IWalked Audio Tours

IWalked William “Billy” Murtha’s Westies Gang Apartment

scott — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:22:26 +0000

Although you would probably never know it by looking at it, the address at 412 East 50th Street was actually once the home of one of the nastiest gang members in New York City. In the late 1960s, this place was rented by former Westies gang member, William “Billy” Murtha. In fact it was here that the downfall of Murtha occurred when he was arrested for an attempted murder that occurred on the evening of April 3, 1966.

The evening began innocently enough when a young twenty-six-year-old man named Charles Canelstein decided to hit the local strip club (the Pussycat Lounge) with a friend he had made earlier that night (Jerry Morales).As Charles began to get fresh with a stripper he was approached by an unknown individual whom asked Charles to back off on multiple occasions. When Charles did not, the man returned later on with a badge and gun, and escorted Charles and his friend Jerry outside. This individual whom was impersonating an officer was Eddie Sullivan, a well-known and reputed member of the notorious Westies gang. Along with Sullivan was a younger male whom would later be identified as James Coonan.

Sullivan and Coonan forced the two friends that had just met earlier that evening into a car and drove off. During the drive, Sullivan and Coonan reportedly offered to let the two individuals go if they paid them off immediately in the sum of $2,000. When Canelstein and Morales were unable to raise that amount, they were driven to a cemetery in Queens. Morales was shot and killed in the face but Charles was able to escape during the incident. He was shot three times during his escape effort and barely survived before police found him.

Through Canelstein’s testimony, police quickly identified Sullivan and Coonan as the culprits and headed to this address. When the police questioned Murtha who answered the door they noticed some shoes which seemed substantially larger than those that Murtha may wear. They searched the apartment and found both Sullivan and Coonan whom were both arrested, along with Murtha.

Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westies

Address: 412 East 50^th Street, New York City

Cost: Free to view…at your own risk.

IWalked Audio Tours To See This Site: None Currently. Site is in general proximity of our Upper Midtown tour. (Purchase the MP3 tour here. iPhone application tour is available here. Please note, all NYC tours are now available as in-app purchases upon download of our FREE NYC Lite application, which includes a free 1.5 hour tour of a portion of the Upper West Side.)

IWalked Washington D.C.’s Treasury Building – Alexander Hamilton Statue

scott — Sat, 18 May 2013 20:48:03 +0000

Standing stoically outside the south entrance to the Treasury Building is a fitting tribute to the department’s first secretary, Alexander Hamilton. In the sculpture, Hamilton is facing the Ellipse and holding a three-cornered hat and long dress coat in each hand. The ten-foot statue was sculpted by James Earle Fraser who was also responsible for the Second Division Memorial in Washington D.C., the equestrian statue of Theodore Roosevelt outside of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and for designing the infamous buffalo nickel. The nine-foot granite base upon which Hamilton rests was designed by Henry Bacon who is best known as the architect of the Greek temple building of the Lincoln Memorial.

The statue of Hamilton was dedicated on May 17, 1923 but the donor of the work has never been revealed. A rumor has persisted over the years that the donor attended the unveiling of the sculpture and could only be described as a woman hidden behind a veil.

Website: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=32740

Address: 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC

Cost: Free

IWalked Audio Tours To See This Site: Washington D.C’s White House and Foggy Bottom. (Download the MP3 tour here. iPhone application tour is available here. Please note, all Washington D.C. tours are now available as in-app purchases upon download of our FREE Washington D.C. Tours application, which includes a nearly 4-hour tour of the National Mall.)

IWalked New York City’s Central Park – Cleopatra’s Needle / Obelisk

scott — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:01:57 +0000

Tucked away in a somewhat secluded locale behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art is the oldest man-made object within Central Park, Cleopatra’s Needle. This magnificent obelisk stands seventy-one feet tall and weighs in at some two-hundred forty-four tons. Engraved on each granite side are ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs that read in three columns, although have been heavily weathered. The obelisk itself rests atop four crab supports that are replicas of the originals and each weigh nine hundred pounds themselves. Two of the original bronze crabs reside within the nearby Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Sackler Wing, while the other two were sadly lost to time when they were stolen at some unknown point in Egypt.

