Themes in American History

My recent trip to the Museum of the City of New York has given me the opportunity to explore some facts about the City. Several interesting and knowlegeable facts caught my attention during the visit. Starting from transportation to push cart, there are several factual things I am really interested in.

I didnot know that New York City happens to be the leading manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages in the 1800s and at mid century had the highest concentration of horse- drawn vehicle and component manufacturers in the country (according to the museum). The vast majority of city horses were not elegant animals who pulled carriages and lived in stables near the homes of the wealthy; most were big workhorses who did all the hauling–pulling wagons loaded with goods from the shore. Big teams of workhorses powered the city’s horse-driven street trolley system. The limited range and speed of these trolleys were one reason everyone lived below 57th Street(www.banhdc.org).

The early transportation system happens to be the electric street car or trolley of the turn of the century. MTA bus of the late 20th century are examples of the way the city provides transportation for large numbers of people. The first motorized buses were introduced in the early 1900s; Brooklyn had trolley as the main means of transportation until the 1919.After being appointed as the Mayor of the city in the year 1934, Fiorello La Guardia created a plan for replacing electric trolleys with buses.

The Museum of the City of New York also represents an entire section on vendor selling food and dry goods. Push cart were once a common sight on the New York City’s streets; according to the 1906 push cart commission there were more than 25000 vendors selling food and dry goods. Until Fiorello Laguardia’s active campaign against street vending; enclosed markets such as the Essex street market and La Marqueta in East Harlem, were established as a way of diverting vendors off the streets. As the museum also represents how the city is expereiencing a street vendign renaissance,with outdoor green markets and licensed mobile cart operators. Many offer a range of foods that would have seemed unimaginable even a few short years ago.

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After work this Friday, I decided to go to the MCNY, which is located at 1220 Fifth Avenue. I was accompanied by my girlfriend, who I had decided to impress with my (extensive, yes I said extensive) knowledge of NYC history. When we were approaching the building, from a distance of about 100 yards, I noticed a statue outside the museum, and excitedly and confidently declared that it was the statue of Alexander Hamilton. To her surprise (and to be honest, mine as well) I was absolutely right. After such an auspicious start, I was looking forward to entering the museum.

When we paid and went in ad looked around, I felt like a historian watching “Gangs of New York”. I was terribly disappointed. Maybe we just chose the wrong time to go but half the museum was closed for renovations. There were some beautiful pictures on the first floor on one side and The American Style: Colonial Revival and the Modern Metropolis exhibition on the other. The pictures were modern and so its placement in this museum was lost on me.

At the other end, The American Style exhibition was a lot more fascinating and interesting. There were many interesting exhibits – and what I liked most about it was trying to figure out which era it belonged to and what historical significance it had. Unfortunately, most of my guesses ranged from way off to pathetically way off. But as they say, alls well that ends well. Just as we were about to leave the room, the last exhibit was depicting George Washington’s inauguration. At this my girlfriend said, “Ohh I didnt know this happened in NY”. I realized it was another opportunity to show off – I went into a lengthy narration starting with the British coming thru NYC and George Washington’s army fighting well but having to retreat in the night to the French assisting America win the revolutionary war and George Washington declaring independence in NYC. How I would love to say at this moment that my girlfriend was very impressed with my knowledge – all I got was “Good for him! Is this enough for your extra credit?”

We then moved to the second floor which was filled with an exhibition about the life of Joel Gray. Joel Gray was a performer and photographer of whom I had never heard. They had some fascinating information, pictures and other exhibits from his life. All I can say is that I wish it was from either Alexander Hamilton, Robert Moses or someone we had studied about. Around the corner, was a room which showed the interior decoration of the nineteenth century, which was really amazing!! Right between Joel Gray and the old but amazing furniture was the  Timescapes!! Timescapes is a 22 minute documentary on NYC by PBS!! For those of you, who cannot understand all the exclamations and the excitement, PBS also made the documentary which we watch in class. I thought it would serve 3 purposes – (1) give me enough material to write in this blog, (2) be like a quick recap of everything we learned just before the exam, and (3) give me another opportunity to show off and impress my girlfriend with my knowledge about NYC history (Yes some guys never quit).

Timescapes left me happy but even unsatisfied. As you can imagine, getting the history right from Hudson landing in Manhattan in the early 1600s to 9/11, 2001 within 22 minutes is an impossible task. When they skimmed over the revolutionary war and Alexander Hamilton, it was saddening but to not mention the Draft Riots, Tweed, or Amsterdam Vallon (kidding) did make me feel like I was being robbed. Overall, in the limited time available they did do a pretty good job – I can attest to that as my girlfriend with a nice big smile said, “now that was interesting”.

Overall, it was a very fascinating trip, which reiterated the fact that I do have a passion and liking for history – something that I did not realize before this class. Just as we stepped out of the museum into the pouring rain (I swear I am not making this up) and took a left to go towards the subway on 103rd st, we realized that we were standing at the statue of DeWitt Jackson. I felt like this was the perfect ending for a trip to the NYC Museum, as I strongly believe that DeWitt Jackson played the most important role, with the grid and the Erie Canal, in the modernization of NYC.

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