square had known other riots, but these two riots previously mentioned had been by far the most outrageous. Also, police brutality during these two riots had been diversely handled. In fact, after the first riot no recommendations or disciplinary actions were taken regarding the management of the crisis by the Police Department. However, for the second riot some officers were demoted, others were either assigned to different duty or even charged.
Merchant's House Museum
The Merchant's House Museum has been designated under other appellations; Old Merchant's House, the Seabury Tredwell House. It was built in 1832 by Joseph Brewster and sold to a well-known and wealthy merchant, Seabury Tredwell. It has been inhabited by the same family for almost a century until it was transformed to a museum in 1936 by Georges Chapman a cousin of the family who used to live there. This family, composed of both parents and eight children; three sons and five daughters who all were born in the house, and a cohort of nephews and nieces who temporarily lived there at different period.
Gertrude, the youngest among the Seabury siblings outlived everyone and occupied the house until her death in 1933. Georges Chapman bought the house to save it from foreclosure and demolition. He preserved it as a museum to allow several generations to share this part of history and memory that survived like an indelible ink and stayed intact in the archive of the city .
The Museum presents a double aspects of architecture. From the outside, it is designed as a Federal style brick building, however; once inside, the contrast is evident with a Greek Revival; symmetrical parlors, each room represents the mirror reflex of another. It conserves the belongings of the Tredwells which include books, photographs, dining table, chairs, commodes, draperies, decorative arts, lingerie, etc.
The Museum presents another aspect that can be observed and pinpointed only by the observer who has the ability to read between the lines and who clearly understands the image projected by a mirror is not the reality behind the mirror. This aspect is how we value others, how our society has been changed. Indeed, I purposely choose not to mention so far, the Irish maids who worked at the Tredwells House, these creatures treated as second class citizen. The contrast between the opulence of these rooms well-garnished and these small and miserable beds reserved to the maids was patent and would question our conscience at present time. However, it was the norm at that time. Therefore, we can conclude that many steps have been taken in our society to value and accept others. Many more still are needed to be taken...
Central Park.
Since I wrote my first paper on Central Park, and unfortunately I'm still unable to upload it, I think it is very important to present a synopsis of that paper which would give me an opportunity to share with those who make me the distinguished privilege to visit my site some facts about this public space corroborated by some pictures.
Central Park is the first landscaped Public Park in the United States, and a complementary to the city panorama, urbanization and decor, a city well-known for its skyscrapers, heavy traffic and crowded street activities. The work began in 1858 and covered initially 700 acres of land situated between fifth and eighth avenues and 59th to 106th streets . Later on, it was extended to its actual size of 840 acres when the city displaced thousand of people to bring the park up to 110th street.
The park was tactfully designed to avoid any nuisance that heavy traffic and commotion of the city would cause by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, winners of the competition organized by the Central Park Commission, with their Greensward Project among 33 participants.
In fact, some New Yorkers merchants and landowners inspired by the European models of England and France advocated for a public space where working class families could ride carriages, have leisure and even an alternative to saloon which was common at that time, where people would gather to talk about poetry and literature. However, Olmsted, one of the architects of the project, an antislavery and egalitarian had a more democratic view of the park. He personally believed that a Park would be equally enjoyed by all classes as he witnessed in England where he visited Birkenhead Park. He viewed the park as a garden for everyone. His opinion on this matter merits a great attention. "In democratic America there was nothing to thought as comparable with this people's garden." (BG, page 284).
Central Park several that really worth of mentioning and visiting; Tavern the Green, Charles A. Donna Discover Center, Carousel, Bethesda Fountain, Strawberry Field, Bow Bridge, Central Park Zoo, etc. It also offers numerous sportive activities; Soccer, Basket Ball, Volley Ball, The New City Marathon, some mega concerts, etc.
One must admit after more than a century, Central Park continues to be a testimony, a vibrant homage of the courage, passion and vision of these two prominent architects; Olmsted and Vaux. Respect for a well-accomplished job.
Tompkins Square
Tompkins Square is well-known for these two famous riots that occurred approximately a century apart, and respectively on January 13, 1874 and on August 6 to August 7 of 1988.
The first riot was caused amid citizens protests, demonstrations and requesting for public works that would create jobs rather than government's assistance and New York city Police's response to the population's gathering and protesting. In fact, as the great depression of 1873 left thousand of New Yorkers unemployed, unable to make two ends meet. A group of concerned citizens formed The Committee of Safety in New York City and attempted to meet with city officials, particularly Mayor William F. Havemeyer with the demand of obtaining $100.000 for a Labor Relief Bureau created by the Committee.
As their request turned down, members of the committee had planned to organize protests at Tompkins Square. Another organization leaded by Patrick Dunn opted for more radical action, and intended to march to City Hall. Indeed, between January January, 5th and 9th several demonstrations took place in the city. However, It had been rumored in the city that the committee was supported financially by money stolen from jewels'robbery by a group called communards in Paris and that weapons had been bought, and there would be even a plan to assassinate the Mayor.
