Introduction to East Harlem
East Harlem, along with Morningside Heights, and Harlem are located just north of Central Park. The land was rural until the Rail Service in the 19th Century and the subway service in the 20th Century. In the early 1900's, brownstones were being built for middle class families. East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem has been home to many different ethnic communities. In the 1880's, German, Irish, Scandinavian, and Eastern European Immigrants were the main populations inhabiting East Harlem. Then, Italian immigrants joined this melting pot and established the original "Little Italy in Manhattan". By the 1930's, over 100k Italian-Americans lived and worked in the community. It also became main stomping grounds for the Genovese crime family. By the 1970's, the number of Italians in the area decreased drastically due to the white flight. After WWI, a large wave of Puerto Rican Immigrants swarmed the area and transformed it into "El Barrio". The large number of poor immigrants and the construction of large housing projects made crime soar. By the 60's and 70's, East Harlem became one of the most dangerous places to live and work in NYC. The area had the highest rate of unemployment, poverty, and crime. The silver lining is that the Puerto Ricans added their own culture, customs, and traditions.Today, it has one of the largest Latino Population in the country. This is evident by the numerous outdoor murals scattered throughout the area. In the 80's and 90's, immigrants from Mexico, the Carribean, and China were added to this melting pot. Like so many other areas in NYC, East Harlem is also undergoing gentrification.
Museum of the City of New York
The first place we visited was the Museum of the City of NY. I loved this museum. When you entered the building, there was this grand staircase that spiraled. What was amazing, was the light fixtures above the staircase. You could get lost just looking into the light fixtures. They seemed to go on forever. The staircase was called 'Nathalie Pierrepont Comfort Staircase'. The museum had many interesting exhibits. What I liked about it is that the exhibits came in many different forms. There were paintings, photographs, artifacts, and videos. The main theme that I picked up going through this museum was it's emphasis on cultural diversity and transformation of the city through it's history. While we were in the museum, we watched a short documentary called "Timescapes." Again, the underlying theme was how the city has changed through the years and the different cultural influences. As we descended and ascended from level to level, the staircase was decorated with different quotes pertaining to the city. One quote in particular caught my eye. It reads " One belongs to New York City Instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years."- Thomas Wolfe. This quote is so true. NYC is made up of so many different people from so many different places. There isn't just one specific population that belongs here. You could be from across the world, but if you live, work, or spend any time in the city, you're a New Yorker! Just the fact that all different types of people walk the city makes anyone belong instantly. It's almost like a club house with no membership rules; Instant membership and belonging.
El Museo Del Barrio
The next attraction we visited was "El Museo Del Barrio." I liked this museum too. From the outside, its very colorful with oranges and lime greens. Actually, the first thing I noticed when walking into the museum was the rich smell of Latin cuisine. It reminded me of my house. The museum was founded in 1969 in a classroom in PS 125 by Puerto Rican Activities from East Harlem. Their goal was to preserve the community's cultural heritage. Upon entry to the museum, we were introduced to our tour guide. He is a local poet and native to the area.
Snowman Mural
First, we walked about 1-2 blocks from the museum. Along the way, we passed a fenced backyard. In the back, there was a painting of four snowmen. On one side of the snowmen, it read "realiza tu sueño." On the other side of the snowmen, it translated "become your dream." Even though, this wasn't a professional work of art done by an established artist, I think this mural wraps up East Harlem almost in it's entirety. This provides us insight into many things. First, the people in the area like art and want to display it for others to see. Second, it's not a professional piece, but it shows us that the residents add their own style of what they perceive art to be. This backyard is visible from a main street in the neighborhood. The artist also knows that there is a nearby school and playground. Many young people most likely pass his backyard on their way home. He wanted his work to be inspiring to the young people in the area. Third, the fact that this mural is bilingual demonstrates the realities for the community. Many people speak English, Spanish, or both. With the inscription in Spanish makes it pretty apparent that the area has a heavy Latino population. Finally, a little less important, but interesting to point out, snowmen demonstrate the area's weather. NY is known to have harsh winters with numerous snowstorms. Even though the winter is cold and has many snow storms, people adapt and overcome by creating snowmen with the snow. Regardless of the harsh winters, people still have fun.
