The Church of the Holy Family: Serving the UN Community

I’ve passed the Church of the Holy Family, located on 47th Street in Manhattan between First and Second Avenues before, but until recently I had never taken the time to check it out more closely. Last weekend, however, I was exploring the neighborhood, and the church caught my attention. The rather stark lines of the church, reflecting the design sense of the era in which it was constructed (the mid-century modern style popular in the 1960s), stood out in contrast to the glass buildings and bright blue sky above them.

As I researched the church, I discovered that it was designed by a New York architect named George J. Sole, who focused primarily on religious architectural design in his work. The church was dedicated in 1965, and it has served the United Nations community ever since. (UN headquarters are located nearby, on the other side of First Avenue.)

The interior of the church is modern, continuing the clean lines of the exterior but in warmer tones.  The church’s website provides this description of the main altar and figure of Jesus:

The art and design of the church reflect a spirit of ecumenism and multi-nationalism. As you enter, you are greeted by the loving, open arms of the Risen Christ above the altar. Like the figures on the two side altars, and the statue of the Virgin in St. Mary’s Garden, the sculpture is a product of the studio of Nagni and was cast in Pietrasanta, Italy. The altar is fashioned of Canadian black granite quarried near the Arctic Circle.

I found this altar in one corner of the sanctuary, which I learned from the church website is the altar of reservation. Like other parts of the church, this altar reflects the church’s inclusive theme, as above the Tabernacle is a large Byzantine icon of Our Lady of Peace.

Everywhere I look I see more religious art, once again with diverse meanings. The beautiful stained glass windows, with their pleated structure, portray “the various national and racial groups who were refugees as a result of World War II, and repeat the word “hope” in all the refugees’ languages, as well as in Latin.” Artist Jordi Bonet designed the windows and other ceramic art throughout the space. (The large ceramic sculptures portray the Holy Family as refugees as well, fleeing to Egypt after Jesus’s birth.)

Emerging back into the sunlight, I noticed this small garden next to the church, labeled “St. Mary’s Garden.” It’s a quiet respite from the busy city, with its lovely statue of Mary.

A Leisurely Sunday Stroll through Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery

As Halloween is fast approaching I thought I would take you on a leisurely Sunday stroll through Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery. Cemeteries often have the reputation of being spooky or haunted, and Green-Wood likely has it’s share of ghosts, but it’s a lovely, serene place for an afternoon walk.

Founded in 1838, Green-Wood Cemetery is a National Historic Landmark, not only because of its longstanding role as one of the city’s cemeteries but also its status as the site of a major Revolutionary War battlefield, the Battle of Long Island. In the 19th century, New York City residents would pack picnic lunches and spend weekend afternoons wandering the cemetery’s park-like grounds. In fact, in the second half of the 19th century, as many as half a million people a year visited the cemetery. Today, it is still a great place to spend an afternoon. The cemetery is large, encompassing 478 acres (1.9 square kilometers). I spent almost five hours meandering along the paths among the graves and still did not see the entire cemetery. (More than 500,000 people are buried in the cemetery, just to give you a full sense of its magnitude.)

The grandest entrance to the cemetery is this Gothic Revival structure on the northern side, accessible from Brooklyn’s Fifth Avenue. The gate was built in the 1860s.

A closer view shows detailed religious carvings above each entryway. The gate above was designed by Richard Upjohn, while the carvings were by John M. Moffitt.

Throughout the cemetery we come across many mausoleums – in fact, Green-Wood Cemetery has one of the largest collections of mausoleums in the United States. They represent a range of architectural styles and tastes, and many offer beautiful details as well. Here is just a sampling of what we discover.

Here’s my favorite mausoleum, an Egyptian-inspired pyramid with statues of Mary and Jesus, a male Catholic saint (anyone know who it is?), and a sphinx.

Then there were the monuments and memorials. First, there was this one to DeWitt Clinton, former governor of the state of New York in the 19th century and credited with building the Erie Canal.

There’s this Revolutionary War monument by sculpture Frederick Ruckstull titled Altar to Liberty: Minerva.

Or how about this monument dedicated to New York City soldiers and sailors who fought in the U.S. Civil War? It has some beautiful details.

