Irish Hunger Memorial

credit: www.gothamist.com

Anyone guess what it is?

Well, I'll tell you.

The structure is the Irish Hunger Memorial, located in Battery Park City.

Credit: www.vipnyc.org

From around 1845-1852, a tremendous famine hit Ireland, killing over 1.5 million people. I learned about the Great Irish Hunger in my British History class last semester.

I learned that the Irish were seen as the lowest of the low by the British because they had different religious beliefs. Great Britain ruled over Ireland at the time, so their hatred resulted in terrible living conditions for the Irish.

The hunger is said to have been started by a fungus that arrived on a ship from America, and then contaminated the entire potato crop, the food they lived on. So the Irish starved.

To make matters worse, the British didn't do anything to help them.

Then came a huge blizzard, followed by a Typhus epidemic. It was really bad news.

As with most historical events, the Irish Hunger has tremendous significance in the larger picture of modern European and American history, which you can read about here.

The Irish Hunger Memorial, besides for being an incredibly cool piece of public art, is a very moving tribute to the Great Irish Famine.

There are many different sections of the memorial...

This walkway is lined with statistics, quotes and poems about the famine:

credit: www.nycgo.com

This garden contains stones from all the different counties in Ireland, as well as natural vegetation brought over from Western Ireland:

credit: http://erinoc1227.wordpress.com

And this is an authentic 19th century Irish cottage:

credit: www.wikipedia.org

All aspects of the Irish Hunger Memorial provide an in-depth history lesson of what happened during the Irish Hunger. Not to mention that it is an architectural masterpiece, which I enjoyed very much.

For more information about the Memorial, check out this informative website.


But wait! While you're in the area...

A few feet away from the Irish Hunger Memorial is Rockefeller Park, in which this lovely little enclave resides:

Credit: www.nycgo.com

This little pond is brimming with shimmery fish, storybook lillypads, sluggish turtles, and boasts a gentle waterfall. I was so enchanted by the scene that I sincerely wished I had the time of day to sit down and relax by its soothing waters.

What a find!

While the days are still long, and before the leaves completely fall off the trees, I hope to visit Battery Park City again. And if anyone cares to join me, I would love some company :-).

Hungry? It's Lunch Time!

Lunchtime.

It is so much a part of our lives, but has anyone ever really thought about it?

This midday meal has a history, and the New York Public Library is currently exhibiting Lunch Hour NYC discussing this very unique New York City phenomenon. 

It was probably one of the most interesting exhibits I've ever seen...

I read about it a few days ago on one of my favorite blogs, I Love Old NY, and I immediately made plans to go later that day.

First of all, I love the elegant NYPL building on 42nd and 5th Avenue. The place is dripping with ornamentation in classic Beaux-Arts style... When I walk in, I feel as if I'm entering into a palace. 

In a nutshell, the exhibit begins by explaining that historically, the largest meal of the day was eaten at midday and called dinner. This was the case in Europe, as well as in America, for centuries. However, when business, commerce and manufacturing took off in New York City at the start of the 20th century, people no longer had time to take a lengthy midday break, and instead would eat a smaller meal. This became known as lunch. 

Throughout the past century, lunchtime has taken on a unique role in New York City, more so than in any other part of the world.

Pretzels.

Hot Dog stands.

Pizza.

Delicatessens. 

Chinese takeout.

Sushi.

Each of these food items became famous in NYC, and Lunch Hour NYC traces them through the century and describes their significance. (Kinda cool, no? I never knew food could have so much of a history!).

My favorite part of the exhibit was the part about the Automat, a very unique self-service food apparatus:

You basically put a coin in a slot and then opened a door that held a single serving of the food you desired.

Automats were all over the city from the 1920s-1940s. They started closing in the 1950s when labor and food costs began to rise, making it difficult for Automat proprietors to maintain their commitment to fresh, elegant and cheap food. The last Automat closed in 1992.

I left the exhibit quite hungry... after all, I had just spent an hour looking at nothing but food!

There is so much to see in this exhibit and I highly recommend it. Make a day trip out of it and visit the Children's Center and Bryant Park while you're there.

If you can't make it to the exhibit, there is loads of information on their website: http://exhibitions.nypl.org/lunchhour/exhibits/show/lunchhour

Enjoy!

All photos are courtesy of the NYPL website.

Skyscrapers Galore!

