Historical society seeks to rename Rikers Island

From DNA Info:

The head of the Harlem Historical Society wants Rikers Island renamed based on the namesake family's connection to slavery.

The embattled jail complex, which has been beset with scandal over poor treatment of inmates and calls to shut it down, gets its name from the family of Abraham Rycken, a Dutch immigrant who settled in New York in the 1600s, according to the New York Historical Society.

Jacob Morris, director of the Harlem Historical Society, recently started a petition to rename the embattled jail complex due to family member Richard Riker's history of helping send blacks into slavery during the 19th century.

Riker presided over the main criminal court in New York City, the Court of Special Sessions, in the early 1800s, and he used his authority in this position to send blacks to slavery as part of what abolitionists called the Kidnapping Club, according to historian Eric Foner.

Construction causes problems at Bowne House

From the Queens Chronicle:

Although the Bowne House — shuttered for 15 years — is about to be open to the public for regular tours following the recently completed $3.2 million exterior restoration to the historic site, cracks are appearing in the structure due to nearby construction.

“The vibrations from trucks idling have caused the damage,” said Anne Perl de Pal, an architect and resident manager of the Bowne House.

Speaking at a recent meeting of the Community Board 7 district cabinet, Perl de Pal said the cracks were caused by “incorrect machines” she said were used for pile driving, which has since stopped, and the continuing problems with idling trucks.

Rosemary Vietor, vice president of the Bowne House Historical Society, confirmed there are cracks in the plaster and blames the large number of trucks that idle outside the house at 37-01 Bowne St. for a 14-story apartment project on nearby 37th Avenue.

Those in historic districts think restrictions are worth it

From the Times Ledger:

Manhattan and Brooklyn, with their dense housing stock, have about 30 and 50 historic districts, respectively. But Queens was a harder sell, according to Wolfe, and has 10 historic districts, the second-fewest of the five boroughs.

In the late 1980s, Douglaston Manor residents began arguing their case before the city Landmarks Preservation Committee, a body in charge of conferring historical status.

A decade later, the historical society finally won them over. Regulations ensured that new development conformed with the historical aesthetics of the landmarked buildings. Meanwhile, in other century-old neighborhoods, urban development continued unfettered.

“If we didn’t have designation 15 years ago, this neighborhood would look like Malba,” [Architect Kevin] Wolfe said, referring to an area near College Point that is home to expensive waterfront property and historic homes of its own, but is also known for its “McMansions,” a derogatory term for palatial houses built as cheaply as possible to the limit of zoning regulations, often in a Mediterranean style replete with turrets and open-air balconies.

“It’s not about taste. It’s about greed,” he said.

Wolfe prefers to see architecture as a physical reminder of history.

“It’s what makes life rich. It’s a connection to your past that continues to change and grow,” Wolfe contended. “Historic districts are not places that are frozen in amber.”

The homes can be modernized in an organic way that allows them to age into the 21st century.

“You can do that in a graceful way or you can do it like a barbarian,” he said.

Poppenhusen in dire straits

From the Times Ledger:

The Poppenhusen Institute in College Point has been a fixture in the community for 143 years.

But even the oldest, most historic structures are often no match for an economic maelstrom, and the institute has fallen on hard times along with much of the rest of the nation.

The situation is becoming critical as the institute’s exhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifecutive director, Susan Brustmann, estimates that it needs to raise about $40,000 to $50,000 by next June in order to stay open.

So Brustmann is being proactive in order to ensure the best chances for the beloved site’s continuing to serve future generations as a museum and living piece of the area’s history. The institute, which is on the National Register and is landmarked by the city, raised $8,000 in July and August, and it has been awarded capital improvement for exterior renovations as well as the installation of elevators and handicapped-accessible bathrooms.

But the issue is bringing in money to pay for programs and operations and to foot the gas, electric and insurance bills.

They are toying with the idea of selling their roof as ad space.

EDC demolishes Coney Island history

From the Courier-Life:

The struggle to save Coney Island’s storied past while paving the way for its glorious future has come down to brick and tile.

It’s all members of the Coney Island History Project were expecting to extract from the demolished Feltman’s Building this week.

“It’s really a shame,” said Charles Denson, executive director of the Coney Island History Project. “I think it could have been repurposed. It’s a solid building, but it just doesn’t fit into their plans.”

The city is busily clearing the former site of the Astroland Amusement Park at 1000 Surf Avenue in advance of the new “Luna Park” amusement park set to debut on Memorial Day.

The Feltman building, located on same site, is thought to be the only tangible remnant of Charles Feltman’s vast Coney Island empire of restaurants, thrill rides, and attractions.

Feltman, who immigrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1856, is credited with inventing the hot dog. Many believe that Nathan Handwerker, founder of Nathan’s Famous, once worked inside the same Feltman building tagged for demolition.

Of course, the building didn't look like the above photo before it's demolition. It looked like this. But still... now it looks like this:

Update from Curbed

Raising the Titanic

From the Times Ledger:

Were you ever curious about that home on 11th Street in Long Island City festooned with memorabilia from the doomed ocean liner Titanic? The opportunity to see it there has passed, but the collection of memorabilia, once curated by lifelong Long Island City resident Joe Colletti, is now in the hands of the Greater Astoria Historical Society.

After 55 years in that home on 11th Street, Colletti has tired of the neighborhood and moved to an apartment in Sunnyside. But he was at the historical society’s offices Monday cataloging the photographs, drawings, letters and other items related to the famed White Star liner that struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage and sank April 15, 1912.

Colletti’s fascination with the ship took off in 1984 when he began attending gatherings of the Titanic Historical Society. Shortly afterward he met survivor Eva Hart, who was 7 when her family embarked on the fateful voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City.

Hart also alerted Colletti to the fact that while statues and major monuments exist in Belfast, Liverpool and Washington, D.C., New York City has a small lighthouse and a small park on the Upper East Side, but no major memorial to the disaster. Colletti began decorating his home with souvenirs from the ship that he found at antique shops.

Two weeks ago, a woman called Colletti after not having walked past the house for a while.

“All of a sudden it was gone. She thought something happened to me,” he said, noting he moved from the neighborhood because he dislikes the ways the Hunters Point section of Long Island City is changing.

But while Colletti said he was not terribly sad to let the collection go, he does miss his survivor friends, the last of whom died last year.

“It was just their life, their time,” he said. “They went through the wars and they went through the Depression and everything. It was such an experience to hear how they managed. It’s a generation lost.”

Titanic Joe has left the building!

Rumor has it that 11th Street's Titanic Joe has set sail and donated his collection to the Greater Astoria Historical Society.

Aw, hell, it's not a rumor!

From "Titanic Joe" Colletti:

"I am extremely happy that GAHS is going to preserve this collection for future generations. I did it for the people that died on the boat - NY has very few memorials to the Titanic and after speaking to one of the survivors who mentioned this to me, I decided to create something dedicated to their memory."
Joe grew up in Hunters Point but has moved to Sunnyside.

GAHS will be working with him on various ideas to keep the memorial alive.