Then I found this simple memorial with a tragic story I hadn’t hear before. In 1876, a fire at the Brooklyn Theater killed at least 278 people, although some accounts say that the number was closer to 300. This monument marks the common grave of the 103 victims who were never identified.

There are so many more to discover but I will show this one last one, a bronze statue by sculptor John Coleman titled “The Greeter,” which marks the grave of 19th-century artist George Catlin. Catlin was most famous for his depictions of the American West and Native American culture.

Green-Wood Cemetery is home to the graves of numerous famous people, but my favorites were some of the most simple. Here is composer Leonard Bernstein’s grave, among the most humble I saw in the cemetery. Visitors have left the small stones on his grave in his memory.

And here is the grave of Louis Comfort Tiffany, most known for his stained glass windows and other glass art. (As you can see, he outlived two wives.)

Although I’m not the biggest baseball fan, I loved the gravestone of Henry Chadwick, known as the father of baseball. Visitors had also left offerings at his grave, this time baseballs that are now in various states of deterioration, and there was a giant stone baseball on top of the pillar. (I felt a little sad for Chadwick’s wife, the former Jane Botts, who had to share this monument rather than having something that celebrated her life independent of her husband’s.)

I found graves of two founders of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. They are significantly different from each other. My favorite of the two was this one, James M. Hart’s.

Here’s a close-up view of the decorative plaque.

The other one is Henry Bergh’s another pyramid with an interesting sculpture by Wilhelm Hunt Diederich and John Terken titled “Humility of Man Before a Group of Ageless Animals.”

The cemetery grounds have gentle hills, providing ample opportunity to stretch my legs. At the top of one, I caught this view of the Manhattan skyline, a little hazy in the distance.

Not far from this spot, I found these flowers laying on a park bench. A small plaque on the bench had this poignant inscription: In loving memory of our mummy, Ranjani, 1952-2011.

On one hill is this unusual art installation by Sophie Calle, titled “Here Lie the Secrets of the Visitors of Green-Wood Cemetery.” Visitors are invited to write their secrets on sheets of paper and insert them into the slot on the obelisk. Calle will return to the cemetery periodically over the next 25 years to remove the secrets and “cremate” them in ceremonial bonfires. The art installation is unexpected in the middle of a cemetery.

Now I think we’ll wander further, admiring some of the other statues and gravestone throughout the cemetery.

And finally, we’ll stop by the chapel, which was completed in 1911.

The chapel’s interior is small but intricately decorated, with beautiful stained glass windows.

Want to visit Green-Wood Cemetery yourself? You will find directions on the cemetery’s website, here. If you wish to tour the cemetery on your own, you can pick up free maps at the entrance. The cemetery also offers ticketed trolley tours on Wednesdays and Sundays. You can find more information about the tours here.

I think this would be another good post for Jo’s Monday Walks. Have you checked out Jo’s blog? I recommend it!

Fifteenth Street Quaker Meeting House and Friends Seminary

I spent last Sunday walking down Second Avenue in Manhattan exploring all that I came across. There were many things I expected to find during my stroll, but I also discovered treasures I wasn’t looking for. One such discovery is located just a short distance from Second Avenue, on the west side of Stuyvesant Square: The Fifteenth Street Quaker Meeting House and Friends Seminary.

The Friends Seminary, a private school for children in primary and secondary grades, has roots that go back more than 200 years to its founding in 1786. It was founded by members of the Society of Friends, also known as Quakers. In the years that followed, the school grew and moved twice into expanded facilities. In 1860, the Friends Seminary moved to its current location next to the new Fifteenth Street Monthly Meeting. Today, both buildings still stand, and the school has expanded into adjacent buildings as well.

Here’s a photo of the front of the brick Meeting House.

And this is the Friends Seminary’s oldest building, accented by the sun’s rays.

This sign next to the Seminary’s door alerted me to the historic nature of my discovery.

As I looked closer at the Meeting House and its surroundings, I discovered evidence of the Friends’ underlying beliefs, which include pacifism, tolerance of others, and a commitment to diversity among other things.

Note the banner above the front entrance of the meeting house: “Torture is a moral issue.”

There were multiple copies of this sign along the wrought iron fence.

The meeting house and seminary are located at 15 Rutherford Place in Manhattan, between 15th and 17th Streets to the north and south, and between Second and Third Avenues to the east and west. The Meeting’s website has directions for getting there here.

