A burial ground and parking lot in Central Park, an airport spanning dozens of blocks on Manhattan’s West Side, filling in the East River to create more land—the list of ideas for “improving” the city’s infrastructure and transit system includes some truly weird proposals.
But as this 1911 map shows, some of the most ambitious plans focused on bridge and tunnel building. The image comes from the New-York Tribune, which ran a front page article On January 1 of that year outlining all of the bridges and tunnels the city should build to make it easier to traverse the boroughs.
Of course, some of these bridges and tunnels already existed: the Queensboro, Manhattan, and Brooklyn Bridges across the East River, for example. And others made the jump from proposal to reality in the ensuing years, like the Hell Gate Bridge (completed in 1916) and the 179th Street bridge across the Hudson—opened in 1931 as the George Washington Bridge.
But others were merely wishful thinking—like the 57th Street and 110th Street bridges to New Jersey, and a fourth East River crossing between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. The Tribune noted that “borings have been made for this proposed bridge” and it was to be named after Brooklyn Democratic leader and politician Pat McCarren. (His name ended up gracing a park instead.)
The Tribune predicted all kinds of chaos if these bridges and tunnels weren’t built to accommodate the “tide of humanity” that needed them. But the reality of raising funds for construction likely sounded the death knell, if they were ever taken seriously in the first place.
And what would we do with all these crossings in the age of remote work? That’s one development the Tribune of more than a century ago could not possibly have predicted.
Renovation work is complete on 604 Fifth Avenue, a six-story commercial building in Midtown, Manhattan. Designed by William Van Alen, architect of the Chrysler Building, the 65-foot-tall structure opened as the Childs Building in 1924 and most recently housed an 18,000-square-foot TGI Fridays. Japanese confectioner Minamoto Kitchoan purchased the property from The Riese Organization for $45 million in April 2021 for its new flagship store. Andrew Pettit Architect was the designer and Cross Management Corp. was the general contractor for the interior and exterior renovation project, which is located between East 48th and 49th Streets.
Recent photos show the new façade composed of light-hued stone with a symmetrical grid of windows replete with red awnings and decorative black metal railings. The exterior features numerous ornamental flourishes, including thick banding between the floors and a half-moon motif below the trapezoidal cornice. Three flag poles extend from the third story, and two pairs of up-firing spotlights will illuminate the edges of the exterior at night. Some plastic barriers remain in front of the property as interior work wraps up on the ground-floor frontage, but should be removed in the coming weeks.
The Most Ugly Building on Fifth Avenue was an appropriate title for this building, luckily now reborn
604 Fifth Avenue. Photo via Google Maps
604 Fifth Avenue has remained standing for nearly a century as many surrounding properties were torn down to make way for taller developments, including the Rockefeller Center complex to the north, and skyscrapers like 520, 570, and 665 Fifth Avenue. 604 Fifth Avenue was never designated as a historical landmark, allowing for the redesign to proceed without intervention from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Nevertheless, the outcome features a classic aesthetic evocative of prewar New York architecture.
The original design of 604 Fifth Avenue
For years the Friday’s facade was an eyesore on Fifth Avenue and we are glad that the appropriate renovation of the building will be a vast improvement.
When the actors strike was settled, the Silvercup sign has been lit up nightly Silvercup Studios building in Long Island City, Queens, adjacent to the Queensboro Bridge. Was formerly the bakery for Silvercup bread, which I remember from the 1950s and 1960s, Andy Sparberg David Jacoby also got it right
JULIA GASH TAPESTRY THROWS TO KEEP YOU WARM AND COZY. TRAM PILLOWS, JULIA GASH DESIGN LANYARDS,ORNAMENTS, KEY CHAINS, MAGNETS AND MORE.
FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY 12 NOON TO 5 P.M. AT THE RIHS KIOSK, TRAM PLAZA
SATURDAY AT THE MAIN STREET FLEA MARKET
FROM THE ARCHIVES
FRIDAY-SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10-12, 2023
VETERAN’S DAY MEMORIES
ISSUE #1122
SHORPY HISTORIC PHOTO ARCHIVE
Washington, D.C., circa 1916. “Mrs. George Barnett and son.” Lelia Gordon Barnett, wife of the Marine Corps commandant, and her son Basil Gordon, who in 1923 became the first person to crash an airplane in the District of Columbia. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative.
