My New Views of NYC

     The Gotham New York Experience Core 390-01 class has come to an end!!!   I have to say I am so ashamed of myself.  I was born here and never had imagined that there was so much to do in NYC.  There is so much more then just shopping, and the night life.  There is just so much history to be learned.  In this month I feel that I have grown more as an independent person, and have more knowledge of NYC.  I had never taken the time to explore and see what the city has to offer.  I am so happy that I took this class, even though it turned out much more expensive then it was originally suppose to be when you begin to add up your travel expenses, your meals, snacks and other suveniers that you wanted to pick up at the sites that we visited.  I have a lot more to explore on my own, I can also say that this class has given me the ability to feel like a true New Yorker.  This class was a lot of fun, and good for our health from all the calories we burned.  But it was indeed a great and unique learning experience.
        I mostly learned that Brooklyn and Queens are on Long Island, that Brooklyn was once a city of its own, the complexity and reliability of the subway system, the definition and real life examples of gentrification, that George Washington took the oath of office as our first president in Federal Hall, that Wall Street was named after the wall that was once stood there to protect us from British invaders, and much more.  This type of class not only supports the importance and effectiveness of learning through experience but most importantly, it taught me how to lose my fear of riding the subway and hating the city. Everyone should take this adventurous and fun filled opportunity!  The best memories gained in this class that will remain with me forever are the friendships established, the excitement and inspiration from all the museums and streetlights, and all the energy and sophistication from the people in the city.  New York City is like no other and it is no wonder why some call it the capital of the world.  For me, the best moment in this class was walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.  It gave me a great sense of accomplishment.  Never imagined that I was gonna walk it all the way! But YAY yes I did it and I am so proud of it.   

           NYC is among the most diverse cities in the world and it is full of opportunities. It is the place where many persevere and succeed.  I am now more eager to go and explore more of what the city has to offer whenever I get a chance.  I now feel much more knowledgeable and more open minded.

Thank you Professor Hey and Professor Russo for this wonderful opportunity!!! Hope to see you guys in campus while I am finishing up for my Paralegal Certificate in  September. 

Great memories... She got pooped on 

Our Awesome Professor Russo

IMMIGRANT NY - LAST DAY :(

     As I am waiting for my train in Valley Stream, I am a bit sad that today is our last class.  It is hot outside and I am ready for todays experience to begin.  Todays experience will take us into the past of our ancestry.  So I get to Penn Station and we head to take the F train down to Delancy Street that is located in the lower Manhattan.  In the 1800’s these grounds were the slums of New York where a number of new coming immigrants called it home.  Our first destination when we got there was the historic Essex Street Market.  This Market has a history going back to over 70 years ago.  Has ethnically diverse individual shops, “Built in 1940 to house push cart peddlers whom Mayor La Guardia legislated off the streets, the market offers food for all tastes…” (Blue Guide, 123).  The market offers a variety of foods,such as fruits, vegetables, meats and foods of different cultures (Blue Guide, 123)

Found a variety of ethnic treats here :)

The Lower Eastside is known for the most populated area in the U.S. in the 1800's due to the high volume of immigrants who would settle here first and then move forward.  In 1840 the Germans settled in this area, and in 1880 Jews settled due to the harsh amount of violence going on in their homeland the Holocaust.  Then by the 1900's there was a variety of religious people in the Lower East side it became so densely populated, making it hard to live, making it dirty, unsanitary, and the only jobs available were low paying ones, making it extremely hard to live.  The Lower Eastside was a place you came, and wanted to get out of as soon as possible. For instance, the Italians came and got out as soon as they could moving to Brooklyn, later Queens and then settling in Long Island.  You would only live in this area for a short amount of time until you were ready to move on and could support yourself and your family.  In more recent years, people for Asia and Latin America have migrated to the U.S. and specfically to this area and thus surrounding areas.  Wow just so much information in one day and the day has only begun Sheesh. 

