New York - Carnegie Hall

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Carnegie Hall

For over 100 years, Carnegie Hall has been the mutual destination of musicians seeking the highest level of their profession and those who want to experience their efforts.

Whether your taste runs to classical or jazz, folk or pop, Carnegie Hall has hosted them all. Tchaikovsky guest conducted the first performance in 1891, but the decades after saw performances by Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Judy Collins and many others.

The building gained its name as a consequence of being yet another offspring of the great industrialist and philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie. Completed in 1897, just over 100 years later Carnegie Hall offers not only the three original auditoriums but also a museum, tours, and (since 1990) an adjoining office tower.

The main hall is the main attraction. Enormously tall, visitors can climb as many 105 steps to the top. Elevators exist for the less hardy.

The acoustics are world class, especially since the removal in 1995 of a concrete slab that some insisted altered the original sound. The late violinist Isaac Stern is said to have remarked: ‘It takes what you do and makes it larger than life.’

Thanks to his efforts the building was saved from demolition in the 1950s and achieved Landmark status in 1964. Stern Hall, the main hall named in his honor, seats 2,800.

The smaller auditoriums are also actively used.

Zankel Hall, which seats 599, has seen various uses since 1898. Converted to a movie theater in 1959 it reopened as a music venue in September 2003. Weil Recital Hall named for the renowned investment banker, Sanford Weil is the newest facility, opening in 2004. It seats 268.

The building also houses the Rose Museum and Carnegie Archives where visitors can find artifacts and memorabilia on display covering the history of the famous site.

The exterior of the building, while less interesting than the architecture and activity of the interior, is well worth a look. Done in Italian Renaissance-revival style, the brown terra-cotta gives the arena a look appropriate to its function.

And just next door was, until just a few years ago, the famous Russian Tea Room. Founded in 1926 by former members of the Russian Imperial Ballet, the restaurant was host to many movers and shakers over the decades.

Within its Russian red walls and samovar-decorated halls were fed some of Carnegie Hall’s stellar performers. Alas now closed, there are ongoing efforts to re-open the restaurant in some form.

Also, just around the corner is Steinway Hall - housing the maker of exquisite instruments often used by Carnegie’s pianists. Here are displayed some of the finest pianos in the world.

Carnegie Hall still holds over 100 performances a year, yet tickets are expensive and often hard to obtain for certain performances. Be sure to book well in advance to hear some of New York’s, and thereby the world’s, finest musical artists practice their craft.

Carnegie Hall is located just off the corner of 57th St and 7th Avenue in Manhattan.

               

New York - Guggenheim Museum

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Guggenheim Museum

Few museum buildings can justifiably claim to be works of art in their own right. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Solomon R. Guggenheim museum of modern art is in that sparsely populated class.

Built between 1956 and 1959, the museum still serves its original purpose - the display of works from the 20th century, primarily painting and sculpture.

The unusual spiral design has been controversial since before the first stone was laid. In part, because there were no stones to lay. The building is a continuous concrete pour in the shape of a sand-colored ribbon that winds from bottom to top, widening as it goes. The net effect is organic, but unlike any analogy one could draw. It’s simply sui generis.

This makes for lack of window light around the exterior, but this is partly made up for by the large, open cylindrical atrium that runs through the center. From every angle, this skylight-fed area illuminates the walls within, though the works are somewhat shadowed by the continuous walkway ramp that curves around the interior.

Despite Lloyd’s original intention, in which a visitor would take an elevator to the top and walk leisurely down the ramp to view the displays, most visitors walk UP the ramp. Something about the design makes the effort more than worthwhile.

Along the walls can be found examples of most of the famous names of the 20th century: Picasso and Pissaro, Giacometti and Kandinsky. Even a Lichtenstein or two. Both sculpture and paintings compete for flat wall space - most of the surfaces follow the gentle curve of the building.

As a result of the lack of level floors and flat wall space, complaints about the difficulty of proper display have been frequent since the building’s birth. Several years ago a partial solution was reached when a 10-story tower was erected behind the original, once free standing, building. The conventional tower now holds many of the paintings with more of the sculpture finding a home in the original museum.

The building itself is best viewed from across the street on the west side of 5th Avenue. From this vantage point, the visitor can get a variety of views of the architectural crowning point of Wright’s career.

There are fewer of Wright’s more typical structures in this example, but there are some moderate-sized cantilevers that betray the work of the master. Not least is the large one several feet above eye level that runs the length of the site. And inside, standing in the center of the atrium at the bottom or top, one can clearly see hints of the equally well-known Johnson Wax Building completed many years earlier.

Located a few blocks north of the Metropolitan, the 88th Street location is easily accessible by cab up Fifth Avenue, or from the Lexington Avenue subway station at 86th Street.

               

New York - Brooklyn Bridge

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Brooklyn Bridge

One of the world’s most famous bridges, who could think that a steel roadway could engender such controversy and passion? Yet, that’s the history of the Brooklyn Bridge since before its construction began to the present day.