Columbia University’s Beautiful Campus

If you’ve never been to the campus of Columbia University, it is definitely worth a visit.Visitors are welcome to tour the campus grounds, using self-guided tour materials offered on the university’s website here. Columbia University has a long history, at least by American terms – it was founded by royal charter from King George the II in 1754, when New York was still an English colony. First known as King’s College, the university’s name was changed to Columbia after the American Revolution.

Columbia University moved to its current location in the Manhattan neighborhood of Morningside Heights in 1897, and the buildings you will see on a walking tour have all been built since that time. One of the first buildings you will see as you enter campus is this one, the Low Library. Low Library is the oldest building on campus and now serves as the university administration’s headquarters. It’s also home to the Visitor Center, and you can pick up a map for your journey. (This is also one of only two buildings open to the public – other campus buildings require a university ID card for entry.)

In front of Low Library is this statue, titled Alma Mater. The sculpture was created by artist Daniel Chester French, known best for his larger-than-life statue of President Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

Another early building constructed on the new campus was Earl Hall, which from the first has housed diverse religious groups. From the tour materials, I learned that the building also contains the offices of community services organizations.

Of course there are numerous academic buildings to see, but some of my favorite discoveries were public art. There was this statue by George Grey Barnard titled The Great God Pan.

In contrast, there was also this modern bronze sculpture, Reclining Figure, by Henry Moore.

A short distance away is Scholars Lion, by Greg Wyatt.

Scholars Lion is a real contrast with another nearby sculpture, Clement Meadmore’s The Curl.

As I continued walking, I found this statue titled Le Marteleur (not mentioned in the Visitor’s Guide), as well as a bronze casting of Auguste Rodin’s Le Penseur.

Even smaller ornaments such as urns, light posts, and fountains – some simple, others ornate – are beautiful.

Finally, a couple of photos of other distinctive campus buildings: St. Paul’s Chapel, which appeared to be undergoing some restoration, and Butler Library, the center of the university’s library system since the 1930s.

It is easy to get to Columbia University by public transportation. Take the 1 train to the 116th Street station. The station is located next to the university’s entrance.

Hidden Treasures of Roosevelt Island: Smallpox Hospital and Four Freedoms Park

In the middle of the East River between Manhattan and Queens is Roosevelt Island, with the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge stretching overhead. Most people never visit Roosevelt Island, unless they happen to take a trip on the Roosevelt Island Tram. (Riding the F train when it stops at the Roosevelt Island station doesn’t count!) But it’s definitely worth taking the time to explore Roosevelt Island further. Today, I thought I’d focus on the hidden treasures found on the south end of the island: the ruins of the Smallpox Hospital and Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park.

The Smallpox Hospital ruins capture the imagination. The original building was designed by architect James Renwick, Jr. and completed in 1856, when Roosevelt Island was still known as Blackwell’s Island. It is an example of Gothic Revival architecture. Renwick is more commonly known for other Gothic Revival designs in New York City, including Grace Church and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The building had a short life treating smallpox patients before becoming part of the City Hospital complex on the island. In the 1950s, City Hospital moved to Queens, and the Smallpox Hospital, which also became known as the Renwick Ruins, was abandoned. It’s continued to deteriorate since.

In 1972, the Smallpox Hospital was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and it has also been designated a New York City landmark. Because the building is in poor condition, there are fences preventing public access. In places, you can see the steel scaffolding that has been used to stabilize the remaining walls.

Just past the Smallpox Hospital ruins you will spy Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, which was designed by famous architect Louis I. Kahn. The park’s name comes from President Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address, where he identified four key freedoms: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. Here is what the park looks like from the entry.

Continue walking along the path on either side of the elevated portion of the park, towards the southern tip of the island.

If looking west, towards Manhattan, here is your view.

On the other hand, if looking east, towards Queens, you have this view of Long Island City and the iconic neon Pepsi sign.

Looking back from the other end of the elevated park, there is this perspective. The shaded grass makes a relaxing location for a break or enjoying a picnic.

At the very tip of the park is a giant block of granite. One side hosts this giant bronze bust of President Roosevelt, while the opposite has the relevant words from his Four Freedoms address.

Finally, far off in the distance, you will also have a (usually hazy) view of the Williamsburg Bridge.

