Bryant Park is one of the larger privately owned and run parks in Manhattan. It is located in Midtown Manhattan at 40^th St., between 5th and 6^th Avenue. Management of the park is provided by the Bryant Park Corporation, found by park president Dan Biederman. It is a non-profit organization. The establishment of the park as a public gathering space began during the 1970’s. At the time, Bryant Park was known as a symbol of the Decline of New York, as gangsters and other unsavory people would be known to gather here. Dan Biederman sought to invoke the Broken Window Theory, cleaning up the park to encourage street goer’s to visit once more and discouraging unsavory characters from reappearing.

It was a huge success, as present day Bryant Park could attest to. The park is frequently visited by civilians and tourists alike. One of the main attractions of the park would be the huge lawn in the center of the park which people are encouraged to sit down for relaxation and lunch breaks. The park is also famous for its various events and amenities that constantly changes depending on the season and year. Recently, Bryant Park overlaid the lawn with a large ice skating rink during the winter season of 2013. It was dismantled a few months back in February – March and the reputable lawn was open once again.

Connected to Bryant Park is the New York Public Library, of Ghostbusters fame. It is located on the East side behind Bryant Park on 5^th Avenue. The library is in a joint partnership with the Bryant Park Corporation. A majority of the library’s storage is stored within an underground building under Bryant Park. Even though it is connected to the park and part of its building is under Bryant Park’s property, Bryant Park does not have any jurisdictions of any form to alter the library’s exterior or its associated properties.

Moniruz Zaman

Prof: Zagaroli

Midtown Manhattan Trip Questions

1) What was the benefit of creating a public plaza in the set back of the Seagram’s building which was designed by Mies Van der Rohe?

–          By erecting the Seagram’s building set back from its property line, an opportunity to create a public plaza was made. By making a public plaza, more natural light can penetrate the floor and people can be exposed to this natural light. The plaza then becomes a public space in which anyone can enjoy their time in. Mies also designed two water flowing sections on the plaza and this was a very good design move because the flowing water reduces the noise of cars in the space. In my opinion, Mies was very much thinking about the future when he designed the public plaza because many people may argue that in another few years, there really would not be any more cars in the streets. In that case, all the streets would then become some sort of public space and Mies probably had this idea in mind.

2) The New York Public Library next to Bryant Park has a public space in the entrance, what is a positive impact of this space other than offering people another place to occupy?

–          Libraries are a place for books along with knowledge, and these two entities have always been considered something sacred. There have been situations in past history in many societies where certain people were not allowed to be around books and sacred people. But the New York Public Library is a building that did not want to repel anyone and it does not want to belittle anyone. Therefore, by putting a public space by the library, there is a notion of welcoming all people in its premise.

3) There are many buildings in midtown Manhattan that many people may feel is not attractive. What should happen to these types of buildings with this idea in mind?

–          First of all we must understand that every building is beautiful according to its style of architecture. If we are living in the period of one type of architectural style, it does not mean that every other style is not of beauty. Also, we must understand that many buildings, no matter how amazing it may be today, can verily be ugly in the future. So, does this mean that we tear down all buildings that seem unattractive? No, rather, we need to preserve some buildings to have value for the new ones that are being established. A nice building needs to be among a lesser attractive building to be of beauty.

The tour of Downtown Brooklyn brought insight into the massive change that was brought about by increasing gentrification in this area. This area connected to Manhattan by the Brooklyn bridge. Houses were moved and dismantled to make this area in to a residential and commercial area which place. A place with courts and public offices, residential housing that is affordable to people of high socioeconomic status. However, this area was able to maintain some of the original architecture. It has a range of Romanesque, Greek, Italian, and Dutch designs in the buildings.

Cary Building

The Cary building is located on Chambers street in Tribeca. It was built in 1856-57 and was designed by Gamaliel King and John Kellum. It is built in the Italian renaissance revival style and has cast iron on its facade. the architectural cast iron work was done by Daniel D. Badger. It is a 5 story twin facade building. It is now a residential building but was built as a commercial structure. The Cary Building became a New York City landmark in 1982. This building was once home to The New York Sun, a daily newspaper distributed from 2002-2008. The ground floor was series of windows and doors separated by slender columns and the upper floors are arcades of windows separated by paired columns. The top has a cornice and a large central medallion reading ”Cary Building.’ In the 1920′ church street was widened and homes next to the building were lost and now the building is on the corner. After the street was widened windows were cut through the facade and windows were added to the church street side. This created a big contrast between the church street side and to the delicately modeled cast iron.

