Impressions of NYC
Being from Long Island, more specifically Wantagh, I have had the privilege of being able to hop on the train whenever I pleased and take a ride into the city. For years I have been doing this with family and friends and always have just followed them to whatever destination we had planned. I have been to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree multiple times, walked through Times Square and shopped at the large Disney store. I have seen many Knicks basketball games and concerts at Madison Square Garden and I have seen concerts and walked through Central Park and also the Central Park Zoo. These being all such popular and well known places, I feel like I have had the typical New York City experience, but I want to know more. Now that I am 21, i feel that I can fully appreciate everything in the city with no limits. I want to go to the places I have been afraid of going to. I want to eat different sorts of foods that I have ignored. I want to see beautiful views that I never knew that existed. I want to experience everything New York City has to offer because there are so many things that I am still missing out on. The thought of getting lost in such a large city gives me anxiety and I believe that is what has been holding me back for so long. New York City has such unique qualities such as the various kinds of people, types of buildings, ways of transportation, excellent restaurants and beautiful views and I am so excited to look into these special characteristics of the city, Whether I am learning about the places I already know, or ones that I have never even heard of, I am very excited for this class to start and to concur my fear of New York City. |
Queens
The first of many long adventures of my New York experience started September 6th, a Saturday morning at around ten o'clock. I hopped on the Long Island Railroad at the Rockville Centre station and quickly read over the assigned chapter in the Essential New York text book to see what was in store for the day. I saw that the destination was Queens, and was a little uneasy. I had only been to The Hall of Science when I was younger and Citi Field to see a few Mets games. I knew absolutely nothing about Queens, so as nervous as I was to experience what I didn't know, I was also intrigued. Little did I know, Queens would have a lot in store for me to experience for the first time in my life.
Upon arrival at Penn station, I saw what I had expected. There was an overwhelming amount of people still rushing around even despite the fact that it was Saturday. We had about 15 minutes until the time we had to meet with the class, so Meghan, Megan and I went to buy our MetroCards. The thought of buying the MetroCard made me a little nervous because I knew it meant we would be riding the subway, and I had never done that before. Once we purchased the MetroCards, it was time to meet. Mike gave us a quick overview of what the day was going to be like. Again, all of the things we had in store made me nervous but excited for the day ahead of me.
Upon arrival at Penn station, I saw what I had expected. There was an overwhelming amount of people still rushing around even despite the fact that it was Saturday. We had about 15 minutes until the time we had to meet with the class, so Meghan, Megan and I went to buy our MetroCards. The thought of buying the MetroCard made me a little nervous because I knew it meant we would be riding the subway, and I had never done that before. Once we purchased the MetroCards, it was time to meet. Mike gave us a quick overview of what the day was going to be like. Again, all of the things we had in store made me nervous but excited for the day ahead of me.
The first destination of the experience was to go to Flushing Meadow Park. Mike originally told us we would be taking the E train from 34th to Roosevelt Ave, but because it was Saturday, this train was not running. This made me worried because I already thought things for the rest of the day would be messed up because of this. Little did I know that we could just get there by a different route. So eventually, I finally experienced being on the subway for the first time in my life in route on the E train towards West 4th. Once we got there, we hopped on the F train towards 42nd street and finally on the 7 train to Willets Point, "the home of Corona-Flushing Meadow Park, Citi Field, and the U.S Open" (ENY page 216). Once stepping of the subway, I was a little more at ease from the fact that I had been to Citi Field many times before.
We walked down the long walkway and passed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, "the worlds largest public tennis facility" and the US Open was actually taking place, which explain the crazy activity (ENY page 218). As we walked passed the facility, Mike and Lee pulled us over in the shade to escape the sun and to teach us a little about the park. We learned that Queens was named after Catherine of Braganza, just as Kings County now known as Brooklyn, was named after King of England, Charles II. We also learned that Flushing Meadow Park was known as the Corona Ash Dump in the 1920's, and F. Scott Fitzgerald refers to this in The Great Gatsby (ENY page 217). Further into our lesson, we learned how Robert Moses was considered both a hero and a villain. He was a hero because of his successful efforts to clear up the park of garbage to host the 1939-1940 World's Fair. The World's Fair similar to Disney;s Epcot, is a way of different countries around the world to be able to share the achievements such as technological, scientific, and artistic. This was a way of different nations to show off what great things they are coming up with and enhance global interconnecting.
