JOURNAL 1
Impressions Of New York:
Having lived on Long Island my entire life I am not a stranger to NYC. For the last 20 years I would venture to say that I travel into Manhattan at least twice a month on average. That being said, one might think I could easily navigate around Manhattan, not so. My brother and his family live on the west side of Manhattan, We always drive in when visiting them. Yes, I could take a train to Penn and jump on the subway, but God only knows where I would end up!! Other times I meet friends in the city for dinner (Corsino) great place to enjoy a meal with family and friends. Other times I go into the city with my family to broadway shows, Knicks games and museums. Most recently we went over to Governors Island(short "free " ferry ride from Battery Park). But I know that there is so much more to explore, places that I would not experience if not for this class. I am also looking forward to learning about the history of these hidden treasures. What I find truly amazing is the diversity, culture and energy of the city, it really is the city that never sleeps. And just think, the island of Manhattan is only about 13 miles long and two miles wide. I love spending time in Manhattan, and I consider it a privilege to live in such close proximity.
Bodacious Brooklyn:
I am joining the Gotham New York Experience class one week late. When I heard about this class I very much wanted to take it, but due to its popularity, it was closed out. So when my friend Jacquie called me after her first class and told me there was an opening, I made sure I was at the registration desk as soon as it opened Monday morning. Jacquie then proceeded to tell me about her first class, I was so disappointed that I had missed it. I couldn't believe how much they did in one day. Well as it turns out I have to make that class up on my own, so my Quincitental Queens will be out of order.
So today is Friday the 13th. I took the 9:39 train and arrived in Penn Station at 10:08, way to early for an 11:00 class, well it gave me plenty of time to have a cup of coffee and relax. I met Mike and Meritta the course instructors, already I know I am going to love this class. The journey begins, Mike starts out by asking the class which subway we should take to Coney Island, which is to be our first stop today( I said the Q, not because I actually understand the subway system, but because that is what I had read in the Blue Guide),but turns out there are a couple of different options, we end up taking the F train. The subway ride which should have taken 45 minutes took almost two hours. This didn't leave much time to really explore kitchy Coney Island, but definitely was enough time to get a feel for it's uniqueness . It was a beautiful sunny day, their were some people on the boardwalk, but I could only image what it is like in the summer. I honestly had planned to ride the famous cyclone roller coaster but much to my chagrin, the rides were not open. So Jacquie and I settled for taking a stroll on the boardwalk, and I had a world famous Nathan's hotdog. Coney Island was settled by the dutch, who named it Konijn Eiland after the rabbits they found there (Blue Guide Book pg492). The 1920's and 1930's were Coney Island's hay days. When the 19th-century rich of New York were retreating to the grand hotels of nearby Manhattan Beach, the working class found refuge from lives of hard labor at Coney Island's beaches, vaudeville houses, music halls and revolutionary amusement parks. by the 1940's Robert Moses had built parks and beaches that would ultimately lure people to more salutary forms of entertainment.(Blue Guide pg492). Supporters of gentification of Coney Island say the run-down place needs a new look with high end hotels and apartments. But other New Yorkers are aghast, seeing it as the symbolic last nail in the coffin of the rough-edged fun that once made New York New York.
2:35 on the afternoon of October 27, 1904, the New York Mayor takes the controls on the inaugural run of the city's new subway!!!!!!
