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Thursday, September 28, 2017

WNYC Transmitter Park

When I investigated WNYC Transmitter Park in Greenpoint, Brooklyn back in 2010 it was nothing but a construction site.

wnyc transmitter park greenpoint brooklyn nyc

Two years later it opened to the public, transformed into a green waterfront space with excellent views.

Only five years late to the party, I arrived to check it out.

wnyc transmitter park greenpoint brooklyn nyc

I always like to see landscaping that evokes a woodland or grassland trail.

wnyc transmitter park greenpoint brooklyn nyc

Dominating the park from what would otherwise be a bleak brick wall is a huge mural of a girl with flowers by the artist Faile, part of a "street-art project." (Does "street-art" mean it's temporary? Online sources don't say.) Faile told Patch, "The idea was the timeless theme of 'love me, love me not'—aiming to depict a moment that asks the question of what kind of relationship we have with nature. Are we here to love it and take care of it or not?"

wnyc transmitter park mural greenpoint brooklyn nyc

The sheer size of the mural is astounding.

wnyc transmitter park mural greenpoint brooklyn nyc

The frog in the painting isn't the only animal in the park. Here's a real one.

wnyc transmitter park butterfly greenpoint brooklyn nyc

The park is the former home of public radio station WNYC and a ferry terminal. An entry on the website of the New York City Economic Development Corporation's website at the time of the 2012 opening states: "The former WNYC radio broadcasting building was converted into a café." But if that was meant to happen, it hasn't. Dwarfed by a spectacular willow tree, the building is closed up and appears to be just a historical relic.

wnyc transmitter park greenpoint brooklyn nyc

In fact, the Friends of WNYC Transmitter Park (every park needs an advocacy organization these days) has a petition to stop the opening of a bar/café here. The Friends want instead to convert the building into a "botanical learning center surrounded by gardens featuring native species," DNAInfo reported in April.

There are two more reasons to oppose a bar/café within the park. First, there's a small playground.

wnyc transmitter park greenpoint brooklyn nyc

And second, there's already a party boat, the Brooklyn Barge, next door.

wnyc transmitter park greenpoint brooklyn nyc

The sign etched into the side of the old transmitter building (with contrast increased for readability) says:

CITY OF NEW YORK
DEPARTMENT OF PLANT AND STRUCTURES
TRANSMITTER HOUSE
RADIO STATION
WNYC
1936

with the names of Mayor F.H. LaGuardia and Commissioner F.J.H. Kracke. LaGuardia's connection to WNYC was a deep one. The station's Wikipedia page shows a photo of him in the studio broadcasting his "Talk to the People" program in 1940. WNYC-AM broadcast from here from 1937 to 1990.

wnyc transmitter park greenpoint brooklyn nyc

As for Mr. Kracke, the portfolio of his Department of Plant and Structures included bus and trolley transportation along with, evidently, either communications or buildings (or both). Though long defunct, the department lives on in the wall here in Transmitter Park – and in the suspicious smirks of its 1922 women's basketball team.

The park was well used on this warm September weekend…

wnyc transmitter park greenpoint brooklyn nyc
wnyc transmitter park greenpoint brooklyn nyc
wnyc transmitter park greenpoint brooklyn nyc

…though only a few were taking the long walk out over the water for a better view of the Manhattan skyline – from the Empire State Building to the UN and the slant-roofed Citicorp Tower.

wnyc transmitter park greenpoint brooklyn nyc
wnyc transmitter park greenpoint brooklyn nyc manhattan skyline

What will we find in Transmitter Park in another five years? Who can say? Does anything ever stay the same in New York City? Or anywhere?

All photos © Jon Sobel, Critical Lens Media

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

The Gardens at St. Luke's

The Gardens at the Church of St. Luke in the Fields were resplendent in green when we stopped by in mid-August. Open to the public most days, the private gardens of the 1821 West Village church date from the 1950s.

gardens church st lukes in the fields manhattan nyc

A brochure available in the Gardens describes "more than two-thirds of an acre of walks, lawns, and a fine collection of garden standards, rare hybrids and native American flora," and "a small but important way-station for migrating birds and butterflies during the spring and fall seasons," with "heat-retaining brick walls" that "create a warm microclimate."

gardens church st lukes in the fields manhattan nyc
gardens church st lukes in the fields manhattan nyc

It's a peaceful retreat for a quiet read.

gardens church st lukes in the fields manhattan nyc

The planting is so dense it can almost feel tropical.

gardens church st lukes in the fields manhattan nyc

Well into the summer, there remained plenty of color to please the eye.

gardens church st lukes in the fields manhattan nyc

No one talks about pavement. But I'm partial to bluestone paving. (Speaking of color.)

gardens church st lukes in the fields manhattan nyc

This is one of those places you can lose yourself, forget you're in the city. As Atlas Obscura observes, "Although the garden is scattered with benches, few are regularly occupied. The occasional West Village resident ducks in to read or snack or sit, but no one within the garden's confines generally speaks louder than a whisper."

It's perfectly appropriate that this place should be a peaceful refuge. Nearly 200 years ago, the founders of the Church of St. Luke in the Fields named their new congregation after the physician evangelist "in recognition," the church's website explains, "of the village's role as a refuge from the yellow fever epidemics that plagued New York City during the summers" – a reminder, among other things, of a time when Greenwich Village was an actual village. The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation describes people beset by yellow fever and cholera in the late 18th and early 19th centuries fleeing "north to the wholesome backwaters of the West Village," where the population quadrupled from 1825 to 1840.

gardens church st lukes in the fields manhattan nyc

There's no population explosion here, though. Just an explosion of flora.

All photos © Jon Sobel, Critical Lens Media