TIME TO AVOID THE LEXINGTON AVENUE ENTRANCE TO THE 63/LEX STATION
MORE TRANSIT
HASSLES AHEAD AT
63/LEX STATION
DECEMBER 30-31, 2024
ISSUE #1366
OUR 211th ISSUE IN 2024
JUDITH BERDY
TIME TO AVOID THE LEXINGTON AVENUE ENTRANCE TO THE 63/LEX STATION
THE ESCALATOR ENTRANCE
ON THE NORTHWEST SIDE OF LEXINGTON AVENUE IS CLOSED. THE ELEVATOR ENTRANCE AROUND THE CORNER IS OPEN. THE STAIRCASE FROM THE STREET TO THE MEZZANINE ON THE SOUTHWEST CORNER IS OPEN
ONE DOWN ESCALATOR
FROM THE MEZZANINE IS STILL WORKING, BUT THE NEXT ONE IS NOT RUNNING (50 STEPS DOWN)
BE FOREWARNED
MORE CHANGES IN FEBRUARY
AND NOW THE “ULTIMATE NEWS”
YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE LONG ESCALATOR TO THE LOWER (QUEENS/UPOWN) PLATFORM AND THEN WALK UP THE STAIRS TO THE (DOWNTOWN/BROOKLYN) LEVEL PLATFORM
IN SIMPLE WORDS USE ONLY THE THIRD AVENUE ENTRANCE AND EXIT FOR THE 63/LEX STATION
NONE OF THESE IMPROVEMENTS AFFECT THE THIRD AVENUE AREAS OF THE STATION
The MTA has plenty signage to navigate riders thru this project. My advise is STAY AWAY and use the Third Avenue entrances and exits.
Happy New Year 2025 MTA!!!
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.
Friends and strangers eating together offers an appealing image of togetherness. “Let us build a table where everyone is invited,” is an inspiring mantra. At the same time, food is a religious symbol that creates exclusion.
Food taboos appear in almost all societies, either self-imposed or enforced by authorities on minority groups. In medieval Europe, Christian authorities forbade Jews from baking “sacred” bread.
Different ethnic and religious groups identify themselves by the foods they consume or refuse to eat. A food taboo maintains a group’s identity in the face of others, creating a sense of belonging.
If such a ban limits the diet, it also encourages the consumption of symbolic foods particular to that group. Jewish tradition marks every calendar event (birth or death) with a special meal. Circular shaped bagels symbolize the lifecycle.
Bagels once were a Jewish specialty. First boiled and then baked, its preparation method gave the bread a chewy outer texture and soft dough within. The bagel was brought to Manhattan in the 1890s by Polish immigrants of the Lower East Side.
Longing for the breads of their homeland, they recreated rye, challah and above all: bagels. For decades bagels remained an exclusive ethnic delicacy. Taste and nostalgia are inseparable.
A multi-cultural metropolis demands coexistence and does not function properly in an environment of selective restrictions. At New York City’s collective dining table many traditional food taboos – either voluntarily or by necessity (hunger or scarcity of ingredients) – were overcome.
Since the 1950s, bagels have conquered Manhattan’s foodscape and permeated American culture.
Cream Cheese & Cheesecake
Jewish immigrants Isaac and Joseph Bregschtein from Panemune on the banks of the Nemunas River, Lithuania, settled in the United States in 1882, initially working as peddlers and (possibly) living in Pennsylvania.
By 1885, they had arrived in Manhattan where Joseph opened a grocery store at 27 Orchard Street. Isaac continued to deal in dry goods until 1888, when he entered the dairy market, selling milk and other products. At some time, they anglicized their name to Breakstone.
They quickly built a reputation in the world of dairy. Their cousins Morris and Hyman – a typical case of chain migration – owned stores of their own. In 1897, the family members joined together as the “Breakstone Brothers” and opened a grocery.
The name was copyrighted in 1906 and a year later the group began manufacturing dairy products at a small plant in Brooklyn.
At a time that many American households made their own butter and soft cheeses, the Brothers brought convenience by selling the products from big wooden tubs.
The company was among the first to use trucks to deliver their products. During the First World War, Breakstone’s was the largest producer of condensed milk for the Armed Forces.
After the war, the firm started to mass market their products to consumers, making soft cheeses and other products affordable to many poorer Jewish consumers. In 1925, Breakstone’s began designating their products as “kosher.” The brand played its role in the identification of New York City’s passion for cream cheese with the story of Jewish immigration.
New York style cheesecake, which used cream cheese instead of drier ricotta or cottage cheese, was introduced in 1929 by German-born Jewish restaurateur Arthur Reuben in his legendary outlets Reuben’s Restaurant at 58th Street and the Turf Restaurant at 49th and Broadway.
Also known as “Jewish cheesecake” for the recipe’s kosher ingredients, it was a favorite of actors and actresses seeking late night relaxation after stage appearances.
The taste of cheesecake quickly became the rage of the city, but the story of its origin was in dispute. Reuben accused Leo Linderman, another German-born Jewish restaurateur, of copying his recipe and making it his own.
