The Queens-bound F train platform of Delancey and Essex Street Station features three cherry tree murals as well as several smaller cherry mosaics. Created in 2004 by the Shanghai-born and New York City-based sculptor Ming Fay, “Delancey Orchard” glass mosaic is an allusion to the farm land that once belonged to a Loyalist family.
Up until the Revolutionary War, the family owned a 300-acre farm which stretched from the East River to the Hudson (having sided with the British during the Revolutionary War, James’s assets were confiscated by the authorities).
Located on what is today Orchard Street, the pride of the Delancey farm was a cherry grove. When the property was divided up among smaller landowners who were eager to remove all reminders of a British past, the orchard was destroyed.
There are other memories of a cherry culture. In the midst of the Inwood neighborhood, surrounded by towering apartment block at the corner of Broadway and 204th Street, stands a two-story Dyckman Farmhouse Museum that was built in 1784 by William Dyckman. Family members too took pride in their orchards (a cherry tree in the backyard may be a survivor from the original fruit garden). The dark “Dyckman Cherry” was a sought after species in its day.
Today, there are plenty of reminders of Manhattan’s passion for cherries (including a classic cocktail). The history of the fruit’s introduction and cultivation runs parallel to the city’s foundation and expansion.
Cherry Cultivation
Sweet cherries originated in the fertile lands of the region between the Black and Caspian Seas and were most likely brought to Europe by birds. Mentioned by Theophrastus in his History of Plants (3rd century BC), the author claims that the Greeks had been the first to grow cherries.
The Romans continued the tradition by cultivating the fruit on a larger scale. Their conquering armies brought trees with them to newly occupied territories; by the first century AD cherries were grown throughout Europe.
Early production was limited to personal consumption or local trade. One of the first known commercial cherry orchards was established in the Rhine Valley in the fourteenth century. By the sixteenth century farmers in the Low Countries were praised for their agricultural expertise.
As early as 1556 physician Gheraert Vorselman published Eenen nyeuwen coock boeck (A New Cook Book), the earliest Dutch compilation to include recipes for salads and vegetable dishes. Fruit was widely available, but cherries remained a symbol of wealth and privilege. It was not until the Renaissance that they became more widely available.
Throughout the seventeenth century the Dutch and Flemish enjoyed the reputation of being the best-fed populations in Europe. Domestically they produced a rich diet of bread, butter, cheese, fruit and vegetables. Techniques of preserving food were also well advanced. Settlers from the Low Countries in Manhattan brought with them the experience of growing fruit and veg as well as a passion for gardening.
The first colonials in the region were transient traders, not home makers. Actual settlement did not begin until Peter Minuit acquired Manhattan Island, but frequent hostile confrontations prevented land management until Peter Stuyvesant took over as Governor in 1647. According to records of that year, the latter planted an apple tree brought over from the Netherlands on the corner of what is now Third Avenue and 13th Street.
Stuyvesant was a farmer and a soldier. In 1651 he purchased the land from the West India Company (WIC) that would become known as the Stuyvesant Farm or Great Bowery. He did not live there until the English took possession of New Amsterdam in 1664. Having retired from politics, Peter devoted his energy to agriculture.
Using slave labor, his orchards and gardens were well kept according to contemporary accounts. Part of the original purchase, mainly along the Bowery and Fourth Avenue, remained in the hands of Governor’s descendants until the death of Peter Winthrop Rutherfurd Stuyvesant in 1970.
Cherries in New Amsterdam
In 1622, a resident of Amsterdam named Nicolaes Van Wassenaer began to publish (at intervals) a Historisch verhael (historical account) of events in New Netherland. His reports were based on facts supplied by officials of the WIC, communications from settlers in the colony, and rumors that were spread by sailors and former Company employees.
In December 1624, Van Wassenaer reported on the abundance of edibles in the colony, including plants and wild fruit. He made one specific exception: “Cherries are not found there.”
Sweet cherry cultivation in North America began at some time after the arrival of Europeans. Early settlers brought cherry pits with them to plant in their gardens. Cherry trees appeared in the settlements of Virginia and Massachusetts and they were a feature in the gardens of French newcomers in their Midwestern outposts.
The Dutch introduced cherries to New Netherland. One of the earliest instances of their cultivation was recorded in the Hudson Valley during the late 1600s.
There are two versions on the origin of the names Cherry Hill and Cherry Street (established in colonial times to run from the intersection of Pearl Street and Frankfort Street in Lower Manhattan).
Born in Amsterdam in August 1611 into a family of Huguenot descent (the French name was Prévost), David Provoost made his first journey to New Netherland in 1624 as a thirteen year old, two years before the island of Manhattan was purchased from Native Americans. He returned in April 1639, a married man working in various diplomatic functions for Governor Willem Kieft and the WIC.
Provoost was the original grantee of a considerable parcel of land in New Amsterdam. Having cleared the land, he built a farm house near the East River shore at a point which is believed to be in the interior of the block between the modern Pearl and Water Streets, Dover Street and Peck Slip.
There he created a small orchard that was long remembered as the “Cherry Garden.” Although Provoost later moved to Long Island (he died in Breukelen = Brooklyn; his grandson was the 24th Mayor of New York; his great grandson became the city’s first Bishop), his orchard was commemorated when the area was given the name Cherry Hill.
Other historians argue that Cherry Street was named for the seven-acre orchard that was owned by Goovert Loockermans, a wealthy merchant who was a representative of the Amsterdam trading firm Gillis Verbrugge & Company in the 1660s.
Loockermans was said to produce the best cherries in town. The orchard was lost in 1672 when his heirs sold the land for sixty dollars to the brewer Richard Sackett who turned the land into a beer garden and bowling-green known locally as Sackett’s Orchard.
Cherry Street Elite
By the second half of the eighteenth century Cherry Hill was becoming a fashionable area that attracted both moneyed families and entrepreneurs.
In 1786, Founding Father and merchant John Hancock had moved into the property at 10 Cherry Street; New York City’s first Governor DeWitt Clinton resided nearby on Pearl Street. In April 1818 clothing retailers Brooks Brothers opened their first shop there.
The residence at 7 Cherry Street, the home of Samuel Leggett (1782-1847, President of the New York Gas Company), was the first house illuminated with gas lamps in 1825. Close by stood fashionable Franklin Square, a chosen hub of the city’s elite lawyers and financiers.
