Before he was a turncoat, he was an American hero. James K. Martin, Professor Emeritus at the University of Houston and author of Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered, reveals the strategic genius of Arnold, his essential contributions to the Revolutionary War, and his mistreatment at the hands of his superiors.
ABOUT JAMES KIRBY MARTIN
As for me: Might say that I’ve had a long academic career, teaching almost 50 years at Rutgers in NJ and the Un. of Houston. Also held distinguished visiting appointments at The Citadel in SC and the U. S. Military Academy at West Point. Have published several books, including Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero, on which the film is based. Also served as an executive producer of the film, which is available on Amazon Prime and other streaming networks. My most recent book is a novel, titled Surviving Dresden: A Story of Life, Death, and Redemption in World War II. Many other writing projects are underway. And I serve on the boards of trustees of the Fort Ticonderoga Association on Lake Champlain and the Fort Plain in the Mohawk Valley, and also serve as an historian adviser to the Oneida Indian Nation of NY. That should be plenty and please feel free to reduce this information if you like.
Recently the question of whether the City’s seal has outlived its useful life circulated in the media. The seal is omnipresent on letterhead and other documents issued by City government agencies and officials. While news stories date the current seal to a local law enacted in 1915, the imagery dates back much further. The Municipal Library’s Vertical Files (so called because they consist of file folders of media releases, news clippings and other material held in vertical file cabinets, not shelves) yielded a surprising quantity of material on the subject.
Camera art for the City Seal, NYC Municipal Library vertical files.
An interesting history of the City’s seal was published in 1915 in the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society’s twentieth annual report. Titled “SEAL AND FLAG OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK” it traces elements of the seal to the City of Amsterdam in 1342 at which time William Count of Henegouwen and Holland “made a present to the Amsterdammers of three crosses on the field of the City’s arms.” Not just any crosses but “saltire” crosses which means a diagonal cross—shaped like an X, not a t, and sometimes called a St. Andrew’s Cross.
City seals and flags are outgrowths from the coats of arms and banners that initially came into use around 1100 when helmeted knights fought in battle. Distinctive color and design were required to identify who was behind a given helmet. An entire craft, heraldry, evolved. This “practice of devising, granting, displaying, describing and recording coats of arms and heraldic badges is complicated.” There are many rules around the shapes, designs, colors, patterns, and division of the shield into halves, thirds, quarters, etc. There is a separate set of directions for identifying where an item should be drawn or placed, consisting of numbered locations within the shield and, most important for our purposes, four cardinal points: chief for the top, base for the bottom, dexter for the left and sinister for the right (in Latin, dexter means right, and sinister left, but the positions refer to the shield bearer’s perspective). The design of New York City’s official seal incorporates all of these practices.
Evolution of the City Seal, NYC Municipal Library vertical files.
One consistent feature on the New York City seal is the image of a beaver. The fur trade formed the basis of commerce for New Netherlands, including New Amsterdam and the beaver was the foremost symbol. Interestingly a beaver both had value as a commodity and as currency itself. In the Scenic Society’s report the author notes, “The intelligence and industry of these little animals, their ingenuity as house-builders and their amphibious character make them eloquent symbols also for the City of New York. So far as we know, the use of the beaver in the arms of New Netherland, New Amsterdam and New York City is unique in heraldry.”
Documentation on the ornamental cast-iron seals that decorated the old West Side Highway shows the evolution of the City’s seal. The Seal of the Province of New Netherland, adopted in 1623, is made up of two shields—the smaller contains an image of a beaver and the larger, which surrounds the smaller, consists of a string of wampum. It is topped by a crown and the outer border is ringed with the Dutch words for “Seal of the New Belgium.” (Holland and Belgium were united at that time.)
In 1653, New Amsterdam developed a municipal government, the Burgomasters and Schepens, which petitioned the West India Company for its own seal, which was received in 1654. Once again, there were two shields. Arranged one atop the other with a beaver between them, the larger shield contained three saltire crosses. There was drapery above and a label with the words “Seal of Amsterdam in New Belgium” at the bottom.
Tracing of the seal of New Amsterdam, NYC Municipal Library vertical files.
Ten years later, the Dutch surrendered New Amsterdam to the English and the City was renamed New York, after the Duke of York. The provincial seal was centered around the coat of arms of the Stuarts and was encircled with the Latin words meaning “Evil to Him who evil thinks.” There is a crown atop the shield and all is encircled by a laurel wreath. This is the only seal without the otherwise ubiquitous beaver. In 1686, the rights of the City were affirmed by Governor Dongan in the Dongan Charter which also provided for a City seal. In the center is a shield on which the sails of a windmill are arranged in a saltire cross. There are two beavers and two flour barrels alternating between the crosspieces of the windmill. On either side of the shield are human figures—on the dexter side a sailor holding a device for testing the depth of water; on the sinister, a Native American image.
After the British evacuated the City in 1783, the new government updated the 1686 City seal to remove the Imperial crown. Atop the shield they placed an image of an eagle standing on a hemisphere. It’s dated 1686 to commemorate the Dongan Charter and the words “Seal of the City of New York” are inscribed in Latin. Most of these design elements are present in the City’s seal (and flags) today.
Seal of the Office of the Mayor, NYC Municipal Library vertical files.
Sometimes the use of the City seal was contentious. Common Council minutes from 1735 address an apparent wanton use of the city seal without proper authorization and there was some concern that the Mayor was not providing the Council with use of the seal. The Council passed an ordinance that “lodges and deposits the common seal in the hands and custody of the Common Clerk” of the city—today the city clerk—and further banned alternative city seals. The ordinance restricted the use of the seal to actions taken by the Common Council or the Mayor’s Court.
A review of the archival records in the Office of the Mayor collection starting with the so-called “early mayors” shows that correspondence was not bedecked with official letterhead. In many letters the tops of the pages were blank. In other instances, the name of the agency writing the letter was hand written at the very top of the page, followed closely by the text of the letter, written in flowing cursive. That’s not to say that there wasn’t a City seal in use. But, its’ use was sparing, apparently deployed to certify some official documents, not run-of-the-mill correspondence. A case in point is an 1816 certificate issued by Mayor Jacob Radcliff certifying that a woman named Nancy, approximately 60 years of age, was a free woman and could travel. An embossed seal is embossed at bottom of the document. It bears all the elements of the seal in effect today.
In 1914, a group of former members of the Art Commission was appointed to provide an accurate rendering of the corporate seal of the City, and a design for a City flag. The various departments and boroughs had been using variations of the seal which created confusion about the provenance of official documents.
Based on the recommendation of this committee, in 1915 the Board of Alderman amended the City’s Code of Ordinances relating to the city seal, flags and decorations on city hall. The Aldermen re-established the 1686 seal as updated in 1784 and required it to be used for all documents, publications or stationery issued or used by the city, the boroughs and the departments. They made some minor style changes-the shape of the seal, the position of the eagle, etc. and also changed the date on the seal from 1686, the date of the Dongan Charter to 1664, the year the City was named New York.
