Journal 2
The Wild West Side
7/24/13
I got on the 9:48 am train to Penn Station this morning. The conductor was collecting the tickets, when I gave her my ticket she said that it was three dollars more. I asked her why. She told me that" this train was still a peak train even though it will arrive to Penn Station after 10 am". I did not know that off peak started after 10 am in the morning. I was not happy that I had to pay $ 10.00 to go to Manhattan. Anyway, I got there around 10:20, I eat breakfast; a few students and I waited around for Mike and the rest of the group to arrive.
We gathered around Mike, where we talked about the plan for today. Our destination was the Wild West Side. We walked west 35th street and Broadway. We passed by a few vendors selling food and fruits on the side walk. We stopped in front of a Citi bike lane on Broadway. We were told that the bike sharing program is beneficial for the city in so many ways by replacing car trips, it helps the environment,and decreases road congestion. The bike sharing is affordable and more convenient. Mayor Bloomberg's designed the area on Broadway street for pedestrians zone with chairs and tables for people to relax and enjoy the city. It is away also to decrease traffic and pollution. We stopped at Time Square, also call "Long acre Square". We learned that Broadway was known for it theaters in 1950's. If you were living in the 1960's, it was a dream to come to Broadway and see a play. In 1970's NY almost went bankrupt and became a dangerous place where drugs, prostitution, pornography, peep shows, Kung Fu movies were very popular. Now the City of New York is safer Because of Mayor Giuliani.(BG pg 217-218) We saw Elmo, Papa Smurf, Cookie Monster, iron Man just to name a few in costume characters. People were taking turn pausing for a picture with their favorite character, but you had to give them a tip. We continued walking on 7th avenue. We saw a building on west 45 street where people was sitting around having lunch, reading or just relaxing. Mike told us that this type of buildings are throughout the city for public space. We walked on west 48 street we stopped at 1250 Rockefeller center. The building is also known as 30 Rock from the popular TV show. I have seeing the building in so many movies, I did not have any idea how big and attractive it was. It was my first time there. We passed by the NBC, The Voice, and The Today Show windows. The Murals on the walls and the ceiling were amazing. It is a complex of 19 commercial buildings. There is a lot of activities going there on a daily basis, such as eating, shopping, sightseeing. The farmers Market was located outside the building and it will be available from July 24th thru August 30th. The ice skating place was transformed into restaurants area. I always wanted to come there during the Christmas holidays to see the tree or catch a show. I am sure I will next Christmas Holidays.
Our next stop was the Museum of Modern art. When we arrived to the museum Mike went to get our tickets. Damien talked about the history of the Modern Art. He told us that Modern art begins from the 1860's to 1970's. It is a new way to experiment with arts, and the nature of materials. Modern art can be abstract "something that not concrete". It can be abstract expressions, representation of impressions, energy, as well as an art of rhythm, balance, depth, and internal emotions. We also learned that Modern Art begins with painter like Vincent Van Gogh. When we went to the 4th floor of the museum we saw a painting of Andy Warhol. It was a synthetic polymer paint on thirty-two canvases, named Campbell's Soup Cans 1962. The Picasso exhibit was fascinating especially the Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907). We were told that Avignon was a street in Barcelona famed for its brothel. In the painting Picasso drawn the portraits of five prostitutes with football shape heads, animal shape faces and African tribal masks, disproportional body shape that gave them a savage aura. The painting by Jackson Pollock was chaotic. I did not make anything out of it. Mark Rothko paintings on the other hand were just different color paint horizontally painted on a canvas. We saw another painting of Willem de Kooning called Woman 1. The wild eyed woman in the painting looked very angry. She looked mean and kind of scary. Mike said that the shape and color in the painting are well balance. We went to the second floor to the contemporary art exhibit. We learned that contemporary art suppose to make you think, shock and provoke a reaction. It also takes a familiar object put it in unfamiliar environment. What was familiar became a totally different object. I found the exhibit section of Robert Rauschenberg very interesting where he incorporated different objects into his painting. The Canyon 1959 was my favorite. That particular painting was amazing. On the canvas you see printed paper, metal, cardboard, photograph, wood, an American eagle, string and a pillow. That was a wow moment for me. We were going to see the Claes Oldenburg mouse museum but the line was too long. We went to the Contemporary Gallery where we saw a portrait painting by Henry Taylor. The portrait was a painting of Taylor's friend Will Gillespie, nephew of the American jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie.
After we left the Museum we walked on west 54th and 7th avenue to Hell's Kitchen. In the mid 19th century Hell's Kitchen was plagued by drugs and crime. Local gangs preyed on the local yard and used to terrorized the neighborhood. In 1980's gentrification began and changing both the appearance and the demographics of the neighborhood.(BG.pg, 226). There are a lot of great inexpensive restaurants throughout the neighborhood. We continued walking on west 59th and 9th avenue to YUM YUM which is Bangkok Thai cooking. I had the Thai salad, vegetable spring rolls and cashew nuts chicken with white rice. It was delicious. The Thai lunch was a treat from Mike. We were happy about that. After lunch a few of us went to get dessert at Amy's Bread. I bought two red velvet cupcakes at $2.50 each. I brought them home where I enjoyed one with some tea and gave the other one to my son.