New York has architecturally significant buildings in a wide range of styles spanning distinct through historical and cultural periods. It boasts a spectacular array of architecture, dense canyons of neo-classic temples and soaring skyscrapers. These include the Woolworth Building constructed in 1913, an early Gothic revival skyscraper with large-scale gothic architectural detail. Touring down Wall Street I had experienced historic, and active buildings. These buildings such as trinity church, Federal Hall National Memorial, and the Bank of New York were very decorative buildings, from the floor all the way to the top of the columns. Custom details gave a very extinct decoration to each structure.
The neighborhood of TriBeCa straddles Chambers on the west side; at the street’s east reveals the giant Manhattan Municipal Building. With an architectural renaissance style, with a screen of Corinthian columns. Its terra-cotta vault was modeled on the entrance of the Palazzo Farnese in Rome, and the south arcade has a ceiling of white Guastavino tiles. Standing today as a NYC landmark.

By the 1825, New York had achieved a tremendous commercial recognition in rapidly growing America. Half the country’s imports and a third’s of it’s exports were handled by its port. 500 new businesses along with 3000 houses were built to provide shelter to a population of 165,000. All this good was a preparatory to the great event, the long- awaited Erie Canal.
With all the arguments and rejections, the governor DeWitt Clinton stood firm planning his way through the process to his greatest contribution to New York. Finally, the Canal was opened in October 26, 1825. New York was already America’s greatest city yet in long term he wanted it to become one of the great world centers.
Erie Canal expanded the New York network. Coal fields in Pennsylvania were opened to New York when the Delaware and Hudson railroads were built. Various inventions were taking place such as pumps, submarine devices and steam engines. These devices created job market and contributed to the America’s most modern City. New York was growing rapidly … more and more waves of Immigration was happening. With the largest European Immigration to the nation by the nineteenth century New York established many different ethnic neighborhoods.
With the expansion of the population, the living conditions were not fairly equal in New York City. Older buildings were converted in to apartments to serve the purpose of the housing need. In 1850, more than 29,000 Immigrants lived in dark cellar quarters. The facilities a typical tenement house apartment offered was vey little and unsanitary. Kitchen, dining room and living room combined with no bathtubs. Water came from a street pump. The backyard wooden privies through over use and improper care caused health hazard.
Improper sanitation in tenements soon caused infectious diseases to spread around. New York was no longer a healthy environment. City’s first priority was given to develop a clean water channel to supply water. In 1835, an aqueduct and reservoir system was built.
B y the mid 1850′s New York had become the greatest city in the nation. Erie Canal led to a rise of population and prosperity. Economic strength and diversity of cultures in New Yorkers had transformed the nation’s development.

My New York … the journey of five years through thick and thin. Going back five years, … I remember… starting a new life from scratch, and getting use to the American way of life was a challenge yet it was my dream! Coming from an Island in the Indian Ocean called Sri Lanka, I was not exposed to many different ethnicities and religions. Well , my first impression of My New York was a cultural shock. Seeing the diversity of the people around me from different nationalities, different races and several different backgrounds. It is also one of the my BEST experiences in life. Getting to know people from all over the world, learning their languages, their tradition and customs was truly amaizing. Today, I proudly say My New York have given me friends from all over the world.

Every time I have flashbacks about my childhood freedom … the wonderful memories I had when I was growing up … the pain of missing a loved one back home … My New York becomes my remedy, because My New York gave me responsibilities … My New York taught me the life lessons and showed me that I have grown up to a young lady and even gives me the hope that the time will fly by and soon I will reunite with my loving father who’s back home.
Mother nature shocked My New York. Recalling the Blizzard of 2010 and the devastating Sandy hurricane in 2012 made a huge impact on all New Yorkers if not most of the people in the United States. No longer I have an excitement for seasonal changes in My New York but a well prepared self to face any circumstance.
Seeing the New York City skyline … being in the Times Square the city that never sleeps … seeing the colorful night view of My New York will be a forever happiness in my life!!! since My New York has made an obsession on me! My love and respect to My New York for all the lessons … experiences and memories for having me!!!

During our walking tour of Lower Manhattan, I’ve realized why tourists made it a priority to visit the city of Manhattan. The reason is because Manhattan is secretly a treasure trove of eye candy for the masses. By this, I mean that some of the distinct architecture is actually not there but one can tell it used to be there. There are many unique building styles that have been renovated for modern times but it’s even more interesting when your mind can still see the original building.

The first building we came across, The National Museum of the American Indian, was a large Greek architecture influenced building. However, it had actually been refurbished from its original design, which was a colonial era port docking reception area. At the moment, it is now just a lobby sitting area before entering the actual museum. The most memorable thing about it was that despite being overhauled, one can still see traces of its old intended use as a sailing port reception area. The oval layout of the seats is probably reminiscent of the reception desk’s shape and the gaps in between were where the teller windows were. The ceiling have motifs painted of past sailors experiences and voyages. It is incredible how such small clues were able to construct such a precise image of a past history.