VISIT THE RIHS TABLE AT THE RI DAY CELEBRATION THIS SUNDAY, JUNE 8th AT FIREFIGHTERS FIELD.
THE RIHS WILL BE DISPLAYING 50 YEARS OF ISLAND PHOTOS FROM RESIDENT AND FAMILIES.
WE WILL ALSO BE DISTRIBUTING BOOKS FROM THE NYPL. STOP BY OUR TABLE AND JOIN THE FUN!
JP MORGAN
23 WALL STREET
Thursday, June 5, 2025 NYCUrbanism Issue #1463
In 1869 J. Pierepont Morgan co-founded Drexel, Morgan & Co. with businessman Anthony Drexel, setting their vision on the southeast corner of Wall and Broad Street between Federal Hall and the New York Stock Exchange for their new headquarters. Three years later the bank paid $250,000 in gold for the site, setting records as the most expensive lot of that size in the world. Drexel, Morgan & Co. would hire architect Arthur D. Gilman to design a six-story French Second Empire style building clad in Vermont marble with a mansard roof and a prominent entrance on the chamfered corner topped with a sculpted pediment and two statues depicting Europe and America.
The entrance of the Drexel Building (left) with the original (top) and current Stock Exchangeb (bottom) across the street.
Current Stock Exchange
The building opened in 1873 with the bank designating the first floor as a banking hall with offices above. In 1882 the building was the center of attention when Thomas Edison flipped a switch, illuminating the structure with 600 electric lights. By the 1890s the renamed J.P. Morgan & Co. was the country’s most powerful investment bank, helping to transform the U.S. economy and financing some of the country’s strongest financial players including the U.S. Steel Corporation; the world’s first billion-dollar corporation and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, which dominated northeast regional rail traffic during the first half of the 20th century.
The building would temporarily close on April 1, 1913, the day J.P. Morgan died, and less than a year later the Drexel Building would be demolished, with a new building rising on what had become the most valuable lot in the country, completed a year later. Designed by Towbridge & Livingston (architect of the 1912 Bankers Trust Building diagonally across the Street), the new unadorned limestone building that would replace Drexel was drastically smaller, only four stories tall, contradicting the cardinal rule of Wall Street development where taller buildings have always replaced shorter ones over time. Today JPMorgan Chase & Co. is one of the largest banks in the world.
VISITORS TO THE RIHS KIOSK TODAY
CREDITS
NYCURBANISM
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
The 309-foot New York World Building (officially known as the Pulitzer Building) was the tallest skyscraper in the world when it opened in 1890. Located on Newspaper Row (today’s Park Row) across from City Hall and next to the Tribune, Times, Herald, and Sun newspaper buildings, it served as an office building and vertical factory, with newspaper production starting in the tower’s dome – under the publisher Joseph Pulitzer’s direction – with photoengraving, editorial and reportorial staff meeting and compiling photographs and news stories in the sun-light upper floors. Production then traveled down to the linotype composing room, then to the giant presses in the cellar, where newsprint paper making machines printed 48,000 8-page papers per hour. Paperboys waited outside on the curb for the cut, pasted and folded papers to be distributed.
Designed by architect George B. Post (NY Stock Exchange) the skyscraper featured an ornate red sandstone facade. The dome at the top of the world housed a public observation deck where visitors could ascend a flight of stairs to a cupola where they would be greeted with a 360-degree view of the city.By the mid-19th Century, the newspaper buildings had moved from Park Row, with the Herald going to 34th Street (Herald Sq) and the Times going to 42nd Street (Times Sq). But in January of 1953, the New York Times reported the fateful news for the World Building, which neighbored the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge: “The doom of the historic World Building at 63 Park Row was forecast yesterday as the City Planning Commission approved a $5,266,000 plan drafted by Manhattan Borough President Robert F. Wagner Jr. for rearrangement and reconstruction of the street system at the Manhattan plaza of the Brooklyn Bridge.”
In 1955 the building was demolished to make way for an on-ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge. The iconic Tribune Building next door would also be demolished to make way for the Brutalist Pace University
World Building elevation drawing
World Building demolition, 1955. Tribune Building on the right before demolition.
THE BIRDS ARE LONG GONE
TIME TO CLEAN OFF THE BLACKWELL HOUSE NEST AND BIRD DROPPINGS!
CREDITS
NYCURBANISM
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Defining a New Era for American Women: The New York Woman Magazine
Tuesday, June 3, 2025 New-York Historical Blog Issue #1461
The 1930s was a time of immense change for American women. This was especially true for women working in New York City, who saw their professional, economic, and social opportunities rapidly expand during this decade.
Historians predominantly characterize the 1930s in the United States as an era of economic turmoil due to the Great Depression. Nevertheless, women joined the urban workforce in unprecedented numbers. The rate of working women rose to 24%, with nearly 50% of single women in employment. In New York alone, there were 13 million women employed by the end of the decade, compared to 10.5 million in 1930. The majority of these women worked in clerical jobs in the rapidly expanding American corporate sector or in teaching and nursing. Some trailblazing women also achieved careers in law, finance, publishing, and politics.
American cities thus became hubs of opportunity for ambitious—mostly single—women. Indeed, 1930s New York embodied the exciting, liberating possibilities that the modern metropolis could hold for American women, as the epicenter of commercial, technological, cultural, and social innovation in the United States.