We walked on 9th avenue and 42 second street. we got on the number 3 train to 135th street central Harlem. We met with Jim the tour guide on Lenox and 135 Street, Malcolm X Blvd. That was where African American Harlem developed then within the early Harlem. Across the street from where we were standing, there were the three buildings Lenox Terrace. That was a modern building where Govern Patterson, former borough president Percy Sutton, Congressman Charles Rangel they all lived there. That's one of the beautiful places to live in Harlem. If you have money you would want to live there or Sugar Hill. There was a movie theater there that was redesign as a Pentecostal church .Harlem is renown for his churches. Since the African American was excluded from the governmental processes the church has taken on extra responsibilities. On 133th street there were a lot of legendary night club in the community where the fusion Jazz started in the 1930's. Harlem was the largest community of Jews in America. The Jews left in 1930's and went to the Bronx. Harlem was populated by African American mostly coming from the South looking for Jobs. In the 1920's all the right factors came together to produce the Harlem Renaissance. (BG. pg. 439-441). There were so many talents pouring in artistic fields, musical fields, theater, literature. We learned that Harlem is being gentrify. There is an influx of white young people coming into Harlem. Some local residence in the community are complaining about whites living in the community police are responding most quicker to crimes then they never did before. Gentrification can be good or bad for a neighborhood. Alicia Keys and Queen Latifah bought houses in Harlem recently. We saw a beautiful mural painted on the window of Harlem Hospital located between Lenox and Malcolm X boulevard. This was a very nice artistic piece. We visited the Harlem wall of fame where they have the plagues with the names and pictures of famous African American singers such as Bill Bojangle Robinson 1878-1949, Dizzy Gillespie 1917-1993, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker 1920-1955. We also visited Striver's Row were some of the famous African American lived. Now those Brownstones are in the market for millions of dollars. We passed by the Apollo theater were a lot star were born. Jim was very informative, he knew a lot about the history of Harlem.
We walked on west 122 street and St Nicholas avenue to Morningside Park where we climbed 160 stairs. Mike and some of the students raced each other up the stairs. Two students won the race. My legs were hurting by the time I got up the last stair. We continued walking on Amsterdam avenue. Mike talked about the Grand's tomb (BG.pg.434-436) but we did not go the actual site. We went to The Cathedral Church of St John the Divine built in December 27,1892. The first service was held in 1899. The building served the episcopal church as the cathedral of the bishop of New York. The prior Romanesque plans were transformed to a Gothic Design. It is a very attractive building. We walked to Columbia University campus. We sat down on the steps of The library. We took a few pictures. The winners had compete against each other. They ask questions about some of the pass sites that we visited to see how much they remembered. Mike gave a price to the winner. It was time to go home. We walk to the subway station. I got on the number 1 train, and transfer to E train to QueeToday we did a lot of walking as usual. It was another hot a humid day but we got through it. The adventure to the Wild West Side was very interesting.
I got on the 9:48 am train to Penn Station this morning. The conductor was collecting the tickets, when I gave her my ticket she said that it was three dollars more. I asked her why. She told me that" this train was still a peak train even though it will arrive to Penn Station after 10 am". I did not know that off peak started after 10 am in the morning. I was not happy that I had to pay $ 10.00 to go to Manhattan. Anyway, I got there around 10:20, I eat breakfast; a few students and I waited around for Mike and the rest of the group to arrive.
We gathered around Mike, where we talked about the plan for today. Our destination was the Wild West Side. We walked west 35th street and Broadway. We passed by a few vendors selling food and fruits on the side walk. We stopped in front of a Citi bike lane on Broadway. We were told that the bike sharing program is beneficial for the city in so many ways by replacing car trips, it helps the environment,and decreases road congestion. The bike sharing is affordable and more convenient. Mayor Bloomberg's designed the area on Broadway street for pedestrians zone with chairs and tables for people to relax and enjoy the city. It is away also to decrease traffic and pollution. We stopped at Time Square, also call "Long acre Square". We learned that Broadway was known for it theaters in 1950's. If you were living in the 1960's, it was a dream to come to Broadway and see a play. In 1970's NY almost went bankrupt and became a dangerous place where drugs, prostitution, pornography, peep shows, Kung Fu movies were very popular. Now the City of New York is safer Because of Mayor Giuliani.(BG pg 217-218) We saw Elmo, Papa Smurf, Cookie Monster, iron Man just to name a few in costume characters. People were taking turn pausing for a picture with their favorite character, but you had to give them a tip. We continued walking on 7th avenue. We saw a building on west 45 street where people was sitting around having lunch, reading or just relaxing. Mike told us that this type of buildings are throughout the city for public space. We walked on west 48 street we stopped at 1250 Rockefeller center. The building is also known as 30 Rock from the popular TV show. I have seeing the building in so many movies, I did not have any idea how big and attractive it was. It was my first time there. We passed by the NBC, The Voice, and The Today Show windows. The Murals on the walls and the ceiling were amazing. It is a complex of 19 commercial buildings. There is a lot of activities going there on a daily basis, such as eating, shopping, sightseeing. The farmers Market was located outside the building and it will be available from July 24th thru August 30th. The ice skating place was transformed into restaurants area. I always wanted to come there during the Christmas holidays to see the tree or catch a show. I am sure I will next Christmas Holidays.
Our next stop was the Museum of Modern art. When we arrived to the museum Mike went to get our tickets. Damien talked about the history of the Modern Art. He told us that Modern art begins from the 1860's to 1970's. It is a new way to experiment with arts, and the nature of materials. Modern art can be abstract "something that not concrete". It can be abstract expressions, representation of impressions, energy, as well as an art of rhythm, balance, depth, and internal emotions. We also learned that Modern Art begins with painter like Vincent Van Gogh. When we went to the 4th floor of the museum we saw a painting of Andy Warhol. It was a synthetic polymer paint on thirty-two canvases, named Campbell's Soup Cans 1962. The Picasso exhibit was fascinating especially the Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907). We were told that Avignon was a street in Barcelona famed for its brothel. In the painting Picasso drawn the portraits of five prostitutes with football shape heads, animal shape faces and African tribal masks, disproportional body shape that gave them a savage aura. The painting by Jackson Pollock was chaotic. I did not make anything out of it. Mark Rothko paintings on the other hand were just different color paint horizontally painted on a canvas. We saw another painting of Willem de Kooning called Woman 1. The wild eyed woman in the painting looked very angry. She looked mean and kind of scary. Mike said that the shape and color in the painting are well balance. We went to the second floor to the contemporary art exhibit. We learned that contemporary art suppose to make you think, shock and provoke a reaction. It also takes a familiar object put it in unfamiliar environment. What was familiar became a totally different object. I found the exhibit section of Robert Rauschenberg very interesting where he incorporated different objects into his painting. The Canyon 1959 was my favorite. That particular painting was amazing. On the canvas you see printed paper, metal, cardboard, photograph, wood, an American eagle, string and a pillow. That was a wow moment for me. We were going to see the Claes Oldenburg mouse museum but the line was too long. We went to the Contemporary Gallery where we saw a portrait painting by Henry Taylor. The portrait was a painting of Taylor's friend Will Gillespie, nephew of the American jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie.
