Nikola Tesla Corner

Nikola Tesla was one of the great pioneers of electrical power development....he is often forgotten --he broke with Edison and took up with George Westinghouse in developing Alternating Current ( Edison was hooked on Direct Current).

To quote Wikipedia again:

Nikola Tesla (Serbian: Никола Тесла; 10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943) was an inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer. He was an important contributor to the birth of commercial electricity, and is best known for his many revolutionary developments in the field of electromagnetism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tesla's patents and theoretical work formed the basis of modern alternating current (AC) electric power systems, including the polyphase system of electrical distribution and the AC motor. This work helped usher in the Second Industrial Revolution.
Born an ethnic Serb in the village of Smiljan (now part of Gospić), in the Croatian Military Frontier^[1] of the Austrian Empire (modern-day Croatia), Tesla was a subject of the Austrian Empire by birth and later became an American citizen.^[2] Because of his 1894 demonstration of wireless communication through radio and as the eventual victor in the "War of Currents", he was widely respected as one of the greatest electrical engineers who worked in America.^[3] He pioneered modern electrical engineering and many of his discoveries were of groundbreaking importance. In the United States during this time, Tesla's fame rivaled that of any other inventor or scientist in history or popular culture.^[4] Tesla demonstrated wireless energy transfer to power electronic devices as early as 1893, and aspired to intercontinental wireless transmission of industrial power in his unfinished Wardenclyffe Tower project.
Because of his eccentric personality and his seemingly unbelievable and sometimes bizarre claims about possible scientific and technological developments, Tesla was ultimately ostracized and regarded as a mad scientist by many late in his life.^[5] Tesla died with little money at the age of 86 in a hotel suite in New York City.^[6]
The SI unit measuring magnetic field B (also referred to as the magnetic flux density and magnetic induction), the tesla, was named in his honor (at the CGPM, Paris, 1960).

Grandeur of Grand Central Terminal

Grand Central Terminal is a monument to the times when railroads were the lynchpin of this nation.

It was only saved from the wrecker's ball by a great effort led by Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

As Wikipedia says:
In 1947, over 65 million people, the equivalent of 40% of the population of the United States, traveled through Grand Central. However, railroads soon fell into a major decline with competition from government subsidized highways and intercity airline traffic.
In 1954, William Zeckendorf proposed replacing Grand Central with an 80-story, 4,800,000-square-foot (446,000 m²) tower, 500 feet (150 m) taller than the Empire State Building. I. M. Pei created a pinched-cylinder design that took the form of a glass cylinder with a wasp waist. The plan was abandoned. In 1955, Erwin S. Wolfson made his first proposal for a tower north of the Terminal replacing the Terminal's six-story office building. A revised Wolfson plan was approved in 1958 and the Pan Am Building (now the MetLife Building) was completed in 1963.
Although the Pan Am Building bought time for the terminal, the New York Central Railroad continued its precipitous decline. In 1968, facing bankruptcy, it merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad to form the Penn Central Railroad. The Pennsylvania Railroad was in its own precipitous decline and in 1964 had demolished the ornate Pennsylvania Station (despite pleas to preserve it) to make way for an office building and the new Madison Square Garden.
In 1968, Penn Central unveiled plans for a tower designed by Marcel Breuer even bigger than the Pan Am Building to be built over Grand Central.
The plans drew huge opposition, most prominently from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. She said:

"Is it not cruel to let our city die by degrees, stripped of all her proud monuments, until there will be nothing left of all her history and beauty to inspire our children? If they are not inspired by the past of our city, where will they find the strength to fight for her future? Americans care about their past, but for short term gain they ignore it and tear down everything that matters. Maybe… this is the time to take a stand, to reverse the tide, so that we won't all end up in a uniform world of steel and glass boxes."

Six months prior to the unveiling of the Breuer plans, however, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated Grand Central a "landmark." Penn Central was unable to secure permission from the Commission to execute either of Breuer's two blueprints and filed suit agains the city, alleging a taking.^[31] The resulting case, Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City (1978), was the first time that the Supreme Court ruled on a matter of historic preservation. The Court saved the terminal, holding that New York City's Landmarks Preservation Act did not constitute a "taking" of Penn Central's property under the Fifth Amendment and was a reasonable use of government land-use regulatory power.
Penn Central went into bankruptcy in 1970 in what was then the biggest corporate bankruptcy in American history. Title to Grand Central passed to Penn Central's corporate successor, American Premier Underwriters (APU) (which in turn was absorbed by American Financial Group). The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) signed a 280-year lease in 1994 and began a massive restoration. Midtown TDR Ventures, LLC, an investment group controlled by Argent Ventures,^[32] purchased the station from American Financial in December, 2006.^[33]

Kennedy Books

Antiquarian book store has display of Kennedy memorabilia books.

