This vintage photograph from 1982 is a reminder not only for what has been lost, but also that urban geography is always changing. In 1982, the World Trade Center complex was not completed yet, and certainly not Battery Park City, most of which was built in the ’80s. The World Financial Center was completed in 1985. The “beach” you see here is from the excavations to build the World Trade Center.
The architectural boat tour sponsored by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) New York chapter is arguably one of the most informative and enjoyable tours in New York City. The Classic Harbor Line is docked at Pier 62 in Chelsea and the boat is the picture of elegance. The ship’s deck is made of fine teak and the interiors are plush and comfortable. Architect Anthony Platt, who seemed no stranger to the microphone, gave the tour. He rattled off dates, names and architectural styles with the same ease as reciting the alphabet. His knowledge seemed to know no bounds and it was actually difficult to keep up with all the information, though still enjoyable nonetheless. As we pulled out of Pier 62, he told us that Chelsea Piers is over one hundred years old and began as a luxury liner pier. The Titanic was scheduled to dock there, but the survivor ship, The Carpathia, took its place. After the height of luxury liners came to an end, the piers were turned over for shipping and fell into disuse in the 1970s. In the 1990s, the piers were rehabilitated for adaptive reuse as seen today as the mega-sports complex, Chelsea Piers.
As we pulled out of the boat slip and into the Hudson River, the West Side of Chelsea came into full view. Recently Chelsea has seen a surge of starchitecture and the viewpoint from the water was a different way to see how it all comes together against the skyline. Our tour guide started out by pointing towards the wonderful Jean Nouvel residential tower, noting the 1,700 different panels all situated in different directions to give the illusion of different shades of blue. We were then pointed towards the iceberg-esque Frank Gehry building, home to the IAC. The glass was warped into shape and then sprayed down with silicone to give it its ghostly appearance.
As we floated down the river, Mr. Platt was quick to point out architecturally significant buildings both old and new. We moved from recent history to older with the Westbeth Artist Community, a building whose beginnings started as the Bell Laboratories and is one of the first examples of adaptive reuse in the city. It opened in the late 1960s as artist live-work studios for 384 individuals. The project was the first important public commission for Richard Meier. In 2011, the building was marked as a New York City Landmark.
Naturally, the new World Trade Center was highlighted on this tour. The mega architecture firm S.O.M. is in charge of the design, following Daniel Libeskind’s master plan. Four World Trade Center is designed by Fuki Mahki and will prove to be another interesting addition to the lower Manhattan skyline. The new Goldman Sachs tower was pointed out on both the Manhattan side and the New Jersey side. I.M. Pei’s firm designed the Manhattan tower and the New Jersey office is the tallest building in the state, though few from Goldman Sachs actually use those offices.
We moved towards the tip of the island towards Battery Park City, a former landfill. Work began on this section of Manhattan around the same time as the original World Trade Center. New York State created the public-private Battery Park City Authority to build the development. One notable structure is the ziggurat-like Jewish Heritage Museum. This building surely is unique in style among the hundreds of New York City structures and serves as a great homage to Jewish people and their heritage. Moving forward, we rounded the island and headed up the East River towards the Harlem River. Obvious important structures were pointed out like Frank Gehry’s residential tower, “New York by Gehry” and the Brooklyn Bridge.
The newest addition on this tour perhaps was the new FDR Four Freedoms Park at Roosevelt Island. The tip of the small island has been made captivating and serves as a nice, fresh juxtaposition from the ruins of the old small pox hospital. New Yorkers have another reason to visit the East River island.
Moving towards High Bridge Park we were informed of Bette Midler’s involvement through the New York Restoration Project in cleaning up and restoring this park perched on a cliff. For a moment it feels as if you are way up the Hudson River and not Manhattan, especially when you come upon the boathouse designed by Robert A. M. Stern. Its bright colors are a welcome respite from the relentless glass and steel seen earlier.
As we trolled through the no wake zone of the Harlem River, Mr. Platt pointed towards Columbia University’s playing fields and a cliff that children are wont to jump off of in the warm summer months. The beautiful fall foliage helped to transport us out of Manhattan once again. We passed the Cloisters and were reminded of just how much the Rockefellers contributed to Manhattan’s glory both now and in time past.
