Today, we live in a veritable ferry-land. Ferries up and down the East River, ferries scuttling across the Hudson, ferries hauling tourists to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Staten Island ferries. This ferry-abundance replaced a long ferry-drought. Here’s the story:
Throughout much of New York history, ferries were key to economic and social growth. Ferry service from New Amsterdam to Breuckelen dates back to the 1630s. The first ferry to New Jersey was founded in 1661. Ferries along the Harlem River, between uptown Manhattan and the Bronx, started in 1667, and a ferry to Staten Island began in 1712.
In 1904, 147 ferryboats operated on New York City waters. Then a wave of bridge and tunnel construction pushed development far into Brooklyn and Queens, diverting density from the waterfront. These new communities and business districts required land-based connections that ferries could not provide. The old ferry network became obsolete and the City began taking over failing services. By the 1920s, New York had an extensive municipal ferry system, backed by public investment in vessels and terminals. But it was shortlived; most of the routes lost their riders and the municipal network fragmented. In the 1960s, ferryboats disappeared from the East River, severing the oldest link between the boroughs. The last cross-Hudson ferry between Hoboken and Battery Park City) hung on to 1967 when it ceased operations.
“Fort Amsterdam about 1650”, NYPL Digital Collections
A little history
It all goes back to the Dutch – of course. The story is that in the early 1630s, Cornelius Dircksen, a farmer and owner of real estate at Peck Slip ran an informal ferry service to Breuckelen. If someone wanted to cross, they just had to blow on a horn hanging from a tree and Cornelius would do the deed. His landing on the Breuckelen side would become, of course, the future dock of the Fulton Ferry
Robert Fulton created the first steam ferry service across the East River in. In the early 1800s, and other Brooklyn businessmen competed for profitable routes to Lower Manhattan. By 1853, the Union Ferry Company of Brooklyn, the successor to Fulton’s business, consolidated control over the Brooklyn ferry business with 7 routes from Fulton Ferry to Hamilton Avenue and 40,000,000 annual passengers. And Brooklyn was home to the largest ferry company in the world. At the time the Brooklyn Bridge opened, there were at least 12 ferry routes in operation between Manhattan and Brooklyn, using 10 different ferry terminals in Brooklyn and 11 in Manhattan.
A ticket from the 1814 Fulton Ferry steamboat. The ferries carried both people and horse-drawn carriages and wagons. There were three cabins on the modern ferries of 1900. On the main deck, a cabin was provided for each sex. Most likely it wasn’t modesty that necessitated providing a women’s cabin, but rather the appetite for cigar smoking among men. It was taken as a given that women didn’t smoke. But if by chance a woman did, she could go to the unisex upper-deck cabin. Between the two main-deck cabins, an open area ran the length of the ferry. This is where horse-drawn vehicles made the voyage.
In the ferry-abundant second half of the 19th century, ferries streamed across the Hudson as well. Ferries moved people (passengers arriving by rail lines at their New Jersey Hudson River terminus and everyday commuters) and goods (from the same railroads). At one time, twenty passenger docks existed on the Manhattan side of the river.
In 1908, NYC ferryboats reported a total of 201,300,000 passenger rides. The ferry system was at its peak.
Ferries on the Hudson, ferries to Brooklyn. What about the rest of the East River?
This is the less told story. As settlements on what became Queens grew, so did ferry services, but ferries were never as dense as between Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. Early settlers transported grains, livestock, timber, and firewood across the river from Hallets Cove to New Amsterdam. The first passenger boats began operating in the 1700s from Hallets Cove to Hornes Hook—present-day 86th street—in Manhattan.
The Astoria Ferry
Peter Fitzsimmons began the first regular ferry service between Astoria and Manhattan in 1782. A fleet of row boats and sail boats would depart, at predetermined intervals, from a dock at Hallets Cove not far from what is now Socrates Sculpture Park. The fare was one shilling per person. When Stephen Halsey arrived in 1835, an overhaul of the ferry system was part of the sweeping changes he brought to Astoria. Halsey bought the ferry service, constructed new wharves at the foot of Astoria Boulevard on Hallets Point, and upgraded the boats being used to ship people to and from Manhattan. Soon, Astoria would become a refuge for wealthy New Yorkers’ “country” homes and a stop on the fast ferry route from South Street Seaport to Harlem, another center for New Yorkers of money.
In 1936, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia arranged to end the then city-operated ferry and transfer the land to the Triborough Authority to build a new approach to the Triborough Bridge. La Guardia finalized the plans for the turnover on July 15 but gave the ferry an additional sixty days to wind down operations while ferry riders found alternative ways across the East River. However, Robert Moses, who headed the Triborough Authority, didn’t want to wait that long. Long story short, on July 21, as the ferry Rockaway had pulled away from the terminal, Moses directed his contractor to tear the dock apart – even though passengers were waiting on the Manhattan side to return. At the last minute, La Guardia was able to get the police to stop the contractors from destroying the rest of the dock. That night, the city hastily rebuilt the damaged dock and ferry house. By morning, the Rockaway was back in service. But the Astoria ferry was over.
The Greenpoint Ferry
The first Greenpoint ferry dates from the 1830’s. The ferry was started by a Greenpoint carpenter, Alpheus Rollins. Neziah Bliss later established regular ferry service to Manhattan from Greenpoint around 1850, which is one of many changes that allowed for Greenpoint to become part of the City of Brooklyn in 1855. Bliss sold the ferry off to Sheppard Knapp, and the Knapp family ran the local ferry for many years.
On September 25, 1921, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that, after many years of running in the red, “the City of New York took over the ferry thanks in large part to the non-stop badgering of Alderman Pete McGuinness who so often berated Mayor Hylan that Hyland told him that the city would take over the ferry if Pete would only shut up. Amazingly, McGuinness did and the city began to run the ferry.” On February 12, 1933, the Greenpoint Ferry made its final run. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle tells us “Starting this morning, the East River Ferry is no more…” It would be part of a reorganized city ferry service. “The good thing about the new city-subsidized service,” the Daily Eagle stated, “is that fares are being slashed to $2.75 for a one-way ticket (formerly up to $6).” But it was gone.