These volumes acquire value with time...maybe not worth taking to Antiques Roadshow but great souvenirs of a past that was also very turbulent....

The Berlin Wall comes down, then we get terrorists on a big scale. The world is always a mixed bag....

Respite in Middle of Midtown

Steps away from heavy traffic and Midtown throngs, residential pockets are little islands of peace and domesticity...

Of course, these areas are expensive, like everything else desirable in New York.

Eleanor Roosevelt Democratic Club

In this yuppie-fied neighborhood, Democrats are more likely to be older people...

Makes sense. Seniors will suffer more from Tea Party baloney.

As for internet about club:

PETITIONING - YOUR HELP IS NEEDED!

Saturday, June 11th: Booth at Kips Bay 2nd Saturday Community Day - Second Avenue Service Road between 33rd and 30th Street, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm

Sunday, June 12th: Booth at Street Fair -Third Avenue between 23rd and 34th Streets, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Our booth will be located on Third Avenue between 30th and 31st Streets

Friday, June 17th: Street Fair - East 41st Street between Lexington and Third Avenues, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm. We will not have a booth but we will be doing petitioning.

Friday, June 24th: Street Fair - East 43rd Street between Lexington and Third Avenues, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm. We will not have a booth but we will be doing petitioning.

Other days in June - We will be petitioning in a variety of locations in our District, primarily during morning and evening commuting times. And you can always get a petition to canvas your friends at neighbors at a time that suits your schedule.

Any time you can spend would be appreciated.

We all need to participate in this important
part of our political process!

Nat Sherman Tobacconists- 42nd Street

Oh, how times change!

When I was at NYU, Nat Sherman cigarettes were a real status symbol.

Of course, back then it was cool to smoke.

Even now I notice Rite Aid stocks plenty of cigarettes and cigars...

Internet says:

Nat Sherman is the brand name for a line of handmade cigars and "luxury cigarettes." The company, which began as a retail tobacconist, continues to operate a flagship retail shop now located on 42nd Street, off of Fifth Avenue, in New York City. Corporate offices are now located at the foot of the George Washington Bridge in the borough of Fort Lee, New Jersey.

AND, what is more:

Nat Sherman, the brand, began with Nat Sherman, the man. Sherman made his fortune running a prominent speakeasy in New York City during the 1920s, a time when Prohibition made such a business extremely lucrative, albeit risky.^[1] Perhaps as the result of settlement of a gambling debt, his son later speculated, Sherman wound up as half owner of Traub Brothers and Bear, makers of the Epoca cigar brand, which introduced the nightclub proprietor into the world of tobacco manufacturing.^[2] Sherman subsequently bought out his partner to become sole owner of the Epoca brand, which was made in Havana, Cuba and Tampa, Florida.^[1]

Later a prominent New York real estate developer named Abe Gubertz had cash-flow difficulties during the construction of of a 38 story building located on Broadway Avenue in Manhattan. Sherman provided the struggling developer with a loan, taking retail space located in the lobby as partial payment.^[1] The shop sold cigarettes and cigars in substantial quantities to those who worked in the building and proved an means of distributing its own cigars, including Epoca and Nat Sherman-branded product.^[1] The company also was the exclusive importer and distributor of the Cuban-made Bolivar brand in the United States.^[1]

In the 1950s, an adjoining retail space was obtained on the street, which initially was used as a candy store. The wall between the two establishments was later broken down, paving the way for an expansion of the tobacco shop, which catered to an elite customer base, which included leaders in the fashion industry, theatre, and politicians.^[1] Prominent members of organized crime "families" also frequented the shop, which was regarded as "neutral ground."^[1]

Buying local produce

There is a big deal going on in NYC now about buying locally produced food...especially fruits and vegetables.

