Contributing Artists: Auks, Cortes, Hans Von Rittern, Jerms, Meres One, Orestes Gonzalez, Poem, Shiro, See TF, Topaz, Zimad
Curated by Marie Cecile-Flageul
April 5 – June 8, 2014
Opening reception April 5, 6-9pm! Come join me – you’re invited!!
To read more click http://www.jeffreyledergallery.com/whitewash.php
March 28, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "WHITEWASH", 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 5 Pointz white washed, 7 train, arts, Auks, Cortes, entertainment, graffiti, Graffiti art exhibit, Hans Von Rittern, Jerms, Jerry Wolkoff, Jonathan Meres Cohen, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Meres One, New York City, New York photo, Orestes Gonzalez, Photo of the day, photography, Poem, Queens, See TF, SHIRO, Sunnyside, Topaz, whitewashing of 5 Pointz, Zimad | Leave a comment
March 27, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, arts, entertainment, graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, Jeffrey Leder Gallery 2137 45th Rd. Long Island City, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Meres One, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, street art, Sunnyside | Leave a comment
Jeffrey Leder Gallery 2137 45th Rd. Long Island City, NY 11101 jeffrey@jeffreyledergallery.com
Photo of the day: MERELY THE BEGINNING! APRIL 5, 2014 – I am
incredibly proud and joyful to announce I am one of 11 artists asked to be a part of this important exhibit here in Long Island City, New York!! The Jeffrey Leder Gallery (2 blocks from PS1 MOMA) will open with a unique exhibition featuring 9 Graffiti Artists and 2 photographers. These artists have created art that explores their strong reactions to 5 Pointz being whitewashed overnight.
Contributing Artists: Auks, Cortes, Hans Von Rittern, Jerms, Meres One, Orestes Gonzalez, Poem, Shiro, See TF, Topaz, Zimad
Curated by Marie Cecile-Flageul
April 5 – June 8, 2014
Opening reception April 5, 6-9pm! Come join me – you’re invited!!
“Whitewash, is an answer to the violent act of G&M realty on November 19th, 2013 in Long Island City Queens. Overnight thousands of murals adorning the building known as 5 Pointz were destroyed. It‘s a story of pain, sadness, and anger at times and reflection – An epic of an art community and its home coming apart under the pressure of economical trends and waves of gentrification.
Bringing together a cluster of resident graffiti artists and two Queens photographers, the exhibition enables the artists to express their true feelings and thought process since loosing their work to a white layer of paint, and their home to the pressing demands of real estate development. For the first time since the whitewash we will witness how affected this collective is by being eclipsed from their 11 years home.
The works in Whitewash aspire to such: Laying feelings on canvas, and letting go of the pain, the show brings together artworks that can be interpreted as confession, lessons, or reflection but also aspirations and hopes.
Whitewash is an obvious requiem for 5 Pointz the building but also maybe the beginning of a rebirth of 5 Pointz the community and its true core: the people.“
Marie-Cecile Flageul
http://www.jeffreyledergallery.com/whitewash.php
March 26, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "WHITEWASH", 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz destroyed, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, art destroyed 5 Pointz, Art exhibit, arts, Auks, Cortes, David Wolkoff, entertainment, G&M realty, graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, Jeffrey Leder Gallery 2137 45th Rd. Long Island City, Jerms, Jerry Wolkoff, Jonathan Meres Cohen, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Meres One, New York City, New York photo, November 19th 2013, Orestes Gonzalez, Photo of the day, photography, Poem, politics, PS1 MOMA, See TF, SHIRO, street art, Sunnyside, Topaz, Ursula Von Rittern, Zimad | Leave a comment
EXciting details to come tomorrow ! STAY TUNED . . .
March 25, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, arts, entertainment, graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, Jeffrey Leder Gallery 2137 45th Rd. Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Meres One, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: 15,000 HITS ON MY WEB SITE – THANK YOU ! – This weekend I reached another milestone.
My http://hansvonrittern.com/ photography web site reached 15,000 views and climbing! I am updating it daily in preparation of a really big announcement coming soon!
