Photo Friday: Streetview Circa 1889

Oh ninteenth century, how the proud drawings of your creations rule. As does your attention to detail. I submit to you, on this Photo Friday: a visual tour of Broadway in NYC circa 1889. The Mail & Express newspaper published this block-by-block pictorial directory of buildings and businesses along Broadway from Bowling Green to Columbus Circle. It's sort of like a visual yellow pages and map in one. (Come! Cruise Broadway! What a civilzed environment to shop and do business!)


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

These images can be browsed in the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery, and have been made available through their awesome flickr page. I highly recommend clicking on a few to check the buildings out in higher resolution. Here's one I like showing Trinity Church.

All Things Must Pass: Papa's, Lake Luzerne, NY

Papa's is the ice cream parlor of my dreams.

Summer visits to Papa's Ice Cream Parlor in Lake Luzerne, NY are among my fondest memories of living upstate.  Lake Luzerne is a village in the Adirondack foothills where the Hudson and Sacandaga rivers meet. Along the Hudson, before the rivers meet, just upriver from a small falls, there is a house with a big porch overlooking the Hudson. That's Papa's.

Papa's was an old school ice cream parlor, even though it was only established in the 1970s. Teenage waitresses working their summer jobs would wear tees saying "Papa's Girl," serving ice cream and soda fountain treats in glass dishes. At Papa's you could sit on the shady dining porch overlooking the river, chow down on a barbecue chicken sandwich, and then contemplate the most important choice of the day: what to eat for dessert. I always chose fruit flavors. My dessert of choice was a brownie sundae with cherry ice cream. Heaven on earth.

Papa's was only open in summer, and each year I dream of visiting. I had my heart set on actually getting to Papa's this summer and I was crestfallen to learn that it is no longer open. Though, I suppose, I'm not totally surprised. In 2002, the original Papa's caught fire and the Gardner family rebuilt their restaurant on an adjacent lot. In 2008 Papa's was sold. Now the building and business are for sale again. Here's hoping someone brings Papa's back to life.

One of the nicest days I ever spent with my friend PD was one Fourth of July more than a decade ago, punctuated by my first trip to Papa's. We walked down to the river and watched boys jumping (terrifyingly) off a bridge into the deep water below the falls. We ate lunch on the porch and gorged ourselves on ice cream. We went back to Saratoga Springs and watched fireworks.

Another piece of fine Americana, gone by the wayside.

The pencil cup on my desk is a mug from Papa's, a reminder of the sweet things in life.


Photos via Flickr user, warsze

Photo Friday: Berenice Abbott

In 1935 photographer Berenice Abbott was hired by the Federal Art Project to work on their "Changing New York" project.  The results, in stunning photographic form, are potent images of everyday life in New York City from 1935-1938. We owe her, and the WPA programs a debt of gratitude for this extraordinary record. Below are a few select favorites, but more can be viewed through the New York Public Library's Digital collection here and through their Flickr account here.

For your viewing pleasure:

 Court of first model tenement house in New York, 72nd Street and First Avenue, Manhattan.  (March 16, 1936)  

New York Public Library

Milk wagon and old houses, Grove Street, No. 4-10, Manhattan. (June 18, 1936)
New York Public Library

 

Warehouse, Water and Dock Streets, Brooklyn. (May 22, 1936)New York Public Library

Radio Row, Cortlandt Street, Manhattan. (April 08, 1936)

New York Public Library

Fulton Fish Market, Manhattan. (June 18, 1936)
New York Public Library

Historic Aerial Photographs of NYC

The good people behind NYCity Map have brought a smile to the Preservator's world today. Last week NYCity map added to its set of aerial photographs of New York City. According to NYCity Map Blog version 7.0 now has 1951 Aerial images obtained from the Department of Records. This means that another fantastic data tool is at our fingertips as we research sites through time: from 1924, to 1951, to 1996, to 2006, up to 2008.
Historic maps are great resources for preservationists, planners and historians alike, but aerial photographs can be even more potent. Maps are drawn and there can be an element of mystery (particularly with old maps), but photos tell it like it is. Now NYC researchers have even more historic aerial photos to use thanks to NYCity Map. Aerial photos are powerful tools that enable us to better understand a site's context and the trajectory of neighborhood history.

As previously posted here, the 1924 aerial photos were taken by Arthur Tuttle for the city's chief engineer. They are an extremely important set of photos that enable urban historians and researchers to understand neighborhood, and indeed citywide change. (You can also view this set through the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery here.) Prior to the addition of the 1951 aerial, there was a jump between 1924 and 1996. That is a huge span of time in which the city changed radically. (And yet, in so many interesting ways, stayed the same.)

Consider this example of downtown Brooklyn:
In a 1924 aerial, below,  you can see the Manhattan (center left) and Brooklyn (left) bridge approaches complete with a maze of train tracks. Pieces of the Navy Yard are also at right. Commodore Barry Park (bottom right) is a more formally designed square than its current configuration.

Now compare the above with the aerial from 1951 below. Same area, but look at what change 25 years can bring. Cadman Plaza replaces a maze of traintracks off the Brooklyn Bridge. The Farragut Housing towers have sprung up from once-dense and small-scale blocks.  Also, Commodore Barry park is now the ball fields we see today.

Pretty neat, right? Browse around and see what you find.

Preserved Fish?

When I walked past the New York City Marble Cemetery on East 2nd Street in Manhattan’s East Village I dutifully read the plaque explaining the significance of this nonsectarian cemetery’s history.  Listed among "other notables interred here" is "Preserved Fish, a prominent merchant..." Preserved Fish? I read it twice.

