Caminando en el barrio
Today, we had the privileged of exploring East Harlem, better known as Spanish Harlem.
Like many areas today, it is also undergoing the process of gentrification.It has been the home to many ethnic communities since its development. Thanks to the introduction of more public transportation and elevated trains in 1880's there was an influx of Germans and Italians that once lived in east harlem (ENY 162). But Post World War I, the Italians were replaced with Puerto Ricans and along with that change came the name "El Barrio".
East Harlem quickly became one of the most dangerous areas of New York City. This was due to the immense poverty and unemployment at the time in addition to the building of the projects.
Like many areas today, it is also undergoing the process of gentrification.It has been the home to many ethnic communities since its development. Thanks to the introduction of more public transportation and elevated trains in 1880's there was an influx of Germans and Italians that once lived in east harlem (ENY 162). But Post World War I, the Italians were replaced with Puerto Ricans and along with that change came the name "El Barrio".
East Harlem quickly became one of the most dangerous areas of New York City. This was due to the immense poverty and unemployment at the time in addition to the building of the projects.
The building of the projects was suppose to be a revolutionary idea. They were suppose to be 13 buildings built for low income residents for the neighborhood. They were meant to be beautiful buildings that added to the scenery of the area. Unfortunately, they just became densely overpopulated and dangerous homes that housed many low income poverty leveled residents. These projects were named after George Washington Carver (ENY 162).
Upon leaving the Projects we made our way over to the Museum of the City of New York where we perused various exhibits and pictures about the history of New York.
We also watched a brief 22 minute video named Timescapes that described how New York had changed over the years from the territory of the Lenape native americans to the big booming city it is today.
We also watched a brief 22 minute video named Timescapes that described how New York had changed over the years from the territory of the Lenape native americans to the big booming city it is today.
After leaving the Museum of the City of New York we went over to El Museo Del Barrio located on people call "Museum Mile" There we were greeted by Luke The Peace Poet and Artist Educator. Luke gave us a tour throughout the neighbor hood using Poetry to guide us through many different areas of East Harlem.
Our tour with Luke brought us to the Modesto "Tin" Flores Garden. Spanish Harlem resident Ernesto Flores changed it into a Community Garden, it use to be a vacant dumping lot. Community gardens like this were made to be tranquil safe havens for troubled people to temporarily escape harsh urban realities. This garden especially is dedicated to "Las Reinas", The Queens in your life, meaning Women. There is a huge emphasis on the celebration of women, womenhood and fertility. In the center of the garden, (as Shown in the above picture) there is a sculpture by Lina Puerta called the "Seed of Growth" which is in the shape of a womans uterus. It represents the strength of women (ENY 163)
The above picture located in the garden is East Harlems trophy mural called "Soldaderas". Its a mural showing Mexican and Puerto Rican artists Frida Khalo and Julia De Burgos. In the picture a lot of symbolism is at work illustrating the commonalities they had between them. Although from different hispanic backgrounds, both were artists, had to fight adversity (As evidenced by the bullets they wore around their chests), and both had lost babies as miscarriages (as shown by the paintings of the babies in each corner). (ENY 164) They were both political radicals utterly devoted to their respected countries . In the picture, they are joined at the heart, representing their bond between both themselves and the mexican and puerto rican communities they represented within spanish harlem.
After leaving the community garden, Luke took us by a Mosaic Mural by local Artist Manny Vega. It was originally a dedication memorial to Julia De Burgos, but the mural is changed and transformed into a slew of ethnocultural pictures indicative of the residents and their artistic expressions.
We ended our journey with Luke at "Una Botanica". A Botanica is a place of spiritual congregation. It didn't matter what you believed in, if you needed answers in your life you went to the Botanica. Often based in West African and Puerto Rican traditions, the botanica has a myriad of things needed to aid with spiritual rest. Any where from palm readings to Love potions those who seeked something could find it here.
We ended our journey with Luke at "Una Botanica". A Botanica is a place of spiritual congregation. It didn't matter what you believed in, if you needed answers in your life you went to the Botanica. Often based in West African and Puerto Rican traditions, the botanica has a myriad of things needed to aid with spiritual rest. Any where from palm readings to Love potions those who seeked something could find it here.
