jOURNALS 5-9
1)Stay Easy East Side
This week we had met in Penn Station at our usual meeting
stop as Michael and Meritta went over the agenda for the day. They had said we
were going to spend most of our time in East Harlem, and then after spend some
time in Central Park which geographically East Harlem stands just North of
Central park. During this time we also learned that anything west of Fifth
Avenue is considered the "West Side" and anything east is the
"East Side”. After hearing what the plan of the day was we couldn’t wait to start the adventure!
First we hopped on the 6th train to 103rd street and began our journey in East Harlem, better known as Spanish Harlem or "El Barrio." East Harlem is an uptown neighborhood of New York City, (north of central park), and like every other place in Manhattan it is going through a bit of gentrification. Although it is going through changes, it still is enriched with the largest Latino communities in the country reside (ENY, 161). I was surprised to hear that before the Latinos took over this section of Manhattan it was mostly populated with Italians in the mid-19th century, which could have been the original “ Little Italy in Manhattan” or even the Italian Harlem”. Then “by 1930/s over 100,000 Italian-Americans resided in the community, and the area became a stronghold of the Genovese crime family” ( ENY, 162). During the 50s, it had become most crime cantered part of the city and had the uppermost unemployment and poverty rates. Soon after In the 1980s, there was a big invasion of immigrants from other parts of the world, accumulation to East Harlem's Puerto Rican culture and traditions. Ever since the 90s, this area has been going through a movement of gentrification with increased prices of houses and white professionals moving into the area by the bulk (ENY, 162).
After our history lesson on some of the background of East Harlem we began our site seeing. The George Washington Carver house was the first landmark we stopped at upon walking across Cross Park Avenue. We learned that it was built in in the 1950’s specifically for low income residents of the neighborhoods to get people out of the small tenements and into high rises. The Carver house stands tall with 13 other buildings, named after George Washington Carver himself and the African- American Scientist ( ENY, 162). Although the idea was there, the plan had rebounded because by swarming all the lower incomes families in one place, it had generated high income rates and unplanned costs for the community.
Proceeding on our journey in East Harlem we then visited the one and only Museum of the City of New York. Outside of the museum, there stands a statue of Alexander Hamilton, who lived, worked, and died in New York CIty, and whose home still exists in Harlem today. This museum was fascinating to me because you got to see how New York grew and expanded to what it is today. It was neat to see what is what then to what it is today in present time. I admired the vintage paintings of “Old New York” and picturing where exactly in New York was that painting illustrated at the time. I also loved that the main staircase walls were painted black and white with inspiring quotes said by influential people such as John Adams and others, it made going up and down the stairs a lot more interesting to say the least. After walking around and discovering parts of the museum we were fortunate enough to get to see a short documentary called "Timescapes," a multimedia film portrait of New York, which took us back in time when New York was not a city at all. After watching the film it really brought together all the material we have learned since the start of the course from the beginning the end. It was easy to follow and really broke everything down geographically. When the film was talking about the subway system I could not believe how much of an impact that made on New York and how life changing it was. Public transportation guided the unification process of New York. It was brought together lower parts of Manhattan to spread out to all the other areas of the city. After seeing and admiring the film we had visited the last showcase in the museum which was the Tiffany showcase, that displayed beautiful antique pieces of jewelry, fans, tea sets, and more.
Shortly after we came across the El Museo de Barrio founded by the Puerto Rican activists in 1969 in a public school classroom in PS 125 with strong hopes to reserve their cultural heritage of East Harlem (ENY, 163). Even though we had not gone inside, we met with poet/tour guide/art educator named Luke outside the El Museo de Barrio. Luke was warm and welcoming as he showcased his desire for poetry while he delivered an original and very powerful poem he wrote about activism. The poem had engaged us in what he had planned for our little tour and opened us up to thinking a little differently. After he recited his poem we each went around in a circle and said one word to express how we were feeling at that very moment. It was definitely an ice breaker and got the whole class to participate together as group. To begin our tour, we strolled the sidewalks along the projects and learned that sidewalks in this community aid as an intergenerational space for the people to recreate and congregate. Moving forward we passed by a block that was enclosed and gated that had personal “sayings” and personal belongings hanging on the gates. The expressions that were on these walls all represented inspiration and hope for instance “becomes your dream”. These words and art always involved optimism as it is a way of bringing the community together.
Continuing our tour we passed several of community gardens. One of the gardens we actually visited was the Modesto "Tin" Flores Garden, which originally was a vacant lot and dumping ground (ENY, 163). What was cool about this particular garden was that it was designed and dedicated to all the woman of the community. One of the pieces in the garden that stood out to me was the fountain sculpture of the fallopian tubes which represented the "Seed of Growth". This sculpture was interesting because it was celebrating women and the miracle of life not as sexual figures like how women are usually exploited but, as how society should depict them. I really loved this part of the tour because it really brought a sense of understanding to what a community should be about. These gardens not only serve as a beautiful spot to observe nature and art but they are able to bring everyone together as a whole and serve as a gathering space. I found it fascinating that such a concrete area of New York CIty had so many places and gathering spots like these gardens. What our tour guide Luke really brought to our attention is that East Harlem is not so much about the places of what it is made up of but the people, and I really got to see that while entering and exploring the garden and the art.
What stood out to me about this particular area in New York verse other parts of New York that we have been too was the art publically displayed all throughout the community. Everywhere we went there was a mural on a building, or quotes on the sidewalks and knitted flowers on the gates. As our eyes gazed at all different parts of the street, we followed Luke to see the most famous works of art in the area such as the biggest mural of all, the "Spirit of East Harlem" mural. This mural illustrates the Latin influences of the street life in East Harlem in the 70s (ENY, 163). This mural is unique to others because all the men, women, and children in this painting are actual people from real photographs. This mural has such an impact on the community because it identifies the differences in the community but somehow still is represented as one piece of art. These ties to the idea of togetherness that Luke had us focus in on in. In general, everyone comes from something /somewhere different but still together serves as one in a community no matter what your race, age, profession and financial background is. As new residents come into the area during the gentrification process, it affects the way they look at their community and how their professional life is irrelevant with any of the murals surrounding them. As El Barrio natives, it moves them greatly because a good amount of history lies within these murals, and without these pieces of art/history for them to reflect on, the community would not be the same for them.
Finishing our lovely tour with Luke, we made our last halt at Justo Botanica. What looked like a hole in the wall little shop, ended up being this amazing store dedicated to spiritual health and healing with all types of, religious statuaries, candles, sprays/potions, jewelry, and folk health remedies. This store had originally started as a family tradition of old fashion herbal remedies used for healing and had also been in a completely different location. The store was completely decked out in multicultural Jesus figures which embodies their openness to all cultures in request for answers/healing. As we all admired the different treasures in the store we listened to the owner talk about the significance this store has had on not only his life but the people that have entered it. He was very engaging and heartwarming and he will always be remembered. After a very powerful and moving end to our tour, we split for a lunch break. I ended up at this amazing authentic taco corner store ,El Aguila ! The tacos were mouthwatering and it could of not been a better way to end our time in East Harlem.
