"STATION-TO-STATION HAPPENING" IN CONTEXT

It is with both admiration and envy that I approach Doug Aitken's "STATION
TO STATION: A Nomadic Happening." I think that it is remarkable that he was
able to pull it together and to pull off a project of these dimensions. That he
managed to assemble vintage railway cars, orchestrate a functional itinerary with
events en route, and managed to find a sponsor to foot the bill, I find this not only
to be impressive, but inspiring. Unfortunately, I was unable see an event; however,
I have read detailed descriptions and have seen innumerable videos, so I can
formulate a very good sense of what occurred in some locations and how the melange
hung together.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2013/08/30/doug-aitken-s-station-to-station
is-art-without-borders.

htmlhttp://www.wmagazine.com/culture/art-and-design/2013/09/station-to-station-train/photos/slide/1

What can one say about the actual and potential audiences for these events. Clearly,
STATION TO STATION and its associated events were targeting a young "social
media oriented" audience.That Levi Strauss, a supporter of many emerging art events,
sponsored it, made all of it happen. Below are their press releases.

LEVI STRAUSS & CO. PRESS RELEASE

Station to Station: A Nomadic Happening

LOS ANGELES AND SAN FRANCISCO – Artist Doug Aitken today announced his newest project, Station to Station: A Nomadic Happening that will connect artists, musicians and creative pioneers with diverse communities, pushing art and culture outside of institutional constraints. A public art project made possible by the Levi’s® brand, Station to Station will raise funds through ticket sales and donations to support non-traditional programming at seven partner museums around the country.

Over the course of three weeks this September, a train will travel from New York City to San Francisco, making ten stops along the way. At each stop, Station to Station will curate leading figures from the art, music, culinary, literary, and film worlds for a series of cultural interventions and site-specific happenings.  The Aitken-designed train turned kinetic sculpture will act as a cultural studio — globally broadcasting unique content and experiences from the stops as well as on the moving train.  Long after departing the last station, Station to Station will leave an indelible creative mark on its local and global audience—opening eyes and shifting perceptions.

Artists scheduled to collaborate to bring Station to Station to life include Kenneth Anger, Olaf Breuning, Peter Coffin, Urs Fischer, Meschac Gaba, Liz Glynn, Carsten Höller, Christian Jankowski, Aaron Koblin, Ernesto Neto, Jack Pierson, Stephen Shore, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Lawrence Weiner; musicians Ariel Pink, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Dan Deacon,    

David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors, Eleanor Friedberger, Nite Jewel, No Age, Savages, and Twin Shadow; writers Dave Hickey, Barney Hoskyns, and Rick Moody; and chefs Alice Waters and Leif Hedendal, and the Edible Schoolyard Project. More participants will be announced throughout the summer.

With funding for cultural programs and the arts increasingly compromised, Station to Station will establish a revolutionary endowment model to address this need. Station to Station will distribute funds from ticket sales and donations among its partner institutions to support programs and exhibitions in 2014 that embrace Station to Station’s pursuit of new artistic models and creative collisions.

Station to Station is being made possible by the support and collaboration of the Levi’s® brand.  For more than 140 years, the Levi’s® brand has been equipping pioneers with the clothing they need to “Go Forth” and change the world.  Yesterday’s pioneers explored on a journey from east to west, laying the tracks across the original frontier.  Today’s journeys are measured in ideas, not miles. History has shown that through collaboration of a few we can inspire action among many. Station to Station brings this spirit of collaboration to life and invites Levi’sfans around the globe to take part in a new exploration of the modern frontier.

Station to Station has the support of a wide range of institutions.

LEVI STRAUSS and CO. PRESS RELEASE / OPENING IN NEW YORK

Tonight marked the launch of Levi’s® extensive Station to Station, a public art project made possible by Levi’s®, campaign, a cultural outreach in conjunction with highly acclaimed artist Doug Aitken. Falling under this season’s #MakeYourMark initiative, the event held at Riverfront Studios, Brooklyn invited guests from all over to partake in a night of cultural intrigue ranging from music and performance art to installations and live artisanal work on display. Some of the names in attendance included Suicide, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Jonah Bokaer & AIRLOCKS, and the Kansas City Marching Cobras on the musical end while creatives such as Kenneth Anger, Urs Fischer, Liz Glynn, Kathryn Andrews, Olaf Breuning and Thomas Demand all provided ample visual stimuli. The next stop on the Station to Station, a public art project made possible by Levi’s®, tour will be Pittsburgh, which in addition to the slated Station to Station, a public art project made possible by Levi’s®, event will include a special Round Table discussion involving Eddie Huang of Baohaus and DJ So Super Sam, who will share their thoughts and insights into their process and craft.

Levi’s® Station to Station Schedule
New York, New York — September 6, 2013
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — September 8, 2013
Chicago, Illinois — September 10, 2013
Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota — September 12, 2013
Santa Fe, New Mexico — September 18, 2013
Winslow, Arizona — September 21, 2013
Barstow, California — September 24, 2013
Los Angeles, California — September 26, 2013
Oakland/San Francisco, California September 28, 2013

Although this might be a minor point, I question calling this event a "Happening." Today,
I received two email program annoucmenets where the events were described as "happenings."