We walked down the long walkway and passed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, "the worlds largest public tennis facility" and the US Open was actually taking place, which explain the crazy activity (ENY page 218). As we walked passed the facility, Mike and Lee pulled us over in the shade to escape the sun and to teach us a little about the park. We learned that Queens was named after Catherine of Braganza, just as Kings County now known as Brooklyn, was named after King of England, Charles II. We also learned that Flushing Meadow Park was known as the Corona Ash Dump in the 1920's, and F. Scott Fitzgerald refers to this in The Great Gatsby (ENY page 217). Further into our lesson, we learned how Robert Moses was considered both a hero and a villain. He was a hero because of his successful efforts to clear up the park of garbage to host the 1939-1940 World's Fair. The World's Fair similar to Disney;s Epcot, is a way of different countries around the world to be able to share the achievements such as technological, scientific, and artistic. This was a way of different nations to show off what great things they are coming up with and enhance global interconnecting.
One of my two favorite parts of Queens was the Unisphere. The "12 stories high, 120 ft diameter" structure was amazing to just stare at (ENY page 218). The addition of the fountains being on made the view so beautiful. We took the opportunity to take some group shots in front of the globe and also felt the mist from the fountains that cooled us off after being in the humidity and heat. My other favorite part was the Panorama inside the Queens Museum. I enjoyed looking at this because it gave me a better idea of where the boroughs were located with respect to one another. It is so amazing first, because that room was built for the Panorama, and also, that because of the 1 inch = 100 feet scale (ENY page 221), it all still fits in that small of an area. Because they stopped updating in 1992, it was fascinating to see the twin towers in place of where they were located in the city before September 11th. I was also able to locate Madison Square Garden, a place where I have been many times. I have Our tour guide showed us the different bridges and Mike taught us an easy way of remembering the bridges from south the north, as BMW: Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge and Williamsburg. We also learned that there was a specific area in Manhattan that had a large amount of skyscrapers, and this one location had so many because of the geographic quality named Manhattan shist. The NYC watershed was not very interesting to me, whether the reasoning be because I was getting tired or hungry at this point of the day or it just didn't strike my interest. It was cool, although, to see Wantagh, my home town, pointed out on the map and also to see that the water circulates from. I also thought that the actual sculpting of the piece was amazing to look at, and learned that it was not topographically accurate, therefore not allowing you to get a complete picture of the scaled down model and what it actually looks like.
After the Queens Museum, we backtracked a little bit walking passed the Unisphere one more time, and the tennis facility and made our way to the International Express to bring us to “Little India” for lunch. I was EXTREMELY nervous to try Indian food for the first time in my life so when we walked into the Jackson Diner, an all you can eat India Buffet in Jackson Heights, I was very hesitant. Mike showed us what was good and guided us to items that we would enjoy. I ended up trying mostly everything, and it wasn’t terrible. It reminded me of Chinese food. I am glad that I got to experience Indian food, but most likely will not be eating it again any time soon.
When we finished eating, there was just enough time to grab some ice cream at a Baskin Robins located on Roosevelt Ave before we caught the R train towards Steinway Street in Astoria. As we walked around to our next destination, Mike taught us and showed us the gentrification taking place on two streets right next to each other. If you stood on the corner and looked to your right, you saw a lower class area, and if you turned to the left, this lower class looking environment was starting to be taken over by companies and buildings, and that’s exactly what gentrification is. Gentrification is good, because it makes the value of the property in that area go up, but its also negative because the residents currently in that area cost of living goes up as well. Because of this, many people are moving out of Astoria and moving into western Nassau and Brooklyn. Also while walking around, there was a noticeable amount of movie theatres. This is because of Astoria Studies, which is responsible for making war propaganda movies during the wars. Then we made it to our next, and unfortunately our last destination, the Museum of Moving Images.
When we entered into the Museum of Moving Images, it seemed very modern. The floors and the walls were all white, and it seemed like a totally different atmosphere than if you were to step outside. We sat down for a little bit to rest up and spoke about how we thought the day was going. Despite being exhausted, we all spoke about how interesting the different types of transportation were and our experiences with the Indian food. Once we were all rested, Mike gave us about an hour to explore the museum. He told us that there was an area to rest and put our feet up and watch some documentaries, so right away I figured I would make my way over that way because I was exhausted. Little did I know that what I would be seeing at the museum was actually very interesting and I spent almost the entire hour looking through the different features of the museum.
