Show Me

The Gehry Building - Photo by MAG

One Year to Move Soundtrack

After my jaunt to Harlem, things calmed down a bit.  I think it might have been due to the fact that a real New Yorker took over the navigation duties and expertly guided me around the city.

After I checked into my hotel, D. and I walked up 14th Street to visit the Apple Store.  In my neck of the woods, the Apple Stores all reside in suburban malls and are roughly the size of a one-bedroom apartment -in New York that would be two studio apartments.

When we reached the corner opposite the 14th Street Apple Store, I stopped walking and stared at it for a moment before looking back at D. and exclaiming, “That’sthe store? All three stories? Holy moly!”  I then did what any Apple-loving tourist would do – pulled out my iPhone and started snapping pictures of the building.

14th Street Apple Store - Photo by MAG

Once I’d shot as many pictures as I wanted, D. and I headed inside the massive store and he laughed as I ran up the stairs like a little kid on Christmas morning exclaiming, “Look at this!  They have a whole floor for their iPads!”  In a flash, I quickfooted it up another flight, yelling, “D.!  Look!  Another whole floor for their Genius Bar! Oh my gosh!”

I doubt that even Steve Jobs was this excited when he first viewed the 14th Street store.

I’m used to the way things are run at stores in Michigan, so one of the first things I noticed was that the store had no Concierege [the friendly Apple Store greeter whose job it is to warmly welcome customers].  When it became obvious that there was no Concierge, I was confused and immediately consulted my tour guide [who I tend to view as my own personal version of Wikipedia when it comes to all things New York] and asked, “Hey D., why don’t they have anyone greeting customers?”  D. looked at me and deadpanned, “Mary, New Yorkers don’t mess around when they shop.  A greeter slows them down – and pisses them off.”  I whipped around ready to earnestly defend the role, but when I saw the grin on D.’s face we both burst into laughter.

We then headed for the subway and took it all the way down to the Financial District.  On the way downtown, D. explained the layout of the city streets in a way that made so much sense that I would later use it with other New York tourists.  The avenues are laid out east to west [with 1st Ave. the farthest east], and the streets are south to north [1st St. is just north of SoHo], and the subways are laid out in numbers and letters.  I got the hang of the A, C, and E trains while I was there, the rest will have to wait until my next trip.

As we exited the subway station, D. said he had a surprise for me. Knowing that all of the surprises thus far had been landmarks that I’d wanted to see, I was excited to see what he had in store.  The moment I cleared the stairwell and set foot on the sidewalk, I saw it.

Rising out of the ground in a column of torqued silver was the Gehry building. As I my eyes climbed skyward to take it all in, the sight of finished building took my breath away. For a moment, I was overcome with emotion, and I let out a quiet, involuntary, “Oh!”

I’d been following this building’s construction for as long as I’d been walking my own path toward freedom.  And now, here it was.  Soaring toward the sky in a tower of glass and steel was the architectural representation of my own process of reconstruction; the physical embodiment of all of the obstacles I’d faced and doubts I’d overcome in order to move forward and hang on to my faith in my dreams.

I raised my eyes to find the top of the building as I fought to hold back the tears.

Spruce Street - 2009. Photo by DMT

I couldn’t see the very top of the building because it was shrouded in fog, but I could hear Mr. Gehry’s voice saying, “Architecture is a small piece of this human equation, but for those of us who practice it, we believe in its potential to make a difference, to enlighten and enrich the human experience, to penetrate the barriers of misunderstanding and provide a beautiful context for life’s drama.”

And I let the tears flow.

Standing nearby, D. reached out and put a supportive hand on my shoulder.  He’d been an integral part of this moment since he’d been the one who had taken pictures of the building’s progress and sent them to me.  With tears streaming down my cheeks, I turned and gave him a small smile, then took the camera out of my bag and began taking my own pictures in reverent silence.

When I was done, I brushed the tears from my face, turned to D. and said, “Okay, what’s next?”  He smiled and replied, “You’ll see!”  To which I replied, “You’d better not make me cry again. Seriously, dude.”

Spruce Street - 2011. Photo by MAG

We stopped at the Open Door, a gastropub on John St., where we recounted teenage adventures we’d had and D. tested my knowledge of 80s music by betting me a dollar that I couldn’t name the group that was singing a song that was playing [“C’mon Eileen” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners].  As D. handed over the buck he’d bet, I said, “C’mon man, I was in high school in the 80s!” He laughed and we proceeded to enjoy a wonderful lunch. I had a delicious Grilled Chicken sandwich with roasted red peppers, brie, and basil aioli on a ciabatta roll, and a fantastic beer that D. recommended [the name escapes me now].

After lunch, we walked down and explored Pier 17 for a bit before D. had to get home.  He walked me back to the subway station and pointed me in the direction of the 14th Street stop where I was planning to meet some former students for drinks.

Once I’d located Nikki, Brad, JD, we all walked over to a bar on 14th Street [again, the name escapes me] where we sat at a table on the sidewalk and enjoyed catching up on all of the adventures they’d had since graduating from school.  It was a wonderful evening, and as I headed back to my hotel I was ready for a good night’s sleep.

And that was just the first day!

Stay tuned for more adventures!

Breakfast in Central Park

Photo by DMT

Central Park: A pastoral retreat in the center of the city that never sleeps; an oasis of calm greenery; a gathering place for art and cultural expression.

It sounds like heaven on earth.

It’s hard to believe that a city as large as New York is home to the most visited urban park in the United States, but each year over twenty-five million people make their way to Central Park.

Designed, in 1858, by landscape designer and writer Fredrick Law Olmsted and the English architect Calvert Vaulx, the park opened in 1870 and covers 770 square acres of city-owned land smack-dab in the center of Manhattan.  In 2005, the real estate value of Central Park was estimated by the property appraisal firm, Miller Samuel, to be $528,783,552,000!