The New York Woman captured the emergence of the urban career woman as a defining figure of modern New York. The magazine became one of the best-selling publications of the 1930s. Written and “edited for the women of metropolitan New York,” the magazine sold out within 24 hours when the first issue hit the shelves on September 9, 1936.
Published weekly on Wednesdays, The New York Woman catered to the urban career woman’s interests in:
“LOVE – MARRIAGE – POLITICS – PERSONALITIES – SOCIETY – MOVIES – THEATRE – DANCING – FASHION – BEAUTY – COOKING – DECORATING – WHERE TO BUY – WHAT TO DO – HOW TO HAVE FUN!”
Copy from the inaugural issue of The New York Woman, September 9th, 1936. The New York Historical.
While attending to conventionally ‘feminine’ topics of fashion, dating, and beauty—topics that still dominate contemporary women’s magazines—The New York Woman’sinclusion of detailed articles on politics, career advice, and financial management underline how women’s lives were being reshaped during the 1930s. Rather than presenting a principal concentration on housekeeping and domestic affairs, as women were gaining access to professional institutions and the public sphere of the modern metropolis, The New York Woman reflects how magazines began to offer more diverse content to women readers, which better reflected the new realities of their urban lives.
The magazine’s weekly column, “Soundings: Opinions of the New York Woman,” printed select readers’ correspondence with the magazine editors, covering topics ranging from whether America should join the Second World War to whether it was ‘proper’ for single women to drink alcohol at bars in the city. The publication also offered profiles of prominent career women in New York, many of whom worked in traditionally male-dominated industries. These ranged from Judge Justine Wise Tulin, the first New York woman to hold a judicial post higher than a magistrate, to women working as political advisors on the 1936 Presidential election campaigns
“9 to 5…five to nine.” Profile of Barbara Schaffa, a woman “typical of the girl all busy men desire; the smart, self-sufficient secretary,” in the October 7, 2025 issue of The New York Woman. The New York Historical.
While detailing the latest fashion trends through exquisite watercolor illustrations in its weekly feature, “Today Along Fifth Avenue,” TheNew York Woman challenged many reductive myths around style and beauty. Its writers questioned the youth-centered ideas of beauty and glamour that had defined the 1920s flapper era. Instead, in such articles as Inez Calloway Robb’s “40 Becomes ‘The Fashionable Age,’” The New York Woman profiled Wallis Simpson, arguing that women of all ages could embody the glamour and excitement of modern America.
The “Today Along Fifth” feature, in the October 7, 1936 issue of The New York Woman. The New York Historical.
“40 Becomes ‘The Fashionable Age,’” featuring a profile of the American socialite Wallis Simpson, in the October 7, 1936 issue of The New York Woman. The New York Historical.
The magazine also ran features on a range of topics relating to life in the Big Apple. These included articles designed to improve domestic life. Readers could browse reviews for appliances tailored to cooking in a small apartment kitchen, guides to New York nursery schools, fashionable color schemes for decorating an apartment, and advertisements for new apartment buildings in the city (from the Savoy Plaza to the El Dorado). New York nightlife was another prominent topic. Notable features surveyed fun things to do in New York for less than $5, lists of the best restaurants and bars to visit on a Saturday night, reviews of new Broadway shows and movies, and ideas for quick but tasty dinners to cook for guests.
“She knew what she wanted!” Making the case for the new woman in the October 7, 1936 issue of The New York Woman. The New York Historical.
The New York Historical’s collection of The New York Woman magazine offers fascinating insight into New York women’s aspirations, ideas, concerns, and daily lives in the 1930s, and illuminates how American women’s lives were changing rapidly during this decade. Whereas magazine readership is waning in the twenty-first century, this collection underlines the centrality of magazines to early-20th-century American culture. As The New York Woman declared to its readers: “To live successfully in New York, read The New York Woman.”
PRIDE FLAG RAISED OVER MAIN STREET
CREDITS
Written byDr. Angelica De Vido. De Vido is the 2024-2025 Mellon Foundation-Robert David Lion Gardiner Fellow at The New York Historical.
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Monday, June 2, 20-25 Untapped New York Nicole Saraniero Issue #1460
One of the best ways to enjoy the warmer weather in New York City is to get outside and see some art and attend art-related events! This June, you’ll find larger-than-life flowers, a museum on wheels, a celebration of pigeons, and more:
“Irises on Yellow Columns” by Graphic Rewinding at Van Gogh’s Flowers, Courtesy of New York Botanical Garden
The iconic van Gogh paintings of irises and sunflowers come to life in this year’s summer exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden.Flourishing floral displays and large-scale interactive artworks fully immerse you in van Gogh’s timeless masterpieces. Learn more about the exhibit from one of the artists who worked on it, here!
The city’s biggest pop-up photography event will hit all five boroughs this June! Photoville returns for its 14th year with over 80 international exhibits that highlight the work of photographers from right here in New York City and nations across the globe. The photo festival’s signature shipping container galleries will be on view at Brooklyn Bridge Park while satellite exhibits can be seen at Barretto Point Park, Bella Abzug Park, the Seaport, Alice Austen House, and many other locations. One special exhibit to look out for is Early Distant Warning. It features large photographs frozen in large ice blocks that will gradually melt throughout the day to reveal Louie Palu’s photographs of the Arctic. See it at Brooklyn Bridge Park on June 7th from 1:30-7pm!
