Dec 20

Top Ten Favorite Works

1. “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”- Walt Whitman

            Walt Whitman’s poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” was first published in the second edition of Leaves of Grass in 1856. Originally, this poem was titled “Sun-Down Poem.” In 1860, this poem was revised and renamed “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” in order to better reflect the poem’s main focus (Nelson). Written in New York City, this poem was about riding a ferry across the East River between Brooklyn and Manhattan. While the boat may be crossing the river, Whitman does not focus on the starting point or destination of the short voyage. Instead, Whitman writes about the view, the people, the city, and his connection with the audience. The themes in “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” are reflected in Whitman’s life and other works. Whitman describes the river and sky with a sense of wonder and awe. His travels in the American frontier and his admiration of Ralph Waldo Emerson helped him realize his own love for nature (“Walt Whitman”). Additionally, having lived near large rivers his entire life, Whitman viewed them as being beautiful and calming (Nelson). In this poem, Whitman creates ties with the people around him and his unseen audience. He may never see those surrounding him again, nor will he meet future generations, yet he feels close to everyone. Whitman put a great emphasis on friendship and love in his works, often embracing strangers and openly—albeit controversially—discussing sexuality (“Walt Whitman”). Overall, this poem summarizes the major themes of Whitman’s works while creating a warming parallel between the author and New Yorker’s who are reading it today.

 

2. The Baby’s Playground- Jacob Riis

            Jacob Riis, a Danish immigrant, was a man who brought about change for many immigrants and impoverished individuals. Riis arrived in the United States in 1870 (Stamp). As a recent immigrant, he had difficulty finding housing and keeping a steady job (Stamp). For a while, he worked several jobs before becoming a police reporter, the job that came to define his legacy. As Riis worked, he noticed the squalor and crime that infested poor neighborhoods. Disturbed by what he saw, he wanted to bring this dreadful situation to the public eye in order to bring these Americans justice. In the 1890s, employing a camera and a gunpowder flash device, Riis photographed the slums, capturing unsupervised children, hardworking adults, collapsing buildings, and unhygienic conditions (Stamp). One photo that is particularly striking is The Baby’s Playground, a photo captured by Riis around 1890. This photo shows a young toddler surrounded by the dangerous, dilapidated hallway of a tenement building. This toddler stands right beside a detached panel; one she could easily get caught in. As we can see in the photo, she is only a few feet away from a stairway; a hazard for such a young child. The walls and floors around her have all sorts of scratches and chips. We do not know what this child’s life is like, yet her surroundings alone are capable of bringing fear to the viewer, inspiring a desire for change.

 

3. “Ellis Island”- Mark Helprin

            Published in 1981, “Ellis Island” by Mark Helprin tells the fictional tale of a Jewish Eastern European immigrant who arrives in New York City during the early twentieth century. Helprin, a native New Yorker, wrote this story about the history of his city with many liberties. While some parts of it do reflect the struggles of immigrants, many parts of the story are humorous. Early in the story, our narrator is almost prevented from entering the city because he is suspected of being an anarchist, a title that he gleefully accepts. As funny as his situation may have been, it was a tragic reality for many immigrants who yearned to enter the United States. Once he reaches New York City, he has many strange adventures in a short period of time: he gets swindles, accidentally takes part in an art class, becomes a fire rider, stays with a Hassidic sect, scares a group of Rabbis as he braids challah, becomes a tailor, and falls in love with a seamstress named Hava. This short story is appealing because it takes a lighthearted look at the struggles of the time. As other works about this time period were grim, this story stands out, offering a refreshing relief for the sadness that seemed to hit the city every few decades.

 

4. The Steerage– Alfred Stieglitz

            Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, Alfred Stieglitz captured photographs in New York City of subjects including immigrants, buildings, clouds, and individuals. While Stieglitz took a great interest in modernism and cubism, it was his photograph The Steerage, captured in 1907, that is one of his best known, marking a turning point in his career (“100 Photos”). As the child of two German-Jewish immigrants, Stieglitz understood the struggles faced by the poor and the disparity in wealth within society (“100 Photos”). The Steerage was not a staged photograph, but rather, one that was taken at the right moment, representing the injustice of the times. While standing on the upper deck of a European sailing ship, Stieglitz noted the stark contrast between those on the upper deck and those who stood beneath them (“100 Photos”). On the top deck, people are outfitted with suits, hats, and dresses. Many of these people peer towards the ocean, taking advantage of the view. Below them in multiple ways stand the lower class in steerage. These people are dressed in rags and dull garments, with some even hanging on clothes lines. These people do not look happy, but weary, with several of them slouched over. In one instant, Stieglitz’s camera was able to capture the clear divide between those with money and those who lived in poverty, those who were comfortable and those who suffered.

 

5. The Bowery– Reginald Marsh

            Reginald Marsh painted many of his most famous pieces during the Great Depression, focusing on poverty, characters, morals, and norms in New York City. Marsh did not paint common, iconic views of New York city, nor did he paint well-loved individuals. Typically, he painted shadier areas of New York such as Coney Island, the Bowery, the subway, and dance halls. His painting often featured bums, dancers and streetwalkers. In spite of this controversial imagery, Marsh had no agenda behind his work. His artwork reflected the fall and broken spirit of the 1930s, yet it did not contain a call to action. Marsh painted his subjects with a nonjudgmental eye, only working to portray the raw lifestyles of those effected by the economic disaster. A striking example of his work is The Bowery, a painting from 1930 depicting bums and impoverished men loitering in the Bowery. The men stand in the shadows, wearing dark and dingy clothing. The only light sources in this painting are the neon signs hanging overhead. This weary crowd is large, not entirely fitting into the painting, extending beyond it boundaries. As downcast as this painting may be, its sullen mood is definitely representative of the era it was painted in. With the help of Marsh’s attention to detail, we get a look into the lives of those who were left to struggle during these dark times.

 

6. “Strange Fruit”- Billie Holiday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs

            With the struggles she faced, Billie Holiday’s life is as shocking as some of her famously tragic songs. Born into a broken family in 1915, Holiday led a life with little stability. At a young age, she began skipping school and was eventually brought to a home for troubled African American girls (“Billie Holiday”). She was sexually assaulted twice before the age of fifteen. In the late 1920s, she moved with her mother to New York City, working in a Harlem house of prostitution. Holiday found peace in the music of Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong, inspiring her to start singing in clubs during the 1930s (“Billie Holiday”). As an African American, Billie Holiday faced much discrimination from bands and audiences over the color of her skin. At the time, race and segregation was still a point of great conflict in the United States. This is reflected by one of her most haunting songs: “Strange Fruit.” Recorded by Holiday in 1939, the words to the song had been written by Abel Meeropol, a schoolteacher, after two black men were lynched in Indiana (“Billie Holiday”). Holiday’s slow vocals accompanied by deep, loud piano keys give this song a depressing sound, akin to funeral music.  The words of this song describe the mangled corpses of men hanging from a tree, dehumanized by hatred and decay. This song was created as a protest of the discrimination that was so widely overlooked in society while Billie Holiday was still alive. This song still serves as a reminder today that society must remain respectful of all people, regardless of their skin tone or origin.

 

7. The Harp- Augusta Savage

            Augusta Savage, a sculptor hailing from Florida, pursued her passions in spite of racism, becoming a key figure in New York City’s Harlem Renaissance. Born in 1892, Savage began sculpting as a child. Her father, a minister, did not approve of her hobby, but was unable to completely stop her. In the 1920s, Savage moved to New York City, opening the Savage Studio of Arts and Crafts in 1932 and becoming the first black artist to join the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors (“Augusta Savage”). In 1939, Savage was commissioned to create a sculpture for the New York World’s Fair. This sculpture, known as The Harp, featured twelve African American boys in the place of strings of a harp, represented by the hand of god. At the base of the sculpture, there is a kneeling man. This statue is very appealing due to its unique subject manner and meticulous detail. Often times, African Americans were neglected in artwork. This piece not only capture their image, but in a respectful, even angelic, manner. While this sculpture was beautifully crafted and unique in design, it has been lost to time. Due to its large size and a lack of funds to cast the piece in bronze, The Harp was destroyed at the end of the 1939 New York World’s Fair (“Augusta Savage”). Even though this amazing piece of artwork is gone, its legacy lives on through photographs and replicas it has inspired.

 

8. “4’33””- John Cage

            John Cage was an avant-garde composer who created many experimental and radical pieces of music throughout his career. Cage took an interest in music at an early age, practicing piano as a child. He graduated at the top of his high school class, but dropped out of college in two years, as he did not feel that it was enough of a challenge (“John Cage”). In the 1930s, Cage travelled across Europe, becoming inspired by the art he witnessed, especially the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Igor Stravinsky (“John Cage”). The next decade, he moved to New York, becoming a composer. In the city, Cage faced struggles such as poverty, homelessness, and divorce (“John Cage”). While some of his compositions were met with praise, experimental compositions, such as his controversial piece “4’33”,” were met with criticism. As a result, he lived a fairly unstable life. In spite of this, “4’33”” is a noteworthy piece. This piece is over four minutes of silence, in which cage sat in front of the piano. The true music, according to cage, was the sound he heard in the environment, whether it was gasps, laughs, or sighs. As strange as this piece may have been, it truly made one consider the boundaries of art and its meaning.

 

9. Green Coca-Cola Bottles- Andy Warhol

            While Andy Warhol was born, raised, and educated in Pennsylvania, his most famous pieces were created while he lived in New York City. Warhol moved into New York at the beginning of the 1950s in hopes of becoming a commercial artist (“Andy Warhol”). At first, his artwork was whimsical, created with blotted lines and rubber stamps. By the late 1950s, Warhol began to focus on painting. In 1961, Warhol first introduced the concept of pop art, artwork that focused on popular items, especially those that were mass produced (“Andy Warhol”). Often, he painted bottles of Coca-Cola, one of the United States’ most famous drinks, accompanied by the company’s logo. Employing an early version of the screen printing technique, Warhol was able to replicate the form of the bottle again and again, creating rows of identical bottles. According to Warhol, each bottle of soda was the same. It would taste the same whether it was being drunk by the president or a homeless man (“Green Coca-Cola Bottles”). Thus, this image is appealing because while it appears to be of a simple sugary beverage, it really contains a hidden message of social justice. According to Warhol, when you put everything into perspective, no one is truly that different.

 

10. Balloon Dog– Jeff Koons

            Jeff Koons is a contemporary artist who has created pieces in a wide variety of mediums including paint, marble, and steel. Interestingly, while Koons comes up with his own ideas, not all of his are created by his hands. Since the 1980s, Jeff Koons has been producing art in factory-like studios with countless other artists. These artists are assigned a task and given Koons’s exact vision, which they are then expected to bring to life. So, while a painting or sculpture is credited to him, it was most likely crafted by someone else. One of Koons’s best known works is Balloon Dog: a giant ten-foot high mirror-polished stainless steel replica of the twisted balloon critter weighing in at over a ton. Part of his Celebration series, five editions were made of this sculpture in varying colors between 1994 and 2000. At a glance, these sculptures may look simple. However, in order to accurately portray the twists and puckers of a balloon, each sculpture took over sixty pieces. This piece of artwork is appealing because it is fun and upbeat. It makes something simple, a temporary toy from a birthday party, into a luxury and object of beauty. For some, this sculpture may even feel sentimental or nostalgic, bringing one back to their childhood and its small wonders.

 

Bibliography

“100 Photos.” Time Magazine, 2015, http://100photos.time.com/photos/alfred-stieglitz-steerage#photograph.                         Accessed 19 Dec. 2016.

“Andy Warhol.” Biography, 6 June 2016, http://www.biography.com/people/andy-warhol-9523875. Accessed 19 Dec.             2016.

“Augusta Savage.” Biography, 19 Feb. 2016, http://www.biography.com/people/augusta-savage-40495. Accessed 19             Dec. 2016.

“Billie Holiday.” Biography, 8 July 2014, http://www.biography.com/people/billie-holiday-41902.9341902. Accessed19             Dec. 2016.

“Green Coca-Cola Bottles.” The Whitney Museum of American Art, 2016, http://collection.whitney.org/object/3253.             Accessed 19 Dec. 2016.