The need, and desire, for a centrally located park in New York City was first voiced in 1844 by poet and editor of the Evening Post, William Cullen Bryant, and by American landscape artist, Andrew Jackson Downing, who felt that as New York grew more crowded, residents needed open air spaces in which to escape the hustle and bustle of city life. At the time, the only such places to escape were the cemeteries, like Green-Wood in Brooklyn.  New York residents also voiced a desire for spaces like London’s Hyde Park and Paris’ Bois de Boulugne where they could engage in open-air driving.

Photo by DMT

Inspired by English parks such as Birkenhead and Derby Arboretum, Olmsted argued that a park was “…a democratic development of the highest significance.”  [ironically, Olmsted clashed with the city’s Democratic machine during the construction of the park].  In 1858, Olmsted and Valux designed was was called the “Greensward Plan” and won a city-sponsored contest.  Construction on the park began that same year, and was fraught with complications related to everything from clearing the land [this required relocating the impoverished, mainly African American, population residing on the land] to clearing the actual land [more gunpowder was used to clear this area than was used during the battle of Gettysburg!] to importing soil from New Jersey because the New York soil was not fertile or substantial enough to sustain the four million trees, plants and shrubs [1,500 different species] that the plan called for.

Central Park was an instant hit with New Yorkers, but by 1900 the popularity of the park was on the decline.  The City Park Commission had been disbanded in 1870, and in 1895 Valux died, leaving the upkeep of the park in question.  A growing fascination with a new technological development – the automobile – meant that people were less interested in using the park for walks and picnics, and the lack of interest shown by the Tammany Hall political machine in keeping up the park left the park largely untended until the early 1930s.  [Fun park fact: Sheep’s Meadow got it’s name because until the early 1930s sheep actually grazed in the meadow.  They were relocated upstate during the Great Depression for fear that they would be used as food by impoverished New Yorkers].

In 1934, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia was elected to office and put Robert Moses in charge of revitalizing the park.  Moses would become one of the most powerful men in New York as he secured New Deal funds and overhauled the entire park system in a single year.  Moses not only ordered clean up and replanting, he also had workers construct 19 playgrounds, 12 ball fields and handball courts, turning Central Park into a recreational space as well as place to escape city life.

The 1960s defined another era, known as the “Events Era,” in Central Park as the city promoted the use of the park for cultural and political events.  During the 60s theater companies, like Public Theater, produced “Shakespeare in the Park,” and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and Metropolitan Opera began staging productions in the park.  However, despite the interest in cultural events, by the mid-1970s, the park was in decline again.  Economic and social factors both played a role in the park’s reputation as neglected landscape during the day, and a menacing danger to public safety by night.

Central Park by Wikipedia Free Media Project

In 1979, citizen’s groups began forming as a means of countering the park’s reputation as a dangerous place to visit, and by 1980, under the leadership of the Central Park Conservancy revitalization projects were carried out.  The Conservancy sought to restore the once-pastoral feel of the park by eliminating things such as graffiti and instituting a system of “zone based management” that allows for more specialized care of the park.

I am just as excited about exploring this beautiful park within the city as I am about exploring the city itself.  Central Park has history – like Literary Walk, where some of the first sculptures in the park were installed to recognize and honor writers and poets – and culture – like Summerstage, a series of free performances including music, dance, spoken word, and film presentations.  It is a space that allows for private contemplation of nature, and community gatherings that feed the mind and spirit.

The thought of a loaf of bread, a bottle of wine, and a blanket spread out on the lawn while listening to the Philharmonic work some orchestral magic sounds like the perfect Saturday – or any other day- in the park!

Heaven on earth, indeed.

One Year to Move Blog Music

Sun and Steel

 

The Beekman, Sept. 2009. Photo by DMT

 

I wish I could move into the Beekman when it opens next year.  This beautiful Frank Gehry designed building will not only house a 100, 000 sq. ft. school which will educate 630 Pre K-8th grade students, but it will also contain the 25,000 sq. ft. New York Downtown Hospital.  Above both the school and the hospital will be 903 luxury apartments for rent, but no units for sale.

I’d love to live in this building not only because it’s aesthetically beautiful, but also because Frank Gehry inspires me.  He’s an 80-year old Canadian transplant, who has a unique vision of what architecture should do and be.  His designs all begin with simple stark line sketches and then he utilizes ordinary materials to begin to shape the flow of each building.  If you ever want to see how he does it, watch Sidney Pollack’s documentary, “Sketches of Frank Gehry.”

Gehry’s buildings all have common elements that identify them as “Gehry designs,” but each building has its own personality, so much so that Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain was recently voted the most important piece of architecture of the 20th century in a poll taken by Vanity Fair.

I also love Frank Gehry because he doesn’t claim to have all the answers. In fact, one of my favorite Gehry quotes is, “You’ve got to bumble forth into the unknown.”  He tries things simply because he thinks they might work, and when they don’t, he doesn’t sweat it.  I think, for me, he embodies my dream of moving to New York City.  Try it.  If it doesn’t work, then there are 49 other states to choose from!

The second piece of “expensive” jewelry I ever bought myself was a Gehry Torque ring from Tiffany.  I bought it because I loved the design – open and modern – and because the definition of torque is “a twisting force that tends to cause rotation.”  I wear this ring every day as a reminder of my promise to myself to live the life I love, and love the life I live – even when the force of it causes a rotation that changes everything.

I wish I could afford an apartment in this building, but I can’t, and that’s okay.  Some day soon, I’ll have the pleasure of walking down Spruce Street and looking up at an architectural marvel.

So, as Frank said, “Let the experience begin!”

 

 

 

 

The Beekman, June 2010. Photo by DMT

 

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