TIK TOK @ rooseveltislandhsociety CHECK OUT OUR TOUR OF BLACKWELL HOUSE ON TIC TOK
CHECK OUT OUR NEW WALL OPPOSITE THE SUBWAY STATION. MORE NEWS ON TUESDAY.
SHORT ON PICKLE BALLS? WE HAVE THEM FOR YOU AT THE RIHS VISITOR CENTER KIOSK. $3- EACH!
STOP BY OUR DISPLAY IN THE RIVERCROSS DISPLAY WINDOW. THIS SCENE IS THE SOUTH OF FRANCE WITH MATISSE INFLUENCES WITH CHAMPAGNE ON THE TABLE. BON VOYAGE!
COME TO THE BEACH AND ENJOY SOME PARADISE THIS SUMMER.
CHECK OUT SHIRTS OF THE RIHS PAST AND UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
PART OF THE WINDOWS IN THE SMALLPOX HOSPITAL CHRISTINA DELFICO GOT IT RIGHT
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM\ JUDITH BERDY ROOSEVELTISLANDERBLOGSPOT.COM RIHS ARCHIVES DIANA COOPER MTA ARTS & DESIGN
TIK TOK @ rooseveltislandhsociety CHECK OUT OUR TOUR OF BLACKWELL HOUSE ON TIC TOK
The story starts in February, 2013 when the RIHS asked RIOC to find a better design for the wall outside the vent shaft building across from our subway station.
When at a RIOC Operations Committe meeting I learned of the project and that a brick wall was the idea planned for the wall. the RIOC Operations Committee approved the idea and informed New York Transit.
Little did I know this would be a 10 year odyssey.
The first step was for architects to come and examine the site. They arrived by subway and commented on the ugly site of the vent shaft building obstructing the Manhattan skyline.
A time later MTA Arts for Transit (now MTA Art & Design) held a meeting with a committee of professional including curators, artists, political representatives and staff to select a group of artists to be asked to submit designs. After reviewing the work of about 25 artists the group was down to five candidates.
After submissions by three artists (two were not available) Diana Cooper was chosen.
This was just the beginning of the project that suffered from many delays.
The mosaic (96 feet long and 8 feet high) was manufactured in Italy and spread it out on a driveway before being cut into sections to be shipped to the States. Photo is from 2015.
Look closely and see the numbers for the sections where the mosaic will be cut into sections.
In April of 2022 the wall was installed and promptly covered up to protect it during the remaining construction of the LIRR tunnel beneath,
Diana Cooper last April during wall installation.
Today Rick texted me that the wall was revealed and here is his photo!!!!!
Tomorrow the gate will be installed and we are waiting for No Parking signs (so the mosaic does not get damaged)
Thanks to a wonderful supporter SANDRA BLOODWORTH who shepherded this project thru all kinds of obstacles and would anually tell me that it would be finished some day, The day is here and all are thrilled that Diana Cooper’s Double Take is reality.
PERSON OF THE DAY
Sandra Bloodworth is Director of Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Arts & Design, in New York, an award-winning public art program that has transformed New York’s century-old transportation network into a first-rate museum. Bloodworth joined the MTA in 1988 and became director in 1996. Over three decades, Bloodworth has shepherded works of art installed in subway and rail stations including those by Nick Cave, Elizabeth Murray, Yoko Ono, Jacob Lawrence, Kiki Smith, Yayoi Kusama, Ann Hamilton, Firelei Baez, Vik Munoz and Alex Katz. Under her leadership, MTA Arts & Design has gained increasing renown as a leader in art in the field of public transportation by creating a collection of nearly 400 public artworks that are beloved by millions. Bloodworth is the recipient of the Sloan Public Service Award and the Gari Melchers Award from the Artist’s Fellowship.
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
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM\ JUDITH BERDY ROOSEVELTISLANDERBLOGSPOT.COM RIHS ARCHIVES DIANA COOPER MTA ARTS & DESIGN
TIK TOK @ rooseveltislandhsociety CHECK OUT OUR TOUR OF BLACKWELL HOUSE ON TIC TOK
Today I spent the day in the kiosk mostly with Barbara Speigel
I love to meet the visitors and chat with them. We had many countries represented: Britain, Scotland, Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, New Zealand as well as Toronto and states from Florida to Indiana to Chicago to California.
