If this sounds familiar, here we go again: Nick Golebiewski’s Studio Sale in the Brookly Navy Yard. I set out on the 12:27 p.m. NYC Ferry to the Yard, to the studio and sale of Nick Golebiewski, this time on the correct date.
Nick’s is the artist that daily publishes his Lunchbox art Nick’s studio is in the Navy Yard, which can be challenging to get around. The easiest way to find his space is enter the Yard at the Cumberland Avenue Gate. Building 280 is right inside the entrance. You need a visitor pass to enter the Yard and wait until next time Nick announces that his studio will be open.
Building 280 is jut inside the Cumberland Gate on Flushing Avenue.
Nick’s studio is full, wall-to-wall with his artworks,
Prints, photos, notecards are all for sale. It is so much fun to recognize his New York street scenes.
Nick is a Buffalo native who arrived in Brooklyn 20 years ago.
This Chinatown scene took months to complete.
You are welcome to look thru his Sketchbooks? Can you identify this structure and it’s Island connection?
The view from his studio is spectacular and overlooking the Willamsburg Bridge
After leaving the Yard, we grabbed an UBER to a real Brooklyn landmark, Juniors!! I had never been there before and lunch was great.
The cheesecake was WONDERFUL!!!
Right on the corner of Flatbush Avenue, and steps from the Q train!!!
Ellen and David Jacoby joined me on this adventure, since Ellen is a Brooklyn native!!!
The steps leading to the Main Street Theater & Cultural Center Time for some spring cleaning, RIOC Nina Lublim got it right
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
JUDITH BERDY
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
In 1845 Archbishop John Hughes pleaded his case before the city fathers, seeking land on which to build an orphan asylum. The Roman Catholic Benevolent Society’s facility at Prince and Mott Streets was overcrowded and inadequate as more and more Catholic foundlings were brought to the Sisters of Charity. The nuns and the Archbishop knew only too well that if Roman Catholic waifs were admitted into a Protestant orphanage they would be lost to the faith.
The city offered the block of land far north of the developed city, on the still unpaved Fifth Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets, stretching back to Madison Avenue. The church would pay the city one dollar per year rent, with the caveat that the property would be used to house orphans. The deed was signed on August 1, 1846 and the new asylum was completed in 1851. At the time, aside from the block-wide property of St. Luke’s Hospital between 54th and 55th Streets, there were only one or two homes or shops in the neighborhood.
In 1853 Hughes would commission James Renwick, Jr. to work on his ambitious St. Patrick’s Cathedral project that filled the block across the street to the south. By the time the cathedral was completed in 1879, the neighborhood had drastically changed. The homes of Manhattan’s wealthiest citizens were inching closer up the avenue
When St. Luke’s Hospital was razed in 1896, Fifth Avenue around the asylum was the most exclusive residential district in the city. The value of the land had soared. As was the case with the hospital, relocating the orphanage and selling the land made financial sense. In 1897 the church began discussion of moving the orphanage and two years later construction of new buildings began in the Bronx. In 1900 building lots on the old asylum land became available.
The lucrative possibilities of the choice real estate did not escape Edward Holbrook. The president of the Gorham Manufacturing Company lived in Stamford, Connecticut. He, therefore, perhaps underestimated the passion with which the millionaires in the surrounding mansions detested the threat of commercial intrusion. He would soon be informed.
On June 5, 1900 The Evening Post Record of Real Estate Sales in Greater New York reported that “The two lots on Fifty-second Street of the Orphan Asylum property which were bought by Worthington Whitehouse for a client were sold by him to Edward Holbrook.” The lots were Nos. 6 and 8, and Holbrook had big plans.
Within a few months he had commissioned renowned architect C. P. H. Gilbert to design an apartment house. The Brickbuilder noted in 1901 “C. P. H. Gilbert is drawing plans for a fourteen-story bachelor apartment house to be erected on 52d Street near Fifth Avenue for Edward Holbrook.”
Neighbors like the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers were already infuriated over John Jacob Astor’s St. Regis Hotel—construction of which had just begun on Fifth Avenue at 55th Street. Evidently someone had a talk with Holbrook, for a few months later he changed his mind. The New York Times reported on May 28, 1901 “Plans were filed yesterday by Architect C. P. H. Gilbert for the two dwellings to be erected at 6 and 8 East Fifty-second Street…at a cost of $114,000.” Rather than the 14-story apartment building, Gilbert would produce two limestone-clad six-story mansions.
The silver executive apparently was pleased with Gilbert’s designs, and in November 1903 he began work on his own mansion next door, at No. 4 East 52nd. Again he turned to C. P. H. Gilbert for the design and plans were filed for a six-story house. The New York Times reported it would be “wholly of fireproof construction” and the New-York Tribune added “The front is to be of dark blue Indiana limestone…The building will cost about $95,000.” The cost of construction in today’s dollars would be about $2 million.
Street construction is going on along 52nd Street in front of the newly-completed mansions. The Holbrook mansion (left) is overshadowed by the mammoth Plant house on the corner. To the right is the white marble home of Robert Goelet at No. 647 Fifth Avenue — photo by Wurts Bros., from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York, http://collections.mcny.org/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult_VPage&VBID=24UAYWJU5AZ&SMLS=1&RW=1366&RH=605
Construction would take over two years to complete. In 1905 the Real Estate Record and Builders’ Guide commented on the progress. “Exterior complete. Windows and doors in. Interior work under way.” As the Holbrook residence rose, it was overshadowed by the magnificent Morton Plant mansion nearing completion next door—a palatial Italian Renaissance palace that diminished Gilbert’s handsome design.
Holbrook moved into the new house with his wife, Frances, and daughter Lillian. In turn-of-the-century New York there was no surer way to garner the envy of other socialites than to marry one’s daughter to European nobility. Frances Holbrook’s social coup came soon after when Lillian married Count Guillame de Balincourt in the new mansion on January 3, 1906.
The New-York Tribune could not resist mentioning that “The count is a Catholic and the bride a Protestant.” The new countess and her husband sailed off to France, to live in Paris.
Edward and Frances would not remain in the mansion long after the wedding. In June 1907 he sold the 30-foot wide house and a month later curious neighbors would discover the identity of the buyer. The Times reported “James B. Duke, President of the Tobacco Trust, was the purchaser of the new dwelling at 4 East Fifty-second Street, the sale of which was announced in The Times about a month ago. At the time the name of the purchaser was not known, and since then there has been much speculation as to the future home of the tobacco magnate and his future bride.”
The newspaper went on saying “It has long been current gossip that the social ambitions of the President of the Tobacco Trust and his bride-elect, Mrs. William Inman of Atlanta, would lead them to settle in close proximity to Fifth Avenue. A week ago it was reported that Mr. Duke would purchase the home of the late Henry H. Cook, at Seventy-eighth Street and Fifth Avenue, and that he would occupy it with his bride on their return in the Fall from the tour of Europe they expect to make on their honeymoon this Summer.”