The 34th Street Ferry
The ferry terminals at 34th St and James Slip both connecting with Long Island City at Hunters Point opened in 1858. When the Long Island Railroad moved from Brooklyn to Hunters Point, the ferry was linked to the LIRR. It closed down on in March 1925, after 67 years of East River crossings. The New York Times piece on the closing (March 4, 1925) focuses on the ferry skipper: “’Too slow for New York today,’ soliloquized Skipper Schow. ‘The ferryboats that were good enough for the late Theodore Roosevelt, Russell Sage, Charles Dana, August Belmont, William Whitney and William Vanderbilt, as they went to and fro between Manhattan and their Long Island homes, won’t do for the army of wage-earners riding nowadays from home to their work and back again. ‘T.R.’ and all the rest of them were satisfied with our speed then, but now even the hearse drivers complain when funerals cross the river.”
The Municipal Ferry Service
What about the Municipal Ferry Service? In 1905, the City of New York began a “progressive takeover of the ferry system” when it acquired the ferry route running between Whitehall Street (Manhattan) and Saint George (Staten Island) from the Staten Island Rapid Transit. By 1925, the New York City municipal ferry system had reached its pinnacle as it operated over a dozen routes that provided ferry service to all five boroughs and New Jersey. But the times had moved on. More bridges, better steel rail transportation and much greater use of automobiles doomed the project. Twenty years later, only one municipally-operated ferry route remained, the same route that it started with in 1905, the Staten Island Ferry.
So the ferry drought – except, as most of us saw as kids, the venerable Staten Island Ferry. And, now, ferry supreme. And our own dock.
STRECKER MEMORIAL LABORATORY ARLENE BESSENOFF AND GLORIA HERMAN 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) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
Stephen L. Meyers, Manhattan’s Lost Streetcars The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 25, 1921
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Sometimes it is the exception to the rule that produces the most interesting result.
Read this fascinating story of how a small donation to the Municipal Archives connects all the photos and a family history.
42nd Street, looking East to 6th Avenue, Manhattan, ca. 1890. De Gregario Lantern Slide Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
On October 7, 1989, Leonora Gidlund, then head of collection processing, set up a table at the “Heritage Day” event sponsored by the Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York at the McBurney YMCA on West 23rd Street. Two visitors, Felice and Marion De Gregario noticed Ms. Gidlund’s display and asked if she would be interested in a donation to the Archives of four dozen 19th century lantern slides. The De Gregarios said they had found them in the basement of their home on West 13th Street in Manhattan. Ms. Gidlund explained that the Archives usually only took in records created by agencies, departments, or officials of NYC government, and not from private organizations or persons. But Ms. GIdlund was intrigued by the offer and asked for more information. And we are glad she did.
Bethesda Fountain and Terrace, Central Park, ca. 1890. De Gregario Lantern Slide Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
The collection now known as the De Gregario Lantern Slides is fascinating and unique. Although only numbering 55 items, the slides provide rare views of iconic venues around the city—Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, Fifth Avenue, etc.—all dating from the last decades of the 19th century. Images from this time period are especially valuable as most City agencies did not adopt photography to document their work until after 1900.
Brooklyn Bridge from Coenties Slip, ca. 1890. De Gregario Lantern Slide Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
On the appraisal report for the collection, Ms. Gidlund noted that the De Gregarios said their house had been owned by Robert Devlin some years before they bought it in 1967. They believed he may have been the source of the slides. Caption information on the slides attributed several to “Robert J. Devlin,” adding to the probable connection. Other captions listed “W. T. Colbron.” According to the “Guide to the Records of the New York Camera Club,” at the New York Public Library, Colbron was an amateur photographer who joined the newly-formed Camera Club in 1888. The Club had split from the Society of Amateur Photographers, founded in 1884.
Post Office, Broadway, near Vesey Street, ca. 1890. De Gregario Lantern Slide Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Perhaps further research in other Archives records would provide more information about Mr. Devlin and add to our knowledge of the collection’s origin.
The first stop in research involving a house or building is the property card collection. The cards provide basic information about every structure in the city—dimensions, classification, ownership, and assessed valuation—typically dating from the 1930s through the 1970s or 80s, depending on the Borough. They also include a photograph of the building taken circa 1940. (The original negatives of the prints have been maintained as a separate collection in the Archives. Recently digitized and available online, the “1940 Tax Photographs” are one of the Archives’ most well-known collections.)
153 West 13th Street, 1940 Tax Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
After determining the block and lot number for 153 West 13th Street (Block 603, Lot 11), the card was quickly located. The conveyance section on the card listed an “S. Devlin” as owner of the building beginning in 1881. The 1881 date recorded on the card is very unusual; most property card conveyance information only dates back to the 1930s, when they were first created by the Department of Finance.
The next stop in the research quest was the 1890 “Police” census. It listed the inhabitants of 156 E. 13th Street as Samuel Devlin, age 55, Hannah Devlin, age 55, Robert Devlin, age 32, Samuel B. Devlin, age 23, and Mary Devlin, age 18. Although the 1890 census does not indicate relationships, it seems reasonable to assume that Robert, Samuel B. and Mary were the children of Samuel and Hannah Devlin, and that at some point Robert assumed ownership of the house.
Perhaps more details could be found to confirm that supposition. Luckily, for the purposes of this research, the De Gregario home was located in lower Manhattan which meant there might be a folder of applications in the Manhattan Department of Buildings collection. Indeed, there was. The earliest documents in the permit folder for Block 608, Lot 11 dated from a 1904 application to alter the building. In addition to information about the proposed alteration, the document indicated the name of the owner. And there he was: “Dr. Robert Devlin.” Devlin proposed to add a one-story extension to the back of the house to serve as an office. The alteration architect was Henry J. Hardenbergh, the architect of the Dakota apartment building on Central Park West, among other iconic structures.
Alteration Application 1392 of 1904 (detail). Department of Buildings Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
The DOB folder contained other applications including one that listed the basement as being used for “photography,” although the time period of that function was not clear. Information listed on another application stated the building had been converted from a one-family to a two-family dwelling with a medical office in the basement, and funeral home on the first floor. That would seem an unfortunate juxtaposition – but perhaps these occupancies were not simultaneous.
Based on the knowledge that Robert Devlin was in New York City as early as 1890, and the pictures attributed to W. T. Colborn in the collection, it seems quite possible that Devlin was also a member of the Camera Club. Perhaps further research in the Club records at the New York Public Library would confirm Devlin’s association with the Club.
