Journal 2
East of the park
Once again, the class met at Penn Station. I was very excited for today's class because we were going to East Harlem, also known as, "Spanish Harlem" or as others may call it, "El Barrio". To get to Spanish Harlem, we had to take the six train uptown to Lexington Avenue. East Harlem, was founded by the Dutch in 1658 and it was, "ten miles north of New Amsterdam at the tip of Manhattan" (BG 437). Professor Mike mentioned, East Harlem goes through the River and to Central Park. In 1830's, the elevated trains is what brought people to East Harlem. Most of the individuals who migrated in East Harlem were immigrants (Germans, Italians, Hungarian,Russian, etc). In the mid 1800's East Harlem was very industrial, a lot of factories, squatters' shacks and tenements were created (BG 438). Because East Harlem was owned by the whites, they fought for keeping East Harlem a white community. After WWI (1815), there was an influx of Puerto Ricans and then it became known as, "El Barrio" (Mexicans also migrated to East Harlem, but very few and to them it was known as, "El Pueblo"). In the 1900s the immigrants living in East Harlem were Puerto Ricans and Italians, however after WWII many more Puerto Rican came to migrate in East Harlem and the Italians moved out. Spanish Harlem has also become an arts community. I actually thought we were going to go to, "El Museo Del Barrio", first, instead we made a pit stop to the, "Museum Of The City Of New York" . The museum was located on 1220 fifth avenue on 103 street. THe class was so happy to go inside not only because we were going to see interesting historical and modern artifacts but also because there was air conditioning (it was really hot).
We were actually on the strip where a lot of museums were located. Going back to the, "Museum Of The City Of New York", the museum offered the people of New York and outside visitors to explore New York's History. I believe the museum has three floors and each floor contains a lot of interesting artifacts about of course our lovely city New York and it begins as far back as the Dutch colonies (BG, 376).We made our way to the third floor which was newly renovated and this part of the floor was known as the expansion project (I would call it the future!). This floor displayed the micro-unit which included models of apartments that would exist in the future. Of course these apartments would be pricey, but the main reason for this micro-unit is,gentrification; a new way of living. The display was so tiny and would not be a place I would want to live however, it would save a lot of energy and space. This floor also contained painting of the Statue of Liberty and Grand Central Station. The painting of Grand Central Station I thought was a painting that resembled today's New York. The painting displayed the station and the thousands of people in Station on a daily basis. Men and Women in suits, going to work, subway workers, coffee shops, children with their parents in the station; everything. It was very true because New York is a busy city. After visiting the third floor, Professor Mike gave us about twenty minutes to explore the museum and find an artifact that catches our attention. Me and a couple of girls went to the second floor and we saw an exhibit of 70s and 80s fashion. It was pretty cool and the fashion back then is the fashion now; a lot of bright colors and interesting designs (I wanted all of the outfits). I believe that this exhibit was to allow the people who come to see these exhibits that fashion was a big part of society back then and still is. Mainly because people want to know what is in and sometimes your outfits say a lot about your character. The reason why we only had twenty minutes, was because we were going to see a twenty-five minute film that gives u an over view on New York's history (BG, 376). This film was great; it began with the first settlers and how New York became to be what it is today. Did you know that New York was a colonial city in 1609? and that the British took over New Amsterdam and named it New York? Did you also know the name New York was derived from the Duke of York? Pretty interesting! The sad part of the film was remembering 9/11. I did not want to see that but it was good to know the historical facts of New York City.
Exiting the museum, we made our way to "El Museo Del Barrio". I was really excited to see this museum, even though I am not Puerto Rican, I am spanish and I have family who were once immigrants and migrated to New York for better opportunities, like all the immigrants who migrate to New York. So the museum was founded by community activist, artist and teachers, 1969 (BG, 376). It was devoted to the Puerto Rican, Caribbean and Latin American culture and the reason for it's existence was to show New Yorkers how diversity has come about. This increased the number of New Yorkers and also people who came to the museum because diversity is an important historical fact of New York (Just so you know, the most important and interesting museums are located in the same areas which is known as the Museum Mile). We had an amazing tour guide, Maryanne. Maryanne told us the neighborhood derived from the community, which was created 40 years ago and that the museum was a space where Latino artist can share their work; exploring the neighborhood that inspired the creation of, "El Bario". She also told us that a lot of the people who came to El Bario, spoke, "Boganies" (if that's how you spell it). I forgot to mention that once we left the museum building, she asked the class what we thought about the area that the Museum was in. I answered, "It looks very diverse"; the reason to my response was because the museum was right in front Central Park, beautiful houses and mainly Caucasian people, but in the back of the Museum you see a lot of spanish people and apartments which are not so beautiful, but had much history. As we made our way to El Bario, she showed us the work of Pedro Puerti. Maryann stated that his work was the rise of El Museo and Hank prussing is the spirit of East Harlem. He was a student at Prat, interested in architecture. We came across a mural that he created on the wall of the streets of East Harlem; It was so beautiful and was based on the community. He painted the people he saw in East Harlem, and wanted those people to acknowledge themselves in that painting to remind them what the community is about. When I saw the painting I realized that all of the people were orderly place and one person that stood out the most to me, was the man who had a microphone in his hand and was placed in the middle. That to me said that music along with art is the major part of this community and is what keeps it full of life!
Next we saw the painting of Manny Vega, and Manny Vega, was hanks helper who also contributed to some of the community paintings. We then came across a garden called, "Ezperanza Garden", and in that garden, right in the center was sort of like a woman's body part (that is what it looked like to me) Modesto tin Flores it was called and it honored the women in the neighborhood, symbolizing strength and how is always blossoming. On the end of the garden, on the wall there was a painting of two women, Frida (the painter) and Julia De Bulgos (a writer). The mural is called "Soldaderas", meaning women soldiers. It was identified as the solidarity between two groups, two women. Power to Women!! A street was also named after Julia, avenida de Julia Bulgos. She actually collapsed on that avenue, or so they say and that is why the avenue was named after her. We then made our way back to, El Museo but we made a pit stop at the Graffiti Hall of Fame which began in 1980. Like five points, this hall of fame had rules and regulations. What was cool about its location is that it was located in a school, which I thought was great. Not only because it gives children the opportunity to see art but also that this art is legal. We then said bye to Maryanne ( she was a great tour guide learned so much). Next stop, Lunch! I was not to fond of lunch because I did not like Dominican food, but I ate it. Lunch was about an hour and after we visited Don Jorge. Don Jorge was very known for his natural remedies and his place was first established in 110 in 1930 in East Park and then moved to 104st. The purpose of shop he said, was to serve the community with old fashion remedies and natural medication and herbs that help with hope and faith which is the main purpose of the existence of the shop. He also said that the beats were used for the saints of Santeria and that Africans used colorful beats to identify themselves and also faith of protection, love and open doors. Some of the girls and myself also had "Raspado" which is like snow scones, delicious!! Next stop, Central Park. Central Park was designed by, Andrew Jackson Downing, who was an architect and the landscaper of the park, and in 1856 the city bought most of the park for five million dollars (BG 280). It was known as the heartland of manhattan, with 843 acres and a great attraction for visitors and New Yorkers. The subways also came up this far. We walked through Central Park to get to The Metropolitan Museum.
