WEEKEND PHOTO SHELTON HAYNES SHOOTING HOOPS AT THE SPORTSPARK OPENING
MONDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY CBN OLDER ADULT CENTER VOLUNTEERS GETTING READY FOR THE EILEEN FISHER GENTLY USED CLOTHING GIVEAWAY ON SATURDAY. THE EVENT WAS A GREAT SUCCESS.
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
JUDITH BERDY
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Japanese contemporary artist, Yayoi Kusama, will return to Chelsea’s David Zwirner art gallery, featuring an all new twist on her iconic infinity mirror rooms
Yes, Yayoi Kusama has been taking over NYC (and the world) for years. Her signature dotted pattern and her Instagrammable infinity mirror rooms have made her work quite recognizable
According to the Smithsonian Institution, Kusama created her first infinity room in 1965 called Phalli’s Field. The “kaleidoscopic environments” challenge onlookers’ perception and creates an illusory reality.
*Entry in the infinity mirrored room will be timed due to the high volume of visitors expected to attend.
Can’t afford Yayoi Kusama’s collaboration with Louis Vuitton but still love the design? Her upcoming exhibit will highlight her renowned dot pattern on pumpkins and flowers.
The Yayoi Kusama exhibit will be entirely free to the public, so no tickets or reservations are required. However, her work is known to attract a line—some as long as two hours!—so be prepared to wait. The gallery recommends coming early on weekday mornings.
And of course, you’ll want to take all the selfies and photos for the feed possible, but just note that flash is not allowed at the exhibit.
Yayoi Kusama merchandise will be available for purchase at the David Zwirner bookstore, located at 535 West 20th Street, during the duration of the exhibit.
Our earth is only one polka dot among a million stars in the cosmos. Polka dots are a way to infinity.
–Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Guided by her unique vision and unparalleled creativity, critically acclaimed artist Yayoi Kusama has been breaking new ground for more than six decades. In 1993, she became the first woman to represent Japan at the Venice Biennale, and last year, Time magazine named her one of the world’s most influential people.
Born in 1929, Kusama grew up near her family’s plant nursery in Matsumoto, Japan. At nineteen, following World War II, she went to Kyoto to study the traditional Japanese style of painting known as Nihonga. During this time, she began experimenting with abstraction, but it was not until she arrived in the United States, in 1957, that her career took off. Living in New York from 1958 to 1973, Kusama moved in avant-garde circles with such figures as Andy Warhol and Allan Kaprow while honing her signature dot and net motifs, developing soft sculpture, creating installation-based works, and staging Happenings (performance-based events). She first used mirrors as a multireflective device in Infinity Mirror Room—Phalli’s Field, 1965, transforming the intense repetition that marked some of her earlier works into an immersive experience. Kusama returned to Japan in 1973 but has continued to develop her mirrored installations, and over the years, she has attained cult status, not only as an artist, but as a novelist.
FRIDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
BEACON THAT WAS ON TOP OF THE ORIGINAL TRAM TOWERS- 1976-2010
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
SECRET NYC
JUDITH BERDY
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
8. The Visitors Center Was Part of a Lost Trolley Line
The adorable Visitors Center tucked at the base of Queensboro Bridge has a fascinating history, and secrets of its own. The tiny structure dates back to 1909 when the Queensboro Bridge had a trolley line that went to Astoria, Flushing, College Point, Corona, Steinway and Queens Boulevard. There were originally five kiosks located between the inbound and outbound lower level roads between 59th and 60th Street. After the last trolley ran on this line in 1957, three of the five kiosks were demolished. One was moved to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum in Crown Heights where it functioned as the entrance to the museum.
When the museum was redesigned in 2003, the Roosevelt Island Historical Society (RIHS) wanted to bring the kiosk back to the Manhattan side of the bridge. After a four year effort, the kiosk opened in 2007. It is run by the Roosevelt Island Historical Society today and serves as resource point for those looking for more information about the island. Inside, look up and you’ll find Guastavino tiling, the familiar herringbone patterened arch system found in Grand Central Terminal, Ellis Island, the decommissioned City Hall subway station, and many more places. Learn more about the Visitors Center here!
9. Roosevelt Island’s Tramway Was Initially Temporary
The bright red tramway system carrying commuters from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island and back was established in 1976 as a temporary means of transportation for island residents while they awaited the completion of the island’s subway link. By this time, the trolley tracks connecting Roosevelt Island with mainly Manhattan had been slowly deteriorating beyond repair. However, by the time the link was there, the tramway had already become an integral mode of transportation, so it continued to operate and became permanent.
The tram was built by Swiss company Von Roll, though the current tram is the second iteration; the tramway underwent a major renovation in 2010 that added a dual-hall system and new cars. Today it remains a crucial part of New York City’s transit system which has carried well over 26 million passengers, serving as North America’s first aerial tramway used for commuter transit. The tram was notably the last mode of transportation in New York City to adopt the MetroCard, doing so in 2003.