From here we walked to our next destination.  As we walked we took a look at all the fire escapes on the buildings in the area.  Almost every building had a fire escape.  A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a building.  It provides a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency that makes the stairway inaccessible.  They are mostly often found on multiple-story residential buildings, such as those we common in the Lower Eastside as well as throughout the city.  At one time, they were a very important aspect of fire safety for all new construction in urban areas, however, there fire escapes are no longer commonly constructed on a building.  A fire escape consists of a number of horizontal platforms, one at each story of a building, with ladders connecting them.  Exit from the interior of a building to the fire escape may be provided by a fire exit door, but in some cases the only exit is through a window (Fire Escape). 



As we walked and made time to visit the Tenement Museum we stopped into the Loops Gallery.  I thought they had a few things that caught my eye.

We got to our next destination where we visited the Tenament Museum, which was a little bit freaky but at he same time interesting.  This museum tells the stories of 97 Orchard Street.  Which was an apartment bulding for the poor built in the Lower Eastside in 1863, the tenement apartment building was home to nearly 7000 working class immigrants throughout the years.  This museum told us the story about how these immigrants faced challenges while making a new life, working for a better future, and starting a family with limited means.  The Tenement Museum preserves and interprets the history of immigration through the personal experiences of the generations of newcomers who settled in and built lives in the Lower East side.  The museum is literally a building that has been preserved and in some parts remodeled to show the live of an immigrant in the 1800s.  So we entered the museum by going through the back and walked up some of stairs that felt like tons.  There were holes in the walls, staining everywhere, it was a complete mess.  Later our tour guide informed us that the walls were made out of plaster and horse hair, which made me think how easy we have it now.  So they told us  the story of how people lived and how these tenaments were created and looked.  This specific building had 4 apartments per floor, which would making living on either floor very uncomfortable, loud, and cramped.  This building itself was buit in 1863 and by the time the museum opened in 1988, no one had been lviing there for 50 years. In 1935 the apartments were closed down but the ground floor was a storefront that was open for a while after.  In the 1800's the main group of people coming to the area was Germans, and a few Irish due to the Great Potatoe Famine. Later the Jewish came, followed by the Italians and once the area was gentrified the Chinese and Latin Americas moved in. The Irish, however, where the population we focused on.  The Irish came due to the great hunger the lack of food and others were sent because the British had taken over the area, and made it very difficult to live.  There landlords of their homes would literally put them on a boat and tell them to leave.  The Lower East side tripled in size in 30 years due to the influx of immigrants.  So we began our walking tour off with some history about the Irish coming to America through music.  The Irish were very much on welcomed when they came to New York.  They were known to be very loud, heavy drinkers, fighters, and just not pleasant people.  We focused on the Moore's family.  They lived in an apartment in this tenament in 1869.  We walked through the building that was redesigned to look like an apartment that resembled how they lived back in the 1800's.  This apartment consisted of only three rooms, first was the room facing the street, that had only TWO windows, then was the kitchen directly behind the front room, was really small, with a coal burning oven and a little table, following the kitchen was the bedroom directly behind it.  The bedroom was the smallest and really only fit one small size bed.  This apartment was once occupied by a family of 5.  Wow just to think that 5 people lived in this small area, the apartment looked like a studio for one or two people but no more.  The Moore's consisted of a mom, dad, and 3 little girls, one who was 3 months old and very sick baby.  The reason she was so sick was due to the milk that she had been drinking that was delivered by the "milk man."   Where ever the milk came from, the cows were sick because they would be placed close to distilleries.  They would drink bad whiskey and eat the contents around the area, and their milk would basically be poisonous.  So this poor baby received this bad milk and because of this she died a 5 months.  Was shocked to hear that they got there water with bucket or a pail.  They would have to carry water up to their floors from either a water pump in the basement or outside or from the river.  So there was no running water as we have today.   They had no ELECTRICITY.  If they were lucky enough to have an apartment with windows or have candle lanterns to give them some light.  They only had a coal burning stove to cook food and warm up there water.  They would purchase the stove and carry it up a large flight of stairs t get it into their apartments.  Aside from no running water, electricity and lighting there were no bathrooms.  It wasn't until 1898 that we started to see a change in hygene patterns, for 1898 is when a garabage pick up service was formed.  It also wasn't until 1901 that landlords were required to supply tenants with electrictiy, water and gas.  The landlords fought this as hard as they could but luckly lost and tenaments were updated.  But most importantly, milk had become pasturized.  The museum showed us the struggle our ancestors went through to survive and keep there families fed and healthy.  The history of how people lived when they first got here was really sad.   I can't even imagine how hard that must have been for them.  Really is sad how we don't appreciate how good we have it! 

