Musings on "Exchange"

The word exchange finds its way into conversation often.  We exchange presents at holidays, and purchases at shops.  Your HVAC system uses a heat exchanger; my colleague works in an Art Deco building on Exchange Place in Lower Manhattan.

                                                  90 West Broadway, Manhattan

Mainers exchanged lumber from their forests for Caribbean sugar in the early 1800s, facilitating a spike in rum consumption in that state (and the rise of the temperance movement).  Banks began as places of exchange, where a product was brought and money taken away.  A "Corn Exchange" Bank was located on  125th Street in 1913.  Shown above, at 90 West Broadway, the name "NY National Exchange Bank" has been obscured, either by intention or time.  In 1877, the NY National Bank was robbed at 138 Chambers Street, this building's address around the corner.  City records show new buildings permitted at this site in 1868 and 1895, so it is doubtful that the thief escaped through this portal.

nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html

Ansonia (Upper West Side)

The Ansonia is a landmark Beaux-Arts building, dating to 1902 and finished in 1913. Located on Broadway and 73rd Street in New York City, it was built by W.E.D. Stokes, an eccentric heir to a copper fortune who insisted on fanciful turrets and decorative elements. The architect hired for the job, Emile Paul DuBoy, was fetched from Europe, and impresses visitors with  equally exciting interiors comprised of elliptical living rooms, apses and sculpture niches. The Ansonia was built with artists in mind with doorways wide enough to accommodate a piano,  thick soundproof walls and cooled pipes in the summer.

Historic photograph of original building with text that says, 

"THE ANSONIA, Broadway and 73rd Street, 

Most Superbly Equiped Home in the World. New York, NY"

Note Rutgers Church on the left, since rebuilt.

Historic photograph of Ansonia in context with new Rutgers Church and 

what is now Apple Bank on the right.

Modern day photograph of the entrance on 73rd Street.  

Image by http://www.museumplanet.com

Here is a video taken in the public triangle park near the Ansonia. 

A Moment for Small Signs

Those who appreciate architecture do so on many levels. We are able to consider a building as an entity with a purpose and context, and often judge its success on its usefulness and beauty.  Since we often focus on the macro of our built environment, we thought it might be interesting to take a moment to switch to signs-- those details that tell us where to go and what to do, announce our arrival and embellish our experience.

Elegant arrangement with planter in Spanish Harlem, NYC.

Hand-painted sign in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

Art Deco elevator call button on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

D&H Canal

Photo of D&H Canal by Lynne Funk, 2012.

A dry laid stone embankment along the D + H Canal and towpath, which runs next to Route 209, just south of Ellenville, NY. This is the southern part of the Delaware & Hudson (D & H) Canal.  

Above: a child leads miles on the D&H Canal during the late 1800s. Century House Historical Society, Rosendale, New York.

Above: Towpath for walking along side the boats.

It took three people to drive a canal boat, with one, often a child, leading the mules along the path. Boats lasted for only five years, and it took three for a boat to be paid off.  Families owned some, living in an approximately 12 x 12 foot space.

Coal was transported from PA to New York City and the Hudson River until railroads made the canal network archaic.

For more information, please visit: http://www.canalmuseum.org/

History of NYC Subways

Those urban denizens who rely on mass transit for their daily commute are often heard grumbling over how slow or crowded or expensive their train ride is. In light of the recent train wreck in Buenos Aires 1 (which was both gory and preventable), we would like to take a moment to reflect on the history of NYC's mass transit system. 

 
Postcard of Elevated Railroad "Cooper Institute", early 1900s of NYC's East Village  3

In the 1800s, the importance of rapid transit to urban growth and efficiency became evident. Elevated lines were already in effect in cities such as New York, Chicago and London but a discreet underground system that did not rely on steam power would be more ideal. Though it was technically possible to build a steam operated subway system, construction of an subterranean transportation system did not begin until 1901, when electricity could be used. 