It is in this legislation that a major error was made. Apparently the bill’s drafters were not versed in the heraldic arts. As a result, the cardinal directions of “dexter” and “sinister” were assigned as the names of the figures in each location. So the sailor holding a depth reading device was named “Dexter” for the left sided placement and the Native American figure placed on the right was named “Sinister.” How this happened is lost to history. One would think the high-profile former Art Commissioners would have sounded the alarm and corrected the error, which still exists.
In 1975, City Council President Paul O’Dwyer sought to change the founding date on the seal from the existing 1686 date marking the issuance of the Dongan Charter, to 1625 when the Dutch established New Amsterdam. The legislation also invalidated all former seals bearing the 1664 date.
As mentioned, not only is there a City seal, but each of the boroughs have separate seals or emblems dating to the colonial period. After consolidation of the Greater City in 1898, the boroughs continued to use these seals for various official purposes until 1938 when the Board of Estimate mandated that the seal of the City of New York would replace any previous seals that had been in use. Thereafter, the various seals were to be found on the borough flags and not on official documents. But the use of the seal continued to vex officials and in 1970, the Board of Estimate mandated that the seal of the City be placed on each letterhead and restricted the use of a gold seal to the Board of Estimate and the Vice Chair of the Council.
Seal of the Borough of Queens, NYC Municipal Library vertical files.
The flag for the borough of Queens was announced in 1948 after a design competition. The three-paneled seal included a tulip commemorating the Dutch on the dexter side, a double Tudor rose documenting the English on the sinister side. The border consists of shells used as money “wampum.” At the very top of there is a crown signifying that the borough was named for a Queen, namely Queen Catherine Braganza wife of England’s King Charles the Second.
According to an excerpt in the files from a 1925 history, “the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, Counties of Nassau and Suffolk Long Island, New York 1609-1924” Brooklyn’s seal was established by the West India Company in 1664. It consists of an image of the Roman goddess Vesta (equivalent to the Greek goddess Hestia) holding fasces—or bunch of rods and an axe bundled together. Apparently, this reflected the colony’s agricultural status. The motto surrounding the seal translates to “unity makes strength” which in 1664 was an update from the 1556 motto on the coat of arms of William the Silent, Prince of Orange. When the Village of Brooklyn officially incorporated in 1817, the seal was adopted by the common council.
Seal of Staten Island, NYC Municipal Library vertical files.
The seal of the Borough of Richmond, aka Staten Island, has gone through several evolutions. The Dutch named the island after the “Staten General” of their legislature. One seal consists of two doves facing each other with the letter S (for Staten) between them and N YORK beneath their feet. Another early seal has a female figure gazing toward the water in which two ships sail, one purportedly Henry Hudson’s Half Moon. In 1970, the then- Borough President held a contest to develop a better emblem. The winner was an oval with waves surrounding an island with birds flying in the sky above and STATEN ISLAND written between the waves and the island. However, this design was not universally admired. The Staten Island Advance reported that current Borough President James Oddo redesigned the emblem in 2017 to incorporate elements of the woman gazing out on the Verrazzano Narrows as well as oystermen, a moon and stars.
The Bronx, by contrast, maintained its seal, adopting the coat of arms of Jonas Bronck who settled in the area in 1639. A sun rises from the sea and a globe topped by an eagle stands above it. The Latin motto under the shield translates to “do not give way to evil.” This same design was the basis for New York State’s post- revolutionary coat of arms.
Brooklyn Markets Seal, NYC Municipal Library vertical files.
Notwithstanding this requirement that the City seal be use on all official materials, some agencies developed their own seals. In 1940, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia announced the conclusion of a contest, with a $10.00 prize won by a high school student, to design a seal for the Department of Markets. The seal featured a scale, a bundle of wheat and two full cornucopias. More recently, the New York Police Department (NYPD) developed a seal described in the agency’s 1987 annual report. It’s a somewhat cluttered design with the names of the five boroughs creating an interior ring. The City seal is at the bottom and the upper portion includes the words Lex and Ordo (Law and Order). The scales of justice are balanced atop the fasce and what looks to be a rocket (but probably isn’t) explodes from the top.
NYC Housing Authority Seal, NYC Municipal Library vertical files.
STATUE OF ABRAHAM DE PEYSER, THE CITY’S 20TH MAYOR IN THOMAS PAYNE PARK IN LOWER MANHATTAN. ED LITCHER 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 Deborah Dorff All image are copyrighted (c)
MUNICIPAL ARCHIVES OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
JAMES KIRBY MARTIN
Illustration: “The Hudson at Tappan Zee” by Francis Silva 1876 showing a sloop, but actually depicting Esopus Meadows.
CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE JULE MENIN DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
Before he was a turncoat, he was an American hero. James K. Martin, Professor Emeritus at the University of Houston and author of Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered, reveals the strategic genius of Arnold, his essential contributions to the Revolutionary War, and his mistreatment at the hands of his superiors.
ABOUT JAMES KIRBY MARTIN
As for me: Might say that I’ve had a long academic career, teaching almost 50 years at Rutgers in NJ and the Un. of Houston. Also held distinguished visiting appointments at The Citadel in SC and the U. S. Military Academy at West Point. Have published several books, including Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero, on which the film is based. Also served as an executive producer of the film, which is available on Amazon Prime and other streaming networks. My most recent book is a novel, titled Surviving Dresden: A Story of Life, Death, and Redemption in World War II. Many other writing projects are underway. And I serve on the boards of trustees of the Fort Ticonderoga Association on Lake Champlain and the Fort Plain in the Mohawk Valley, and also serve as an historian adviser to the Oneida Indian Nation of NY. That should be plenty and please feel free to reduce this information if you like. https://jameskirbymartin.com/
The 1862 Hope Building
131-135 DUANE STREET
photo courtesy Tribeca Citizen
In 1861 Public School No. 10 had sat within the plots at Nos. 131 through 135 Duane Street for fifteen years or more. The brick building was surrounded by a schoolyard where the children played. By now, however, the neighborhood was becoming less and less residential as commercial buildings replaced or altered homes.
That year Thomas Hope demolished P. S. 10 and began construction on a modern loft and store building. Hope was president of the dry goods wholesaling firm Thomas Hope & Co. But if he ever intended to move his company into what would be called the Hope Building, he changed his mind.
The structure was completed in 1862, a dignified commercial interpretation of the Italianate style. The name of the architect has been lost, however it was almost assuredly he who had designed the abutting No. 129 Duane Street a year earlier. The architect exactly copied that design three-fold.