We ended off our day in Central Park. Originally the home of many poor black and Irish immigrants, Fredrick Olmstead and Calvert Vaux won a contest called the "GreenWards Plan" which allowed them to transform the park. Before starting, the kicked out all of the poor inhabitants for the parks creation. The Park is a completely man made and designed nature haven, and it was suppose to be a place for relief to the poor workers and community. However, because these poor people were always working they never got to enjoy the park! Above the entrance to the park is the Vanderbilt Gate which originally stood before the Vanderbilt Mansion, It was donated by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney to New York.
In the above pictures are some of the majestic landmarks of the park. Such as the Three Dancing Maidens fountain made by Walter Schott. The statues represent two children from Francis Burnetts popular book, The Secret Garden.
We visited the Central Park Reserrvoir, about 40 feet deep and holding over 1 billion gallons of water. It was built in the 1860s as an emergency water supply system. It was decommissioned in 1993. Unfortunately today, if the city was to try to live off of the reservoir it would only last a week.
We also passed by the 3500 year old Egyption obelisk. This is the oldest monument in the city of New York. Named Cleopatras Needle, Khedive of Egypt gave the obelisk to New York in 1881 to facilitate good trade between them (ENY 151-53)
We concluded todays class at Strawberry Fields, which was dedicated to the memory of John Lennon. Lennon was a peace activist and member of the beatles who was shot by a crazed fan Mark Chapman on the eve as he preparing to finish a new album. It was said that Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono bought an apartment across from the park because they loved it so much.
Todays Class was filled with a lot of culture and many historic cultures and landscapes to see. While it was fun to explore Spanish Harlem and Central Park, it will interesting to see what we explore next week.
We visited the Central Park Reserrvoir, about 40 feet deep and holding over 1 billion gallons of water. It was built in the 1860s as an emergency water supply system. It was decommissioned in 1993. Unfortunately today, if the city was to try to live off of the reservoir it would only last a week.
We also passed by the 3500 year old Egyption obelisk. This is the oldest monument in the city of New York. Named Cleopatras Needle, Khedive of Egypt gave the obelisk to New York in 1881 to facilitate good trade between them (ENY 151-53)
We concluded todays class at Strawberry Fields, which was dedicated to the memory of John Lennon. Lennon was a peace activist and member of the beatles who was shot by a crazed fan Mark Chapman on the eve as he preparing to finish a new album. It was said that Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono bought an apartment across from the park because they loved it so much.
Todays Class was filled with a lot of culture and many historic cultures and landscapes to see. While it was fun to explore Spanish Harlem and Central Park, it will interesting to see what we explore next week.
eating in hell's l kitchen
Our first stop this week was the Frick Collection, better known as The Frick Museum, the collection was assembled by Henry Clay Frick. Henry Frick was born in West Pennsylvania in1849. Unfortunately, he never attended school because he was a farmhand for his family. However, Frick had a talent for numbers and figures. He invested in the Coal trade and he made his first million by the age of 30. (Frick Collection Tour Guide) The museum is was his former residence. He lived there for 5 years before he died. (1914-1919). The museum became open to the public in 1935. Ironically, in the Museum the only room where you are permitted to take pictures in is the Garden room (Picture Below) which is the only room Frick never saw before he died.
In the Era that Frick lived in, coined the "Knickerbocker society", the people in that time wanted to spend their money in flashy materials. When previously celebrations would be held out of the home, The Gilded Age leaned towards lavish at home entertainment to impress people and show off. Frick held a minimum of 2 dinner parties a week with6 courses and entertainment that was very VIP like.
After leaving The Frick Collective, we took a stroll down towards 9th avenue, the area also known as Hells Kitchen to grab some lunch. Although no one is entirely sure how this area earned its nickname of Hells Kitchen, but the name remained because of its 19th Century history. This area was one of the poorest, crime ridden areas in the City. As the area became more industrialized and built more slaughterhouses and tanneries, there was an influx of immigrants. Immigrants were attracted to this type of work because they provided employment. These Irish, Italian and Puerto Rican immigrants formed gangs that erupted into violence during this time period. By the early 1990's this was all reformed thanks to the gentrification of the area. (ENY 123)
After eating in Hells Kitchen we made our way to central Harlem! Central Harlem in 1658 was centered around 124th and 2nd ave.
Harlem hospital (Above Pictures) is the first of its kind featuring window picture walls. It's one of four wpa murals. This one has a Duke Ellington like mural and hospital setting. On the inside It's a regular window nut to the people on the outside we can only see the mural and not inside.
