LaGuardia Community College
FORTY SECOND STREET WALKING TOUR (J. Reitano)
Forty second street is one of the most enduring physical symbols of N.Y.C.'s dynamic complexity. It represents the Big Apple at its best and worst, at its most exciting and most dangerous. It is a hub of high culture, mass entertainment, sleeze and sin; of transportation, communications and economic growth. It harbors a major library, a lovely little park, a famous skyscraper, and the United Nations. With a past as interesting as a future, Forty Second Street can provide a wealth of opportunities to analyze and appreciate the wonder that is New York.
1. Walk across the bridge over the Sunnyside train yards to the Queens Plaza Subway station. Point out the NYC skyline to your left and the Chrysler building in the middle of it which is on 42nd St. Note the new magnificent mural in the station which provides perspective on the view from Queens Plaza. Take the E from Queens Plaza to Eighth Avenue and 42nd St.
2. Built in 1950, the Port Authority Bus Terminal is the largest bus terminal in the world. As such it reflects NYC's size, its magnetism, and its suburban connection. Note the mural about NYC as you leave the 8th Ave line next to the Greyhound office.
What different kinds of people and stores are in the terminal. How many police are there? Does it seem safe?
3. Exit to the street at the south side of 42nd st and Eighth Avenue. Look (but do not take the time to walk there) to the left towards Ninth Avenue. On the south side just down the street is the 1931 McGraw Hill art deco building. Curiously enough, its architect designed its blue-green horizontal stripes at the same time as he was designing vertical stripes for the Daily News building at the other end of 42nd St. The McGraw Hill building marks NYC's historic role as center of the publishing industry. Its stepbacks reflect the passage of NYC's first zoning law in 1916 designed to prevent the construction of huge buildings that consumed entire blocks and crowd out the light.
On the north side of the street (also looking towards 9th Avenue) is the Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church (1870) and a few late nineteenth century tenements. These buildings are remnants of the Irish neighborhood called Hell's Kitchen. There was so much crime in the slum that it was said to be "hotter than hell's kitchen." The pastor of the church was Father Duffy, the beloved "Fighting Chaplain" of World War I, whose statue is in Times Sq.
Mention that 42nd street from 8th Avenue to 7th Avenue was traditionally Sin Street reknowned for porno shops, skin flicks, penny arcades, etc. Much of it has been cleaned up but some vestiges remain and are now expanding. Ask students to observe the buildings as they walk. Several old theaters are being renovated. Look for the dates. The New Amsterdam Theater at 214 W 42 dates from 1903. The Empire Theater was built in 1913. Note the white terra cotta Candler Building at 220 near 7th Avenue which was built by the supersalesman of Coca Cola, Asa Candler. Stop in front of the Hilton Hotel to admire Tom Otterness’ whimsical sculptures. How do they refelct NYC? (More are on the 14th St platform of the 8th Ave subway.)
4. Try to find a spot on the corner of 42nd and Seventh from which to get a view of Times Square and the Great White Way. The tall thin building on the triangle (not square) in the middle of the street is the Times Tower, now covered in ads. It marks the move of the NY Times from downtown to uptown along with the subway which was opened in 1904. (Tell the students to come back to see the striking transit oriented murals downstairs by Roy Lichtenstein and Jacob Lawrence.) On Dec 31, 1904, the Times sponsored the first of its annual New Year’s eve celebrations. The 5 ft high, 360 foot long, lighted sign encircling the building first announced election returns in 1928. However, electric signs adorned the area earlier in the century giving it the name of the Great White Way, which in turn created “the city that never sleeps.” Times Square remains the center for the theaters, movie houses, and restaurants that make NYC an entertainment mecca. It is known as “The Crossroads of the World.” Note the statues of Father Duffy and George M. Cohan. Mention the debate over cleaning up/sanitizing Times Sq that started in the 1970s and continues today.
5. Walk from 7th Avenue to Sixth Avenue on the south side of the street. Near the corner is the NY Telephone Co building built in 1974 with a narrow pedestrian plaza intended to offset the height of the building and to provide some (token?) public space in the midst of all the private real estate. NYC has long been the nation’s communications center.
6. Cross Sixth Avenue and enter Bryant Park, named for William Cullen Bryant, famous 19th century poet, reformer and editor of the NY Evening Post. Mention that Sixth Avenue was renamed Avenue of the Americas by Fiorello LaGuardia in honor of NYC's rise to prominence as a world city. Looking across the street you will find the 1974 Grace building with a daring slant that innovatively accomodates the zoning laws. Wm R. Grace was a mid-nineteenth century shipping magnate and the first Irish-born Catholic mayor of NYC (1880-1882 and 1884-1886).
In 1853 the park was the site of the Crystal Palace, so named because it was a huge glass greenhouse built to hold all kinds of mecahnical and agricultural displays for America's first World's Fair. Although it was supposed to be fireproof, it was consumed by fire in 1858. Walk through the park noting how nicely it has been renovated and how heavily it is used, especially during summer lunchtime. Note also its commercialization/privatization via the expensive restaurants near the library.