The Metropolitan Museum, is known to be the largest museum in the world. It displays art of many artist centuries ago and also art of todays century. According to the BG, "The museum building has grown from modest Ruskinian Gothic beginnings to its present size and complexity, with additions reflecting the reigning architectural styles of the past century" (326). The original building was built in 1874 by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould). How cool is it that students get in for a dollar, well we did! When entering the room we visited the PUNK gallery, which displayed many of the 1950s Punk. I have to say that room was awesome. A lot of the clothing was made out of outdoor waste and garbage bags; one word, awesome! It was very dark and the Security Guards didn't let us take any pictures which was very upsetting. I guess the museum included this gallery because it was a very different representation of art and how people can describe themselves as being different. A lot of the music also reflected on the clothing as well. We then made our way to see abstract expressionism in the 50s and 60s which was very different from the Gothic gallery. One of the artist that we came across was called, Jackson Pollen ( I think that is how you spell the name). He was an artist who created minimalism paintings ( minimalism is defined as a little bit of art to convey a message). He was also known for breaking all the rules in art. We also came across a lot of painting that identified New York. The artist who painted a lot of the New York style paintings were called Jasper Johns and Robert Rosenburgh; Rosenburghs art was more physical. The professor then gave us thirty minutes to look around the museum and find and art that caught our attention. I was really excited to see the egyptian gallery but unfortunately it was closed ( this made me really sad). I visited the first floor which displayed sculptures of the Greek Mythology and Renaissance times. One sculpture that caught my eye was, Perseus with the head of Medusa. It was created by Antonio Canova. He carved this Neoclassical sculpture in 1804-1806. Perseus was known to be a mythological hero and with his sword, he slashed Medusas head off. In my childhood I was very into Greek Mythology. It really reminded me of my childhood. This day ended. Although it was a long day I learned interesting things about Latin culture, New York's history and of course visited the best museum ever!!
Once again, the class met at Penn Station. I was very excited for today's class because we were going to East Harlem, also known as, "Spanish Harlem" or as others may call it, "El Barrio". To get to Spanish Harlem, we had to take the six train uptown to Lexington Avenue. East Harlem, was founded by the Dutch in 1658 and it was, "ten miles north of New Amsterdam at the tip of Manhattan" (BG 437). Professor Mike mentioned, East Harlem goes through the River and to Central Park. In 1830's, the elevated trains is what brought people to East Harlem. Most of the individuals who migrated in East Harlem were immigrants (Germans, Italians, Hungarian,Russian, etc). In the mid 1800's East Harlem was very industrial, a lot of factories, squatters' shacks and tenements were created (BG 438). Because East Harlem was owned by the whites, they fought for keeping East Harlem a white community. After WWI (1815), there was an influx of Puerto Ricans and then it became known as, "El Barrio" (Mexicans also migrated to East Harlem, but very few and to them it was known as, "El Pueblo"). In the 1900s the immigrants living in East Harlem were Puerto Ricans and Italians, however after WWII many more Puerto Rican came to migrate in East Harlem and the Italians moved out. Spanish Harlem has also become an arts community. I actually thought we were going to go to, "El Museo Del Barrio", first, instead we made a pit stop to the, "Museum Of The City Of New York" . The museum was located on 1220 fifth avenue on 103 street. THe class was so happy to go inside not only because we were going to see interesting historical and modern artifacts but also because there was air conditioning (it was really hot).
We were actually on the strip where a lot of museums were located. Going back to the, "Museum Of The City Of New York", the museum offered the people of New York and outside visitors to explore New York's History. I believe the museum has three floors and each floor contains a lot of interesting artifacts about of course our lovely city New York and it begins as far back as the Dutch colonies (BG, 376).We made our way to the third floor which was newly renovated and this part of the floor was known as the expansion project (I would call it the future!). This floor displayed the micro-unit which included models of apartments that would exist in the future. Of course these apartments would be pricey, but the main reason for this micro-unit is,gentrification; a new way of living. The display was so tiny and would not be a place I would want to live however, it would save a lot of energy and space. This floor also contained painting of the Statue of Liberty and Grand Central Station. The painting of Grand Central Station I thought was a painting that resembled today's New York. The painting displayed the station and the thousands of people in Station on a daily basis. Men and Women in suits, going to work, subway workers, coffee shops, children with their parents in the station; everything. It was very true because New York is a busy city. After visiting the third floor, Professor Mike gave us about twenty minutes to explore the museum and find an artifact that catches our attention. Me and a couple of girls went to the second floor and we saw an exhibit of 70s and 80s fashion. It was pretty cool and the fashion back then is the fashion now; a lot of bright colors and interesting designs (I wanted all of the outfits). I believe that this exhibit was to allow the people who come to see these exhibits that fashion was a big part of society back then and still is. Mainly because people want to know what is in and sometimes your outfits say a lot about your character. The reason why we only had twenty minutes, was because we were going to see a twenty-five minute film that gives u an over view on New York's history (BG, 376). This film was great; it began with the first settlers and how New York became to be what it is today. Did you know that New York was a colonial city in 1609? and that the British took over New Amsterdam and named it New York? Did you also know the name New York was derived from the Duke of York? Pretty interesting! The sad part of the film was remembering 9/11. I did not want to see that but it was good to know the historical facts of New York City.
Exiting the museum, we made our way to "El Museo Del Barrio". I was really excited to see this museum, even though I am not Puerto Rican, I am spanish and I have family who were once immigrants and migrated to New York for better opportunities, like all the immigrants who migrate to New York. So the museum was founded by community activist, artist and teachers, 1969 (BG, 376). It was devoted to the Puerto Rican, Caribbean and Latin American culture and the reason for it's existence was to show New Yorkers how diversity has come about. This increased the number of New Yorkers and also people who came to the museum because diversity is an important historical fact of New York (Just so you know, the most important and interesting museums are located in the same areas which is known as the Museum Mile). We had an amazing tour guide, Maryanne. Maryanne told us the neighborhood derived from the community, which was created 40 years ago and that the museum was a space where Latino artist can share their work; exploring the neighborhood that inspired the creation of, "El Bario". She also told us that a lot of the people who came to El Bario, spoke, "Boganies" (if that's how you spell it). I forgot to mention that once we left the museum building, she asked the class what we thought about the area that the Museum was in. I answered, "It looks very diverse"; the reason to my response was because the museum was right in front Central Park, beautiful houses and mainly Caucasian people, but in the back of the Museum you see a lot of spanish people and apartments which are not so beautiful, but had much history. As we made our way to El Bario, she showed us the work of Pedro Puerti. Maryann stated that his work was the rise of El Museo and Hank prussing is the spirit of East Harlem. He was a student at Prat, interested in architecture. We came across a mural that he created on the wall of the streets of East Harlem; It was so beautiful and was based on the community. He painted the people he saw in East Harlem, and wanted those people to acknowledge themselves in that painting to remind them what the community is about. When I saw the painting I realized that all of the people were orderly place and one person that stood out the most to me, was the man who had a microphone in his hand and was placed in the middle. That to me said that music along with art is the major part of this community and is what keeps it full of life!
Next we saw the painting of Manny Vega, and Manny Vega, was hanks helper who also contributed to some of the community paintings. We then came across a garden called, "Ezperanza Garden", and in that garden, right in the center was sort of like a woman's body part (that is what it looked like to me) Modesto tin Flores it was called and it honored the women in the neighborhood, symbolizing strength and how is always blossoming. On the end of the garden, on the wall there was a painting of two women, Frida (the painter) and Julia De Bulgos (a writer). The mural is called "Soldaderas", meaning women soldiers. It was identified as the solidarity between two groups, two women. Power to Women!! A street was also named after Julia, avenida de Julia Bulgos. She actually collapsed on that avenue, or so they say and that is why the avenue was named after her. We then made our way back to, El Museo but we made a pit stop at the Graffiti Hall of Fame which began in 1980. Like five points, this hall of fame had rules and regulations. What was cool about its location is that it was located in a school, which I thought was great. Not only because it gives children the opportunity to see art but also that this art is legal. We then said bye to Maryanne ( she was a great tour guide learned so much). Next stop, Lunch! I was not to fond of lunch because I did not like Dominican food, but I ate it. Lunch was about an hour and after we visited Don Jorge. Don Jorge was very known for his natural remedies and his place was first established in 110 in 1930 in East Park and then moved to 104st. The purpose of shop he said, was to serve the community with old fashion remedies and natural medication and herbs that help with hope and faith which is the main purpose of the existence of the shop. He also said that the beats were used for the saints of Santeria and that Africans used colorful beats to identify themselves and also faith of protection, love and open doors. Some of the girls and myself also had "Raspado" which is like snow scones, delicious!! Next stop, Central Park. Central Park was designed by, Andrew Jackson Downing, who was an architect and the landscaper of the park, and in 1856 the city bought most of the park for five million dollars (BG 280). It was known as the heartland of manhattan, with 843 acres and a great attraction for visitors and New Yorkers. The subways also came up this far. We walked through Central Park to get to The Metropolitan Museum.