On the corner of Lenox and 135th street .we stood outside the Schomburg Center briefly. This center, founded by Arthur Schoburg, A leader in the Harlem Renaissance, is one of the greatest African American collectives of history. The goal for this center is to put on display the richness of African American culture.
Harlem is also one of the most heavily populated African American communities in the United States. The only area with a more concentrated African American poplation is the Southside of Chicago. (Tour Guide)
Harlem hospital (Above Pictures) is the first of its kind featuring window picture walls. It's one of four wpa murals. This one has a Duke Ellington like mural and hospital setting. On the inside It's a regular window nut to the people on the outside we can only see the mural and not inside.
On the corner of Lenox and 135th street .we stood outside the Schomburg Center briefly. This center, founded by Arthur Schoburg, A leader in the Harlem Renaissance, is one of the greatest African American collectives of history. The goal for this center is to put on display the richness of African American culture.
Harlem is also one of the most heavily populated African American communities in the United States. The only area with a more concentrated African American poplation is the Southside of Chicago. (Tour Guide)
The Harlem rule of thumb is that churches are in the middle of the street. This is true for churches such as the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. During years prior to the Civil War era , this church served as freedom churches, or stations on the Underground Railroad. (ENY 180) This church use to be Fredrick Douglass and Sojourner Truths church while they were in New York. (Tour Guide)
After Leaving the AME Zion church we arrived at Strivers Row. An area that contains over 100 well preserved row houses in Manhattan.
David King purchased the old Whitbee estate. A lot of famous African Americans such as Eubie Blake and WC Handy have lived here. The interesting thing about these Rowhouses, is that they actually had alleyways behind them (ENY 182) As you can tell from the pictures below, these alley ways had enough space to house Horse Carriages. This was a very distinguishing characteristic that seperates these row houses from others. Today, one of these rowhouses can fetch a price of anywhere from 2- 4 million dollars (Tour Guide).
On our way to the Harlem Walk of Fame, we could see in the distance what appeared to be a lavish castle like structure in the distance.
As the story goes, that "Castle" is the first building that used Manhattan schist as part of its construction. Before its completion George Post was asked what other material could be used to decrease the cost of its construction and Post joked saying the only thing that could do that was incorporating Manhattan Schist. That joke quickly turned into reality as he used it at the last minute for cost effectiveness. But because Post was a genius in his ways, he married the Manhattan Schist to the Terracotta in his building and that gave the building the sophisticated look that it has today.
We ended our day with a stroll through Harlems Walk Of Fame. The Harlem Walk of the fame has the likes of Tito Puente, the great Puerto Rican Musician, Billie Holiday, the amazing blues singer, Dizzy Gillepse the world renoun trumpeteer and Marcus Garvey an amazing Entrepreneur. The Harlem walk of fame was comissioned by the chamber of commerce in 1995 to assemble a series of Plaques to honor great African Americans who made great contributions to music, the arts, sciences and public service (ENY 183).
Started from the bottom
Today we explore Lower Manhattan ! This is the area between New York Harbor and City Hall and this where it all began.
Before heading to City Hall, as we exited the subway station and looked up our attention was fixed on these tiles. These were Gustavino tiles. Now although they look like regular ceiling tiles nobody would ever guess that these tiles were made in a special manner. These tiles in this vaulted archway are an amazing architectural achievement because the tiles actually hold up the entire roof. It must have taken a tremendous amount of planning to achieve this architectural breakthrough.The inside of City hall is very beautiful; as soon as you enter you can look up at the eye catching dome.
The Gustavino tiles were developed by Raphael Gustavino and the method used support arches and vaults using interlocking terra cotta tiles to maintain massive structures (ENY 42).
The Gustavino tiles were developed by Raphael Gustavino and the method used support arches and vaults using interlocking terra cotta tiles to maintain massive structures (ENY 42).
After leaving the station we arrived at City Hall where we were met by a very knowledgeable tour guide. The city hall building and it's furnishings are 202 years old. The area in front of city hall, is the setting for the infamous painting of George Washington on his white horse, This is also where he heard the Declaration of Independence on July 9th 1776 for the first time. After the men heard they marched down Broadway and tore down the statue of king George (Tour Guide)
The former structures that were here prior to the building of this City Hall were ohmsteads or what would be modern day homeless shelters. These shelters were taken down to build this city hall , which is the 3rd city hall in new yorks history. It is a neoclassical building and very long. A curious thing about this building is that the city hall is facing south. This is odd because they never thought the the City would expand past that point. Even the back of building was not finished with the same expensive brownstone material that the front of building was because nothing was expected to progress past the city hall.
