On July 13, 1902, painter Robert Henri took a day trip to Far Rockaway. Unlike more raucous Coney Island, this easternmost stretch of the Rockaway Peninsula had become a popular seaside destination for New Yorkers seeking peaceful relief from sweltering urban heat.
After sketching a scene of visitors streaming from a bathing pavilion to the beach, Henri “described his idea for the final oil in his diary: ‘blue sky. sun yellow pavilion…tel[ephone] pole brilliant colors of people on beach, walk and in pavilion. blue strip of sea,’” states the 1994 book, American Impressionism and Realism, per Sothebys.com.
The above painting is the final oil, simply titled “At Far Rockaway.” Henri at the time was moving away from Impressionism to a more realist style. But this rich landscape has an Impressionist feel—the pops of color from the parasols, hats, and willowy bathing dresses as well as the contrast of blue hues in the sky and ocean.
The visitors are mostly female; the contours of the sand appear like a soft embrace. American flags, perhaps leftover from the Fourth of July, wave in the breeze before a placid “blue strip of sea,” as Henri put it.
“Painted four years after the Rockaways were officially absorbed into the City of Greater New York, “At Far Rockaway” depicts the elevated boardwalk, a main attraction in the area, or one of a number of popular bathing pavilions offering comfort and shade to beachgoers,” stated Sotheby’s, which called the painting a “celebration of modern seaside leisure.”
“Painted four years after the Rockaways were officially absorbed into the City of Greater New York, “At Far Rockaway” depicts the elevated boardwalk, a main attraction in the area, or one of a number of popular bathing pavilions offering comfort and shade to beachgoers,” stated Sotheby’s, which called the painting a “celebration of modern seaside leisure.”
SUMMER BUNGALOWS WERE A GREAT PLACE TO STAY DURING THE HEAT OF SUMMER IN THE ROCKAWAYS
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.
When I moved to the Island 47 years ago last Sunday, I was introduced to Astoria shopping by my friend Arlene Atkinson. We learned to take the Q102 bus and visit the Greek, French, Italian and other shops in the neighborhood.
This morning I returned for the first time in a while (aside from trips to Dollar Tree at Broadway and 31st Avenue). The Q102 runs the route with a few modifications for monster construction around Queens Plaza.
Trade Fair was my first stop (after Dollar Tree and a stop for coffee). Its aisle are full of exotic imports, many from the Middle East.
The aisles are well stocked and some prices are the same as Foodtown. The advantage is a great selection of ethnic foods, a wonderful deli and salad bar. Also, wandering the aisles and discovering old favorites.
A block east of Trade Fair this half-block long apartment house is being completed. These six story housing is popping up all; over Western Queens, replacing one story tax-payers.
The Berry Fruit Market is still on the same corner with lots of fresh produce. Being Monday morning, the staff was busy putting out fresh produce. A shop reflecting the times when we went to the green-grocer every few days.
All kinds of restaurants proliferate in the neighborhood. A vast variety a 20 minute Q102 ride from home.
Still on the corner of 31 Street and Broadway, Parisi Bakery with the aroma of fresh bread wafting to the sidewalk.
While waiting for the Q102, the scene was looking into the recently renovated Broadway N /W subway station with it glass artwork. The building across the street has a sign “2nd Avenue” a relic of days past.
Since it took a while for the bus to arrive, I studied the architectural detail of the building: decorative details on the far wall and ornate ironwork on the fire escapes.
The Walkins Bakery is long gone along with the French Butcher Shop. Many of the discount stores are gone with new buildings including a Compass Real Estate office and a Food Emporium. Still worth the visit!!!!
ASTORIA PARK POOL, BUILT FOR THE OLYMPIC TRIALS FOR THE 1936 BERLIN OLYMPICS. RECENTLY RESTORED AND NOW OPEN WITH A GRAND VIEW OF THE TRIBORO.
CREDITS JUDITH BERDY
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
The village of Red Hook (Roode Hoek = Red Corner) was established by Dutch colonists in 1636 and named after the locality’s red clay soil. Two decades later its community became part of Brooklyn.
During the 1650s, settlers brought over ovens from the Low Countries to supply fellow colonists with household vessels. Manhattan’s production of red earthenware is thought to have begun with Dirck Claesen, a potter based in the New Amsterdam settlement.