The trend to settle in the area had been set by Walter Franklin, a Quaker merchant and importer of goods from China and the South Seas who had been actively involved in the American Revolution, first as a member of the Committee of One Hundred (opposing the laws of the British Parliament) and then as a representative of the first New York Provincial Congress (formed in 1775).
Having amassed a fortune, Franklin retired from business and built an elegant Georgian style mansion at the northeast corner of Pearl and Cherry Streets. Erected in 1770, it was considered to be one of the finest homes in the city. He subsequently married a young Quaker “milkmaid” by the name of Maria Bowne. The couple had two daughters.
Walter died in June 1780. When some six years later Maria remarried Samuel Osgood, a Massachusetts politician and lawyer who had recently settled in the city of New York, the family continued living in the Cherry Street Mansion (the pair needed the space as they would have six more children).
Osgood had fought his way through the Revolution, having participated in the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775. He also saw action during the Siege of Boston. By the end of the war he had attained the rank of Colonel. In 1785 he moved to New York to take on the position of Commissioner of the Treasury. Walter Franklin’s mansion became known as Osgood House.
Presidential Palace
On April 14, 1789, the Electoral College informed George Washington at Mount Vernon that he had been unanimously elected First President of the United States. Nine days later he arrived in New York, then the nation’s capital, for his inauguration. It was Washington’s first trip to the city since the end of the Revolutionary War and he was given a hero’s welcome as both a victorious General and newly-elected President.
For the triumphal voyage a special barge had been constructed with thirteen oars on both sides (dressed in white, all oarsmen under command of coxswain Thomas Randall were New York pilots). Thousands of people packed the waterfront between the Battery and Wall Street to greet the barge on arrival. Governor George Clinton met the President as he landed at Murray’s Wharf.
In preparation for his arrival in Manhattan, Congress had made considerable effort to find a suitable property that would serve as “Presidential Palace” (the term remained in circulation until the White House was built).
They finally agreed on the lease of Osgood House. Housing the President, his family and household staff, 1 Cherry Street became the first seat of the federal government’s executive branch.
It was from here that in October 1789 the President penned his first Thanksgiving proclamation, setting aside – as a cherry on the cake – a Thursday each November as a national holiday.
It soon became clear that the Cherry Street mansion was too small to function both as a Presidential residence and a workplace. When Comte de Moustier, French Minister to the United States, vacated the large four-story Alexander Macomb mansion at 39/41 Broadway on his return to France, the property was made available to the Washington family and staff. They moved into their new residence in February 1790.
Osgood House was demolished in 1856. In spite of its historical pedigree, the district had by then changed dramatically and devolved into a neighborhood of overcrowded tenements, paralleling the decline of nearby Five Points. Quaker John Franklin had initiated the rise of Cherry Street. The name of another Friend is associated with its demise.
In 1850/1 a “model tenement” named Gotham Court was opened at 38 Cherry Street. It comprised two rows of six tenement blocks, each five stories high, standing back to back. The complex was built by the Quaker philanthropist Silas Wood for the purpose of improving the life of local residents and immigrants who occupied dreadful “rookeries” in the district. It did not stop the area’s rapid decline.
In 1862, a sanitary official reported rampant infectious disease and high child mortality in the properties. Jacob Riis in How the Other Half Lives (1890) described Gotham Court as one of the “worst tenements along the East River.”
For Riis, the block stood as a symbol of Manhattan’s squalid living conditions. The court was demolished seven years after publication of his book; the rest of the area would follow. Cherry Hill was erased from the map. In its place would rise the Alfred E. Smith Houses.
ON ASCENTION REMEMBERING THOSE BURIED ON HART ISLAND
ON THIS HOLIDAY, MAY 29TH, A GROUP OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY REMEMBER THOSE BURIED ON HART ISLAND AT THE MUNICIPAL CEMETERY. THIS YEAR THE WEATHER DID NOT PERMIT THE SERVICE TO BE HELD ON THE ISLAND. IT WAS HELD AT GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH ON CITY ISLAND.
Hart Island in the mist, just 5 minutes from City Island
Grace Episcopal Church is a lovely landmark on City Island
The Chapel’s stained glass window celebrates those who went to sea in this waterfront community.
Canon Kevin Maroney who celebrated the memorial service.
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CREDITS
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Stephen Catullo’s dedication as CEO of Coler for 40 months has left an indelible mark.
Arriving during the pandemic’s end, he and his staff tirelessly worked to engage residents in planning and implementing facility improvements. Projects included new bed curtains, overbed tables, nightstands, and more, directly benefiting residents.
Coler has specialties including short term rehabilitation, memory care units, nursing home and palliative care.
Hallways were transformed with fresh paint and lighting, bringing vibrant colors to previously drab walls. Every project involved collaboration between residents and staff, enhancing patient care and inspiring new ideas.
The wall display proudly lists numerous achievements, including vital infrastructure upgrades to meet current safety standards.
Stephen Catullo will be missed, but his legacy of continuous improvement will help Coler maintain its 5-star CMA Nursing Home status.
Mr. Catullo hosted a thank you for staff today, recognizing that all achievements could not be made without team efforts and management support.
An award went to departments, leaders, and individuals for making ‘Coler is the Place to be.’ The Therapeutic Recreation Department staff has provided exceptional programs, activities, and entertainment for all resident units.
Jovemay Santos, Director of Therapeutic Recreation and Judith Berdy stand before a wall of achievements.
COLER WANTS YOU!
Coler is always in need of volunteers. Two areas are the Auxiliary, the fund raising organization who raises money to support activivities that the hospital cannot pay for such special events, providing holiday gits and tours and amenities. The Community Advisory Board meets monthly with Administration and Department heads to discuss issues and the operation of the facility.
A while back Coler and the community were shown images of a 10 foot wall and berm that was planned to surround Coler to protect it from future flooding. After an outcry from Coler residents and islanders the project went to back to the drawing board. To date no revised plan has been disclosed. Is that good or bad news?
UPPER LEVEL AS I WAS ENTRANCED BY THE IRONWORK
DO YOU REMEMBER THE TOKEN BOOTHS AT THE TRAM STATIONS?
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As Memorial Day approaches, we are looking back at a 1923 plan for a never-built war memorial in Central Park. In November 1918, at the close of the First World War, Mayor John H. Hylan created the Committee on Permanent War Memorial, which was tasked with producing a plan for an appropriate monument. In 1923, a design from landscape architect Thomas Hastings of the firm Carrère and Hastings was accepted by the Committee and presented in a report to the Mayor and the Board of Estimate. A copy of this publication (see below) is housed in the Municipal Library.
