5. The East Side
Today's adventures included a nice trip through East Harlem. Today I was extremely tired especially because I was out the
night before with my parents celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. I definately had to drink a stronger dose of coffee than
usual just to survive the day. Today, we took the subway from Penn Station into East Harlem that is best known as Spanish
Harlem. East Harlem -- also known as Spanish Harlem, or more colloquially, " El Barrio" -- is a uptown neighborhood of Manhattan,
the boundaries, of which are the Harlem River to the north, East 96th to the south, the East river to the east, and Fifth Avenue
to the west (ENY 161). I was honestly scared at first before going into East Harlem because of all the crime and bad things you
hear about the neighborhood in the news. It turned out being the complete opposite of what I thought East Harlem would be.
Today East Harlem has one of the largest Latino communities in the country, and, despite demographic changes, the
neighborhood still retains its distinctively Latino flavor (ENY 161).
When we were in East Harlem, we walked towards the direction of 5th avenue. We walked towards buildings known as projects.
Now living in Queens, I knew that projects aren't always the safest places to be hanging around especially at night. As a person
that watches the news almost on a daily basis, you hear of a lot of drug deals and violence that happen around these projects.
I was definately a little nervous walking by these projects as one of the first stops we took when we were in East Harlem. The idea
behind these projects back in time were thought of by George Washington Carver. These housing projects were originally known as
Carver houses back in the day. In my opinion, this was a very horrible idea because putting many groups of people that come from a
low socio-economic status was a recipe to turn this neighborhood into an area that was filled with violence and disputes. Built by
Robert Moses and completed in 1958, they are comprised of 13 buildings of low income residents (ENY 162).
After we walked through the projects, we ended up at the Museum of the City of New York which was located across the street
from Central Park. What I found very interesting about this place was when we were watching a documentary called "Timescapes"
on the history of New York and all its changes throughout the years. It was awesome seeing how different parts of the 5 boroughs
of New York looked through the 1800s and through the 1900s. Seeing the difference of New York City now and before was
definately breathtaking! It felt so different seeing New York with a lot of greenery and a more rural feel to it than what it is today
being the concrete jungle that currently exists. This museum was founded in 1923 and originally housed in Gracie Mansion, the
museum moved to its current location on Fifth Avenue in 1932 (ENY 163).
After the Museum of The City of New York, we ended up going to El Museo del Barrio. The museum was founded in 1969
in a public school classroom in PS 125 by Puerto Rican activists from East Harlem, seeking to preserve their cultural heritage
(ENY 163). Along with rotating special exhibits, the museum also possesses an extensive collection of Latin American and
Caribbean works of art, making it an important center for Latino culture in New York (ENY 163). Here we met our tour guide
that goes by the name of Lucas. Lucas was amazing in which he kept the whole entire class engaged since the beginning
of meeting him through our whole entire tour that he gave us of Spanish Harlem. He was very energetic and lively which kept
my attention throughout the whole tour. Lucas is a poet who was able to tell us how he traveled to 30 countries to portray
his works. The first thing he showed us was a mural that was dedicated to Rev. Pedro Pietri. He was an immigrant of
Puerto Rican descent who was a community activist who founded the Nuyroican Poets Cafe. In this cafe, poets would come
together and share their different works with one another. He also showed us another mural that was located directly
across the street. This one was called " The Spirit Of Harlem" and portrayed the people of " El Barrio" and the rest
of the whole entire community. Concluding this, we then walked by Modesto "tin" Flores Garden. Unfortunately it was closed but we
were still able to see a fountain inside that was called the " Seed Of Growth". This was symbolic of the female reproductive
system in which there were fillopian tubes exposed.
After these tours my friends and I ended up going to a local joint known as La Aguilar. I ended up getting soft shell tacos which
were honestly the best tacos I have ever tried in my whole entire life. That's saying a lot especially because I love Mexican
food and have been to many other good Mexican spots in the past. Man, I was stuffed and felt like I just had a whole Thanksgiving
meal. I wish I could have taken a nice nap after the meal but there was still a lot to do for the rest of the day.
Concluding lunch, we went to the north part of central park which stretched out from 110th to 88th street. It was a very nice walk
especially because it was such a nice day out. We ended up at Grand Central station which I consider to be the most beautiful
train station that New York has to offer.
night before with my parents celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. I definately had to drink a stronger dose of coffee than
usual just to survive the day. Today, we took the subway from Penn Station into East Harlem that is best known as Spanish
Harlem. East Harlem -- also known as Spanish Harlem, or more colloquially, " El Barrio" -- is a uptown neighborhood of Manhattan,
the boundaries, of which are the Harlem River to the north, East 96th to the south, the East river to the east, and Fifth Avenue
to the west (ENY 161). I was honestly scared at first before going into East Harlem because of all the crime and bad things you
hear about the neighborhood in the news. It turned out being the complete opposite of what I thought East Harlem would be.
Today East Harlem has one of the largest Latino communities in the country, and, despite demographic changes, the
neighborhood still retains its distinctively Latino flavor (ENY 161).
When we were in East Harlem, we walked towards the direction of 5th avenue. We walked towards buildings known as projects.
Now living in Queens, I knew that projects aren't always the safest places to be hanging around especially at night. As a person
that watches the news almost on a daily basis, you hear of a lot of drug deals and violence that happen around these projects.