James paid $300,000 for the mansion—fully three times what it cost Holbrook to build. He and his bride, Nanaline, would not be in the house long, however. As The Times predicted, Duke did buy the old Henry Cook house. He had it demolished and in 1909, while his new mansion was being erected the newlyweds moved into his brother’s splendid home at No. 1009 Fifth Avenue.
No. 4 East 52nd Street became home to Harry James Luce and his family. Luce was the president of the Acker, Merrall & Condit Company of New York, one of the oldest grocery firms in the city. He was also the president of the candy firm of Henry Maillard, Inc., and a director of Faber, Coe & Gregg, Inc. The well-connected millionaire was a member of the best clubs—the Metropolitan, New York Yacht and Knollwood Country Clubs among them.
Like the Holbrooks, Harry and his wife, the former Katherine H. Moxley, had a daughter. December 1914 was a busy time in the house as Margaret Payne Luce was introduced to society. On December 6 The Times reported that “Mrs. Harry J. Luce of 4 East Fifty-second Street is to give the second dinner for her daughter, Miss Margaret J. Luce, on Thursday.”
Like many society girls, Margaret answered the call to help her country with the outbreak of World War I. She joined the canteen service of the Y. M. C. A. and was sent to Nice, France in 1918. War relief turned to romance when Margaret met the dashing (and wealthy) U. S. Navy Lieutenant-Commander Hamilton Vose Brian. In March 1919 Harry and Katherine announced their daughter’s engagement. With the armistice signed and the war over, they traveled to Paris in July 1919 for the wedding which took place in the Church of the Holy Trinity there.
It would be three years before the Luces would see their daughter again. She and her husband arrived in New York on the Olympic for a visit on May 10, 1922 after being stationed in Constantinople and Tifilu. Margaret would come home to a much-changed neighborhood.
The Morton Plant mansion next door was now the home of Cartier Jeweler. The white marble mansion around the corner at No. 647 had been converted to the art dealership of Gimpel & Wildenstein. Commerce was taking over the old residential district.
Five years later the Luce mansion would fall to the trend. Cartier, Inc. purchased the house in 1927 and Harry and Katherine moved to the nearby Gotham Hotel. Pierre Cartier converted the mansion to L’Alliance de Francaise de New York—a school offering classes in French and French literature. Dr. Leon Vallas, a professor of the Sorbonne, was brought in to direct the school. The school shared the mansion with the French Chamber of Commerce. It was here, in 1935, that Pierre Cartier was elected its president.
The French Chamber of Commerce would remain in the house through the war years. In 2000 Cartier did a renovation of both the Holbrook and the Plant mansions. The two buildings were internally connected, making No. 4 an extension of the retail store. While the first two floors of the Holbrook mansion have been extensively altered for commercial use, the upper floors retain the integrity of C. P. H. Gilbert’s handsome design. And as it was in 1905, the mansion is still overpowered by Morton Plant’s monumental house next door.
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
DAYTONIAN IN NEW YORK
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Jeremiah J. Austin, Jr. was born in 1819, just 12 years after the first commercial steamboat trip on the Hudson River and two years after construction of the Erie Canal began at Rome, New York. His father Jeremiah J. Austin Sr. was a prominent Albany businessman involved in Hudson River commerce.
After the Erie Canal opened, freight could be transported all the way across the Great Lakes to the entrance to the canal at Buffalo and then along the canal to Albany where it was shipped down the Hudson River to New York Harbor. From there freight could be fairly easily transported to any port on the East Coast, Europe or the Caribbean.
Millions of tons of freight began flowing both east and west along the canal as well as north and south on the Hudson River creating the first major interstate transportation system in the United States. Transporting this freight quickly became a booming business as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York were now all connected by a water highway.
Many young men saw their opportunity to make their fortune by investing in canal boats. They carried grain, ice and products of all kinds to Albany in canal boats pulled by mules or oxen and then were towed by towboats to the city of New York where they were unloaded. They returned west with manufactured products.
Jeremiah J. Austin, Sr. and his son became involved in transporting freight along this system. They formed the Albany & Canal (A&C) Line shipping company. Their canal boats traveled along the Erie Canal pulled by teams of oxen or mules. At Albany, the freight was unloaded and reloaded onto steam-powered boats or sailing ships (such as frigates or sloops) to continue the trip to New York harbor.
Demand for shipping on the canal was great and Austin sought ways to increase his shipping capacity and shorten the time it took to move freight. He realized that if he could transport his canal boats directly to New York without having to transfer the freight to Hudson River vessels at Albany, he could save a substantial amount of labor and time. His solution was to construct specialized steam powered towboats to pull groups of canal boats.
Jeremiah J. Austin, Jr. commissioned the construction of the side-wheeled steam towboat Austin, which was built at Hoboken, New Jersey in 1853 for the A&C Line. The Austin was one of the first steam-powered towboats actually built to be a towboat; most of the other steam-powered towboats at the time were older passenger boats cut down and converted to towboats. The 197-foot Austin carried two green signal lights forward and two aft, which together with a green walking beam identified her as an A&C towboat.
The Austin would tie up at the A&C Line’s dock at the Albany Basin and post notices that it was scheduled to depart for New York, usually within a day or so. As canal boats arrived at Albany, the captain would tie up at the A&C Line’s dock and hire the A&C Line to transport the canal boat to the city.
Typically, the canal boat could be lashed to as many as thirty other canal boats, in a pack two boats wide, and at the appointed hour the tow to would begin. The Austin, being one of the largest and most powerful tow boats on the Hudson, could tow over 50 boats at one time.
Transporting a large pack of canal boats was a hazardous task. Boats could not stop immediately and crosscurrents sometimes caused them to slide sideways. This made them hard to keep together without side-swiping other boats in the pack or other vessels passing the tow on the river. Storms could also play havoc with large packs of towed boats and barges.
To try to protect themselves from losses, the towboat companies required that the canal boat owners sign an agreement absolving the towboat owners from liability for damages incurred to their boats while being towed.
In 1853, the A&C’s main competitors for towing work on the Hudson River were the Schuyler Line owned by Samuel Schuyler, a black resident of Albany and rumored to be a descendant of the famous Schuyler family, and the Robinson & Betts Line. The Schuyler boats were noted for their red signal lights and red walking beam and Robinson & Betts used white lights and white walking beam.
In April of 1855, Jeremiah Austin, Jr. purchased the passenger steamboat General McDonald and had it converted to a towboat. The General McDonald was 222 feet long and had a 29 foot 7 inch beam with a 68 inch diameter cylinder and 11 foot piston stroke. The General McDonald had originally sailed in Chesapeake Bay and later ran a route between Cape May, New Jersey and Philadelphia.