The plan, which was approved by the Department of Plants and Structures, the Art Commission, and the Department of Parks, called for a permanent memorial in Central Park between 79th and 86th Streets on the 37-acre site of the lower reservoir of the Old Croton system, which had been superseded by the Catskill Water System (see map below).
The Report of the Mayor’s Committee on Permanent War Memorial, Plate I: General Map of the Central Park, New York City. NYC Municipal Library.
Along with removing the reservoir walls, the plan called for a long lagoon bordered by trees on either side, “similar to the one in the Mall in Washington, which leads to the new Lincoln Memorial.” The monument itself would be reflected in the water approach and feature statues representing allegorical or historical features of the “Great War,” along with war relics and inscriptions (see below).
The Report of the Mayor’s Committee on Permanent War Memorial, Plate VI: Perspective of Lagoon and Memorial. NYC Municipal Library.
Though $300,000 was initially allocated by the Board of Estimate under Mayor Hylan, the project met with a storm of protest from civic groups opposed to any encroachment of public park space. By 1927, the new Mayor, Jimmy Walker, rescinded the former allotment in a cost-cutting measure, and the plan stalled completely. The space that had been designated for the war memorial is now occupied by the Great Lawn and Turtle Pond.
Lauren Gilbert is Director of the Municipal Library.
THE VIEW FROM THE TINTED ROOF OF A TESLA WHILE STUCK IN TRAFFIC ON THE 59th ST. BRIDGE
UPPER LEVEL AS I WAS ENTRANCED BY THE IRONWORK
DO YOU REMEMBER THE STRECKER LAB IN 1999?
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All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
NEW MAGNET & STICKER ON SALE AT THE R.I.H.S. KIOSK $5- EACH
Saluting the Women of W.A.V.E.S.
NEW YORK HISTORICAL BLOG Friday-Monday May 23-26, 2025 ISSUE #1456
Women’s Work: W.A.V.E.S. Officer’s Uniform on display, July 2023
Happy Women’s History Month! Today, the Center for Women’s History marks the occasion by honoring the women who have served this country as members of the armed services.
This W.A.V.E.S. uniform, which was featured in our past exhibition Women’s Work, was worn by Naval Ensign Mary Jane Natto, who was among the 75,000 women who joined the US war effort during World War II. W.A.V.E.S., or “Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services,” was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the war as women were barred from enlisting in the Navy. As was the case in previous armed conflicts, World War II opened doors for women to join professions not previously accessible to them. W.A.V.E.S. officers worked stateside in jobs including clerical work, mechanics, computer programing, engineering, and air traffic control, replacing men stationed ashore who were now able to join the war effort overseas. But not everyone was welcomed.
Like the rest of the armed forces, the Navy was racially segregated at the onset of World War II. Black women who tried to enlist as volunteers for W.A.V.E.S. were denied. However, in 1944, mounting pressure from the NAACP, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and government officials resulted in the acceptance of two African Americans enlistees, Harriet Pickens and Frances Wills. Pickens and Wills were fully integrated into the service, unlike their male counterparts who remained segregated in the Navy until after the war.
Naval Photographic Center. “Lt.(jg.) Harriet Ida Pickens and Ens. Frances Wills, first Negro Waves to be commissioned. They were members of the final graduating class at Naval Reserve Midshipmen’s School (WR) Northampton, MA.” 1944. Courtesy of the National Archives
When W.A.V.E.S. was first established, enlisted women needed both summer and winter uniforms. In 1942, Josphine Ogden Forrestal, a Vogue editor and wife of the Navy undersecretary, suggested that the Chicago-born Mainbocher (Main Rousseau Bocher, 1891–1976) design the uniforms. Mainboucher had become well-known some years earlier for designing the dress worn by American socialite Wallis Simpson at her 1937 wedding to the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII of England. (The event generated extraordinary levels of press interest because Edward had chosen to abdicate the throne the year prior, in order to marry Simpson.) Mainbocher’s design was so famous that its specific shade of blue—chosen by Mainbocher to match Simpson’s eye color—became widely known as “Wallis Blue.”
Mainbocher closed his couture salon in Paris and moved to New York before the United States entered the war effort. He charged the Navy one dollar for his work designing the W.A.V.E.S. uniforms, including this lightweight cotton summer version. It incorporates nautical influences, like the white and navy stripes, but overall, the design of the dress is simple, reflecting Mainbocher’s American sensibility of understated elegance and practicality.
Mainbocher for the U.S. Navy. W.A.V.E.S. Officer’s jacket and purse, 1942–46. Cotton, plastic, leather, synthetic fabric, metal. The New York Historical, Gift of Miss Mary Jane Natto, 1946.58b, d.
The uniforms garnered excited media attention and highlighted the significant contribution of women to the war effort. They also offered ordinary Americans the chance to be dressed by a world-renowned designer. (Of course, Mainbocher was not the only American designer to use his talent for the war effort: in 1942, his contemporary Claire McCardell designed the uniform for the women’s Civilian Defense Organization, also housed in our permanent collection. You can read more about her in an earlier post.)
W.A.V.E.S. was disbanded in 1948 when the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act allowed women to serve in the Navy and the other armed services. In a 2023 ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the Act, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III remarked that if the US wanted to remain the best fighting force in the world, “The only way to make that happen is by drawing on the talents of all of our people, and not just men.”
A LETTER FROM JAY JACOBSON “GOOD NIIGHT AND GOOD LUCK”
We took out a new mortgage on our Rcrx home, and bought two tickets for last night’s performance of Good Night, and Good Luck! It was an extraordinary evening. I’m not exactly a novice at going to the theater, but this is the first (!!) time in my life that I didn’t have a paper ticket in my pocket. The ticket was on my phone. Pat will confirm that I was fidgety beyond belief as I prepared for the evening. Would I be able to locate the squiggly CR drawings, or would they evanesce as so many other items on my laughingly ancient phone have done? If, in fact, squiggly drawings materialized on my phone, would they be accepted by the theater staff? We arrived at the Winter Garden theater a few minutes after 6:00 pm for a 7:00 pm curtain. There was a line, of course, but as we were panting after the three block walk from the subway, one of the theater security people took immediate pity on the elderly and put us in a second “you’re not really a VIP line”. After catching my breath from our three block hike, I brought up the squiggly stuff on my phone, but I still wasn’t sure that they’d let us in. Finally, I screwed my courage up to ask one of the theater people managing the growing line if the squiggly stuff on my phone was a ticket for last night’s performance. He said, “Yes”. My sigh of relief startled Pat.