Lindeman owned Lindy’s, a Jewish delicatessen on Broadway which marketed its cheesecake (produced with Philadelphia cream cheese) as its iconic dish. Considered a masterpiece of Jewish culinary skills, it became the gold-standard in cheesecake baking. And yet …
No Success Like Failure
The history of cream cheese is an essential American tale. Early English and Dutch settlers had brought recipes for something tasting similar. At the turn of the nineteenth century, small producers of cream cheese could be found in the Philadelphia area, but it was in Upstate New York that the first large-scale manufacture of the product began.
Orange County was officially established on November 1, 1683, when after nearly two decades of English rule the Province of New York was divided into twelve counties. Each of these was named in honor of Charles II, his brother James, Duke of York, and other members of the Royal family.
Orange County referred to Dutch-born William of Orange, James’s son-in-law and subsequently King William III of England. Within the next few decades Dutch, English and German Palatine migrants began populating an area that consisted of fertile farming land.
The town of Chester’s economy in Orange County was based on dairy products, particularly milk. This industry flourished after completion of the Erie Railroad in 1841. The line ran through the town which enabled local farmers to ship their products directly to New York City, where demand was high. Chester became the original home of American cream cheese.
In 1872, dairyman William Lawrence was challenged by a Manhattan deli owner to produce a new fresh cheese that would please the taste of affluent customers. William tried to duplicate the popular French soft cheese brand of Neufchâtel, but did not succeed.
His failure became a massive success. He discovered and developed the formula for Philadelphia Cream Cheese. Although not created in that city, Lawrence adopted the name because of Philadelphia’s reputation for producing high-quality cheeses at the time.
Lawrence was the first to sell soft cheese in foil-wrapped rectangular packages and ship them to markets in New York City. At the outset, his creamery delivered about two boxes daily. By the time of his death in 1911, the factory was producing over two thousand boxes each day.
Lawrence’s cheese making operation had a major impact on the local economy. He employed rural residents and used regionally sourced milk in his cheese production. Although not an aspiring politician, he was elected Mayor of Chester in 1893.
James Lewis Kraft, a Canadian businessman of German descent living in Buffalo, NY, purchased the business in 1928. The company continues making Philadelphia Brand Cheese to this day. By the 1950s cream cheese had become an all-American staple without any particular ethnic or migrant ties.
A quintessentially New York creation, cream cheese has since proliferated throughout nation, touching disparate cuisines and inspiring multiple recipes.
Bagel Mania
In the early medieval period, a form of round bread similar to the “pretzel” became popular among German-speaking migrants to an area of Eastern Europe which (roughly) now constitutes Poland. In the region, bakers suffered less intervention in their profession than other Jews whose activities were severely restricted by segregation laws.
They were permitted to sell products to Christian residents who, when abstaining from rich foods during Lent, consumed a boiled and ring-shaped bread known as “obwarzanek.” They also enjoyed a smaller version for everyday consumption which was known as “bajgiel” in Polish and “beygal” in Yiddish.
The delicacy soon spread throughout the region and was sold by licensed street hawkers from a basket or hanging on from a stick.
The bagel became a Jewish staple in Poland. When in 1908 Isaac Bashevis Singer described a childhood trip to Radzymin (a suburb of the city of Warsaw) in “A Day of Pleasure,” he recorded the sight of sidewalk peddlers who were selling “loaves of bread, baskets of bagels and rolls, smoked herring, hot peas, brown beans, apples, pears and plums.”
Polish Jews brought the bagel to Manhattan. Their first known bakery was established on the Lower East Side in 1895. Twelve years later, the powerful International Beigel Bakers’ Union was created which monopolized New York’s bagel production.
The all-Jewish union carefully guarded knowledge of how to bake the bread and urged Jewish customers to buy from associated shops instead of giving their business to owners who were likely to exploit newly arrived immigrants. For decades, bagels remained an ethnic delicacy, virtually unknown to society at large.
The invention and adoption of a bagel-making machine spelled both the downfall of the Union and a widening interest in the product. The post-war years were a turning point. Food writers such as Fannie Engle, author of The Jewish Festival Cookbook (1954), popularized the bread at a time that Jews were assimilating and sharing their culinary traditions with others.
The bagel made an eye-catching appearance in the Yiddish-English revue Bagel and Yox (the word means “belly laugh”) that ran at the Holiday Theatre, Broadway, from September 1951 to February 1952. It included the song “Bagel & Lox” (written by Sid Pepper and Roy C. Bennett):
Bagel and lox with the cheese in the middle, Bagel and lox let it toast on the griddle, Bagel and lox with the cheese in the middle, And a slice of onion on the side.
During the show’s intermission, freshly baked bagels were handed out to members of the audience. A 1951 review of the show published in Time magazine helped to hype them amongst American consumers. A passion for bagel and cream cheese erupted. It would take some more time before the addition of lox completed the “holy trinity.”