On March 10, 1856, the A&C Line’s Albany agent, Captain George Monteath died. Albany newspapers described him as having been born in Dumblane, Scotland in 1778 and owning the Albany & Canal Line of Tow Boats where he made a fortune. Monteath may have been a part-owner of the A&C Line, or the newspaper was incorrect and he was just their Albany agent.
Austin’s third towboat was the Syracuse. The Syracuse was built as a towboat in 1857 and was said to be the most handsome and powerful towboat on the Hudson River. The Syracuse was 218 feet long and 35 feet 8 inches wide with a 72 inch drive cylinder and a 12 foot piston stroke. With the appearance of the Syracuse and a few other large towboats, towed packs of canal boats now sometimes reached close to 100 boats in rows four boats wide. Austin’s A&C Line’s fourth towboat was the Ohio, a passenger steamboat that had started its career running on the Delaware River and more recently carried passengers from Philadelphia.
Austin’s fifth towboat was the Silas O. Pierce, a small side-wheel steamboat built in 1863 by the ship-building company of Morton & Edmonds and immediately chartered to the federal government to be used as a troop transport moving Civil War troops to and from Fortress Monroe, Virginia.
During the war, bags of oats were piled around the Pierce’s pilot house to protect the pilot and crew from Confederate snipers. It was a tactic of Confederate soldiers to hide in woods adjacent to streams and wait for Union transports to come by. They would then try to shoot crew members and capture the ship and cargo.
When Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, was captured at the end of the war, he and his family were transported to Fortress Monroe under heavy guard on the Pierce. The Pierce also patrolled the Potomac River stopping all small craft, searching for John Wilkes Booth following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
At the end of the war, the Pierce towed the barge Catskill to New York Harbor where she ended her service. Austin purchased the Pierce at New York Harbor.
Jerry Austin and his father were active in the Albany business community for more than 50 years. In about 1865, an Albany newspaper ran an article saying “The following citizens of Albany returned an annual income of over $20,000 and upwards,” and then listed 32 residents of Albany.
J.J. Austin was listed fourth with an annual income of $75,848, behind only Erastus Corning ($101,300), Alfred Van Santvoord, owner of the Albany-New York Day Line Steamboats ($85,376), and Robert H. Pruyn, president of National Commercial Bank and an influential attorney ($78,370).
General John F. Rathbone, president of the Rathbone-Sard Stove Casting Company was behind Austin in fifth place at $68,150. Austin’s closest shipping competitor was Samuel Schuyler who was twenty-first on the list at $21,417. Austin was also a director of National Commercial Bank in 1866 and a trustee of Albany Rural Cemetery. The book Old Steamboat Days on the Hudson River by David Lear Buckman, described the life of the canal boat owners and operators as they were being towed down the Hudson:
“Among the most picturesque sights on the Hudson are its floating towns. No more fitting term can be used to designate the long lines of canal boats lashed together four and five abreast and strung out for nearly a half mile, being towed down the river, so slowly that the movement is hardly discernible.
“The tows which are made up at the basin above Albany where the Erie Canal enters the Hudson, look very much like floating towns, presenting the regularity of blocks of buildings, with lanes of open water between, not unlike streets in appearance.
“On one, the captain’s wife may be seen washing clothes just outside her cabin door and on another the entire wash hanging up to dry… Little shirts indicate the presence of children, and if you watch for them you will find them on some of the boats, playing with other children from the other craft in the tow or running over the decks with their dogs at such a rate, one wonders [why] they do not fall overboard. Some of the cabin roofs are fitted up with gay canvas awnings, hammocks and swings. Bright hewed geraniums and other flowers in boxes in front of the cabin windows add to the picture. Sometimes a group of men and women will be seen on one of the boats, spending a pleasant hour eating and listening to the lively music of a concertina or guitar… The mules that towed the boats on the canal were quartered in a stable built in the bow of the boat.”
In 1866, Austin’s A&C Line of Towboats was probably the largest and most successful towboat line on the Hudson River, but that year also signaled the start of a series of unfortunate events.
On the evening of May 15, 1866, the heavily laden freight and passenger steamer Rip Van Winkle departed New York for Troy, just north and across the river form Albany. At 2 am the next morning the Rip Van Winkle passed Rodger’s Island and was approaching Brandow’s Hollow when her pilot observed lights from three tow boats. The three boats were the Joe Johnson and the Syracuse coming down the Hudson and the Arnold going up the river; all had tows. Many of the tows also had their lights on creating a display of lights that appeared to cover the entire width of the river.
The Syracuse moved to the middle of the river and prepared to pass the Joe Johnson, both coming down the river. At the same time the Rip Van Winkle blew a long whistle to signal that she intended to move to her left to pass the Arnold going up the river.
The Rip Van Winkle moved left and prepared to pass the Arnold. As the Rip Van Winkle began to pass the Arnold, the steamer’s pilot testified:
“just before I got abreast of the Arnold … the steamer Syracuse… altered her course… and came right… towards us. I didn’t slow the boat nor did I stop her… I thought I could outrun her when I saw her coming… I hove my wheel over aport… and that took us more to the eastward… Then the Syracuse hit us… It was the barge that she had alongside that hit us… it carried away our deck beams, and side house and water wheel… disabled our engine, and then we drifted, til in time we drifted ashore.”
The large ice barge Colgate, which was being towed by the Syracuse, had collided with the Rip Van Winkle and both were seriously damaged. The Rip Van Winkle brought suit against the A&C Line for damages.
The U.S. Supreme Court found in favor of the Syracuse. The Court said that the towboats were known to have less control over their cargo than the powered steamer Rip Van Winkle and the Van Winkle had been accelerating when the accident occurred while the Syracuse had her engine disengaged, and since the actual impact had occurred to the sides of both ships rather than the front, the court felt that both boats had sheared (drifted sideways toward each other) and the Rip Van Winkle could have avoided the accident because she was under power and had better control, while the Syracuse could not.
On March 13, 1869, Jeremiah Austin’s house at 295 Hamilton Street was broken into at night while Austin was upstairs asleep and about 50 items of silverware were stolen. A second burglary occurred the following night at the home of Belle Lorrimer. The silverware was discovered under a nearby bridge and when Edwin Van Gaasbeck and John Burt returned to take it, they were arrested and subsequently sentenced to 10 years in Clinton State Prison at hard labor.
In December, 1870, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a second liability claim involving the Syracuse. In this case the Syracuse had left the Albany Basin headed for New York Harbor towing 40 boats. One of them, the Eldridge, was a late arrival and was one of the last lashed to the end of the double line of 40 boats. It was stated in testimony that although 40 boats was a large count, it was not a large number for the Syracuse which had towed as many as 52 canal boats at one time. (By then, some tows were actually larger, consisting of 70 or 80 canal boats at one time.)