Oh, sure! You want to know about the play! We entered the enormous Winter Garden theater, negotiated a hearing device, and were directed to Aisle 4 and our seats. We found our way down towards the front of the theater. Way down to the front of the theater! We were four rows off the stage and at the absolute extreme end of the row! Absolute End of the Row! The good news is that my feet could stick out in aisle 4. The bad news is that we had only a partial view of the stage! We were so early, we sat alone in our row of seats for about thirty minutes.
During that waiting time, Pat began to recall how, in her days working for Chet Bowles as Under Secretary of State, she had several times met and worked with Edward R. Murrow. She remembered that Murrow’s voice was one with which she had become familiar during his broadcasts from London during WW II, and then on CBS Radio during the Eisenhower years. A nugget which she recalled was that Murrow’s aide was Tom Sorensen, brother to JFK’s aide Ted Sorensen. While Murrow was well-known and there was some White House concern that he would be a showboat in the State Department, Pat recalled that he was effective, diligent, and very much a team player. I began to wonder if we could use those memories to score a chance to go backstage after the performance, but decided not even to try.
The play was terrific. Clooney had never before done Broadway theater, but the audience (many of whom were senior citizens) was familiar with him. More than a few of the play’s lines sound like they are being uttered on daily newscasts today. The story is eerily current; the parallel between Joe McCarthy, always the “junior” senator from Wisconsin, and current administration is too clear to ignore.
We understand that Good Night, and Good Luck is being televised on CNN on the night of June 7th. We’re going to watch it again!
Regards, Jay Jacobson
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NEW-YORK HISTORICAL BLOG Keren Ben-Horin is The New York Historical’s Curatorial Scholar in Women’s History
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Covered barges were once heavily employed in the New York port areas to lighter (i.e., load, transport, and offload) various non-bulk, perishable cargoes from and to ship or shore.
There is uncertainty regarding the evolution covered barges, but similar to other barge types by the late nineteenth century the covered lighter barge was predominantly scow hulled (flat-bottomed, with raking ends. Using either a stanchion or bulkhead hull system, the barge featured a one-story structure or shed covering most of the deck, with all cargo carried on deck.
Often barn sided, two large sliding doors opened port and starboard when cargo was handled over the gangway. A hatch at the margin of the roof allowed for vertical hoisting of goods when possible.
Vents positioned at each end of the shed (attached to large ice bins) provided refrigeration for perishable items. Filled with ice through hatches in the roof, the vents circulated cool air top and bottom. When necessary, a stove, installed in the center of the shed, circulated warm, dry air.
Some companies preferred centered penthouse cabins over the usual stern counterpart. The higher elevation permitted a 360-degree view of surroundings and, perhaps more importantly, wasted no cargo space.
Some covered barges featured hoisting gear. A single mast with booms rose above the center of the deck house. Part of the rooftop cabin accommodated a steam-, or later, oil-or gasoline-powered winch.
Many captains lived on board with their families; the size of the cabin varied from a shed to a family’s permanent residence. Besides providing extra security, night-time operations (towing, moving, loading, etc.) required the captain’s presence.
Of 208 un-rigged boats owned by one company in 1918, 89 housed families with children ages one through 10, 71 had captains and their wives, and 48 had captains living alone on the boat.
Living conditions on board no doubt varied, but general descriptions mention crowded, damp, foul-smelling rooms. “The general impression given is that of dirt and disorder,” one observer reported in 1918.
Some companies tried to accommodate their employees if possible, providing stoves, furniture, etc., while others provided nothing at all. One company (200 un-rigged boats) provided nothing for its employees.
As a vessel type, the wooden-hulled, covered barge is well documented; numerous plans exist, several examples along waterfronts have been extensively recorded.
Replaced in time by steel covered barges, the last wooden-hulled covered barges were built in the 1950s.
A barge variation, the A-frame crane barge was most likely adapted from mid-to late nineteenth-century shore-based lifting equipment such as the stiff leg. These towed cranes were employed in ship salvage, dock and pier construction, and repair and cargo transfers. The cranes and hoisting machinery are situated atop scow hulls.
Builders also developed several types of scows capable of dumping garbage and dredge spoil at sea, or depositing breakwater/shoreline extension fill. Of the types that were developed, including the hopper barge, the side-dumping scow, and the hinged scow, the hopper barge was the most common, possibly due to its functional design.
Plans of a 1927 six-pocket (hopper) dump scow (a hopper barge) show that instead of a raked bow and stern seen on a typical scow, the hopper barge has curved ends forming one-quarter or a circle from the keel to deck.
Another dump scow type was the side-dump scow. Similar in hull configuration to the basic scow, it had bulkheads similar to those of a rock scow. It differed from both in that its deck was not level, but rather sloped downward 45 degrees on either side of the longitudinal centerline between the end bulkheads.
This sloped deck was divided into sections by additional transverse bulkheads, with the “cargo” held in place and later released by bay doors at the base of the sloped deck.
The Derrick or Stick Lighter
Open-decked derrick lighters were employed in New York port areas to lighter (i.e., load, transport, and offload) various cargoes from and to ship or shore. Early stick lighters, as they became popularly known, likely because of prominent timber masts and cargo booms, had boat-shaped hulls, pointed bows, and elliptical sterns.
There is uncertainty regarding an association between this configuration and lighters or sailing craft, but by the late nineteenth century the derrick lighters were predominantly scow hulled.
We do know that the advent of the steam tow was a significant impetus in the use, acceptance, and profusion of this vessel type, the combination of the steam tow and barges making the sailing lighter uneconomical and thus contributing to its demise.
The employment of the scow hull for this vessel type, as seen on so many of the later barges and work platforms, may have been associated with the economic practicality in building this type of hull (i.e., less boat-building craftsmanship, fewer curved timbers), as well as its proven functional aspects.
The derrick lighter had a single sturdy timber mast stepped in one of two locations, either in the center of the deck or at the stern just in front of a small crew cabin. If the mast rested aft, only one cargo boom pointed forward. In the former case, there would be two cargo booms, one pointing forward and one pointing aft.