There are two main ways to get to Roosevelt Island by public transportation. If traveling by subway, take the F train to the Roosevelt Island station. You can also travel from Manhattan using the Roosevelt Island Tram, which I previously wrote about here. Once you get off of the tram, face towards Manhattan. You will be walking to the end of the island on your left (the south end of the island). It’s about a 15 minute walk to the Smallpox Hospital ruins and Four Freedoms Park, with plenty of scenic views of New York City along the way. There’s a paved walkway along the river, and you will also pass through Southpoint Park along the way.

Art in the Details: Looking Up in the Financial District

A couple of months ago I wrote this post about the architectural art at the Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum subway station. You may remember, the exhibition at that station consists of architectural details that were salvaged from demolished New York City buildings. That post, along with inspiration from my friend Meg’s blog, 12 Months in Warsaw, has made me take a much closer look when I walk through New York City neighborhoods. There’s so much to discover that I decided to start a new mini-series of posts that I’m calling “Art in the Details.”

For my first “Art in the Details” post, I looked for inspiration in the Financial District, located in Lower Manhattan. My starting point was where Broadway begins near Battery Park. As I walked along Broadway searching for the granite markers for the Canyon of Heroes (which I wrote about last week), I also looked up and around much more than I would have done normally. Almost immediately I discovered some unique details on the Cunard Building at 25 Broadway.

I love how the building across the street is reflected in this window.

As I walked along the next few blocks I found these details.

I glanced across the street at 65 Broadway and saw the Federal Express Building, with this incredible bronze eagle.

Overlooking the historic Trinity Church cemetery, which has its own interesting architectural details, I found this gargoyle/knight.

Below, I also spotted this plaque commemorating the founding of the American Institute of Architects on this site in 1857.

Across the street, at 100 Broadway, I spied these lovely details.

On just the next block was the old Equitable Life Building, with these incredible details above the entry.

At 195 Broadway, I found these bronze and stone details on the side of the building.

Further along, I discovered this incredible bronze detail work.

I walked as far as the historic Woolworth Building, located across Broadway from City Hall Park.

When I turned around to head towards Wall Street, I saw this incredible red brick building with terra cotta details at 15 Park Row, juxtaposed against a modern steel building in the background.

Back in the heart of the Financial District, I headed to the New York Stock Exchange, located at the corner of Wall Street at Broad Street. There, I noticed this classical pediment stationed above the Stock Exchange’s stone columns.

Around the corner on Wall Street nearby buildings displayed these cherubic details.

By this time I’d wandered quite some time and decided I should take a break. That doesn’t mean that these explorations have ended for good, however – I will soon be looking for the Art in the Details in another New York City neighborhood!

It just dawned on me that this would make a good post for Jo’s Monday Walks. If you haven’t checked out Jo’s blog before, I recommend it!

St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Although St. Patrick’s Cathedral is not one of the oldest churches in New York City, and certainly not nearly as old as the famous cathedrals in Europe, it is still an interesting example of neo-Gothic architecture. The original St. Patrick’s Cathedral was built in Lower Manhattan in the early nineteenth century, but in the 1850s the archbishop determined that the city should have a grander cathedral, one more in keeping with the growth of the Roman Catholic community in New York City. The cathedral’s architect was James Renwick, and it was constructed between 1858 and 1879. (The American Civil War greatly affected the cathedral’s financing and construction schedule.) Although the location chosen for this new cathedral was barely part of the city in the 1850s, today St. Patrick’s Cathedral is situated in one of the busiest areas of Manhattan, bordered by Fifth Avenue on the West and Madison Avenue on the East, 50th Street to the South and 51st to the North.

The Cathedral’s bronze front doors are large and imposing, with intricate details of religious figures.

At the top of the door are Jesus and the Apostles.

The door panels include the following people:

1. Top left: Saint Joseph, Patron of the Church;
2. Top right: St. Patrick, Patron of the Church (and the Cathedral’s namesake);
3. Middle left: Father Isaac Jogues, a Catholic martyr and saint who was the first priest to come to Manhattan Island in the seventeenth century (when New York was still a Dutch colony and Manhattan was known as New Amsterdam);
4. Middle right: Saint Francis X. Cabrini, founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart and known for her ministry to Italian immigrants to the United States;
5. Bottom left: Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, known as the Lily of the Mohawks, the first Native American woman to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church; and
6. Bottom right: Mother Elizabeth Seton, founder of the Sisters of Charity and first native-born U.S. citizen to be canonized (and referred to on the door panel as the “Daughter of New York.”