Within a mile of the Battery in New York Harbor, the Syracuse’s pilot testified that he saw an unusually large number of boats in the harbor but he assumed that the towboat Cayuga had just preceded him through this area safely.
It was well-known that tow boats coming down the Hudson River with the tide would meet an ebb tide (or cross tide) at the East River. As the Syracuse reached the East River, she took on two small steam-tugs to help guide the end of her dual line of canal boats. As they swept around into the East River, the current coming out the East River swept the line of canal boats sideways with the boats at the far end sweeping furthest.
The Eldridge, near the end of the line, was swept out furthest and struck a large ocean-going brig which laid at anchor and which also swept toward them. The Eldridge struck the brig’s stern and the Eldridge sank. The owner of the Eldridge sued for damages.
Testimony showed that there were no unusual circumstances beyond the strong current coming out of the East River which normally had a strong current. The pilot of the Syracuse testified that he could have stopped the tow above Thirteenth Street and divided it into smaller tows but at that point he was unaware of the heavy traffic below him near the Battery.
The U.S. Supreme Court found that even if the canal boat had agreed to be towed at her own risk, the law required the towing boat to exercise reasonable care, caution and maritime skill and if these were neglected and disaster occurred, the towing boat was liable.
The court felt that the Syracuse should have stopped above Thirteenth Street until they could determine that it was safe to bring a large tow into the harbor. By proceeding without adequate knowledge, the Syracuse was liable. The A&C Line was ordered to pay the damages.
This decision probably caused the A&C Line a considerable loss and may have placed them in financial difficulty.
Then, on July 21, 1875, the boiler of Austin’s Silas O. Pierce exploded violently. Two crew members were badly scalded and subsequently died within a few days of the accident.
It was a fourth disaster however, that may have caused A&C’s final demise.
In 1875, an appellate decision was handed down by the New York Supreme Court that found Austin’s A&C Line liable for $7,814.24 in damages caused by the August 19, 1863 collision of the canal boat J.L. Parsons, being towed by the General McDonald, with the Washington, being towed by the Austin. Both towboats, the General McDonald and the Austin were owned by the A&C Line.
The A&C Line had argued that the accident was caused by the fact that the J.L. Parsons did not have her lights on. The J. L. Parsons was sunk and her cargo of corn was lost. The Arctic Insurance Company paid the claim and sued Austin for recovery. The judge felt that since both towboats were owned by Austin, the A&C Line was responsible for the accident.
The A&C Line went into bankruptcy and in the summer of 1876 was placed in the hands of a receiver. At the Receiver’s Auction in 1876, the prize boat of the A&C Line, the Syracuse, was purchased by Samuel Schuyler of the Schuyler Line. The other boats, the Austin, General McDonald, and Silas O. Pierce were bought by the Cornell Line. When the Schuyler Line ceased operations in 1892, the Syracuse also went to Cornell. The Ohio was listed as abandoned in 1878.
After the failure of his towing line, Captain Jeremiah J. Austin, Jr. moved to Stamford, Connecticut. He died there on Sunday, November 29, 1879 at the age of sixty, only three years after his business folded. His burial record at Albany Rural Cemetery indicates that he died of typhoid fever.
On May 23, 1880, the New York Times re-published an article that had appeared in the Albany Argus the day before. The article was entitled: “Ex-Millionaire’s Fifteen Dollar Estate.” The article said that Jeremiah J. Austin Jr., once one of Albany’s wealthiest residents, had died on November 29, 1879. It said that due to Austin’s death, an application was filed with Surrogate Judge Francis H. Woods the previous day and the application for letters of administration on his estate estimated the value of the estate at $15.
PILES OF ROCKS, RUBBLE AND TRASH IN BACK OF COLER, THE SITE OF LIGHTHOUSE PARK EXPANSION GLORIA HERMAN AND THOM HEYER GOT IT RIGHT
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
NEW YORK ALMANACK
Greg Tranter is a prominent, award-winning Buffalo sports historian, curator, and collector. He has written two books, Makers, Moments & Memorabilia: A Chronicle of Buffalo Professional Sports (2019) and RELICS: The History of the Buffalo Bills in Objects and Memorabilia (2021), and numerous articles on Buffalo sports history for publications such as The Buffalo News and Western New York Heritage magazine.
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
After celebrating the announcement that Coler has been named #5 best nursing home in New York by U.S. News and World Report, it was time to enjoy a brisk walk around the north end of the island. (Photo: Executive Director Stephen Catullo congratuates the staff for the achievement)
Coler opened in 1952, over 70 years ago. ( The opening was delayed by WWII)
The enclosed garden’s magnolia trees will bloom in the next few weeks.
The garden hosts plantings of vegetables and herbs tended by the residents every summer.
The Girl Puzzle was glowing in the sun and being watched by our beautifully restored lighthouse.
A dozen web-footed geese were meticulously grooming the lawn, walking together in the same direction.
Just outside the park on the east side this feline basked in the sun amongst the dumped rubble.
A flotilla of ducks were heading north or maybe to Costco.
Th first of the recently planted cherry trees is in bloom, a little ahead of its’ neighbors. Over 100 trees have been planted along the waterfront and in Lighthouse Park in the last 2 years. In a few weeks we will admire their beauty. Look out for flowering Plum Blossoms and Weeping Hayun Cherry trees along with Kwasan Cherry Trees
OUR RETIRED BUS DRIVER CARL BRADFORD WHO DROVE THE RED BUS FOR OVER 20 YEARS. AN INTREPID METS FAN AND ALWAYS WAITING FOR THEIR NEXT WORLD SERIES. NINA LUBLIN AND I REMEMBER YOU FONDLY.
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
JUDITH BERDY
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
The New York State Museum in Albany has acquired the Women’s Rights Pioneers Central Park Monument model. The statue features three nationally recognized leaders of the women’s rights movement, all hailing from New York State: Sojourner Truth (Ulster County), Susan B. Anthony (Rochester), and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (Johnstown, Seneca Falls, and NYC). It will be included as part of the Museum’s new exhibition, “Women Who Lead.”
The 1/3-size Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument was made possible through donations raised by Monumental Women, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing awareness and appreciation of women’s history through a national education campaign.
On August 26th, 2020, Monumental Women unveiled the first statue of real women in Central Park’s 167-year history, the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument on the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment and women winning the right to vote.
The State Museum is located at 222 Madison Avenue in Albany,NY. The Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 am to 5 pm. It is closed on the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Admission is free. Further information about Women’s History Month events and other programming can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the Museum website.