The four stories of white marble rose that above the cast iron storefront were separated into two sections by a projecting sill course between the third and fourth floors. Each horizontal section had two-story arches separated by Corinthian “sperm candle” pilasters. (The term derived from their visual similarity to the tall, thin candles made from the waxy substance found in the heads of sperm whales.) The spandrel panels between the second and third, and fourth and fifth floors took the form of blind balustrades. An arched gable within the cast iron cornice announced the building’s name.
The Hope Building filled with dry goods merchants, including L. P. Morton & Co.
Surprisingly, within a year of moving in, L. P. Morton & Co. made a drastic change of course. A notice in The New York Herald on December 5, 1863 announced “We have relinquished the dry goods importing and commission business, and taken offices at 35 Wall street for the transaction of a general banking and exchange business.”
On the same day Welling, Coffin & Co. “domestic dry goods commission merchants,” announced that they had moved into the space “lately occupied by Messrs. L. P. Morton & Co.” The war in the South may have prompted the marketing of two of their cloth goods as “Army Kerseys and Flannels.”
Bauendahl & Co., importers of woolens, was a large initial tenant. It did significant business during the Civil War years, and on June 29, 1865 The New York Times reported that it had done $1.5 million in business the previous year–over $25 million today.
Wholesale dry goods firm Allen Brothers moved into the building in 1865. It offered to “clothiers, tailors and the dry goods trade” a long list of items including Spanish linens, repellents, sackings and fancy cloakings, satinets, cottonades, and “mantilla and dress black silks.”
By now one of the stores was home to Lithauer & Cristlar, auctioneers. The firm sold off the overstock of dry goods firms, or the remaining goods of defunct stores. On November 10, 1865, for instance, an auction included 3,000 pairs of men’s, ladies’ and misses’ cloth and Berlin gloves, 1,000 dozen “gents’ hemmed linen cambric Handkerchiefs, including some very fine qualities,” breakfast shawls, furs, and “fancy goods,” including combs and Meerschaum pipes.
D. Powers & Sons operated from the building by 1875 and was perhaps the first of the tenants not involved in the dry goods business. Founded in 1817, it was the city’s oldest manufacturer of oil-cloths–the decorative water-resistant floor coverings placed under kitchen tables. The firm had two factories upstate, one in Lansingburgh and another at Newburgh. D. Powers & Sons was also the agent for “leading manufacturers of linoleums, shades and opague cloths,” according to New York’s Great Industries in 1884.
By the time of that article, shoe manufacturers were taking over the Hope Building. Ira G. Whitney, boots and shoes, was here before 1881, as was Woodmansee & Garside. That firm was looking for “some first-class shoe buttonhole operators for Singer sewing machines” that year.
Before the end of the decade the shoe and boot manufacturers Morse & Rogers, M. L. Hiller & Son, W. A. Ransom & Co., and A. Garside & Sons would also be in the building.
Shoe & Leather Reporter, April 27, 1887 (copyright expired)
The help-wanted ads placed by A. Garside & Sons give a vague idea about the day to day workings within the shop. On October 16, 1888 the firm advertised “shoemakers wanted to make Oxford ties, Louis XV heels.” And four years later, on July 31, 1892, it wanted a “German boy, between 16 and 18 years, for assistant shipping clerk, who can speak and write English.”
The company, which made only ladies shoes, was highly successful. In 1894 it employed 85 men, 3 boys under 18 years old, 2 under 16, 45 women and 20 girls under 20 years old. Two years later the workforce had increased to 106 men, 5 boys, 30 women and 20 girls. And in 1906 there were now 160 men and 50 females. They worked a 52-hour work week.
Morse & Rogers would remain in the building through 1910. An incident in 1909 reflects the close relationship employers often had with their higher-end employees. On November 30, 1909 The New York Press reported that Edward Van Auken, a retired preacher, had died in a Brooklyn boarding house when the gas jet was accidentally left slightly open. His landlady, Margaret Turner, found the 80-year old. The article mentioned “A son of the clergyman is employed in the Morse & Rogers Shoe Manufacturing Company, in No. 131 Duane street, and Mrs. Turner said the preacher told her many times that Morse, the head of the firm, would arrange for the funeral with his son’s aid when the time came.”
Love was the undoing of one employee of shoe maker Clark, Hutchinson & Co. in 1911. Walter P. Richmond was convicted of stealing $600 (about $16,700 today) from the firm on July 22. In court, according to The New York Press, “Richmond blamed his downfall on his infatuation for a woman who worked in an establishment where he formerly was employed and on whom he lavished money and gifts.”
It was a costly crush. Judge Malone sentenced him to not less than four years in Sing Sing prison. “When sentence was imposed Richmond almost collapsed,” said the article.
Shoe manufacturers continued to fill the building throughout the World War I years. W. D. Hannah was looking for “wood heelers” and a “naumkeger and finisher” in 1918. (A naumkeger buffed the bottoms of shoes to a smooth finish.)
The early 1920’s saw tenants arrive who were not involved in the shoe industry. Radio Industries Corporation was in the building by 1923, and the typesetting firm of Stow-Whittaker Company, Inc. operated here be 1929. That firm would change its name twice–in 1932 it was Whittaker-Glegengack-Trapp, Inc., and by 1940 it was Whittaker-Trapp, Inc.
The Radio Sun & Globe, October 13, 1923 (copyright expired)
Shoe firms, nevertheless, continued to call the Hope Building home. Lion Shoe Co. was here in the early to mid-1940’s, as was the Lester Pincus Shoe Corporation. The latter firm changed from tenant to landlord when it purchased the building in February 1946.
The last quarter of the 20th century saw artists, restaurants and boutiques taking over the old factory buildings of Tribeca. The owners of the Hope Building, the Sylvan Lawrence Company, looked the other way as tenants converted former manufacturing space to residential lofts in the early 1970’s. In January 1974 there were two residential tenants on the third floor, two on the fourth, and one on the fifth–despite the leases limiting the use to commercial purposes.
The owners had covered over the Hope Building name at the time of this mid-1970’s photograph. The narrower but otherwise identical building to the right is a year older. photo by Edmund Vincent Gillon from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York
But then in 1982 they organized as the Duane Thomas Loft Tenants Association and claimed rent stabilized status. The conflict ended up in court with the tenants winning.
In 1994 Maurya 11 Restaurant opened in the ground floor, followed by 131 Duane Street restaurant, which opened in 1997. That was replaced only a year later by Henry Meer’s City Hall restaurant.
The property was purchased in 2014 for $18.5 million. Once again rent stabilization ended in a legal battle. Duane Street Realty sought to evict the tenants and could legally do so “if the owner intends to demolish the building,” reported The New York Times. But the tenants argued that “demolition” and “gut renovation” were two different things.
In connection with its plans for a residential renovation, the operators hired architect Jonathan Schloss to design a rooftop addition.
