Harlem East:
My day did not start off well considering I had a pounding headache when we reached Penn Station around 11 o'clock. I was trying so hard to shake it off but it just would not budge so I basically was a drag the whole beginning of the day. Mike had told us how we were going to be going to Harlem East, or also known as, Spanish Harlem. I honestly was a little scared when I heard where we were going because all I hear on the news is how bad the area of Harlem is and so many shootings occur there but I knew professor Russo would not take us anywhere where our lives could be in danger!
After WWI there was an influx of Puerto Ricans, which is when it became "El Barrio." "The poverty of these new immigrants and the building of large housing projects that concentrated crime led to East Harlem becoming one of the most dangerous sections of New York City during the 1960s and 70s" (ENY, 76). Professor Russo had briefly mentioned that Harlem once had the highest rates of unemployment, poverty and crimes going on within the neighborhood. "In recent years, this community has undergone tremendous changes brought on by the process of gentrification that has been occurring since the late 1990s in the neighborhood" (ENY, 76). We ventured on straight to the museum of the City of New York, where there was the most beautiful room and light hanging from the ceiling. Everyone was so excited to see a huge couch in the waiting room because we knew we were going to do a lot of walking. "The museum has changing exhibitions focused on the history of New York City, "Especially its heritage of diversity, opportunity, and perpetual transformation" (ENY, 77). As we walked up the staircase we went into another staircase that had such unique graffiti on the walls. The collection was called City as Canvas, put together by Martin Wong, an East Village artist and collector of graffiti art. Some people may think of graffiti as a miscommunication and just vandalism, whereas, we learned that it is basically in the history of New York. Graffiti believe it or not, originated in the 1970's and was spread across the city as an activity in which you can express your selfs and different messages you would like to get across. My headache really started to kick in and bother me like never before, however, I was trying so hard for it not to affect me by learning about the art work that was displayed throughout the gallery. We were taken into a small theater to view a short 30 minute film called Timescapes, in which it traced the growth of New York City from a settlement of a few hundred Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans to its present status as one of the world's greatest cities. I was so happy that the room was dark because it can give my headache a little rest from the lighting and walking. What caught my attention was that there were things in the film relating to September 11th, which was really weird to see on film because we had actually experienced that part of history. Next was Gilded New York, this exhibit explored the cities visual culture at the end of the 19th century, when it's elite class flaunted their money like never before. We walked around viewing the different portraits, jewelry, and decorative objects. This was crazy to see all of the different jewels, which probably cost a fortune!
"The museum was founded in 1969 in a public school classroom in PS 125 by Puerto Rican activists from East Harlem, seeking to preserve their cultural heritage" (ENY, 77). El Museo Del Barrio was the next stop and here we got to take a little breather and restroom break in the cafe that the museum had. I was very appreciative of all the little breaks we got to have because I was not doing so hot the whole day. Here we met Luke, who was a spanish poet and also was going to be our guide for the rest of the part of the day. He made us get into a big circle because he rather be in a circle so we can express our ideas together and also so that he can see our faces. We went around the circle saying one word that came to mind about us or anything we were thinking about. My word I said was head ache because that was the only thing on my mind. I was upset I couldn't say anything else that was interesting to grasp his attention, but oh well! Luke took us around the community and educated us in the neighborhood and what it stands for. The community seemed so friendly and welcoming as we were walking around with Luke, which was very shocking to me. I was taking everything in that he was explaining to us, like for example how the community doesn't like when people come here and does not associate with the environment. Individuals like to get to know everyone before they have people just coming into their community not knowing you. He took us to Modesto "Tin" Flores Garden, they called this garden. "The park was originally a vacant lot and dumping ground when it was converted by East Harlem resident Ernesto "Tin" Flores into a garden for the neighborhood's inhabitants (ENY, 78). There was a strange sculpture in the middle of the park, in which none of us could guess what it exactly was or stood for. "In the center of this garden is an outdoor fountain sculpture, called "Seed of Growth," designed by Lina Puerta, much of whose work explores the female body and female experience (ENY, 78). The sculpture was a representation of a woman's fallopian tubes and stood for woman and their growth that they go through. I was surprised to hear about how much this community focuses around the female and their strengths, it was refreshing to hear. After this we got to eat lunch! which was exactly what I needed to get rid of this never ending headache. We went to some spanish restaurant and ordered sodas and burritos, which was amazing and hit the spot.