Did you know there is a National Pigeon Appreciation Day?! Well, the High Line is celebrating with Pigeon Fest, in honor of Iván Argote’s 17-foot-tall aluminum pigeon sculpture Dinosaur currently on view at the Spur. This full-day festival will feature free public programming including pigeon-themed carnival games, family-friendly art workshops, a Pigeon Impersonation Pageant, panel discussions, and a concert presented in collaboration with the Birdsong Project
Gardens of Renewal by Lily Kwong, Photo Courtesy of Madison Square Park
The winding pathway of this living installation provides opportunities for play, learning, self-reflection, and ecological awakening. Created by artist Lily Kwong in collaboration with the Madison Square Park Conservancy,Gardens of Renewal “explores the ecological potential of the built environment while underscoring the political urgency of the climate crisis.” In the Meditation Garden, visitors follow a spiral path surrounded by gorgeous flowers, herbs, and other native plants, with endangered and rare specimens at the center. On Sparrow Lawn, the Children’s Garden offers a library, stage, and play structures that promote adventure, creativity, and ecological awareness.
The installation is accompanied by a series of conversations, performances, and educational programming for children of all ages. QR codes scattered throughout the gardens offer supplemental digital materials, including an illustrated field guide plant list, a meditation, and a customized playlist.
14th Street Busway, between Broadway and University Place, Union Square
New York-based visual artist Yuke Li has transformed a bland busway into a vibrant 7,500-square-foot mural. Union Square Partnership’s fifth annual street mural was completed with the help of volunteers who spent five days bringing Li’s vision to life. Turning Point “honors Union Square’s role as a place that facilitates the movement of people, whether gathering, dispersing, or embarking on new journeys.” This movement and flow are represented by retro-inspired abstract shapes painted in bright colors.
Monumental 20-foot screens have taken over six acres of land on Manhattan’s east side next to the United Nations. This photography and video project takes an optimistic approach to the future of America on the occasion of our nation’s 250th anniversary. Spread out along a winding path, viewers will uncover the stories of over fifty everyday Americans captured on film by award-winning local filmmaker and photographer Daniella Vale. Each subject shares their thoughts on liberty, democracy, and what it means to be American.
PRIDE EXHIBIT OPENS AT RIVAA
FEATURING WORKS BY 23 ARTISTS OPEN THRU THE MONTH (CHECK FOR DATES)
THOM HEYER INTRODUCES THE PARTICIPATING ARTISTS AT OPENING ON SUNDAY.
CREDITS
UNTAPPED NEW YORK NICOLE SARANIERO JUDITH BERDY
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
The Queens-bound F train platform of Delancey and Essex Street Station features three cherry tree murals as well as several smaller cherry mosaics. Created in 2004 by the Shanghai-born and New York City-based sculptor Ming Fay, “Delancey Orchard” glass mosaic is an allusion to the farm land that once belonged to a Loyalist family.
Up until the Revolutionary War, the family owned a 300-acre farm which stretched from the East River to the Hudson (having sided with the British during the Revolutionary War, James’s assets were confiscated by the authorities).
Located on what is today Orchard Street, the pride of the Delancey farm was a cherry grove. When the property was divided up among smaller landowners who were eager to remove all reminders of a British past, the orchard was destroyed.
There are other memories of a cherry culture. In the midst of the Inwood neighborhood, surrounded by towering apartment block at the corner of Broadway and 204th Street, stands a two-story Dyckman Farmhouse Museum that was built in 1784 by William Dyckman. Family members too took pride in their orchards (a cherry tree in the backyard may be a survivor from the original fruit garden). The dark “Dyckman Cherry” was a sought after species in its day.
Today, there are plenty of reminders of Manhattan’s passion for cherries (including a classic cocktail). The history of the fruit’s introduction and cultivation runs parallel to the city’s foundation and expansion.
Cherry Cultivation
Sweet cherries originated in the fertile lands of the region between the Black and Caspian Seas and were most likely brought to Europe by birds. Mentioned by Theophrastus in his History of Plants (3rd century BC), the author claims that the Greeks had been the first to grow cherries.
The Romans continued the tradition by cultivating the fruit on a larger scale. Their conquering armies brought trees with them to newly occupied territories; by the first century AD cherries were grown throughout Europe.
Early production was limited to personal consumption or local trade. One of the first known commercial cherry orchards was established in the Rhine Valley in the fourteenth century. By the sixteenth century farmers in the Low Countries were praised for their agricultural expertise.
As early as 1556 physician Gheraert Vorselman published Eenen nyeuwen coock boeck (A New Cook Book), the earliest Dutch compilation to include recipes for salads and vegetable dishes. Fruit was widely available, but cherries remained a symbol of wealth and privilege. It was not until the Renaissance that they became more widely available.
Throughout the seventeenth century the Dutch and Flemish enjoyed the reputation of being the best-fed populations in Europe. Domestically they produced a rich diet of bread, butter, cheese, fruit and vegetables. Techniques of preserving food were also well advanced. Settlers from the Low Countries in Manhattan brought with them the experience of growing fruit and veg as well as a passion for gardening.
The first colonials in the region were transient traders, not home makers. Actual settlement did not begin until Peter Minuit acquired Manhattan Island, but frequent hostile confrontations prevented land management until Peter Stuyvesant took over as Governor in 1647. According to records of that year, the latter planted an apple tree brought over from the Netherlands on the corner of what is now Third Avenue and 13th Street.