Born in Leeuwarden, Friesland, he had arrived in New Netherland in 1653. As early products resembled objects produced at home, it is difficult to differentiate between local products and imports.
The expansion of the city of New York after the Revolution boosted the need for household earthenware and helped sustain local potters. Their numbers increased once mass migration from Europe was set in motion. Amongst the newcomers were many English potters who settled in Brooklyn and revitalized the industry.
The Six Towns
The “Potteries” is a collective name for six towns in Staffordshire (Stoke-on-Trent, Longton, Fenton, Hanley, Burslem and Tunstall) where during the Industrial Revolution the ceramic industry boomed. The availability of clay, coal and clean water from the River Trent meant that manufacturers had ready access to vital resources.
In 1770, Josiah Spode was the first Staffordshire potter to develop a viable method of manufacturing blue and white ceramics. His son Josiah II worked out the formula for bone china. Having opened a showroom in London in 1778, porcelain became popular amongst the city’s wealthy elite.
Although preceded by Josiah Wedgwood, Spode’s enterprise set a standard that was followed by the likes of Minton, Copeland and Ridgeway. Railway expansion in the 1840s increased distribution and soon there were over two hundred “potbanks” in operation, employing some 50,000 people.
With growing demand at home and abroad, manufacturers built larger ovens with little consideration for their workers. Factories were divided into workshops where skilled laborers were paid on “piece-rates,” their earnings depending on the number of pots produced. Child labor was common.
The kilns created a permanent haze of black smoke and turned the six towns into a polluted wasteland. Poor conditions caused ill health. Silicosis or “potter’s rot” was a common disease.
By 1824, potters had gained the right to organize into unions and negotiate conditions of employment. Forward steps were made, but by the mid-1830s the relationship between employers and workers worsened.
In 1836 the National Union of Operative Potters called out a strike that lasted for twenty weeks until starvation forced members to return to work. The walkout was followed by a recession in the early 1840s. Unemployment rose sharply and factory owners invested in machinery to reduce the wage bill. Skilled workers competed with each other for a diminishing number of jobs at low wages.
In 1843 a new union of potters was founded which, instead of confrontation, suggested a scheme to reduce surplus labor and improve the bargaining position of remaining workers.
The union supported emigration to the colonies. In April 1845 a polemical poem entitled “The Pioneers Song” appeared in the weekly newspaper The Potters’ Examiner, published in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, calling for English potters to forsake the tyranny of their employers and move to America.
The final verse reads:
But away with the pain – we shall see them again! We are only preparing a way for the rest: Then blow! Breezes blow! As onward we go- The Potters shall yet have a home in the West!
Ceramics may not have figured on a priority list of crafts in America at the time, but urbanization and the push westward had increased consumer demand. The discovery of raw material deposits opened up the potential of a viable industry. The 1840s saw a sustained period of potter migration from the Potteries to the United States.
Beauties of America
Prior to the Revolutionary War, colonists imported mass produced earthenware from English potteries. In spite of trade interruptions the pattern was continued after independence. Entrepreneurs at Staffordshire factories promoted patterns that would appeal to American patriots. White items of pottery were decorated with transfer-printed scenes of New York and other cities, portraits of the Founding Fathers and coats of arms from the new states.
In September 1822, Hanley potter John Ridgway sailed to Boston, Massachusetts, where he began a two-month tour in order to procure American prints and views and establish relationships with local ceramic merchants. On his return he began the process of creating his “Beauties of America” dinner service by transferring twenty-two views and landscapes onto plates, dishes, gravy boats, etc.
Burslem-born Andrew Stevenson ran the Cobridge Pottery in Stoke-on-Trent. An enterprising character he set out to seek a market niche in New York City. In January 1823, he sailed on the packet ship James Cropper from Liverpool with a consignment of earthenware. Later that year, Spooner’s Brooklyn Village Directory listed Stevenson as a “China & earthenware Manufacturer / Address Mansion House, Brooklyn Heights / Store 58, Broadway, New York.”
The business did not last long. In November 1823, the New York Gazette and General Advertiser supplied details of a sale at the above address of an assortment of china, earthenware and glass. From Brooklyn Heights Stevenson had enjoyed a view of the city which, on his return to Cobridge, served as inspiration for printed patterns on plates and dishes – New York in Staffordshire blue.