10. FDR Four Freedoms Park Is Louis Kahn’s Only New York City Work
The FDR Four Freedoms Park, which was finished in 2012, took 40 years to finally complete. Over the years, economic crises and political sensibilities halted progress on the park until architect Gina Pollara revived the project. As such, Roosevelt Island’s Four Freedoms Park is the only establishment designed by Louis Kahn in New York City. The city commissioned architect Louis Kahn for the memorial, which was his last major work before his death in 1974. Kahn died of a heart attack in Penn Station, with a final rendering of his completed design for Four Freedoms Park in his briefcase at the time.All materials for the memorial were shipped in via barges, which were loaded up in New Jersey and sent down the East River. An excerpt of Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union speech outlining his Four Freedoms is inscribed on the back of the stone frame that holds up his bust, Each granite paving stone is a cube and measures four feet by four feet by four feet. Four Freedoms Park also neighbors a cat sanctuary just to the north inside Southpoint Park, At the opening ceremony, Governor Cuomo said the park was a testament to Louis Kahn, whose design lay “dormant for years but could be picked up and be as vital and current as it was when he designed it.”
11. Roosevelt Island Was Once The Equivalent of Riker’s Island
Many have probably heard of Nellie Bly, a woman who pretended to be insane in order to write a breakthrough investigative piece on the cruelty of the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island. This asylum was run inside Octagon Building which still stands on Roosevelt Island. The asylum opened in 1838, and rumors quickly spread about its brutal abuse of the inmates. In her expose, “Ten Days in a Madhouse,” Bly called the asylum a “human rat-trap” with staff who “choked, beat and harassed patients.”The asylum moved to Ward’s Island a little while later, so this building became the Metropolitan Hospital, which then moved to Harlem in the 1950s. The asylum’s original octagon still stands as a classy apartment complex near a beautiful community garden, quite a contrast to what it used to be. Visitors are generally welcome to enter the octagon, which serves as the lobby, and look at the old photographs on display.
On the island, Bly’s legacy is remembered with a public art piece called The Girl Puzzle. This piece consist of a series of faces that depict women who have endured hardship in their lives and were made stronger because of it. In the center of the monument is a Bly’s face cast in silver bronze. Bly’s face is flanked by the four bronze faces meant to represent Asian American, Black, young, older, and queer women, each rendered in partial sections to appear like giant puzzle pieces.
12. The Blackwell House Is One of the Only New York Farmhouses From Immediately After the American Revolution
A descendant of Robert Blackwell, James Blackwell, built a house called the Blackwell House, now on Main Street, in about 1796. When the city bought Blackwell’s Island, the island became less agricultural and more institutional. When a penitentiary was erected in 1829, the wooden house became a residential place for institutional administrators. The house was abandoned during the 1900s and restored in the early 1970s.In addition to being one of the few New York farmhouses from the period immediately following the Revolutionary War, it is also the only surviving building on Roosevelt Island from the time period when the island was still private property. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
13. Roosevelt Island Used to Have An Artificial Geyser
The Delacorte Fountain was dedicated in 1968 by George T. Delacorte, who wanted New York to have an equivalent to Switzerland’s Jet D’Eau. It sprayed East River water hundreds of feet into the air across from the United Nations on the southern edge of Roosevelt Island. However, the New York Timesreported in 1987 that the city’s Parks Commissioner had fears that “liquid waste was being flung 400 feet in the eyes and faces of people who lived on Sutton Place.”In response to this, the water was chlorinated, which lowered its height to 240 feet. During the later drought years, people worried the fountain would represent overconsumption of water, so it was turned off. In 1985, the powerful streams of water washed off the topsoil from some newly planted trees and crushed a car roof. The next year, the geyser stopped working.
THURSDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
GLASS SCULPTURE AT R.I. SUBWAY STATION GLORIA HERMAN , NINA LUBLIN AND ALEXIS VILLAFANE GOT IT,
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
UNTAPPED NEW YORK
JUDITH BERDY
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Untapped New York has written a lot of articles on New York City’s islands, both abandoned and in use. While the city’s mainland is filled with cool history and things to do, its islands, such as North Brother Island, Hart Island, Governors Island, and Rikers Island, also have some intriguing sights. Now, it’s time to rediscover New York City’s Roosevelt Island – a residential, two-mile-long island packed with interesting secrets.
1. Roosevelt Island Has Had At Least Six Different Names
Though Roosevelt Island is now named after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, people have called the island quite a few different things before. The Lenape tribe, who first inhabited the island, called it “Minnehanonck.” According to the New York Times, this name is commonly thought to be translated as “Long Island,” or “It’s nice to be on the island.” When the Dutch purchased Roosevelt Island from the Native Americans in 1637, they renamed it “Varken Eylandt,” or “Hogs Island,” for all the hogs raised there. A little while later, a British captain named John Manning lived on the island in shame after surrendering New York to the Dutch, so it became known as “Manning’s Island.”
2. Roosevelt Island Has the Country’s Only Automated Vacuum Collection System Serving a Residential Complex
Operated by the New York City Department of Sanitation, it is only one of two such systems in the United States at this scale (the other being at Disney World). For nearly half a century, the island’s residential trash has been handled without curbside truck pickup, limiting the need for workers to be out handling the garbage. The waste stays in an inlet until a sensor notes the garbage has reached a certain level. The AVAC system automatically opens the valve and sucks garbage at 60 to 70 miles per hour through 20-inch underground tubes to the central facility.