Who names their child Preserved Fish? Apparently men named Preserved Fish. According to a May 2000 NY Times piece, he was the THIRD consecutive Preserved Fish, of a Rhode Island Quaker clan.  His first name was pronounced with three syllables: Go ahead and say it. Pre-ser-ved. It means “preserved from sin” or “preserved in grace". Natch.  This Preserved Fish was a wealthy banker and merchant who made his money in Whale Oil. 

Bonus Fact: This is the same Fish clan that gave New York its Governor, Hamilton Fish.

To see it for yourself, the New York City Marble Cemetery's gates will be open July 25 from 3-5pm. The gates are rarely open. If you go, you should make sure to pop around the corner to the totally-unrelated-though-similarly-named New York Marble Cemetery, which is only open once a month. This month, it will also be open July 25 from noon-4pm. Good timing.

All photos by Preservator, all rights reserved.

Keep Coney Island Real

The Parachute Jump and the boardwalk.

After a recent field trip to Coney Island, I got thinking more seriously about its future. A major rezoning last year has paved the way for transformative development in this otherwise forgotten corner of Brooklyn.  And with all of this new attention, there's a lot of talk about how to keep the spirit and texture of Coney Island alive.

Groups like Coney Island USA and Save Coney Island are advocating for the creation of a small Coney Island Historic District.

Proposed Historic District and Current Landmarks map via Save Coney Island.

The only existing NYC landmarks in Coney Island are: The Parachute Jump, The Cyclone, The Wonder Wheel, and Childs Restaurant on the Boardwalk. And, I must say, I love each of them. Childs is a wonderful, romantic, decaying relic of terracotta in oceanic themes. The Cyclone is still a thrill for kids of all ages, including me.  And, like the Cyclone, the Parachute Jump and the Wonder Wheel are important living memories of summers past for many New Yorkers.

 Childs Restaurant on the Boardwalk, above, and thrills on the Cyclone, below.

Attempts to landmark a few, heavily altered buildings appear to be dead in the water.  These buildings are significant not for architectural integrity but their cultural history.  I have no issues with designating cultural landmarks, and doing so for Shore Theater and Nathan’s Famous (see below) would be a nice olive branch given the scale of development that the city envisions.

The Shore Theater, above, and Nathan's Famous, below.

Landmarking these buildings won't “save” Coney Island. Nor will a small district. In this case, an historic district can only hint at what was once common: a richly varied place full of visual chaos, wild amusements, fanciful entertainment, and cheap thrills.  I say, instead, focus on making Coney Island a rich, diverse, wildly entertaining place for New Yorkers of every stripe.

Surf Avenue Coney Island, c. 1910 Library of Congress , Flickr Commons Project. 

In 2009 the rezoning of Coney Island advanced a new city vision of developer-driven change for Coney Island: one in which hotel and residential towers commingle with neighborhood scale retail, and the amusement areas would be condensed to the area between the ballpark and aquarium. I can understand the concentration of games and rides into one location, and I see the value in making it a more year-round destination. Encouragement new development for Coney Island is also a great goal, though I fear the possibility of homogenization, mediocrity, and privatization of the amusements and amenities. Coney Island is a place for everyone and it should stay that way. (Even if the Cyclone costs $8 for your first ride, the beach is but a subway fare away.)

Inside Luna Park, Coney Island, Library of Congress Print and Photograph collection.

Inventive eye-catching attractions and fringe amusements have always characterized Coney Island as New York’s great playground, making it a seaside destination of choice.  Opportunistic developers who used their imaginations made that happen. I would hope that any new development – especially those benefitting from the city’s rezoning or through financial incentives – would keep that in mind.

One feature of Coney Island I feel very strongly about keeping firmly in its place is the boardwalk.  This should be designated as a Scenic Landmark, the same way Eastern and Ocean parkways are.  What would Coney Island (or Brighton Beach) be without its boardwalk? The city should be obligated to maintain it in perpetuity to ensure uninterrupted public access.  Coney Island has had a boardwalk since the 1920s, and it should stay that way.

Coney Island may be a shadow of its former self, but it has good bones.  There’s incredible potential for a renewed Coney Island to demonstrate the values that make New York great: world-class public amenities, imaginative development, and something for everyone.  I don’t see the zoning process or landmarking bringing that about on its own. The large land-holders, like New York City and Thor Equities, need to consider very carefully and think creatively about how to invigorate Coney Island as a richly textured destination. This could be achieved with fine-grained smaller site development, and making space for a large variety of small vendors, kiosks, and games, particularly close to the boardwalk.  It should feel like a bizarre bazaar, not a monolithic or sterile place.

 The Bowery, Coney Island c. 1912, Library of Congress, Print and Photograph Collection.

Coney Island could thrive anew with a density of creative and interesting, amusements and amenities that would attract New Yorkers of every stripe.  There are plenty of vacant lots to build on: start there. Restore Childs on the Boardwalk to anchor an otherwise desolate stretch of boardwalk. Encourage vendors to extend the small shops along the boardwalk to keep it lively and affordable.

Developers, property owners, and the city alike should strive to make Coney Island an adventure, but keep it real.

For More Information check out:
The NYC Department of City Planning's Coney Island rezoning info here.
Coney Island USA's website.
Library of Congress's Sanborn Time Series on Coney Island here.
Library of Congress's Flickr Commons Project Coney Island collection here.


Color photos by Preservator, all rights reserved.