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!!!!