3. The Octagon Building Used To Be An Infamous Lunatic Asylum
Many have probably heard of Nellie Bly, a woman who pretended to be insane in order to write a breakthrough investigative piece on the cruelty of the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island. This asylum was run inside Octagon Building which still stands on Roosevelt Island. The asylum opened in 1838, and rumors quickly spread about its brutal abuse of the inmates. In her expose, “Ten Days in a Madhouse,” Bly called the asylum a “human rat-trap” with staff who “choked, beat and harassed patients.”
The asylum moved to Ward’s Island a little while later, so this building became the Metropolitan Hospital, which then moved to Harlem in the 1950s. The asylum’s original octagon still stands as a classy apartment complex near a beautiful community garden, quite a contrast to what it used to be. Visitors are generally welcome to enter the octagon, which serves as the lobby, and look at the old photographs on display.
On the island, Bly’s legacy is remembered with a public art piece called The Girl Puzzle. This piece consist of a series of faces that depict women who have endured hardship in their lives and were made stronger because of it. In the center of the monument is a Bly’s face cast in silver bronze. Bly’s face is flanked by the four bronze faces meant to represent Asian American, Black, young, older, and queer women, each rendered in partial sections to appear like giant puzzle pieces.
4. The Ruins of a Smallpox Hospital Remains on Roosevelt Island
If the lunatic asylum and prison weren’t enough, another former, creepy institution on Roosevelt Island can be added to the list: a smallpox hospital. By the end of the 1800s, it was common to isolate patients suffering from contagious diseases like smallpox on islands, like North Brother Island, Hoffman and Swinburne Islands, and of course, Blackwell’s Island. The island’s Gothic Revival-style Renwick Smallpox Hospital was designed by James Renwick Jr. (who designed St. Patrick’s Cathedral), built using labor from the lunatic asylum and completed in 1856.
It functioned for 19 years and treated about 7,000 patients. Many of these were impoverished immigrants or Union soldiers who needed curing. In 1875, the hospital moved to North Brother Island when it became too crowded, but the original building remains today and is the “only landmarked ruin” in New York City. During the construction of FDR Four Freedoms Park, the organization behind the park hoped to use the hospital as a visitor center, but funds and interest petered out after initial stabilization. Recently released is the new short film Unforgotten: Renwick Ruin by artist Aaron Asis, Untapped New York’s Artist in Residence. Asis and his team at Green Ghost Studios were given special access inside the abandoned structure, and the film showcases perspectives of the Renwick ruin that are rarely seen by the public.
5. What’s With the Boat Prow Jutting Out of Roosevelt Island?
It might seem like the large boat prow sticking out the side of Octagon Park is some intriguing, ancient remnant of a ship washed ashore. However, turns out it’s an art project. There actually used to be a boat landing in this location, and in 1997 a performance stage and observation platform were built in the shape of a boat prow.
According to The New York Times, there are only two “nautical embellishments.” The Times writes of “Two small slots near the tip–presumably for imaginary anchor chains… though a few heavy mooring posts have been placed nearby.” The prow has become somewhat of a popular graffiti spot, though it is regularly cleaned and maintained. The Prow is currently closed due to deterioration of the steel structure.
6. There are Benches Shaped Like Roosevelt Island on the Island
Along Main Street, at The Shops on Main, you’ll find wooden benches that are shaped like Roosevelt Island. On a tour of the island back in 2020, David Kramer, President of The Hudson Companies, the developer behind numerous projects on Roosevelt Island, including Riverwalk and The House at Cornell Tech, told Untapped New York, “the impetus behind the design was to be, well, fun and terrific. There’s a history of interesting, design-oriented, whimsical details on Roosevelt Island.”
Jonathan Marvel of Marvel Architects said the mahogany benches with stainless steel support are a “signature moment” and that the design team “didn’t want to do a normal New York City park bench because we’d be losing an opportunity to make something distinctive.” The long slender shaped of the island made it perfect for a bench seat. Other benches on the island are in the style of the 1939-40 World’s Fair benches, originally designed for Central Park. Learn more about the Roosevelt Island-shaped benches here!
7. Quirky Tom Otterness Statues In the East River
If you were to stroll along the western promenade of Roosevelt Island, you might want to peer over into the East River: there are small, funny-looking, green statues in the water. These quirky sculptures were created by Tom Otterness in 1996, and the installation as a whole is called “The Marriage of Real Estate and Money.”
The series consists of three bronze sculptures by the Brooklyn-based artist, whose works often include large pennies and other money caricatures. He is also known for “Life Underground” at the 14th Street subway station, which depicts various scenes including an alligator reaching out from underneath a manhole cover to snatch a man for dinner. The three Roosevelt Island sculptures depict respectively, a coin attacked by a moneybag coming out of the mouth of a man, a house wearing a skirt attacked by a money-inspired lobster, and a house and coin getting married.