Finally it was lunch time. I was starving.  We went to a Chinese food resatuarant, where we had  a few different chinese dishes to taste.  I tasted for the first time Tso chicken, was pretty good.  Had a little of everything just wasn't crazy about the boneless spare ribs, were to sweet for me.  Also disliked that we got to drink flat soda. But other then that it was a pretty good experience there. 

       

Buffet Style

We then went through the Lower Eastside where we learned more about the area and obtained some immigration history.  New York City has no official boundaries so it's hard to tell which area is which.  The Lower East side is  south of Houston, and north of Canal, it's approximately 4% of Manhattan and highly populated.  This area is considered the Slums (as I mentioned in the begining).   It has had the highest infant morality rate as well as Tuberculosis, and high crime rate.  The first to settle in the area were the Dutch, then British and this area was considered the center of the city. And as I mentioned multiple times before, the German and Irish came after.  In the 1800's this area had only about 60,000 people however by 1860 it had 600,000. 

This area has grown fast and more significant due to the immigration population and conditions.  Our tour guide told us about William M. Tweed or Boss Tweed, which was right in front of the Ludlow Street Jail.        

Our tour guide

Was Ludlow Street Jail

William M. Tweed

 Tweed was a Scottish immigrant responsible for starting volunteer fire companies, However, these fire companies were really just a cover up for an organization program Tweed was forming for the society of Tammany Hall.  It's hard to say if Tweed was a good or bad man because what he did was pretty bad but for the good of other people as well as himself.  Tweed embezzled 13 billion dollars from the city over 20 years when he was supposed to be building a court house for 250,000, in over a 2 year span.  It is said that he stole enough money to carpet central park two times over.  What he did with the money was basically use it for some good and some bad.  He is significantly known for helping out the irish, however for selfish reasons.  When the irish would arrive he would have his workers and supporters stand on the piers offering them bread and soup telling them to vote Tammany.  The irish had no idea what this meant, but the fact that they were receiving food was enough for them to vote Tammany.  Tweed would get them naturalized as soon as he could and get them to vote. He would have other Irish immigrants lie for him to have new Irish Immigrants become citizens.  He would also help the irsh find homes, jobs, and would help them support their families.  Tweed even built orphanages and hospitals for them.  He would send out turkey dinners during the holidays and made it really easy for them to settle in and not feel hated.  This was his ticket to whatever he wanted because the Irish population was so high. 

