Civic Center, Pearl Street Between Madison Street and St. James Place

Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………xxxxxx…......……………….. click to enlarge


This is James Madison Plaza and I assume it looks more inviting when the weather is nicer.

The Parks Department entry for the Plaza consists mainly of information about James Madison, our fourth President, so one would assume that the Plaza was named for him. So it is strange that they claim it is named for the combination of the names of two of the streets that bound it: Madison Street and St. James Place. St. James Place is named for a nearby Catholic church. 









Mary Sargent © 2009 ………………….. click to enlarge


Right across the street from the Plaza is one of the most reviled buildings in Manhattan - the Verizon building.  To call it one of the ugliest buildings in Manhattan is surely wrong, but it's just too damn big.  It towers over the Brooklyn Bridge, diminishing the effect of the view of it and it overwhelms the neighborhood.








Mary Sargent © 2009 ………..………….. click to enlarge


Here it is in a more distant and less scary view.  This is looking at it from Pearl Street back at Park row.

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Civic Center, Pearl Street Between Park Row and Madison Street

Mary Sargent © 2009 ………………….. click to enlarge


This is Police Headquarters, built in 1973 by Gruzen and Partners. The AIA Guide says it is one of the "most urbane civic buildings since the City Hall of 1812," but then goes on to say it's "largely because of its elegant . . . plaza . . ." More about that plaza on another walk (in fact, one I took today). This is the back of the building and when I took this shot, I wasn't even aware of the plaza.

But as for the building itself, it just doesn't say "police" to me. It's almost too cute. Or something. Can't you see it as a piece of furniture?





Mary Sargent © 2009 ………………..….. click to enlarge


Here, we see past the Headquarters to the Municipal Building and the U.S. Courthouse. I don't know what that low building with the aqua bands is; I haven't even seen it before, but I'll find out.





Mary Sargent © 2009 ………………..….. click to enlarge


And here on the other side is the clearest view I've had yet of a new building going up.

I asked a guard sitting in one of those little stations if he knew what it's going to be.  He said some people think it's going to be dorms and some people think maybe it's part of the hospital, but he, himself, thinks it'll probably be housing since it's so tall.  He says, it just keeps going.  He says it's really going to change the area.


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Civic Center, Centre Street Between Worth and Duane Streets; Pearl Street Between Centre Street and Park Row

Mary Sargent © 2009 ………………..….. click to enlarge


Backing up a little from last night, we're looking at the New York County Courthouse on the left and the U.S. Courthouse on the right, from across Centre Street. Pearl Street runs between them. I've been curious about that building behind the County Courthouse since I began jury duty, so I worked up a little excitement about taking this walk on Pearl Street. Also Pearl Street has long interested me. I knew it was old and it started way downtown and took some strange twists and turns and ended up here. And that name. Somehow it seemed romantic. As you saw last night, the romance must be farther downtown.









Mary Sargent © 2009 ………………….. click to enlarge


It's the Daniel P. Moynihan U.S. Courthouse, designed by Kohn, Pedersen Fox and completed in 1994. Herbert Muschamp, the New York Times's architecture critic, wrote a thoughtful review that year. He was disappointed, though he praises many of the elements.. He says the architects equate the timeless with the old whereas he wants them to represent the past without sacrificing the present. If you want to know what he means by that, you'll have to read it yourself.







Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………xxxx....xx………………….. click to enlarge


Here's the entrance. Note that the building is sideways to the street.




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Civic Center, Pearl Street from Centre Street

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I just finished my second week of Grand Jury service. Two more to go.

This is generally the way it goes: you get summoned, you go down to 100 Centre Street along with many, many other people, you choose morning or afternoon and they pick jurors by lot. Both times I've been summoned, I've been picked. But here's the thing: I like jury service. I wanted to be picked.

I like being downtown; it has a quieter feeling than other business districts in New York. I like big old temple-like government buildings placed at odd angles on oddly shaped blocks. I like being close by Chinatown. I like doing something different and meeting new people. And I pretty much like jury work. It can be boring at times, but much of the time, it's interesting.

You might think I feel this way only because I'm unemployed, but I also felt this way when I had a job. Of course I understand that many people are in difficult situations and it can be a real burden. But I'm not! So I'm having a good time. Plus you get $40/day. That will more than pay for lunches in Chinatown.

Morning sessions are 10:00-1:00. I'm still adjusting to early morning hours. It'll be good for me. It only takes an hour door to door from Inwood to Civic Center on the A. Not bad at all.

I want to get in lots of photowalks while I'm down here, but that means I'll get more photos than I can handle. I'm just gonna do it. We'll see what happens.

Last Friday I went on my first walk. Last Friday was a truly glorious day, even better than today. Crisp, sunny fall day, warm and cool. I shot the buildings around Foley Square and then walked Chambers Street straight across to Battery Park City, stopping for a wonderful lunch at Acappella. Since my new camera uses more pixels, I needed a bigger card, so I had a new 4 gig card which held 239 photos and I filled it up. Something about that card . . . I can't access the photos on my computer.

This goes a way toward explaining why I was grumpy on Tuesday, when I started this walk. You can see it was a gray day. I was basically doing a reshoot under worse conditions. So after I shot (reshot) Foley Square in a gloomy mood, I decided to forget about Chambers for the time being and go somewhere new. I'll show you Foley Square another night because that will take more writing and we've all had enough for one night.

So one photo: Pearl Street





Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………….. click to enlarge



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