The former structures that were here prior to the building of this City Hall were ohmsteads or what would be modern day homeless shelters. These shelters were taken down to build this city hall , which is the 3rd city hall in new yorks history. It is a neoclassical building and very long. A curious thing about this building is that the city hall is facing south. This is odd because they never thought the the City would expand past that point. Even the back of building was not finished with the same expensive brownstone material that the front of building was because nothing was expected to progress past the city hall.
Upon leaving City Hall, we visited Foley Square and the Thurgood Marshall United states Courthouse. There are two interesting things about Foley square. The first thing is that it was once the location of a 48 acre pond that was once a fresh water supply for the city. Another is that this use to be home to a massive African burial ground. There is a Black Granite monument that resembles a boat and it represents the journey that the African slaves took along the Atlantic (ENY 43).
The Thurgood Marshall Courthouse is no unknown object even if you haven’t been to lower Manhattan before. It is always used in the show Law and order.
It use to be the Foley square Courthouse obviously because of its location, but it was renamed in 2001 in the honor of supreme court justice Thurgood marshal who worked in the building from 1961-1965 (ENY 44).
The Thurgood Marshall Courthouse is no unknown object even if you haven’t been to lower Manhattan before. It is always used in the show Law and order.
It use to be the Foley square Courthouse obviously because of its location, but it was renamed in 2001 in the honor of supreme court justice Thurgood marshal who worked in the building from 1961-1965 (ENY 44).
After visiting the Thurgood Marshal l courthouse we went over to the Tweed Courthouse.
Named after Boss Tweed, it is an Italianate style courthouse.
This Courthouse was created was 14 million dollars that Tweed managed to embezzle.
Tweed was one of new yorks most corrupt politicians but he was a hero to Irish immigrants.
He knew that by befriending the immigrants he could secure their and control their votes(ENY 45).
Named after Boss Tweed, it is an Italianate style courthouse.
This Courthouse was created was 14 million dollars that Tweed managed to embezzle.
Tweed was one of new yorks most corrupt politicians but he was a hero to Irish immigrants.
He knew that by befriending the immigrants he could secure their and control their votes(ENY 45).
After leaving the Tweed Courthouse, we took a trip into the African Burial Ground Museum. We saw many exhibits and pictures that memorialized the important roles that Africans played in the development of New York. There were over 20,000 free Africans and slaves that were buried in what was to become the Ted Weiss building, there were many protests from the community against the construction of the building over such hallow ground. Eventually, in 2007 a memorial was opened up to commemorate that ground (ENY 45).
After leaving the African burial ground we visited St. Paul’s chapel.
This chapel was directly across from the world trade center on September 11th but it miraculously survived the destruction. It is said that a great sycamore tree that resided in the cemetery deflected all of the debris that came from the trade center during the attack. The root of this tree was submerged in bronze and is on display at the trinity church. St. Paul’s church is open to all , especially as a memorial to those who perished in the September 11 attacks (ENY 47).
This chapel was directly across from the world trade center on September 11th but it miraculously survived the destruction. It is said that a great sycamore tree that resided in the cemetery deflected all of the debris that came from the trade center during the attack. The root of this tree was submerged in bronze and is on display at the trinity church. St. Paul’s church is open to all , especially as a memorial to those who perished in the September 11 attacks (ENY 47).
Upon leaving St. Paul’s we made our way over to the 9-11 memorial museum. These grounds where the twin towers once stood are memorialized by the greatest man made waterfalls that sink into the base of where the towers once stood. This design is appropriately named reflecting absence. The names of the fallen are inscribed in bronze around the water falls. Some are even decorated by white roses likely by morning family members. There is also a pear tree there that was planted at the original site of the towers that survived although badly burned. It is named the “survivor tree”. The tree was nursed back to health and then planted at the grounds in 2010 (ENY 49).
As we finished exploring the 9-11 memorial we passed through Zucotti park. It is a public private park and was also the site of great commotion during the occupy Wall Street epidemic. Public private parks are interesting because owners of the buildings around it would create these parks in return for height bonuses on their adjacent buildings. This was because of zoning laws and restrictions that prevented buildings from getting to a certain height. (Due to the Equitable Building) But because this park was both public and private nothing could be done to remove the protestors on wall street(ENY 53).