Cartoon created by Thomas Nast 

It wasn't until some people got curious about the court house and Tweed, that a newspaper article was published basically explaining the scam Tweed was pulling - it was called the Great Carpet Trick, in reference to the carpet and central park. However, the Irish were mostly illiterate, so Tweed was safe in a sense; until Thomas Nast created a cartoon depicting exactly what Tweed had done. Tweed was arrested. He was put in jail, where he had a two room chamber, was allowed visitors, had a chef, and was allowed one day out a week; sounds real rough right? On one of his days out he decided to escape, however the cartoon that was published was so popular it made its way around the world and when Tweed rolled up in Spain, Customs recognizes him and sends him right back here where he was sent back to jail and died there in 1878.  We then walked through the area that once was highly populated by push cart vendors off of Ludlow Street.  It used to be called the Pig Market, you could buy everything but PIGS there because the Jewish people did not eat pork and Jewish people were the most popular in this area.  Many people would come down to this area in the Lower Eastside and buy a variety of goods here.  The only downfall was that it was very dirty.  This would attract rats.  Stray goats, pigs and horses would sometimes eat the left over's on the ground however, that did not take care of the mess.  Horses were responisble for pulling the push carts had an average life span of 2 years. When those horses died, the owners would just leave their bodies in the street, because a burial would be way too expensive.  It wasn't until Jacob Riis took a photograph of children playing by a horse carcus that people  finally opened their eyes and realized that this place needed to be cleaned up and the creation of parks was sparked. In 1930 Mayor La Guardia moved all the push carts off the street and into market buildings, aiding in the reform of sanitation in New York City.  We then moved on and learned about the Kletzker Brotherly Aid Association, that was created by the people from the city of Kletzker.  They would get together to take care of each other.  They formed insurance plans such as burial insurance, health insurance, unemloyment and housing assistance.  They also had a place that Kletzker men and women could meet.  We moved on to the next site, which was of a building for the Jewish Daily Forward.  A Yiddish newspaper for Socialis, Unionist and Radicals. We learned a little bit more about Tenament buildings and parks.The tour guide spoke about the dumbbell design created for apartment buildings to allow for better airflow.  However the plan backfired because people would throw their garbage down the air shaft creating for a variety of hazards. The shaft also had no ground floor entry, so if something were to fall down the shaft you would have to go to the first floor, knock on your neighbors door and ask to climb into the shaft to retrieve it. It also was like an echo chamber, so anything thar was said on the first floor could be heard all the way up to the top floor of the building.  The dumbbell design lasted for only 22 years before it was discontinued as a means for extra airflow.  The tour guide then talked about Robert Moses, who I have mentioned multiple times in my prior blog posts.  He created a vast amount of parks for immigrant children and people to enjoy. On one occasion he created a park out of spite and took down multiple tenaments to do so.  Moses wanted to build a bridge wiping out Battery Park to connect to Brooklyn. However, everyone thought it was a horrible idea except for him and eventually it was turned down specifically by Mrs. Roosevelt. Moses created a park in Mrs. Roosevelt's mother-in-laws name out of spite because he was aware they did not get along.  We then went to the Bowery.  The Bowery is consider part of the Lower Eastside and was home to many poor and homeless people, who many called Onions.  There was an elevated railroad system which caused many problems such as trash and filth.  There used to be a notorious gang known as the Bowery Boys, who did not help the neighborhood succeed in any positive way.  

Dragon Fruit in China Town

Now this area is home to many Chinese immigrants who came here in big numbers during and mostly after the Gold Rush in California in 1849.  Now the area is specifically home to the Chinese and is known as China Town.  Little Italy is also in the area which was once home to Italians but has now been taken over by Chinese people.  

                                                                                 

This tour came to an end in Little Italy.  We finished the day off on Canal Street, where everyone disappeared where Liz and I were left alone.  We finished the day off with some shopping and met up with my husband, daughter and spent a beautiful evening in Times Square.  I was sad that it was the last class.  This class was a great experience and am very thankful to have had this wonderful experience and I guess we owe all to our two great professor's Professor Hey and Russo.  Thanks again!!! 

Lower Manhattan & Chelsea

This am as I am on the train on my way to Penn Station I am thinking how fast this summer session has gone by.  One more class after this one and it'll be all over.  Wowwww how time flies.  So its a beautiful day, just hope it doesn't rain later.  This weather has been so crazy we don't know what to expect anymore.  So I was looking forward to a great experience through the lower Manhattan and Chelsea.  