After we left the Museum we walked on west 54th and 7th avenue to Hell's Kitchen. In the mid 19th century Hell's Kitchen was plagued by drugs and crime. Local gangs preyed on the local yard and used to terrorized the neighborhood. In 1980's gentrification began and changing both the appearance and the demographics of the neighborhood.(BG.pg, 226). There are a lot of great inexpensive restaurants throughout the neighborhood. We continued walking on west 59th and 9th avenue to YUM YUM which is Bangkok Thai cooking. I had the Thai salad, vegetable spring rolls and cashew nuts chicken with white rice. It was delicious. The Thai lunch was a treat from Mike. We were happy about that. After lunch a few of us went to get dessert at Amy's Bread. I bought two red velvet cupcakes at $2.50 each. I brought them home where I enjoyed one with some tea and gave the other one to my son.
We walked on 9th avenue and 42 second street. we got on the number 3 train to 135th street central Harlem. We met with Jim the tour guide on Lenox and 135 Street, Malcolm X Blvd. That was where African American Harlem developed then within the early Harlem. Across the street from where we were standing, there were the three buildings Lenox Terrace. That was a modern building where Govern Patterson, former borough president Percy Sutton, Congressman Charles Rangel they all lived there. That's one of the beautiful places to live in Harlem. If you have money you would want to live there or Sugar Hill. There was a movie theater there that was redesign as a Pentecostal church .Harlem is renown for his churches. Since the African American was excluded from the governmental processes the church has taken on extra responsibilities. On 133th street there were a lot of legendary night club in the community where the fusion Jazz started in the 1930's. Harlem was the largest community of Jews in America. The Jews left in 1930's and went to the Bronx. Harlem was populated by African American mostly coming from the South looking for Jobs. In the 1920's all the right factors came together to produce the Harlem Renaissance. (BG. pg. 439-441). There were so many talents pouring in artistic fields, musical fields, theater, literature. We learned that Harlem is being gentrify. There is an influx of white young people coming into Harlem. Some local residence in the community are complaining about whites living in the community police are responding most quicker to crimes then they never did before. Gentrification can be good or bad for a neighborhood. Alicia Keys and Queen Latifah bought houses in Harlem recently. We saw a beautiful mural painted on the window of Harlem Hospital located between Lenox and Malcolm X boulevard. This was a very nice artistic piece. We visited the Harlem wall of fame where they have the plagues with the names and pictures of famous African American singers such as Bill Bojangle Robinson 1878-1949, Dizzy Gillespie 1917-1993, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker 1920-1955. We also visited Striver's Row were some of the famous African American lived. Now those Brownstones are in the market for millions of dollars. We passed by the Apollo theater were a lot star were born. Jim was very informative, he knew a lot about the history of Harlem.
We walked on west 122 street and St Nicholas avenue to Morningside Park where we climbed 160 stairs. Mike and some of the students raced each other up the stairs. Two students won the race. My legs were hurting by the time I got up the last stair. We continued walking on Amsterdam avenue. Mike talked about the Grand's tomb (BG.pg.434-436) but we did not go the actual site. We went to The Cathedral Church of St John the Divine built in December 27,1892. The first service was held in 1899. The building served the episcopal church as the cathedral of the bishop of New York. The prior Romanesque plans were transformed to a Gothic Design. It is a very attractive building. We walked to Columbia University campus. We sat down on the steps of The library. We took a few pictures. The winners had compete against each other. They ask questions about some of the pass sites that we visited to see how much they remembered. Mike gave a price to the winner. It was time to go home. We walk to the subway station. I got on the number 1 train, and transfer to E train to QueeToday we did a lot of walking as usual. It was another hot a humid day but we got through it. The adventure to the Wild West Side was very interesting.
Lower Manhattan and Captivating Chelsea
7/26/13
I almost miss my train this morning. I was at the Jamaica Station at 10:05 am. I had to run up the escalator and down the stairs to catch the 10:09 am to Penn Station. I was the last one getting on the train right before the doors were closed. I was out of breath from all that running. I arrived at Penn Station at 10:32 am. I stopped at MC Donald's for some ice coffee. We gathered around Mike. Every Morning when he is ready to talk about the plan of the day, he usually say:" come closer, closer, act like you guys love each other" Mike told us that today was the perfect weather for the trip to Lower Manhattan. We will be visit City Hall, the 911 memorial, Chelsea Market, the High line and a few museums. I said to myself that today was going to be interesting because I never being to any of these places, and it was going to be a lot of walking.