UPPER LEVEL PEDESTRIAN WALKWAY AT THE NEWLY OPENED QUEENSBORO BRIDGE IN 1909 DAVID JACOBY, ANDY SPARBERG, ELLEN JACOBY GOT IT RIGHT
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
UNTAPPED NEW YORK
JUDITH BERDY
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
For years we have been trying to get RIOC to preserve two benches that have been part of the island for almost 75 years.
The benches probably were first used at the Central Laundry that was across the street from the Tram. The workers would take their breaks outside on these benches. The laundry, garage and firehouse building were demolished in the 1980s.
The benches probably ended up in one of our community gardens. for years.
In recent years the benches have been on the Senior Terrace at the CBN Older Adult Center.
We asked RIOC to refinish them since they are part of the island history and would be a great addition to the terrace. After submitting photos the project was never approved by the RIOC staff. It took over a year to get this done. Finally the benches were seen by Shelton Haynes and he agreed to get them repaired and refinished when Lisa Fernandez told him of my trials and tribulations to get these benches preserved.
Lisa Fernandez enjoys the bright addition to the terrace.
Judith Berdy, President of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society checks off one more accomplishment for historic preservation on the island.
Former gas station at the corner of Broadway and West Houston Street. Today, the corner is home to a giant Adidas shop.
There is little left of the old neighborhood. This proves it!
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
JUDITH BERDY
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Between teaching classes for election workers today, I had plenty of time to roam the neighborhood. After starting at Chrystie Street I was back on 2nd Street, east of where I strolled last week.
On the corner of Avenue A, is the Berlin Bar, situated in a former dry goods strore.
At 113 East Second Street, this grand iron fence shelters a wooden structure. The sign on the lower corner advises to all that a rodent station is inside. Do the rodents seek sanctuary here?
Gringer has been a place for all home appliances for decades and still is going strong on First Avenue.
Up the tree lined street is Marble Cemetery. I have heard about if for years, and there it was in all it’s glory, a sanctuary for all who pass. In summer there are days when the grounds are open.
Right up the street is the Nord Anglia International School. It’s wonderful graphics enliven the facade of the building.
Across the street are the Archives Film Archive. The building was originally the Third Magistrate Courthouse.
Just off the Bowery and First Street is Extra Place. Unfortunately, 2 of the three restaurants there are shuttered. The place leads to a new Avalon apartment house so it is not an alley, just an entrance to a building now.
Back on the Bowery, a few of the restaurant supply dealers remain.
Time to get back to work and just a quick glance at the Liz Christy Garden. It is amazing what you can spot in one hour as you look up from you phone and take in the wonders of the City. I am so glad to work at this site, the Chinatown Settlement/YMCA at East Houston Street. It is only an 18 minute subway ride from Roosevelt Island!!!
Former gas station at the corner of Broadway and West Houston Street
FROM JENNIFER DUNNING And thanks for all the goodies, especially the one about the serendipitous (sp.?) Second Street. I loved wandering, on foot or on my bike. I was in love with the Red Hook waterfront area years ago, before it got tarted up. So comfortably worth, costly utilitarian, even a bit Italian uturistic in spots. I discovered it when I went to an outdoor danceus performance. The warehouses, silver sugar uprooting like some giant happenstance sculpture, the dark little bar, the little row houses. I wanted to buy one and I probably could have then but it occurred to me that since I didn’t drive I’d h0ave to go through that then-dangerous housing project to get to work by public transportation. And I was often assigned to write advance pieces on historic NYC walking tours. The guides were sometimes endearingly nutty, too. One of my favorites, Margot Gayle, kept backing into traffic on a SoHo tour she took me on.
Thanks again, Judy
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
JUDITH BERDY
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Swann’s annual Graphic Design auction gets better and better with each passing year. As more people find interest and delight in the material, still others bring us wonderful material to offer. Thisyear’s is one of the strongest auctions we have ever assembled. On offer are standout items from across the globe with a myriad of art movements, including Jugendstil and Secession, Art Deco, Futurism, Mid-Century Modernism and Swiss Realism. Two large archives of ephemeral material lend to the sale an angle that it has seldom had, but one that is of great interest to the market:ephemeral design such as postcards, books, magazines, pamphlets and beyond.
ULIUS KLINGER (1876-1942)
FLUGPLATZ JOHANNISTHAL / FLUGWOCHE. Circa 1910.
26 1/2×17 1/2 inches, 67 1/4×44 1/2 cm. Hollerbaum & Schmidt, Berlin. Condition B: creases and restoration at edges, in image and along vertical fold; repaired tears at edges.
Advertising a National Flying Week event, Klinger has created an unforgettable image of four anachronistic orange men in identical ruffled collars, their heads, and noses, pointing straight up to the sky, watching the (unseen) activity over head. One of several variations used in different years, always advertising a flying exhibition. Klinger 74, Rademacher p. 106 (var), Kunst Kommerce Visionen 253.