These are members of G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) Conyngham Post 97 located in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. I researched it to try and find out exactly when the picture may have been taken and found two possibilities in the Wilkes-Barre Record Almanacs: “April 21, 1923 – Conyngham Post, G. A. R., observes its fifty-sixth anniversary; about forty veterans of the Civil War, together with many friends, present.”
New York, June 6, 1944. ALLIED ARMIES LAND ON COAST OF FRANCE. GREAT INVASION OF CONTINENT BEGINS. “D-Day. Crowd watching the news line on the New York Times building at Times Square.” Photo by Howard Hollem or Edward Meyer for the Office of War Information
Washington, D.C., circa 1918. “Pension Office interior.” This former repository of Civil War veterans’ pension records is now the National Building Museum. National Photo Company Collection glass negative
The place and provenance of this photo are unknown to me. Scanned from a large print. Perhaps someone can identify the uniforms?
Above 50 W 50th Street entrance of 30 Rockefeller Plaza
Soaring above the entrance to 50 Rockefeller Plaza, this dynamic plaque symbolizes the business of the building’s former tenant, the Associated Press. One of the major Art Deco works in the Center, it depicts five journalists focused on getting a scoop. AP’s worldwide network is symbolized by diagonal radiating lines extending across the plaque. Intense angles and smooth planes create the fast-paced rhythm and energy of a newsroom. News is the first heroic-sized sculpture ever cast in stainless steel and the only time Noguchi employed stainless steel as an artistic medium.
I love walking around Rockefeller Center and see this vital thriving neighborhood, Sometimes it is great to be a tourist in ones own city.
THANKS TO OUR POLL WORKERS
Our edition today is brief since we spent many, many hours at PS 217 yesterday working our pollsite.
Thanks to our wonderful team, all went well and we served about 450 voters yesterday. Last week we served 417 voters in the RIVAA Gallery for early voting.
All our staff yesterday live on the island and many have been poll workers for years. Election day is always a day to reconnect with neighbors and friends.
We will be back in late March for the Presidential Primary….stay tuned for details.
We need inspectors, interpreters, information clerks and line monitors for the Presidential election next year so apply today and be ready for 2024. https://vote.nyc/page/poll-worker-positions
After closing, the paperwork begins. Thanks team!!!!
He’s a slight soldier, with the strap of his rifle slung over his shoulder and a contemplative expression meant to engage us. And unlike most statues depicting military men, he’s offering flowers. In this case, he’s holding poppies—a flower that signifies loss and remembrance.
The doughboy of De Witt Clinton Park has stood inside the Eleventh Avenue and 52nd Street entrance to this Hell’s Kitchen green space since 1930. Officially the monument is known as “Clinton War Memorial,” per NYC Parks.
It’s one of nine doughboy statue erected in city parks after World War I, when neighborhoods across New York sought to honor local residents who lost their lives on the battlefields of Europe. I’ve seen the doughboy statues in Chelsea, the West Village, Red Hook, and Washington Heights.
But what distinguishes this doughboy is that he’s standing on a granite pedestal inscribed with verse from “In Flanders Field”—the poem written by Canadian physician and lieutenant colonel John McCrae, who penned it after a fellow soldier perished during battle in 1915 in Belgium.
On the other side of the pedestal is an inscription from “comrades and friends” explaining that the monument is a memorial “to the young folk of the neighborhood/who gave their all in the World War.”
Though I couldn’t find an account of it, this statue was likely dedicated in a ceremony attended by thousands. “The doughboys were erected when parks and monuments were more important in the life of a neighborhood,” stated Jonathan Kuhn, curator of monuments for the Parks Department, in a New York Daily News article on the doughboys from 1993. “Also, there was a feeling that this was the last war, and Americans wanted to honor the ordinary heroes who fought the war that would end all wars.”