Check out the websites for 131 Duane Street and see the convoluted contemporary history. Luckily, the building is being restored to its original design.
RCA BUILDING CANOPY OF RIHS VISITOR CENTER KIOSK DURING RESTORATION IN 2010
GLORIA HERMAN AND ALEXIS VILLAFANE GOT IT RIGHT
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
NEW YORK ALMANACK JAMES. S. KAPLAN
A New Jersey native and enthusiast, Kirstyn covers northern Brooklyn for Brooklyn paper, from Greenpoint to Gowanus
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Since its foundation, German settlers had been present in New Amsterdam (Peter Minuit was a native of Wesel am Rhein), but the significant arrival of German-speaking migrants took place towards the middle of the nineteenth century. By 1840 more than 24,000 of them had made New York their home.
In the next two decades, when large parts of the territory were plunged into deep socio-political and economic problems, another hundred thousand Germans crossed the Atlantic turning New York into the world’s third-largest German-speaking city, after Berlin and Vienna.
Established in the 1840s and peaking during the 1870s, Little Germany (Kleindeutschland) in Manhattan’s Lower East Side was one of New York’s first major ethnic enclaves. The career of one of those numerous migrants illustrates the rise and decline of an overwhelming Teutonic presence in Manhattan.
On Arrival
When twenty-three year old August “Gus” Lüchow decided to set sail from Hanover for America, migration had become a routine experience amongst his contemporaries. According to official figures, the Kingdom of Hanover lost 183,355 inhabitants between 1832 and 1886. Poverty was rife in rural areas that had been hit by years of harvest failure. Most of those leaving the land moved to the United States and Ohio was their preferred destination, but Lüchow was urban dweller. He planned to make the city of New York his home.
On arrival in the metropolis in 1879, he came across numerous references to his home town, not least in Manhattan’s financial district where a brownstone building at 1 Hanover Square was home to the Hanover National Bank. The suburban town of Hanover in Chautauqua County may have been somewhat out of his way, but on entering Little Germany he walked into a well-established and diversified district with hundreds of active businesses and socio-cultural institutions.
References to “German” migration into New York suggests a false image of oneness. Its religious community consisted of Catholics, Protestants, Lutherans, Mennonites, and Jews, but particularism – more than religion – was a real source of division. Those who escaped a patchwork of German states during the 1850s had no notion of a “national” identity. Differences in dialect, politics, cuisine and regional culture left most of them unable/unwilling to acknowledge fellow migrants.
German unification occurred in 1871, but it would take many decades for a sense of shared characteristics to emerge. New York’s German community was as diversified as the home lands themselves. Little Germany was originally broken up into various neighborhoods of Swabians, Bavarians, Hessians, Westphalians, Hanoverians and Prussians. Initially, migrants – of which Bavarians and Prussians were the largest groups – tended to marry within their own groups and organized themselves around regionally based networks and loyalties.
Living in relative close proximity with many common interests, incomers were eventually pressured into a mutual understanding from which a new type of citizen emerged, that of the German-American.
Music & Hospitality
Gus Lüchow started his career in hospitality. Having learned the skills of the trade as a waiter and bartender, he began work in 1879 in the small Von Muehlbach Restaurant located at 110 East 14th Street. Three years later he bought out his employer. His venture was made possible thanks to a loan from the piano magnate and fellow German immigrant William Steinway who ran his concert-hall and showroom across the street at Union Square. He had also been a regular at Von Muehlbach.
As the district was developing into a hub of theatrical entertainment and nightlife activities, the Academy of Music stood nearby as did the German-language Irving Place Theatre, the newly named Lüchow’s gained a reputation for its cuisine. Employing twenty-eight chefs at its peak, the restaurant not only served Little Germany, but also offered food and entertainment to visitors and revelers.
The menu promoted staples such as wiener schnitzel, knack- and bratwurst, sauerbraten and pumpernickel. An extensive dessert selection included Pfannkuchen mit Preiselbeeren and Sachertorte. The cellar was stocked with the finest European wines. The house was devoted to good living, reflecting the wealth and well-being of New York’s German immigrant population. Lüchow introduced German gemütlichkeit (geniality; friendliness) into the heart of Manhattan. Rapidly expanding by the acquisition of flanking properties, the establishment became known as the “capital of 14th Street.”
Its eclectic ambiance took on a northern European character. Running the food concession for the Tyrolean Alps Exhibit at the St Louis Fair in 1904, Lüchow purchased a huge painting, “The Potato Gatherers” by Swedish artist Auguste Hagborg. It was given a central place in the so-called Heidelberg Room in addition to numerous Dutch and Austrian pictures, a porcelain statue of Frederick the Great, and multitudes of mounted animal heads and beer steins. A huge model of the clipper Great Republic was on show in the background (the largest full-rigged ship ever built in the United States).
Music was a cultural touchstone to German-Americans. August exploited his friendship with Steinway to the full. The latter’s many clients and colleagues were his core patrons during the early years. They enjoyed many lavish meals at his tables. About to leave New York in 1906, a farewell engagement was organized for the immensely popular Polish pianist Ignaz Paderewski. The event was stretched to six hours of food, wine and musical entertainment.
Oscar Hammerstein was a regular. Bohemian composer Anton Dvorak and Russian opera singer Feodor Chaliapin were faithful clients. Enrico Caruso’s had a taste for pig’s knuckles, but was also often seen enjoying a plate of caviar at the house. Irving Berlin and Cole Porter liked to drop by too.
In February 1914 Dublin-born and German-raised Victor Herbert, composer of a series of successful operettas that premiered on pre-war Broadway, met eight associates at Lüchow’s in order to draft plans for the performing rights organization which became the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
Lüchow’s establishment was a Manhattan institution where musicians, writers and actors mingled. With Tammany Hall nearby, scheming politicians and financiers were a continuous presence. When an emerging politician named Theodore Roosevelt arrived for dinner one day, he ordered venison and a bottle of Burgundy wine (Pommard).
Breweries & Festivities
The influx of German immigrants increased the number of beer producers in the city. By 1877, Manhattan counted seventy-eight breweries; Brooklyn had forty-three. Germans in New York congregated at beer halls with large meeting rooms that were used by singing societies, lodges or political organizations. Elaborate beer gardens were the pride of German neighborhoods.
Locally produced ale was an acceptable substitute, but memories of home brewed beer prevailed. This nostalgic longing inspired Lüchow (a beer drinker himself) to start importing lager directly from Germany. It proved to be a master stroke. The word spread; the pumps began to flow. By 1885 Gus was the sole American agent for Würzburg Hofbräu, an amber-colored Bavarian beer that would soon enjoy a cult status in New York and elsewhere. It was swilled down with such delicacies as pig’s knuckles and sauerkraut or potato dumplings.