"Spirit of East Harlem" Mural
The next thing we saw was an enormous mural painted on the side of a building. It is called "The Spirit of East Harlem" by Hank Prussing. It was painted in 1978. Before painting the mural, Prussing spent several days taking photos of residents in the area. What I like about this mural is that it doesn't portray a famous historic figure or event. It portrays the residents in the community doing everyday things. In the mural, there are men smoking and playing cards, another child is riding their bike, another girl who appears to be no older than a teenager is taking care of a baby (either her own or a smaller sibling), another individual singing, and someone in the corner on their knees, perhaps praying. These are all daily routines and realities for the people who live in the community. This painting, along with others has been restored by his apprentice, Manny Vega. While we were looking at this mural, our tour guide mistakenly asked someone on the street how they feel about living in East Harlem. This guy who probably never gets asked anything talked incessantly for the next 15 minutes. Some of the things he talked about answered the guide's question, others were just rambles pertaining to something else entirely.
Modesto "Tin" Flores Garden
Next, we visited a community garden called Modesto "Tin" Flores Garden. It is operated and maintained by a collaboration between Hope Community and GrowNYC. The park was originally a vacant lot, but was transformed into a garden by Ernesto "Tin" Flores. The garden is filled plants and beautiful flowers. In the center of the garden, there is a fountain sculpture called the "Seed of Growth". The fountain was designed by Lina Puerta and signifies the strength of women. On first glance, the fountain looks like a large flower, but when you look closely, you'll see that it really represents women's fallopian tubes. As we all know, Fallopian Tubes are one of the main structures essential for childbearing. Along the wall in the back, there is a mural depicting Frida Kahlo and Julia de Burgos holding hands and their hearts connected. The Mural was painted by Yasmin Hernandez in 2011. Frida Kahlo is a famous and influential artist from Mexico. Julia de Burgos is a Puerto Rican Poet. Behind each of them is their respective home country's flags. The mural is a tribute to the Puerto Rican and Mexican residents, their struggles in the community and with each other, and how these two communities have managed to come together. Both Kahlo and Burgos were political radicals, progressives, strong feminists,and loyal to their home countries. The 3 fetuses in the mural represent the unborn babies that Kahlo, Burgos, and Hernandez lost in miscarriage. On a larger scale, it represents unborn babies everywhere and that even they have a place of importance in the community. Keep in mind that Latin communities are known to be very religious. Out of everything that we have seen today, this mural was my favorite. It's not often that you see a mural and a whole garden pay tribute to the struggles of women. Even though the garden is in the middle of the Spanish Harlem, it applies to all women of all different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
Espiritu
The next piece of art that we saw was a wall mosaic done by Manny Vega. It was comprised of separate components. Men playing the drums, some sort of heroic God, a basketball player, and a guy on a skateboard. It was an interesting piece. It seems to be depicting the different activities that people in the community participate in. Luckily, one of our classmates is a skateboarder. He was kind enough to pose in front of the skateboarder mosaic. It was hilarious. From here, we went to lunch. We decided to sit down and eat at a cute little Mexican restaurant. I had the Huevos Rancheros. It was delicious.
Central Park
After lunch, we walked through Central Park. I have been to Central Park before, but I have never seen this part of the park. There were beautiful fountains, sculptures, and plants cut into shapes. The entrance to the park is actually the gate that was in front of the Vanderbilt Mansion. It was donated to the park after the Mansion was torn down. Central Park is one of the largest parks in NYC. It was very popular with the upper class because of it's remote location. Lower class people only had 1 day off per week, but were not likely to visit the park. In the mid to late 1800's there was no Rail Service or subway systems to the park. Even when the lower class managed to travel to the park, they were not able to do what they normally do such as play loud music. Whats interesting about Central Park is that nothing inside is natural to the land. The boulders, the plants, the fountains, and even the gardens are all man-made. The part of the park that we visited was the Conservatory Gardens. The Conservatory Gardens is comprised of 3 different parts, each with their own unique style; French, Italian, and English. The Italian garden was full of hedged trees and plants. In the middle of the French garden, there is a sculpture called "The Three Dancing Maidens." It was pretty and made the garden seem festive and celebratory in nature. "The Three Dancing Maidens" was sculpted by a German Sculptor by the name Walter Schott. In the center of the English garden is the "Francis Hodges Burnett Memorial Fountain" depicting the 2 children from the author's most popular novel The Secret Garden. Even though the gardens were all man-made,they were absolutely stunning and awe-inspiring. It was a perfect day to visit the gardens, too. The weather was sunny and beautiful. After strolling through the gardens, the class stopped fora while to sit on a patch of large boulders. We had "classroom time" to review what we have seen throughout the class so far, what we enjoyed, what we didn't, and went over any questions we might have had.