I was definately a little nervous walking by these projects as one of the first stops we took when we were in East Harlem. The idea
behind these projects back in time were thought of by George Washington Carver. These housing projects were originally known as
Carver houses back in the day. In my opinion, this was a very horrible idea because putting many groups of people that come from a
low socio-economic status was a recipe to turn this neighborhood into an area that was filled with violence and disputes. Built by
Robert Moses and completed in 1958, they are comprised of 13 buildings of low income residents (ENY 162).
After we walked through the projects, we ended up at the Museum of the City of New York which was located across the street
from Central Park. What I found very interesting about this place was when we were watching a documentary called "Timescapes"
on the history of New York and all its changes throughout the years. It was awesome seeing how different parts of the 5 boroughs
of New York looked through the 1800s and through the 1900s. Seeing the difference of New York City now and before was
definately breathtaking! It felt so different seeing New York with a lot of greenery and a more rural feel to it than what it is today
being the concrete jungle that currently exists. This museum was founded in 1923 and originally housed in Gracie Mansion, the
museum moved to its current location on Fifth Avenue in 1932 (ENY 163).
After the Museum of The City of New York, we ended up going to El Museo del Barrio. The museum was founded in 1969
in a public school classroom in PS 125 by Puerto Rican activists from East Harlem, seeking to preserve their cultural heritage
(ENY 163). Along with rotating special exhibits, the museum also possesses an extensive collection of Latin American and
Caribbean works of art, making it an important center for Latino culture in New York (ENY 163). Here we met our tour guide
that goes by the name of Lucas. Lucas was amazing in which he kept the whole entire class engaged since the beginning
of meeting him through our whole entire tour that he gave us of Spanish Harlem. He was very energetic and lively which kept
my attention throughout the whole tour. Lucas is a poet who was able to tell us how he traveled to 30 countries to portray
his works. The first thing he showed us was a mural that was dedicated to Rev. Pedro Pietri. He was an immigrant of
Puerto Rican descent who was a community activist who founded the Nuyroican Poets Cafe. In this cafe, poets would come
together and share their different works with one another. He also showed us another mural that was located directly
across the street. This one was called " The Spirit Of Harlem" and portrayed the people of " El Barrio" and the rest
of the whole entire community. Concluding this, we then walked by Modesto "tin" Flores Garden. Unfortunately it was closed but we
were still able to see a fountain inside that was called the " Seed Of Growth". This was symbolic of the female reproductive
system in which there were fillopian tubes exposed.
After these tours my friends and I ended up going to a local joint known as La Aguilar. I ended up getting soft shell tacos which
were honestly the best tacos I have ever tried in my whole entire life. That's saying a lot especially because I love Mexican
food and have been to many other good Mexican spots in the past. Man, I was stuffed and felt like I just had a whole Thanksgiving
meal. I wish I could have taken a nice nap after the meal but there was still a lot to do for the rest of the day.
Concluding lunch, we went to the north part of central park which stretched out from 110th to 88th street. It was a very nice walk
especially because it was such a nice day out. We ended up at Grand Central station which I consider to be the most beautiful
train station that New York has to offer.
6. The West Side
Today;s adventures included journeys throughout the west side of Manhattan. Our first stop was a trip to the MOMA, best known
as the Museum of Modern Art. One of the most important and influential museums of modern art in the world, MOMA houses an
imporessive collection of important works of art from the 19th and 20th centuries (ENY, 121) When we got there, it seemed like a
million people were there. It was jam packed to the max! I was very excited about going here because I have always had a strong
appreciation for art. My interests for art started when I was very little after watching a lot of Bob Ross shows where he would paint
different scenarios.
When we got to the MOMA, Stephen Mancilla and I did a little exploring on our own before the class actually got started together.
We ended up going through different rooms of the 4th and 5th floor just browsing around. We found a few rooms very interesting in
which some of them were sex themed. As young boys, of course something like this is going to capture our attention. On the same
floor, we also encountered some rooms that depicted many of the first video games that were ever created. They had some
displays that included the oldest video game systems such as Super Nintendo and the Atari. This was something that we found
a lot of fun due to our interests in video games as we grew up as kids. There were other mini-games that were available to the
public that gave everyone a more hands-on approach to these works of art. As we met up with the class 20 minutes later, we
ended going through rooms that seemed very unorthodox and weird. We saw a room that showed a video of someone sewing
through a deer's head which I found very weird. We went into other rooms seeing an overflowing bath tub, sinks, and a room
with a random empty pie box. As I looked at some of these things, I would constantly say to myself " How in the world is this considered
art? " Mike Russo then said to us that the purpose of contemporary art was to make us think, provoke a feeling, surprise us, and
amuse us as well. Everything that Mike said about contemporary art was perfectly on point on how the MOMA made me feel.
My jaw dropped with some of the presentations that were shown in some of the rooms. For example, we randomly walked into a
room that was full of penises. Penises were all over the walls in all different shapes and sizes. It felt like I was in some kind of weird
dream. As we continued through MOMA, we were also able to see a work by Van Gogh known as the Starry Night.
As the class continued to go about, I made a lot of side excursions to see a few things that caught my eye. I saw a few exhibits of
the different evolutions of planes throughout the years. This definately sparked my attention because I have always had a huge
passion and interests for planes. Basically, if i didn't choose nursing as my career, I definately would have chosen to become a
pilot. Through this exhibit, I was able to see how planes have advanced through upgrades in technology through all the years.