“John Cage.” The Art Story, 2016, http://www.theartstory.org/artist-cage-john.htm. Accessed

            19 Dec. 2016.

Nelson, Howard. “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” The Walt Whitman Archive, 1998, http://www.whitmanarchive.org

            /criticism/current/encyclopedia/entry_10.html. Accessed 19 Dec. 2016.

Stamp, Jimmy. “Pioneering Social Reformer Jacob Riis Revealed ‘How the Other Half Lives’ in

            America.” Smithsonian, 27 May 2014, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/pioneering-social-reformer-             jacob-riis-revealed-how-other-half-lives-america-180951546/. Accessed 19 Dec. 2016.

Dec 13

Thematic Essay: The Struggle for Social Justice

            The history of New York City is highlighted by beloved individuals and haunted by those who were mistreated and neglected. The people best remembered by history were those who had a chance to change it, to shape it for better or for worse. Names such as Peter Stuyvesant, Frederick Law Olmstead, Theodore Roosevelt, Fiorello LaGuardia, and Robert Moses sit on the minds of some New Yorkers and the majority of historians. When one thinks of New York City, it is grand structures such as the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building that come to mind. These structures are tall, promising, and even welcoming, putting an emphasis on the positive attributes of the city. Yet, this city was not one of splendor, glory, and change for many who lived in it. When someone parts the curtains, scratches away the gilding, or takes out a magnifying glass, the problems of the city become clearly visible. While New York was considered a city of opportunity, leading many to riches, this was not the case for everyone. Many people, often immigrants, lived in extreme poverty. Many of those living in poverty worked long hours in dangerous conditions, but were still barely able to scrape by. These individuals often lived in tenements, small buildings that contained many families and were often crowded beyond capacity. It was not uncommon for these buildings to be a danger themselves due to their small rooms, thin hallways, poor ventilation, and poor sanitation. Those without much money led difficult lives, constantly struggling to stay afloat. Poverty was a mire, holding individuals and often times, their children, in poor conditions. Thus, the theme of social justice is one of great importance when considering the history of New York City and the disparity between the rich and the poor. History often forgets those without money, but photographs, artwork, writing, and structures of the time have lasted, allowing their stories to live on. The late 1800s, or the Gilded Age, and the early 1900s, shortly before World War I were periods of significant poverty; they were also the periods in which significant works about poverty were produced. The theme of social justice in these years can still be examined today by the photographs and writing of Jacob Riis, the realistic fiction of Stephen Crane, the paintings of George bellows, and the comparison of the Tenement Museum and the Morgan Library.

The photographs taken by Jacob Riis while working as a photojournalist came to represent poverty during the Gilded Age. Born in 1849, Riis was an immigrant from Denmark. Like many immigrants, his life in New York City was one of struggle, as he faced job insecurity and homelessness (Stamp). He tried his hand at a wide array of jobs, working as a farmhand, iron-worker, brick-layer, carpenter, and salesman (Stamp). The young immigrant was bounced from the streets, to low-rent tenements, to lodging houses, giving him his first taste of the squalor, crime, and illness that ravished the city’s lower-classes (Stamp). His first stable job was as a police reporter for The New York Tribune, where he found his passion and purpose, eventually solidifying his status as an important figure in the history of New York. During this time, he noted that there was a correlation between poverty and crime rates. He got the chance to see beyond the splendor produced by American industry and to notice people who seemed like nobody when compared to businessmen such as Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller. Riis saw the lives of those that had been given the short end of the stick, those who were unable to reap the benefits of American capitalism. With a camera in hand, Riis photographed the living conditions in the Five Points in Lower Manhattan, one of Manhattan’s most notoriously unsafe slums (Smithsonian). Riis’s photographs include many shocking sights and dehumanizing situations. The lens of his camera captures people sleeping in cramped rooms, children sleeping in the street, dead horses and debris littering the street, and collapsing homes. Riis’s photography was indeed powerful, bringing the dark situation faced by many to public attention, eventually leading to housing reforms in these slums. He did this art with a goal, or rather, an agenda, of helping those suffering with poverty. While Jacob Riis’s photographs have come to define the Gilded Age, they were not his only effort to help lessen the troubles of the poor. One cannot neglect Riis’s writing, which was presented alongside his photographs.

In 1890, Jacob Riis published the book How the Other Half Lives, which documented the conditions of New York City’s slums during the 1980s through both words and photographs. In this book, he gave observations, accounts, and statistics about the living in tenements. This book was an immediate success, shocking many New Yorkers. Notably, Riis’s publication caught the eye of Theodore Roosevelt, who had been the New York City Police Commissioner. After reading this book, Roosevelt was motivated to fight for reform and help the lower-class. Roosevelt made sure that the worst of the city’s lodging houses were closed and that strict housing policies were enforced by the city (Stamp). This book was powerfully written, capable of eliciting and an emotional response and provoking action. We can see the power of Riis’s writing in a section of his book titled “The Down Town Back-Alleys.” As he describes the slums of lower Manhattan, he writes about Blind Man’s Alley, a tenement building owned by a blind man that housed many blind beggars. Even though the Board of Health demanded that repairs be made to the building, the owner refused on account of his old age and desire to earn money. Thus, the building was allowed to remain a health and safety hazard. The dangers of this building become clear when Riis accidentally lights fire to the building while photographing its residents: “When the blinding effect of the flash had passed away and I could see once more, I discovered that a lot of paper and rags that hung on the wall were ablaze. There were six of us, five blind men and women who knew nothing of their danger, and myself, in an attic room with a dozen crooked, rickety stairs between us and the street, and as many households as helpless as the one whose guest I was all about us. The thought: how were they ever to be got out?” (Riis 297). Dirty, cluttered, and decaying, this tenement was not safe in the case of an emergency such as a fire. The fact that the majority of its residents were disabled also worsens the situation, as Riis notes. If Riis had not been there, it is likely that the fire would have spread, engulfing the building and its residents in flames. The landlord’s indifference and lack of action in shows a blatant disregard for human life, a clear reason that the city was in need of social justice.

            Riis does not stop after this one story alone. He goes on to provide statistics about disease and crime in the area, two other pressing issues that can affect those living outside of the slums as well. In one area inhabited mostly by Italian immigrants, Riis noted that “in 1862, ten years after it was finished, a sanitary official counted 146 cases of sickness in the court, including “all kinds of infectious disease,” from small-pox down, and reported that of 138 children born in it in less than three years 61 had died, mostly before they were one year old” (Riis 299). Crowded and unclean, tenements served as a hive for severe illnesses and disease. Almost half of all children born in this particular area died as a result of these rampant diseases. Many of them were only infants, exposed to diseases that their immune system could not yet fight off. Too young for medicine—probably too expensive for their families to afford, anyways—these children received a death sentence from their unhygienic surroundings. Unfortunately, disease is not the only thing that infects the slums. Crime rates in these slums were shocking. The captain of the Oak Street police squad reported to Riis that “in seven months [he had] secured convictions for theft, robbery, and murder aggregating no less than five hundred and thirty years of penal servitude” (Riis 301). On one street alone, in less than a year, there were so many violent crimes that the total number of sentences given totaled to more than five centuries. While we do not know how many crimes were committed, this number indicates that it was still a dire situation. It may have been many crimes resulting in many smaller sentences, or several severe crimes that resulted in long sentences. That, however, is not clarified. Whichever the case, these high crime rates were dangerous to those living both inside and outside of the slums. It was also dangerous to children growing up in these areas, as they could fall victim to these crimes or even fall into lives of crime themselves. The horrific conditions of the tenement buildings and the depressing lives of their tenants not only capture the minds of reporter like Riis, but the minds of writers of fiction.

            In 1893, Stephen Crane published the short story Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, a fictional story that focuses on themes of social justice and poverty. This tragic tale contains many details reminiscent of Riis’s observations. The story centers around Maggie, a girl from an impoverished Irish family. In the beginning of the story, her brother Jimmie is a street urchin, constantly up to mischief as she takes care of her baby brother Tommie. They live in an overcrowded, unclean tenement with their mother and father. Both parents are alcohols, constantly fighting with each other, breaking furniture, and mistreating their own children. Early in the story, Tommie dies, reflecting the high infant mortality rates in poor areas due to unsanitary conditions. Maggie’s father also dies, although Crane does not elaborate on how this happened. Jimmie and Maggie both begin working at young ages in hopes of improving their lives. Forced into work at young ages, it is likely that neither of them had the opportunity to receive an education. If being Irish was not enough of an undesirable quality in the work force, this lack of education narrows down their job opportunities even further. Maggie pursues a boy named Pete, who has a steady job, as a way of escaping her turbulent home. They date for a while, prompting Jimmie and their mother to push Maggie out of their home. Maggie stays with Pete until he leaves her in favor of Nellie, a woman he had dated in the past. Alone and without a home, Maggie is forced into prostitution. The next time we hear about Maggie, she has been reported dead. Once again, Crane does not elaborate on how she died, but she could have succumbed to any number of threats that haunted the slums: murder, disease, starvation. Overall, this story takes a raw look at conditions of lower-class neighborhoods in New York City. Unlike Riis’s book, Crane’s story put names and faces to the horrid depictions of poverty, eliciting an emotional response from its intended audience of the educated. Heart-wrenching for readers, this book called people to reconsider the struggles of poverty. This book showed that it was not a choice, but something that people were born into, often unable to escape. This sad message became the image of the need for social justice and extended the call for change.

            George Bellows created several paintings depicting the slums of Manhattan, exposing art enthusiasts to a naked image of the overcrowded, inadequate, unclean conditions thousands were forced to live with. Born in 1882, Bellows grew up with a passion for sports and illustration (The Metropolitan Museum of Art). In 1904, having become dedicated to art, Bellows moved to New York City to study under painter Robert Henri (The Metropolitan Museum of Art). At a young age, he became a member of the Ashcan school (The Metropolitan Museum of Art). Like other Ashcan artists, his art was routed in realism, depicting the everyday lives of people living in New York City (The Metropolitan Museum of Art). Bellows created images of a wide array of people living in the city, however, it is his depiction of tenements and lower-class individuals that are most striking. In 1907, he created a painting entitled “Forty-two Kids,” depicting a group of children standing on a crumbling pier beside the East River, preparing to bathe. At the time, the term kid was slang for a young, troublesome child of working-class immigrants living in tenements on the Lower East side (National Gallery of Art). In this painting, there is a harsh contrast between the bright bodies of the children and their dark, dilapidated surroundings. It reminds the viewer that these children are pure, innocent, and human in spite of their difficult situations. This painting was first displayed in 1908 to mixed reviews, with critiques both adoring and abhorring the piece (National Gallery of Art). It was considered for the Lippincott Prize at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, but a judge denied the work this award, claiming that donors may be offended by the depiction of nudity (National Gallery of Art). Bellows, however, remarked, “No, it was the naked painting that they feared;” a statement that was all too true considering the neglect of New York’s poor (National Gallery of Art).  His 1913 painting “Cliff Dwellers” is a view of the streets surrounding a tenement building. The piece is claustrophobic, with throngs of people extending far into the background. People are standing on each fire escape and beside each window, trying to get the fresh air that does not reach them in their poorly-ventilated homes. Clotheslines extend from one side of the street to the other. Inside the small rooms of tenements, there is no place to hang the clothes to dry. This painting was not created by Bellows as a direct call to action, but rather, as a way of showing the absurdity of tenement life (Las Angeles County Museum of Art).  However, it clearly reflects the social issues of urban poverty and urban reform (Las Angeles County Museum of Art). Through his artistic abilities, Bellows was able to open the eyes of art enthusiasts to the harsh realities of lower-class New Yorkers, living in crowded, unclean, unsafe areas.