Iconic Breakfast
According to food historians, Jewish shopkeepers were selling preserved salmon by the early twentieth century, using recipes introduced by Scandinavian immigrants. Soon, lox and cream cheese were prized breakfast accompaniments. Newspapers in the early 1940s reported that bagels and lox were sold in Manhattan delis as a “Sunday morning treat.”
Lox is a fillet of salmon cured in salty brine, but not cooked or smoked. Known as “gravlax,” it was a Nordic method of preserving fish long before refrigeration was made available. The salmon was coated with a spice blend of dill, capers, juniper berry, salts, sugars and liquors, before being brined. Lox was also popular among Eastern European Jews (the word lox comes from the Yiddish “laks,” meaning salmon).
The Transcontinental Railroad helped to popularize lox as trains transported salted salmon from the Pacific coast to New York City. Bagel and lox became a Manhattan sensation. Spurred on by Kraft’s advertizing blitz for Philadelphia Cream Cheese, the Sunday morning ritual of lox, bagel and cream cheese took off.
This was as an American food concoction, a collage consisting of Polish Jewish bread, Scandinavian cured salmon, Mediterranean capers heaped over Anglo-French styled cream cheese. At some point by the middle of the twentieth century, Lox Bagel had replaced the English trilogy of bacon, eggs and toast as Manhattan’s breakfast of choice.
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.
HOLIDAY SCENE BY YVONNE SMITH RESIDENT GOLDWATER HOSPITAL COLLECTION OF NYC H+H COLER
HELP US MAKE
2024 A RECORD YEAR FOR
THE KIOSK
DECEMBER 24-25, 2024
ISSUE #1364
JUDITH BERDY
HAPPY CHANUKAH AS WE CELEBRATE THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS
TWO DAY SALE
RIHS TAPESTRY THROW & GONDOLA PILLOW COMBINATION PRICED SEPARATELY $75+ $55 TOTAL $ 130 MONDAY & TUESDAY ONLY $110-
WINTER WONDERLANDS
THE COLER LOBBY HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO A WINTER WONDERLAND & GLOWING ON THIS SUNNY AFTERNOON
THE OCTAGON GETS THE MOST IMPRESSIVE HOLIDAY TREE AGAIN THIS YEAR!
OUR POSTER IS COURTESY OF YOUNG ARTIST JULIET CINA
SHOP THE KIOSK THIS WEEK 12 NOON TO 5 PM
JULIA GASH ROOSEVELT ISLAND PORCELAIN ORNAMENT $20-
PHOTO OF THE DAY
AN ICE SKATING RINK INTHE GRAND LOBBY OF THE NATIONAL BUILDING MUSEUM, WASHINGTON, DC
CREDITS
JUDITH BERDY YVONNE SMITH JULIET CINA
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.
GOOD NEWS!!! RIOC HAS OPENED THE TWO BATHROOMS IN THE SPORTSPARK TO VISITORS!! THEY ARE LOCATED AT THE MAIN ENTRANCE ON THE WEST ROAD!
YESTERDAY, I SAW THIS LOVELY PHOTO AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACATION TIME FOR CORNELL TECH STUDENTS, FACULTY AND VISITORS.
INSTEAD OF JOY, MY THOUGHT WAS WHERE TO SEND OUR NEIGHBORS AND VISITORS TO USE A BATHROOM!
FOR THE YEARS CORNELL TECH HAS BEEN OPEN, THEY HAVE ALWAYS PERMITTED VISITORS AND NEIGHBORS TO USE THEIR FACILITIES.
THE SITUATION IS COMPLICATED WHEN CORNELL IS CLOSED.
NEW BUS ROUTE PRESERVES DIRECT SERVICE TO QUEENS PLAZA
Proposed Final Plan Addendum: Q102 Local
36th Avenue/Roosevelt Island Associated existing route: Q102
For languages other than English, use the Google Translate tool at the bottom of this page.
About the route
The Q102 will now connect Long Island City and Roosevelt Island with a new, more direct routing. In Queens, the route will start at Court Square, traveling to Roosevelt Island via Jackson Av, 31 St, and 36 Av. On Roosevelt Island, the route will be shortened to terminate at the Roosevelt Island Tramway. The trains will provide service along 31 St, and the Q18 will still serve 30 Av. Service through Queensbridge will still be provided by the Q103.
CELEBRATIONS
TAMA BLEVINS, MICHAEL STEWART, GLORIA HERMAN & JUDITH BERDY HELPED MAKE IT A FUN EVENING IN THE BLACKWELL HOUSE.
WINTER WONDERLANDS
THE COLER LOBBY HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO A WINTER WONDERLAND.& GLOWING ON THIS SUNNY AFTERNOON
THE OCTAGON GETS THE MOST IMPRESSIVE HOLIDAY TREE AGAIN THIS YEAR!