Next stop the New York Transit Museum, we took the F train to Jay Steet in downtown Brooklyn. Katherine was our tour guide at the museum, she was amazing. The museum was pretty cool because it was in an actual subway station. Built in 1936 and operated until 1946, when it closed due to low ridership (heck, it only went three blocks, people could walk faster). It became a museum in 1976. We learned the history of the subway system. The idea for an underground system was not a novel concept, London was already on board. 1888 brought the worst blizzard the city had ever experienced, fifty inches of snow that came down so fast and furious that passengers were trapped for over twenty-four hours . It was time, New York City needed an underground transportation system as well. There were two methods used to build the tunnels, cut and cover and cut and tunnel. The tunneling of the subways was dangerous work(Due to the pressure many ended up with the bends), workers called sandhogs performed this job for very low wages. Sandhogs were generally of Irish, Italian and African decent. Today sandhogs have a union and are the best paid construction workers. The first line, operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), traveled 9.1 miles through 28 stations. Running from City Hall in lower Manhattan to Grand Central Terminal in midtown, and then heading west along 42nd Street to Times Square, the line finished by zipping north, all the way to 145th Street and Broadway in Harlem. People paid a nickel each to take their first ride under Manhattan. IRT service expanded to the Bronx in 1905, to Brooklyn in 1908 and to Queens in 1915. Since 1968, the subway has been controlled by the Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA). The system now has 26 lines , 468 stations and 850 miles of track in operation, 191st # 1 train is the deepest station at 200 feet deep. New York's subway is the only rapid transit system in the world that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. NYC might not of been the first but is definitely the best. At the current time the 2nd ave subway is in the works. After our tour with Katherine we had the opportunity to walk around the museum on our own. I especially enjoyed being able to go on the old subway cars, that dated back to the original 1904 car up to the present. Feeling the the fabric on the seats, holding on the strap hangers, and seeing the old advertisements on the walls of the cars made me feel like I had traveled back in time. What a great hands on museum, I am definitely going to bring my family back here.
We stopped briefly in front of Brooklyn Borough Hall, originally called the Brooklyn City Hall, because it was it's own city up until 1898. We are on the move again and walked to Brooklyn Heights, which is considered one of the most desirable places to live in New York. Saw some beautiful churches along the way, one being St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church, Mike pointed out that it was of gothic architecture. We crossed the street and walked though the lobby of the the Brooklyn Trust, WOW ....is all I have to say, the lobby was gorgeous. Still walking, as I am walking down Montague St. with the tree lined streets and the Brownstone homes, in front of me I see the East River, the view I see ahead is spectacular. Again we stopped for a brief minute for a little history lesson about how George Washington could not hold off the British and fled with his men to washington Heights.. We continued on walking along the Brooklyn promenade the view is so amazing with the sun glistening off the East River across the river you see the Manhattan sky line. Down below, work is being done as part of Mayor Bloomberg's revitilization projects. We continue on walking and stopped briefly in front of Plymouth Church which is where the famous abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher 's powerful preaching against slavery quickly built Plymouth Church into the most prominent Protestant church of that era. Beecher was such a dynamic preacher, the likes of Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain traveled to Brooklyn to hear him speak. We stopped in front of 66 Cranberry St., former home of Walt Whitman. As we strolled down( oh yeah, you never stroll with Mike, it's more like a slow jog) Cranberry St. it was so peaceful. Next Stop DUMBO(Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass). We stopped at Jacques Torres for the most delicious chocolate ice cream I've ever had. Next we walked over the Brooklyn Bridge,(can cross it off my bucket list now). What a view! Meritta was right, don't even think about stepping into the bike lane, THEY WILL TAKE YOU DOWN. Before the Brooklyn Bridge, anyone wishing to cross the East River had to take the Fulton Ferry. Limited to small loads and idle in poor weather, the ferry system could not keep pace with the expansion of industry which took place in the mid-19th century.(Blue Guide pg.464). The Brooklyn Bridge(1869-83) opened on May 25, 1883 was the first great suspension bridge in the United States. It was designed by John Roebling and completed by his son Washington Roebling. (Blue Guide pg.464). We are now back in Manhattan on Centre St. We took the subway back to penn station, I caught the 6:46 train home. What an awesome experience!