Aitken points out that Happenings originated in New York's Sixties art world. Perhaps Aitken is expressing nostalgia for that bye-gone era? Having been an active player in that scene, I would suggest that he adopt "After Happening" to describe this type of event and to distinguish it in time and place.

Some Precedents

Circuses

Originated in 1875, the "Barnum and Bailey Greatest Show on Earth," was first called 

"P.T. Barnum's Great Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan, and Hippodrome."

As seen in the above poster, everything was transported by rail cars and erected on

on site. Unfortunately, this circus no longer performs in tents. According to The
Huffington Post, there are fourteen extant circuses, most of which perform indoors in
auditoriums.

Prior Transportation Based Exhibitions / Events 

Had anyone done anything like STATION TO STATION before?  The answer is "yes."
Transportation based exhibitions, different in content and presentation, occurred
in the 1940s,  I960s, and 1970s. These projects were as much of their time as is
STATION TO STATION a product of today. Their focus was on social and cultural
history along with contemporary art. They were sponsored by federal
and state agencies. I was involved in some, not all, and will review them.

Freedom Train: 1947-1949

Created as a Post-World War II patriotic gesture, with original versions of the
Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Bill of Rights, it visited
300 cities in all of the then 48 states.

Freedom Train: 1975-1976

Planned as a Bicentennial event, there were 10 display cars with diverse
historical exhibits. During a 21-month period, seven million visitors
were recorded.

 


















Erie Maid, 1967
As a staff member of the New York State Council on the Arts, I created an exhibition
on a barge, Erie Canal 1817-1967, documenting the canal's history. We called it the
"Erie Maid," after a notorious Syracuse burlesque queen of the 1880s. She became
our symbol and everyone who volunteered received a large button with her image.
The exteror of the barge was designed by George Nelson. He was responsible for
the design of major exhibitions in this country and abroad. Today, he is known for
his Herman Miller furniture designs,

Top: Erie Maid on the canal. Middle: An event in Albany on the
Hudson River. We used the roof of the barge as a performance 
stage. Here, Pete Seeger is singing. Below: 100,000th visitor.
Right below: In the exhibition area.

Between July 1, and September 17, a total of 138,250
persons visited the barge. averaging 240 per hour.
These attendance figures exceeded those of many
Upstate New York museums.

After having visited many of the towns along the
canal, Ken Dewey, a New York-based Happenings
artist, planned the itinerary. He found that each stop
offered different potentials. In some towns, we had
marching bands greet the barge. We always had
local volunteers serve as a welcoming committee.
There were folk singers, barbecues, dances and film
showings.

The operating philsophy was simple. We provided
a catalyst encouraging people to celebrate themselves.
Needless to say, that was the spirit of "The Sixties."
Somehow or other, that participatory spirit might
be extended to embrace social media - today's
governing principle.

Michigan Art Train: 1971 - today

Artrain began in 1971 as a project of the "Michigan Council for 

the Arts," and initially toured Michigan, visiting small towns 

that did not have their own museums. 

It left Michigan for the first time in 1973. Currently, it visits
different regions, returning to that region once every four years.
It is on tour eleven months of the year, traveling about 12,000
miles annually. Ann Arbor, Michigan, is its home base. There,
the cars undergo maintenance, and the exhibit might be changed
if required.

Smithsonian Institution, Planning for the 1976
Bicentennial

In 1972, I was hired by the Smithsonian to develop National
Bicentennial programs. Full of enthusiasm and seeing endless
possibilities, I allowed my imagination to run wild. I was working
for The Feds; Nixon was President; the war in Viet Nam was in
full swing. I envisioned my assignment as being in the wake of
the 60s when anything seemed possible.

So, I canvassed Washington for opportunities. I wanted to
replicate the success of the Erie Maid across the country.
The formula would be the same, Develop catalysts and make
them available to unlimited audiences across the country.
Given a spark of incentive, I knew that people would develop
their own celebrations.

I went to the Pentagon to see about getting cargo planes to drop
off prepared exhibitions at domestic airports. I went to the
railroad association to see about getting empty freight cars to
house prepared exhibitions. Hopefully, we would be able to
park these freight cars at safe, accessible sites, possibly in
accessible freight yards. I went to the trucking association
with a similar request for trailers. Wherever I went, everyone
was interested, and in most cases, they were willing to donate
their services. However,  as with everything, there were associated
costs for personnel, fuel, supplies, etc. I developed a detailed
budget to accompany my auspicious plans.

To transform the cargo area of huge planes
and railway freight cars into informal mini-
museums, I developed "Information Core"
exhibitions. The would serve as catalysts
to activate community response. Information
Core exhibition would be dedicated to a specific
subject. Users would be encouraged to add
artifacts, additional panels, as well as
appropriate sound and images.

Multiple versions of Information Coare
Exhibitions were later produced by the
Smithsonian and distributed widely to
museums, libraries and educational
institutions.



