LOWER MANHATTAN AND CAPTIVATING CHELSEA
As usual, we met at Penn Station and took the subway to the City Hall. The City Hall is one of the historical buildings of New York. According to history the current building is the third city hall of New York. It is regarded as the best City Hall of America. The style of the building is classical French, similar to a French house. The building serves only to governmental purposes (BG p 82-84). When we arrived at the City Hall we met our tour guide. She spoke about the history of New York. For instance, she explained that back in the 1600s the European came to New York. Furthermore, the Hudson River was named after a European man, Hudson; The European began to bring shipments of merchandise to New York. A few years later, the English joined the Dutch when they came to New York. They began trading and making business with the New Yorkers and established that taxes would be charged to the American people; The money collected from the people had to be sent to the English in Europe. New York kept on growing, many people from South America and Europe kept migrating to this city. The Americans did not like the fact that they were being taxed by the English and that they had to send the money to England. Therefore, they rebelled and the revolution began. In 1776 Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. At this time, George Washington was the president of the United States and started a revolutionary war for seven years. In 1783, the British declared their defeat.
Regarding the construction of the city hall, the tour guide explained that there were two architects who designed the plan for the construction of the City Hall; One architect was French and the second was Native American. They won a prize of $350 for the designing of the building (BG p 84). In the beginning years in the City Hall there were the three offices for the three branches, executive, legislative and judicial. In the basement, there was a prison. Eventually, the judicial (court) offices moved out. Another interesting fact that the tour guide mentioned was that the first president of American gave his first conference in this City Hall. Also, in one of the rooms in the second floor of the City Hall there were portraits of different people who have had a governmental position in this country, including George Clinton, George Washington, Morgan Lewis, Daniel Tompkins, etc. This gallery is considered one of the best galleries of the USA. It was really awesome to observe all the furniture, such as desks and chairs that were used by these important people. Next, we went to the City Council Chamber, and the city council members were having a meeting and were discussing something about the US open and the Citi field. The ceiling of this room had an amazing painting!!! Then, the tour guide showed us where the office the major was. Something interesting I learned about major Bloomberg was the way he designed his office- it is called bullpen office, which means that the office is an open space in which the major can watch everyone work. Thus, our tour in the City Hall ended. Then, we walked to Saint Paul’s Chapel. This church is the only colonial church in New York, and has made history because the British used to gather here to worship God back in the times of war. George Washington also attended to this church after the inauguration of the Federal Hall. On the backyard of this church there is a cemetery in which some of the important famous people were buried. This chapel served also as a refuge for the workers of the 911 tragedy (BG p 77).
We continued on our walk to Wall Street. In 1903, the New York Stock Exchange moved to this street. Currently, there are many commercial buildings, banks, and organizations that are being converted to residential units in the Wall Street area (BG p 64). Then we walked to Trinity Church. This church is one of the wealthiest parishes in New York. The style of this church includes a long tower, which for years was the highest point in lower Manhattan. According the Blue Guide, the Trinity Church is one of the first Gothic Greek revival churches in New York and the United States (BG p 65). Overall, I thought this church was a beautiful brownstone building that can catch the attention of anyone passing by. The gravestones in the cemetery were striking also. Another interesting place that I was so glad to visit was Ground Zero. I was very impressed with the way they designed the pools, and I thought it was a great idea for them to not have built the new towers in the same place where the twin towers were. It shows respect for those who perished in the 911 tragedy. Originally, it was called the World Trade Center site and there were two huge towers “twin towers” which attracted millions of visitors every year. The twin towers were completed and opened in 1967 and were used for business purposes. During the tragedy of 911 approximately 3,000 people were killed and many survivors were hospitalized. Thousands of dollars were lost and many other surrounding buildings were also destroyed (BG p 62). Next, we moved to observe the New York Stock Exchange Building. This building was designed in a neoclassical style. It is considered the largest exchange stock in the whole world (BG p 68-69). Very close to this building is the Federal Hall National Memorial; In front of this building there is a spectacular statue of George Washington. This building is built as one of the greatest Greek revival architectural styles of New York (BG p 69). Inside this hall they exhibited some paintings and pictures of historical events that happened in America. For example, there was an interesting picture of President Abraham Lincoln. He made history because he converted this building to a subtreasury house. In other words, this building was the place where millions of dollars belonging to the federal government were kept.
Next, we stopped at the National Museum of the American Indian. We did not get to go inside, but we learned that in this museum they kept artifacts that belonged to the Indians, and paintings/photographs of the Native Americans. Next, we went to Battery Park and here there are a few monuments that represent New York’s commercial history (BG p 46). During our visit to the park it was under construction, so we couldn’t really get inside of the park. Then we went to Chelsea Market and had lunch a lunch break. After lunch, we walked to the DIA Art Foundation which was the first gallery that opened in New York. From there we went to the High Line. The High Line was an abandoned train line which was transformed into a community garden. In 1950, the High Line was a railroad for freight trains. It was a dirty place and the tracks were very dangerous. This is a thirteen mile line. In 1990, local residents advocated for a community garden to be developed, so it happened. Now, it is a very desirable place to visit and a high housing area to live. Lastly, we visited some galleries in this area. Galleries are run by private owners. Usually, galleries are manipulated in auctions and also can be written as a tax loss. One of the galleries that caught my attention was Gagosian Gallery. This gallery was exhibiting Jeff Koons’ art. Koons expresses in his art classical erotic subjects including the The Callipygian Venus. His art is based on original small figures transformed into huge enlarged balloons. The next gallery I liked was Jim Kempner Fine Art. This gallery was exhibiting the art of Carole A. Feuerman’s. Her art was interesting because her sculptures looked very realistic. One can easily confuse her sculpture of a woman with a real woman. Even though I was tired walking through the galleries, I was very pleased to have had visited the galleries. The End.
