Tag: Landmark

Morgan Library and Museum

Most people collect at least one thing. Many important collections exist within the city limits of New York. These include everything from some of the world’s most important art collections to interesting items that DSNY workers have recovered from being dumped on the street over the years. One of the most important collections assembled within the five boroughs is found in Midtown Manhattan at the Morgan Library and Museum (the Morgan Library).

The Morgan Library was founded as the private library of wealthy financier J.P. Morgan. When Morgan was not singlehandedly bailing out the federal government before the days of the Federal Reserve Bank or managing his financial empire, he was adding to his incomparable collection of art and manuscripts. After 1924, the museum was opened to the public by J.P. Morgan’s son. The collection today encompasses several important items such as three Gutenberg Bibles (there are believed to be only 81 still in existence), a sizable collection of autographs, and original manuscripts. There is also a collection of artwork—including sumptuous decoration in the interior itself.

The building itself has an impressive pedigree as well. The original structure was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead, and White, one of the most prestigious architectural firms in the city. The library was built adjacent to Morgan’s former residence. When the collection began to get too big, an addition was made in 2006 by architect Renzo Piano. The interior and exterior have been designated landmarks by the city.

J.P. Morgan spent the equivalent of $900 million in today’s value for his collection. In addition to the great permanent collection, the museum also hosts informative temporary exhibits. A visit here is well worth it—especially if you are into medieval manuscripts (and makes a great companion to the Cloisters in Upper Manhattan). This facility is pointed out on Sights by Sam tours of Midtown.

The Frick Collection

Nestled in the Upper East Side among several of the museums on the world-famous Museum Mile is the Frick Collection. A small art museum that bears similarity to the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia or the Taft Museum in Cincinnati, and the collection of Frick’s artworks in Pittsburgh at the Frick Art and Historical Center, the Frick Collection contains works of art collected by wealthy industrialist Henry Clay Frick.

Similar to fellow Pennsylvanian Solomon R. Guggenheim, Frick was a titan of industry as one of the founders of U.S. Steel. Frick’s massive wealth allowed him to collect art, especially paintings by European old masters. He housed many of his collected works in a New York mansion designed by the firm of Carrere and Hastings (who also designed the main New York Public Library). Frick only lived at the mansion for a short time, but turned the house over as a museum after he and his wife passed away. The Frick Collection also contains a massive art reference library. Although it functions solely as a museum today, the Frick Collection is housed in one of the last mansions on Fifth Avenue. In the coming years, the amount of the facility on view will expand as the upstairs of the mansion will open to the public.

Although the Museum Mile is dominated by several larger museums, including the Metropolitan Museum, the Frick Collection is worth a visit for those interested in the art of old world masters and fans of architecture. This is the type of information your will learn on a Sights by Sam tour.

Staten Island Ferry

Every day, 60,000 people from Staten Island descend upon Manhattan for work and play on one of New York’s most picturesque and cost efficient forms of transportation, the Staten Island Ferry. The eight orange-and-blue ferry boats ply the five mile route in about a half hour between the two ferry terminals.

The Staten Island Ferry was first run in the 1700s, but came into its own in the 1800s when it was first run by a turnpike company and later by the Vanderbilt Family as part of their railroad empire (later sold to other railroad companies). After a major accident in 1901, New York City’s government seized control of the ferries, which has owned and operated them since. In 1997, the ferry was made free when Mayor Rudolph Giuliani followed through on a campaign promise to make service free (to heal the rift in relations between Staten Island and the other four boroughs alluded to in my previous blog article about the history of Staten Island). Passengers were once able to bring cars on the ferry boats, but this has been banned since 2001. Since the first decade of the 2000s, the ferry calls on two renovated terminals in Whitehall, Manhattan, and St. George, Staten Island. Visitors are able to be transported easily through the borough they arrive in via several subway stations on the Manhattan end and a jumble of bus lines and a Staten Island Railway stop near the St. George terminal.