When we entered into the Museum of Moving Images, it seemed very modern. The floors and the walls were all white, and it seemed like a totally different atmosphere than if you were to step outside. We sat down for a little bit to rest up and spoke about how we thought the day was going. Despite being exhausted, we all spoke about how interesting the different types of transportation were and our experiences with the Indian food. Once we were all rested, Mike gave us about an hour to explore the museum. He told us that there was an area to rest and put our feet up and watch some documentaries, so right away I figured I would make my way over that way because I was exhausted. Little did I know that what I would be seeing at the museum was actually very interesting and I spent almost the entire hour looking through the different features of the museum.
At first when I walked in, I started looking through the Chuck Jones features. It was interesting to observe the different ways of drawing the different characters in all of the Warner Brothers cartoons like Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. When reading the quotes on the walls that went along with the drawings, I learned that Bugs Bunny became a star when his characteristics became a symbol of an American hero during World War 2. Once I finished walking through the large cartoon area, I strolled passed the different styles of televisions and radios and made my way towards the section that explained how to make live TV work and adding music to movies. Entering this section reminded me of a ride in Disney’s Hollywood Studios called the Back Lot Tour, because there were statues of different costumes used in different movies and how make up was added. Because of his recent passing, I was disappointed because there was a large crowd around the Robin Williams face make up that he wears in Mrs. Doubtfire, so I was not able to take a picture of it or even see it that well, but I just glimpsed at it from afar. Then as I walked further, I walked passed several screens that had a baseball game playing on them. Being interested in most sports, I stopped to see what it was. What I saw once I stopped was that it was a section solely to explain how to edit live television. There was one large screen to show what was playing on the TV’s that we have been watching at home and then about nine other screens that had different angles throughout the park. Then there was a screen of the director watching all of these different screens, and you could hear him calling out numbers one through nine and directing the cameramen to zoom in and out over a headset. I never understood how live television worked with all the different camera angles and this was very interesting to learn. The last thing I looked at in the Museum before leaving was the addition of music into movies. There was an interactive program that allowed you to chose the proper music that went with the mood of the scene. I also read that “By the second reel of Jaws (1975) the sound composer John William’s famous ‘shark theme’ had audiences squirming in terror”, showing again how just the music in the background can create more emotion towards a scene than the actual scene itself.
Again because of it being Saturday, our trip had to change with complications with the subways not running. We were not able to go to Long Island City and this upset me because I heard of all the beautiful views we would be missing. Instead, from where we were, Mike had told us how to get back to Rockville Centre Train station, telling us to take the subway we were on all the way to the last stop, Jamaica. As we got to the second to last stop, we saw some of our fellow classmates getting off, but didn’t make sense of the fact that we should have been to because of what Mike had said. I personally thought that they were just getting off to go a different way. When we got to the last stop, we were close to running late to begin with so we ran up the stairs and asked two police men how to get to the LIRR and they looked at us funny telling us we got off at the wrong stop. We all ran back to the train we just got off and took it one stop to the proper station and had to sprint up a large staircase and barely made the train that brought us to the Rockville Centre station. All in all, it was a great day, and the new experiences between the places we went to, the subway we rode, and the Indian food we ate, I was a fantastic experience that I will always remember, and I already cant wait until next week.
Again because of it being Saturday, our trip had to change with complications with the subways not running. We were not able to go to Long Island City and this upset me because I heard of all the beautiful views we would be missing. Instead, from where we were, Mike had told us how to get back to Rockville Centre Train station, telling us to take the subway we were on all the way to the last stop, Jamaica. As we got to the second to last stop, we saw some of our fellow classmates getting off, but didn’t make sense of the fact that we should have been to because of what Mike had said. I personally thought that they were just getting off to go a different way. When we got to the last stop, we were close to running late to begin with so we ran up the stairs and asked two police men how to get to the LIRR and they looked at us funny telling us we got off at the wrong stop. We all ran back to the train we just got off and took it one stop to the proper station and had to sprint up a large staircase and barely made the train that brought us to the Rockville Centre station. All in all, it was a great day, and the new experiences between the places we went to, the subway we rode, and the Indian food we ate, I was a fantastic experience that I will always remember, and I already cant wait until next week.
Brooklyn
Waking up Saturday morning to rain did not make me very happy this past weekend. Gotham class was scheduled to go to Brooklyn, more specifically, Coney Island and the Brooklyn Bridge, so i was very excited, but concerned if the rain was going to ruin the day. I looked at the class website and unfortunately found out that the rain was altering our plan for the day. Mike briefly informed us that because of the rain, we would be visiting Coney Island on another day, and to be prepared with umbrellas. Right away i was nervous because my main reason for taking this class was to see the Brooklyn Bridge.