STAY TUNED ! !
Hansvonrittern.com
March 24, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, arts, Gold Coast Arts Center, Hans Von Rittern, Hans Von Rittern photography, Jeffrey Leder Gallery 2137 45th Rd. Long Island City, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, Sunnyside, Sunnyside Gardens, Von Rittern web site | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: “CALL ME LIZ”: Elizabeth Taylor-Hilton-Wilding-Todd-Fisher-Burton-Burton-Warner-Fortensky. Actress, stunning beauty, one of the first AIDS activists and great dedicated humanitarian. Born February 27, 1932, died March 23, 2011. Having been known for being notoriously late, at her request, the funeral began 15 minutes after it was scheduled to begin; as her representative told the media “She even wanted to be late for her own funeral.”
Cartoon by: Bramhall/New York Daily News
March 23, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "Call me Liz", AIDS activist, arts, Bramhall, Broadway, celebrities, Elizabeth Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor's funeral, Elizabeth Taylor-Hilton-Wilding-Todd-Fisher-Burton-Burton-Warner-Fortensky, entertainment, Hans Von Rittern, Liz Taylor cartoon, New York City, New York Daily News, New York photo, Photo of the day | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: “You’re Norma Desmond. You used to be big.” “I ~AM~ BIG, IT’S THE PICTURES THAT GOT SMALL!”
As seen in Little Italy, New York on the corner of Hester and Mulberry Streets.
March 22, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Cafe Napoli, Cafe Napoli Mulberry Street, diva old woman, fading actress, Glenn Close, Gloria Swanson, Hans Von Rittern, Hester and Mulberry streets, Italians on street, Little Italy, Manhattan, Mulberry Street, New York City, New York photo, Norma Desmond, old Italian woman, old woman in furs sunglasses and turban, Photo of the day, photography, Sunset Boulevard, woman in leather turban | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: IT’S SPRING – BUY A HAT! . . . “does anyone ~still~ wear a hat?
March 21, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "Here's to the ladies who lunch", church hats, Easter hats, fashion, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, purple hats, Sondheim 'Company' musical, Spring 2014, Stephen Sondheim | Leave a comment
Postcard story from New York – “WHEN I WAS A BOATSMAN”
Brookhaven, New York, January 20, 12pm, 1907
To: Hr. C. Schmer
Thisted, Denmark
“When I was a boatsman”
Yours Bernard
1907
The romance and intrigue of this card is wonderful! Who was this handsome Bernard with his piercing and determined eyes? Danish? A whaler? A shipmen? A boat dealer or repairman? A fisherman? It was obviously something he came to America to do since it was his heritage’s trade.
Thisted, Denmark to this day remains a tiny architecturally untouched town with no more than 13,067 inhabitants. Founded in the year 1500, Thisted is on an inlet on the North Sea and has Denmark’s leading fisheries port in Hanstholm. Notice: all you had to address the card to was “Schmer, Thisted, Denmark” – – and it got there?!?!?!…it was a smaller world in 1907.
Brookhaven is located on Long Island, New York. It was settled between 1640 and 1655, ousting the Indians. Cattle ranching was it’s first industry and then by 1900 whaling was their big income. So was Bernard ’the old man and the sea’ hunting whales? So it seems Bernard sailed to Long Island, New York to seek his fortune across the Atlantic in Brookhaven and seemingly (hopefully) happily retired there since his card fondly reads “When I was…”
A poem to the sea
I must go down to the seas again,
to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a gray mist on the sea’s face, and a gray dawn breaking.
~John Masefield 1878-1967
March 20, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 1907 postcard, boatsman, Brookhaven, Brookhaven New York, Danish immigrant, Denmark, fisherman, Hans Von Rittern, Hanstholm Denmark, Hr. C. Schmer, John Mansefield poem, Long Island New York, New York, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, postcard collecting, Postcard Stories from New York, Queens, seaman, Thisted Denmark, vintage postcard, whaling | Leave a comment
#7 train, Court Street Station, before the station’s renovation.