Passing midtown Manhattan, we saw the new development in the beautiful starchitecture towers of Sir Norman Foster, Robert A. M. Stern, Renzo Piano and other well-known mega firms. The recession seems to be over in Manhattan by evidence of the countless cranes and construction sites. The new development initiated by Donald Trump has done much to change the long empty portion of the East Side waterfront. As we pulled back into the slip at Pier 62, I was reminded that it was a Friday and I wasn’t on vacation. The 2 hour 45 minute trip was over and I needed to get back to my workday, sadly. All in all, this is a tour that I would highly recommend to both tourists and New York residents alike. It isn’t for the faint of heart though. Be ready to learn more in a short period about architecture then you ever thought possible. It just may send the architecture novice’s head reeling but there’s one free drink if this may cause some anxiety.
Find out more about the AIA New York Chapter and the Center for Architecture.
The East River Ferry is no stranger to many of New York City’s inhabitants. Transporting passengers to and from Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan, it serves as a daily mode of commute to work. Unfortunately, in our hurry to get to our destination, we often don’t get the chance to interact with the people who steer us there. Recently, Untapped Cities got a chance to sit down with a captain, Norman Little, and listen to his stories about working as a captain for 18 years.
We walked to the wheelhouse in the front of the ferry, where he greeted us with a smile. “Hello, it’s nice to meet you!” he said energetically, a feat considering he wakes up at 3 a.m. every day. He starts his shift at 5.45 a.m, and ends at 2 in the afternoon. However, there are days when he takes on additional shifts, which could mean he is on the ferry until 8.p.m in the evening. Within each shift, he gets a 10-minute break, during which he heats up some food in the microwave oven situated near him in the wheelhouse, and gobbles down a quick meal.
Perhaps his cheerfulness was due to the fact that we were on his favorite route. He was ferrying passengers in between the ports of Long Island City, Williamsburg, Brooklyn and Manhattan. He says the route is “challenging, because you’re not just going back and forth. Every docking is different” due to the currents in the East River.
While most of his days offer a routine schedule (and a spot of people-watching), Norman has seen some eventful days throughout the years. During 9/11, he transported families, stranded commuters, politicians and later, bodies. In the days that followed, he would find himself crying at work. “It’s something you never forget,” he says haltingly.
Norman got into the occupation after a lifetime of boating. He has owned a total of four to five boats, each one bigger than the last, before his expensive hobby forced him to sell them. It looked like his boating days were over, until he saw an ad in the newspaper calling for captains. He applied, and has been here ever since. “I’ve always been a water person,” he said, smiling.
Stand by for our next series of articles on Untapped spots to check out along the East River Ferry!
From 1890 to 1974, the world’s tallest building was located in New York City. However, as with most records, there have been controversies and disagreements surrounding which buildings are eligible and how they are measured. The organization which currently oversees this tall task is the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Founded in 1969, the Council ”is the world’s leading body in the field of tall buildings.” Here is a timeline of New York’s world’s tallest buildings.
1890: George Post’s New York World Building was the first building in New York to surpass the spire of Trinity Church. It was commissioned by Joseph Pulitzer as the headquarters for his New York World Newspaper. Pulitzer’s office was located in the dome of the 309 foot building. The World Building was demolished in 1955 to accommodate the expanded Brooklyn Bridge entrance ramp.
Source: NYPL (more…)
Like most Americans, I remember when 9/11 happened. I was in 3rd period typing class, freshman year of high school. Although I grew up close to New York and I had a brother that had just moved to the city, I was not much involved in post 9/11 efforts. But three weeks ago an email came in at work with an opportunity to volunteer at the 10th anniversary. This would be the first one at the new memorial site, and open only to families of the people lost on that awful day. Without hesitation I replied yes.
And so on September 11th, 2011 I woke up at 4 a.m. to help assist with family security at the new memorial site. While riding my bike over the Williamsburg Bridge I noticed the full moon over the city. It was cold out, but I could tell it was going to be a beautiful day. We met with our volunteer captains and were given out jobs. Men and women of all ages and from various city organizations all made similar trips that I did in order to be here. Our job was to make sure the expected 30,000 people who were coming to the site that day could get in quickly. They would have to go through security similar to an airport, and if things got congested they could miss out on important events, therefore keeping the lines moving was important. My first station was on the corner of Murray and Greenwich.
As I watched the procession of families come in I made sure to say hello if possible, and take note of their expressions. Many people looked sad, but you could tell in their body posture that they were excited to be here today. Today was special, not just because this was the 10th anniversary, but that they were going to see the permanent site that would hold their lost loved ones names. This moment had been a long time coming.
