Horn and Hardart Automat Chock Full O’Nuts Schafft’s Charleston Garden Bird Cage Good Humor Ice Cream Howard Johnson’s Lundy Brothers Junior’s Jahn’s Ice Cream Longechamps
HORN AND HARDART AUTOMAT
You brought a dollar bill to the cashier and she gave you 20 nickels, enough for a grand dinner of a main dish bake beans, dessert and coffee with change to spare.
CHOCK FULL O’NUTS
Nutted Cheese, Donut and Coffee for about 60 cents, Sandwiches were made by women never touching the ingredients and magically wielding two spatulas.
SCHRAFFT’S
If I behaved all day at B. Altman, we would stop at Schrafft’s on 34th Street for a chocolate ice cream soda for me. Then off to Franklin Simon, Arnold Constable and Macy’s.
FOUR LADIES TO A SHARED TABLE. THE TRAY FIT IN THE SLOTS ON THE TABLE. THE AREA IS NOW THE DINING AREA OF CUNY GRADUATE CENTER, WITH THE AMBIANCE OF A GYM.
THE BIRD CAGE LORD & TAYLOR
THERE WE NO TABLES. THE CHAIR HAD A SWING AWAY TRAY ATTACHED. DESSERT WAS DELIVERED BY A WAITRESS PUSHING A PINK ROCKET-SHAPED CART.
GOOD HUMOR ICE CREAM
Run from the dinner table with a quarter to get an ice cream from the Good Humor man with the napkin that had a slit in it for the stick!
HOWARD JOHNSON’S
Stop on Queens Blvd and get ice cream cones for everyone in the station wagon, My day must have memorized everyone’s favorite flavor.
LUNDY BROTHERS SHEEPSHEAD BAY
Long tables for family groups and watching the fishing boats across the street
JUNIOR’S
Darn, I never ate in the original Junior’s, but have consumed some slices from the branch in Grand Central Terminal
JAHN’S ICE CREAM
Come in on your birthday with identification and get a free sundae. Order a KITCHEN SINK for $6- and get 18 scoops of ice cream!!!
RESTAURANT LONGECHAMPS
UNFORTUNATELY, I WAS NOT INTO DECOR WHEN I DINED AT LONGECHAMPS. THERE WAS ONE IN MANHATTAN HOUSE IN THE EARLY 1970’S THAT LOOKED OUT INTO A GARDEN.
WEEKEND PHOTO Can you identify this object and location? Send you response to jbird134@aol.com Winner gets a trinket from kiosk.
FRIDAY IMAGE OF THE DAY
Steps leading to Rivercross Lobby Jay Jacobson and many others guessed it correctly.
EDITORIAL
Today I ventured back to my childhood and teen years when I was skinny, I mean skinny. Maybe, it was the choice of my parents dining selections. I remember fondly all of those listed. As you can see I liked a place with am gimmick. My choices have improved, though I miss my dad’s choices of French Restaurants.
Funding Provided by: Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation Public Purpose Funds Council Member Ben Kallos City Council Discretionary Funds thru DYCD 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 PHOTOS COPYRIGHT RIHS. 2020 (C) ALL PHOTOS IN THIS ISSUE (C) JUDITH BERDY RIHS
Out trip starts at LaGuardia Airport arriving on a DC-3.
Since we are in Queens we will pass the Sunshine Biscuit factory near the Queensboro Bridge.
The Singer Building a graceful site, now gone from downtown.
City Prison, known as The Tombs, is located on the corner of Leonard and Centre Streets, a dismal structure of Egyptian architecture where prisoners walked between the prison and the courthouse on the BRIDGE OF SIGHS.
Siegel-Cooper was the grandest of the department stores on Ladies Mile, now Bed, Bath and Beyond
Madison Square Garden was the place to be seen and unfortunately Sanford White met the gun of Harry Thaw there and ended the architect’s life….over a woman.
Located on 26th Street at the East River, Bellevue was the port of embarkation for those traveling to the wonderful institutions on Blackwell’s Island.
The second Madison Square Garden on Eighth Avenue had little to say for it. My experience at the circus there left a lasting aroma.
The original Waldorf Astoria was located at 350 Fifth Avenue, now the Empire State Building
Located on 44th an 6th the Hippodrome was a grand burlesque theatre
A Wonderful sign over Times Square where the only “characters” were naked statues.
Before Dick Clark there was Ben Grauer doing a 15 minute show on New Year’s eve.
Every summer I would visit Times Square and see the Camel Man blowing smoke rings.
I do remember the Dodgers winning the ’55 World Series
FRIDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
Identify this photo and location. Send to Jbird134@aol.com Win a kiosk trinket
THURSDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
THE MANUFACTURERS OF THE ORIGINAL SWISS TRAM. TWO WINNERS: ALEXI VILLFANE OLYA TURCHIN
EDITORIAL
Today I joined Red Cross Volunteers at Coler giving gift bags to the staff. There are a group of family foundations that have been supporting hospital staffs for the last four months. We gave every staff member a large bag containing refreshments, personal care items, snacks and breakfast foods. Of course every bag contains a roll of bathroom tissue.
The Coler staff is great an appreciative of the generous support of so many New Yorkers.
Coler is a special place. At the moment there are still over 50 Covid-19 patients in the RIMC hospital units.