The cargo booms were usually rigged like a sailing ship’s fixed gaff in the central mast configuration. Fitted with wooden jaws to allow lateral swinging, and held at a constant angle by fixed wire topping lifts, they would be positioned about three-quarters of the way up the mast.
The masts measured around 50 feet in height. In the central mast arrangement, the boat had two lighter masts at the bow and stern just forward of the cabin. Three masts around 20 feet high had sheaves mounted near their tops for lines used in hoisting the ends of a tarpaulin used in the protection of cargo.
In 1985, Norman Brouwer recorded the intact derrick lighter L.V.R.R. No. 462, grounded at Edgewater, New Jersey. The boat, built at Mariner’s Harbor, Staten Island in 1926, measured 104.5 feet in length, 32 feet in breadth, 7.8 feet depth of hull.
A large winch house stood on deck aft, with mast and boom positioned directly in front of the house. The largest openings in the deck, small rectangular hatches, provided access and ventilation.
A system of longitudinal bulkheads and timber pillars linked by crossed diagonal timber braces supported the deck. The derrick barge had more diagonal braces at the side rather than natural knees. A continuous row of windows spanned the front of the deck house.
The cabin measured 6 feet 2 inches across the windows, 14 feet 9 inches at the side of the deckhouse ande featured tongue-and-groove details.
Later derrick lighters were fitted with steel A-frames and steel booms in place of their wooden counterparts. The wooden scow hull was eventually replaced with a steel barge hull, retaining its steel A-fame.
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Historical styles dominated 19th-century architecture in the United States. American architecture, like the country itself, was young and wanted to connect to European historical styles that brought sophistication and cultural status to the new edifices of the United States. American vernacular architecture was made of wood—and to many, American architecture was anything but cosmopolitan. Among the most popular styles was the Classical revival which reinterpreted the forms of Greek and Roman architecture. The adaptation of Egyptian architecture, especially obelisks, as funerary markers and memorials was also widespread. Americans were used to seeing banks and financial buildings modeled on the ancient Parthenon, libraries that recalled the Pantheon, or an obelisk celebrating the legacy of a president, like George Washington.
There was also a limited revival of the architecture of the ancient Near East, which many scholars today call ancient Western Asia. In late 19th-century and early 20th-century New York City, the use of historical styles was often about finding a way to stand out from the crowd, to distinguish one’s building, business, or restaurant. These styles were exotic and different. The reception—the reinterpretation and adaptation—of ancient Assyria and ancient Western Asia enjoyed a brief moment of popularity in New York City, as we can see in four such buildings.
In the early 20th century, newly minted millionaires flocked to expensive, late-night establishments known as Lobster Palaces, where lobster and champagne were served after the theater. These restaurants competed with each other for deep-pocketed clients by creating over-the-top interiors.
One of these Lobster Palaces known as Café de l’Opéra (at Broadway and Forty-Second Street) was remodeled in 1909. Its new décor reinterpreted and combined designs, art, and architecture from Assyria, Babylon, and Achaemenid Persian in one large mash-up of motifs from ancient Western Asia. According to The Architects’ and Builders’ Magazine, “Khorsbad (sic) or Perseopolis (sic) or an ancient Persian Tomb” inspired the main dining room which had three stories of seating around a central court with a fountain, whose central feature was a Mesopotamian ziggurat topped with an illuminated orb, tucked inside a pavilion supported by black marble columns. The capitals of these columns, rather than being decorated with Assyrian motifs, were actually replicas of the Achaemenid Persian bull capitals from the audience hall (apadana) of the palace of Darius I at Susa.
Postcard of the Grand Staircase, Café de l’Opéra (photo: author)
Painted lions, a central motif in the palaces of ancient Iraq and Iran, adorned the balcony landing. The monumental staircase was carpeted and flanked by pairs of gilded lions and colossal lamassuthat rose to the balconies and upper floors, which TheNew York Times reported “was modeled after the famous staircase in the Temple of Persepolis.” A reproduction of the 1891 painting The Fall of Babylon by the French painter Georges Rochegrosse covered the lofty side wall of the main dining room. There was little interest in archaeological accuracy—rather the appeal of these exotic motifs was that they were historical and melodramatic. These design choices were also full of implied debauchery, which was very appropriate considering that Lobster Palaces were often establishments where men took their mistresses while their wives were tucked up at home on Long Island or the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
These interiors played directly into many of the American and European stereotypical views of the Middle East or Western Asia as exotic, sensual, and sexualized. They embodied the inaccurate but powerful Oriental fantasies that Americans and Europeans created in their art and literature starting in the 19th century. While these motifs were highly original, the service at Café de l’Opéra was subpar (the food often arrived cold) and the dress was too formal. It soon went out of business despite its unique décor.
The ziggurat, the stepped pyramid of ancient Western Asia, was a natural inspiration for New York’s skyscrapers. In his 1929 book The Metropolis of Tomorrow, the delineator and architectural illustrator Hugh Ferris noted the ziggurat (which he identified as Assyrian) embodied the New York zoning law of 1916. This law required that buildings have setbacks to allow light and air to circulate and reach the ground level. As a result, skyscrapers built in a step-pyramid style were incredibly popular. Ferris’s confusion suggests that archaeological accuracy and knowledge was not as important as in other receptions of ancient Assyrian art and architecture. That said, modern ziggurats dotted New York City’s skyline
130 West 30th Street (1927–28)
Setbacks and ziggurat shape at 130 West 30th Street, New York (photo: author)
Between 1927 and 1928, Cass Gilbert was hired to design a loft building at 130 West 30th Street. While commercial lofts were designed with utility in mind, their exterior aesthetics could help distinguish them from other buildings. Hiring Cass Gilbert, who had designed the famous Woolworth Building and countless other masterpieces, was another way for the developer to attract tenants in the competitive landscape of Manhattan’s garment district. One Hundred Thirty West 30th Street had architectural setbacks, as required by the 1916 zoning law, which gave the building a ziggurat-like appearance. Glazed terracotta friezes with mythical Neo-Hittite griffins and Syro-Hittite sphinxes decorated the building’s six setbacks. Lamashtu, a fearsome demon in ancient Mesopotamia, stood guard at some of the corners. These polychrome tiles and the setbacks differentiated the top of this building from its surroundings.
