Shreve Lamb and Harmon's definitions
Also known as Pennsylvania Station, the busiest rail station in the United States. The major Amtrak station on the Northeast Corridor and the terminal for New Jersey Transit and the Long Island Rail Road.
Once the grandest gateway into New York City, since 1962 has been little more than Madison Square Garden's basement, a mishmash of "modern" corridors, low ceilings, and endless rows of suburban chain stores. Its loss is comparable to — possibly even worse than — a similar "modernization" effort on London's late, great Euston Station around the same time.
The original terminal, designed by Beaux-Arts architects McKim, Mead and White and erected by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1909, was a grand temple to rail travel which occupied four city blocks bounded by Seventh and Eighth Avenues and 30th and 33rd Streets. The Seventh Avenue facade was dominated by a collonade of granite pillars modelled after the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The main waiting room, designed to echo the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, featured a giant barrel-vaulted ceiling as high and long as the nave of Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. And the main departure concourse featured a dramatic glass train shed which brought ample sunlight down to the train platforms themselves. Richly detailed sculptures abounded, including twelve statues of giant eagles which once perched all along the cornice of the station.
McKim, Mead and White had intended for their masterpiece to survive for 500 years; it barely lasted 53. With postwar rail travel on the decline, Penn Railroad merged with rival New York Central in the '60s to form Penn Central, which immediately set out with plans to "improve" Penn Station and its crosstown neighbor, Grand Central Terminal. Entering into deals with the owner of Madison Square Garden, Irving Felt, it was decided that both groups could maximize profits if the Garden were moved from its 1925 building on 51st and Eighth to a new, "modern" structure right on top of Penn Station. The result: the most supernal rail terminal ever to be built in the United States was dismantled and carted off to Secaucus, giving New Jersey the claim to having the world's most elegant dump. The banal replacement was "architect" Charles Luckman's oil drum that was the new MSG, paired with an ugly slab office tower, with plenty of cramped, claustrophobic, artificially-lit space for scurrying suburban commuters downstairs.
There was a silver lining to the loss of Penn Station, however. The public outcry was immense: the New York Times called it a "monumental act of vandalism" and "the shame of New York." Architectural historian Vincent Scully lamented, "Through (Penn Station) one entered the city like a god. Now one scuttles in like a rat." And Ada Louise Huxtable, the Times' architecture critic, warned, "We will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed."
The result of this outcry was the creation of the New York City Landmarks Commission, the first of its kind in any city in the U.S. Multiple buildings and districts in New York have been preserved since, particularly Grand Central Terminal, New York's last surviving grand gateway. Before it was declared a national landmark in 1978, it was very nearly razed in a similar venture by Penn Central — which went spectacularly bankrupt in 1970. Karma's a bitch.
Once the grandest gateway into New York City, since 1962 has been little more than Madison Square Garden's basement, a mishmash of "modern" corridors, low ceilings, and endless rows of suburban chain stores. Its loss is comparable to — possibly even worse than — a similar "modernization" effort on London's late, great Euston Station around the same time.
The original terminal, designed by Beaux-Arts architects McKim, Mead and White and erected by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1909, was a grand temple to rail travel which occupied four city blocks bounded by Seventh and Eighth Avenues and 30th and 33rd Streets. The Seventh Avenue facade was dominated by a collonade of granite pillars modelled after the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The main waiting room, designed to echo the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, featured a giant barrel-vaulted ceiling as high and long as the nave of Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. And the main departure concourse featured a dramatic glass train shed which brought ample sunlight down to the train platforms themselves. Richly detailed sculptures abounded, including twelve statues of giant eagles which once perched all along the cornice of the station.
McKim, Mead and White had intended for their masterpiece to survive for 500 years; it barely lasted 53. With postwar rail travel on the decline, Penn Railroad merged with rival New York Central in the '60s to form Penn Central, which immediately set out with plans to "improve" Penn Station and its crosstown neighbor, Grand Central Terminal. Entering into deals with the owner of Madison Square Garden, Irving Felt, it was decided that both groups could maximize profits if the Garden were moved from its 1925 building on 51st and Eighth to a new, "modern" structure right on top of Penn Station. The result: the most supernal rail terminal ever to be built in the United States was dismantled and carted off to Secaucus, giving New Jersey the claim to having the world's most elegant dump. The banal replacement was "architect" Charles Luckman's oil drum that was the new MSG, paired with an ugly slab office tower, with plenty of cramped, claustrophobic, artificially-lit space for scurrying suburban commuters downstairs.
There was a silver lining to the loss of Penn Station, however. The public outcry was immense: the New York Times called it a "monumental act of vandalism" and "the shame of New York." Architectural historian Vincent Scully lamented, "Through (Penn Station) one entered the city like a god. Now one scuttles in like a rat." And Ada Louise Huxtable, the Times' architecture critic, warned, "We will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed."
The result of this outcry was the creation of the New York City Landmarks Commission, the first of its kind in any city in the U.S. Multiple buildings and districts in New York have been preserved since, particularly Grand Central Terminal, New York's last surviving grand gateway. Before it was declared a national landmark in 1978, it was very nearly razed in a similar venture by Penn Central — which went spectacularly bankrupt in 1970. Karma's a bitch.