Greenpoint
Located at Brooklyn’s northernmost point, Greenpoint was an industrial site that would become associated with shipbuilding, but the first firms here were practitioners of the so-called “five black arts.” Glass and pottery makers, printers, refiners and cast-iron producers were so named because of the toxic fumes they produced. Smokestacks were a feature of Brooklyn’s skyline.
During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, there were at least a dozen potteries operating here. Many of the entrepreneurs and workers were English-born. This was a case of chain migration, the socio-economic process by which migrants from a particular place follow others from that area to a specific destination. Greenpoint was turned into Little Staffordshire.
Although modellers brought along popular English styles and motifs (such as Toby jugs), they quickly incorporated local flowers, trees, fish and animals in their pottery designs. Niagara Falls inspired waterfall scenes. In addition to utilitarian pieces, they began to produce “Fancy” ceramic pieces in a variety of styles, glazes and materials.
In 1848, a migrant by the name of Charles Cartlidge set up a works in Freeman Street. Born in 1800 into a Burselm family of potters, he manufactured tea sets, pitchers, bowls, door knobs, buttons, cane heads, inkstands and cameos. His brother-in-law Josiah Jones modeled “busts of celebrated Americans” in what the firm always described as bisque (white unglazed) porcelain.
Cartlidge engaged talented painters to decorate the firm’s products. One of these artists was Elijah Tatler who had served an apprenticeship at Minton in Staffordshire. After Cartlidge closed the factory in 1855, he would establish his a decorating business in Trenton, New Jersey.
In 1853 Longton-born William Young, also a former employee at Cartlidge, settled in Trenton producing decorative hardware and household crockery. During the 1860s, several potteries were ranged along the Delaware and Raritan Canal.
Two years after closure of Cartlidge’s pioneering firm, German-born William Boch founded a pottery in Greenpoint. He produced Rococo-style pitchers as well as household ceramics and ornamental figures. Boch displayed his wares at Manhattan’s spectacular Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1853. But, as with Cartlidge, the firm ran into financial difficulties and passed into the care of a stock company. At the outbreak of the Civil War, a new owner took over.
Patriotic Pottery
Thomas Carll Smith had started his career in New York as a builder. A wealthy man at a young age, he had funds to invest. Although without experience in pottery and in spite of the high rate of failure in the trade, Smith decided to proceed.
In 1863, suffering from ill health, he traveled to Europe to recuperate and embraced the opportunity to visit the French porcelain factory of Sevres and some potteries in Staffordshire. He engrossed himself in the minute details of porcelain making.
On his return he renovated the factory which he named the Union Porcelain Works (UPW) and invested in the plant’s modernization. He acquired a quarry in Brachville, Connecticut, to secure the supply quartz and feldspar. Located at 300 Eckford Street, UPW became the main manufacturer of porcelain tile, door knobs and fireplace ceramics, a position it held well into the 1920s when the factory was finally closed.
But Smith had bigger dreams. His ambition was to compete with the quality china of Limoges or Meissen. Unwilling to copy European motifs, he resolved to use only original designs and create typical American patterns.
In 1874 he offered a job to sculptor Karl Müller to design wares for the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Born in Germany about 1820 and trained in Paris, Müller had moved to the city of New York in the aftermath of the 1848 political unrest. Smith admired his work.
Müller’s designs at the Exhibition attracted keen interest. His most notable contribution was a pair of large Century Vases, each covered with a profusion of historical and patriotic scenes. Bison heads serve as handles; a portrait of George Washington embellishes each side; and six biscuit-relief panels around the base depict historical events.
By producing uniquely themed china, UPW shaped a stylistic tradition that set the tone for future developments. The 1876 Centennial spurred on a vogue of collecting Americana. People sought out items memorizing the early years of the Republic, from furniture and silver to ceramics with patriotic themes.
Pioneering Pottery
Decorators were elite artisans in porcelain manufacturing as the work required both artistic talent and the skill to paint with enamels. Born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Edward Lycett was apprenticed aged twelve at Copeland & Garrett, the former Spode manufactory in Stoke-on-Trent.
In 1852, he joined Thomas Battam’s renowned decorating firm in London. He created classical figures and cameo medallions as well as flowers, birds and fish in a palette that was characteristic of the finest china painting in England.
