Tag: Manhattan

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral

In Midtown opposite Rockefeller Center and near the flagship location of Saks Fifth Avenue sits Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, the main seat of Catholic worship in New York City. The immense cathedral is nearly 397 feet long and is almost 330 feet tall. Although dwarfed by nearby skyscrapers, the cathedral and its neo-gothic exterior and Tiffany-designed altars make it an easily-recognizable landmark.

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral began construction in 1858 on land that was once a retreat for members of the Jesuit Order in New York. James Renwick, Jr., was the lead architect, who designed the cathedral in a net-gothic style. Although the Cathedral was dedicated in 1879, it was dedicated again in 1910 and renovated several times in the 1900s and 2000s. The cathedral in Midtown replaces the older Saint Patrick’s Cathedral (now known as “Old Saint Patrick’s”) in SoHo (the subject of another Sights by Sam blog article). The cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of New York, which covers Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island.

Among some of the superlatives of the cathedral are that it can seat 3,000 worshippers and has a pipe organ containing 7,855 pipes. Many famous funerary masses have taken place in the cathedral. Aside from cardinals and important clergy, Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Ed Sullivan, and Robert F. Kennedy all had funeral masses at this august house of worship. This is the type of information you will learn on a Sights by Sam tour.

One Bryant Park

At the northwest corner of Bryant Park is one of the more recent additions to the New York City skyline. Built by the Bank of America, the Bank of America Tower (One Bryant Park) has a distinctive profile. It is also known for many ecologically-friendly features.

Built by the architectural firm of COOKFOX, One Bryant Park was completed in 2009. The building is LEED certified as it has systems in place to capture and reuse rainwater, special glass that helps to keep the building warm in the winter and cool in the summer (without using climate control systems), and also has ventilation systems that can sense how warm and cold the building is. This is in addition to standard environmental systems such as waterless urinals and energy-efficient lights. The building has an LED system that can project a multitude of colors at night.

One Bryant Park has become an important addition to the skyline since its completion. The building is among one of the five tallest in the city. This is the type of information you will learn on a Sights by Sam tour.

Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument of Manhattan

Manhattan contains three of the most important Civil War monuments in the city, as well as the country. Two are famous: the statue of William T. Sherman in Central Park and Grant’s Tomb in Morningside Heights. Another important, but lesser known one is located on the Upper West Side near Riverside Park—the Manhattan Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument.

The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument was completed in 1902 by the firm of Stoughton and Stoughton. New York-born President Theodore Roosevelt helped to dedicate the monument, along with a parade of Union Army veterans. The monument has a Corinthian-Greek influenced design. It is covered with the names of New York-based Civil War units. A large statue was considered to top the 95’ memorial, but this was never done. There are also cannons and other architectural motifs throughout the area.

The monument has been repaired several times due to material defects and due to vandalism. With that said, the monument has a stately presence in the Upper West Side and is a city landmark. This is the type of information you will learn on a Sights by Sam tour.

Triborough Bridge

Connecting Manhattan, the Bronx, and Queens, the Triborough Bridge links these three boroughs and forms an important transportation link between Long Island, New England, New Jersey, and the city. The bridge was a marvel of engineering and led to the rise and fall of Robert Moses.

The three bridges come together on Wards and Randalls island. Built between 1929 and 1936, the bridge complex was designed by Othmar Amman connecting the island to Manhattan with a lift bridge, the Bronx with an arch-type bridge, and a suspension bridge connecting Queens. The project actually almost never happened until Robert Moses was placed in charge, getting the complex and politically charged bridge finally completed. You can read more about the Triborough Bridge on the Sights by Sam entry on Robert Moses.

In 2008, the bridge was renamed after assassinated New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy. The bridge typically handles over 160,000 cars every weekday. It is one of the most popular routes for motorists to get to LaGuardia Airport in Queens. This is the type of information you will learn on a Sights by Sam tour.

Basketball Scandal and New York

In addition to the end of winter, March also marks the annual start of college basketball’s “March Madness,” where college basketball teams from every state compete to be the NCAA’s champion. Many rivalries exist among various teams, but New York was the center of one of the most infamous moments in the sport’s history.

In the late 1940s through the very early 1950s, the City College of New York (CCNY) Beavers were among one of the most elite college basketball teams in the country. The program had at one point won the NIT and NCAA tournament in the same year. It eventually came to light that many of the players on the 1949-1950 CCNY squad were implicated in a point-shaving scandal in a game between CCNY and the University of Kentucky. It would be found during the subsequent investigation by the federal government that other NYC-area schools such as New York University, Long Island University, and Manhattan College—in addition to other schools in the Southeast and Midwest, would be implicated in similar scandals under the direction of organized crime families.

As a result of the scandal, CCNY deemphasized its basketball team, moving them to Division III and never regaining its former glory. As another punishment to the region and its involvement in the scandal, the NCAA did not hold tournament play in the New York City region for decades. Because of the passage of time, this scandal has largely been forgotten by most of the public, but still casts a shadow over college athletics. This is the type of information you will learn on a Sights by Sam tour.

Meatpacking District

On the West Side of Manhattan exists a neighborhood between Greenwich Village and 14th Street that has gone through several transitions throughout its history. The Meatpacking District, long the preserve of food processing and less than savory activities, is now one of the most sought-after neighborhoods in Manhattan.

