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Wendell Willkie Plaque at the New York Public Library

July 8, 2008

You may know that I’m a sucker for historical plaques and monuments and the like. No difference here. I’ve probably walked by it a million times and I remember seeing it at points but it never really registered. After all, Wendell Willkie isn’t a name that one hears too often nowadays.

And on perhaps the most nondescript part of the outside of the NYPL, there’s a plaque to this former lawyer and presidential candidate.

It reads: “Wendell Willkie 1892-1944 I believe in America because in it we are free – free to choose our government to speak our minds to observe our different religions.”

Willkie ran for president in 1940 and one of the goals of that election was to stop Roosevelt from breaking the implied two-term limit on the presidency. He failed and FDR went on to a third and a fourth term.

Oddly enough, Roosevelt outlived Willkie. Willkie died in 1944, before his term would have expired.

Willkie spent a number of years living in NYC, but I have no idea of any links between him and the Library.

-H

Categories: Mid-town, Wanderings

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Castle Clinton in Battery Park

July 7, 2008

Way down at the southern tip of Manhattan is a little fort that was built in ’bout 1811 to keep out those pesky Brits. It’s called “Castle Clinton“, apparently named after the former governor of New York.

As odd as it may seem, it used to be the sole inhabitant of a small island off the tip of Manhattan. Long ago, they did some backfilling and it’s now squarely in Battery Park. I’ve always associated the “Battery” park’s name with Castle Clinton, ’cause it was a military installation and had a number of cannon in it. I believe that’s what the openings were for originally.

It’s got a great entrance area, with some wonderfully large studded doors. Inside, it’s open to the sky, with roofing at the inner edges of the circular structure.

But mainly, it’s just a Parks center where they sell tickets to get to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. They’ve got some displays in there, but nothing that rivets my attention, at least.

Well, there is a plaque that details how Castle Clinton has fared over the years. It doesn’t seem to have ever been used in wartime, but it was a “public center” where dignitaries were received including Lafayette, Andy Jackson, and Jenny Lind. Heck, for 45 years, it was even an aquarium.

Nowadays, it’s just a little place in the corner of Battery Park. It would be great in the rain as it has covered seating and a nice little view of some of the surrounding tall buildings.

It’s just one of those little places in the park that you see and have to wander through everytime you get near it. Nothing particularly special, but it is certainly a pleasant little place.

-H

Categories: Battery Park, Manhattan, Wanderings

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Euro-Bungy (or is it Bungee?) at South Street Seaport

July 3, 2008

As I was wandering the South Street Seaport mall over the weekend, I saw one of the local attractions in use. It’s called “Euro-Bungy” and is a small bungee jumping setup that is pretty cool. I think I saw it in use one other time (but only by one person) whereas this time there were, I think, four of them in operation at the same time.

It looks like a lot of fun.

The kids have two bungee cords attached to them and they bounce up and down on a small trampoline at the bottom. It looks like they can get up about 10 feet with no trouble at all but it probably tops out at not much more than 20 feet up. I think that’s plenty high from my angle.

I think it costs about $10 for five minutes of jumping and every person I’ve ever seen jump has been under 16 or so. I think one kid I saw was more in the six or seven year age range. Of course at that age you can’t expect them to be able to bounce quite as high. But I think their parents are thankful for that.

I don’t know about doing it though. I did note a sign saying no one over 20 is allowed to do a flip on it. That’s terrible! If I can’t flip, I ain’t doing it.

-H

Categories: Manhattan, Wanderings

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Lever House Sculpture

July 2, 2008

I was wandering past “Lever House” and saw something I didn’t expect: something fun and interesting.

I’m getting way too cynical in my old age.

I’ve done a couple of earlier posts on Lever House artwork (see here and here) and I generally find their stuff not to my taste or just insipid. This one was absolutely primed for such treatment, and then I found myself enjoying it.

Wait for it….

It’s “Hello Kitty”.

Yeah. Hello Kitty. I have never for a moment found anything interesting about Hello Kitty…until now. I’ve always thought of it as the quintessential commercial dreck aimed directly at five-year-old girls and their mothers. And I’m a guy who was watching anime from way back. (I actually lived in Japan as a teenager and used to watch some of the shows and read their comic books. And I’m sure no teenager now. Decades away, in fact.) Bluntly put: until this exhibit, I hated Hello Kitty.

The pieces are huge. And, despite their white color; they’re made of bronze. Okay, I don’t know that for certain, but the collection is called “Bronze Collection”. I didn’t touch them to confirm. The sculptor is Tom Sachs and they are on display until September 6.

The next pictures above and below have some motion to them: streams of water shooting out of their eyes. That’s anime for crying. No tears: streams of water shooting outward.

Why did I enjoy them? I really don’t know. They are certainly a relief from the supposed intellectual content of the earlier sculptures that I didn’t like. I do enjoy playfulness and although a small Hello Kitty depiction on a handbag or t-shirt is not something I get any pleasure from; a ten or twelve foot one is a delight.

Sort of like a giant walking marshmellow if you catch my drift.

-H

Categories: Events, Manhattan, Mid-town, Wanderings

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Goats and a Blue Guy at Union Square

July 1, 2008

I couldn’t help it. I was at Union Square and noticed two things that I hadn’t seen there before. Well, the title tells it all.

Union Square was having one of its regular farmers markets and plant/flower sales as I was going through it, and I happened upon a nice little place.

Nothing special, just kind of your usual stall selling cheese. In this case, goat cheese. I’ve seen them before. What I hadn’t seen before were the proof of the cheese source: Goats.

They were pretty skittish, but then this is a new land for goats. We don’t get much livestock in Manhattan, dontchaknow? Well, not nowadays. Go back a dozen decades and it would probably be a frequent sight.

But this is a sight you wouldn’t have seen that dozen decades ago. And probably not last week, either.

I honestly don’t know the purpose or reason or joke that’s being pulled here. For some reason, the figure looks familiar, but I don’t really recall seeing him/it before. Of course, you see all types in NYC.

With regard to livestock (to revisit that topic for a moment). No, we don’t have livestock, but our farmers markets can have some game for sale. Not live, though.

-H

Categories: Manhattan, Union Square, Wanderings

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