We then spent the rest of the day frolicking around Central Park. It was interesting because I have been to central park several times before but saw parts of central park that I have never seen ! It was also great to have Michael as our tour guide because it gave me a different outlook of the park and I got to learn a lot of history I have never knew about the park before. We started our jouney in Central park by waslking through Vanderbilt Gate into the Conservatory Garden of Central Park. The gate originally was the entrance to the Vanderbilt Mansion on Fifth Avenue and 58th Street, which is now department store Bergdorf Goodman. I was really excited because I’ve never been this far north of Central Park despite hanging out there numerous times. When we enter the garden, it conveys a sense of tranquility and airy feeling. The creators made it so by dividing the gardens into three different style auch as the French, English, and Italian style (ENY p. 150).
6)Wild Wild West
We started our day journeying through the Gilded age mansion, also recognized as the Fricks museum. Along the way we strolled down 5th avenue as we passed by some of the old and very few mansions/master pieces that still exist there today. It was interesting and exciting to learn about the past history along 5th avenue as well as looking at the ancient pieces still remaining from that rich time. In the beginning of the 20th century after the Civil War people Northern cities experienced an incredible level of economic growth. At this time people whom were financially fortunate invested in railroads, real estate and shipping ( ENY,129) . Today people flaunt their wealth by living in extravagant apartments during the 20th century people expressed their wealth by building these beautiful huge mansions.
After viewing the beautiful mansions we then reach the Fricks Museum where we were fortunate enough to have Olivia as our tour guide. She first brought us to the Garden, which was presented at the core of the museum as it was supposed to reflect the overall feeling of the museum as being calm and peaceful. Also it was created as an optical illusion that made the house seem bigger than it actually was. As we spent some time admiring the calmness of the room Olivia had spoken to us about some of the history and architecture of the home as well at the Frick family and their own art collection. Henry Clay Frick had this home more like a mansion built in 1913 along side with the architectural team of Carrerr and Hastings. Over the course of time it was preserved and now serves an upscale museum for people to admire Fricks spectacular collection of European art, focused on portraits of historical an powerful figures. . In respects to Frick's profession, he was the head of the of the steel industry with Carnegie and it was identified that they had both did not treat their workers well. It is thought that donating his home and art would make up for his past wrong doings. In relations to his will, it is spoken that everything he acquired during his life and placed in the museum is not able to leave the home/musuem but anything after his death could be traded or bought.
I found it funny when our tour guide said Frick designed the interior of the house to have a “simple” and” “airy” feeling but to me each room seemed so extravagant and over the top- which today is very much the opposite of simple and airy. On the other hand the exterior of the house was described a Bungalow style house- built very low to the ground and long in length. I was super intrigued by the library because it was very much not your traditional library. There were hardly any books and the books that were there were displayed were all held in bookcases that were only waist high. They were presented with intent to highlight Frick’s work of art which I found extremely clever. I also loved that there were two different “hang-out rooms” for the men and woman whom came to visit. The woman’s room was one of my favorite rooms in the whole museum as it had a completely different feel from the rest of rooms in the house. It had this French, romantic vibe as there were paintings of angels around the whole perimeter of the room which depicted a very special love story. There was also a window placed in the room to view the beautiful garden and bring in some light. Correspondingly around the room there were mirrors located on each side of the wall which was done purposely to reflect the lighting and the paintings of the room.
After our awesome tour at the Fricks Museum, we headed over to Hell’s kitchen area( Midtown Westt between 34th-59th) for some Thai food, at Yumm Yumm! “ No one knows for certain where the name “Hell’s Kitchen” came from, but the name stuck because the neighborhood was historically one of the poorest most squalid, and most crime ridden in 19th century New York” ( ENY, 122). During the 29th century most dangerous this area was controlled by various gangs that roamed the streets and later by organized crime. Although beginning in the 1990’s, gentrification changed the demeanor of this “bad” community building large upscale apartment buildings and bringing in an overload of tastey international dining restaurants ( ENY, 123). When we got to Yumm Yumm we all couldn’t wait to order as we were all tired and hungry from walking. The food was delicious to say the least and while we were waiting for our food Mike had a trivia game planned out for us which was very fun, interactive and made waiting for our food go a lot faster. After stuffing our faces with some Thai food , we made way to Central Harlem, “home to some of New York City's best preserved residential streets and gardens most important religious and cultural institutions” (ENY, 179). Central Harlem's development stated in 1908 when a minister from a local church bought a series of buildings and populated it with blacks. Prior to that, the area was originally saturated with the largest Jewish population in the city. Today, it is now the second largest African American population in the United Stated (ENY, 179).
After exiting the subway with our VERY special tour guide Jim we were right near the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, which was designed by McKim, Mead, and White and is known to have the utmost collection of African American history. Arthur Schomburg, a leader of the Renaissance, founder of this building aimed to showcase the richness of African American culture along with its history (ENY, 180). Across the street from the Schomburg Center was the Harlem Hospital. This particular building had the first featured window wall in America. It From the outside it is completely opaque with a large mural dedicated to Central Harlem African- American history. On the other hand from the inside looking out, it looks and acts as a regular window, I couldn’t believe that!
Walking a few blocks down we came across the Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion church, which is known to be the oldest black church in New York State. What was interesting about this building is that it was made out of the very famous and talked about Manhattan shists which came from a dug out underground subway station. We also learned that it was created/designed in Greek Revival by George W. Foster Jr, one of the city's first registered African American architect (ENY, 180). Following the church we then then stopped by the late Renaissance ballroom which is a very known musical venue from the 1920s-50s (ENY, 180). Mike had told us that this ballroom was originally divided into parts which consisted of the ballroom, where singers and bands performed and the second part was a gymnasium where renowned basketball teams plays. Although this ballroom is not active anymore, supposedly there are current plans to reestablish the building to make it into a space and social hall providing a place for the community to come and gather and hang out.
Continuing our little journey we then come across Striver row. Which I believe Mike had repeatedly said that this was one of the most beautiful streets in all of New York City. This is an area containing 130 of the best-preserved row houses in the city (ENY, 181). “ The land upon which these houses stand was purchased in 1890 from the equitable Life Assurance Society by contractor David H. King” ( ENY,181). King had an aim to build these homes specifically for the upper-middle class white families, saying that these homes should have a warming and tasteful feel regardless if they are millionaires or not. In fact while walking through the neighborhood I really felt the vibe that that King had described. One of the several things that I noticed were the elegant light posts, for some reason I couldn’t believe how classy they were and how there only few left in NYC! While walking along the street we also learned that row houses were a luxury to have specially since they had special service alleyways which was very uncommon to have in the City. What was unique about these alleyways was that they used to be home to peoples horses before motor vehicles invented. Along these alleyways they also had “signs” engraved into the stone saying things like “Private Road Walk For Your Horses”. As we proceeded walking we saw what looked like a sewer system but were actually coal chutes from back in the day! Our tour guide Jim had told us these coal chutes were crucial during that time as people placed coal down these chutes to create a heating system in these buildings. As we came across 139th street the row houses had a contrast of two different color bricks on each side of the streets. It was thought that the darker, chocolate bricks give the row houses more personality than the Brownstones of Brooklyn. These Colonial Revival style rowhouses were by Bruce Price and Clarence S. Luce (ENY, 182). In addition the view of Hamilton heights at that intersection displayed City University which we learned was the first major building that had… wait for it… The famous Manhattan shist!!!!!! Instead of it being used on the outside the Manhattan shist was actually used for the interior of the building making the quality incredible and unique to others.