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central is a European Style Train station with beautfiul architecture and a welcoming atmosphere. In the mid 1800's, Vanderbilt wanted to consolidate the Harlem RR and the NY Central RR. He commissioned John B Snook. In the early 1900's, frequent tunnel accidents warranted the electrification of the railway system in NY. In 1903, a competition was held for designing the station. Reef and Stern won the competition for building a larger, electrified station. Construction took 10 years and cost $80 million. It was a huge success. By the 1960's car and air travel began to replace train travel. In 1968, Grand Central was in danger of being torn down to be replaced with a skyscraper. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis saved the station and had NY's Landmark Preservation Commission grant the terminal "Landmark Status." Walking into Grand Central, you quickly notice how different it is from Penn Station. The platforms are clearly numbered and easy to locate, the station is wide and open. The information booth is in the center and easily located. Dining Venues are located downstairs and provide a large variety to choose from. The ceiling is beautifully painted and pay tribute to the Sistene Chapel. Above the crab in the corner, designers left one tile in it's original dirty form. This is a reminder of how dark and dirty the station used to be at one time.
The Chrysler Building
The Chrysler Building is located at 405 Lexington Avenue. With it's art deco style, the Chrysler Building is considered one of the most elegant skyscrapers in the world. It was originally commissioned by Walter P. Chrysler and it celebrates the automobile company. The architect, William Van Alen used automobile motifs that closely resembled how the hoods of cars looked in that time period. The coolest feature of the building is unmistakenly, the crown. The crown is composed of 7 radiating terraced arches in stainless steel in a sunburst pattern. Construction of the Chrysler building began in 1928 and was completed in 1930. For a brief period of time, it was the tallest building in the world until the Empire State Building was completed in 1931. We were only permitted to enter the lobby, but you quickly notice the style of the Jazz Age. All comprised of metal, wood,and marble from Africa. The Y-shape of the ceiling designed by Edward Trumbell celebrates automobiles. The Chrysler building, for me,is one of the main icons of NYC. From miles away, it's easy to spot, and quickly recognizable. My dad himself worked on some of the structures in the Chrysler Building, so it was a slight disappointment that we were only allowed to see the lobby.
The Waldorf Astoria
The Waldorf Astoria located at 301 Park Avenue is one of the most upscale hotels in NYC. The name came from the merging of 2 different hotels owned by cousins William Waldorf Astor and John Jacob Astor IV. The original Waldorf Astoria was torn down to make room for the Empire State Building. The new hotel was built in 1931 and was the largest and tallest hotel in the world. The principal design is art deco and it has two 47 story towers that are capped with Bronze. When we went inside, I quickly felt like I didn't belong there. Everyone besides us were dressed in formal/cocktail attire. My High School Prom was actually at the Waldorf Astoria and I remember it much differently. What I didn't know was that there were some exhibitions inside. They included paintings, artifacts, letters, and photographs. It was pretty cool.
Conclusion
Overall, it was a really nice day. We saw a lot of different things, experienced different cultures and their forms of art. East Harlem was full of history, good and bad, but these experiences have made it the rich melting pot it is today. Central Park was beautiful and it was nice to see a part of the park that I had never seen before. Grand Central was surprisingly open and well-lit. Too bad Penn Station isn't designed the same way because it is so much nicer, more organized, and way more efficient. I was slightly disappointed that we couldn't see the inside of the Chrysler Building. My dad worked on some of the structures inside. It would have been nice to see his work. My least favorite part was walking through the Waldorf Astoria. We stuck out like sore thumbs and the people inside, guests and employees included really didn't appreciate us being there. From there, our day ended and I caught the LIRR home.