Heard an NPR story yesterday about some woman in Massachusetts who produces "raw" ( i.e., unpasteurized) milk for certain outlets.

She claims raw milk is much healthier.

I don't drink much milk anyway so I don't care that much...

Ye Olde Gift Shoppe

I usually associate Gift Shoppes with Malls.

Manhattan used to have a lot more stationers and gift shops...

This one is crammed with stuff like Obama mugs and Betty Boop dolls.

I wonder what audience they are playing to.

Oh yeah, when I moved to NY found most of my NY friends referred to these knick-knacks as "chachkeys" ( Yiddish expression).

But I have not heard that word in years...typical of how language and slang change over time.

The Nottingham

Believe I have run a picture of this building before...

It is much older than it looks, I remember.

Tried to find it on Google but keep getting listings in England or in other states. I don't have the address now so I can't check it that way....

Yet another loft conversion

Loft conversions are of course all over Midtown...

I didn't notice if this building had a doorman or not.
I understand that in San Francisco, none of the buildings have doormen. This seems inconceivable to me as a New Yorker...

These buildings may offer "interesting spaces" but they are usually quite far from amenities such as supermarkets.

Maybe the people who live in these buildings are rich enough simply to order all their food and have it delivered....and also eat at restaurants a lot.

Audio Tours of Grand Central

Didn't know Grand Central Terminal provided Audio Tours just like museums do.

From the internet website:

MTA Metro-North Railroad, which operates the Terminal, has teamed up with Orpheo USA, one of the world's most experienced producers of audio tours, to give tourists, travelers and locals alike a history of the terminal filled with interesting details and insights.

Orpheo's state-of-the-art audio device and headset comes with a map of the terminal for just $6 for adults with discounts for seniors and the disabled at $5 and students at $4. Children under 12 pay only $2.

The tour also has an introduction by New York City's own mayor, Michael Bloomberg.

In addition to the headset tour, visitors will also be able to download the tour to their personal MP3 players, iPhones and in the near future to smartphones using Android for $4.99 at www.myorpheo.com. The audio tour is available seven days a week, 365 days a year at specially-marked "GCT Tour" windows on the Main Concourse. Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., but may be extended during the holidays.

The tour focuses not only on the architectural highlights of the Terminal but provides a real story about little known secrets, anecdotes, archival material and the History of the Terminal, with a capital H. Visitors will not see Grand Central with the same eyes after taking the tour.

Listeners can take the "local" or "express" tour. And if visitors are interested in more in-depth information, there are options for additional material at the push of a button. The self-guided tour can last as little as 30 minutes to just over an hour.

The tour is available in English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, and German.

Brooklyn Cyclones

This man is advertising the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball team ( minor league) who play at Coney Island, or at least used to...they may have moved.

Let me see what Wikipedia says:

The Brooklyn Cyclones is a minor league baseball team in the Short-Season A classification New York - Penn League, affiliated with the New York Mets. The Cyclones play at MCU Park just off the Coney Island boardwalk in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.

In its entire franchise history, the team has won seven division titles. As the Brooklyn Cyclones, the team has won four division titles, made the playoffs six times and in 2001, the Cyclones were declared co-league champions with the Williamsport Crosscutters, being forced to prematurely end their championship series due to the September 11 attacks, despite the Cyclones leading the series one game to none.

Clarence Darrow Way sign in Bookstore Window

Note one of those memorial street signs (lower left in store window) for Clarence S. Darrow, the famous lawyer.

Wikipedia says:

Clarence Seward Darrow (April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, best known for defending teenage thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks (1924) and defending John T. Scopes in the Scopes Trial (1925), in which he opposed William Jennings Bryan (statesman, noted orator, and 3-time presidential candidate). Called a "sophisticated country lawyer",^[1] he remains notable for his wit and agnosticism, which marked him as one of the most famous American lawyers and civil libertarians.^[2]

Special?

This "Holiday Special" doesn't seem like much of a sale to me... ( $40 instead of $45 for instance).

Met a city store inspector once who told me Macy's was notorious for raising prices just before sales and thus inflating the percentage discount they would advertise.

I wonder if they still do it. I was in Macy's not so long ago and all their prices were pretty steep.

Steel Grapes etc.

Old practice of embellishing doors with bas relief is updated on these bank side doors.

Note the bunch of grapes lower right.

