Monday, August 17, 2020 – OUR OCTAGON OFFICE
Monday, August 17th, 2020
Our 132nd Edition
MORE TREATS FROM THE PAST
THE OFFICE
AND
ARCHIVES
OF THE
RIHS
Ever since the Octagon was under development, the RIHS played an important role in its construction and design. The RIHS maintained a large amount of historical information on the building which we shared with Becker + Becker, the buildings developers and architects.
In 2006, when the building was complete, Bruce Becker donated the RIHS office space in the building. For 12 years we had a great office on the second floor of the building overlooking the lobby and a quick walk down the stairs to the Gallery space.
We have maintained the space and hosted many exhibits in the gallery.
In 2017, Bozzuto, the buildings management since 2016 was renovating the lobby and spaces in the Octagonal building. Bozzuto has continued supporting the RIHS and we are delighted with our new office.
We packed up the office and it all squeezed into three storage spaces in the basement. In late 2019, we moved into our new office space on the 4th floor of the Octagon. We had the same space, just two floors up.
We started planning our new office with the most storage, exhibition, work and conference space into about 300 square feet. Bozzuto left us a great giant conference table and chairs, that we have polished up and serves us well.
Through Matt Altwicker, our board member and architect, we chose furniture from Ikea. After trips to the planning showroom n Manhattan and the store in Brooklyn, we chose the pieces we needed.
On delivery day, 29 boxes arrived, all flat packed. With the talented help of installers and a few glitches, we were set up and ready to bring our property back into the room. In December and January we made the office look great and we were able to get most of our archives back into the room. We still have much in storage that will never fit into the space. We had a small reception the evening the building re-opened the newly renovated spaces. Thanks to our great crew of Jon Martin and Bill Weiss, lots of heavy lifting was accomplished.
We were all ready to have our own open house and celebration. Covid-19 struck and soon we will have celebrations, lectures, classes, conferences.
Take a virtual tour now and stay tuned for a real opening. Anyone can safely visit the office at any time with social distancing. Contact us for an appointment and your interest of study.
The landmark exterior with replica of original sign at entry
| Octagon entry today and 1920’s photo of young lady at Metropolitan Hospital entry |
The renovated lobby boasts panels of historic photos of the island.
It is a good walk up to the 4th floor.
The elevators are at the end of the hallways
BLACKWELL’S ISLAND By Edward Hopper 1928
Reproduction
All kinds of goodies are packed in our filing cabinets and files from over 40+ year of the RIHS.
| OUR WALL OF CABINETS ARE “GALANT” FROM IKEA |
ONE OF TWO “KALLAX” DISPLAY SHELVES
WITH KIOSK MERCHANDISE
LOTS OF STORAGE SPACE
An entire wall of PAX cabinets fill the area with a great amount of storage that was custom designed for our needs.
WE SHARE THE FLOOR
There is an area with tables and chairs, water dispenser and bathrooms, just out the door from the office. Across the way is a dance or exercise studio and a teen lounge.
| If you are considering IKEA office furniture, feel free to take a look at ours. We are happy with the quality, construction and styles. My only suggestion is to know the exact measurements of your walls before ordering. Consider professional installers for these items. |
MONDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
IDENTIFY THIS
SEND ENTRY TO ROOSEVELTISLANDHISTORY@GMAIL.COM
WIN A KIOSK TRINKET
WEEKEND PHOTO
MARK DI SUVERO STUDIO FROM FERRY. LOCATED JUST NORTH OF SOCRATES PARK.
PHOTO OF INTERIOR STUDIO WSJ (C)
DAVID ANDREWS, JAY JACOBSON AND ALEXIS VILLEFANE GOT IT
CLARIFICATION
WE ARE HAPPY TO GIVE WINNERS OF OUR DAILY PHOTO IDENTIFICATION A TRINKET FROM THE VISITOR CENTER.
ONLY THE PERSON IDENTIFYING THE PHOTO FIRST WILL GET A PRIZE.
WE HAVE A SPECIAL GROUP OF ITEMS TO CHOOSE FROM.
WE CANNOT GIVE AWAY ALL OUR ITEMS,.
PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES,
WE MUST LIMIT GIVE-AWAYS.
THANK YOU
NEW FEATURE
FROM OUR KIOSK
GREAT STUFF FOR ALL OCCASIONS
MARC TETRO NTOEBOOSK 2 FOR $5-
OTHER GREAT MARC TETRO MERCHANDISE IS AT THE KIOSK.
MARC HAS LEFT THE ISLAND SINCE THE PANDEMIC HAS IMPACTED THE BUSINESS
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky
for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All materials in this publication are copyrighted (c)
PHOTOS FROM JUDITH BERDY COPYRIGHT RIHS/2020 (C)
MATERIAL COPYRIGHT WIKIPEDIA, GOOGLE IMAGES, RIHS ARCHIVES AND MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION (C)
FUNDING BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDING
DISCRETIONARY FUNDING BY COUNCIL MEMBER BEN KALLOS THRU NYC DYCD
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