The different looks of NYC

[lucky7 73]

Welcome to the second part of 'Manhattan's parks'. As stated before, not all will be shown now- some need to a make-over, others are not finished yet.

However, we start with...

Bryant Park is a 9.603 acre (39,000 m² ) public park located in the New York Cityborough of Manhattan. It is bounded by Fifth Avenue, Sixth Avenue, 40th Street and 42nd StreetMidtown Manhattan.^[1] The central building of the New York Public Library is in the park.

...

History:

While it was still a wilderness, New York's colonial governor Thomas Dongan designated the area now known as Bryant Park as a public space in 1686. George Washington's troops crossed the area while retreating from the Battle of Long Island in 1776. Bryant Park was a potter's field (a graveyard for the poor) from 1823 to 1840, when thousands of bodies were moved to Ward's Island.^[2]

The first park at this site opened in 1847 as Reservoir Square. It was named after its neighbor, the Croton Distributing Reservoir. In 1853, the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations with the New York Crystal Palace, with thousands of exhibitors, took place in the park.^[2]

The square was used for military drills during the American Civil War, and was the site of some of the New York Draft Riots of July 1863, when the Colored Orphan Asylum at Fifth Avenue and 43rd Street was burned down.^[2]

In 1884, Reservoir Square was renamed Bryant Park, to honor the New York Evening Post editor and abolitionist William Cullen Bryant. In 1899, the Reservoir building was removed and construction of the New York Public Library building began. Terraces public facilities, and kiosks were added to the park.

However the construction of the Sixth Avenue Elevated railway in 1878 had cast a literal and metaphorical shadow over the park, and by the 1930s the park had suffered neglect and was considered disreputable. The park was re-designed in 1933-1934 as a Great Depressionpublic works project under the leadership of Robert Moses. The new park featured a great lawn, and also added hedges and later an iron fence in order to separate the park from the surrounding city streets. The park was temporarily degraded in the late 1930s by the tearing down of the El and the construction of the IND Sixth Avenue Line subway.

By the 1970s, Bryant Park had been taken over by drug dealers, prostitutes and the homeless. It was nicknamed "Needle Park" by some, due to its brisk heroin trade, and was considered a "no-go zone" by ordinary citizens and visitors. From 1979 to 1983, a coordinated program of amenities, including a bookmarket, a flower market, cafes, landscape improvements, and entertainment activities, was initiated by a parks advocacy group called the Parks Council and immediately brought new life to the park -- an effort continued over the succeeding years by The Bryant Park Restoration Corporation, which had been founded in 1980 by a group of prominent New Yorkers, including members of the Rockefeller family, to improve conditions in the park. In 1988, a privately funded re-design and restoration was begun by the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation under the leadership of Dan Biederman, with the goal of opening up the park to the streets and encouraging activity within it.

In 1992, the new Bryant Park re-opened and was an instant and spectacular success, immediately attracting local workers and tourists to it.

Bryant Park now has a Parisian feel, and has been compared to Jardin du Luxembourg. When re-opened, the re-designed garden was planted as an English style perennial border in tones of whites, pinks, and blues. Four thousand movable green chairs and five hundred tables are available for sitting in the park.

New York Fashion Week is held in tents in Bryant Park each September and February.

---

Madison Square is formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for James Madison, fourth President of the United States and the principal author of the American Constitution.^[1]

The park and the square are at the northern (uptown) end of the Flatiron District neighborhood of Manhattan. The use of "Madison Square" as a name for the neighborhood has fallen off, and it is rarely heard.

Madison Square is probably best known around the world for lending its name to Madison Square Garden, which was a sports arena located just northeast of the park until 1925.

The area where Madison Square is now had been a swampy hunting ground, and first came into existence as a public space in 1686. In 1807, "The Parade", a tract of about 240 acres (97.12 hectares) , was set aside for use as an arsenal, a barracks, and a potter's field. There was a United States Army arsenal there from 1811 until 1825 when it became the House of Refuge for the Society for the Protection of Juvenile Delinquents for children under sixteen committed by the courts for indefinite periods. It used the facility until 1839 when the building was destroyed by fire.^[2][3][1] The size of the tract was reduced in 1814 to 90 acres (36.42 hectares) , and it received its current name.

