Skip to main content

For Find Out Friday - What’s a Fort Got to Do With It?






As I mentioned in my last post I have been MIA because I am taking care of my mother who is recovering from open heart surgery. 

While she was in the hospital, I spent A LOT of time staring at the same building over and over again. I knew the name but not what lied behind it’s uniquely designed walls. That is where we arrive at today.

It is known officially as The Armory and it survives a variety of purposes. 

Going back through history its initial intent was as a fort. It was constructed in the early twentieth century and was one of the first of its kind to appear in NYC. It is build in the Gothic Revival style which makes it stand out greatly in its Washington Heights neighborhood. This is partly why I noticed it; it looks at though it is from another era. And, well it is. 

At that time it housed the twenty-second regiment of the Army Corps of Engineers where those seeking to become architects, engineers, nurses, and the like, could seek out the appropriate licensing exams. This section of the army were the only unit to stay back in NYC when others left due to the outbreak of the Civil War.  But during these years they were not housed in this building. They moved around to a few different locations before finally settling here in 1911, and in a building that cost a whopping one hundred and sixteen million dollars! That would be nearly thirty-one million dollars today; certainly not chump change. 

Now The Armory serves a number of important and mixed purposes. 

In no particular order they are:

  • A temporary homeless Shelter;
  • The Police Athletic League of New York City;
  • The National Track and Field Hall of Fame (previously housed in exhibits in West Virginia, Indiana, Georgia, and California); and 
  • The New Balance Track and Field Center (which includes a two hundred meter, six-lane banked mondo track, two large runways, sand pits, a pole vault pit, and a throws cage).

You might be thinking how on Earth can all of these interests be served in the same building? 

The answer is that it is HUGE. 

It is ninety-six thousand square feet, which is roughly twice the size of Madison Square Garden! That certainly puts The Armory’s size into perspective. 

Finally in 1995, securing its place in history, The Armory was added to National Register of Historic Places. To read more about the process of landing on such a list, you can read a previous Find Out Friday post (https://bit.ly/2HYJICw).  

When I think back to just a few weeks ago, when I was staring out of my mother’s hospital room window into that big, old building, I couldn’t have imagined all of this was going on inside its walls. 

I like to think in sharing its story I am returning some of its former glory.


For More Information:







Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

For Find Out Friday - Why Do Emery Boards Make My Skin Crawl?

You know that sound a fingernail makes when it scratches against a chalkboard?  You know that feeling the sound of that action gives you? I, like most people, hate that sound.  I instantly feel like scrunching my shoulders up to my neck and closing my eyes.  I feel the exact same way when I am using an emery board to file my nails. This annoying sensation has a name: “grima” which is Spanish for disgust or uneasiness. This term basically describes any feeling of being displeased, annoyed, or dissatisfied someone or something.  It is a feeling that psychologists are starting to pay more attention to as it relates to our other emotions.  Emery boards are traditionally made with cardboard that has small grains of sand adhered to them. It is the sandpaper that I believe makes me filled with grima.  According to studies that are being done around the world, it is not just the feeling that we associate with certain things like nails on a chalkboard or by using emery boards
Post a Comment
Read more

For Find Out Friday - How Do You Milk An Almond?

Despite my affinity for cheese and other dairy products, occasionally (actually a few times a week) I like to go dairy-free.  During those times I rely heavily on my favorite brand of almond milk, as seen in the picture above.  Though I know there is no dairy in this product, I constantly wonder: “how does one milk an almond”? Logically I am aware that no actually “milking” is taking place.  I also know that almond milk can be made at home, although I have zero interest in attempting to make it despite my love of spending time in my kitchen. So, what is the actual process?  How long does it take?  When / where / who was the first to successful develop this product? When talking about this kind of “milk” what we are really talking about is plant juices that resemble and can be used in the same ways as dairy milk. Plant like juice has been described as milk since about 1200 A.D. The first mentions can be found in a Baghdadi cookbook in the thirteenth
Post a Comment
Read more

For a Doughnut Worthy of Food Network Glory: “Dun-Well Doughnuts”

All because I wanted a Boston creme doughnut. That is how this blog truly began. It was Father’s Day weekend and although I was initially thinking of myself, I knew my father wouldn’t mind having a sweet treat for dessert. Brooklyn is synonymous with great pizza, bread, and of course bagels. But it also has many great bakeries producing some of the most delicious doughnuts you have ever tasted. Just to name a few, there is: Doughnut Plant , Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop and Dough .   On the day of my craving, I did what any of us do countless times a day - I opened Google. When I Googled “best Boston creme doughnuts in Brooklyn” Dun-Well Doughnuts appeared high on that list. Intrigued I researched it further and learned that it had won the Canadian  Food Network’s contest called “Donut Showdown” in 2013. That was enough information for me to decide to visit the very next day.  Dun-Well Doughnuts was opened by Dan Dunbar and Christopher Hollowell in December 2011. Despite
Post a Comment
Read more