Hudson River Pier 42, Horatio and Jane Streets, ca. 1890. Photographer: Robert Devlin. De Gregario Lantern Slide Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
This question may never be resolved, but it is obvious that these ‘amateurs’ were talented photographers. The pictures are well-composed and show that the photographer saw the value in documenting important places and events in the city’s history. And fortunately for historians today, lantern slides are a very stable medium. The emulsion layer is on glass and is protected by another layer of glass. Lantern slides are positive images and were intended to be projected for viewing, just like Kodachrome slides, or today’s Powerpoint presentations.
Here is a selection of more lantern slides from the De Gregario collection. And take a moment to look at the entire series in the gallery. You might agree that sometimes it is the exception to the rule that produces the most interesting result.
Crowds awaiting cornerstone laying ceremony for the General Grant National Monument, Riverside Drive and 120th Street, Manhattan, 1892. Photographer: W. T. Colbron. De Gregario Lantern Slide Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Crowds awaiting cornerstone laying ceremony for the General Grant National Monument, Riverside Drive and 120th Street, Manhattan, 1892. Photographer: W. T. Colbron. De Gregario Lantern Slide Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Crowds awaiting cornerstone laying ceremony for the General Grant National Monument, Riverside Drive and 120th Street, Manhattan, 1892. Photographer: W. T. Colbron. De Gregario Lantern Slide Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street, Manhattan, horse-drawn wagon of N. Y. Transfer Company, ca. 1890. De Gregario Lantern Slide Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
WASHINGTON STREET MARKET, OR THE REMAINS OF THE ONCE THRIVING WHOLESALE MEAT DISTRIBUTORS
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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“I believe the man who will go down to posterity is the man who paints his own time and the scenes of every-day life around him,” Childe Hassam said in 1892, three years after this Boston-born Impressionist painter settled permanently in New York City.FROM EPHEMERAL NEW YORK
New York Winter,” 1900
Painting scenes of everyday life around him is exactly what Hassam did for the next four decades. From his first studio at Fifth Avenue and 17th Street, he began depicting random moments in the Gilded Age city. His Impressionist style brilliantly captured light and color: of gaslit lamps, snowy sidewalks, rain-slicked umbrellas, and the sky at the “blue hour” just before twilight.
“Messenger Boy,” 1900
Perhaps his best-known works are urban landscapes near Washington Square, Union Square, and Madison Square, and Ephemeral New York has posted many examples over the years. But ultimately, Hassam was interested in what he termed “humanity in motion.”
“The Manhattan Club,” 1891
“‘There is nothing so interesting to me as people,’ he remarked in 1892,” according to an article from Smithsonian Magazine. “’I am never tired of observing them in every-day life, as they hurry through the streets on business or saunter down the promenade on pleasure. Humanity in motion is a continual study to me.’”
“Broadway and 42nd Street,”
1902 Hassam’s subjects engage in habits and rituals New Yorkers still take part in, and they occupy a city that looks familiar to us today. Despite transportation options like elevated trains, streetcars, and horse-drawn cabs, Gotham was a city of walkers, then and now.
“Bottleman 1892”
New York was also a class-structured city in Hassam’s era, as it remains today. Elegant men and women enjoy leisure time while cab drivers, messengers, doormen, vendors, and other workers earn a living around them.
“View of Broadway and Fifth Avenue,” 1890
Critics then and now have pointed out that Hassam’s work lacks the rough edges and raw social realist energy of many of his contemporaries. “In New York, for example, he ignored the new heterogeneity and hardships, romanticized symbols of modernism such as skyscrapers, and emphasized fast-fading Gilded Age gentility,” states Boston’s Gardner Museum.
“Rainy Day, Fifth Avenue,” 1893
Hassam had a simple answer for his critics and those in the art world who latched onto trends. According to the Smithsonian Magazine article, he told a critic in 1901: “I can only paint as I do and be myself. Subjects suggest to me a color scheme and I just paint.”
INTERNATIONAL ARRIVALS TERMINAL JFK AIRPORT HARA REISER GOT IT. FROM ED LITCHER: In 1957, Calder was commissioned to make a monumental work for the International Arrivals Building of Idlewild Airport (now John F. Kennedy International Airport) by the Port Authority of New York. “People think monuments should come out of the ground, never out of the ceiling, but mobiles can be monumental too,” Calder said of the project, “I made three models to scale, 17 inches wide. The one that was bought had to be blown up to forty-five feet wide.” The sculpture, titled .125 after the gauge of the aluminum elements, now hangs over the departure hall in Terminal 4.
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
Source: ephemeralnewyork | October 11, 2021 at 12:59 am | Tags: Childe Hassam Fifth Avenue, Childe Hassam Impressionist NYC, Childe Hassam New York City, Childe Hassam Paintings NYC, New York City in the gilded age, NYC Gilded Age Painters | Categories: art, Flatiron District, Music, art, theater | URL: https://wp.me/pec9m-9
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Let’s talk about our neighbor across the river, Long Island City. But first, what is Long Island City? Today, LIC faces us, bordered by Astoria (at Steinway Street) to north and Newtown Creek to the south.
Some maps label part (or even all) of this region Hunters Point, and the huge development our fine ferry calls Long Island City is officially named Hunters Point Park.
So, clearly, we need a little historical context here. (This is a story largely about infrastructure, how infrastructure drove and hindered development.)
The Dutch government at New Amsterdam chartered townships in what became Long Island City, including Newtown, on Long Island’s western shore; Hallett’s Point, a squarish peninsula that sticks into the East River just across from Roosevelt Island’s north end (the new tall glassy apartments are “Hallett’s Point”); Hunters Point; and Dutch Kills. Hallett did well: His 2,200 acres included his original property and the lands of current Astoria and Steinway. Following the English capture of New Amsterdam, Hallett’s estate was confirmed in a patent dated April 8, 1668 and called the Hell Gate Neck tract. In November 1683, now under British rule, the Colonial Assembly organized Queens County as one of the twelve original counties of the Province of New York (named for Queen Catherine of Braganza, wife of King Charles II). Queens was later subdivided into the townships of Flushing, Hempstead, Jamaica, Oyster Bay and Newtown (which included all of what became Long Island City).
Between 1835 and 1841, streets in the townships along the coast were laid out and houses and stores erected. The first major roads were the Hallett’s Cove and Flushing Turnpike, today’s Astoria Boulevard, and the Ravenswood, Hallett’s Cove and Williamsburgh Turnpike and Bridge, today’s Vernon Avenue. Stephen Halsey, a settler in Hallett’s community involved in infrastructure construction, founded a new village in 1839 which he named Astoria in the hope of gaining the interest – and financial aid – of the wealthiest man in the country. By this time, ferries connected with Manhattan.