Most folks were in a great mood and trying to figure out what to do on the island since Southpoint Park was closed.
A visitor from Barcelona told me the city was so expensive after she visited the Empire State Building, top of the Rock, One Vanderbilt and The Edge.
The family from Costa Rica now living in Orlando commented on the number of alligators in Florida, more that in Costa RIca,
An Austrian architect who was so disappointed he couldn’t visit the FDR Park, I promised him that it would be open tomorrow.
Many people told me of staying in the city for 5 days straight and had to see “everything.”
We only heard compliments about our city and some commented how safe it was after reading about it overseas.
Vintage Poster, Courtesy of Macy’s, Inc.
Macy’s first-ever fireworks show was a celebration of Macy’s 100th Anniversary, rather than America’s birthday. On July 1st, 1958, over the Hudson River, a million people watched the store’s first-ever large-scale pyrotechnics show. It wasn’t until 1976, in partnership with The Walt Disney Company, that Macy’s 4th of July fireworks shot became an annual tradition. That year, the fireworks were set off in honor of America’s bicentennial. The show was first televised in 1991.
This year, Macy’s 47th fireworks show will feature 30 different colors and shapes, 60,000 firework shells, and an arrangement of 2,400 shell effects per minute. Altogether, it takes 50 miles of cabling and 1,600 lines of computer-programmed cues to run the show. This new hi-tech production is quite different from how the show was programmed in the 1970s when computer-generated cues were not nearly as quick or efficient. The fireworks used to be manually launched from the barges by a single person with one metal rod.
TUESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
A postcard from the 1970’s Operation Sail sailing by Goldwater Hospital an the tram passing by. Artist Litiitzia Pitigliani for the MTA
MEN OF THE DAY
ARMANDO CORDOVA – TRAM MANAGER CYRIL OPPERMAN – BUS MANAGER
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
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM\ JUDITH BERDY (C) R.H..MACYS
TIK TOK @ rooseveltislandhsociety CHECK OUT OUR TOUR OF BLACKWELL HOUSE ON TIC TOK
Since 1976, millions of spectators have gathered throughout the city on July 4th to marvel at the grandeur of Macy’s annual Independence Day fireworks. Whether it’s over the East River or Hudson River, Macy’s has always put on a jaw-dropping display from barges on the water, synchronized to music. Yet, what we see as a New York 4th of July tradition actually began as something unrelated to the holiday
Vintage Poster, Courtesy of Macy’s, Inc.
Macy’s first-ever fireworks show was a celebration of Macy’s 100th Anniversary, rather than America’s birthday. On July 1st, 1958, over the Hudson River, a million people watched the store’s first-ever large-scale pyrotechnics show. It wasn’t until 1976, in partnership with The Walt Disney Company, that Macy’s 4th of July fireworks shot became an annual tradition. That year, the fireworks were set off in honor of America’s bicentennial. The show was first televised in 1991.
This year, Macy’s 47th fireworks show will feature 30 different colors and shapes, 60,000 firework shells, and an arrangement of 2,400 shell effects per minute. Altogether, it takes 50 miles of cabling and 1,600 lines of computer-programmed cues to run the show. This new hi-tech production is quite different from how the show was programmed in the 1970s when computer-generated cues were not nearly as quick or efficient. The fireworks used to be manually launched from the barges by a single person with one metal rod.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 29: Workers preparing fireworks for the Macy’s Fourth Of July Fireworks show on June 29, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for Macy’s, Inc.)
The onboard preparation of shells and firing mortars still takes up to 12 days, but this year’s barges have 50 pyrotechnicians on hand. On the barges, they hand-load each one of the shells into the mortars and then hand-wire those shells into the computer.
Macy’s 4th of July fireworks presentation for 2023 began like all the others that came before it, with an original musical score. The fireworks display was developed to match and synchronize with the chosen song. This year’s 25-minute arrangement features an original version of From Sea to Shining Sea, performed by the United States Army Field Band under composer Ray Chew. The new effects to match, produced and designed by Pyro Spectaculars and Souza, include a mile-wide waving flag with red crackling pistil shells, pyrotechnics that are much more detailed and vibrant than what you may have seen in 1976.
