OHNY – Scandinavia House

Scandinavia House
Scandinavia House, Murray Hill, Manhattan

After leaving Roosevelt Island Jeannette and Eleanor went to Trader Joe’s in Jersey (Yvan’s parents were in with their car). Masako, Tien and I went to one last openhousenewyork site, Scandinavia House. It celebrates the cultures and traditions of the five Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

In 2004 in Finland, The Snow Show is scheduled to take place. Artists and architects are gathering to build large-scale structures out of snow and ice. Here in New York at the Scandinavia House, the featured exhibit is a behind the scenes look at the artists and architects thoughts, plans and models for The Snow Show.

Tien’s post on Scandinavia House

After leaving the Scandinavia House, we got some cheesesteaks at Carl’s which just opened up in Tien’s neighborhood.

Before we went in the Scandinavia House, we passed by a pet store and I snapped this photo of all of us and the little puppies in the window. Will this be my next Mirror Project entry?

UES Pet Store
Puppies in the Window, Upper East Side, Manhattan

Overall, I think that openhousenewyork was a success. One thing that was agreed upon is that the marketing isn’t where it should be. It seemed like the people that I know who are heavy internet users all knew about the event but people who were less nerdy.. even people who are online everyday.. had no idea. If they’re going to do this next year, I would suggest to the openhousenewyork committee more offline advertising. Of course, maybe they were trying to keep attendance on the low side for the first year. .. not that it wasn’t well attended, but it’s not like all of New York knew it was going on.

OHNY – Green-Wood Cemetery


Green-Wood Cemetery Entrance, Brooklyn


Green-Wood is filled with really old, beautiful tombstones. The modern ones pale in comparison as far as the artistic expression & effort put into them.


The highest point in Brooklyn is in Green-Wood Cemetary. It’s called Battle Hill, and from this point you can clearly see Manhattan. This hill was once a military battleground in the Battle of Long Island in the Civil War. There is a Civil War Monument on the hill to commemorate it.


We were allowed to go into one of the mausoleums to view this beautiful stained glass.


Mother, Father


William Holbrook Beard was a painter of bears and other animals. For more than a century, Beard was lying in an unmarked grave. On October 15, 2002, a full-sized bronze bear monument, sculpted by Dan Ostermiller and generously donated by him to honor Beard was unveiled. This is the first new sculpture in Green-Wood in many years. (via Tomb With A View, Cemetery Special Events, "Picks of the Month")


Beard’s painting Bulls and Bears in the Market is an icon of the New-York historical Society’s collection. My favorite of his paintings is Dancing Bears


Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn


The catacombs haven’t been open to the public for 165 years. Green-Wood opened them up on Saturday for openhousenewyork but doesn’t have plans to keep them open afterwards. These are the skylights and vents that come out of the vaults of the catacombs underground.


Underground, the corridor of the catacombs is dimly lit with sunlight coming in from the skylights above. Off of the hall, to the left and to the right, are the tombs. Each is has a gate or door and is marked with an engraving.


Gate leading into one of the tombs.


A skylight in one of the tombs.


One of the tombs in the catacombs.


On the way out of the cemetery we came across this large circle of tombstones. Some of them dated back to the 1600’s. I’m still trying to piece together how exactly this can be since the cemetery wasn’t created until 1838. And also, since the Civil War wasn’t even fought on these grounds until the late 1700’s.


The really old, broken, and tilted tombstones were the ones that kind of creeped me out the most. Still, I love looking at them and trying to make out their weathered engravings.


One of our last stops was at William "Boss" Tweed’s family site. Boss Tweed was the notriously corrupt mayor politician of New York City in the late 1800’s.


One last look at the front gate before we leave. Everytime I turned to look at it it’s beauty shocked me. David Bates Douglass was Green-Wood’s landscape architect and first president. It’s him that we should thank for these magnificent arches.

Ever since reading Paul Ford’s essay on Green-Wood Cemetery early this summer it’s been a mission of mine to visit it. So, when I saw it listed as one of the openhousenewyork sites I was so excited to go.

After we were through at the Terrapin Chelsea Art Gallery, we all headed over to John’s Pizzeria, which I still believe is one of the best places for pizza in New York. We’ll see how Tien and Audrey rank it on their Pizza Review Page. After that, Tien and I jetted over to SoHo to catch the NR over to 25th Street in Brooklyn. When we got there a couple came out of the subway saying that the trains weren’t running.. .something about no power.. while talking to them we realized that we were all going to the cemetery so we split a cab.

