Fancy Eastside

    Our first class in Manhattan has finally arrived! After meeting with the group we hoped on the 6 train and arrived at 86th Street, where our first stop of the day was located: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met is the largest, most comprehensive art museum in the world. Its collections include more than two million objects, whose range includes the whole world and the entire sweep of human civilization (BG, p 326). We mainly focused on the museum's modern art collection, and learned about three styles of art: Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, and Pop Art. We discussed the fact that Abstract Expressionism was art with raw emotions. An artist would express himself any way he felt it, using specific colors to show his emotions. A famous artist we discussed and saw beautiful works of art was Jackson Pollock. He gave Abstract a new meaning when he created the "drip" technique, in which he would drip and pour paint into a raw canvas. My favorite painting of his was Autumn Rhythm, which was created in 1950. It is considered a masterpiece from his most important period, admired for its balance of control and spontaneity (BG, p 336).  Robert Rauschenburg's  is also a famous Abstract Expressionist who was known for his famous style known as 'combines' in which he would combine random objects with his paintings. In his work of art titled Canyon (1959) he combines a bald eagle with other objects, including cardboard and fabrics.

    We were extremely lucky to be able to visit the Andy Warhol exhibit, Sixty Artist, Fifty Years. Warhol, a prominent cultural icon has had an enormous impact on contemporary art. As I walked through the exhibit I was tempted to take shots of the things that where on display. The sixty artist were artist that created works that were inspired by him, or made to honor him. I loved the medicine cabinet, his colorful portraits of famous artist, and his videos. Although he was a strange person, his uniqueness and his lack of barriers has led him to become a legend. As I read about him through out the exhibit, I learned that his interest in consumerism was because he believed that it was the meeting point for every human no matter your race, class, or wealth. I enjoyed looking at his Coca-Cola paintings, and the classic Campbells Soup add. The beautiful colors and the way he expresses himself makes his art unique and inspirational.

   As we went our separate ways to explore the museum, a couple of friends and I decided to head towards the Asian Wing. The works-paintings, lacquer work, calligraphy, textiles, sculpture, and ceramics-date back from the 2nd millennium BC to present (BG, p358). I saw beautiful pottery, and tons of items made out of jade. I enjoyed seeing the clothing from the Han Dynasty in China. The clothing was traditional robes with beautiful colors and patterns. My favorite part of the Asian art had to be the Chinese Garden Court. It is modeled on a 12th century court from Suzhou, built by a public  official who retreaded there from the burdens of his job (BG, p 359). This beautiful garden was created in china and assembled here. This garden has rocks and waterfalls, and an extremely relaxing vibe. It was quite something to be able to stand in this garden, it was almost as if I had visited China!      

                                                                                                

  After our lovely educational experience at the Met we headed to Central Park, the heartland of Manhattan with 843 acres for recreation for New Yorkers and visitors (BG, p 279). As Mike informed us, the park was designed by Fedrick Law Olmstead, and was made to have a place in which people could simply hang out and relax. We stopped at the the Model Boat Pond first. Formally known as the conservatory Water, gets its name from an unbuilt glass conservatory for the exhibition of tropical plants (BG, p 292). It was a beautiful view seeing boats being sailed at the pond. I would love to come back here on my day off to sail a boat and just relax with no care in the world. As we continued our visit in Central Park we walked towards the lake, passing by a cute bronze statue, the statue of Alice in Wonderland! I could not help my self and I just had to sit on one of those giant mushrooms. We arrived at the lake, a beautiful body of water in which renting a boat would be a perfect. The sun was shinning, and it was a nice day for a picnic at the park. As we continued towards the end of Central Park we arrived at Strawberry Fields.  It is called Strawberry Fields to honor John Lennon, the songwriter, singer, and member of the Beetles, who was assassinated nearby (BG, p 290). When we arrived we were fortunate enough to witness a live Japanese Tea Ceremony . The ritual was very slow and she did every movement with such beauty, as if she was pouring tea from her heart. We took a few steps from Strawberry Fields and arrived at the Dakota. Mike informed us that John Lennon was shot in this building, and that his ex wife Yoke Ono still lives in the the building! This information was new to me, but I was glad to witness a building that plays an important part in the Beatles History.

