One of the reasons for New York City’s success is that private (non-government) citizens decided to build some of its great buildings and open them for public use. It’s called “private philanthropy for public good,” according to Wikipedia. And it probably helped that New York’s private citizens were Vanderbilts, Astors, and Carnegies. Cornelius Vanderbilt was the railroad guy, so Grand Central Terminal was his contribution. (It’s since been replaced by the one in this photo.)
Then there’s the race to the sky that happened in the 1920s and 30s that gave us the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building.
On the drives from Loma Linda to Walla Walla College back in the day I used to listen to a book on CD called Higher by Neal Bascomb. It’s fascinating. It details the building race between the Chrysler Building and the Manhattan Company Building, then suddenly the Empire State Building comes onto the scene and wins the height race.
The Chrysler Building was always my favorite. It was the first thing I saw when I stepped off the subway on my first visit to New York in 2010.
The Chrysler Building up close.
As I wandered around I found this street called Library Court. So I looked down it, and sure enough! It dead-ends in the New York Public Library, which was John Jacob Astor’s and Andrew Carnegie’s philanthropic contribution. (Indirectly–their donation went to the library system which created this main branch building.)
I went back a few weeks later (with Nene! on her birthday!) to see the inside of the library.
And speaking of public good, there’s this sculpture across the street from Grand Central Terminal called “Hippo Ballerina, Pirouette” by Bjorn Skaarup.
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