In 1902 Harry von Tilzer composed the song “Down Where the Würzburger Flows” in honor of August and his restaurant. It became a hit that traveled from Fourteenth Street to the beer gardens of Cincinnati, St Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee and beyond.
With German beer came the celebration of traditional festivities. During the three-day Bock Beer Festival in March, a band would play a selection of old German songs whilst the guests would consume large amounts of their favorite foods: Bockwurst, liver sausage, roast ham and pheasant on wine kraut.
At Christmas a massive tree was erected. Trimmed with countless electric candles, it showed a splendid nativity village underneath (hand-carved in Oberammergau, Bavaria). The standard menu consisted of oxtail soup, boiled carp, roast goose with chestnut stuffing, pumpernickel, plum pudding with brandy sauce and ice cream. At six on Christmas Eve, the lights would be dimmed, whilst the house orchestra performed “Stille Nacht.”
Umlaut War
In the 1890s, Germans and German-Americans began to move out of the Lower East Side to Yorkville and the Bronx, moving their businesses and institutions with them. Fourteenth Street lost its appeal as department stores and office buildings replaced cafés and theaters. Only Lüchow’s survived as a high-quality relic of the past.
Anti-German sentiment during the First World War ran high with outbreaks of nativism and xenophobia. Americans of German descent were targeted; the German-American press was censored; libraries pulled German books off the shelves; and German-American organizations were under scrutiny. In spite of all the commotion, Lüchow continued to import German beer. One lucrative shipment alone, in November 1915, contained 22,492 casks of Pilsner and Würzburger.
Following the sinking of RMS Lusitania by a German submarine on May 7th, 1915, August was forced to defend his patriotic credentials. When it was reported that some of his patrons had cheered on hearing the news of the attack, his lawyer published a letter in New-York Tribune on his behalf in which he stated that August had instructed his orchestra to refrain from playing national airs or patriotic songs. He had barred demonstrations in favor of any of the belligerents.
Before the war the umlaut had been a mark of identity and a sign of German-American distinctiveness. By the time the United States joined the battle, the symbol was re-interpreted as a token of betrayal and hostility, a statement of aggression. Animosity became so intense that by 1917 August thought it prudent to remove the umlaut of his name in all public statements.
Prohibition & Successors
Prohibition came as a blow to August Lüchow. From the outset in 1920, he was not prepared to break the law and allow patrons to consume illicit liquor. His record was impeccable. When Prohibition finally ended in May 1933 and the finest pilsners flowed again on Fourteenth Street, New York’s authorities honored the establishment with Liquor License Number One.
August himself did not survive Prohibition. On his death in 1923, ownership of the restaurant had passed to his nephew Victor Eckstein whose father was a German migrant too and once operated a restaurant in Fourth Street. During Eckstein’s stewardship the restaurant maintained its grand reputation for fine German food, until the challenge became too taxing for him. In 1950, the restaurant changed hands again. Its new owner was an intriguing figure.
Leonard Jan Mitchell was born in April 1913 in the port city of Libau (now: Liepāja), Latvia, which was then part of the Russian Empire. In 1932, while serving on a merchant marine vessel, young Mitchell jumped ship in Baltimore and headed for New York City. Despite speaking little English, he found work as a waiter at the Hotel Grand Concourse in the Bronx, near Yankee Stadium (Yankee players nicknamed him the Swede) and at the Waldorf-Astoria.
Setting out on his own in 1942, he acquired the Olmsted restaurant in Washington. It prospered. He then set his sights on Lüchow’s with which he had fallen in love after eating there early in his New York years. Eckstein agreed the sale with him on condition that the restaurant’s traditional values and settings be preserved. Mitchell went further than that. In 1952 he re-introduced the umlaut that Lüchow had dropped in 1917. In 1952 Michell recorded the history of the restaurant which had become his passion in Lüchow’s German Cookbook, complete with the original recipes.
Unfortunately, the demands of “progress” were undermining the establishment. Union Square was declining rapidly and was no longer the heart of the theater district. Mitchell sold his business in 1970 (in his later years he became a noted art collector). In 1982 an “unexplained” fire destroyed the building and efforts by preservationists to gain landmark status for Lüchow’s failed.
The restaurant moved uptown to Broadway near Times Square, but revival proved impossible. It finally closed in 1986, symbolizing that a period in which the German presence in Manhattan prevailed, had come to a final conclusion.
SPARROW WHO IS A CONTINUAL VISITOR TO THE P.S. 217 CAFETERIA. IT KNOWS ITS WAY IN AND OUT AND DOES NOT EAT THE SCHOOL FOOD. GLORIA HERMAN AND ALEXIS VILLAFANE 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
Illustrations, from above: Lüchow’s in April 1896 (Museum of the City of New York); The Potato Gatherers, undated by August Hagborg (Private collection); an early twentieth century postcard highlighting The Potato Gatherers; original vintage match cover; Luchow’s New York World’s Fair menu, 1939; book jacket by Ludwig Bemelmans to Jan Mitchel’s German cookbook; and Lüchow’s menu for Sunday February 7th, 1954.
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Raphael, son of the French painter Theodore Roussel, designed posters for the British steamship lines P&O and RSMP promoting travel to such foreign destinations as Australia and Sudan. He also designed dioramas for the British Empire Exhibition in 1926. “Another avenue for poster artists was the desire, on behalf of both the Commonwealth of Australia and the shipping lines, to lure immigrants to Australia. [Roussel’s poster] is a classic image with a lightly tanned farmer beckoning Britons to a land bathed in sunshine” (Trading Places p. 4). Trading Places p. 5.
Brondy was one of several classically trained painters who designed travel posters during the 1930s. “He produced a number of splendid posters for Meknes and was head of the city’s tourist office in the 1930s” (Orientalist p. 73). Moulay-Idriss is a holy city in northern Morocco. Orientalist p. 72.
In 1900, an electric funicular railway operated by the Societa Sicula Tramways Omnibus was opened. It connected Palermo to Monreale, able to climb the 184 meters between the Piazza Bologni in Palermo and the terminus in Rocca di Monreale. It ran until 1946. Visible here is the stunning elevated view in Monreale, the Benedictine Cloisters connected to the Monreale cathedral and a vista of the port of Palermo with the imposing Mount Pellegrino behind it.
L’Étoile du Nord was an absolute revolution in advertising when it first appeared in 1927. Although advertising a Pullman train, it was startlingly new to have a travel poster that depicted no landscape, no destination, and no train. The pure and powerful image is a tribute to the dramatic use of perspective, with the train represented metaphorically by the star dancing on the horizon where many rails converge in the distance. To keep the image as clean and unobstructed as possible, Cassandre corrals the typography at the very bottom of the composition and then organizes it in a neat and structured frame around the border. Here, he also develops one of his signature design elements: viewing an object from a low angle to make it seem larger than life and more impressive, a technique he perfected in his 1935 poster for the Normandie. Through his association with Maurice Moyrand, who was the agent for the printer L. Danel, (and with whom he would form the Alliance Graphique in 1930), Cassandre was commissioned to create two posters for the Chemins de fer du Nord in 1927.
