Exploring NYC through 26 words
Pelagic (adj.): Of, relating to, or living in open oceans or seas rather than waters adjacent to land or inland waters: pelagic birds.
[Latin pelagicus, from Greek pelagikos, from pelagos, sea; Indo-European roots.]
* Definition from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Producer: George Kuchar
Mofette (n.):
[French, gaseous exhalation, from Italian moffetta, diminutive of muffa, mold, moldy smell, probably of Germanic origin.]
* Definition from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Segment Producer: Beth Botshon
Fort Totten is the official headquarters of the U.S. Army Reserve’s U.S. 77th Division, the “Statue of Liberty Division”.
Construction began on Fort Totten in 1862 after the land was purchased by the U.S. Government in 1857 from the Willets family. The fort sits on Willets Point, near Bayside in Queens County, New York. The original purpose was to protect the East River approach to New York Harbor, along with Fort Schuyler, which faces it from Throgs Neck on the opposite side of the river entrance. The fort was named in 1898 after Joseph Gilbert Totten.
In 1954, the fort became a Project Nike air defense site. Although no missiles were located at Fort Totten, it was the regional headquarters for the New York area; administrative offices and personnel housing was located at the fort. Fort Totten was also the headquarters for the 66th Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion, Battery D, whose missiles where located at nearby Fort Slocum on Hart Island. This use of Fort Totten was discontinued in 1974.
Much of the fort has become a public park and is open to the people of NYC for tours by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. During the winter months, a large variety of migratory waterfowl can be observed in the surrounding Long Island Sound and Little Neck Bay. Most of the buildings are now run-down and not used. Fort Totten is also a sports complex, as it holds baseball fields and three soccer fields used for youth soccer.
“Originally inhabited by the Weckquaesgeek Tribe, who lived in the area until the early 17th century, this densely forested high ground at the northern end of Manhattan was Lang Bergh or Long Hill to the early Dutch colonists. The Continental Army called the strategic series of posts along the Hudson River Fort Washingtonâ€? during the summer of 1776, until Hessian mercenaries fighting for the British forced the troops to retreat. The British then renamed the area for Sir William Tryon (1729-1788), Major General and the last British governor of colonial New York.”
“Containing one of the highest points in Manhattan, Fort Tryon Park towers above the Hudson River, offering magnificent views of the Palisades and the lower Hudson Valley that challenge the notion that Manhattan’s best vistas are experienced from its skyscrapers.”
– from the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation website >>
Open city (n.): a city that is declared demilitarized during a war, thus gaining immunity from attack under international law.
Read Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_city
Information on Roberto Rossellini’s Roma, Città Aperta (1945): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome%2C_Open_City
Vaticinate: To prophesy; to foretell; to practice prediction; to utter prophecies.
Nosogeography: the study of the geographical causes and distribution of diseases.
I was at The Tank the other day and picked up a postcard with information about current projects of The New York Society for Acoustic Ecology (NYSAE): Sound-Seeker, Giant Ear))) and City in a Soundwalk. I noticed how similar the concepts from Audile from Abecedarium: NYC are, although much smaller is scale and simplified. All of the NYSAE projects listed are very intriguing. Here is more information:
Sound-Seeker: What kinds of sounds can you find in New York City? With sound-seeker, you can zoom, pan and search for sounds with interactive satellite photos or detailed maps. Click on hot spots to listen to the recorded sounds of a location pin-pointed by gps.
Giant Ear)): A monthly, two-hour radio show webcasting recordings of the NYC soundscape, (wo)man-on-the-street public interest interviews, live on-site sound explorations, special guests, and more on free103point9 Online Radio.
City in a Soundwalk: Composer Michelle Nagai leads you through various soundwalks in the city. Through a practice of focused listening, move through an environment with complete attention to sound. Any environment, at any time of day or night, can become a soundwalk. Anyone, anywhere, can make a soundwalk.
The tippity top of The Bronx? no problem. Fieldston hill here I come.
First, i did a little research here: http://americasroof.com/nyc-bronx.shtml, then i discovered that, for some grand reason, a few members of the bourgeoisie have decided that the tippity top, the culmination, the highest point of the Bronx (with what I imagine will be the best view of the borough and beyond) –will be gated. Off limits. Inaccessible to proles like myself.
I found it ironic, but strangely typical. i debated risking what could have been my second trespassing conviction, (the first was a blueberry patch in upstate New York when i was 16) but my colleagues convinced me that there were other safer, legal alternatives…
I headed to the second highest point in the Bronx, Wave Hill: http://www.wavehill.org/about/history.html
It was beautiful, serene, and far enough away from the city to really feel outside of it (and only a half an hour north from grand central!). I had to keep reminding myself that it was the Bronx.
Before I arrived at Wave Hill park, I had to walk a bit from the train through a little town, which i thought of as a mini-suburbia, but not in that cookie cutter way. The trees were tall and each house was different.
At the park, the gardens were breathtaking, and the staff were helpful and informative. A young gardener pointed me to the highest point in the park – at the wild garden. In between shooting, I admired plant life I’d never encountered, watched bees do their busywork, and contemplated whether i could live this far outside of “the city.” In the end, i think i was sold…
Kermis (n.):
Origin: Late 16th century. < Dutch, "mass on the anniversary of the church's dedication" < kerk “church” + misse “mass” >.
Selected New York City Street Fairs:
06.20.07 – 06.24.07: St. Antonio Abate Society of Castrofilippo
Location: Ditmars Boulevard (between 35th & 38th Street), Astoria, Queens
06.23.07: Coney Island Mermaid Parade
Location: West 10th Street (at the Boardwalk)
08.16.07 – 08.19.07: Borgetto Cultural Association
Location: Steinway Street (between 25th & 28th Avenue), Astoria, Queens
Selected Resources:
NYC Parades + Annual Events: http://www.carnaval.com/cityguides/newyork/parades.htm
Central Astoria Local Development Coalition: http://centralastoria.org/news.htm