The State still mandates that the residents cannot have visitors or leave the campus yet. Many are eager, but caution comes first, The wonderful garden is a great place fro the residents to get fresh air and enjoy the summer weather.
Coler needs your support. Coler has been tending to the people of New York since 1952 and many of us have just discovered it.
Judith Berdy
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
FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
CORRECTION THE CORRECT WEBSITE FOR RON CRAWFORD ART IS: RONCRAWFORDART.COM
THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2020
The
88th Edition
From Our Archives
PENNY POSTCARDS
Remembering RKB
THIS SUMMER HAVE SOME FUN WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND SEND THEM A POSTCARD FROM HOME!
Even before the bridge was complete images of it were being sent.
WEDNESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
Howard and Ellen Polivy with volunteer clearing debris in Blackwell Park
THURSDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
SEND YOUR ENTRY TO JBIRD134@AOL.COM WIN A TRINKET FROM THE KIOSK
REMEMBERING RKB
Judy, Alan, Ruth and Ranyee celebrating Ruth’s birthday with Elle’s great Orange Cake.
Tuesday was the 8th anniversary of my mother’s passing. For the last three years of her life she shared my apartment with me in Rivercross.
My mother was Hunter College graduate who majored in math and statistics, a talent I did not inherit. She worked for a few years and married my dad in 1941. She was the perfect wife, mother, homemaker, mostly taking great care of her family and had great patience with us. She was a great reader and for many years enjoyed sewing and needlepoint. This was so typical of her generation.
My dad was much more of a salesman and outgoing personality. He loved travel, meeting people and going and doing. My mom enjoyed this life and if there was a difference we did not hear it.
In 2002 my dad passed and a few years later we (my brother Alan) and I realized she did not need her large 3 bedroom apartment. We moved her to a smaller unit in her Upper East Side building. The apartment was not a perfect fit and soon it became evident that her daughter would make room for her in her studio apartment.
We made it work by building a bedroom. Ruth suddenly discovered many of my neighbors and people I knew on the island. She would accompany me to meetings and trips outside. She would come to the kiosk and loved sitting outside and watching the passing crowd.
As time passed her legs failed more and more. We managed with some aides and more personal attention.
I see my neighbors leaving the community to live with their families. Sometimes this is great and other times it is an isolating experience. There is no simple answer.
I am sure she enjoyed her communal life on Roosevelt Island in her last 3 years. It was fun having her with me all it meant to both of us.
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
FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
Since most of us will be traveling around the world from our backyard this summer, enjoy Ron Crawford’ delightful images of some our favorite destinations.
Your Flight is now departing, take off your shoes, and we are boarding your flight of fancy.
CUBA – OLD CADDY
Ron Crawford Bio
As a documentary film cameraman, Ron realized he could combine his drawing talent with filmmaking and he became an animator. For many years he sparked the three seconds at the end of TV commercials, flipped station call letters or exploded galaxies for science show openings. Suddenly his next career choice became artist and actor and between Broadway and black box theater in New York City he has his pencil ready for that scene that will compel him to commit to paper; or brush to canvas.
Importantly for Ron, none of the works here are commissioned, they are all a matter of impulse. Everyday scenes with moving vibrant people that capture a moment. A quick drawing can then turn into a colorful completed work, requiring many hours of precision computer time inspired by a sketch that took perhaps minutes in a crowded city and a tight schedule.
What is this and where is it located E-mail jbird134@aol.com Win a trinket from Kiosk
TUESDAY’S PHOTO OF THE DAY
THE OVAL ROOM AT THE CHAPEL OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD
EDITORIAL
We may not be venturing far this summer. Think of the island as a tourist would. Where else can you find:
A HIGH FLYING CABLE CAR FRIENDLY STAFF THAT OFFERS ADVISE AND DIRECTIONS A LIGHTHOUSE REMAINS THAT ARE NOT AS OLD AS ROMAN ONES A PANORAMIC VIEW OF A GREAT CITY SOME DINING SPOTS THAT DO NOT CHARGE YOU EXTRA TO DINE OUTSIDE A FARMHOUSE THAT DOES NOT HAVE CREEKING FLOORS FRIENDLY ISLANDERS A SIGHT OF THE RESIDENTS AT THE STREET MARKET EVERY SATURDAY KIDS RUNNING AROUND FUNNY BUSES THAT GO AROUND AND AROUND PLENTY OF PLACES TO SIT IF YOUR FEET HURT A CHARMING ALCOVE WITH AN ART PIECE IN THE CENTER A FREE ART GALLERY
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 RON CRAWFORD (C) FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPORE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
Included in this Issue: STATEN ISLAND ALICE AUSTEN PHOTOGRAPHER
Alice in June,1888-Photograph by Oswald Muller
Biography
Austen’s father abandoned the family before she was born, and she was baptized under the name Elizabeth Alice Munn on May 23, 1866, in St. John’s Church on Staten Island. She never used the name Munn and would initial her negatives with “EAA” for Elizabeth Alice Austen. With no household income and no husband, Alice’s mother moved back to her own parent’s home, which was known as Clear Comfort. Alice was the only child in the household, which now consisted of: Alice’s mother, Alice Cornell Austen (1836-?); Alice’s maternal grandparents, John Haggerty Austen (c1810–1894) and Elizabeth Alice Townsend (c1810s–1887). Also in the house were her mother’s siblings: Peter Austen, who was a chemistry professor at Rutgers University; and Mary Austen (1840-?) aka Minnie Austen, who was married to Oswald Müller (1840–?) who was the owner of a shipping company. Oswald was born in Denmark. Clear Comfort Austen in a June 1888 photograph by Oswald Müller
The house was built in the 17th century, but was expanded during the 19th century by Alice’s grandparents: John Haggerty Austen; and Elizabeth Alice Townsend. Clear Comfort was dedicated as a National Historic Landmark on April 8, 1976, one month after the 110th anniversary of Alice’s birth. It is also known as “Alice Austen House” and is located in the Rosebank neighborhood.(Wikipedia)
Photography
Austen became interested in photography when her uncle, Oswald Müller, brought home a camera around 1876.[5] Alice’s uncle Peter Townsend Austen was a chemistry professor at Rutgers who taught her photographic processing. Peter and Oswald converted a closet on the second floor into Alice’s darkroom. The earliest extant photograph by her is dated 1884. Over the next 40 years she produced around 8,000 photographs. Austen’s subject was daily life of the people of New York. She documented upper middle-class society on Staten Island and lower-class people living in New York’s Lower East Side. Her images of immigrants showed “a hesitancy and curiosity experienced by both photographer and subject.
