Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Museums: The Morgan Library

Question:  What do you get when you cross a tycoon, a healthy ego and a love of rare books and antiquities?

Answer:  The Morgan Library.



The Morgan Library, front facade, on 36th Street, NYC
Located at 36th Street and Madison Avenue in New York City, the Morgan Library seems to be J.P. Morgan's attempt at immortality.  J.P. Morgan was the leading financier of his time in the United States.  He amassed a great fortune during the late 1800's and used some of that fortune to collect rare books and antiquities.  To house a part of his collection, he commissioned the Morgan Library, completed in 1906.

To read more about the the Morgan Library, click here.

We recently visited the Morgan Library and toured the rooms designed by architect Charles McKim.

The Morgan Library, panoramic photo of Mr. Morgan's office
 
The Morgan Library, Mr. Morgan's office, with Mr. Morgan peering down from above the fireplace


The Morgan Library, the rotunda

The Morgan Library, the east library

The Morgan Library, the east library, fireplace flanked by two rare books encrusted with jewels

The Morgan Library, ceiling of the east library
 
One of the manuscripts in the library's collection

Jane Austen could have used a good literary agent

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Museums: The Tenement Museum (Part 1 of 2)

NYC's Tenement Museum tells the story of the immigrant experience in the United States by focusing on immigrant life in New York's Lower East Side where the museum is located.
Map of Manhattan, with the Lower East Side shaded in blue
The museum consists of a couple of decayed tenement buildings that have been stabilized and partly restored. 
The Tenement Museum, in NYC's Lower East Side, on Orchard Street near Delancey Street
We recently visited the Tenement Museum for two different tours: "Hard Times," an up-close look at life inside a tenement building, and "Building on the Lower East Side," a walking tour focused on LES buildings of all sorts, from the oldest to the newest.

Part 1--Hard Times:

First things first.  What is a "tenement"?  In legal terms in NYC, a tenement is any multi-family dwelling such as a triplex or apartment house.  Specifically, a tenement is a building with units for three or more unrelated families, with separate cooking facilities. (So, technically speaking, the Trump Park Avenue is a tenement.  Who knew?)

In non-legal terms, many people think of a tenement as a small, dreary, overcrowded apartment building with poor light and bad ventilation.  After touring the Tenement Museum, we better understand the non-legal definition to be more accurate.

The knowledgeable, well-spoken educator for our tour was Cherrye Davis.  The tour took us to 97 Orchard Street, a tenement built in 1863-1864 and still standing . . . barely. 

The building had 20 apartments, with 3 rooms each--a bedroom, a kitchen and a parlor with the lone window.  The size of the entire apartment was just over 300 square feet  The tour included three apartments.  The first apartment (picture below) was in a ruined state--paint and plaster falling off the ceiling and walls, rickety floors, etc.  
Photo of ruined apartment.  The sink and window between rooms were later additions, not to mention the electric light
The second apartment (picture below) was restored to its 1870's appearance when  a family of 6 German Jewish immigrants lived there.  The area was then known as Little Germany, or "Klein Deutschland".  One child died while an infant, and the husband also abandoned the family.  The wife endured by operating a dressmaking business in the apartment.  She raised her three children on her own and eventually escaped to Yorkville in the Upper East Side.  

Photo of parlor that doubled as a workroom.  Monthly rent was $10.
The third apartment (picture below) was restored to the way it looked on a specific day in 1935 when the Italian family living there was evicted along with all other building residents residents.  The building was permanently closed because the landlord refused to renovate the building to comply with the revised fire code.  So, in the middle of the Great Depression with employment hard to come by, the family lost its home.  Fortunately, the family endured the hard times, moved to Brooklyn and flourished over the decades.
 
Photo of kitchen and parlor beyond.  Monthly rent was $18.

Below are some more photos from the tour.
Our guide Cherrye welcoming the tour group to 97 Orchard Street


Information about 97 Orchard Street

97 Orchard St.:  The restored front, with a view of the second floor and a photo of street life
97 Orchard St.:  The restored front, with a view of the first floor and a photo commemorating the saloon that occupied the bottom of the building early in its history
The back of 97 Orchard Street.  Until indoor plumbing and toilets, residents of the 20 apartments shared 4 outdoor privies (on the left) and obtained water from from a backyard faucet (not shown).




Part 2--Building on the Lower East Side:


Stay tuned.

A Day in NYC (Part 2 of 2)

Easter Hat Parade on Fifth Avenue:

Some paradegoers were stylish and sedate.
"I'm gettin' married in the morning.  So, get me to the church on time."

The Jelly Bean Brothers were a hit!


Still wearing their St. Patrick's Day outfits.

Some paradegoers were creative and outrageous, to say the least.


 





 

No idea that a bird has landed on her hat

Tourists from Florida or possibly Parma, Ohio?
No idea what is going on here.  Unique is one word to describe it.
The parade has apparently gone to the dogs.


 

"Move over Cadbury Bunny.  I'm comin' through."
Or has the parade gone to the frogs?

It was a nice day in NYC.

Monday, March 28, 2016

A Day in NYC (Part 1 of 2)

Sunday was a nice day in New York City.  We started with an Easter service at St Bart's on Park Avenue.  A klezmer brunch was next.  Then, the Easter Hat Parade on Fifth Avenue.  Good times.  Enjoy the photos.

St Bart's and Park Avenue:
A blossoming tree next to St. Bart's
Some daffodils basking in the sun

Some beautiful tulips and a random hottie
Then:  1889 photo of Park Avenue at 51st Street looking north.  The New Central Railroad cut through the middle of the roadway.  The photo shows the same area as in the photo below.

Now:  Blossoming trees and tulips on Park Avenue
Klezmer brunch with friends at City Winery in SoHo:
Kobi Arad from Israel presented a wonderful variation on traditional Klezmer music:  neo-sephardic klezmer music.

Near the end of the set, a talented singer joined the duo
Easter Hat Parade on Fifth Avenue:

Stay tuned.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

News Flash: "Queensboro Bridge Attacked . . . Twice!"

First, the Queensboro Bridge vanished.  Now, it has been attacked.

The Queensboro Bridge has withstood two surprise attacks from monsters seeking to destroy the New York landmark.  The first attack involved a well-fed sabre tooth tiger that tried to eat the bridge's steel structure.  The tiger (photo below) gnawed and gnawed without effect.  The tiger relented and caught the 6 Train downtown to gnaw on some pastrami at Katz's Deli.  A wise move.
Giant sabre-tooth tiger attacks Queensboro Bridge
The bridge had only a brief respite when another monster (photo below) attacked the bridge.  A giant hula dancer attempted to destroy the bridge by shaking it.  Fortunately, the bridge was so well built, the shaking had no effect.  Deterred and depressed, the giant hula dancer caught the 6 train to the Village for some falafel at Mamoun's.


Giant hula dancer attacks Queensboro Bridge