A very early ocean liner poster for the Red Star Line, featuring the Westernland. Built in 1883, the ship was the company’s first with a steel hull, first with two funnels and first with three different classes of passenger accommodation. From 1883-1901, she sailed the route between Antwerp and Philadelphia, seen here sailing into New York, past the Statue of Liberty (officially opened in October 1886) and heading towards the Brooklyn Bridge (opened in May 1883). Passenger Ships 17.
An optimistic post-war image depicting North America as the proverbial “City in the Clouds.” Note the subtle depiction of the stars and stripes. Air France p. 72.
http://This, the Southern Pacific’s “first streamliner poster . . . emphasized the distinctive “armor yellow” color and automotive profile of the new City of San Francisco. The artists communicated modernity and speed by rendering the train in a seamless watercolor wash, removing all traces of rivets and vestibules” (Zega p. 111). Rare. We could find only one other copy at auction. Zega 140.
This poster reflects the novelty, energy and brightness of the many electrical and neon displays which were utilized throughout the Chicago World’s Fair. Born in Hungary, Katz was a prominent Jewish artist who worked extensively on WPA projects including murals, illustrations and stained glass. This is the rare small format. World of Tomorrow p. 14.
“A colorful bird’s-eye view of the Theme Center . . . [showing] fairgoers entering the Perisphere from the Trylon and leaving by the Helicline” (World of Tomorrow p. 195). This poster was published two years prior to the fair, when the plans for the Trylon and Perisphere were first released to the press. It was not part of the later poster design competition to promote the fair, won by Joseph Binder. Nembhard N. Culin was an architect who worked with Frost, Frost & Fenner, a firm that designed several pavilions for the fair. This “nighttime aerial view captures the fair’s dramatic, otherworldly nature, and [Culin’s] airbrushing creates an appropriate machine-like surface” (Resnick p, 56). This is the rare large format. World of Tomorrow p. 194, Resnick 26, Taschen p. 323.
FROM ED LITCHER: The gate to a brighter future. We Hope. Thank you Judy and all of the vote site volunteers who made the process on RI a very smooth and pleasant experience.
ALEXIS VILLAFANE 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
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SWANN AUCTION GALLERIES
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
For the last 10 days I have been the Coordinator at the early voting and Election Day at PS 217. Yesterday 1240 islanders came out to vote. We have a great community and the over 2000 islanders that voted in the last 10 days make me proud of our community. Also my great time of workers for voting, 25 dedicated workers who work long and sometimes stressful hours. Thanks to everyone who preserved our democracy!!! Judy 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
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Judith Berdy
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
In the fourth quarterly issue of Volume VIII, the fascinating history and recent lecture by Jeffrey S. Urbin discusses Appalachia’sPack Horse Librarians.
FollowingThe Origins of Modern Santa — A New York Inventiondiscusses the nuances of the figure St. Nicholas through the past to the present.
In the final piece, Island Icons: Part VII — World War I discusses the affects and aftermath of the First War on New York City.
Don’t forget to check out our updated event calendar on the last page of Blackwell’s Almanac!
Hiding between Shake Shack and Eataly just outside Madison Square Park is one of only two military grave sites in the city.
It contains the remains of William Jenkins Worth.
A celebrated general, Worth’s military career started with the War of 1812 and was cut short after the Mexican-American War, when he contracted cholera in San Antonio in 1849.
After his death, city leaders decided to honor him with a memorial in what was then an elite residential neighborhood.
While his body was temporarily interred in Green-Wood Cemetery, a 51-foot granite obelisk went up, listing names of crucial battle sites of his career.
A bronze relief of Worth on a horse fronts the obelisk, and military regalia decorate the cast-iron fence surrounding it.
It’s a grand monument—but it’s easy to miss as you cross that tricky intersection of 25th Street, Broadway, and Fifth Avenue (a pocket park called Worth Square).
Where’s the other military gravesite in Manhattan? Grant’s Tomb, 100 blocks northwest. General Worth is also the namesake of Worth Street, and we have him to thank for Fort Worth, Texas, and Lake Worth, Florida.
RIHS Lecture: Benedict Arnold: Hero Betrayed Date and Time Tuesday, November 15, 2022, 6:30 – 7:30 PM Location Online via Zoom Roosevelt Island Library
Before he was a turncoat, he was an American hero. James K. Martin, Professor Emeritus at the University of Houston and author of Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered, reveals the strategic genius of Arnold, his essential contributions to the Revolutionary War, and his mistreatment at the hands of his superiors.
ABOUT JAMES KIRBY MARTIN As for me: Might say that I’ve had a long academic career, teaching almost 50 years at Rutgers in NJ and the Un. of Houston. Also held distinguished visiting appointments at The Citadel in SC and the U. S. Military Academy at West Point. Have published several books, including Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero, on which the film is based. Also served as an executive producer of the film, which is available on Amazon Prime and other streaming networks. My most recent book is a novel, titled Surviving Dresden: A Story of Life, Death, and Redemption in World War II. Many other writing projects are underway. And I serve on the boards of trustees of the Fort Ticonderoga Association on Lake Champlain and the Fort Plain in the Mohawk Valley, and also serve as an historian adviser to the Oneida Indian Nation of NY. That should be plenty and please feel free to reduce this information if you like.
From Jay Jacobson: While a bikeway to circumnavigate Manhattan island is a splendid idea, the incredible cost per foot of bikeway is an outrageous, insensitive, extravagance. The logic of ultimately providing paved surfaces over virtually all of the East River will be the ruin of the City of New York. I lament this wasteful extravagance, as much as I admire its imagination.
From: Judy Berdy For the last 9 days I have been at Early Voting as PS 217. 997 voters took advantage of the fast, easy and efficient way to vote. If you missed that opportunity, we are at PS 217 today until 9 p.m. for you to vote!! See you there!
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
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EPHEMERAL NEW YORK
FUNDING PROVIDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS OF THE NYC CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Before he was a turncoat, he was an American hero. James K. Martin, Professor Emeritus at the University of Houston and author of Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered, reveals the strategic genius of Arnold, his essential contributions to the Revolutionary War, and his mistreatment at the hands of his superiors.
ABOUT JAMES KIRBY MARTIN
As for me: Might say that I’ve had a long academic career, teaching almost 50 years at Rutgers in NJ and the Un. of Houston. Also held distinguished visiting appointments at The Citadel in SC and the U. S. Military Academy at West Point. Have published several books, including Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero, on which the film is based. Also served as an executive producer of the film, which is available on Amazon Prime and other streaming networks. My most recent book is a novel, titled Surviving Dresden: A Story of Life, Death, and Redemption in World War II. Many other writing projects are underway. And I serve on the boards of trustees of the Fort Ticonderoga Association on Lake Champlain and the Fort Plain in the Mohawk Valley, and also serve as an historian adviser to the Oneida Indian Nation of NY.