So today is Friday the 13th. I took the 9:39 train and arrived in Penn Station at 10:08, way to early for an 11:00 class, well it gave me plenty of time to have a cup of coffee and relax. I met Mike and Meritta the course instructors, already I know I am going to love this class. The journey begins, Mike starts out by asking the class which subway we should take to Coney Island, which is to be our first stop today( I said the Q, not because I actually understand the subway system, but because that is what I had read in the Blue Guide),but turns out there are a couple of different options, we end up taking the F train. The subway ride which should have taken 45 minutes took almost two hours. This didn't leave much time to really explore kitchy Coney Island, but definitely was enough time to get a feel for it's uniqueness . It was a beautiful sunny day, their were some people on the boardwalk, but I could only image what it is like in the summer. I honestly had planned to ride the famous cyclone roller coaster but much to my chagrin, the rides were not open. So Jacquie and I settled for taking a stroll on the boardwalk, and I had a world famous Nathan's hotdog. Coney Island was settled by the dutch, who named it Konijn Eiland after the rabbits they found there (Blue Guide Book pg492). The 1920's and 1930's were Coney Island's hay days. When the 19th-century rich of New York were retreating to the grand hotels of nearby Manhattan Beach, the working class found refuge from lives of hard labor at Coney Island's beaches, vaudeville houses, music halls and revolutionary amusement parks. by the 1940's Robert Moses had built parks and beaches that would ultimately lure people to more salutary forms of entertainment.(Blue Guide pg492). Supporters of gentification of Coney Island say the run-down place needs a new look with high end hotels and apartments. But other New Yorkers are aghast, seeing it as the symbolic last nail in the coffin of the rough-edged fun that once made New York New York.
2:35 on the afternoon of October 27, 1904, the New York Mayor takes the controls on the inaugural run of the city's new subway!!!!!!
Next stop the New York Transit Museum, we took the F train to Jay Steet in downtown Brooklyn. Katherine was our tour guide at the museum, she was amazing. The museum was pretty cool because it was in an actual subway station. Built in 1936 and operated until 1946, when it closed due to low ridership (heck, it only went three blocks, people could walk faster). It became a museum in 1976. We learned the history of the subway system. The idea for an underground system was not a novel concept, London was already on board. 1888 brought the worst blizzard the city had ever experienced, fifty inches of snow that came down so fast and furious that passengers were trapped for over twenty-four hours . It was time, New York City needed an underground transportation system as well. There were two methods used to build the tunnels, cut and cover and cut and tunnel. The tunneling of the subways was dangerous work(Due to the pressure many ended up with the bends), workers called sandhogs performed this job for very low wages. Sandhogs were generally of Irish, Italian and African decent. Today sandhogs have a union and are the best paid construction workers. The first line, operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), traveled 9.1 miles through 28 stations. Running from City Hall in lower Manhattan to Grand Central Terminal in midtown, and then heading west along 42nd Street to Times Square, the line finished by zipping north, all the way to 145th Street and Broadway in Harlem. People paid a nickel each to take their first ride under Manhattan. IRT service expanded to the Bronx in 1905, to Brooklyn in 1908 and to Queens in 1915. Since 1968, the subway has been controlled by the Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA). The system now has 26 lines , 468 stations and 850 miles of track in operation, 191st # 1 train is the deepest station at 200 feet deep. New York's subway is the only rapid transit system in the world that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. NYC might not of been the first but is definitely the best. At the current time the 2nd ave subway is in the works. After our tour with Katherine we had the opportunity to walk around the museum on our own. I especially enjoyed being able to go on the old subway cars, that dated back to the original 1904 car up to the present. Feeling the the fabric on the seats, holding on the strap hangers, and seeing the old advertisements on the walls of the cars made me feel like I had traveled back in time. What a great hands on museum, I am definitely going to bring my family back here.
