Results tagged “stanfordwhite”

Last night, an unoccupied five-story hotel at 22 West 24th Street collapsed; no injuries were reported. The former La Semana Hotel "fell into itself leaving a giant, although relatively tidy, pile of rubble," according to the Post. Witnesses said the 8PM collapse sounded like a bomb explosion and that "floor by floor, the building simply gave in." A fire official told the NY Times, "If this happened during the daytime, during a workday when there are a lot of people on the street, I think we could have had a lot of injuries here."

The planned makeover of Washington Square Park inched closer to reality yesterday following a decision by the state appeals court. The new ruling lifts an injunction imposed last summer in response to allegations that the Parks Department had not sufficiently disclosed its renovation plans to Community Board 2, The Landmarks Preservation Commission, and the Art Commission.

So what exactly is that a photo of? We're not really so sure (a Van Eyck reference?) but we can think we like it. In any event, it was certainly interesting enough to warrant us clicking on it when it popped into Contribute this morning. And now that we've clicked we're still a little confuzzed. It seems to be related to some sort of "Dueling Re-Enactments" event being put on by the Madagascar Institute, whose motto is "Fear is Never Boring." From their description:

On this Saturday, July 23rd at 3pm the Madagascar Institute will premiere Dueling Re-Enactments, presenting the wide and varied, and often complicated history of Washington Square Park in easy to follow, bite-sized nuggets. A cast of two dozen, marginally trained re-enactors, outfitted in period attire that is close enough to accurate, will travel throughout the park making history come alive. The broad range of Washington Square Park's history will be covered, including the pirate execution ground at the Hanging Tree, the Surrealist declaration of an independent republic in 1917, filthy,lazy 1950s Beatniks reciting poetry, the 1906 assassination of Stanford White, the marauding Dead Rabbit gang of the Gilded Age, and high school students from New Jersey drinking beer and getting sold fake pot in the summer of 1990.

Continue reading "Some Crazy Kids Put On An Historically Inaccurate Show!"

So maybe Bloomberg isn't running for President? Or is that just what he wants us to think?

Oh snap! Antique dealers, the Times reports, are in a huff over the fate of the Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue and 66th Street. The Armory, which was built between 1877 and 1881, has rooms designed by Louis C. Tiffany and Stanford White and it's interiors have been described by the Landmarks Preservation Committee as "the single most important collection of 19th century interiors in one building." But in recent decades it has fallen into some disrepair. And so many were pleased when it was announced that the Armory will be transformed into an institution for the visual and performing arts after a multi-million dollar renovation. And that sounds like a good thing, right? Not exactly, a number of art and antique dealers are arguing.

In high school (what is now NY's Lenox Birch Wathen) I was assigned a paper on "Social Reform in New York City in the 19th Century." Because I couldn't ever do what I was asked, I wrote my paper on crimes of passion and what how they were a barometer of the times.