 
        It was time for lunch, and my friends and I decided to treat ourselves to sushi. The sushi was splendid and we were nice and full. As we walked back through Strawberry Fields, the person who decorates it with flowers had arrived, making it look very beautiful and decorative. We continued on our adventure, and began walking towards fifth avenue arriving at The Plaza Hotel first. In the past two decades this celebrated hotel has changed ownership several times and has recently undergone a $400 million renovation and the conversion of some of its rooms to condos (BG, p 273). As I walked inside I was mesmerized at the beauty and the luxury of this place. The lady playing the piano, the beautiful chandeliers, and the gorgeous paintings make The Plaza such a beauty!. We dropped into F.A.O. Schwarz, the oldest toy store in the Unites States. As embarrassing as it is, I have never heard of this store before.They have a huge collection of all kinds of toys, and a HUGE piano! We passed by Bergdorf Goodman, known for its luxury European clothing and accessories, its fur collection, and its service (BG, p 272). Tiffany's  was our last fancy store on the list, one of the worlds renowned jewels. It was founded by Charles L. Tiffany, father of Louis Comfort Tiffany, the famous designer of stained glass, jewelry, enamels, and interiors (BG, p 272). I just can't get enough of Tiffany jewelry, I love the little blue box!

    St. Patrick's Cathedral was next on our list, the largest Catholic cathedral in the US and the eleventh largest in the world (BG, p 254). Mike also informed us the cathedral is a neo-gothic type of architecture, like most churches. Designed by James Renwick in 1879 drawing out the decorated Gothic style of the 13th century (BG, p 254). It has a very beautiful anterior, and a relaxing environment to say a well needed prayer.We walked to Grand Central Terminal, admiring the beautiful architecture and painted astrological ceiling. Our last stop of the day, the New York Public Library is officially the Humanities and Social Sciences Library of the New York Public Library, one of the NYPL'S major research facilities, world famous for its collections and much admired for the architecture of the building ( BG, p. 207). We discussed the neo-classical type of architecture of the building, and the two famous marble lions named Patience (south side) and Fortitude (north side). Mayor Fiorello La Guardia gave them these names believing these were two important qualities needed by New Yorkers struggling economically during the depression (BG, p. 208). It was a bummer that it was closed, I wanted to visit the Main Reading Room, with more than 30,000 reference books and known as one of the city's great interiors, (BG, p. 208) I will make sure to visit soon.. I had tons of fun in our first Manhattan class and I can't wait to go to the other parts of the city.

                 

Hello Brooklyn

      Our second class finally arrived and I was extremely excited to visit Bodacious Brooklyn! It began with a LONG train ride on the F train as we headed to the famous Coney Island. When we finally arrived I could already see the energy and beauty of the place as I saw the huge wall painting that welcomed us to Coney. We met up with the group, and Mike told us a bit of history on Coney. It was settled by the Dutch, who named it Konij Eiland after the large amounts of rabbits they found! (BG, p 492). Many may wonder why it is referred to as an island, in fact Coney was once an island, but was joined to the mainland by landfill early in the 20th century making it now a peninsula (BG, p 492).                                                                        
                                                                              
    We began walking on the boardwalk and saw the beautiful beach that layed ahead of us. It was a gorgeous day, and I wanted to dive right into the water!. As we went our separate ways to explore Coney I immediately started heading towards Nathans! After all Coney Island is the birthplace of the hot dog (BG p. 492). The hot dog and fries were delicious, I was glad to eat there again because the last time I had a hot dog from Nathans was when I was 7 years old! After we ate we decided to explore a flea market, and I was able to buy a much needed toy for my godson. You could not beat the cheap prices! We ended our Coney exploration with delicious ice  cream and full tummies. Coney Island had a relaxed, historic vibe that makes it unique and such a wonderful place to spend the day.

   

      After the lovely time spent at Coney Island we had to keep it moving onto our second stop of the day. As we entered a train station entrance I thought we were going to hop on another train, however this train entrance is actually the New York Transit Museum! Run by the Metropolitan Transit Authority since 1976, it includes exhibits on buses, bridges, and tunnels, but the emphasis is on the subway (BG, p 468). It was amazing to see all past train cars and buses. I loved the anterior of the trains, and the adds that were on the trains in those days. I enjoyed the large amount of information our tour guide gave us, including the harsh and dangerous conditions that these workmen had to undergo. My favorite part was reading the signs that spoke about how the subway system has transitioned since it was first created. Back in 1904 when the first subway line ran a hot dog was only 5 cents! It was a very rewarding experience having hands on activities such creating all the electricity necessary to power a train!  