Cleopatra’s Needle was first erected as one of two obelisks in Heliopolis, Egypt around 1450 B.C. The obelisks were constructed as per the orders of Thutmose III, an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled for over fifty years from 1479-1425 B.C., in celebration of his thirtieth anniversary of rule. Granite for the obelisks was quarried out of Aswan and Thutmose III reportedly had his own son held captive at the site until the project was completed. Knowing that if anything were to happen to his son, workers were motivated to complete the obelisks at a rapid pace. Upon completion of the obelisks within the quarry of Aswan, they were then shipped up the Nile to Heliopolis and erected to stand outside of the entrance to the Temple of the Sun. The hieroglyphs were a later addition approximately two hundred years after the obelisks completion. They were added on the bequest of Ramesses the Great (who ruled Egypt from 1279 BC-1213 BC) to celebrate his numerous military victories.

The obelisks would remain in Heliopolis until 12 B.C. when they were moved to Alexandria by Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar. The obelisks would be placed outside of the Caesareum, a temple built by Cleopatra in honor of her former lover Julius Caesar. It was this association with Cleopatra in which the obelisks derived their nicknames, Cleopatra’s Needles.

The pair of obelisks was a long-time fixture within the Alexandria landscape until the late nineteenth century. During this time the Khedive of Egypt, in an effort to both enhance relations with western countries and to raise much needed funds for his country’s development, began to broker deals to offload some of Egypt’s obelisks. The first exchange occurred with Paris which received an obelisk that was located in Luxor. In 1878 London acquired one of the two Alexandrian columns. Not wanting to be outdone, New York City got into the race to obtain one of the remaining Luxor or Alexandria obelisks. Largely made possible via the donations of William H. Vanderbilt, the U.S. spent $102,567 to acquire one of the Alexandrian obelisks. In its purchase, the U.S. received a relative bargain considering that France had spent $500,000 and London $200,000 to obtain their obelisks.

With rights to the obelisk obtained, the only problem that remained now was how to move the 244 ton structure 5,500 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. Tasked with this challenge was Henry Honychurch Gorringe, a U.S. naval officer, who was paid $75,000 (less expenses) for his efforts. Gorringe’s first task was to find a ship that could fit the mammoth structure. He ended up finding and purchasing a retired ship from the Egyptian Postal Service which he acquired for the sum of £6,100. The ship required significant repairs, however, before it was set for sail which it did on June 12, 1880. Upon arrival to the banks of the Hudson River Gorringe’s crew was met by a team of 32 horses to help pull the obelisk to its final destination. The obelisk then had to be loaded onto a track that would transport the structure at a pace of approximately one hundred feet per day. In all, it would take one hundred twelve days for the needle to be transported via land to Central Park. The obelisk was placed in its upright position on January 22, 1881 and a time capsule was put inside at the time with a Bible, a copy of the Declaration of Independence, a guidebook for Egypt, and for some reason a book of the complete works of William Shakespeare.

For all of his demonstrated ingenuity in managing the arrival of Cleopatra’s Needle to Central Park, Gorringe would not receive pay equal to the task or recognition for this achievement. After deduction of costs incurred during his journey, Gorringe only made a meager profit of $1,156. Sadly, he would pass away just four years after his crowning achievement while attempting to leap from a moving train.

Lastly before we move on from this site, Cleopatra’s Needle has made some fairly recent headlines. In January 2011 controversy was raised by Zahi Hawass who criticized the city’s efforts on managing the deterioration of the obelisk’s hieroglyphs. Hawass, who is the minister of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, sent a scathing letter to park officials stating unless they took immediate measures for protection of the monument he would initiate measures to return the obelisk to Egypt. As of the posting of this blog in mid-2013 there appears to have been no change in status on either side.