I was able to see difference between the first planes that were ever built compared to the planes that we have now today. Being
a complete WWII nerd that I am, I was able to also look at a lot of the fighter jet depictions that were used by both the allies and axis
side of the war. Comparing air force planes from both the German and American side was something I found very cool.
After the MOMA, we ended up going to get Thai food for lunch. I was very excited about this because Thai food is one of my
favorite food to eat. A lot of people in the class have never tried Thai food before so they looked to me to guide them on what
was good and what was not. The name of the restaurant that we went to was named Yum Yum Restaurant. I ordered this
spicy coconut soup with grilled chicken and Beef Pad Thai noodles as well. A lot of my classmates that sat on the same table as
I did ordered the same thing as me or something similiar due to my recommendations. The food ended up being extremely good!
It made me feel good when everyone loved what i recommended to them !
We then made our way over to Grant's Tomb. Ulysses S. Grant was known as the commander of the Union Army during the
Civil War and president of the United States from 1869-1877 (ENY 171). When he died of throat cancer in 1885, his body was
temporarily interred in a brick tomb in Morningside Park (ENY 171). After this we went and checked out the Riverside Church that
had a Gothic Revival style. Looking inside this church reminded me of being in St. Patrick's Cathedral. I was amazed by how big
this church was looking at it from the outside. It is the tallest church in the United States (ENY 172).
After checking out the college, we walked towards Barnard College and Columbia University. One thing that I was
really amazed about was how beautiful the neighborhood surrounding these two college were. It was someplace where I would
definately strongly consider living in when I am older. Columbia University is a 36 acre campus and was the first college
established in New York State and the fifth in the United States. The university was originally established in lower
Manhattan in 1754 as King's College and after the Revolution changed its name to Columbia (ENY 169). The campus
atmosphere of Columbia was amazing. Definately a type of college that stomped on the overall appearance of Molloy College,
thats for sure. I was really amazed by how big the campus was and how friendly a lot of the students were. Something
cool we found at Columbia was an owl and it is known that if you rub its belly then you are supposedly going to marry
a Columbia grad.
After checking out both colleges, we ended up at our last stop which was known as St. John The Divine Church.
This is the largest church in the United States and the largest Gothic-style cathedral in the world, the Cathedral has room
for 3000 worshipers and spans a length of over 600 feet (ENY 168). I considered it to be the most beautiful church
that i have ever been in to be quite honest.
as the Museum of Modern Art. One of the most important and influential museums of modern art in the world, MOMA houses an
imporessive collection of important works of art from the 19th and 20th centuries (ENY, 121) When we got there, it seemed like a
million people were there. It was jam packed to the max! I was very excited about going here because I have always had a strong
appreciation for art. My interests for art started when I was very little after watching a lot of Bob Ross shows where he would paint
different scenarios.
When we got to the MOMA, Stephen Mancilla and I did a little exploring on our own before the class actually got started together.
We ended up going through different rooms of the 4th and 5th floor just browsing around. We found a few rooms very interesting in
which some of them were sex themed. As young boys, of course something like this is going to capture our attention. On the same
floor, we also encountered some rooms that depicted many of the first video games that were ever created. They had some
displays that included the oldest video game systems such as Super Nintendo and the Atari. This was something that we found
a lot of fun due to our interests in video games as we grew up as kids. There were other mini-games that were available to the
public that gave everyone a more hands-on approach to these works of art. As we met up with the class 20 minutes later, we
ended going through rooms that seemed very unorthodox and weird. We saw a room that showed a video of someone sewing
through a deer's head which I found very weird. We went into other rooms seeing an overflowing bath tub, sinks, and a room
with a random empty pie box. As I looked at some of these things, I would constantly say to myself " How in the world is this considered
art? " Mike Russo then said to us that the purpose of contemporary art was to make us think, provoke a feeling, surprise us, and
amuse us as well. Everything that Mike said about contemporary art was perfectly on point on how the MOMA made me feel.
My jaw dropped with some of the presentations that were shown in some of the rooms. For example, we randomly walked into a
room that was full of penises. Penises were all over the walls in all different shapes and sizes. It felt like I was in some kind of weird
dream. As we continued through MOMA, we were also able to see a work by Van Gogh known as the Starry Night.
As the class continued to go about, I made a lot of side excursions to see a few things that caught my eye. I saw a few exhibits of
the different evolutions of planes throughout the years. This definately sparked my attention because I have always had a huge
passion and interests for planes. Basically, if i didn't choose nursing as my career, I definately would have chosen to become a
pilot. Through this exhibit, I was able to see how planes have advanced through upgrades in technology through all the years.
I was able to see difference between the first planes that were ever built compared to the planes that we have now today. Being
a complete WWII nerd that I am, I was able to also look at a lot of the fighter jet depictions that were used by both the allies and axis
side of the war. Comparing air force planes from both the German and American side was something I found very cool.
After the MOMA, we ended up going to get Thai food for lunch. I was very excited about this because Thai food is one of my
favorite food to eat. A lot of people in the class have never tried Thai food before so they looked to me to guide them on what
was good and what was not. The name of the restaurant that we went to was named Yum Yum Restaurant. I ordered this
spicy coconut soup with grilled chicken and Beef Pad Thai noodles as well. A lot of my classmates that sat on the same table as
I did ordered the same thing as me or something similiar due to my recommendations. The food ended up being extremely good!
It made me feel good when everyone loved what i recommended to them !