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
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM\ JUDITH BERDY UNTAPPED NEW YORK (C) R.H..MACYS
Photographic portrait of nature photographer Ansel Adams — which first appeared in the 1950 Yosemite Field School yearbook. The camera is probably a Zeiss Ikon Universal Juwel.
Photograph of the Hoover Dam (formerly Boulder Dam) from Across the Colorado River; From the series Ansel Adams Photographs of National Parks and Monuments, compiled 1941 – 1942, documenting the period ca. 1933 – 1942.
Full side view of adobe house with water in foreground, “Acoma Pueblo [National Historic Landmark, New Mexico].”; From the series Ansel Adams Photographs of National Parks and Monuments, compiled 1941 – 1942, documenting the period ca. 1933 – 1942.
Close-up of leaves, from directly above, “In Glacier National Park,” Montana; From the series Ansel Adams Photographs of National Parks and Monuments, compiled 1941 – 1942, documenting the period ca. 1933 – 1942.
Front view of entrance, “Church, Taos Pueblo National Historic Landmark, New Mexico, 1942” [Misicn de San Gercnimo] (vertical orientation); From the series Ansel Adams Photographs of National Parks and Monuments, compiled 1941–42, documenting the period ca. 1933–42.
FRIDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
SIGN FROM CAPRI PIZZARIA LOCATED AT 524 MAIN STREET UNTIL 1980’S ALEXIS VILLAFANE & NINA LUBLIN GOT IT.
MONDAY PHOTO
FOR AGES A BUNCH OF METAL SUPPORTS SAT ON THE HILL BETWEEN THE FIRE HOUSE AND AVAC. IT SEEMS TO BE A NO-MANS LAND. RIOC STAFF WANTED TO MOW THE LAWN AND FDNY REFUSED TO MOVE THE METAL SUPPORTS. THERE SEEMED TO BE A STANDOFF BETWEEN FDNY & RIOC. A COMMENT SENT TO THE FIRE COMMISSIONER ON THE FDNY WEBSITE BROUGHT ACTION. THE PARKING LOT NEXT TO THE BUILDING WAS REPAVED, THE TREES TRIMMED, GRASS CUT AND ALL THE JUNK WAS REMOVED FROM THE AREA.
WHEN I WAS NOTIFIED THAT THE JOB WAS DONE, THERE WERE 10 CC’S ON THE E-MAIL!
JUDYB
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
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM\ JUDITH BERDY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
TIK TOK @ rooseveltislandhsociety CHECK OUT OUR TOUR OF BLACKWELL HOUSE ON TIC TOK
Nautical charts show the navigator where the buoys, beacons and lights — reliable old friends to people who ply the inland waters — are located. These aids to navigation in the United States are established and maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. Around Roosevelt Island, we have a green daybeacon sitting on Belmont Rock (a/k/a U Thant Rock) just south of the FDR Memorial; lights on the underside of the Queensborough Bridge, and then, north of Roosevelt Island, lights on Mill Rock. Many aids to navigation have light or sound-producing patterns that are noted on the nautical chart. The aids enable the navigator to be sure of the boat’s position. On foggy days, we hear vessels traveling the west channel sounding a fog horn. The mournful sound warns users of the channel that a boat (or, more often, a hard-to-maneuver boat with a barge) has limited visibility and limited ability to change course in the channel and needs to have other vessels take careful action. Most often, in dense fog conditions, captains will communicate using radio frequencies reserved for nautical messages to be sure that there is no confusion about which vessel is going to do what.