In 1839, a farmhouse located at what is now Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street was turned into a roadhouse under the direction of William "Corporal" Thompson (1807-1872), who renamed it later "Madison Cottage", after the former president. This house was the last stop for people travelling northward out of the city, or the first stop for those arriving from the north. It was this Madison Cottage that would give the name to the square, the avenue, and the park. The Cottage was taken down in 1853 and the Fifth Avenue Hotel constructed in its place.^[4]

The roots of the New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club, one of the first professional baseball teams ever, are in Madison Square. Amateur players began in 1842 to use a vacant sandlot at 27th and Madison for their games and, eventually, Alexander Cartwright suggested they draw up rules for the game and start a professional club. When they lost their sandlot to development, they moved to Hoboken, where they played their first game in 1846.

On May 10, 1847, Madison Square Park opened to the public. In 1853, plans were made to build the Crystal Palace there, but strong public opposition and protests caused the palace to be relocated to Bryant Park. From the 1850's to the 1870's the square was the center of an aristocratic neighborhood of brownstones, where Theodore Roosevelt, and Edith Wharton were born.^[1].

When the Draft Riots hit New York in 1863, ten thousand Federal troops brought in to control the rioters were bivuoacked in Madison and Washington squares.^[3]

---

Gramercy Park is located between East 20th Street and East 21st Street and between Park Avenue South and Third Avenue (although it does not take up the entire block between these two avenues) . Lexington Avenue, a major north-south thoroughfare on the East Side of Manhattan, terminates at the northern end of GramercyPark.

GramercyPark was originally a swamp. Samuel B. Ruggles bought what was then farmland from James Duane in 1831.^[2] Originally, in 1831, he gave 42 lots of property to the first Board of Trustees of the new park.^[3] In 1966, the park was designated as a historic district. The name Gramercy is almost certainly a corruption of the Dutch krom mesje, or "little crooked knife," the name of a small brook that flowed along what is now 21st Street.^[4] The area was part of Gramercy Farm until 1831, when its owner, Samuel B. Ruggles, donated the property to the city on condition that no commercial enterprise be permitted on the facing streets or in the park proper. To this day, the park contains no amusements, swing sets, snack shops, or any other intrusions on its rusticity. It is the oldest private park in the United States.

Gramercy

Park is held in common as one of the City's two privately owned parks (SunnysideGardens is the other) by the owners of the surrounding structures, as it has remained since December 31, 1831. Residents living in buildings that face the park may buy a key to the park, which is changed annually.

---

Union Square Park (also known as Union Square) is an important and historic intersection in New York City, located where Broadway and the Bowery came together in the early 19th century; its name does not celebrate the federal union but rather denotes the confluence of several trolley lines, as in the term "union station." Today it is bounded by 14th Street to the south, Union Square West on the west side, 17th Street on the north, and on the east Union Square East, which links together Broadway and Park Avenue South to Fourth Avenue and the continuation of Broadway.

In 1976, the Council on the Environment of New York City established the Greenmarket program, which provided regional small family farmers with opportunities to sell their fruits, vegetables and other farm products at open-air markets in the city. The most famous is the

Union Square Greenmarket, held Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays between 8 AM and 6 PM year round. 250,000 customers a week purchase 1,000 varieties of fruits and vegetables at the market.^[7] The variety of produce available is broader by perhaps a factor of ten than what is found in a conventional supermarket.

---

Stuyvesant Square is a park in the New York Cityborough of Manhattan. The park is located between 15th Street and 17th Street and Rutherford Place and Nathan D. Perlman Place. Second Avenue divides the park into two halves, east and west. Surrounding the park are Beth Israel Medical Center and the old Stuyvesant High School.

---

[Schulmanator 5,815]

Cool! You have some interesting history as well. I have not learned much about NYC history, so I find it quite interesting. The parks look like great places for a stroll. Care to join me? I am getting snacks from vendors while en route. Care for a hot dog?

[penguin007 27]

Nice parks there are u going to do central park?

Will

[Almighty Nienaber 3]

Cool!!! and what street mod are you using? or how did you change the road color?

[jacqulina 162]

great looking paths there my friend,excellent work and pics

[dfnva 34]

Nice job, again, on the parks and I like the historical information. I wonder what you would call a garden in the Madison Square Park?

-Dan

[Josh6 873]

Amazing!!! Have you been working on transportation----> subways?

[Twenty20 28]

Nice parks, I like the last pic, I'm sure that it would be pleasant to have a walk in these gardens.