Photo of the day: VANISHING VIEW – As the over zealous, over greedy and over crammed building continues in the neighborhood of Long Island City in Queens, joyful surprise views like this one of the treasured Chrysler building, are rapidly vanishing as the new glass wall of condo towers obliterate the century old Queens view of Manhattan. Next stop, Blandville.
March 19, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 7 train, architecture, Chrysler building, Court Street Station, disappearing skyline, gentrification, Hans Von Rittern, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan skyline, MTA, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, subway, Sunnyside | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: “IT’S A VON RITTERN!” – A very proud Ursula Von Rittern, aka “mom” points to the six photos exhibited in the “PHO-TO-GRAFFS” exhibit that opened this weekend at the Gold Coast Gallery! Great news: I sold some pieces and I am featured in the gallery’s store too!!
Mom checks out ‘the Von Ritterns’ for sale
I’d like to extend my deepest thanks to Marie Flageul and Meres One without whom 5 Pointz would not have been what it is and to their treasured friendship. To Jude Amsel, gallery director of the Gold Coast Arts Center for her kind guidance. To two of my dearest friends who came out to support me, tour guide alums Deborah Blau and especially to Tom Orzo who took the time to drive a very proud and delighted Ursula Von Rittern (not bad for 88 years old, huh?) to her son’s gallery premier. I am a very lucky man.
March 18, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, architecture, Deborah Blau, Gold Coast Arts Center, Gold Coast Gallery, graffiti art, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, hip-hop culture, Jonathan Meres Cohen, Jude Amsel, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, Marie Cecile Flageul, Marie Flageul, Meres One, New York City, New York photo, Phot-to-graffs exhibit, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, street art, street art museum, Tom Orzo, Ursula Von Rittern | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY !
Art courtesy of SHIRO (Shoko Mikami) of Japan.
March 17, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, arts, Hans Von Rittern, HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY, Japanese Irish Elf graffiti, Long Island City, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, SHIRO, Shoko Mikami, street art | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: TODAY IS THE DAY! – Opening reception of the PHO-TO-GRAFFS exhibit featuring 9 great photographers documenting the ethereal nature of street art. I am thrilled ot be a part of this exhibit amongst freinds. Come join in the celebration for the opening reception at 3pm today.Now most people think if you leave the 5 boroughs you need a passport – no you don’t. Just 20 minutes by LIRR to Great Neck, Long Island. Hey, it takes longer to get to Brooklyn!
113 Great Neck Road. Telephone: 516-829-2570. Here are step by step instructions:
When you get off the train station walk approx. 5 blocks straight down the charming old Americana street of Middle Neck Road, till you get to Maple Drive.
Middle Neck Road, main street USA
At Maple Drive turn right
At Maple Drive you make a right and you’ll see the parking lot of the Great Neck Arts Center.
And viola – there it is!
The Gold Coast Arts Center
SEE YOU THERE!
March 16, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, architecture, Barry Stern, Farbeon, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti art, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, hip-hop culture, Jude Amsel, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Norma Hill, Orestes Gonzalez, Phot-to-graffs exhibit, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, Raymond Hamlin, street art, street art museum, travel instructions to Gold Coast Arts | Leave a comment
A word from the Gold Coast gallery director Jude Amsel:
Today, the distinctly urban popular culture of graffiti has
been supplanted by the likes of hip-hop, rap concerts, slam poetry performances
and the sub-culture of skateboarding. Due to the impermanent nature of much of
this art, photography has become the primary means of documenting its evolution.
It is the photographer’s goal to record the diversity of the city as a canvas,
the people who create art and the art itself.
These photographers keep urban
culture alive by providing historical documentation for future generations.
A handful of artists/photographers recognized the artistic and social significance
of the hip hop movement. Each of these individuals approached documentation in a
unique way. Through collective efforts, these photographers preserve an
important part of this distinct urban art form. Their photographic record of the
art has not only assisted in the preservation of the culture; it has also aided
in its growth. These photographers go out into the streets and find incredible,
even unlikely places and subjects that have inspired them. We can’t fail to be
inspired as well.
