The Eastside

Today our journey took us to the enchanting East side. We visited the Metropolitan Museum of art. The 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 (BG327) I have visited the museum many times before to experience the beautiful painting and sculptures. This present time was to visit the styling and artistry of Andy Warhol. I have previously heard the name and saw some of his work before but never a whole exhibit dedicated to his art. I enjoyed myself thoroughly I wish we were allowed to take pictures so I could share some of the amazing artistry. If anyone is ever in the area and available to visit the museum while he is on display I would honestly recommend it. After the exhibit we were allowed to explore the museum on our own I was so excited to go to the Roman exhibit. I love the sculptures of David, he Roman gods and the medieval art. The earliest pieces come from the Roman Empire at the time of Constantine, whose conversion to Christianity marked a turning point in the history of the ancient world (BG 327)

Next we ventured to Central Park. Central is the heartland of Manhattan, 843 acres set aside for the recreation of New Yorkers and visitor alike (BG279) I have been to central park for summer concerts but never to experience the whole park and its beauty. Strawberry Fields in honor John Lennon, the songwriter, singer and member of The Beatles, who was assassinated in the courtyard of the nearby Dakota Apartments in 1980(BG 290) There we witness an ancient Chinese tea service  the lady wardrobe was so cute.

My favorite tour of the day was visiting the Plaza Hotel. I loved the books Eloise the Plaza and the movie was so nice, it depicted the hotel to point. I never knew that the hotel was now apartments and had a mall in the lobby it was so cool. Architect Henry J Hardenbergh has long been admired for his skill in manipulating the details of its French Renaissance design- dormers, balustrades, high roofs, and rounded corner turnings- to create a harmonious whole. In the past 20 years the hotel has changed owners several times and undergone $400 millions dollars in renovations (BG273)

 Before The Plaza we visited FAO Schwartz I have never been to the store before and was excited when I saw that it was a toy store, my favorite part of the store was the candy section in the rear, the candy was good and was not overprices like most things in Manhattan.

Walking down 5^th ave I was able to see all the expensive stores and go into Tiffany &Co. I loved the movies Breakfast at Tiffany’s and as soon as we walked outside I was able to notice the iconic scene when Audrey Hepburn stood outside eating her croissant.

Overall today was a very relaxing day we did a lot of walking and saw numerous sights. I enjoyed my day but so far nothing has really compared to out Brooklyn tour.

Bodacious Brooklyn

Waking up this morning I was excited to know that we would be traveling around Brooklyn. Brooklyn is the largest borough in New York City. When I arrived at Coney Island, I met up with the “Queens Crew” and we discussed our expectations for the day. Our day started in Coney Island I was so excited, because as a little girl my parents would take me to Coney Island every summer. When we got onto the boardwalk I could remember the vivid smells of the Nathans hotdog, cotton candy and popcorn on those summer nights with my parents eating Funnel Cake, watching the Freak show and all the boardwalk entertainers. The Dutch name for the island originally was Konijn Eilandh, which translated to Rabbit Island, then the English name renamed it as we know it today Coney Island(BG, 492). Between about 1880 and World War II Coney Island was the largest amusement area in the United States, attracting several million visitors per year. The Coney Island the birthplace of the hot dog and home of the world’s most terrifying roller coaster the Cyclone (BG, 492).  The Cyclone is an historic wooden roller coaster and replicated all over the North. On June 18, 1975, Dewey and Jerome Albert, owners of Astroland contracted to operate the Cyclone under an agreement with New York City.


Our next stop was to the Transit Museum, although I have visited there previously, this had to be my favorite location. The first time I visited there I did a walk around tour on my own with my nephew, today I was able to really understand the framework behind building the subway.This unused subway station was inaugurated in 1976 and is run by the Metropolitan Transit Authority, its exhibits include buses, trains, bridges and tunnels (BG,468) Our tour guide was extremely interesting and kept me engaged. She spoke about Manhattan Schist as tough stone in which the skyscrapers are built into and the subway had to plow through to be constructed. The dangerous job of the Irish and Italian Sandhog, and the opening of the first subway was on October 27, 1904. I loved the turnstile exhibition upon leaving the museum it starts with some of the oldest turnstile to the more modern. My favorite turnstile at the museum would have to be the early wooden ticket chopper to a fullbody turnstile known as " iron maiden"(BG,468), just because it seems to give a little nudge right on your bum to get you on your way.