Even NOAA is wrong. Their nautical chart covering the area between Port Morris in the Bronx and the Queensboro Bridge is entitled “East River”. But, of course, despite the name, the East River is not a “river”. It is a salt water tidal estuary. It connects Long Island Sound with New York Harbor and, ultimately, the Atlantic Ocean. But, it is not a river. It has no source from which fresh water flows to to the sea. About those tides. The body of water that circumscribes our island has an important feature: tides cause the body of water to rise and to fall. Twice a day, every day, a tidal flow from the Atlantic Ocean passes the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan, and travels up the “East River”, past the tower at our northern tip, through “Hell Gate”, out under the Whitestone and Throgs Neck Bridges, and out into Long Island Sound. And twice a day, the flow reverses. Water from Long Island Sound comes under the bridges, though the “Hell Gate”, divides into the east and west channels, flows along our flanks through the BMW[1] bridge system into New York Harbor and there mingles with water from the Hudson (a real river!) and out into the Atlantic Ocean. Among its most important publications, NOAA publishes Tidal Current Charts. Tides are caused (a) by the gravitational attraction between the moon, the sun and the earth, and (b) by centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the earth and moon around their center of gravity. As the earth rotates once every 24 hours, there is a high tide at any point each time that point passes under the moon. But the opposite side of the earth also experiences a high tide as centrifugal force flings outward the water on the side of the planet away from the moon. So, there are two high tides, and two low tides at each point on the planet each day. (It’s OK to reread this paragraph; I have done it several times, and I think I’ve got it right.) Each month, when the moon is new and when it is full, we have what are called “spring” tides. These “spring” tides are higher and lower than at other times during the month. At these times, the sun and the moon line up, so the sun’s weaker gravitational effect is added to that of the moon. The Tidal Current Charts for New York Harbor (including the area around Roosevelt Island) are very interesting. The daily rise and fall of the tides are seen as water flows in both the east and west channels. The speed at which the water flows is known as the “tidal current”. The tidal current for spring tides flows around Roosevelt Island at a rate of 4.6 knots going north, and 5.2 knots going south. While nowhere near the speed of the tidal current in the Bay of Fundy in Canada, or in some of the nearby Maine bays, the Roosevelt Island tidal currents are very swift. When you see a small boat appearing to make no progress as it tries to move up or down the East River, the reason it is having so much difficulty is the tidal current pushing it in a direction at a rate that the boat is unable to overcome.
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
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM\ JUDITH BERDY JAY JACOBSON NOAA NAVIGATION CHARTS
TIK TOK @ rooseveltislandhsociety CHECK OUT OUR TOUR OF BLACKWELL HOUSE ON TIC TOK
THE ORIGINAL HAMMETT PAVILION, BEFORE AN ADDITIONAL FLOOR WAS ADDED.
Hospitals are epicenters of care. However, do we care about hospital buildings where we’ve received care? The Hammet Pavilion was the first building constructed for Coney Island Hospital. It opened in 1910 to serve the South Brooklyn community. Now, the building is at risk of being demolished. We sat down with Brooklyn architect Jane McGroarty to talk about why she and her team are trying to preserve this historic structure.
After Superstorm Sandy damaged Coney Island Hospital in 2012, FEMA and the city invested $923 million to build the new Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital. The new hospital building, which broke ground in 2018 and opened in May 2023, was designed to withstand a major storm. It features a flood-resilient elevated Emergency Department on the 2nd floor. It is the first new public hospital in New York City to be built in 40 years, marking a new era in healthcare services for Brooklyn.
With newer and better facilities, the hospital announced in 2021 that the old Hammett Building would come down. Renovation is too costly and not as attractive as a flagship modern glass building. Reports say that the demolition of the Hammet Pavilion will make way for a protective flood wall and space for an open-air courtyard.
“It was a big deal when it opened…they had this grand opening and it was all kind of decorated,” McGroarty said, “so it’s a shame to just, you know, dump it down the trash heap.”
Furthermore, McGroarty praises the Hammett Building as “a physical manifestation of the social and healthcare aspirations of early 20th century Brooklyn.” Brooklyn architect Frank Helmle and his partner- the Helmle & Huberty firm- designed building. McGroarty affectionately nicknames Helmle “Brooklyn’s unsung hero.” The prolific architect is responsible not just for the design of the Hammett building, but also of Greenpoint Savings Bank, the Kings County, Brownsville, and East New York hospitals, as well as buildings in Park Slope, Prospect Heights. One of his most famous buildings is the exquisite Italian-Renaissance style Boathouse in Prospect Park. The Hammett Pavilion is part of Helmle’s legacy embedded into Brooklyn’s cultural and physical fabric.
The Hammett Pavilion was constructed in yellow pressed brick with a 600-foot frontage on Ocean Parkway. The Neoclassical façade is tidy and restrained, speaking to the intended cleanliness within. The projecting central bay wall is adorned with Doric pilasters and entablature whose frieze engraves ‘CONEY ISLAND HOSPITAL.’ In the 1930s, the building was sensitively raised from three to five stories. This addition is almost unnoticeable and blends seamlessly into the original construction.