Gertrude Amelia Tate
In 1899 Austen met Gertrude Amelia Tate (1871–1962), a kindergarten teacher and dancing instructor of Brooklyn, New York. She became Austen’s lifelong romantic partner. Gertrude visited Alice regularly and they spent holidays together in Europe. She moved in with Alice at Clear Comfort in 1917, overriding her family’s objection over her “wrong devotion” to Alice. They stayed together until, after the Stock Market Crash when they struggled to get by, Gertrude’s family offered housing to Gertrude, and only her, in 1950. They wished to be buried together, but their families refused this wish.
Photo Above “Playing Cards in the Austen Parlor, 1892
The Public Health Service doctor who asked Alice to record the quarantine procedures and equipment poses with his son on the Wadsworth.
Decline
Austen lived off the interest from the money left by her grandfather but the principal was lost in the Wall Street Crash of 1929. In 1920 Austen is listed in the Social Register of New York and was a member of the Colony Club of New York. By age 63, she had no income. She began to sell off her silver, art works, and furniture to get enough money to buy food and fuel. She then took out a mortgage on the house which was taken by the bank in 1945. She sold her remaining possessions for $600 to a second-hand dealer from New Jersey and called her friend Loring McMillen from the Staten Island Historical Society to take the photos. He stored them at the Third County Courthouse in Richmondtown.
She then moved to an apartment, then a nursing home. On June 24, 1950, she was declared a pauper and was admitted to New York City Farm Colony, Staten Island’s poorhouse. Rediscovery In 1950 Picture Press started a project on the history of American women and contacted archives for unpublished images.
C. Copes Brinley of the Staten Island Historical Society had 3,500 extant, uncatalogued Austen glass plate negatives of the roughly 8,000 she took.In October 1950, Constance Foulk Robert met with Brinley and McMillen to look at the negatives. Oliver Jensen came along on the next trip and he published several of the photos in his book Revolt of Women. He also wrote an eight-page story in Life magazine, and published six-pages of travel photos in Holiday magazine. The publications raised more than $4,000 for Austen and she was able to move out of the Farm Colony and into a private nursing home.
On October 9, 1951 Austen was the guest of honor at the first Alice Austen Day. She said: “I am happy that what was once so much pleasure for me turns out now to be a pleasure for other people.”
Austen continued to be supported by the Staten Island Historical Society and lived the next eight months in the nursing home, where she died on June 9, 1952.
The Society arranged for her funeral and she was buried in the Austen family plot in the Moravian Cemetery at New Dorp, Staten Island.[2] The Alice Austen Collection The Staten Island Historical Society at Historic Richmond Town claims it owns over 7,000 original items (glass plate negatives, film base negatives, and original prints) by Austen, but they do not retain the right to license images in their collection.
This collection is cataloged, digitized, and stored in an archival manner at Historic Richmond Town. The collection is available for study by appointment and high-quality images are made available upon request.The Alice Austen House Museum also has a collection of photographs, with about 300 on display in the resource room, which is open to the public.
Photo above Clear Comfort Bedroom
Alice and lifelong companion Gertrude Tate. Alice is seated on latter photo
FOR MORE ALICE AUSTEN PHOTOS PLEASE SEE ALICE AUSTEN.ORG
WHAT AND WHERE IS THIS? Send your submission to JBIRD134@AOL.COM Win a trinket from the RIHS Visitor Center Kiosk
MONDAY’S PHOTO OF THE DAY
“BLACKWELL’S ISLAND” Edward Hopper, 1928. View or Welfare Island from about 82 Street in Manhattan. Dome is the top of the Octagon, then the Metropolitan Hospital.
EDITORIAL
Just in case you did not hear, today is Democratic Party Primary Election Day. All islanders now vote at PS/IS 217 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
IF YOU HAVE AN ABSENTEE BALLOT, BRING IT TO THE POLL SITE TO HAND IT IN.