Soon, these coastal areas would become refuges for wealthy New Yorkers, particularly Astoria and Ravenswood. Country estates with names like Bodine Castle and Mount Bonaparte served as getaways for rich Manhattanites. The Jacob Blackwell family lived there early on, during the Revolution, in a large house at 37th Avenue overlooking the river. It is said that the family in the 1830s owned much of Hallett’s Point.
In 1852, the New York Times urged New Yorkers to take a day trip to the countryside: Queens was underrated, fancier than Broadway, a great place to explore, and worth the trip from Brooklyn. “There are charming residences and delightful lawns at Ravenswood and Astoria,” said the paper as it urged people to take long walks to Astoria. “It is lamentable that with such fine weather and pleasant country promenades at hand, our fair friends, especially of Brooklyn and Williamsburg, do not avail themselves of their privileges. They would find an agreeable change from the usual hackneyed routes…Throw off this deathly indolence that is benumbing your physical and spiritual faculties”
Century Currier and Ives print depicts mansions on the Long Island City waterfront. https://www.gothamcenter.org
Astoria developed as a port, and coal and lumber yards and shipyards grew up along the shore of Hallett’s Cove where products could move readily by barge. In 1854, rail arrived with the New York & Flushing Railroad’s new terminus in Hunters Point. Ferry service remained the only way for travelers to get to Manhattan.
LIC’s big chance came when Brooklyn banned steam locomotives in 1861 and the Long Island Railroad moved its terminus to Hunters Point, where it connected with the 34th Street ferry. LIRR purchased the New York & Flushing Railroad in 1867 and in a few years, would own or control most of the rail traffic in Long Island, centered now in LIC. Sunnyside Yards opened in 1910, the year that the Pennsylvania Railroad began running trains under the East River. Located just east of Queensboro Plaza, it would become the world’s largest rail yard (and a constant temptation to be decked over and developed).
The creation of the LIRR terminus led to an explosion of industry, commerce and entertainment sites. LIC became a hub for produce from Long Island’s farms headed to Manhattan. Factories, tanneries and gas plants sprang up along the waterfront. Hotels and taverns opened and the breweries and bars became destinations themselves, and soon the Times commented that “Hunters Point has gained an unenviable notoriety.” The Queens waterfront was no longer a quiet oasis for the rich. By the turn of the century, many of Astoria’s estates had been torn down as New York’s aristocrats moved to Long Island’s Gold Coast.
In the 1860s, development in Hunters Point and Astoria was the catalyst for the consolidation of neighboring communities into Long Island City. In 1870, Steinway, Astoria, Hunters Point, Newtown, Ravenswood, Blissville, and Dutch Kills, joined to form LIC. By this time, the area was an urban center with industry and a growing population. Even so, LIC remained short on paved roads and water. In 1871, a revised charter mandated a police force of 30 men, but the city lacked the revenue to hire them. No adequate fire department existed until 1893.
A 1929 plan for decking over Sunnyside Yards.
The one grand idea to transform Long Island City was to make Sunnyside a mega-project deck over the railyard. A modern, streamlined “Skyscraper Terminal” would consolidate access to the region’s twisted network of subway and rail lines, and serve as an anchor for growing neighborhood. The Great Depression paused these plans. And the deterioration of LIC continued.
Robert Stolarik for The New York Times
When I arrived here 40-some years ago, I might have titled this essay “The Rise and Fall of LIC”. But look across the river now. “The Rise and Fall and Rise Again”! More to come. Thanks for reading. Stephen Blank RIHS October 1, 2021
HELLGATE BRIDGE STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION, 1916 ANDY SPARBERG, HARA REISER BOTH GOT IT RIGHT
ED LITCHER ADDED THE FOLLOWING: Hell Gate Bridge engineers, in front of the bridge they designed and built. At centre is the bridge’s designer, Austrian-US engineer Gustav Lindenthal (1850-1935, white beard). To his right is his chief assistant Othmar Hermann Ammann (1879-1965, moustache). This steel through-arch railroad bridge, built from 1912, was opened in September 1916.
It spans 310 meters, crossing Hell Gate, a tidal strait in New York’s East River. At the time, it was the world’s longest steel arch bridge. This view looks north, with the approach viaduct curving away to the right in the background. Photographed on 11 October 1916. Although this bridge is a beautiful structure and an important part of the Astoria landscape, when I think of this bridge I see it as the endpoint of an Inclined Plane that begins in the Sunny Side Yards, goes through Maspeth and ends up in Astoria. A “Simple Machine” whose only task is to slowly lift millions of tons of freight and passengers from the ground to a point more than 100 feet in the air, before the train safely accesses the bridge or crosses the river.
HELP US MOUNT THIS HISTORIC PLAQUE IN THE KIOSK
We have just acquired this wonderful plaque from the Elevator Storehouse Building. We need your help to pay for the mounting of this 130 pound bronze tablet in the kiosk
To donate online go to www.rihs.us, choose donations and select amount.
You can send us a check to: R.I.H.S., P.O. BOX 5, NY NY 10044
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 19th PROGRAM AT THE RI NYPL BRANCH
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)
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)
FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
Nellie Bly told the stories of other women. Now, we tell hers.
Although her life and legacy include broad professional experience as a journalist, women’s rights advocate, suffragist, WWI correspondent, inventor/patent holder, industrialist, and humanitarian, a common thread for Nellie Bly is that she experienced the plight of those who are marginalized. She wrote stories that would move the needle toward equality and progress, especially for women. Highly regarded as America’s first investigative journalist, she set a precedent for what it means to be a voice for the voiceless.
Bly gave a voice and a face to women who had no visibility or prominence in society.
The Girl Puzzle honors Nellie Bly by presenting, on a monumental scale, faces of many women who have endured hardship, but are stronger for it. The monument gives visibility to Asian, Black, Young, Old, Immigrant, and Queer women. Their stories and lives are forever commemorated alongside Nellie Bly, whose face is cast in silver bronze, while the other four faces are cast in bronze. Each of them, rendered in partial sections that appear like giant puzzle pieces, show a depth of emotion and complexity of being broken and repaired. As the viewer approaches and enters, they become part of the puzzle by interacting with the reflective surfaces and seeing sections of the faces come together at different vantage points.