Stuyvesant was a farmer and a soldier. In 1651 he purchased the land from the West India Company (WIC) that would become known as the Stuyvesant Farm or Great Bowery. He did not live there until the English took possession of New Amsterdam in 1664. Having retired from politics, Peter devoted his energy to agriculture.
Using slave labor, his orchards and gardens were well kept according to contemporary accounts. Part of the original purchase, mainly along the Bowery and Fourth Avenue, remained in the hands of Governor’s descendants until the death of Peter Winthrop Rutherfurd Stuyvesant in 1970.
Cherries in New Amsterdam
In 1622, a resident of Amsterdam named Nicolaes Van Wassenaer began to publish (at intervals) a Historisch verhael (historical account) of events in New Netherland. His reports were based on facts supplied by officials of the WIC, communications from settlers in the colony, and rumors that were spread by sailors and former Company employees.
In December 1624, Van Wassenaer reported on the abundance of edibles in the colony, including plants and wild fruit. He made one specific exception: “Cherries are not found there.”
Sweet cherry cultivation in North America began at some time after the arrival of Europeans. Early settlers brought cherry pits with them to plant in their gardens. Cherry trees appeared in the settlements of Virginia and Massachusetts and they were a feature in the gardens of French newcomers in their Midwestern outposts.
The Dutch introduced cherries to New Netherland. One of the earliest instances of their cultivation was recorded in the Hudson Valley during the late 1600s.
There are two versions on the origin of the names Cherry Hill and Cherry Street (established in colonial times to run from the intersection of Pearl Street and Frankfort Street in Lower Manhattan).
Born in Amsterdam in August 1611 into a family of Huguenot descent (the French name was Prévost), David Provoost made his first journey to New Netherland in 1624 as a thirteen year old, two years before the island of Manhattan was purchased from Native Americans. He returned in April 1639, a married man working in various diplomatic functions for Governor Willem Kieft and the WIC.
Provoost was the original grantee of a considerable parcel of land in New Amsterdam. Having cleared the land, he built a farm house near the East River shore at a point which is believed to be in the interior of the block between the modern Pearl and Water Streets, Dover Street and Peck Slip.
There he created a small orchard that was long remembered as the “Cherry Garden.” Although Provoost later moved to Long Island (he died in Breukelen = Brooklyn; his grandson was the 24th Mayor of New York; his great grandson became the city’s first Bishop), his orchard was commemorated when the area was given the name Cherry Hill.
Other historians argue that Cherry Street was named for the seven-acre orchard that was owned by Goovert Loockermans, a wealthy merchant who was a representative of the Amsterdam trading firm Gillis Verbrugge & Company in the 1660s.
Loockermans was said to produce the best cherries in town. The orchard was lost in 1672 when his heirs sold the land for sixty dollars to the brewer Richard Sackett who turned the land into a beer garden and bowling-green known locally as Sackett’s Orchard.
Cherry Street Elite
By the second half of the eighteenth century Cherry Hill was becoming a fashionable area that attracted both moneyed families and entrepreneurs.
In 1786, Founding Father and merchant John Hancock had moved into the property at 10 Cherry Street; New York City’s first Governor DeWitt Clinton resided nearby on Pearl Street. In April 1818 clothing retailers Brooks Brothers opened their first shop there.
The residence at 7 Cherry Street, the home of Samuel Leggett (1782-1847, President of the New York Gas Company), was the first house illuminated with gas lamps in 1825. Close by stood fashionable Franklin Square, a chosen hub of the city’s elite lawyers and financiers.
The trend to settle in the area had been set by Walter Franklin, a Quaker merchant and importer of goods from China and the South Seas who had been actively involved in the American Revolution, first as a member of the Committee of One Hundred (opposing the laws of the British Parliament) and then as a representative of the first New York Provincial Congress (formed in 1775).
Having amassed a fortune, Franklin retired from business and built an elegant Georgian style mansion at the northeast corner of Pearl and Cherry Streets. Erected in 1770, it was considered to be one of the finest homes in the city. He subsequently married a young Quaker “milkmaid” by the name of Maria Bowne. The couple had two daughters.
Walter died in June 1780. When some six years later Maria remarried Samuel Osgood, a Massachusetts politician and lawyer who had recently settled in the city of New York, the family continued living in the Cherry Street Mansion (the pair needed the space as they would have six more children).
Osgood had fought his way through the Revolution, having participated in the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775. He also saw action during the Siege of Boston. By the end of the war he had attained the rank of Colonel. In 1785 he moved to New York to take on the position of Commissioner of the Treasury. Walter Franklin’s mansion became known as Osgood House.
Presidential Palace
On April 14, 1789, the Electoral College informed George Washington at Mount Vernon that he had been unanimously elected First President of the United States. Nine days later he arrived in New York, then the nation’s capital, for his inauguration. It was Washington’s first trip to the city since the end of the Revolutionary War and he was given a hero’s welcome as both a victorious General and newly-elected President.
For the triumphal voyage a special barge had been constructed with thirteen oars on both sides (dressed in white, all oarsmen under command of coxswain Thomas Randall were New York pilots). Thousands of people packed the waterfront between the Battery and Wall Street to greet the barge on arrival. Governor George Clinton met the President as he landed at Murray’s Wharf.