McGroarty and her team are campaigning to have the Hammett Pavilion landmarked, and have submitted a proposal to the Landmarks Preservation Commission. In order to drum up more community support for the preservation, McGroarty created an online petition, which you can sign here. When exactly the building is set to be torn down is unclear. Untapped New York has reached out to NYC Health + Hospitals for comment but has yet to hear back.
“Once you tear down a building, it’s gone from people’s memories… we can save things.” McGroarty said.
EDITORIAL Preservation of the Hammett Pavilion is important to Brooklyn and New York medical history, Unfortunately our city has a terrible record on preserving municipal buildings and demolishing them or just letting them rot seems to occur too often. Please support the effort by signing the online petition highlighted above.
WEDNESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
U THANT ATOL OFF THE COAST OF THE ISLAND GLORIA HERMAN, ARON EISENPREISS, SUMIT KAUR, AND ED LITCHER GOT IT!!!
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM\ JUDITH BERDY UNTAPPED NEW YORK
You can be forgiven if you don’t recognize the bridge Edward Hopper depicted in this 1935 painting. It’s the Macombs Dam Bridge, linking 155th Street in Harlem to the South Bronx. (Today, this view of the bridge would include Yankee Stadium just across the Harlem River on the Bronx side.)
Opened in 1895, this swing bridge was once traversed by horse-drawn carriages; it was also a popular spot fo catch the cool breezes coming off the Harlem River on sweltering summer days.
Hopper didn’t see the bridge as a connector of humanity though. His vision of the bridge is cool and sterile—absent of people and isolated from the neighborhoods it links.
“For some, modernity resulted in an increasing feeling of alienation, as people began moving through spaces at a faster pace,” states the Brooklyn Museum, which has the painting in its collection. “Edward Hopper captured this transitory nature of modern life in paintings infused with a sense of isolation and estrangement.”
It’s classic Hopper, exposing the contradictions of the modern machine age, with engineering and communications advances designed to bring people together yet actually leaving them more disconnected. “There are no signs of life in the city. Instead, an eerie stillness pervades the scene, resulting in a disquieting mood,” continues the museum caption.
I’m not aware of other works by Hopper that depict Upper Manhattan. But he has captured the city’s bridges before—like this view from the Williamsburg Bridge.
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
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM\ JUDITH BERDY EPHEMERAL NEW YORK
Decorative ceiling mosaic, vestibule, 31 Chambers Street. Photo: Matthew Minor.
IT’S A FAIRLY REGULAR OCCURRENCE for me to walk out of our Municipal Archives offices on the first floor and see a group of people standing in the vestibule of the building, craning their necks as they point to the ceiling, mouths agape. I’m not surprised when this happens; after over five years of working at 31 Chambers Street, I still find myself doing exactly the same thing. These visitors are entranced by the largest—and perhaps most impressive—of the artworks in our building: the mosaic ceiling. The Hall of Records (also known as the Surrogate’s Court) features many pieces of art. The exterior is covered with sculptures, the courtrooms feature rich wood carvings. However, the mosaic ceiling in the vestibule truly stands out.
Mosaic vestibule. Photo: Matthew Minor.
The artist behind the work was William de Leftwich Dodge (1867-1935). Dodge was an American who studied art in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Académie Colarossi, and later in Germany. Returning to New York, he taught classes at the Art Students League and Cooper Union, keeping a studio at 61 West 10th St. During this time Dodge was becoming increasingly known for his public art, his expertise being in mosaics and murals. As an American-born, Paris-educated artist, Dodge was the perfect choice to create a large public artwork at a time when New York City was struggling to establish itself as a major cultural center on par with Paris and other European cities.
However, the Hall of Records was a particular challenge for artists. The building had been controversial from the moment construction began in 1899. Mayor Anderson Van Wyck, a Tammany Hall insider, was particularly opposed to the project from the outset, often citing the considerable expense as the primary reason for scaling it back or scrapping it altogether. Architects Arthur Horgan and Vincent Slattery, however, had different plans. The mayor appointed Horgan and Slattery to the project after the death of the original architect, John Rochester Thomas, in 1901. Van Wyck chose them because he believed the pair would make drastic cuts to Thomas’s grand design. Instead, Horgan and Slattery not only embraced the design, but decided to make it even more richly decorated. They began hiring notable artists and submitting proposals. In an effort to curtail this, Mayor Van Wyck used the newly formed Art Commission (now the Public Design Commission) to ensure that nearly every artwork and decorative proposal was rejected. Most proposed artworks for the building were rejected multiple times before approval.