I can’t help but wonder if the De Witt Clinton Park doughboy was modeled on an actual local kid who went to war and never came back. If so, his identity is likely lost to the ages—and he speaks to us only through bronze and granite.
GUY LUDWIG, JAMES MORSE GOT IT RIGHT FROM JAY JACOBSON
Is this Monday photo a picture of the upscale restaurant that was part of the TWA building at Idlewild Airport? I have no recollection of ever being in that restaurant, but my guess is based on the shape of the room as shown in the Shorpy shot! Glad we got back to NYC in time to vote early!
DUE TO REDISTRICTING OUR ELECTION DISTRICTS HAVE CHANGED FOR THE ELECTION ON TUESDAY.
PLEASE CHECK HERE AND SEE WHAT TABLE YOUR BUILDING IS ASSIGNED TO. THIS MAKES VOTING EASIER AND FASTER. THANKS FOR YOUR COOPERATION.
59 ED
504, 510, 516, 531, 536, 540, 546 MAIN STREET
60 ED
1 East Loop Road 405, 415, 425, 455, 460, 465, 475, 480 MAIN STREET
61 ED
900 MAIN ST. 888 MAIN ST. 2,4 10, 20, 30, 40 RIVER ROAD
62 ED
551, 555, 556, 560, 575, 576, 580, 595, 625 MAIN ST.
February 1943. “NewYork. Camel cigarette advertisement at Times Square.” Photograph by John Vachon … years. I remember them so well, along with Toffenetti’s Restaurant, any Longchamps or Childs NY outlet, the Woodstock Hotel and, when …
New York circa 1910. “Incline from subway to suburban concourse, Grand Central Terminal.” 8×10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing
Coney Island, NewYork, circa 1905. “Dreamland Ballroom.” The home of light music. 8×10 inch dry … ballroom ever made, 20,000 square feet; beneath is the restaurant and a promenade, and beneath all the cool rush of the surf. The …
Downtown Brooklyn, near the Borough Hall, with the BMT Fulton Street Elevated at the right. It opened in 1888 and was closed and removed in 1940.Andy Sparberg
EARLY VOTING IS TAKING PLACE IN THE RIVAA GALLERY, 527 MAIN STREET ON THESE DATES:
Friday, November 3
8am-4pm
Saturday, November 4
9am-5pm
Sunday, November 5
9am-5pm
ELECTION DAY-TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7 AT PS 217
FROM THE ARCHIVES
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2023
MUST-SEE ART
INSTALLATIONS IN NYC,
NOVEMBER 2023
PART 2
ISSUE #1117
UNTAPPED NEW YORK
The New York Botanical Garden is bringing back its Holiday Train Show this year with the promise to be bigger and better than ever. Watch trains zip by hundreds of scale models of iconic New York buildings, like Yankee Stadium or the Empire State Building. Be sure to look above you to catch 1800s steam engines and street cars traveling over New York City bridges and through tunnels in a brand-new aerial display overhead. The team behind the show, Applied Imagination, takes an environmentally friendly route with their projects, for example using screw-bean mesquite pods to represent the hair on the Statue of Liberty model or Eucalyptus seed pods to build Saks Fifth Avenue.
mage Courtesy of the New York Botanical Garden
On select nights this holiday season, guests can visit the NYBG Train Show as well as GLOW, an extravagant outdoor light experience. The many libraries and conservatories of the Garden will transform into canvases for this light show, decked out in thousands of lights with sounds dancing across the buildings. Similar to the Holiday Train Show, the designers of GLOW opted to use energy-efficient lights to create the same glittering display with less cost to our planet. Drinks and food can be purchased at the Garden’s outdoor bars or at the Bronx Night Market pop-up that will be included for the holiday season.
Artist Keri Sheehan joins forces with the Staten Island Railway to beautify the New Dorp station. Her piece, titled “Creeping on Where Time Has Been” uses laminated glass windows and metal railings to honor Staten Island’s architecture and nature. While waiting for your train, visitors can view the art and try to spot the iconic landmarks of the borough, like the Vanderbilt Mausoleum. The project’s title comes from a poem by Charles Dickens called “The Ivy Green”, alluding to the ivy that has always, and seemingly will always, be prevalent on Staten Island.