Judith Berdy
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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 FUNDING PROVIDED BY: ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION THRU PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDING
CITY COUNCIL MEMBER BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDS THRU DYCD
REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION (C) THE ROOSEVELT ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY (C) WIKIPEDIA (C) STATEN ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY (C) ALICE AUSTEN HOUSE MUSEUM (C)
Miller’s new map of the city of New-York. New York City map Covers New York City (Manhattan) south of 132nd Street. Shows 1-mile radial distances from City Hall. Also covers part of Brooklyn (N.Y.), Jersey City (N.J.), and Hoboken (N.J.). Title from cover. Oriented with north toward the upper right. Hand colored to distinguish city wards (numbered) and adjacent municipalities. “Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by Humphrey Phelps.
MAP Topographical map of the city and county of New-York, and the adjacent country : with views in the border of the principal buildings, and interesting scenery of the island. Relief shown by hachures. Shows wards, physical features, and various places of interest. “Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1836 by J.H. Colton & Co. in the Clerks Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York.” Does not show Madison Square. Oriented with north towards the upper right. LC Ward maps, 155 Cohen, P.E. Manhattan in maps,…
MAP Miller’s new map of the city of New-York. New York City map Covers New York City (Manhattan) south of 132nd Street. Shows 1-mile radial distances from City Hall. Also covers part of Brooklyn (N.Y.), Jersey City (N.J.), and Hoboken (N.J.). Title from cover. Oriented with north toward the upper right. Hand colored to distinguish city wards (numbered) and adjacent municipalities. “Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by Humphrey Phelps, in the Clerk’s… Contributor: Miller, James – Fillmore, Millard – Phelps, Humphrey Date: 1862
BLACKWELL’S ISLAND COLLECTION OF NYPL (C)
The Island from South to North 1970 in a State of Abandonment Comparing to Today’s Island
2020 Map Copyright RIHS (c)
From South to North: Smallpox Hospital with Brennan Hall on the East side of the building On west side Nurses residence On fare east side Strecker Laboratory City Hospital on north part stretching entire width of island Note: The island ended just south of the Smallpox Hospital and the debris is landfill
Goldwater Memorial Hospital with City Hospital on south end of the island.
A peek at the Central Nurses Residence with its driveway. In the trees to the north is Blackwell House abandoned for over 15 years.
Chapel of the Good Shepard is recognizable with the since demolished Good Samaritan German Lutheran Church. The other buildings were part of the City Home.
The “H” shaped Neurological Hospital sits where P.S. 217 is now situated.
The Welfare Island Bridge leads to the West Road. The Neurological Hospital is to the south and mostly hidden in the greenery as is the old firehouse. On the north side is the FDNY Training School with its red fire engines.
MONDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
Identify and locate this. Send your answer to jbird134@aol.com Win a trinket from the RIHS kiosk.
WEEKEND MYSTERY PHOTO OF THE DAY
Chapel of the Holy Spirit later known as Dayspring Church, now The Sanctuary
EDITORIAL
We are back to “normal” today. I will have a long needed haircut!!! We will have completed 9 long days of early voting, working every day on East 75th Street. After Monday off, our team will be back at PS 217 on Tuesday for primary voting from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Forgive me, if the winners of our photo identifications have not been up-to-date. It is hard to keep up on work days.
Back to near normal later this week!!!! AND EATING OUTSIDE NISI!!!!
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)
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
The nation’s first nursing school based on Florence Nightingale’s principles, the Training School for Nurses, opened at Bellevue in 1873. Sister Helen Bowdin of the All Saints Sisterhood in London was the first Superintendent. In 1952, the administration of the Bellevue Schools of Nursing and the Bellevue Hospital Nursing Service was split for the first time with Associate Directors. In 1954, the school moved to the new building that is Hunter-Bellevue’s current location and enrolled in the National Student Nurses’ Association. In 1967, an agreement with Hunter College was reached to transfer the Bellevue facilities to Hunter. In 1969, the final students in the diploma program were graduated.Hunter began educating nurses in 1943 and admitted the first enrollees in the Basic Collegiate Nursing Program leading to a Bachelor of Science (Nursing) degree in 1955 and to the graduate program leading to a Master of Science (Nursing) in 1961. The Hunter College Department of Nursing then expanded and moved to the facilities of the Bellevue Hospital School of Nursing in 1969 as the latter program was absorbed by Hunter Department of Nursing.[3] From June 1974 until it became independent again in 2008, Hunter-Bellevue Nursing School was part of the Division of the Schools of the Health Professions of Hunter College.(Wikipedia)
When researching this article I could not locate information on Alfred Hopkins Architects. Luckily, I located a NY Times article about the opening of the bailing in 1956. The architects were La Pierre, Litchfield and Partners a firm that succeeded Hopkins Architects. The Times describes the building as costing $14,000,000 and was built to attract more persons to the nursing field. The main 13 story building features 517 dormitory rooms. recreational facilities including 2 gyms, pool, tennis courts, shuffleboard and permanent bleachers. in one wing. The east wing has facilities for 200 male students. A large circular dining room overlooks the East River. There are ultra-modern amphi-theaters for teaching. The school was founded in 1873 as the Mills School for Male Nurses, Now both schools are combined for academic works. Bellevue merged the school with Hunter College in 1966 and the campus is now known as Brookdale. The architecture and design of this campus are a combination of mid-century modern with some art deco. It’s worth a trip to far East 26th Street. Unfortunately, Hunter would like to demolish this wonderful building for a Sanitation Garage and relocate the school to East 74th Street.