                    

     Although I wished we could have stayed at the New York Transit Museum we had to continue on our adventure in Brooklyn Heights. As we walked we learned about the three important styles of architecture: Neo-classical, Neo-Gothic, and Art Deco. We arrived at the Brooklyn Borough Hall , and discussed the fact that the large columns make it a Neo-classical type of architecture. As we continued to walk we passed by a couple of churches, including Spencer Memorial Church. We discussed that most of the churches are created in Neo-Gothic architecture, they are tall pointy, and have stained glass. It is no surprise to encounter many churches in Brooklyn, since it was once known as the "City of Churches" for the countless houses of worship that had sprung up (BG, p. 462). We continued to walk and arrived at the Brooklyn Historic Society which was founded in 1863 as the Long Island Historical Society (BG, p 472). This society has preserved important artifacts, documents, and photographs of Brooklyn. Its current exhibit Inventing Brooklyn had pretty interesting things such as weapons used during the Battle of Brooklyn! My favorite part of this tour was the Othmer Library, the library inside the historic society. It was a very elegant, gorgeous library that definitely has been preserved and taken care of quite well. It is open to members, and it contains tons of books and articles on Brooklyn. We then had a very informative walking tour in which we walked through Montague Street, named after English writer Lady Mary Wortly Montague (BG, p. 472). We continued unto the Promenade and I was able to see the statue of Liberty!

        

   We continued towards our final stops, DUMBO and The Brooklyn Bridge. I had actually never heard of DUMBO before, this was something quite new to me. DUMBO actually stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. It had excellent views of both Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge, and great places to eat, including Jacques Torres Ice Cream, which I was dying to try!

After our pitt stop for ice cream we continued on to the Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in May 25, 1883 and was considered one of the world's greatest wonders, taking 14 years to build and costing $15 millions dollars (BG, p. 464). We walked the 1.43 mile walk and took great shots on the bridge. It was a nice day to walk, and I always enjoy walking the Brooklyn Bridge. Although I was tired at the end of the day I was glad to say I walked the bridge and enjoyed the day.

Thd Many Faces of Queens

   Our first class finally arrived, and I was extremely excited about starting off in my hometown, Queens. I thought I would know almost every spot, and perhaps join our instructors in the guided tour. Boy was I wrong.!

        We hoped on the 7 train and met up with the class at Citi Field. Once we met up we walked to our first stop, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. I have only been to this park once, when I was younger. However hearing the history behind this park and finally appreciating the Unisphere so closely (700,000 lbs of steel!), completely changed my perspective on this park. As I heard Mike inform us that the park used to be a dump, I was a bit in shock as I looked around and saw how they had fixed it up so nicely. In the 1920s large amounts of trash arrived daily from Brooklyn, making it look dantesque (BG p.497) Luckily for this area, Robert Moses transformed the dump into an area suitable for the 1939-1940 World's Fair. (BG p. 497). Hearing the history behind the World's Fair is quite interesting, because it was an enormous clash of culture and technology.

      

Next up on our Queens excursion was the Queens Museum of Art , a short walk from Flushing Meadows. First off I was a bit embarrassed at the fact that I have basically lived all my life in Queens and have never visited QMA! My favorite part of the museum was the New York Panorama. I have been missing out on this beautiful masterpiece for quite a while. It is model for the city, and includes all the boroughs, even Staten Island!. It is amazing at the number of buildings this model contains, and the precise locations of each. My favorite part of the visit was the tour guide we had, she gave us so much information on the Panorama, and included fun facts all through out the way. The Panorama contains 895,00 buildings (BG p. 497), and more are added very easily as our tour guide explained!.

     Our third stop of the day was Jackson Heights! We hopped back on the 7 train and a few stops later arrived at Little India. Possibly one of the most diverse train rides ever, the 7 train also known as the "International Express" can leave you in so many different ethnic communities (BG p. 493). We were in Flushing, a predominantly Asian community and arrived in Jackson Heights, where Little India, Little Columbia, and many other Little communities have gathered. We went to Jackson Dinner, and the food was delicious! I could not help myself and had to get up for seconds! My favorite was curry chicken, and the rice! I will definitely show this spot to my friends and make it my mission to come back! Jackson Heights seems to be an excellent place to go to when your in the mood for ethnic food!