            The struggles of New Yorkers living in poverty during the late 1800s and early 1900s is difficult for us to understand today. We did not experience the cramped living conditions, struggles to find employment, and constant threats of illness experienced by New York’s poorest. To understand these struggles, we had to see the living conditions and hear the accounts of true struggles, so depressing they sound as though they may be from a novel. To obtain this perspective of the past, the class had the opportunity to visit the Tenement Museum, a restored tenement building which offers guided tours detailing the actual lives of the buildings past residents. The two apartments we visited at the museum had similar layouts: one room with windows, a kitchen, and a small room without windows. The first apartment belonged to the Gumpertz family in the 1870s. Nathalie and Julius, both immigrants, lived in this apartment with their three daughters. It was difficult for them to provide for their large family, but they managed. At least, until Julius went missing, never to be seen again. Nathalie began sewing customs garments, often requiring assistance from the community to pay the rent and put food on the table. Miraculously, Nathalie’s life was altered when she secured a sum of $600 that her missing husband was set to inherit. With money in her pocket, Nathalie was able to move out of the tenement, securing a better future for her children. Most, however, did not have such luck. Additionally, while the Gumpertz family was living in this tenement, legislation was being put into place and improvements were being made. For instance, gas lines, running water, and indoor flush toilets were installed. Later, in the early 1900s, the landlord improved the building’s entrance with tile floor, burlap wall coverings, molded metal ceilings, and paintings on the walls. In each apartment, windows were installed in existing walls to increase air flow. These were the “luxuries” that future tenants were to receive: seemingly basic improvements.

            While thousands living during the 1900s experiences poverty, surviving off of the bear minimum, a select few people were capable of living luxuriously. Two-and-a-half miles uptown from the tenement museum lies the Morgan Library, another location the class was able to visit. This library, built the years of 1900 and 1906, is grand on both the inside and the outside, built with meticulous detail. The walls of the original library were built without mortar; the stones fit together perfectly. Columns and statues were constructed based upon ancient Italian architecture. The inside of the library is breathtaking with its painted ceilings, patterned marble floors, and stone pillars. One cannot forget his vast collection of rare books, which included three Guttenberg Bibles. His art collection is certainly worth noting as well, containing artifacts from ancient civilization and pieces by renowned European painters. There is no doubt that this library was expensive to construct. Due to his wealth, J. P. Morgan, one individual, was able to create this opulent structure. As stunning as the library may be, it provides a harsh contrast with the tenements many more people were living in. The library was one man’s dream, but even a small fraction of what it costed was the dream of Americans facing poverty. When we compare the library with a tenement, we realize that the disparity in wealth during the early 1900s was severe, with few being rich and many being poor.

            Social inequality and justice is a subject that has haunted the past of New York City in photography, literature, art, and architecture. Jacob Riis, using both words and photos, gave the outside world a look into the difficult lives of the urban poor. He aimed to bring change and was quite successful in doing so thanks to his shocking work. In Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, Stephen Crane told the life story of a girl from an impoverished Irish family, from her childhood to her early death. This story gave readers a face for poverty, someone who they could better understand and pity. It allowed them to view the poor as being individual people with their own hopes, dreams, and struggles. It made people realize that poverty was not a choice, nor was it an easy cycle to escape. George Bellows used painting as a medium to display the chaos and crowding that was present in areas considered slums. His paintings communicate the busyness and the complexity of the lives of the lower-class. His paintings indicate that their lives were in constant motion, capable of changing drastically at any moment.  Lastly, the Tenement Museum and the Morgan Library are two structures from the same time period that could not possibly be more different. The tenement was built for the poor, while the library was built for one very rich man. Both have their beauty and charm, but the contrast between the two buildings is stark, representative of the disparity present between the rich and the poor. All these pieces of New York City history and culture reflect social justice and the unequal distribution of wealth during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Overall, they clearly show us that poverty is a powerful negative force. Even though much attention was directed towards poverty, it is still a present issue. Perhaps the messages of these writers and artists were forgotten. Too often, citizens and leaders make assumptions, generalizations about lower-class individuals. They forget that everyone has a story. Even today, we struggle to imagine life from the eyes of someone with nothing. The fact that social justice is still a current theme in New York City indicates the efforts of these individuals from the past alone were not enough to solve this gargantuan problem. Even as the lives of the poor improve, we are still in need of talented individuals to translate their stories into mediums that can be understood by all.

 

 

Bibliography

“Cliff Dwellers.” Los Angeles County Museum of Art, http://collections.lacma.org/node/228840. Accessed 10 Dec.             2016.

“Forty-Two Kids.” National Gallery of Art, http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-           

            page.134485.html. Accessed 10 Dec. 2016.

“George Bellows.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2012/bellows.             Accessed 10 Dec. 2016.

Riis, Jacob. “How the Other Half Lives.” 1880, https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5bJsJt8H0m1aUVZN21mb0Jobk0

            /view. Accessed 10 Dec. 2016.

Stamp, Jimmy. “Pioneering Social Reformer Jacob Riis Revealed ‘How the Other Half Lives’ in America.”            Smithsonian, 27 May 2014, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/pioneering-social-reformer-jacob-

            riis-revealed-how-other-half-lives-america-180951546/. Accessed 10 Dec. 2016.

Dec 01

Music Posting Assignment: “New New York” by The Cranberries

As New York was healing from the wounds inflicted by the September 11th terror attacks, an Irish rock band that had toured across the world wrote a song about the brave spirit of the city they had come to love. “New New York” is a song written in June 2002 by The Cranberries. This song was released in September of the same year on their second compilation album, Stars: The Best of 1992-2002, as one of two new tracks. The Cranberries have written songs about sad personal events and social issues with much emotion and spirit. Like the songs before it, “New New York” is thoughtfully written and emotionally moving. Dolores O’ Riordan’s unique vocals and the musical talent of Mike Hogan, Noel Hogan, and Fergal Lawler blend together seamlessly to form this amazing song.

Saddened by the horror that people were capable of creating, the band wrote this song. This song focuses on the recovery after the terror attacks, addressing both healing and pain.  Reference is made to the scarred skyline and damaged streets of New York City following this tragedy:

New New York skyline, wounds they heal in time

Don’t crawl and don’t despair, it’s a new New York today

A-a-ah, a-a-ah

I look across these city streets, my heart is numb it still beats

Nothing to say-y, there’s nothing to say-y

I look across this empty room, my heart is still in bloom

There’s nothing to say-y, I only can pray-y

The song goes on to thank those who acted heroically that day, offering sympathy for those who lost family members:

Down on my knees and pray for the heroes of the day
And no comfort I can find for the loved ones left behind

The first reason I love this song, like any song by The Cranberries, is due to its sound. I enjoy the genre of rock, especially the ways they blend it with aspects of pop music, such as the repetition. I have always been impressed by Dolores O’ Riordan’s voice; out of all of the music I have listened to, I have never heard a voice quite like her’s. Her voice is high, yet dynamic and dramatic. This song also holds a lot of personal meaning for me. As a child, I often listened to The Cranberries. When the September 11th attacks happened, I was only a few blocks away; I saw it all and witnessed the aftermath. My family lost electricity and my school was displaced for over a year. In addition, my father, a firefighter, had been off work by a stroke of luck on that day. Unfortunately, many firefighters he was friends with were lost during the attacks. It was a deeply saddening and disheartening time. Hearing this song reminded me that there were still people out there that understood the pain and were supporting us. It truly did help to heal my spirit. With its amazing composition and powerful meaning, “New New York” still holds a special place in my heart.

Source: http://cranberriesworld.com/music/song-list-a-z/new-new-york/

Dec 01

Historic Fiction: The Crash

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            Outside, a lone police siren gave its long, solemn wail, a sound many had familiarized themselves with. Everyone had gotten louder over the past few years. As the decade roared, it only seemed right that the law howled back.

            Inside, there was a cacophony of sound. Crash! The flick of a false light switch caused the shelves in the wall to collapse, sending the four remaining glassy bottles of liquor to the cold concrete floor. Warm shades of golden, orange, yellow, and purple flowed into the drain on the floor, evaporating from the room. A round, woven black carpet was hastily tossed onto the drain. There was a vigorous rustling as newspapers were tossed onto the tables—work desks, really—that lined the room. Drawers and closets slid open and closed as props were being moved and replaced. In went a beer stein, out came a desk lamp. The shot glasses were collected, exchanged for gilded fountain pens. A tickertape machine, waiting for the opening bell, was moved to a desk at the center of the room. It was seated beside a Victrola, blaring jazz music. This model, although the cheapest on the market, was capable of emitting music loud enough to pierce the heavens. In a swift motion, the needle was taken off of the jazz record, which was then replaced. When the needle fell back down again, gentle classical music fluttered through the air. As the room morphed, the crowd within it faded. Roughly fifteen people, all dressed in fine attire, glistening with unnecessary adornments, exited through a metal door in the back of the aforementioned closet. Through this door was a set of stairs, leading into a long, dark alleyway. Perfect for concealing an identity in a pinch such as this.

            Three minutes. That was all it took for the crowd to evaporate. Three people. There were only three people left in the room. The first person worth noting sat at one of the desks, organizing papers, feigning work. With his neat black suit and striking red necktie, he certain seemed like an average professional. His brown eyes flicked across each document: first a newspaper, then a stock report, then some bills. With a pale hand in his neat, dark hair, he mumbled a few statements to himself. He was an actor preparing for the play.

            Casually swung across a chair was the second man. He sat sideways on the chair, legs up over the arms, feet making no contact with the floor. He was a less formal than the first man. He wore a white shirt, black trousers, and black suspenders. His leather shoes were dull, cracked, and muddy. They were at the point where no amount of shining could improve them. The man himself was about as worn as his shoes. His blonde hair was ruffled and matted, his blue eyes were bloodshot, and his skin had started to tan like an animal hide. His teeth were long neglected, abused by years of smoking and chewing tobacco. Several of his teeth had given up, making a bold exit from his mouth. His remaining chipped, rotten, yellowed teeth formed his crooked, mischievous grin.

            Some might have said the third person was not worth mentioning at all. Others may go as far as saying that the third person was the worst of the bunch. Her biggest crime, perhaps, was being a woman. Leaning on the table with the Victrola, she pulled her long, wavy hair from her face, tying it back with a ribbon; a more conservative look. With her ruddy-brown hair moved, the details of her face could be appreciated. She had bright, green eyes, seemingly full of knowledge. Her skin was smooth, still fairly young. The only blemish notable was a smattering of pale freckles. As much of a melting pot as America had become, no temperature could melt away her distant Irish heritage. In spite of her tall, thin figure, she wore the uninspired dress of a housewife. She wore a faded blue dress with pointed Chelsea dress collar. The dress was as dull as she was radiant, contradicting her beauty. Another contradiction was presented by her accessories. Glistening chandeliers hung from her earlobes, while enough pearls to fill the ocean swirled about her neck. Indeed, she was an unusual lady. Not only out of place, but out of fashion, seeming to walk along the lines of what society valued and what was scorned.

            Truthfully, she was no Jezebel. Perhaps an Eve. She was troublesome, but not evil. She was lovingly married to a hardworking lawyer. She was a good housewife, but as crafty as a crow. Each morning, she fulfilled her chores and responsibilities accurately and at top speed. This freed her for the rest of the day to play her role in the business. She practically ran two households, her only children being her coworkers.

            Then, there came the long anticipated knock at the door. The knock they had spent six minutes preparing for. The knock that they knew would come one day or another. The three exchanged stares in hesitation.

            The man at the desk, however, was no longer present. While his body still sat behind a desk in a basement located somewhere in an office building of the Financial District, his mind wandered elsewhere. He recalled his childhood. When his family gathered, the alcohol was always the star of the gathering. Nothing seemed to warm the soul of a distant relative like a nice, cold glass of white wine. It always led to intimate conversations, laughter, and even some unskilled singing. Alcohol was not a bad thing, at least not in his mind. Yet, he remembered one particular meeting, one unlike the rest. January 16th, 1920 was a dark, cold day. In spite of the poor weather, his family had come together to celebrate his father’s birthday. As the gathering progressed, something came to his attention; there was less than half a bottle of white wine left. He was just about to open his mouth when he was interrupted by the radio.

            “Today, the eighteenth amendment, a ban on the production, sale, and transport of  alcohol went into effect. What do our people say? Listen to their opinions at ten o’clock!”

            Immediately, he made the connection. Alcohol, which had been a positive aspect of his life, had been framed as a menace to society. Shock and disgust were all he could feel. Thus began his life as a criminal, at least as defined by the law.

            The year was 1925. He constantly asked, “What defines a crime? Have I truly hurt anyone?”

            The man sprawled out in the chair tossed his feet onto the floor, taking a dramatic stretch before standing. There was a knock at the door yet again.

            “Police,” said a heavy but hesitant voice.

            “Give me a minute,” the unkempt man barked back.

