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(A Window or Balcony Designed to Command
an Extensive View)
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The Empire State Building framed by The Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch Grand
Army Plaza, Brooklyn, New York
| View from the Brooklyn Mirador in January 2008 |
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| The Empire State Building (1931), Civil War Memorial Arch (1892), Grand Army Plaza (1867) |
New York City's Empire
State Building tower is perfectly framed within the interior opening of John Duncan's Defenders Arch in
Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn. Viewed from the Brooklyn Mirador (a concrete 'balcony' inside Prospect
Park), Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch (1892). Bailey Fountain and the spot where you stand are precisely aligned with the Tower (1931). Twenty
years before the Arch three other structures had already defined this line. "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…SHALL BE CONFLUENT.”
--- Frederick Law Olmsted
Trees hide
the Tower in summer and fall. But in winter and spring the long view is clear. One glaring street light
that blocks the night view should be moved or hooded. A historical relevance could protect and promote this view. Since 1865, this
'line of vision' has evolved through development of the site of The Empire State Building and the precise placement
of the Memorial Plaza. Frederick Law Olmsted toured
the South and Texas from 1852 to 1857, reporting for the New York Times on life in the 'Cotton Kingdom'. He supervised
the building of Central Park until war broke out, then, as executive secretary of the Sanitary Commission, managed
the care of wounded Union soldiers for President Abraham Lincoln. He co-founded the Union League and Nation magazine before he
designed Prospect Park. In 1865, as the
Civil War ended, the Brooklyn Park's elliptical entrance plaza was positioned so its axis would point at the 350
Fifth Avenue mansion of William Backhouse Astor. Astor
was a leader of a group of influential Democratic politicians and merchants. This group, weeks after the election
of Lincoln in November 1860, in order to prevent war or secession, held the 'Pine Street Meeting'. They appointed
a committee headed by former President Fillmore that was to assure the South and Jefferson Davis of their support to amend the
Constitution to provide permanent protection for slavery. Their activities may have contributed to the atmosphere which
led to the Draft Riots of July 1863 and continuing strong northern anti-Lincoln sentiment. The Plaza opened in 1867 with a simple fountain, a lone
stream of water, in the center. Named "The Fountain of the Golden Spray", this was a subtle message aimed
at the enemies of the assassinated President. In
1869, the first statue dedicated to Abraham Lincoln was positioned at the northern end of the plaza's axis.
He holds the Emancipation Proclamation and points to the words 'shall be forever free.' Facing north, he confronts these
enemies of freedom and equal rights. In
1889, when the cornerstone of Duncan's Defenders Arch was laid, Lincoln's words and the invisible
corridor were to have been framed in stone. A simple arch, a simple message. But political tides had already turned. Rutherford Hayes was awarded the Presidency by a joint session of Congress in 1877 based
on his promise to remove Union troops from the South, ending Reconstruction. Brooklyn Park's commissioners were replaced in 1882. In 1883, the Supreme Court reversed the Civil Rights Act of 1875. In 1892 the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch was completed. In 1895 1)...Olmsted retired. (2)...The Lincoln Statue was turned around, marched into Prospect
Park, and abandoned. (3)...Vaux drowned in Gravesend Bay in November. Six months later, May 1896, the Supreme Court declared racial segregation Constitutional. By 1897,
the Astor 350 Fifth Avenue mansion had become the original Waldorf-Astoria.