So we began our am by taking the subway down to the World Trade Center site.  Where we got to see the Freedom Tower that is currently under construction still.  It was so sad to have seen this was where so many people lost their lives back in September 11, 2001, when the twin towers got struck.  And as well of how many lives were lost saving others.   "The New York City Freedom Tower, which will stand 1,776 feet tall on the site of the former World Trade Center, is the work of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.  It will serve as a beacon of freedom, and demonstrate the resolve of the United States, and the people of New York City" (Fredom Tower).  Construction of the tower is said to be completed by 2013 making the building ready for occupancy - twelve years later after the World Trade Center was destroyed.  "This  site will also feature the Reflecting Absence memorial, which will honor the 2,986 men and women who died as a result of the terrorist attacks which thrust America, and the world, into war" (Fredom Tower).  The lives that were taken will never be forgetten and with the Freedom Tower as a memorial, their lives will be both honored and mourned.  Right across from this site was St. Paul's Chapel on Broadway (which runs all the way through Manhattan).  It is the only remaining colonial church, build as a subsidiary chapel of Trinity Church for those who lived out of town or too far from Trinity. When theBritish occupied the area, the church served as a house of worship for British Officers (Blue Guide, 77).   In 1776 the church survived a fire by the help of a "bucket brigade: that carried water from the aHudson River to put out the flames. It become the most important and significant Angelican church in the city and was even used by George Washington (Blue Guide, 77).  After 911, when the World Trade Center was attacked, the chapel was used as a safe haven or for refuge for workers at Ground Zero, as well as a temporary memorial for those who were lost in the attack (Blue Guide, 77).  The Church was very nice and big.

        We then went to where many college students and others rioted to Occupy Wall Street.  Occupy Wall Street is a leaderless resistance movement that had a variety of people with different political persuasions.  They all had in common that they believed there were 99% that no longer tolerated the greed and corruption of the 1%.  They're used the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve their ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants.  Not so sure what this museum was all about and wasn't so interesting to me as well.  

Following this we visited Trinity Church, which lies at the head of Wall Street.  This present church is actually the third church on the site.  The first was built in 1698 and was a stone building facing the river, paid for by all the citizens who were taxed for the construction despite their religion. The church burned down in 1776.   In 1790 a second church was built and was then demolished in 1839 after a severe snow storm.  The present church was built in 1846 (Blue Guide, 65).  This building that stands today is in gothic revival style and was once the tallest building in the area.  It is said that Trinity Church is one of the most famous churches in New York due to its location and dramatic setting.  Richard Upjohn  was the architect of the church as well as one of the most significant people in the Gothic Revival       movement in NYC, creating Trinity Church the first Gothic Revival church in the entire nation (Blue Guide, 65).  Aside from the Gothic Revival exterior with stained glass windows and flying buttresses, the doors of the church are of much significance.  "They are modeled after Lorenzo Ghiberti's famouse bronze doors of the baptistery of the cathedral in Florence. They were designed by Richard Morris Hunt and donated by William Waldorf Astor, and Karl Bitter" (Blue Guide, 65).  Aside from the church was a cementery in which some significant and famous people rest, such as Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of treasury, killed in a duel by Vice President Burr.  The cementary was very intersting for many founding fathers that rested there and the memorials.  There was a mass going on when we went so we really weren't able to go in and explore it.  But as we approached to the main entrance we saw that they were strict about taking pictures, so it was hard to get a good look at the architecture within the church.  The doors however were beautiful but didn't really fit in with the Gothic Revival look, they all depicted gorgeous images though and it's great they are still part of the church.  

This was the beautiful door

The beautiful ceilings at the entrance

Couldn't go in there was a mass going on :(

We then walked down Wall Street,  where I have never  been.  Wall Street basically is a lot of buildings crowded around each other separating themselves from the rest of the city in a really small amount of space.  It's also a very patriotic place.  