We walked through Penn Station to the subway station where we got on the wrong train. Mike realized that and we quickly got off before the doors were closed. We got on the number 3 downtown train to Park Place. On our way to City Hall we stopped and talked about the Woolworth building. We learned that the building was constructed in neo gothic style by architect Cass Gilbert. In 1917-1930's the Woolworth building was considered the tallest building in the world. When we arrived at City Hall, we had to go through a metal detector unit. Only seven people were allowed to go thru the gate at time. We met with our tour guide Deidra. She was pleasant and knew a lot about of the history of City Hall. City Hall was built in 1811, the designers John MC Comb Jr an American and the French Francois Mangin were awarded $350 for their winning design. City Hall has two distinct periods of architecture. Inside is American design and the exterior is French Renaissance. (BG. pg. 83-84). Inside is very nice. There are two stairways leading up to the main entrance. Deidra told us that the domed tower in the center was rebuilt in 1917, following two fires. We visited the Governor's room which is served as a museum and a reception hall. There were portraits of George Washington, Daniel D. Tompkins, John Jay on the walls. The desk used by Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia 1934-11945 and one used by president George Washington was part of the authentic furniture in the room. Throughout history from 1983 to 2006 the Governor's room undergo several restoration. We also visited the City Council Chamber. The ceiling had wonderful quotes. They were by President Lincoln and George Washington. After our visit to City Hall we walked down Park Place and Church street. We passed by the Federal office building. we went to St Paul's church. It was built in 1764, and also the oldest church in Manhattan. There is a graveyard in front of the church. We learned that the President George Washington attended church there. After 911 the rescuers used the church to camp out.
We walked a couple blocks down from St Paul's church to the 911 memorial. We waited on line to get in and we had to go thru different checking location. I did not know what to expect when I got to the site. It was my first time there. I never saw the twin towers up close. I have seeing them on movies and pictures so many time. As I was entering the 911 memorial site, I felt very sad. It all came back to me, that horrible day where so many people lost their life. This is a day that people all over America will never forget. As I walked around I saw some of the names of the victims engraved around the waterfall, I felt overwhelmed with fear and sadness. when I looked at the beautiful waterfall where one of the tower used to be, all I kept on thinking about was Peace, Peace. Somehow I knew that the people who died there that day are at peace. Mike told us that the museum will open next year. I will definitely comeback the 911memorial site.
After the 911 site we stopped a front of Trinity Church but it was closed. We crossed the Zuccotti park where sometime ago protesters attending a mass demonstration. We walked on South Broadway, where we saw the New York Stock exchange building. We visited the Federal Hall National Monument. The President George Washington was sworn in there as the first President of the United Stated on the second floor. (BG. pg. 69). The Federal Hall is a nice historical site. There are interesting information about the bill of rights. The speech given by George Washington and the bible that he was sworn in was on displayed. On my way out I saw a man with a sign saying: " Hi friend, looking for a wealthy lady to be my wife. He had his phone number and email address on the board. I thought that was funny.
We stopped in front of the National of the American Indian. the building is a neoclassic building; built in 1890's. The four status in front of the building represent the Four continents. I am curious to see what's inside. I will go back. We walked by the Battery Park, we did not go in. We got on the number 1 train to 14th street, we walked on 7th avenue to Chelsea Market on Hudson street. We had lunch there. Lunch was very expensive, I paid $14 dollars for the lunch special, but it was good. After we left Chelsea Market, we passed by the Standard Hotel Which is renowned for people who wants to have sex with their window open. We continued walking and got on the Chelsea Highline. I did not have any idea about that this place existed. We learned that the Highline was an abandoned freight line that was restored into a beautiful walkway, with benches, flowers and a water walkway for people of all ages to enjoy. Mike liked the corn flowers in the garden. The Highline must be beautiful at night . I wonder if it is safe at night there.
We walked the Highline to 20th street where we went to an area that is populated with art gallery. The first gallery that we went to was Stux Gallery. It was a collection by Kosyo Minchev, title Blown skull white 2004. Polyurethane resin and rubber Blow skull black 2004-2006. Painted Auaresin sculpture. The next gallery that we visited was the Bruce Wolkowitz. It was a collection of Jr/ Jose Parla, tittle The Winkles of the city. The murals were beautiful and colorful. They were painting of buildings with black older men and women faces painted on them. We went to a couple of interesting weird ones, such as the Andrew Kreps gallery, untitled by Ricci Albenda. It was just an empty room with empty wall. It is amazing what people can come up with. Next was the Bruce Silverstein Gallery, Tittle Portraits in the time of AIDS 1988 by Rosalind Solomon. It was sad to see the portraits of people with AIDS visibly sick, weak, worried, hopeless. The Marianne Boesky Gallery was also interesting. "This exhibition brings together two classic themes of summer wonder". See For yourself by visiting the link above. After our visit to the Chelsea Art gallery we walked to a bookstore called The Printed Matter Inc. the sign in the front of the store said:"15000 books by artists" Mike asked us to pick up a book that the title caught our attention and give and explanation to the title of the book. The book that I picked the title was SOME W HERE. Somewhere in the world people are not free, life is not worth living. Racism, poverty, injustice still exist; SOME W HERE.
After our visit to the bookstore it was time to go home. My friends and I walked on 10th avenue and west 24th street to the nearest subway Station. It was another interesting day of learning and a lot of walking. I was glad that I visited the 911 memorial site today.
I almost miss my train this morning. I was at the Jamaica Station at 10:05 am. I had to run up the escalator and down the stairs to catch the 10:09 am to Penn Station. I was the last one getting on the train right before the doors were closed. I was out of breath from all that running. I arrived at Penn Station at 10:32 am. I stopped at MC Donald's for some ice coffee. We gathered around Mike. Every Morning when he is ready to talk about the plan of the day, he usually say:" come closer, closer, act like you guys love each other" Mike told us that today was the perfect weather for the trip to Lower Manhattan. We will be visit City Hall, the 911 memorial, Chelsea Market, the High line and a few museums. I said to myself that today was going to be interesting because I never being to any of these places, and it was going to be a lot of walking.