The boats plying New York Harbor are an important symbol of the Borough of Staten Island and form one of the most distinctive modes of transportation in the city. While you are in New York, a trip upon the Staten Island Ferry is worth your time and an attraction that is also easy on the wallet. This is the type of information that you will learn on a Sights by Sam tour.

The Flatiron Building

Although it was never the tallest in the city, the Flatiron Building (built in 1902) is one of the most beloved skyscrapers in the city.  The building, with its triangular shape, has many admirers throughout the world.

The Flatiron Building is the only New York skyscraper designed by noted architect Daniel Burnham, who gained fame for designing several structures in Chicago.  The beaux-arts structure towers over the surrounding area at 22 stories, but was initially scorned by New Yorkers.  It did, however, prove popular with local men as the building caused wind patterns to change at the building’s address at the confluence of 5th Avenue, 23rd Street, and Broadway.  The phrase “23-skidoo” was coined as NYPD officers had to herd leering men and boys from gawking at the exposed legs of women, whose skirts would blow up from the wind as they walked near the building.  The Flatiron Building was originally built for the Fuller Company, an architectural firm.  It now has several tenants.

One of the most notable things about the Flatiron Building is not its height, nor its shape (it is far from being the only skyscraper on a triangular plot of land), but what it would lead to.  When it was built, the Flatiron Building was only one of a couple tall buildings north of Lower Manhattan.  Its construction would be the harbinger of massive commercial skyscrapers going up into the formerly residential Midtown neighborhood.  With the conversion of many formerly commercial buildings into residential or hotel uses (70 Pine and the Woolworth Building come to mind), the Flatiron Building soldiers on as an office building.

While the Empire State Building and many others are taller, the famous Flatiron Building still represents one of the most distinctive pieces of architecture in the city.  The building, with its terra cotta exterior, still captures the imagination of many visitors and natives alike.  The Flatiron Building and the surrounding area can be seen on several Sights by Sam tours.

Rockefeller Center

The first “city-within-a-city” designed in the world, site of New York’s Christmastime fun (where the tree and the ice rink live), and the headquarters for NBC Universal (and site of the Today Show), Rockefeller Center forms an important part of Midtown and is a tourist destination all year long.

The Rockefeller Center complex contains 19 buildings and covers 22 acres.  It was financed by the Rockefeller Family with the original intent to build a new Metropolitan Opera.  When the Great Depression hit, the focus of the project changed to a commercial development.  The centerpiece of Rockefeller Center is 30 Rockefeller Center (called 30 Rock), which is 872 feet tall and the headquarters of NBC.  This is also the site of the 30 Rock observation deck.  The Rainbow Room supper club is also in this building.  In front of 30 Rock is the square where ice skating is held in the winter.  30 Rock and most of the other buildings were designed by Raymond Hood in the art deco style.

Aside from the observation deck and shopping in and around the complex, the star attraction of the area is Radio City Music Hall.  This theater, which seats 6,000 is known for its dancing spectaculars, starring the Rockettes dancers.  The stage is known for having a stylized sunset.

Rockefeller Center, a complex built at the height of the Great Depression by one of New York’s most prominent families, helped renew Midtown Manhattan.  The area, long a center of media, also known for its modern art, leisure pursuits, and nearby shopping opportunities, continues to be a focal point near the center of the island that forms the center of the known world.  This complex can be seen on a Sights by Sam walking tour.

St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral

In SoHo, there sits St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral.  The building was deconsecrated as a cathedral when the new St. Patrick’s Cathedral was completed on Fifth Avenue in 1879.  Now a basilica, a site of pilgrimage in the Roman Catholic Church, the old cathedral is a distinct presence in the neighborhood.  The basilica has come into the news recently due to a sale of one of its burial plots (that can hold six) for $7 million (which the basilica will use to restore its pipe organ and other architectural items).