ED LITCHER, JAY JACOBSON, HARA REISER ALL 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 Deborah Dorff All image are copyrighted (c)
JAMES KIRBY MARTIN
Illustration: “The Hudson at Tappan Zee” by Francis Silva 1876 showing a sloop, but actually depicting Esopus Meadows.
CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE JULE MENIN DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
In 1992, the shipyard at Rochefort France where the Hermione – the ship that brought Lafayette to America – had been constructed in 1780 was apparently in decline.
Several local entrepreneurs conceived of the idea that a replica of the Hermione should be built and sailed to the United States as a goodwill gesture. It was hoped that the project would perhaps improve the local economy and also remind Americans of the important historical ties between the United States and France.
A visionary project of this magnitude would seem an almost impossible undertaking. The cost would exceed $22 million. Among other technical challenges was the fact that there were no existing plans for the original Hermione. There were however, for an English ship of the same class which had been constructed at the same time.
Beginning in the early 1990s work was begun in Rochefort with the backing of the French government, local French citizens and major French corporations. The hope was undoubtedly that American cities and citizens would support this endeavor and might even help financially. After all, the French-designed Statue of Liberty, among the most successful public monuments in history and an archetypal symbol of the United States, had been jointly funded by American and French contributions.
In 2014 the ship was completed and ready to sail across the Atlantic to 11 ports on the eastern seaboard, including stops at various maritime museums. One of the most important stops would be New York Harbor on July 4th where it would sail by the Statue of Liberty.
The project received favorable response from officials in Baltimore and Philadelphia and other seaport cities. In New York however, the project’s representatives had difficulty obtaining an audience with representatives of the mayor or governor to discuss the project. As the time for the Hermione’s arrival approached it appeared that prospects for a proper reception in New York were dim.
Several weeks before July 4th however, members of the Bowling Green Association and the Lower Manhattan Historical Association began pestering relevant City officials. Finally, with the backing of Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, arrangements were made to dock the Hermione at South Street Seaport’s Pier 16. (The City had planned to dock Hermione at an obscure pier in Brooklyn.)
At the opening ceremony, Miles Young, the British-born head of the American Friends of the Hermione (who was then chair of the advertising firm Ogilvy & Mather), hailed the achievement of having the Hermione come to New York and America. He called the project one of the great public history projects of the 20th century and an example of the Lafayette family motto “why not.”
Although the highest city or state official at the ceremony was the mayor’s Commissioner of Foreign Affairs, speakers did include Jonathan Bouleware, the recently installed President of the South Street Seaport Museum, and Craig Stapleton, a prominent past U.S. Ambassador to France. A representative of the Lower Manhattan Historical Association gifted the captain of the Hermione a 13-star American flag. The flag was an replica of the one that had been carried by Thomas Paine and John Paul Jones and presented to the Marquis de Lafayette at the Fête de la Fédération in 1790.
The following day, another ceremony was held in front of Pier 16 in which the Lower Manhattan Historical Association held a march in honor of the Hermione from Pier 16 to Bowling Green where the flag was raised on the Evacuation Day flagpole. The march is believed to have been the first July 4th parade in Lower Manhattan since the American Bicentennial in 1976. It proved a success, and laid the groundwork for the seven subsequent, and much larger, July 4th parades.
Jonathan Bouleware, the newly installed President of the South Street Seaport Museum, gave a stirring speech about the importance of the Hermione and his plans to rebuild the Museum to its former glory with a program of visiting foreign historical ships. Gale Brewer spoke about the importance of recognizing the history of Lower Manhattan and the importance of the French efforts.
The march which went up Wall Street and turned at Broadway to Bowling Green. It was led by Miles Young, an American crew member of the Hermione, along with storyteller Jonathan Kruk and Caroline Kaplan. Marchers various patriotic groups with drummer Brian Carter providing the musical accompaniment (the budget did not allow for a marching band). As the parade went by Federal Hall the Hearts of Oak Band serenaded the marchers en route to Trinity Church (thanks to the National Parks Service).
The 2015 visit of the Hermione has not only been a catalyst for the succeeding July 4th parades, but also for the Lower Manhattan Historical Association. The Association is now an active group which organizes other historical activities in Lower Manhattan such as the annual Saratoga-Yorktown Celebration in Trinity Churchyard; the Alexander Hamilton Immigrant Achievement Awards, the annual Evacuation Day ceremonies at Bowling Green. The Association has also helped mark the first Synagogue in North America on South William Street, and recently commemorated the Buttonwood Agreement, which helped found the New York Stock Exchange.
Arguably, the visit of the Hermione in 2015 also had a profound impact on the South Street Seaport Museum. After much wrangling and controversy, the Howard Hughes Corporation (one of the principal financial supporters of the Lower Manhattan Historical Association’s July 4th parades) sought to build a major office building at 250 Water Street. The company offered to make a donation of $50 million if its zoning application was approved. The directors of the financially beleaguered South Street Seaport Museum had argued that the museum would go out of business without this subsidy.
The proposal created a major controversy in Lower Manhattan. The matter was the subject of five lengthy public hearings in which more than 600 interested people spoke with some commenters waiting more than three hours to make their two minute presentations. A number of business groups along with directors of the Lower Manhattan Historical Society (including Aleen Millman, Catherine Hughes and Scott Dwyer), along with the director of the Fraunces Tavern Museum, argued that the long-term interest of the community lay with preservation and expansion of the Museum.
Notable New York historian Kenneth Jackson, a former president of the New York Historical Society, argued that the future of Manhattan was dependent on its ability to compete with other major cities of the country and world for tourist dollars and that the South Street Seaport Museum could be critical.
Ultimately with the support of city council member Margaret Chin, then Borough President Gale Brewer (who had both been Grand Marshals of the 4th of July parades), the New York City Council supported the Howard Hughes project. The 2021 and 2022 Lower Manhattan Historical Society’s July 4th parades ended at the South Street Seaport piers and were viewed by some as a Seaport Museum victory celebration.
Hoping For Hermione’s Return in 2024
At a recent meeting of the Lower Manhattan Historical Association, the organization was asked if it would help plan a celebration to mark the 200th anniversary of Lafayette’s triumphant return to the United States in 1824. A number of groups, led by the Friends of Lafayette and other French-American organizations are planning a series of events for 2024.
It was suggested that the return of the Hermione to the United States could be a centerpiece of these efforts. A member of the Lower Manhattan Historical Association’s board was asked to look into the costs, although several board members remain skeptical. The Hermione is currently in dry dock in Rochefort where its hull is in poor shape. The estimated cost of renovating the ship for another voyage to the United States is estimated at $3-5 million.