Courtesy of the Artist and Sapar Contemporary
NYC Art in the Parks Program continues with a new large-scale exhibition by Sui Park to be installed throughout Bella Abzug Park. Titled City Ecology, this collection of 32 sculptures is a physical embodiment of the residents within New York- colorful stories, vibrant lives, and dynamic patterns. Park created these figures out of cable ties, weaving them together to form shaped masses. They will be installed throughout the park, in some cases blending into the surroundings beautifully and in other cases bringing a gorgeous contrast. Park hopes that these sculptures will give passing visitors a moment to pause and be aware of the beauty around them.
Nancy Lawson (Credit: William Matthew Prior/American Folk Art Museum
Black representation during the late 1600s to the early 1800s is undoubtedly pushed to the background of our textbooks, even more so in New England’s history. This new exhibit will give visitors a rare look into African American presence and absence in the North through 125 beautiful works, including portraits, paintings, needlework, and photos. Narratives will be flipped entirely with a walk through this highly-anticipated exhibition. The exhibition will be on display at the American Folk Art Museum from November 15th through March 24th
New York circa 1911. “Inspection room, Ellis Island.” 8×10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. (SHORPY) HARA REISER, ARON EISENPREISS AND JOYCE GOLD GOT IT RIGHT.
EARLY VOTING IS TAKING PLACE IN THE RIVAA GALLERY, 527 MAIN STREET ON THESE DATES:
Thursday, November 2
10am-8pm
Friday, November 3
8am-4pm
Saturday, November 4
9am-5pm
Sunday, November 5
9am-5pm
ELECTION DAY-TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7 AT PS 217
FROM THE ARCHIVES
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2023
MUST-SEE ART INSTALLATIONS IN NYC, NOVEMBER 2023
PART 1
ISSUE #1116
UNTAPPED NEW YORK
Canstruction is a highly anticipated annual design competition, this year featuring 28 teams going head-to-head to create the best sculptures entirely out of unopened nonperishable cans of food. The teams consist of professionals in the industries of engineering and design. Once the exhibition is closed and a winner is selected, all the food used for the sculptures is donated to local food pantries. Canstruction sculptures will be on view at Brookfield Place from November 2nd to November 13th.
Photo Credit: Kat Gollock
Ring in the holiday season early with Lightscape, a nighttime illuminated trail housed for its third year at the beautiful Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The trail will have new works of art and a magical experience like never before. Guests can look out for new installations like Sea of Light which will illuminate the garden’s 100,000 square foot Cherry Esplanade, and also listen to an updated playlist featuring hits by Taylor Swift, Elton John, and some Brooklyn classics to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. Lightscape will be open from November 17th to January 1st at Brooklyn Botanical Garden.
Photo Credit: Nora Hogan
Richard Haas’ iconic 112 Prince St. mural is currently being repainted by muralist Robin Alcantara and his team. The original trompe l’oeil mural was created in 1974 to mirror the front-facing facade of the 19th-century building. Over the years, graffiti and weather have worn on Haas’ work, leaving only a shadow of what it once was remaining. Alcantara’s venture to completely repaint the mural was a long time coming, and Soho residents and tourists alike will be pleased to see the newly refreshed final product. The painting of the mural is expected to be completed on November 1st.
Courtesy of Green-Wood. Photo Credit: Cinthya Santos-Briones
Día de los Muertos is a day in which the spirits of the dead are welcomed back into our world for a short time. It is celebrated through music, art, dancing, ofrendas, and time spent with friends and family. Cinthya Santos-Briones has crafted a beautiful community altar for Green-Wood’s Chapel. Visitors can commemorate their loved ones by lighting candles or leaving meaningful personal offerings by the altar. Santos-Briones sourced the fabrics used for the centerpiece skulls from her hometown of Tulancingo, giving the whole altar a personal feel that will touch the hearts of many. Mictlán opened on October 14th and will run daily, 10am to 5pm, through November 19th