In preparation for his arrival in Manhattan, Congress had made considerable effort to find a suitable property that would serve as “Presidential Palace” (the term remained in circulation until the White House was built).
They finally agreed on the lease of Osgood House. Housing the President, his family and household staff, 1 Cherry Street became the first seat of the federal government’s executive branch.
It was from here that in October 1789 the President penned his first Thanksgiving proclamation, setting aside – as a cherry on the cake – a Thursday each November as a national holiday.
It soon became clear that the Cherry Street mansion was too small to function both as a Presidential residence and a workplace. When Comte de Moustier, French Minister to the United States, vacated the large four-story Alexander Macomb mansion at 39/41 Broadway on his return to France, the property was made available to the Washington family and staff. They moved into their new residence in February 1790.
Osgood House was demolished in 1856. In spite of its historical pedigree, the district had by then changed dramatically and devolved into a neighborhood of overcrowded tenements, paralleling the decline of nearby Five Points. Quaker John Franklin had initiated the rise of Cherry Street. The name of another Friend is associated with its demise.
In 1850/1 a “model tenement” named Gotham Court was opened at 38 Cherry Street. It comprised two rows of six tenement blocks, each five stories high, standing back to back. The complex was built by the Quaker philanthropist Silas Wood for the purpose of improving the life of local residents and immigrants who occupied dreadful “rookeries” in the district. It did not stop the area’s rapid decline.
In 1862, a sanitary official reported rampant infectious disease and high child mortality in the properties. Jacob Riis in How the Other Half Lives (1890) described Gotham Court as one of the “worst tenements along the East River.”
For Riis, the block stood as a symbol of Manhattan’s squalid living conditions. The court was demolished seven years after publication of his book; the rest of the area would follow. Cherry Hill was erased from the map. In its place would rise the Alfred E. Smith Houses.
ON ASCENTION REMEMBERING THOSE BURIED ON HART ISLAND
ON THIS HOLIDAY, MAY 29TH, A GROUP OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY REMEMBER THOSE BURIED ON HART ISLAND AT THE MUNICIPAL CEMETERY. THIS YEAR THE WEATHER DID NOT PERMIT THE SERVICE TO BE HELD ON THE ISLAND. IT WAS HELD AT GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH ON CITY ISLAND.
Hart Island in the mist, just 5 minutes from City Island
Grace Episcopal Church is a lovely landmark on City Island
The Chapel’s stained glass window celebrates those who went to sea in this waterfront community.
Canon Kevin Maroney who celebrated the memorial service.
WANTED
FOR OUR 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
“KEEPING HISTORY ALIVE”
PHOTOS OF THE ISLAND, THE PEOPLE, PLACES, EVENTS THAT MADE OUR COMMUNITY FROM 1975 TO TODAY.
SEND US YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS OF LIFE ON THE ISLAND FOR OUR EXHIBIT DURING OUR CELEBRATION STARTING JUNE 7.
CONTACT JBIRD134@AOL.COM FOR DETAILS.
CREDITS
NEW YORK ALMANACK JUDITH BERDY
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Stephen Catullo’s dedication as CEO of Coler for 40 months has left an indelible mark.
Arriving during the pandemic’s end, he and his staff tirelessly worked to engage residents in planning and implementing facility improvements. Projects included new bed curtains, overbed tables, nightstands, and more, directly benefiting residents.
Coler has specialties including short term rehabilitation, memory care units, nursing home and palliative care.
Hallways were transformed with fresh paint and lighting, bringing vibrant colors to previously drab walls. Every project involved collaboration between residents and staff, enhancing patient care and inspiring new ideas.
The wall display proudly lists numerous achievements, including vital infrastructure upgrades to meet current safety standards.
Stephen Catullo will be missed, but his legacy of continuous improvement will help Coler maintain its 5-star CMA Nursing Home status.
Mr. Catullo hosted a thank you for staff today, recognizing that all achievements could not be made without team efforts and management support.
An award went to departments, leaders, and individuals for making ‘Coler is the Place to be.’ The Therapeutic Recreation Department staff has provided exceptional programs, activities, and entertainment for all resident units.
Jovemay Santos, Director of Therapeutic Recreation and Judith Berdy stand before a wall of achievements.
COLER WANTS YOU!
Coler is always in need of volunteers. Two areas are the Auxiliary, the fund raising organization who raises money to support activivities that the hospital cannot pay for such special events, providing holiday gits and tours and amenities. The Community Advisory Board meets monthly with Administration and Department heads to discuss issues and the operation of the facility.
A while back Coler and the community were shown images of a 10 foot wall and berm that was planned to surround Coler to protect it from future flooding. After an outcry from Coler residents and islanders the project went to back to the drawing board. To date no revised plan has been disclosed. Is that good or bad news?
UPPER LEVEL AS I WAS ENTRANCED BY THE IRONWORK
DO YOU REMEMBER THE TOKEN BOOTHS AT THE TRAM STATIONS?
WANTED
FOR OUR 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
“KEEPING HISTORY ALIVE”
PHOTOS OF THE ISLAND, THE PEOPLE, PLACES, EVENTS THAT MADE OUR COMMUNITY FROM 1975 TO TODAY.
SEND US YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS OF LIFE ON THE ISLAND FOR OUR EXHIBIT DURING OUR CELEBRATION STARTING JUNE 7.