We then made our way over to Grant's Tomb. Ulysses S. Grant was known as the commander of the Union Army during the
Civil War and president of the United States from 1869-1877 (ENY 171). When he died of throat cancer in 1885, his body was
temporarily interred in a brick tomb in Morningside Park (ENY 171). After this we went and checked out the Riverside Church that
had a Gothic Revival style. Looking inside this church reminded me of being in St. Patrick's Cathedral. I was amazed by how big
this church was looking at it from the outside. It is the tallest church in the United States (ENY 172).
After checking out the college, we walked towards Barnard College and Columbia University. One thing that I was
really amazed about was how beautiful the neighborhood surrounding these two college were. It was someplace where I would
definately strongly consider living in when I am older. Columbia University is a 36 acre campus and was the first college
established in New York State and the fifth in the United States. The university was originally established in lower
Manhattan in 1754 as King's College and after the Revolution changed its name to Columbia (ENY 169). The campus
atmosphere of Columbia was amazing. Definately a type of college that stomped on the overall appearance of Molloy College,
thats for sure. I was really amazed by how big the campus was and how friendly a lot of the students were. Something
cool we found at Columbia was an owl and it is known that if you rub its belly then you are supposedly going to marry
a Columbia grad.
After checking out both colleges, we ended up at our last stop which was known as St. John The Divine Church.
This is the largest church in the United States and the largest Gothic-style cathedral in the world, the Cathedral has room
for 3000 worshipers and spans a length of over 600 feet (ENY 168). I considered it to be the most beautiful church
that i have ever been in to be quite honest.
7. The Lower East Side
This week I was very excited because I knew we were going to one of my favorite places in Manhattan, Chinatown.
As a kid, I would always go here a lot with my family because of all the amazing and authentic Chinese food
they would have on every single block. My family and I would always go to the famous Wonton Garden where they
serve amazing soup dumplings and of course; wonton soup. They have been open there for more than 25 years
and every single time you go, you would see a line going way down the block just for people to get their hands
on a bowl of soup or a package of soup dumplings. The quality of the food around this area is definately
worth the wait, unlike your typical chinese spots around Queens or on Long Island. Unfortunately today we had such
an early start at 9am. I personally love my sleep so today I found a bit more challenging to be walking for hours.
One of our first stops was to the Essex Street Market. Whats cool about this market is that its one of the only
markets like this that are still around. For much of the early 20th century, the Lower East Side was filled
with pushcarts, with vendors selling everything from fruits, vegetables, and meat, to clothing and household items.
When Fiorello LaGuardia became Mayor in 1933 he was determined to eliminate open pushcart markets because they
clogged the streets and created unsanitary conditions (ENY, 67). In present times, the market still has a large
selection of interesting food stalls to appeal to everyone. It has simliarities to most super markets in which
they offer your everyday fruits and vegetables to meats and different types of cheeses that are imported from other
countries.
Concluding the Essex Street Market, we ended up going to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. The building
was finalized in 1865 in an area that was dominated by mostly Germans. The appearance of the building
was very old and rugged since they basically kept its shape without any internal renovations since the building was
built in 1865. It was pretty awesome seeing the living quarters of people living in this time period and comparing
it to the living conditions we have today and how easier we have it nowadays. Since scientific advancements
were not made at the time, these buildings were known to hold many forms of bacteria which ended up causing
disease in many inhabitants. We learned about the Moore family and how they had a 5 month old daughter
that got sick from the disgusting living conditions that they resided in. My class and I also learned how
milk at the time was the major cause of promoting sickness. We learned how some milk producing companies
would add chalk to their milk to hide the discolorations and the appearance of bacteria to make it look like clean
milk. Little did they know that this chalk was very bad for everyone's GI system and was known to cause
many instances of vomiting and diarrhea. My class learned about certain elixirs that were sold that were
able to cure any disease possible. These elixirs were advertised to relieve people of cancer , tumors, and
many other diseases. Little did they know, they never actually cured the disease, but they just treated the
symptoms -- leading to people thinking they got better. In reality, they always continued to have the disease and
live with it, but it was overshadowed by slowing down the manifestations of the disease.
After the tenement museum, we were split into groups to go along seperately into China Town to explore on
our own. Luckily as i mentioned before, i've been to Chinatown many times as a kid growing up so we
were able to go around without getting lost and finding everything that was on our list. You can walk for blocks
through this neighborhood and only hear Chinese spoken (ENY 72). One thing a lot of my classmates
were amazed was how the neighborhoods change so drastically. It went from your typical Manhattan
style buildings to a bunch of Chinese markets and supermarkets so drastically. One thing that was
annoying was how packed it was at this time. We could barely move on the sidewalks and unfortunately
I was wearing my new shoes that got stomped on at least 10 times during the day. I was definately not a happy
camper when I looked at my shoes at the end of the day. As we walked down Canal streets, there were
many supermarkets selling fruits and vegetables. Also we saw a lot of fish markets selling all kinds of fish.
There were some supermarkets and shops that were giving out free samples of lamb, chicken and beef for the public to
try. It all tasted amazing. We then went over to the Eastern States Buddhist Temple of America. Here we
were able to pick out fortunes out of a large machine. I'm not a firm believer in fortunes so I ended up
just taking one without reading it and just donated the dollar. After this temple we continued to walk on Mott and
walked through the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory and Vivi Bubble tea. Again, they were giving samples
in the Ice Cream factory and the bubble tea place and they both tasted so good. Concluding this, we met
up with the whole entire class at Congee Village to eat lunch. Man oh man, the food here was incredible
and was probably one of the best Chinese food i've ever tried in my life. I was super stuffed after the meal !
