Author Archives: Ria

G is for Grant

Author: | Category: A to Z Challenge | Tags: , , ,

Located at W 122nd St & Riverside Dr, New York, 10027
Memorial Website:  https://www.nps.gov/gegr/index.htm

General Grant National Memorial

Referred to as Grant’s Tomb, General Grant National Memorial is the most photogenic memorial in the New York City area. Surrounded by the beautiful Riverside Park, and beautifully symmetric, it is visible even from the boats on the Hudson.

This memorial to Ulysses S. Grant, victorious Union commander of the Civil War and president of the United States, is a granite structure, 150 feet high, and 90 feet wide on each side. An estimated 80,000 people pay their respects to President Grant annually. The monument hosts art and events throughout the year.

Designed by architect John H. Duncan, the granite and marble structure was completed in 1897 and remains one of the largest mausoleums in the United States. On April 27, 1897, an estimated 1.5 million people attended the parade and dedication ceremony for the Grant Monument. In 1959, management was transferred to the National Park Service, and the site was renamed the General Grant National Memorial.

Donations from around the world were made totaling more than $600,000 toward the construction of the Grant Monument. At that time it was the largest public fundraising effort ever. 

The classical lines of the memorial’s architecture are very impressive. Doubtlessly this is one of America’s most ornamental examples of commemorative architecture.

Grant, a West Point graduate, served in the U.S.-Mexican War and the Civil War. His leadership and war skills led to victories in the battles of Vicksburg and Chattanooga and Commander Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. In 1866, Congress awarded Grant his fourth star making him the first ‘General of the Army of the United States.’ Grant was elected twice to serve as president of the United States, in 1868 and 1872. 

The mausoleum, accessed by going down a flight of steps, contains the red granite sarcophagi of Grant and his wife Julia Dent Grant. 

Scenes from the battles are depicted in mosaics in the tomb along with other artwork. The collection includes historic objects and memorabilia associated with Ulysses S. Grant, military objects, bronze busts and statues, and the archives of the General Grant Monument Association, the private organization responsible for designing and building the mausoleum. Flags from the Union Army regiments commanded by Grant along with military details, are also displayed.

The message emblazoned on the facade of the memorial, ‘LET US HAVE PEACE’ is from Grant’s note accepting the nomination for president in 1868. It became his unofficial campaign slogan as well. The message coexists with many war-like eagles on the premises.

The memorial is surrounded by Riverside Park, originally designed in 1874 by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux.A viewing pavilion overlooking the Hudson River was not accessible to the public when I last visited in October 2022. Same with the Visitor Center and restroom facilities.

A 400 ft mosaic Rolling Bench was created by artist Pedro Silva and the City Arts Workshop, around the memorial’s plaza, in 1973, with involvement from community volunteers including hundreds of children.

Continue reading >5

08 Apr 2023

F is for Federal

Author: | Category: A to Z Challenge | Tags: , , ,

Located at 26 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005
Memorial Website: https://www.nps.gov/feha/index.htm

Federal Hall National Memorial

This is where the history of the United States as a brand new young country began, where its first president was inaugurated. After that momentous event, Federal Hall took on many roles, always playing a significant part in the development of the US.

History of the site

City Hall

The original building at 26 Wall Street served as New York’s first City Hall. When City Hall opened its doors in 1703, it stood at New York’s northern edge. But as the years passed, and the city grew up around it, City Hall became the physical, political, and cultural center of the municipality and every kind of public assembly in colonial New York took place at City Hall.

This is where the Stamp Act Congress (October 7 – 25, 1765), also known as the Continental Congress of 1765, consisting of representatives from the British colonies in North America, held its meeting to draft its message to King George III demanding ‘taxation without representation’ come to an end. 

In 1785, when New York became the capital of the United States under the Articles of Confederation, Congress convened at City Hall.

Federal Hall

To welcome the first truly national government, the city remodeled and renamed City Hall as Federal Hall and it became home to the entire U.S. Government during its first year of its operations under the Constitution. Here on April 30, 1789, George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States. 

The first amendment to the constitution, which came to be known as the Bill of Rights, was passed here.

