As they dismantle the stones, roof, and interior of the former St. Agatha Roman Catholic Church, the demolition crew is taking apart memories, history, art, and part of a community’s fabric, to be replaced by a nondescript pharmacy in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania. At the corner of Spring Avenue and Fifth Street in the downtown, the […]
Entries Tagged as 'Beyond Gotham'
Symbol and Story in Art Deco Panels
November 18th, 2015 · 2 Comments · Beyond Gotham
Buildings possess energy that can at times elevate or depress the people who view and inhabit them. Like other art, architecture can both be in and rise above its times. Talking about the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression, bandleader and jazz singer Cab Calloway once said that people really needed entertainment […]
Sweet Summer Days, Moment by Moment
August 25th, 2015 · 2 Comments · Beyond Gotham
Very few summer-twilight evenings go by without a thought of playing hide-and-seek games decades ago. We grabbed every moment of fun out of the evening’s dwindling daylight. We tried to trick each other by switching jackets and sweaters in the dusk in order to fool the one who was “it” in hide-and-seek into calling the […]
Tags: meditations·nature·seasons
The Lessons of LG Sparing the Palisades
July 3rd, 2015 · No Comments · Beyond Gotham
“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings,” wrote the pioneering conservationist John Muir in his 1901 book, Our National Parks. On Tuesday, June 23, the mountains – that is to say, the cliffs of the Palisades – were the focus of good tidings for all of us and for future generations. LG Electronics, the […]
Tags: historic preservation·Hudson Valley·landmarks·New Jersey·new york
Spring’s Fleeting Beauty, Eternal Truth
May 29th, 2015 · 4 Comments · Beyond Gotham
In the face-chilling, hand-freezing, blustery cold of a January night, who could have pictured these blossoms and flowers? In winter, many do not notice the gnarly branches of a crabapple or pear tree or the twisting limbs of a lilac bush, though they possess their own character and loveliness. Yet, there they are, strong, upright, […]
Tags: meditations·nature·seasons
The Insights That Blossoms Teach
April 30th, 2015 · No Comments · Beyond Gotham
About a month ago mounds of hardened snow still covered parts of the landscape and the bare tree branches shivered in a much colder wind. The Northeast United States waited and waited. Even for a professed winter lover, spring’s warmth and expected bursting forth felt long overdue. Some signs were there, in lengthening daylight, the […]
Tags: meditations·nature·seasons
Cleveland’s Streamline Station Survivor
March 6th, 2015 · 4 Comments · Beyond Gotham, Columns and Features
Let’s play word association: Think of the word “Greyhound.” Chances are, the terms “sleek,” “aerodynamic,” and “futuristic” are not likely to jump to mind. Decades ago, however, they may well have. Not too long after the automobile and road travel gained wider public acceptance, Greyhound was one of the forward-looking companies seeking to captivate those […]
Autumn’s Cure for Nature Deprivation
November 20th, 2014 · No Comments · Beyond Gotham
Nature is grand both in big spaces, such as mountain cliffs and ocean horizons, and in small patches, as in one leaf, a square foot of roadside, or a plant curled around a building column. Nature rewards the attentive. From the time he was a boy, Richard Louv has known this as much as anyone […]
A Sweet Statement of Deco in Newburgh
October 1st, 2014 · 2 Comments · Beyond Gotham
Buildings have a way of speaking to people. Such expression can come through their design, materials, condition, or decorative elements – and ultimately in their presence. In the middle of the long, wide expanse of Broadway in Newburgh, 121-123 Broadway is a forgotten but beautiful small building. Its Art Deco elements and design suddenly draw […]
Tags: architecture·art deco·historic preservation·Hudson Valley
Nature’s Late-Summer Hurrah
September 10th, 2014 · 4 Comments · Beyond Gotham
“Our appointment with life is in the present moment,” writes Thich Nhat Hanh in Peace Is Every Step. My appointment with life is in the present moment. Even saying these words slows down the moment and magnifies it. This can be a challenge as the days speed up and we think too much and too […]