Above: Student mailboxes and library
Swimming pool which is shared with community.
One of two gyms.
Auditorium tans seats over 400 persons with round lighting patterns.
A marble staircase leading to lower level, something to steep and dangerous to build today, but looks great
Dining room for hundreds overlooking FDR Drive
Dining Room is spectacular though it lost its view to Waterside Apartments.
The School Today
The Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing is located at Hunter College’s Brookdale Health Science Center at 425 East 25th Street in Manhattan, near Bellevue Hospital. The School’s programs combine liberal and professional education with a humanistic and comprehensive approach to health care. The School’s mission is to provide quality nursing education to promote health and provide care to culturally diverse, urban, and global communities through research, scholarship, and service. The School’s programs combine liberal and professional education with a humanistic and comprehensive approach to health care. The School offers accredited programs leading to the Master of Science (MS) and the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degrees. The School also offers a post-Master’s advanced certificate program. Graduates meet the educational requirements for national board certification in their specialties. In addition, a PhD program in Nursing is offered by the City University of New York Graduate Center in conjunction with Hunter College, Lehman College, and The College of Staten Island.
WEEKEND PHOTO Can you identify this object and location? Send you response to jbird134@aol.com Winner gets a trinket from kiosk.
FRIDAY IMAGE OF THE DAY
North Wing of Metropolitan Hospital
EDITORIAL
This is an important week. Time to early vote for the primary election. Some news:
The only party having a Primary are the DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Our Primary EARLY VOTING SITE IS AT 440 EAST 26 STREET
FROM TODAY UNTIL SUNDAY. SATURDAY AND SUNDAY 10 A.M. TO 4 P.M.
REGULAR VOTING IS TUESDAY, JUNE 23 AT P.S./I.S. 217 6 A.M. TO 9 P.M.
Funding Provided by: Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation Public Purpose Funds Council Member Ben Kallos City Council Discretionary Funds thru DYCD 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 PHOTOS COPYRIGHT RIHS. 2020 (C) ALL PHOTOS IN THIS ISSUE (C) JUDITH BERDY RIHS
Adapted from A DAYTONIAN IN MANHATTAN article on this railway
Just 55 years after the American Revolution New York City was ready for mass transportation. On April 25, 1831 it granted the first street railway franchise to the New York and Harlem Railroad Company. The franchise concept allowed independent companies to operate street cars on specific streets in exchange for maintaining the pavement between and adjacent to the tracks. The city also received a percentage of the firms’ income. The Third Avenue Railroad Company was granted a franchise on December 18, 1852.
The horse-drawn cars began operating around six months later, on July 3. The company was instantly successful. A year after taking on its first passenger, the company’s line was extended to 86th Street. By 1859 the route ran to Harlem, terminating around 129th Street. The astounding success and growth of the company necessitated a “car barn” where the street cars could be maintained and housed and the teams of horses could be stabled. The car barn was completed in 1861—a cutting-edge explosion of French Second Empire architecture. The style would not gain popularity in the United States for a few years, but the car barn introduced it with gusto.
Providing a block-long expanse of floor space for maintenance and stables, it housed the company’s offices on the second floor. Looking more like a railroad depot than a maintenance shed, it sprouted tiled mansard towers, ornamented dormers and spiky cast iron roof cresting. The iconic Victorian structure would be closely mirrored a century and a half later in Disney World’s pseudo-Victorian railway station.
There had been a problem with Chicago’s system. If a cable snapped, the entire system went down. The Third Avenue Railway Company stepped around the problem by laying two cables—if one broke the other could quickly be engaged. Although many of the company’s employees were dissatisfied with the new system—it eliminated the jobs of some stable boys and the increased capacity of the new cable cars meant fewer drivers—the firm realized nearly 30 percent savings. For one thing, the life span of a car horse was only about five years, thereby requiring consistent replacement. The public was elated, as well. Reduced stable odors, horse manure on the streets and lessened damage to pavement by horse hooves were all welcomed side effects.
After 1872 the massive building stretched back to 2nd Avenue — from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York
The Railway used cable cars as well as horse-drawn streetcars until 1899 when the company switched over to electric-powered trolleys. The New York Times reported on October 21 “The Third Avenue cable…will terminate its career about 3:30 o’clock to-morrow morning.
The traffic on that stretch of road will be stopped for six or seven hours, and when it starts again, sub-trolley cars will have taken the place of the cable cars. The cable ropes will be piled up on Third Avenue, and probably sold for old metal.”
A writer to The New York Times a month later celebrated the passing of the horse-drawn cars. “Of course, the first thought of every humane patron of the line is to present his congratulations to the Third Avenue car horse on being extinct…In equine days the Third Avenue car horse was the equine analogue of the yellow dog, that is to say, the lowest of his kind.” But while he was happy with the replacement of the horse with electricity, the writer was not as pleased with the accommodations of the new trolleys. He found the 32-inch wide seats too confining.