The loss of Penn Station can probably never be undone, but some of the damage can be repaired and some civic penance can be done. In 2005, plans finally moved forward for many of Penn Station's operations to be moved into a new terminal across Eighth Avenue, to be housed in the Central Post Office which, serendipitously enough, was also designed by McKim. The new terminal, to be named after the late State Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, will serve LIRR and NJT commuters, as well as some Amtrak riders. Hopefully, MSG will eventually be moved somewhere else and the current building will be demolished, allowing for something worthwhile to take its place.
by Shreve Lamb and Harmon February 4, 2007
Get the Penn Stationmug. A euphemism for Democratic-voting states in the 2004 election, particularly in reference to the Northeast and West Coast.
Ironically, these states also have:
A) Most of the lowest crime rates in the nation.
B) The lowest divorce rates in the nation.
C) The highest quality of life in the nation.
D) The lowest ratio of federal aid to tax dollars paid in the nation.
Ironically, these states also have:
A) Most of the lowest crime rates in the nation.
B) The lowest divorce rates in the nation.
C) The highest quality of life in the nation.
D) The lowest ratio of federal aid to tax dollars paid in the nation.
by Shreve Lamb and Harmon February 4, 2007
Get the blue statesmug. Not In My BackYard: a person who opposes particular construction or projects in their community. Particularly prominent in New York City.
Good NIMBYism: Jane Jacobs opposing the construction of the Lower Manhattan Expressway, which would have eviscerated the present-day neighborhoods of SoHo, Greenwich Village, and TriBeCa; Jackie Kennedy saving Grand Central Terminal from demolition and replacement with an office tower.
Bad NIMBYism: Fighting the development of a nearby tall building because it might block your view; opposing a new subway line or water tunnel, which would benefit the city for years to come, because of construction noise in your neighborhood; opposing the expansion of the museum across the street because of minor inconveniences, even though it's the primary reason that your property is so valuable. I.E.: Being selfish
Iffy: People who fight LULUs, or Locally Unwanted Land Uses: developments or institutions that are needed, but that nobody wants near them, like homeless shelters or power plants.
Good NIMBYism: Jane Jacobs opposing the construction of the Lower Manhattan Expressway, which would have eviscerated the present-day neighborhoods of SoHo, Greenwich Village, and TriBeCa; Jackie Kennedy saving Grand Central Terminal from demolition and replacement with an office tower.
Bad NIMBYism: Fighting the development of a nearby tall building because it might block your view; opposing a new subway line or water tunnel, which would benefit the city for years to come, because of construction noise in your neighborhood; opposing the expansion of the museum across the street because of minor inconveniences, even though it's the primary reason that your property is so valuable. I.E.: Being selfish
Iffy: People who fight LULUs, or Locally Unwanted Land Uses: developments or institutions that are needed, but that nobody wants near them, like homeless shelters or power plants.
Other forms of NIMBY include the NOPE
(Not On Planet Earth), the BANANA (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone), and the TEDAO (Tear Everything Down At Once).
(Not On Planet Earth), the BANANA (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone), and the TEDAO (Tear Everything Down At Once).
by Shreve Lamb and Harmon July 22, 2008
Get the NIMBYmug. Poetic name for the Americas, mostly dating from the nineteenth century, a feminized version of Christopher Columbus' name. Also the name of a popular female personification of the United States around that time, particularly before the construction and dedication of the Statue of Liberty; the Columbia Pictures logo is an excellent example of this allegorical figure. Several cities, counties, neighborhoods and institutions in the U.S. have Columbia as or in their name — especially the capital, the District of Columbia. Canada's westernmost province is likewise named British Columbia.
Columbia is also how dumb people spell "Colombia," a friendly and colorful nation in South America that is unfortunately beset by drug-related conflict.
by Shreve Lamb and Harmon February 4, 2007
Get the columbiamug. Colloquialism for the city of New York, most often used in those occasions where the metropolis must be distinguished from the rest of the state. However, does not exist as an official, political entity; the official name of the city IS, indeed, just the City of New York. For instance, Kansas City is officially the City of Kansas City, but New York is not officially the City of New York City.
There is actually no such thing as New York City; that's not the official name. There is, however, such thing as the City of New York.
Source: Wikipedia.
Source: Wikipedia.
by Shreve Lamb and Harmon February 4, 2007
Get the New York Citymug. A style of chorus line dance that has its origins in the Montparnasse area of Paris in the 1830s. Most popularly depicted as a chorus line of beautiful women in frilly, suggestive costume circa 1890 doing impossibly high kicks in unison, in addition to moves like the ronde de jambe and flirtatious manipulation of the skirt. This latter is particularly true at the end of the number, when the cancan dancers generally turn their backs to the audience and lean forward, lifting up their skirts to reveal their bloomers.
Though several musical pieces have been written for the cancan, the most quintessential and famous piece is the "Galop Infernal" from the operetta "Orpheus in the Underworld."
You know:
Daah, da-da diddle da-da, da-da diddle da-da, da-da diddle da, dadadadadadada daah, da-da diddle da-da, da-da diddle da-da, da-da diddle da, da-diddle-da!
You know:
Daah, da-da diddle da-da, da-da diddle da-da, da-da diddle da, dadadadadadada daah, da-da diddle da-da, da-da diddle da-da, da-da diddle da, da-diddle-da!
by Shreve Lamb and Harmon February 4, 2007
Get the cancanmug.