After WWI there was an influx of Puerto Ricans, which is when it became "El Barrio." "The poverty of these new immigrants and the building of large housing projects that concentrated crime led to East Harlem becoming one of the most dangerous sections of New York City during the 1960s and 70s" (ENY, 76). Professor Russo had briefly mentioned that Harlem once had the highest rates of unemployment, poverty and crimes going on within the neighborhood. "In recent years, this community has undergone tremendous changes brought on by the process of gentrification that has been occurring since the late 1990s in the neighborhood" (ENY, 76). We ventured on straight to the museum of the City of New York, where there was the most beautiful room and light hanging from the ceiling. Everyone was so excited to see a huge couch in the waiting room because we knew we were going to do a lot of walking. "The museum has changing exhibitions focused on the history of New York City, "Especially its heritage of diversity, opportunity, and perpetual transformation" (ENY, 77). As we walked up the staircase we went into another staircase that had such unique graffiti on the walls. The collection was called City as Canvas, put together by Martin Wong, an East Village artist and collector of graffiti art. Some people may think of graffiti as a miscommunication and just vandalism, whereas, we learned that it is basically in the history of New York. Graffiti believe it or not, originated in the 1970's and was spread across the city as an activity in which you can express your selfs and different messages you would like to get across. My headache really started to kick in and bother me like never before, however, I was trying so hard for it not to affect me by learning about the art work that was displayed throughout the gallery. We were taken into a small theater to view a short 30 minute film called Timescapes, in which it traced the growth of New York City from a settlement of a few hundred Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans to its present status as one of the world's greatest cities. I was so happy that the room was dark because it can give my headache a little rest from the lighting and walking. What caught my attention was that there were things in the film relating to September 11th, which was really weird to see on film because we had actually experienced that part of history. Next was Gilded New York, this exhibit explored the cities visual culture at the end of the 19th century, when it's elite class flaunted their money like never before. We walked around viewing the different portraits, jewelry, and decorative objects. This was crazy to see all of the different jewels, which probably cost a fortune!
"The museum was founded in 1969 in a public school classroom in PS 125 by Puerto Rican activists from East Harlem, seeking to preserve their cultural heritage" (ENY, 77). El Museo Del Barrio was the next stop and here we got to take a little breather and restroom break in the cafe that the museum had. I was very appreciative of all the little breaks we got to have because I was not doing so hot the whole day. Here we met Luke, who was a spanish poet and also was going to be our guide for the rest of the part of the day. He made us get into a big circle because he rather be in a circle so we can express our ideas together and also so that he can see our faces. We went around the circle saying one word that came to mind about us or anything we were thinking about. My word I said was head ache because that was the only thing on my mind. I was upset I couldn't say anything else that was interesting to grasp his attention, but oh well! Luke took us around the community and educated us in the neighborhood and what it stands for. The community seemed so friendly and welcoming as we were walking around with Luke, which was very shocking to me. I was taking everything in that he was explaining to us, like for example how the community doesn't like when people come here and does not associate with the environment. Individuals like to get to know everyone before they have people just coming into their community not knowing you. He took us to Modesto "Tin" Flores Garden, they called this garden. "The park was originally a vacant lot and dumping ground when it was converted by East Harlem resident Ernesto "Tin" Flores into a garden for the neighborhood's inhabitants (ENY, 78). There was a strange sculpture in the middle of the park, in which none of us could guess what it exactly was or stood for. "In the center of this garden is an outdoor fountain sculpture, called "Seed of Growth," designed by Lina Puerta, much of whose work explores the female body and female experience (ENY, 78). The sculpture was a representation of a woman's fallopian tubes and stood for woman and their growth that they go through. I was surprised to hear about how much this community focuses around the female and their strengths, it was refreshing to hear. After this we got to eat lunch! which was exactly what I needed to get rid of this never ending headache. We went to some spanish restaurant and ordered sodas and burritos, which was amazing and hit the spot.
Manhattan:
Waking up this morning I really thought our class for the day might be cancelled, considering it was supposed to be such a crappy, rainy day. Refreshing the website practically a million times, I found that our plans were being changed to more indoor activities because of the weather. This I didn't mind because this meant less walking. I did my usual routine, got on the 9:28 train from Babylon and met Melissa on board at Merrick. She is such a nice friend that she got me star bucks, which I really needed! We arrived at Penn Station and met with our class.