Overall, Chinatown is a wonderful place to stop for an inexpensive bite to eat or to shop for knockoff
versions of your favorite designer items (ENY 77).
Concluding our lunch, I was so pumped to go to Economy Candy. When we walked in, it felt
like being in Dylan's Candy bar in which is also another candy store located in Manhtattan. We then
continued to walk down Delancey Street. Here we saw the Williamsburg bridge and learned a lot about
it from Dr. Russo. We learned that another name for the Williamsburg bridge was the Jews highway because
a lot of the Jewish population lived in Williamsburg and traveled to Manhattan to go to their place of worship.
We were also able to see the Eldridge Street Synagogue and the Bialystoker Synagogue. One of the architectural
masterpieces of the Lower East Side, this synagogue was constructed in 1887 and was the first synagogue in
New York built by Eastern European Jews (ENY 71). The Bialystoker Synagogue used to be a church that saw its
Christian population dwindle and then became a synagogue due to the increasing Jewish population around the area.
We then went to the Beaux art building that was established in 1904 which was used by women of Jewish faith
to purify themselves before marriage. This whole process was called a Mikvah, where they would cleanse themselves
with pure water.
This week I was very excited because I knew we were going to one of my favorite places in Manhattan, Chinatown.
As a kid, I would always go here a lot with my family because of all the amazing and authentic Chinese food
they would have on every single block. My family and I would always go to the famous Wonton Garden where they
serve amazing soup dumplings and of course; wonton soup. They have been open there for more than 25 years
and every single time you go, you would see a line going way down the block just for people to get their hands
on a bowl of soup or a package of soup dumplings. The quality of the food around this area is definately
worth the wait, unlike your typical chinese spots around Queens or on Long Island. Unfortunately today we had such
an early start at 9am. I personally love my sleep so today I found a bit more challenging to be walking for hours.
One of our first stops was to the Essex Street Market. Whats cool about this market is that its one of the only
markets like this that are still around. For much of the early 20th century, the Lower East Side was filled
with pushcarts, with vendors selling everything from fruits, vegetables, and meat, to clothing and household items.
When Fiorello LaGuardia became Mayor in 1933 he was determined to eliminate open pushcart markets because they
clogged the streets and created unsanitary conditions (ENY, 67). In present times, the market still has a large
selection of interesting food stalls to appeal to everyone. It has simliarities to most super markets in which
they offer your everyday fruits and vegetables to meats and different types of cheeses that are imported from other
countries.
Concluding the Essex Street Market, we ended up going to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. The building
was finalized in 1865 in an area that was dominated by mostly Germans. The appearance of the building
was very old and rugged since they basically kept its shape without any internal renovations since the building was
built in 1865. It was pretty awesome seeing the living quarters of people living in this time period and comparing
it to the living conditions we have today and how easier we have it nowadays. Since scientific advancements
were not made at the time, these buildings were known to hold many forms of bacteria which ended up causing
disease in many inhabitants. We learned about the Moore family and how they had a 5 month old daughter
that got sick from the disgusting living conditions that they resided in. My class and I also learned how
milk at the time was the major cause of promoting sickness. We learned how some milk producing companies
would add chalk to their milk to hide the discolorations and the appearance of bacteria to make it look like clean
milk. Little did they know that this chalk was very bad for everyone's GI system and was known to cause
many instances of vomiting and diarrhea. My class learned about certain elixirs that were sold that were
able to cure any disease possible. These elixirs were advertised to relieve people of cancer , tumors, and
many other diseases. Little did they know, they never actually cured the disease, but they just treated the
symptoms -- leading to people thinking they got better. In reality, they always continued to have the disease and
live with it, but it was overshadowed by slowing down the manifestations of the disease.
After the tenement museum, we were split into groups to go along seperately into China Town to explore on
our own. Luckily as i mentioned before, i've been to Chinatown many times as a kid growing up so we
were able to go around without getting lost and finding everything that was on our list. You can walk for blocks
through this neighborhood and only hear Chinese spoken (ENY 72). One thing a lot of my classmates
were amazed was how the neighborhoods change so drastically. It went from your typical Manhattan
style buildings to a bunch of Chinese markets and supermarkets so drastically. One thing that was
annoying was how packed it was at this time. We could barely move on the sidewalks and unfortunately
I was wearing my new shoes that got stomped on at least 10 times during the day. I was definately not a happy
camper when I looked at my shoes at the end of the day. As we walked down Canal streets, there were
many supermarkets selling fruits and vegetables. Also we saw a lot of fish markets selling all kinds of fish.
There were some supermarkets and shops that were giving out free samples of lamb, chicken and beef for the public to
try. It all tasted amazing. We then went over to the Eastern States Buddhist Temple of America. Here we
were able to pick out fortunes out of a large machine. I'm not a firm believer in fortunes so I ended up
just taking one without reading it and just donated the dollar. After this temple we continued to walk on Mott and
walked through the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory and Vivi Bubble tea. Again, they were giving samples
in the Ice Cream factory and the bubble tea place and they both tasted so good. Concluding this, we met
up with the whole entire class at Congee Village to eat lunch. Man oh man, the food here was incredible
and was probably one of the best Chinese food i've ever tried in my life. I was super stuffed after the meal !