The Police Board decided not to allow any manifestation to City Hall. Moreover, a permit that was delivered by the Department of Parks for a protest to be held in Tompkins Park on January 13 had been revoked the previous day. It seems that most of the protesters were not aware of the permit revocation, and as planned, on that several thousand gathered and the police response to the demonstration was uncalled for and out proportion. It had been reported that men, women and children all were brutalized by New York City Police Department. The report of (BG, page 167) cannot be any more corroborative in describing police brutality that day. "The first riot occurred in 1874 when police mounted on horseback and wielding clubs, suppressed a gathering of 7,000 unemployed people hoping for work relief during a financial depression."
The second Tompkins Square Riot was subsequent to a city decision to establish a curfew of 1:00 a.m in all city parks. This decision has been diversely appreciated throughout the city and particularly by inhabitants of East Village. Some residents welcomed the decision, and they had seen the Park at night as a refuge for drug users, homeless and skinheads. Others, on the other hand perceived the curfew as a city attempt to do gentrification, to push away the poorer ones or a restraint from their rights.
A previous protest was held on July 31 which caused clashes between participants and Police. Another protest was scheduled on August, 6th and the New York City Police's response was inadequate and the confrontation between protesters and police continued until dawn. The New York Times published an editorial under the title, "Yes a Police Riot" (http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html) to establish police responsibility or irresponsibility, depend on the context.
It is not fortuitous to mention that Tompkins Square had known other riots, but these two riots previously mentioned had been by far the most outrageous. Also, police brutality during these two riots had been diversely handled. In fact, after the first riot no recommendations or disciplinary actions were taken regarding the management of the crisis by the Police Department. However, for the second riot some officers were demoted, others were either assigned to different duty or even charged.
Merchant's House Museum
The Merchant's House Museum has been designated under other appellations; Old Merchant's House, the Seabury Tredwell House. It was built in 1832 by Joseph Brewster and sold to a well-known and wealthy merchant, Seabury Tredwell. It has been inhabited by the same family for almost a century until it was transformed to a museum in 1936 by Georges Chapman a cousin of the family who used to live there. This family, composed of both parents and eight children; three sons and five daughters who all were born in the house, and a cohort of nephews and nieces who temporarily lived there at different period.
Gertrude, the youngest among the Seabury siblings outlived everyone and occupied the house until her death in 1933. Georges Chapman bought the house to save it from foreclosure and demolition. He preserved it as a museum to allow several generations to share this part of history and memory that survived like an indelible ink and stayed intact in the archive of the city .
The Museum presents a double aspects of architecture. From the outside, it is designed as a Federal style brick building, however; once inside, the contrast is evident with a Greek Revival; symmetrical parlors, each room represents the mirror reflex of another. It conserves the belongings of the Tredwells which include books, photographs, dining table, chairs, commodes, draperies, decorative arts, lingerie, etc.
The Museum presents another aspect that can be observed and pinpointed only by the observer who has the ability to read between the lines and who clearly understands the image projected by a mirror is not the reality behind the mirror. This aspect is how we value others, how our society has been changed. Indeed, I purposely choose not to mention so far, the Irish maids who worked at the Tredwells House, these creatures treated as second class citizen. The contrast between the opulence of these rooms well-garnished and these small and miserable beds reserved to the maids was patent and would question our conscience at present time. However, it was the norm at that time. Therefore, we can conclude that many steps have been taken in our society to value and accept others. Many more still are needed to be taken...
Central Park.
Since I wrote my first paper on Central Park, and unfortunately I'm still unable to upload it, I think it is very important to present a synopsis of that paper which would give me an opportunity to share with those who make me the distinguished privilege to visit my site some facts about this public space corroborated by some pictures.
Central Park is the first landscaped Public Park in the United States, and a complementary to the city panorama, urbanization and decor, a city well-known for its skyscrapers, heavy traffic and crowded street activities. The work began in 1858 and covered initially 700 acres of land situated between fifth and eighth avenues and 59th to 106th streets . Later on, it was extended to its actual size of 840 acres when the city displaced thousand of people to bring the park up to 110th street.
The park was tactfully designed to avoid any nuisance that heavy traffic and commotion of the city would cause by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, winners of the competition organized by the Central Park Commission, with their Greensward Project among 33 participants.
In fact, some New Yorkers merchants and landowners inspired by the European models of England and France advocated for a public space where working class families could ride carriages, have leisure and even an alternative to saloon which was common at that time, where people would gather to talk about poetry and literature. However, Olmsted, one of the architects of the project, an antislavery and egalitarian had a more democratic view of the park. He personally believed that a Park would be equally enjoyed by all classes as he witnessed in England where he visited Birkenhead Park. He viewed the park as a garden for everyone. His opinion on this matter merits a great attention. "In democratic America there was nothing to thought as comparable with this people's garden." (BG, page 284).
Central Park several that really worth of mentioning and visiting; Tavern the Green, Charles A. Donna Discover Center, Carousel, Bethesda Fountain, Strawberry Field, Bow Bridge, Central Park Zoo, etc. It also offers numerous sportive activities; Soccer, Basket Ball, Volley Ball, The New City Marathon, some mega concerts, etc.
One must admit after more than a century, Central Park continues to be a testimony, a vibrant homage of the courage, passion and vision of these two prominent architects; Olmsted and Vaux. Respect for a well-accomplished job.