Unfortunately our day was coming to an end as we were heading to one of our last stops at the Harlem Walk of Fame down 135th street. This was a very special walkway commissioned by the Harlem Chamber of Commerce in 1995 as there were bronze plaques cemented in the sidewalk making honor to all the great African Americans who have made notable contributions in music, science, the arts, and public service ( ENY, 183). These plaques contained their names, with a brief history about them, and an icon that symbolizes their achievements.
The day had come to an end in the "Heart of Harlem" on 125th street where we experienced the liveliness of the people. It was a completely different feel then what we had experience in the beginning of the day in central Harlem. The “ Heart of Harlem” was congested with people banging on their drums, dancing in large crowds and a whole lot of noise… which was amazing! It was such an awesome way to end the day and I could not believe how much we did and saw in such littler amount of time. My impression of Central and East Harlem had definitely changed over the course of these two weeks and I can’t wait to return again with friends and spend some more time in these areas!
stop as Michael and Meritta went over the agenda for the day. They had said we
were going to spend most of our time in East Harlem, and then after spend some
time in Central Park which geographically East Harlem stands just North of
Central park. During this time we also learned that anything west of Fifth
Avenue is considered the "West Side" and anything east is the
"East Side”. After hearing what the plan of the day was we couldn’t wait to start the adventure!
First we hopped on the 6th train to 103rd street and began our journey in East Harlem, better known as Spanish Harlem or "El Barrio." East Harlem is an uptown neighborhood of New York City, (north of central park), and like every other place in Manhattan it is going through a bit of gentrification. Although it is going through changes, it still is enriched with the largest Latino communities in the country reside (ENY, 161). I was surprised to hear that before the Latinos took over this section of Manhattan it was mostly populated with Italians in the mid-19th century, which could have been the original “ Little Italy in Manhattan” or even the Italian Harlem”. Then “by 1930/s over 100,000 Italian-Americans resided in the community, and the area became a stronghold of the Genovese crime family” ( ENY, 162). During the 50s, it had become most crime cantered part of the city and had the uppermost unemployment and poverty rates. Soon after In the 1980s, there was a big invasion of immigrants from other parts of the world, accumulation to East Harlem's Puerto Rican culture and traditions. Ever since the 90s, this area has been going through a movement of gentrification with increased prices of houses and white professionals moving into the area by the bulk (ENY, 162).
After our history lesson on some of the background of East Harlem we began our site seeing. The George Washington Carver house was the first landmark we stopped at upon walking across Cross Park Avenue. We learned that it was built in in the 1950’s specifically for low income residents of the neighborhoods to get people out of the small tenements and into high rises. The Carver house stands tall with 13 other buildings, named after George Washington Carver himself and the African- American Scientist ( ENY, 162). Although the idea was there, the plan had rebounded because by swarming all the lower incomes families in one place, it had generated high income rates and unplanned costs for the community.
Proceeding on our journey in East Harlem we then visited the one and only Museum of the City of New York. Outside of the museum, there stands a statue of Alexander Hamilton, who lived, worked, and died in New York CIty, and whose home still exists in Harlem today. This museum was fascinating to me because you got to see how New York grew and expanded to what it is today. It was neat to see what is what then to what it is today in present time. I admired the vintage paintings of “Old New York” and picturing where exactly in New York was that painting illustrated at the time. I also loved that the main staircase walls were painted black and white with inspiring quotes said by influential people such as John Adams and others, it made going up and down the stairs a lot more interesting to say the least. After walking around and discovering parts of the museum we were fortunate enough to get to see a short documentary called "Timescapes," a multimedia film portrait of New York, which took us back in time when New York was not a city at all. After watching the film it really brought together all the material we have learned since the start of the course from the beginning the end. It was easy to follow and really broke everything down geographically. When the film was talking about the subway system I could not believe how much of an impact that made on New York and how life changing it was. Public transportation guided the unification process of New York. It was brought together lower parts of Manhattan to spread out to all the other areas of the city. After seeing and admiring the film we had visited the last showcase in the museum which was the Tiffany showcase, that displayed beautiful antique pieces of jewelry, fans, tea sets, and more.
Shortly after we came across the El Museo de Barrio founded by the Puerto Rican activists in 1969 in a public school classroom in PS 125 with strong hopes to reserve their cultural heritage of East Harlem (ENY, 163). Even though we had not gone inside, we met with poet/tour guide/art educator named Luke outside the El Museo de Barrio. Luke was warm and welcoming as he showcased his desire for poetry while he delivered an original and very powerful poem he wrote about activism. The poem had engaged us in what he had planned for our little tour and opened us up to thinking a little differently. After he recited his poem we each went around in a circle and said one word to express how we were feeling at that very moment. It was definitely an ice breaker and got the whole class to participate together as group. To begin our tour, we strolled the sidewalks along the projects and learned that sidewalks in this community aid as an intergenerational space for the people to recreate and congregate. Moving forward we passed by a block that was enclosed and gated that had personal “sayings” and personal belongings hanging on the gates. The expressions that were on these walls all represented inspiration and hope for instance “becomes your dream”. These words and art always involved optimism as it is a way of bringing the community together.
Continuing our tour we passed several of community gardens. One of the gardens we actually visited was the Modesto "Tin" Flores Garden, which originally was a vacant lot and dumping ground (ENY, 163). What was cool about this particular garden was that it was designed and dedicated to all the woman of the community. One of the pieces in the garden that stood out to me was the fountain sculpture of the fallopian tubes which represented the "Seed of Growth". This sculpture was interesting because it was celebrating women and the miracle of life not as sexual figures like how women are usually exploited but, as how society should depict them. I really loved this part of the tour because it really brought a sense of understanding to what a community should be about. These gardens not only serve as a beautiful spot to observe nature and art but they are able to bring everyone together as a whole and serve as a gathering space. I found it fascinating that such a concrete area of New York CIty had so many places and gathering spots like these gardens. What our tour guide Luke really brought to our attention is that East Harlem is not so much about the places of what it is made up of but the people, and I really got to see that while entering and exploring the garden and the art.
What stood out to me about this particular area in New York verse other parts of New York that we have been too was the art publically displayed all throughout the community. Everywhere we went there was a mural on a building, or quotes on the sidewalks and knitted flowers on the gates. As our eyes gazed at all different parts of the street, we followed Luke to see the most famous works of art in the area such as the biggest mural of all, the "Spirit of East Harlem" mural. This mural illustrates the Latin influences of the street life in East Harlem in the 70s (ENY, 163). This mural is unique to others because all the men, women, and children in this painting are actual people from real photographs. This mural has such an impact on the community because it identifies the differences in the community but somehow still is represented as one piece of art. These ties to the idea of togetherness that Luke had us focus in on in. In general, everyone comes from something /somewhere different but still together serves as one in a community no matter what your race, age, profession and financial background is. As new residents come into the area during the gentrification process, it affects the way they look at their community and how their professional life is irrelevant with any of the murals surrounding them. As El Barrio natives, it moves them greatly because a good amount of history lies within these murals, and without these pieces of art/history for them to reflect on, the community would not be the same for them.
