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Manhattan Unlocked Historical and Architectural Walking Tours

Discover hidden-in-plain-sight history and decode the streetscapes of Manhattan on our multi-faceted walking tours where history and architecture meld. Manhattan Unlocked answers the question every New Yorker has asked, "why is this building next to that building, and that building next to this building?" We take that question to its logical conclusion and let the built environment--the city itself--tell its own story!

We realized there's more to the million-and-one things to be seen on the surface of the city today. Manhattan Unlocked takes into account ancient geography and historic transit, in addition to commerce, architecture, immigration and everything else, to explain the city's growth and development. In fact, New York City can only be understood from an all-of-history, holistic point of view.

About Us

Manhattan Unlocked began as a blog over a decade ago to decode and make sense of the streetwalls of the city. What most people consider New York City is an architectural complex and constellation of neighborhoods stretching almost 5 miles from the Battery to Central Park through the island's core. Yet, what looks like a jumble of buildings on any given block (we realized long ago) couldn't be random. There had to be a logic to the blocks; patterns to the neighborhoods. Neighborhoods comprising cast iron buildings or skyscrapers had to be part of some overarching narrative. There had to be a way that Tribeca and Museum Mile were part of the same story.

We soon realized that in the search for "unified theory" behind New York's instantly recognizable, yet enigmatic streetscape, we needed to hit the pavement so to speak. Manhattan Unlocked Historical and Architectural Walking Tours was born (thank you Viator and TripAdvisor, but now bookings can be made directly!). The blog had been put on hiatus, but we hope to begin updating again soon, and with a new look! Join us on a walking tour, and we look forward to uploading new and interesting posts soon.

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  • Midtown Manhattan Art and Architecture Walking Tour
  • Midtown West, Times Square, Rockefeller Center & Park Avenue

  • Holdouts! Based on the Book by Alpern & Durst
  • Midtown East, Grand Central & Rockefeller Center

  • Recreate the Most Requested Walking Tour of 1840s New York
  • Astor Place, NoHo, SoHo, Chinatown & the Civic Center (Foley Square)

  • Tenement Housing and Immigrant Life: A Lower East Side Story
  • Foley Square, Chinatown & The Lower East Side

  • Explore the Ruins of a Forgotten City in the Middle of Manhattan
  • Madison Square, Nomad, the Flatiron District & Chelsea

The old blog remains below....(My apologies for any sloppiness in early years of research).

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Friday, November 19, 2010

Harriet Tubman in Harlem: Not a Typical Outdoor Sculpture

There's somewhere around 200 works of outdoor sculpture in Manhattan.  Works in human form come in two basic types: real historical (e.g. George Washington), and allegorical, representing some sort of ideal (e.g. blindfolded justice).  I'm not sure where Alice in Wonderland or Peter Pan figure in, but we'll put them aside for now.  Of allegorical figures, the numbers are about even: 30 or so each of men and women representing everything from Heroism and Mercy to Truth and Beauty.

Of the real historical figures, though, Manhattan has something on the order of 94 men and--up until Harriet Tubman set down on West 122nd in Harlem--5 women.  Women who have risen to statue-worthy status are Joan of Arc, Eleanor Roosevelt (both in Riverside Park), Gertrude Stein (Bryant Park), Golda Meir (a bust on Broadway at 39th Street), and Mother Clara Hale (152 West 122nd).

Technically I suppose we could include the enlarged replica of Picasso's Head of Sylvette in the courtyard of  NYU's Silver Towers, but 1. It's cubism and resembles a spaceship as much as a human head, and 2. She was Picasso's mistress, no Joan of Arc or Roosevelt. I suppose we could also count the statuettes along the facade of the I. Miller building at 46th Street in Times Square of Ethyl Barrymore, Marilyn Miller, Mary Pickford and Rosa Ponselle.  I vote no because 1. Like allegorical figures each represents one of the theatrical arts: musical comedy, drama, opera and film, and 2. They are each represented as a character they were noted for, not themselves.

Now, of the 200 or so sculptures in Manhattan, I have counted only about 6 or so in Harlem (though I'm not considering Morningside or Hamilton Heights, which can justifiably be considered Harlem).  So the arrival of Harriet Tubman at 122nd Street and 7th Ave satisfies two shortcomings in the city's statuary stock: a statue of a historic woman, and another statue in Harlem.  Here she is, along with some of the other outdoor sculpture of Harlem...  (and thanks to Lee Gelber for always expanding my knowledge of New York.) 


I'll let the plaque speak for itself...be sure to read the last paragraph to understand the details in the monument

I made these especially large so you can see the details in the sculpture

 
Details along the base...

Other Harlem sculpture...

Harlem Hybrid, 1976 by Richard Hunt. An abstract rock outcropping on 125th Street with St. Joseph's Church behind...

Frederick Douglass (at 110th Street, maybe more Central Park than Harlem)...

6 comments:

  1. That's an awesome statue! (Love the detail shots!) I think I'll take a walk today on a break from work and have a look at it. You said it was new - was it just built this year?

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  2. It's new in a geological sort of way, about 2 or 3 years old. In the imaginary blog in my head I posted it when it was first installed.

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  3. more than outstanding! so glad I googled and found this!

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  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  6. Wonderful and Extremely Important Tribute! What a brave, selfless, and true human being she was!

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