The title is a take-off of what I thought was a saying from Horace Greeley, the founding editor of “The New Yorker” (1834). Horace was a proponent of western expansion. I remember this because of a joke I heard many years ago: Horace Greeley would say “Go west, young man!” while he stayed in the east and made his fortune. As it turns out, although he did push for westward expansion, he never coined the phrase.
My January has been fairly quiet. Other than a dinner in the Upper Eastside with Pierre and Grant and a few longer-than-usual walks, I have been homebound by and large. I have been busy with year-end work and the days truly do “fly by,” as they say.
This weekend, and particularly on Saturday, there would be no rain and I thought it would be a good time to select a destination to which to walk. My decision? East Village, a two-mile walk I highly recommend.
On the way (and almost always) I saw my share of architectural wonders. The first is a photo of the Oculus from the opposite end of what I usually see (and what I have shared in this blog). It is a good photo in that it also includes the Freedom Tower in the background. Both are part of the World Trade Center buildings, of course.
Near the Civic Center and two blocks away from Broadway, I have seen the building pictured below many times on my walks. It has been of notable interest to me.
The name of this building is “Eight Spruce Street;” the address. It is 870’ tall with 76 stories and was designed by Frank Gehry. It is a high-end residential building complete with style and function. It is advertised as luxurious living at its finest and includes fresh flower delivery every week to the residents. The concierge can get reservations at upscale restaurants and excellent seating at live performances. The concierge can even oversee the planning of special events (for residents) in one of the eight spaces available to residents. A point of interest is that this building actually sits on top of a square brick building.
Once I got to the East Village, I saw the building pictured below with the name “The Village Voice” on top. Although I have never seen the publication, I had certainly heard of it. “The Voice” was founded in 1955 and would publish investigations about NYC and national politics, arts, culture, music, dance, film as well as theatre reviews. Throughout the years, “The Voice” would go on to win three Pulitzer Prizes and several literary awards. It currently publishes its magazines quarterly and maintains a website.
The original building for “The Voice” was located in the East Village at Cooper Square for 22 years. Although the sign is still on the building, the Voice is now in the Financial District in Lower Manhattan.
Cooper Square was named after Peter Cooper, an industrialist and philanthropist. In 1853, Cooper broke ground for a school of science and arts with the belief that higher education should be available to all who qualified, including women, and should be available at no cost. This institution remained true to its word until 2014. Ol’ Pete just became one of my favorite people in history!
How about this for an interesting look? It is in fact The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, a continuation of Peter Cooper’s vision that education leads to civic, cultural, and practical enrichment. It was built in 2009 and reflects its values and aspirations as a center for advanced and innovative education in Art, Architecture, and Engineering.
By this point my priority became lunch and so I stopped at a pub-like establishment that looked interesting to me, Phebe’s. The food was fine and the place is roomy with two bars and a lot of seating.
My last search for the day was Tompkins Park in the East Village. It is a rather large park with two playgrounds, a handball court, chess tables, and a basketball court. The park is also a venue for a wide range of performances from Wigstock (a drag festival), the Howl Festival commemorating Allen Ginsberg (a poet and founder of the Beat Generation), and the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival.
I can only imagine how beautiful this park is in the spring and summer. Hopefully, I will see it in its glory before my stay ends.
My fantasy has always been to be able to step back in time, just for a day, similar to one of my favorite movies “Midnight in Paris.” Why? Just to feel what it was really like. What did people talk about? What were their concerns? How did it feel to be in a slower, more magical time? Although I suppose it only appears to be “magical” to me because of what I have seen in the movies. Nevertheless, when I ran across this window covering plastered on an empty real estate space, my imagination ran wild.
It was another successful walk in New York City! I had set some specific destinations for my walk but uncovered and consequently learned so much more about the Lower East Side: The Village Voice, Peter Cooper and Tompkins Park.