St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral was once the primary place of Roman Catholic worship in the city.  It was designed by Joseph-Francois Mangin, who also designed the New York City Hall, in 1815.  The cathedral had been built on an area that was formerly designated as a Roman Catholic graveyard.  St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral became a focal point for Roman Catholics in the city as their numbers increased in the 1800s, especially with large numbers of Irish immigrants arriving to the city.  In 1836, there was an incident where the cathedral was almost invaded by nativist protestants, but was repelled by worshippers at the church.  After 1879, the old cathedral functioned as a parish church to the surrounding neighborhood before it was declared a basilica in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI.

In recognition of the changing demographics of its neighborhood, the basilica celebrates mass in English, Spanish, and Mandarin every Sunday.  St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral is important to the history of what is now SoHo.  It also serves as the anchor of markets and a sharp contrast to nearby structures that were built in the later part of he 1800s.  Both the new St. Patrick’s Cathedral and St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral can be seen on a Sights by Sam tour.

The George Washington Bridge

The busiest toll crossing in the U.S., the George Washington Bridge sees over 300,000 vehicles and takes in over $1 million in tolls every day.  The bridge forms an important link between New England and the Mid-Atlantic States.   Like our first president, this bridge is stately, unique, and has a firm place in the region’s history.

Designed by Othmar Ammann and Cass Gilbert, the bridge was constructed between 1927 and 1931.  Residents of New York and New Jersey wanted the bridge to be named the “Hudson River Bridge”, but the Port Authority overruled the people and named the bridge after our first president.  At 4,760 feet long, the span was once the largest in the world (until the Golden Gate Bridge was completed).  The bridge was originally supposed to have a stone cladding, but this was cancelled due to the Great Depression making the cladding too expensive.  The bridge originally had six lanes, but this was expanded to eight on the upper deck.  A lower deck carrying six additional lanes was built in 1962.  There is also a bus station that connects Upper Manhattan to nearby locales on the Manhattan side of the bridge.  To keep the bridge in top shape, the Port Authority is beginning a multibillion dollar rehabilitation project in the coming years.

With respect to the George Washington Bridge in popular culture, the bridge is the supporting star of Hildegarde Swift’s beloved children’s book, The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge.  The bridge is also the site of the largest free flying American flag, which is flown from the bridge in the mornings on certain federal holidays.  On random days of the year, the Port Authority also lights up the towers at night with lights (which I personally wish would happen more often).

Not only is the George Washington Bridge an important transportation link, but it also forms a stately entrance into the city.  In time, Sights by Sam hopes to add at least a view of the George Washington Bridge on a tour.  For now, this will be the type of information you will learn on a Sights by Sam tour.

The Brooklyn Museum

The Borough of Champions houses one of the largest museums in the U.S. that sadly does not feature on the itinerary of most visitors.  The Brooklyn Museum is one of the greatest overlooked museums in the city.

The museum’s current structure dates from 1897 and was designed by the firm of McKim,Mead, and White, with some structural embellishments by Daniel Chester French (the sculptor of President Lincoln’s statue at the Lincoln Memorial in D.C.).  After decades of deferred maintenance, the museum restored galleries and built a monumental glass entrance in 2004.  Other renovations and additions are still ongoing.

The museum contains an incredible collection of Egyptian art and artifacts that rival, if not exceed, those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  There is also an impressive collection of African art, early American portraiture, and impressionist art.  A wing of the museum is dedicated to feminist art and female artists.  Although rumored to have been constructed as the largest museum in the world, the entire collection is not displayed as it is too vast for the building.

One of the Brooklyn Museum’s best bargains is the Target First Saturday’s program.  Sponsored by Target Department Stores, the museum is free on the first Saturday of the month (excluding September).  These last from 5:00PM to 11:00PM.  As Admiral Chester Nimitz would have said about getting tickets before they run out on these dates, “Get there firstest with the mostest.”