FROM RIOC
2023 REHABILITATION AWARD FROM FRIENDS OF THE UPPER EAST SIDE HISTORIC DISTRICTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESIDENT & CEO SHELTON J. HAYNES ANNOUNCESROOSEVELT ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE TO RECEIVE 2023 REHABILITATION AWARD FROM FRIENDS OF THE UPPER EAST SIDE HISTORIC DISTRICTS
Award is just thelatestrecognitionof RIOC’s remarkablemultimillion-dollar restorationwork onthe Roosevelt Island Lighthouse Tower
Roosevelt Island, NY – March14, 2023 – Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) President & CEO Shelton J. Haynes today announced the Roosevelt Island Lighthouse has been awarded the 2023 Rehabilitation Award from the Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, one of Manhattan’s premiere independent, not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to preserving and celebrating the architectural legacy of the Upper East Side community. The Rehabilitation Awardwas given in appreciation of RIOC’s “thoughtful and meticulously detailed preservation work” to the important Landmark structure, which was also recently recognized by the New York Landmarks Conservancy with their Lucy G. Moses 2022 Preservation Project Award.
“It is very rewarding to see all of the hard work that was put into restoring the Roosevelt Island Lighthouse Tower get the recognition it deserves from some of New York’s most storied organizations, including the Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts,” said President & CEO Shelton J. Haynes.“Preserving our rich history is paramount to me, our RIOC Board, and the entire RIOC team, as is a shared commitment to maintaining the unique beauty of our island. This restoration project manages to do both; we’ve preserved the storied lighthouse for future generations, while giving it a beautiful facelift that residents and tourists alike will enjoy.
FRIENDS of the Upper East Side Historic Districts added, “The restoration of the Roosevelt Island lighthouse reflects a true preservation undertaking in its sourcing of historic documents to guide both the conservation of the historic fabric and the design of the new octagonal lantern. The meticulous restoration and site improvements will allow New Yorkers and visitors to enjoy this landmark anew and makes it a project perfectly aligned with FRIENDS of the Upper East Side’s mission to preserve and celebrate the architectural legacy and sense of place of the Upper East Side. We applaud Thomas Fenniman and RIOC for their work.”
Mr. Haynes added, “I want to personally thank the Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts for this thoughtful acknowledgement of our collective effort. The completion of this project was many years in the making, and everyone who had a hand in getting it across the finish line shares today in this honor.”
The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, upon receiving approval from the Roosevelt Island Board of Directors, invested $3.1 million in restoring the 50-foot lighthouse, which was originally built in 1872 and had deteriorated significantly over many decades. Scope of work for the project included brick, stone, and window removal, door restoration, and modifications to the Lighthouse lantern and observation deck, including:
Removing the deteriorated concrete deck.
Installing a new concrete ring beam and fluid-applied waterproofing.
Installing a new stainless steel observation deck and railing.
Installing a new glass and structural steel lantern.
Removal of the wood stairs and installation of a new metal spiral staircase and new electrical and accent lighting.
Site improvements at the Lighthouse include resetting and installing new stone pavers and curb stones, a new concrete beam curb, and new recessed ground lighting and controls.
“I am incredibly proud of the work done to restore the lighthouse and am thrilled that this project is getting the recognition it so rightly deserves,” said Prince Shah, Director of Capital Planning & Projects for RIOC. “This project has been a top priority for our community for many years, and to see it finally come together in such a spectacular way could not be more gratifying. We will continue to do all we can to ensure future capital projects are just as successful in centering the history and natural beauty of the island.”
The Roosevelt Island community, along with the hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit the island annually, can now enjoy this beautiful beacon in the heart of the East River just as the warm spring months emerge.
About the Roosevelt Island Lighthouse Tower:
Constructed in 1872 by penitentiary inmates with stone extracted from the island, the Lighthouse was originally designed by James Renwick Jr., architect of the Smallpox Hospital and the Smithsonian Institute. The East River channel’s huge granite boulders made it very treacherous for ships to navigate, so the Lighthouse was commissioned as part of a solution for New York City’s shipping ports, along with an Army Corps of Engineers project to widen and deepen the channel. Above the waters of the East River, at the northernmost stretch of Roosevelt Island, shines the fifty-foot-high Lighthouse.
About Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC):
The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) was created in 1984 by the State of New York as a public benefit corporation with a mission to plan, design, develop, operate, and maintain Roosevelt Island. With a focus on innovative and environmentally friendly solutions, RIOC is committed to providing services that enhance the island’s residential community. RIOC manages the two-mile-long island’s roads, parks, buildings, a sports facility, and public transportation, including the iconic aerial tramway. Additionally, RIOC operates a Public Safety Department that helps maintain a safe and secure environment for residents, employees, business owners, and visitors.
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Media Contact: Akeem H. Jamal Assistant Vice President, Communications & Government Affairs riocpress@rioc.ny.gov
RIOC barely mentioned that Thomas Fenniman was the architect who worked on this project for years and his talents and use of great craftspersons made this project a success, not Mr. Haynes.
Great Hall. The historic Great Hall, located in Shepard Hall, boasts a capacity ranging from 600 to 1,000 persons depending on the occasion. Edwin H. Blashfield’s original mural titled The Graduate” anchors the Hall, depicting the passing of wisdom from The Alma Mater onto a young scholar.
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
New York Almanac
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
When a shuttered lottery store’s sign was removed on Avenue A in February 2023, multiple East Villageghost signs were revealed. The hand-painted glass panes that were uncovered probably belonged to Kammerman’s, a popular Alphabet City children’s shop in the mid-20th century.
60 Avenue A
The ghost signs advertise the carriages, strollers, and toys once sold there. Many of the glass panes on the Avenue A side of the building still exist, but only a few have inscription
60 Avenue A, close-up of two signs
Throughout much of the 20th century, Avenue A was a mecca for young parents shopping for children’s clothing, carriages, furniture, cribs, and toys. In 1972 the New York Times highlighted three stores within four blocks of each other on Avenue A: Ben’s Juvenile Mart, Schachter’s Children’s World, and Schneider’s Juvenile Furniture.
The shops employed artists who would adorn cribs “with any whimsy the customer desires,” noted the Times. “One woman recently requested a reproduction of a postcard her husband had sent her during their courtship.”
New York City, 1957. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Anthony Angel Collection
In 2004 Schneider’s departure marked the end of an era. “In the latest sign that gentrification is overtaking Manhattan’s funkiest neighborhoods, a store that sold bargain-priced baby cribs and carriages on Avenue A for a half-century left the area when its rent quadrupled,” reported the New York Daily News. “‘We’d be working to pay the rent if we stayed,’ said Lorraine Waxman of Schneider’s Juvenile Furniture — which opened at 20 Avenue A when Harry Truman was president.”
25 Avenue A
In the 1930s, I. & J. Kramer Children’s Wear was a corner store on Second Street at 25 Avenue A. Glass signs with lettering edged in gold leaf described its merchandise: infants’ wear, children’s dresses, boys’ suits, underwear, and novelties.