As the United States capital moved to Philadelphia in 1790 the building was turned into quarters for the state assembly and courts. (The capital moved in 1800 to newly built Washington, D.C.)

State and local government used Federal Hall until 1811. With the opening of the current New York City Hall in 1812, there was further need for the structure and the Federal Hall building was demolished.

U.S. Custom House (1842 to 1862)

In 1833, the firm of Town and Davis was awarded the contract to build a new Custom House building on the site after they won a design competition. The architectural style of the building borrowed from the Parthenon in Athens and the Pantheon in Rome, thus symbolically representing the ideals of Greek and Roman civilizations.


This vault displays a variety of imported goods from the mid-1800’s, when this building served as the Custom House.

The new Custom House opened in 1842. Customs duties collected here on imported goods provided most of the government’s operating income.

US Sub-Treasury (1862-1920)

In 1862, when the Custom House moved to larger quarters, the building became a Sub-Treasury. From this financial stronghold flowed the capital for railroads, telegraph lines, and the development of the American West.

In 1883, John Quincy Adams Ward‘s bronze statue of George Washington was put up on the Subtreasury’s ceremonial front steps.

The Federal Reserve Bank replaced the Subtreasury system in 1920, and the Subtreasury office closed on December 7 of that year. 

Historic Site

After that many government agencies, including the FBI, the Passport Office and other government agencies, used the building as their offices on a temporary basis. In 1939, after the government announced plans to demolish the Subtreasury building, a group called Federal Hall Memorial Associates raised money to prevent the building’s demolition. On April 29, 1939, it was announced that the Subtreasury would become a historic site. The building was designated as Federal Hall Memorial National Historic Site on May 26, 1939.

In 1955 it was designated ‘Federal Hall National Memorial,’ part of the National Park System. And in 2015, Federal Hall was designated a ‘National Treasure’ by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

In addition to detailed information about the New York Harbor area’s federal monuments and parks, the memorial has information on the marine environment as well.

The memorial has several other exhibits.


A parade led by military troops and followed by dignitaries and officials in carriages escorted Washington to Federal Hall for the Inauguration. 

George Washington’s Inauguration Gallery, including scenes from the inauguration

History of the Federal Hall building, tracing it through the many iterations

Freedom of the Press, the imprisonment and trial of John Peter Zenger

New York: An American Capital, preview exhibit created by the National Archives and Records Administration. Among the items displayed as part of this exhibit is the balcony slab upon which Washington stood during his first inauguration.

A Portrait Gallery featuring paintings of George Washington and Alexander Hamilton as well as a display showing the restoration of Hamilton Grange National Memorial on its new site in St. Nicholas Park in Harlem.

Continue reading >4

07 Apr 2023

E is for Elevated

Author: | Category: A to Z Challenge | Tags: , ,

Elevated Acre… the Secret Garden!

Located at 55 Water Street, New York , N.Y. 10041

Elevated Acre must be the least known among the 1,700 parks in NYC, without doubt. Even some of my native New Yorker friends had never heard of this park till recently.

Can you imagine an island of peace and quiet, with lush greenery and awesome views of blue waters, towering bridges and helicopters taking off like dragon flies? That too, in the middle of teeming, buzzling downtown Manhattan Financial District? Yes, such a place exists… the Elevated Acre!

This haven of tranquility remains so because it is so well hidden in plain sight. Would you have given this stairway a second look unless… unless you knew it led somewhere fantastic?

Yes, that set of stairs/ escalators at 55 Water Street takes you to the Elevated Acre, 40 feet above the ground, located on top of a parking garage.

The Elevated Acre is a one acre park, as the name implies, with landscaped gardens on one half and an open green astroturf meadow on the other forming a seven-tiered concrete amphitheater. 

The park offers stunning views of the East River, Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Bridge. If in the mood, you can also watch the helicopters taking off from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport on Pier 6. 

Three sides of the park are surrounded by the skyscrapers of the Financial District; the fourth side has a promenade that looks out over the East River.

At one end of the promenade is the lantern, called the Beacon of Progress. Contemporary in design and illuminated by programmable LEDs, the beacon is visible along the highway, the harbor and across the river in Brooklyn Heights.