After leaving Zucotti park we went to check out Trinity Church, It is designed in the gothic revival style. It is now the residence of a memorial for the great sycamore root that protected St. Pauls from destruction, you can find a bronze sculpture created by Steven Tobin. An interesting thing about trinity church, as walk through the cemetery you will find the graves of Robert Fulton and Alexander Hamilton the inventor and the first secretary of the treasury (ENY 53).
Post Trinity Church we passed the New York Stock exchange building, a fancy building with Corinthian columns. Outside of the building is a solitary Buttonwood tree which became representative of the creation of the stock exchange, This was called the Buttonwood agreement The exchange was created as a way to pay back the immense debt from the revolutionary war. There is also controversy about the sculptures atop of the stock exchange. The title of the sculptures is “integrity protecting the works of man” oddly enough, the sculptures were so badly disintegrated that the stone was replaced with sheet metal secretly in hopes that the public would not find out (ENY 50).
The last stop for us on our journey was to check out the charging bull. It is a symbol of wall street optimism. It was created after what was called black Monday when the financial markets were at an all time low by Artist Arthuro Di Modica. As an act of guerilla art, the artist and his friends hauled the bull and left it outside the stock exchange building. Funnily, as the bull was about to be removed by the police, the public forced the police to temporarily move it on Broadway. It became an instant hit for tourist and thus it remained (ENY 53).
great wall adventures!
Today we had a great adventure! We began at the Tenement House Museum.
This particular tenement is located at 97 Orchard Street.
97 orchard street. It was constructed by an immigrant by the name of Lukas GLockner who was born in prussia.
Over the years modifications were done to the building as the state laws improved .(ENY 67) Upon walking inside you can see multitudes of different linoleum tiling on the floors, this was indicative that many families have lived here. It was estimated that there are over 40 layers of paint on the walls, this means many families have lived here. (Tour Guide) Over its 80 years it is estimated to have been a home
to ver 7,000 people from over a dozen of different countries but a greater majority from eastern Europe
(ENY 67)
When people hear tenements they automatically attribute a negative connotation to it. Tenement legally means apartment building that houses three or more unrelated families. The word has evolved into a negative meaning because of the ideas that it is usually attributed to. The Tenements were only roughly about 325 sq feet with only three rooms, the parlor (living room), the bathroom and the kitchen. In the 1900's an Average of 8-10 families lived in one apartment.
In years of 1880-1924 , about 2 and a half million Jews left for the US for freedom of religion and economic betterment. 2 million of these moved to the lower east side. (ENY 67) NY has largest Jew pop other than any other city outside of Israel (Tour Guide)
The lower east side was a major production center for garments in those times. As many would run sweatshops out of their houses,70 percent of garments worn in the united states during these times were made in the lower east side.(Tour Guide)
After leaving The tenement Museum we made our way over to Chinatown for an adventure.
This particular tenement is located at 97 Orchard Street.
97 orchard street. It was constructed by an immigrant by the name of Lukas GLockner who was born in prussia.
Over the years modifications were done to the building as the state laws improved .(ENY 67) Upon walking inside you can see multitudes of different linoleum tiling on the floors, this was indicative that many families have lived here. It was estimated that there are over 40 layers of paint on the walls, this means many families have lived here. (Tour Guide) Over its 80 years it is estimated to have been a home
to ver 7,000 people from over a dozen of different countries but a greater majority from eastern Europe
(ENY 67)
When people hear tenements they automatically attribute a negative connotation to it. Tenement legally means apartment building that houses three or more unrelated families. The word has evolved into a negative meaning because of the ideas that it is usually attributed to. The Tenements were only roughly about 325 sq feet with only three rooms, the parlor (living room), the bathroom and the kitchen. In the 1900's an Average of 8-10 families lived in one apartment.
In years of 1880-1924 , about 2 and a half million Jews left for the US for freedom of religion and economic betterment. 2 million of these moved to the lower east side. (ENY 67) NY has largest Jew pop other than any other city outside of Israel (Tour Guide)
The lower east side was a major production center for garments in those times. As many would run sweatshops out of their houses,70 percent of garments worn in the united states during these times were made in the lower east side.(Tour Guide)
After leaving The tenement Museum we made our way over to Chinatown for an adventure.
