Day 05 (Tuesday): FINNANCIAL DISTRICT / (Tribeca)
This was the day we choose to encounter the true heart of New York, at least in regard to it worldwide. I guess our situation is comparable to an inhabitant of the Empire when, after several days visit to Rome, he decided to go down to the Forum.
begin our tour by taking the subway at 51th St. and Lexington Ave At the corner of the station is the building of the General Electric , brick skyscrapers fifty stories high, made in the 30 . Is performed in a Gothic style, but strongly influenced and somewhat hardened by a healthy contribution art deco. Has lots of details in a tight ground and above all stands the magnificent and complex finish.
descended on City Hall station, in the space dominated by the vast and strange mole classical building Manhattan Municipal Building, carried out in a classical style, but with curved movement is not articulated at all fluently. The building bears the signature of the prestigious McKim, Mead & White and going through the floor, passing under a huge vault that introduces us to another place where the police buildings and other administrative and Catholic Church of St. Andrew.
We headed north and into the triangular Foley Square, surrounded by important buildings in classical style and mostly dedicated to the administration of justice. Excel, on a Corinthian portico severe straight crown, the tower classic Federal Court and also the generous staircase that precedes the portico, this time with frontispiece, the Supreme Court building in NYC.
Slightly southwest, in a small open space, you can see the significant modern memorial to the presence of a cemetery black slaves, discovered there in 1991. Its construction was preceded by a strong popular pressure, which prevented the construction at the site of a public building and the extension of a competition to design the monument.
Back in City Hall, this time to the south, surrounding the old but very relevant, from the standpoint of architectural building of New York City. The small square in front of him has a good vegetation and a fountain that brings liveliness.
stands in front of the building known as the New York Times Building , having been for years to host the prestigious journal. Beside it stands the massive Potter Building, which includes a very painstaking brick decoration and is a great piece of Victorian style of the late nineteenth century.
the other side of the square is the imposing Gothic skyscrapers Cass Gilbert, Woolworth Building called, which was the highest in the United States until it was dethroned by Chrysler.
From here began the erratic decline taking as a Broadway, but was suffering various deviations to do zigzag. This part of the city, which is its original core, has nothing to do with the pristine clarity of its famous grid of rectangles, which both help to orientation.
Here we are in a quite intricate weaving, and also somewhat bleak, given the narrowness of the streets which seems not to matter as the buildings that enclose. The predominant architectural style here is classic in many variations and generally of excellent quality.
A first stop we make in the tiny chapel of the Episcopal Church is the American version of the Anglican Church, dedicated to St. Paul . This building, not very handsome, has an importance because of its past and its present. It is the oldest of the city, and that there was going to say George Washington in the early days of his term. On the other hand reached recent notoriety in the 11-S, as it was the first to provide relief and was a meeting of first aid. Today it is practically a memorial that celebrates the spirit of solidarity of all states of the country before the attack.
walked down Broadway, leaving our right the Zuccotti Park and the building One Liberty Plaza, a classic skyscraper of SOM. The latter was severely damaged the 11-S to the point that its collapse was feared. The whole area on which we walk and the neighborhood in general is full of difficult tasks to spare a little visit, but at the same time show the strength of a city in constant progress. This industry, on the other hand, also shows the indelible mark left by the attacks in this whole area surrounding the Twin Towers.
Ahead lies the Trinity Church, one of the first parishes in the Episcopal Church. It was rebuilt three times to take its present form in 1846 in Gothic style, according to the dictates of English architecture of those years. At that time the high tower eighty-five meters over the neighborhood and was referring to the nearby port ships.
Beside the small cemetery is an oasis of calm amid the maelstrom that radiates the nerve center of world capitalism. People stroll among the graves and many eat their lunch in the company of illustrious characters who lie here.
turning a little tour of Broadway, we visited what might be called the heart of Finnancial District. First, the Federal Hall, First Congress United States. The building today is not the original, which was destroyed in the nineteenth century, and has in its front with a bronze in Washington, where he was elected the first president in 1789. Neighbor to the east is the skyscraper now known as Trump Building, built in 1930 and purchased by Donald Trump in 1995, which gave it its name.
few steps forward, down Broad St., is the foreshortening of the New York Stock Exchange (New York Stock Exchange, NYSE), which hides its portico of Corinthian columns behind the stretched large United States flag. A significant image is so familiar we do not even surprising. It is however a special case of a symbolic element that overcomes the architecture and also a striking example of the relationship Americans have with their flag.
returned to the center of Broadway to join the side in what was the source of all the city and its first park when he was still Dutch rule, the Bowling Green Park . This side entrance prevented us from seeing the famous Wall Street Toro , located at the northern end, where Broadway begins. The work, which we passed unnoticed, was conducted by the Italian Arturo Di Modica who planted without permission against the New York Stock Exchange in 1989 and then, due to its popularity, was moved to its current location in Bowling Park.
The south side of the square is closed by the presence of Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House , built in the early twentieth century Cass Gilbert, in a sober French academic style. It highlights in particular the amount of outstanding sculptures featuring the facade and to fit perfectly to the architecture of the building. This arises where once was the Fort Amsterdam, a kind of office that controlled the trade of vessels at the entrance of the Hudson River.
Approaching the lunch crossed the Battery Park , the second largest in Manhattan, extending linearly parallel to the confluence of the Hudson and East River, on the southern tip of the island. At its entrance is the Sphere , metal sculpture Fritz Koenig , shown with dents and injuries he suffered in the 11-S, and which was formerly located in the Austin Tobin Plaza, foot of the Twin Towers.