This installation is dually inspired by Bly’s incredible response to bigotry which became her first published headline in 1885, The Girl Puzzle; and by her seminal work, Ten Days in a Madhouse, that shaped her life of dedication and empathy for others.
The story of each woman can be downloaded from “The Girl Puzzle: website or from the QR code below.
The back of the Nellie piece with the quote “while I live, I hope” engraved in it
The reflective orbs give different visions of each piece
Adjoining each sculpture will be a miniature of the face and a braille description so that a visually impaired person can feel the features and texture of the face.
This QR code will give you the entire story in spoken and written text.
The initial stages of the lighthouse restoration are proceeding at the same time as this installation. Soon a new historically accurate top will grace the Renwick designed lighthouse.
Entry Gate a Cyprus Hill Cemetery Queens, New York ARON EISENPREIS, ANDY SPARBERG AND CLARA BELLA GOT IT RIGHT
EDITORIAL
Two years ago when this project was announced, I was hoping it would not be another failed effort. I am happy to report that “THE GIRL PUZZLE will be a rousing success and bring multitudes of visitors to the Lighthouse Park and the north end of the island.
Watching the work this week has been wonderful. Seeing the detail and textures of the sculptures brings the faces to life.
The project is so well thought out that it will include touchable surfaces, braille interpretation, and an easily downloaded audio narration.
Amanda Matthews and Brad Connell have given their lives to the project, not just designing it but fabricating, transporting, installing, perfecting every detail. It will show in the long term.
Rarely do you feel the stories come alive as in the oral narration and written text.
This art piece is gracing our island, finished or not. Come see it thru the construction fence. RIOC should be proud and immediately tell the world of the new addition to the island.
Welcome Nellie
Funding Provided by: Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation Public Purpose Funds Council Member Ben Kallos City Council Discretionary Funds thru DYCD Text by Judith Berdy
JUDITH BERDY PROMETHEUS ART (Text) ROOSEVELT ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Edited by Deborah Dorff ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT RIHS. 2020 (C) PHOTOS IN THIS ISSUE (C) JUDITH BERDY RIHS
We have just acquired this wonderful plaque from the Elevator Storehouse Building. We need your help to pay for the mounting of this 130 pound bronze tablet in the kiosk Your can send us a check or e-mail us and we will take your donation by charge card towards the $1000.00 charge to install the tablet. Help us add this wonderful to our collection of artifacts on view. Thank you R.I.H.S., P.O. BOX 5, NY NY 10044 or e-mail us at rooseveltislandhistory@gmail.com
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2021
THE 489th EDITION
‘LAYERS’
ART INSTALLATION
AT THE BROOKLYN NAVY YARD
INVITES VISITORS TO
CONTEMPLATE THE HISTORY
BENEATH THEIR FEET
from UNTAPPED NEW YORK
Following a year of isolation and social restriction, the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative has invited artist Aaron Asis to create a site-specific installation designed to honor and celebrate the multifaceted history of the Naval Cemetery Landscape at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The installation, entitled ‘Layers’ is designed in two parts to showcase the past and remind us of the layered history beneath our feet — and to allow us to contemplate our layered past, to inform our shared future.
“It’s too easy to ignore the past and it’s far easier to look ahead than to look behind — but there is much we can learn from our history, we just need to pause long enough to consider its impact and appreciate its value,” says Aaron Asis.
Along the entrance facade a large-scale mural displays the pre-development landscape surrounding the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Naval Cemetery Landscape site. Inside, hundreds of stripes along the boardwalk evoke the history of the earth beneath it. Footprints left along these striped paths honor the lives historically laid to rest on these grounds. These temporary installations are designed to acknowledge our human impact on the land and to inspire public attention, inquiry, and contemplation into the layered history of this site, the city, and our lives.“The year-round beauty and unique history of the Naval Cemetery Landscape make it a particularly inspiring venue for site-specific art,” Terri Carta, Executive Director of the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, notes. “Aaron Asis’ latest piece, Layers, interprets the site’s topography and natural history while inviting visitors to reflect on its cultural significance and meaning for the communities that interact with it.”
The Naval Cemetery Landscape is located in the southeast corner of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which was established on the shores of Wallabout Bay and was America’s premier naval shipbuilding facility from 1801 to 1966. Prior to the NCL, the Brooklyn Naval Hospital Cemetery was an active burial site from 1831 to 1910. In 1926, the Navy relocated individuals buried in the cemetery to Cypress Hills National Cemetery. However, in the 1990s, a series of archaeological investigations concluded that hundreds of burials were unaccounted for and are potentially still at the site.
“Art has a profound ability to inspire and engage and ‘Layers’ is a public invitation to explore a unique New York City history. We should all take a moment to consider the significance of this history and contemplate how understanding our past can improve our lives,” Asis continues.
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Today the Naval Cemetery Landscape is a project of Brooklyn Greenway Initiative to create a place for retreat and remembrance while honoring its rich layers of natural and cultural history — without disturbing the hallowed ground. ‘Layers’ is currently on display at the Naval Cemetery Landscape at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in Brooklyn NY — through October 2021.
Operating Hours
Monday: CLOSED
Tuesday: CLOSED
Wednesday: 10am-6pm
Thursday: 10am-6pm
Friday: 10am-6pm
Saturday: 10am-6pm
Sunday: 10am-6pm
The Naval Cemetery Landscape is following CDC and New York State COVID guidelines.
Face coverings are required for all NCL program participants.
Please note that bike and scooter riding is not permitted at the NCL. As our site is a wildlife habitat, dogs are also not permitted on our grounds.
Getting There
Located on the eastern edge of the Brooklyn Navy Yard and accessed from the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway at Williamsburg St West between Kent and Flushing Avenues. We highly recommend taking public transportation, biking or walking to NCL.
KING COLE BAR AT THE ST. REGIS HOTEL BY MAXFIELD PARRISH GLORIA HERMAN, LINDA BECKER, LAURA HUSSEY, ARLENE BESSENOFF, THOM HEYER 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)
UNTAPPED NEW YORK
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The Flatiron Partnership offers a snapshot of the 1893 debut of the United Charities Building, a pioneer headquarters for a number of nonprofit organizations that provided social services to those in need. The Renaissance Revival-style building shared the address of 287 Fourth Avenue (now Park Avenue South) and 105 East 22nd Street.
