On February 26, 1875, Mary Halpine, age two months, was buried in trench no. seven at the City Cemetery on Hart Island. According to the cemetery burial ledger, Mary was born in New York City and died from Atelectasis (collapsed lung) at Bellevue Hospital on February 25.
Hart Island Bulk Head, January 13, 1972. Department of Marine and Aviation Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
The entry recording the death and burial of Mary Halpine is the first one in a ledger recently donated to the Municipal Archives collection of City Cemetery burial records.
The City of New York purchased Hart Island in 1869 and designated it for the burial of indigent and unclaimed persons. The Department of Public Charities and Corrections was given responsibility for the burials and record-keeping.
In 1988, City archivists transferred all extant burial records dated prior to 1975 that had been stored on the Island, to the Municipal Archives. The earliest ledger in the series recorded burials beginning in May 1881. There are significant gaps in the collection during the 1950s and 1960s due to water damage. In 2018, the Archives accessioned a ledger, with entries dating from May 1872 through February 1875, from the Department of Corrections Historical Society. The latest addition to the Archives collection of City Cemetery ledgers lists burials beginning in February 1875, through 1877.
Transfer of records from Hart Island to the Municipal Archives, 1988.The City Cemetery burial records provide significant data for both family history research and investigation into broader topics such as immigration, public health, and social services. The ledgers list the name of the deceased person (if known), age, birthplace, how long in the country, date, cause and place of death, and date of burial. The ledger also indicates religion, although this information appears to have been inconsistently recorded, likely due to a lack of knowledge about the decedent’s affiliation. There is also a remarks column. At the conclusion of each month the clerk maintaining the ledger carefully tallied the total number of burials, and where the deaths occurred. The greatest number of deaths are recorded as “outdoor poor” which means they occurred somewhere other than an institution—at home, on the street, aboard a ship etc. Bellevue, Almshouse, Charity Hospital, Foundling Asylum, Riverside Hospital, Small Pox Hospital and Lunatic Asylum, account for the majority who died in institutions.
Transfer of records from Hart Island to the Municipal Archives, 1988.
The City Cemetery burial records provide significant data for both family history research and investigation into broader topics such as immigration, public health, and social services. The ledgers list the name of the deceased person (if known), age, birthplace, how long in the country, date, cause and place of death, and date of burial. The ledger also indicates religion, although this information appears to have been inconsistently recorded, likely due to a lack of knowledge about the decedent’s affiliation. There is also a remarks column.
At the conclusion of each month the clerk maintaining the ledger carefully tallied the total number of burials, and where the deaths occurred. The greatest number of deaths are recorded as “outdoor poor” which means they occurred somewhere other than an institution—at home, on the street, aboard a ship etc. Bellevue, Almshouse, Charity Hospital, Foundling Asylum, Riverside Hospital, Small Pox Hospital and Lunatic Asylum, account for the majority who died in institutions.
City Cemetery Burial Ledger, February 1875 – January 1878. NYC Municipal Archives
The birthplaces of the deceased reflect early-to-mid-nineteenth century immigration patterns in New York City. Most decedents are native born, or from northern European countries. For example, between June 5 and June 9th, the decedents’ birthplaces included Germany, Ireland, France, Scotland, Austria and New York.
Cause of death information also reflects the reality of New York City life at that time. Although the clerk did not tabulate causes, reviewing the list shows a world without good health care and modern medicine. Small pox, tuberculosis, pneumonia, and diptheria are just a few of the diseases that took the life of many city residents. Which is probably why “old age” is rarely recorded as a cause of death. Some of those who died of advanced years are Alice Crosby, age 68, born in Ireland, died on July 2, 1875; Ann Kiernan passed away on July 7, 1875, age 69, and Philip Mitchell, on March 25, 1875 age 70.
Also notable is the frequency of “drowning” as a cause of death. But based on the place of death, it appears that most were probably not related to recreational activities. In July 1875 three unrelated persons drowned: an unknown man, age 40, found at Pier 9, in the East River; John Maurer, age 50, in the Harlem River, and another unknown man, no age, found at Pier 42, North River.
Most persons listed in the cemetery ledger died of “natural” causes. However, German-born Fritz Reichardt, age 54, died on July 18, 1876 of a “pistol shot wound of head” on 7th Street between 8th and 9th avenues.