Fifth Church of Christ Scientist

There are a lot of Christian Scientist churches still left in Manhattan...as I remember, it was a movement that was started in the 1920's...

Wikipedia says:

Christian Science is a system of thought and practice derived from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy and based on her interpretation of the Bible. She was a theologian who created a new religious synthesis "by repudiating the tenets of transcendentalism, spiritualism, liberal protestantism, and New Thought." ^[1] It is practiced by members of The First Church of Christ, Scientist as well as some others who are nonmembers. Its central texts are The Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science & Health With Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. In the textbook, Mary Baker Eddy describes the teachings and healings of Jesus as a complete and coherent science which is both demonstrable and provable through healing.^[2] Mary Baker Eddy spent the two years prior to the publication of Science & Health documenting evidence for the healing of various diseases and other physical ailments. In the chapter "Fruitage," accounts of healing believed to be accomplished mainly by reading "Science and Health" are given, and the chapter was appended to a much later edition than the original. Christian Science asserts that man and the universe as a whole are spiritual rather than material in nature and that truth and good are real, whereas evil and error are illusive aspects of material existence.^[3] Christian Scientists believe that through prayer, knowing and understanding, all things are possible for good through God.

Mary Baker Eddy wrote that she learned the Christian Science method of healing as she recovered from an injury in 1866 after reading a Bible passage describing one of Christ's healings. She believed that Jesus Christ's way of healing is available to all people, now as much as in Biblical times. After this recovery, she studied the Bible for many years and documented her understandings in the Christian Science textbook entitled Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, copyrighted in 1875 and still in print today. The Bible and "Science and Health" are the foundation for Christian Science beliefs. "She concluded that Jesus was the practical demonstration of the spiritual power,a master healer who saved humans from sin, sickness, and death. His miracles were 'natural demonstrations of divine power,' a force available to any one with correct knowledge." ^[1]

William Cullen Bryant

William Cullen Bryant statue sits behind NY Public Library facing Bryant Park.

Wikipedia says he was something of a minor poet ( hope this is true, some people cast doubt on Wikipedia contents)-- and adds

In 1884, New York City's Reservoir Square, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue, was renamed Bryant Park in his honor. The city later named a public high school in Long Island City, Queens in his honor.

Although he is now thought of as a New Englander^{[citation needed]}, Bryant, for most of his lifetime, was thoroughly a New Yorker—and a very dedicated one at that. He was a major force behind the idea that became Central Park, as well as a leading proponent of creating the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He was one of a group of founders of New York Medical College.^[11] He had close affinities with the Hudson River School of art and was an intimate friend of Thomas Cole. He defended immigrants and, at some financial risk to himself, championed the rights of workers to form labor unions.

As a writer, Bryant was an early advocate of American literary nationalism, and his own poetry focusing on nature as a metaphor for truth established a central pattern in the American literary tradition.

A recently-published book,^[12] however, argues that a reassessment is long overdue. It finds great merit in a couple of short stories Bryant wrote while trying to build interest in periodicals he edited. More importantly, it perceives a poet of great technical sophistication who was a progenitor of Walt Whitman, to whom he was a mentor.^[12]

Martin Luther King, Jr quoted Bryant in his speech "Give Us the Ballot", when he says: There is something in this universe which justifies William Cullen Bryant in saying: “Truth crushed to earth will rise again.”^[13]

Town Hall

Last visited Town Hall near Grand Central Terminal back when it was owned by New York University.

Back to Wikipedia:

The Town Hall was built by The League for Political Education, whose fight for passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution led them to commission the building of a meeting space where people of every rank and station could be educated on the important issues of the day. The space, which became The Town Hall, was designed by the renowned architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, to reflect the democratic principles of the League. To this end, box seats were not included in the theater's design, and every effort was made to ensure that there were no seats with an obstructed view. This design principle gave birth to The Town Hall's long-standing mantra: "Not a bad seat in the house."

It has not only become a meeting place for educational programs, gatherings of activists, and host for controversial speakers (such as the American advocate of birth control Margaret Sanger, who was arrested and carried off The Town Hall stage on November 13, 1921, for attempting to speak to a mixed-sex audience about contraception), but as one of New York City's premiere performance spaces for music, dance, and other performing arts. While the lecture series and courses on political and non-political subjects sponsored by the League continued to be held there, The Town Hall quickly established a reputation as an arts center during the first fifteen years of its existence.