The Museum of Modern Art was where we were heading to start off the day being that it was raining. The Museum of Modern Art is located in midtown Manhattan in between 5th and 6th avenue. Thank god we had umbrellas! The museum was packed so we had to wait for like a half hour just to get in and also had to wait for everyone to check their bags in. Once we got in, Professor Russo let us walk around by ourselves and meet at the end. Somewhere in between Melissa and I got lost from the group and just continued to walk around looking at the different art. Some of the rooms we went in were a little disturbing and did not catch my attention. A lot of the art was inappropriate and at times I found myself having to walk away. The room that disturb me the most was the room with September 11th. newspaper articles framed on the walls and drawn on them were nude bodies during intercourse. What kind of art is this? I thought to myself. There was a random big helicopter hanging from the ceiling, which was pretty cool and different. Walking around the museum took up most of the time because it was so big and had many different floors on it.
It was now lunch time! Usually we don't get the chance to eat this early in the day but the weather put a damper on our plans for the day so we got to go to Hells Kitchen earlier. No one knows for certain where the name "Hell's Kitchen" came from, but the name stuck, because this neighborhood was historically one of the poorest, most squalid, and most crime-ridden in the 19th century New York" (ENY, 39). Mike took our class to an awesome Thai restaurant, Yum Yum Bangkok, where we met up with Lee. Here I ordered the chicken cashew dish and also got the chance to try some of the sticky rice that Mike kept talking about, which was amazing. I also ordered a frozen margarita because the signs said that they were only 5$ which is a steal! It was just what I needed to continue on for the day. Lunch came to an end and it was time to move onto Morningside Heights.
"Originally called Vandewater's Heights, this area became prominent during American Revolution at the site of the Battle of Harlem heights, which was notable for being one of George Washington's first victories during the war" (ENY, 80). I remember my dad talking about this area being bad at night but seeing how beautiful it was, I can't even imagine anything bad occurring here. Mike walked us through Riverside Park, which was beautiful with all the trees and people walking dogs. We walked to meet up with Jim and Janet, our tour guides for the rest of the day. They were married and as Mike had told us, was one of the most educated people on Morningside Heights there is. Jim and Janet provided us with interesting information on the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. "The largest church in the world, the cathedral has room was 3000 worshippers and spans a length of over 600 feet" (ENY, 81).
The Museum of Modern Art was where we were heading to start off the day being that it was raining. The Museum of Modern Art is located in midtown Manhattan in between 5th and 6th avenue. Thank god we had umbrellas! The museum was packed so we had to wait for like a half hour just to get in and also had to wait for everyone to check their bags in. Once we got in, Professor Russo let us walk around by ourselves and meet at the end. Somewhere in between Melissa and I got lost from the group and just continued to walk around looking at the different art. Some of the rooms we went in were a little disturbing and did not catch my attention. A lot of the art was inappropriate and at times I found myself having to walk away. The room that disturb me the most was the room with September 11th. newspaper articles framed on the walls and drawn on them were nude bodies during intercourse. What kind of art is this? I thought to myself. There was a random big helicopter hanging from the ceiling, which was pretty cool and different. Walking around the museum took up most of the time because it was so big and had many different floors on it.
It was now lunch time! Usually we don't get the chance to eat this early in the day but the weather put a damper on our plans for the day so we got to go to Hells Kitchen earlier. No one knows for certain where the name "Hell's Kitchen" came from, but the name stuck, because this neighborhood was historically one of the poorest, most squalid, and most crime-ridden in the 19th century New York" (ENY, 39). Mike took our class to an awesome Thai restaurant, Yum Yum Bangkok, where we met up with Lee. Here I ordered the chicken cashew dish and also got the chance to try some of the sticky rice that Mike kept talking about, which was amazing. I also ordered a frozen margarita because the signs said that they were only 5$ which is a steal! It was just what I needed to continue on for the day. Lunch came to an end and it was time to move onto Morningside Heights.
"Originally called Vandewater's Heights, this area became prominent during American Revolution at the site of the Battle of Harlem heights, which was notable for being one of George Washington's first victories during the war" (ENY, 80). I remember my dad talking about this area being bad at night but seeing how beautiful it was, I can't even imagine anything bad occurring here. Mike walked us through Riverside Park, which was beautiful with all the trees and people walking dogs. We walked to meet up with Jim and Janet, our tour guides for the rest of the day. They were married and as Mike had told us, was one of the most educated people on Morningside Heights there is. Jim and Janet provided us with interesting information on the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. "The largest church in the world, the cathedral has room was 3000 worshippers and spans a length of over 600 feet" (ENY, 81).