GREAT GRAPHIC DESIGN UP FOR AUCTION AT SWANN GALLERIES***
LADISLAV SUTNAR (1897-1976) VYSTAVA MODERNIHO OBCHODU / [MODERN COMMERCE EXHIBITION]. 1929. 18×24 inches, 45 3/4×61 cm. Melantrich, Prague. Condition A-: minor repaired tears and creases in margins; minor restoration in image. Matted. Ladislav Sutnar was both a professor and practitioner of design. In addition to teaching at Prague’s State School of Graphic Art, he was also a pioneer in the fields of informational graphics and corporate identity and was the official designer of the Czechoslovak Government’s exhibitions in foreign countries (winning several awards for his work in this field). His ground-breaking Functionalist work was largely a fusion of Bauhaus ideas and typography, Constructivism, and his own work with photomontage and design. In the mid 1920s he is believed to be the first Czech designer to have incorporated photomontage into poster design (Sutnar p. 305) and by the 1930s, photomontages figured prominently in many of his book jacket designs and were a hallmark of his work. This poster promotes one of three trade fairs occurring in Brno, Czechoslovakia’s second largest city, in the late summer of 1929 (the other two, a Brewery & Malting exhibition and an exhibition on Modern Women are mentioned at the bottom of the poster), The image boasts three of the city’s newest and finest functionalist architecture projects: the Avon Hotel (seen at left), the Commercial and Industrial Palace and the Commercial Tradesmen’s Pavilion. Universally considered to be one of Sutnar’s finest designs, this poster “poetically cumulates current communication symbols [into] something of a Functionalist version of the ‘pictorial poem’ . . . [it reflected] the approaches of Cubist and Constructivist pictorial collages” (Sutnar, p. 305). Writing in 1961 in Visual Design In Action, Sutnar stated: “In our ‘visual civilization,’ words are superseded by images, drawings, graphs and other visual symbols which convey the message faster, more reliably and more convincingly than verbal descriptions.” This is the Czech version. Rare. We have found no other copy at auction in over 20 years. Sutnar 546, Avant Garde p. 142, Weill 460, Czech Functionalism 271, Czech Avant Garde p. 61, Modernism 129, Trade Fair 61, Berman / Juan March p. 142, Clash of Ideologies p. 82, Witkovsky pl. 44. Art Institute of Chicago 2009.297.
Ludwig Hohlwein, Zeiss / Feldstecher, 1912. Estimate $6,000 to $9,000.
Vic, Shell Oil & Petrol / For Quick – Starting, 1930. Estimate $1,500 to $2,000.
Massino Vignelli, Knoll Au Louvre, four-part poster, 1972. Estimate $2,500 to $3,500.Another long-standing design relationship was between Knoll and Massimo Vignelli. Massimo and his wife Lella formed their own design firm, Vignelli Associates, in the 1970s, with such notable clients such as Bloomingdales, IBM, American Airlines, and Knoll. Their designs for Knoll included many projects based on a simple grid concept—from stationery to brochures, to posters. Vignelli Associates even designed the posters and exhibition space for a Knoll retrospective in France. The posters, shown here, were printed in four parts, and in at least two sizes.
Paul Rand, Ford / Signs That Say Safe Driving, circa 1966. Estimate $700 to $1,000.It is impossible to explore the history of corporate branding without thinking of Paul Rand. A modern master of design, Rand is responsible for the visual identities and logos for companies such as ABC, American Express, UPS, and perhaps most famously, IBM. He designed IBM’s logo in 1956, then consulted for the company for over 30 years. His famous Rebus poster was devised in 1981, and has since become one of the most famous and recognizable corporate identity statements of the twentieth century. One of his lesser known posters, but for an equally identifiable company, is that of Ford, shown above.Related Reading:
Edmond Maurus, Chrysler, circa 1930s. Sold May 2019 for $13,750.While very little is known of Edmond Maurus, his graphic legacy is defined by a stylized Art Deco sensibility. This is one of his most dynamic images, a masterwork of perspective and suggestion. It is a fascinating concept to only show the grill of the car and leave the rest to the imagination of the viewer. What is seen is the verdant country route the automobile has taken, and what is implied is the speed of the vehicle via the streaks in the road and the thinly visible dust cloud extending back down the road.
At Auction May 19: Javier Gómez Acebo & Máximo Viejo Santamarta, San Sebastian / XI Circuito Automovilista, 1935. Estimate $10,000 to $15,000.
WEEKENED PHOTO DRAPER HALL – NURSES RESIDENCE AT NORTH END OF THE ISLAND
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
SWANNA AUCTION GALLERIES
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
GIVE MOM A 14″ TRAM PILLOW! SOFT AND COMFY WAY TO ENJOY OUR ISLAND TRAM LIMITED QUANTITIES AVAILABLE AT RIHS VISITOR CENTER KIOSK $48-
GREAT GIFT FOR DAD, NEXT MONTH FOR FATHER’S DAY!
FROM THE ARCHIVES
FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2023
ISSUE 988
TOP 10 SECRETS
OF
BELLEVUE HOSPITAL
PART 2
UNTAPPED NEW YORK
BELLEVUE IS THE MAIN PUBLIC HOSPITAL OF NYC HEALTH+HOSPITALS. THIS ALONG WITH ALL THE 11 PUBLIC HOSPITALS TREAT ALL THE NEED CARE WITHOUT REGARD FOR INSURANCE, ORIGINS, AND STATUS.