 

A.P. Robinson's Plans for Subway (dated 1864), a steam-based prototype for our current system. 2

Our current system began as a privately owned company. In 1904, the the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) opened a 9.1 mile long subway line consisting on 28 stations (City Hall to 145th St) and within a few years opened lines to the Bronx and Queens, while the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BMT) began service to Brooklyn in 1915. 4

Bowling Green IRT Control House, an iron and glass subway entrance/control house by architects Heins & LaFarge, New York City circa 1905. Photo taken 2007 5

 

New Kawasaki train undergoing testing September 22, 2005 in the 145th Street A, C, B, D station. 

Over the last decade, the New York Transit Authority has made it a priority to upgrade its trains. Modernization and artful adaptive reuse is important to a changing society; it keeps straphangers moving and inspired. Consider the High Line for example, which has become a local source of pride and cultural tourism.

Having fallen into disuse, the city took ownership elevated freight rail line running up the west side of Manhattan along 10th Avenue. Friends of the High Line was founded in 1999 to preserve the public space, and campaigned to transform it through an open competition. In 2011, the second section, designed by Diller Scoffidio + Refro and James Corner Field Operation, opened to the public. 7

 

New York City High Line Park, photo by Jill Fehrenbacher, June 9, 2009 6

1  "Argentina Train Crash in Buenos Aires 'Kills At Least 49', Leaves Hundreds Injured

http://www.huffingtonpost.com

2 "Fifty Years of Rapid Transit" by James Blaine Walker, Chapter 3, Pioneer Plans for a Subway. www.nycsubway.org 

3 "Turn of the Century Cooper Square", posted November 12, 2009 on http://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com

4 "New York City Transit - History and Chronology". http://www.mta.info

5 "Battery Park Control House" by Michael, blogpost August 23, 2007 on The Masterpiece Next Door: All 500-Plus Manhattan Landmarks on the National Register of Historic Places, Blogged.

6  "New York's High Line Park in the Sky Opens Today" by Jill Fehrenbacher, blogpost June 9, 2009 on Inhabitat: Design Will Save the World. http://inhabitat.com

7 "ABOUT: High Line History" on High Line: The official web site of the High Line and Friends of the High Line. www.thehighline.org

8 http://en.wikipedia.org 

Tribeca, NYC

Here are some photos taken during a quick stroll down in Tribeca (the Triangle Below Canal). Tribeca was one of New York City's original residential neighborhoods with small freestanding colonial homes. 

An example is 2 White Street (above) which still stands today at the corner of West Broadway and White Street. During the boom of the industrial revolution, homes were replaced by industrial buildings and by the mid-19th century the area became a commercial hub.

Looking South down Hudson, we can see a range of building styles. Largely abandoned in the 1960s and 70s, artists moved in and used the vast industrial spaces for creative studios. In recent years, Tribeca has been transformed into a posh neighborhood. Bouley Restaurant now occupies the ground floor of 163 Duane Street.

Duane Park was purchased from Trinity Church in 1795, and named for James Duane, the first mayor of New York after independence. Notice the elegant horseheads in the ironwork fencing which runs along the triangular park between Duane and Hudson Streets, harking back to the days of horse-drawn carriages.

The park has been revamped numerous times over the centuries. This unique, squat building with an arched facade looks onto Duane Park from the north.

Fulton Fish Market, South Street Seaport, Manhattan January 2002

 The Fulton Fish Market had been operating in Lower Manhattan since 1807, with many of the extant buildings dating to 1882. Below are some photos taken before it was relocated to Hunts Point in the Bronx. The market consisted of several purpose-built warehouses, such as the high-ceilinged space shown in the first and second photos below, as well as the lowrise brick buildings which were part of an earlier cityscape.  The East River was the conduit for commerce in Manhattan until transportation modes changed and routes shifted west.

The Fulton Fish Market is now located in an indoor, fully refrigerated facility and is the nation's largest gathering of fish wholesalers in the country. Many famous chefs continue to visit the market daily to choose from the freshest catch.  Lynne visited the old market at 5 a.m. with her sketchbook in January 2002.