Dodge’s work, however, was a different case. While other artists submitted sketch after sketch, model after model, Dodge submitted only one set of sketches. His simple application form, submitted in 1906, describes the work as a “marble mosaic with the introduction of a small portion of glass mosaic, where brilliancy is necessary.” The proposal was approved on its first submission.View
Sagittarius. Photo: Matthew Minor.
The mosaic Dodge produced is truly impressive. Around twenty feet above the floor, the mosaic covers the entire vaulted ceiling of the vestibule (over 2,200 square feet). It is composed of millions of colored marble and glass tiles. The style of the work is a mixture of Greek and Egyptian motifs. This was probably meant as a reference to the library of Alexander the Great—supposedly the largest repository of knowledge in the ancient world. The mosaic shows the signs of the zodiac interspersed with what appear to be Egyptian ushabti figures. At the corners are four primordial Greek gods: Erinye (Fury), Themis (Justice), Ponos (Toil), and Penthos (Lamentation). Filling out the composition are small sphinxes, sea horses, and even turtles, along with garlands of fruits and vegetables. When the afternoon sun streams into the vestibule, the brilliant color and luster of the mosaic is striking.
Yet several things about the work are strange. First of all, a few of the names are misspelled. Most obvious of these is Virgo—the Greek name should be Parthenos, but the mosaic renders it Paroenos. Second, only eight of the signs of the zodiac are shown. Cancer, Libra, Scorpio, and Pisces are missing. Finally, Fury, Justice, Toil, and Lamentation are strangely dark choices for such a bright, exuberant mosaic. I was intrigued by this and spent quite a while puzzling over the choices Dodge made. Then it occurred to me to check birth dates. There were five major artists hired to create works for the building. In addition to Dodge (Aquarius) there were Albert Weinert (Gemini), Philip Martiny (Taurus), Henry Kirke Bush-Brown (Taurus), and Bruno Louis Zimm (Capricorn). John Rochester Thomas, the original architect, was a Gemini. Perhaps Dodge meant to commemorate these artists and the fury, toil, and lamentation they went through before finding justice in the acceptance of their work. Ushabti figures—which were buried with the dead in ancient Egypt—may here represent John R. Thomas, the architect who did not live to see his building completed.
Capricorn and Sagittarius separated by a Greco-Egyptian figure, from William De Leftwich Dodge’s massive mosaic. Photograph by Matt Minor. NYC Municipal Archives.
When the building opened, it was hailed as an architectural gem. Its style was Parisian and cultured. It’s scale grand and striking. Visitors were particularly impressed by the main rotunda, with its grand staircase and porticoes carved of Siena marble, and its brass barrel vault skylight. This area is particularly beautiful around midsummer when the midday sun shines directly in and illuminates the prominent landing of the grand staircase. Technologically, 31 Chambers was innovative, boasting electricity, running water, elevators, and a small power plant in the sub-basement.
Virgo, ushabti, Capricorn. Photo: Matthew Minor.
Whether or not this is true we may never know. While some of the other artists explained their work in detail (Albert Weinert, for example, wrote thorough descriptions of his work in letters to the Art Commission), Dodge did not. The whereabouts of his sketches are unknown. Perhaps further research will cast more light on this important work of art.
KEITH HARING “HOLDING HEART” ARON EISENPREISS, GLORIA HERMAN, ALEXIS VILLAFANE, HARA REISER AND THOM HEYER GOT IT RIGHT
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM\ JUDITH BERDY NEW YORK MUNICIPAL ARCHIVES DEPARTMENT OF RECORDS
Surrogate’s Court, 31 Chambers Street, Manhattan, February 8, 1938. Department of Bridges, Plant & Structures Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives
On October 12, 2021, Municipal Archives digitization specialist Matt Minor presented an illustrated history of the Surrogate’s Court for DORIS’ “Lunch and Learn” program. As he reminded the audience, the original name of the building was the Hall of Records. It was the first purpose-built records hall for the City. The following is a condensed version of his talk.
