Manhattanville, 126th Street Between Morningside and St. Nicholas Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2009 ………. click to enlarge

This is the last block in Manhattanville and it's a short one, so I'll take care of it in one posting. I couldn't seem to resist white buildings against blue skies today. Here's another.





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

Just down the block is this imposing building with no clue as to what it is. I played a guessing game until I got to the corner and saw the front of it.




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

PS 157! An elementary school, at that. That is, it was. It closed in 1975 and then gradually deteriorated until it was rebuilt as apartments in 1989. Don't you just wish you could live in something other than a boring old apartment building? This school looks like a good bet, with its 15' ceilings and beautiful windows. I don't know if it's still true, but in 2000 this was called the gay building because so many gays had moved in.

Streetscapes had a good article on this school in 1989. It seems that prior to the 1890s, schools were built in a factory style as befitted the idea of "the school life of a child as a grinding, manufacturing process . . . ." A new school architect, Charles B. J. Snyder, was appointed in 1891 and began building schools that would have an uplifting effect on the city's poor and working class sections, this being one of them.

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Manhattanville, 126th Street Between Amsterdam and Morningside Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2009 ………. click to enlarge

Reminiscent of an Italian village?

This building is at the break in 126th Street where it angled off (see where the sidewalk curves?). From now on, going west, it'll be a normal numbered street – horizontal.


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Manhattanville, 126th Street Between Amsterdam and Morningside Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2009 ………… click to enlarge

This is where 127th Street, just doing as it should, going straight ahead, is abruptly cut off by 126th Street as it angles off the horizontal. And it was so close to the end! But this did create a spot for a nice narrow triangle building. See map.

Meanwhile, on the south side . . .



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

Manhattanville, Amsterdam Avenue at 126th Street

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

According to Kevin Walsh at forgotten-ny.com, this building was originally the Bernheimer and Schwartz Pilsner Brewing Company, built in 1905. Now known as the Mink Building (presumably because it was a fur storage center for 50 years), it's mixed use, office and retail space. It is on the north side of 126th Street.


And on the south side?




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

A live poultry store! Yes! Below La Granja in very faint lettering, it says Live Poulty. See below.



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

The Mink Building is reflected in whatever is between us and the chickens.

The New York Times recently had an article about slaughter houses in New York City. Interestingly, they're on the increase. There are now about 90 live poultry markets in the metropolitan area and that is double what it was in the mid-90s. This is because of increasing demands from immigrants who want to check out their food before they select it. Far from being incongruous to have these places in New York, we have "probably the country’s highest concentration of live-animal markets." It's a big city kind of thing, I guess.


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Manhattanville, 126th Street Between Old Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue

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

Same block. South side. I love this building. That doesn't mean I want to live there.



Mary Sargent © 2009 ……… click to enlarge

North side. I would not have posted this photo if I hadn't found out it's an historic church. Because I don't like it as a photo is why. But I thought it over and decided I couldn't deny you the opportunity to improve your minds.

This is St. Mary's Episcopal Church, founded in 1823. It is Harlem's oldest church still in its original location. Its congregation included the widow and children of Alexander Hamilton, African-American abolitionists (yes, it was racially integrated), and Daniel Tiemann, Mayor of New York in 1858-59. There is a street named after Tiemann in Manhattanville which I haven't walked yet. It became New York's first "free pew" Episcopal Church in 1831. Before that you had to pay for your pew. I looked on the web for more information about this pew thing and look what I found: freepews.com. Yes, church pews, free for the taking. They won't ship them. Unfortunately for us New Yorkers, there are none in New York City just now. Maybe tomorrow. But if you want to go to Elmira Heights, NY, you can have your choice of or all of 10', 12' and 16' pews, complete with book racks. Uh oh, I seem to have worked myself into a fit of pew desire. Luckily, I can't do anything about it.

Back to serious matters. You should read this NY Times article from 1866. Note that you have to scroll down to catch the beginning.


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Manhattanville, 126th Street Between Old Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue

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

Back to 126th Street and noticing how different the north and south sides of the street are. Here's the south side of the street. And now the reason for the angle parked cars becomes clear. It seems that the police have to break the law in order to enforce the law. Something like that.





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

And here's the north side. This is The Sheltering Arms Playground, named for the Sheltering Arms asylum for children which was once located here. The Parks Department has a nice article about the playground, the asylum, and Manhattanville.

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Manhattanville, Old Broadway Between 126th and 125th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2009 …….. click to enlarge




Mary Sargent © 2009 …….. click to enlarge

Old Broadway used to be a bend in Bloomingdale Road and after Bloomingdale Road became Broadway and Broadway was straightened, it was lopped off. Thus Old (bendy) Broadway. Then in 1961, the Manhattanville Houses were built (we saw one of the buildings last night), and cut the street into two pieces. Two blocks on this side and two more from 131st to 133rd Streets. This is one of those streets that I get curious about just seeing them on the map.

So this is what we have: a pretty little synagogue, the Old Broadway Synagogue, recently renovated. Notice the turquoise car which matches the stained glass.

And a white wall with blue awning looking like New Mexico today.

