Letter of Advice

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Obediah Poteat

Dear, Next year students

I have had my struggles with research during this course so my advice would be to learn how to research. Even if you think you know how to like I did, I would suggest you ask the professors for ways to research before it is too late. You don’t want to procrastinate because eventually you will have to research and that can be very time consuming if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Oh! For this class if you are like me you probably will have a hard time finding a location for speeches and essay topics. There’s a website (http://www.yelp.com/brooklyn) that will make it easier for you to find a place rather than walking around and hoping for the best. This website helps you find places based on your interest, just type in the keyword and locations will be given. For the speech class you may be nervous and that’s okay, I can honestly say once you do your first speech you will get more comfortable speaking. But what does help is PREPARATION, I CANNOT stress this enough. Memorizing your speeches and using index cards will ease the “pain”, before you know it you will be coming to your conclusion and feeling good about yourself way back to your seat. STUDY, the highest grade in my class for the speech midterm was in the low seventies, that was a wake-up call for all of us. Your professors have emails USE them, any question they will answer, if you have problems they can help, just ask for HELP. OFFICE hours, take ADVANTAGE it shows you care about your grade and that you are trying and it says a lot about your character and potential. Nobody cares about your education more than you, it starts with YOU. It’s either you do it or you don’t it is just that simple. GOOD LUCK.

BAM fire of 1903 summary

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Obediah Poteat

A comparison of two stories founded within the New York Times archives article Brooklyn Academy of Music Ruins. The two stories showed two different vantage points, the inside and outside during the fire in 1903. On the inside of BAM during the 1903 fire there was an explosion that ignited the stage and set off the tragic event, eventually causing the outside commotion and panic. Neighboring businesses and residents began to evacuate and flood into the streets trying to avoid the fire. The fire department came too late to try to resist the fire and prevent the building from collapsing. By the time they got there the roof had already began to collapse. The only thing that was left after flames were putout was the two facades. Further outside the fire in the neighborhood was Hugh McLaughlin and his family having breakfast but was disrupted by friends trying to warn them that the fire was nearing. Being stubborn they didn’t leave so the fire department had to resist the fire from their home as a compromise to their decision to remain in their home. Both stories were outcomes of the fire but had two different vantage points as one talked about the inside and the other the outside.

Brooklyn Academy of Music fire of 1903

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Obediah Poteat

This year coming up the Brooklyn Academy of Music will celebrate its 150 year anniversary as the oldest arts center in America. In the past of BAM’s history there was a brutal fire that burned down the major institution’s first location. Since it was in 1903 nobody in the present knows what happened in detail. But there are plenty of news articles and archives that can give us reliable information. According to the BAM archive and New York Times article on the fire there are two similar stories with two different vantage points.

The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is known as America’s oldest learning arts center as it started in 1864 as it says in BAM: The Complete Works. According to BAM archives, BAM was on Montague Street until November 30^th, 1903 when it was lost to a morning fire. The fire started around 8:45am caused by a little explosion within the building startling the staff of BAM while they were in the middle lf taking down the set. The explosion happened near the stage area most likely caused by a gas leak. Stagehands immediately began to alert everyone and ran down Montague Street to sound the fire alarm and alert neighboring buildings and businesses. The streets became flooded with locals and workers trying to save whatever they could from the fire, the streets started filling with furniture and important items. Other stagehands were trying to help out by trying to calm the flames with buckets of water but that wasn’t enough to stop the building from coming to its end. Eventually the whole auditorium was aflame and the roof began to cave in. A fire crew did not arrive until twenty minutes later and by then it was too late. The firemen gave up on saving the BAM building and began trying to preserve the surrounding buildings before the flames could get to them. Three more fire crews arrived after that, even though they had given up on saving the BAM building. They were more focused on putting out the fire to save the other buildings like the saloon that was next door, unfortunately that was a lost cause because it was crushed by the falling debris. When watching a video where they showed the windows of the surrounding buildings shattered because of the heat. The saloon next door of BAM was burned down too as a domino effect. The only remains of the BAM building after the fire got putout were the two large facades.