Lycett was one of many Staffordshire craftsmen who made his way to New York in search of new challenges and better prospects. He settled in Greenpoint in 1861 where he worked to order, sometimes alone and on other occasions in partnership, decorating a range of wares in a variety of styles, from ornate dinner services to bar pitchers, building a growing name for himself. In 1866 he was commissioned by President Andrew Johnson to paint a china set for use in the White House. His reputation rocketed.
In 1884, eager to experiment with the aesthetics of design, he accepted an invitation by Bernard Veit, part owner of the Faience Manufacturing Company, to take up the role of Art Director. French faience (tin-glazed earthenware) and Limoges wares had been fashionable ever since the Centennial Exposition.
It inspired the name of the company and served as models for wares produced at the Brooklyn factory and sold at Veit & Nelson’s showrooms in Lower Manhattan. But the public’s taste was changing, becoming more focused on Royal Worcester or Crown Derby porcelain. Lycett was appointed to facilitate the change towards the creation of art pottery.
Within two years of his arrival, he transformed the Faience Manufacturing Company’s artistic agenda. Edward specialized in large bulbous vases and ewers decorated with an eclectic mix of Japanese and Islamic influences that reflected the “cult of beauty” associated with the Aesthetic Movement.
Imposing size and complex in decoration, his designs of the 1880s exhibited an American inspiration that distinguished them from those by European art potteries. They were sold in elite art emporiums, including Tiffany & Company. He set a new standard of excellence in ceramics.
The high cost of producing labor-intensive art ceramics for a relatively small market was not sustainable. In 1890, the Faience Manufacturing Company ceased production. Lycett retired, but his legacy endured.
In 1895 historian Edwin Atlee Barber (author of Marks of American Potters in 1904) described him as “The Pioneer of China Painting in America” and the label stuck. He stood out as a gifted craftsman in Brooklyn’s Little Staffordshire community.
2006 BRAND NEW BUS #3 Judith Berdy
CREDITS NEW YORK ALMANACK
Illustrations, from above: A detail from Andrew Stevenson’s platter “New York from Heights near Brooklyn,” a Staffordshire blue roast dish from ca. 1825 (Brooklyn Museum); Middleport in the Potteries, Staffordshire, from above; 20th century workers in the casting room Middleport pottery, England; Andrew Stevenson’s plate showing the 1816 Alms House in New York City on the banks of the East River; the Cartlidge Porcelain Works at Greenpoint, “drawn from memory by Mr. C.W. A. Cartlidge”; a William Boch pitcher decorated by F.K.M. Kropp, 1850s (Brooklyn Museum); a Karl Müller vase, ca. 1876 (Brooklyn Museum); and a Edward Lycett covered vase, ca. 1887 (University of Richmond Museums).
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 York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents throughout New York State. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people and engage in policing on New York State Lands.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers.
Town of Warrensburg, Warren County Wilderness Search: On June 18, at 11:45 p.m., Ray Brook Dispatch received a call from a concerned party about a subject who was last seen the day before on the Pack Forest nature trail. Forest Rangers Kabrehl and Savarie performed linear searches overnight with negative results. At 8:45 a.m., the Warren County Sheriff’s office advised the 45-year-old from Glens Falls was located walking on Route 9 without shoes or a shirt. Forest Ranger Captain Ganswindt and Ranger Savarie interviewed the subject who advised he had become lost on June 17 and found his way to the main road early on June 19. A sheriff’s deputy transported the subject to the hospital for dehydration treatment.
Town of Clifton, St. Lawrence County Water Search: On June 19, at 7:48 p.m., Ray Brook Dispatch received a call from a kayaker who had become separated from his paddling partner and could not find his way back to their camp on Bog Lake. Forest Ranger Jansen found the kayaker on Grass Pond and helped him back to the campsite. Resources were clear at 10:10 p.m.
Town of Ticonderoga, Essex County Wilderness Rescue: On June 20 at 3 p.m., Forest Rangers responded to Putnam Pond Campground for a report of a subject who had fallen and broken his leg across the water from the main area of the campground. Three Rangers, EMTs, and the Ticonderoga Fire Department used motorboats to reach the 67-year-old from Warwick. The rescue crew packaged the subject onto a back board and carried him to one of the docked boats across the water to a waiting ambulance. Resources were clear at 6 p.m.