            Open reaching the door, he undid the lock and threw it open. Before him stood two police officers, outfitted in twin blue jackets with glistening golden buttons. One of the officers was quite short, making him look quite clownish in his oversized jacket.

            The shorter, more timid of the two said, “There was a noise complaint from a nearby building. We’re just here to make sure that everything is alright.”

            “Alright? Everything’s ducky! We’ve got our Victrola and our favorite records. We’ve got stocks that are going to make us rich. The problem is, I tell you, that y’all have no idea how to have fun anymore. No one wants to enjoy themselves.”

            He slunk across the office, grabbing a coffee pitcher and two chipped mugs.

            “Coffee?” he shouted.

            “No thanks,” said the taller, more stern police officer. “May we come in for a moment?”

            “Certainly! Say, any records you want me to play? I’ve got all kinds of music, all good!”

            The officers ignored his offer, stepping into the room. They briefly looked around. The office seemed innocent enough: desks, chairs, papers, tickertape. The only scent hanging in the air was bitter, the scent of freshly brewed coffee. The officers poked around the desks, never bothering to open any of the drawers or closets. The took a look at both men. The businessman did not strike them as suspicious. In their minds, he was just tired and anxious. A good man. Probably a family man. The disheveled blonde man seemed very much out of place. They took a good look at his face, but were unable to place it. He had not stopped jabbering since they arrived, swinging his one-sided conversation from music to politics. He was crazy, yes, but not at large.

            “So, fellas, what are your opinions on President Coolidge? I miss good old Harding. Well, they all say he died of an illness, but I’ve got this theory. I believe that he was bumped off!”

            “Sir,” chirped the shyer officer. “Please keep it down. Your neighbors… well… they don’t enjoy the noise and loud conversation. Your voice and music must be kept to a minimum.

            “Have a good night. Stay safe. Don’t make us come over again,” grunted the more aggressive officer.

            Suddenly, his eyes met with the green eyes of the lady.

            “And you,” he declared. “Go home. It’s too late for an honest woman to be out. You should be with your family or husband.”

            “Oh officer, this is home. I work in this office all day long, why stop because it’s dark?”

            Her remark fell upon deaf ears. Perhaps it was her defiance, but it was more likely her sex. What say did she have? What power?

            The tall officer stepped out the door with the shorter officer trailing behind him.

            “Stay safe!” The kinder of the two called.

            His light voice was overpowered by the slam of the heavy door. Crash! The slam lock on the door shut. Crash! The cheap print hanging beside the wall fell down. Footsteps travelled up the stairs. The businessman counted until it was clear that the officers had moved on, went back into the night, off to deal with real criminals.

            The businessman gave off a chuckle. “Goodness… that’s the first time that happened. I’m glad that it’s over. Glad to still be walking.”

            “Oh Raymond,” chimed the sloppy man. “You worry too much. You won’t get in trouble for drinking alcohol. Ain’t no evidence that we’re selling or transporting it. Hell, sure that if we gave ‘em a glass, they would have let us go all the same.”

            With that, he threw himself back onto the chair, in yet another position the chair, nor his anatomy, was designed to support.

            “Well I certainly wish I had your bravery, Lawrence, but—“

            “Why, thank you.”

            Lawrence grinned at him through his mangled teeth. Raymond shook his head.

            “Listen. Tonight, we lost business, okay? Imagine if they arrested one of us—worse, all of us—we’d be out of business for a years, a lifetime, even. I worry all the time about our safety. The law says we shouldn’t be doing this.”

            “Oh, you and the law! That was all your family ever cared about, wasn’t it? Huh? City people. Not a lick of rebelliousness in you. You can defy the law. We ALL do at some point. Trick is, don’t get caught. Other trick is, keep to your morals.”

            “Morals? Well, it really depends on h—”

            Rubbing his eyes, Lawrence intervened once more: “Anyways, it’s a long way back to the flophouse. It’s too late for us to bring in another crowd and two late for me to deal with any of your dilemmas, Raymond.”

            Finally, Helen Sinclair, the silent entity in the room disclosed her wisdom.

            “Listen to you two! Keep your character conflicts out the business, fellas. You’re both outstanding, but there’s a reason you do different things.”

            And she was right. Raymond was the one who owned the office building they sold from. During the day, the small building was bustling with journalists and investors. The basement was used as an office by Raymond; he would only receive dirt in rent, anyways. Lawrence kept their business stocked, travelling out of state in order to the secure the finest alcohol his bootlegger buddies could smuggle or produce. Driving her 1918 Premier no. 1 touring car, Helen transported the liquor to their speakeasy. Occasionally, if there were a surplus, she’d sell it to others. As wild as she may have looked at night, she just appeared to be a sweet and simple housewife during the day. Her careful driving, neat hair, lack of adornments, and sweet smile kept the police at bay. They never would have expected her to be smuggling alcohol. They never would have thought to search the car. Even then, they would have never found the compartment that one Lawrence’s friends had created in the interior.

            Crash! The wood split on the arm of the chair Lawrence had been abusing, sending him to the floor. Raymond was quick to jump, offering a hand, pretending he was not concerned about the destruction of his chair. Helen just gave a smirk and a slight shake of her head. The room was muted. Slowly eye contact was broken, seemingly making a mutual agreement that they should all part ways, for the window of opportunity for the night had been violently slammed shut.

            Helen was the first to leave, putting on her sweater and disappearing through the secret door. She could not afford to be seen by her neighbors; they would be suspicious as to why she was out so late without her husband. Lawrence left next, a slight smile still clinging to his face. It was as though his spirit was impossible to dampen. That left Raymond. It was he who shut the lights. It was he who locked the door. It was he who walked home alone, worrying about the future of the business.

***

            Crash! The business began to fall apart at the seams. Lawrence, who secured their liquor, was dead. If he had left the speakeasy a little later or had taken the long, scenic route to the flophouse, he would have survived. He had gone to his room and immediately curled up in bed, preparing for a new, more successful business day. His room was quite shabby, but it did not bother him. The room was meant to protect him from the elements; he did not care that the sheets were stained and the carpet was always damp. The paper thin walls did no harm to him, either. Perhaps he should have been concerned about the crack in the ceiling; it was like a spider web that just seemed to be growing over time, never repaired.

            That night, the ceiling collapsed. As he peacefully slept, a wooden dresser from the room above fell onto him, crushing his skull and beginning his eternal slumber.

            The collapse of their ceiling caused an uproar in the building. Lawrence, on the other hand, was not found until fourteen hours later, when the owners of the building went to examine the damage done to the dresser. Without any form of identification, he was nobody to them.

            Lawrence died hundreds of miles away from home. His family, living in Louisiana, had lost contact with him when he went to New York City. His corpse stayed sprawled on the bed until nightfall, when Raymond came to check on him. It wasn’t until the next night that he was unceremoniously buried in potter’s field, alongside thousands of other forgotten friends and family members.  Raymond and Helen were the only ones there, offering love–but not tears–to their lost partner.

            Three days of business were lost, but the speakeasy sputtered along, as did Helen’s car. Helen was now taxed with the responsibility of securing alcohol as well as transporting it. Driving through the winding upstate roads for hours on end, her car took quite a beating. What’s more is that as she dedicated more time to these illegal activities, her housework became sloppy, making her husband suspicious. Yet, he could not clip her wings. He worked from early in the morning until 8 PM, falling asleep as soon as he stepped into the apartment. More often than not, Helen found him asleep on their area rug, still wearing a suit. He was far too exhausted change his clothes and go to bed like anyone else. Perhaps that’s how he knew that her cleaning was less thorough than before. With his face on the rug, surely he could see all the crumbs and dust that were accumulating.

            Helen’s husband was concerned about her safety, but not her fidelity. He placed great trust in her, and rightfully so. As much as she may have offended the law, she would never disgrace their marriage. Raymond, who took no interest in her to begin with, was merely a business partner. Men at the speakeasy gave their stares and compliments, but her answer was always the same:

            “I’m married and I plan to stay that way.”

            Thanks to her efforts, the speakeasy continued to flourish. One might even say that it was better without Lawrence. Helen never had to deal with he and Raymond bickering, nor was there ever another noise complaint, for Helen’s hand was the only one allowed to touch the Victrola. The only cops that came around were the ones seeking a sip of moonshine.

***

            Three years was a pretty good run for a mouse. For a business, not as good. For in 1928, the speakeasy folded.

            It was an unusually chilly October. Speaking of mice, Raymond had gone out to see a new, widely praised animated feature: Steamboat Willie. Like most Americans, he found himself charmed by Mickey Mouse’s antics and captivated by Disney’s animations. While he was having a delightful day, there was a disturbance elsewhere in the universe.

            Helen’s car finally gave out after years of use and abuse. On her way to the speakeasy with a fresh stock, she met with one of the city’s recently installed traffic lights. The light flickered to red, so Helen put her foot on the break, but to no avail. The car kept moving, colliding with the vehicle in front of her.

            Crash!

            She was alright, but no secret compartment or explanations could hide the scent of alcohol wafting from her vehicle. The force of the impact had broken the majority of the bottles she had been carrying. It wasn’t long until the police found them. Off to the hoosegow she went. Her husband managed to have her freed. Naturally, she chose him over bootlegging.

            After losing his remaining partner, Raymond put even more time and effort into investing. He lost a few dollars here and there, but managed to earn plenty of jack. He got a new apartment, nice furniture on credit, and even met a loving woman. When 1929 first rolled in, he was living in a world glistening with perfection.

            Crash! This crash was not a sound, but an event. October 29th–Black Tuesday–marked the end of his success. The majority of his money had been invested in the stock market. It was gone now.

            Crash! This one was audible. For just moments beforehand, Raymond had been standing on the roof of the office building he owned just off Wall Street, watching the pandemonium.

 

Nov 22

Financial District: Rich In Culture

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Heather Trazino, Paul Menestrier, David Mashkevich

IDC1001H – Arts in New York City – Professor David Hoffman

An Historic Overview

            Even at first glance, it is clear that the Financial District of New York City carries along with it a rich history, in addition to an enduring and prominent role in today’s society. The prime location of New York City’s Financial District has set the stage for its extraordinary history, as it is the oldest part of the city. Prior to the dawn of European exploration in the “New World,” Native Americans were the sole inhabitants of what is now considered NYC’s Financial District. The voyages to the New World by European explorers such as those of Giovanni da Verrazano in 1524 and Henry Hudson in 1609, disrupted the peaceful settlements of Native Americans already present. Backed by the sponsorship of the Dutch East India Company, Henry Hudson’s voyage ultimately led to the creation of a Dutch fur trading post and settlement at the southern tip of Manhattan by 1624. Just a couple years later, the settlement built Fort Amsterdam to protect Dutch interests nearby their new trading post establishment. In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant was sent by the Dutch to New Amsterdam and was appointed Director-General of the colony New Netherland. With his appointment, the southern tip of Manhattan was truly remodeled by Stuyvesant’s vast expansions of the current colony as well as by his infrastructural transformations that he accomplished in his time. He went above and beyond in his job to restructure the whole colony so that it may stand on its own two feet again after some hard years prior. In addition to other contributions, Stuyvesant was responsible for the construction of a famously large protective wall, intended to protect the Dutch citizens from the attacks of the English and the Native Americans. It is this wall that gives its name to the famed financial street of New York City: Wall Street.

            Peter Stuyvesant would be the final Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland. In 1664, the British throne sent four large war ships to the Dutch colony to seize the it for the empire. Though Stuyvesant was ready to fight back forcefully, popular opinion among civilians persuaded him to peacefully surrender the colony to the British. Ultimately, New York would become a major point of interest during the American Revolution after the British assumed control of it in 1664, as several battles between General Washington and the British Army occurred within close distance to the island of Manhattan. In 1783, the American colonists asserted final control of Manhattan when they defeated the British in the American Revolution and liberated the island. Following the difficulties of the Revolutionary War, Americans realized the need for updated forts to sustain any later war efforts, which sparked the construction of Castle Clinton beginning in 1808, to protect American exports from foreign threats. For many years to come, New York would continue to serve as a major trading center that would make it enormously famous for its economic success and wealth.