The Metropolitan Museum, is known to be the largest museum in the world. It displays art of many artist centuries ago and also art of todays century. According to the BG, "The museum building has grown from modest Ruskinian Gothic beginnings to its present size and complexity, with additions reflecting the reigning architectural styles of the past century" (326). The original building was built in 1874 by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould). How cool is it that students get in for a dollar, well we did! When entering the room we visited the PUNK gallery, which displayed many of the 1950s Punk. I have to say that room was awesome. A lot of the clothing was made out of outdoor waste and garbage bags; one word, awesome! It was very dark and the Security Guards didn't let us take any pictures which was very upsetting. I guess the museum included this gallery because it was a very different representation of art and how people can describe themselves as being different. A lot of the music also reflected on the clothing as well. We then made our way to see abstract expressionism in the 50s and 60s which was very different from the Gothic gallery. One of the artist that we came across was called, Jackson Pollen ( I think that is how you spell the name). He was an artist who created minimalism paintings ( minimalism is defined as a little bit of art to convey a message). He was also known for breaking all the rules in art. We also came across a lot of painting that identified New York. The artist who painted a lot of the New York style paintings were called Jasper Johns and Robert Rosenburgh; Rosenburghs art was more physical. The professor then gave us thirty minutes to look around the museum and find and art that caught our attention. I was really excited to see the egyptian gallery but unfortunately it was closed ( this made me really sad). I visited the first floor which displayed sculptures of the Greek Mythology and Renaissance times. One sculpture that caught my eye was, Perseus with the head of Medusa. It was created by Antonio Canova. He carved this Neoclassical sculpture in 1804-1806. Perseus was known to be a mythological hero and with his sword, he slashed Medusas head off. In my childhood I was very into Greek Mythology. It really reminded me of my childhood. This day ended. Although it was a long day I learned interesting things about Latin culture, New York's history and of course visited the best museum ever!!
West Of The Park
Ok, I will not repeat that the class met at Penn Station, however we did as usual. Today we were going to visit the Modern Art Museum and Harlem. Once we got out of Penn Station, we walked Broadway street in Times Square. Broadway street was a messy street for New York back then and still is, however back then it was really ugly and there was a lot of Traffic. Mayor Giuliani, noticed this horrific occurrence and wanted to change the streets; gentrification. He decided to put pedestrian walkways, allowing less traffic and less pollution in the community to occur. In 1904 Times Square was originally named, Long Acre Street. In the 1940s and the 1950s it was a dream to come to a broadway shows, and by the 1970s New York almost went bankrupt. It was becoming a very dangerous city because it promoted a lot of porno, drugs and karate movies. Giuliani decided he had to make a change in the corruption of the city, and he did this by putting Disney Theatre (That is just a little history of our famous Times Square).We made a pit stop as we were walking to the Modern Art Museum. We went to the Rockefeller Center. The center was named after John D. Rockefeller Jr, and it became an historical landmark in 1987 and created in 1933(BG, 243). The architectural style of the building is known as Art Deco . Its theatre's, shops and underground courses were developed during the Great Depression. It was also the first architectural the first, "coordinated development in New York City". It is also known for the newspaper, media development ( NBC takes place in the center, how cool is that!) Making our way into the back of the building, the art in the building was considered to be an architectural future Art Deco Style . In 1929 John D. Rockefeller wanted to get important rock for the creation of the building. He hired Diego Rivera for the work of the art, however, he did not like his art work and took it down ( Interesting fellow, I would say).
We continued to walk down and came across St. Patricks Cathedral. The Cathedral was created in 1829 and along with St. Peter's is was one of the largest churches in New York City. It is a famous landmark for the city of New York, and symbolizes the achievements and success of this city. It is also, "the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York" (BG, 254). Its architectural style is Gothic and it was designed by James Renwick and William Rodrigue. The good thing about the location of the Church, is that it is located on 5th avenue right where the Modern Art Museum is located (nice!) .THe museum was also known as, MoMA and it was built in 1929. Aldrich Rockefeller, Lillie P. Bliss and Mary Quin Sullivan, founded the building (BG, 260) According to our professor Damian, back then contemporary art was consider vulgar, however, the worlds greatest contemporary art in the beginning of this century modernized this building. Before we began exploring the museum, Professor Damian mentioned two things we would see throughout our adventure; Expressionism and Abstract . Expressionism is dealing with internal ideas not external ideas; a representation of emotions and energy. Abstract is something you cannot see that is concrete, happiness, rage and beauty . We saw and analyzed a lot of artist and paintings and although I cannot retain all of the information, I was very interested with late 60s pop art. This was art that is inspired by popular culture. These paintings, sculptures and images included execution and people being killed in accidents (Kind of hard to hear but very cool to see in a museum). Pop art is self reflecting and art that is also commenting. Because I was so interested in Pop art, I lost the class (go figure); We were also introduced to minimalism once again, well we were kind of asked by the professors what kind of art is this (they were testing our knowledge) . Another interesting art I forgot to mention was Picasso's paintings of women. There was one painting that caught the whole classes attention called, Demoisele De Million, and this painting entailed a lot of naked prostitutes who were deformed and their faces were painted as animals. They say he hated and loved women and he really demonstrated that through his paintings. Something very interesting to know is that there is a three step process for defining contemporary art. The three R's which are, Remove familiarity, Redefine and Revaluate (I will be doing this with all paintings and images I see). Next Stop, lunch.
We were on our way to House Kitchen and according to professor Mike, is was a rough Irish neighborhood back then, but there were a lot of places there that were cheep to eat. We ended up eating Thai food at a restaurant called, Yum Yum. It was really good I played it safe and had Thai ice coffee (mmm). We ate for about 45 minutes and then we were off to Harlem. We then took the 3 train to 135 street to Harlem. Arriving at Harlem, we met with out tour guide, Jim Maclin. Harlem was founded by the Dutch farmers in 1658, and back then it was named Nieuw Harlem (BG, 437). BAck then it was the home of many immigrants, the Russians, Hungarians, and many more. According to the BG, " At the close of the Civil War, New York's black population, estimated at 15,000, had been concentrated in ghettos in Lower Manhattan, notably around Thompson St in Greenwich Village" (BG, 437). By the 19th century it was the center of the black population (note that I missed half of the groups discussion because I was in the ladies room). Jim had mentioned to us that 125 st in Harlem was the commercial Harlem, were the Harlem renaissance was started by the Africans. Because I am very much into music, I was very interested in finding out the African American musicians that migrated here and even the start of Jazz started in Harlem. 133 swing St was known for its legendary night clubs and in 1930 fusion and be-pop came about. In the Harlem Walk of fame artist like Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gilepsie and many more were honored with there names placed on a metal plate on the ground where their music all began. As we moved our way towards Malcolm Heights, we noticed gentrification. We saw some yellow stone brick buildings which were originally from Staten Island and were going for about, 3 million a unit (a lot of money!). One thing I forgot to mention was the Apollo Theater, which is where a lot of famous artist performed and it still stands! On 110 st three parks are located and it was built by David King. David King, chose to put three park because it was very difficult to construct streets. The construction of the park took place in 1893-1895. Jim was a great tour guide and our next stop was, The Cathedral Of St. John the Divine.