Check out the map. It shows Old Broadway on the other side of 126th Street as just a little nub before it runs into 129th Street. Mainly the grounds of the Manhattanville Houses. And it shows, better than words can tell, why we go from 126th to 129th Street at this point.

Manhattanville, 126th Street Between Broadway and Old Broadway

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

As I walked along 126th Street, I noticed that the north and south sides of the street were very different, at least on the first few blocks. This is the south side.

And below is the north side.



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We saw this building from Broadway back in February.

This day in May was brilliant. The sky was that blue and the trees were that green. There was an expansive lawn around the tall building, but no people were taking advantage of it. On the south side, however, men sat around in chairs on the sidewalk. They wouldn't let me take pictures. Uhn, uhn, they said, shaking their heads.


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Manhattanville, Broadway Between 125th and 126th Streets

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The last time I was here, I went home and read about Manhattanville and learned about Columbia University's expansion plans. Not surprisingly, there have been protests and lawsuits. Maggie Astor, of the Columbia Spectator, has been reporting this story and one of her articles concerned La Floridita, the tapas restaurant above, regarding negotiations with Columbia about a possible land swap deal. Ramon Diaz, the owner, was worried about the impact a change in location would have and said, regarding that location, “It’s the Champs Elysées [of New York]—I’m on two of the most famous streets in the world." Hmm. Well, maybe if the Champs Elysées had a rusty old viaduct running down the middle of it.

I hadn't taken a usable photograph of La Floridita, so I couldn't use any of that material. Today I had my second chance.

See the green striped awning at the right of the photo? It's the edge of Floridita, a much more casual eatery, shown below.



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Diaz said his uncle came from Cuba and opened La Floridita in 1965, and at one time had 7 of them. Was this the original one? If you know, please let me know.


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Manhattanville, 135th Street at Broadway

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This is now being used for storage; the sign on the front says Tuck-it-Away, one of many in Manhattanville.

But what was it when it was built? Oh, to go back in time.

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Manhattanville, 135th Street Between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway

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On the way home now, heading toward Broadway.

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Manhattanville, Convent Avenue Between 133rd and 135th Streets

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This is Aaron Davis Hall, a performing arts center. Doesn't look real, does it?

To read Harlem One Stop, you'd never know Davis Hall is part of City College. All they have to say about that is that the City College campus is adjacent to Davis Hall. Not so fast, Harlem One Stop! What about this?

Hmm, well, upon further surfing, I have lost some confidence. I guess just because a building is on your campus and you talk about it on your website doesn't mean you own it. I retire in confusion.

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Manhattanville, Convent Avenue Between 131st and 133rd Streets

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Now on the other side of the street is the South Campus of City College. That's City College of City University of New York. Sometimes known as City. The South Campus is the new campus, having been acquired in 1953, whereas the North Campus was constructed in 1906. The University, of course, is older than that (1847) and you are welcome to read all about it in Wikipedia.

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Manhattanville, Convent Avenue Between 131st and 133rd Streets

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This is the Church of the Annunciation, a Catholic church. I could find nothing on the web except its name, address, and telephone number. Most mysterious.

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Manhattanville, 130th Street at Convent Avenue

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I was just looking at that bare tree and thinking how all the trees are leafed out now. Hmm, how long ago did I take these photos? Good grief, almost 3 weeks ago. It should be time to move on, but what can I do about all this rain?

Just think how different this shot would be today. Nothing but tree.

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Manhattanville, Convent Avenue Between 129th and 130th Streets

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Manhattanville, Convent Avenue Between 127th and 128th Streets

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This is the first block of Convent Avenue.

I want to alert you to the fact that I am now in the 21st century map-wise. If you click on the map link below and go to the street view, you can get a 360° photographic view of the current location. I wonder why they didn't hire me to take all those photographs. Well, not really. Speed was probably what they were looking for.

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Manhattanville, Morningside Avenue Between 126th and 127th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2009 ……… click to enlarge

I want to know what was here, how long it has been gone, and why it was taken down. I have a Thirst for Knowledge, or, you might say, a craving for useless information.

Morningside Avenue does not end at 125th Street as it should, but pushes on to 127th Street where it then abruptly stops. Convent Avenue takes over from there and we will see it tomorrow.

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Manhattanville, Morningside Avenue Between 125th and 126th Streets

Home from DC visiting my son, Bill. This time we did the tourist thing for the first time in years. I wanted to see the Vietnam Memorial again, which was as moving as the first time I saw it. We walked the Mall, saw the Capitol and the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial all lined up. Beautiful as ever. It was good to do.

Now I have to go back and pick up from BEFORE the last post.




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

This is across the street from the M&G Diner, the Church of St. Joseph of the Holy Family, the side of the church, of course. The front is on 125th Street.

Now see that little piece of beige building on the right?



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

Here it is. Another one of those blank, 2D buildings I love so much. And I love how the windows look like abstract paintings. It makes me want to paint. Or maybe it was seeing Philip Guston in Washington that makes me want to paint.

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Manhattanville, 135th Street Between Convent and Amsterdam Avenues

FOUR DAY VACATION

I'm going to DC tomorrow and I'll be back and posting Sunday night. You may take advantage of my absence to study the archives.



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


I skipped ahead for this photograph. I wanted to leave you with something inspiring.

See map.