City Cemetery Burial Ledger, February 1875 – January 1878. Recapitulation, May 1876. NYC Municipal Archives
The remarks column is mostly blank except for notations regarding disinterment and reburial. In one instance, in August 1876, an “unknown man” was apparently later “recognized as William Bement,” age 60. He died in the “woods on 128th Street near 10th Avenue. He was disinterred and delivered to Taylor & Co. At 16 Bowery for removal to Elmira, N.Y. Most “unknown” burials did not have such a conclusive ending.
Scanning the names recorded in the ledger, one is immediately struck by the number of children buried in the cemetery. Indeed, the second page of the ledger is almost entirely children: Bridget Daily, age one month, from smallpox; Thomas Dowers, twenty-days, of marasmus (mal-nourished); six still births—boy of Anne Purvis, girl of N. Sullivan, girl of Catherine Beaufort, and an unnamed male and female. Mary Ann (no last name), a two-year old founding, died of Scarlatina on 68th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues.
Some clerks appear to have been more diligent in recording information about deceased children; or perhaps they simply had access to more specific data. Listings during the last week of July 1877, for example, include several premature and stillborn children. On this page, the clerk carefully wrote “female child of George and Carol Briner (stillborn); female child of John and Mary Ray (stillborn).”
New York City continues to bury its indigent and unclaimed deceased persons on Hart Island. Earlier this year, the City transferred jurisdiction over the Island from the Department of Corrections to the Department of Parks and Recreation. During Covid, the Department of Corrections had been overwhelmed by the quantity of burials and this function was transferred to contractors. Subsequently, the Human Resources Administration has assumed responsibility for the burials and record-keeping.
BROOKYN HEIGHTS PROMENADE, 1950 HARA REISER AND ED LITCHER 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
KENNETH R. COBB
NEW YORK MUNICIPAL ARCHIVES FROM THE ARCHIVES BLOG
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Today was my last day of working on Houston and Bowery. On my walk south I spotted the old restaurant supply signs in a store that is now an art gallery upstairs.
On the corner of Bowery and Prince Street is the Supreme Store specializing in stuff 18 year- olds seem to relish. The exterior is a collection of graffiti decorations.
On Broome Street is Despana, the Spanish food and kitchen supply company. Cerrado Lunes, means Closed on Monday so no shopping for a new paella pan.
Across from the old Police Headquarters is the new in place for Parisiens in New York. In the French tradition many shops and restaurants were closed on Monday,
The building, now a condo graces the neighborhood.
The cornerstone remains and whatever was adjacent is long gone.
The north corner is a delight of stonework and foliage.
The best part of the stroll was discovering Center Market Place. Tonight I read about it on Wikipedia. Enjoy the story, it is worth it!!.
Centre Market Place
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The People’s Baths at 9 Centre Market Pl circa 1890s.Centre Market Place is a one block long street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, bordering Mulberry Street to the east, Grand Street to the south, Broome Street to the north, and Centre Street to the west. Centre Market Place was originally an extension of Orange Street (now Baxter Street, which starts at Grand Street, where Centre Market Place ends), before being formally renamed Centre Market Place in April 1837,[1][2] after Centre Market, which was west of the street. At one time, the street was at the top of a high hill.[3] Currently, local residents consider Centre Market Place to be part of the NoLIta neighborhood. At the southern end of the street, on the corner of Grand Street, is Onieal’s restaurant, which features a cavernous wine cellar that once served as a speakeasy during Prohibition. Gentlemen of means would walk through the front of the Police Building, perhaps make a contribution to the “widows and orphan fund” and then walk through the cellar corridor connecting the two buildings.[citation needed]9 Centre Market Place was once the location to “The People’s Bath House”, a privately run public bathhouse built by the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor.[4] The People’s Baths served as a model to which the City of New York would later build the city’s truly public bathhouses.The block also included several gun stores including the John Jovino at 5 Centre Market Place, and the older Frank Lava Gunsmith at 6 Centre Market Place. The gun stores were part of a gun district owing to its proximity to the police headquarters at 240 Centre St.[5][6] A row of townhouses at No. 1, 2, 4, and 5 were rehabilitated by two developers, a husband-and-wife team, incorporating found architectural castoffs scavenged from around the world as part of its facade.[7]The street was home to many well-known writers, poets, and artists, including the noted crime photographer Weegee, who lived in a small studio apartment at 5 Centre Market Pl.[5]
Tucked away on Elizabeth Street is the Elizabeth Street garden, a mid-block oasis.
Standing at the corner of Bowery and Houston, I spotted this enormous tree in the Liz Christy Garden across the street.A wonderful view to see before returning to work.