After our delicious lunch, we where Astoria bound! My favorite part of our Queens adventure has to be our visit to the Museum of Moving Image. It is still a shock to me that Astoria was the place to be if you where filming movies. It was the center of the film-making industry, when the Famous Players- Lasky Corporation was one of the nations most important studios (BG P. 499). I loved this museum! It was such a great learning experience to finally be able to visit this famous attraction. Their exhibit titled Behind the Screen shows us the entire process of filming a movie. I enjoyed reading each description and looking at the old school material film producers had to work with! The technological advances that have been made in the film industry are amazing and they seem to keep improving by the years. I loved seeing instruments used in one of my favorite movie, Men in Black! The doll used in the exorcist movie was also an interesting site to see. I appreciated the step by step process the exhibit explained, such as wardrobe and makeup, these are things that seem quite simple but in fact are very complicated processes!

       After our visit in Astoria, we hoped back on the train and continued our voyage into Long Island City. I knew little about Long Island City, other than its quite close to Manhattan. However Long island City is quite industrious and is known for housing contemporary art (BG p.495). We visited a famous location that I have always wanted to go to: 5Pointz. I have only seen 5Pointz from the train, but seeing it up close and personal was a totally different experience. The art on those walls are inspiring and breathtaking. My favorite was the Batman graffiti, it looks as if it was portrayed in the artist perspective. Each artist in 5Pointz is free to do whatever they desire, without getting arrested or reprimanded. That is the beauty of this exhibit, freedom and creativity. All the styles, colors, and designs used by the artists at 5Pointz where quite a site to see. I would love to come back to this exhibit, just to see the new art work and creativity of these skilled artist.

      Our last stop in Queens was Gantry Plaza State Park, a relaxing ending to this long day. I finally got to see the Coca Cola Sign! It is a beautiful park, with an excellent view of the city. The breeze was lovely, and being next to the East River was a cool experience. I enjoyed this park and took plenty of pictures! It is an excellent place for a picnic, or just for a nap on the grass. I was tired but happy to say I survived my first NYC experience class, and I'm ready for many more adventures!

Reflection on New York

   New York City: The city that never sleeps. That is the first thing I think about when I hear those three words. A city filled with chaos, traffic, yellow cabs, billboards, tourists, and billions of rude New Yorkers that are in a rush to get to where they need to go. It is never quiet in New York City, never a dull moment and never a moment of Silence. There are so many things to do in New York City, such as going to a Broadway show, taking a boat tour, and visiting the Statue of Liberty. The list of things to do is never ending, just like a night in the city. The city that keeps going when all other cities have called it a night, and the city you go to when your looking for a fun endless night. The one and only New York City. 

     New York City: The melting pot, the second thing that comes to mind. The large amount of cultures that come together in New York City is amazing. Cultures can be seen through the many options of food we have in the city, and the numerous museums and locations we can go to learn more about a certain culture. As a New Yorker I hear many people tell me that I am lucky I can enjoy authentic and delicious pizza and chin ease food. Other cities can try to imitate but the food and culture from New York City can never be replaced. From Chinatown to Little Italy, New York City has an endless list of diversity that can    be enjoyed. 

   New York City has been almost like a second home to me. Having spent almost my entire summer working in this city I can honestly say I have grown attached to it. As a native New Yorker and having the city only a 30 Minute train ride away, I wish I could have appreciated it more then just my work place. I have never been inside the Statue of Liberty, and I have never witnessed a new year celebration at Time Square. Sometimes I believe tourists see more of the city then New Yorkers. As annoying as they are taking pictures of every single thing, they have a reason to be excited over New York City. It is one of the most talked about places, and I am lucky to be able to see it almost every day.

    Another favorite thing of mine when it comes to New York City is all of the shopping that can be done!! New York city has every possible store I can think off. Any style of clothing, shoes or accessories can be found here. One of my favorite locations to shop at is 34th St. It has the biggest Macy's in the world, and other popular stores such as Old Navy, Forever 21, H&M, and Foot Locker. Many people come to NYC to shop, and experience the full effect the city has to offer. A typical day could be spent shopping, eating, and exploring the city that has endless possibilities.

    I'm looking forward to the many adventures that we will set forth in this class. I can finally play the role of a tourist and learn tons of information, and visit places I have always wanted to see. This will definitely be an interesting experience, and I cannot wait to begin!