25 Avenue A
Its ghost signs remained hidden for decades until they were discovered in 2016 by the owners of 2A Bar. “We were simply doing routine renovations on the facade of the building to fix our windows,” said Laura McCarthy, co-owner of 2A since 1984. “Lo and behold, we found these signs hiding out for decades upon decades underneath.”
25 Avenue A
“In this day and age when our city is increasingly losing its historical spaces, it seemed like a no-brainer to celebrate this previous incarnation of the bar and to share that story with the rest of New York City.” Time will tell if the East Village ghost signs revealed at 60 Avenue A will also be preserved, or disappear like the store they once advertised,
I remember Sunday trips to the Lower East Sie for shopping at Fine & Klein for handbags, Louis Chock for dry goods, Ezra Cohen for linens, a store on Ludlow Street for nuts and fruits. You never came home without lots of bargains.
1961 The retrieval of the bus that plunged into the Queens side of the East River. Apparently, the driver had a heart attack as the bus approached the turn behind Goldwater and before Old City. According to the news, 7 people, all hospital workers, died in the accident.
Although I was not on the island when this happened, I started as a hospital volunteer in 1966, I was told about the accident by Fr. Duino, the Goldwater Hospital Chaplain, who planted a small memorial garden at the site of the accident. THANKS, ED LITCHER
Frank Mastropolo is the author of Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock Music Forever and New York Groove: An Inside Look at the Stars, Shows, and Songs That Make New York Rock, selected by Best Classic Bands as two of the Best Music Books of 2021 and 2022. Mastropolo has also written Ghost Signs: Clues to Downtown New York’s Past, winner of the 2021 Independent Publishers Book Award, and Ghost Signs 2: Clues to Uptown New York’s Past. Mastropolo is a journalist, photographer, and former ABC News 20/20 producer, winner of the Alfred I. DuPont–Columbia University silver baton and the Sigma Delta Chi award from the Society of Professional Journalists. His photography is featured in the Bill Graham Rock & Roll Revolution exhibition.
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
Yesterday I was ready to visit Nick Golebiewski’s Studio Sale in the Brookly Navy Yard. I set out on the 1:24 p.m. NYC Ferry to the Yard, Upon arriving I asked for directions and realized that the Studio Sale was next Saturday, not yesterday.
After some yummy purchases at Russ and Daughter’s in Building 92 I set off to Wegman’s about 5 blocks down Flushing Avenue. Lots of great hot and cold to dine in or take out as well as a supermarket.
On my way there I noticed a lot of young folks lining up outside one of the Yard building. No idea what the occasion was.
The parking lot for off -duty NYC ferries
We forget that the Navy Yard was the major construction site of the most famous ships that served the US Navy. No longer a military facility ships are still dry docked here for repairs and maintenance.
Barge 81 while at sail.Yesterday, it was high and dry in a dry dock.
The bow of DBL81 sitting in a dry dock showing that she is only 3 feet in the dock.
The midsection of this enormous carrier high and dry.
The stern with crane on adjoining pier.
An adjoining area awaiting ships with a great view or the WIlliamsburg Bridge
The We Work building next to the dock where NY Ferry arrives. The area next to the building has lounge chairs and even a basketball hoop for those who need a break outdoors.
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On the street I saw people who had celebrated Hali. Here is a description of this springtime Hindu celebration:
What is Holi?
Holi, sometimes referred to as the “Festival of Love,” or the “Festival of New Beginnings,” is considered one of the most revered and celebrated festivals in India. On this day, people are encouraged to unite, and forget all resentments and negative feelings towards each other. Many who celebrate also consider Holi to be a day for meeting new friends, forgetting past burdens, forgiving others, and repairing broken relationships.
Who Celebrates Holi?
Holi is predominantly celebrated by millions of Hindus across India and South Asia. Although it is now also celebrated by many non-Hindus across Asia, Africa, UK, and North America.
Where is Holi Celebrated?
Originating from the Indian subcontinent, Holi is widely celebrated in India, but is observed by others throughout areas of Asia and the Western world. The religious festival has also become popular with non-Hindus in many parts of South Asia, Jamaica, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Mauritius, and Fiji.
Why is Holi Celebrated?
The Holi festival has many religious and mythological roots, as it celebrates various legends associated with the holiday. Holi celebrates the legend of Prahlad and Hiranyakshyap, the legend of Radha and Krishna, and many more.
By celebrating these various stories, Holi reassures people of the power that truth holds, since the moral of all legends is the victory of good over evil. The legend of Hiranyakshyap and Prahlad also represents the importance of extreme devotion to God. These legends help people follow a strong moral code in their everyday lives and emphasize the importance of truthfulness.
How is Holi Celebrated?
Holi celebrations begin the night before with a Holika Dahan, where people will gather, perform religious rituals by a bonfire, and pray that their internal evil be destroyed. The following morning is celebrated as Rangwali Holi, a free-for-all festival of colors, where people throw powdered dye and spray water. This celebration occurs in the open streets, parks, outdoor temples and buildings. Musical groups perform from place to place as everyone sings, dances, and enjoys the Holi traditions. People also make time to see friends and family, share gossip, and pass around Holi delicacies.
Here is the event I arrived a week early for. Join me nest Saturday at Nick Golebiewki’s Studio Sale
Dear JUDITH, I’d like to invite you to a spring-clean studio sale on Saturday, March 18 from 1-5pm in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Building 280, Suite 610.
Come by for framed art, prints, daily drawings, sketches, postcards and more…
Please RSVP and I will send you a guest pass. The QR code you’ll receive is needed to enter the Brooklyn Navy Yard and pass security. The pass also includes a map of the Yard.