Meghan and I got on the 9:48 am train on the LIRR at the Wantagh station and took it all the way to Penn Station. We got to Penn Station at 10:45 am and waiting until 11:15 for all of our classmates before Mike gave us our pep-talk before the day began. Because we were not going to Coney island, we would be going backwards to the traditional way Mike takes the class. This meant we would be starting in Manhattan and working our way to Brooklyn. We would be going over the Brooklyn Bridge early, making our way to DUMBO, walking through Brooklyn Heights, eating lunch on Court Street, going to the Brooklyn Historical Society Museum and depending on the weather, going to the Met to end the day. So we made our way to the subway and got on the A train towards Chamber Street.
We got off the subway in lower Manhattan. We saw the Civic Center, and whilst getting attacked by pigeons, Mike taught us that this is where the city began. We then started talking about the Brooklyn Bridge so I was getting very excited for this.
Meghan and I got on the 9:48 am train on the LIRR at the Wantagh station and took it all the way to Penn Station. We got to Penn Station at 10:45 am and waiting until 11:15 for all of our classmates before Mike gave us our pep-talk before the day began. Because we were not going to Coney island, we would be going backwards to the traditional way Mike takes the class. This meant we would be starting in Manhattan and working our way to Brooklyn. We would be going over the Brooklyn Bridge early, making our way to DUMBO, walking through Brooklyn Heights, eating lunch on Court Street, going to the Brooklyn Historical Society Museum and depending on the weather, going to the Met to end the day. So we made our way to the subway and got on the A train towards Chamber Street.
We got off the subway in lower Manhattan. We saw the Civic Center, and whilst getting attacked by pigeons, Mike taught us that this is where the city began. We then started talking about the Brooklyn Bridge so I was getting very excited for this.
We talked about the Brooklyn Bridge for an extent of time. It was built in 1883 to connect Manhattan to Brooklyn together so workers could commute without having to wait for a ferry or deal with terrible weather. Another issue could have been that it was so crowded that you could have to wait several trips to get on the ferry, therefore making you late. The man who is praised for the building of the Brooklyn Bridge is John Roebling. The bridge is a suspension bridge (ENY page 208) which is basically a roadway hung up by cables. This made going on the bridge sort of scary because it did not seem to sturdy. John Roebling was not the only person who is accredited for the building of the Brooklyn Bridge though . Unfortunately, whilst building the bridge, he became injured and figured the best solution to this was to pour cold water on the injury. Little did he know he was going to get Gang Green. Because of this he handed construction over to his son Washington Roebling. He gets sick also during construction and hands the responsibilities down to his wife, who had no background in construction. He would supervise by looking through the window near his bed and Emily, his wife, put her best attempt in learning more about construction and mathematics to become the supervisor of the building (ENY page 208-209). When the bridge was finally finished, Washington wanted to be the first to successfully make it across, but Emily was not having that. Instead, she woke up early the morning that he was suppose to cross, and in her carriage crossed over with a rooster in her lap to symbolize victory. After learning all of these interesting facts about the bridge, I couldn't sit and talk anymore. I was so excited to experience this and the beautiful sites that the Brooklyn Bridge had in store.
Getting onto the bridge was a little overwhelming because it was very crowded. The breeze felt very nice and the sites where beautiful. We took advantage of the sites and took many pictures together that came out really well. Meghan, Megan and I even took the opportunity to write our names on the one of the structure pieces on the side. That was a very cool experience because although it was small, we got to leave our mark there. As I enjoyed the bridge, I almost forgot that it was a suspension bridge. I was frightened when getting on because i thought it would be shaky by the sound of its name but you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that and any other bridge.
Getting onto the bridge was a little overwhelming because it was very crowded. The breeze felt very nice and the sites where beautiful. We took advantage of the sites and took many pictures together that came out really well. Meghan, Megan and I even took the opportunity to write our names on the one of the structure pieces on the side. That was a very cool experience because although it was small, we got to leave our mark there. As I enjoyed the bridge, I almost forgot that it was a suspension bridge. I was frightened when getting on because i thought it would be shaky by the sound of its name but you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that and any other bridge.