The Arch was draped in statuary. Brooklyn became part of New
York City. In 1931, The Empire State Building
replaced the Waldorf-Astoria, revealing the visual corridor. The
Brooklyn Mirador was completed 1970 Three things:
The Lincoln statue should return
to the plaza. Its original location became the JFK Memorial in 1965. A spot which would conform
to the planners' vision would be along the axis, between the Arch and Fountain, overlooking the Fountain, facing the JFK Memorial. A glaring street light that blocks the illuminated
night view should be hooded or moved. And two traffic signs which block the only crosswalk from the park
entrance should be relocated. This narrow and obliquely angeled crosswalk should be widened and squared with the Arch The view from the Prospect Park Mirador should
be recognized as an historic Visual Corridor, promoted and protected. The view goes through the landmark
arch, the landmark plaza, and to the landmark tower. This is a window view on our democratic rights struggle as
a continuing work-in-progress. copyright -
brooklynmirador.com - 2009 Feb 4 2009 BrooklynPaper reports Lincoln Statue 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. . 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 standing, confronting the Empire State Building which
is floating above the waters of the fountain. . This respects and conforms to the reasons Olmsted
planned this 'line of vision' through our Civil War Memorial Plaza in 1865. . '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 . Feb 19. The rededication ceremony should
conclude with a soprano singing John Howard Payne’s "Home Sweet Home", twice.
This song was sung at the White House in 1862 as the Lincolns mourned their
son, becoming a Civil War Era standard. . ... ... ... The alignment began with the placement of
the Plaza. .
This line of vision was planned before the end of the Civil War. 25 years before the Arch. 65 years before the Empire State Building. More than 140 years ago.
| North is to your right. |
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| Detail from map found at Brooklyn Historical Society and Brooklyn Public Library |
... By 1865 Grand Army Plaza’s shape and location had been determined. Even before the actual boundaries of Prospect Park
were finalized. Whether Flatbush Avenue
ran through the center of the Park as planned in 1861, or formed
the eastern boundary of the Brooklyn Park as Vaux proposed in early 1865, the size, shape and location of the planned Plaza was not affected. The axis line of this elliptical plaza extended north, to 350 Fifth Avenue, the mansion of William Backhouse Astor Sr., the center of Manhattan’s 400 society. .
25 years pass .
In 1892, with Duncan’s Arch
centered on the line, Olmsted, Vaux and Stranahan succeeded in framing the message of the Emancipation Proclamation. .
40 years pass .
In 1931, this
work-in-progress revealed itself as The Empire State Building was built on the site of the Astor brothers’ Fifth Avenue mansions. ... The photo at the top of this
site is the 'line of vision' as we
see it today, with the Empire State Building above the Fountain, framed by the Arch. . Below,
this same 'line-of-vision' was clearly visible between 1892 and 1895.
| Lincoln, Vaux Fountain. Park south of Arch. |
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| William Lee Younger - Photographer |
This early 1890s photo shows the
Plaza's alignment of the unadorned
Arch, the Vaux Fountain and the Lincoln statue. . When the Plaza opened on October 19, 1867,
the first element to
anchor the planned 'line of vision' was a simple fountain, a single stream of water. Months before the opening a
reporter on the Brooklyn
Eagle reported on the Plaza's progress.
Link to the June 20, 1867 Brooklyn Eagle progress report
In 1867, the elements on the line are the fountain and William Astor's 350 Fifth Avenue mansion. . The
first statue dedicated to the assassinated president Lincoln
was unveiled October 21, 1869 at the northern boundary of the Plaza. He holds the Emancipation Proclamation,
pointing to the words "shall
be forever free". In 1869, the elements on
the line are the fountain, the Lincoln statue, and
the Fifth Avenue mansion. .. In 1873 the original fountain was replaced by the above pictured Vaux Fountain. Olmsted
and Vaux completed major involvement in the park and dissolved their partnership. . In 1882, Stranahan (president of the Brooklyn Park Commission since 1860) and the entire park
commission were replaced. to redesign the Plaza in the neo-classical tradition. . Duncan's
Arch was started in 1889 and dedicated October 21, 1892. The bas-relief figures in the spandrels on the south face of the granite Arch are 'Victory' and 'Public Order', sculpted
by Philip Martiny, below the inscription "To
the Defenders of the Union 1861-1865". ... In 1892, the line runs from the Arch, through the second fountain and Lincoln statue, to 350 Fifth Avenue. ... In
1895 the Lincoln Statue was moved into the Park (facing today's Wollman Rink from the Concert Grove) as the Plaza was renovated. November 19, Vaux drowned off Gravesend Bay, Brooklyn. Olmsted retired due to senility during this year. . In 1897, Darlington's
'Electric Fountain became the third fountain'. Olmsted
was consulted and blessed the fountain's placement. . In 1898,
the Arch was adorned with MacMonnies' quadriga on top and with his Army (1900) and Navy (1901) groupings
on the sides. (MacMonnies' statue of Stranahan was placed
inside the park's entrance in 1891.) ... The line ran from the Arch through the fountain to 350 Fifth Avenue which had been replaced by the original Waldorf-Astoria . In 1931, the Empire State Building replaced the Waldorf. .