The Cathedral Of St. John the Divine, was the fourth largest Cathedral in New York. It seems like they are still renovating the church, however the inside is gorgeous and it is really big. The architectural style again is Gothic; It was built in 1887, "a wooded plot of almost 13 acres belonging to the Leake & Watts Orphan Asylum..." (BG, 419). It is an Episcopal Cathedral and is known for its social and cultural programs. I did not know this but it makes a lot of sense, St. John Divine would call it, "St. John Unfinished" (hence the renovations that are still being done). We stood in the Cathedral for about 15 minutes then went to Colombia University, Alma Mater. That is where we ended our journey. A little history on Columbia University; According to the BG, "Columbia was founded as a gentlemen's college t instruct youth in the learned languages and in the liberal arts and science. By the mid-18 century it became apparent to contemporary observers that while New York outstripped its American rivals commercially, it lagged behind culturally..." (BG 427). This was the end of our journey and today as well aside from missing part of the Harlem discussion I learned a lot about the Modern Museum and Harlem itself.
Ok, I will not repeat that the class met at Penn Station, however we did as usual. Today we were going to visit the Modern Art Museum and Harlem. Once we got out of Penn Station, we walked Broadway street in Times Square. Broadway street was a messy street for New York back then and still is, however back then it was really ugly and there was a lot of Traffic. Mayor Giuliani, noticed this horrific occurrence and wanted to change the streets; gentrification. He decided to put pedestrian walkways, allowing less traffic and less pollution in the community to occur. In 1904 Times Square was originally named, Long Acre Street. In the 1940s and the 1950s it was a dream to come to a broadway shows, and by the 1970s New York almost went bankrupt. It was becoming a very dangerous city because it promoted a lot of porno, drugs and karate movies. Giuliani decided he had to make a change in the corruption of the city, and he did this by putting Disney Theatre (That is just a little history of our famous Times Square).We made a pit stop as we were walking to the Modern Art Museum. We went to the Rockefeller Center. The center was named after John D. Rockefeller Jr, and it became an historical landmark in 1987 and created in 1933(BG, 243). The architectural style of the building is known as Art Deco . Its theatre's, shops and underground courses were developed during the Great Depression. It was also the first architectural the first, "coordinated development in New York City". It is also known for the newspaper, media development ( NBC takes place in the center, how cool is that!) Making our way into the back of the building, the art in the building was considered to be an architectural future Art Deco Style . In 1929 John D. Rockefeller wanted to get important rock for the creation of the building. He hired Diego Rivera for the work of the art, however, he did not like his art work and took it down ( Interesting fellow, I would say).
We continued to walk down and came across St. Patricks Cathedral. The Cathedral was created in 1829 and along with St. Peter's is was one of the largest churches in New York City. It is a famous landmark for the city of New York, and symbolizes the achievements and success of this city. It is also, "the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York" (BG, 254). Its architectural style is Gothic and it was designed by James Renwick and William Rodrigue. The good thing about the location of the Church, is that it is located on 5th avenue right where the Modern Art Museum is located (nice!) .THe museum was also known as, MoMA and it was built in 1929. Aldrich Rockefeller, Lillie P. Bliss and Mary Quin Sullivan, founded the building (BG, 260) According to our professor Damian, back then contemporary art was consider vulgar, however, the worlds greatest contemporary art in the beginning of this century modernized this building. Before we began exploring the museum, Professor Damian mentioned two things we would see throughout our adventure; Expressionism and Abstract . Expressionism is dealing with internal ideas not external ideas; a representation of emotions and energy. Abstract is something you cannot see that is concrete, happiness, rage and beauty . We saw and analyzed a lot of artist and paintings and although I cannot retain all of the information, I was very interested with late 60s pop art. This was art that is inspired by popular culture. These paintings, sculptures and images included execution and people being killed in accidents (Kind of hard to hear but very cool to see in a museum). Pop art is self reflecting and art that is also commenting. Because I was so interested in Pop art, I lost the class (go figure); We were also introduced to minimalism once again, well we were kind of asked by the professors what kind of art is this (they were testing our knowledge) . Another interesting art I forgot to mention was Picasso's paintings of women. There was one painting that caught the whole classes attention called, Demoisele De Million, and this painting entailed a lot of naked prostitutes who were deformed and their faces were painted as animals. They say he hated and loved women and he really demonstrated that through his paintings. Something very interesting to know is that there is a three step process for defining contemporary art. The three R's which are, Remove familiarity, Redefine and Revaluate (I will be doing this with all paintings and images I see). Next Stop, lunch.
We were on our way to House Kitchen and according to professor Mike, is was a rough Irish neighborhood back then, but there were a lot of places there that were cheep to eat. We ended up eating Thai food at a restaurant called, Yum Yum. It was really good I played it safe and had Thai ice coffee (mmm). We ate for about 45 minutes and then we were off to Harlem. We then took the 3 train to 135 street to Harlem. Arriving at Harlem, we met with out tour guide, Jim Maclin. Harlem was founded by the Dutch farmers in 1658, and back then it was named Nieuw Harlem (BG, 437). BAck then it was the home of many immigrants, the Russians, Hungarians, and many more. According to the BG, " At the close of the Civil War, New York's black population, estimated at 15,000, had been concentrated in ghettos in Lower Manhattan, notably around Thompson St in Greenwich Village" (BG, 437). By the 19th century it was the center of the black population (note that I missed half of the groups discussion because I was in the ladies room). Jim had mentioned to us that 125 st in Harlem was the commercial Harlem, were the Harlem renaissance was started by the Africans. Because I am very much into music, I was very interested in finding out the African American musicians that migrated here and even the start of Jazz started in Harlem. 133 swing St was known for its legendary night clubs and in 1930 fusion and be-pop came about. In the Harlem Walk of fame artist like Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gilepsie and many more were honored with there names placed on a metal plate on the ground where their music all began. As we moved our way towards Malcolm Heights, we noticed gentrification. We saw some yellow stone brick buildings which were originally from Staten Island and were going for about, 3 million a unit (a lot of money!). One thing I forgot to mention was the Apollo Theater, which is where a lot of famous artist performed and it still stands! On 110 st three parks are located and it was built by David King. David King, chose to put three park because it was very difficult to construct streets. The construction of the park took place in 1893-1895. Jim was a great tour guide and our next stop was, The Cathedral Of St. John the Divine.
The Cathedral Of St. John the Divine, was the fourth largest Cathedral in New York. It seems like they are still renovating the church, however the inside is gorgeous and it is really big. The architectural style again is Gothic; It was built in 1887, "a wooded plot of almost 13 acres belonging to the Leake & Watts Orphan Asylum..." (BG, 419). It is an Episcopal Cathedral and is known for its social and cultural programs. I did not know this but it makes a lot of sense, St. John Divine would call it, "St. John Unfinished" (hence the renovations that are still being done). We stood in the Cathedral for about 15 minutes then went to Colombia University, Alma Mater. That is where we ended our journey. A little history on Columbia University; According to the BG, "Columbia was founded as a gentlemen's college t instruct youth in the learned languages and in the liberal arts and science. By the mid-18 century it became apparent to contemporary observers that while New York outstripped its American rivals commercially, it lagged behind culturally..." (BG 427). This was the end of our journey and today as well aside from missing part of the Harlem discussion I learned a lot about the Modern Museum and Harlem itself.
Downtown Chelsea
As always our class discussion takes place in Penn Station. Today we were going to visit City Hall, 9/11 memorial, and Downtown Chelsea’ also other pit stops ( it should be a long day of learning). To get to City Hall, we took the 3 train from Penn Station to Park Place. Once we got off the train ride we had to walk a few blocks to City Hall and on our way we identified some buildings with differential architectural styles as well as historical facts. One of the buildings we came across was, The Woolworth Building. According to the BG, “The Woolworth Building at 233 Broadway was the world’s tallest when completed, and though it was eclipsed in 1930 by the Chrysler Building, it remains one of the City’s most luxuriantly detailed skyscrapers” (79) (interesting historical facts). We also came across the City Hall Park. The City Hall Park was utilized by the Dutch as a commons area (of course the Dutch indeed established the City Hall Park). Here is an interesting fact, the BG states, “At 6pm on July 9, 1776, the Declaration Of Independence was read to George Washington’s troops, assembled there with a large crowd” (81) (I did not even know that).