Artists on display: Raymond Hamlin, Orestes Gonzalez ,Norma Hill, Hans Von Rittern, Barry Stern, Farbeon,
Liu Bolin, Rachel Alban, Jay Hirschfeld.
The
PHO-TO-GRAFFS exhibit at the Gold Coast Arts Center, this Sunday March 16 opening reception at 3pm! Just 20 minutes from Manhattan by LIRR. 5 blocks from train station, no car necessary
113 Middle Neck Road, Great Neck, Long Island. 516-829-2570, see you there !
March 15, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, Barry Stern, Farbeon, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti art, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, Jude Amsel, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Norma Hill, Orestes Gonzalez, Phot-to-graffs exhibit, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, Raymond Hamlin, street art, street art museum | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: THE 5 POINTZ JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE STAMP – Today the US Postal Service releases an awesome Jimi Hendrix postage stamp to commemorate his great music. So, today I am releasing my Hendrix postage stamp commemorating over a decade of great art at the 5 Pointz graffiti and street art museum.
“White collar conservative flashin’ down the street, pointing that plastic finger at me, they all assume my kind will drop and die, but I’m gonna wave my freak flag high. Excuse me while I kiss the sky.” Jimi Hendrix.
Come see great street art immortalized at the PHO-TO-GRAFFS exhibit at the Gold Coast Arts Center, this Sunday March 16 opening reception at 3pm! Just 20 minutes from Manhattan by LIRR. 5 blocks from train station, no car necessary. Rock on! 113 Middle Neck Road, Great Neck, Long Island. 516-829-2570, see you there !
March 14, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti art, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, Jimi Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix quotes, Jimi Hendrix stamp, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Phot-to-graffs exhibit, Photo of the day, photography, postage stamp, Queens, Rego Park Queens, street art, street art museum, US Postal Service, vintage 5 Pointz photos | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: GOOGLE EYES – In 1961 a local photographer asked my mother if he could photograph me because of my big eyes. Fifty years later in 2011 to my surprise, I kinda found myself looking back a me from the walls of the 5 Pointz graffiti and street art museum!
Come see my photos exhibited in the PHO-TO-GRAFFS exhibit at the Gold Coast Arts Center, this Sunday March 16 opening reception at 3pm! Just 20 minutes from Manhattan by LIRR. 5 blocks from train station, no car necessary 🙂
113 Middle Neck Road, Great Neck, Long Island. 516-829-2570, see you there !
March 13, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 1961 portrait, 1961 Rego Park Queens, 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, childhood photo, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti art, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Phot-to-graffs exhibit, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, Rego Park Queens, street art, vintage 5 Pointz photos | Leave a comment
5 Pointz Graffiti Museum
Photo of the day: LEARNING TO WRITE – August 21, 2011 a class of grade school children was brought to the 5 Pointz street art museum and learned about hip hop culture, the history of graffiti art in NYC and then they were shown how to stylize their names. Once they had perfected their names they were allowed to write them on the lids of the dumpsters in the loading dock area, taking great care to leave their new artistic names with pride.
Come see my photos exhibited in the PHO-TO-GRAFFS exhibit at the Gold Coast Arts Center, March 16 opening reception.
113 Middle Neck Road, Great Neck, Long Island. 516-829-2570, see you there !
March 12, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, child learning graffiti writing, class in street art, David Wolkoff, gentrification in Long Island City, Gerry Wolkoff, Gold Coast Arts Center, Gold Cost Arts Center, graffiti art, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Phot-to-graffs exhibit, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, street art, vintage 5 Pointz photos | Leave a comment
October 13, 2013
Photo of the day: THE DETERMINED PHOTOGRAPHER – I am going to post vintage photos of the 5Pointz graffiti museum this week, in honor of my upcoming participation in the ‘PHO-TO-GRAFFS’ gallery exhibit opening this Sunday, March 16, 3pm at Gold Coast Arts Center in Great Neck, Long Island.