In 1932 the fourth fountain, today's Bailey
Fountain was completed. . In 1970, the concrete 'balcony', the Mirador, supporting a lamppost in the park,
was built, providing the perfect view of the alignment. ...
... Backing into Prospect Park to find a spot that confirms the Tower and Arch's visual relationship I discovered 'The Brooklyn Mirador'. ... Stand on the concrete 'balcony'
with your back against this
lamp post and look though the center of the Arch. ...
The Empire State
Building bisects and appears to balance the Arch above Bailey Fountain. ...
(And a badly placed street light).
... In 1930 my grandparents were here with their children to
see the Empire
State Building under construction through the Arch. --- My grandchildren and I should be able to stand on our Brooklyn Mirador
tonight and see the 'long view' illuminated and wonder. --- But the glare of that single street light
blocks the night view. ...
... The three main objectives of this website: ...
1. Recognize the view from the Mirador as a Historic Visual Corridor.
It should be
promoted and protected.
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| The View from the Brooklyn Mirador at Night |
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| Wisdom and Felicity looking through Duncan's Arch at night |
2.
Enable this historic ‘long view’ at night. Remove the glare. 3. Return the Lincoln Statue to Grand Army Plaza.
| Brooklyn sculptor H. K. Brown's statue of Lincoln |
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| Dedicated October 21, 1869 - Holding the Emancipation Proclamation - "Shall Be Forever Free" |
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... Now the "Why" ... Why, in 1865, did
the axis of Grand Army Plaza point to 350 Fifth Avenue? Why did the Memorial Arch come to frame the world's tallest building? Olmsted
and Astor were among leaders of opposing political groups throughout the Civil War Era. The Civil
War ended and the elements on the 'line of vision' conveyed a simple message to the defeated. But
amid changing political tides, the plaza's future shifted to others who revised the message.
Do you believe that Vaux, Stranahan and
Olmsted could have been unaware of this
alignment? The Astors... Lincoln was elected in November 1860. On Dec 15, William
Backhouse Astor Sr (1792-1875), son of the John Jacob Astor (1763-1848), to save the Union, protect their investments and
prevent secession or war, held the 'Pine Street Meeting' in New York City with the most influential Democratic politicians
and merchants. They passed resolutions urging added protection for slavery and appointed a committee headed
by former President Fillmore (who had signed the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850) to assure the South and Jefferson Davis of
their support to amend the Constitution to provide permanent protection for slavery. In 1862, he built his mansion at 350 Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. The mansion of
his older brother, John Jacob Astor II (1791-1869), had been built in 1859 on the south half of the block, at 33rd Street
and Fifth Avenue. John Jacob Astor III (1822-1890),
William's first son, was a Union General under George McClellan (the Democratic candidate who opposed Lincoln for re-election
in 1864). Earlier he had funded the tugboat 'Yankee' to reinforce the troops at Fort Sumter. His
wife, Augusta, helped raise New York's first black regiment in 1864. Construction of the Arch in Grand Army Plaza began 1889 and the first son of John Jacob Astor
III, William Waldorf Astor (1848-1919) razed the family's mansion on Fifth Avenue and 33rd Street and built
the 13-story Waldorf Hotel which opened in 1893. The mansion at 350 Fifth Avenue, was converted to
the 17-story Astoria Hotel in 1897 by John Jacob Astor IV (1864-1912) who died on the Titanic, the only son of William
Backhouse Astor Jr. (1830-92), William Sr.'s second son.
