They've tried to preserve some of the historic look and feel. Most of the area is landmarked, so the buildings can't be messed around with too much. The whole fish market area has been moved to the Bronx, though, and replaced with a large upscale mall and rather touristy park space.
And also some regular New Yorker park space -- here's a nice little project in the area that we recently finished. Not my design, but Tristan and I ended up locating the boulders.
So although in some parts it seems a little like Disney Seaport-Land, it's still a pretty great place to hang out. Not sure Joseph Mitchell would recognize it, though.
2 comments:
So interesting--I'm sure you are right about it not looking the same as Joseph Mitchell described it, but his writing also evoked a feeling about this locale, which, having read him a long time ago, is what lingers in my mind. So I'm wondering, since you have read Mitchell more recently and actually been to these places, does it still FEEL like he described it? Or has that changed too. He is such an incredibly good writer that I never knew whether it was his writing or the actual places and people that contained the magic.
The seaport still has what I'd call a lingering feel of what Mitchell describes, but it's more that you can understand what it once was like, rather than actually experiencing it like that.
Most of that urban grit is gone -- all over the city, actually -- and some argue that the baby has been tossed with the bathwater. I would agree with that up to a point, although I also think the current New York (including the seaport) is a great place to be in a different way. Also, these days you don't have to worry about getting mugged in broad daylight, a pleasant fringe benefit.
By the way, the Staten Island described in Mr Hunter's Grave is completely gone from what I understand. One interesting point about Staten -- in one of Mitchell's stories, someone he interviews mentions the city's plan to start a new landfill in Staten called Fresh Kills. This guy predicts that someday the city will fill up even that enormous space, and the Parks Department will probably build a big park on top someday. And that's exactly what happened... portions of Fresh Kills Park recently opened, and a lot more is coming up soon.
Post a Comment