Overall, Chinatown is a wonderful place to stop for an inexpensive bite to eat or to shop for knockoff
versions of your favorite designer items (ENY 77).
Concluding our lunch, I was so pumped to go to Economy Candy. When we walked in, it felt
like being in Dylan's Candy bar in which is also another candy store located in Manhtattan. We then
continued to walk down Delancey Street. Here we saw the Williamsburg bridge and learned a lot about
it from Dr. Russo. We learned that another name for the Williamsburg bridge was the Jews highway because
a lot of the Jewish population lived in Williamsburg and traveled to Manhattan to go to their place of worship.
We were also able to see the Eldridge Street Synagogue and the Bialystoker Synagogue. One of the architectural
masterpieces of the Lower East Side, this synagogue was constructed in 1887 and was the first synagogue in
New York built by Eastern European Jews (ENY 71). The Bialystoker Synagogue used to be a church that saw its
Christian population dwindle and then became a synagogue due to the increasing Jewish population around the area.
We then went to the Beaux art building that was established in 1904 which was used by women of Jewish faith
to purify themselves before marriage. This whole process was called a Mikvah, where they would cleanse themselves
with pure water.
8. Lower Manhattan
Today's class is unfortunately the last class out of this whole entire Gotham journey! Today our last adventures
will be through the lower part of Manhattan in which the Dutch established its first colony in 1624. This area used
to be predominantly dutch, then the British and Americans took over and made this city what it is today.
Today we started in Battery Park which was best known to be built on a landfill. This neigborhood known as
Battery Park ceased to exist until the year of 1976. This area was loaded with piers in which boat men
loaded shipments off boats and into boats coming to and leaving New York City from and to many parts of the world.
By the 1960's a lot of these piers started to not be used and a lot of these freight companies were forced to re locate to
other places. The idea to create Battery Park City was the inspiration of Governor Nelson Rockefeller, who called for a new
90- acre planned community to be built near the city's financial district (ENY 60). During the present days, Battery Park
City is one of most beautiful and desireable places to live in NYC. The apartment buildings that are all over the
neighborhood are absolutely beautiful with a modern architectural structure.
Afterwards we went towards Robert Wagner Park. The park was named after Robert Wagner, Jr., who was Mayor of New York from 1954-
1965 (ENY 60). One thing that was really cool about this park was that it provided a beautiful view of the Hudson
River where you could also see Ellis Island and the Statue Of Liberty along the distance. It gets extremely crowded around
this area of the park because the views are just that amazing. One thing that stood about Battery Park was Castle Clinton.
This is considered to be the heart of Battery Park in which it has a lot of history behind it. It was named after
New yOrk Mayor Dewitt Clinton and was a brownstone fort that was built by John McComb Jr. and Lieutenant Colonel
Jonathan Williams in 1811 to protect against the British invasion. It stood at approximately 35 feet tall. Later on, the castle
was used as an immigration depot to help people when they arrived to the states. During the five years that it
served in this form, eight million immigrants arrived in New York through its doors (ENY 56). A significant statue stood
near this castle as well. The statue was Luis Sanguino's statue that was symbolic of the 8 million people
that passed through Castle Clinton. The anguished poses of the figures in the statue, including a freed African slave,
a priest, a worker, and an Eastern European Jew, point to the struggles that most immigrants faced as they began their
new life in America (ENY 56). Its amazing seeing all these people coming to America for a new opportunity for the
betterment of their lives. Seeing this helps me to not take for granted the fact that living in New York City for all my life.
Concluding our adventures through Battery Park, we ended up going to the Frances Tavern Museum that was a quarter of a
mile away from Battery Park. The building that houses the museum --- considered by some to be Manhattan's oldest
surviving building --- has a long and interesting history. Originally built in 1719 by the wealthy merchant Stephen Delancey,
it served as his home unitl 1730 when he moved uptown to an estate on what is now Delancey Street on the Lower
East Side (ENY 55). George Washington was also known to have a farewell dinner here for the officers of his army in 1783
concluding the British evacuation of New York City. In present times, the first floor of the museum is used as a restaurant
that is known for its phenomenal food while the floors upstairs are used as a museum to depict the rich history
of the building through hundreds of years. As a class, we explored the floors upstairs the museum and witnessed many
artifacts and memorabilia that was left from the Revolution. Something that really stood out was seeing the diary
of Washington's men who was best known as the first spy to be used in warfare. This spy went by the name of Benjamin
Tallmadge was a spy for the American side. Seeing his diary, you were able to a number of the events that happened
in the revolution through Benjamin's words. After looking at this, we went upstairs to go look at the flag room. A lot of these
flags displayed different colors and phrases to show a sense of nationalism portrayed by these soldiers during war. Just
like many flags around the world, these flags were strongly symbolic of all the efforts these soldiers put into the revolution
while fighting for their land and what they stood for. Finally, we were able to walk downstairs to see the exact dining room
where Washington held his famous Farewell speech. It wasn't the same exact set up but it was a recreation of what the room
would have looked like.
Next, we would take a trip over to the Financial District. In the 19th century, this area, with its proximity to the City's
most active port, was where most of the nation's largest banks and corporations had their headquarters. It was also
home to Wall Street and the city's most important financial institutions -- the New York Stock Exchange and the Federal Reserve
Bank of New York (ENY 47). A lot of the buildings in the financial district had a nice modern architecture to it that I found
very impressive. Dr. Russo brought us to the Charging Bull which is a very popular statue in the Financial District. The
statue was created by New York City artist Arthuro Di Modica right after what was called Black Monday, October 19, 1987,
when financial markets were inthe worst panic in years. In an act of guerilla art, on the night of December 15, 1989 Di Modica and his
friends hauled the statue on a flatbed truck and surreptitiously left it in front of the New York Stock Exchange (ENY 53).