Main Entrance, 130 West 30th Street, New York (photo: author)
Over both the front and service entrances was the same terracotta relief of a hunting scene, with two male figures in a chariot shooting arrows at deer. The source for this relief is not those from the North-West palace of Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud, but rather, they are based on Neo-Hittite reliefs. The Louvre has a nearly identical scene from the kingdom of Milid (Malatya) in southeastern Anatolia and northern Syria dating from 1200 B.C.E. The ziggurat setbacks and Neo-Hittite sphinxes and griffins were unique in New York’s architectural landscape. The abstract aesthetic of the two-toned terracotta tiles and the building’s clean lines reflect the aesthetics of Art Deco, the artistic style that was emerging in the 1920s. Western Asian, Egyptian, and Minoan styles were already influencing Art Deco motifs and designs. The building feels undeniably more modern than skyscrapers that used historical styles.
Fred French Building (1927)
Ancient Assyrian art was used to decorate two other prominent New York City buildings: the Fred French Building and the Pythian Temple. Again, Assyrian motifs were intended to distinguish these buildings rather than to be archaeologically accurate. Between 1925 and 1927, the property developer Fred French erected his headquarters at 45th Street and Fifth Avenue. The diverse artistic traditions of ancient Western Asia inspired the Fred French building’s interesting top and setbacks, as well as bright polychrome terracottas and the decoration of the two lobbies and street-level façades.
Fred French’s in-house architect, H. Douglas Ives, worked with the firm Sloan & Robertson on the skyscraper. They adapted “Assyrian or Chaldean forms of ornament” for the flat surfaces of the building. For his design, Ives referenced the polychrome Tower of the Seven Planets, another name for the Tower of Babel, and observed that setbacks would permit planted terraces, like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Ives called the style “Mesopotamian,” although this seems to have been a catch-all for the use of architectural and artistic forms from ancient West Asia.
Faience reliefs and setbacks, Fred F. French Building, New York (photo: Tony Hisgett, CC-BY-2.0)
Colored tiles, which always had an important place in the architecture of ancient Western Asia, figured prominently here. On the north and south façades of the building’s top, there are identical polychrome faience reliefs that center on rising suns, which symbolize progress, flanked by winged griffins, symbolizing watchfulness and integrity. Separated from the sun and griffins by two Corinthian columns are two golden beehives, each surrounded by five bees, which have symbolized thrift and industry since antiquity. The reliefs, with their glossy and polychrome finish, helped the Fred French building to stand out in New York’s Midtown skyline during the day. At night, the building’s crown was illuminated, adding to its prominence in the cityscape. The head of Mercury, the Roman god of commerce, appears on the building’s eastern and western sides.
The 5th Avenue Entrance, Fred F. French Building, New York (photo: Chris Sampson, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
The building’s two lobbies and decorated façades are unique. The Fifth Avenue entrance featured lamassus and Pegasus (here mixing ancient Western Asian and Greek forms), as well as victory-like figures in the spandrels, that framed the door. The gilt-bronze doors are decorated with winged griffins, while Assyrian palmettes, lotus flowers, lions, chevron bands, merlons, winged bulls, and volutes adorned the Fifth Avenue lobby.Scaled-down double bull capitals inspired by the palace of Darius the Great in Susa were also included, as was a polychrome ceiling. The lobby and main entrance on 45th Street were similarly decorated.
The Pythian Temple (1927)
Designed by Thomas W. Lamb, the Pythian Temple (at 135 West 70th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues) is one of New York’s most original buildings and combines the artistic and architectural traditions of ancient Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt. Completed in 1927, the Pythian temple served as a lodge for the Knights of Pythias, a fraternal organization.
The main entrance is embellished with a golden inscription set against a black tile background and framed by two crowned asps, each with an ankh and two Egyptian-style vultures. Above the inscription there are polychrome terracotta tiles, evocative of Babylonian brickwork, and Egyptianizing plant motifs, where open and closed lotus leaves alternate. At the top, there was the inverted triangular, multi-color symbol of the Pythian Knights, flanked by two muscular griffins.
Entrance of the Pythian Temple, 135 West 70th Street, New York (photo: author)
Four massive columns flank the main entrance on each side. The capitals are composed of two bearded, male heads with headdresses that derive from male figures in ancient Assyrian sculptural reliefs. At the east and west ends of the building, there are pairs of lamassus. The building was converted into condominium apartments in 1982, the middle section of the building was completely remodeled and most of the details were removed. The upper third is divided into three levels with setbacks and draws heavily on Egyptian architectural and sculptural traditions. It includes four seated, polychrome statues of pharaohs based on the statues from the famous site of Abu Simbel, which Ramesses II erected in the mid-13th century B.C.E.
Architecture inspired by ancient Assyria and ancient Western Asia did not become wide-spread in New York or the United States. Rather in the first three decades of the 20th century, architects and patrons used exotic Assyrianizing and Neo-Hittite motifs and architecture strategically to help their skyscraper, restaurant, lodge, and a loft to stand out in New York’s competitive urban landscape.
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Lincoln Center Unveils Renderings for Western Side of Campus
I LOVE THE UPPER WEST SIDE
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
ISSUE #1453
Aerial view from Amsterdam Avenue looking east; visible is a new streetscape, gardens, and theater. Rendering by Brooklyn Digital Foundry.
It was about two years ago that Lincoln Center launched an initiative to make the Amsterdam Avenue side of its campus a bit more welcoming, and to “break down barriers, physical and otherwise, between Lincoln Center and local community and audiences.”
In March 2024, the performing arts organization announced it had hired designers for the job–Hood Design Studio, WEISS/MANFREDI, and Moody Nolan–who would soon “deliver a major revitalization, providing open space for New Yorkers and state-of-the-art performance areas for artists from across the globe.”
Now, Lincoln Center has released initial renderings of the campus in its future form, with construction set to begin next year.
One of the biggest changes will be the removal of the wall along Damrosch Park, which will be replaced by a series of open entrances to better connect the campus with its neighbors to the west. Sidewalk improvements and increased greenery will accompany these entrances, along with more benches and lighting.
View from Amsterdam Avenue looking into Damrosch Park; visible is new streetscape. Rendering by Brooklyn Digital Foundry.
“The new design eliminates the visual and physical barrier wall at Damrosch Park to create a more welcoming edge to the campus, to better serve close neighbors including residents of New York City Housing Authority campuses at Amsterdam Houses and Addition, students of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, and the five high schools at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Educational Complex,” a press release states.
View of SE corner of Amsterdam Avenue and 65th Street looking at New York Public Library for the Performing Arts with seating area and mirror façade. Rendering by Brooklyn Digital Foundry.