We finished on the bridge and walked down a very frightening staircase that lead us towards DUMBO.At first, when i heard the word DUMBO, I laughed. I didn't think it was the actual name of a place that we were going to. DUMBO stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass (ENY page 207). It was very industrial here. As we walked down a long street, Mike asked us all if we wanted to stop for ice cream at one of "the best" places he's been to. How could we turn him down on that offer? So we walked to the ice cream place, and i ordered a salted caramel scoop on a cone, and I have to admit, it was pretty good. After this, we made our way to the Brooklyn Bridge park where we took more amazing pictures with some great backgrounds. From one point you were able to see all three bridges representing BMW: Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge. We also got to look at Jane's Carousel, which look stunning in it's $9 million transparent room (ENY page 208).
After we were done in the Brooklyn Bridge park, we walked up a large hill into Brooklyn heights. After walking up that hill, it was well understood where the name came from. When we got to the top of the hill, it was stunning. The apartments looking over the water were gorgeous, and the view they had over the water were even more amazing. This is a place i would love to live , an apartment viewing the Manhattan skyline, but not too busy. What made the image of my future there even clearer was when i saw a woman walking her french bull dog, the dog i plan to get when given the opportunity. This idea was crushed in my mind when Mike let us know how much money apartment complexes like this go for. He told us that an apartment complex in the neighborhood, not even overlooking the water was over $7 million. I guess that makes sense in an "architects buff" such as Brooklyn Heights (ENY page 200). He also explained to us the reason why their where stoops and lower entrances to these apartment buildings. The purpose of the stoops on the brownstones buildings was because the complexes were so narrow and this allowed servants to enter the bottom floors but they would live on the forth floor, very high and tiny.
As we walked through Brooklyn Heights, we passed a church named the Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims. The first pastor, and the statue in the front of the church was of Henry Ward Beecher, the sister of the famous, Harriet Beecher Stowe. He was also known for his role in the abolition of slavery. Once we passed the church, everyone in the group was starving, so as it started to rain, we made our way to get lunch. Majority of the class went to a Chipotle because it was the first thing we saw, and the rain was starting to pick up a little bit.
Once we finished eating lunch at Chipotle, we were all stuffed and ready to move on in our adventure. The rain was on and off, so we hurried to the next destination, The Brooklyn Historical Society's Museum. As much as I tried to stay interested in this museum, the tour guide just couldn't grab my attention. What i do remember is going into the basement of the museum and looking at the structure of the pillars that went all the way through the entire building holding it up. I would not have expected them to be that big, but once looking at them and their structure, it made sense that they were the base of the building because they were huge. The Othmer Library (ENY page 205) was one of the most beautiful libraries i have ever been inside of. The architecture was so detailed and the lighting was so dim that it looked like it was straight out of a movie. Unfortunately, when we left, Mike could tell that the tour guide had bored most of the class and was losing our attention quickly, so he told us that if we paid attention for the last twenty minutes we would head home early. We walked out of the museum and looked at the "sculptures by Olin Levi Warner that include Columbus, Benjamin Franklin, a Viking, and a Native American" (ENY page 205). These important people really didn't have much to do with the history of Brooklyn, but when making the building, the creators wanted to show off how culturally advanced they were.
As we walked through Brooklyn Heights, we passed a church named the Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims. The first pastor, and the statue in the front of the church was of Henry Ward Beecher, the sister of the famous, Harriet Beecher Stowe. He was also known for his role in the abolition of slavery. Once we passed the church, everyone in the group was starving, so as it started to rain, we made our way to get lunch. Majority of the class went to a Chipotle because it was the first thing we saw, and the rain was starting to pick up a little bit.
Once we finished eating lunch at Chipotle, we were all stuffed and ready to move on in our adventure. The rain was on and off, so we hurried to the next destination, The Brooklyn Historical Society's Museum. As much as I tried to stay interested in this museum, the tour guide just couldn't grab my attention. What i do remember is going into the basement of the museum and looking at the structure of the pillars that went all the way through the entire building holding it up. I would not have expected them to be that big, but once looking at them and their structure, it made sense that they were the base of the building because they were huge. The Othmer Library (ENY page 205) was one of the most beautiful libraries i have ever been inside of. The architecture was so detailed and the lighting was so dim that it looked like it was straight out of a movie. Unfortunately, when we left, Mike could tell that the tour guide had bored most of the class and was losing our attention quickly, so he told us that if we paid attention for the last twenty minutes we would head home early. We walked out of the museum and looked at the "sculptures by Olin Levi Warner that include Columbus, Benjamin Franklin, a Viking, and a Native American" (ENY page 205). These important people really didn't have much to do with the history of Brooklyn, but when making the building, the creators wanted to show off how culturally advanced they were.