It has also had a long association with the promotion of poetry in the United States, which predates Edna St. Vincent Millay's public poetry reading debut at the Hall in 1928. The Hall has retained a close association with poets and poetry that continues to this day.

Paramount Building in Times Square

Famous Paramount Theater sign is in distinctive skyscraper in Times Square...

Wikipedia notes:

he Paramount Theatre was a noted movie palace located at 43rd Street and Broadway in the Times Square district of New York City. Opened in 1926, it was the premiere showcase for Paramount Pictures and also became a popular live performance venue. The theater was closed in 1964 and its space converted to office and retail use. The tower which housed it, known as the Paramount Building located at 1501 Broadway, is still in commercial use as an office building and remains a Times Square landmark.

Since the Paramount Theater was demolished, two other theaters in Manhattan have had the same name; the Paramount Theatre at Madison Square Garden and a movie theater in Columbus Circle, now demolished.

Be Bewildered

This is the beauty salon on Second Avenue that used to call itself "Be Beautiful"...

Interesting poster. But what is going on with that tattooed hand?

Macy's Window Display-- Golf Tees and Clothes

I didn't get the point of this Macy's window display. Several windows had items in them with all these pins...

Someone kindly pointed out to me that they are golf tees!

Shows how much I know about golf.

Cleaners-- part of NYC army of them

As a major tourist center, NY keeps an army of cleaners working to keep the place spruced up.

These men are at the North end of Herald Square, near one of the public bathrooms that were once announced as being installed all over....but very few have actually materialized.

Bars and restaurants used to have signs that said " Rest rooms for customers only" but I see this less and less these days...maybe they changed the law.

Tour Bus in Drizzle- Herald Square

Tourists in yellow rain slickers ride on the open upper deck of the bus...drizzle gradually tapering off.

Tourism is a bigger and bigger part of NYC's economy...

Wikipedia has a lot to say about it:

Tourism in New York City is a large industry. According to NYC & Company (the official destination marketing organization for the city of New York), the top producing countries for international visitors to New York City in 2005 were the United Kingdom (1,169,000), Canada (815,000), Germany (401,000), Japan (299,000), Italy (292,000), France (268,000), Ireland (253,000), Australia (235,000), Spain (205,000), Greece (148,000), and the Netherlands (147,000).^[7]

Unlike many other destinations, New York City does not have a distinctive tourist season. With the exception of slight peaks around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, visitor arrival rates are roughly the same year-round. New York also has one of the highest hotel-occupancy rates in the country. Arrivals have remained relatively high even since the global economic crisis, due to heavy discounting and value-added pricing.

Spearheading the city's tourism efforts is NYC & Company, the city's official convention and visitor bureau currently headed by George Fertitta. It has offices in 14 countries, including Argentina, Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, The Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Japan, Korea and China.^[8] NYC & Company is the official source of tourism statistics for the city. The research department develops and distributes comprehensive information on NYC domestic and international visitor statistics and monitors the travel industry's impact on New York City's economy. The department also produces 14 official New York City tourism marketing publications that feature information on member hotels, museums, attractions, theaters, stores, restaurants, meeting venues, and service providers.

Double decker tour buses and boats with tour guides bring sightseers to various parts of Manhattan and other boroughs, while pedicabs and horse cabs serve those with a taste for more personal service. More adventurous tourists rent bicycles at neighborhood shops or along the Hudson River Greenway or simply walk, which is often the quickest way to get around in congested, busy commercial districts and always the best way to appreciate street life.

"Garlic- New York Pizza Bar"-- and Pizza Man

This great little street statue that has been around for years is BACK AGAIN....

It disappeared when former pizzeria moved away.

Now it is back and repainted again...

Maybe should be called "Garlic Man" instead of "Pizza Man."

Oh yeah, I like garlic --but everything in moderation!!

Laundry Room

Nothing very glamorous about laundry rooms-- this is the one in my building.

Just enough washers and dryers for the number of people who live here.

Clutter in room comes from ongoing work they are doing in the building. It is not usually there.

I am also testing here my new camera....it is much lighter than my last one and I have trouble holding it steady, which means the pix tend to be a little blurry.

Less of a problem with shots outside.