Exit the park on 42nd St near the public lavatory, one of the few in the city. Walk up to Fifth Ave, make a right, go up the Library steps to the first landing. (The NYPL is closed on Mon.) In the early 19th century this land was a potters' field and in 1842 the Croton Resevoir was built to provide the city with its first clean water supply, finally ending a long history of water borne epidemics. It was a massive Egyptian-style structure with 50 ft high, 25 ft thick walls topped by a promenade. At the time this was the northern end of the city. It was demolished in 1899 when the Croton Dam was built.
The Library itself was completed in 1911 for 9 million dollars. It is one of the finest examples of Beaux Arts architecture in the U.S. and one of the great libraries of the world. In merging the libraries of three prominent New Yorkers and benefitting from a $5.2 million gift from Andrew Carnegie, it refected the rise of new wealth in the late 19th century. Enter the library to take in the lavish architecture. Mention the 3rd Floor half-acre central reading room, the seven floors of books underground, the shop, and the various exhibit spaces well worth visiting.
7. Exit the Library, cross Fifth Avenue and pause at the southeast corner of 42nd st. Point out that the west side of 43rd and Fifth was the site of the Colored Orphan Asylum which was burned down during the 1863 Draft Riots that paralyzed the city for five days and cost at least 100 lives, including 4 black men who were lynched. Fortunately, the children were safely ushered out of the orphanage, but the building was demolished as were several rich people's homes along Fifth Avenue. They were the worst riots in U.S. history.
From 1868 to 1927, Temple Emanuel occupied the east side of 43rd and Fifth, a symbol of NYC's diversity and its tradition of religious tolerance which began when it was Dutch New Amsterdam. By 1900 Fifth Avenue was home to the newly rich and their residential palaces. By 1925 the residences had moved further uptown and this area was primarily commercial.
8. Walk from Fifth to Madison and from Madison to Park on the south side of the street. Just beyond the subway is the Phillip Morris Building (1982) which contains a small pedestrian seating area, interesting sculptures, and a Whitney Museum exhibit room. It is worth entering briefly as an example of a successful public space resulting from zoning laws and the effort to balance private with public concerns.
9. Cross over to Grand Central Station, enter and find a spot to stand in the main room near the information kiosk. Built from 1903 to 1913, the station is another magnificent example of Beaux Arts architecture and a testimony to the power of the Robber Barons, in this case Cornelius Vanderbilt, "Commodore" of the NY Central Railroad. The zodiac ceiling vault is 125 ft across; the windows are 75 ft high. The design is practical, monumental and beautiful. It represents NYC as a transportation hub, the center of global commerce, and a great city.
10. Exit Grand Central and walk to the corner of 42 and Lex. The Chrysler Building is one of the most famous and most beloved NYC skyscrapers. At 1048 ft in 1930, it was the tallest building in the world until the Empire State building was completed in 1931. In keeping with its automotive owner, it was the first building to use stainless steel decoratively. The scalloped effect represents car hubcaps and the gargoyles are really hood ornaments. If you have time to go inside appreciate the African marble and the transportation theme mural which is not only the largest mural in the world but also honors its workers by including them in the design. NYC has long been a labor town.
Back on the street, you can describe or walk to the following:
The Ford Foundation building (1967) with its 130 ft public greenhouse is a modern Crystal Palace. The Daily News building (1930) across the street contains the world's largest interior globe and combines with Bryant park and the NY Times building to reflect NYC as a center of journalism. Tudor City was built in the 1920s as an elite enclave which walled the city out therby capturing class divisions in NYC. The UN Headquarters were built from 1947 to 1953, appropriately enough by a team of international architects. Robert Moses rearranged traffic to accomodate the structures which symbolize NYC's role as an international city. From one end to the other, we see how important, diverse, and rich NYC truly is.
11. Return to Grand Central, Take the #7 train back to 33rd and Rawson. If you have any more voice or energy left, point out the stained glass designs with their alphbetical insets that are at every station along the #7. Be sure to mention that the #7 has been designation the International Express because Western Queens is the most heterogeneous neighborhood in the World and because of all the different ethnics groups that grace each stop along the line. (See the video in the LaG library)
42nd Street Walking Tour Observation Form
your name______
Enter 1-3 key words that best capture the style and significance of each site.
Rank order all of the sites in terms of their importance (1=most; 11=least) for understanding how 42nd St reflects the essence and the complexity of NYC.
Port Authority Bus Terminal
Old Hell’s Kitchen
Old theaters
New Hilton Hotel/Grand Hyatt Hotel
Madam Tussaud’s
Times Square and subway
Bryant Park
New York Public Library
Bowery Savings Bank
Grand Central Terminal
Chrysler Building/Chanin Building/Mobil Building
List five key words that best capture the spirit, significance and complexity of 42nd St
Possible Short Essay Assignments:
In your opinion, has the Times Square area been properly cleaned up or too sanitized? Is it too commercialized? Are there too many signs? Is it exciting or confusing? Is it a rich urban public space or just a glitsy tourist attraction?
How does 42nd Street capture the best and the worst of NYC? Explain why you would or would not want to live or work in the surrounding neighborhood. If your friends or relatives visited NYC, which 42nd St sites would you take them to see? Why?