OUR POSTER IS COURTESY OF YOUNG ARTIST JULIET CINA
SHOP THE KIOSK THIS WEEK 12 NOON TO 5 PM
JULIA GASH TAPESTRY THROW IS BACK!! $75-
JULIA GASH ROOSEVELT ISLAND PORCELAIN ORNAMENT $20-
PHOTO OF THE DAY PEEKING OUT FROM THE TREES IS THE LIGHTHOUSE PARK ON THIS DELIGHTFUL WINTER DAY
CREDITS
JUDITH BERDY TIME FOR SOME DAYS OFF THE ISLAND. ENJOY THE PRE-HOLIDAY WEEKEND
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.
YESTERDAY, I SAW THIS LOVELY PHOTO AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACATION TIME FOR CORNELL TECH STUDENTS, FACULTY AND VISITORS.
INSTEAD OF JOY, MY THOUGHT WAS WHERE TO SEND OUR NEIGHBORS AND VISITORS TO USE A BATHROOM!
FOR THE YEARS CORNELL TECH HAS BEEN OPEN, THEY HAVE ALWAYS PERMITTED VISITORS AND NEIGHBORS TO USE THEIR FACILITIES.
THE SITUATION IS COMPLICATED WHEN CORNELL IS CLOSED.
Starting next week, visitors and residents will face a bathroom shortage.
Many visitors appear at the kiosk asking for bathroom facilitie.
Cornell Tech’s Bloomberg Cafe bathrooms were used before, and people are now directed to Southpoint Park or one of our businesses. That is a long trek in winter.
Though sewer work is done, only one tram station bathroom could be available for public use. (One is reserved for staff). For years It has been off limits by Poma staff.
Opening Sportspark bathrooms is a solution that won’t disrupt its functions. The two bathrooms next to the entrance are not inside the members area and there is no reason for RIOC to prohibit outsiders to use them.
Portable facilities in winter are unsafe, and local businesses shouldn’t bear the burden.
Why should the Graduate Hotel, Starbucks, Nisi, all the other businesses be responsible for providing a public necessity while RIOC turns a blind eye to the need?
Years ago David Kramer, developer got out of a pledge to build permanent facility at Firefighters’ Field and nothing has been done by RIOC to alleviate the situation.
A permanent solution is urgently needed. Will RIOC step up to address this critical issue?
Should I take bets?
OUR POSTER IS COURTESY OF YOUNG ARTIST JULIET CINA
Thanks to all our friends and neighbors who made the sale at the Pop-Up sale this weekend a great success.
Stop by Blackwell House tomorrow evening for a fun evening from 5 to 8 pm.
SHOP THE KIOSK THIS WEEK 12 NOON TO 5 PM
JULIA GASH TAPESTRY THROW IS BACK!! $75-
JULIA GASH ROOSEVELT ISLAND PORCELAIN ORNAMENT $20-
CREDITS
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.
In 1889 the Third Republic celebrated the centennial of the French Revolution with the opening of a grand international exhibition and the inauguration of the Eiffel Tower.
Politically, France remained divided into three political camps. On the left of the political spectrum, Republicans embraced the democratic reforms initiated by the French Revolution. On the right, Monarchists aimed at reinstating the link between Royalty and (Catholic) Church, whilst Bonapartists demanded the imposition of law and order at home and the maintenance of a powerful presence abroad.
Shovel & Trowel
Political conflict over time has affected the face of Paris. During the nineteenth century, Bonapartists transformed the city’s physical structure with the aim of establishing a grand capital that would stand as a testament to the nation’s cultural dominance.
They sought to assert political ambitions by leaving their mark on Paris with shovel and trowel. Architecture was a political statement. Once the Republicans entered the fray, they set out to impose modernist ideas on urban planning.
In January 1886, Édouard Lockroy was elected Minister of Commerce & Industry. His background was intriguing. Having fought as a volunteer in the Third Italian War of Independence, he had participated in anti-Bonapartist battles and his political partisanship earned him several stints in prison. He was first elected to the National Legislature in 1873 as a radical Republican representing Paris.
One of his briefs as Minister was to make arrangements for the 1889 “Exposition Universelle,” including plans for new buildings at the exhibition site along the Champs de Mars. Lockroy used his position to make sure that the Republicans would leave a memorable mark in the capital.
Gustave Eiffel was recognized as a master designer of structures in iron or steel. He had built railroad bridges and train terminals around the world. Parisians had seen his work first hand in the form of the framework for the Statue of Liberty which, in 1885, was assembled outside his workshop before being shipped to New York City. Eiffel was praised as the “Magician of Iron.”
Yet when he was commissioned to execute the construction plan of a wrought iron tower, feelings of outrage were widely expressed. Objectors treated the project as an industrialist “Tower of Babel,” alien to French culture.
The controversy motivated some prominent artists (amongst them Charles Gounod, Alexandre Dumas and Guy de Maupassant) to publish a protest in Le Temps of February 14, 1889, arguing that the “useless and monstrous” edifice would desecrate the city’s dignity.
In spite of the furor, work continued. After completion, “Eiffelomania” swept France and Europe.
Georges Seurat in 1889 and Henri “Le Douanier” Rousseau in 1890 were the first to paint the Tower. It was “adopted” by artists after Robert Delaunay created his iconic “red” image of her in 1909 (“La Tour rouge” – the first of thirty canvases depicting the Tower).