Link to see the original Waldorf-Astoria, Fifth Avenue between 33rd and 34th Streets
Olmsted (1822-1903) In 1850 Olmsted traveled to Europe to visit public gardens. He published Walks and Talks of an American Farmer in England in 1852. In 1851, The
New York Times was established as the New York Daily Times. The paper commissioned the 30-year old Olmsted to travel
through the American South and Texas from 1852 to 1857. His dispatches were also published in book form as 'A Journey
in the Seaboard Slave States' (1856), 'A Journey Through Texas' (1857) and 'A Journey in the Back Country' (1860). These
were reprinted and revised as 'Journeys and Explorations in the Cotton Kingdom' in 1861, during the first six
months of the Civil War, helping inform and strengthen antislavery sentiment in New England. From 1857 to mid-1861, Vaux and Olmsted were the architects
of Central Park. Dec 20, 1860 - South Carolina secedes from the Union. April 13, 1861 - Fort Sumter surrendered. From 1861 to 63, he worked for Lincoln as Executive Secretary of the United States Sanitary Commission,
for the relief of suffering among the Union soldiers. In July 1862, Olmsted influenced military policy, urging
enactment of a military conscription act. He proposed the policies of substitution and commutation.
On September 22, Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation. Olmsted suggested the
draft version be publicized in the South by having the passing Union armies post and distribute printed linen handbills.
These would be passed on hand-to-hand, by the curious and motivated to those in distant corners and plantations.
Jan 1, 1863 - The Emancipation Proclamation was issued. Olmsted co-founded the Union League in Feb 1863. (More on the Union League follows). March 1863 - Enrollment and Conscription Act July 1-3 - Lee defeated at Gettysburg. July 4 - Grant's successful Siege of Vicksburg is concluded. July 13-16 - The NYC Draft Riots. The rioters targeted the offices of the Times
on Park Row, and the Union League, overlooking Union Square, but were repulsed by well-armed defenders. Olmsted lobbied for martial
law and for the hanging of the city's Copperhead political leaders who he held responsible for the rioting. Sept 14 - Olmsted leaves NYC and arrives Oct 14 in Bear Valley, Calif. Oct 1863 through Sept 1865, he managed the Mariposa Company's gold mines
near Yosemite Valley. Nov 8, 1864, Lincoln is re-elected, defeating
Democrat candidate Gen. McClellan, who had been relieved of his command. March
4 1965 - Lincoln inaugurated. April 9, Lee surrenders. April 14, Lincoln assassinated. May
26, Last rebel troops surrender. Dec 6, Ratification of the 13th Amendment,
abolishing slavery. In June 1865, Olmsted co-founded the Nation magazine to cultivate Americans. In December, he returned to New York to work with
Vaux on Prospect Park. With the disputed electoral election of Hayes
in 1877 and his promised removal of Union troops from the South, Reconstruction was effectively stalled until the
24th Amendment, barring the poll tax in federal elections, was ratified under Lyndon Johnson, four score and seven years later.
In 1883, Supreme court reversed 1875 Civil Rights Act. The Supreme
Court ruled the Income Tax unconstitutional in 1895. May 18, 1896 - Landmark Supreme Court decision
Plessy v. Ferguson holds that racial segregation is constitutional,
paving the way for the repressive Jim Crow laws in the South. Link to Olmsted web site
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The Union League ... from Wiki The club dates its founding from Feb. 6, 1863, during the Civil War. Tensions were running high in New York City at the time, as much of the city's
governing class, as well as its large Irish immigrant population, bitterly opposed the war and were eager to reach some kind
of accommodation with the Confederate States of America. Thus, pro-Union men chose to form their own club, with the twin goals of cultivating
"a profound national devotion" and to "strengthen a love and respect for the Union." The Union League (also known as Loyal Leagues) was actually a political movement before
it became a social organization. Its members raised money both to support the United States Sanitary Commission, the forerunner of the American Red Cross, which cared for the Union wounded following battles, and the Union cause generally. |
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... The Message ... Why, in 1867, was the axis of Grand Army Plaza pointed at
350 Fifth Avenue? After the military victory preserved
the Union and abolished slavery, a simple message was sent to the leaders of the losing faction in New York City. The plaza opened with the Fountain of the Golden Spray, a
simple single jet of water at its center. The plaza's axis was aimed at Astor's circle. And
two years later, the Lincoln statue confronted them with the Emancipation Proclamation. Duncan's simple, unadorned Arch, was to frame this message in stone. Political tides turned. Lincoln was banished.