The location for UCB had been the former site of St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Church, once described as “one of the most massive and strongly-constructed buildings in the city,” wrote The New York Times on September 24, 1891. Noted designer of homes in the Hamptons, Robert H. Robertson, and the team of Rowe & Baker, who had offices at 10 West 23rd Street near Madison Square Park, were the architects behind the blueprint for UCB. The land where UCB would be built had been purchased by New York philanthropist and banker John S. Kennedy for a reported $300K. The estimated total construction costs for the 121,059 square foot building was valued between $500K and $700K.
Kennedy nominated four organizations to inhabit UCB: the Children’s Aid Society, the Charity Organization Society, the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, and the New York City Mission and Tract Society. The nominated organizations were desingnated to benefit from USB as, “The building is expected to be self-supporting, and any surplus revenue, after providing for maintenance and perhaps extension, will be devoted to the general purposes of the four societies named,” according to The New York Times on March 10, 1891.
The day before UCB officially opened its doors for occupancy on March 6, 1893, a dedication service for the property was held at the location. Scheduled attendees at the event included political dignities such as former New York City Mayor Abram S. Hewitt and future Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr., as well as members of the City’s wealthy Gilded Age society such as financiers J. P. Morgan and Russell Sage.
(Drawing by Hughson Hawley From: King’s Handbook of New York City. Planned, edited and published by Moses King, Boston, Mass. Copyright, 1892)
Other soon-to-be UCB occupants included The Hospital Book and Newspaper Society, the Society for the Prevention of Crime, and the New York Cooking School, which trained individuals “to cook cheap and nutritious food,” and “supply luncheon to all the employees in the building,” noted The New York Times on March 5, 1893.
During this era, a number of charitable organizations were headed by women. According to the book Landmarks of American Women’s History, the National Consumers’ League was “one of the most influential women’s reform organizations” and the group decided to locate their offices at UCB in 1899.
In addition to the offices that were being used by the charities, UCB featured five elevators, an assembly hall, artists’ studios, and ground-level space for two stores as well as a Penny Provident Fund branch, which promoted itself as a financial institution that would “better safeguard” the accounts of its low-income clients. There were also “free baths to be managed by the Children’s Aid Society,” according to The Times.
One of the most appealing architectural aspects of UCB was its entranceway. In a 1986 report issued by the National Register of Historic Landmarks about UCB’s pending status as a landmark, the entry doors were described as being “flanked by granite Ionic columns. The arch is enhanced by guilloché, egg and dart, and bead and reel patterns. On either side of the arch are decorative cartouches. Surmounting the entrance is the legend United Charities Building in bronze letters, and a tripartite semi-circular window with floral pilasters.” Five years later, on July 17, 1991, and nearly a century after its opening, UCB was designated a National Historic Landmark.
But in 2014, and for the very first time in the building’s real estate history, UCB went on the market to be sold. The property was purchased by a developer for a reported $128 million, with the intent to build condominiums. “This deal is part of a larger trend, where nonprofits city-wide are taking advantage of a hot condo-development market and selling off their headquarters, downsizing to smaller ones or moving to less pricey areas,” reported the website Curbed New York on September 14, 2014.
Following a gut-renovation of the property, however, Spaces, a global office and room provider, became UCB’s newest occupant leasing more than 100K square feet in the mixed-used property, noted published reports. And acclaimed British steakhouse Hawskmoor indicated its first U.S. restaurant would open at the building’s ground-level location.
The legacy of charity launched by financier John S. Kennedy, however, still maintains an active role within the Flatiron District today. The UCB founder’s idea of a place “to which all applicants for aid might apply with assurance that their needs would be promptly carefully considered” continues more than a century later, with almost 30 nonprofit organizations that offer various services throughout the community.
But in 2014, and for the very first time in the building’s real estate history, UCB went on the market to be sold. The property was purchased by a developer for a reported $128 million, with the intent to build condominiums. “This deal is part of a larger trend, where nonprofits city-wide are taking advantage of a hot condo-development market and selling off their headquarters, downsizing to smaller ones or moving to less pricey areas,” reported the website Curbed New York on September 14, 2014.
Following a gut-renovation of the property, however, Spaces, a global office and room provider, became UCB’s newest occupant leasing more than 100K square feet in the mixed-used property, noted published reports. And acclaimed British steakhouse Hawskmoor indicated its first U.S. restaurant would open at the building’s ground-level location.
The legacy of charity launched by financier John S. Kennedy, however, still maintains an active role within the Flatiron District today. The UCB founder’s idea of a place “to which all applicants for aid might apply with assurance that their needs would be promptly carefully considered” continues more than a century later, with almost 30 nonprofit organizations that offer various services throughout the community.
FAMED LONDON STEAKHOUSE HAWKSMOOR OPENS IN UNITED CHARITIES BUILDING
SIGNS FROM ORIGINAL SWISS TRAMS. NANCY BROWN, GLORIA HERMAN, ED LITCHER, CLARA BELLA 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) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
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Green bear cub from the new origami-inspired sculpture series Hacer: Transformations. Photo by Alexandre Ayer. Courtesy of DiversityPics for the Garment District Alliance.
As summer bleeds into fall, new public art installations offer an enticing excuse to explore the city. From the Stapleton Waterfront in Staten Island to the bustling lights of Times Square, over a dozen new art installations are open for viewing. This October, be sure to check out Hacer: Transformations’ colorful origami-inspired sculptures, Jeff Kasper’s mural Soft Spots, and the outdoor photo gallery Inside Out: NY Together at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. In addition, keep reading to learn more about art installations still up from previous months.
No Less Than Everything Came Together by Marcel Dzama at the Bedford Avenue Station. Photo by Kris Graves.
As an additional pop of color, the MTA has unveiled Queens of the Night and No Less Than Everything Comes Together, two permanent mosaic series inside the 1st Avenue and Bedford Avenue L train stations. Created by artist Katherine Bradford, Queens of the Night serves as a tribute to the creatives and essential workers who ride the L train daily. Located in the East Village at the 1st Avenue station, the ethereal figures in Bradford’s work come together to inspire viewers to consider the outward expression of their own interior vivacity. One of the most striking panels from Queens of the Night is “Superhero Responds,” portraying New York’s essential workers in the style of Superman. Situated in Williamsburg at Bedford Avenue, No Less Than Everything Comes Together features theatrical fairy-like figures under the sun and moon. Created by Marcel Dzama, scenes depicted in No Less Than Everything Comes Together are populated with elegant ballet performers, many of whom are adorned with the black-and-white costumes typically worn by NYC Ballet dancers. Scattered throughout the mosaic series are numerous characters representing infamous Brooklynites including Bugsy Siegel and Captain Jonathan Williams — the founder of Williamsburg.