In the New York Times archives article “Brooklyn Academy of Music in Ruins” there’s an inside perspective of what happened when the fire was caused by electricity from a blown out fuse connecting a big “Welcome” sign. Shortly before the fire men were testing out the wiring for the light that is when a burst of flame ignited the stage spreading to the entire building. Some men ran to warn and evacuate the building while some tried to stop the fire. There as a desperate attempt to stop the flames with a water hose but the fire was too intimidating making the men flee the building before the worst case scenario. At 8:47am the fire was first seen and at 9:06am is when the first fire crew was able to arrive to the scene. There was barely any water pressure coming from the mains and as the firemen would pump but there was barely a stream of water which didn’t go inside the building at all. At the time Hugh McLaughlin, the veteran politician and former fireman was a resident at 163 Remsen Street, he was having dinner with his family when he was interrupted by Supreme Court Justice Almet F. Jenks and clerk John B. Byrne. They tried to warn McLaughlin of the danger of fire with reasoning on why he should leave his home with his family. McLaughlin despite the neighboring flames approaching refused to leave his home and his wife stood by his side. Compromising with McLaughlin’s stubbornness the fire department ran a hose through his house to fight off the flames from the rear of the house. Panic happening all around him McLaughlin kept calm and gave suggestions to the firemen fending off the flames try to make its way through the neighborhood.

Though very similar both the New York Times article and the BAM archive had two different vantage points of what happened during the fire that burned down BAM’s first location on Montague Street. In the BAM archive the story did not include a personal experience from a primary source but was very in depth with detail of the outside perspective as oppose to the New York Times article there was more of the inside perspective. Considering that there was a video to help implement detail into the story of how the firemen were trying to put out the fire but there was not enough water pressure. The video showed the viewer how people were trying to help from the roofs of his buildings. The story of Hugh McLaughlin’s refusal to leave his home during the fire also gave us another outside perspective during the fire except it was blocks away from the BAM location. But still his perspective was nonetheless viable to create a story. In the end both stories were similar to which they both had to do with the BAM fire in 1903 and had outside perspectives.

The different perspectives and vantage points of the BAM fire of 1903 can give the mind freedom of imagery. The details given in both the news article and BAM archive helped viewers to actually visualize the tragic accident as if it was a personal memory. If you read in between to the lines you can find more stories and views of what happened. There are more ways than one to view an article and that was two pointed out to open up mind. The BAM now stands strong as it emerged into an even bigger institution after the incident of the fire on 30 Lafayette Avenue.

Serafin, Steven. BAM: the complete works. New York: Brooklyn Academy of Music, 2011.

New York Times archives. Brooklyn Academy of Music Ruins. New York: The New York Times, 1903

BAMorg. Academy of Music Fire. New York: Brooklyn Academy of Music, 1903

McCarren, Patrick. This Week in BAM History: Burning Down the House. New York: Brooklyn Academy of Music, 2011

Class Summary 11/11

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Obediah Poteat

Today in class we had an double session with Professor Rosen and we reviewed Adrianne Pasquarelli Crain’s article. In our groups we summarized the article in one sentence and revised the sentences as a class. In the second we were given the our project 4 topic and was given time to go do some research on our topic before meeting back up in class. Professor Rosen showed us how to pinpoint our location on the map on the blog and by our next meeting we have to have an outline done for project 4 so we can work on it in class.