The message changed. But the 'line
of vision' tells the story. Real American history. And the view is great..
... ... A few related questions. Why did Olmsted,
a Civil War activist, leave NYC two months after the Draft Riots to manage a gold mine? For financial
gain, exile or a safe haven? He was involved in the matters of the Western Sanitary Commission and helped
Lincoln carry California in the 1864 election. What role did Olmsted
play in planning the plaza before he returned to NY in December 1865? Was the positioning of the axis Stranahan and
Vaux showing Olmsted he would have a free hand. In the 1866 Report to the Brooklyn Park Commission, a Vaux draft dated Feb
4, 1865 shows the oval plaza as the principal entrance to the park. Was
there eye-contact between the original Waldorf Astoria and the top of the Arch? I have found no photos showing the Empire State Building under construction as viewed thru the
Arch. Did the simultaneous construction of Bailey Fountain in the Plaza obstruct the view? What else is on the axis? It extends south beyond the park. Does the line between Lincoln and the original fountain (both in the Concert Grove)
extend to the pier in Gravesend Bay where Vaux body was found in Nov 1895, months after Lincon was moved? What is planned that may block the view? Building 6 of the proposed Atlantic
Yards. I am looking for information on William Astor's 1865
Supreme Court Victory against the Income Tax and photos of the Plaza's original fountain 1867-1872 ... ... Unrelated but interesting details Many sources indicate that in 1803, John Jacob
Astor bought a house at 233 Broadway from Rufus King, when William was 10. After the death of his wife
in 1834, John Jacob razed the entire block and built the fabulous Astor House hotel. President-elect Lincoln
spoke there in 1861. In 1913, the Woolworth Building, at 233 Broadway, became the tallest building in the
world (until 1930). Like father, like son? William's house at 350 Fifth Avenue became the Waldorf Astoria
before becoming the Empire State Building in 1931, the new 'tallest building in the world'. Except John Jacob Astor's house was actually 223 Broadway. ... ... Olmsted
sues Astor...Hoax The acknowledged hoax was
that Captain Kidd buried treasure on land that was deeded by Indians to Olmsted’s ancestors in 1699.
Stolen from the Olmsted family’s Deer Isle, Maine property in 1800 by a trapper working for John Jacob Astor, this was the original source
of the Astor fortune. After the Arch was built in 1892 Olmsted, walking on his property, learned
of the treasure, its theft and brought suit against the Astor family for millions. “A Notable Lawsuit” – Franklin H. Head- 1898. Some
Quotes
“The Papers of
Frederick Law Olmsted – Volume V” (Schuyler and Censer) Page 324 - 03/12/1865 Letter from Olmsted to Vaux “I have received your letters of 1/9 and 1/10 and map of Brooklyn Park as designed by General
Viele. My heart really bounds (if you don’t mind poetry) to your suggestion that we might work together about it…I cant’ tell you how I abhor the squabbles
with the [Central Park] commission and politicians… It was a passion thwarted…I
should like to show you what I really am and could do with a perfectly free and fair understanding from the start and a moderate degree of freedom from the necessity of accommodating
myself to infernal scoundrels….Your plans are excellent, you go at once to the essential starting points, and I hope
the commissioners are wise enough to comprehend it.”