The American Flag is seen all around.  Wall Street and the Stock Exchange are well known for being the financial center of the universe.  This building was highly secured with police officers outside.  Wall Street got its name from a all simply erected in 1653 during Peter Stuyvesant's tenture, which reached from river to river at the northern part of the settlement, used primarily to protect the Dutch town from the British.  Later the wall proved to be useless and was torn down in 1699 (Blue Guide, 64).  The New York Stock Exchange changed the area significantly in 1903 when it came to the area.  It is the world's largest exchange in terms of dollar value.  The Stock Exchange building looks like a large temple, creating in a classical style.  George Post was the original designer of the building and the 22nd story addition was created by Trownsbridge & Livingston (Blue Guide, 69).  

   

On Wall Street we visited the Federal Hall National Memorial.  This building was originally the home of the British City Hall.  After the Revolution, congress met at the former city hall .  George Washington took the oath of office in 1789 on the second floor balcony.  The hall was renamed the Federal Hall in honor of NY's prestigious position as the nation's capital.  The building standing today was constructed as a US Custom House, designed by Alexander Jackson (Blue Guide, 69).  This building looked  like a temple, in the style of Greek Revival.  A large flight of stairs lead us into the building with a large monument of John Quincy Adam Ward outside within the flight of steps.  This building had high rounded ceiling with columns all along the duration of the rounded ceiling.  This building both inside and out was very nice.  We then left Wall Street, and made our way to the southern part of Manhattan, Battery Park.  On our way there we passed the old New York Custom House.  The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, originally U.S. Custom House is a building in built 1902–1907 by the federal government to house the duty collection operations for the port of New York.  

This building is now the home of the New York branch of the National Museum of the American Indian as well as the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.  It is now the home to the National Archives.  

At the entrance of Battery Park

       We finally made it to Battery Park.  Was actually a big park and was named after a battery or group of cannons once used to protect the area (or old fort) from invasion.  The park itself is beautiful, surrounded by water with a beautiful view of the Statue of Liberty.  From here you can catch the ferry that will take you over to the Statue for a tour.  We then took a long walk through the park which stretches along the length of the island.  We stopped at the Irish Hunger Memorial, which is a memorial made for those who were Irish and made their way to the U.S. during the Great Potatoe Famine.  This memorial features actual plants that come from Ireland and gives great tribute to those who fought to make it through and to make it to the United States.

Following the memorial we went to the World Financial Center, which offers a great view of the Freedom Tower, however, when we went inside the window offering the great view was covered.  As we walked we learned more about how Battery Park City was a landfill, when they were digging to create the World Trade Center they took all the dirt from that site and created Battery Park City also known as land reclamation.  "Battery Park City is owned and managed by the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA), a public-benefit corporation created by New York State under the authority of the Urban Development Corporation" (Battery Park City).  This area is really was really nice and the walking along with such a nice breeze just made it much better.  We then visited Poets House.  Basically Poets House is a library filled with only poetry.   It's open to the public and has a great collection of poetry that is all donated.  They offer workshops, readings, lectures, various events and also has a youth center to inspire the younger generation to express themselves and view life through a means of poetry.  You are also able to come and use the libraries sources, and use the space as a place to write and relax.  The heart of Poets House is the library for it has 50 thousand volumes of poetry, including our Professor's published work. The Poets House is funded by state, federal and city sources as well as wealthy supporters and membership collections.  They also have employees who write to organizations and foundations to achieve grants to help support the continuence of the library.  The Poets House was created in 198 by poet Stanley Kunitz, also a professor at Columbia and arts administrator Elizabeth (Betty) Kray.  Kray was a great supporter of poetry and poets. She would set many struggling poets up in schools and in writing workshops, she would even go as far as finding them a place to live and a job. Stanley and Elizabeth had the idea to create a library for just poetry.  They started with only 300 books in a home economics classroom in Chelsea.  However once Chelsea started to become more expensive they were bought out and moved over to Soho.  After 911, they found there present home in Battery Park City.       The special thing about the collection of poetry they have is that every book in the library has been donated to the Poets House.  The Poets House was a nice place to stop and rest.   I respect the work of Mrs.Kray.  It was great that she helped many poets become successful and acknowledged and that she and Stanley created an outlet for poets and writers to feel comfortable, to write, to learn, to grow and to experience both their own creative talent as well as others.    