Finishing our lovely tour with Luke, we made our last halt at Justo Botanica. What looked like a hole in the wall little shop, ended up being this amazing store dedicated to spiritual health and healing with all types of, religious statuaries, candles, sprays/potions, jewelry, and folk health remedies. This store had originally started as a family tradition of old fashion herbal remedies used for healing and had also been in a completely different location. The store was completely decked out in multicultural Jesus figures which embodies their openness to all cultures in request for answers/healing. As we all admired the different treasures in the store we listened to the owner talk about the significance this store has had on not only his life but the people that have entered it. He was very engaging and heartwarming and he will always be remembered. After a very powerful and moving end to our tour, we split for a lunch break. I ended up at this amazing authentic taco corner store ,El Aguila ! The tacos were mouthwatering and it could of not been a better way to end our time in East Harlem.
We then spent the rest of the day frolicking around Central Park. It was interesting because I have been to central park several times before but saw parts of central park that I have never seen ! It was also great to have Michael as our tour guide because it gave me a different outlook of the park and I got to learn a lot of history I have never knew about the park before. We started our jouney in Central park by waslking through Vanderbilt Gate into the Conservatory Garden of Central Park. The gate originally was the entrance to the Vanderbilt Mansion on Fifth Avenue and 58th Street, which is now department store Bergdorf Goodman. I was really excited because I’ve never been this far north of Central Park despite hanging out there numerous times. When we enter the garden, it conveys a sense of tranquility and airy feeling. The creators made it so by dividing the gardens into three different style auch as the French, English, and Italian style (ENY p. 150).
6)Wild Wild West
We started our day journeying through the Gilded age mansion, also recognized as the Fricks museum. Along the way we strolled down 5th avenue as we passed by some of the old and very few mansions/master pieces that still exist there today. It was interesting and exciting to learn about the past history along 5th avenue as well as looking at the ancient pieces still remaining from that rich time. In the beginning of the 20th century after the Civil War people Northern cities experienced an incredible level of economic growth. At this time people whom were financially fortunate invested in railroads, real estate and shipping ( ENY,129) . Today people flaunt their wealth by living in extravagant apartments during the 20th century people expressed their wealth by building these beautiful huge mansions.
After viewing the beautiful mansions we then reach the Fricks Museum where we were fortunate enough to have Olivia as our tour guide. She first brought us to the Garden, which was presented at the core of the museum as it was supposed to reflect the overall feeling of the museum as being calm and peaceful. Also it was created as an optical illusion that made the house seem bigger than it actually was. As we spent some time admiring the calmness of the room Olivia had spoken to us about some of the history and architecture of the home as well at the Frick family and their own art collection. Henry Clay Frick had this home more like a mansion built in 1913 along side with the architectural team of Carrerr and Hastings. Over the course of time it was preserved and now serves an upscale museum for people to admire Fricks spectacular collection of European art, focused on portraits of historical an powerful figures. . In respects to Frick's profession, he was the head of the of the steel industry with Carnegie and it was identified that they had both did not treat their workers well. It is thought that donating his home and art would make up for his past wrong doings. In relations to his will, it is spoken that everything he acquired during his life and placed in the museum is not able to leave the home/musuem but anything after his death could be traded or bought.
I found it funny when our tour guide said Frick designed the interior of the house to have a “simple” and” “airy” feeling but to me each room seemed so extravagant and over the top- which today is very much the opposite of simple and airy. On the other hand the exterior of the house was described a Bungalow style house- built very low to the ground and long in length. I was super intrigued by the library because it was very much not your traditional library. There were hardly any books and the books that were there were displayed were all held in bookcases that were only waist high. They were presented with intent to highlight Frick’s work of art which I found extremely clever. I also loved that there were two different “hang-out rooms” for the men and woman whom came to visit. The woman’s room was one of my favorite rooms in the whole museum as it had a completely different feel from the rest of rooms in the house. It had this French, romantic vibe as there were paintings of angels around the whole perimeter of the room which depicted a very special love story. There was also a window placed in the room to view the beautiful garden and bring in some light. Correspondingly around the room there were mirrors located on each side of the wall which was done purposely to reflect the lighting and the paintings of the room.
After our awesome tour at the Fricks Museum, we headed over to Hell’s kitchen area( Midtown Westt between 34th-59th) for some Thai food, at Yumm Yumm! “ No one knows for certain where the name “Hell’s Kitchen” came from, but the name stuck because the neighborhood was historically one of the poorest most squalid, and most crime ridden in 19th century New York” ( ENY, 122). During the 29th century most dangerous this area was controlled by various gangs that roamed the streets and later by organized crime. Although beginning in the 1990’s, gentrification changed the demeanor of this “bad” community building large upscale apartment buildings and bringing in an overload of tastey international dining restaurants ( ENY, 123). When we got to Yumm Yumm we all couldn’t wait to order as we were all tired and hungry from walking. The food was delicious to say the least and while we were waiting for our food Mike had a trivia game planned out for us which was very fun, interactive and made waiting for our food go a lot faster. After stuffing our faces with some Thai food , we made way to Central Harlem, “home to some of New York City's best preserved residential streets and gardens most important religious and cultural institutions” (ENY, 179). Central Harlem's development stated in 1908 when a minister from a local church bought a series of buildings and populated it with blacks. Prior to that, the area was originally saturated with the largest Jewish population in the city. Today, it is now the second largest African American population in the United Stated (ENY, 179).
After exiting the subway with our VERY special tour guide Jim we were right near the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, which was designed by McKim, Mead, and White and is known to have the utmost collection of African American history. Arthur Schomburg, a leader of the Renaissance, founder of this building aimed to showcase the richness of African American culture along with its history (ENY, 180). Across the street from the Schomburg Center was the Harlem Hospital. This particular building had the first featured window wall in America. It From the outside it is completely opaque with a large mural dedicated to Central Harlem African- American history. On the other hand from the inside looking out, it looks and acts as a regular window, I couldn’t believe that!
Walking a few blocks down we came across the Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion church, which is known to be the oldest black church in New York State. What was interesting about this building is that it was made out of the very famous and talked about Manhattan shists which came from a dug out underground subway station. We also learned that it was created/designed in Greek Revival by George W. Foster Jr, one of the city's first registered African American architect (ENY, 180). Following the church we then then stopped by the late Renaissance ballroom which is a very known musical venue from the 1920s-50s (ENY, 180). Mike had told us that this ballroom was originally divided into parts which consisted of the ballroom, where singers and bands performed and the second part was a gymnasium where renowned basketball teams plays. Although this ballroom is not active anymore, supposedly there are current plans to reestablish the building to make it into a space and social hall providing a place for the community to come and gather and hang out.