            Switching gears to the political arena, New York later became more than just an asset in the economic, trading, or military sectors. For a little over a year, from 1789 to 1790, the capitol of the United States was New York City. More specifically, the capital building was named Federal Hall, situated on Wall street right in the heart of the financial district. This first location for the nation’s capital made perfect sense, considering the major role New York played in the importing and exporting of commodities, especially in its early years. However, later disputes between politicians Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson about New York City becoming too powerful of a city ultimately moved the capital of the United States to the South.

            In 1792, The New York Stock Exchange was founded and began its legacy as New York City’s greatest symbol of wealth and finance. Shifting only a few blocks from its original location, The New York Stock Exchange was completely rebuilt in 1903 and has since been modified and updated in accordance with the current finance and trading practices.

            In May 1914, New York City exemplified its economic influence in America once more when the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was incorporated. Though created as only one of twelve Federal Reserve banks throughout the country, the New York Fed quickly asserted itself as the largest and most powerful district banks in the country. Although monetary policy is decided in Washington, the New York Fed is where the implementation of these policies occur. Though the New York Fed has been subject to accusations and criticisms concerning political corruption in the more recent years, it maintains its role as the most influential federal bank in the country.

            A history of the Financial District would be incomplete without mention of the infamous Wall Street Bombing on September 16, 1920. At approximately noon on this day, a horse-drawn carriage exploded on Wall Street just a few feet away from the JP Morgan building, leading to the death of almost 40 people. While the United States would go on to experience far worst bombings with much higher death totals, this bombing in not without significance, as the mere fact that New York was a target for terrorism indicates its importance at the time.

            After the great economic prosperity of the 1920s, The Financial District experienced an unusual period of unrest and anxiety after the crash of 1929. The Great Depression gave the district and the people who worked at the heart of it a very poor reputation, as many were furious with the corruption, over speculation, and questionable business practices encouraged by members of the Wall Street community- all of which heavily influenced the emergence of Great Depression. Following the years of the Great Depression, it took the help of New Deal programs and the economic boom accompanied by World War II in order for the American public to fully restore their trust in the market and Wall Street Bankers.

            In 1973, the World Trade Center was built in the financial district. The most notable feature of the WTC was the Twin Towers, the tallest buildings in New York City at the time, and in the world at the time of their construction. On September 11th, 2001, two hijacked planes flew into the Twin Towers in an act of terrorism, bringing them crumbling to the ground. After eight months of cleaning up the debris, plans for the new World Trade Center complex began. Still currently under construction, the complex’s most notable features are the 9/11 memorial and the One World Trade Center, formerly known as the Freedom Tower, which is currently the tallest building in the United States.

            The importance of the Financial District at the southern tip of Manhattan cannot be understated given its incredible influence on New York City and America in both historical and current contexts. It has, at one point or another, played a crucial role in the development in the political, social, and economic arenas of the entirety of the United States.

Cultural Overview

            Due to its rich history, the Financial District is full of significant institutions and unique cultural markers. The Financial District is home to some of the most important financial institutions in the country including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the New York Stock Exchange. Unlike the some buildings near them–Federal Hall, the Chamber of Commerce–they are still functioning and playing a role in our economy. The Federal Reserve works to maintain balance within the U.S. economy, supervising financial institutions. Each day, traders buy and sell stocks on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange; they can win it big or lose everything. From 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM, skill, predictions, and anxiety dictate the flow of money through the Stock Exchange.

            Looking beyond the district’s financial institutions, you will find the National Museum of the American Indian, the Fraunces Tavern Museum,  the Museum of Jewish Heritage, and the Museum of American Finance. These four museums have extensive collections and and enthusiastic employees. If one is passionate about their heritage, American History, their religion, or the economy, he or she should definitely take a look at one–or even all–of these enlightening institutions. Recently opened, the 9/11 Museum also resides in the Financial District. However, at the moment, it is still quite difficult to secure ticket, although those deeply affected by the tragedy may not wish to relive it through their collection.

            In order to fully experience the Financial District, one should consider attending some of its well-known cultural events. Firstly, there is the Tunnel to Towers 5K Run. This athletic event commemorates the brave firefighters that ran through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to aid victims of the terrorist attacks. If you are not an athlete or if this story hits too close to home, consider attending Fleet Week. Each summer, in an event that honors the area’s maritime past, Navy, Marine, and Coast Guard ships dock in New York City, opening their gangways to visitors. Here, you can learn about how the ships operate and how the crew lives. Having run for 28 years, this event is loved by those living in and around the Financial District.

Zuccoti Park

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A photograph of Zuccotti Park prominently featuring the sculpture “Joie de Vivre.”

Photo Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joie_de_Vivre

            Between Broadway, Liberty Street, Trinity Place, and Cedar Street, you will find Zuccotti park. This small park is popular with New Yorkers, who often eat lunch or relax here, and with tourists, as it is close to One World Trade. Before 2001, it had been known as Liberty Park. Due to its location, it was severely damaged in the September 11th terrorist attacks. Brookfield Properties, the corporation that owns the park, reopened it in 2006 after spending roughly eight-million dollars for repairs and renovations (Coley). The park was renamed Zuccotti Park in honor of John E. Zuccotti, the U.S. chairman of the corporation (Coley).

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“Double Check,” the bronze businessman, is a staple of Zuccotti Park and a symbol of strength.

           Two iconic sculptures reside within Zuccotti Park. J. Seward Johnson’s “Double Check” depicts a seated bronze businessman looking inside of a briefcase (Dunlap). This figure has become a symbol of resilience after surviving the September 11th attacks (Dunlap). Although he took a vacation during the park’s reconstruction, he returned home in 2006, shortly after the park reopened. The statue is popular with New Yorkers and tourists alike. For many New Yorkers, he is quite relatable. For many tourists, he is fun to take photos with and decorate in souvenirs. The other sculpture in the park is “Joie de Vivre” (Joy of Life) by Mark de Suvero (Genocchio). This sculpture is 70-feet tall and constructed from red I-beams (Genocchio). “Joie de Vivre” arrived in 2006, having resided by the Holland Tunnel and in the Storm King Art Center in the past (Genocchio).

Zuccotti Park fell into national attention in September 2011, when protesters from a group known as Occupy Wall Street settled in the park. The group wanted to make a statement against social injustices and economic inequality. Occupying this park was easy, as it is not fenced in like city-owned parks, so a curfew could not be enforced. Brookfield Properties, the private owners of the park, were able to oust protesters in November 2011 by establishing rules against camping and sleeping in the park (Fodarero).

World Trade Center (September 11th Memorial / Freedom Tower / The Oculus)

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The September 11th Memorial is located where the World Trade Towers once stood.

Source:http://911memorialmuseum.tumblr.com/post/129307259129/then-and-now-aerial-shots-of-the-911-memorial

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One World Trade stands tall in Manhattan’s skyline.

Source:http://www.archdaily.com/563663/som-s-one-world-trade-center-opens-in-new-york/54594876e58ece479000003d-som-s-one-world-trade-center-opens-in-new-york-photo

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The Oculus, with its skeletal appearance and bright white coloration, truly stands out.

Source:http://rew-online.com/2016/03/16/banks-oculus-vital-link-for-growing-nyc-workforce/

            Fifteen years after the tragic terror attacks of September 11th, 2001, the World Trade Center complex is bustling once more. The September 11th Memorial consists of two reflecting pools constructed where the Twin Towers once stood. The names of the 2,606 victims of the attack are engraved around the pools. While many tourists visit the pools, many New Yorkers, sometimes family and friends of those lost, visit the pools to reflect back on that fateful day. It is not uncommon to see a rose placed beside a name. Several yards away stands The Oculus, a white, skeletal structure that serves as both a shopping center and a transportation hub. Completed in 2016, it was designed by renowned architect Santiago Calatrava. Last but not least, there is the One World Trade Tower, which was completed in 2013. This building is often referred to as the “Freedom Tower,” as it was originally set to be named that by Governor George Pataki two years after the attacks. At this time, the wounds from the attack were still fresh; this name was meant to be a reflection of New York’s resilience (Rose). In 2009, however, the Port Authority changed the name of the building to One World Trade (Rose). They felt that the name was too politically charged and bring back too many negative memories, harming the building commercially (Rose). They did not want prospective tenants to fear the security of this building (Rose). Yet, the name “Freedom Tower” has stuck. Some suggest that this is because the tower continues to be viewed as a symbol of pride, strength, and American values. Others suggest that many simply failed to notice the change, continuing to refer to the tower by the name they had always known it by. At 104 stories tall, One World Trade is the tallest structure in New York City. Due to its unique, flat sides, the tower reflects sunlight vividly, making it an excellent subject for photographs. While most of the tower is offices, there is an observation deck that is open to the public. At the price of $45 a ticket, tourists can get an amazing view of the city and the experience of a lifetime.

Bowling Green

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A photograph of Bowling Green today.

Source:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USA-NYC-Bowling_Green.jpg

            Bowling Green may be 283 years old, but it remains one of the most iconic and picturesque parks in New York City. The park was first created in 1686, when the British declared it public property (Sewell). In 1733, at the price of one peppercorn per year, the area was leased to Peter Bayard, John Chambers, and Peter Jay, who improved the park with trees, flowers, and a wooden fence (Sewell). In 1770, the infamous gilded statue of King George III was added to the park. The iron fence surrounding the park today was erected in 1771 (Sewell). On July 9, 1776, after the first reading of The Declaration of Independence, enraged New Yorkers pulled down the statue of King George III and melted it into ammunition. Atop the tall spikes of the fence sat crowns, which were sawed off during this riot. Today, if you touch the tops of the spikes, they still feel rough, as they were never sanded down. In 1819, the park was only open to the families of those who tended to it (Sewell). But, by the years 1850, all were allowed access to the park (Sewell). Due to subway construction and financial difficulties, the park was neglected for much of the 20th century (Sewell). Luckily, in 1977, the park was restored and a central fountain, donated by George T. Delacorte, was installed (Sewell). Today, many New Yorker’s in the Financial District use Bowling Green as a retreat. It’s a nice, quiet place, whether you are eating lunch, reading, or just relaxing. Tourists, unless interested in New York City History, tend to overlook Bowling Green. However, it still appears in many tourist photos as a backdrop for another popular attraction: the charging bull statue.

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A photograph of Bowling Green from 1898.

Source:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bowling_Green_New_York_1898.jpg

St. Paul’s Chapel

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St. Paul’s Chapel, once attended by George Washington, remains open to the public for religious services and social programs.

Source:https://www.trinitywallstreet.org

            In the shadow of One World Trade, on Broadway between Fulton and Vesey street, sits St. Paul’s Chapel, an Episcopal church. Originally built in 1766 for convenience, St. Paul’s Chapel has become a symbol of strength in New York. When the Great Fire of 1776 destroyed Trinity Church, St. Paul’s Chapel survived, sustaining only minor damage (“St. Paul’s Chapel”). As Trinity Church was being rebuilt, many prominent historical figures, including George Washington, attended services here (“St. Paul’s Chapel”). Even after becoming president, Washington still attended many services at this chapel. On September 11th, 2001, St. Paul’s Chapel proved its power again. The chapel was not damaged during the attacks and became site of relief for recovery workers for the next nine months. St. Paul’s Chapel received a new, fitting nickname “the little chapel that stood.” The chapel remains important to the lives of many New Yorkers, offering religious services, historical programs, art classes, social clubs, and social justice outreach programs (“St. Paul’s Chapel”).

Fraunces Tavern

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Fraunces Tavern continues to function as a restaurant, honoring its rich history with a museum as well.

Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraunces_Tavern

            Fraunces Tavern, located on Pearl Street, is a unique place because it is both a restaurant and a museum. In 1762, this tavern, known at the time as the Sign of Queen Charlotte or Queen’s Head Tavern, was opened by Samuel Fraunces (Fraunces Tavern Museum). The tavern served as a community center in which locals and travellers shared news, ideas, and opinions (Fraunces Tavern Museum). In 1768, the New York Chamber of Commerce was founded within the tavern (Fraunces Tavern Museum). During the American Revolution, service at the tavern was intermittent until 1783 (Fraunces Tavern Museum). When the British evacuated New York, both General George Washington and Governor George Clinton celebrated here (Fraunces Tavern Museum). Nine days later, George Washington invited the officers of the Continental Army to the tavern to bid farewell; they had won the war (Fraunces Tavern Museum). The tavern has witnessed many owners, countless renovations, three fires, and one murder, but it is still open to this day (Fraunces Tavern Museum). Anyone interested in New York’s history should consider touring the tavern’s museum, which contains both art and furniture from its fascinating past. Fraunces Tavern also offers an extensive menu of delicious food at a moderate price. It may not be the finest restaurant in the city, but not many people get a chance to say that they ate at the same tavern as George Washington.