“There was once a famous glutton who observed that a turkey, though very good eating, was an inconvenient bird, being a little too much for one and not quite enough for two. One need not be a glutton to find that true of the seats in the new cars…Two stout passengers who are doomed to occupy one of these seats in common glare at each other’s unfair proportions with unconcealed, and, in the case of beamy and candid female passengers, with articulately expressed disgust.”
By now Schribner’s magazine deemed the Third Avenue Railway Company “the richest street railway corporation” in the nation. But the expenses of electrification and route extension took its toll. The company failed on February 28, 1900 and was put into receivership. A cost-savings initiative was put into effect in 1907. The “car ahead” policy shortened routes, requiring passengers to inconveniently change cars. The passengers revolted. On August 23 of that year the New-York Tribune reported that “Still another riot was added yesterday to the many for which the “car ahead” rule is responsible, when the passengers on a Third avenue car refused to change at the barns at 65th street when ordered to by the conductor.” Six men and one woman sat stubbornly on the car as it was brought into the car barn around midnight. After an hour, the car cleaners began to clean up and ordered the passengers to leave. “The sweepers outnumbered the passengers, and although the latter fought every inch of the way, they were soon ejected from the barn. Several passengers from another car joined in the melee, and then missiles began to fly.” The battle resulted in at least two arrests and some bruises. The passengers, who would have received a free transfer, continued on their way home having to pay a new fare, somewhat worse for the wear.
But there was another opponent looming in the near future: the subway system. Although the streetcars continued to be used on Manhattan routes, the outlying routes were abandoned. The Third Avenue Railway’s car barn was still constructing streetcars—about two per week—through the 1930s.
Then in the first years of the 1940s the firm changed its name to the Third Avenue Transit Corporation and abandoned the streetcar in favor of motorized buses. By now the magnificent car barn had lost most of its Second Empire detailing, the grand towers sheared off. A bus is under construction in the car barn in the mid-1940s. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York
On July 15, 1946 The New York Times reported “To mark the formal end of the era of surface trolley car transportation in Manhattan, the Third Avenue Transit Corporation has decided to sell at auction its old car barns and other properties that it has used for two generations or more.” The article noted that “The oldest and one of the most valuable properties” was the Third Avenue car barn. “The three-story building there is a relic of Civil War days and has been used for car barns, repair shops and offices.”
In 1952 the glazed white brick Manhattan House apartment building rose on the site of the old car barn. The 19-story apartment building still stands, an interesting example of ambitious mid-century modern architecture; but not nearly so picturesque as its predecessor.
The 1950’s Manhattan House with its wide northern 66th Street.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
WHAT IS THE IS AND WHERE WAS IT LOCATED? SEND ANSWER TO JBIRD134@AOL.COM
YESTERDAY’S PHOTO OF THE DAY
Central Nurses Residence that was located where 465/475 are located.The building had 600 single rooms for student nurses and hospital staff from 1939 to 1970. ED LITCHER IS TODAY’S WINNER!!!
Editorial
This is an important week. Time to early vote for the primary election. Some news:
The only party having a Primary are the DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Our Primary EARLY VOTING SITE IS AT 440 EAST 26 STREET FROM TODAY UNTIL SUNDAY. HOURS ARE FRIDAY 7 A.M. TO 3 PM. SATURDAY AND SUNDAY 10 A.M. TO 4 P.M.
REGULAR VOTING IS TUESDAY, JUNE 23 AT P.S./I.S. 217 6 A.M. TO 9 P.M.
Judith Berdy
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
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated UNTAPPED CITIES NEW YORK (C) CONGREGATION EMANU-EL NEW YORK TIMES (C) AVERY ARCHIVES/COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
GUASTAVINO, THE TILES THAT MADE CEILINGS MASTERPIECES
Above St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University
The Guastavino tile arch system is a version of Catalan vault introduced to the United States in 1885 by Valencian (Spanish) architect and builder Rafael Guastavino (1842–1908). It was patented in the United States by Guastavino in 1892.
In 2014, the Museum of the City of New York housed an exhibition on the work of the Guastavinos, named “Palaces for the People: Guastavino and the Art of Structural Tile.” The retrospective called attention to many structures, including the Ellis Island Registry Room (The Great Hall), which used to be the first step in the U.S. immigration process for people who were waiting to be inspected by Immigration Service Officers. The room opened in 1900, and for over two decades, up to 5,000 immigrants passed through on a daily basis. Guastavino’s work, however, was not added until 1918. The Registry Room has since been restored to its appearance in 1918-24. (Untapped Cities)
Don’t worry about conspicuously lingering about in this government building; there is no need to go inside to find Guastavino tiles. The south wing of the Municipal building on Chambers Street is fitted with a vaulted tile ceiling, though not in the characteristic herringbone pattern. The Manhattan Municipal Building was the first to incorporate a subway station in its base, and it’s regarded as one of the most beautiful stations in the city, featuring 11 columns. According to MCNY, Guastavino “devised a series of elegant vaults to cover the space, adapting to its various shapes three basic forms: the barrel vault, used along the length of the colonnades; lunettes, curving between the columns; and groin vaults, to accommodate the diversely shaped polygons spanning the internal columns.” (Untapped Cities)
Guastavino vaulting is a technique for constructing robust, self-supporting arches and architectural vaults using interlocking terracotta tiles and layers of mortar to form a thin skin, with the tiles following the curve of the roof as opposed to horizontally (corbelling), or perpendicular to the curve (as in Roman vaulting). This is known as timbrel vaulting, because of supposed likeness to the skin of a timbrel or tambourine. It is also called Catalan vaulting and “compression-only thin-tile vaulting”[.Guastavino tile is found in some of New York’s most prominent Beaux-Arts structures and in major buildings across the United States. It is also found in some non-Beaux-Arts structures such as the crossing of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
The Guastavino terracotta tiles are standardized, less than an inch (25 mm) thick, and approximately 6 inches (150 mm) by 12 inches (300 mm) across. They are usually set in three herringbone-pattern courses with a sandwich of thin layers of Portland cement. Unlike heavier stone construction, these tile domes could be built without centering. Each tile was cantilevered out over the open space, relying only on the quick drying cements developed by the company. Akoustolith, a special sound absorbing tile, was one of several trade names used by Guastavino.