For the younger generation, the iconic “Iron Lady” was there to stay as an emblem of technology and modernity. Opponents stuck to their demand that the “eyesore” be demolished. After all, on completion the Eiffel Towere was expected to stand for twenty years only, before dismantlement would take place.
Swindling & Scamming
Victor Lustig was born January 4, 1890, into an affluent Bohemian family (then in Austria-Hungary). A clever student and fluent in several languages, he was a rebellious young man without social ambition and reluctant to enter a professional or academic career. Instead he used his charm and intelligence for a much more lucrative activity: swindling.
He left Bohemia in 1909 and settled in Paris where he got hooked on gambling. During this time he sustained a distinctive facial scar in an altercation with a jealous husband whose wife could not resist the young man’s charms. The mark would become consequential in his life story.
Living in Paris, he observed the growing number of American visitors and the craze for luxurious transatlantic travel. To a talented multi-lingual conman, ocean liners seemed to offer a potential of riches. He soon embarked on grand ships sailing between the French Atlantic ports and New York City. Once on board, he started deceiving wealthy old ladies and naïve passengers.
A smart dresser and smooth talker with impeccable manners, he was welcomed at the table of the richest passengers on the voyage. His schemes included one in which he posed as a promising musical producer who sought investment in a lavish but non-existent Broadway production.
In the process, Lustig gained a hunter’s eye for the vulnerability of potential preys. At the same time he honed his skills as a counterfeiter and developed his most successful scam at sea, known as the “Romanian Money Box.” Picking out businessmen amongst the travelers, he would engage with his carefully selected marks and share – in utmost confidence – the “secret” of a money box which he carried with him.
Eventually, he would agree to a private demonstration of the device that was fitted with a printing machine. By inserting a hundred-dollar bill, and after a while of “chemical processing,” he extracted two seemingly authentic copies of the bill which he exchanged on board ship without a trace of suspicion.
After intense persuasion, he would agree to sell the box if the price on offer was right (at least $10,000 and sometimes two and three times that amount).
New York City Interlude
When transatlantic sailings were suspended in the wake of the First World War, Victor opted to settle in New York City. Assuming dozens of aliases and introducing himself as “Count” Victor Lustig (a European title works wonders when facing American clients), he became a master of disguise as he engaged in various counterfeiting schemes. The Romanian Box remained a favorite trick in his repertoire of cons.
In 1922, he fooled a group of investors to pool their money for the “unique” opportunity of purchasing the box. Amongst them was a Texan sheriff who, once he realized he had been scammed, pursued Lustig to Chicago where he confronted him. Once again the victim was tricked by his smooth talking opponent who explained to him that he had handled the precious device incorrectly.
In an act of generosity, Victor repaid his victim a sum of cash in compensation. As it later turned out, the money was counterfeit. The lawman was eventually arrested and accused of passing fake bills in New Orleans. Although imprisoned, he supplied the police with an accurate description of the swindler’s face and scar.
Maybe police officers and Secret Service agents were getting too close for comfort, or maybe Victor was just longing for a change of environment in which to operate, but by 1925 he boarded a liner to France and crossed the Atlantic once again.
Selling the Tower
The builders of the Eiffel Tower used “puddle iron,” a form of purified cast iron that enhances resistance to corrosion. The civil engineer himself had warned from the outset that the spread of rust was the biggest challenge to its longevity. He suggested that the Tower needed a new coat of paint at seven year intervals in an operation that would demand sixty tonnes of paint and take some sixteenth months to complete.
When Victor Lustig arrived in Paris, he was struck by an alarmist newspaper article on the future of the rusting Eiffel Tower as the exorbitant cost of maintenance became an issue of serious concern.
To the French government, it was a financial burden. Parisians themselves were and remained divided in their opinion of a structure that was already a decade past its projected lifespan. Many felt that the “unsightly” erection should be taken down.
Divided opinion creates weakness and Lustig was quick to exploit such fragility. He devised a spectacular plan that would make him a legend amongst con artists. He first studied the nature of iron structures and their exposure to rust.
Having acquainted himself with the names of the city’s major metal scrap dealers, he set himself up as Deputy Director of the “Ministère de Postes et Telegraphes.” Using false City of Paris stationary, he requested a meeting with a number of dealers in which he discretely suggested the possibility of a lucrative contract.
After installing himself at the iconic Hôtel de Crillon on the Place de la Concorde (opened in 1909, but the building dates from 1758), he invited the scrap men to enter into a setting of antique furniture, fine marbles and priceless chandeliers.
There he informed them about a “secret” government decision to demolish the Eiffel Tower as the annual expense of its preservation was no longer sustainable. He was personally assigned to invite bids for the right to demolish the Tower and take possession of 15,000 beams and 2.5 million rivets – in weight: 7,000 tons of metal.
Victor transported his clients in rented limousines to the Tower and showed them its rusty state of decline. He repeated the argument that this “hideous” modern structure was not worthy a place amongst venerable monuments such as the Arc the Triomphe or the great Gothic cathedrals.