We stopped briefly in front of Brooklyn Borough Hall, originally called the Brooklyn City Hall, because it was it's own city up until 1898. We are on the move again and walked to Brooklyn Heights, which is considered one of the most desirable places to live in New York. Saw some beautiful churches along the way, one being St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church, Mike pointed out that it was of gothic architecture. We crossed the street and walked though the lobby of the the Brooklyn Trust, WOW ....is all I have to say, the lobby was gorgeous. Still walking, as I am walking down Montague St. with the tree lined streets and the Brownstone homes, in front of me I see the East River, the view I see ahead is spectacular. Again we stopped for a brief minute for a little history lesson about how George Washington could not hold off the British and fled with his men to washington Heights.. We continued on walking along the Brooklyn promenade the view is so amazing with the sun glistening off the East River across the river you see the Manhattan sky line. Down below, work is being done as part of Mayor Bloomberg's revitilization projects. We continue on walking and stopped briefly in front of Plymouth Church which is where the famous abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher 's powerful preaching against slavery quickly built Plymouth Church into the most prominent Protestant church of that era. Beecher was such a dynamic preacher, the likes of Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain traveled to Brooklyn to hear him speak. We stopped in front of 66 Cranberry St., former home of Walt Whitman. As we strolled down( oh yeah, you never stroll with Mike, it's more like a slow jog) Cranberry St. it was so peaceful. Next Stop DUMBO(Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass). We stopped at Jacques Torres for the most delicious chocolate ice cream I've ever had. Next we walked over the Brooklyn Bridge,(can cross it off my bucket list now). What a view! Meritta was right, don't even think about stepping into the bike lane, THEY WILL TAKE YOU DOWN. Before the Brooklyn Bridge, anyone wishing to cross the East River had to take the Fulton Ferry. Limited to small loads and idle in poor weather, the ferry system could not keep pace with the expansion of industry which took place in the mid-19th century.(Blue Guide pg.464). The Brooklyn Bridge(1869-83) opened on May 25, 1883 was the first great suspension bridge in the United States. It was designed by John Roebling and completed by his son Washington Roebling. (Blue Guide pg.464). We are now back in Manhattan on Centre St. We took the subway back to penn station, I caught the 6:46 train home. What an awesome experience!
A Tale of Three Villages :
Today is Friday, September 20th, another beautiful sunny day in New York City. I met my class in Penn Station at 11:00. Today we will be exploring Greenwich Village and the East Village, we started out by taking the 1 train to W. Houston St. we headed to Bedford St, which is considered the most desirable St. in the West Village. 75 1/2 Bedford St. We stopped in front of 75 1/2 Bedford St the apartment is only 9 1/2 feet wide it is the narrowest house in the village(Blue Guide pg. 141). The last selling price was 3.2 million dollars. Next stop was across the street from the White Horse Tavern, the bar opened in 1880 and was known more as a longshoremen's bar than a literary center until Dylan Thomas and other writers began frequenting it in the early 1950s. We walked past a restaurant called One if by land, Two if by Sea, Meritta mentioned that is a very romantic and pricey restaurant. I peeked inside, I would definetly enjoy a meal here. We walked through Christopher Park the park contains George Segal's Gay Liberation (1992), two same sex couples all four cast in bronze and painted stark white. We walked by The Stonewall Inn, site of the Stonewall Riots of 1969, which is widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for gay and lesbian rights in the United States.(Blue Guide pg 130). The Stonewall is an unassuming little bar in Manhattan’s West Village that has become a true landmark in gay history. Forty years ago, the New York gay community rose up here in a riot that sparked the modern gay rights movement. Next we walked past the Northern Dispensary a triangular building on a triangular plot, the only public building from the Federal period still standing. Built in 1831, offered free medical care to the poor for more than 150 years(Blue Guide pg 130).
Our next stop was at the Merchant House Museum, Bill our tour guide took us on a journey back in time. Seabury Tredwell moved his wife and seven children uptown to the exclusive Bond Street area. The house cost $18,000 in 1835 when Mr. Tredwell purcahsed it. Gertrude their eight child was born in the house in 1940. four servants lived in the house as well. It's facade is Federal style, but the interior, especialy the parlors are of Greek architecture.
Seabury died in 1865 and the remaining family lived at the home into old age. Gertrude, the youngest member of the immediate family, lived here alone for 24 years after the death of her sister Julia in 1909. As she grew older and more eccentric she became obsessed with holding on to the elegant home in a neighborhood that had become, by the early 20th century, a run-down, semi-industrial, and disreputable part of town. Burdened with severe financial hardship in her last years, she somehow managed to keep the beautiful home in nearly original condition, long after all the neighboring private homes had been demolished
After her death, a distant cousin, George Chapman, purchased the building, saving it from foreclosure and demolition. In 1936, after needed repair and renovation, the house opened as a museum. That's a little history about the house, but the following is what I took away from my visit to the museum. So Bill started our tour out in the back yard which has been turned into a beautiful garden.