Continuing our little journey we then come across Striver row. Which I believe Mike had repeatedly said that this was one of the most beautiful streets in all of New York City. This is an area containing 130 of the best-preserved row houses in the city (ENY, 181). “ The land upon which these houses stand was purchased in 1890 from the equitable Life Assurance Society by contractor David H. King” ( ENY,181). King had an aim to build these homes specifically for the upper-middle class white families, saying that these homes should have a warming and tasteful feel regardless if they are millionaires or not. In fact while walking through the neighborhood I really felt the vibe that that King had described. One of the several things that I noticed were the elegant light posts, for some reason I couldn’t believe how classy they were and how there only few left in NYC! While walking along the street we also learned that row houses were a luxury to have specially since they had special service alleyways which was very uncommon to have in the City. What was unique about these alleyways was that they used to be home to peoples horses before motor vehicles invented. Along these alleyways they also had “signs” engraved into the stone saying things like “Private Road Walk For Your Horses”. As we proceeded walking we saw what looked like a sewer system but were actually coal chutes from back in the day! Our tour guide Jim had told us these coal chutes were crucial during that time as people placed coal down these chutes to create a heating system in these buildings. As we came across 139th street the row houses had a contrast of two different color bricks on each side of the streets. It was thought that the darker, chocolate bricks give the row houses more personality than the Brownstones of Brooklyn. These Colonial Revival style rowhouses were by Bruce Price and Clarence S. Luce (ENY, 182). In addition the view of Hamilton heights at that intersection displayed City University which we learned was the first major building that had… wait for it… The famous Manhattan shist!!!!!! Instead of it being used on the outside the Manhattan shist was actually used for the interior of the building making the quality incredible and unique to others.
Unfortunately our day was coming to an end as we were heading to one of our last stops at the Harlem Walk of Fame down 135th street. This was a very special walkway commissioned by the Harlem Chamber of Commerce in 1995 as there were bronze plaques cemented in the sidewalk making honor to all the great African Americans who have made notable contributions in music, science, the arts, and public service ( ENY, 183). These plaques contained their names, with a brief history about them, and an icon that symbolizes their achievements.
The day had come to an end in the "Heart of Harlem" on 125th street where we experienced the liveliness of the people. It was a completely different feel then what we had experience in the beginning of the day in central Harlem. The “ Heart of Harlem” was congested with people banging on their drums, dancing in large crowds and a whole lot of noise… which was amazing! It was such an awesome way to end the day and I could not believe how much we did and saw in such littler amount of time. My impression of Central and East Harlem had definitely changed over the course of these two weeks and I can’t wait to return again with friends and spend some more time in these areas!
7) Buildings on Buildings
Although I was distracted from an unexpected emergency, I was looking forward to start the day’s quest on the Lower East Side. We first hopped on the 3 train and took it all the way down to Chamber street. It was a bit overwhelming walking off the subway as we were surrounded by several skyskcrapers and beautiful architecture. Our first site we came across was the Woolworth building. Mike had told us that it was created by Frank Winfield Woolworth who had also built the successful 5 cent chain stores (ENY,46). One of his goals was to build and create the tallest building when it came time to build his main corporation. With said, he had reached that goal and the building in fact was measured the tallest skyscraper in New York City when it was being built in 1913 until 1930 at the time the Chrysler Building was made. The design was by Cass Gilbert and inspired by neo-gothic style (ENY, 46). It was really interesting to look at as it stood there timelessly.
We then proceed to walk to the next major site the Municipal building, which is known to be the largest governmental buildings in the world (ENY, 43). This was built because of The Great Consolidation of 1898 when the original five cities: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island unified as the five boroughs of one great city. It was necessary for them to build the Municipal building in order to house different offices that will now be needed for joining the five boroughs. The style of this building is recognized as bozart fashion and built by architects McKinley and White (ENY, 42). On the top of the building stood a statue called the Civic Fame that embodies the five boroughs merging as the five-pointed crown indicated it she was holding (ENY, 43).
Along with the other great sites was the Tweed Courthouse, "one of the city's grandest and most important civic monuments," as described by New York landmark's preservation commission whom was created by William Tweed. (ENY, 45). Upon its completion, the courthouse was used as the New York State Supreme Court and later the City Court until 1961, today it the headquarters for the New York Department of Education (ENY,43).
Then right aside Centre Street was Foley Square, entitled after Tammany Hall's district leader and saloon owner, Thomas Foley (ENY, 43). I found it interesting when I read in the ENY, that prior to this building this site was once a 48 acre pond that was one of the citys sources of fresh drinking water (43). Although “by 1811 the pond had become so polluted that it was filled in to prevent outbreaks of Cholera and typhus” ( ENY, 43). In the center of Foley Square is this tall sculpture that displays a boat in sail which reflects the journey African slaves took across the Atlantic. Ironically underneath the courthouse is home to a massive African burial ground (ENY, 43).
I couldn’t wait to for the next stop, which was City Hall Plaza, as we potentially could have run into the mayor! When we approached the site before even enter the grounds were tight with security as we had to walk through a metal detector before entering. After passing through security we then had met our lovely tour guide. She opened by explaining that this is a very historical place of the city and one of the oldest buildings in the immediate that has been preserved. Although it has been preserved for a period of time now, not much has changed, as it remains unique in comparison to other buildings.
City Hall Plaza rests as a symbolic center of the city, where people constantly come and hold rally’s/ protests to stand up for their rights and fight for their beliefs. It was neat to actually stand in the area as to where George Washington himself stood along with his troops as he heard the Declaration of Independence for the first time on July 9, 1776.
Our tour guide had told us that the design of this building is neoclassical and what makes this building so different is that it faces south. This was interesting to hear because at the time it was being constructed it was on the most Northern edge of the city. So geographically, everything that was considered “New York City “ was in front of it. What I also found fascinating was that the back of the building was originally not done in marble like the other sides of it. Brick was actually used and it was remade in the 1950s with limestone from when the city expanded to Wall Street. Before being a historical landmark it was actually a jail and alms houses (known as homeless shelters) were also there.
While walking into the building I was already completely blown away by the marble interior lobby and the omega shaped staircase. The Omega staircase was my favorite part of the whole building because I was so captivated with the illusion of them floating in the air. Later I found out that the stairs were actually held up by cantilevering, which is a way of compressing the marble steps in order to hold each other up. Another thing that caught my eye was the bronze replica statue/sculpture of Washington in the main lobby from entering the building. It was that that this particular statue was the most accurate duplicate done ever!! As the class and I were admiring George, our tour guide had told us that it was routine to rub his toe for good luck upon walking in the building, which explains why his toes were shiner then the rest of his body... & Of course before leaving the building I had rubbed his shiny foot ,so maybe it will also score me some good luck.
We then were brought to the second floor as this was recognized as the Main Chamber where city council members meet. The ceiling of the Main Chamber was absolutely gorgeous. It was a mural focused on a “lady” that was depicted represented the city of New York. Our tour guide had pointed out that the throne of the lady was actually the Brooklyn Bridge with the people surrounding her signifying different principles such as education and abundance.
During our little history lesson the Main Chamber I learned that there are 51 members apart of the city council and that most of the population in the council are democratic. With that being said there are 48 democrats in the council and the other 3 are republicans with a city budget of $77 million. Their roles are to make decisions specifically on New York City laws only. Some of these decisions include approving land use, and buildings put or even taken down. Although the city council members are not involved with the design choices such as how the buildings may be decorated.