Read Lucy

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Obediah Poteat

In Jennifer Egan’s essay Reading Lucy, she was very passionate about reading Lucy Kolkin’s life and her letters to here husband. Egan made a seft-to-self connections with Lucy because she considered Lucy and herself as “Brooklynites”. Lucy’s letters telling her husband Alfred about different stuff happening in her everyday life fulfilled Egan’s interest in learning about battleships and working in a Brooklyn Navy Yard. From reading Egan’s essay I learned that Lucy was a very passionate women who was wildly in love with her husband which would be conveyed in her various letters to him while he was stationed in different areas throughout his duties in World War II. Egan’s relationship with Lucy began when she started reading her letters starting from April to September 1944. Lucy letters began with her lecture notes from navy yard shipfiiting school, she wrote down and defined different acronyms. Continuing her research which initially was suppose to be on working in Brooklyn navy yards, Egan fell deep into the letter of this extraordinary women. Egan tells use about one letter where Lucy’s pink lipstick from kissing the paper was still visible even a sixty-two years. We would go on to learn that Lucy was a 3/c ( third class ) shipfitter soon to be 2/c. Lucy had time where she would tell Alfred humorous stories about her day and times when she had spent time with her girlfriends. She complained about sore feet and mentioned her covering of shifts and the processes she had to go through. She told Alfred about her dream of a having a baby and starting a family. Lucy and Alfred did have their problems when it came to being able to see each other but they worked it out eventually. Egan tells us she Google searched Lucy only to find out she did at seventy-eight and her husband out lived her. Jennifer Egan’s connection with Lucy turned out to be more than just a research on navy yard’s but an amazing experience.

Project #2: Overlapping New Yorks

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Obediah Poteat

New York has overlapping parts to it that you would never notice, which made me want to walk and check out the area around City Tech since I’m going to be here for quite a while. Usually I would spend my spare time at the gym but City Tech’s gym in under construction. So I decided to walk and search for ways to make up for the loss of the gym.

After the third week of class I was shocked to find out City Tech’s gym was being demolished for rebuilding that would take until 2017. So I took it upon myself to find somewhere close to the campus where students can stay physical during their free hours. McLaughlin Park, which is right across from the Midway Building. To get to McLaughlin Park I take my everyday route which is the 4 train to Borough Hall. After I arrive at Borough Hall I usually walk through Columbus Park going towards Johnson Street where you would the U.S. Post Office. After you pass the Henry Beecher statue I would make a right going toward Adams Street and crossover. Now I would be at City Tech where I would continue down Adams Street until I got to Tillary Street and make a right down to Jay Street. Now McLaughlin Park is in plain sight.

The first thing you would see is an area in the park where you have pull-up bars to work on you upper-body strength and durability. The pull-up bars look somewhat old but they will do the job, they have sturdy black poles up to about six to seven feet to support the blue painted pole where you test your strengths. Just next to the exercise area you have a basketball court, my favorite part of the park. Basketball is one of my favorite sports, not only do I get to enjoy myself; I can also work on my cardio and practice. In the middle of the court there’s a City of New York Parks & Recreation logo that is painted green. Along that are the white lines to note the half-court, out of bounds, three-point and free-throw lines. The pavement on the court is coordinate with red and blue, this court also has the luxury of glass backboards and rims that still have their nets. There are blue benches and bleachers in case you just wanted to come to the park just to be entertained by neighborhood’s talents. There is also a handball court where people can play handball and an open grass field. There are plenty of sports you can play in an open field like: football, soccer, baseball etc. Some of my friends that have been at City Tech longer than me say that sometimes McLaughlin Park is dangerous but I say “It’s all hokum… Never listen to what people tell you about old New York…” because this park can do so much for us since our gym is under construction.

McLaughlin Park, if you stood right at the entrance on Jay Street you could kind of see an overlapping view of the park’s perfect venue for exercises. On the handball courts you would be able to work on many different aspects of your body; while playing handball I would be using my arms and legs primarily and adjusting my hand-eye coordination. Next would be the small area where you use to the pull-up bars to work on you upper-body strength and durability; there is also a bench where you can work on your abdomen muscles by doing sit-ups. Just over the gate you have a basketball court where you can unconsciously exercise your whole body playing pick-up basketball games. The last thing I saw was a soccer ball bouncing around in the open grass field where it seemed to be a group of colleagues having fun. Discovering this park just outside my school proves that walking would take you “through parts of the city that most people never notice…” Before I actually walked in the park I didn’t know that McLaughlin Park had not just one but two basketball courts or even the grass field right next to it.