Plans also include new park space and a new outdoor theater. The park will feature a lawn, tree groves, and a water feature. The space will be open for everyday use and will also equipped to host events and performances.
View from within Damrosch Park looking west; visible is new water feature, lawn, and trees. Rendering by Brooklyn Digital Foundry.
The new outdoor theater will have room to fit up to 2,000 people, will be surrounded by new landscaping, and will feature a bar and a shaded overlook with tiered seating. The design of the permanent structure will “bring audiences closer to performances and to allow for use of the park during shows,” the press release states.
View of amphitheater and audience area during performance looking southeast towards 62nd Street. Rendering by Brooklyn Digital Foundry.Aerial view of amphitheater and audience area during performance, looking east. Rendering by Brooklyn Digital Foundry.View of plaza area in front of amphitheater, looking northeast towards Josie Robertson Plaza. Rendering by Brooklyn Digital Foundry
The cost of this project will be about $335 million. About 65% of that funding is already in place, with major support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation ($75 million), The Starr Foundation, and a $10 million contribution from New York State.
Lincoln Center says the project builds on recent efforts to make its campus more inclusive and accessible—like the renovation of David Geffen Hall and programming such as Summer for the City. They’re also planning a new NYCHA Neighbor Summer Pass to offer free performances to residents of nearby public housing.
The project is being developed alongside NYC Parks and the Department of Transportation. While Damrosch Park will stay a performance space, it’ll also gain new community features like shaded seating and misting areas for hot days.
More details are expected soon, including plans for lighting and art along the walkway that leads from Amsterdam Avenue to the 1 train.
Construction is slated to begin during spring 2026 and be complete by spring 2028.
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THE PART OF LINCOLN CENTER TO BE REINVENTED
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I LOVE THE UPPER WEST SIDE
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Looking south from the Great Lawn in Central Park, one can appreciate New York City’s transforming skyline: pencil-thin supertall skyscrapers, the product of creative air rights transfers and complex real estate negotiations. But despite all the change, there is one building that is still a prominent member of the skyline, albeit only 450 feet tall, Barbizon Plaza.
One of New York’s art deco gems, the Barbizon boasts an iconic gold top, crowned with what looks like the pipes of an organ shining against a backdrop of contemporary glass towers. But the tower’s current crown, a decent post-modern design, isn’t original and pales in comparison to its initial form.
Constructed between 1928 to 1930, the Barbizon Plaza featured a one-of-a-kind four-story glass atrium top, consisting of both structural glass tiles and hollow glass blocks. It was the first glass-pinnacled skyscraper, and the first building in the country to use glass blocks as a wall material. But it wasn’t just the glass that made it iconic but the lighting. Other extraordinary tops in town were illuminated by external floodlights but not the Barbizon. In this case, the light came from within – floodlights reflecting against glass mirrors that could change color. Indoors, the top was a fitness center and a solarium. Sun rays would filter in through the glass blocks during the day but at night the internal floodlight would filter out making the top a true, full-blown lantern that glowed like the moon.
“The Barbizon Plaza’s rooftop was evocative of a jewel-like garden folly set atop the New York City skyline. At a time when many architects built skyscrapers along Central Park with whimsical rooftops above the Park’s treetops, the Barbizon Plaza’s shimmering glass lantern stood out amongst the others. ” — Elizabeth Fagan,
Designed by Laurence Emmons, the Barbizon Plaza’s crowned top highlighted a building for New Yorkers meant for the spotlight. It was a hotel catered to artists and musicians. The building had soundproof rooms, auditoriums, art studios, and all the amenities they would need during their residencies. With Steinway HQ just a few steps away and Carnegie Hall up the street, this was the place to be. Throughout the years it also became a gathering point for homophile associations such as the Mattachine Society and today is part of the LGBTQ+ historic places of the city. But as Midtown Manhattan changed, so did the Barbizon. It lost its top in the 80s when Donald Trump bought the hotel and the building next door to develop condos. Initially, the plan was to demolish the whole thing and build a new tower facing the park but eventually, he realized it was more cost-effective to keep the current structure and renovate it. Trump put in charge his trusted architect Frank William who widened the windows and covered the iconic top in gold.
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SATURDAY, MAY 17TH WAS THE 48TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE OPENING OF THE RI TRAM
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The American Fine Arts Society building, home to the Art Students League, is a landmarked gem at 215 West 57th Street, its front doors swinging open at frequent and regular intervals, offering a glimpse of the teeming creative life that still hums inside. From its founding in 1875, the Art Students League has sought to explore and express ideas outside the artistic norms of the time, particularly the concepts emerging from the avant-garde movements in Paris and Munich.
Jackson Pollock, Georgia O’Keeffe, Robert Rauschenberg, and Robert Smithson are just a few of the notable artists who were once students at the Arts Students League. The 1966 Landmarks Designation Report describes the society’s illustrious heritage glowingly: “The roster of former League students, members, and instructors…reads like a Who’s Who in American Art. The School has had a tremendous influence on art in this country. The membership lists are studded with names of the famous, representing every idiom of the arts.”
Today, over 5000 students a year take a wide range of affordable art classes at the League under the direction of world-class artists and teachers. We recently took a tour to learn more about the organization’s history and the secrets of its building on 57th Street.
Courtesy of the Art Students League
The Art Students League’s home at 215 W. 57th Street was designed by prolific architect Henry J. Hardenbergh, known in New York City for designing the Dakota Apartments, the first Waldorf hotel, the Plaza Hotel, and more. A landmarked historic district on the Upper East Side, the Hardenbergh/Rhinelander Historic District, bears his name and is one of the smallest historic districts in Manhattan.
The French Renaissance-inspired building combines an ornamented façade with a balanced (and nearly symmetrical) architectural design. It was built at a cost of $400,000, which would be equivalent to around $9 million in 2017 dollars, when adjusted for inflation. An article in the New Outlook contends that within the new building, “it may be pretty safely predicted the artistic spirit of New York will henceforth find its chief theatre.”
On the first floor of the Art Students League building is a tiny but well-stocked art supply store, a true hidden gem known primarily just to students and art insiders. There is no sign on the outside of the building to denote its existence. But despite its small footprint, the store is wildly successful. According to Ken Park, the former Director of Communications and Institutional Fundraising, “Art supply reps tell us that the League’s Art Supply Store sells more products per square foot than any other store they know. We carry more than a thousand kinds and colors of professional grade paint.”