The Meatpacking District was formerly a part of Greenwich, NY, the small town that was eventually incorporated into New York as Greenwich Village. Although originally residential, industry and railroads began to appear in the district after the Civil War, making it an industrial area. The neighborhood became known for processing food, especially meat. From the 1870s to the 1960s, there were slaughterhouses and food processing plants dotting the neighborhood. The High Line was built in the 1930s to relieve congestion in the area.

As food processing in the area declined, the area entered into decay, with the Meatpacking District becoming associated with very unseemly activities such as crime and vice. From the late 1990s through the 2000s, many new stores and boutiques came into the area as the result of a drop in crime during the Giuliani years. Today, the area is famous for hosting high end shops and the new home of the Whitney Museum of American Art. This is the type of information you will learn on a Sights by Sam tour.

Metropolitan Life North Building

At Madison Square Park is the 700 foot Metropolitan Life Tower, that is topped by the “Light that Never Fails” (to symbolize that the company would always protect its customers). To the north of this landmark is the stub of what was to be the world’s tallest tower.

In the late 1920s, Metropolitan Life sought to construct an annex to their headquarters that would have been the tallest building in the world. Harvey Wiley Corbett was the lead architect on this project, which would have built a 100-story Art Deco tower—among the tallest in the world. Construction started in 1928, but the building was far from complete by the time the stock market crashed in 1929. Work was stalled until the early 1950s, when Metropolitan Life decided to halt construction at its current height of 451’ and 28 stories.

For many years, the building was used as archives for Metropolitan Life and was also used as a location for many films due to its eclectic style. It now houses offices. This building can be seen on a Sights by Sam tour.

Astor Place

At the confluence of Eighth Street, Lafayette Street and Fourth Avenue in the East Village is Astor Place.  The plaza forms the divide between Lower Manhattan and Midtown Manhattan (specifically between the East Village, Chelsea, and Union Square).  This plaza is also the site of one of the most recognizable pieces of artwork in the city in addition to the site of one of the bloodiest nights in city history.

Astor Place was named after the Astor Family, specifically John Jacob Astor, fur trapper and real estate magnate.  Astor, being of German descent, was considered “new money” in the 1800s and not allowed to partake in some of the city’s high society circles—dominated by wealthy Dutch and English-descended families.  This did not stop him from developing many areas of the city, which included a high-end residential area at Astor Place.  After Astor’s death, an opera house was built at Astor Place in 1847.  In 1849, there was a riot over the choice of if an American or British actor would play the lead in Macbeth.  This riot led to the opera house being called “Dis-Astor Place” by the newspapers and forcing the venue to close the same year.

One of the most distinctive features of Astor Place today (aside from the Kmart and the very stylish 1904-vintage subway canopy) is the cube-shaped scultpure.  Entitled The Alamo, this cube shaped structure was designed by University of Michigan artist Tony Rosenthal.  The sculpture weighs almost one ton and is made of corrosion-resistant steel.  The cube was previously on a platform which allowed it to turn and pivot, but this feature has since been removed.  It was recently restored in late 2016.  This is the type of information you will learn on a Sights by Sam tour.

The Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is one of the most famous art museums in the country and the world.  The permanent collection of the museum has several notable artworks by artists such as Van Gogh, Picasso, Seurat, Matisse, and Dali, among many, many others.  The museum also has several temporary exhibitions that bring subjects as diverse as artist retrospectives to trends in mid 20th Century furniture design.

The MoMA was first formulated in 1929 and opened shortly after the stock market crash of that year.  It moved to its current location in 1939.  It gained prominence early in its history with exhibits about Van Gogh and Picasso.  The museum has been expanded several times—in the 1980s and in the early 2000s.  A satellite campus has been opened in Long Island City, Queens, at P.S. 1 to showcase contemporary art.  Another large expansion is in the works to be completed by 2020.  In addition to its painting and sculpture collection, the MoMA houses thousands of sketches, books, and movies deemed important for preservation.

The museum is very popular on Fridays after 4:00PM when admission fees are waived.  The MoMA is worth a spot on the itinerary of any visitor to the city.  This is the type of information you will learn on a Sights by Sam tour.

Bryant Park

Tucked into Midtown between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, book-ended to the east by the NY Public Library is Bryant Park. This 9.6 acre park was built next to the former Croton Reservoir in 1847. In 1853, an industrial exposition was held at the site, where an observation tower was built and the first safety elevator was demonstrated. The area returned to use as a park after the exposition. It would eventually be named after Willian Cullen Bryant, longtime editor of the New York Post and ardent abolitionist. After a period of neglect between World War II and the 1980s, the park was restored and is now popular once again.

Bryant Park is also famous for the surrounding buildings. The most famous is the New York Public Library’s main location at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. Other famous buildings include the American Standard Building, which is now the site of a hotel. This building is clad in black and gold, supposedly looking like a radiator at night. The Bank of America Tower/One Bryant Park towers 1200’ over the park from a caddy-corner location. This structure is one of the tallest and largest green buildings in the city. While not in the park, the Empire State Building is visible from almost half a mile away, its famous and familiar edifice towering over the park.

Today, Bryant Park is famous as a popular lunch spot among Midtown office workers and for its annual holiday market in winter. This is the type of information you will learn on a Sights by Sam tour.