Lower East Side: |
Today was a little different, being that we had to all meet in Penn Station by 9 o'clock in the morning, which meant I was lucky enough to have to get on the 7:28 train from Babylon station. This was really early for me to be hoping on a train and traveling into the city but it would all be worth it! Getting all caffeinated up and finally meeting up with the group, Mike told us how we were going to be heading to China Town and we will be able to get ourself some Chinese food. This made me so happy because I love chinese food and I also have never been to China Town. "New York is a city of immigrants and nowhere is this fact more evident than in the Manhattan communities of the Lower East Side, Chinatown, and Little Italy." (ENY, 65). We headed to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, where we were split up into two different groups to explore the museum, which gives us some education on an immigrant family who lived in the building during the mid 19th century. Most of the immigrants coming from Ireland, Germany, Italy, and Eastern Europe, who made this their home. Our guide educated us in the problems and issues that these immigrants were facing living in the tenement all together. The milk situation was poor because everyone was getting sick off the milk that was sold on the streets, the individuals sometimes would not get along because they come from different cultures, and even though they stressed hygiene in the schools that the children were attending, it was hard to keep the cleanliness going. There were only 3 out houses for the whole tenement, which made it difficult for everyone to get their hygiene in tact. Turberculosis was a major issue during this time in children and usually when having children, they wouldn't live past a certain age because it was so bad.
www.tenement.org
After seeing the museum, Mike had set up a scavenger hunt activity, where we were split up into groups and we were given directions on different places to go to and explore. This was a lot of fun because it gave us a chance to explore by ourselves and look at things that we would normally not stop to look at. The directions lead us into china town and little italy. This was amazing because I have never been to these places. My group notices a lot of lamp shops along china town, which was very interesting and still have not figured out why there would be so many lamp stores there. China Town was so different to see, almost as if we weren't in New York anymore. "By the 1880s, the Chinese community in New York numbered over 10,000, but was comprised almost exclusively of men between the ages of 20 and 50." (ENY72). Walking through here was so overwhelming with so many different stores with cheap prices everywhere you looked! They were selling little baby turtles on the side of the road that I almost purchased but realized we had a long day ahead to carry the turtle around so I didn't get one :( We went into the weird chinese store where they had a big buddha structure in the middle where you gave him a dollar and you would receive your fortune, which was pretty cool because there was so many fortunes. My group also went into a food store where all the products were written in chinese, aside from the american things. We bought soda and chinese candy to enjoy on our walk back, afterwards stopping in an italian market in Little Italy, where there were pasta, cheese, sauce, italian candies and meats!
CHINESE FOOD WAS NEXT! Congee Village was where we all sat down as a group to enjoy some delicious chinese food, provided by the Gotham Experience Class. We had different things like chicken, soup, tea, meat patties, rice and green asparagus. Everything was delicious and we were ready to explore and move on to this famous candy store that professor Russo had been talking about all day. "Walk north along Orchard Street and make a right on Rivington Street, Economy Candy is an old time candy store that has sweets that you probably haven't seen since your childhood." (ENY, 67). I love candy so this was amazing to walk into and I saw these candy cigarettes that I would buy from the ice cream man when I was young all the time.
www.tenement.org
After seeing the museum, Mike had set up a scavenger hunt activity, where we were split up into groups and we were given directions on different places to go to and explore. This was a lot of fun because it gave us a chance to explore by ourselves and look at things that we would normally not stop to look at. The directions lead us into china town and little italy. This was amazing because I have never been to these places. My group notices a lot of lamp shops along china town, which was very interesting and still have not figured out why there would be so many lamp stores there. China Town was so different to see, almost as if we weren't in New York anymore. "By the 1880s, the Chinese community in New York numbered over 10,000, but was comprised almost exclusively of men between the ages of 20 and 50." (ENY72). Walking through here was so overwhelming with so many different stores with cheap prices everywhere you looked! They were selling little baby turtles on the side of the road that I almost purchased but realized we had a long day ahead to carry the turtle around so I didn't get one :( We went into the weird chinese store where they had a big buddha structure in the middle where you gave him a dollar and you would receive your fortune, which was pretty cool because there was so many fortunes. My group also went into a food store where all the products were written in chinese, aside from the american things. We bought soda and chinese candy to enjoy on our walk back, afterwards stopping in an italian market in Little Italy, where there were pasta, cheese, sauce, italian candies and meats!
CHINESE FOOD WAS NEXT! Congee Village was where we all sat down as a group to enjoy some delicious chinese food, provided by the Gotham Experience Class. We had different things like chicken, soup, tea, meat patties, rice and green asparagus. Everything was delicious and we were ready to explore and move on to this famous candy store that professor Russo had been talking about all day. "Walk north along Orchard Street and make a right on Rivington Street, Economy Candy is an old time candy store that has sweets that you probably haven't seen since your childhood." (ENY, 67). I love candy so this was amazing to walk into and I saw these candy cigarettes that I would buy from the ice cream man when I was young all the time.