Tags: meditations·nature·seasons
July Notes: Daylight, Towers, Prison Ships
July 17th, 2014 · 2 Comments · Beyond Gotham
For early summer, let’s skim the stones across the waters of several Mindful Walker topics. Honoring the First American Prisoners of War: The words “freedom” and “Independence Day” are inextricably linked, but how often on the Independence Day weekend did any of us think about those who gave their lives for the cause of American […]
Tags: Brooklyn·landmarks·manhattan·meditations·nature·new york
Traveling Near and Far With Spring
May 24th, 2014 · No Comments · Beyond Gotham
Edwin Way Teale wrote that spring advances up the United States at an average rate of 15 miles per day. Imagine a new season wending its way up the coastline, through the river valleys, across the fields, and along the mountain ranges. An author and naturalist, Teale knew firsthand of what he spoke. In 1947, […]
Tags: meditations·nature·seasons
Spring Signals: The Songsters Return
March 15th, 2014 · No Comments · Beyond Gotham
It occurs one dawn, quite beyond our human planning. Open the window or the door, or walk down the street, and you’ll hear it in a way that was absent the week before – birdsong. This isn’t the twitter of the hardy chickadees and juncos that have wintered here through the deep snows and sub-zero […]
Tags: meditations·nature·seasons
The Dazzle of Winter Trees
January 31st, 2014 · 4 Comments · Beyond Gotham, Columns and Features
During the howling of the wind, the crunching sound of steps on a frozen trail, or the diamond sparkle of the late afternoon sun, you see it standing there – unmoved, strong, and enchanting to the eye. To know nature’s spirit in infinite variety, get close to a single tree in winter – look at […]
Tags: meditations·nature·seasons
The Enduring Wonder of the Rookery
December 30th, 2013 · 1 Comment · Beyond Gotham
One could be forgiven for thinking that one of the crows in terra cotta on Chicago’s Rookery building depicts a current leader of the U.S. Congress. Some of our greatest buildings possess an expressiveness that speaks not only of the time period in which architects and builders created the structure but also to today. The […]
Tags: architecture·Chicago·cities·historic preservation·landmarks
The Child Who Became Sojourner Truth
October 14th, 2013 · 2 Comments · Beyond Gotham
In her strong legs and the bare, vulnerable feet; in a long, deep gash on her back; in the upright posture and gaze; and in the sight of the two large jugs she is carrying are the visual reality that children lived as slaves in the United States. This statue is sure to inspire many […]
Town to Unveil Sojourner Truth Statue
September 16th, 2013 · No Comments · Beyond Gotham
History will never be able to restore Sojourner Truth’s childhood to her. When she was a young girl known as Isabella, growing up as a slave in the Hudson Valley, she worked day in and day out for several owners, sustained terrible beatings, and lost almost all her brothers and sisters because slave owners sold […]
In Honor of My Mother
May 13th, 2013 · 12 Comments · Beyond Gotham
Like so many, I woke up on Mother’s Day thinking about my mom. Maybe it’s because of various changes in my life this past year and because of reading so many poignant posts from a Motherless Daughters Facebook group this week, I felt Mother’s Day even more than usual. Our mom, Susie DeMark, was a […]
Tags: meditations·women
Boston: The Grief and Unrelenting Whys
April 20th, 2013 · 4 Comments · Beyond Gotham
His face was unforgettable. Twenty-seven-year-old Jeff Bauman looked ashen and bewildered, appearing to be in shock, while three people directed and pushed Bauman in a wheelchair, as a New York Times photo showed. Moments before, he had been waiting to cheer his girlfriend when she would cross the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Then […]
Tags: Boston·meditations
Silhouettes, Shadows, and the Solstice
December 27th, 2012 · 16 Comments · Beyond Gotham
Perhaps the days of shortest daylight create a more intense desire to savor the play of light and shadow. We have just passed the winter solstice on Dec. 21, experiencing the shortest time of daylight for each day. It’s our all-too-human tendency to not appreciate something when we have it in abundance, say, when a […]
