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Free Zoom Presentation
Wednesday, April 3 at 630pm
"Voices of the Stones"
Register HERE for this free zoom presentation
Wednesday, April 3 at 630pm
"Voices of the Stones"
Register HERE for this free zoom presentation
"VOICES OF THE STONES: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Unfinished Tower of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine"
Presented by Robert F. Rodriguez, photojournalist and artist in residence at the Cathedral
Co-sponsored by the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group and the Columbus Amsterdam BID.
About the program:
Forty years ago, the Cathedral of St John the Divine undertook a major project to build its long overdue towers. Despite that effort, they were never completed – thus the church's nickname, St. John the Unfinished.
What most people don’t realize is that the partially built south tower is host to an extraordinary array of exquisite stone sculptures – not readily visible from street level.
Via a series of never-before-seen photographs, "Voices of the Stones" offers a unique, up-close-and-personal look at the wondrous, intricate and often humorous carvings, traces them back to the dedicated men and women stone carvers who created them, and reveals some “secret” messages they carved into their limestone creations.
About the presenter
As artist in residence at the Cathedral, photojournalist Robert F. Rodriguez spent more than 10 years documenting all facets of the construction work involved in building the tower. A photographer and photo editor at Gannett Newspapers for 38 years and The Daily Mail for ten, he was also the photographer for the book on local Upper West Side history, Heaven on the Hudson: Mansions, Monuments, and Marvels of Riverside Park, and the upcoming Fabulous Fountains of New York, both written by Stephanie Azzarone. His series of blogs about the Cathedral’s architecture may be found at https://divinestone.org/ .
Presented by Robert F. Rodriguez, photojournalist and artist in residence at the Cathedral
Co-sponsored by the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group and the Columbus Amsterdam BID.
About the program:
Forty years ago, the Cathedral of St John the Divine undertook a major project to build its long overdue towers. Despite that effort, they were never completed – thus the church's nickname, St. John the Unfinished.
What most people don’t realize is that the partially built south tower is host to an extraordinary array of exquisite stone sculptures – not readily visible from street level.
Via a series of never-before-seen photographs, "Voices of the Stones" offers a unique, up-close-and-personal look at the wondrous, intricate and often humorous carvings, traces them back to the dedicated men and women stone carvers who created them, and reveals some “secret” messages they carved into their limestone creations.
About the presenter
As artist in residence at the Cathedral, photojournalist Robert F. Rodriguez spent more than 10 years documenting all facets of the construction work involved in building the tower. A photographer and photo editor at Gannett Newspapers for 38 years and The Daily Mail for ten, he was also the photographer for the book on local Upper West Side history, Heaven on the Hudson: Mansions, Monuments, and Marvels of Riverside Park, and the upcoming Fabulous Fountains of New York, both written by Stephanie Azzarone. His series of blogs about the Cathedral’s architecture may be found at https://divinestone.org/ .
Free Monthly Walking Tours of Historic Bloomingdale
After a long--much too long---pandemic-induced delay, Jim Mackin once again leads tours for both tourists and city residents on one-of-a-kind, always interesting, walks around the historic Bloomingdale neighborhood. The walks are monthly and vary from month to month. And they're free! No reservation needed!
Jim is no ordinary tour guide--he is a New York City historian and author of the recently released book, Notable New Yorkers of Manhattan’s Upper West Side . Michael Miscione, former Manhattan Borough Historian describes Jim’s book as “an exhaustive and ofttimes surprising ‘Who’s Who’ of Upper West Siders who have shaped the worlds of art, culture, politics and science.”
Trust Jim to know where all the notables lived and to share fascinating, often little-known stories about them. Once you’ve completed this tour, you’ll understand what makes this rarified slice of Manhattan so renowned and so vital.
Jim is the founder of Weekday Walks, which offers tours every Wednesday morning, covering a different part of the city each time. For Jim's Wednesday tours, visit https://www.weekdaywalks.com.
More info 212-666-9774
or info@columbusamsterdambid.org
sponsored by the Columbus/Amsterdam BID
and Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group
Jim is no ordinary tour guide--he is a New York City historian and author of the recently released book, Notable New Yorkers of Manhattan’s Upper West Side . Michael Miscione, former Manhattan Borough Historian describes Jim’s book as “an exhaustive and ofttimes surprising ‘Who’s Who’ of Upper West Siders who have shaped the worlds of art, culture, politics and science.”
Trust Jim to know where all the notables lived and to share fascinating, often little-known stories about them. Once you’ve completed this tour, you’ll understand what makes this rarified slice of Manhattan so renowned and so vital.
Jim is the founder of Weekday Walks, which offers tours every Wednesday morning, covering a different part of the city each time. For Jim's Wednesday tours, visit https://www.weekdaywalks.com.
More info 212-666-9774
or info@columbusamsterdambid.org
sponsored by the Columbus/Amsterdam BID
and Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group
Save the Date: Wednesday, May 15, 6:30 pm
Free Zoom Presentation
"Before Central Park" presented by Sara Cedar Miller
Click HERE to register for this event
Free Zoom Presentation
"Before Central Park" presented by Sara Cedar Miller
Click HERE to register for this event
Central Park is an urban masterpiece. But before it became a model for city parks worldwide, the land was the site of farms, businesses, churches, wars, and burial grounds – and home to many different kinds of New Yorkers. In this program, Sara Cedar Miller will chronicle two-and-a-half centuries of the history of that land: the 17th and 18th century Dutch and English landowners; three wars; the land divisions of the 19th century; New York’s Common Lands; the land that became Seneca Village, with new research on the landowners and renters of the Black community; the immigrant experience; the reservoirs; and lastly, the system behind the monetary awards to the landowners so the city could create Central Park.
Sara Cedar Miller has been the historian emerita of the Central Park Conservancy since 2017. She was the Conservancy photographer from 1984, and its historian from 1989 to 2017. Miller is the author of Central Park: An American Masterpiece (2003), Strawberry Fields, Central Park’s Memorial to John Lennon (2011), Seeing Central Park: The Official Guidebook: Updated and Expanded (2021) and Before Central Park (2022).
Sara Cedar Miller has been the historian emerita of the Central Park Conservancy since 2017. She was the Conservancy photographer from 1984, and its historian from 1989 to 2017. Miller is the author of Central Park: An American Masterpiece (2003), Strawberry Fields, Central Park’s Memorial to John Lennon (2011), Seeing Central Park: The Official Guidebook: Updated and Expanded (2021) and Before Central Park (2022).