Finally we arrived at City Hall. It was a real pain to get in, however, I could understand that because of certain events that have occurred in New York City, all federal building have to be kept under a lot of surveillance and a lot of police officers. It was twenty-two of us and we had to go in, in groups of 7. We went through metal detectors and had our bags checked (some serious stuff). Back to City Hall, once we arrived at the outside front of the building, a nice lady was waiting for us to give us the tour. She was so sweet and unfortunately I did not catch her name. However the tour was suppose to last an hour, it lasted two hours and I was not able to retain all of City Halls history, but I will give you the gist of it. Ok so, The City Hall building was founded by the Dutch Colony, who settled here to make money. The building was constructed in the beginning of the 19th century (1803-1811) (BG, 84). She mentioned that the first settlers in Amsterdam were the French. The spoke a language which was called Baluns (I think that is what you call it), also many people who spoke different languages came to City Hall. They were at least 18 different languages spoken in this building (pretty cool if you ask me). Did you know that Broadway was once named, Bloomingdales? So going back to the Dutch, in 1653 they decided to make it there own City and the English came and took over the Colony. It was very interesting but I was a little confused about its establishment myself because there is so much history on this building, you don’t even know where to begin. Ok now let’s get to the style of the building. So John Mocome (again I believe it’s how you spell the last name), he was the one who built this building and although his name disappears from the drawing, he designed the building as a federal style with a renaissance touch. The building was officially finished in, 1818 and went it opened in 1819 there was not enough room to fit all of the city government. Many years ago there was also a prison chamber in the basement (ooh scary and interesting), and a party reception room, even a wine seller (how cool is that).
We finally entered the building and inside there was beautiful original marble from when it was constructed. On the left side when you entered the building was an honorary statue of George Washington. We then made our way up to The Governors room. The Governors Room was completed in 1815-1816, and has served as a museum and reception hall for many years, giving New Yorkers one of the most important historical artifacts in history. Meetings took place in The Governor’s Room and portraits as well as historical furniture such as the desk of George Washington (how awesome is it to say I saw the desk of George Washington). We then exited The Governors Room and made our way to the Court Rooms, which was consolidated on January 1 (the year I am not to sure of). It held 51 members of the City Council. This is what I knew City hall was known for, as well as Civil marriages. That was a long tour and I tried to make is as clear and concise as I could. Next Stop, the 9/11 memorial, or as we use to know it was called the World Trade Center.
Before we entered the 9/11 memorial, we made a pit stop at St. Paul’s church. This church was the oldest church in Manhattan. It was amazing how the church was not affected by the Terrorist attack which occurred in September 11, 2001 and because of this it was a church that was dedicated to people and workers who lost their lives during that attach. Professor Mike mentioned to us that rescue workers, use to camp out in the church to work on the World Trade Center the next day. I was feeling a little weird to enter the memorial because I remember watching the Television and watching all those innocent lives being taken away. Even though I was feeling emotional I wanted to pay my visit to the memorial. When I entered the memorial all I thought was beauty. A little history on the World Trade Center, it was a 16 commercial complex building, which was built in the late 1900’s. The building had its first attack on February 26,1993, in the lower part of the building killing 6 individuals and leaving a 1,000 injured. The attack of September 11, 2011 a date many New Yorkers will never forget occurred on a Tuesday morning. Terrorists’ hijacked airplanes and crashed into the Twin Towers killing 2,977 people. This phenomenon affected all of the people of New York and changed the rules on immigration and increased security in airports, federal building and school districts. However this attack made us stronger; the lives of those innocent people and the lives of the first responders were never and will never be forgotten. The construction of what use to be the Twin Towers, is now named Freedom Towers. Although the building are not yet finished, in the middle of these building two are two pools, the North Pool and the South Pool. The pools are squared and it was the exact location of where the towers use to be. A classmate of ours Chris stated that the flowing water represented the lives of those people because there was just a black hole and there is a beginning but no end (so beautiful). There was metal surrounding the pool and in the metal was engraved each person’s name who lost their life. I almost cried.
We then made our way to Wall Street, and in the 19th century it was commercial area in New York. According to the BG, “Wall St gets its name from a wall, erected in 1653 during Peter Stuyvesant’s tenure, which stretched river to river at the northern edge of the settlement, ostensibly to protect the Dutch town from its British neighbors” (64). Sometimes, it is just known as the, “The Street”, because it “has been synonymous with New York’s financial industry (64). Now it still remains a very important commercial strip of New York City, with its establishment of famous Bank Buildings, Fancy Hotels, Fancy Restaurants, etc. Along the way we made a stop to Battery Park. Battery Park is really big; three sides are surrounded by water. It is 23 acres of land and offers New York with Spectacular harbor views, commercial history and the chance to view our beautiful lady, The Statue of Liberty. I was really upset we did not get to see her. Next stop Down Town Chelsea. I cannot remember what exact train we took but I knew we took it to 14th street. In the 70s, 80s and 90s, Chelsea use to be a place filled with factories and it was known for its prostitution, transvestites. We then made our way to Chelsea Market. Chelsea Market used to be known as the National Biscuit Company and in 1995 it was renamed Chelsea Market. The Market is known for its various, delicious restaurants. We had lunch here, although it was delicious, it was very pricey. We had a 45 minute lunch and after lunch we were getting ready to walk The High Line. The High Line was built in the mid 19th century and according to the BG, “the New York Central Railroad used to run at street level down Eleventh and, further south, along Tenth Avenue” (188) The High Line was is a 13 mile viaduct and it was primarily constructed to solve problem of traffic, waste and also walking the streets at night before the High Line was constructed, was very dangerous. Now The High Line is surrounded by million dollar luxuries apartments and also beautiful parks.
After that long walk, we made our way to the Galleries. Chelsea is also known for its Galleries and they are located between 11th and 12th avenue. There are dozens and dozens of Galleries on these two avenues. The art in these Galleries mainly represent is experiential art. Art that can be picked up from outside streets, anything as simple as thread can be art and I believe that is true. We visited many museums but what really stood out to me was Rosalind Solomon’s, Portraits in the Time of Aids (1998). The images were basically all living individuals with different stages of Aids and some did not even seem to look sick but by the look of there faces you can recognize that something was wrong. You would think that these images would take place in a hospital, but no it was like ordinary people doing their daily routines. I think what the artist was portraying was that a person with Aids is no less of a person then a person who doesn’t have aids because the only difference between the too is that they have a disease. We did go to a store where there was a variety of books, and yes I saw one that interest me and it was called, Baldessari sings LeWitt, and what that book entails is the author wanted to share with the reader that Sol Lewit, has written music about conceptual art. The reason I picked this book of course was because I am into music, it is my life and I am in undergrad music therapy at Molloy College; besides that I liked reading about how the composer, composes and sings about art because music is also art. This was the end of our trip, we ended early and like I stated before it was going to be a long day of learning, which indeed I learned plenty.
As always our class discussion takes place in Penn Station. Today we were going to visit City Hall, 9/11 memorial, and Downtown Chelsea’ also other pit stops ( it should be a long day of learning). To get to City Hall, we took the 3 train from Penn Station to Park Place. Once we got off the train ride we had to walk a few blocks to City Hall and on our way we identified some buildings with differential architectural styles as well as historical facts. One of the buildings we came across was, The Woolworth Building. According to the BG, “The Woolworth Building at 233 Broadway was the world’s tallest when completed, and though it was eclipsed in 1930 by the Chrysler Building, it remains one of the City’s most luxuriantly detailed skyscrapers” (79) (interesting historical facts). We also came across the City Hall Park. The City Hall Park was utilized by the Dutch as a commons area (of course the Dutch indeed established the City Hall Park). Here is an interesting fact, the BG states, “At 6pm on July 9, 1776, the Declaration Of Independence was read to George Washington’s troops, assembled there with a large crowd” (81) (I did not even know that).