There are several skeletons scattered through the Arts Students League building, available for observation and drawing. But a very special one is on the second floor, the skeleton of Mafalda Brasile Hicks, a former student of the League who died in March 2010. Before her death, Hicks expressed a desire to serve as a model for future classes and her family donated her skeleton to the Art Students League, the first-ever type of bequest to the school.
Hicks herself had a fascinating history – she was born in Newark, New Jersey and was a talented singer since she was a child, performing on live radio. She studied visual art at Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts and served in the Marine Corps during World War II, based in North Carolina where, according to an article in the Art Students League’s in-house magazine, she applied her talents “drawing maps and developing visual training aids. She also sang with the big band orchestras, entertaining military troops.” She took classes at the Arts Students League after the war
Half floors are one of our favorite things in old buildings – the Metropolitan Museum has some curious ones, and the Art Students League building has two half floors – Floor 2 ½, which hosts the library, and Floor 4 ½, which serves as storage. You can access the 2 ½ floor library through the stairwell or view it through an elevated window from the exhibition gallery.
On June 2nd, 1875, the Arts Students League was founded by a group of students and instructor Lemeul Wilmarth, who were dissatisfied with the traditional teaching at the National Academy of Design. The all-volunteer organization rented a single 20×30-foot room in the mansard roof of 108 Fifth Avenue, a four-floor building at the corner of 16th Street, to hold life drawing classes modeled on the practices of a Parisian atelier with natural light flowing in from the skylights above.
The students paid a tuition of $5 a month, but also volunteered to do organizational and maintenance tasks. A Board of Control was founded to govern the new organization. Within two years, the curriculum was expanded to include portraiture, sketch classes, composition classes, as well as lectures on anatomy and perspective. The Arts Students League would move to 38 West 14th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues in 1882, to 143-147 East 23rd Street in 1887, and finally to its current home at 215 W 57th Street in 1892. Many of the studios today still have large windows to allow in light, such as the clay studio above.
The American Fine Arts Society was incorporated in 1889, an initiative of Howard Russell Butler, a Princeton and Columbia Law School graduate. Butler had a vision to construct a building that would combine New York City’s new art societies and offer space for publicly accessible exhibition galleries. Butler raised funds for the building by creating a stock corporation, and in the process met Andrew Carnegie who hired him, while allowing him to spend part of each work day to paint.
The Arts Students League is one of three constituent organizations that founded the American Fine Arts Society, which also included The Architectural League of New York and the Society of American Artists. The 57th Street building soon became the locus point for art in New York City, and the Landmarks Designation Report contends that “practically all major fine arts exhibitions were held in the American Fine Arts Society’s galleries until 1941.” The three organizations would share the 57th Street building until 1941 when the Society of American Artists merged with the National Academy of Design and moved to its own building.
Today, the Arts Students League offers 100 studio classes in drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, welding and assemblage. Most classes work with a live model, maintaining the atelier tradition—the impetus of the League’s founding – where a master artist works alongside students There’s a welding studio, woodworking studio, and bronze-making studio (although the bronze is poured off-site),
Affordability remains an important aspect of the school’s mission—with classes ranging from $120 to $400 a month. The classes are by subject, with students across a range of skill levels. In 1879, work-study scholarships were established for students who could not afford the tuition, and financial aid continues to be available today through not only work-study but also merit based scholarships and grants.
There are also travel workshops to international destinations, along with short workshops held in New York City on specific themes.
The Vanderbilt Galleries. Photo courtesy of the Arts Students League
In 1893, a large exhibition in the American Fine Arts Galleries included an impressive array of European art from private collections, including work by Rembrandt, Diego Velásquez, J.M.W. Turner, John Constable, and Thomas Gainsborough. George Washington Vanderbilt II, son of William Henry Vanderbilt who would build the Biltmore estate in Asheville, North Carolina, gifted the American Fine Arts Society $100,000 to build new galleries. The connecting column-free gallery, built on West 58th Street, is known as the Vanderbilt Gallery and was modeled on the Galeries Georges Petit in Paris, particularly the inclusion of a 26-foot skylight ceiling.
The ceiling of the former Vanderbilt Galleries today
A fire destroyed the galleries in the 1920s, but they were rebuilt. Since the end of World War II, the space has been used as a bifurcated studio space, converted to accommodate the sudden surge in students at the League supported by the G.I. Bill. The exhibition gallery today is located on the second floor of the building, in a light-filled room that was originally used as a dining hall and lecture hall. Fun fact: an original oak and pink marble mantel sits in a storage area behind one of the exhibition walls.
The ceiling of the former Vanderbilt Galleries today
A fire destroyed the galleries in the 1920s, but they were rebuilt. Since the end of World War II, the space has been used as a bifurcated studio space, converted to accommodate the sudden surge in students at the League supported by the G.I. Bill. The exhibition gallery today is located on the second floor of the building, in a light-filled room that was originally used as a dining hall and lecture hall. Fun fact: an original oak and pink marble mantel sits in a storage area behind one of the exhibition walls.
The Central Park Tower, a supertall high-rise developed by Extell, is the second tallest building in the United States (after 1 World Trade Center) and the tallest residential skyscraper in the country, at a height of 1,550 feet. The ground floor hosts Nordstrom’s New York City flagship store and about 12 floors above the Art Students League building, a cantilevered portion of the skyscraper hangs over the historic landmark, thanks to air rights purchased from the League.
The famous artists who were students at the Arts Students League include Jackson Pollack, Mark Rothko, Norman Rockwell, Alexander Calder, Georgia O’Keefe, cartoonist, Al Hirschfeld, Robert Rauschenberg, Joseph Stella, John Marin, Donald Judd, Robert Smithson, Jacob Lawrence, and James Montgomery Flagg. Notable instructors have included Thomas Hart Benton, John Sloan, Max Weber, George Bellows, Daniel Chester French, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Eakins, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
Each fall, the lobby and second floor gallery of the Arts Students League are host to the annual Instructors’ Exhibition, a presentation of work by current instructors. The tradition, which launches the fall exhibition season each year, goes back to the 19th century.
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FESTIVAL CAFE AND BAR 1155 SECOND AVENUE A FUN PLACE FOR A LIGHT LUNCH, BRUNCH AND MORE JUST ONE BLOCK FROM THE TRAM. A GREAT PLACE TO ENJOY THE FOOD AND ART!
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