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St. Luke’s in the Fields Episcopal Church

April 2, 2008

On Greenwich Street, in Greenwich Village stands the long-named “Church of St. Luke’s in the Fields“.

I have no idea if the limo is associated in any way with the church or its members. It was just there and parking one of those monsters would make you want to park near an intersection or crosswalk. Actually, the church appeared closed at the time so I presume it was just someone parking there.

I loved their front area, though. Usually, I like to take pictures of the front doors, but this Cross to the side grabbed my attention.

The next day was Palm Sunday, hence the foilage. (Yeah, this is a delayed post.)

Okay, I had to get the doors, too. I’m so predictable.

Not imposing, so I presume they’re just old.

There was a plaque nearby.

It reads: “Landmarks of New York. St. Luke’s Chapel. This third oldest existing Church edifice in Manhattan was build in 1821 on farmland donated by Trinity Parish to the independent parish of St. Luke’s Church of which Clement C. Moore was a founder and first senior warden. When that congregation moved uptown the land was bought back and the structure became St. Luke’s Chapel of Trinity Parish in 1892.”

Clement Moore was the author of “Twas the Night Before Christmas”. Yeah, the real name is “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, but that’s not how people think of it.

There’s another sign that I couldn’t get too close to due to the gate being locked.

It reads, “St. Luke’s Chapel 1892 Trinity Parish 1976. The Old Village Church of Greenwhich Village build 1822. Friends this village church open stands for thee, that thou mayest enter, think, kneel, and pray. Remember who thou art and what must be thine end. Remember us, then go thy way.”

-H

Categories: Greenwich Village, Manhattan, Wanderings

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Washington Square Park Renovations

April 1, 2008

I received a recent comment from “Blayze” asking me to take a look at Washington Square Park and the status of the renovations.

The park, if you know it, is located at 5th Avenue and 1st Street what would have been 6th/7th Street if they hadn’t stopped the count just north of there (corrected, thanks to Cat). It is considered part of the heart of Greenwich Village, although it is surrounded by New York University. The great arch is an icon for the entrance to the park.

The arch is now blocked off for the renovations. They are taking place over the entirity of the northwest portion of the park.

And these aren’t minor repairs. Not even close. What do you think belongs in the space below?

That’s where the fountain is supposed to be! They’ve removed the whole thing. An earlier commenter said they were moving it from the original location. I don’t know how far it’s being moved, but here it is right now…in pieces.

Here are other parts of the area being renovated.

It looks like there’s a long, long ways to go.

-H

Categories: Greenwich Village, Manhattan, Wanderings

Comments: 3 Comments

Pearl Theatre Company and the LES Handprints of Fame

March 29, 2008

St. Mark’s Place (aka, 8th Street between 3rd Avenue and Avenue A) has some of the most interesting places in the Lower East Side. I really enjoy it down there.

Recently, I was walking past a place I’ve seen a number of times, Pearl Theatre, and looked down and saw that they’ve got a sort of Mann’s Chinese Theater handprints and footprints thing going on.

Below are Dom DeLuise and Joan Crawford. Now, that’s a strange twosome.

Next are Hildegard(?) and Myrna Loy.

Next are Gloria Swanson and Lillian Roth.

The next hold the prints for Ruby Keeler and Joan Blondell.

Next, Kitty Carlisle Hart (who recently died and was a NYC theater/opera/philanthropic legend).

Next Allan Jones (an actor and the father of singer Jack Jones).

I just can’t read the next one.

There are two names on the next, but the only one I can read, sort of, is “Wimi Shawn” or “Shaw” or “Shaun”. It almost certainly is not “William Shawn” as he was the famed editor of the New Yorker and it is hard to believe he’d put his handprints alongside people he may have covered. It could be “Wallace Shawn” (son of William Shawn) as he has some association with the Pearl Theatre, but it sure looks like there’s an “i” or two in the name.

Of course, it is likely there’s only one name (the Shaw/Shawn/Shaun one) and a mysterious message. Well, what’s life without some mystery? (EDITED TO ADD: thanks to reader “Brian”, it appears to be Winifred “Wini” Shaw.)

Under any circumstances, they haven’t taken great care with these names and prints. Too bad.

-H

Categories: Celebrity Points, LES, Wanderings

Comments: 13 Comments

The Whole World is in Greenwich Village

March 28, 2008

There’s an old cartoon that shows how New Yorkers view the world, with Manhattan being about 90% of the map of the US. Like everyone else, I always found it humorous and a bit arrogant.

Well, that’s before I discovered that Greenwich Village encompasses the Whole World! It’s now a documented fact.

In case you want to know the exact location of the Whole World; it’s at Leroy Street and Greenwich Street (northwest corner). It seems a bit limited though. I thought the whole world was bigger and a maybe a different color, or at least a better paint job.

(And, no, I don’t have any idea of what the company does. I presume it doesn’t quite encompass the whole world.)

-H

Categories: Greenwich Village, Wanderings

Comments: 2 Comments

The Subway Shuttle and an Odd Motiff

March 27, 2008

The Shuttle is a subway that goes between Grand Central and Times Square. It’s one of only a very small number of east-west subways in Manhattan. It just has those two stops.

On a recent day, I was using the shuttle in my quest to get to Greenwich Village and noticed that they are up to their usual “tricks”. As I walked in the Shuttle Passage to get to the Grand Central stop, I started seeing a toilet paper motiff. Every few weeks, a company will buy up all of the advertising spots in the passage. This time, it was Cottonelle.

No big deal. Like everyone else, I see their ads on TV and all. Nothing special here.

But what was a bit different is that they went the whole nine yards and also paid for the remodeling of one of the subway tracks. You see, there are three separate tracks on the subway and Track 1 has the distinction of using their cars as advertising media. Not in the sense of the outside, but of the inside. And we aren’t talking just signs in there (although they do that, too).

We’re talking about the entire walls and doors of the subway.

The walls have been painted/silkscreened to look like a closeup of toilet paper. Now that’s odd. It goes all the way down the car’s inside.

The signs themselves take the position of doing sort of an inspirational/humorous view of toilet paper and its uses in modern life. It’s cute, but ultimately quite juvenile.

And, although I said they went the whole nine yards, they really didn’t. Sometimes the companies that do this will redecorate the seats, too. But that might get a little too weird, even for NYC.

-H

Categories: Manhattan, Mid-town, Wanderings

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