Website: http://www.centralparknyc.org/visit/things-to-see/great-lawn/obelisk.html

Address: Central Park, New York City, NY. Near approximate intersection of E. 81^st Street and East Drive.

Cost: Free.

IWalked Audio Tours To See This Site: New York City’s Central Park (coming 2013). (Purchase the other NYC MP3 tours here. iPhone application tours are available here. Please note, all NYC tours are now available as in-app purchases upon download of our FREE NYC Lite application, which includes a free 1.5 hour tour of a portion of the Upper West Side.)

IWalked New York City’s Blues Brothers Bar

scott — Sun, 05 May 2013 11:09:06 +0000

Located at 282 Hudson Street is a rather non-descript neighborhood bar that has since 1996 been home to a popular neighborhood pub called Cody’s Bar and Grill. Cody’s is located with a four-story tenement building that dates back to the 1880s and for many years housed a longshoreman’s bar. In the late 1970s and early 1980s though, it was here that members of Saturday Night Live used to congregate for post-show parties. Two cast members at the time, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, rented out the facility on occasion and established their own private club which they dubbed the Blues Bar. The Blues Bar served as the perfect backdrop to aid in the development and rehearsal of their popular Blues Brothers act. It was during one of these rehearsals that Saturday Night Live band leader Howard Shore suggested the name of the Blues Brothers.

Aykroyd and Belushi unveiled their alter egos of “Joliet” Jake and Elwood Blues on the evening of April 22, 1978. The duo would go on to release an album titled Briefcase of Blues that same year and two years later a full length movie.

Aykroyd wrote a large portion of the initial draft of the Blues Brothers movie at this location. Never having undertaken such a venture before, Aykroyd’s script read more like a series of liner notes than actual script. In addition, the original length of the script clocked in at some 324 pages which is about three times the average screenplay length. When Aykroyd finally presented his draft copy to producer Robert Weiss, Weiss commented how the document read like the Los Angeles yellow pages. Aykroyd subsequently provided a revised version to Weiss shortly thereafter with a cover of the yellow pages attached atop.

The script of the Blues Brothers revolved around the two central characters and their attempts to raise money to save a local orphanage after having received a message from God to do so. Along the ride, viewers are welcomed to a “who’s who” of Hollywood with countless cameo appearances that included the likes of Steven Spielberg (as the Cook County Assessor’s clerk), Carrie Fisher, Paul Reubens (aka Pee Wee Herman, as a waiter), Frank Oz (as a correctional officer), John Candy, and Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh as an escaped convict. In addition, Aykroyd and Belushi showed no regard for studio funds in ensuring an all-star cast of musical guests unheard of at the time including Ray Charles, James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Cab Calloway.

The Blues Brother film, despite significant financial overruns in its filming, was a huge success. To-date it is still the second highest grossing spin-off film from Saturday Night Live outside of Wayne’s World (1992).

Sadly, actor John Belushi passed away via a drug overdose in 1982 and this surely seemed the end of the Blue Brothers act. Over the ensuing years, however, various incarnations of the band have appeared including a full-length movie sequel titled Blues Brothers 2000. For today though, we remember the original act as it evolved at this location.

Website: http://nymag.com/listings/bar/codys-bar-and-grill/

Address: 282 Hudson Street, New York City, NY

Hours: 12 p.m. – 2 a.m. Mon-Sat

Cost: Free to view from exterior or else depends on what you eat/drink.

IWalked Audio Tours To See This Site: New York City’s SoHo and TriBeCa (coming 2013). (Purchase the other NYC MP3 tours here. iPhone application tours are available here. Please note, all NYC tours are now available as in-app purchases upon download of our FREE NYC Lite application, which includes a free 1.5 hour tour of a portion of the Upper West Side.)