We walked through Penn Station to the subway station where we got on the wrong train. Mike realized that and we quickly got off before the doors were closed. We got on the number 3 downtown train to Park Place. On our way to City Hall we stopped and talked about the Woolworth building. We learned that the building was constructed in neo gothic style by architect Cass Gilbert. In 1917-1930's the Woolworth building was considered the tallest building in the world. When we arrived at City Hall, we had to go through a metal detector unit. Only seven people were allowed to go thru the gate at time. We met with our tour guide Deidra. She was pleasant and knew a lot about of the history of City Hall. City Hall was built in 1811, the designers John MC Comb Jr an American and the French Francois Mangin were awarded $350 for their winning design. City Hall has two distinct periods of architecture. Inside is American design and the exterior is French Renaissance. (BG. pg. 83-84). Inside is very nice. There are two stairways leading up to the main entrance. Deidra told us that the domed tower in the center was rebuilt in 1917, following two fires. We visited the Governor's room which is served as a museum and a reception hall. There were portraits of George Washington, Daniel D. Tompkins, John Jay on the walls. The desk used by Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia 1934-11945 and one used by president George Washington was part of the authentic furniture in the room. Throughout history from 1983 to 2006 the Governor's room undergo several restoration. We also visited the City Council Chamber. The ceiling had wonderful quotes. They were by President Lincoln and George Washington. After our visit to City Hall we walked down Park Place and Church street. We passed by the Federal office building. we went to St Paul's church. It was built in 1764, and also the oldest church in Manhattan. There is a graveyard in front of the church. We learned that the President George Washington attended church there. After 911 the rescuers used the church to camp out.
We walked a couple blocks down from St Paul's church to the 911 memorial. We waited on line to get in and we had to go thru different checking location. I did not know what to expect when I got to the site. It was my first time there. I never saw the twin towers up close. I have seeing them on movies and pictures so many time. As I was entering the 911 memorial site, I felt very sad. It all came back to me, that horrible day where so many people lost their life. This is a day that people all over America will never forget. As I walked around I saw some of the names of the victims engraved around the waterfall, I felt overwhelmed with fear and sadness. when I looked at the beautiful waterfall where one of the tower used to be, all I kept on thinking about was Peace, Peace. Somehow I knew that the people who died there that day are at peace. Mike told us that the museum will open next year. I will definitely comeback the 911memorial site.
After the 911 site we stopped a front of Trinity Church but it was closed. We crossed the Zuccotti park where sometime ago protesters attending a mass demonstration. We walked on South Broadway, where we saw the New York Stock exchange building. We visited the Federal Hall National Monument. The President George Washington was sworn in there as the first President of the United Stated on the second floor. (BG. pg. 69). The Federal Hall is a nice historical site. There are interesting information about the bill of rights. The speech given by George Washington and the bible that he was sworn in was on displayed. On my way out I saw a man with a sign saying: " Hi friend, looking for a wealthy lady to be my wife. He had his phone number and email address on the board. I thought that was funny.
We stopped in front of the National of the American Indian. the building is a neoclassic building; built in 1890's. The four status in front of the building represent the Four continents. I am curious to see what's inside. I will go back. We walked by the Battery Park, we did not go in. We got on the number 1 train to 14th street, we walked on 7th avenue to Chelsea Market on Hudson street. We had lunch there. Lunch was very expensive, I paid $14 dollars for the lunch special, but it was good. After we left Chelsea Market, we passed by the Standard Hotel Which is renowned for people who wants to have sex with their window open. We continued walking and got on the Chelsea Highline. I did not have any idea about that this place existed. We learned that the Highline was an abandoned freight line that was restored into a beautiful walkway, with benches, flowers and a water walkway for people of all ages to enjoy. Mike liked the corn flowers in the garden. The Highline must be beautiful at night . I wonder if it is safe at night there.
We walked the Highline to 20th street where we went to an area that is populated with art gallery. The first gallery that we went to was Stux Gallery. It was a collection by Kosyo Minchev, title Blown skull white 2004. Polyurethane resin and rubber Blow skull black 2004-2006. Painted Auaresin sculpture. The next gallery that we visited was the Bruce Wolkowitz. It was a collection of Jr/ Jose Parla, tittle The Winkles of the city. The murals were beautiful and colorful. They were painting of buildings with black older men and women faces painted on them. We went to a couple of interesting weird ones, such as the Andrew Kreps gallery, untitled by Ricci Albenda. It was just an empty room with empty wall. It is amazing what people can come up with. Next was the Bruce Silverstein Gallery, Tittle Portraits in the time of AIDS 1988 by Rosalind Solomon. It was sad to see the portraits of people with AIDS visibly sick, weak, worried, hopeless. The Marianne Boesky Gallery was also interesting. "This exhibition brings together two classic themes of summer wonder". See For yourself by visiting the link above. After our visit to the Chelsea Art gallery we walked to a bookstore called The Printed Matter Inc. the sign in the front of the store said:"15000 books by artists" Mike asked us to pick up a book that the title caught our attention and give and explanation to the title of the book. The book that I picked the title was SOME W HERE. Somewhere in the world people are not free, life is not worth living. Racism, poverty, injustice still exist; SOME W HERE.
After our visit to the bookstore it was time to go home. My friends and I walked on 10th avenue and west 24th street to the nearest subway Station. It was another interesting day of learning and a lot of walking. I was glad that I visited the 911 memorial site today.
Immigrant New York
7/31/13
Today is the last day of class, I am glad that class will be over. I will not have to be worry about doing papers or writing journals twice a week; but by the same token I am kind of sad that the fun part of the course which is visiting new places, learning about new cultures, visiting history thru the words of the tour guides will be over soon. I arrived at Penn Station around 10:32 am, I stopped at MC Donald's for my usual ice coffee. We gathered around and waited for Mike. Everybody was excited and happy that it was the last day of class. When Mike got there he talked briefly about the different places that we will be visiting; he said that he was going to try something new today. He started by putting us into different group A, B and C. Then he asked who "Love water, Scenery, Nature? Depending on the answer you provided you were put in a group. We did not know what to expect, nor we did not know what was he up to.