Finally we arrived at City Hall. It was a real pain to get in, however, I could understand that because of certain events that have occurred in New York City, all federal building have to be kept under a lot of surveillance and a lot of police officers. It was twenty-two of us and we had to go in, in groups of 7. We went through metal detectors and had our bags checked (some serious stuff). Back to City Hall, once we arrived at the outside front of the building, a nice lady was waiting for us to give us the tour. She was so sweet and unfortunately I did not catch her name. However the tour was suppose to last an hour, it lasted two hours and I was not able to retain all of City Halls history, but I will give you the gist of it. Ok so, The City Hall building was founded by the Dutch Colony, who settled here to make money. The building was constructed in the beginning of the 19th century (1803-1811) (BG, 84). She mentioned that the first settlers in Amsterdam were the French. The spoke a language which was called Baluns (I think that is what you call it), also many people who spoke different languages came to City Hall. They were at least 18 different languages spoken in this building (pretty cool if you ask me). Did you know that Broadway was once named, Bloomingdales? So going back to the Dutch, in 1653 they decided to make it there own City and the English came and took over the Colony. It was very interesting but I was a little confused about its establishment myself because there is so much history on this building, you don’t even know where to begin. Ok now let’s get to the style of the building. So John Mocome (again I believe it’s how you spell the last name), he was the one who built this building and although his name disappears from the drawing, he designed the building as a federal style with a renaissance touch. The building was officially finished in, 1818 and went it opened in 1819 there was not enough room to fit all of the city government. Many years ago there was also a prison chamber in the basement (ooh scary and interesting), and a party reception room, even a wine seller (how cool is that).
We finally entered the building and inside there was beautiful original marble from when it was constructed. On the left side when you entered the building was an honorary statue of George Washington. We then made our way up to The Governors room. The Governors Room was completed in 1815-1816, and has served as a museum and reception hall for many years, giving New Yorkers one of the most important historical artifacts in history. Meetings took place in The Governor’s Room and portraits as well as historical furniture such as the desk of George Washington (how awesome is it to say I saw the desk of George Washington). We then exited The Governors Room and made our way to the Court Rooms, which was consolidated on January 1 (the year I am not to sure of). It held 51 members of the City Council. This is what I knew City hall was known for, as well as Civil marriages. That was a long tour and I tried to make is as clear and concise as I could. Next Stop, the 9/11 memorial, or as we use to know it was called the World Trade Center.
Before we entered the 9/11 memorial, we made a pit stop at St. Paul’s church. This church was the oldest church in Manhattan. It was amazing how the church was not affected by the Terrorist attack which occurred in September 11, 2001 and because of this it was a church that was dedicated to people and workers who lost their lives during that attach. Professor Mike mentioned to us that rescue workers, use to camp out in the church to work on the World Trade Center the next day. I was feeling a little weird to enter the memorial because I remember watching the Television and watching all those innocent lives being taken away. Even though I was feeling emotional I wanted to pay my visit to the memorial. When I entered the memorial all I thought was beauty. A little history on the World Trade Center, it was a 16 commercial complex building, which was built in the late 1900’s. The building had its first attack on February 26,1993, in the lower part of the building killing 6 individuals and leaving a 1,000 injured. The attack of September 11, 2011 a date many New Yorkers will never forget occurred on a Tuesday morning. Terrorists’ hijacked airplanes and crashed into the Twin Towers killing 2,977 people. This phenomenon affected all of the people of New York and changed the rules on immigration and increased security in airports, federal building and school districts. However this attack made us stronger; the lives of those innocent people and the lives of the first responders were never and will never be forgotten. The construction of what use to be the Twin Towers, is now named Freedom Towers. Although the building are not yet finished, in the middle of these building two are two pools, the North Pool and the South Pool. The pools are squared and it was the exact location of where the towers use to be. A classmate of ours Chris stated that the flowing water represented the lives of those people because there was just a black hole and there is a beginning but no end (so beautiful). There was metal surrounding the pool and in the metal was engraved each person’s name who lost their life. I almost cried.
We then made our way to Wall Street, and in the 19th century it was commercial area in New York. According to the BG, “Wall St gets its name from a wall, erected in 1653 during Peter Stuyvesant’s tenure, which stretched river to river at the northern edge of the settlement, ostensibly to protect the Dutch town from its British neighbors” (64). Sometimes, it is just known as the, “The Street”, because it “has been synonymous with New York’s financial industry (64). Now it still remains a very important commercial strip of New York City, with its establishment of famous Bank Buildings, Fancy Hotels, Fancy Restaurants, etc. Along the way we made a stop to Battery Park. Battery Park is really big; three sides are surrounded by water. It is 23 acres of land and offers New York with Spectacular harbor views, commercial history and the chance to view our beautiful lady, The Statue of Liberty. I was really upset we did not get to see her. Next stop Down Town Chelsea. I cannot remember what exact train we took but I knew we took it to 14th street. In the 70s, 80s and 90s, Chelsea use to be a place filled with factories and it was known for its prostitution, transvestites. We then made our way to Chelsea Market. Chelsea Market used to be known as the National Biscuit Company and in 1995 it was renamed Chelsea Market. The Market is known for its various, delicious restaurants. We had lunch here, although it was delicious, it was very pricey. We had a 45 minute lunch and after lunch we were getting ready to walk The High Line. The High Line was built in the mid 19th century and according to the BG, “the New York Central Railroad used to run at street level down Eleventh and, further south, along Tenth Avenue” (188) The High Line was is a 13 mile viaduct and it was primarily constructed to solve problem of traffic, waste and also walking the streets at night before the High Line was constructed, was very dangerous. Now The High Line is surrounded by million dollar luxuries apartments and also beautiful parks.
After that long walk, we made our way to the Galleries. Chelsea is also known for its Galleries and they are located between 11th and 12th avenue. There are dozens and dozens of Galleries on these two avenues. The art in these Galleries mainly represent is experiential art. Art that can be picked up from outside streets, anything as simple as thread can be art and I believe that is true. We visited many museums but what really stood out to me was Rosalind Solomon’s, Portraits in the Time of Aids (1998). The images were basically all living individuals with different stages of Aids and some did not even seem to look sick but by the look of there faces you can recognize that something was wrong. You would think that these images would take place in a hospital, but no it was like ordinary people doing their daily routines. I think what the artist was portraying was that a person with Aids is no less of a person then a person who doesn’t have aids because the only difference between the too is that they have a disease. We did go to a store where there was a variety of books, and yes I saw one that interest me and it was called, Baldessari sings LeWitt, and what that book entails is the author wanted to share with the reader that Sol Lewit, has written music about conceptual art. The reason I picked this book of course was because I am into music, it is my life and I am in undergrad music therapy at Molloy College; besides that I liked reading about how the composer, composes and sings about art because music is also art. This was the end of our trip, we ended early and like I stated before it was going to be a long day of learning, which indeed I learned plenty.
China Town and Little Italy
Today was our last day of class. I was feeling a little upset because I became really close with some of the classmates. Also because I have to say I did loose a lot of weight because we did a lot of walking, which I was very thankful of. Today we had a tour with Jim, he was our tour guide to the trip to Harlem. From 34th street we walked a couple of blocks down to catch the F train to Delancey St. When we got off Delancey St., Jim and a couple of other visitors met us there to begin the tour. We began our tour right next to the Essex Street Market. According to the BG,“Built in 1940 to house pushcart peddlers whom Mayo Fiorello La Gaurdia legislated off the streets, the market offers food for all taste” (123). We were able to go inside the market for ten minutes and I found a lot of the organic and Colombian food my mom shops for. I was thinking of getting her some food but thinking back it is a long day and the food will probably go bad by the end of the day.