Prior to its construction, the City stored its records in a colonial-era building near City Hall, which had served as a prison during the Revolutionary War. At the end of the 19th century, New Yorkers began to think that perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to store the City’s paper records in a wood and stucco building and light it with gas lamps. They urged the construction of a fireproof building to replace it. However, it was a back burner project, with other needs taking greater priority.
The old Hall of Records, demolished 1903. Municipal Archives Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.In particular, City Hall was crumbling. Its original marble façade did not weather well outdoors in the New York climate. By the late 1890s, the City had resolved to tear the building down and build a new one, so they opened up a competition, allowing architects to submit designs for a new City Hall.John Rochester Thomas won the competition. Born in Rochester, N.Y. in 1848, Thomas began studying architecture as a teenager, and started his professional career at the age of 20. When he submitted his designs for a new City Hall, he was already well-established. He was known for grand buildings in classical styles, while using modern engineering techniques to allow for large, open interiors.
For the new City Hall, Thomas chose a French Second Empire/Beaux Arts style of architecture. Some hallmarks of this style are a floor plan based on squares and right angles, a steeply pitched roof that is flat on top, channeled rustication, rich decoration, and lots of doors and passages connecting adjacent rooms. At the time, this style was favored for a reason. New York was not seen as the major cultural center it is today. The general attitude was that if you wanted culture, you needed to go to Paris or other European cities. Many New Yorkers wanted to change that. Grand, monumental architecture was one way to raise the cultural profile of the City, and campaigns like the City Beautiful movement pushed for the construction of impressive buildings. Before the new City Hall could be built, though, the State Legislature passed a law protecting the old City Hall as a historic building. (Ultimately, the City Hall façade would be redone in limestone in the 1950s.) But the City truly loved Thomas’s design, and since it called for a building made almost entirely out of stone, it was ideal for a new Hall of Records. Thomas adjusted the design accordingly.Construction began in 1899 and was not complete until 1911. The exterior was made of Hallowell granite from Maine. The interior used various types of marble: Siena from Italy, Bleu Belge from Belgium, Tennessee pink, red Numidian from Africa, and white marble from other sources. For the courtrooms that had been added to the building, English oak and Dominican mahogany were imported. Custom furniture, fireplaces, and bronze light fixtures were made by Remington & Sherman.
Another excellent example of Thomas’s work is the Second Reformed Church, now Ephesus Seventh Day Adventist Church in Harlem. 1940 Tax Photograph. NYC Municipal Archives.
The firehouse at 49 Beekman Street is a good example of Horgan & Slattery’s work. 1940 Tax Photograph. NYC Municipal Archives.
Originally estimated to cost about $4.5 million, the building ended up costing the city nearly $7 million, which would be around $200 million today. The expense made the project controversial. At the outset of his term, Mayor Robert Van Wyck set his sights on cutting construction budgets, and the 31 Chambers Street project was a prime target. Saying, “we don’t want an opera house made out of what is intended to be an office building,” Van Wyck brought in an outside architecture firm to review the plans and suggest cuts.
Arthur J. Horgan and Vincent J. Slattery were known for small-scale projects like firehouses and townhouses. At the mayor’s urging, they reviewed Thomas’s plans and recommended huge cuts. Large and built of expensive Siena marble, the grand staircase in the rotunda was a particular target of criticism, and Horgan & Slattery recommended replacing it with metal stairs. However, while Thomas did make some changes, he successfully defended his design, and the cornerstone was laid in 1901. Later that year, though, tragedy struck when John Thomas suddenly died at the age of 53. Seizing the opportunity, Mayor Van Wyck appointed Horgan & Slattery as architects of the building. What Van Wyck didn’t expect was that Horgan & Slattery would follow Thomas’s vision, not their own previous recommendations. Not known for large-scale projects, they were eager to put their name on 31 Chambers Street. When new mayor Seth Low came into office, Horgan & Slattery chose not only to adhere to Thomas’s plan, but in fact decided to add more elaborate artwork than he had intended. But the building would face more obstacles.
Due to their association with Tammany Hall, Horgan & Slattery were hugely unpopular in the press. They also ran afoul of the Art Commission. This newly formed City agency set about rejecting nearly every art proposal H&S presented. Sculptures by Henry Kirke Bush-Brown, Philip Martiny, and Albert Weinert were rejected and re-submitted multiple times before acceptance. Irritated, Horgan & Slattery harshly criticized the Art Commission in the press, claiming the Commission had unknowingly rejected works by the old masters submitted as a test. The next day, the architects sent an apologetic letter denying having made the comments. A smear campaign was clearly not the way to go. In 1903, they decided to bring in a ringer, someone the Art Commission wouldn’t—perhaps couldn’t—reject.