Earlier in the day, Mike explained to us how to be able to tell the differences between the different designs of buildings. If something was from the Middle Ages and had arches, it was considered neo-gothic. If it was from recent Rome and had columns, it was considered neoclassical. More specifically within that group, if the columns were simple and made before 1850, it was considered to be Greek revival and if there were Corinthian columns created from 1890- 1915 it is considered Bozart.
The last thing that we did before we got onto the subway and headed home was try and apply this information. We walked passed many buildings and were trying to guess what kind of design they were. One in particle that I had taken pictures of was Brooklyn Borough City Hall. First of all, when looking at it, the site of the huge American flag was beautiful to see, and then we learned that the style of the building was neoclassical. It was interesting to be able to start looking at the buildings and be able to apply what we had learned about the design of them.
The last thing that we did before we got onto the subway and headed home was try and apply this information. We walked passed many buildings and were trying to guess what kind of design they were. One in particle that I had taken pictures of was Brooklyn Borough City Hall. First of all, when looking at it, the site of the huge American flag was beautiful to see, and then we learned that the style of the building was neoclassical. It was interesting to be able to start looking at the buildings and be able to apply what we had learned about the design of them.
Altogether, the journey through Brooklyn was amazing. Its obvious that my favorite part was the Brooklyn Bridge, and I would love to revisit it multiple times in the future. I can't wait to see what next week has in store.
The Village
Saturday, September 20, 2014 was the day that Gotham class was going to "The Village". When I woke up to check the weather, the forecast said it would be 70 and sunny. I really didn't know what this day had in store for me, but I took the 9:48 train from Wantagh station to Penn station alone and prepared myself for just about anything.
When we got to Penn Station, I met up with the class, found a place to get coffee, and to my surprise, our lesson would start right where we met. Mike began talking to us about the architecture of Penn Station. To use the term architecture to talk about Penn Station is surely an understatement, and by looking at it, and hearing the terms that Mike used to describe it made it hard to not notice how ugly it actually is. The Essential New York book has a picture of Penn Station in 1911, and it is hard to believe that it ever looked that nice because of how it looks now. The book even goes to the extent of saying that it was considered to be "one of the most impressive buildings in New York City" (ENY pg 114). As time went on, the amount of money it cost to maintain the station was absurd, therefore there was a plan to tear it down and recreate a more modern, less maintenance-needing train station. This angered people because the building held a certain beauty. People even protested with the slogan "Don't amputate... Renovate" (ENY page 114). The station used to be able to be compared with Grand Central Station, but now, there is no question in which station holds more beauty. Although Penn Station is still used every single day, the under Madison Square Garden train station's architectural design is no comparison to some of the other amazing buildings in New York City.
As we walked outside of the station, we saw the James Farley Post Office. The building was magnificent and had large white neoclassical columns. Seeing this allowed us to understand that the buildings design style was bozart. Mike told us that as you can see, the entrance to the post office is huge. There are so many doors in between all the columns, and that Penn Station is looking to imitate this because if there was a large entrance to this busy place, the crowds near the doors would be less crowded.
When we got to Penn Station, I met up with the class, found a place to get coffee, and to my surprise, our lesson would start right where we met. Mike began talking to us about the architecture of Penn Station. To use the term architecture to talk about Penn Station is surely an understatement, and by looking at it, and hearing the terms that Mike used to describe it made it hard to not notice how ugly it actually is. The Essential New York book has a picture of Penn Station in 1911, and it is hard to believe that it ever looked that nice because of how it looks now. The book even goes to the extent of saying that it was considered to be "one of the most impressive buildings in New York City" (ENY pg 114). As time went on, the amount of money it cost to maintain the station was absurd, therefore there was a plan to tear it down and recreate a more modern, less maintenance-needing train station. This angered people because the building held a certain beauty. People even protested with the slogan "Don't amputate... Renovate" (ENY page 114). The station used to be able to be compared with Grand Central Station, but now, there is no question in which station holds more beauty. Although Penn Station is still used every single day, the under Madison Square Garden train station's architectural design is no comparison to some of the other amazing buildings in New York City.
As we walked outside of the station, we saw the James Farley Post Office. The building was magnificent and had large white neoclassical columns. Seeing this allowed us to understand that the buildings design style was bozart. Mike told us that as you can see, the entrance to the post office is huge. There are so many doors in between all the columns, and that Penn Station is looking to imitate this because if there was a large entrance to this busy place, the crowds near the doors would be less crowded.