Regarding the construction of the city hall, the tour guide explained that there were two architects who designed the plan for the construction of the City Hall; One architect was French and the second was Native American. They won a prize of $350 for the designing of the building (BG p 84). In the beginning years in the City Hall there were the three offices for the three branches, executive, legislative and judicial. In the basement, there was a prison. Eventually, the judicial (court) offices moved out. Another interesting fact that the tour guide mentioned was that the first president of American gave his first conference in this City Hall. Also, in one of the rooms in the second floor of the City Hall there were portraits of different people who have had a governmental position in this country, including George Clinton, George Washington, Morgan Lewis, Daniel Tompkins, etc. This gallery is considered one of the best galleries of the USA. It was really awesome to observe all the furniture, such as desks and chairs that were used by these important people. Next, we went to the City Council Chamber, and the city council members were having a meeting and were discussing something about the US open and the Citi field. The ceiling of this room had an amazing painting!!! Then, the tour guide showed us where the office the major was. Something interesting I learned about major Bloomberg was the way he designed his office- it is called bullpen office, which means that the office is an open space in which the major can watch everyone work. Thus, our tour in the City Hall ended. Then, we walked to Saint Paul’s Chapel. This church is the only colonial church in New York, and has made history because the British used to gather here to worship God back in the times of war. George Washington also attended to this church after the inauguration of the Federal Hall. On the backyard of this church there is a cemetery in which some of the important famous people were buried. This chapel served also as a refuge for the workers of the 911 tragedy (BG p 77).
We continued on our walk to Wall Street. In 1903, the New York Stock Exchange moved to this street. Currently, there are many commercial buildings, banks, and organizations that are being converted to residential units in the Wall Street area (BG p 64). Then we walked to Trinity Church. This church is one of the wealthiest parishes in New York. The style of this church includes a long tower, which for years was the highest point in lower Manhattan. According the Blue Guide, the Trinity Church is one of the first Gothic Greek revival churches in New York and the United States (BG p 65). Overall, I thought this church was a beautiful brownstone building that can catch the attention of anyone passing by. The gravestones in the cemetery were striking also. Another interesting place that I was so glad to visit was Ground Zero. I was very impressed with the way they designed the pools, and I thought it was a great idea for them to not have built the new towers in the same place where the twin towers were. It shows respect for those who perished in the 911 tragedy. Originally, it was called the World Trade Center site and there were two huge towers “twin towers” which attracted millions of visitors every year. The twin towers were completed and opened in 1967 and were used for business purposes. During the tragedy of 911 approximately 3,000 people were killed and many survivors were hospitalized. Thousands of dollars were lost and many other surrounding buildings were also destroyed (BG p 62). Next, we moved to observe the New York Stock Exchange Building. This building was designed in a neoclassical style. It is considered the largest exchange stock in the whole world (BG p 68-69). Very close to this building is the Federal Hall National Memorial; In front of this building there is a spectacular statue of George Washington. This building is built as one of the greatest Greek revival architectural styles of New York (BG p 69). Inside this hall they exhibited some paintings and pictures of historical events that happened in America. For example, there was an interesting picture of President Abraham Lincoln. He made history because he converted this building to a subtreasury house. In other words, this building was the place where millions of dollars belonging to the federal government were kept.
Next, we stopped at the National Museum of the American Indian. We did not get to go inside, but we learned that in this museum they kept artifacts that belonged to the Indians, and paintings/photographs of the Native Americans. Next, we went to Battery Park and here there are a few monuments that represent New York’s commercial history (BG p 46). During our visit to the park it was under construction, so we couldn’t really get inside of the park. Then we went to Chelsea Market and had lunch a lunch break. After lunch, we walked to the DIA Art Foundation which was the first gallery that opened in New York. From there we went to the High Line. The High Line was an abandoned train line which was transformed into a community garden. In 1950, the High Line was a railroad for freight trains. It was a dirty place and the tracks were very dangerous. This is a thirteen mile line. In 1990, local residents advocated for a community garden to be developed, so it happened. Now, it is a very desirable place to visit and a high housing area to live. Lastly, we visited some galleries in this area. Galleries are run by private owners. Usually, galleries are manipulated in auctions and also can be written as a tax loss. One of the galleries that caught my attention was Gagosian Gallery. This gallery was exhibiting Jeff Koons’ art. Koons expresses in his art classical erotic subjects including the The Callipygian Venus. His art is based on original small figures transformed into huge enlarged balloons. The next gallery I liked was Jim Kempner Fine Art. This gallery was exhibiting the art of Carole A. Feuerman’s. Her art was interesting because her sculptures looked very realistic. One can easily confuse her sculpture of a woman with a real woman. Even though I was tired walking through the galleries, I was very pleased to have had visited the galleries. The End.