Bellevue Hospital in Kips Bay, officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, is one of the largest hospitals in the United States. The hospital has achieved many breakthroughs throughout its history, from being one of the first to employ ambulance services to having the earliest maternity ward. Bellevue Hospital has contributed massively to the development of modern medicine but also has a dark history. At one point, the name “Bellevue” was often used to refer to psychiatric hospitals in the 1800s. The hospital made important developments in treating epidemics, from yellow fever to AIDS, and saved the lives of people from all walks of life, from the general public to presidents and celebrities. Here, we take a look back at the hospital’s long history and pull out the top 10 secrets of Bellevue Hospital!
6. A German spy feigned paralysis at the hospital for two years
Perhaps one of the hospital’s strangest encounters with a patient was with Fritz Joubert Duquesne. He was a German and South African Boer soldier and journalist, though he was perhaps best known for being a spy. Duquesne would frequently lie about his identity, reinventing his past and asserting he was related to royalty to get into (and out of) high-stakes situations. He gathered human intelligence for the Boers during the Second Boer War and led spy rings in Great Britain, Latin America, and the United States. He was captured by multiple governments. In 1917, federal agents in New York charged him with insurance fraud for insurance claims, after which the agents discovered evidence that he was involved with multiple ship bombings.
Knowing he would potentially be extradited to the U.K. on murder charges, Duquesne pretended to be paralyzed and was subsequently sent to Bellevue Hospital’s prison ward. Until May 1919, Duquesne faked paralysis in his right leg, carrying a cane to play the part. Just days before his extradition, Duquesne disguised himself as a woman, cut the bars of his cell, and climbed over the ward’s walls to escape. He successfully fled to Mexico and then Europe, and it wasn’t until 1926 that he was documented again, this time under yet another identity.
7. The hospital played a major role in combating the AIDS Crisis
Bellevue Hospital was one of the key players in the fight against the AIDS Crisis in the 1980s. In 1981, Bellevue reported one of the first three cases of HIV/AIDS, which at the time was an unexplained immunodeficiency. Over the next few years, the hospital worked to identify the disease and pioneer treatments. In 1985, Bellevue opened the country’s first hospital-based HIV nutrition program. That year, Coler Memorial Hospital led the country in allocating long-term care beds to people with AIDS, while Jacobi opened Kroc Day Care Center for Children with HIV.
The following year, HHC hospitals including Bellevue opened clinics for AZT, the first antiretroviral drug. By 1990, throughout HHC’s 11 hospitals, 1,100 new AIDS patients were admitted daily. In 1997, after years of treating HIV/AIDS patients, Bellevue participated in an NIH clinical trial examining the use of antiretroviral drugs in children and infants with HIV. The hospital further participated in trials for Nevirapine, given to HIV-positive pregnant women, and for combination drug therapies. Bellevue played a key role in developing HAART, or the “Triple Drug Cocktail,” to treat the disease.
8. Mark David Chapman, Norman Mailer, Grover Cleveland, and James Garfield were treated at Bellevue
Bellevue Hospital has treated thousands upon thousands of New Yorkers, from celebrities to those who could barely afford treatment. Among these have been some famous and unfortunate cases involving major historical figures. One of the most famous literary references to Bellevue was in Allen Ginsberg‘s poem “Howl,” inspired by his time at the hospital. One of the most notable patients was Mark David Chapman, who received treatment after murdering John Lennon. Chapman had medical appointments at Bellevue in between his stays on Rikers Island. Another violent patient was Norman Mailer, the American novelist behind The Naked and the Dead who was treated at Bellevue after stabbing his wife. Mailer was convicted of assault for nearly fatally stabbing Adele Morales with a penknife, for which he received three years probation.
On the flip side, however, the hospital treated James Garfield after he was hit by two bullets in 1881. Garfield was shot at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station by Charles Guiteau, who erroneously believed he should have been rewarded with a consulship for helping Garfield win the election. Bellevue’s Frank Hamilton and his team came down to Washington to treat Garfield’s wounds, though he would die two months later from infection. Garfield was not the only president Bellevue treated; Grover Cleveland came to Bellevue after discovering a cancerous mass in his mouth amid the Panic of 1893. To avoid suspicion, Cleveland was treated on a yacht in the East River by numerous Bellevue medical faculty, which was ultimately successful after nearly two hours.
9. Bellevue treated New York’s first Ebola patient
Bellevue made national headlines in 2014 when it treated the city’s first Ebola patient, which put the city on edge for a few months. The hospital treated Craig Spencer, who treated Ebola patients in Guinea through Doctors Without Borders and contracted the virus himself before heading back to the U.S. He was placed into isolation at Bellevue as investigators tried to piece together everyone he had contact with in the days prior; he had taken the A and L trains the day before, as well as took a taxi. The virus could not be spread until symptoms began to show, though, and it couldn’t be spread through the air, though the bowling alley he had frequented the night prior remained shut for a day.
In 2019, the hospital conducted an emergency exercise to transport a simulated Ebola patient from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Jersey to Bellevue’s Regional Ebola and Other Special Pathogen Treatment Center. The experiment was performed in the wake of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, resulting in 1,100 cases and 700 deaths. The experiment, whose results could be shared with African nations, tested the feasibility of safe patient transport, including the use of biocontainment devices and personal protective equipment, as well as appropriate decontamination procedures.