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
As Memorial Day approaches, we are looking back at a 1923 plan for a never-built war memorial in Central Park. In November 1918, at the close of the First World War, Mayor John H. Hylan created the Committee on Permanent War Memorial, which was tasked with producing a plan for an appropriate monument. In 1923, a design from landscape architect Thomas Hastings of the firm Carrère and Hastings was accepted by the Committee and presented in a report to the Mayor and the Board of Estimate. A copy of this publication (see below) is housed in the Municipal Library.
The plan, which was approved by the Department of Plants and Structures, the Art Commission, and the Department of Parks, called for a permanent memorial in Central Park between 79th and 86th Streets on the 37-acre site of the lower reservoir of the Old Croton system, which had been superseded by the Catskill Water System (see map below).
The Report of the Mayor’s Committee on Permanent War Memorial, Plate I: General Map of the Central Park, New York City. NYC Municipal Library.
Along with removing the reservoir walls, the plan called for a long lagoon bordered by trees on either side, “similar to the one in the Mall in Washington, which leads to the new Lincoln Memorial.” The monument itself would be reflected in the water approach and feature statues representing allegorical or historical features of the “Great War,” along with war relics and inscriptions (see below).
The Report of the Mayor’s Committee on Permanent War Memorial, Plate VI: Perspective of Lagoon and Memorial. NYC Municipal Library.
Though $300,000 was initially allocated by the Board of Estimate under Mayor Hylan, the project met with a storm of protest from civic groups opposed to any encroachment of public park space. By 1927, the new Mayor, Jimmy Walker, rescinded the former allotment in a cost-cutting measure, and the plan stalled completely. The space that had been designated for the war memorial is now occupied by the Great Lawn and Turtle Pond.
Lauren Gilbert is Director of the Municipal Library.
THE VIEW FROM THE TINTED ROOF OF A TESLA WHILE STUCK IN TRAFFIC ON THE 59th ST. BRIDGE
UPPER LEVEL AS I WAS ENTRANCED BY THE IRONWORK
DO YOU REMEMBER THE STRECKER LAB IN 1999?
WANTED
FOR OUR 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
“KEEPING HISTORY ALIVE”
PHOTOS OF THE ISLAND, THE PEOPLE, PLACES, EVENTS THAT MADE OUR COMMUNITY FROM 1975 TO TODAY.
SEND US YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS OF LIFE ON THE ISLAND FOR OUR EXHIBIT DURING OUR CELEBRATION STARTING JUNE 7.
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
NEW MAGNET & STICKER ON SALE AT THE R.I.H.S. KIOSK $5- EACH
Saluting the Women of W.A.V.E.S.
NEW YORK HISTORICAL BLOG Friday-Monday May 23-26, 2025 ISSUE #1456
Women’s Work: W.A.V.E.S. Officer’s Uniform on display, July 2023
Happy Women’s History Month! Today, the Center for Women’s History marks the occasion by honoring the women who have served this country as members of the armed services.
This W.A.V.E.S. uniform, which was featured in our past exhibition Women’s Work, was worn by Naval Ensign Mary Jane Natto, who was among the 75,000 women who joined the US war effort during World War II. W.A.V.E.S., or “Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services,” was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the war as women were barred from enlisting in the Navy. As was the case in previous armed conflicts, World War II opened doors for women to join professions not previously accessible to them. W.A.V.E.S. officers worked stateside in jobs including clerical work, mechanics, computer programing, engineering, and air traffic control, replacing men stationed ashore who were now able to join the war effort overseas. But not everyone was welcomed.
Like the rest of the armed forces, the Navy was racially segregated at the onset of World War II. Black women who tried to enlist as volunteers for W.A.V.E.S. were denied. However, in 1944, mounting pressure from the NAACP, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and government officials resulted in the acceptance of two African Americans enlistees, Harriet Pickens and Frances Wills. Pickens and Wills were fully integrated into the service, unlike their male counterparts who remained segregated in the Navy until after the war.
Naval Photographic Center. “Lt.(jg.) Harriet Ida Pickens and Ens. Frances Wills, first Negro Waves to be commissioned. They were members of the final graduating class at Naval Reserve Midshipmen’s School (WR) Northampton, MA.” 1944. Courtesy of the National Archives
When W.A.V.E.S. was first established, enlisted women needed both summer and winter uniforms. In 1942, Josphine Ogden Forrestal, a Vogue editor and wife of the Navy undersecretary, suggested that the Chicago-born Mainbocher (Main Rousseau Bocher, 1891–1976) design the uniforms. Mainboucher had become well-known some years earlier for designing the dress worn by American socialite Wallis Simpson at her 1937 wedding to the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII of England. (The event generated extraordinary levels of press interest because Edward had chosen to abdicate the throne the year prior, in order to marry Simpson.) Mainbocher’s design was so famous that its specific shade of blue—chosen by Mainbocher to match Simpson’s eye color—became widely known as “Wallis Blue.”
Mainbocher closed his couture salon in Paris and moved to New York before the United States entered the war effort. He charged the Navy one dollar for his work designing the W.A.V.E.S. uniforms, including this lightweight cotton summer version. It incorporates nautical influences, like the white and navy stripes, but overall, the design of the dress is simple, reflecting Mainbocher’s American sensibility of understated elegance and practicality.