We walked down a couple of blocks, and Mike and Lee briefly spoke to us about Chelsea. Thomas Clark, a British army captain purchased 94 acres of land, which he then passed on to his grandson Clement Clark Moore. His name is familiar because he is the author of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" (ENY page 84). The Hudson River Railroad was made in 1847, and traveled right through Chelsea, causing it to become very industrial. This was very apparent as we were walking through it. We made our way over the the High Line, which was originally New York Central Railroad, but eventually the placement grew to be problem some, therefore was lifted 30 feet above the streets. It was abandoned for sometime until people fought for it when it was threatened to be close. Instead, now it is a beautiful park with plants to walk through (ENY page 84). Unfortunately, because it was so crowded, we only walked half of the High Line, which one of our classmates told us was upsetting because we did not get to experience its full beauty.
When we got off of the High Line, we walked through the Chelsea Art District. It is called this because the are is full of art galleries. An art gallery is not just a place to see art, but also purchase it. Some of the more expensive pieces of art, even though they look like a 4th grader made them, could easily go for $100,000. There were so many different galleries that we went to, but the two that stuck out to me the most were David Hockney Gallery which displayed "The Arrival of Spring" and Tom Fruins "Color Study".
"The Arrival of Spring" was interesting because it was different drawings of different times of the year but in the exact same location. To visualize this a little better,there was a video on the wall as you walked into the gallery, and its of that location drawn, just changing with the seasons. What was also cool was that there was a section of pictures on the wall, with the same thoughts and ideas of the arrival of spring, but they were drawn on an iPad. It was very amusing to see the changing of the seasons within art, and the thought that someone took that much time and detail to illustrate this is truly amazing.
The other gallery that really stood out to me was "Color Study" by Tom Fruins. This was also very interesting to me because it was different. A lot of the sculptures in the other galleries we went to looked like the artist just found random things around the house and threw them together. The difference between those and the Color Study was the attention that Tom Fruins pays to color. There was one structure on the wall, and as much as the design of the wall original, the different colors were mesmerizing to look at. The colors are what made the piece unique.
The other gallery that really stood out to me was "Color Study" by Tom Fruins. This was also very interesting to me because it was different. A lot of the sculptures in the other galleries we went to looked like the artist just found random things around the house and threw them together. The difference between those and the Color Study was the attention that Tom Fruins pays to color. There was one structure on the wall, and as much as the design of the wall original, the different colors were mesmerizing to look at. The colors are what made the piece unique.
I also found it very interesting that the art was not only on the walls of the buildings to be sold, but also just expressed all over the town. There were graffiti styled art projects on bridges, walls, garage doors. The art was much more then just to be sold, but to be expressed as well.
Once we were done in the art district, we walked near apartments and churches, and Mike informed us that these were once all filled with the presence of farms. We also passed an apartment building that had a stoop and columns, which let us understand that the style of this building was greek revival. A church that we passed also had the neogothic style. As we continued walking, we learned about the meat packing district, which now a days is known for its night life, but at once was known mainly for a place of prostitutes and transvestites.
The next stop was the Jefferson Market Garden. Walking through this garden was very different, because there are not a lot of areas with greens in the city, so it was sort of refreshing. This is a community garden, and this was understood when we walked through, and there were people just relaxing and enjoying their surroundings. We could view a little bit of the Jefferson Market Library. From what we could barely see, we discovered that it was a "High Victorian Gothic-style" building that was once a courthouse for the community in the area (ENY page 91). This building could be compared the Disney castle because of its design. We also learned about the crazy story involving Stanford White's death. Harry K. Thaw shot him because of an affair that he was having with Thaw's fiancé, Evelyn Nesbit, who was only 16 years old at the time. This led Thaw to be placed into an insane asylum, and everyones opinion of White was that he was a pervert (ENY page 91).
We walked down Waverly Place and made our way to Christopher Street which is highly known for gays. We even got to see the Stonewall Inn Bar which was decorated with many rainbow flags to show its support for gays. This seemed like a large attraction because as we stopped to talk about it for a while, many people passed taking pictures and enjoying the pride that the building shared. As we walked through Christopher Park, we quickly saw the statues in support of the gay rights movement.