Seabury died in 1865 and the remaining family lived at the home into old age. Gertrude, the youngest member of the immediate family, lived here alone for 24 years after the death of her sister Julia in 1909. As she grew older and more eccentric she became obsessed with holding on to the elegant home in a neighborhood that had become, by the early 20th century, a run-down, semi-industrial, and disreputable part of town. Burdened with severe financial hardship in her last years, she somehow managed to keep the beautiful home in nearly original condition, long after all the neighboring private homes had been demolished
After her death, a distant cousin, George Chapman, purchased the building, saving it from foreclosure and demolition. In 1936, after needed repair and renovation, the house opened as a museum. That's a little history about the house, but the following is what I took away from my visit to the museum. So Bill started our tour out in the back yard which has been turned into a beautiful garden.
we then headed inside for a tour of the entire house. Bill mentioned that even though this was an upper class home they still would have had rats and roaches running through the kitchen. The house originally did not have running water not until 1842 when the municipal water system was completed. The house had a call bell system set up in order for the family to ring for the servants. The bells were in the kitchen since their would have always been at least one servant in the kitchen at all times. I loved the brick oven and the pie warmer that were in the kitchen as well.
We headed upstairs(the stairs were kind of steep) I could not image having to carry buckets of water up these stairs which the servant would have had to do in order to fill the wash basin for each of the family members and fire wood for the fire places in the bedrooms. Next we saw Mr. and Mrs Tredwells bedrooms which were separate rooms connected by a small hall. Mrs Tredwells bedroom had a childrens bed in her room, if one her children were sick they would have slept in her room. Mr Tredwell would not of spent a lot of time in the house, as Bill pointed out this was a very exciting time in New York City and the men of Mr. Tredwell status would be out of the house more than they were home.
up another two flights of stairs took us to the servants quarters. It was a sparsely decorated room with two beds in each of the two rooms only one of the rooms were open for the tour but they would have been nearly identical. Something interesting that Bill mentioned was that the Irish servant made $4 a month compared to cops that made $12 a week at that time. I really enjoyed the tour.
We than walked through the Washington Mews. Between 5th Avenue and University Place just north of Washington Square, is one of a few "private" streets left in New York City. Originally built as Victorian stables, the still cobblestone lined street has transformed itself from stables to carriage houses, then artists studios and luxury townhouses. Mike and Meritta informed us that a large part of it is now leased by NYU. I don't know if it was my imagination or not but as Jacquie and I were walking through we could not help but notice that it smelled of horse manure.
Washington Square Park, which is in the heart of Greenwich village was our next stop. We stopped briefly in front of the arch. The arch was dedicated in 1895, designed by Stanford White modeled on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, dominates the northern entrance to the park(Blue Guide pg. 131). The Arch was dedicated to George Washington, on the left side of the arch is Washington as a General and on the right side of the arch is Washington as President. As we walked through the park we saw some very interesting characters. Also people were sitting around the fountain in the middle of the park, enjoying this beautiful day. Something that Meritta mentioned to us as we were standing under the arch was that the fountain at one point was not exactly center when you looked through the arch so the city spent bucco bucks some years back to center it( I got the impression Meritta felt the money could have been better spent). At this point I was ready for lunch.
We ended up at St Marks place. For lunch we had less then one hour to find a place and eat. we went to La Palapa a Mexican restaurant. I had a pork and pinnaple quesadilla and shared a frozen lime margarita with jacquie. It felt so good to just sit-down for a little while.
I would recommend this restaurant the food, drinks and service was great.
I would recommend this restaurant the food, drinks and service was great.