This photo was taken Sunday afternoon, October 13, 2013, thirty-six days before the unexpected destruction of all the artwork. Little did this aspiring and determined little photographer know, he was capturing a piece if history.
March 11, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, child photographer, David Wolkoff, gentrification in Long Island City, Gerry Wolkoff, Gold Coast Arts Center, Gold Cost Arts Center, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Phot-to-graffs exhibit, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, street art, vintage 5 Pointz photos | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: LOST IN PROGRESS – Early Sunday (March 9) morning Artists
gilf! and
BAMN (By Any Means Necessary) collaborated on the banner making their statement felt to the glee of art lovers everywhere at 5Pointz arts center in Long Island City, Queens. It was quite a struggle to attach the banner is they came to realize it was much heavier in weight than they had anticipated. The original plan was to hang it from the roof, but with strong winds, weight and time issues against them it was finally placed in the ‘plan B’ position around the bottom of the building like the crime scene it is. The impact worked perfectly as people seemed to be enveloped and some lost in the message.
March 10, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, asbestos abatement, BAMN, BAMN (By Any Means Necessary), crime scene banner protest at 5 Pointz, David Wolkoff, gentrification in Long Island City, Gerry Wolkoff, gilf!, Hans Von Rittern, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, Queens | Leave a comment
5 Pointz, Jakson Avenue, Long Island City. March 9, 2014. 9am
Photo of the day:
GENTRIFICATION IN PROGRESS GENTRIFICATION IN PROGRESS – Daylight savings time greeted Long Island City this morning with a surprise. 5 Pointz has been gift wrapped by the artists
gilf! and
BAMN (By Any Means Necessary) who collaborated on the banner making for the lobotomized zombies that will one day move into the glass towers that will replace the greatest street art museum on earth. Even as I was photographing it at sunrise this morning, the workers were on the roof doing ‘asbestos abatement’, ripping the roof apart as the dust particles flew everywhere, irritating my throat as I photographed. This is gentrification? This is destruction.
How the Grinch stole 5 Pointz
Welcome progress. Bring your greed,
Art is stronger, we will succeed.
A better city is in our grasp
So long as we have art that makes us gasp.
Gentrification will always be
Just as long as we have we.
Welcome progress with a gentler hand
Heart to heart and hand in hand.
March 9, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, 7 train, architecture, asbestos abatement, crime scene banner protest at 5 Pointz, David Wolkoff, gentrification in Long Island City, Gerry Wolkoff, Hans Von Rittern, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Long Island City, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, The Grinch 5 Pointz poem | Leave a comment
GOLD COAST ARTS CENTER, 113 MIDDLE NECK ROAD, GREAT NECK , LONG ISLAND. 516-829-2570
March 7, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 113 Middle Neck Road, 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti photography, Great Neck Arts Center, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, hip hop photography, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, PHO-TO-GRAFFS EXHIBIT, Photo of the day, photography | Leave a comment
Postcard story from New York – GREETINGS TO WOOLWORTH’S FROM THE 1939 NEW YORK WORLD’S FAIR
August 10, 1pm, 1939
To: F. W. Woolworth Co
Bellefontaine
Ohio
Hell-o Everybody! Surely having a nice time. Waited 1 hr 40 min. to get General Motors Building. I am sitting here where I can see millions of peple waiting to see Billy Rose Aquacade. We are going to tour N.Y. City to-morrow. Will see you soon. How is the kitten?
Katherine
Description: Demonstrating a new form in theater construction, the Hall of Music uses the flowing lines of functional construction throughout. Two and a half thousand spectators daily fill it’s auditorium to hear and see many of the great musical presentations of our times. Architects – Reinhard and Hofmeister.
– Bellefontaine, (Logan County) Ohio in 1939 had a population of 9,800 people. Today it has approx. 13,200.
– The 1939 NY World’s Fair opened on April 30, 1939, a very hot Sunday. The April 30 date coincided with the 150th anniversary of George Washington’s inauguration as President in New York City. President Theodore Roosevelt and Albert Einstein gave opening speeches.