We took the F train to Delancy Street where we met up with Jim our tour Guide. We were surprised to see him again because he was the same guide who gave us the tour thru Harlem. Mike had a few friends who were visiting from Belgian to join us on the journey to" Immigrant New York." We went to the Essex Street Market. There were a lot vendors with a wide variety of ethnic food. We walked around a little then we went outside for the history of Delancy and Essex Street Market. Jim told us that the vendors used to occupied Essex Street and sold products from their push carts. In 1850's German, Irish, and Jews were living in the area. In 1900's Delancy became over populated, it was the most unsanitary place in N.Y. with no sanitation, ten people were living in a room with no running water. Immigrant moved in the area because it was cheaper to live there. In 1940 Mayor Fiorello La Guardia created the Essex Street Market by legislated the vendors off the street. Today the Essex Market offers a variety of food for all type of ethnic group in the area. (BG. pg. 123).
After the Essex Market we walked on Delancy Street to Bailystoker place and willet street. We stopped in front of the Bailystoker Synagogue. Jim told us that the Synagogue was a NYC Landmark. (BG. pg. 120). It was built in 1826 and one of only four religious buildings surviving the late federal period in lower Manhattan and also the oldest building used as a synagogue in New York City. While Jim was going through the history of the building we were interrupted by the presence of a bee. A few students panicked, Jim had to cut the history of the building short. We stopped on Grand Street where the 3rd oldest church in Manhattan was located. We were told that women had to take baths for a whole month before they get married, it had to be rain water. the Jewish people got out that tradition. Next we walked by the Henry Street Settlement 265. We learned that in 1892 a 25 year old nurse by the name of Lillian Wald volunteered to teach a class on home health care for immigrant women at the Louis Technical School on the Lower East Side. She was the founder of the Nurse's Settlement, which later was renamed the Henry Street Settlement.
We continued on East Broadway and Jefferson street to the Seward Park Branch. Jim told us that the Park was opened on October 1903. It became the first permanent municipally built playground in the United States. The park was named after Seward William. Jim pointed out to a building with the word Forward written on the side of the building. The building used to be the home of the forward Jewish Newspaper. The building is now turned into co-orp apartments. There are 4 radicals faces in the front of the building. Karl Marx which was a communist and Socialist, Friedrich Engels a co-author with Marx, Karl Liebknecht another communist and socialist and Ferdinand Lassalle founder of the first mass German Labor party. We passed by St Theresa Roman Church on East Broadway and Rutgers Street. We stopped and talked about a few building with stoops and fire escapes. In 1960's the fire department used to deal with a lot fire incidence. A new law was passed stating that every new building with six floors or more must have a fire escapes. Only in New York you will see buildings with fire escapes.
We entered Chinatown. It was very crowded, so crowded that it was almost difficult to walk on the side walk. We stopped in front of the Eldridge Street Synagogue. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark in 1996. We continued west on Canal Street. Jim told us that in 1882 the Chinese exclusion act passed by Congress did not allow Chinese to enter the country because they were afraid that this ethnic group will change the order of a lot of things in the community. In 1800's it was only seven thousand Chinese Immigrants and only two hundred women. The Government did not protect the Chinese people. They created an association named Tong. It was like the mafia. Tong protected the Chinese community financially and physically. The Italian, Chinese, Irish believed in those type of organization to protect their family and finances. We walked on Hester Street and Elisabeth avenue to Mulberry street. Mulberry Street is considered as the center of China Town. It is a foot away from Little Italy. Little Italy is very quaint. Compare to Chinatown it was small with a lot of restaurants.It was like you were in a movie. Jim told us that 125 Mulberry Street has the best Italian food and 148 Mulberry has the best Napoleon treats. I can not wait to go back to Little Italy with my family for a nice Italian meal and Napoleon treats. We stopped in front of the Stabile which was a family Bank. We saw the Old Police Headquarter on Grand Street and Centre Street.
We were walking on Lafayette and Canal street when Mike told us that it was time far a Scavenger Hunt. My group was C. We started our adventure at 1:45 pm.to The Seductive Central Park. We run down the subway stairs and got on the 6 uptown train to 59th street. We continued walking on 5th avenue and 62 street. We entered the Park where we proceeded to Central Park Zoo. The zoo was designed by Olmstead and Vaux. When they began the construction of the park live animals were present in the park. (BG. pg. 285-286). We took a picture in front of the Zoo sign. We looked for the Delacort Musical Animal Clock it was located between the Central Park Zoo and the Children's Zoo. The Delacort Musical Animal Clock was modeled after the musical clocks that George T Delacort has seeing while traveling in Europe. It played music every half hour from 8 am until 5pm daily. We took a picture in front of the clock. We continued our hunt through the park where we stopped at the beautiful Boat Pond. It was inspired by the model boat ponds of late 19th century Paris. It was created by Olmsted and Vaux. (BG.pg.289). We took a picture. We walked by the Bethesda Terrance. It is considered the heart of Central Park. The promenade led to a grand terrace overlooking the lake. We walked very fast through the park it was a long walk trying to get to Strawberry Field. After we got turned around a few time we finally made it. We took a picture in front of the memorial site. We finally exited the park at West 72nd street and located the Dakota. We took a picture of the Spot where John Lennon was killed in 1980. It was nerve racking trying to make all the sites on the list in a short period of time. We did not really have time to enjoy any of sites because we were pressed for time. We call Mike at 2:30 pm. and gave him our location. We got on the train around 2:35pm. We rush back to Chinatown to meet with the group for lunch. We were running through the Streets like a bunch of crazy people. I tripped over some guy's pulley and almost fall on my face. Good thing I regained my balance and kept on running. We got there at 3 o'clock. We were the first group to arrive at the Congee Village Restaurant. We sat down and waited for the rest of groups to arrive. Congee Restaurant was an authentic Chinese Restaurant. Mike ordered a lot food. I ate more food then usual today. It was another treat from Mike. It was the best Chinese food that I ever had. I told all my friends about that place. I will go back next week with my family for another delicious feast.