Vulgarity had reached a new level that year when car maker Citroën was allowed to advertise its name in massive letters on the Tower to defray its maintenance costs (the sign remained in place until 1934). Its destruction would be a public service.
Victor made it crystal clear that any transaction had to remain confidential to avoid public interference. His calm demeanor and polished presentation were entirely convincing to André Poisson, one of the invited guests who showed an interest in the project. A young provincial entrepreneur, he was fairly new to Paris and seemed somewhat uncomfortable in the presence of experienced urban rivals. The hunter had identified his prey.
When Victor invited Poisson for a private meeting at the Crillon, the businessman was flattered and fell for the bait. Lustig persuaded him to finalize the contract and accept an added provision. The latter requested a bribe in exchange for his effort of guaranteeing the arrangement to his preferred bidder.
Poisson would pay the “Deputy Director” an amount of $20,000 in cash and an additional $50,000 after the contract was signed. Having received the full sum of money, Lustig left for Austria.
The story never broke. Too embarrassed, Poisson did not file a report with the police. Victor returned that same year in an attempt to repeat the scam. This time, however, one of his “targets” became suspicious and informed the police, prompting him to make a quick return to New York City.
Conning Al Capone
In the 1930s, Lustig took the audacious step to travel to Chicago and request a meeting with the mobster Al Capone. He outlined a business proposition, asking for a $50,000 investment in the scheme with the promise to repay double the amount within a period of just two months. Capone was suspicious, but agreed.
Lustig stored the cash in a safe before returning the full amount to the lender, explaining that the deal had fallen through. Impressed by Victor’s honesty, Al Capone rewarded him with $5,000 to help him “get back on his feet.” The scam’s simplicity demonstrated his mastery of manipulation. The Count’s reputation grew.
In 1930, Lustig went into partnership with a Nebraska chemist named Tom Shaw, initiating a sophisticated counterfeiting operation with an elaborate distribution system to push out large amounts of cash. As the number of phony bills in circulation increased, Victor’s name became associated with the operation.
The situation got worse for Victor when his long-term mistress Billie Mae Scheible, a “Madame” who ran a prostitution racket in New York City, suspected Victor of having an affair with another woman and informed the police of his whereabouts in Manhattan.
The Secret Service started chasing the “Count” in a pursuit that resembles a fictional tale by Arthur Conan Doyle. The hunt was led by agent Peter A. Rubano, an ambitious Italian-American who was born and raised in the Bronx and had made the headlines by trapping the gangster Ignazio “The Wolf” Lupo. It was a cat-and-mouse game that lasted many months, but eventually ended on Broadway.
On a Sunday night in May 1935, elegantly dressed in a Chesterfield coat and – as always – well disguised, Victor Lustig strolled down “The Great White Way” when a plain clothes officer spotted his scar.
After many near misses of arrest in the past, Rubano and other agents swooped in and confiscated a key from him that gave access to a locker at Times Square subway station. From there, they retrieved $51,000 in counterfeit bills as well as their printing plates.
Awaiting trial, Lustig was held at the “escape proof” Federal Detention Headquarters in Lower Manhattan. Shortly before legal proceedings were set in motion, he fashioned several bed sheets into a rope and climbed out. Pretending to be a window cleaner, he casually shimmied down the building and disappeared in the crowd.
He was recaptured twenty-seven days later in Pittsburgh and sentenced to twenty years in prison on Alcatraz Island. Having contracted pneumonia, he died in March 1947. His passing went virtually unnoticed, as if the conman had played his last disappearing act. On his death certificate his occupation was listed as apprentice salesman and counterfeiter.
MORE SHOPPING OPPORTUNITIES THIS WEEK
SEE YOU SATURDAY AND SUNDAY AT THE POP-UP SALE AT 546 MAIN STREET
More great shopping next weekend!!!
SHOP THE KIOSK THIS WEEK 12 NOON TO 5 PM
JULIA GASH TAPESTRY THROW IS BACK!! $75-
JULIA GASH ROOSEVELT ISLAND PORCELAIN ORNAMENT $20-
CREDITS
Illustrations, from above: Mugshots of Victor Lustig; Robert Delaunay “La Tour rouge,” 1909 (Guggenheim Museum, New York); Charles Gilbert-Martin’s “Gustave Eiffel and Tower,” engraved by Forest Fleury; the Eiffel Tower in 1925 with the illuminated Citroen publicity sign; and Lustig (middle) being questioned by the police in 1935.
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.
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.
Cynthia Brenwall The sport of ice skating in Victorian-era New York was so popular that all submissions to the 1857 design competition for Central Park were required to include a winter skating area. As one of the few socially acceptable activities that could be enjoyed in mixed company (along with tennis and bicycling), the Department of Parks’ Board of Commissioners recognized that a public skating rink would be a great source of healthful recreation for city dwellers. Called the Skating Pond on Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted’s winning Greensward plan, the Lake was one of the first areas of the park to be open to the public for the 1858-59 skating season, well before construction of many other park areas had started.