TOKEN BOOTH FROM MANHATTAN TRAM STATION BEING REMOVED IN 2010 RENOVATION ANDY SPARBERG, GLORIA HERMAN, GOT IT RIGHT
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
JUDITH BERDY
AKSHAYA PATRA
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Amelia Simmons wrote what is widely regarded as the first American cookbook, American Cookery. Through its recipes and ingredients, this work shows how a unique American diet and identity was created.The book was so popular that after its first printing in Hartford, Connecticut in 1796, and it’s second printing in Albany, NY, that same year, it remained in print for 35 years after its first publication; however, very little is known about its author.Simmons’ American Cookery used terms known to Americans, using readily available ingredients. It’s believed to be the first cookbook to include “Indian pudding,” johnnycake, and a precursor to pumpkin pie.The cookbook was the first to suggest serving cranberry with turkey, and the first to use the Dutch word “cookey.” It introduced a precursor of baking soda, starting a revolution in the making of American cakes.The book was named one of the 88 “Books That Shaped America” by the Library of Congress. Only four copies of the first printings are known to survive.Pamela Cooley has sought to solve the mystery surrounding Simmons through historical and genealogical research. Cooley shares her research and theory about the enigmatic author in a virtual program with Oneida County History Center of Utica on Wednesday, March 15th.Pamela Cooley’s interest in culinary history led her to research Amelia Simmons. Cooley has presented on Simmons in the U.S. and Canada. She is a retired archivist and also an avid historic cook who teaches open hearth, bake oven, and
Admired by George Washington, ridiculed by Thomas Jefferson, published, and read far and wide, Phillis Wheatley led an extraordinary life. Seized in West Africa and forced into slavery as a child, she was sold to a merchant family in Boston, where she became a noted poet at a young age.Mastering the Bible, Latin translations, and literary works, she celebrated political events, praised warriors, and used her verse to variously lampoon, question, and assert the injustice of her enslaved condition.By doing so, she added her voice to a vibrant, multisided conversation about race, slavery, and discontent with British rule; before and after her emancipation, her verses shook up racial etiquette and used familiar forms to create bold new meanings.In a new biography, The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet’s Journeys Through American Slavery & Independence (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023), David Waldstreicher offers an account of Wheatley’s life and works, correcting myths, reconstructing intimate friendships, and deepening our understanding of her verse and the revolutionary era.The Massachusetts Historical Society a program with David Waldstreicher, in conversation with Kellie Carter Jackson of Wellesley College, on Monday, March 13th.This program will take place from 6 to 7 pm, and will be held both in person at the Massachusetts Historical Society, and virtually. Admission is $10 for in person attendance, free for virtual. For more information or to make a reservation, click here.David Waldstreicher teaches history at the City University of New York Graduate Center and is the author of Slavery’s Constitution: From Revolution to Ratification and Runaway America: Benjamin Franklin, Slavery, and the American Revolution. He has written for The New York Times Book Review, Boston Review, and The Atlantic, among other publications.
Book Purchases made through this Amazon link support the New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.
Assassin in Utopia: The Oneida Community & The Garfield Assassination
The new book An Assassin in Utopia: The True Story of a Nineteenth-Century Sex Cult and a President’s Murder (Pegasus Crime, 2023) by Susan Wels is a true crime odyssey that explores a forgotten, astonishing chapter of American history, leading the reader from a free-love community in Upstate New York to the shocking assassination of President James Garfield.From 1848 to 1881, a small utopian colony in Upstate New York — the Oneida Community — was known for its shocking sexual practices, from open marriage and free love to the sexual training of young boys by older women. And in 1881, a one-time member of the Oneida Community — Charles Julius Guiteau — assassinated President James Garfield in a brutal crime that shook America to its core.Thousands came by trains and carriages to see this new Eden, carved from hundreds of acres of woodland. They marveled at orchards bursting with fruit, thick herds of Ayrshire cattle and Cotswold sheep, and whizzing mills. They gaped at the people who lived in this place —especially the women, with their queer cropped hair and shamelessly short skirts. The men and women of this strange outpost worked and slept together — without sin, they claimed.An Assassin in Utopia is the first book that weaves together these explosive stories in a tale of utopian experiments, political machinations, and murder. This deeply researched narrative tells the true, interlocking stories of the Oneida Community and its radical founder, John Humphrey Noyes; his idol, the eccentric newspaper publisher Horace Greeley (founder of the New Yorker and the New York Tribune); and the gloomy, indecisive President James Garfield — who was assassinated after his first six months in office.Susan Wels is a bestselling author, historian, and journalist. Her Titanic: Legacy of the World’s Greatest Ocean Liner spent fourteen weeks on the New York Times bestseller list; the book was also a Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and USA Today bestseller. Her work has received press coverage in PEOPLE, Smithsonian’s Air & Space Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Examiner, and the San Jose Mercury-News among many other journals. Wels’s work as a historian includes her acclaimed San Francisco: Arts for the City as well as her research on the role of women at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Wels and her husband divide their time between the San Francisco Bay Area and their farm in the south of Chile.
New Book On New York’s Women Legislators 1919-1992
The new book Ladies Day at the Capitol: New York’s Women Legislators 1919-1992 (SUNY press, 2022) by Lauren Kozakiewicz integrates for the first time the history of New York’s women lawmakers with the larger story of New York State politics.Through extensive research and interviews, Kozakiewicz documents New York women’s actions as elected officials between 1919 and 1992 and explores how gendered ideas affected their careers and ability to represent women’s voices in government. Ladies’ Day at the Capitol offers a general framework for understanding the women’s legislative careers over time while also providing a deeper look at key lawmakers’ specific histories. The study broadens out to include chapters on creating representative organizations of women legislators and women’s efforts to champion specific issues.Lauren Kozakiewicz holds a combined appointment as Lecturer in the History Department at the University at Albany, SUNY, and liaison for Albany’s University in the High School Program where she collaborates with New York State high schools to develop advanced history offerings for university credit.Her research focuses on women politicians and political culture generally in early twentieth century America, giving special attention to the world of New York State politics. She has published in the journal New York History and in New York Archives Magazine. Her teaching experience includes courses on women’s history, New York history, and political & reform movements in America.
The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family
Sarah and Angelina Grimke are revered figures in American history, famous for rejecting their privileged lives on a plantation in South Carolina to become firebrand activists in the North. Yet retellings of their epic story have long obscured their Black relatives.In The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family (Liveright, 2022), Kerri Greenidge presents a parallel narrative, shifting the focus from the white abolitionist sisters to the Black Grimkes and deepening our understanding of the long struggle for racial and gender equality.Greenidge’s narrative centers on the Black women of the family, from the brilliant intellectual and reformer Charlotte Forten, to Angelina Weld Grimke, who channeled the family’s past into pathbreaking modernist literature during the Harlem Renaissance. In a grand saga that spans the eighteenth century to the twentieth and stretches from Boston and beyond, Greenidge reclaims the Black Grimkes as complex, often conflicted individuals shadowed by their origins.
WELFARE ISLAND BRIDGE WITH FDNY TRAINING CENTER ON THE NORTH AND CANCER HOSPITAL ON THE SOUTH. BEFORE MAIN STREET, CARS EXITED AND ENTERED THE ISLAND VIA A ROAD ON THE WEST SIDE OF ISLAND.
(YES, WE USED THIS PHOTO BEFORE)
(YES, WE USED THIS PHOTO BEFORE)
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
NEW YORK ALMANACK
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
10 Most Beautiful And Best Libraries In NYC To Spend A Day At
Looking for a new place to snuggle up with your book and admire some architecture? Try one of these beautiful NYC libraries
Believe it or not, NYC’s libraries are some of the most prestigious around the country (and world for that matter). Whether you’re looking for somewhere to curl up with your new book, or want somewhere lesser known to admire architecture, there’s plenty of places to do it! From the famous New York Public Library in Midtown to lesser known (but equally beautiful) spots, you’re sure to be in awe when you see the detailing and book collections these places have to offer. Without further ado, these are the best and most gorgeous libraries in NYC to visit!
