Murder at The Met

A brief history of the museum

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870 by a group of American citizens – businessmen and financiers as well as leading arists and thinkers of the day – who wanted to create a museum to bring art and art education to the American people…In 1880, the Metropolitan Museum moved to its current site in Central Park. The original Gothic-Revival-style building has been greatly expanded in size since then, and the various additions (built as early as 1888) now completely surround the original structure. The present facade and entrance structure along Fifth Avenue were completed in 1926.

Lobby

St. Patrick’s Cathedral: 150 Years of Inspiration

While her cornerstone was laid in 1858 and her doors swept open in 1879, it was over 150 years ago, when Archbishop John Hughes announced his inspired ambition to build the “new” Saint Patrick’s Cathedral.

…Ridiculed as “Hughes’ Folly,” as the proposed, near-wilderness site was considered too far outside the city, Archbishop Hughes, nonetheless, persisted in his daring vision of building the most beautiful, Gothic Cathedral in the New World in what he believed would one day be “the heart of the city.” Neither the bloodshed of the Civil War, nor the resultant lack of manpower or funds, would derail the ultimate fulfillment of Hughes’ dream and Architect, James Renwick’s bold plan.

Through the generosity of 103 citizens who pledged $1,000 each and the collective “pennies” of thousands of largely Irish, immigrant poor, Hughes’ vision became a shining reality.

A New Beginning for Grand Central Terminal

The new Grand Central Terminal officially opened on February 2, 1913. More than 150,000 people turned out to celebrate opening day. The beautiful Beaux Arts building with its massive marble staircase, 75-foot windows and star-studded ceiling was an immediate hit… In 1994, Metro-North took over operation of Grand Central Terminal and began extensive renovations. Now restored to its 1913 splendor, Grand Central has become a beloved Manhattan landmark and a busy commuter hub. Grand Central preserves a little of the history and grandeur of old New York in the middle of modern Manhattan.

Grand Central Terminal now houses five restaurants and cocktail lounges, a Dining Concourse, and 50 shops. The historic train station is also the site of art and cultural exhibits and other events throughout the year.

Sleeping on his feet

Excerpts from The Triumph of Rockefeller Center

It was because of John D. Rockefeller Jr. that the complex was sound and creditable. It was only because he had consented to be personally responsible for repayment that the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company agreed to lend the enterprise $65 million at 5 percent. It was Rockefeller who, in the darkest days of the Depression, kept things going by selling Standard Oil of New York stock, which had been valued at $80 a share a decade earlier, for $2 a share to pay construction expenses. Most significantly, it was Rockefeller who insisted on “the last 5 percent,” that is, spending one-twentieth extra to get top quality.

The ice skating rink further enhances the vivid sense of urban activity. Its story is another of Rockefeller Center’s small miracles. The lower plaza in front of the RCA Building—really nothing more than an entrance to the center’s underground shops—proved a problem: it was boring. Pedestrians stayed away, and the shops that opened there almost all failed. When restaurants replaced the shops, diners had little to look at in the static open space. But a surprising solution magically materialized. On a visit to the Rockefellers’ hometown of Cleveland, John D. Jr. heard that a local inventor, M. C. Carpenter, had perfected a system for making artificial ice for outdoor rinks. Desperate to try anything to bring life to the lower plaza, on Christmas Day, 1936, the center’s managers set up a temporary rink. An immediate success, it became one of Rockefeller Center’s most memorable features.