It was supposed to be taken away but then a lot of the public was severely against it to remain it kept in the actual location
it was originated from.
After this we went to the 9-11 museum and memorial. I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday honestly. I was sitting in my third
grade classroom and was sent home early due to everything that was going on that day. Although I knew no one that was affected
by the attacks, it was definately a little emotional being there. Looking at all the names engraved through the museum of all the
people that lost their lives that day, it was definately something to take a moment of silence upon and reflect.
After this wen went over to St. Pauls Chapel. It was amazing how this place survived the attacks of 9/11. When the towers
were attacked, this place suffered no damage despite the close proximity to the twin towers. This church acted as a place
of rest and peace for many people that were directly involved in the attacks. The church acted as a safe haven and a place
to provide a sense of peace and relief to all those that desperately needed it that day and throughout the following months.
Concluding the visit to the church, we went to the Municipal building which was Mike's favorite building. It is known
as one of the largest governmental buildings in the world. The building is currently home to thirteen municipal agencies of the
CIty of New York and until 2009 housed the Manhattan Marraige Bureau, where 18,000 people were married each year in the
buildings second floor chapel (ENY, 42). Dr. Russo told us that his favorite thing about the building is Adolph
Weinman's 20 foot tall gilden statue called Civic Fame. It;s the third largest statue
in NYC and shows a barefoot girl standing on a copper ball while shes holding a five0pointed crown that depicts the five boroughs.
Today's class is unfortunately the last class out of this whole entire Gotham journey! Today our last adventures
will be through the lower part of Manhattan in which the Dutch established its first colony in 1624. This area used
to be predominantly dutch, then the British and Americans took over and made this city what it is today.
Today we started in Battery Park which was best known to be built on a landfill. This neigborhood known as
Battery Park ceased to exist until the year of 1976. This area was loaded with piers in which boat men
loaded shipments off boats and into boats coming to and leaving New York City from and to many parts of the world.
By the 1960's a lot of these piers started to not be used and a lot of these freight companies were forced to re locate to
other places. The idea to create Battery Park City was the inspiration of Governor Nelson Rockefeller, who called for a new
90- acre planned community to be built near the city's financial district (ENY 60). During the present days, Battery Park
City is one of most beautiful and desireable places to live in NYC. The apartment buildings that are all over the
neighborhood are absolutely beautiful with a modern architectural structure.
Afterwards we went towards Robert Wagner Park. The park was named after Robert Wagner, Jr., who was Mayor of New York from 1954-
1965 (ENY 60). One thing that was really cool about this park was that it provided a beautiful view of the Hudson
River where you could also see Ellis Island and the Statue Of Liberty along the distance. It gets extremely crowded around
this area of the park because the views are just that amazing. One thing that stood about Battery Park was Castle Clinton.
This is considered to be the heart of Battery Park in which it has a lot of history behind it. It was named after
New yOrk Mayor Dewitt Clinton and was a brownstone fort that was built by John McComb Jr. and Lieutenant Colonel
Jonathan Williams in 1811 to protect against the British invasion. It stood at approximately 35 feet tall. Later on, the castle
was used as an immigration depot to help people when they arrived to the states. During the five years that it
served in this form, eight million immigrants arrived in New York through its doors (ENY 56). A significant statue stood
near this castle as well. The statue was Luis Sanguino's statue that was symbolic of the 8 million people
that passed through Castle Clinton. The anguished poses of the figures in the statue, including a freed African slave,
a priest, a worker, and an Eastern European Jew, point to the struggles that most immigrants faced as they began their
new life in America (ENY 56). Its amazing seeing all these people coming to America for a new opportunity for the
betterment of their lives. Seeing this helps me to not take for granted the fact that living in New York City for all my life.
Concluding our adventures through Battery Park, we ended up going to the Frances Tavern Museum that was a quarter of a
mile away from Battery Park. The building that houses the museum --- considered by some to be Manhattan's oldest
surviving building --- has a long and interesting history. Originally built in 1719 by the wealthy merchant Stephen Delancey,
it served as his home unitl 1730 when he moved uptown to an estate on what is now Delancey Street on the Lower
East Side (ENY 55). George Washington was also known to have a farewell dinner here for the officers of his army in 1783
concluding the British evacuation of New York City. In present times, the first floor of the museum is used as a restaurant
that is known for its phenomenal food while the floors upstairs are used as a museum to depict the rich history
of the building through hundreds of years. As a class, we explored the floors upstairs the museum and witnessed many
artifacts and memorabilia that was left from the Revolution. Something that really stood out was seeing the diary
of Washington's men who was best known as the first spy to be used in warfare. This spy went by the name of Benjamin
Tallmadge was a spy for the American side. Seeing his diary, you were able to a number of the events that happened
in the revolution through Benjamin's words. After looking at this, we went upstairs to go look at the flag room. A lot of these
flags displayed different colors and phrases to show a sense of nationalism portrayed by these soldiers during war. Just
like many flags around the world, these flags were strongly symbolic of all the efforts these soldiers put into the revolution
while fighting for their land and what they stood for. Finally, we were able to walk downstairs to see the exact dining room
where Washington held his famous Farewell speech. It wasn't the same exact set up but it was a recreation of what the room
would have looked like.