Town of Philipstown, Putnam County Wilderness Rescue: On June 21, at 2:45 p.m., Forest Rangers Pries and Russo responded to a call for a hiker going in and out of consciousness on the Breakneck Ridge trail. The subject’s hiking companion shared information about the hiker with the Hudson Highlands State Park Manager. Rangers and staff from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) hiked up to the coordinates provided by Putnam County Dispatch. At 4 p.m., rescue crews reached the 18-year-old from Holbrook and provided food, water, and electrolytes. The crew used a wheeled litter to get the subject down the mountain. A Putnam County Paramedic examined the hiker and an ambulance transported her to a hospital for further assistance. Resources were clear at 5:20 p.m.
Town of Mamakating, Sullivan County Wilderness Rescue: On June 22 at 4:30 p.m., a group of five hikers called Sullivan County 911 to report they were lost in Roosa Gap State Forest and couldn’t find their way back to the Cox Road trailhead. At 6:30 p.m., Forest Ranger Rusher reached the group from Queens, approximately 2.5 miles from the trailhead.
The group thought the Long Path was a one-mile loop and had not prepared to be outside in the extremely hot weather. The group had only brought one bottle of water for each person. One member of the party was dizzy and nauseated due to heat exhaustion. Ranger Rusher provided food, water, and electrolytes to everyone in the group so they could continue hiking down. At 8:10 p.m., Summitville Fire Department hiked in with additional water for the group. At 8:45 p.m., the group reached the trailhead and were checked out by EMS.
Town of Keene, Essex County Wilderness Search: On June 22 at 4:45 p.m., Ray Brook Dispatch received a call from a group of hikers reporting a 19-year-old member of their party had hiked ahead of them on Mount Marcy and was presumed lost. Forest Ranger Praczkajlo spoke to the summit steward who saw the hiker near the peak at 10:40 a.m., and a report from John’s Brook Lodge indicated the hiker was spotted at 3:30 p.m., lying down from exhaustion. At 5:40 p.m., Ranger Praczkajlo met the hiker as he reached the trailhead and reunited him with his hiking party.
Our favorite benches are the two located on the Senior Center Terrace. These were rescued by the RIHS and it took years for RIOC to paint and preserve them for the community. Be sure to check them out on the terrace, a popular lunch spot for our seniors. We extend our gratitude to Lisa Fernandez for tending the garden. Judith Berdy
CREDITS NEW YORK ALMANACK
Photo: A Forest Ranger leads lost hikers from Queens found in Roosa Gap State Forest out of the woods in Junee 2024 (DEC Photo).
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.
I learned about MudGirl Srudios from a NJPBS program featuring the studiol.
Last Tuesday after arriving on a day trip bus visit, my friend Ranyee and I ventured two blocks from the Boardwalk to find MudGIrls Studios. Located on the second floor of a church, in the space of a former school we discovered the studio.
We were met by founder Dorrie Papademetriou. She was surprised to have visitors and welcomed us warmly introducing us to the women artists at work.
(Arrangements have to be made to visit this working studio)
“MudGirls Studios is a non-profit 501(c) (3) organization that empowers disadvantaged women through training and employment. MudGirls Studios helps women transition onto a pathway towards self-sufficiency and out of poverty. We use clay as our vehicle to change lives through their own creations and sales of functional art and aesthetic utilitarian objects. These women gain a source of long-term supplemental income along the way”
Dorrie showed us finished products that are sold to retailers, custom designs, and at markets. This is the display area with the beautiful articles on view.
The windows look out on the casinos with the ocean just a few blocks away.
Clay come in large cubes, which are cut and pressed to sizes that are used to press molds into tiles and flat designs. (No potter’s wheels here)
The tiles on the table will be fired, glazed and fired again. After completed they will be a a wall installation at a New Jersey organization. Many people commission special objects for events.
These custom coasters with a tree design are commissioned for wedding gifts. Lovely gifts for the guests.
Some of the staff are professional artist, but most are women looking for a better life for them and their families.
The products range from large platters, vases to wonderful earrings.
The building’s past is visible in the hall and the former classrooms. There are move improvement and community arts groups in the area now and hopefully more will blossom soon.
A block away from MudGirls, was the Roman Forum at Caesar’s Resort. A fun trip to Atlantic City for all participants. Ranyee and I followed our tradition of off the beaten path discoveries.