There is sufficient seating all over the park whether you want to sit in the shade of the trees or in the sun on the promenade. What totally surprised me was the sense of pleasant solitude as there was hardly any people in the park. It seemed like even the noises of downtown Manhattan did not dare touch this beautiful place!

You can comfortably use this as your ‘work from home’ space as the park offers free WiFi. The Elevated Acre is within walking distance from Wall Street, the World Trade Center, and Battery Park.

The Elevated Acre hosts a wide range of programs, performances and organized events, the amphitheater providing seating for more than 100 people. It is also available for rental for private events.

The park is one of the few privately owned public open spaces (POPOS) in New York City, a type of public space that although privately owned, is legally required to be open to the public under a city’s zoning ordinance or other land-use law. It was a result of the 1961 Zoning Ordinance, new property regulations that allowed a developer to add extra floors to their building if they agreed to include a public plaza in their design.

The initial version of the plaza was a flat empty space surrounded by a semicircular curving brick wall, with a few trees. Later on, it was closed to the public for several years.

The plaza went through a total transformation when Ken Smith and Rogers Marvel won an international competition sponsored by the Municipal Art Society and the developer to renovate the space. The project was completed and opened to the public in today’s delightful avatar in 2005.

The Elevated Acre can be reached by stairs and escalators from Water Street and by stairs from FDR Drive. It can also be reached by elevator from the lobby.

Tidbyte

Hard to believe that the entire site is reclaimed land; prior to the expansion of Lower Manhattan in the 18th and 19th centuries, the site was part of the East River.

Continue reading >4

06 Apr 2023

D is for Drawing

Author: | Category: A to Z Challenge | Tags: , ,

The Drawing Center

Located at 35 Wooster St., New York, NY, 10013
Website:  https://drawingcenter.org/

If you are interested in the art of drawing even a little bit, and you are in New York for a day, this is the place you want to be. A visit to the Drawing Center is such a wonderful experience you are sure to return for more. 

The Drawing Center is a museum and exhibition space in downtown Manhattan. Founded in 1977, with the aim of exhibiting art by living artists in their own neighborhood, as well as to advance the medium of drawing. To quote from its website, The Drawing Center “explores the medium of drawing as primary, dynamic, and relevant to contemporary culture, the future of art, and creative thought.”

The Drawing Center was founded by Martha Beck, a former curator of contemporary art in the Department of Drawings at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). 

Since its opening, The Drawing Center has held exhibitions of works by established as well as emerging artists. Over the years, it has managed to expand the definition of what a drawing is, and what it can be. The artists whose extraordinary drawings have been part of the exhibitions include tattoo artists, chefs, novelists, soldiers, prisoners, all those who define themselves as visual artists.

The Drawing Center organizes in-person and online drawing workshops in multiple languages including ASL.

It holds many programs for students from across the five boroughs, to provide them with an in-depth visual art experience focused on the medium of drawing.

The bookstore dedicated to everything drawing has rare publications featuring legendary artists and past exhibitions. 

The Drawing Center provides on its website downloadable and printable material for drawing activities, designed for all ages, to help teachers.

To raise funds to support its exhibitions, publications, public programs, and education initiatives, The Drawing Center holds an annual gala., which this year falls on May 3, 2023.

When I last visited in October 2022, the three exhibitions going on were as diverse as could be.

Drawings created by Jorge Zontal, a member of the General Idea collective based out of Toronto, Canada. Zontal basically uses a certain figure or motif repeatedly to drive home an idea. 

The drawings were grouped thematically in the main gallery to provide visual testament to the drawings’ obsessive nature and to General Idea’s propulsive creative tendency. The drawings were for the most part untitled.

Pen and ink drawings by El-Salahi, one of the most significant artists in African and Arab modernism. 

Featuring over a hundred drawings from El-Salahi’s latest series, titled Pain Relief, this exhibition marked the first museum presentation of the artist’s drawings since his 2013 retrospective at Tate Modern.

Drafted on the back of medicine packets, pill bottle labels, envelopes, and scraps of paper, El-Salahi’s Pain Relief drawings serve as a form of respite for the 92-year-old artist, who finds diversion from his chronic pain through his daily drawing practice. 

I could spend hours looking at these drawings; they are so intricate and so full of minute details that one can never finish looking at them.