So a little history about where we are located, we are in the Lower East Side and in the 1850s German and Irish came to live here, and in the 1900s the Jews came to settle down making it the most, lowest Densen neighborhood and the dirtiest. There were a lot of outbreaks of diseases spreading. Everything is changing now; gentrification. Apartments now would go for at least 3,000 a month (that is like more then half of how much I pay a semester in school). The Williamsburg Bridge was well known to the Jews. It was built in 1903 and back then it was considered ugly (BG, 110). Jim stated that to the Jews it was known as Jews Highway because thousands of Jews would walk across the bridge to settle. We then made our way to China Town. It was only a few blocks away I was very amazed at that. China Town is known to be one of the towns of New York City which are expanding. It is estimated to have 100 to 90,000 Asians (that is a lot of people). The streets are very narrow and the sidewalks are crowded with merchandise (BG, 107). Also northward of Lower East Manhattan is Little Italy. When walking down through China Town we noticed a lot of the buildings still had Jewish Stars on them from when it was owned by the Jews. Just an interesting fact the JMZ trains were located by Canal street and that is where hip-hop artist Jay Z got his name from (I really did not know that). We then made our way to, The Henry Street Settlement. According to the BG, “The building of Henry Street Settlement (1827) at 263-67 Henry St attract attention architecturally as late federal residences, constructed in what was once a semi-rural setting at the edge of town” (125).
The Henry Street Settlement was founded and established by Lillian Wald. Lillian Wald is a big figure to the City of New York. She was a trained Nurse and years later, she trained nurses to go out to the tenements and work in the community. According to the BG, “Coming from a bourgeois German Jewish family, Wald gradually grew to accept these strange European immigrants as her own people and became an important liaison between the uptown and downtown Jews, who often found themselves at odds with one another” (125) (I did not know this that is why I found it very interesting). We then came across a park which was, named after William Seward. In the park a public library was also constructed and it was known to be one of the busiest libraries in the city. The park was also established because of Lillian Wald (she is a very important lady) Ok going back to China Town because it is so big, when you come across the building and notice fire escapes and stoops you know you are in New York. Now we were in Mulberry Street. Mulberry Street, according to the BG, it was considered to be the center of “Old China” (BG, 112). Jim gave us a little more history on the Chinese community. In 1882 the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the TONGS was an association that protected their community (well those who were involved in it). It was kind of like the mafia; they would do jobs for their loved ones and would take care of their families. This reminded me of the movie Godfather. Next stop Little Italy.
Little Italy was located on the south side of Canal Street. According to the BG, “Mulberry St from about Canal St to Kenmare St is the spine of Little Italy, an ethnic enclave dating from 1990s that in recent decades has become increasing Asian” (BG, 114). It is known for its delicious Italian food (if you want real Italian food you come to Little Italy) and café restaurants. The former Police Headquarters was also located in Little Italy, 240 Centre St. In 1973 the police had moved out and now the building is luxuries condominiums. Professor Mike decided to send a group of us on a scavenger hunt because we were such a good group. There were seven people in my group (note: we had only an hour for this adventure) and we had to go to the Beautiful Battery Park City. We took the six train downtown and transferred to the four to get to Wagner Park. Our first activity was to start at Wagner Park near Battery Park and climb the stairs to the lookout. We had to take a picture of ourselves with the Statue of Liberty behind us. After this because of one of our fellow classmates who misunderstood directions, we went in circles looking for the World Financial Center and finally after running around in a circle we took a picture in front of the building and inside the building on the stairs. We then had to locate the Irish Hunger Memorial. We ran along the river and finally rushed up the brick stairs and took a picture of ourselves. We had one more activity to attend and we were beat. We had to go to the Poet’s House and take a picture of a poem that spoke to us. We did not have a lot of books to choose from because they were renovating the building but we managed to find something. By this time if we were going to take the train back to Congee Village where we were going to have lunch we would be late, so the group and I decided to take a Taxi to make it in time. I liked the adventure but I really wish I had more time to explore the sites even if the first activity we did in our hunt we briefly discussed.
We finally got to Cognee Village however we were there 15 minutes late which means less time to eat. I have to say the food was really good and we enjoyed quality time together as a group. After we finished eating, we had been scheduled for a tour at the Tenement Museum. The museum was founded in 1988 and according to the BG it was to, “preserve the heritage of the nation’s immigrants, honoring the millions who lived on the Lower East Side and in other immigrant ghettos” (122). We had such an enthusiastic tour guide, I did not catch his name but the tour really made me appreciate my culture and heritage. Before he took us to the actual tenement building, he wanted us to know a little about the history and who was the young girl who lived in the exact building. So, he identified the museum as 5432 and the reason was because it had five floors, four apartments in each floor, three rooms only and two toilets on each floor in the hallway. The building was built in 1863, and the neighborhood was filled with Germans. Back then New York City had the largest German population in America. It was also the only living history building. We were then introduced to the History of 14 year old Victoria Confino. She was a Puerto Rican Jew, who lived many years in the tenement building we were about to visit. The tour guide told us that we should ask a lot of question about how her life is as an immigrant (well we actually had to play the part of a German family coming to look at a tenement apartment).
As we made our way to the building, he mentioned to us the walls were press sheet metal and it was contained to keep fires. We then were able to go into Victoria’s apartment, she was very welcoming. Victoria has five brothers and supports all of her family. She works two jobs and rent was 20 dollars a month. She went to elementary school till the third grade because her dad told her she was old enough to work. She does not walk the streets at night alone because she said it was really dangerous and because the Germans do not like her kind of people. There are only two bedrooms in the apartment and seven people sleep in that room, her brother and cousins. She also stated that in elementary school she was made front of a lot because she was an immigrant. They would call her stupid. I really liked the tour and really appreciated a lot of the history. Immigrants play a big role in New York; they are the reason why New York is known for its tall luxuries buildings, also they bring diversity to the community. Victoria was married at the age of 18 and had two kids. Her son became a, physicists who worked for Nassau Space Program. She then died at the age of 87. I am so glad I got to see this museum and I will let my family know about this great museum as well. I learned a lot these last couple of weeks on my adventure and I am blessed that I was able to experience New York in many ways.
Today was our last day of class. I was feeling a little upset because I became really close with some of the classmates. Also because I have to say I did loose a lot of weight because we did a lot of walking, which I was very thankful of. Today we had a tour with Jim, he was our tour guide to the trip to Harlem. From 34th street we walked a couple of blocks down to catch the F train to Delancey St. When we got off Delancey St., Jim and a couple of other visitors met us there to begin the tour. We began our tour right next to the Essex Street Market. According to the BG,“Built in 1940 to house pushcart peddlers whom Mayo Fiorello La Gaurdia legislated off the streets, the market offers food for all taste” (123). We were able to go inside the market for ten minutes and I found a lot of the organic and Colombian food my mom shops for. I was thinking of getting her some food but thinking back it is a long day and the food will probably go bad by the end of the day.
So a little history about where we are located, we are in the Lower East Side and in the 1850s German and Irish came to live here, and in the 1900s the Jews came to settle down making it the most, lowest Densen neighborhood and the dirtiest. There were a lot of outbreaks of diseases spreading. Everything is changing now; gentrification. Apartments now would go for at least 3,000 a month (that is like more then half of how much I pay a semester in school). The Williamsburg Bridge was well known to the Jews. It was built in 1903 and back then it was considered ugly (BG, 110). Jim stated that to the Jews it was known as Jews Highway because thousands of Jews would walk across the bridge to settle. We then made our way to China Town. It was only a few blocks away I was very amazed at that. China Town is known to be one of the towns of New York City which are expanding. It is estimated to have 100 to 90,000 Asians (that is a lot of people). The streets are very narrow and the sidewalks are crowded with merchandise (BG, 107). Also northward of Lower East Manhattan is Little Italy. When walking down through China Town we noticed a lot of the buildings still had Jewish Stars on them from when it was owned by the Jews. Just an interesting fact the JMZ trains were located by Canal street and that is where hip-hop artist Jay Z got his name from (I really did not know that). We then made our way to, The Henry Street Settlement. According to the BG, “The building of Henry Street Settlement (1827) at 263-67 Henry St attract attention architecturally as late federal residences, constructed in what was once a semi-rural setting at the edge of town” (125).
