![\"\"](\"https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/stateless-www-live-traveldailymedia\/2024\/04\/e9e03f15-e7796.1712557337.0315.web_.rediffmail.com_.png\")
<\/p>\n
This spring, the New-York Historical Society debuts\u00a0Lost New York,<\/em>\u00a0a new exhibition exploring the places that once defined New York City.<\/strong> On view April 19 \u2013 September 29, 2024, the exhibition invites visitors to experience the city\u2019s lost landmarks, such as the original Penn Station, Croton Reservoir, Chinese Theater, and river bathhouses. Throughout the exhibition, community voices bring these lost sites to life: a woman recalls attending the Old Met Opera House in 1939, a Broadway carpenter reminisces about a photograph of his father in front of the Hippodrome Theatre, and a choir director reflects upon the demolished Harlem Renaissance monument\u00a0Lift Every Voice and Sing<\/em>. Curated by Wendy N\u0101lani E. Ikemoto, vice president and chief curator of New-York Historical,\u00a0Lost New York<\/em>\u00a0showcases treasures from the Museum and Patricia D. Klingenstein Library collections and captures both the dynamism of an ever-changing city and the importance of preserving pieces of our otherwise vanishing past.<\/p>\n To welcome the new exhibition, pay-as-you-wish Friday evenings will expand from 5\u20138 pm and include live vintage music and specialty \u201clost\u201d cocktails during the spring and summer months.<\/p>\n \u201cLost New York<\/em>\u00a0invites visitors to wander through the echoes of a city unfamiliar to what they know now,\u201d said Dr. Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of New-York Historical. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to welcome visitors throughout the run of the exhibition and especially on Friday nights when the galleries will be filled with vibrant music, nostalgia, and good cheer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLost New York<\/em>\u00a0delves into the many and deep layers of this city. I hope visitors will delight in discovering the landmarks that once defined the places they know but also consider the serious issues, like gentrification and environmental devastation, that drove their loss and reflect upon the importance of preserving our past,\u201d said Dr. Wendy N\u0101lani E. Ikemoto. \u201cIt has been an honor to connect with members of our community and learn about their experiences with these lost places. Their voices enliven and personalize the exhibition and sustain the memory and meaning of these sites.\u201d<\/p>\n Exhibition Highlights<\/strong> Capturing another bygone structure is Fran\u00e7ois Courtin\u2019s lithograph displaying the grandeur of New York\u2019s Crystal Palace during the 1853 Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations. Rising majestically in what is now Bryant Park, this architectural marvel once hosted technological wonders from across the globe, offering a glimpse into an era of innovation and boundless imagination. Steps away was the original Croton Reservoir, built to increase the city\u2019s water supply, as depicted in an 1850 lithograph by Charles Autenrieth. Its massive Egyptian-style walls became a popular promenade spot for New Yorkers. Parts of the original stone structure can still be seen on the lower level of the New York Public Library on 42nd Street, which rose in its place.<\/p>\n While sign painter De La Prelette Wriley shows off his own business in the 1837 oil on wood panel,\u00a0No. 7 1\/2 Bowery,\u00a0<\/em>the painting features another antiquated hallmark of early New York\u2014a pig roaming the streets. A low-maintenance and high-protein food staple, pigs wandered freely through the city until 1859, serving as New York\u2019s first garbage management system by eating scraps off the streets. Showcasing another common animal of the city\u2019s early streets, William Seaman\u2019s 1850 oil painting\u00a0Knickerbocker Stage Line Omnibus<\/em>\u00a0depicts New York\u2019s first form of mass transit: large horse-drawn stagecoaches that carried about a dozen people at a time and ran along designated routes.<\/p>\n Complementing many of the works on display are observations from a variety of New Yorkers sharing their memories of the places depicted. These community voices include an artist who, as an LGBTQ+ youth and aspiring artist, purchased a t-shirt from Keith Haring\u2019s Pop Shop; a woman from a self-described multigenerational family Yankee \u201cfandom\u201d who remembers watching David Wells and David Cone pitch perfect games at the old Yankee Stadium; and a cultural worker who imagines the cross-cultural conversation that led Samuel Northcote to mistitle New York City\u2019s first Chinese-language theater in his 1899 painting of it.<\/p>\n Programming<\/strong> On May 20,\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0writer Brent Staples reveals the extraordinary story of Elizabeth Gloucester, who was born into slavery; as a free woman became a well-connected champion of the anti-slavery movement in the city; and owned property in Seneca Village, the Black community (featured in\u00a0Lost New York<\/em>)\u00a0<\/em>whose land New York City seized to make way for Central Park. Tickets for\u00a0Elizabeth Gloucester: The Lost Story of New York\u2019s Most Powerful Black Woman<\/em>\u00a0are available\u00a0online.\u00a0Private group tours\u00a0can also be arranged throughout the exhibition.<\/p>\n Exhibition-themed story times will also take place on weekends for young visitors, and on April 28, families can learn more about Seneca Village, the day-to-day lives of landowning Black New Yorkers, and the diverse group of people they rented to. For additional details, visit the\u00a0family programs calendar.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
Comprising more than 90 paintings, photographs, objects, and lithographs, the exhibition offers captivating glimpses into the city\u2019s rich architectural heritage and vibrant past. Featured is Jules Crow\u2019s vivid depiction of the Pennsylvania Station Interior in 1906, a masterful watercolor capturing the grandeur of the original Beaux-Arts masterpiece designed by McKim, Mead, and White. Opened in 1910, the building stood for only 54 years. Its demolition spurred the creation of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission two years later.<\/p>\n
Starting on May 3 and continuing every Friday through early summer, pay-as-you-wish Friday nights expand, beginning at 5pm and lasting until 8pm. Visitors can enjoy a live band playing classic jazz and American standards and a bar featuring classic and forgotten NYC cocktails.<\/p>\n