On the way to chinatown we passed the "Jewish Highway". The Willamsburg bridge was coined that term rather affectionately because of the amount of Jewish immgrants who would migrate between brooklyn and the lower east side. (ENY 68)
A stroll through chinatown is an abrupt cultural experience. Walking in the blocks within chinatown one may easily forget that they are still in new york. The premiere wave of chinese immigrants came after the united states and china improved their relations. By the 1880s, the chinese community on New york had over 10,000 members. The chinese had come with hopes of staying until they earned enough money to live comfortably and go home. These men were mostly unmarried and it was difficult because the chinese women to men ratio was 20 to 1 and many chinese eneded up marrying irish women. (ENY 72)
Chinatown was once a 7 block affair but today it has become a 55 block area that has spread rampantly infiltrating even little italy. (ENY 73)
Chinatown was once a 7 block affair but today it has become a 55 block area that has spread rampantly infiltrating even little italy. (ENY 73)
After some bubble tea we also popped to get some steamed pork puns. These are a must try for anyone who loves food. Its a starchy bun with pork baked into the middle.
After indulging in some food, we popped into the Mahayan Buddhist Temple.
After indulging in some food, we popped into the Mahayan Buddhist Temple.
This temple is located on 131 Canal street. The alter is adorned with many flower and fruit offerings. (ENY 74)
We did a little bit of shopping on the infamous canal street before returning back to our rendezvous spot at the Congee Restaurant for lunch! We were actually a few minutes late because we managed to fond our way into one of secretive back rooms that have exclusive items on sale, for the right price.
We did a little bit of shopping on the infamous canal street before returning back to our rendezvous spot at the Congee Restaurant for lunch! We were actually a few minutes late because we managed to fond our way into one of secretive back rooms that have exclusive items on sale, for the right price.
At Congee, our group was fortunate enough to try the Seafood stuffed pineapple. It was a steamed pineapple with a vast assortment of seafood cooked within it such as scallops,squid etc. We were the only group to try this, and the last group as well because it was so expensive. (Mike Russo)
After Congee, Jim the tour guide gave us a walking tour on certain landmarks in the area such as the university settlement. University settlement house is the first settlement house in the US. The Settlement house means you settle in the neighborhood of the people. The greater population of people that stayed in these houses were students. Eleanor Roosevelt taught dancing classes here. Many famous people claim to be alumni of this place. (Jim the tour guide)
Afterwards we saw the Bialystoker Synagogue. It was founded by polish jewish immigrants in 1865. The congregation purchases Willet streets Methodist episcopal and church and converted into a federal style building made of manhattan schist. Oddly enough, this buildings name has that in common with Bialy bagels one would find in any bagel shop. The name is derrived from the town of Bialystock located in Poland. (ENY 68)
After the synagogue we saw the former 1904 Beaux arts building, it was once for the Jewish young mens benevolent association but not anymore. It was converted in 1941 into a Mikvah, a mikvah is a ritual bath used by orthodox jewish women to purify themselves, especially pre-marriage. The term means collection of water and in tradition the Mikvah must contain Living Water. (ENY 68)
At 265 Henry Street we found the Henry Settlement. This settlement was of particular importance to us because the majority of us are nursing majors. Theses settlements were founded by 25 year old nursing student Lilian Wald. She was discontent with the care she found while in the lower east side. She founded the Nurses settlements in 1893 to bring education, arts and nursing care to the population of immigrants. She also began the Visiting Nurses Association which is still very active today. (ENY 69)
We then made our way into Seward Park, Which Houses the Seward Park Branch Library. Seward park was the first urban park in New York City. Central Park was the first state park. Lilian Wald and others advocated the tearing down of tenements to make this park. The Seward park branch library is one of the first most actively used libraries in the new york system for years. (ENY 70) It is named after Willam Seward a strong abolitionist. (Jim The Tour Guide)
Then we saw the Forward Building. This building was originally founded in 1897 by Russian Revolutionary Abraham Cahan. It was the former headquarters for a social newspaper called the Jewish Forward. It was highly influential in the Jewish immigrant community.It was know for supporting causes such as sweatshop elimination and ending of political corruption. The building itself is marvelous. As irony would have it, there are busts of famous socialist such as KarlMarx and Friedrich Engels. (ENY 70)
We ended our last day at the Eldridge Street Synagogue. This was Built in 1887,there are so many styles in the building such as Byzantine and southern Spain. It was made from Twin terracotta which is nothing more than fake mud. This church is in the middle of street, much like churches in central Harlem. This maybe attributed to the fact that they are usually much more than synagogues, they were community land marks and cultural areas of gathering. (Jim the tour guide)
This was the first synagogue in New York built by eastern European Jews. Although in Chinatown, the area was riddled with Yiddish street signs. (ENY 71)
Today was the end of a great adventure and good times. Much was learned during our travels and we all took with us a lot from these experiences.
