Results tagged “newyorkhistoricalsociety”

In honor of the New York Historical Society's upcoming Grateful Dead exhibition, the Empire State Building is going to be tie dye tomorrow. At press time, we were unable to confirm how in the world this was going to happen, short of dosing the entire city with acid and hoping everyone sees beautiful melting colors shining off the building.

            

The New York Historical Society has some noteworthy photo exhibits coming up in the next month. We'll have a full preview coming up prior to their openings, but after taking a peek at Camilo José Vergara's "Harlem 1970-2009" exhibit, this sequence seemed worth sharing now. The street photographer and MacArthur Foundation genius award winner visited this one spot repeatedly, documenting the ongoing transformation in the neighborhood. Only eight photographs, taken between 1977 and 2007 outside of 65 East 125th Street, are included in the exhibit, but there are 24 on his website, where you can see what starts off as a local nightclub transform into a vacant storefront.

The New York Historical Society and Council Member David Yassky launched Brooklyn Revealed this morning, which will give you an online tour of historic Brooklyn neighborhoods and streets (including explanations of the origins of more than 100 street names). History nerds unite! Yassky noted that the interactive site "will provide a venue through which we can engage our children in how Brooklyn has evolved, and allow for the dynamic exchange of knowledge and ideas that helps define our great borough," and it includes glimpses at important people who are a part of the borough's history (you know, the ones that were here before you all moved in to your Karl Fischer condos). Did you know that Atlantic Avenue was originally a private avenue leading to Ralph Patchen’s farm on the East River?

Abraham Lincoln is so totally "in" these days, so some teenagers attending Abraham Lincoln High School teamed up with the with New York Historical Society to pay homage to the 16th President inside of Barneys Madison Avenue windows. A full set of the display can be seen here, where it's noted the kid's "original portraits may be purchased for $100 each," and are going fast (though none of them seem to include the famous stovepipe hat!).

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg announced a project to commemorate abolitionist activity that occurred in Brooklyn in the 1800s. He named a panel made up of community leaders, academics, and historians to aid the city and Downtown Brooklyn Partnership in asking for and reviewing commemoration proposals.

The state legislature in Albany is prepared to issue a formal apology for the historic practice of slavery and will be the first northern state in the Union to do so. Several states on the Confederate side of the Civil War have already issued similar apologies. Albany lawmakers are pushing to pass the resolution in time for "Juneteenth", which is an unofficial holiday celebrating the June 19th arrival of federal troops in Texas to announce the final eradication of slavery from the United States and its territories in 1865.

Today, the Sun reports that the State Legislature is considering a formal apology as well as to study the "feasibility" of reparations for New York's role in slavery. The apologies are "technically amendments to Chapter 137 of the laws of 1817 relating to slaves and servants — laws that imposed penalties on those who harbored runaway slaves." While many expect Legislature support for the apology bill (both Maryland and Virginia have formally apologized), some believe reparations will be more difficult to pass.

DISCUSSION: Noam Chomsky will be taking questions on US foreign policy tonight, following a screening of Harold Pinter's 2005 Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech. Get your questions ready, smartypants. You can watch the video of Pinter's speech here, too.

+ Expect another uptown expansion battle, this time involving the New York Historical Society. First neighborhood resident to intimate Paris? Journalist Bill Moyers.

The not-so-private life of everyone's favorite avian poster children for friendly coops, red-tailed hawks Pale Male and Lola, after they - okay, their human advocates helped them - moved back to their 927 Fifth Avenue digs is revealed. And it's been a barren nest. The NY Times gets nosy about the birds' year without a chick. It seems that even with a super fancy nest, baby bird making isn't a sure thing: Lola's eggs went unhatched last spring. Pale Male and Lola fans are hoping this year will prove more successful, as Lola most likely laid eggs, and experts are actually blaming it on the new nest. Will the hawks' hawks charge that 927 Fifth Avenue was negligent in removing the nest, robbing the city of some new red tailed hawks? Or will bygones be bygones and the appearance of some adorable baby hawks eating regurgitated worms make everyone feel okay?

One of the things on Gothamist's must-see list this week is the New York Historical Society's new exhibit, Slavery in New York. The show reveals New York relationship with slavery, from the days of the Dutch settlers until 1827. The exhibit is open until March, and the online site is pretty extensive, but a reason to go this week is for the pencil-written copy of the Emancipataion Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation is on display until October 16, a short period because "It is, in 2005, a fragile document, sensitive to light, air, and changes in temperature. It can be shown only 10 days or 80 hours each year (of which one has been used)."

What can you do to recover from a day of stuffing yourself silly on Grandma's maple-glazed turkey, Dad's cornbread and oyster stuffing and Aunt Sally's pumpkin pie? Go on a noshing tour of the Lower East Side, of course! Big Onion Tours and the New York Historical Society present their Annual Post-Thanksgiving, Multi-Ethnic Eating Tour on Friday, November 26 at 1:00pm. This tour will make pit stops to sample traditional foods from the Dominican Republic, Eastern Europe, China, Italy, and more. The cost is $12 for adults and $10 for students, seniors, and members of the New-York Historical Society, plus an additional charge of $4 per person for the noshing stops. The tour lasts approximately two hours and covers 1.5 - 2 miles, so it shouldn't be too strenuous for those who may still be in a tryptophan-induced haze. Call (212)439-1090 for reservations or visit the Big Onion website for more details.

, about the reconstruction of lower Manhattan and the World Trade Center.

Check out transcripts from heath row, and more GEL posts and pictures from Bluejake: Good Experience Live, Satan's Laundromat, and Ten Years of My Life.

).