10. The hospital houses its own sculpture garden which was vandalized in 2014
Amid the sound of ambulances is a surprisingly peaceful sculpture garden near the water called the Bellevue Sobriety Garden. The quarter-acre park between First Avenue and the FDR Drive includes sculptures, mosaics, plants, and other artistic features. The Sobriety Garden, as its name suggests, was begun by Bellevue psychiatrist Dr. Annatina Miescher in 1989 who got recovering addicts from its Chemical Recovery Program to help tend the plants. The park was almost destroyed in 2006 after proposals were put forward for additional parking, though patients and staff objected.
The fairly secret garden includes all sorts of sculptures of human figures and animals, though in 2014, dozens of animal sculptures were vandalized. According to a 2014 New York Times article, “The faces of rams were cracked and crumbling. The neck and beak of a bird sculpture were broken and hanging to the side.” The cement, sand, and chicken wire sculptures, many of which were created by patients, were left scattered across the garden. Since then, Miescher and other staff and patients have worked to restore the garden, which is now in full bloom.
THURSDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
CITY HALL WITH WORLD BUILDING DOME HARA REISER AND ANDY SPARBERG GOT IT RIGHT
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
NEW YORK CITY MUNICIPAL ARCHIVES
UNTAPPED NEW YORK
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
BELLEVUE IS THE MAIN PUBLIC HOSPITAL OF NYC HEALTH+HOSPITALS. THIS ALONG WITH ALL THE 11 PUBLIC HOSPITALS TREAT ALL THE NEED CARE WITHOUT REGARD FOR INSURANCE, ORIGINS, AND STATUS.
Bellevue Hospital in Kips Bay, officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, is one of the largest hospitals in the United States. The hospital has achieved many breakthroughs throughout its history, from being one of the first to employ ambulance services to having the earliest maternity ward. Bellevue Hospital has contributed massively to the development of modern medicine but also has a dark history. At one point, the name “Bellevue” was often used to refer to psychiatric hospitals in the 1800s. The hospital made important developments in treating epidemics, from yellow fever to AIDS, and saved the lives of people from all walks of life, from the general public to presidents and celebrities. Here, we take a look back at the hospital’s long history and pull out the top 10 secrets of Bellevue Hospital!
1. Bellevue Hospital used to operate floating quarantine boats
Looking SW from East River at houseboat used by Bellevue as Tuberculosis care boats
During the tuberculosis crisis of the 19th century, Bellevue Hospital transformed ferry barges into floating wards. The floating “hospitals” were reserved for those in the early stages of tuberculosis, prioritizing indoor spaces for the many patients suffering from more severe symptoms. Poorer patients who were turned away from the barges would change their names and appearance to try for help at other facilities. It was believed that fresh air could help cure patients of tuberculosis, a disease that many believed at the time was genetic.
2. Bellevue, the nation’s first public hospital, traces its origins to NYC’s first almshouse
Image from the New York Public LibraryBellevue Hospital traces its origins to a two-story brick building that stood in what is now City Hall Park. The building housed the city’s first permanent almshouse, which provided charitable housing to poorer residents. The ailing poor would move to almshouses once it became clear they would wither away from their disease; wealthier New Yorkers could more easily get doctors to come directly to their homes. With the development of more sanitary and advanced medical practices, hospitals, where all patients could go and get treatment, became all the more common. Ultimately, Bellevue became the first public hospital in the nation.Bellevue began to employ faculty and medical students from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons around 1787. Columbia maintained its presence at the hospital until it was restructured in 1968. The present-day Bellevue Hospital was built on the previous Belle Vue Farm along the East River, which had been used to quarantine yellow fever patients as it was a few miles north of most homes. The hospital got its current name in 1824, around the time when it became better known on a national scale.
3. Bellevue Hospital operated the country’s second hospital-based ambulance service
Bellevue Hospital played a significant role in the history of the emergency ambulance, as it operated the nation’s second hospital-based ambulance service. Prior to the system’s creation, those suffering from all sorts of medical emergencies had to get to hospitals however they could manage. Because getting to the hospital was a top priority, there was little emphasis placed on trying to temporarily mitigate symptoms like bleeding. A U.S. Army surgeon named Edward Dalton proposed to the New York Hospital Board that the city should adopt some form of ambulance system similar to military ambulances.The board adopted five horse-drawn ambulances in June 1869, and according to the commissioner’s report, “Each ambulance shall have a box beneath the driver’s seat, containing a quart flask of brandy, two tourniquets, a half-dozen bandages, a half-dozen small sponges, some splint material, pieces of old blankets for padding, strips of various lengths with buckles, and a two-ounce vial of persulphate of iron.” This paved the way for emergency ambulance services at Long Island College Hospital and Eastern District Hospital in 1873.By 1891, the Bellevue Hospital received 4,392 ambulance calls per year. The sheer quantity of calls led the hospital to have “the record for the largest number of telephone calls to any public institution in the country.” Though, the hospital needed a more efficient system that would ensure faster arrival times and less confusion. Calls would first go to Madison Square Central Office, which would then be dispatched to the local police headquarters, which then would have to contact the particular hospital. Nothing changed until 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson recommended that a single number be created for emergencies, thus sparking the birth of 9-1-1.