 

Walking from the Transit Museum we headed over to the Brooklyn Historical Society, being a history buff I enjoyed walking through the neighborhood. The Brooklyn Historical Society was founded in 1863 as the Long Island Historical Society( BG,472). Brooklyn Heights stretches from Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge to Atlantic Avenue and from the east River to Court Street and Cadman Plaza. Located in Cadman  is the now Brooklyn Borough Hall, before it was known as the Brooklyn City Hall up until 1898. I knew that New York had a lot of history but it really hit me today, especially Brooklyn. In Downtown Brooklyn Jackie Robinson was signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers on Montague Street, named after Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (BG,472), and location of the original Arts Institute before BAM incorporated the art institute into their program. I attend  church just a few steps from these historic locations and did not know all the historical content it encompassed

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Taking in the beautiful sights of Brooklyn Heights we made our way to the Promenade. At the Promenade there is a plaque in stone that landmarks The Battle of Brooklyn in 1776, after the British army invades on Long Island and starts attacking the Continental Army, General George Washington constructed a major plan to withdraw his army after losing to the British Army. Make a skillful retreat across the East River to Manhattan with the remaining troops andsupplies, Washington was able to recoup his army and come back with a vengeance ultimately defeating the British army.

 From the Promenade we mad our way to start our journey over the Brooklyn bridge!!! L I stretched out my legs and decided that I would walk the bridge at my own pace, and I will make it over (then again what choice did I have). When the bridge first opened on May 25,1883, it was the largest bridge arching 1,595 ft across the East River ( BG, 464). Arriving at the highest point of the bridge and taking in the breathe taking view of the Manhattan skyline I was taken back. I have crossed the Brooklyn Bridge driving about a million times but never really had the chance to take in the view. Being up on the bridge it felt so surreal, the birds eye view of the city as the sunset kisses the buildings I felt proud to be a New Yorker ( as cheesy as it sounds). My city is so beautiful, and I was glad I had a chance to experience it. On the way down the bridge entering Manhattan I felt energized, and even more ecstatic that the day was over.

Quite Interesting Queens

Waking up this morning I was excited that my fellow classmates will be able to experience my borough. I figured since I lived in Queens I would know all the places we would explore. To my surprise I was pleasantly wrong. The day started on the 7 train to Citi Field being on this train brings back memories of my high school softball days. As we arrived at the Willets Point Station I could feel the heat consuming the platform, and I knew this was going to be a very long day. Walking on the ramp I prayed that we will be visiting places with air conditioning. The first place visited was the Unisphere. I would pass the Unisphere often driving on the Grand Central.  The Unisphere is housed in Queens Flushing Meadow Park for the 1964-1965 World's Fair. The US Steel Corporation built it as a symbol of world peace. While walking to the Unisphere we learned about Flushing Meadows Park history and the 1964-1965 World’s Fair. Flushing Meadow Corona Park has become a recreation and cultural meeting area for many different cultures in Queens. The 1939 and 1964 World's Fair was held in this park, these fairs put this park on the world's stage, and it has stayed there, hosting the United Nations General Assembly for five years before it moved to Manhattan. Before all these events occurred in Flushing Meadow Park was once a dusty wasteland full of ashes. Parks Commissioner Robert Moses and other city planners laid out an elaborate scheme to replace these ashes with beauty and excitement.http://www.unisphereinc.org/unisphere/about_the_park.html

Our next stop on our journey was the Queens Museum. I remember as a little girl it housed an ice skating rink and a roller rink, to my surprise they were gone, replaced by a beautiful and more spaced out museum.  When entering the museum I was so happy for the air conditioning, outside was sweltering. The first exhibit visited in the museum was the watershed. I actually liked the watershed exhibit; it is enlightening to know where our water source comes from. I thought our water came from the Ocean and purified and then to our faucets through some tunnels. It wonderful how Mother Nature has a system for everything and how science has evolved to explain that the water moves from a higher gradient to a lower gradient just to supply New York State and Connecticut.

Next was the Panorama, it was so cool to see NYC on such a small scale. I was surprised that I knew a lot of the locations on the model, but when I am driving around the area I always seem to get lost. Built by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair, this 9,335 square foot architectural model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs, a total of 895,000 individual structures. Although they cut off a small portion of Far Rockaway the model is very accurate. It was actually nice to see the Twin Towers still standing strong in the NY skyline, the skyline I remember as a child looking out my elementary school window.

http://www.queensmuseum.org/exhibitions/visitpanorama

Jackson Heights was next on the agenda we dined for lunch at the Jackson Diner for authentic Indian food. The food was good it was nice to see my classmates trying new foods. Hearing them speak about all the flavors and spices was interesting. I have previously eaten Indian Food so this was nothing new to me, but just the excitement on their faces made me feel like I was eating this cuisine for the first time. Jackson Heights was once populated by the Greek in the earlier years now is populated with many different cultures.