National Museum of the American Indian (George Gustav Heye Center)

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            The George Gustav Heye Center is a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian in Manhattan, New York, and is part of the Smithsonian Institution. The Center includes both modern and historical exhibits and artifacts by and about the Native Americans. The center is named after George Gustav Heye, who collected Native American artifacts in 1903 and opened the Museum of the American Indian on Audubon Terrace, which closed in 1994. The Heye Center offers many exhibitions, film and video screenings, and programs and culture presentations throughout the year. The permanent collection of the Heye Center is called Infinity of Nations, which shows the broad range of the Smithsonian’s collection. The exhibit displays over 700 items from ethnology to art. Audio and video recordings are used for commentary by historians on the specific objects presented. The rotunda is mostly used as a performance space, featuring murals that reflect the history of the building. Other galleries of the George Gustav Heye Center include the Photography Gallery, Special Exhibit Galleries, Contemporary Galleries, the Haudenosaunee Discovery Room, the Resource Center Reference Library, a small theater, and the museum store.

Delmonico’s

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            Delmonico’s refers to the chain of New York City restaurants that was started by the Delmonico family. The most famous store was the one located at 2 South William Street in Lower Manhattan, which was open during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It eventually gained a reputation as one of America’s top fine dining establishments. The restaurant is known for being the first American restaurant to allow customers order from a menu and is also the first to include a separate wine list. The very first Delmonico’s was opened in 1827 in a rented pastry shop at 23 William Street, which was opened by John and Peter Delmonico from Ticino, Switzerland. Soon, they were joined by their nephew, Lorenzo, who was in charge of the restaurant’s wine list and menu. Eventually, the family opened more restaurants, ultimately ending with 10 in total in 1923. Then, in 1927, Oscar Tucci purchased the 70,000 square foot building at 56 Beaver Street, eventually opening a Oscar’s Delmonico’s. The restaurant invented the Delmonico Potatoes, although the most popular item on the menu is the Delmonico steak. Under Oscar Tucci’s ownership of Delmonico’s, he also created the Wedge Salad, for which he carefully selected ingredients. The salad was immediately a favorite and is regarded as one of the most famous salads of our time.

Federal Reserve

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            In the Financial District, at 33 Liberty Street, stands the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, one of the most important financial buildings. This is where national monetary policy is executed. The building contains a vault that holds the world’s largest depository of gold, stored for the many government institutions from all around the world. In 2015, total gold holdings was approximately 6,350 tons. The building was called a landmark in 1965, by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and was soon added to the National Register of Historic Places. The design of the building, the neo-Renaissance structure, actually set the precedent for many banks later on, with its monumental size and fortress-like appearance. It was built between 1919 and 1924, occupying an entire block and is fourteen stories tall and five floors underground. The stone exterior of the building is suggestive of a palace, to inspire trust and confidence in the institution.

Charging Bull

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            The Charging Bull, often called the Wall Street Bull or the Bowling Green Bull, is the bronze sculpture that stands in the Financial District in Manhattan, New York City. It was originally a guerilla art by Arturo Di Modica, but because of its popularity, it remained a permanent feature. The 3,200 kilogram or 7,100 pound sculpture stands at 11 feet tall and is 16 feet long, and depicts a bull, which is a symbol of aggressive financial optimism and prosperity. The structure is a very popular tourist destination, drawing thousands of people a day, and is one of the most iconic images of New York. Di Modica spent about $360,000 to create this sculpture to symbolize the strength and power of the American people even after the 1987 stock market crash. The sculpture became an instant hit when it was installed, and is one of the city’s most photographed artworks and is perhaps the most loved and recognized statue of New York City.

Trinity Church

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            The Financial District is also home to the first Anglican Church built in Manhattan. Located near the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway, Trinity Church has been part of New York’s history for over 300 years. In 1697, Royal Governor Benjamin Fletcher granted a charter to a small group of Anglican immigrants to legalize its construction (Trinity Church). However, repairs eventually became necessary to keep the structure standing. The church was one of the 493 structures destroyed in the New York City Fire of 1776 (New York City Fire), and had to be rebuilt between 1788 and 1790. In 1838, support beams of the Second Trinity Church buckled causing structural damage to the church. Richard Upjohn was the architect hired to repair the building; he designed a new building that resembled a 14th century English parish church (Trinity Church). This new building was the tallest in New York City until 1890. Throughout its 300-year history, Trinity Parish has had a total of eleven different chapels. In addition, there is a cemetery located right next to the church, Trinity Church Cemetery. It has served as the final resting place for many historical figures in the city, dating back to the Revolutionary War.

Map (important location overview)

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Financial District

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Zuccotti Park: 40.709123, -74.011041
World Trade Center (September 11th Memorial / Freedom Tower / The Oculus): 40.711514, -74.013149
Bowling Green: 40.705101, -74.013653
St. Paul’s Chapel: 40.711300, -74.009200
Fraunces Tavern: 40.703384, -74.011449
National Museum of the American Indian (George Gustav Heye Center): 40.704374, -74.013814
Delmonico’s: 40.704941, -74.011105
Federal Reserve: 40.708649, -74.008852
Charging Bull: 40.705607, -74.013482
Trinity Church: 40.708123, -74.012221
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Zuccotti Park

Zuccotti Park, known as Liberty Park before the September 11th terrorists attacks, is a staple of the Financial District. A popular spot for officer workers to relax at, it is known for its two unique sculptures, "Double Check" and "Joie de Vivre." In 2011, this park gained attention when it became home to the controversial Occupy Wall Street movement.

New York New Jersey, United States of America
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World Trade Center (September 11th Memorial / Freedom Tower / The Oculus)

While the World Trade Towers may be gone, the World Trade Center is coming to life once more. Two reflecting pools sit where the towers once stood, honoring all victims of the September 11th attacks. A new tower name One World Trade--often erroneously referred to as the Freedom Tower--has been constructed on the site. In addition, a unique, skeletal transportation hub and shopping center know as the Oculus was built on the site, reaching completion in the spring of 2016.

New York Public Library New York City, United States of America
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Bowling Green

At the age of 283 years, Bowling Green is one of the oldest and iconic parks in New York City. This park once housed a statue of King George III, which was famously torn down and melted into bullets after the first reading of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Today, it serves as a rest stop for New Yorkers, often ignored by tourists in favor of other attractions in the Financial District.

Bowling Green (4,5) New York City, United States of America
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St. Paul’s Chapel

St. Paul's Chapel was built in 1766 as a convenient annex to Trinity Church. This chapel was a place of worship for many important historical figures such as George Washington. Having survived the Great Fire of 1776 and the September 11th attacks, St. Paul's Chapel has become a symbol of strength within the Financial District. St. Paul's Chapel remains open to this day for both religious and social events.

Saint Paul's Chapel New York City, United States of America
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Fraunces Tavern

In 1762, this tavern was first opened by Samuel Fraunces. In 1768, the New York Chamber of Commerce was founded in this tavern. At the end of the American Revolution, Washington bid farewell to his troops in this tavern. With its historically rich past, Fraunces Tavern is open as both a museum and a restaurant. How many people can say they got to eat in the same restaurant as George Washington?

New York United States of America
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National Museum of the American Indian (George Gustav Heye Center)

Located at 1 Bowling Green, the George Gustav Heye Center contains modern and historical exhibits and artifacts related to Native American culture. It is a part of the Smithsonian Institution, and is named after George Gustav Heye, who was a collector of Native American artifacts in the early 20th century. The museum features an impressive rotunda, which is contains murals reflecting the history of the building.

New York City Police Memorial New York City, United States of America
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Delmonico’s

One of New York's most famous steakhouses, Delmonico's, is located in the Financial District. It made its name as being the first American restaurant to allow customers to order from a menu. Delmonico's remains a popular destination for food enthusiasts around the city.

Delmonico Place New York, United States of America
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Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, one of the country's most important financial buildings, can be found at 33 Liberty Street. The basement vault of this building contains over 6,000 tons of gold, which is valued at over $400 billion dollars (as of 2015). The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission declared building to be a landmark in 1965.

New York City Police Memorial New York City, United States of America
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Charging Bull

The Charging Bull, also known as the Wall Street Bull or the Bowling Green Bull, is a symbolic sculpture at the heart of the Financial District. It was originally created by Arturo Di Modica as a work of guerilla art, meant to restore confidence in the economy after the 1987 stock market crash. However, due to its immediate popularity, it became a permanent installation, and remains a very popular landmark for tourists to visit and photograph.

New York City Police Memorial New York City, United States of America
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Trinity Church

The first Anglican Church built in Manhattan, Trinity Church, still stands at the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway. The building was originally built in the 19th century, but had to be rebuilt several times due to structural damage. Trinity Church cemetery is located right next to the chapel; Trinity Church is one of the oldest historical landmarks in the Financial District.

Trinity Place New York, United States of America

Bibliography

Chan, Sewell. “Celebrating 276 Years of Bowling Green.” New York Times, 12 March 2009.

            http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/celebraing-276-years-of-bowling-green/. Accessed 22 Oct.            2016.

Coley, Melissa. “Brookfield Properties Re-Opens Lower Manhattan Park Following $8 Million

Renovation.” MarketWired, 1 June 2006, http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/brookfield-properties-                        re-opens-lower-manhattan-park-following-8-million-renovation-tsx-bpo-597554.htm. Accessed 22 Oct. 2016.

Dunlap, David. “Back at His Bench Downtown, Having Survived 9/11.” New York Times, 1 June 2006.                              http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/01/nyregion/01cnd-park.html. Accessed 22 Oct. 2016

Foderaro, Lisa. “Privately Owned Park, Open to the Public, May Make Its Own Rules.” New

            York Times, 13 Oct. 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/nyregion/zuccotti-park-is-privately-owned-            but-open-to-the-public.html. Accessed 22 Oct. 2016.

Fraunces Tavern Museum. Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York, 2002.

            http://frauncestavernmuseum.org/. Accessed 22 Oct. 2016.

Genocchio, Benjamin. “Works of a Major Player in Macho Sculpture.” New York Times, 23 June 2006.                                     http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/23/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/25wearts.html. Accessed 22 Oct. 2016.

“The Great New York City Fire.” The Great New York City Fire. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.

Halverson, Guy. “A Ramble down Wall Street. (history of New York, New York Financial

            District; Includes Article on Global Nature of Financial Industries).” The Christian Science Monitor. Vol. 83.             N.p.: n.p., 1991. 10. Print.

“History.” Trinity Church. N.p., 28 Apr. 2016. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.

Rose, Sarah. “No, That Isn’t Freedom Tower.” The Wall Street Journal, 23 June 2013.

            http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323998604578563520424195296. Accessed 9 Nov. 2016.

“St. Paul’s Chapel.” Trinity Church Wall Street,

            https://www.trinitywallstreet.org/about/stpaulschapel. Accessed 22 Oct. 2016.

“Timeline of New York History.” I LOVE NEW YORK. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2016.

            <http://www.iloveny.com/things-to-do/history/timeline/#.WBiTCHeZNE5>.

Nov 21

Jeff Koons

  koons

            Jeff Koons is a contemporary artist known for blending together a wide array of styles and mediums. Koons was born in 1955 in York, Pennsylvania. His love of art began at a young age. When he was just eight years old, he began painting replicas of Old Master paintings, selling them at his father’s furniture store signed “Jeffrey Koons” (The Guggenheim Museum). As a teenager, Koons idolized Salvador Dalí, traveling to New York just to visit him at the Plaza Hotel (Coskun Fine Art). To further his knowledge of art, he attended the Maryland Institute College of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago, graduating with a bachelor of fine arts degree in 1976 (The Guggenheim Museum). The next year, Koons moved to New York and began working at the Museum of Modern Art (The Guggenheim Museum). He worked behind the membership desk, but quickly gained attention for his unique clothing and his outgoing personality (The Guggenheim Museum). At this point in time, he had begun experimenting with his own art style. He worked with inflatable animals, plastic, Plexiglass, and mirrors to create unique sculptures (The Guggenheim Museum). By 1980, Koons, wanting to pursue an art career of his own, stopped working at the Museum of Modern Art (The Guggenheim Museum). In order to fund his career, he worked on Wall Street, selling stock and mutual funds at the First Investors Corporation (The Guggenheim Museum). As he produced art throughout the 1980s, he gained much recognition (Coskun Fine Art). Soon, he set up a factory-like studio in a loft at the corner of Houston and Broadway (Coskun Fine Art). He had a team of thirty people who each took on a different role in helping him to produce his work (Coskun Fine Art).