The most notable library in NYC is none other than the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library in Midtown. Complete with dozens of stunning chandeliers and millions of works ready to be explored, why wouldn’t you want to spend an afternoon in the iconic Rose Reading Room (pictured above)? Stop by and see their collection of items that aim to “inspire and empower visitors to discover, learn, and create new knowledge—today and in the years ahead.”
Where: 5th Ave and 42nd St
What was once the private library of John Pierpont Morgan (yes, thee JP Morgan), this architectural beauty was gifted to the city in 1910 and then renovated once again in 2006. It’s full of a collection of jaw-dropping historical works, including Beethoven music, an early copy of Frankenstein, and more. When you’re not thumbing through historical artifacts in their naturally lit exhibition space, you can visit Gilder Lehrman Hall for occasional concerts and recitals.
Where: 225 Madison Ave
Central Library is arguably Brooklyn’s most notable library, and its beautiful architecture is meant to resemble an open book. The 1941 Art Deco building is perched in front of Grand Army Plaza and hosts many events and concerts in their outdoor space. The sweeping grand lobby is something to behold and their vast contemporary and historical collections are worth your hours of browsing.
Where: 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn
Jefferson Market Library has been a Greenwich Village staple for years now, and why wouldn’t it be when it looks like a Medieval castle? Between the stain glass windows, carved doorways, public garden, and more, it’s jaw dropping both inside and outside. It originally being a courthouse adds to the mystique, alongside its Adult Reading Room, first-floor Children’s Room, and beautiful brick-arched basement called the Reference Room.
Where: 425 Avenue of the Americas
The New York Academy of Medicine has been open to the public for over 140 years now, and it’s home to one of the most significant historical libraries in medicine and public health in the world. We’re talking about all sorts of health documents and artifacts that tell the history of health in our country: from journals on small pox to ancient medicine recipes. They also host many health-focused events you can attend!
Where: 1216 5th Ave
Located inside the Lincoln Center, this library lies more on the performing arts side than the book side, but it’s still a great visit! It’s home to the Billy Rose Theatre Collection (one of the world’s most extensive research collections in the fields of theatre, film, dance, music, and recorded sound), and they constantly host events, panels, and exhibitions about performance art.
Where: 40 Lincoln Center Plaza (entrance at 111 Amsterdam between 64th St and 65th St)
As the name suggests, Poets House is a poet’s dream, and a great place to come for inspiration. It sits right near Rockefeller Park and boasts lovely views of the Hudson River (that will surely get the creative juices flowing). Aspiring poets and writers frequent this hangout in order to browse their 70,000+ volumes of literature and write works of their own. They also offer tons of programs for children and adults alike who are interested in diving into the world of poetry.
Where: 10 River Terrace
Another Upper Easter Side library is the New York Society Library which resides in a townhouse that first opened in 1754. With over 300,000 volumes of info ready to be read, you can hangout in their cozy reading rooms free of charge, but you have to be a member of the society to check out any books. They also host free exhibits and events that are open to all!
Where: 53 E 79th St
Butler Library resides on Columbia University’s Morningside campus, and from the outside, it looks like a European facade. Once you acquire a guest pass, you can find tons of resources and books in their collection to help you cozy out in their space. With over 2 million books shelved in the maze of stacks, you’ll be in awe as you check out inscriptions from writers and philosophers like Homer and Dante on the walls. This gorgeous library just oozes Ivy League.
Where: 535 W 114th St
The all-new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library just received a major renovation that now ranks it as one of our favorites. The library offers tons of services and resources, including unlimited browsing, seating, computer access, a free publicly accessible rooftop terrace, and more. Plus, this summer will see the return of in-person programs and classes as well! There’s also a Thomas Yoseloff Business Center, with additional research materials and services!
GUY LUDWIG, DANIELLE SHUR, ANDY SPARBERG, NINA LUBLIN, GLORIA HERMAN,ALEXIS VILLAFANE, ARON EISENPREISS, ARLENE BESSENOFF & NINA LUBLIN ALL TOOK THE EXPRES RIDE TO A CORRECT ANSWER!
THANK YOU NASRI MUNFAH FOR THE WONDERFUL PROGRAM
“THE CHALLENGES OF BUILDING THE LIRR GRAND CENTRAL MADISON TUNNEL.”
This was an excellent presentation on a project that started in the 1970’s and is just completed.
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
SECRET NYC
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Queens of the Air: American Women Aviation Pioneers
Within the holdings of the National Archives, you will find many resources documenting the history and early days of aviation. Among these records include the stories and flights of American women aviation pioneers, captured by newsreel footage and World War I era photographs.
Within textual material for an item titled Aviation, Historical, Since 1919 you can find Ruth Elder, the first woman to attempt a transatlantic flight.
What may be her greatest feat however, took place on November 19, 1916, when she broke the existing cross-America flight air speed record of 452 miles set by Victor Carlstrom by flying nonstop from Chicago to New York State, a distance of 590 miles.
The next day she flew on to New York City. Flying over Manhattan, her fuel cut out, but she glided to a safe landing on Governors Island and was met by United States Army Captain Henry “Hap” Arnold (who changed her spark plugs in the Curtiss pusher), who would one day become Commanding General of the United States Army Air Forces. President Woodrow Wilson attended a dinner held in her honor on December 2, 1916.
Other American women aviation pioneers include Bessie Coleman, the first African American and Native American woman pilot, and known for her daring stunt tricks in the air.
In 1922, Coleman became the first African American woman to complete a public flight and audiences were thrilled with her loop-the-loop and Figure 8 tricks in her plane. She also became known for giving flight lessons and inspiring both Africans Americans and women to fly planes.
Willa Beatrice Brown was an aviator, flight instructor, officer, and civil rights activist, who created a path for thousands of black men and women to become pilots.
Brown’s efforts to establish a training school for African American Air Force cadets led to the creation of the Army Training facility at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in 1941.
Katherine Stinson became one of the first women in the United States to earn a pilot’s license on July 24, 1912, at the age of 21. After earning her license, Stinson and her family founded the Stinson Aircraft Company, and the Stinson School of Flying, in San Antonio, Texas.
In 1918, Stinson became the first woman commissioned as a mail pilot for the Post Office Department. After working for the Post Office, Stinson applied to be a volunteer pilot for the army during World War I, but was rejected twice due to her gender.
THE FORMER CITI BUILDING BEING STRIPPED OF ITS LOGO TO BECOME ALTICE
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
NEW YORK ALMANACK
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