The immediate neighborhood around the Brooklyn Museum is worth exploring as well.  The museum sits at the entrance to Prospect Park—Brooklyn’s answer to Central Park (it was even designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux as well).  Near the entrance to Prospect Park is the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, showing the sacrifice Brooklynites made in the Civil War.  The Brooklyn Children’s Museum is also a manageable 20 minute walk from the Brooklyn Museum.

Brooklynites have often sat in the shadow of Manhattan.  A trip to the Brooklyn Museum and the surrounding neighborhood give the people of the Borough of Champions reason to hold their heads high.  Sign up for a Sights by Sam walking tour to learn about the treasures of the city.

American Museum of Natural History

I was once among people who believed that all natural history museums were more or less the same.  The Natural History Museum in D.C. and the Cincinnati Museum Center are two of the finest in the country, but their collections of natural artifacts and specimens are similar.  I was hesitant to go to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) with these thoughts in my mind, but put my natural history museum biases aside to come here.

I was rewarded immediately upon entry when I saw the memorial to President Theodore Roosevelt (former NYPD commissioner and the only president born in New York City).  A rich mosaic covering T.R. negotiating the Treaty of Portsmouth, his African expedition (that netted around 4,000 objects in the museum’s collection), and the building of the Panama Canal takes up most of the entryway.  These three episodes are interspersed with quotes from T.R. and giant U.S., New York State, and New York City flags that make this the coolest museum entryway in the city.

The AMNH was established in 1869 and moved into its current location in 1874.  The building has two million square feet and contains millions of specimens of plants, animals, and cultural artifacts.  The museum is home to stuffed animals from habitats from every corner of the planet, the skeletons of dinosaurs and ice age mammals, and a collection of native costumed mannequins from indigenous cultures all over the world.  For those who prefer their science in outer space, the Hayden Planetarium is attached to the museum.

Due to the fact that children love to see dinosaur bones and animals, this museum has a high population of little ones during the day—and doubly so on a rainy day.  Rain or shine, Sights by Sam tours will show you the sights and attractions that make New York New York.

South Street Seaport

One of the great sources of wealth of New York has always been its harbor.  Allowing protection from the sea and connecting the city to a vast hinterland spread across multiple regions of the country, New York’s harbor has allowed for people and products to both enter and leave through its vast port.  Although the majority of shipping is done today in the modern harbor complex in Staten Island and New Jersey, the earliest port can be traced back into the East River and is commemorated in the South Street Seaport today.

Shipping on the East River has been important since the pre-colonial era when the Native American tribes would trade with each other up and down the river.  The Dutch commenced trading on the East River in the 1600s—later continued by the British and the Americans.  One of the supposed advantages of the East River was that it was more resistant to ice than the Hudson River.  The heyday of the port lasted from the colonial era until the early 1900s when the deeper Hudson River was better able to accommodate the increasingly larger oceangoing vessels.  The South Street Seaport was also famed for being the location of the Fulton Fish Market, which lasted from 1822 until 2005 when it was moved to the Bronx at Hunts Point Market and the Fulton Ferry, which joined Manhattan and Brooklyn between 1814 and 1924 (made obsolete by the East River bridges).

After the seaport fell out of use in the 1950s, the area began to decline.  A concerted effort was made to revitalize the area: first with a museum in the 1960s to commemorate the district’s maritime heritage and then in the 1980s with a “festival marketplace” style shopping complex that was pioneered at Fanueil Hall in Boston and the Inner Harbor in Baltimore.  The area also has kept and restored many early 1800s-vintage buildings, making it one the largest concentration of such buildings in the city.  In addition to many shops and a branch of the TKTS booth (where discounted Broadway show tickets are sold), there are several old ships such as the Wavertree and the Peking which show the types of ships which once called on the area.

Today, most ships on the East River are ferries to Governor’s Island, Staten Island, or other boroughs, some freighters, and a few pleasure craft.  Although the heyday of the cargo ports of the East River are gone now, the South Street Seaport recreates some of the history in which the area is steeped.  This is the type of information you will learn on a Sights by Sam tour.