There was another room that we fortunately got to observe which was the Governors Room. This room holds 130 portraits of some of the best military figures. What was also significant about this room was that it was first used as an office for the governor when he visited New York City as well as a reception room for cocktail events (ENY, 41). It was also said that the famous Abraham Lincoln would also utilize this room as a “ meet and greet.” Presidents of universities pertaining to science curriculums had also recently used this space to discuss the plans for development of Roosevelt Island. With said this room has been a common meeting place for important figures in todays time and past! Although I could have spent more time there, our time was up and we were on to our next journey!
At this time Mike let us split for lunch for an hour!. Even though I had to leave early for an emergency I was able to grab a quick falafel to go from an awesome food truck on my way to the subway! Today was a great class that really focused in on architecture and major government history which was a nice change. Although I had a good time this week, I am looking forward to next week in China town… our last week : (
8)The Melting Pot Of New York
I woke up today realizing today was our very last time together as a class roaming the streets of New York! I was sad but also excited to be together for our last fun adventure on the Lower East Side!
First we took the F train to Delancey where we walked towards the Tenement Museum. The tenement museum is one of the most historical buildings of New York and I couldn’t believe that we were getting our very own personal tour. This tenement “was built in 1863 by a Prussian born immigrant Lukas Locker but has been modified over the years to comply with New York tenement laws “(ENY,67). The museum is located on 97 Orchard Street and by 1935 the landlord had evicted tenants and sealed up the building instead of continuing to update the building in compliance with the new housing laws. Around 198 the museum was founded and by 1994 it was labeled the National Historic Landmark ( ENY ,67).
During it’s 80 year history, this exact tenement was home to an estimated 7000 people from over 20 counties, - the majority coming from Ireland, Germany, Italy and Eastern Europe over the course of the 19th century ( ENY,67). At the time most of these immigrants were labeled the “working class” as they faced several challenges such as making a new life, working for a better future, and starting a family with limited means. A lot of these people had limited money and skills’ so making a basic living was quite a task. What Is most important about the Tenement Museum is that it conserves and interprets the history of immigration through the personal experiences of the generations of newcomers who settled in and built lives on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Going through the museum with our tour guide had me realize the impact immigration has played at the time and how it still continues to play a role in shaping America's developing national identity.
When I went into the tenement building first hand our tour guide had brought us all the way up to the top floor, which we had spent most of our time. He had discussed thoroughly with the class about one of families whom had lived there such as the Levine’s. In 1890, Harris and Jennie Levine arrived on the Lower East Side from Poland. They had hardly any skills and barely any money. Since they needed to support themselves and their five children, the Levine’ like many other immigrants set their apartment at 97 Orchard Street into a garment shop. What I had thought seemed like a small closet was considered their working space. There was only one window, a little small working station and it was said that at least seven to eight people at a time worked in that room for at least 10 hours a day. They used a little bucket as their toilet, and had minimum breaks. Just hearing that alone I could not even imagine all the challenges they faced. In the room next door was the kitchen but was also used as an additional workspace. As Harris sewed his garments in that area, wife Jennie would be cooking right along his side. With said there had to be several complications, with limited room, working alongside on two different tasks, they had to get in each other’s way at some point. They also were sleeping in the same area they had just spent all day sweating and working in. Although they faced several challenges in this tight space, one positive was that Harry and his wife got to see their children grow up. I bring this part of my experience of the tour up because it gives a clear picture on what these immigrant families living situations were actually like in these tenements. With this understanding, majority of these immigrants came from nothing, with limited skills and money and they still were able to make somewhat of a living out of their own home. Overall I learned that these tenements played a huge factor in their lives, as they spent most if not all of their time in them, working, raising their children and trying to survive off the bare minimum.
Completing a remarkable experience at the Tenement Museum, Mike and Meritta had an activity planned out for us. Before giving us our instructions we all were anxiously talking as they separated into 4 different groups. They then told us that we were going to be on our own for this portion of the day and that we were going to have find our way to and around china town. They had handed each group a sheet of specific instructions as to where the “hot spots” are in China town. We were given an hour or so to explore and I was more than happy to be getting this time to venture out and spend some time with my group. We made our first stop at Vivi Bubble Tea where I tried the Taro Milk Tea, it was pretty delicious and deffintly fueled me up for our next pit stop. After we then made way to Mei Li Wah Bakery, where some of my classmates had tried some steamed and baked pork buns for the first time. I opted out of this one since I have had them before and was full from my bubble tea and breakfast from the morning, BUT from what I had heard and saw they were very tastey! Across the street there was the Chinatown ice cream factory that was suggested in our “instruction sheet” to try, but my group decided to do a little bargaining shopping instead to save some room for our Chinese lunch provided by the school. After a little shopping we then went to the Eastern States Buddhist Temple of America. I was thrown off because it was more of a store for selling jewelry rather than a place of worship. All I really picked up on this place was that the stone “jade” is highly worshiped in this religion as it symbolizes a source of protection. Amongst the hundreds of jade bracelets and necklaces that were being sold there were also hundreds of statues of Buddha which is their figure of devotion in their religion.
Continuing on our journey of Chinatown, we then did more shopping along the little shops of Canal Street. I could not believe that in the 19th century, Canal Street was actually a 40 foot wide canal to drain the contaminated fresh water pond that stood at Foley Square into the Hudson River before being a place for bargain shoppers (ENY, 77). I loved the excitement of this area, but I found that walking along canal street sort of got played out as you saw mostly the same jewelry, bags, wallets, hats, and scarfs being sold at every little shop. Amongst the little shops, we walked through the heart of Chinatown as we passed lots of food and grocery stores/ stands to which I saw some pretty funky foods and exotic fruits and vegetables. Also the area was swamped with seafood markets as fish is a HUGE staple in the Chinese diet. If I had more time I most definitely would have shopped around and bought some of that stuff to bring home since I am a big sucker for trying new things. Although, time was running out so we had to make our way back to the Tenement Museum.
As my group and I kept getting side tracked on our way back, we ended up missing 20 minutes of lunch BUT we finally made it back to have a meal at Congee Village ( I am sure we all were missed truly for the time being). I was really looking forward to this lunch as I skipped out on all the yummy treats I could have had in china town. The lunch was buffet style as there was a “lazy susan” in the middle of the table with bowls of all different authentic traditional Chinese dishes. I pretty much took a little of everything which includes Singapore noodles, garlic fried chicken, Sesame chicken Chinese broccoli, seafood in a Pineapple bowl, and some kind of pork and lotus cake. I have to say the food was VERY YUMMY and my favorite dish had to be the Singapore noodles and the garlic fired chicken!