Initiated by John A. Roebling, who by 1867 had already created other noted bridges, the project took years to even begin. As with most large-scale efforts, finance and politics struggled while the citizens of Brooklyn and Manhattan waited.

Finally, in 1870, construction began - sadly, without J.A. Roebling who by that time had died from an injury sustained earlier on the site. His son Washington, by now also an accomplished bridge engineer, immediately took over direction of the project.

He threw himself into the effort with such active participation that he too eventually suffered a debilitating injury. He became crippled from the bends. Excess nitrogen build-up in caissons, large airtight cylinders used to house men and equipment under the East River, produced the now-familiar ‘diving sickness’ when men moved back to the surface. At the time, the causes were poorly understood.

Though bedridden, after partial recovery Washington continued to supervise from his apartment. Active management of the project passed to his wife, Emily. Their joint efforts led - after many stalls from political interference and financial and construction difficulties - to the completed structure, in 1883.

On its first day the new roadway above the East River joining Lower Manhattan to Brooklyn Heights hosted 150,000 people and 1,800 cars. Each person paid one cent to cross, vehicles five cents. The bridge was a success - artistically, financially, and technologically.

This National Historic landmark now provides a path for over 140,000 vehicles daily across its 1,595 foot (486m) span. The bridge is recognized the world over for the two Gothic towers 276 feet (84m) high, which support the at-the-time innovative suspension cables. The distinctive red paint and numerous designs add to the beauty that’s perfectly integrated into the brilliant engineering.

Still today thousands stand far away to get a breathtaking view, then walk the bridge to see both the view of Manhattan and to experience the structure itself.

The breezy walk can take as short as half an hour, to an hour or more. Along the way there are several plaques that provide interesting historical tidbits about the construction, the participants, and the views one might have seen in 1883.

They provide descriptions of Ellis Island, the first stopping point for many of the immigrants arriving in America at the time, as well as Governor’s Island (a former Coast Guard installation).

From the bridge, pedestrians can look out and see the Statue of Liberty off the southern tip of Manhattan as well as the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge connecting Brooklyn to Staten Island to the south.

Getting there is easy from either the Brooklyn or Manhattan side. In Manhattan, just take the 4,5,6 to Brooklyn Bridge or the J/M/Z to Chambers St. In Brooklyn just take the A to High St. The walkway entrance is near the Federal Court Building.

Be sure to take a jacket and guard your hat. The wind over the East River can be cold and strong.

               

New York - The Empire State Building

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The Empire State Building

The Empire State Building in mid-town Manhattan has justifiably been called the eighth wonder of the world. No longer the tallest building in the world, it remains one of the largest office buildings and is currently the tallest in New York at 102 stories.

This engineering marvel was built in record time at the depths of the Depression between 1930 and 1931, when it was completed in May. In some periods, more than two floors per week were being added at a time before many modern construction techniques.

It occupies a city block at 5th Avenue between 33rd and 34th Street, but can be seen from several blocks away (or several miles, at higher elevations). Art Deco in style, the building houses a visitor’s museum in the lobby and a viewing platform near the top. Security is strict and prices are relatively steep, but a great bargain for a two-hour tour and a stunning view.

In the lobby museum a visitor can learn all about the history of the building, and the New York of the period generally. Also there are displays of interesting visuals discussing the ancient wonders of the world with which it’s often compared.

The lobby itself is something of a museum, too, with its large Art Deco golden wall friezes and lovely polished stone. Old-movie buffs will particularly appreciate the ambiance, which makes it easy to imagine living in the period.

The long elevator ride to the viewing platform is a good time to think about the accident in 1945 when a B-52 crashed into the middle of the building. Causing relatively minor damage, the fire was extinguished in less than an hour. However, the crash caused the elevator to fall. Not to worry, the elevator operator survived a 75-floor drop without a bruise. Thank you Mr. Otis, master elevator designer.

At the 86th floor, on one of the frequent clear days, a visitor can stand on the outdoor platform over 1,000 feet above the street. From there he or she can see the Statue of Liberty off the southern tip of the island, or all the way up to the top of Central Park at 110th Street.

The panoramic view also includes the shining aluminum-and-green-glass Citicorp, the post-modern AT&T, the steel-gargoyle-topped Chrysler, and several other prominent landmark buildings.

If you get hungry, there are two restaurants and a sushi bar, as well as three coffee shops. Security rules forbid bringing in bottles, so make use of these instead.

And, in case you decide you never want to leave, you can rent one of the many offices and build a shower in the bathroom. You can use the Post Office or one of the two banks when you just can’t do business electronically. There’s even a drug store, for those days you got rained on using the viewing platform.

Once back down on street level again, be sure to stand across the street looking up. Imagine the many iron-workers who stood in the high winds and cold weather tossing red-hot rivets across the uncompleted floors. Then marvel at the completed work, both a feat of engineering and masterpiece of art.