 

After Battery Park City, we got back on the subway and took a train to Chelsea.  Chelsea is the product of the work of Captain Thomas Clarke, a retired British soldier who bought the land in 1750 and named the land after the Royal Hospital Chelsea, in London.  This hospital was a refuge for both old and disabled soldiers. Clarke's grandson, Clement Clare Moore is responsible for most of the streets in the area. He had the goal to develop the area as a residential neighborhood.  He is most popularly known for his poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" and was a prestigious professor at Columbia.   Due to his intellect he gave a portion of Chelsea to the General Theological Seminary, and then began selling lots with design and use controls attached.  He did not want the area to be industrialized at all, he called for no alleys or stables, no manufactures and a mandatory ten foot set back for all homes (Blue Guide, 185).  Chelsea has developed greatly over the years, however in different ways. The Hudson River Railroad laid tracks down 11th Avenue, this attracted the attention of breweries, slaughterhouses and glue factories as well as immigrants who wanted jobs.  The Eastern portion of Chelsea was home to the theatrical district. Many theaters as well as an Opera house popped up (Blue Guide, 186).  However Chelsea has changed drastically, it's now much less industrial and less theatrical. It's now covered in art galleries, restaurants and all kinds of shops.  Here our first stop was at Chelsea Market to grab something to eat.  Chelsea Market was an indoor market that consist of a variety of resturants and shops, it looks like a small mall but with a lot of high quality foods, kitchen ware, and wines.  It's a very industrial building with industrial artwork as well as cast iron sculptures through the market.  There is also a lot of pipe work and brick exposed both on the walls and over head to give that industrial feel.  This market is home to the Nabisco company who made its name in the area in the 1920''s and grew significantly through the production of its famous Fig Newtons and Oreos as well as Mallomars.   In 1958 Nabisco moved to New Jersey, however in 1995 they reopened the market and renamed it, its present name, Chelsea Market (Blue Guide, 186).  Here I ate a delicious Nutella and banana crepe and a small dish of pasta.              

Thought this water fall was very cool 

       From here we went up to the High Line.  Which was built in the 19th century.  The New York Central Railroad created an over head railway across 9th Avenue.  The High Line is a 13 mile long railroad was constructed in the 30's to fix the problems of the ground level railroad.  Causing excessive amounts of traffic, clogging the area, and causing accidents, the High Line was the solution. However, trucking became an easier more efficient way to transport things and in the 1980's the High Line's use was discontinued.  Yet in the late 1990's the High Line was transformed. It was made into a garden, an area for people to relax, view the city from above, look at the city from a theater like position and to walk the blocks without walking the blocks. The High Line is gorgeous, it has these really cool wooden lawn chair type things that you can relax on and move, on wheels across the metal of the previous railroad.  Even got to see the original tracks.  Saw the skyline view of billboards and the streets below and it really was just a great experience to walk down the High Line and look at all the plants and the city around you.  Was a very nice experience.        

Getting ready to walk through the High Line :)

Professor Russo and his impressions :)

There we go.....

Was like a theatre view

A special plant 

Just loved these resting swings

        Finally after experiencing the High Line we went gallery hopping we saw cool and funky galleries in the area and stopped in for a quick peak at what they had to offer and what catched our eyes.  Some of the galleries had really great work and other artwork just looked like a 4 year old had done it.  I wasn't all into these galleries even though we viewed "10" galleries I had a better feel on what it was all about.  Beginning to feel sad that the next class is the last class.  Really amazed how time this months has gone by so fast and how much we have learned in this class.

Professor Russo planning our next stop :)

Beautiful!!!!