My favorite part of the day didn’t come until we entered the Museum of the Moving Images on Steinway Street in Astoria. Steinway Street houses the Astoria Studio which Sesame Street, CSI and other television productions were taped, it was like a little Hollywood. Inside the museum were many television exhibits and games from my childhood. I especially liked the Super Mario Brothers game on the first Nintendo; I remembered the days when I would play that game for hours with my cousins and sister.

Next was my all time favorite place of the whole day was 5 Pointz: The Institute of Higher Burnin’” in LIC. 5Pointz Aerosol Art Center, Inc. is an outdoor art exhibit space in Long Island City, New York, considered being the world’s premiere “graffiti Mecca,” where aerosol artists from around the globe paint colorful pieces on the walls of a 200,000-square-foot factory building. This had to be the highlight of my day, loving Long Island City and always here I never knew this existed. The art on the walls here is so grungy and reminds me of old school hip hop. The era of door knockers, bamboo earrings, beat boxing, and scratching, with the new transition that hip hop is going I wouldn’t be surprised if 5 Pointz was used I a upcoming music video.

Ending our day in Gantry Plaza State Park was very relaxing and comforting to the feet. The park offers picnic tables, a playground, fishing pier, playing fields and a waterfront promenade with a view of the United Nations Headquarters and the Midtown Manhattan skyline. After a quick quiz on our NY skyline and architecture we were able to point out my favorite Manhattan building the Chrysler building with Gothic influenced architecture and the current UN headquarters.

Overall the day was long and hot, but I was able to experience new places in my own borough that I knew nothing about until this class, and I will definitely be returning to some of the places.

   

 

A NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

There is no place like it, no place with an atom of its glory, pride, and exultancy. It lays its hand upon a man's bowels; he grows drunk with ecstasy; he grows young and full of glory, he feels that he can never die. -Walt Whitman

New York City the melting of cultures, an oasis, a utopia for meeting different people, within every corner there is a new world waiting to be explored.

When think of New York City I would have to start with the borough of Manhattan just because it’s a major tourist attraction and the heart of NYC. When people think of Manhattan they think Time Square, Rockefeller Center, 5^thavenue, Central Park, and Penn Station. When I think of Manhattan I think of Harlem, 125^th street, Rucker Park, Dykman, Washington Heights, and the Lower East Side. As a child growing up my parents would always take my sister and I to see the lighting of the Christmas tree and go ice skating in Rockefeller skating rink, and as a child I thought that was the whole borough of Manhattan. As an adult I began to explore different parts of Manhattan. I am in love with the African American History that Harlem has to offer, while appreciating the Spanish spices the Latino population in Washington Heights gives.

Next the borough of The "Boogie Down" Bronx the birth place of Hip Hop, beat boxing and scratching the home of the Bronx zoo and the New York Yankee. The Bronx has a variation of cultures the South Bronx housing a lot of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans to “Little Italy” on Arthur Avenue, or Hunts point also known as the “Red Light District” for its crime.

Queens would have to be the best borough of all (just because I live here, all bias intended). I absolutely love Queens it is the real melting pot of NYC you can find every culture and cuisine. Melt in your mouth Indian and South Asian food in Jackson Heights to mouth watering Guyanese food on Liberty Avenue. It houses LaGuardia and JFK airport, Citi Field, Unisphere, and my favorite Beer Garden Studio Square (the loaded lemonade is to die for). Queens has so many different cultures with different cuisine your tummy never gets tired of the same old food.

Brooklyn home of the now Brooklyn Nets, the Barclays Center, and the Famous Coney Island Boardwalk. Brooklyn has a lot of Caribbean culture, the smell of jerk chicken on the grills outside on Flatbush to the relaxing scenery of Canarsie pier, the hustle and bustle of Atlantic Terminal to the West Indian Parade on Eastern Parkway. If you love Caribbean culture and want to see people you have not seen Brooklyn is the place to be.

I do not hanging out in Staten Island much, but when I do visit Staten Island I must stop off and eat pizza from Mario’s Pizzeria on Hylan Blvd. A great way to get to Staten Island without paying the $13 Verrazano Bridge toll and see a beautiful New York City skyline the Staten Island Ferry does the job. Overall when I think of NYC I think of each borough and what different wonders it has to offer me. For a person like me who likes to explore I think my parents chose the right location for me. I absolutely love my city and there is no other place I rather live.