IWalked New York City’s Bnai Jeshurun Synagogue

scott — Thu, 02 May 2013 00:11:28 +0000

Located within a brick temple on West 88^th Street is an often missed (and appreciated) building–the Bnai Jeshurun Synagogue. The Bnai Jeshurun was actually only the second synagogue found in New York in 1825. It moved to its current home at 257 West 88^th Street in 1918. The structure was designed by famed theater architect Henry Beaumont Herts in 1918. Herts’ most famous existing structure outside of the Bnai Jeshurun Synagogue would probably be the Brooklyn Academy of Music. This building underwent some major renovations in the early 1990s after it had a ceiling collapse. The building, however, appears to be in excellent shape today. Probably its most elegant feature is the large rose window above the main entrance with a Star of David situated in the middle of it.

Website: http://www.bj.org/

Address: 257 West 88^th Street, New York City

Cost: Free.

IWalked Audio Tours To See This Site: New York City’s Upper West Side (Free Bonus Edition). (Purchase the MP3 tour here. iPhone application tour is available here. Please note, all NYC tours are now available as in-app purchases upon download of our FREE NYC Lite application, which includes a free 1.5 hour tour of a portion of the Upper West Side.)

IWalked Washington D.C.’s Infinity

scott — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:46:14 +0000

Outside the front entrance to the National Museum of American History is an abstract sculpture that stands twenty-four tall, Infinity. The work was dedicated to the museum on March 28, 1967 and was designed by Jose de Rivera (whom received a $104,520 commission for his efforts). Upon its placement on the Mall it was one of the first public abstract sculptures in all of Washington D.C. The sculpture was constructed out of eight hundred pounds of stainless steel that was transformed into a ribbon that slowly rotates on a black granite base at a rate of one revolution every six minutes. When asked to describe the meaning of the work Rivera replied, “What I make represents nothing but itself.” The tools used by Rivera to sculpt Infinity were dedicated to the museum by his son in 1997.

Website: http://dcmemorials.com/index_indiv0000497.htm

Address: Intersection of 14th Street, NW and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC

Cost: Free

IWalked Audio Tours To See This Site: Washington D.C’s The National Mall. (Download the MP3 tour here. iPhone application tour is available here. Please note, all Washington D.C. tours are now available as in-app purchases upon download of our FREE Washington D.C. Tours application, which includes a nearly 4-hour tour of the National Mall.)

Photo attributed to: http://mathtourist.blogspot.com/2010/05/infinity-in-eight-minutes.html

IWalked New York City’s Central Park – Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre

scott — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 23:06:34 +0000

The Swedish Cottage is an 1875 period home that was constructed in Sweden and shipped to America for display during the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Upon completion of the Exposition, Frederick Law Olmsted convinced park officials that the building would make a wonderful display within Central Park. The park obviously agreed as they paid the sum of $1,500 in 1877 to acquire the cottage and have it transported to its current site.

The cottage is designed in a Nordic Romantic style complete with a Baltic fur façade. The building underwent a complete restoration in 1996-1997 to repair its exterior.

Since its arrival, the Swedish Cottage has served a number of purposes within the park. Its first primary usage was as a tool shed before being converted into a rest stop. Apparently this function did not bode well with Swedish-Americans who took offense and park officials once again were left to rehab the building. During its next life the structure served as an entomological laboratory for studying insect life within the park. It was during this time in the 1920s that the New York Bird and Tree Club conducted regular meetings here. Amongst the members who may have graced its interior include Mrs. Thomas Alva Edison. For a period of time during World War II the Civil Defense group had their headquarters here. Finally in 1947 the building was outfitted to serve as its current usage as a children’s marionette theater.

The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre is operated by the City Park Foundation and is one of the last marionette theatres in the country. Each show features hand-carved marionettes that are made by the same individuals acting out the performance. Capacity for each show is limited to one hundred children.