Now that I have found McLaughlin Park I would like to know more about it, like whom is it named after? That could lead to monument to help me understand the meaning of the park and what it means to for it to have been built. The history and making of the park may be interesting and beneficial to my knowledge for future projects. When the park was established is something else I would be interested in knowing also,

After discovering McLaughlin Park I feel like the loss of the school gym isn’t so bad. Also walking isn’t so bad either, prior to the walk I was reluctant to travel anywhere by foot. Now that I know about McLaughlin Park I will visit it more frequently. This was a great experience now that I could play basketball and get exercise routine done.

Bibliography:

– McGrath, Charles. “A Literary Visitor Strolls in from the Airport.” New York Times, December 6, 2006. Web

– Whitehead, Colson. “City Limits.” The Colossus of New York: A City in Thirteen Parts. New York: Random House, 2004. 1-12. Web.

Happiest and Saddest place in NYC

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Obediah Poteat

The happiest place in New York is downtown Manhattan on 42nd street. Ever since I was little kid whenever I was on 42nd street I always found something new to explore. Whether if it was just going to meet my visiting family members at Port Authority bus station or shopping for sports gear at Modell’s with my friends it was always a great experience and good memories. Even now i still go there to go to one of my favorite burger spots Five Guys because I LOVE me a burger. Afterwards I would go to the movie theater across the street and maybe the ice cream shop next door to Five Guys. I have yet to have a bad a experience in the downtown Manhattan area. All I know it is the area never seems to fail my expectations.

View of the world from 9th Avenue

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Obediah Poteat

Saul Steinberg’s View of the World from 9th Avenue published in 1976 and placed on the cover of The New Yorker magazine portrayed his point of view positioned from 9th Avenue looking towards Hudson River. In this illustration you have an overview perspective from 9th Avenue and you can see only one side of the buildings on the streets going on to 10th Avenue going on the Hudson River. Steinberg doesn’t really get in debt with the drawing from what I see, as a New Yorker I know there’s probably hundreds of interesting places between these streets. But since this is his point of view I can’t really say that is in accurate. Some inaccuracies of this illustration is if you really stood on 9th Avenue you wouldn’t be able to see all the to the Hudson River not even mentioning the Pacific Ocean. You would need a hawk’s peripheral vision and flying abilities to actually see all of those things. From the title from the title i understand that this is the illustrator’s point of view and how he sees the world from 9th Avenue. The New Yorker Magazine is a place usually contains current articles, cartoons, blogs, audio, video, slide shows, an archive of articles etc.. Steinberg’s illustration was appropriate because there was article about Steinberg at the time.

BHS Field Trip

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Obediah Poteat

On September 30, my speech and english professors took my class on a field trip to the Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS), but before we got there we stopped at the post office across from Adams Street entrance. My english professor told us about the its history and how it used to be a theater. On December 5, 1876, the theater was burned down in a fire where hundreds died. We were told that all the people that dies in that fire was memorialized. After the post office we went across Johnson Street to Columbus Park.

At Columbus Park we analyzed the statue of Henry Ward Beecher who was an abolitionist in 1800s. In his time he was a very famous speaker, so much that people would travel across frozen water in a ferry just to here him speak. If you turned your back looking toward Borough Hall you would see a Christopher Columbus statue. We came across Plymouth Congregational Church where you can see another statue of Beecher honoring him, but just to the left of Beecher was a statue Abraham Lincoln, former president and another abolitionist. We noticed the old vintage look the church tried to keep over the years with the big wooden doors and old red/brown bricks.

The class moved along down Orange street towards Brooklyn Bridge Park where we got to see a beautiful on a walkway. You could see into Manhattan and if you looked left you could the Statue of Liberty. The trip ended up in its final destination at the BHS. The first I realized was the faces at the top of the building, they were all philosophers and leaders of the past. The first thing I remember is going up to the library but before going in we saw a statue of Pinky a slave who was saved by Henry Beecher, the statue represented so much. The poison ivy around represented her being trapped as a slave. Where we learned that too much sun light can make the books fade. After the library we went to downstairs and was the first to class to be in the new classroom at BHS. We discussed the rules of BHS and their necessities.

Being in Brooklyn

Communicating on the OpenLab

Author Archives: Obediah Poteat