After the presentation on “Historic Downtown Ossining” some music on the Hudson.
Music on the Hudson
Ossining Boat and Canoe Club
View of the Hudson through a window at the Ossining Boat and Canoe Club.
We went to see presentation on “Historic Downtown Ossining” given by the Ossining Town Historian. Very interesting if a little long – at least it seemed that way but that might be because we were very hungry. The presentation showed how a large part of downtown Ossining was lost to urban renewal and in 1970s. One entire side of main street disappeared and wasn’t really replaced with much. Very Sad. A lot of old photographs were shown, many in the form of before/after shots. It’s startling how much was lost. There were also a number of personal stories from some of the older town inhabitants with memories of how things used to be. The venue was the Ossining Boat and Canoe Club (where these pictures were taken), right on the river by the Ossining metro north station,
Ossining Boat and Canoe Club – Interior.
Buoy by the entrance.
Boat slip and Hudson View.
A Couple of Shadows
A couple of interesting shadow patterns I bumped into while looking for other things.
Stained Glass at Scarborough Station
After wandering around on the riverfront in Peekskill I took the train down to Scarborough (the closest station to our house in Briarcliff Manor) where my wife was going to pick me up. We planned to go to a presentation on “Historic Downtown Ossining” given by the Ossining Historical Society at the Ossining Boat and Canoe Club. When I got off the train I noticed these stained glass windows on the river side of the platform. Apparently they make up part of “Untitled with Sky” (2010), stained glass windows and sculptural sitting facilities. They are by Liliana Porter in collaboration with Ana Tiscornia. There are supposed to be six panels, but I only noticed three. Maybe the others are now elsewhere in the station – perhaps on another platform. The MTA describes the work as follows:
Faceted glass in windscreen of the station platform; Glass mosaic sculptural seats in plaza area
Untitled with Sky explores the boundaries between illusion – six faceted glass windows and twelve sculptural seats clad in mosaic that depict a beautiful sky as it changes from morning to evening – and “truth,” – the actual sky as it appears on either side of the art glass. Created in swirling, curved shapes in a variety of blues, purples, and rose, the work brings color and brightness to the platform where commuters wait for their morning train. The sculptural seats echo the contours and color of the windows and provide an amenity for Metro-North customers.
Peekskill Riverwalk Park – Sam Oitice Heroes Remembered 9/11
According to the Fieldguide to US Public Monuments and Memorials:
This remembrance honors Samuel Oitice, a 25-year Peekskill, New York, veteran firefighter, native and resident. Oitice was also a City of New York firefighter; he was killed in the terrorist attacks on the towers of the World Trade Center, 9/11/2001. The memorial recalls and pays homage also to victims, responders and rescuers as well as those left behind, stunned and grieved, that Tuesday morning after equally vicious attacks in Pennsylvania and Virginia.
The site’s program and design were developed by the memorial’s leadership group in cooperation with The Verdin Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. The memorial’s centerpiece, a bronze statue of a firefighter, behind a stoic gaze and on one knee, before Oitice’s remaindered, fire-fighting gear, was created by artist Andrea Grimsley under an arrangement with Verdin. Combined with the site as well is a steel beam from the WTC, courtesy of the Port Authority of NY and NJ.
The work’s supporters and champions were many, led and coordinated by the Sam Oitice Heroes Remembered Memorial Committee. From idea to unveiling, its members labored nearly ten years to create the monument.
The memorial was dedicated July 24, 2010. The white structure in the background is the monument commemorating the deaths of seven firefighters during the 1918 Fleischmanns factory fire.