**Just want to give a shout out to my friend A who spotted me on my afternoon excursion today. Hope you enjoyed your outing this afternoon!

This afternoon, I checked out the Skyscraper Museum, located across the street from The Museum of Jewish Heritage by Battery Park. Its a cute little museum that takes about 45 minutes to see in its entirety.

The museum is exactly as it sounds. All about skyscrapers. Given my crazy fear of heights and the fact that just looking at super tall buildings gives me the shivers, it was an odd choice museum for me to visit. But I loved all the cool pictures and videos they had on exhibit (although I did cringe in fear at the height of some of the buildings!).

The design of the museum is really cool! They have mirrors on the ceiling, so it looks like the room is much larger than it actually is.

Source: NYPI.net

This is a New York Times article from Sunday, January 19, 1964.

The caption under the picture of the twin towers reads as follows: "New look at skyscrapers: Model of the proposed trade center demonstrates how twin 110-story towers will soar above their satellite buildings, to be 70 feet high."

They also showed a 15 minute long video about the construction of the Twin Towers. It was extremely interesting, but also very sad at the same time. All the work that went into building the Twin Towers just crashed to the ground (in addition to the tragedy of all the lives lost) on 9/11.

On my way home, I passed through the recently built South Ferry Subway station.

Credit: Wikipedia

The South Ferry station has some fantastic artwork! The station was designed by Doug and Mike Starn, and art on display is called See it Split, See it Change (don't ask me why, I haven't thought about it deep enough yet).

Check out the trees (I love trees) entitled "Silhouetted Images of Trees," and the intricate stainless steel fence!

credit: starnstudio.com

The beautiful leaf on the left is made out of fused glass panels, and the map on the right is mosaic.

credit: starnstudio.com

The map is actually a skillful combination of a topographic map from 1640 with a street plan from The Battery to 155th street.

I enjoy traveling on the subway and noticing all the great little details that decorate the Subway stations. Next time you're traveling on the Subway, take notice of these details - the moldings, the mosaics, the tiles, etc. You may be surprised at how much you can find!

More information about the artwork of South Ferry Station can be found at http://www.starnstudio.com/MTA_SF.html.

For information about the Skyscraper Museum, visit: http://www.skyscraper.org

Free in NYC: Monday Adventures

On Monday, I decided to check out The Center for Jewish History on 16th Street near Union Square.

The Center houses archives from five different organizations: The American Jewish Historical Society, The American Sephardi Federation, The Leo Baeck Institute, the Yeshiva University Museum, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

The Yeshiva University Museum is the main reason why the general public would visit. The Center is generally used for research, private tours and classes. The YU Museum was closed when I went, but you can visit it for free! Check out the website (http://www.cjh.org/) for more information.

I headed over to the Union Square Farmers Market after the Center for Jewish History, and had fun watching all the trendy (and also regular) Manhattanites shopping for local and organic produce. The market was established in 1976 by the Council on the Environment of NYC (GrowNYC) and is open on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 8am-6pm.

I made my way down to the Subway, and emerged at Grand Central Terminal on 42nd Street and Park Avenue. I was in desperate need of air conditioning, and I remembered that I once discovered a beautiful air-conditioned atrium across the street from Grand Central at 92 E. 42nd Street. I'm not sure what the building is called (if anyone knows, please post in the comments), but it is open to the public and has awesome air conditioning with great seating space.

Here is a Google Maps capture of the building:

My favorite part of the day was on my walk from Grand Central to Times Square passing through Bryant Park. On Monday nights during the summer, a free outdoor movie is shown on the Lawn starting at sunset. People from all over NY bring their blankets and make themselves comfortable on the grass.

Flcikr/Digiart2001 I jason.kuffer

I got there at 4:50pm and noticed hundreds of people in a "ready, set, go!" position around the lawn, and then heard an announcement that the lawn only opens at 5:00pm. I had to see this. At 5:00pm on the dot, hundreds of people literally FLEW onto the grass to set up their blankets to get the best positions possible. All I could see were people and blankets flying. It was hysterical. For those of you in NY on Monday evenings, be sure to check this out. It'll keep you laughing for at least 5 minutes, guaranteed.

Check out http://www.bryantpark.org/plan-your-visit/filmfestival.html for more information.

I finally made it to the Subway in Times Square and headed home.

All in a day's work!