The Enchanted Puppet Theatre provides shows most months on the year. Typical show types are at 10:30 a.m. and 12 p.m. Tuesday-Friday. Wednesdays include an added show at 2:30 p.m. Weekend show times are solely at 1 p.m. Prices as of 2013 are $8 for adults and $5 per child. Amongst some of the popular shows that have been featured in the past includes the likes of Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Gulliver’s Travels, Hansel and Gretel, Jack and the Beanstalk, Peter Pan, Pippi Longstocking, and Sleeping Beauty. The Enchanted Puppet Theatre is located within Central Park near the approximate intersection of W. 79th Street and the West Drive.

Website: http://www.cityparksfoundation.org/arts/swedish-cottage-marionette-theatre/

Address: Central Park, New York City, NY (approximate intersection of W. 79^th Street and West Drive)

Hours: Mon-Fri: 10:30 a.m. and 12 p.m. Wed: 10:30, 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Sat-Sun: 1 p.m.

Cost: $8 Adults; $5 Children.

IWalked New York City’s St. Bartholomew’s Church

scott — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 21:12:43 +0000

St. Bartholomew’s Church, also known as St. Bart’s, was founded by an Episcopalian congregation in January 1835 near the intersection of Great Jones Street and Lafayette Street. Their initial church, named for the apostle and martyr that was skinned alive, was a Neo-Classical structure with a Gothic spire. In 1876 the congregation packed up their goods and moved to a new locale near the intersection of Madison Avenue and East 44^th Street. Their second home was designed by the same architect as St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Smithsonian Castle, James Renwick, Jr. Integrated within Renwick’s design in 1902 was an elaborate granite entryway which was the work of another famed architect, Stanford White. White is largely known for his designs of the second Madison Square Garden and the Washington Square Arch, amongst many others.

St. Bart’s made its way to its current destination in 1919 when Bertram Goodhue designed them a Byzantine style church which towers one hundred forty-eight feet over Park Avenue. The church is constructed in a light shade of red brick that is highlighted by Indiana limestone trim throughout. Integrated within Goodhue’s design was the entranceway from Mr. White that faces Park Avenue. The bronze doors within this entryway contain some elaborate bas-relief sculptures that were completed under the supervision of Daniel Chester French (the sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial).

St. Bart’s, over the ensuing years, has continued to evolve and make changes to their current home. For instance, the central dome which resides atop the structure was a latter addition in 1930. Perhaps more intriguing is the integration of a high-end restaurant, called Inside Park, within its former community hall. The restaurant was added as a necessary move to raise funds for the church. The church underwent some hard times in the early 1980s when a real estate developer expressed a desire to build a skyscraper at the current site of InsidePark. This development, which would have relieved many of the church’s financial woes at the time, was forbidden because the city of New York had designated the church a landmark in 1967. The church vehemently fought the city on decertification of their landmark status claiming financial stress however, the case was denied. St. Bart’s appealed the case all the way to the Supreme Court. Millions of dollars and eleven years later, the Supreme Court refused to hear St. Bart’s appeal. A frustrated congregation saw massive declines in membership after its failed battle and it was estimated that the church lost nearly one-half of its members.

If you are interested in learning more about St. Bartholomew’s, its history, architecture and more, they do offer a guided tour each Sunday. The tours occur after the 11 a.m. service and a $7 donation is recommended. While inside, take note of the church’s magnificent 12,422-pipe organ. It is the largest in all of New York and one of the largest in the entire world.

For those of you unable to visit the interior who still wish to view the church’s interior appearance, you can check out the 1981 Dudley Moore film, Arthur. It was at St. Bart’s that he stood up his bride-to-be. More recently, the church was the site of filming for the 2010 flick SALT with Angelina Jolie. In her St. Bart’s scene an assassination attempt is made on the Russian President’s life during a funeral for the Vice President of the United States.

Website: http://www.stbarts.org/

Address: 325 Park Avenue, New York City, NY

Cost: Free.

IWalked Audio Tours To See This Site: New York City’s Upper Midtown. (Purchase the MP3 tour here. iPhone application tour is available here. Please note, all NYC tours are now available as in-app purchases upon download of our FREE NYC Lite application, which includes a free 1.5 hour tour of a portion of the Upper West Side.)

