Matthew McLeod

Dr. Russo
ENY Gotham experience
10/28/14


The Wild West Side


Todays for cast was pretty muggy and rainy so in order to avoid the rain we decided
to adjust our plans for the day. Our day started off by taking the train to west 4
th
and
from there we took the E train uptown to the MOMA on 53
rd
street. The MOMA
stands for the museum of modern art. Known as one of the most important and
influential museums of modern art in the world, the museum hoses thousands of
artwork from the 19
th
and 20
th
century. This was my first time to the museum so
upon arrival I was pretty excited and intrigued in anticipation of what to expect.
Once we got to the museum we had to wait 30 minutes before being able to go
upstairs to view the art, which was done for safety precautions. During that time I
spent 25 minutes waiting on line to check in my bag. Once all of our bags were
finally checked the tour began (ENY122).

During our visit we saw a variety of different types of art. The type of art that
inspired me the most was contemporary art. Contemporary art is art that makes you
think and reflect on the image which the artist created. This art many times has
different meanings and representations. An artist that we saw that performed this
type of art work was Robert Gober. Gober was well known for his contribution to
this era, but one of his greatest claims to fame was his work on The Heart Is Not a
Metaphor. In this unique piece it may just look like a leg in a wall, however its
meaning can go much deeper depending on how much you analyze and study the
breathe and depth of what the artist was attempting to express.

The next section of art that we came across was social realism, which was most
prominent in New York during the 1930s. Social realism was artwork that
represented the reality of every day conditions that existed in that time period. After
World War 2 however this artwork faded out and non-representational art became
popular. This type of artwork for an odd reason is Mikes favorite and like the name
suggests, it stands for nothing. The artwork lacks any real subject matter, which
gives the artist the freedom to create whatever they want. Many of these works
were different to say the least, but it was still a teachable moment for me to be
exposed to different variations of art in this venue.

Once we finished at the MOMA we headed out for lunch. Our lunch destination today
was at one of my personal favorite restaurants, YUM YUM a spot known for their
authentic Thai food and cuisine. In order to get there we had to go west and then
south where our destination lied on 9
th
avenue between 45
th
and 46
th street
. Unlike
many of the other students I have previously had my share of Thai food so I was
fully prepared for what to order. I enjoyed a nice healthy order of Chicken Pad Thai
meal with chicken wings and sticky rice. Of course, its definitely not a complete
lunch experience in the city unless you treat yourself to a nice mixed beverage to
wash down the culinary delight that we had just eaten.


Finally once lunch was over we took a stroll to 43
rd
and 7
th
avenue and took the
train to 116
th
street. After getting off the train we walked along the beautiful
Riverside Park, which is one of only five designated scenic landmarks in New York
city. The park then brought us to Ulysses Grants tomb. It is at this point where the
prominent tour guide, John Duncan, joined us. We then went inside the tomb to view
the surrounding content. Even though we were not able to go down below to get a
great look at the tombs because of the rain, we were still able to observe the
greatness from above (ENY 171).

After leaving Grants tomb we continued strolling we eventually encountered the
Manhattan school of music, which use to be the Julliard until it moved to the Lincoln
center. We then stopped off at the world renowned Riverside church. The gothic
revival style church holds the largest bell in the world along with the tallest steel
Gurter in the world in addition in being the tallest church in the Untied States (ENY
172).

We then continued our tour walking through Harlem heights where we were able to
observe the famous area in which General George Washington was forced to retreat
to after the battle of Long island. Next we were given a tour of parts of Colombia
University, home of many different presidents, such as, Obama, Roosevelt, and
Eisenhower. As we continued along our tour we stumbled upon St Pauls chapel,
which from the outside was beautiful but its, said to be one of the prettiest chapel in
the city interiorly.

Our next destination was the never completed St. Johns Cathedral. This cathedral,
thought to be the largest cathedral by volume, was never completed even though it
was first started being built in 1894. We then sat down in the peace fountain and
relaxed for a bit before finishing up the tour in the cathedral. As the day culminated
at this location, I was able to reflect back on how we were able to be flexible and
responsive throughout the day. The weather in the beginning of the class prevented
us from executing what we had originally planned; however, we were able to take
lemons and make lemon aide out of this situation and as a result we were still able
to experience an enlightening and informative journey through the west side of the
city.