After Lunch we went to the Tenement Museum which was next to the restaurant. We met with our tour guide Daryl Hamilton for the "Meet Victoria tour". He was very nice and funny. He told us that the building consisted of 5 floors, 4 apartments per floor. 3 rooms with 2500 sq. ft. 1 bedroom, living room and 1 bathroom. There were 2 toilets in the hallway on each floor. He told us that the Spanish Jew had a very hard time living in a Russian Jews neighborhood. They had different language, food and culture. The immigrants had to spend three weeks in the bottom of the boat, with animals, no sanitary. Once they reach Ellis Island they have to stay on line for inspection check for Trachoma "pink eye". The inspection will take about 5 hours. After the inspection the people who passed the inspection were allowed to board the ferry to Manhattan. When they reach Delancy the Streets were full of people. They have to find a job and a place to stay. These people would be directed to the Settlement House were they would get the help that they needed. After the history of the Immigrants we got the meet Victoria. She was a 14 years old girl living in one of the tenement homes in 1916. When Victoria knew how to speak English her father made her quit school and worked for 10 hours a day. She had to take care of her brothers and sisters. Ten people was the average number of people that was find in the small three rooms apartment. Some of the children slept on the kitchen floor. Victoria said that the people slept nose to toes because feet smelled better than bad breath. Her brothers did not like to use the bathroom on the hallway because it was always a line. They used the "Chico Liquo" which is the pot that they used to pee in. She did not like when they used it because she was responsible to clean it. The tour to the Tenement House was very interesting. It was a real step back into history, especially that the story of Victoria was played by a real person explaining what it was like back then to live in those condition. It was like watching an old movie of what really happened during that time because we were in the exact apartment. Victoria died in 1989 she was 89 year old. She had two children. Her son is still alive today, he is a physicist and work for NASA.
Today is the last day of class, I am glad that class will be over. I will not have to be worry about doing papers or writing journals twice a week; but by the same token I am kind of sad that the fun part of the course which is visiting new places, learning about new cultures, visiting history thru the words of the tour guides will be over soon. I arrived at Penn Station around 10:32 am, I stopped at MC Donald's for my usual ice coffee. We gathered around and waited for Mike. Everybody was excited and happy that it was the last day of class. When Mike got there he talked briefly about the different places that we will be visiting; he said that he was going to try something new today. He started by putting us into different group A, B and C. Then he asked who "Love water, Scenery, Nature? Depending on the answer you provided you were put in a group. We did not know what to expect, nor we did not know what was he up to.
We took the F train to Delancy Street where we met up with Jim our tour Guide. We were surprised to see him again because he was the same guide who gave us the tour thru Harlem. Mike had a few friends who were visiting from Belgian to join us on the journey to" Immigrant New York." We went to the Essex Street Market. There were a lot vendors with a wide variety of ethnic food. We walked around a little then we went outside for the history of Delancy and Essex Street Market. Jim told us that the vendors used to occupied Essex Street and sold products from their push carts. In 1850's German, Irish, and Jews were living in the area. In 1900's Delancy became over populated, it was the most unsanitary place in N.Y. with no sanitation, ten people were living in a room with no running water. Immigrant moved in the area because it was cheaper to live there. In 1940 Mayor Fiorello La Guardia created the Essex Street Market by legislated the vendors off the street. Today the Essex Market offers a variety of food for all type of ethnic group in the area. (BG. pg. 123).
After the Essex Market we walked on Delancy Street to Bailystoker place and willet street. We stopped in front of the Bailystoker Synagogue. Jim told us that the Synagogue was a NYC Landmark. (BG. pg. 120). It was built in 1826 and one of only four religious buildings surviving the late federal period in lower Manhattan and also the oldest building used as a synagogue in New York City. While Jim was going through the history of the building we were interrupted by the presence of a bee. A few students panicked, Jim had to cut the history of the building short. We stopped on Grand Street where the 3rd oldest church in Manhattan was located. We were told that women had to take baths for a whole month before they get married, it had to be rain water. the Jewish people got out that tradition. Next we walked by the Henry Street Settlement 265. We learned that in 1892 a 25 year old nurse by the name of Lillian Wald volunteered to teach a class on home health care for immigrant women at the Louis Technical School on the Lower East Side. She was the founder of the Nurse's Settlement, which later was renamed the Henry Street Settlement.
We continued on East Broadway and Jefferson street to the Seward Park Branch. Jim told us that the Park was opened on October 1903. It became the first permanent municipally built playground in the United States. The park was named after Seward William. Jim pointed out to a building with the word Forward written on the side of the building. The building used to be the home of the forward Jewish Newspaper. The building is now turned into co-orp apartments. There are 4 radicals faces in the front of the building. Karl Marx which was a communist and Socialist, Friedrich Engels a co-author with Marx, Karl Liebknecht another communist and socialist and Ferdinand Lassalle founder of the first mass German Labor party. We passed by St Theresa Roman Church on East Broadway and Rutgers Street. We stopped and talked about a few building with stoops and fire escapes. In 1960's the fire department used to deal with a lot fire incidence. A new law was passed stating that every new building with six floors or more must have a fire escapes. Only in New York you will see buildings with fire escapes.