Green-Wood Cemetery is the most beautiful cemeteries I’ve seen (not that I’ve seen a ton). Green-Wood was founded in 1838 with David Bates Douglass serving as the landscape architect and as its first president. It is the final resting place of nearly 600,000 persons, including some of history’s most memorable figures. Boss Tweed, Leonard Bernstein, Peter Cooper, William Poole (Bill the Butcher), the Brooks, F.A.O. Schwarz, Louis Tiffany, and Charles Pfizer are among the famous (and infamous) buried here. The cemetery is open to the public all the time, but the big draw for the openhousenewyork crowd was the catacombs. The catacombs have not been open to the public for 165 years.

Tien’s post on Green-Wood Cemetery
rion’s photos of Green-Wood Cemetery – small stones
rion’s photos of Green-Wood Cemetery – grave grandeur
rion’s photos of the catacombs
Michael Cosentino’s photos of Green-Wood Cemetery
Michael Cosentino’s photos of the catacombs
David Gallagher’s photos of Green-Wood Cemetery

OHNY – Terrapin Chelsea Art Gallery

Terrapin Bedroom
Master Bedroom, Terrapin Chelsea Art Gallery, Chelsea, Manhattan

Terrapin Yangtze River
Yangtze River in the Living Room, Terrapin Chelsea Art Gallery, Chelsea, Manhattan

Terrapin Starry Night
Starry Night in Marbles, Terrapin Chelsea Art Gallery, Chelsea, Manhattan

Next up was the Terrapin Chelsea Art Gallery, a private gallery and home. The original building was constructed in 1853 and was redone by the owners in 2000. The detail and uniqueness of design of this place was amazing. It included a waterfall that trickled down into a scale-model of the Yangtze River which flows through the living room and out to a pool in the back garden. In a child’s room they constructed Van Gough’s Starry Night with marbles on the ceiling. Two cats, Sunset and Sunrise, lazed around the house while the owners manned the kitchen answering questions and receiving praise from visitors.

Tien’s post on the Terrapin Chelsea Art Gallery

OHNY – Jefferson Market Library

Jefferson Market Library Stairs
149 Stairs, Jefferson Market Library, West Village, Manhattan

Rachelle @ Jefferson Market Library
Rachelle, Jefferson Market Library, West Village, Manhattan

Jefferson Market Library Bell Tower
Bell Tower, Jefferson Market Library, West Village, Manhattan

Jefferson Market Library View
6th Avenue View, Jefferson Market Library, West Village, Manhattan

jeff_mkt_lib_up_6th_ave.jpg
6th Avenue View, Jefferson Market Library, West Village, Manhattan

Jeannette & I grabbed a quick coffee and split a breakfast sandwich and then she went to meet up with Yvan & his parents in Chinatown. I met up with Tien, Jessica (not this Jessica. .. or this one either), Ingrid and Audrey at the Jefferson Market Library. What is currently a branch of the New York Public Library has a very rich history. It started out as a market and fire tower, then was a courthouse and then a women’s jail before being abandoned and then becoming a library. After a short wait, we climbed up a tiny, skinny, spiral cement staircase. Next up was an iron, spiral staircase to an outdoor circular balcony that provided a 360-degree view of Greenwich Village. Breathtaking. You could also climb up a ladder to see the bell in the bell tower but I didn’t do it. Tien and Audrey were brave and got up there. A tour guide told us that someone in the group before us was unfortunate enough to be standing right next to the bell when it went off at noon. Probably deaf now!

Tien’s post on Jefferson Market Library

OHNY – Washington Square Park

Washington Square Arch
Rachelle, Washington Square Arch, West Village, Manhattan

Ranger Bill
Ranger Bill, Washington Square Arch, West Village, Manhattan

Shadows
Guess Who?, West Village, Manhattan

Today was the first day of openhousenewyork (OHNY), which kicked off architecture week in New York. 80 sites in all five boroughs that are normally closed to the public were opened up and we were allowed in for free. Everything from famous landmarks to subways to boardrooms to bedrooms to mansions to markets were on display.

I was still feeling kind of sick, but determined to take advantage of OHNY, I met Jeannette early in the morning at Washington Square Park where we were promised that we would be able to get a glimpse inside the arch. In reality, the arch is still under $3 million worth of renovations and we couldn’t even get close enough to touch it. Instead Ranger Bill gave us 30 minutes of history, most of which I already knew. But it was still helpful to see exactly where the oldest house on the block and the hanging tree and the potters field are. Informative, but not a great start to openhousenewyork.