Brooklyn Bridge
- Post author By leesean
- Post date October 14, 2006
- 1 Comment on Brooklyn Bridge
I found out the other day that my building, in NYC on Broadway between Franklin and Leonard, is a historical landmark. It housed one of the portrait studios of Matthew Brady, a famous American Civil War-era photographer, from 1853-1860, which means that the building itself must be at least 150 years old.
A self portrait of Matthew Brady circa 1875:
An etching of what the interior of my building looked like during Brady’s day:
Some more links about Brady and 359 Broadway:
http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/brady/timeline/timeli2.htm
http://www.daguerre.org/resource/texts/bradygal.html
http://www.daguerre.org/resource/dagnews/jul1-95.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE2D8123AF933A25756C0A964958260
http://www.glocom.org/opinions/essays/20050607_sawa_japan/index.html
Here’s a very interesting article that sums up the idea that Japan is a rich country with a relatively low standard of living. That is to say that the nation is affluent because the citizenry put in long hours and live in cramped, uncomfortable apartments. I can definitely identify with this having lived in Japan for 3 years.
Not too much to report on the personal front. I was doing some web research this morning for work for Japanese university recruiting contacts and I came across the article above.
I do miss Japan a little, but I love my new job and my big city life in NYC.
Next Monday is Columbus Day in the US, a day that perpetuates a hegemonic myth that justifies and even celebrates colonialism, imperialism and genocide.
To find out more about why we should protest the holiday:
http://www.transformcolumbusday.org/Â
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/06/1350258Â