While this amount might seem daunting, it’s not impossible, if one considers the potential benefits and the French and American resources that could be brought to bear. 140 years ago, the Statue of Liberty was considered a hopeless scheme.
A return visit of the Hermione for the 200th anniversary of Lafayette’s 1824 visit could promote historical tourism along the eastern seaboard and further the the history community’s vision of Lower Manhattan as a world class tourist center.
At a time when democracy is sometime in question, it could provide Americans with a timely reminder of the principles on which democratic government was founded.
In terms of fundraising, a joint project with French and American groups each raising $2.5 million using the same methods as those used for the Statue of Liberty – individual contributions, public municipal investment, donations from major corporations should be possible.
The only question is the will of people on both sides of the Atlantic to do so. After all, is not the motto of the Lafayette Coat of Arms—“Why not”?
RCA BUILDING ROCKEFELLER CENTER ANDY SPARBERG, GLORIA HERMAN AND ALEXIS VILLAFANE ALL GOT IT RIGHT
Text by Judith Berdy Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
NEW YORK ALMANACK JAMES. S. KAPLAN
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Art installations in November start to take on a holiday tint as approach the season of giving. Starting on November 25th, you can send your wishes into the sky or conduct a symphony of color-changing lanterns inside the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place with the interactive public installation Luminaries. Luminaries is a glowing canopy made up of 640 twinkling custom lanterns that change in color and intensity, based on your motions during certain “Maestro” and “Holiday Wishing” sessions noted on the schedule. For every interaction, Brookfield Place will donate $1, up to $25,000, to Outreach, a charity that provides “evidence-based behavioral health services to youth and adults in NYC and on Long Island struggling with substance and alcohol abuse.”
When the installation isn’t in interactive mode it will still be mesmerizing. Throughout the installation’s run, November 25th through January 6th, you can watch special light shows set to your favorite holiday songs, like Winter Wonderland by Michael Bublé, Silver Bells by Tony Bennett, and Carol of the Bells by The Bird and The Bee.
Sarah E. Brook’s The Need You Know It Is A Letting Light. Photo by Sebastian Bach
Located inside the Lena Horne Bandshell in Prospect Park is Sarah E. Brook’s multimedia installation The Need You Know It Is A Letting Light, an installation that began in mid-October. Presented by BRIC and the Prospect Park Alliance, The Need You Know It Is A Letting Light conveys the artist’s exploration of the communication between external and internal psychic space through three abstract wooden sculptures and an accompanying mural. Brook’s project marks the first time a sculpture will be presented alongside a mural at the bandshell. Colored red, yellow, and green in the spirit of the park’s natural landscape, the bright mural seeks to allure passersby from within the park into the bandshell.
Arts Brookfield
Canstruction® returns to Brookfield Place for the 30th year! This annual art competition, produced in partnership with City Harvest, challenges teams of architects, engineers, and contractors to build sculptures made entirely out of unopened cans of food. At the end of the installation, the sculptures are deconstructed and the cans are donated to City Harvest, resulting in the largest annual single donation of canned food to the organization.
The sculptures will be judged by an expert panel and winners will be crowned in the categories of Best Original Design, Best Use of Labels, Structural Ingenuity, Best Meal, and two honorable mentions. Visitors are encouraged to get involved by dropping off non-perishable cans of food on the 2nd floor of Brookfield Place (230 Vesey Street). You can also vote for your favorite sculpture to be awarded the People’s Choice award, here. Voting opens on November 3rd. This art installation will be on view for just a few weeks, from November 3rd through November 14th from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m daily.
Breathing Without Fear by Reuben Sinha. Photo by Cynthia Reed.
Many art installations you’ll see this November debuted in late October, including artist Reuben Sinha’s ceramic sculpture Breathing Without Fear in Marcus Garvey Park. In 2004, Sinha founded artHARLEM Inc., a community non-profit organization known for managing the Harlem Open Artist Studio Tour, to bring recognition to Harlem’s underrepresented artists. Throughout his artwork, Sinha draws from his immigrant identity and experiences living within racially marginalized New York City communities.
This emphasis on community can be seen in Breathing Without Fear which depicts two figures becoming one as they enjoy a local park in a post-pandemic world. Taking the structure of ancient rock formations, the sculpture can also be interpreted as two figures enjoying a moment of connection in the aftermath of a prolonged period of separation brought about by the pandemic. While abstract in nature, the sculpture’s figures are meant to represent everybody. Visitors to Marcus Garvey Park can find the sculpture on the oval lawn at Madison Avenue and 121st Street in East Harlem.
San Juan Heal at the Lincoln Center. Photo by Nicholas Knight. Courtesy of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Studio Museum in Harlem, and Public Art Fund.
Enlivening the nearly 200-foot-long facade of the Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall is San Juan Heal, a collection of designs that pay homage to the San Juan Hill neighborhood. The working-class neighborhood was home to the largest Black and Puerto Rican populations in New York City during the first half of the twentieth century. San Juan Hill’s residents were forcibly displaced to make way for redevelopment in the area which would eventually become the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
The constellation of words, shapes, and symbols that make up artist Nina Chanel’s piece depicts the former thriving community. Featured in the panels are figures such as the pioneering healthcare workers Edith Carter and Elizabeth Tyler. Other prominent figures placed into the spotlight include musician James P. Johnson, famous for inspiring the Charleston dance craze, and Thelonious Monk, a pioneer of Bebop. Commissioned by the Lincoln Center in collaboration with The Studio Museum in Harlem and the Public Art Fund, San Juan Heal will be on display until March 31, 2024.
Still from An Eclectic Dance to the Music of Time. Photo by Nicholas Knight. Courtesy of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Studio Museum in Harlem, and Public Art Fund.
Upon walking inside the Karen and Richard LeFrak Lobby at David Geffen Hall, visitors to Lincoln Center are greeted by Jacolby Satterwhite’s commission An Eclectic Dance to the Music of Time. Presented on the Hausen Digital Wall, An Eclectic Dance to the Music of Time combines archival images, live-action footage, and digital animation connecting a festival of performance that traverses historical periods through virtual space.
Peppered throughout the video are the works of artists throughout the history of the Philharmonic since its founding in 1842. Also featured are young musicians and dancers from across New York City, playing instruments and dancing on stages. Grounded in a more democratic view of the city’s history, An Eclectic Dance to the Music of Time features sculptural monuments set behind landscapes inspired by Central Park, surrounded by buildings covered in screens as a reminder of Times Square. An Eclectic Dance to the Music of Time will be visible to the public until March 31, 2024.
ANDY SPARBERG, HARA REISER, ALEXIS VILLAFANE, GLORIA HERMAN ALL 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
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UNTAPPED NEW YORK
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