Guastavino tile has both structural and aesthetic significance. Structurally, the timbrel vault was based on traditional vernacular vaulting techniques already very familiar to Mediterranean architects, but not well known in America. Terracotta free-span timbrel vaults were far more economical and structurally resilient than the ancient Roman vaulting alternatives. Guastavino wrote extensively about his system of “Cohesive Construction”. As the name suggests, he believed that these timbrel vaults represented an innovation in structural engineering. The tile system provided solutions that were impossible with traditional masonry arches and vaults. Subsequent research has shown the timbrel vault is simply a masonry vault, much less thick than traditional arches, that produces less horizontal thrust due to its lighter weight. This permits flatter arch profiles, which would produce unacceptable horizontal thrust if constructed in thicker, heavier masonry. (Wikipedia)
Inside the RIHS Visitor Center Kiosk dating from 1909, when the Queensboro Bridge opened with 5 kiosks for entry to the below ground trolley station under 60th Street and Second Avenue.
OUTSIDE NEW YORK
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
BAIRD AUDITORIUM, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE, WASHINGTON, D.C.
THE TILE HOUSE BAY SHORE, LONG ISLAND, NY
The Tile House, its local nickname, is an eccentric, Moorish-looking brick folly on the south shore of Long Island, built by Rafael Guastavino Jr., the son of the architect Rafael Guastavino Sr., who developed the tile-vaulting system used in the Oyster Bar, the Whispering Gallery and in hundreds of other spaces, including Carnegie Hall and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Begun in 1912, when the younger Guastavino was working on Grand Central, the house is a riot of tile work: his own instantly recognizable herringbone arches, supplemented with European tiles he brought back from a honeymoon tour. When he died in 1950, he left the place to his daughter, Louise, who sold it eight years later (she died in 2004). By 2005, it was for sale, and on the Preservation League of New York State’s “Seven to Save” list. A couple from Florida who are in the business of buying and restoring old houses bought it then, saving it from a developer who wanted to tear it down. Their renovations included removing the decades-old trees that were growing in a garage. (NY Times)
THURSDAY IMAGE OF THE DAY
The interior of Temple Emanu-El is lined in Akoustalith tiles from Guastavino. These are non glazed tiles and the rough natural face gives them a more enjoyable sound resonance than glazed tiles. They were restored to their original condition in 2006. The tiles were cleaned with dry sponges absorbing decades of dust and grime.
CARNEGIE LIBRARY WASHINGTON, DC A TREASURE OF A BUILDING
This D.C. public library was closed for years. Last year, 2019, it re-opened as a research library, art gallery and Apple Store. The building is shining in the sunlight, just across the street from the DC Convention Center. Inside the main floor has a great Apple Store with a a performance space. Upstairs is a wonderful gallery with a selection of panoramic photos. The ground floor level is an art gallery featuring the building’s history. The ceilings are Guastavino tiles, these reproduced for the restoration.
THURSDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
WHAT IS THIS BUILDING? SEND ANSWER TO JUDITH BERDY JBIRD134@AOL.COM
WEDNESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY ENTRANCE TO NYPL ROOSEVELT ISLAND BRANCH The winner is Arlene Bessenoff
FROM OUR READERS
Wednesday Photo of the Day This is the original staircase in the Octagon
EDITORIAL
It is fun to look thru art and design such as today’s images of the works by the Guastavino family. Last summer we walked into a fantastic building in Washington, D.C. The Carnegie Library is worth the trip alone. It glows in the square where it is located. I returned a few months after my first visit to show to another friend. Upstairs the Preservation League of DC has an exhibit of panoramic photos. Next time you are in DC, stop by. You are in for a treat.
This is an important week. Time to early vote for the primary election. Some news:
The only party having a Primary are the DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Our Primary EARLY VOTING SITE IS AT 440 EAST 26 STREET
FROM TODAY UNTIL SUNDAY.
HOURS ARE: THURSDAY 10 A.M. TO 6 P.M. FRIDAY 7 A.M. TO 3 PM. SATURDAY AND SUNDAY 10 A.M. TO 4 P.M.