            Outside of his work, Koons has faced a turbulent family life. In 1991, he married an Italian pornography star named Ilona Staller (Coskun Fine Art). This relationship was complicated from the start, as Koons only spoke about four words of Italian and Staller did not speak English; they typically communicated with each other through an interpreter (Coskun Fine Art). In 1992, they had a son name Ludwig. Shortly afterwards, they separated, with Staller taking Ludwig to Rome. Koons spent millions of dollars trying to get custody of his son, but he lost the case in Italy’s Supreme Court (Coskun Fine Art). Today he is married to Justine Wheeler, with whom he has six children. Koons currently lives in the Upper East Side of New York City, occasionally returning to his hometown of York, Pennsylvania (Coskun Fine Art).

            In the 1980s, when Koons first began producing artwork, New York City was facing a rough patch. Like the 1970s, the city was plagued by unemployment, crime, drugs, and racial tension. Housing conditions had continued to deteriorate and the Subway system became dangerous, a hive for all sorts of crime. Crime in the city later declined, but employment did not increase very much, resulting in a weak economy. Between the years of 1989 and 1992, thirty-thousand jobs were lost; the next decade was not off to a good start, either (Johnson).

            In his artwork, Koons often focuses on commercialism, popular culture, and familiar objects. Koons often took average objects and transformed them into something glamorous and desirable. One of his series, Made in Heaven, created during his marriage to Staller, focuses on sexuality and beauty. Thus, his work overlaps with the course themes of art and its purpose, meaningfulness, and morals and norms. Much of Koons’s artwork was created as critique of consumer culture and popular culture, exploring its impacts and importance in life. Regarding the theme of morals, Koons explored sexuality, creating both sculptures and painting of he and his ex-wife engaging in sexual activities. Unlike his other work, these pieces were not created as a critique or to make a social statement. Rather, he was expressing his own love and admiration. These pieces were very meaningful to him, a way of displauing his passion. So far, Koons has created hundreds of pieces of artwork. With the variety in his work, it is quite difficult to pinpoint his most important pieces.

new15_sm

            One piece that stands out is New Hoover Convertible, created in 1980 for his series The New. This piece features a vacuum surrounded by an acrylic case and illuminated by florescent lights, lending the vacuum an air of importance and respectability. At the time, this model was seen as new and improved; a must-have for any household. He created several pieces like this one, featuring vacuums and other appliances. According to Koons, none of the vacuum cleaners have or will ever be used, as it will destroy his artwork (“Jeff Koons: A Retrospective”). Interestingly, these carefully preserved vacuum cleaners have become outdated, perhaps providing commentary on the fact that we live in a throw-away society.

eq23_sm

            One Ball 50/50 Tank (Spalding Dr. J Silver Series) was debuted in 1985 with his Equilibrium series, which focused on the subject of basketball. Made of glass, steel, distilled water, and a basketball, this piece could be altered as people walked around the gallery. While the ball continued to float, it would shift due to vibrations from footsteps. Koons viewed basketball as being a dangerous temptation, luring young people in in hopes of gaining social mobility from the sport and shoes (“Jeff Koons: A Retrospective”). Koons felt that basketball was an unpredictable path, as represented by the uncertain motion of the basketball. It could lead young people to riches, but it could also lead them to crime.

koons_009-021_M.Jacks#10D00.tif

            Micheal Jackson and Bubbles is a piece created by Koons in 1988 as part of his Banality series. Koons produced three editions of this porcelain sculpture. In his depiction of the popular icon, Koons used gold coloring and triangular configurations reminiscent of those used in Michelangelo’s work (“Jeff Koons: A Retrospective”). Through these details, Koons depicts Jackson and his pet as being saintly, worshiped by the people around them. This piece serves as critique for the way celebrities are idolized and exalted by society; they, too, are human.

mih44_smmih13_sm

            After marrying Ilona Staller, Koons began working on his Made in Heaven series, which contained paintings, sculptures, and photographs. Many of these pieces depicted the couple engaged in sexual acts. In, Kiss With Diamonds, an oil ink silkscreen on canvas piece created in 1991, we see Koons and Staller sharing a kiss. Both are dressed in white, flowing garments, making them seems pure and divine, even godlike. Another piece from this collection is Cat, a marble sculpture created in 1991. Aside from depictions of himself and his wife, Koons included several sculptures of cats and dogs, mostly puppies, in this collection. These animals show the love and tenderness he felt at the time. Like a cat or dog, he felt that he served as a companion for his wife.

cel14_smballoondogredballoondog-yellow

balloondog-magentaballoondog-orange

            Jeff Koons is possibly best known for his five editions of Balloon Dog, mirror-polished stainless steel sculptures created between 1994 and 2000. These sculptures were made as part of his Celebration series. While they may appear simple, it took over sixty pieces to craft each of these one ton-balloon dogs due to their lifelike twists and puckers (“Jeff Koons: A Retrospective”). This sculpture elevates a balloon dog from being a mere party prop into an object of beauty, something to be desired. He transformed a mundane object into a magical being. It makes the simple, annual birthday into even more of an important event, something absolutely worth celebrating. These sculptures carry the message that life if joyful and glorious. It is important to note that the orange version of Balloon Dog was sold for $58.4 million in 2013, setting the record for the most expensive piece of art sold by a living artist (“Jeff Koons: A Retrospective”).

             With his extensive, varied portfolio and his seemingly limitless imagination, Jeff Koons is an artist who should be known by every New Yorker. Throughout the 1980s, he used his art as a way of critiquing commercialism and popular culture. In the 1990s, he used his artwork as a way of expressing his own passions and feelings, whether it be through portraits or simple items made glorious. Koons continues to produce art today, making his fans wonder what he will think of next.

Powerpoint Presentation: jeff-koons-presentation

Bibliography

“Jeff Koons.” Coskun Fine Art, http://www.coskunfineart.com/biography.asp?artistID=14.

            Accessed 20 Nov. 2016.

“Jeff Koons.” The Guggenheim Museum, https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/jeff-koons.

            Accessed 20 Nov. 2016.

“Jeff Koons: A Retrospective.” The Whitney Museum of American Art,

            http://whitney.org/Education/ForTeachers/TeacherGuides/JeffKoons. Accessed 20 Nov. 2016.

Johnson, Kirk. “New York City Has Sharp Rise In Jobless Rate.” The New York Times,

            http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/06/nyregion/new-york-city-has-sharp-rise-in-jobless-rate.html. Accessed 20             Nov. 2016.

Nov 20

Financial District Interactive Map

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Financial District

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Zuccotti Park: 40.709123, -74.011041
World Trade Center (September 11th Memorial / Freedom Tower / The Oculus): 40.711514, -74.013149
Bowling Green: 40.705101, -74.013653
St. Paul’s Chapel: 40.711300, -74.009200
Fraunces Tavern: 40.703384, -74.011449
National Museum of the American Indian (George Gustav Heye Center): 40.704374, -74.013814
Delmonico’s: 40.704941, -74.011105
Federal Reserve: 40.708649, -74.008852
Charging Bull: 40.705607, -74.013482
Trinity Church: 40.708123, -74.012221
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Zuccotti Park

Zuccotti Park, known as Liberty Park before the September 11th terrorists attacks, is a staple of the Financial District. A popular spot for officer workers to relax at, it is known for its two unique sculptures, "Double Check" and "Joie de Vivre." In 2011, this park gained attention when it became home to the controversial Occupy Wall Street movement.

New York New Jersey, United States of America
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World Trade Center (September 11th Memorial / Freedom Tower / The Oculus)

While the World Trade Towers may be gone, the World Trade Center is coming to life once more. Two reflecting pools sit where the towers once stood, honoring all victims of the September 11th attacks. A new tower name One World Trade--often erroneously referred to as the Freedom Tower--has been constructed on the site. In addition, a unique, skeletal transportation hub and shopping center know as the Oculus was built on the site, reaching completion in the spring of 2016.

New York Public Library New York City, United States of America
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Bowling Green

At the age of 283 years, Bowling Green is one of the oldest and iconic parks in New York City. This park once housed a statue of King George III, which was famously torn down and melted into bullets after the first reading of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Today, it serves as a rest stop for New Yorkers, often ignored by tourists in favor of other attractions in the Financial District.

Bowling Green (4,5) New York City, United States of America
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St. Paul’s Chapel

St. Paul's Chapel was built in 1766 as a convenient annex to Trinity Church. This chapel was a place of worship for many important historical figures such as George Washington. Having survived the Great Fire of 1776 and the September 11th attacks, St. Paul's Chapel has become a symbol of strength within the Financial District. St. Paul's Chapel remains open to this day for both religious and social events.

Saint Paul's Chapel New York City, United States of America
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Fraunces Tavern

In 1762, this tavern was first opened by Samuel Fraunces. In 1768, the New York Chamber of Commerce was founded in this tavern. At the end of the American Revolution, Washington bid farewell to his troops in this tavern. With its historically rich past, Fraunces Tavern is open as both a museum and a restaurant. How many people can say they got to eat in the same restaurant as George Washington?

New York United States of America
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National Museum of the American Indian (George Gustav Heye Center)

Located at 1 Bowling Green, the George Gustav Heye Center contains modern and historical exhibits and artifacts related to Native American culture. It is a part of the Smithsonian Institution, and is named after George Gustav Heye, who was a collector of Native American artifacts in the early 20th century. The museum features an impressive rotunda, which is contains murals reflecting the history of the building.

New York City Police Memorial New York City, United States of America
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Delmonico’s

One of New York's most famous steakhouses, Delmonico's, is located in the Financial District. It made its name as being the first American restaurant to allow customers to order from a menu. Delmonico's remains a popular destination for food enthusiasts around the city.

Delmonico Place New York, United States of America
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Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, one of the country's most important financial buildings, can be found at 33 Liberty Street. The basement vault of this building contains over 6,000 tons of gold, which is valued at over $400 billion dollars (as of 2015). The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission declared building to be a landmark in 1965.

New York City Police Memorial New York City, United States of America
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Charging Bull

The Charging Bull, also known as the Wall Street Bull or the Bowling Green Bull, is a symbolic sculpture at the heart of the Financial District. It was originally created by Arturo Di Modica as a work of guerilla art, meant to restore confidence in the economy after the 1987 stock market crash. However, due to its immediate popularity, it became a permanent installation, and remains a very popular landmark for tourists to visit and photograph.

New York City Police Memorial New York City, United States of America
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Trinity Church

The first Anglican Church built in Manhattan, Trinity Church, still stands at the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway. The building was originally built in the 19th century, but had to be rebuilt several times due to structural damage. Trinity Church cemetery is located right next to the chapel; Trinity Church is one of the oldest historical landmarks in the Financial District.

Trinity Place New York, United States of America

Nov 12

West Side Story (1961)

West Side Story, released in 1961, is a film adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name. The film centers around two rival gangs in the Upper West Side, the Jets and the Sharks. The members of the Jets are white, while the Sharks are Puerto Rican. After a scuffle between the two gangs takes place, Riff, the leader of the Jets, wants to challenge the Sharks to a rumble to prove their dominance. To confront the leader of the Sharks, he enlists Tony, his best friend. Tony, unlike the others, works and is losing touch with his gang. Nevertheless, he attends a dance populated by the two gangs to assist Riff. At the dance, he mistakenly meets a beautiful girl name Maria. There is one problem: she is the younger sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks. The Jets and Sharks agree to meet later that night to discuss the rumble. It is determined that the fight will take place between two men with no weapons. Maria and Tony, torn by their love and alliances, are determined to stop this fight from taking place. When the rumble occurs, Tony tries to intervene, encouraging peace. Instead, he is called a coward. Soon, chaos breaks out and the gang leaders fight. Bernardo hits Riff, causing him to pull out a knife. Bernardo, however, has his own knife, which he uses to kill Riff. Overcome with emotion, Tony kills Bernardo. He is able to retreat before the police can find him, consoling Maria and gaining her forgiveness. They make plans to run away together. While Tony hides, waiting for her to escape with him, he is told that she is dead after having been shot by Chino, a member of the Sharks. This is not true, but he becomes inconsolable, running through the streets attempting to provoke Chino. He sees Maria and embraces her before being shot by Chino. Tony dies with Maria by his side, surrounded by the remaining members of the Jets and the Sharks. She expresses her sadness and anger, blaming everyone for Tony’s death and threatening to kill herself. Ultimately, she collapses in tears as the police arrive and members of both gangs carry away Tony’s body.