CREDITS
JUDITH BERDY
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
IT IS OUR FIRST 4th WITHOUT THOUSANDS OF VISITORS ON THE SOUTH END OF THE ISLAND, TO SEE THE MACY’S FIREWORKS. A YEAR TO RELAX IN OUR PARKS AND GARDENS.
BRING YOUR KIDS BY ON THE 4TH FOR A SURPRISE GIFT 12N TO 5 PM THURSDAY ONLY
ALL DECKED OUT AND AWAITING YOUR VISIT
ALL DECKED OUT AND AWAITING YOUR VISIT
THANKS TO MATERIALS FOR THE ARTS FOR OUR WONDERFUL SELECTION OF BUNTING TO DECORATE THE KIOSK.
THOM HEYER AND PENNY GOLD’S IMAGINARY IMAGE OF ROOSEVELT ISLAND IS FREATURED IN THE RIVERCROSS DISPLAY WINDOW SPONSORED BY THE ROOSEVELT ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. FOR A REAL MAP, STOP AT THE VISITOR CENTER KIOSK, ALSO A WORK OF ART BY DAVID CAIN (C)
The organ is not hooked up and has not been used recently. I could not find a manufacturer on the instrument. E-mail me if your are interested: jbird134@aol.com
CREDITS
JUDITH BERDY, THOM HEYER, PENNY GOLD, DAVID CAIN (C)
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.
When next you are in Southpoint Park, stand across from the Smallpox Hospital and look west to 434 East 52nd Street. Perched on top of this building the the pink house. I have seen it for years and only managed to take blurry photos of it! It’s current occupants remain a mystery.
Judith Berdy
Three years ago, a post popped up on Reddit that caught my attention. It contained an image (below) shot from Roosevelt Island of a pretty, candy-pink house on the roof of an East Side apartment building.
“Anyone know what this pink house on top of a building is?” the Redditor asked. I knew I had to find out.
Turns out this storybook-like, brightly colored house with two chimneys and a greenish peaked roof is the penthouse on top of 434 East 52nd Street, a prewar Bing & Bing apartment residence designed by Emery Roth that opened in 1930.
The house, which looks like it belongs on a suburban street or country lane rather than an urban canyon near Sutton Place, boasts three floors, 4,000 square feet, and wraparound terraces. All this comes from its Streeteasy listing, which says that it was on the market for $4.5 million in 2021.
As if living in your own house in the Manhattan sky wouldn’t be enough of a thrill, this penthouse was home to a famous resident. In 1974, it was the “lost weekend” residence of John Lennon and May Pang, according to various real estate and home decor sites.
Is it the same penthouse? I’m not so sure. In her book Loving John, Pang recalls the “small penthouse” with a wood-burning fireplace plus tiny kitchen, which ran Lennon $750 per month in rent. Maybe the rooftop house seemed small to a couple used to the oversized chambers of the Dakota?
According to Pang, this is where she and John spotted a UFO from their terrace—perhaps the UFO memorialized in the lyrics “There’s a UFO over New York, and I ain’t too surprised” from the song “Nobody Told Me.”
“’Look up there!’ Pang recalled John saying one August night, pointing to the sky. ‘Tell me what you see.’ I looked up and couldn’t believe my eyes. ‘There was a saucer-shaped object surrounded by blinking white lights gliding through the sky.’”
The pink house is also reportedly where photographer Bob Gruen took the iconic images of Lennon wearing a New York City T-shirt. From the view of the terrace, it really could be the same adorable home.
It’s not visible from the street, but from the river or another penthouse, it must look pretty sweet.
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.
I mentioned the Colossus of Coney Island once before, but it’s time to expand on that a bit. (The fact that I mentioned this building three and a half years ago and did not remember having done so until I searched for it makes me wonder if I’ve written too many blog posts.) Here’s an 1896 photograph that, while sadly lacking contrast, gives an accurate impression of how big that elephant was. The one-story building in front only goes halfway up the legs.
Note that visiting the inside was free at that time. It had been planned as a mall of sorts, housing individual store stalls and supposedly had a grand hall and museum. While it was extraordinarily large as an elephant, it was not really that big as a building, and the museum and hall spaces were small as museums and grand halls go. And since the number of windows – again, large for an elephant, small for a building – was limited by the need to have the wood structure span between the legs, it must have been a bit dark and close inside there. Here’s a cross-section
It was about twice the size of its predecessor, Lucy, in Atlantic City, with the peak of the howdah on the elephant’s back about 120 feet above grade. My personal favorite detail is that there were telescopes set into the eyes – which may be why they look a little weird in the photos – so that the head was a kind of observatory. Another not-great photo:
The Colossus opened in 1885 and, like so much of early Coney Island, burned down. The stereoscopic view may be dated 1897, but the elephant burned down in September 1896.