After lunch we then made way to central Harlem to meet the one and only Jim, whom we had met before when he gave us our spectacular tour around central Harlem. The first site he took us to was Eldridge street and Rivington where we saw an old public school that was transformed into apartments. and one of the three Carnige libraries by McKim Mead and White in 1905. We also got a glance at the very first settlement house in the United States, today recognized as the University Settlement where Elenor Roosevelt took dancing classes along with other renowned people. Mike then told us we were going to stop at a sweet shop to grab some treats for our next adventure. This sweet shop was called “Economy Candy” and is completely filled with sweets that were originally made as far back as the Great Depression, which made this place even more epic! I was so overwhelmed while walking in since I have a very big sweet tooth and knew from that very moment that picking out just one thing would be very hard. I felt like I was walking back into my childhood as I saw candies from what I remember from that time like candy cigarettes, fruit stipe gum and cry babies. I ended up walking out of there were a few candy necklaces, some chocolate, and candy Legos (sugar rush waiting to happen). As we all were on a nice sugar high we then proceeded to walk and ended up under the Williamsburg bridge. This bridge was built in 1903 in order to break up the high concentration of people in the lower east side ( mostly jewish community) . Following the bridge being built, this then brought the overpopulated Jewish community to Williamsburg ,Brooklyn. Now this area is populated with Williamsburg “hipsters” riding their bikes across the bridge (ENY, 68).
Our next stop was the Bialy stoker Synagogue , originally the Willet Street Methodist Episcopal church before being what it is today . Amongst the several things what made this building exceptionally special was that it was made out of…wait for it… Manhattan schist! (haha). Continuing down Willet Street into Grand Street we come across 313 East Broadway which had a very different s style in relation to the buildings around it. This 1904 Beaux Arts building originally housed the Jewish Young Men's Association, which was a community organization that fought again Jewish discrimination ( ENY , 68). It then became Arnold Toynbee House of the Grand Street Settlemen (which we saw the ATC carved above the doorway) , and then in 1941 it became a “micvah” meaning collection of water. The Micvah was a place for which women came to purify themselves with rainwater after menstruation (ENY, 68). Finally, we then arrived at the Henry Street Settlement, discovered by Lilian Wald (a fellow nurse) who was horrified by the conditions that she encountered on the LES while volunteering to teach about home health care to immigrant women (ENY, 69). She also is the founder of Colombia university's school of nurses as well as the founder of the Visiting Nurses Service which allows for nurses to go to homes of patients whom are ill and take care of them there.
Further on in the walk we then came across Seward park which is the first urban park in New York City “named after William Seward, governor of New York from 1839-1842 and later Sectetary of State during the Lincoln administration” (ENY, 69). It was interesting to hear that at the time of the early 20th century, New York City had barely any green space leading to minimal areas for kids to run around and play. Later on in the 1887 they had made the “Small parks act of 1887” mainly so that children have a public space to play as opposed to them joining gangs and turning to crime (ENY, 69). After the act was enforced the plans to build the park were made but In order for this to happen three blocks of tenements had to be torn down, displacing approximately 3,000 people. It finally opened in 1903 and became the VERY first municipal playground in the United States (ENY, 70). Also across from the park was the Public Seward Park Library, which is a Carnegie based library which today remains the active most used library in New York.
Strolling along East Broadway was the Jewish Forward, known as the former headquarters of the social newspaper. It was cool to see famous socialist like Fredrich Engel and Karl Max on the outside of the building. The Forward was the most widely circulated Jewish magazine in the world and at its peak in 1924, it had a daily readership of more than 200,000 people (ENY, 70). The paper was recognized for supporting progressive causes like the campaign to eliminate sweatshops and fought against the kind of political corruption that was endemic on the Lower East Side ( ENY, 70. Today it is used as coop apartments. We ended are last part of the day and also the semester at the Museum at Eldridge, known as an historic preservation, rescued from complete obscurity. “It was constructed in 1887 as the first synagogue in New York built by Eastern European Jews and it is one of the architectural masterpieces of the Lower East Side” (ENY, 71). On the exterior of the building presented a rose exterior of the window, the twelve stars lining the circumference of it represents the twelve tribes of Israel, which is distinctly Jewish, as is the Star of David used throughout the facade (ENY, 71). Nothing was done to this synagogue since that time and has remained vacant until 1986 when a non-profit group started a campaign to re-establish it. This non-profit group was recognized as the Eldridge Street Project and finally after 20 years of reinstallation, the synagogue reopened as a museum showcasing its rich history (ENY, 72). Out little adventure was over and unfortunately our time together as a class was over…but on the bright side I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend my last day with everyone.. I will definitely remember this class forever!
I woke up today realizing today was our very last time together as a class roaming the streets of New York! I was sad but also excited to be together for our last fun adventure on the Lower East Side!
First we took the F train to Delancey where we walked towards the Tenement Museum. The tenement museum is one of the most historical buildings of New York and I couldn’t believe that we were getting our very own personal tour. This tenement “was built in 1863 by a Prussian born immigrant Lukas Locker but has been modified over the years to comply with New York tenement laws “(ENY,67). The museum is located on 97 Orchard Street and by 1935 the landlord had evicted tenants and sealed up the building instead of continuing to update the building in compliance with the new housing laws. Around 198 the museum was founded and by 1994 it was labeled the National Historic Landmark ( ENY ,67).
During it’s 80 year history, this exact tenement was home to an estimated 7000 people from over 20 counties, - the majority coming from Ireland, Germany, Italy and Eastern Europe over the course of the 19th century ( ENY,67). At the time most of these immigrants were labeled the “working class” as they faced several challenges such as making a new life, working for a better future, and starting a family with limited means. A lot of these people had limited money and skills’ so making a basic living was quite a task. What Is most important about the Tenement Museum is that it conserves and interprets the history of immigration through the personal experiences of the generations of newcomers who settled in and built lives on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Going through the museum with our tour guide had me realize the impact immigration has played at the time and how it still continues to play a role in shaping America's developing national identity.
When I went into the tenement building first hand our tour guide had brought us all the way up to the top floor, which we had spent most of our time. He had discussed thoroughly with the class about one of families whom had lived there such as the Levine’s. In 1890, Harris and Jennie Levine arrived on the Lower East Side from Poland. They had hardly any skills and barely any money. Since they needed to support themselves and their five children, the Levine’ like many other immigrants set their apartment at 97 Orchard Street into a garment shop. What I had thought seemed like a small closet was considered their working space. There was only one window, a little small working station and it was said that at least seven to eight people at a time worked in that room for at least 10 hours a day. They used a little bucket as their toilet, and had minimum breaks. Just hearing that alone I could not even imagine all the challenges they faced. In the room next door was the kitchen but was also used as an additional workspace. As Harris sewed his garments in that area, wife Jennie would be cooking right along his side. With said there had to be several complications, with limited room, working alongside on two different tasks, they had to get in each other’s way at some point. They also were sleeping in the same area they had just spent all day sweating and working in. Although they faced several challenges in this tight space, one positive was that Harry and his wife got to see their children grow up. I bring this part of my experience of the tour up because it gives a clear picture on what these immigrant families living situations were actually like in these tenements. With this understanding, majority of these immigrants came from nothing, with limited skills and money and they still were able to make somewhat of a living out of their own home. Overall I learned that these tenements played a huge factor in their lives, as they spent most if not all of their time in them, working, raising their children and trying to survive off the bare minimum.
