Author Archives: margarita

lower manhattan field trip

During our field trip in the lower Manhattan one building that completely amazed me was the National Museum of the American Indian, located in Bowling Green New York, NY, 10004.

The building which was originally the first U.S costume house in NY is a classical example of the beaux arts style. It was completed in 1907 and designed by the architect Cass Gilbert who won the competition for the design of the costume house among 20 other architects , and it is part of the New York City landmarks.

On the exterior of the building there are Corinthian columns that each of them tell the story from mythology and history with sculptures and decorations made out of marble. The grand stairs that are leading to the building emphasizing the big size of the building which reflects its significant.

On the interior of the building it was designed completely with marble included walls, floors and decorated columns. The dome ceiling is decorated with painting telling the history of the U.S. There is also large panels on the walls with paintings that show the history of the people who built the New York harbor ,the ships that came with the new immigrants from Europe and the Dutch. The skylight which brings natural light to the building is one of the largest free standing ocular in the world with no steel support possible by the geometric shapes of the building that reference to the design of Rome. The focal point of the interior design in the building is the decorated central rotunda.

When the world trade center was built the costume house was moved there and its original building was abandoned. The city decided to renovate it and after it was restored and cleaned to its original design, galleries were opened there and that how the building became the National Museum that it is known for today.

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Immigrants

 

During the 1840’s many changes and  problems in Europe resulted in large imigration to the United States.

For example, In Northern and western Europe economic and political changes such as artisians that were displaced by the industrial revolution and farmers who lost their land.

In Ireland and Central Europe fatal harvests caused starvation, and in Germany the failure of liberal reform in 1848 led to immigration of educated and privileged elite.

During that time 35 million of people had began to move from Europe to the United States in order to look for security for them and their families and better life.

However, when the newcommers landed at the piers of New York Harbor they discovered that their life and adaption to the new country will be harder then they expected.

The new comers were met by immigrants runners who although sometimed helped them more often robbed and mistreted them.

As an act to prevent the immigrants of New York to offend the new immigrants, in 1855 the State designed castle garden to act as the central entry point for the newcommers where city workers helped and adviced them in their adaption.

In addition, immigrants aid sociaties established by each ethnic group to help the new immigrants to find houses and jobs.

Although, the Irish were the largest group of immigrants that came , one million in total arrived between 1844 and 1845 to the U.S and 200,000 of them settled in manhatten, other groups of immigrants from other parts of Europe also arrived. More then 100,000 Germans immigrants arrived along with groups of English, Welsh Scots and other ethnicities which made New York as the interlocking grid of ethnic neiberhoods during the nineteenth century which is probably remained untill today, Making New York well known for being the most ethnic and culturally diverse city in the United States.

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“Living Together”

During the 1860 and 1870 hundreds of tenement multiple dwelling units were built primary on the lower side of the city for the poor immigrants that arrived.

The immigrants mostly German and Dutch who escaped from their home countries had to face with the new reality and the poor conditions of living in contrast to their hopes for new life.

The dwelling units were built on 25 foot wide lots that were part of the grids layout of the city. the lots that were supposed to be used for single family houses eventually were used for buildings housing around 20 families each.

Because at this time the architecture in the city just started its way in development there were very little lows for regulation and protection such as for fire safety and those few lows were mostly ignored by the owners because there wasn’t any one to regulate them.

It is hard to imagine but in addition to the economy and labor difficulties that the immigrants had to face their living conditions were even worst. they lived in very crowded conditions, each apartment had only one room with window, there was almost no light, no ventilation and no water in the buildings although it was exist in the city.

In addition, those buildings had toilets only in the backyards that were allowed to be flashed once a day with a permission from owner representatives.

The poor sanitation and living conditions that the immigrants had to live with brought sicknesses and early deaths for many of them.

The poor living conditions  of the  immigrants even brought reactions against it such as Ernest Flagg a well known architect who wrote that” the greatest evil which ever befell New York City was the division of the blocks into lots of 25×100 feet”.

My NY

When I first arrived to NYC ,it was during my summer vacation, when I came to visit my family. The first place I went to Time Square. I was amazed by the skyscrapers, the lights, and the rhythm of the place along with the amount of people walking there at the middle of the night. Also, in Times Square there are many irregular building made out of glass, with a lot of lights coming from them. As I was visiting many well known landmarks such as, The Statue of Liberty, The Wall Street’s Bull ,and The Empire State Building, I couldn’t believe how many cultures there are in one place. As I went to museums, I learned about the history of the city, its customs, and way of life. Also at the museums I learned about the way that New York is so much different from other virtual countries/states/cities.

In addition , the combination of green parks, lakes, and carriage horses, by the side of huge buildings seem to me so special, that I didn’t want to go back home and imagined myself living the NYC life.

Today after living in New York for 4 years and exploring the city from different aspects and points of view, the city seems to me too dirty and loud, and the air is not clean. After visiting upstate, and enjoying the fresh air, the green environment and calm atmosphere, going back to the city changed my whole experience and my opinion on the life style of the and loud city.

However , although I usually stay away from the city , I enjoy being part of the beauty and cultural diversity in the city. I find that those aspects are the ones that make New York City known for and so special.