Wall St Bomb Aftermath + Titanic Memorial

Continuing my trek in Manhattan's downtown area, I found myself in the Financial District, and came upon 23 Wall Street.

On September 16, 1920, only a minute after noon, a horse-drawn wagon carrying iron scraps blew up in front of the headquarters of the J.P. Morgan Bank. The blast killed 30 people, and injured another 140. The marks left by the bomb can still be seen on the architecture, with the largest being the size of a grapefruit.

Though investigated for three years, no one was ever prosecuted for the infamous event.

The topic may seem a little morbid, but even the city has a 3x4' placard, complete with photos of the incident, just outside the building.
After this spot, I walked east to Pearl Street, and headed north to see the South Street Seaport Museum's Titanic Memorial; a 60' (18 m) lighthouse, which was built, at the request of socialite, philanthropist, and activist, Margaret Brown, and dedicated to the lives lost in the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic.

The lighthouse was originally built on, and stood atop, the roof of the old Seamen's Church Institute, on the corner of South Street, and Coenties Slip, in 1913. From its construction, up until 1968, the globe at the top of the lighthouse would descend the pole, at noon, everyday. The mechanism was controlled by telegraph from the Naval Observatory in Washington D.C.

In the summer of 1968, the Church Institute moved, and donated the lighthouse to the South Street Seaport, who had it installed where it is now in 1976.

After seeing this landmark, head over one block to 40 Fulton Street, and see a plaque dedicated to the first underground central station, built by Thomas Edison.

From this area, the station ran power to thousands starting in 1882, until it was dismantled (as other newer stations made it obsolete) in 1917. 

Barthman Sidewalk Clock

In downtown Manhattan, on the east (northeast) corner of Maiden Lane and Broadway is an antique clock installed into the sidewalk.

This clock is actually a replacement from 1940, but the original was created by William Barthman, who opened Barthman Jewelers on the same corner in 1884.
He had the idea to place a clock at the spot in 1896, as a simple form of advertising, and had it instituted in 1899.
In 1928, the Maiden Lane Historical Society (which was established in 1911, but is no longer around) pronounced the spot as a landmark...

...though the building has now seen better days.

By 1930, the clock's maintenance man, and co-designer, Frank Homm, passed away, and left no instructions for its care. It had ceased to function, and was even covered by cardboard for almost a decade, before the jewelry store decided to replace it in 1939.
I walked the area a bit more, as there was plenty to take photos, and write, of, but I'll leave the info and pics for my next post, and just finish off with a decent image I took minutes later.

Hook & Ladder 8 (aka Ghostbusters' HQ)

On the corner of Varick and N Moore Street (located at the address: 14 North Moore Street) is a sci-fi nerd's hot spot, but many pass by it without a second glance.

While the interior shots of the Hollywood blockbuster Ghostbusters were filmed in Los Angeles' Fire Station No. 23, the exterior is of FDNY Hook & Ladder 8 Firehouse, in southern Manhattan's TriBeCa neighborhood.

Around Halloween, they hang the logo out front, so if that's what you're looking for, be sure to time your visit.

The spot is still a fully functioning firehouse, so, if sirens go off, please make way for the folks who may be out to save lives.

A lot of cool things were once in this neighborhood, but much of it is gone.
Fluxus artist Joe Jones had a music store on N Moore, with drone music machines displayed in the windows. He also held music shows in the space, where John Lennon and Yoko Ono once played.
The same spot also became the art studio of no wavers Joseph Nechvatal, and Jon Hassell, later video artist Bill Viola. It is now Walkers Restaurant.
I'm certain the area has a lot of great clubs and eateries, but as for "odd spots" (besides the previously-posted-of Mmuseumm), I'm stumped, and will be heading further south for my next post.

Roosevelt Island

A while ago, I took a ride on the F train to Roosevelt Island (originally called Hog Island), which is between Manhattan and Queens on the East River, to see the old small pox clinic, and a few other landmarks, as well as to just get a sense of the very different feel of the island - compared to the rest of NYC.
Built in 1909, the Queensboro Bridge passes over the island, but has no access to it.

A smallpox hospital, simply called The Smallpox Hospital, opened in 1856 (by James Renwick, Jr), and closed a hundred years later.

After walking through the FDR Four Freedoms Park, which is within Southpoint Park, I headed to the north side of the island to see the Blackwell Island Light, a 50-foot (15 m) Gothic-style lighthouse, which was constructed in 1872.

Then, it was a visit to Octagon Garden, the Chapel of the Good Shepard (built in 1889) and Octagon Park (which is where the New York City Lunatic Asylum, built in 1839, once stood).
After finding a few other interesting nooks…

…I floated off on the air-tram, probably never to return.

Statue of Lenin

On the rooftop of a high rise, with the ominous name of Red Square (and located at 250 E Houston Street) in NYC’s Lower East Side, is quite an odd sight, even for those accustomed to the political swing of this place.
The monument is an 18’ statue of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, also known to his comrades as Lenin.

It is one of 23 found around the globe in non-Communist countries, and only one of four in the US (others include Las Vegas, Seattle and Atlantic City).

The artists was Yuri Gerasimov, who constructed eight statues in the 1980s, but when Communism fell they sat around hidden in his yard. In the early 1990s, the artist began to give them away, as well as sell them.
The developers of the property thought, since the building was red brick, and squared, they would call it: Red Square. They also, playing on fears in which many believe the area to be a breeding ground for Socialism, purchased the statue in 1994, and added it to the building, as well as New York City’s illustriously bizarre history.