We near Castle Clinton, a fortress made in 1812 as defense against possible attacks, but never used, and cross a strange power that arises from the floor.
finally join one of the banks offering sea view, in front of Governor's Island and beyond, the Statue of Liberty .
Willing to enjoy the landscape, restore strength while watching the continuously free ferry leaves for the statue. We did not give in to temptation.
again on the way, we visited the Battery Park to its eastern end, where the new ferry terminal in Staten Island, and then trace the Water St. to Fulton St. and Seaport. At the beginning of Water St., in the path of the left is a number of period buildings, while the right side has some major towers. Among them stands out of the 55 Water nearly sixty stories high, built by Emery Roth & Sons . The project carried out in 1972 has an interesting basement identified only with a greater intensity in the grid that makes up the facade, an economic formally appeal, but effective.
Later, when you reach Pine St., is the Wall Street Plaza, with access from 88 Pine St., another skyscraper always sober and precise content IM Pei, a large piece simplicity that makes a simple rectangular grid landscape, embodied by aluminum elements simulating giant white steel grid. The auction takes shape by filling with simple modules. A new lesson in simplicity of Chinese teacher.
continue forward on Front St. to Fulton St., where you start the area known as South Street Seaport , with a significant amount of recycled buildings. One of the many massive recycling operations aimed at creating a commercial area. Some of the original air of some buildings are preserved, like the Fulton Fish Market , one of the largest fish markets of the United United, now moved to the Bronx as part of the program refuncionalización the area. The general appearance of the area, despite the conservation efforts, such as the original pavement, can not exceed an artificial appearance. Anyway, from there you can get great views of the Brooklyn Bridge.
After a brief rest, we resumed our ascent of Fulton St. to meet again with the impressive crater of Ground Zero actually with the imposing work that will emerge in the space occupied by the ruined World Trade Center, which is starting to appear on the skyline. The area is fenced and circulates around the edges a huge mass of people. Fence panels reminiscent of the attacks and also show the progress of the new work, constantly reiterating the apology for the problems caused to pedestrians.
halfway in the side of Vesey St., at the intersection of Greenwich St., is one of the first works constructed after the 11-S. This is the World Trade Center 7 , also known as 7WTC , which replaces the original of the same name that collapsed after the fall of the Twins. The work was completed in 2006 and was responsible for the inevitable SOM in collaboration with other artists, including James Carpenter to the facade. The result is a building done in a subtle ethereal skin of glass that has the first plants covered in a delicate web of stainless steel and a shot just outlined with two horizontal lines. All inexorably in the same edge.
noteworthy project is the lobby of the building with a ceiling light in white glass plates, which in the end wall coating appears as a facility that includes a huge screen that covers the entire width hall. The display constantly pass word or words in characters according to the dictates of giant conceptual artist Jenny Holzer .
work also includes a small square on the other side of Greenwich St. that ends with a fountain and sculpture by Jeff Koons .
later crossed by the West St. Murray St., a real highway, toward the Hudson. Here we pass under the giant structures work of Goldman Sachs New World Headquarters , which is now ready for its opening and its author is IM Pei, Cobb & Freed . We also pass laterally through the expansion of joint residential brick enclosing the Teadrow Park, with a new park opened in 2006 and designed by renowned landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburg .
finally surrounded the area to enter the World Financial Center from the river and access from the plaza complex designed by Cesar Pelli . East, whose construction began in 1985, is one of the most observed during my student days. Pelli is the consecration at the international architecture, as the undoubted quality of the project adds one of the most remarkable locations that can offer the world.
Despite having seen and known in detail through images of all kinds, I confess that the impact caused me was definitely impressive. Impact also helped by the hour of our arrival which coincided with the setting sun, which shone the whole with a particular light.
The success of the scale is what first attracts attention, as the towers, while having a considerable height, reduce the impact of their presence through a base run that supports them. The buildings are made with subtle variations and small twists that allow all This set is very homogeneous, without ever a dull moment.
The range culminates in the various auctions and acquires a significant vibration in the development of each volume, where everything happens on the surface, changing materials provided with the edge. This balance is the most precious logradísimo, in my opinion, the entire proposal.
last remains to point out the plaza in front of a model of peace and harmony.
The scale continues to decrease with the rigid placement of trees on one side and the long, low supply simple and powerful design, both elements that add color and sound to create a relaxed atmosphere, which seems to be located far from the neighboring World Financial Center.
The picture is completed by the dock where they mix a small sailing school and yacht cruises impressive. In one of them a few millionaires take a snack bar on deck. I bet it's a martini.
We stayed a while resting and admiring the place and then we went to the famous conservatory multiple high air nineteenth century, which acts as a hinge of the whole.
Inhabited by tall palm trees, of which we doubt if they are natural or plastic, the place conveys a desolate air, accented by small round coffee tables where no one seems to have sat for a while.
actually being a mall, has rather the appearance of railway station hall, but no trains or passengers.
We left the back, which was heavily damaged by the attacks of 11-S. The woodwork has been replaced by a glass wall and cable according to the new technologies. Your solution is correct extreme minimalism to coexist with the original building while serve the memory of what happened.
The day we finished with a long walk down Greenwich St., Tribeca through to the Meat Packing District. Greenwich St. begins with a strong differentiation between the sides that is excessively interesting. The left has wide sidewalks and new buildings, while the right is composed of old buildings with ground floor restaurants. Tribeca appears as a mixed neighborhood, but lots of character and certainly attractive.
After the first block on the left is a small park, the friendly Washington Market Park officiating access to the vast bulk of the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), one of the largest educational institutions in the city. The brick and concrete structure occupies four consecutive blocks through the streets. Below it appears the views of the Hudson River where the first light reflected at night.
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