The next stop was the Jefferson Market Garden. Walking through this garden was very different, because there are not a lot of areas with greens in the city, so it was sort of refreshing. This is a community garden, and this was understood when we walked through, and there were people just relaxing and enjoying their surroundings. We could view a little bit of the Jefferson Market Library. From what we could barely see, we discovered that it was a "High Victorian Gothic-style" building that was once a courthouse for the community in the area (ENY page 91). This building could be compared the Disney castle because of its design. We also learned about the crazy story involving Stanford White's death. Harry K. Thaw shot him because of an affair that he was having with Thaw's fiancé, Evelyn Nesbit, who was only 16 years old at the time. This led Thaw to be placed into an insane asylum, and everyones opinion of White was that he was a pervert (ENY page 91).
We walked down Waverly Place and made our way to Christopher Street which is highly known for gays. We even got to see the Stonewall Inn Bar which was decorated with many rainbow flags to show its support for gays. This seemed like a large attraction because as we stopped to talk about it for a while, many people passed taking pictures and enjoying the pride that the building shared. As we walked through Christopher Park, we quickly saw the statues in support of the gay rights movement.
We broke for lunch, and then right after that walked through Washington Square Park. You would never know that the location of this park is actually were people were buried. This park was absolutely beautiful. Right as we entered the park, there was a ginormous elm tree that has been there for over 300 years. This tree was perviously known as "Hangman's Tree" for being a place where There was also a beautiful fountain in the middle of the park that people were sitting inside of, as well as people entertaining or just relaxing in the park. We also looked at the arch way, which at that moment was occupied by a small, beautiful wedding. The archway was made by Stanford White and was designed "after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It is dedicated to George Washington's inauguration. On one side, there is Washington at war, and on the other, Washington at peace (ENY page 95-96).
Once done in Washington Square Park, we made our way to the merchants house. This is a preserved "federal-style house" with decorations and furniture from the early 19th century (ENY page 99). This house was a typical upperclassman house, and had a lot of class. Most of the houses like this were very similar, and it was even said that if for any reason, you woke up and were in a different house, you wouldn't realize until after a while because most were designed the same exact way. I thought this was very interesting because the town that I live in, Levittown, is also like this. When going to a friends house, you would automatically know where the bathroom and kitchen were without even having to ask. Although i felt as if the tour was very long, some parts were interesting to me like the life of the upperclass woman. This particular house was owned by the Tredwells, so my interests where all on the wife, Eliza Tredwell. I thought it was very interesting that first off, she had her own room, but this room had another bed in it. Because there were so many kids, there was mostly always one that was sick, and the child that was sick always stayed in the mothers room so she could care for them. The mothers job was very social with a lot of chores. She would make the calls to others and would also make a shopping list for the husband for groceries because at this time, it was not safe for a woman to go out on her own. I thought it was also cool that our tour guide told us the merchants house still had 39 dresses that were originally owned by the family. Unfortunately we were unable to see them. Also, walking through the house, you would see bells everywhere. These were so if someone needed something, the servants could hear the bells, and because they were specialized in tone, they would know where they were coming from. Once entering the kitchen of the merchants house, you could see the multiple bells because this is where the servants where most of the time and needed to hear if they were needed. The oven they used reminded me of a pizza oven, and that was cool because you do not normally see ovens like that set in peoples houses.
Once done with our tours through the merchants house, we walked to Cooper Union. This building was amazing but also unique. Its shape was something i had never seen before. This building was used like Public Square is used at Molloy. It is a student center to get work done. Comparing this to Public Square does not do it justice because I couldn't take my eyes off of this building. Going from the Merchants House that was made in the 19th century to this very modern building was quite a change of pace.
After Cooper Union, we made our way to another community garden. We spoke to a man inside the garden to ask him about his experiences and he said he was just visiting but he enjoys the community gardens so much because there really isn't much green in NYC and its relaxing as much inviting. There were so many different types of art all around this garden and there was even a group of people performing what seemed like poetry. I thought the fact that there was an area for those to garden and read and enjoy green space.
We ended class that day going to an ice cream shop, however i did not get any ice cream. A few classmates including Megan and i were super tired from the long day of walking, so we decided to head back to Penn Station. We were rushing to get back because our trains were leaving very soon and accidentally got on the wrong subway, so Megan and I gave up on trying and just took a cab. The cab let us off 2 minutes before my train was going to leave so once i got to Penn station i ran through, looking at the boarding times and quickly got to my track. I got into the train as the door was closing, exhausted but happy that i made the train. Overall, as i road the train back, i thought about the day, and as much as I wasn't fully interested in all the things that we did, I looked back at all the new experiences that i had, as well as looked through all the pictures i took.