A Coney Island Tragedy: Burning of the Historic Elephant Cover from October 10, 1896 issue of The Illustrated American
The attractions at Coney Island and other beach resorts at that time were maybe one notch better than those of a traveling carnival and were built as cheaply as possible. A building-sized object made up entirely of plank and 2×s, and lit by gas, was pretty much inevitably going to burn.
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.
That’s the new folly, but I have no way to explain what that is because I have no idea. If you look at the website about the projectthere are some renderings of it, but they don’t seem to look much like that. It may be that my imagination is lacking or it may be that the design has changed since the renderings were made or it may be some of both. In the end, I just want the project done to get the sidewalks back to normal.
Nearly every day, I walk past the construction of the South Battery Park City Resiliency Project, part of protecting lower Manhattan from the kind of flooding that occurred during Hurricane Sandy. Much of it is relatively straightforward: there’s a big berm being added to the park along the river, which will be landscaped to be a useful part of the park.
Part of the park since its construction has been an odd folly, with a fake brick arch as its centerpiece, that housed a restaurant. Since the folly’s footprint crossed form an area with unchanged elevation into the berm, it had to be removed, and is being replaced with an odder folly, which will probably house a restaurant.
That’s the context for this photo:
UNLIKE COLER THIS PROJECT IS IN A PARK, CHECK OUT LINKS AND IMAGES
The South Battery Park City Resiliency Project contemplates creation of an integrated coastal flood risk management system from the Museum of Jewish Heritage, across Wagner Park and Pier A Plaza, and along the northern border of the Historic Battery.
The SBPCR Project represents one of several projects within the overall Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency (LMCR) Master Plan.
The purpose of the SBPCR Project is to:
• Provide a reliable coastal flood control system to provide risk reduction to property, residents and assets within the vicinity of South Battery Park City in response to the design storm event;
• Protect and preserve to the maximum extent practicable, open space resources and opportunities to view and interact with the Manhattan waterfront, particularly in Wagner Park, Pier A Plaza and The Battery; and,
• Avoid or minimize disruption to existing below and above-ground infrastructure (i.e., water and sewer infrastructure, subways, tunnels, utilities, etc.) from flood events
The SBPCR Project enhances Wagner Park’s programmatic diversity and provides an opportunity for a new waterfront marine habitat educational area along the Pier A inlet. The Pier A Inlet design converts a concrete relieving platform and rip-rap edge to a terraced condition that improves habitat opportunities.
SBPCR Project: Frequently Asked Questions (May 2023)COMMUNITY NOTICE: SOUTH BATTERY PARK CITY RESILIENCY PROJECTThe South Battery Park City Resiliency Project contemplates creation of an integrated coastal flood risk management system from the Museum of Jewish Heritage, across Wagner Park and Pier A Plaza, and along the northern border of the Historic Battery.The SBPCR Project represents one of several projects within the overall Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency (LMCR) Master Plan.The purpose of the SBPCR Project is to:• Provide a reliable coastal flood control system to provide risk reduction to property, residents and assets within the vicinity of South Battery Park City in response to the design storm event;• Protect and preserve to the maximum extent practicable, open space resources and opportunities to view and interact with the Manhattan waterfront, particularly in Wagner Park, Pier A Plaza and The Battery; and,• Avoid or minimize disruption to existing below and above-ground infrastructure (i.e., water and sewer infrastructure, subways, tunnels, utilities, etc.) from flood eventsThe SBPCR Project enhances Wagner Park’s programmatic diversity and provides an opportunity for a new waterfront marine habitat educational area along the Pier A inlet. The Pier A Inlet design converts a concrete relieving platform and rip-rap edge to a terraced condition that improves habitat opportunities.
FROM WALT WHITMAN’S LEAVES OF GRASS THE SHAPES ARISE
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OLD STRUCTURES ENGINEERING DON FRIEDMAN POETRY BY WALT WHITMAN YIMBY
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