Detail of Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted’s 1857 Greensward plan submission drawing showing the skating pond. Black ink with colored pencil on paper. Department of Parks Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.In the early days of the park, ice skating on the Lake drew huge crowds—some thirty thousand people daily. Beginning in 1868, a three-story chalet-style “skate tent,” as it was called, was put up and taken down at the south end of the lake during the winter season. The 1870 report of the Board of Commissioners described the tent amenity: on the first floor it had concessions, changing areas, a place to warm up, a refreshment stand, and a cloak room. The second story provided windows for spectators to view the skating while enjoying a beverage, and the third level served as a “ladies look-out exclusively.”
Design for a Skate House. Julius Munckwitz, architect, 1884. Ink and watercolor on paper. Department of Parks Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.To replace the original “skating tent,” actually a wooden structure, after it had fallen into disrepair, architect Julius Munckwitz prepared this drawing for a new Skate House in 1884, which provided a detailed elevation view and a floor plan with restaurants for men and women as well as a parlor and smoking room.In addition to the main skating area, Vaux and Olmsted also provided a more secluded space reserved for women who preferred to skate away from the mixed-gender, social atmosphere on the Lake. Located on a small inlet just beyond Balcony Bridge, the Ladies Skating Pond provided a “ladies only” option for the more modest skaters of the day. As construction in the park continued, other bodies of water such as the Conservatory Water and the Pond also became popular skating venues.In an effort to make the man-made Lake safe throughout the year, it was equipped with waste weirs (to lower water levels) and sluice gates (to raise water levels). During summer, sluice gates kept the water level at seven feet deep to accommodate boaters. In winter, the waste weirs lowered the level to just four feet to lessen the possibility of an accidental drowning if a skater fell through too-thin ice and each night, a series of eighteen hydrants, or valves, spread water to create a fresh sheet of ice.
Design of the sluice gate for the outlet of the Skating Pond, c. 1858. Black and red ink with pencil, blue crayon, and colored washes on paper. Department of Parks Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.With large crowds arriving daily, Olmsted instituted many park rules for wintertime users of the Lake. He stipulated, for example, that visitors should “not drop any tobacco, segar-stumps, paper, nutshells, or other articles on the ice” and that, “a ball will be hoisted to the top of the pole, near the bell tower whenever the ice is in full condition for skating.” However, Olmsted did relax one rule during the ice-skating season—park closing time—extending it from eight o’clock to midnight. Harper’s Monthy Magazine in 1861 described the nighttime spectacle: “The dramatic aspect of the jubilee [of skating] is greatly increased by the sparkle of the moonbeams and the glare of the Drummond lights, which flood the scene with startling brilliance.”
Summer and winter water levels at the site of the Rustic Bridge crossing an arm of the Ladies Skating Pond, c. 1860. Black and colored inks with pencil on paper. Department of Parks Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.The levels of the water of the Lake ranged from seven feet deep in the summer to provide ample room for boaters and swimmers to only four feet in the winter as a safety measure should anyone fall through the ice.While the popularity of ice skating waned in the later part of the century, it never completely fell out of fashion and remained a wintertime draw for the park, albeit one contingent on the fickle nature of New York weather. In 1949, philanthropist Kate Wollman donated $600,000 toward construction of a new kind of “artificial rink” to be built in Central Park. The Parks Department publicity materials stated that the rink guaranteed access to safe skating for New Yorkers “who have been deprived of the pleasure of regular, uninterrupted outdoor ice skating throughout the winter half year because of vagaries of our climate.” Created as a memorial to her parents and four brothers, Wollman Rink opened at the south end of the park in 1950. More than 300,000 visitors arrived in the first year and by 1953 the rink had welcomed its one millionth skater. Noted for its vast size of approximately 31,000 square feet, the rink required over sixteen miles of 1 ¼ inch wrought-iron pipe for construction.
Wollman Memorial Skating Rink, Central Park, 1960. Mayor Wagner Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.In addition to Wollman Rink, Central Park is also home to the Lasker Rink and Pool located at the northern end of the park near the Harlem Meer. Named for its major benefactor Loula Davis Lasker, a philanthropist and social worker, who donated $600,000 to help build the rink in 1961, the skating rink opened in 1966 and is converted into a public swimming pool during the summer months.
MORE SHOPPING OPPORTUNITIES THIS WEEK
Find some artistic bargains this and next weekend at Gallery RIVAA
More great shopping next weekend!!!
Annual RiHS Rivercross Display Window Revealed
Our three bears are all snuggled up under a Roosevelt Island tapestry throw.
All our critters are gathering uder the dramatic forest
Time to think of Chanukah gifts
Chanukah starts on the evening of Dec. 25th.