Mainbocher for the U.S. Navy. W.A.V.E.S. Officer’s jacket and purse, 1942–46. Cotton, plastic, leather, synthetic fabric, metal. The New York Historical, Gift of Miss Mary Jane Natto, 1946.58b, d.
The uniforms garnered excited media attention and highlighted the significant contribution of women to the war effort. They also offered ordinary Americans the chance to be dressed by a world-renowned designer. (Of course, Mainbocher was not the only American designer to use his talent for the war effort: in 1942, his contemporary Claire McCardell designed the uniform for the women’s Civilian Defense Organization, also housed in our permanent collection. You can read more about her in an earlier post.)
W.A.V.E.S. was disbanded in 1948 when the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act allowed women to serve in the Navy and the other armed services. In a 2023 ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the Act, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III remarked that if the US wanted to remain the best fighting force in the world, “The only way to make that happen is by drawing on the talents of all of our people, and not just men.”
A LETTER FROM JAY JACOBSON “GOOD NIIGHT AND GOOD LUCK”
We took out a new mortgage on our Rcrx home, and bought two tickets for last night’s performance of Good Night, and Good Luck! It was an extraordinary evening. I’m not exactly a novice at going to the theater, but this is the first (!!) time in my life that I didn’t have a paper ticket in my pocket. The ticket was on my phone. Pat will confirm that I was fidgety beyond belief as I prepared for the evening. Would I be able to locate the squiggly CR drawings, or would they evanesce as so many other items on my laughingly ancient phone have done? If, in fact, squiggly drawings materialized on my phone, would they be accepted by the theater staff? We arrived at the Winter Garden theater a few minutes after 6:00 pm for a 7:00 pm curtain. There was a line, of course, but as we were panting after the three block walk from the subway, one of the theater security people took immediate pity on the elderly and put us in a second “you’re not really a VIP line”. After catching my breath from our three block hike, I brought up the squiggly stuff on my phone, but I still wasn’t sure that they’d let us in. Finally, I screwed my courage up to ask one of the theater people managing the growing line if the squiggly stuff on my phone was a ticket for last night’s performance. He said, “Yes”. My sigh of relief startled Pat.
Oh, sure! You want to know about the play! We entered the enormous Winter Garden theater, negotiated a hearing device, and were directed to Aisle 4 and our seats. We found our way down towards the front of the theater. Way down to the front of the theater! We were four rows off the stage and at the absolute extreme end of the row! Absolute End of the Row! The good news is that my feet could stick out in aisle 4. The bad news is that we had only a partial view of the stage! We were so early, we sat alone in our row of seats for about thirty minutes.
During that waiting time, Pat began to recall how, in her days working for Chet Bowles as Under Secretary of State, she had several times met and worked with Edward R. Murrow. She remembered that Murrow’s voice was one with which she had become familiar during his broadcasts from London during WW II, and then on CBS Radio during the Eisenhower years. A nugget which she recalled was that Murrow’s aide was Tom Sorensen, brother to JFK’s aide Ted Sorensen. While Murrow was well-known and there was some White House concern that he would be a showboat in the State Department, Pat recalled that he was effective, diligent, and very much a team player. I began to wonder if we could use those memories to score a chance to go backstage after the performance, but decided not even to try.
The play was terrific. Clooney had never before done Broadway theater, but the audience (many of whom were senior citizens) was familiar with him. More than a few of the play’s lines sound like they are being uttered on daily newscasts today. The story is eerily current; the parallel between Joe McCarthy, always the “junior” senator from Wisconsin, and current administration is too clear to ignore.
We understand that Good Night, and Good Luck is being televised on CNN on the night of June 7th. We’re going to watch it again!
Regards, Jay Jacobson
NEW STICKER SHEETS
BY JESSICA NOW AVAILABLE AT THE RIHS KIOSK ($5-)
WANTED
FOR OUR 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
“KEEPING HISTORY ALIVE”
PHOTOS OF THE ISLAND, THE PEOPLE, PLACES, EVENTS THAT MADE OUR COMMUNITY FROM 1975 TO TODAY.
SEND US YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS OF LIFE ON THE ISLAND FOR OUR EXHIBIT DURING OUR CELEBRATION STARTING JUNE 7.
NEW-YORK HISTORICAL BLOG Keren Ben-Horin is The New York Historical’s Curatorial Scholar in Women’s History
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Covered barges were once heavily employed in the New York port areas to lighter (i.e., load, transport, and offload) various non-bulk, perishable cargoes from and to ship or shore.
There is uncertainty regarding the evolution covered barges, but similar to other barge types by the late nineteenth century the covered lighter barge was predominantly scow hulled (flat-bottomed, with raking ends. Using either a stanchion or bulkhead hull system, the barge featured a one-story structure or shed covering most of the deck, with all cargo carried on deck.
Often barn sided, two large sliding doors opened port and starboard when cargo was handled over the gangway. A hatch at the margin of the roof allowed for vertical hoisting of goods when possible.
Vents positioned at each end of the shed (attached to large ice bins) provided refrigeration for perishable items. Filled with ice through hatches in the roof, the vents circulated cool air top and bottom. When necessary, a stove, installed in the center of the shed, circulated warm, dry air.
Some companies preferred centered penthouse cabins over the usual stern counterpart. The higher elevation permitted a 360-degree view of surroundings and, perhaps more importantly, wasted no cargo space.
Some covered barges featured hoisting gear. A single mast with booms rose above the center of the deck house. Part of the rooftop cabin accommodated a steam-, or later, oil-or gasoline-powered winch.