[lucky7 73]

Schulmanator   Thanks a lot, Bruce. Well, I thought some background history wouldn't be too bad lol As for the hot dog: already PMed you.

Take care,

lucky7

penguin007   thank you. Yes, sure, Central Park will be shown in a huge update later this year, so stay tuned!

Almieghty Nienaber   Thanks for your comment. Well, it's the shady street mode by Thianz (I guess) , PM you with the link. Return, please!

jacqulina   Thanks my friend and please, come back for more. Take care,

lucky7

dfnva   Thanks a lot, Dan, glad you like it. lol Stay tuned for more and take care!

Josh6   Thank you very much. Well, yes, all the subway lines are already in place- in Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. Come back for more, please!

Twenty20   Thanks a lot for commenting, yes, a walk there would be great! Hope you return soon.

Well, I realized that something was missing in the last update, or better, was only shown partially. So, here it is:

Tompkins Square Park is a 10.5 acre (42,000 m² public park in the Alphabet City section of the East Village neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is square in shape, and is bounded on the north by East 10th Street, on the east by Avenue B, on the south by East 7th Street, and on the west by Avenue A. St. Marks Place abuts the park to the west.

Tompkins Square Park is located on land near the East River, that once consisted of marshland and open meadows, but has since been filled in.^[1] Tompkins Square Park is named for Daniel D. Tompkins (1774–1825), Vice President of the United States under President James Monroe and the Governor of New York from 1807 until 1817. The park was landscaped by 1850 and has been a public park since the late 1870s.

On January 13, 1874, the Tompkins Square Riot occurred in the park when police crushed a demonstration involving thousands of workers.^[2] The riot marked an unprecedented era of labor conflict and violence.

In the middle 19th century the "Square" included a large parade ground for drilling the New York National Guard. The modern layout of the park by Robert Moses in 1936 is said to be intended to divide and manage crowds that have gathered there in protest since the 1870s. That tradition was rekindled as the park became the nursery of demonstrations against the Vietnam War in the 1960s.

By the 1980s Tompkins Square Park had become for many New Yorkers synonymous with the city's increased social problems. The park at that time was a high-crime area that contained encampments of homeless people, and it was a center for illegal drug dealing and heroin use.

In August 1988, a riot erupted in the park when police attempted to clear the park of homeless people; 44 people were injured. Bystanders as well as homeless people and political activists got caught up in the police action that took place on the night of August 6 and the early morning of August 7, after a large number of police surrounded the park and charged at the hemmed-in crowd while other police ordered all pedestrians not to walk on streets neighboring the park. Much of the violence was videotaped and clips were shown on local TV news reports (notably including one by a man who sat on his stoop across the street from the park and continued to film while a police officer beat him up), but ultimately, although at least one case went to trial, no police officers were found culpable.

From June 3, 1991 to July 25, 1992, the park was closed to the public for restoration, but also to keep out the homeless and in attempt to calm tensions.^[3]

Oh, btw, I stayed at an apartment at Ave B/ 10th for some months, so I know this area quite well.

The next update will feature the completed area of Secaucus, so stay tuned.

Take care everyone and thanks for viewing and commenting,

lucky7

[jacqulina 162]

beautifull park my friend great use of paths trails and trees.excellent details.

[lucky7 73]

OK, here is the promised opinion poll.

As Manhattan will be shown later this year (late fall) I would like to know what area you would like to see first: we could start from the very top of the island and go South to 86th Street (middle of Central Park) or just the other way round, from 86th Street and then work our way up to the North of Manhattan. The same will be done with the other half of Manhattan, next year.

So, your opinion is being questioned, and I'd like to invite everyone to contribute his/ her thoughts.

The poll can be found here:

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=36&threadid=97906&enterthread=y

[Schulmanator 5,815]

Sorry to have disappeared... my computer desk conspired against me and knocked me offline for a few days. The new park looks like a welcome addition to Manhattan. As for where to start the island, I would say my preference is to surprise us - pick something different each time and keep us "on our toes".

[futurama2506sim 7]

wow...genius

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

Oh my god, I'd've SWORN I commented after the parks! How could I have missed! Well, they look great, and I put my vote in (I notice it's been a while, I really hope you're still at this)! Hope to see some more soon!

[Smarty218 2]

Arrgh, missed updates again! Great work anywho.... looking forward to more.