We entered Chinatown. It was very crowded, so crowded that it was almost difficult to walk on the side walk. We stopped in front of the Eldridge Street Synagogue. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark in 1996. We continued west on Canal Street. Jim told us that in 1882 the Chinese exclusion act passed by Congress did not allow Chinese to enter the country because they were afraid that this ethnic group will change the order of a lot of things in the community. In 1800's it was only seven thousand Chinese Immigrants and only two hundred women. The Government did not protect the Chinese people. They created an association named Tong. It was like the mafia. Tong protected the Chinese community financially and physically. The Italian, Chinese, Irish believed in those type of organization to protect their family and finances. We walked on Hester Street and Elisabeth avenue to Mulberry street. Mulberry Street is considered as the center of China Town. It is a foot away from Little Italy. Little Italy is very quaint. Compare to Chinatown it was small with a lot of restaurants.It was like you were in a movie. Jim told us that 125 Mulberry Street has the best Italian food and 148 Mulberry has the best Napoleon treats. I can not wait to go back to Little Italy with my family for a nice Italian meal and Napoleon treats. We stopped in front of the Stabile which was a family Bank. We saw the Old Police Headquarter on Grand Street and Centre Street.
We were walking on Lafayette and Canal street when Mike told us that it was time far a Scavenger Hunt. My group was C. We started our adventure at 1:45 pm.to The Seductive Central Park. We run down the subway stairs and got on the 6 uptown train to 59th street. We continued walking on 5th avenue and 62 street. We entered the Park where we proceeded to Central Park Zoo. The zoo was designed by Olmstead and Vaux. When they began the construction of the park live animals were present in the park. (BG. pg. 285-286). We took a picture in front of the Zoo sign. We looked for the Delacort Musical Animal Clock it was located between the Central Park Zoo and the Children's Zoo. The Delacort Musical Animal Clock was modeled after the musical clocks that George T Delacort has seeing while traveling in Europe. It played music every half hour from 8 am until 5pm daily. We took a picture in front of the clock. We continued our hunt through the park where we stopped at the beautiful Boat Pond. It was inspired by the model boat ponds of late 19th century Paris. It was created by Olmsted and Vaux. (BG.pg.289). We took a picture. We walked by the Bethesda Terrance. It is considered the heart of Central Park. The promenade led to a grand terrace overlooking the lake. We walked very fast through the park it was a long walk trying to get to Strawberry Field. After we got turned around a few time we finally made it. We took a picture in front of the memorial site. We finally exited the park at West 72nd street and located the Dakota. We took a picture of the Spot where John Lennon was killed in 1980. It was nerve racking trying to make all the sites on the list in a short period of time. We did not really have time to enjoy any of sites because we were pressed for time. We call Mike at 2:30 pm. and gave him our location. We got on the train around 2:35pm. We rush back to Chinatown to meet with the group for lunch. We were running through the Streets like a bunch of crazy people. I tripped over some guy's pulley and almost fall on my face. Good thing I regained my balance and kept on running. We got there at 3 o'clock. We were the first group to arrive at the Congee Village Restaurant. We sat down and waited for the rest of groups to arrive. Congee Restaurant was an authentic Chinese Restaurant. Mike ordered a lot food. I ate more food then usual today. It was another treat from Mike. It was the best Chinese food that I ever had. I told all my friends about that place. I will go back next week with my family for another delicious feast.
After Lunch we went to the Tenement Museum which was next to the restaurant. We met with our tour guide Daryl Hamilton for the "Meet Victoria tour". He was very nice and funny. He told us that the building consisted of 5 floors, 4 apartments per floor. 3 rooms with 2500 sq. ft. 1 bedroom, living room and 1 bathroom. There were 2 toilets in the hallway on each floor. He told us that the Spanish Jew had a very hard time living in a Russian Jews neighborhood. They had different language, food and culture. The immigrants had to spend three weeks in the bottom of the boat, with animals, no sanitary. Once they reach Ellis Island they have to stay on line for inspection check for Trachoma "pink eye". The inspection will take about 5 hours. After the inspection the people who passed the inspection were allowed to board the ferry to Manhattan. When they reach Delancy the Streets were full of people. They have to find a job and a place to stay. These people would be directed to the Settlement House were they would get the help that they needed. After the history of the Immigrants we got the meet Victoria. She was a 14 years old girl living in one of the tenement homes in 1916. When Victoria knew how to speak English her father made her quit school and worked for 10 hours a day. She had to take care of her brothers and sisters. Ten people was the average number of people that was find in the small three rooms apartment. Some of the children slept on the kitchen floor. Victoria said that the people slept nose to toes because feet smelled better than bad breath. Her brothers did not like to use the bathroom on the hallway because it was always a line. They used the "Chico Liquo" which is the pot that they used to pee in. She did not like when they used it because she was responsible to clean it. The tour to the Tenement House was very interesting. It was a real step back into history, especially that the story of Victoria was played by a real person explaining what it was like back then to live in those condition. It was like watching an old movie of what really happened during that time because we were in the exact apartment. Victoria died in 1989 she was 89 year old. She had two children. Her son is still alive today, he is a physicist and work for NASA.
Final Impressions of New York
This course gave me the opportunity to explore New York like I have never explored NY before. Never had I ever given any thought to what those areas had to offer. Visiting these different sites of New York, Brooklyn, Queen, Harlem some how introduced me to all the wonderful sites, restaurants and buildings that I never quite saw before. While walking eight hours each class was challenging, it enabled me to intermingle with New Yorkers. I felt the pulse of these areas and the inhabitants and began to see why they choose to live in certain area. I felt the pulse of New Yorkers as they bumped, pushed and shoved me around on the street or the subway. I saw the determination of New Yorkers as they hassled to get to their different destination. I felt alive as I watched New Yorkers walking thru the city searching for their place in a city that has so much to offer. I saw New York like I have never seen New York before and learned to appreciate it. I saw New York from the eyes of a New Yorker who never took the time to explore New York on foot.