Our cuddle critters are swinging from the swag
You never know where a sloth will pop up
Our tree is ready for gifts beneath
SHOP THE KIOSK THIS WEEKEND 12 NOON TO 5 PM
JULIA GASH ROOSEVELT ISLAND PORCELAIN ORNAMENT $20-
JULIA GASH EXCLUSIVE DESIGN NOTE CARDS 10 PACK $18-
JULIA GASH ROOSEVELT ISLAND TOTE $22-
JULIA GASH ROOSEVELT ISLAND BABY BIB $20-
KIDS BOOKS LONELY PLANET TRAINS, LONELY PLANET AIRPORTS $ 10- 100 FIRST WORDS LITTLE NEW YORKERS, LITTLE GENIUSES $10- ZOOM! BEEP! VROOM! $11-
ADULT BOOKS IMAGES AMERICA ROOSEVELT ISLAND, QUEENSBORO BRIDGE, LONG ISLAND CITY $25- DAMNATION ISLAND $18- ZINES MANDY CHOI, SHEEP IN THE CITY $ 6-
NELLIE BLY’S TEN DAYS IN A MAD-HOUSE $12-
OUR COLORING BOOK IS BACK $10-
CREDITS
This blog is adapted from the Municipal Archives’ forthcoming publication, The Central Park, Original Designs for New York’s Greatest Treasure.
The book is now available for pre-order from the publisher, Abrams Books:
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 a young student in 1975, Richard Marc Sakols ventured to the Manhattan‘s Lower East Side to explore the neighborhood where his grandmother was born.
His photos of the Eldridge Street Synagogue showcase the precarious state of the building, then in disrepair after years of neglect, and provide a glimpse into the earliest efforts to preserve its legacy.
By the 1970s, much of the Lower East Side’s Jewish population had moved away and more recent arrivals, notably from Latin America and China, along with a bevy of young artists drawn by low rents, ushered in a new chapter of the neighborhood’s story.
The photographs of Lower East Side, 1975 shed light on this cultural moment.
The Museum at Eldridge Street, which is housed in the historic 1887 Eldridge Street Synagogue, is presenting “Lower East Side, 1975: Portrait of a Changing Jewish Neighborhood,” an exhibition featuring never-before-seen photographs of the Lower East Side by Richard Marc Sakols.
On Tuesday, December 3, 2024, from 6 until 8 pm, the Museum will host an exhibition opening featuring an informal talk by the photographer.
The ticket price which includes Museum admission, is “Pay-What-You-Wish.” You can get tickets here.
Find some artistic bargains this and next weekend at Gallery RIVAA
More great shopping next weekend!!!
Annual RIHS Rivercross Display Window Revealed
Our three bears are all snuggled up under a Roosevelt Island tapestry throw.
All our critters are gathering uder the dramatic forest
Time to think of Chanukah gifts
Chanukah starts on the evening of Dec. 25th.
Our cuddle critters are swinging from the swag
You never know where a sloth will pop up
Our tree is ready for gifts beneath
SHOP THE KIOSK THIS WEEKEND 12 NOON TO 5 PM
JULIA GASH TAPESTRY THROW IS BACK!! $75-
JULIA GASH ROOSEVELT ISLAND PORCELAIN ORNAMENT $20-
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.
Annual tree lighting this evening at the Blackwell Lawn (Photo Rooseveltislander blogspot)
Stop into the warm and comfy
Find some artistic bargains this and next weekend at Gallery RIVAA
Annual RIHS Rivercross Display Window Revealed
Our three bears are all snuggled up under a Roosevelt Island tapestry throw.
All our critters are gathering under the dramatic forest
Time to think of Chanukah gifts
Chanukah starts on the evening of Dec. 25th.
Our cuddle critters are swinging from the swag
You never know where a sloth will pop up
Our tree is ready for gifts beneath
SHOP THE KIOSK THIS WEEKEND 12 NOON TO 5 PM
JULIA GASH TAPESTRY THROW IS BACK!! $75-
JULIA GASH ROOSEVELT ISLAND PORCELAIN ORNAMENT $20-
JULIA GASH EXCLUSIVE DESIGN NOTE CARDS 10 PACK $18-
JULIA GASH ROOSEVELT ISLAND TOTE $22-
JULIA GASH ROOSEVELT ISLAND BABY BIB $10-
KIDS BOOKS LONELY PLANET TRAINS, LONELY PLANET AIRPORTS $ 10- 100 FIRST WORDS LITTLE NEW YORKERS, LITTLE GENIUSES $10- ZOOM! BEEP! VROOM! $11-
ADULT BOOKS IMAGES AMERICA ROOSEVELT ISLAND, QUEENSBORO BRIDGE, LONG ISLAND CITY $25- DAMNATION ISLAND $18- ZINES MANDY CHOI, SHEEP IN THE CITY $ 6-
NELLIE BLY’S TEN DAYS IN A MAD-HOUSE $12-
OUR COLORING BOOK IS BACK $10-
SQUEEZE TAXI $5- SMALL, $8- SMALL
NOTHING IS BETTER
GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL ALL DRESSED UP FOR THE HOLIDAYS
CREDITS FOR WINDOW DECOR
JUDITH BERDY GLORIA HERMAN SHEILA WALSH
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 a young student in 1975, Richard Marc Sakols ventured to the 