The Henry Street Settlement was founded and established by Lillian Wald. Lillian Wald is a big figure to the City of New York. She was a trained Nurse and years later, she trained nurses to go out to the tenements and work in the community. According to the BG, “Coming from a bourgeois German Jewish family, Wald gradually grew to accept these strange European immigrants as her own people and became an important liaison between the uptown and downtown Jews, who often found themselves at odds with one another” (125) (I did not know this that is why I found it very interesting). We then came across a park which was, named after William Seward. In the park a public library was also constructed and it was known to be one of the busiest libraries in the city. The park was also established because of Lillian Wald (she is a very important lady) Ok going back to China Town because it is so big, when you come across the building and notice fire escapes and stoops you know you are in New York. Now we were in Mulberry Street. Mulberry Street, according to the BG, it was considered to be the center of “Old China” (BG, 112). Jim gave us a little more history on the Chinese community. In 1882 the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the TONGS was an association that protected their community (well those who were involved in it). It was kind of like the mafia; they would do jobs for their loved ones and would take care of their families. This reminded me of the movie Godfather. Next stop Little Italy.
Little Italy was located on the south side of Canal Street. According to the BG, “Mulberry St from about Canal St to Kenmare St is the spine of Little Italy, an ethnic enclave dating from 1990s that in recent decades has become increasing Asian” (BG, 114). It is known for its delicious Italian food (if you want real Italian food you come to Little Italy) and café restaurants. The former Police Headquarters was also located in Little Italy, 240 Centre St. In 1973 the police had moved out and now the building is luxuries condominiums. Professor Mike decided to send a group of us on a scavenger hunt because we were such a good group. There were seven people in my group (note: we had only an hour for this adventure) and we had to go to the Beautiful Battery Park City. We took the six train downtown and transferred to the four to get to Wagner Park. Our first activity was to start at Wagner Park near Battery Park and climb the stairs to the lookout. We had to take a picture of ourselves with the Statue of Liberty behind us. After this because of one of our fellow classmates who misunderstood directions, we went in circles looking for the World Financial Center and finally after running around in a circle we took a picture in front of the building and inside the building on the stairs. We then had to locate the Irish Hunger Memorial. We ran along the river and finally rushed up the brick stairs and took a picture of ourselves. We had one more activity to attend and we were beat. We had to go to the Poet’s House and take a picture of a poem that spoke to us. We did not have a lot of books to choose from because they were renovating the building but we managed to find something. By this time if we were going to take the train back to Congee Village where we were going to have lunch we would be late, so the group and I decided to take a Taxi to make it in time. I liked the adventure but I really wish I had more time to explore the sites even if the first activity we did in our hunt we briefly discussed.
We finally got to Cognee Village however we were there 15 minutes late which means less time to eat. I have to say the food was really good and we enjoyed quality time together as a group. After we finished eating, we had been scheduled for a tour at the Tenement Museum. The museum was founded in 1988 and according to the BG it was to, “preserve the heritage of the nation’s immigrants, honoring the millions who lived on the Lower East Side and in other immigrant ghettos” (122). We had such an enthusiastic tour guide, I did not catch his name but the tour really made me appreciate my culture and heritage. Before he took us to the actual tenement building, he wanted us to know a little about the history and who was the young girl who lived in the exact building. So, he identified the museum as 5432 and the reason was because it had five floors, four apartments in each floor, three rooms only and two toilets on each floor in the hallway. The building was built in 1863, and the neighborhood was filled with Germans. Back then New York City had the largest German population in America. It was also the only living history building. We were then introduced to the History of 14 year old Victoria Confino. She was a Puerto Rican Jew, who lived many years in the tenement building we were about to visit. The tour guide told us that we should ask a lot of question about how her life is as an immigrant (well we actually had to play the part of a German family coming to look at a tenement apartment).
As we made our way to the building, he mentioned to us the walls were press sheet metal and it was contained to keep fires. We then were able to go into Victoria’s apartment, she was very welcoming. Victoria has five brothers and supports all of her family. She works two jobs and rent was 20 dollars a month. She went to elementary school till the third grade because her dad told her she was old enough to work. She does not walk the streets at night alone because she said it was really dangerous and because the Germans do not like her kind of people. There are only two bedrooms in the apartment and seven people sleep in that room, her brother and cousins. She also stated that in elementary school she was made front of a lot because she was an immigrant. They would call her stupid. I really liked the tour and really appreciated a lot of the history. Immigrants play a big role in New York; they are the reason why New York is known for its tall luxuries buildings, also they bring diversity to the community. Victoria was married at the age of 18 and had two kids. Her son became a, physicists who worked for Nassau Space Program. She then died at the age of 87. I am so glad I got to see this museum and I will let my family know about this great museum as well. I learned a lot these last couple of weeks on my adventure and I am blessed that I was able to experience New York in many ways.
Newly Impressions Of New York
It was a long journey but I pulled through. I have to say the first day I cried because my feet were hurting but that was my fault. I see New York in a very different way and have learned to appreciate its history. My favorite day was when we went to Brooklyn Heights and walked on the Brooklyn Bridge. It wasn't my favorite day just because the weather was not so hot, but because it was the first time I ever walked on a bridge. I was very intriguing to know about how the Brooklyn Bridge was built and who built it. I was so interested with the development of the bridge that I even wrote my paper on it. El Museo was also one of my favorite sites as well. Learning about how the museum is very devoted to the community is so interesting and so appreciating. As I stated above, Iam not Puerto Rican but I am Latina and I have family who migrated to New York for a better life. I too follow a culture and admire other people who have different cultures as well. Learning about the artist that dedicated there lives to show the community what diversity and culture is about.
There were many things in this Journey that I learned to appreciate and you can see as I have explained the journal entries above. I am also very great up I had the opportunity to have this experience and visit so many places I have never been too. I really thought I wasn't going to make it out alive but I did. Can I point out that in order to enjoy and learn so much in this experience you have to have two of the best professor to guide you, and I had the pleasure of having Professor Mike and Professor Damian. My journey does not end here, I will revisit the places I have been to with my class and use the Blue Guide as my reference to visit other places as well. I hope you enjoyed my journal entries and are too going to visit the wonderful places in New York, the big apple!
It was a long journey but I pulled through. I have to say the first day I cried because my feet were hurting but that was my fault. I see New York in a very different way and have learned to appreciate its history. My favorite day was when we went to Brooklyn Heights and walked on the Brooklyn Bridge. It wasn't my favorite day just because the weather was not so hot, but because it was the first time I ever walked on a bridge. I was very intriguing to know about how the Brooklyn Bridge was built and who built it. I was so interested with the development of the bridge that I even wrote my paper on it. El Museo was also one of my favorite sites as well. Learning about how the museum is very devoted to the community is so interesting and so appreciating. As I stated above, Iam not Puerto Rican but I am Latina and I have family who migrated to New York for a better life. I too follow a culture and admire other people who have different cultures as well. Learning about the artist that dedicated there lives to show the community what diversity and culture is about.
There were many things in this Journey that I learned to appreciate and you can see as I have explained the journal entries above. I am also very great up I had the opportunity to have this experience and visit so many places I have never been too. I really thought I wasn't going to make it out alive but I did. Can I point out that in order to enjoy and learn so much in this experience you have to have two of the best professor to guide you, and I had the pleasure of having Professor Mike and Professor Damian. My journey does not end here, I will revisit the places I have been to with my class and use the Blue Guide as my reference to visit other places as well. I hope you enjoyed my journal entries and are too going to visit the wonderful places in New York, the big apple!