After lunch we went to MORUS(Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space) which was on Ave C. We had a few minutes to browse around the museum before we went on a walking tour with our tour guide Bill. Our first stop was the 9th Street Community Garden Park, which was closed today. The parks are maintained by neighborhood volunteers and protected through Green Thumb. We stood outside the park while Bill spoke about white flight and how in the 1970s, scores of landlords walked away from old tenement buildings. Many buildings slid into vacancy and rot. And how the landlords would sometimes just set the buildings on fire. By the 1980s, squatters took over many of the structures in fringe areas such as Alphabet City (Avenues A to D) in the Lower East Side. They had to fight to stay. The city dispossessed hundreds of squatters, sometimes mounting massive paramilitary attacks on their buildings. In the end, 12 squatter buildings survived, and they outlasted official resistance. In 2002, the government of New York City granted ownership of 11 squats on the Lower East Side, including C Squat, to the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB), a private not-for-profit organization. We walked just a little more and came upon La Plaza Cultural . We had an opportunity to explore this garden with Bill. I was especially impressed with the cistern system. Mike posed the question, why can't we utilize this kind of reuse system on Long Island? It definitely got me to thinking about it. Bill explained how compost is made. The remaining two murals on the wall were from 1985 and represent cultures around the world and thier hardships, the mural reads" The Struggle Continues". As we left the park Bill pointed out the artwork on top of the fence. He explained how the top of the fence had unsightly wire sticking out on top in order to keep out intruders after the park has closed. In an effort to make the fence less of an eyesore these recycled materials were made into artwork and placed on top of each wire(LOVE IT !!). Next we headed to Tompkins Square Park Through the years it has witnessed two historic riots and many political demonstrations(Blue Guide pg.167). where Bill filled us in on all of the riots that took place in the park throughout the years. Bill was extremely passionate and knowledgeable. I felt he might have gone on speaking for the rest of the day if not for Mike hinting for him to wrap it up.
Last stop was the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop. I had the salty pimp ice cream cone, which is vanilla ice cream covered with sea salt and a hard chocolate coating, soooo yummy!!! I figured after all of the walking we did I deserved it! It was another very long day with lots of walking. As I stated in the beginning of my journal, my brother lives in the West Village so I have been in this area before and I have walked past some of the places that we went to and never gave them a second glance. I definitely have a better appreciation for the history of the Village.
EAST OF THE PARK:
What good fortune, it is another gorgeous day in New York City! You guessed it, again I met my class in Penn Station at 11:00. Mike went over our itinerary for the day and queried us as to how to get to the upper East side of Manhattan. We took the Times square shuttle to 86th st. then got on the 4 express then the 6 train to 103rd St.(I think that is what we did??). As we stood on the corner of Lexington and 103st. we could see signs of gentrification, as evidenced by the holistic spa and new apartment buildings. We walked under the viaduct crossed over Madison Ave. and our first stop was at The Museum Of New City. We had a few minutes to see Janet Ruttenberg's paintings. The paintings which were a variety of oils, watercolor and video are all of Central Park. Next it was upstairs, since we had a couple of minutes to spare before the short documentary we were about to see we headed into the activist section. Mike told us to focus on one movement. I read about immigration. I wish I would have had more time to spend in this section (great exhibits in here). Next we watched a short documentary on the history of New York City. A 20 minute summary of the growth of New York from a settlement of a few hundred to the present(well 2001).
Our next stop was the El Museo Del Barrio it just north of the New York City Museum. Instead of going into the museum, we had a walking tour. Since we were such a large group, we split into two groups. I was with group two, Samantha was our tour guide. She started out by asking us what we thought the name on the building meant. It took our group awhile but we finally got to the answer( Museum of the neighborhood). Originally it was a community museum that would primarily function as a neighborhood institution serving Puerto Ricans in East Harlem. With the increasing size of the Latino population throughout New York City, the scope of the museum has expanded, breeding conflict with some artists, scholars, and neighborhood activists anxious to preserve its original mission. As we walked along 103rd St. one could see the obvious signs that we were in a Puerto Rican neighborhood. Samantha talked about how East Harlem is known for its murals and mosaics documenting the trials and history of generations of Puerto Ricans and Latinos. We spoke about the mural "Spirit of East Harlem" painted by Hank Prussin with the assistance of Manny Vega Jr. in the 1970's. That all of the people in this mural were the actual people from the neighborhood at the time. We discussed the mosaics by Manny Vega called "Espirito". This is more reflective of a global community. Where different cultures and customs can coexist. I have to say I really liked the mosaic art, it is timeless. Next we walked by the Griffiti hall of fame, one side of the wall is in a school playground and the other side lines the sidewalk(not a big fan of it). Every year a new arstist paints a new mural. Something I found quite odd...were the people selling food on the side of the street, without permits. I noticed it on couple of the streets. Stopped for lunch, did not like it very much, should have ordered from the street vendors.