Production for West Side Story began in 1960. The majority of scenes from the film were recorded in New York City in areas of 68th Street that were demolish to build Lincoln Center shortly afterwards and 110th Street (American Film Institute). The rest of the film was recorded on sets at the Samuel Goldwyn Studios in Hollywood (American Film Institute). The film cost $6,000,000 to produce (American Film Institute). This film opened to much praise, being nominate for eleven Academy Awards, taking away ten (Dirks). The awards it received were for best picture, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, best director, best color cinematography, best art direction (set direction), best sound, best scoring of a musical picture, best film editing, and best costume design (Dirks).

Taking place in the postwar years, West Side Story connects to the course theme of immigration. As mentioned earlier, the Sharks are a gang consisting of Puerto Rican immigrants. The Jets treat them poorly, spewing slurs against them and demanding that they leave. They complain that the Puerto Ricans are taking over, multiplying “like cockroaches.” They go out of their way to separate themselves from the Puerto Ricans. Even the law treats them worse. Lieutenant Schrank, constantly trying to quash gang violence, openly insults members of the Sharks, treating them with far less patience than the Jets. Like all recent groups of immigrants to New York, the Puerto Ricans face discrimination. In the song “America” the Puerto Rican girls talk about their hopes, while the boys complain about their struggles. For them, New York is both a city of opportunity and opposition.

Occasionally, this movie does touch upon the themes of morals and norms. Lieutenant Schrank, Officer Krupke, and Doc, a drugstore owner, frequently question the behavior of youths. They are unable to find an explanation for all the hate and violence that is taking place. Doc, elderly and kind, gets particularly emotional over the lack of discipline and abundance of hate while trying to protect Tony, who is an employee and friend. While this movie does not focus on gender roles, they are clearly present. It’s the boys who do the fighting and the girls who need to be protected. There is one exception. Anybodys is a girl with short hair who constantly tries to run with the Jets. Each time she tries to join in, she is rejected for being a girl, once being told to “wear a skirt.” After the rumble, she assists Tony in escaping, gaining her entry to the Jets. Through her loyalty in the face of rejection, it seems as though she was able to prove her worth. She assists the Jets for the remainder of the film, joining them in hurling insults at the Sharks.

Personally, I found this film to be quite enjoyable, although it did have its flaws. Firstly, let me give my compliments. I felt that the acting was strong and that the cast was well-selected. The members of both gangs gave off that vibe of being gritty, tough street kids. The streets they roamed provided the perfect backdrop for the film. I really liked the fact that if you looked closely, you could see graffiti containing the names of the two gangs and their members. The dancing and singing were excellent, clearly painstakingly rehearsed. Most of the songs are quite catchy and fun, sure to get caught in your head. These positive qualities are all very apparent, yet they cannot hide the film’s downfalls. This film is two-and-a-half hours long. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it feels as though some scenes are dragged out further than they have to be. For example, in the beginning, there is a screen with a pattern on it. The color behind the pattern—representing Manhattan—changes, as does the music that is playing. This goes on for several minutes, making me check my DVD player several times, wondering if something was awry. This addition was absolutely unnecessary. Some of the earlier fight scenes drag on for too long, as does the dance scene and the scene with Maria and Tony in the bridal shop. At least the producers of the film were merciful enough to add an intermission for moviegoers in 1961. Some of the effects added to the film failed to actually enhance it. In the dance scene and the scene where Tony and Maria are on the fire escape, the background is blurred so we will focus on them. They are at the center of the shot, that should have been enough. The blurring was just unnecessary and distracting, making the scenes seem clunky and confused.

The largest flaw in West Side Story is more so a matter of personal taste. This film was created as a modern interpretation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, a story about two lovers from rival families. As we all know, this dramatic tale of love at first sight ends in the deaths of six people, including the lovers. As well-crafted as this story might have been, it feels very unrealistic and has been re-purposed to the point of exhaustion. The trope of forbidden lovers is no longer a shock to me, instead being a chore to watch. As soon as forbidden love was introduced in this film, I knew it would not end well. I also knew that I would be a little less interested due to the predictability it adds.

Overall, I feel as though this is a film everyone should see once. It holds very true to the original Broadway production, making it accessible to all. The cast, costumes, sets, songs, and dancing are well worth your time. It gives you a taste of New York in the postwar years, but not absolute immersion into the period. Unnecessarily long scenes and strange effect choices were two faults in the movie. If you are sick of stories of forbidden love, then this movie is not for you. It’s a movie that is unique in its spin and creativity, but quite unadventurous in its plot.

Clips

Bibliography

American Film Institute. “West Side Story.” Catalog of Feature Films, http://www.afi.com

/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=23857. Accessed 11 Nov. 2016.

Dirks, Tim. “West Side Story (1961).” American Movie Classics Company Filmsite,            http://www.filmsite.org/wests.html. Accessed 11 Nov. 2016.

Nov 04

Reginald Marsh

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            Reginald Marsh was a painter who captured the darker side of life in New York City in the 1930s and 1940s. He was born on March 14, 1898 in Paris, France (“Reginald Marsh, American Artist”). Both of his parents were American artists and it was clear from a young age that Marsh shared their passions (“Reginald Marsh”). While in school, he was constantly drawing and creating illustrations. He later attended Yale University, graduating in 1920 (“Reginald Marsh, American Artist”). He stayed in New York, working as a freelance illustrator and, from 1925 to 1929, as an original staff member of The New Yorker magazine, which remains in publication to this day (“Reginald Marsh, American Artist”). At the same time, Marsh began exploring Europe. It was during these trips that he observed the works of the Old Masters, sparking his interest in painting (“Reginald Marsh, American Artist”). With his newfound passion, he studied at the Art Students League of New York throughout the 1920s, working with other famous artists including George Luks, Kenneth Hayes Miller, and John Sloan (“Reginald Marsh, American Artist”). From these artists, he found his main subject matter: urban life. In 1929, he rented a studio on Fourteenth Street, starting his career as a New York City artist (“Reginald Marsh”). Marsh often depicted seedier areas of New York: Coney Island, burlesque parlors, dance halls, the Bowery, and the subway (“Reginald Marsh”). He also painted a wide array of people including bums, dancers, musclemen, and street walkers (“Reginald Marsh”). His works were quick to gain attention, being featured in galleries such as the Yale University Art Gallery and the Whitney Museum of American Art (“Reginald Marsh”). Beginning in 1934 and 1949, respectively, he taught at the Art Students League and at the Moore Institute of Art, Science, and Industry (“Reginald Marsh, American Artist”). As the 1940s came to a close, many of the unsavory places Marsh depicted were closing and being forced out of the city by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia (“Reginald Marsh”). He continued to paint the fading landscape until his untimely death in 1954. Dying in Dorset, Vermont, he was only 56 years old.

The works of Reginald Marsh deeply reflect the social, economic, and cultural climate of the 1930s and 1940s. The 1920s had been a decade of great wealth and excess. This soaring decade, however, crashed in 1929 as a result of speculation in the stock market and a lack of banking regulations. In October, The Great Crash occurred, resulting in the plummeting stock prices, the failing of banks, and the closing of businesses (Kennedy). The Great Depression had begun. In the year 1932, it is estimated that 13,000,000 Americans were out of work in spite of being capable and willing (Kennedy). A certain sadness and submissiveness was noted in society, as many Americans just seemed to accept the situation. Methods of scraping by, such as Hoovervilles, shanty towns built by homeless workers, and long bread lines came to represent this era. These underappreciated, forgotten Americans became the subjects of Marsh’s paintings.

Marsh was not a painter with an agenda. In spite of his frequent depictions of poverty in New York, he was nonjudgmental and made no overall statement about social inequality. He painted with the purpose of showing the raw, uncensored lifestyle of those affected by the harsh economic climate. His art was about the lifestyles, characters, morals, and norms of New York. He depicted many misunderstood and mistrusted characters of New York. He also focused on transgressions from moral codes, especially regarding sexuality and gender. He tends to separate male and female subjects, centering on exhibitionism and voyeurism (“Reginald Marsh”). Men are often shown admiring beautiful, bold, detailed women in sexual poses and situations (“Reginald Marsh”). Interestingly, Marsh never degrades women in his artwork (“Reginald Marsh”).

While Marsh created hundreds of drawings and paintings over the course of his career, there are several noteworthy pieces that capture his environment in detail. First, there is Bread Line (1929), an etching created shortly before his transition to painting. Created in the year that the Great Depression began, shows a line of men waiting for food. All of these men are darkened by shadows and wearing sad expressions on their faces. The line is implied to be large, cut off by the edge of the plate. In the foreground, there is a man shrouded in shadows. Based upon his shabby clothing and hung head, he is clearly struggling. Between the two regions of shadow is one of light, inhabited by women in fine clothing. Overall, this image captures the economic and social climate: downcast for the vast majority.

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Then, there is The Bowery, a painting from 1930 that depicts bums, outcasts, and other impoverished men wandering The Bowery. Surrounded by illuminated signs, the shabby clothing, dirty environment, and sullen expressions on the men’s faces are evident of the turbulent time. This crestfallen crowd is quite large, extending far into the background. With no money and sometimes, no home, these men have no place but the Bowery.

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            Next, there is Why Not Use the “L”?, another painting from 1930. The focal point of this painting is a man in gray clothing, asleep on the L train. A newspaper lies at his feet. Two women are also shown in the painting, but they are not interacting with the man. Both are wearing neutral expressions and one is reading a newspaper. Perhaps there is no good news to be reported. While not as depressing as the previous pieces, it has notions of exhaustion and worry. This reflects the stressful climate of the Depression; the constant problems and hunt for work were bound to be stressful and tiring.

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            Lastly, there is Tunnel of Love a later painting from 1943. This painting depicts a couple on a ride in Coney Island, which had several amusement parks at the time. The tunnel of love was a dark cart ride that went past a variety of creepy figures. It was intended to make couples cuddle each other in fear, but the couple featured in this painting are having a different reaction. The man in the painting looks fearful and is covered in shadows. The woman, on the other hand, is illuminated and wearing an expression of disappointment. Her striking figure is typical of much of Marsh’s other artwork. The painting is quite different from the others. Rather than focusing on the sadness and tragedy of the time period, this painting focuses on the amusement. Over ten years after the Depression began, it appears that things are getting better, although not perfect.

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            With their dark color pallets, use of lighting, and expressions, Reginald Marsh’s paintings capture the mood and climate of New York during and following the Great Depression. With no social agenda, Marsh delivers a raw image of what life was like, especially for those who were struggling, allowing us to understand his subjects rather than just pity them.

 

Bibliography

“Bread Line.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/366626. Accessed 3            Nov. 2016.

“Cheap Thrills: Reginal Marsh and the Tunnel of Love.” Questroyal Fine Art, LLC, http://www.questroyalfineart.com            /blog/2015/03/cheap-thrills-reginald-marsh/. Accessed 3 Nov. 2016.

Kennedy, David M. “The Great Depression and World War II.” The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History,            http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/essays/great-depression-and-world-war-ii-1929-1945. Accessed 3            Nov. 2016.

“Reginald Marsh.” DC Moore Gallery, http://www.dcmooregallery.com/artists/reginald-marsh.

Accessed 3 Nov. 2016.

“Reginald Marsh, American Artist.” Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Reginald-Marsh.            Accessed 3 Nov. 2016.

“The Bowery.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/487717. Accessed            3 Nov. 2016.

“Why Not Use the “L”?” The Whitney Museum of American Art, http://collection.whitney.org/object/1560. Accessed 3            Nov. 2016.