We Rule – an installation by New York-based artist Catherine Chalmers, inspired by her observation of and engagement with more than one dozen colonies of Leafcutter Ants on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. For the artist, Leafcutter Ants can be seen as a metaphor for humanity’s life on earth: they farm, communicate, and collaborate; they also colonize, battle, and destroy. Yet the drawings in We Rule highlights a significant way that the insects diverge from humans – as an integrated part of their ecosystem, the ants carry out their actions in harmony with the earth.

Current Exhibitions (Through May 14, 2023)

Xiyadie: Queer Cut Utopias

Queer Cut Utopias features Chinese artist Xiyadie’s intricate paper-cuts, dating from the early 1980s through today. Xiyadie’s singular artistic language originated in the more traditional techniques of paper-cutting, and his expertise allows the artist to develop intricate compositions.

Of Mythic Worlds: Works from the Distant Past through the Present

Exploring the ways in which rituals, myths, traditions, ideologies, and beliefs can intersect across cultures, histories, and time periods, the exhibition brings together fifty-three works by more than thirty artists.

Continue reading >1

05 Apr 2023

C is for Castle

Author: | Category: A to Z Challenge | Tags: , ,

Castle Clinton National Monument

Located at 26 Wall St, New York, NY 10005
Monument Website:  https://www.nps.gov/cacl/index.htm

A fort built on the rocks off the shore of the southern tip of Manhattan to protect the city from attacks by the British, an entertainment center where celebrities performed, an immigrant processing center, an aquarium, and now the ticket office for the Statue of Liberty… Castle Clinton National Monument has gone through many phases in its lifetime. 

In the early years of the 19th century, tensions were growing between the United Kingdom the United States.

In anticipation of a possible war, it was decided to build five new forts to protect the New York harbor, along the coastline. Castle Clinton at The Battery, then called the South West Battery, was one among those. (Three of those early forts Castle Clinton, Castle Williams on Governors Island, and Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island are still standing today.)

The circular sandstone fort was armed with 28 cannons pointed at the open sea and any approaching ships. It was connected to the mainland by a wooden bridge. Construction of the Battery was completed in 1811. 

In 1812 US declared war on the United Kingdom. During the war that lasted till 1815, New York harbor was not attacked and the cannons at the Battery did not have to be fired. 

The South West Battery was renamed Castle Clinton in 1815 in honor of DeWitt Clinton, Governor of New York and one time mayor of New York City.

The fort was decommissioned as a military base in 1823 and in 1824 leased by the City of New York as a place of public entertainment and renamed Castle Garden. 

As an entertainment center and concert hall, Castle Garden was a great success. Celebrities and US presidents visited. Jenny Lind, known as the Swedish Nightingale came here to perform to a rousing welcome. 

The flow of immigrants to the US increased due to the unrest in Europe and the famine in Ireland. It was necessary to process the multitude of people arriving at the New York shores. New York State identified the Castle Garden as a suitable location for this purpose and it was leased by the state in 1855. The same year, the island on which the Castle Garden stood was connected to the mainland, filling the channel in between. 

Castle Garden was the first immigrant landing depot to be established by the New York State, which functioned as such for the next 35 years. During this period, over 8 million immigrants entered the country through Castle Garden. Noteworthy among them were Nikola Tesla, Harry Houdini and Joseph Pulitzer. 

In 1890, the federal government took over the responsibility of managing immigration and built a larger facility on Ellis Island. 

The castle building was renovated and remodeled as New York City Aquarium in 1896. The aquarium became very popular with New Yorkers. However in 1941 it was decided to demolish the aquarium to build the Brooklyn Battery tunnel. The decision is met with strong resistance and protests from historians and preservationists. The demolition is halted in 1942 due to the world war, but by then only the walls of the castle are standing. 

Following the efforts of the preservationists, Castle Clinton is declared a National Monument with an act of the US Congress in 1946. The National Park Service, in 1975, restored the castle to its early military appearance and it is opened to the public as Caste Clinton National Monument. 

Today Castle Clinton houses the ticket office for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. A small exhibition hall, close to the front entrance, has on display amazing photos, some from old books.

Continue reading >2

04 Apr 2023