Next, we would take a trip over to the Financial District. In the 19th century, this area, with its proximity to the City's
most active port, was where most of the nation's largest banks and corporations had their headquarters. It was also
home to Wall Street and the city's most important financial institutions -- the New York Stock Exchange and the Federal Reserve
Bank of New York (ENY 47). A lot of the buildings in the financial district had a nice modern architecture to it that I found
very impressive. Dr. Russo brought us to the Charging Bull which is a very popular statue in the Financial District. The
statue was created by New York City artist Arthuro Di Modica right after what was called Black Monday, October 19, 1987,
when financial markets were inthe worst panic in years. In an act of guerilla art, on the night of December 15, 1989 Di Modica and his
friends hauled the statue on a flatbed truck and surreptitiously left it in front of the New York Stock Exchange (ENY 53).
It was supposed to be taken away but then a lot of the public was severely against it to remain it kept in the actual location
it was originated from.
After this we went to the 9-11 museum and memorial. I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday honestly. I was sitting in my third
grade classroom and was sent home early due to everything that was going on that day. Although I knew no one that was affected
by the attacks, it was definately a little emotional being there. Looking at all the names engraved through the museum of all the
people that lost their lives that day, it was definately something to take a moment of silence upon and reflect.
After this wen went over to St. Pauls Chapel. It was amazing how this place survived the attacks of 9/11. When the towers
were attacked, this place suffered no damage despite the close proximity to the twin towers. This church acted as a place
of rest and peace for many people that were directly involved in the attacks. The church acted as a safe haven and a place
to provide a sense of peace and relief to all those that desperately needed it that day and throughout the following months.
Concluding the visit to the church, we went to the Municipal building which was Mike's favorite building. It is known
as one of the largest governmental buildings in the world. The building is currently home to thirteen municipal agencies of the
CIty of New York and until 2009 housed the Manhattan Marraige Bureau, where 18,000 people were married each year in the
buildings second floor chapel (ENY, 42). Dr. Russo told us that his favorite thing about the building is Adolph
Weinman's 20 foot tall gilden statue called Civic Fame. It;s the third largest statue
in NYC and shows a barefoot girl standing on a copper ball while shes holding a five0pointed crown that depicts the five boroughs.
9. Final Impressions of NYC
Overall, I really loved this whole entire Gotham Experience with my whole entire class. Although I've been living in Queens
my whole entire life with a very close proximity to the city, I still happened to learn so much about Manhattan and the
other boroughs of NYC. I always visited the city many times as I was growing up, but never knew how much knowledge
I lacked about the city until I took this class with Dr. Russo. I finally now know how to get around Manhattan
without getting lost for once ! Dr. Russo definately helped me a lot when it comes to finding your way around the city
and many spots to visit when you are with friends or family. Exploring many parts of Manhattan especially the neighborhood
where Columbia University and Barnard College resides gave me strong contemplations on where I want to live
when I am older when I have my first steady job out of college. I found this neighborhood the most breathtaking
out of all the neigborhood we checked out as a class.
Something great about Manhattan and the other boroughs that surround it that we were able to go to was that
everything is so close to each other. Whether you want to go to the supermarket to buy groceries and food, go out
on a weekend night for entertainment, everything is just so close to one another. Everything you need is just
about walking distance from each other. If something is a little farther than usual, taking the subway towards your
desired destination is only $2.50 and runs very frequently and consistently.
One thing you can't forget about New York City is the amazing diversity that each borough has to offer. It's
amazing seeing different nationalities from all over the world come together into the 5 boroughs. As a native
of Queens, i've been lucky and fortunate to learn many things about different cultures throughout all my
years of living. I feel like if i was living anywhere else in the United States, I wouldn't be able to have
this kind of learning environment to learn about the different cultures and ethnicities that exist today.
Overall, I really loved this whole entire Gotham Experience with my whole entire class. Although I've been living in Queens
my whole entire life with a very close proximity to the city, I still happened to learn so much about Manhattan and the
other boroughs of NYC. I always visited the city many times as I was growing up, but never knew how much knowledge
I lacked about the city until I took this class with Dr. Russo. I finally now know how to get around Manhattan
without getting lost for once ! Dr. Russo definately helped me a lot when it comes to finding your way around the city
and many spots to visit when you are with friends or family. Exploring many parts of Manhattan especially the neighborhood
where Columbia University and Barnard College resides gave me strong contemplations on where I want to live
when I am older when I have my first steady job out of college. I found this neighborhood the most breathtaking
out of all the neigborhood we checked out as a class.
Something great about Manhattan and the other boroughs that surround it that we were able to go to was that
everything is so close to each other. Whether you want to go to the supermarket to buy groceries and food, go out
on a weekend night for entertainment, everything is just so close to one another. Everything you need is just
about walking distance from each other. If something is a little farther than usual, taking the subway towards your
desired destination is only $2.50 and runs very frequently and consistently.
One thing you can't forget about New York City is the amazing diversity that each borough has to offer. It's
amazing seeing different nationalities from all over the world come together into the 5 boroughs. As a native
of Queens, i've been lucky and fortunate to learn many things about different cultures throughout all my
years of living. I feel like if i was living anywhere else in the United States, I wouldn't be able to have
this kind of learning environment to learn about the different cultures and ethnicities that exist today.