– Television was seen my most people for the very first time in a transparent set to show it wasn’t trickery and really technology.
– The General Motors building Katherine waited so long in line for was actually called ‘Futurama’ and showed life in the future 1960 with vast automated highways and expressways all done in a futuristic art deco-like style.
– At the World’s Fair Music Hall a visitor could be entertained by Bill “Bo Jangles” Robinson and a cast of more than 200 other performers in Michael Todd’s “Hot Mikado.”
– The famed Aquacade show was produced by Broadway celebrity Billy Rose (once married to Fanny Brice) “a brilliant ‘girl’ show of spectacular size and content.” The amphitheater seated 10,000 people and looked out over the water towards a stage 200 feet deep and 311 feet wide. Eight thousand gallons of water a minute poured into the making of a man-made Niagara which stretched 260 feet and rose forty feet in height. The art deco 11,000 seat amphitheatre was at the north end of Meadow Lake. The pool and the 300 by 200-foot (61 m) stage could be hidden behind a lighted 40-foot (12 m) high curtain of water.
– The inaugural Aquacade that Katherine saw starred Olympians Eleanor Holm, Johnny Weissmuller (later replaced by Buster Crabbe) and newcomer Esther Williams. The show contained 500 dancers, actors and swimmers. Gertrude Ederle, a Flushing Queens resident and the first woman to swim the English Channel was an Aquacade star. Queens Borough President Donald R. Manes dedicated the pool to her in 1978.
– The New York State Marine Amphitheatre was sadly torn down in 1996 because of local opposition to renovating the asbestos-contaminated structure as a concert venue.
– The Woolworth Bellefontaine, Ohio location is today a Footlocker.
– And . . . how was the kitten doing that the workers at the local Woolworth‘s had taken in??
Here is a rare silent video of the 1939 show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na3z6K1j83w
March 6, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "Futurama", 1939 New York World's Fair, 1939 World's Fair amphitheatre, 1939 World's Fair General Motors Building Futurama, Albert Einstein, Architects Reinhard and Hofmeister, architecture, art deco style, Bellefontaine, Bellefontaine Ohio, Bill "Bo Jangles" Robinson, Billy Rose, Billy Rose Aquacade, Buster Crabbe, collecting postcards, Eleanor Holm, Esther Williams, Fanny Brice, Footlocker store, Fresh Meadows Queens, futuristic view fo New York City, General Motors, George WaSHINGTON, Gertrude Ederle, Hans Von Rittern, Johnny Weissmuller, Logan County Ohio, Michael Todd's "Hot Mikado", New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, postcard collecting, President Theodore Roosevelt, Queens, Queens Borough President Donald R. Manes, the first woman to swim the English Channel, The New York State Marine Amphitheatre, vintage postcards, Woolworth's, World's Fairs, World’s Fair Music Hall | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: ZEN TAG – Seen in the side streets of the west 50’s in Manhattan, was this service entrance gate to a grocery store. Being so cold outside I was walking at a brisk pace but my eye still caught the Zen Buddha up ahead. But as I passed I noticed something clever. One of the grocery clerks had gotten creative with his pricing gun and created a ‘price sticker Buddha’ and place of Zen in an otherwise dreary garbage filled side alley. Namaste.
March 5, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: arts, Buddha, Buddha street art, Buddha tag, grocery store, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, Marilyn Monroe, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, price sticker art, pricing gun, service entrance gate, side streets, street art, Zen, Zen Buddha | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: NO SMOKE MARIJUANA HERE – Since this sign went up in the staircase of mom’s apartment building, she’s just going to have to find another place to light up . . .
March 4, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: anti marijuana sign, anti-marijuana, don't smoke marijuana here sign, Hans Von Rittern, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, marijuana, neighbors protest pot smoking, New York City, New York photo, old mom can't light her joint, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, Sunnyside, Sunnyside Gardens, Ursula Von Rittern | Leave a comment
NEW YORK CITY - IN THE WIT OF AN EYE 