Fuzzy Spiral by Jeremy Couillard. Courtesy of the artist.
During October, Times Square Art will present Fuzz Spiral by Jeremy Couillard. The futuristic animated video will be part of the Times Square Arts Midnight Moment series, airing across 75 electronic billboards throughout Times Square from 11:57 a.m. to 12:00 p.m every day. Fuzz Spiral depicts a rat-dog witch and reptilian mutant playing a video game — the short film was created for the new video game Fuzz Dragon, created by Couillard in June 2021. Over the course of three minutes, the two characters are sucked into a swirling vortex created by a hypnagogic machine placed between them. Once inside, they are taken into a phantasmagorical simulation where they take on different forms and styles as they travel throughout the gamescape. In conjunction with Fuzz Spiral, Daata will present Sasquatch Sex Amulet and Other Objects from the Fuzz Spiral, an online exhibition and merch store featuring exclusive limited edition artworks, NFT’s, t-shirts, and aluminum prints.
“This exhibition is a little store of digital and physical objects that relate to the world inside the video game and reflect on the panoramic screening of the game world in the nighttime atmosphere of the hyper commercialized, bright light whirl of Times Square,” Couillard says.
Every One by Nick Cave at Transit Times Sq 42 St Station. Courtesy of MTA Arts & Design.
Inside the new 42nd Street Connector between Times Square and Grand Central is Every One, the first of a three-piece installation by artist Nick Cave. Commissioned by MTA Arts & Design, the installation was created as part of the 42nd Street Shuttle reconstruction and reconfiguration project, costing the city more than $250 million. The figures were made from recomposed source photos of soundsuits taken by James Prinz, which were then interpreted in glass for display on the subway station’s walls.
Every One’s design features a series of figures wearing colorful soundsuits — costumes that camouflage the shape of the wearer. Taking inspiration from African art traditions, ceremonial dresses, and haute-couture fashion, soundsuits are unique in that through covering the entire body, they conceal the wearer’s gender, race, and class, which eliminates audience judgment throughout the performance. Throughout the installation, the figures can be seen jumping and twirling along the wall, with their suits swaying as if moved by the wind. The other two parts of Cave’s installations, Each One and Equal All, will be installed next year at the new shuttle entrance and on the center island platform wall at Grand Central Terminal respectively.
Sculpture from Jim Rennert: In New York. Courtesy of Cavalier Galleries.
Jim Rennert: In New York is a series of 10 public sculptures created by artist Jim Rennert. Located at various points throughout Midtown Manhattan from 34th Street and 2nd Avenue to 55th Street and 6th Avenue, the sculptures represent recognizable feelings and attitudes of working men and women. Given their prime location in the bustling heart of New York City’s business district, Rennert’s sculptures offer passersby a sense of calm and optimism. Examples include a figure pausing to look at his watch in contemplation, and another sitting on a bench waiting. One of the most prominent figures from the installation includes a towering sculpture of a businessman gazing upwards into the Manhattan skyline, reminding viewers that any dream, regardless of how improbable it may seem, is possible.
In addition, Jim Rennert: In New York will include a selection of new works by the artist on display at the Cavalier Gallery on 57th Street. Rennert’s public sculptures will be on view through December 2021 with the feature gallery exhibition running until October 30, 2021
Geo Grid by Michelle Weinberg. Courtesy of Robyn Roth-Moise.
Throughout Lower Manhattan, the public-artspace nonprofit ArtBridge has turned 65 lamp posts into temporary art installations exploring the theme of resiliency. One selection of featured work includes Dances of New York City by Frances Smith. As the name suggests, Smith’s work features breathtaking illustrations of dancers atop colorful backgrounds of key New York City landmarks and iconographies such as the Brooklyn Bridge and subway entrance. With 10 total illustrations, Dances of New York City highlights traditional dance techniques while simultaneously showcasing relatable New York moments such as the “Pizza Soca,” “The Village Cross,” and “Upper West Side Swing.”
Another featured work on display is Geo Grid by painter Michelle Weinberg. Geo Grid expertly utilizes the cylindrical shape of the lamp posts to highlight patterned art. Through the usage of vividly colored geometric shapes, Geo Grid showcases movement as it swirls upward. Art for the lamp posts was selected through a public design competition held this past summer that received more than 100 submissions.
Experience The Times of Bill Cunningham. Courtesy of ESI Design.
Located at 26 Fulton Street at the South Street Seaport, Experience The Times of Bill Cunningham transports viewers into the vibrant world of famed street photographer Bill Cunningham. Today, Cunningham is known for his photographs of world-renowned personalities such as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Anna Wintour and Andy Warhol on the streets of Manhattan. Over six decades, Cunningham captured shots of celebrities across a wide variety of environments including fashion shows, social events, and on the streets of New York City. The exhibit is inspired by The Times of Bill Cunningham, a 2020 acclaimed documentary by Mark Bozek and hailed by the Hollywood Reporter as being “a snapshot of a life that leaves you grateful for having encountered it.” Experience The Times of Bill Cunningham was designed by NBBJ’s New York Experience design studio, ESI Design and co-presented by Live Rocket Studio founded by Bozek, Creative Edge Parties and Blue Note Entertainment Group.
To bring the photographer’s work to life, Experience The Times of Bill Cunningham will feature large-scale reproductions of Cunningham’s most iconic photos, video, and audio interviews — including artifacts like Cunningham’s iconic Biria bicycle and his trademark blue french worker’s jacket. Across two stories, 18,000 square feet and six distinct faces, the exhibit will also showcase a grand staircase where guests’ outfits will be digitally transformed into a one-of-a-kind fashion statement. Additionally, guests can pose on a simulated city crosswalk just like the subjects in Cunningham’s work or relax on a bench made of milk crates and a foam mattress — alluding to the artist’s bed in his Carnegie Hall studio. Launching September 12 for Fashion Week, Experience The Times of Bill Cunningham will run through October 30, 2021
THE STATEN ISLAND MUSEUM WITH IT’S WONDERFUL PARKLIKE LOCATION AT SAILOR’S SNUG HARBOR.
