By our fourth class, we all got into the swing of things. People have made friends and for the most part everyone knew each other by now. We all shared inside jokes about Mike and now we would cultivate as a pack when complaining about walking or the struggle of starvation in the early hours of class.
We met at Penn as usual and walked to 42nd Street, to explore Time Square. Mike and Don began the explanation of Time Square by sharing personal story’s the both of them had experienced over their years in the city. Mike even said at one point within his situation a cop turned to him and said “get out of here now because I don’t think I will be able to help you if you don’t.” Time Square was a popular center for theatre and entertainment in the 1940’s and 1950’s. By the late 1960’s, early 1970’s, it had become notorious for drugs, gang violence, prostitution, and pornography. Due to the efforts of the Giuliani administration, the streets of Time Square were cleaned up and the life of entertainment and theater began to flourish once again.
“Today Time Square is cleaner, safer, more profitable, and more visitor-friendly than it was a decade ago. While no one wishes for the return of crime and squalor, some observers lament what has become of the neighborhood—its increasing corporate homogeneity and loss of individuality, its bland lineup of chain stores, and its sense of being for tourists, not New Yorkers.” [BG pg. 218]
We left Time Square as a class and headed to the G.E. building, home of NBC studios. Here we went into the Rockefeller Plaza Shopping Mall and up to the lobby where Don told us that the lobby mural was repainted because its original had a communist connotation that was portrayed as disrespectful. “Rockefeller Center, a complex of commercial buildings, theaters, plazas, underground concourses, and shops developed principally during the depression, is the world’s largest privately-owned business and entertainment center. The first architecturally coordinated development in New York City, and a milestone in urban planning.” [BG pg. 243] Rockefeller Center is one of New York’s greatest public squares.
From Rockefeller Center we walked to MOMA, the New York Museum of Modern Art. “The Museum of Modern Art is one of the city’s premier cultural institutions, one of the greatest repositories not only of modern painting and sculpture, but of drawing, design, photography, and film.” [BG pg. 260] In MOMA, we saw art form classics such as Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jackson Pollock. I didn’t realize how historic MOMA actually was. I learned that it is the most important museum in the world for 19th-20th century art.
I enjoyed seeing the original “The Starry Night” painted by Vincent Van Goe. I also enjoyed work from Claes Oldenburg from his Chicago art of 1960-1962. His pop-art exhibit, “From Street to the Store” was interesting to say the least. His art was a mixture of things, some more simple then others and then other pieces that would stem from its own original context.
After MOMA, lunch was on Mike and we ate as a class at Yum Yum, an authentic Thai restaurant. I had a great peanut sauté dish that was so filing and very enjoyable. The class ended the day back in Harlem to explore the gentrification process that is underway. We had a short tour and ended class slightly early due to the weather. The tour guide was a man by the name of Jim. Jim took us to the overlooking sight of the Adam Clayton Powell Jr Building and went through the history and current process of Harlem and its gentrification. We also took note of the Hotel Teresa where Fidel Castro once stayed.
This was the end of class four which meant we were already half way through the course. I couldn’t be happier with this experience. I am learning so much and now I am more enticed to see and explore what New York City has to offer.
We met at Penn as usual and walked to 42nd Street, to explore Time Square. Mike and Don began the explanation of Time Square by sharing personal story’s the both of them had experienced over their years in the city. Mike even said at one point within his situation a cop turned to him and said “get out of here now because I don’t think I will be able to help you if you don’t.” Time Square was a popular center for theatre and entertainment in the 1940’s and 1950’s. By the late 1960’s, early 1970’s, it had become notorious for drugs, gang violence, prostitution, and pornography. Due to the efforts of the Giuliani administration, the streets of Time Square were cleaned up and the life of entertainment and theater began to flourish once again.
“Today Time Square is cleaner, safer, more profitable, and more visitor-friendly than it was a decade ago. While no one wishes for the return of crime and squalor, some observers lament what has become of the neighborhood—its increasing corporate homogeneity and loss of individuality, its bland lineup of chain stores, and its sense of being for tourists, not New Yorkers.” [BG pg. 218]
We left Time Square as a class and headed to the G.E. building, home of NBC studios. Here we went into the Rockefeller Plaza Shopping Mall and up to the lobby where Don told us that the lobby mural was repainted because its original had a communist connotation that was portrayed as disrespectful. “Rockefeller Center, a complex of commercial buildings, theaters, plazas, underground concourses, and shops developed principally during the depression, is the world’s largest privately-owned business and entertainment center. The first architecturally coordinated development in New York City, and a milestone in urban planning.” [BG pg. 243] Rockefeller Center is one of New York’s greatest public squares.
From Rockefeller Center we walked to MOMA, the New York Museum of Modern Art. “The Museum of Modern Art is one of the city’s premier cultural institutions, one of the greatest repositories not only of modern painting and sculpture, but of drawing, design, photography, and film.” [BG pg. 260] In MOMA, we saw art form classics such as Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jackson Pollock. I didn’t realize how historic MOMA actually was. I learned that it is the most important museum in the world for 19th-20th century art.
I enjoyed seeing the original “The Starry Night” painted by Vincent Van Goe. I also enjoyed work from Claes Oldenburg from his Chicago art of 1960-1962. His pop-art exhibit, “From Street to the Store” was interesting to say the least. His art was a mixture of things, some more simple then others and then other pieces that would stem from its own original context.
After MOMA, lunch was on Mike and we ate as a class at Yum Yum, an authentic Thai restaurant. I had a great peanut sauté dish that was so filing and very enjoyable. The class ended the day back in Harlem to explore the gentrification process that is underway. We had a short tour and ended class slightly early due to the weather. The tour guide was a man by the name of Jim. Jim took us to the overlooking sight of the Adam Clayton Powell Jr Building and went through the history and current process of Harlem and its gentrification. We also took note of the Hotel Teresa where Fidel Castro once stayed.
This was the end of class four which meant we were already half way through the course. I couldn’t be happier with this experience. I am learning so much and now I am more enticed to see and explore what New York City has to offer.
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