Completing a remarkable experience at the Tenement Museum, Mike and Meritta had an activity planned out for us. Before giving us our instructions we all were anxiously talking as they separated into 4 different groups. They then told us that we were going to be on our own for this portion of the day and that we were going to have find our way to and around china town. They had handed each group a sheet of specific instructions as to where the “hot spots” are in China town. We were given an hour or so to explore and I was more than happy to be getting this time to venture out and spend some time with my group. We made our first stop at Vivi Bubble Tea where I tried the Taro Milk Tea, it was pretty delicious and deffintly fueled me up for our next pit stop. After we then made way to Mei Li Wah Bakery, where some of my classmates had tried some steamed and baked pork buns for the first time. I opted out of this one since I have had them before and was full from my bubble tea and breakfast from the morning, BUT from what I had heard and saw they were very tastey! Across the street there was the Chinatown ice cream factory that was suggested in our “instruction sheet” to try, but my group decided to do a little bargaining shopping instead to save some room for our Chinese lunch provided by the school. After a little shopping we then went to the Eastern States Buddhist Temple of America. I was thrown off because it was more of a store for selling jewelry rather than a place of worship. All I really picked up on this place was that the stone “jade” is highly worshiped in this religion as it symbolizes a source of protection. Amongst the hundreds of jade bracelets and necklaces that were being sold there were also hundreds of statues of Buddha which is their figure of devotion in their religion.
Continuing on our journey of Chinatown, we then did more shopping along the little shops of Canal Street. I could not believe that in the 19th century, Canal Street was actually a 40 foot wide canal to drain the contaminated fresh water pond that stood at Foley Square into the Hudson River before being a place for bargain shoppers (ENY, 77). I loved the excitement of this area, but I found that walking along canal street sort of got played out as you saw mostly the same jewelry, bags, wallets, hats, and scarfs being sold at every little shop. Amongst the little shops, we walked through the heart of Chinatown as we passed lots of food and grocery stores/ stands to which I saw some pretty funky foods and exotic fruits and vegetables. Also the area was swamped with seafood markets as fish is a HUGE staple in the Chinese diet. If I had more time I most definitely would have shopped around and bought some of that stuff to bring home since I am a big sucker for trying new things. Although, time was running out so we had to make our way back to the Tenement Museum.
As my group and I kept getting side tracked on our way back, we ended up missing 20 minutes of lunch BUT we finally made it back to have a meal at Congee Village ( I am sure we all were missed truly for the time being). I was really looking forward to this lunch as I skipped out on all the yummy treats I could have had in china town. The lunch was buffet style as there was a “lazy susan” in the middle of the table with bowls of all different authentic traditional Chinese dishes. I pretty much took a little of everything which includes Singapore noodles, garlic fried chicken, Sesame chicken Chinese broccoli, seafood in a Pineapple bowl, and some kind of pork and lotus cake. I have to say the food was VERY YUMMY and my favorite dish had to be the Singapore noodles and the garlic fired chicken!
After lunch we then made way to central Harlem to meet the one and only Jim, whom we had met before when he gave us our spectacular tour around central Harlem. The first site he took us to was Eldridge street and Rivington where we saw an old public school that was transformed into apartments. and one of the three Carnige libraries by McKim Mead and White in 1905. We also got a glance at the very first settlement house in the United States, today recognized as the University Settlement where Elenor Roosevelt took dancing classes along with other renowned people. Mike then told us we were going to stop at a sweet shop to grab some treats for our next adventure. This sweet shop was called “Economy Candy” and is completely filled with sweets that were originally made as far back as the Great Depression, which made this place even more epic! I was so overwhelmed while walking in since I have a very big sweet tooth and knew from that very moment that picking out just one thing would be very hard. I felt like I was walking back into my childhood as I saw candies from what I remember from that time like candy cigarettes, fruit stipe gum and cry babies. I ended up walking out of there were a few candy necklaces, some chocolate, and candy Legos (sugar rush waiting to happen). As we all were on a nice sugar high we then proceeded to walk and ended up under the Williamsburg bridge. This bridge was built in 1903 in order to break up the high concentration of people in the lower east side ( mostly jewish community) . Following the bridge being built, this then brought the overpopulated Jewish community to Williamsburg ,Brooklyn. Now this area is populated with Williamsburg “hipsters” riding their bikes across the bridge (ENY, 68).
Our next stop was the Bialy stoker Synagogue , originally the Willet Street Methodist Episcopal church before being what it is today . Amongst the several things what made this building exceptionally special was that it was made out of…wait for it… Manhattan schist! (haha). Continuing down Willet Street into Grand Street we come across 313 East Broadway which had a very different s style in relation to the buildings around it. This 1904 Beaux Arts building originally housed the Jewish Young Men's Association, which was a community organization that fought again Jewish discrimination ( ENY , 68). It then became Arnold Toynbee House of the Grand Street Settlemen (which we saw the ATC carved above the doorway) , and then in 1941 it became a “micvah” meaning collection of water. The Micvah was a place for which women came to purify themselves with rainwater after menstruation (ENY, 68). Finally, we then arrived at the Henry Street Settlement, discovered by Lilian Wald (a fellow nurse) who was horrified by the conditions that she encountered on the LES while volunteering to teach about home health care to immigrant women (ENY, 69). She also is the founder of Colombia university's school of nurses as well as the founder of the Visiting Nurses Service which allows for nurses to go to homes of patients whom are ill and take care of them there.
Further on in the walk we then came across Seward park which is the first urban park in New York City “named after William Seward, governor of New York from 1839-1842 and later Sectetary of State during the Lincoln administration” (ENY, 69). It was interesting to hear that at the time of the early 20th century, New York City had barely any green space leading to minimal areas for kids to run around and play. Later on in the 1887 they had made the “Small parks act of 1887” mainly so that children have a public space to play as opposed to them joining gangs and turning to crime (ENY, 69). After the act was enforced the plans to build the park were made but In order for this to happen three blocks of tenements had to be torn down, displacing approximately 3,000 people. It finally opened in 1903 and became the VERY first municipal playground in the United States (ENY, 70). Also across from the park was the Public Seward Park Library, which is a Carnegie based library which today remains the active most used library in New York.
Strolling along East Broadway was the Jewish Forward, known as the former headquarters of the social newspaper. It was cool to see famous socialist like Fredrich Engel and Karl Max on the outside of the building. The Forward was the most widely circulated Jewish magazine in the world and at its peak in 1924, it had a daily readership of more than 200,000 people (ENY, 70). The paper was recognized for supporting progressive causes like the campaign to eliminate sweatshops and fought against the kind of political corruption that was endemic on the Lower East Side ( ENY, 70. Today it is used as coop apartments. We ended are last part of the day and also the semester at the Museum at Eldridge, known as an historic preservation, rescued from complete obscurity. “It was constructed in 1887 as the first synagogue in New York built by Eastern European Jews and it is one of the architectural masterpieces of the Lower East Side” (ENY, 71). On the exterior of the building presented a rose exterior of the window, the twelve stars lining the circumference of it represents the twelve tribes of Israel, which is distinctly Jewish, as is the Star of David used throughout the facade (ENY, 71). Nothing was done to this synagogue since that time and has remained vacant until 1986 when a non-profit group started a campaign to re-establish it. This non-profit group was recognized as the Eldridge Street Project and finally after 20 years of reinstallation, the synagogue reopened as a museum showcasing its rich history (ENY, 72). Out little adventure was over and unfortunately our time together as a class was over…but on the bright side I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend my last day with everyone.. I will definitely remember this class forever!