Our final full day in New York was spent on an extended tour with our guides, Dr. Joseph Rosenberg and Rey Calderon. Our first visit was to the Hearst Tower, which is an interesting blend of the historic and the contemporary. When Hearst constructed the base of the building, he never completed the tower that was supposed to stand atop it due to the financial stresses of the Great Depression. When the company finally went ahead with plans to create a tower, it opted to keep the exterior of the historic base, create a contemporary tower, and gut the historic interior to support the tower and implement some wide-reaching green measures, including water recycling and putting in earthquake supports. The mix of the two styles is actually refreshing, rather than a pseudo-historic building placed atop a truly historic one.
From there we made our way to the renovated Columbus Circle. Again, this site is a blend of the historic with the contemporary. The historic statue of Christopher Columbus is still central, but it is now surrounded by benches and fountains and a mix of new and old buildings. The circle blends principles of what I think makes the new generation of historic preservationists successful. The site has character and a true sense of place, and allows for the integration of new development while utilizing the historic spaces. All of those combine for a better quality of life and a vibrant cityscape.
Next we hopped on the bus and made our way up Central Park West, again spotting the Dakota and Museum of Natural History. We stopped and strolled into Central Park, where we learned about the construction of the park, its decay and rebirth. That rebirth is a theme for the entire city, but it was inspiring to see a case where the natural and historic environments were both valued assets.
We drove back to the theater district to visit the Nederlander Theatre, where we were greeted by Jim Boese, vice president of Nederlander Theatres and president of the League of Historic American Theatres. Although the theatre is not designated a historic landmark, Boese oversaw the renovations of the Nederlander Theatre and walked us through all of the details that he thought were important. This theatre served as the location for the show "Rent" for thirteen years, and its decay had been a perfect setting for that show. But afterward, Disney expressed interest in using the theatre, but would only use the Nederlander Theatres (both the ones in Manhattan and across the country) if the company restored them and their historic elements.
Not only are the Disney shows a success for what they put on the stage, but they see the setting as equally important to the success of their theatrical enterprises. Nederlander Theatres have also seen the financial benefits of restoring their historic theatres and of their partnership with Disney. The wall behind the Nederlander Theatre still has all of the graffiti left behind from cast members of "Rent" and some of the theatregoers who saw the show.
We then made our way back past many of the Manhattan monuments that are now very familiar to us, until we arrived at Gramercy Park. We walked around the square and peeked into the private park, before we made our way into the National Arts Club. The building is beautiful, and the food was amazing. Gramercy Park rang a bell for me, and then Dr. Rosenberg pointed out that Edwin Booth's home (now the Player's Club, which Booth founded) had been right next door to the National Arts Club. I remembered Sarah Vowell talking about this site in her book "Assassination Vacation." Dr. Rosenberg secured a key to the park, and I was able to take a picture of the statue of Edwin Booth that Sarah Vowell had mentioned. Edwin Booth was the brother of John Wilkes Booth, but famous in his own right as the most talented actor of his day.
To end the extended tour day, we made our way into the Financial District and the World Financial Center. Dr. Rosenberg talked through how he personally, and the city as a whole, recovered from the terrorist attacks of nearly a decade ago. We then looked out over Ground Zero from the Winter Garden of the World Financial Center. When I visited Ground Zero a year ago, I felt so overwhelmed that I had to leave quickly. This time, it was not so difficult to be there. I don't know if it was because we were looking at it from behind glass or if hearing about the recovery and the sense of hope from Dr. Rosenberg helped me come to terms with the site. Regardless, what I thought would be a real downer ended up being the ultimate high of the week.
With only a little bit of evening left to ourselves, my mother and I grabbed a light dinner (and I made sure to have a cosmopolitan, because no trip to New York City is complete without one), snagged a few last-minute souvenirs and then went to see "Wicked." It was just as wonderful as I had heard it would be.
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