4. Bellevue Hospital opened NYC’s first morgue, among many other firsts
In addition to being the first public hospital in the U.S., Bellevue Hospital achieved a significant number of medical firsts that have paved the way for major developments in medicine and other treatments.Bellevue opened the nation’s first maternity ward in 1799.In 1808, the hospital conducted the world’s first ligation of the femoral artery, located in the thigh, for an aneurysm. Ten years later, the hospital also performed the world’s first ligation of the brachiocephalic artery supplying blood to the right arm, neck, and head.New York’s first medical college with connections to a hospital was Bellevue Hospital Medical College, which opened in 1861.In 1862, Bellevue cardiologist Austin Flint gave his name to a low-pitched heart murmur he identified, which is associated with a condition called aortic regurgitation.The hospital played a major role in helping draft what is likely the nation’s first sanitary code for New York City in 1867. Later that year, the hospital established one of the country’s first outpatient departments.In 1873, Bellevue opened the country’s first nursing school using Florence Nightingale’s teachings. The nation’s first men’s nursing school opened 15 years later at Bellevue.The hospital opened the nation’s first children’s clinic in 1874.The nation’s first emergency pavilion was opened at Bellevue in 1876.The hospital’s Carnegie Laboratory, which opened in 1884, was the country’s first pathology and bacteriology laboratory.Physicians at Bellevue were the first to identify tuberculosis as a preventable disease in 1889.The nation’s first ambulatory cardiac clinic opened in 1911 at Bellevue, which paved the way for the world’s first cardiopulmonary laboratory that opened in 1942 and the nation’s first heart failure clinic.Physician William Tillett discovered streptokinase at Bellevue in 1933, which was used to treat heart attacks.The nation’s first mitral valve replacement took place at Bellevue in 1960.In 1962, the hospital established the first intensive care unit at a municipal hospital.In 1971, Bellevue physicians developed the first active immunization for hepatitis B.
5. Barnum and Bailey’s Circus would pay annual visits to patients
In 2013, Barnum and Bailey’s Circus revived a decades-old tradition at Brooklyn Hospital Center: performing for patients and staff. The tradition was started at Bellevue Hospital, and some performances would feature everything from acrobatic stunts to elephants. These performances would often attract thousands of people, many of whom were children and members of the community. The tradition began in 1901 and would continue each year for decades, with patients often watching from the hospital’s iron balconies.“Dr. Ringling’s medicine is of the finest quality, easy to take, good for almost any ailment; children love it and adults enjoy it,” Dr. William F. Jacobs, Bellevue’s medical superintendent, told The New York Times in 1946. “I’ll prescribe it any time in same dosage for young and old alike.” More than 4,000 patients at Bellevue, some on stretchers and in wheelchairs, applauded clowns, six adult elephants, a baby elephant, a zebra, and a llama, according to a 1964 Times article. The tradition ended in the 1960s when the iron balconies were removed.
WEDNESDAY PHOTO CHANNEL GARDENS ROCKEFELLER CENTER
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
NEW YORK CITY MUNICIPAL ARCHIVES
UNTAPPED NEW YORK
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
GIANT TIMBER BRIDGE OF THE MOYNIHAN CONNECTOR IS INSTALLED AT THE HIGH LINE
UNTAPPED NEW YORK
NICOLE SARANIERO A massive timber bridge measuring nearly 300 feet long, the length of a city block, was installed at the High Lineover the weekend. Called the Moynihan Connector, this new connection to the elevated park will link the High Line’s current terminus at West 30th Street and 10th Avenue to a public plaza within the Manhattan West development, creating a seamless pedestrian path from the transit hubs of Penn Station and Moynihan Train Hall in Midtown to the West Village.
Andrew Frasz, courtesy of the High LineAfter the bridge was assembled on the ground, construction crews used two cranes to lift it into place 25 feet above Dyer Avenue. The wooden truss bridge, which weighs 128 tons, is made up of 163 Alaskan Yellow Cedar beams. After the sections of the bridge were hoisted into the air, they were lowered down onto steel columns.The Moynihan Connector runs along West 30th toward West 31st Street, and takes a 90-degree turn at Dyer Avenue, at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. This is where the bridge can be found, running north into the public plaza at Manhattan West.
Andrew Frasz, courtesy of the High LineRunning along 30th Street is the Woodland Bridge, another part of the Moynihan Connector. This bridge will contain 5-foot deep soil containers for lush plantings to grow from along the path. The two bridges will be visually connected by Corten steel decking and bronze handrails. The connector design is a collaboration between James Corner Field Operations, who was a part of the High Line’s original design team, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
TUESDAY PHOTO RIHS OFFICE ON THE 4TH FLOOR OF THE OCTAGON JANET SPENCER KING GOT IT RIGHT PARDON OUR TYPO… WE HAVE CORRECTED IT.
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
UNTAPPED NEW YORK
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Andrew Frasz, courtesy of the High Line