The Brooklyn Mirador - Sources of Information

 
The Empire State Building is framed by 
The Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch
Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, New York

From Prospect Park's Mirador, Brooklyn (Jan 2008)
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The Empire State Building (1931) bisects the Arch (1892) in Grand Army Plaza (1867) Brooklyn

This view from Prospect Park's mirador should be protected.

A historic line-of-vision. A historic work-in-progress.

...

Imagine the brightly lit Tower through the illuminated Arch at Night. 

Night View - Wisdom and Felicity at the Mirador
MiradorNightView.jpg
Through the Arch, the Tower floats above the Fountain

Unfortunately, the glare from one street light blots the view.
Grand Army Plaza Feb 1, 2009
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Fountain View Blocked by Signs

The light pole that supports the glaring light is set directly in the middle of the very narrow and obliquly angled only crosswalk between the park entrance and Plaza. 

Two traffic signs block the street level view of the the Plaza, Arch and Bailey Fountain while hindering access to the already blocked crosswalk to the Plaza.

Physical and visual blockades discourage passage to the Plaza. 

The signs, poles and glaring light should be repositioned. 

The crosswalk should be widened and squared to the Plaza's axis.

Street Level
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February 1, 2009 - Bailey Fountain
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Wisdom and Felicity

Felicity and Wisdom, atop Bailey Fountain, are also bisected by the Tower.

The Empire State Building was completed in 1931.

In 1932, Bailey Fountain was unveiled.

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The 1869 statue of Lincoln should return to the Plaza

1869 Statue of Lincoln
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H.K.Brown - Sculptor

The 1867 Fountain of the Golden Spray
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Feb 2009 - See the back of the Lincoln Statue facing Rink

Link - June 20 1867 Brooklyn Eagle reports on Plaza's progress.

October 19 1867  the Plaza opened with a simple jet of water as its centerpiece.

October 21 1869 the Lincoln Statue is unveiled at the northern end of the Plaza's axis.
"Shall be Forever Free" 

Today the two original elements face the skating rink south of the Concert Grove.

In 1873, the Vaux Fountain replaced the simple fountain.

In 1892, Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch was dedicated

 

The alignment between 1892 and 1895
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Arch 1892, Vaux Fountain 1873, Lincoln Statue 1869

In 1895 the Lincoln Statue was turned around and moved into the park.

In 1896 the Supreme Court ruled racial segregation Constitutional.

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The location of Lincoln Statue in Grand Army Plaza has significance.

'The park is a single work of art framed upon a single, noble motive to which the design of all its parts shall be confluent'   Olmsted

Link - Feb 4 2009 -BrooklynPaper reports Lincoln Statue to return

February 7, 2009
It is reported the Lincoln Statue is returning to the Plaza this year,
but not to its original location.
.
If the Lincoln Statue can not be returned to its original location,
it should be placed between the Arch and Bailey Fountain,
facing north along the Plaza's axis,
overlooking the fountain, facing JFK.
. 
From the JFK Memorial, you would see
Lincoln framed by the Arch through the fountain.
.
From Prospect Park, looking north through the Arch,
you see Lincoln confronting the Empire State Building
which is floating above the waters of the fountain.
.
This respects and conforms to the reasons Vaux, Olmsted
and Stranahan planned this historic 'line of vision' through 
our Civil War Memorial Plaza in 1865.
.

Feb 19

The rededication ceremony should conclude with

John Howard Payne's  "Home Sweet Home".
April 2008 - Sullivan Hill
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Tyler's Grave

In 1823 Payne wrote the words to 'Home Sweet Home' ("There's no place like home") while sharing a Paris apartment with Washington Irving.

In 1842 President Tyler appointed Irving Ambassador to Spain, Payne Consul to Tunis.

In 1862 'Home Sweet Home' was sung at the White House as the Lincolns mourned the loss of their 11 year old son Willie.

Looking for the John Howard Payne Monument on Sullivan Hill, as a southern  extention of the axis into the park, I found only the grave of a family feline "Tyler".

Bibliography - Quotes

The Complete Illustrated Guidebook to

Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Berenson and deMause      q917.4723B

...pg 43 - "...times change and memories fade..."

.

Prospect Park Handbook

Lancaster                          974.723 L241P

...pg 99 - "THE PARK THROUGHOUT IS A SINGLE WORK OF ART, AND AS SUCH, SUBJECT TO THE PRIMARY LAW OF EVERY WORK OF ART, NAMELY, THAT IT SHALL BE FRAMED UPON A SINGLE, NOBLE MOTIVE, TO WHICH THE DESIGN OF ALL ITS PARTS, IN SOME MORE OR LESS SUBTLE WAY, SHALL BE CONFLUENT AND HELPFUL...Olmsted

.

FLO – A Biography of Frederick Law Olmsted

Roper                                 B Olmsted

...pg 280 - 'It [The Nation Magazine] should advocate measures and tendencies that

                 ...educate Americans slowly from the brutal cconditions of pioneers.

...pg 282 - Olmsted regarded himself less as an artist than...an educator of hearts

                 whose function was to civilize men... and to raise the general level of

                 American society by exerting a beneficent influence on environment and by

                 modifying unfavorable surroundings through art.  

.

The Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted

David Schuyler and Jane Turner Censer           712.08     O

.

America’s First Millionaire

John Jacob Astor

Madsen                              B Astor M

.

Gotham at War – New York City 1860-1865

Spann                                 974.7103 S

.

The Last Mrs Astor

Kiernan                              B Astor K

.

The New York City Draft Riots

Bernstein                            974.7103 B

.

The Civil War and New York City

McKay                              974.7103

.

Incredible New York

Morris                               974.7104M

.

The Devils's Own Work

The Civil War Draft Riots and the

Fight to Reconstruct America

Schecter                           974.7103S

.

Brooklyn Historical Society

.

New York Historical Society

...Iconography of Manhattan Island

.

Brooklyn Eagle Archives

http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Repository/getFiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:LowLevelEntityToSaveGifMSIE_BEAGLE&Type=text/html&Locale=english-skin-custom&Path=BEG/1867/06/20&ChunkNum=-1&ID=Ar00219

.

Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress

Transcribed and Annotated by the Lincoln Studies Center,

Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois.

(Letter from Olmsted to Preston King, July 9, 1862)

(Letter from Olmsted to John G. Nicolay, Oct 10, 1862)

http://www.mrlincolnandnewyork.org/inside.asp?ID=49&subjectID=3

.

The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2008

.

Wikipedia

.

Lecture of Hugh R King,

Director of "Home, Sweet, Home" Museum, 

6/13/2002, on John Howard Payne at East Hampton Library.

http://www.easthamptonlibrary.org/lic/lectures/hughkinglecture.htm

.

 

1895 Supreme Court - Income Tax Unconstitutional

Astor's Pine Street Meeting - Online References

LINK to National Association for Olmsted Parks - Online Reference

...

...

A few words about myself.  An artist, I worked since age 18 as a computer programmer until  2003.  I connect dots and recognize patterns and know the 'aha' moment. 

I noticed the Empire State Building through the Arch many years ago.  In January 2008 I realized that the Tower bisecting the Arch was not a coincidence.  Bailey Fountain was also bisected.  And the concrete base in Prospect Park I was standing on was in line.. 

Finding no documentation of this alignment I spent 2008 putting pieces together while making art at the Brooklyn Artists Gym near Gowanus Canal.  I think there is history here.  The view is great.  Richard F Kessler.

Valley
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My Artwork

E-Mail

Link - Why Vaux and Olmsted planned this line of vision --->