Here are close-up views of a couple of those panels, the ones for St. Patrick (with a little bit of Saint Francis X. Cabrini) and Mother Elizabeth Seton.

Inside the Cathedral, there is much to see. The white marble is striking, and the numerous stained glass windows allow in a lot of light.

 

There’s an imposing organ, which according to the tour has 7,855 pipes! (Not all are visible in this photo, obviously!)

There are numerous smaller altars along the sides of the Cathedral, dedicated to various saints.

There is this very different statue of Mother Elizabeth Seton. I found it interesting how it didn’t really fit with the other altars, but its simplicity was striking.

Even if you are not Roman Catholic (as I am not), a visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral is interesting. The Cathedral also has a Tour app for Apple and Android devices – there are versions for adults or children, as well as a Spanish-language version. As a warning though, there may be times were a funeral or other religious service is going on, and the Cathedral may be closed to visitors during those times, especially if prominent people are attending and security is a concern. For other services, visitors are still allowed to come in but are directed to the aisles along the edges. I personally found it a bit disconcerting when I realized that a small funeral service was being held, and here I had been snapping photos across the nave! I was not alone though, as there were probably more than a hundred other visitors there at the time, doing the same thing. The funeral service let out not long after I arrived, thankfully, so I had not gone very far before I realized what was happening.

If you wish to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral yourself, the closest subway stations are the Fifth Avenue/53rd Street station (E and M trains), and the 47-50th Streets/Rockefeller Center station (B, D, F, and M trains).

Subway Station Art – Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum Station

The Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum Station has some interesting art to explore, and you can do it without even swiping your fare card. On the station’s mezzanine level, there’s an intriguing collection of three-dimensional works stretched along the walls. Unlike the other subway station art installations I’ve featured, this station’s exhibition was not originally designed for its current location. Instead, The Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum station features architectural details saved from demolished New York City buildings. The various pieces are part of the Brooklyn Museum’s collection.

Constructed of molded terra cotta, these pieces reflect popular architectural sensibilities in New York City in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. (If you explore the city today, you will discover buildings that still have these types of features as well.) Some of my favorite examples are those featuring faces, including some that remind me of gargoyles.

There are some beautiful segments of borders and other details as well.

Want to see this installation yourself? Take the 2 or 3 train to the Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum station in Brooklyn. Remember, unlike most other New York City subway art installations, these pieces are not located on the platform level – you must go upstairs to the mezzanine to view this art.

Intrigued by New York City’s subway art? I’ve featured public art at other subway stations at these links: 8th Street Station, Prince Street Station, 28th Street Station, 23rd Street Station, Delancey Street Station, and 14th Street/8th Avenue Station.

The High Line: NYC’s Elevated Park

If you are looking for something to do outdoors in New York City, a walk on the High Line may be just the thing. Built upon long-abandoned elevated freight rail lines, this park gives visitors a new perspective of the city. The High Line’s southern tip is in the Meatpacking District at Gransevoort Street; the northern end terminates at West 34th Street, not far from the Hudson Yards subway station.

The park is just under a mile and a half long, and it is accessible at numerous points. You can make your walk as long as you wish. I usually walk the full length and back, making it almost a three mile walk in all. Because the High Line can get pretty crowded, I recommend going earlier in the day and on weekdays – the weekends can be particularly busy.

The landscaping is interesting – I would even call it a bit rugged. Inspired by the plants that grew wild on the abandoned railroad tracks, the park has incorporated some of these plants as well as other native, sustainable plants into the High Line’s landscape. There are a variety of flowering plants too, with different colors dominating during the changing seasons. Soft purples, shown in the photos below, were the ones that caught my attention in my most recent visit.

There’s a two-block long stretch of the High Line that is more heavily wooded, giving you the sensation of walking in a forest. This area is particularly welcome on hot, sunny days, as it is cooler than many other areas of the park. As you can see from the photo below, this portion of the park has integrated the original train rails into the walkway, reminding visitors of the park’s original purpose.