This was the first synagogue in New York built by eastern European Jews. Although in Chinatown, the area was riddled with Yiddish street signs. (ENY 71)
Today was the end of a great adventure and good times. Much was learned during our travels and we all took with us a lot from these experiences.
Wrapping it up
All in all, I would sat that I have had a pleasant New York Experience. It was truly a treat to be able to traverse all the places in the city that I have passed numerous times prior and actually be able to revel in either a new piece of knowledge about it that I've learned from the course, or a fond memory that was experienced there during the duration of our course.
The course was set up in a manner that made exploring new york fun. Even thought I personally, am no stranger to new york, visiting certain areas that we went to during our travels either invoked a feeling of nostalgia or a feeling of longing to spend more time there. I can only imagine the feelings of theses members in the class that have never been to the city at all.
My favorite places that we visited had to be Spanish harlem and Chinatown. In Spanish harlem being able to go around the neighborhood and truly indulge in the culture and feel of that area made me feel like i belonged there. It is definitely a place that I have not been to often and will now make an effort to get out there to functions and events as much as i possibly can. Being able to go and relax in community gardens such as the one we visited with Peace Poet Luke was truly a divine experience
In Chinatown as well, the rush of being thrown into a completely different environment is something that appeals to me greatly. We traveled for blocks upon blocks and heard nothing but foreign languages. This only made you feel like you were in a different country already, couple this with all the cultural food and markets surrounding you, it makes you really want to break out of your element and try new things.
This course is excellent for broadening your horizons and expanding your boundaries. There are many people in New York who have lived here their whole lives and never know its history and there are people in new york who have lived in new york their whole life but have never set foot in the city. Matter fact, there are people who have died before even being able to set foot in the city.
The only thing I would suggest to improve the quality of the new york experience would be to allow the class to explore certain areas in the bronx. Although it has a bad reputation, there are many beautiful and precious new york landmarks that reside in the bronx. Many don't know but Pelham Bay Park which is in the bronx is actually Three times the size of Central Park and we know how big central park is because we explored it ! Professor Mike Russo and Professor Meritta made this Experience a truly enjoyable and memorable one and i know they shall continue to do so.
This Concludes my New York Experience...
-Arnaud Edjamian
The course was set up in a manner that made exploring new york fun. Even thought I personally, am no stranger to new york, visiting certain areas that we went to during our travels either invoked a feeling of nostalgia or a feeling of longing to spend more time there. I can only imagine the feelings of theses members in the class that have never been to the city at all.
My favorite places that we visited had to be Spanish harlem and Chinatown. In Spanish harlem being able to go around the neighborhood and truly indulge in the culture and feel of that area made me feel like i belonged there. It is definitely a place that I have not been to often and will now make an effort to get out there to functions and events as much as i possibly can. Being able to go and relax in community gardens such as the one we visited with Peace Poet Luke was truly a divine experience
In Chinatown as well, the rush of being thrown into a completely different environment is something that appeals to me greatly. We traveled for blocks upon blocks and heard nothing but foreign languages. This only made you feel like you were in a different country already, couple this with all the cultural food and markets surrounding you, it makes you really want to break out of your element and try new things.
This course is excellent for broadening your horizons and expanding your boundaries. There are many people in New York who have lived here their whole lives and never know its history and there are people in new york who have lived in new york their whole life but have never set foot in the city. Matter fact, there are people who have died before even being able to set foot in the city.
The only thing I would suggest to improve the quality of the new york experience would be to allow the class to explore certain areas in the bronx. Although it has a bad reputation, there are many beautiful and precious new york landmarks that reside in the bronx. Many don't know but Pelham Bay Park which is in the bronx is actually Three times the size of Central Park and we know how big central park is because we explored it ! Professor Mike Russo and Professor Meritta made this Experience a truly enjoyable and memorable one and i know they shall continue to do so.
This Concludes my New York Experience...
-Arnaud Edjamian