We entered Central Park on 105th St. at the Conservatory Garden. Before we went into the Park we talked about who designed the park, Frederick Law Olmsted. Meritta mentioned that he designed a park in Buffalo, NY. as well. Standing at the entrance of Conservatory Garden, Vanderbilt Gate is considered one of the finest examples of wrought iron work in New York City. Designed by American architect George B. Post, it was made in France and adorned the mansion of Cornelius Vanderbilt II at Fifth Avenue and 58th Street. Later, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art, gifted the gates to the City.
Central Park, is 843 acres set aside for the recreation of New Yorker and visitors alike. Although the park seems "natural", it's landscape and scenery are completely man-made(blue Book pg.279). The park runs from 110th St. to 59th St. and across from Central Park West to 5th Ave. We walked around the Jackie Kennedy Reservoir which is no longer in use. I could not believe how large the reservoir was. Mike informed us that if the city needed to use this water it would only be enough water supply for two weeks. We stopped by bridge number 24, Their are 36 bridges in the park, Merritta told us that no two bridges are alike. Mike and Meritta decided since it was such a beautiful day we would forgo the Museums on 5th Ave. and stay in the park. We stopped in front of the Dakota building where John Lennon lived and was murdered by Mark Chapman. Then we walked by Strawberry Fields a memorial to John Lennon. We did eventually sit for a short while to have some "class Time". We ended up walking all the way to 59th St. Something interesting I noticed were the prices of bike-buggy rides, they ranged from $2 per minute to $5 per minute(I'm thinking of changing careers). After we exited the park at 59th we walked through the lobby of the Plaza Hotel. Next we went briefly into FAO Schwarz toy store. I saw a display of the Beatles figurines, snapped a picture of the John Lennon. We then walked through Tiffany's, everything sparkled. I stopped to admire a yellow diamond ring, when I looked up everyone was gone. Jacquie and I walked to St. Patricks Cathedral. I lit a candle, said a pray, and called Mike in that order. The class was on the corner, some how we got in front of the class. THE END.
Oh yeah.. I still have to get to Penn Station... at this point it was 6:40 and I wanted to catch the 7:08 train home so Jacquie and I half ran half walked to Penn. I made it with 5 minutes to spare. I was never so happy to be sitting down. Thanks Mike and Meritta for a great day in the park. And thanks to you I can now say, I walked the entire length of Central Park!!!!!!!
Central Park, is 843 acres set aside for the recreation of New Yorker and visitors alike. Although the park seems "natural", it's landscape and scenery are completely man-made(blue Book pg.279). The park runs from 110th St. to 59th St. and across from Central Park West to 5th Ave. We walked around the Jackie Kennedy Reservoir which is no longer in use. I could not believe how large the reservoir was. Mike informed us that if the city needed to use this water it would only be enough water supply for two weeks. We stopped by bridge number 24, Their are 36 bridges in the park, Merritta told us that no two bridges are alike. Mike and Meritta decided since it was such a beautiful day we would forgo the Museums on 5th Ave. and stay in the park. We stopped in front of the Dakota building where John Lennon lived and was murdered by Mark Chapman. Then we walked by Strawberry Fields a memorial to John Lennon. We did eventually sit for a short while to have some "class Time". We ended up walking all the way to 59th St. Something interesting I noticed were the prices of bike-buggy rides, they ranged from $2 per minute to $5 per minute(I'm thinking of changing careers). After we exited the park at 59th we walked through the lobby of the Plaza Hotel. Next we went briefly into FAO Schwarz toy store. I saw a display of the Beatles figurines, snapped a picture of the John Lennon. We then walked through Tiffany's, everything sparkled. I stopped to admire a yellow diamond ring, when I looked up everyone was gone. Jacquie and I walked to St. Patricks Cathedral. I lit a candle, said a pray, and called Mike in that order. The class was on the corner, some how we got in front of the class. THE END.
Oh yeah.. I still have to get to Penn Station... at this point it was 6:40 and I wanted to catch the 7:08 train home so Jacquie and I half ran half walked to Penn. I made it with 5 minutes to spare. I was never so happy to be sitting down. Thanks Mike and Meritta for a great day in the park. And thanks to you I can now say, I walked the entire length of Central Park!!!!!!!