Many captains lived on board with their families; the size of the cabin varied from a shed to a family’s permanent residence. Besides providing extra security, night-time operations (towing, moving, loading, etc.) required the captain’s presence.
Of 208 un-rigged boats owned by one company in 1918, 89 housed families with children ages one through 10, 71 had captains and their wives, and 48 had captains living alone on the boat.
Living conditions on board no doubt varied, but general descriptions mention crowded, damp, foul-smelling rooms. “The general impression given is that of dirt and disorder,” one observer reported in 1918.
Some companies tried to accommodate their employees if possible, providing stoves, furniture, etc., while others provided nothing at all. One company (200 un-rigged boats) provided nothing for its employees.
As a vessel type, the wooden-hulled, covered barge is well documented; numerous plans exist, several examples along waterfronts have been extensively recorded.
Replaced in time by steel covered barges, the last wooden-hulled covered barges were built in the 1950s.
A barge variation, the A-frame crane barge was most likely adapted from mid-to late nineteenth-century shore-based lifting equipment such as the stiff leg. These towed cranes were employed in ship salvage, dock and pier construction, and repair and cargo transfers. The cranes and hoisting machinery are situated atop scow hulls.
Builders also developed several types of scows capable of dumping garbage and dredge spoil at sea, or depositing breakwater/shoreline extension fill. Of the types that were developed, including the hopper barge, the side-dumping scow, and the hinged scow, the hopper barge was the most common, possibly due to its functional design.
Plans of a 1927 six-pocket (hopper) dump scow (a hopper barge) show that instead of a raked bow and stern seen on a typical scow, the hopper barge has curved ends forming one-quarter or a circle from the keel to deck.
Another dump scow type was the side-dump scow. Similar in hull configuration to the basic scow, it had bulkheads similar to those of a rock scow. It differed from both in that its deck was not level, but rather sloped downward 45 degrees on either side of the longitudinal centerline between the end bulkheads.
This sloped deck was divided into sections by additional transverse bulkheads, with the “cargo” held in place and later released by bay doors at the base of the sloped deck.
The Derrick or Stick Lighter
Open-decked derrick lighters were employed in New York port areas to lighter (i.e., load, transport, and offload) various cargoes from and to ship or shore. Early stick lighters, as they became popularly known, likely because of prominent timber masts and cargo booms, had boat-shaped hulls, pointed bows, and elliptical sterns.
There is uncertainty regarding an association between this configuration and lighters or sailing craft, but by the late nineteenth century the derrick lighters were predominantly scow hulled.
We do know that the advent of the steam tow was a significant impetus in the use, acceptance, and profusion of this vessel type, the combination of the steam tow and barges making the sailing lighter uneconomical and thus contributing to its demise.
The employment of the scow hull for this vessel type, as seen on so many of the later barges and work platforms, may have been associated with the economic practicality in building this type of hull (i.e., less boat-building craftsmanship, fewer curved timbers), as well as its proven functional aspects.
The derrick lighter had a single sturdy timber mast stepped in one of two locations, either in the center of the deck or at the stern just in front of a small crew cabin. If the mast rested aft, only one cargo boom pointed forward. In the former case, there would be two cargo booms, one pointing forward and one pointing aft.
The cargo booms were usually rigged like a sailing ship’s fixed gaff in the central mast configuration. Fitted with wooden jaws to allow lateral swinging, and held at a constant angle by fixed wire topping lifts, they would be positioned about three-quarters of the way up the mast.
The masts measured around 50 feet in height. In the central mast arrangement, the boat had two lighter masts at the bow and stern just forward of the cabin. Three masts around 20 feet high had sheaves mounted near their tops for lines used in hoisting the ends of a tarpaulin used in the protection of cargo.
In 1985, Norman Brouwer recorded the intact derrick lighter L.V.R.R. No. 462, grounded at Edgewater, New Jersey. The boat, built at Mariner’s Harbor, Staten Island in 1926, measured 104.5 feet in length, 32 feet in breadth, 7.8 feet depth of hull.
A large winch house stood on deck aft, with mast and boom positioned directly in front of the house. The largest openings in the deck, small rectangular hatches, provided access and ventilation.
A system of longitudinal bulkheads and timber pillars linked by crossed diagonal timber braces supported the deck. The derrick barge had more diagonal braces at the side rather than natural knees. A continuous row of windows spanned the front of the deck house.
The cabin measured 6 feet 2 inches across the windows, 14 feet 9 inches at the side of the deckhouse ande featured tongue-and-groove details.
Later derrick lighters were fitted with steel A-frames and steel booms in place of their wooden counterparts. The wooden scow hull was eventually replaced with a steel barge hull, retaining its steel A-fame.
NEW STICKER SHEETS
BY JESSICA NOW AVAILABLE AT THE RIHS KIOSK ($5-)
WANTED
FOR OUR 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
“KEEPING HISTORY ALIVE”
PHOTOS OF THE ISLAND, THE PEOPLE, PLACES, EVENTS THAT MADE OUR COMMUNITY FROM 1975 TO TODAY.
SEND US YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS OF LIFE ON THE ISLAND FOR OUR EXHIBIT DURING OUR CELEBRATION STARTING JUNE 7.
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
14th Street Busway, between Broadway and University Place, Union Square
Open through July 31st