Second Avenue Elevated Line when it crossed the Queensboro Bridge upper level. The train has left Queens (it came from either Astoria or Flushing) and is about to enter the downtown tracks of the Second Ave. Elevated. This service ended on June 13, 1942. The track space was converted to automobile use in the mid-1950s From Andy Sparberg
Ed Litcher, Aron Eisenpreiss, Nestor Danyluk and Gloria Herman all 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.
For its twelfth year running, Photoville will be making a return to Brooklyn Bridge Park. While Photoville is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit, the pandemic’s effect in 2020 allowed the festival to expand to outdoor spaces in each borough, seeing as many as 1 million visitors last year. From June 3rd to June 18th Photoville will provide photography exhibitions all over New York City that embrace diverse perspectives through the lens of photography and celebrate iconic public places in New York City.
A rendering of Lee Bae’s ‘Issu du Feu”
To prepare for its Korean heritage celebration in July and to showcase modern and contemporary Korean art, Rockefeller Center is debuting three new art installations in collaboration with three influential Korean artists. Organized by Johyun Gallery from Busan, Korea, the exhibition, Origin, Emergence, Return will be located at the Rink Level Gallery and consists of over 70 works that represent three generations of Korean artwork from the 20th century to the present. Each of the three sections of the exhibit will focus on one individual’s material.
Many consider Park Seo-Bo’s work to be the origin of post-war Korean art in the seventies. Bo’s Origin will contain over 40 of the artist’s works from the last fifty years, illuminating the ways in which his style and development helped shape both the modernization and westernization of Korean art in the late 20th century. Park Seo-Bo’s Origin utilizes Korean hanji paper as his focal point through traditional Korean calligraphy.
Image Courtesy of Port Authority of NY & NJ
Three large-scale bronze sculptures featuring various endangered animals will be on display at the World Trade Center campus within the South Oculus Plaza, where more than 180,000 international tourists, workers, and residents will view them each day. As a collaboration between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Australian artists Gillie and Marc Schattner, these three sculptures, collectively titled A Wild Life for Wildlife in New York, will be on display for twelve months in an effort to raise awareness of the issue of species endangerment.
The first of the three art installations will depict endangered species from around the world on a large tandem bike, which will include an extra empty seat for visitors to hop on and help them pedal. The second sculpture will portray a chess match between a rhinoceros and a dog-man hybrid, aiming to touch on staying one step ahead in the fight for animal survival. The third and final sculpture is of an African elephant with a rabbit-woman hybrid, inviting others to sit and have a conversation discussing the topic. Each sculpture will have a QR code that links visitors to its story along with key information regarding the threats to the animals portrayed.
Phyllida Barlow. In process image of antic, 2023 at 4th State Metals, NY Corten steel, fiberglass, lacquer Courtesy of the artist’s estate and Hauser & Wirth Photo: Asya Gorovits, courtesy Public Art Fund, NY Artwork a part of Phyllida Barlow: PRANK, presented by Public Art Fund in City Hall Park, New York City, June 6, 2023 November 26, 2023
A sculpture that dares to defy gravity and artistic form will come to City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan on June 6. Created by the late British artist Phyllida Barlow, PRANK is a collection of seven free-standing steel and fiberglass structures that serve as the artist’s first and only series of outdoor sculptures made from durable long-lasting materials. PRANk makes use of what has come to be known as Barlow’s well-known “rabbit ear” forms (originally created in Barlow’s Objects For series in the 1990s). In this series, Barlow stacks these forms precariously on top of mundane household objects such as workbenches, cabinets, and chairs. All of these objects are stacked and balanced at unusual angles, posing the question of art’s expectations of structural precarity and form.
While the title of the exhibition and complete series is written in all uppercase letters, the individual sculptures are all titled using only lowercase ones: antic, hoax, jape, jinx, mimic, stunt, and truant. Barlow plays around with word and letter choice in order to highlight the exhibition’s theme of disruptive behavior and defying expectations.
Rendering of Reclining Liberty by Zaq Landsberg, Morningside Park. Photo courtesy of the artist.
The Statue of Liberty is moving to Red Hook, well, a version of the Statue of Liberty. In 2021, artist Zaq Landsberg debuted his Reclining Libertysculpture in Morningside Park. After spending nearly a year in Harlem, it was moved over to Liberty State Park in New Jersey, where it rested until April of 2023.This June, the lazing Lady Liberty will lounge at the Andrew Logan Projects in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The sculpture will be on display from June 8th through June 24th. Visitors can see the installation Wednesday through Friday from 2:00 pm to 8 pm and Saturday through Sunday from 12pm to 8 pm or by appointment. Read the story of another Liberty replica that recently traveled from Brooklyn to Illinois here!