As you walk along the High Line, you will find other architectural and design features as well. Here is a another photo of a partial set of tracks that has been incorporated into the walkway’s surface. (When I walked the High Line a couple of weeks ago, this set of tracks had been temporarily covered up with boards to protect it as some nearby construction was completed.)

There are also plenty of places to sit and relax for a while – maybe eating a snack, reading a book, or people-watching. In this portion of the High Line, shallow running water flows below benches on the one side during the warm months (I’ve seen people take off their shoes and rest their feet in the water, actually!), while additional seating and loungers are located on the other side.

I always enjoy this area of the High Line, where steps descend to windows that overlook the street below. It makes a great place to sit and have a snack or lunch (which you can get nearby at the Chelsea Market.)

The High Line is an excellent vantage point for observing interesting examples of New York City architecture. Here are a few buildings I’ve seen on my walks.

This building is next to the only grass on the High Line – although it’s a park, there is almost no lawn. You can also see how modern architecture and older, red brick buildings coexist side by side in this neighborhood.

You’ll certainly see plenty of water towers on the roofs of nearby buildings.

You may notice the back of a small brick church right next to the park. This church is the Church of the Guardian Angel, a Roman Catholic Church founded in 1887 that originally ministered to seamen and dockworkers. If you look closely, you will see the top of another New York landmark in the distance – the Empire State Building.

And at the far southern end of the High Line you will see the Whitney Museum of American Art, which moved into this new building in 2015. The Museum has some great outdoor space on its upper levels, as you can see here.

The High Line hosts a number of art installations, which change each year. Currently, there is a group exhibition called Wanderlust, which will be on display on the High Line through March 2017. (If you would like more information about any of the art installations, you can find it here.) I’ve chosen just a few to feature here, but there are more to explore if you visit the High Line yourself.

First, here is Brazilian artist Paulo Nazareth’s The Red Inside, a set of cast concrete watermelons.

There’s Nari Ward’s Smart Tree – and it really has a tree growing out of its roof!

This next one, by Barbara Krueger, is Untitled (Blind Idealism Is …).

There is this one by Kathryn Andrews, titled Sunbathers I. I enjoyed watching people’s reaction to this one, like they were afraid that they would actually go around the corner and see nude sunbathers!

And finally, Tony Matelli’s Sleepwalker. This one is both fun and disturbing. And, as you can see from the second photo, its location invites passersby to interact with it!

If you like street art, I encourage you to keep an eye out for murals and graffiti on buildings beside the High Line as well. There’s plenty out there to discover!

How can you get to the High Line? You can actually access the park from a number of different points, both by stairs and elevators. The High Line’s website provides the best information about transportation and access, as well as a great map of the entire park, on its website here.

(I thought that this post might be a good one for Jo’s Monday Walk as well. If you’ve never checked out her blog, I recommend it!)

Exploring Architecture at NYC’s Skyscraper Museum

One of New York City’s hidden secrets is the small but interesting Skyscraper Museum, located only a short distance from Battery Park near the southern tip of Manhattan. If you are interested in architecture , then the Skyscraper Museum is for you.

The museum has one temporary exhibition, currently “Garden City – Mega City,” as well as a few small permanent exhibitions. “Garden City – Mega City” is a fascinating exhibition chronicling an architectural approach to urban housing in Singapore known as WOHA and pioneered by architects Wong Mun Summ and Richard Hassell. Addressing the challenges posed by rapid urbanization and global warming, WOHA reimagines public housing high-rise architecture. The result, both in prototype designs and completed projects, includes open breezeways, vertical landscaping, and elevated parks. The models on display in the exhibition are fascinating.

Among the other exhibitions are these models of some of the tallest buildings in the world, as well as miniature, hand-carved scale models of Downtown and Midtown Manhattan created by Michael Chesko.

The Skyscraper Museum is located at 39 Battery Place, next to Battery Park and near the southern tip of Manhattan. (The Museum of Jewish Heritage is located across the street.) A number of subway lines will get you close to the Museum. You can take the 4 or the 5 to the Bowling Green Station, the 1 or the R train to Rector Street, the R to Whitehall Street, or the J or Z train to Broad Street. Despite the amazing architectural examples on the inside, the entrance to the museum does not stand out, so you will have to look closely to find it.