Lower Manhattan:
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN. "In the 19th century Lower Manhattan was home to Wall Street- one of the nation's first financial districts- as well as to many of the nation's largest corporations, each of which strove to outdo the other in producing evermore towering office buildings." (ENY,39). We went straight to Battery Park, which was absolutely stunning. The idea to create Battery Park was from Governor Nelson Rockefeller, who called for a 90 acre community to build near the financial district. It was crazy to see the huge lines of people waiting to get on the ferries to go over to Ellis Island. Mike pointed out a structure in the middle of the park that was moved into the park after 911 happened and you can see the damage that had happened to it, which was so weird to actually see the dents and brown spots from the debris.
Making a left onto Bridge Street, we hit the Fraunces Tavern Museum, which is to some, one of the oldest surviving buildings. "Originally built in 1719 by the wealthy merchant Stephen Delancey, it served as his home until 1730 when he moved uptown to an estate on what is now Delancey Street on the Lower East Side." (ENY, 55). George Washington held a farewell dinner here for the officers of his army in 1783. Today, the first floor is a restaurant, while upper floors turned into museums where people can come in and walk around, just like we did. This was very interesting to learn about and to listen to our guide because she was so interested in what she had to tell us that it made things a lot easier to understand. I learned about all the flags and how the American flag became what it is now.
After this we walked along the water view to head to a food court where we got time to grab lunch at any place that we wanted to. Melissa and I went to some healthy food place where we had an amazing salad and sandwich! After we were done we met back up with the group and headed back out on our journey!
911 memorial was where we hit next and this is where a lot of emotions came out. This was my first time going to the memorial so I was a little hesitant with what I was about to see, being that I do know some people who passed away during 911. It was amazing and touching to see the water fall with everyones names and the different latter numbers on the edges carved in. Just the environment was quiet as everyone glanced into the waterfall saying prayers. "The 9-11 memorial, which opened in 2011, was the result of a competition launched by Lower Manhattan Development Corporation in 2003. The memorial consists of two once acre pools set in the footprints of the original Twin Towers" (ENY, PDF, 49).
Making a left onto Bridge Street, we hit the Fraunces Tavern Museum, which is to some, one of the oldest surviving buildings. "Originally built in 1719 by the wealthy merchant Stephen Delancey, it served as his home until 1730 when he moved uptown to an estate on what is now Delancey Street on the Lower East Side." (ENY, 55). George Washington held a farewell dinner here for the officers of his army in 1783. Today, the first floor is a restaurant, while upper floors turned into museums where people can come in and walk around, just like we did. This was very interesting to learn about and to listen to our guide because she was so interested in what she had to tell us that it made things a lot easier to understand. I learned about all the flags and how the American flag became what it is now.
After this we walked along the water view to head to a food court where we got time to grab lunch at any place that we wanted to. Melissa and I went to some healthy food place where we had an amazing salad and sandwich! After we were done we met back up with the group and headed back out on our journey!
911 memorial was where we hit next and this is where a lot of emotions came out. This was my first time going to the memorial so I was a little hesitant with what I was about to see, being that I do know some people who passed away during 911. It was amazing and touching to see the water fall with everyones names and the different latter numbers on the edges carved in. Just the environment was quiet as everyone glanced into the waterfall saying prayers. "The 9-11 memorial, which opened in 2011, was the result of a competition launched by Lower Manhattan Development Corporation in 2003. The memorial consists of two once acre pools set in the footprints of the original Twin Towers" (ENY, PDF, 49).
Final Impression:
Looking back on my New York Gotham Experience, I have really learned a lot of new things about different areas of the city that I have never even knew about before. My views have definitely changed from taking this class, in positive ways. Experiencing this every Saturday of the Fall Semester has really changed me for the better. I have experienced a lot of first times in this class and can easily say that I would have never done half the things we did in this class ever before. I got the opportunity to visit many different museums and memorials, walk through many different areas of New York that I normally would not even think of going to, met a lot of great people, and ate some foods that I would never have the guts to try on my own! (cough cough, Indian food). This is definitely the most I have traveled on the train lines before and I will never take back what I have learned about them. Even though Molloy College might not think this is a class of "learning" it really is, whether they believe it or not. This class should continue on because it is a great way for us "Long Islanders" to get out and experience/learn about the great city that we live in, along with it's history!