Glittering vultures, boldly textured fabric sculptures, and exotic plants are all part of the new Summer exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden, …things come to thrive… in the shedding… in the molting. The site-specific installation was created by multi-disciplinary artist Ebony G. Patterson. Spread throughout the interior and surrounding gardens of the Haupt Conservatory as well as the indoor galleries of the Mertz Library, Patteron’s installation contemplates the entanglements of race, gender, and colonialism, looking at the ideas of molting, shedding, and decay and their potential to give way to healing, regeneration, and beauty.
Patterson’s paintings and sculptures intermingle with the living specimen in the gardens. The exhibit will be on view through Sunday, September 17, 2023. You can purchase tickets here.
Looks to me like a photo of a summer celebration in the late 1930s of an event at the Goldwater Hospital. Nurses appear in starched uniforms that haven’t been seen on RI for many years. Jay Jacobson
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
UNTAPPED NEW YORK
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
IT SEEMS THAT OUR GREAT NEW 7 PERSON RIOC CONSTITUENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT DOES NOT THINK THAT ADVISING RESIDENTS OF SUBWAY SCHEDULE CHANGES ARE IMPORTANT.
THERE SEEMS TO BE NO EXPRESS BUSES SCHEDULED TO AND FROM THE ISLAND THIS WEEKEND.
GET OUR YOUR METROCARD AND BE PREPARED FOR LINES AT THE MANHATTAN TRAM STATION!!!
Queens-bound F trains are running on theF line from W 4 St-Wash Sq to Jackson Hts-Roosevelt Av from 11:45 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday because of track maintenance.
For service to/from 14 St, 23 St, 34 St-Herald Sq, 42 St-Bryant Park, 47-50 St, 57 St, and Lexington Av/63 St use nearby E stations, or take a downtown train and transfer.
For service to/from Roosevelt Island and 21 St-Queensbridge, take the Q66, Q69, Q100, or Q102 buses to Queens Plaza.
Note: Uptown trains are running on the line from W 4 St-Wash Sq to 59 St-Columbus Circle.
F trains are running between Jamaica-179 St and Church Av.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
WEEKEND, JUNE 3-4, 2023
ISSUE# 100
THE MAN WHO
GOT THE WINDOW GLASS
RIGHT
JUDITH BERDY
Good News! The scaffolding came off the subway station exterior today. The construction foreman told me the escalator replacement was nearly finished when I saw the stairs going up this afternoon. ****************** Just in time: This story arrived this week about our station’s construction.
Let’s hope the windows will soon show the wonderful mosaic artwork by Diana Cooper soon.
Yes I worked on the Roosevelt Island subway station. My involvement was in the construction phase, not the design phase, and it may be a bit more esoteric than you are expecting. Here’s my story:
In 1982-3 I was an Assistant Architect with the New York City Transit Authority. I was tasked with the review of the drawings for construction and installation of the glass wall on the west side of the building, facing Manhattan. The problem that I had with the drawings was this:
A slab of glass as large as you have there expands and shrinks a significant amount when it heats up and cools down.
The way that slab of glass is supported is by sliding it into a stainless steel channel frame. The Frame has to be big enough to accommodate the glass when expanded, due to heating, as far as it can possibly be predicted to go.
In addition, the channel had to be deep enough so that when it got cold and the glass shrank there was no gap where the cold air and rain could get in.
My problem was that neither the outside architect who designed it, nor the contractor who would fabricate it, had any idea how much the glass would expand and shrink. What I had to do was find an in-house engineer to tell me how much the glass would expand and shrink. With that information I was able to design the support system so the wall could be built. Hopefully I got it right and it didn’t leak.
As I noted earlier, this is pretty esoteric stuff. I hope that my description made sense. I
Keep Safe and Healthy, Alan Tepper
The mosaic is installed under the plywood and waiting for a gate installation. This project started over a decade ago.
PATIENCE PAYS OFF AND WE KNOW THAT WELL AROUND HERE.
FRIDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY CONSTRUCTION FENCE POSTER AND RESULTS FOR FENCE ON NORTH LOOP ROAD
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.
THURSDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY 100 Centre Street, Manhattan Once was NYC Police headquarters – from Andy Sparberg. Also Ed Litcher got it
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.
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.