IWalked New York City’s Chumley’s

scott — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 22:08:16 +0000

Chumley’s began as a speakeasy in 1926 when Leland Stanford Chumley (aka “Lee” to friends) transformed a former blacksmith shop into one of the most popular underground watering holes in New York City. Chumley was a man who had had many occupations prior to settling as a barkeep, including stage coach driver, newspaper cartoonist and editorial writer. It was his creative nature that made his pub a popular destination for many artists and authors. To honor his artist patrons Chumley would reportedly often ask his fellow authors for jacket covers from their books which he would hang from the walls of his business.

Chumley’s was started during the Prohibition period within the United States when the manufacturing or sale of alcohol was illegal. Prohibition had been enacted in 1919 via the Eighteenth Amendment and would last for fourteen dry years before it was eventually revoked in 1934 by the Twenty-first Amendment. During Prohibition, in direct defiance of the law, it seemed more speakeasies began to pop up around the city than ever. In fact the number of speakeasies during this period is estimated to have been well over 10,000. One often used tactic to hide the true nature of their business during this period was to leave the name unmarked on the exterior. Chumley’s maintained this tradition until the day it closed in 2007. Guests would have to enter an unmarked door hidden within a narrow passage off of Barrow Street to enter the building. Inside Chumley’s was also said to have held a series of secret trap doors and stairs installed in case of police raids.

The former speakeasy met an ill demise on April 5, 2007 when a partial wall collapse in the dining room closed the building indefinitely. Despite continued rumors that the bar will re-open, the matter appears to be hung up in bureaucracy at the moment. Reportedly the landowner, in an effort to fight rent stabilization within the building is in no hurry to rebuild, especially considering her largest tenant (Chumley’s) maintains a 99-year lease. If the issue ever does get resolved the manager of Chumley’s has reported that he has full intentions of returning the bar to its former glory by restoring it to nearly ninety-five percent of its original grandeur.

For now, visitors will have to relive memories of the historic pub via some of its more noted appearances in movies such as the 1981 film Reds or the 1998 Michael J. Fox drama Bright Lights, Big City.

Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumley’s

Address: 86 Bedford Street, New York City, NY

Cost: Free.

IWalked Audio Tours To See This Site: New York City’s Greenwich Village. (Purchase the MP3 tour here. iPhone application tour is available here. Please note, all NYC tours are now available as in-app purchases upon download of our FREE NYC Lite application, which includes a free 1.5 hour tour of a portion of the Upper West Side.)

IWalked Washington D.C.’s Ashburton House

scott — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 00:54:00 +0000

Adjoining St. John’s Episcopal Church, located at 1525 H Street, NW, is the current Parish House that is also sometimes referred to as the Ashburton House. The four-story home was originally built by Matthew St. Glair Clark of the House of Representative in 1834. He built an extravagant home that turned out to exceed his financial status. In fact one element he had ordered for his home, a series of Greek Ionic columns to place out front, had to be sold before their installation. Those columns today reside outside of the Enoch Pratt House located in Baltimore, MD. The building was acquired prior to the Civil War by the British Legation. A Legation was originally a diplomatic representative office lower than an embassy but today the two are virtually the same and the term legation is rare in use. During its period of usage as the British Legation this building was the site where Lord Alexander Baring Ashburton and U.S. Secretary of State Daniel Webster negotiated (over a ten-month period) and signed the Webster-Ashburton Treaty that bears their names. The treaty resolved a long standing border dispute amongst England and the United States that effectively established the U.S.-Canada border between Maine and Minnesota and ended the Aroostook War.

After the British Legation left the Ashburton House, the building underwent a series of additional updates and owners. The building was given a brownstone finish and a mansard roof during a period of 1853-1856. And in 1954 the home was acquired by St. John’s Church who adjoined the two neighboring structures. Today the building serves as the parish house to St. John’s.

Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashburton_House

Address: 1525 H Street, NW, Washington, DC

Cost: Free