The make up of the crowd coming to the site was almost exactly like the make up of New York City. Families came in all types of sizes and colors. There was Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Hasidics, Asians, and Muslims. I even noticed some foreign languages, remembering that it was not just Americans who were lost in the September 11th attacks. Some families were dressed up in blazers and suits, some had screen printed t-shirts of their deceased family members and many held posters with photos and names. It was obvious there were some class differences amongst the visitors, but regardless their purpose and intentions today were the same.
At 8:46 am they had their first moment of silence. The majority of people coming to visit for the day had made it in to the site already. By ten o clock we started to break down our station, take a break and then were redirected to the memorial site itself. Our group of volunteers got to walk behind the barricades on Church Street on the eastern edge of the site. Walking here we saw the many people who were attending the event just as spectators. They watched the screens as family members read off the names of the deceased on a platform within the site. I was able to take in the scene, and saw how many tens of thousands had come out for the service.
Arriving at the southern section of the site was the first time I have ever been able to step foot on what was formerly Ground Zero. I say formally because I personally don’t call it Ground Zero anymore. Although there are still some craters, the foundations are set for the future skyscrapers’ to be built. And then of course you have 1 World Trade Center towering above on the north side of the site, its peak now the highest in the Financial District. When I first started working in Lower Manhattan in 2008 this building had just been a small steel structure, its current height is now visible from my apartment in Brooklyn. I think any unfamiliar with the site now would be confused by the term “Ground Zero”.
Around 2 o’clock I was directed to enter the site itself to assist giving directions, making me one of the few non family members of the deceased to do so. When I finally got inside, I had to take a moment to understand and take in what I was seeing.
Say what you will about the design, how you don’t like the architecture of the towers, the layout of trees, or the empty pools that are the footprint of the former world trade center. The sight that I saw on this day was one that could only fill an American, and especially a New Yorker, with pride. Everyone was together, they felt safe, and they were able to grieve and share this space together. 3,000 people perished at this site 10 years ago, some are still suffering with health problems from the clean up, and billions has been spent on reconstruction. And yet on this day you could not only see the progress, you felt it all around you. The progress not only in the reconstruction of the site, but of the lives of the people gathered today.
Outside the site, everyone had looked serious, or sullen, and some even had tears. But inside was different. Inside people were smiling, some people were laughing as they embraced friends. There were many kids present, and they maneuvered and played here like it was a playground. I thought to myself that most of these kids must be under the age of 10, some so young they probably weren’t even aware of where they were, or knowing that they were first of what will be tens of millions of people to see this site. But most of all, they were having fun.
The pools themselves are massive. Looking in from the edge it looks as if when the water falls towards the center that it is falling into Earth itself. Around the edge of the pools are all the names of the victims etched in a metal sheath. Many people left tokens or pictures next to their loved ones names. Surveying this area, I saw a young Hasidic family with a newborn baby. They placed him on the edge of the pool next to the name of their lost family member, perhaps his grandfather or uncle. The baby looked into the waterfall in awe. As they were taking a photo of him, they tried to get him to look forward and at the camera, but their efforts were all in vain, his young eyes fixated on the running water. If only all of New York could have seen the tranquility and relief amongst the visitors this day, it was a great sight indeed.
There is a difference between death and a tragedy. There was more than one ten year old who read a name of a deceased father, never getting to meet them, never getting to see the actual twin towers where they perished, but coming to the site this day to pay respects and talk about the bonds they would never have. Even more populated were the elderly, people who had to live through the awful experience of losing their child, or even grandchild. For some saying 9/11 felt like yesterday is not a cliché, this date will always bring painful memories of the loved ones they lost. I realized at this moment how important it was for these people to come together and remember, and grieve, and share their pain amongst friends through tragedy.
It has taken many efforts from the very local level all the way to the Federal level to assist with reconstruction at this site. 10 years is indeed a long time to rebuild, but we now know that progress is showing its head, and we are working toward a beautiful goal. This memorial was a wonderful tribute, and I hope those who see it remember how important it was this day for the victim’s families.
I still have somewhere at home a photo of myself with the twin towers from a 6th grade trip. I know I must have stared at the towers for ages that day, and we toured the base of them. Those memories however are not as vivid as the ones I have of when I first heard the announcement they were crumbling in that 3rd period typing class. But looking at the memorial I could only think of the many of the signs I saw around me, “Lost, But Never Forgotten.”