My vote is in....

~TJ

[CocaTertoka 7]

Your realism ceases to amaze me, great work! Keep it coming. You inspire...

[kylelies 0]

omg this is great! i was born at BethIsrael, and my dad worked at SIT! I moved away, ut this brings back a lot of memories.

Make sure to put the tall 14-story building on the SIT campus!

[lucky7 73]

Hi to everyone,

maybe some of you have already worried that this CJ may be closed, but I am far away from that.

After being away for vacation for a couple of weeks I have been quite busy working on different (RL) projects since the day of my arrival back home.

Don't worry, new updates are being shown very soon. Replies to your great comments will be done later, however, thanks everyone for viewing and commenting.

Take care,

lucky7

[penguin007 27]

Good to see you are back and I cant wait to see new stuff from you

Will

[Schulmanator 5,815]

I am looking forward to your next update. Welcome back!

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

I'm really glad that this isn't closed. I think we all understand about the whole RL thing I'm definitely looking forward to the new stuff!

[doliverio 0]

Love the update with Inwood Hill Park and Ft Tryon! I live on Seaman Ave right between the two parks. I would love to see another inwood update!

[Tia-may 0]

Keep up the good work it is going well, especially with the parks.

[art128 4,624]

nice park !!

[Mother of Invention 23]

Loving the parks!

[edmonton_stinks 5]

Welcome back, Lucky! Can't wait for the new updates.

[lucky7 73]

Well, finally my CJ is getting started, again, after weeks of virtual absence... .

As always, replies first:

Schulmanator (from 07 /27)   lol the curse of the computer... Thanks for your great comment, and stay tuned for more to come soon. Take care, Bruce

futurama2506sim (from 08 / 13)   Welcome to my CJ and thanks for posting. Glad you like it and hope you return.

NMUSpidey (from 08 /13)  lol don't worry. Yes, sure, I am still on this, this CJ will only end when whole of (virtual) NYC is finished... Thanks for posting and voting.

Smarty218 (from 08 /13)  Don't worry about having missed some updates, there's plenty to come soon. Thank you for commenting and voting.

CocaTertoka (from 08 / 13)  Wow, thanks for your great comment and for inspiring you. Come back, please.

kylelies (from 09 / 01) oh, cool! Yes, the building will soon be added on the SIT campus. Thanks for posting and hope you return soon.

penguin007 (from 09 / 13)   Thanks for posting Will, and, yes, here's something new for you.

Schulmanator ( from 09 / 13) Thanks a lot, Bruce,  and here we go.

NMUSpidey ( from 09 / 13)    yes, ... RL ...  thanks for posting and hope you like the little preview...

doliverio (from 09 / 13)    Oh, cool that you live in this area. there will be a huge update on this, soon, so stay tuned. Thanks for posting.

Tia-may (from 09 / 13)   Thank you very much. Central Park is to be shown very soon... Thanks for commenting.

art128 (from 09 / 13) Thanks a lot, wait until you see Central Park ! Thanks for your post.

Mother of Invention (from 09 / 13)   Thanks for your comment, there will be plenty of parks shown very soon.

edmonton_stinks (from 09 / 13) Thank you very much. Yes, I have a bunch of updates in my pocket, so stay tuned. Thanks for posting.

Ok, now a very small teaser of what's to come on the weekend. Since we are - still - at Secaucus, the next update is focusing on this area again 8for the last time, though) :

TEASER

A transmitter- site west of Hackensack River and close to the New Jersey Turnpike:

I hope everyone remembers the opinion poll, where you would like me to start showing Manhattan.

Well, here are the results of your votes, thanks everyone for voting.

This means, that the update after the Secaucus one will already feature Manhattan.

Stay tuned everyone as this is going to be a huge one.

REMINDER:   As we are only a few posts away from the next milestone of this CJ, i.e. 300 posts, there is going to be another award, so be sure to get it!

Thanks everyone for viewing and commenting,

take care everyone,

lucky7

[jacqulina 162]

welcome back my friend great looking transmitters there cant wait to see more

[xV.I.N.C.E.N.T.x 0]

You obviousy have a touch for "parks". Love the different ones. I really love the idea with the water around the transmitter towers. Looks just like its on tiny islands.

Vin

[suplado! 23]

wow -- cant wait for the next update, and i would like to see how manhattan will be shown here...