William De Leftwich Dodge was a muralist and mosaicist. Though American-born, he had studied in Paris at the École des Beaux Arts and the Académie Colarossi. His work bridged the gap between classic and modern, and his French education made him high-profile among American artists. While the other artists had submitted and resubmitted their work, writing letters explaining their intent, Dodge submitted just one set of sketches. In his application form, he described the work he intended to create as a “marble mosaic, with the introduction of a small portion of glass mosaic, where brilliancy is necessary.” The commission approved it immediately. [Mr. Minor’s blog Hall-of-records-Where-Brilliancy-is-Necessary provides more information about the mosaic
Capricorn and Sagittarius separated by a Greco-Egyptian figure, from William De Leftwich Dodge’s massive mosaic. Photograph by Matt Minor. NYC Municipal Archives.
When the building opened, it was hailed as an architectural gem. Its style was Parisian and cultured. It’s scale grand and striking. Visitors were particularly impressed by the main rotunda, with its grand staircase and porticoes carved of Siena marble, and its brass barrel vault skylight. This area is particularly beautiful around midsummer when the midday sun shines directly in and illuminates the prominent landing of the grand staircase. Technologically, 31 Chambers was innovative, boasting electricity, running water, elevators, and a small power plant in the sub-basement.
The main rotunda of 31 Chambers Street. Photograph by Matt Minor. NYC Municipal Archives.
Over time, though, appreciation waned. In 1961, the City widened Centre Street. The eastern entrance of the Hall of Records was in the way, so demolition crews tore up the sidewalk, removed the eastern staircase and Philip Martiny sculptures, and permanently closed the entrance. Five years later, the Landmarks Preservation Commission landmarked the building. Fortunately, Martiny’s works were preserved and moved behind 60 Centre Street.
Philip Martiny’s sculptures Authority and Justice now reside behind the courthouse at 60 Centre Street. Photograph by Matt Minor. NYC Municipal Archives.
Philip Martiny also sculpted the two large sculptural groups flanking the main entrance on Chambers Street, as well as several sculptures near the roof. Other sculptures near the top of the building were sculpted by Henry Kirke Bush-Brown.
The dormer over the main entrance. Top row: an owl flanked by two cherubs. Second row left to right: Philosophy, the Four Seasons, and Poetry by Henry Kirke Bush-Brown. Third row left to right: Maternity and Heritage also by Bush-Brown. Bottom row left to right: DeWitt Clinton, Abram Stevens Hewitt, Philip Hone, and Peter Stuyvesant by Philip Martiny. Photograph by Matt Minor. NYC Municipal Archives
The other areas of the building visitors are keen to see are the courtrooms. New York County is one of the only counties in the State with two Surrogates (probate court judges); 31 Chambers Street was designed to accommodate both judges. The north courtroom interior is English oak, with five carved allegorical panels, representing Civilization, Wisdom, Force, Degradation, and Truth. The south courtroom is done in Dominican mahogany with a more spartan style. Both rooms feature carved marble fireplaces and crystal chandeliers, and both include carved wooden screens behind the judge’s bench by artist Bruno Louis Zimm.
The North Courtroom. Photograph by Matt Minor. NYC Municipal Archives.
North Courtroom panel, “Wisdom”. Photograph by Matt Minor. NYC Municipal Archives
When it opened in 1911, the building at 31 Chambers Street was the City’s Hall of Records and remains so today. In fact, the building itself is a record. Its artwork records the ideals and aspirations of an essentially new city following the Consolidation of the five boroughs. Its architecture shows the innovation of the modern era. Its scars, blemishes, and repairs record over a century of continuous use as a center of local government
The main entrance on Chambers Street, with original Hall of Records inscription, November 11, 1909. Department of Buildings, Plant & Structures Photograph Collection. Photographer: Eugene de Salignac. NYC Municipal Archives.
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
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM\ JUDITH BERDY NEW YORK MUNICIPAL ARCHIVES DEPARTMENT OF RECORDS