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
UNTAPPED NEW YORK
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The story begins in 1831, when Samuel B. Ruggles, a New York City lawyer and real estate investor, had an idea.
The metropolis was growing fast, pushing past its Lower Manhattan borders and creeping up to 14th Street and beyond. The builders of all the new houses and commercial buildings didn’t always care much about urban planning, and Manhattan’s naturally hilly topography was being leveled and turned into streets and building lots.
Ruggles knew that elite New Yorkers would pay big to reside in a different kind of setting, even if it was somewhat north of the posh sections of the city. “He recognized the value of centering residences around inviting open spaces within Manhattan’s strict city grid,” stated the National Parks Service.
So Ruggles bought land between today’s 19th Street and 24th Street and Broadway (then known as Bloomingdale Road) and Second Avenue. This marshy part of the city was known as the Crommesshie, or krom moerasje, a Dutch term later corrupted to “Gramercy” that meant “little crooked swamp,” per the NPS.
Ruggles drained the marsh and planned the new neighborhood of Gramercy (below map, from 1831): 66 lots centered on a two-acre green space for residents only that would be an “attractive inducement for real-estate development in the early 19th century,” according to a 1966 report by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
The idea of a private park on city grounds sounds very undemocratic to contemporary New Yorkers. But it wasn’t all that unusual at the time. First, the whole idea of a park as we know it today was a new concept; it would be another decade before city officials began seriously considering creating the open urban space that ultimately became Central Park in 1859.
Also, a precedent had been set, as Manhattan already had another private park for elite residents only: St. John’s Park, in view of St. John’s Chapel and many posh row houses in today’s Tribeca. And since the buyers of the building lots would also pay to maintain the park, it wasn’t unreasonable that the park itself would be off-limits to outsiders, blocked by a wrought iron fence.
The first residents relocated to Gramercy in the 1840s, and two years later, planting in the park began, according to the LPC, adding that the iron gate has been locked since 1844. (The first keys were actually made of solid gold, per a 2012 article in the New York Times.)
Close to two centuries later, some of those original private dwellings remain, joined by elegant and historic apartment buildings. Gramercy Park residents successfully fought an attempt to have a cable car cut through the park in the 1890 and 1912, and the tranquil character Ruggles sought remains to this day, “long after the death of the society for which it was designed,” notes the LPC. (A fountain in the park pays homage to Ruggles.)
And what about the still-private park, the only one in Manhattan—St. John’s Park bit the dust in the 1860s—and one of two in all of New York City? (Sunnyside Gardens in Queens, created in 1926, is also members-only.)
According to the New York Times, just 383 keys to the park exist, and they’re reserved for residents of the 39 buildings around the perimeter of the park. (Guests of the Gramercy Park Hotel can also sign a key out and be escorted to the park by a staffer.)
“Any of the 39 buildings on the park that fails to pay the yearly assessment fee of $7,500 per lot, which grants it two keys—fees and keys multiply accordingly for buildings on multiple lots—will have its key privileges rescinded,” notes the Times.
Though Gramercy Park used to open one day every year to non-residents, that tradition has ended. If you really want to enjoy the gorgeous landscaping and the statue of actor (and presidential assassin brother) Edwin Booth yet can’t get a key of your own, you might have a shot on Christmas Eve.
In 2019, the park opened to the public for one hour for a caroling event. But be warned: there’s no word on whether that will ever happen again.
MONDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY BEAVER TILE AT THE ASTOR PLACE
SUBWAY STATION ARON EISENPREIS, HARA REISER, GLORIA HERMAN, JAY JACOBSON THERE IS A G-MAIL GLITCH TODAY SO I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ALL THE MESSAGES. DO YOU THINK THE BEAVER IS EATING THE WIRES?
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
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Reginald Marsh, Coney Island Beach, ca. 1953, egg tempera and ink on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1985.30.38V
Reginald Marsh seated in front of Coney Island, Peter A. Juley & Son Collection, Smithsonian American Art Museum J0001926
Born in Paris, brought to the United States in 1900, lived mostly in New York City. Traditional artist who produced thousands of drawings for newspapers and magazines before turning to realistic painting and etching, in which his favorite subjects were people in crowded urban scenes.
Charles Sullivan, ed American Beauties: Women in Art and Literature (New York: Henry N. Abrams, Inc., in association with National Museum of American Art, 1993)
Although both of his parents were artists, Marsh himself did not plan to be a painter, and after graduation from Yale in 1920, he moved to New York to become an illustrator. He got a job doing cartoon reviews of vaudeville and burlesque shows for the New York Daily News and in 1925, when the New Yorker was founded, Marsh was one of its original contributors. Marsh continued to submit drawings to Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, Fortune, and Life even after he determined to be a painter in the 1920s, and he also taught intermittently at the Art Students League, where he had studied in the early 1920s. A frequent traveler to Europe, Marsh adapted the techniques and spatial arrangements of Old Master painting to his own canvases, but continued to prowl New York’s back streets, sketching Bowery bums, burlesque queens, and the crush of people around Union Square and 14th Street. He used compositional formats drawn from Italian Mannerist and Baroque masters in his scenes of tawdry New York life, and like his friends Isabel Bishop, Kenneth Hayes Miller, and Edward Laning, Marsh brought an underlying sympathy for the down-trodden to his often satiric compositions.
Reginald Marsh, Girl Walking, n.d., lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1966.64.32
Reginald Marsh, Subway–Three People, 1934, etching on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Frank McClure, 1979.98.169
Reginald Marsh, Tattoo-Shave-Haircut, 1932, printed 1969, etching on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1979.60.5
Sunbathers on Slabs of Stone at Beach, from the portfolio Photographs of New York
Reginald Marsh, Untitled–Men on Dock, from the portfolio Photographs of New York, ca. 1938-1945, printed 1976, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Douglas Kenyon, 1986.94.11
Reginald Marsh, Untitled–Children on Dock/Diving, from the portfolio Photographs of New York, ca. 1938-1945, printed 1976, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dr. Katherine Alley and Dr. Richard Flax, 1982.115.28
Reginald Marsh, Untitled–Follies Barker, from the portfolio Photographs of New York, ca. 1938-1945, printed 1976, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dr. Katherine Alley and Dr. Richard Flax, 1982.115.23
The Church of Madeleine in Paris, France. Andy Sparberg or L’eglise de la Madeleine Laura Hussey
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)
Smithsonian American Art Museum
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