Opening ‘Windows on the Bowery’ to Appreciate its Cultural Significance
This image has been archived or removed.
It’s high time the Bowery receives its due and proper. Grassroots preservationists at the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors implore you to stop, observe, and appreciate the former Native American footpath and onetime boulevard of broken dreams. “Windows on the Bowery,” their new visual walking exhibit, premieres today.
The ambitious undertaking essentially serves as a portal to the rich cultural significance of the Bowery. It’s a creative effort some three years in the making that “highlights remarkable people, events, buildings, and achievements associated with particular addresses” along the Bowery. The ultimate goal is awareness that might help ebb the tide of destruction we’ve seen here in recent years. You see, the thoroughfare is not landmarked, even though it’s recognized on the National Register of Historic Places.
As previously reported, poster-sized placards rife with location-based information will reside in their respective Bowery windows, from Chatham to Cooper Square. Each one being a window into the past. (Get it?) In total, there are sixty-four panels (18×24 inches) containing histories penned by eighteen notable historians and researchers (Eric Ferrara, Joyce Mendelsohn, Dan Barry, Kerri Culhane, et al). Hundreds of historical images are also included.
But there’s more. In addition to the display at the Bowery locations, a full exhibition of all the posters is planned for the western windows of the Cooper Union building, as well as inside the landmark HSBC bank branch at 58 Bowery.
We’re told that the project should remain in place for several months, at least.
This gallery has been removed.
Recent Stories
Death of the Tombs as Demolition Prep Commences Ahead of High-rise Jail
It’s death for the Tombs. Or, rather demolition. After three years of protests and community outrage, the Manhattan Detention Complex at 125 White Street is finally coming down. Demolition just started ahead of the eventual high-rise jail destined for the site. In December 2021, the city terminated the leases of businesses beneath the jail along […]
Flowers for Water at Long-Neglected Schiff Fountain
A decrepit Lower East Side relic in Seward Park is born again colorful. Until last week, the Schiff Fountain on the Essex Street perimeter of the park – stripped of its grandeur and weathering in public view – had mainly functioned as harbor for illicit activity. A favored spot for drinkers, junkies, and drifters. But […]
Bowery Mural Wall Curator Calls Hiatus During Rash of Tagging
In a surprising turn of events, the longtime curator of the Bowery Mural Wall announced yesterday that artwork at the site is now on hiatus. Blame the taggers. Jessica Goldman Srebnick, head Goldman Global Arts (an arm of the Goldman Properties real estate firm that owns the wall), published a missive on Instagram about the […]
Q-Train Shooter Surrenders to Cops at the 5th Precinct
The man accused of shooting to death a straphanger in an apparent random attack on a subway train subway morning is now in police custody. Andrew Abdullah, 25, identified as the suspect in the shooting, turned himself in to cops at the 5th Precinct yesterday. Apparently the surrender was aided by Lamor Whitehead, an ex-con-turned-clergyman […]
This Mott Street ATM Gouges with 17% Fee
Storefront ATMs are nothing new. In fact, their ubiquity was so pronounced that the city banned freestanding ones from sidewalks about a decade ago. Visitors to Chinatown or the Lower East Side unfamiliar with bank ATM locations when in need of cash might not realize the exorbitant fees some ATM operators are charging. For instance, […]