Page 362 - 05/12/1865 Letter
from Vaux to Olmsted [footnote is authors’].“They
have been living on what they found in the houses of the murdered men but the day for that ceases and the cloven foot appear. [The Central Park commission revealed
as devils for using the plans and advice of Olmsted and Vaux, after their 1863 resignations, without credit or pay].”
“The Brooklyn Park is all our own.I
shall tell them I intend to ask you to go in to it with me.”
Page 423 - 08/01/1865 Letter
from Olmsted to Vaux“I like what you say of the
spirit and ways of the Brooklyn Park commissioners.”
“The Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted – Volume VI” (Schuyler and Censer) Page 155 is a photograph of
the Plaza with the Lincoln statue, before the Arch.
…And
thirty years later
”FLO – Biography of Frederick
Law Olmsted” (Roper) Page 464 - 03/10/1895 Letter
from Olmsted to William Stiles of “Garden and Forest.” “White has been and is trying to establish the rule of motives that are at war with those that rule in the original laying out of Brooklyn Park…They
have struck down Vaux and are trying their best to
kill him in the name of the Lord and of France.” “It makes me grind my teeth to see how Vaux is treated.”
Page 464 – Author Roper
quoted.“If Olmsted was harsh toward White, he
was also prophetic. The unobtrusive mode of park architecture he and Vaux had installed on Prospect Park was on its way out; in its place, for better or worse, the firm of McKim, Mead and White and their like-minded associates
fastened on the park conspicuous classicism and imposing monumentality.” ... ... Does
the Line extend South, into the Park?
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| 1871 Bust of Washington Irving |
In 1871 the bust of Washington Irving (1783-1859)
was installed in the park facing the Concert Grove. He was a pallbearer and executor of John Jacob Astor's will in 1848,
and biographer of Astor's Oregon fur trading business. In 1857, his endorsement made Olmsted superintendant of Central
Park. In 1873 a bust of actor John Howard Payne
(1791-1851) was placed on Sullivan Hill by the Faust Club. It should be across the Long Meadow from the
Picnic House today. I believe that this bust would be at the Southern end of the line - the mansion, Lincoln
statue, fountain, and this bust. This Spring, when I went to Sullivan Hill to find Payne, all that was there
was a wooden cross, "Tyler, beloved feline, June 2000 - April 2008". The bust is on loan to the
'Home Sweet Home' Museum in East Hampton, NY following an attempted 1973 vandalization. In 1823, Washington Irving and John Howard Payne shared an apartment in Paris after Payne
was released from debtors prison in London. Payne wrote the lyrics "There's no Place Like Home" for the operetta
'Clari - Maid of Milan' which opened in London in 1823. In
1842, President Tyler appointed Irving Ambassador to Spain and Payne consul to Tunis. Polk's administration recalled
them. President Taylor reposted Payne to Tunis 1850, where he died. In 1862 soprano Adelina Patti sang Payne's 'Home Sweet Home' at the White House as
the Lincolns mourned the death of their 11 year old son Willie. A tearful Lincoln requested an encore. The song
was a Civil War standard. Patti played the role of Margueritte in Faust in 1875.
... John C Fremont General John Charles Fremont, commander of the Western Division, imposed martial law in Missouri,
August 20, 1861, confiscating suspected secessionists' private property and emancipating their slaves.
Fremont refused Lincoln's request to rescind the unauthorized and premature order and was relieved of command on
November 2. In March 1862, he was placed in command of the Mountain Department of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Fremont, the 'Great Pathfinder', had
been the Republican's first Presidential candidate, in 1856, running on an anti-slavery platform.
He and American (Know Nothing) Party candidate Fillmore lost to Federalist Buchanan. Lincoln had made 50 speeches supporting
Fremont. The Mariposa Estate, near Yosemite, was purchased by
Fremont in 1847. He sold it to the Mariposa Company in June 1863. This was the gold mining interest that
Olmsted managed. .
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