REGULAR VOTING IS TUESDAY, JUNE 23 AT P.S./I.S. 217 6 A.M. TO 9 P.M
Judith Berdy
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 All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated UNTAPPED CITIES NEW YORK (C) CONGREGATION EMANU-EL NEW YORK TIMES (C) AVERY ARCHIVES/COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
In New Dorp, Staten Island, on the southeastern waterfront of the borough is a decommissioned airfield used for half a century by the U.S. Army from 1919 to 1969. Part of the Gateway National Recreation Area today, Miller Field is one of those remaining anomalies: where formal activities co-exist side by side with quasi-accessible remnants of the past.
Bicycle and pedestrian paths wind around abandoned hangars, a lighthouse, and a control tower. You can get tantalizingly close to the forgotten structures, despite a chain link fence. Graffiti work inside clearly shows the ease in which explorers can jump the barriers. Grass and weeds are growing around the hangars, while geese and ducks are bathing undisturbed in the makeshift urban ponds where seaplanes once taxied. And incredibly, on the northern area of the site, people are still living in adorable clapboard homes built for military personnel and their families.
Miller Field has the distinction of being the only Air Coast Defense station in New York City, and on the entire eastern seaboard. There were seven planned defense stations, but this was the only one actually constructed. Before its decommission, Miller Field was the last airport in New York City to have a grass runway. The land also has a very New York City, Gilded Age past. The airfield was built atop the family farm amassed by “Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt, who was born on the north shore of Staten Island.
The farm, which also served as a horse breeding station, was later operated by his son George Washington Vanderbilt who built the Biltmore estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Washington Vanderbilt moved the 24-room home built by his father, dubbed the “white house” to the center of the farm in the early 1900s and lived there periodically until he died in 1914, according to the National Park Service. In 1919, the U.S. government acquired the 187 acres of land for Miller Field from the Vanderbilts for $100,000 — a sum that would be nearly $1.5 million in 2018 dollars. It was named for Captain James E. Miller, the very first American aviator killed in action during World War I. Nearly a century after his death, Miller was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 2017 for his brave actions fighting off two German aircraft solo over France.
In 1921, Miller Field was ready for operation, accommodating both land and sea planes with a “concrete seaplane ramp, two grass runways, two landplane hangers, two seaplane hangers,…and three 85 foot radio masts,” as itemized on the National Park Service’s detailed history of the site. However, several of the original Vanderbilt buildings actually remained on site well into the 1930s, including the “white house” which was used as Officer’s Club, along with a stable complex, a dairy house, and an ice house/bull pen. Later, during World War II, observation towers and coastal guns were added, with the airfield becoming under the jurisdiction of Fort Wadsworth.
A later archeological study found fragments of Spanish tile from the roofs of the Vanderbilt buildings and provides significant detail about the location of the Vanderbilt buildings in reference to the airfield structures. A former barrier that still remains, looking out onto the sports field Many military units have used Miller Field, including the Green Berets, New York National Guard, Army Reserve, Civil Air Patrol, and an Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion. One of the more historical moments at Miller Field was the testing of Admiral Byrd’s new plane, the Ford Trimotor, which he took on his first expedition to Antarctica in 1928 — an adventure chronicled in Untapped Cities writer Laurie Gwen Shapiro’s book The Stowaway: A Young Man’s Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica. And on a more morbid note, Miller Field is where the TWA Super Constellation plane crashed after colliding with a United Airlines DC-8, which would make its way all the way to Brooklyn where it landed in Park Slope at the intersection of Sterling Place and 7th Avenue. There were no survivors from the TWA plane, and only one in Park Slope, a little boy who died a day later.
Miller Field also included housing for troops and their families, built in classic American-style architecture — clapboard houses painted in white with green window frames. Set along a curved road lined with lampposts, the homes still evoke ideals of the American Dream. Curiously, the collection of a dozen or so homes remain part of the National Park Service site and are still inhabited. As Matt Green noted in his quest to walk every street in New York City, he was told by a resident there that the houses are only for National Park Service employees and certain other federal workers and their families. The park’s bicycle and walking paths go right by them. Miller Field is a beautiful spot to visit on Staten Island. Head up beyond the sand dunes along the waterfront and catch a nice hidden beach.
In 1919, the U.S. government acquired the 187 acres of land for Miller Field from the Vanderbilts for $100,000 — a sum that would be nearly $1.5 million in 2018 dollars. It was named for Captain James E. Miller, the very first American aviator killed in action during World War I. Nearly a century after his death, Miller was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 2017 for his brave actions fighting off two German aircraft solo over France.
Miller Field also included housing for troops and their families, built in classic American-style architecture — clapboard houses painted in white with green window frames. Set along a curved road lined with lampposts, the homes still evoke ideals of the American Dream. Curiously, the collection of a dozen or so homes remain part of the National Park Service site and are still inhabited. As Matt Green noted in his quest to walk every street in New York City, he was told by a resident there that the houses are only for National Park Service employees and certain other federal workers and their families. The park’s bicycle and walking paths go right by them.
WEDNESDAY’S PHOTO OF THE DAY
What is this and where is it located E-mail jbird134@aol.com Win a trinket from Kiosk
TUESDAY’S PHOTO OF THE DAY
Vent tubes from Rivercross
EDITORIAL
TIME TO EXPLORE THE OUTER BOROS. LET’S HEAD OFF ON AN ADVENTURE AND REMEMBER THE JOYS OF SUMMER AND LEAVING OUR HOMES.
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated TEXT FROM THE NEW ENGLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPORE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