When I made my presentation of the board of trustees of the
Smithsonian, S. Dillon Ripley, one of the most imaginative and
charismatic Secretaries of the Smithsonian to hold that office,
chaired the  meeting. The room was filled with august looking men:
business tycoons, politicians and what might appear to be some
ordinary people. They listened politely and did not ask any questions.
My proposed budget was in the neighborhood of $3,000,000, a lot
of money then. Mr. Ripley looked me straight in the eye and politely
said, "You are asking for the equivalent of our annual Congressional
appropriation. If we go to Congress with this request, and they
approve it, they will cut the budgets of all of our other programs
to make an adjustment." End of story!

ON BECOMING BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK

Map of Downtown Brooklyn, 1939

"FULTON FERRY a waterfront hamlet in Brooklyn's earliest days,
is now an isolated sector of musty, dilapidated buildings nestling
in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge"

Map and quotation from,  The WPA Guide to New York City, 1939.

 Above: View of  the Brooklyn waterfront looking north to FULTON FERRY 
neighborhood, c. 1945.  Below: Brooklyn Heights Promenade, c. 1951.

I have known the Brooklyn waterfront from Atlantic Avenue to
the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge since 1943. Once, it was a
thriving port area with cargo ships loading and unloading as well
as the terminus of barges conveying railway freight cars from
New Jersey across the East River. The areas most remarkable
architectural feature was a group of brick Civil War era brick
warehouses. (Seen in the first photo above.) Long gone, there are
similar extant brick Civil War era warehouses ("stores") to be
found in Red Hook, Brooklyn. On several occasions, I walked to
the foot of Joralemon Street hoping to get closer to the water's
edge, but access was restricted. When container ships began
to dominate international trade, the piers and their attendant
warehouses were abandoned.

Traditionally, Brooklyn Heights had been an upscale neighborhood
with stately brownstones, grand mansions and elegant apartment
houses.

When the Brooklyn Heights Promenade (occupying a platform
above the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway) was completed in
1951, it added an incredible amenity to the neighborhood
providing a one-third of a mile longitudinal park affording
spectacular views of
Lower Manhattan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Heights_Promenade

"The Promenade, as it is known locally, is a fringe benefit
from the construction of this section of the Brooklyn-Queens
Expressway ... one of the few brilliant solutions for the
relationship of auto, pedestrian and city - was projected
from the crest of the Heights to overlook the harbor at a
fourth level, over two levels of a highway and a service
road for the piers below."

AIA Guide to New York City, Third Edition

"Brooklyn Bridge Park is a world-class waterfront park with

rolling hills, river front promenades, lush gardens, and 

spectacular city views. The park currently features sand 

volleyball courts, running and bicycle paths, a boat launch 

for non-motorized boating, several playgrounds, a picnic 

area, as well as a dog-run and pool. Our list of amenities 

continues to grow as we work each day to revitalize this 

previously deteriorated waterfront space and build a park 

that will allow New Yorkers to rediscover the waterfront.  

"Brooklyn Bridge Park partners with Brooklyn Bridge Park 

Conservancy to provide a programming schedule that 

contains over 400 free activities throughout the year 

ranging from children’s education programs and bike 

lessons, to performing arts and fitness classes. 

Whether seeking a day of physical activity or simply 

relaxing on our lawns, Brooklyn Bridge Park has something

for everyone."

http://www.brooklynbridgepark.org

http://www.brooklynbridgepark.org

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-11/

waterfront-ruin-morphs-into-350-million-park-
james-s-russell.html

Interactive Map


Undoubtedly, The Promenade set a standard of imagination
and environmental design to be matched by new amenities
introduced to the neighborhood. When I made my first visit
to the yet-to-be-completed Brooklyn Bridge Park recently,
I would say that this objective is clearly in the process of
being completed.

Recently, I walked from the foot ot Atlantic Avenue to the
base of the Brooklyn Bridge. I found completed recreational
areas surrounded by some construction. The promise of a
spacious, user-friendly, well-designed urban recreational
space was evident. All of those who contributed to this venture
should be congratulated.

THOMAS HIRSHHORN / CULTURAL IMPERIALIST FASHIONISTA

                         

 

  

                         

On a Saturday afternoon in mid-September, we took the #5 subway to Prospect Avenue in the South Bronx and proceeded to walk North on Prospect Avenue to 163rd Street. After crossing Union Avenue, we turned right on Tinton Avenue and gained access to Forest Houses, a Post World War II public housing project. My friend, who encouraged me to go, had read a laudatory review in the New Yorker which described the Gramsci Monument as a must see art event. Sponsored by the Dia Foundation, it was billed as a significant work of art by a heralded Swiss artist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hirschhorn

http://www.diaart.org/exhibitions/main/125

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/artworld/2013/07/29/130729craw_artworld_schjeldahl

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/arts/design/thomas-hirschhorn-picks-bronx-development-as-art-site.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

So, what did we find? I would describe the ramshackle wooden structures that appeared 

to be the core of the project as an insensitive intrusion into the courtyard of a low-income 

public housing project. There was a library, radio station and a bank of computers 

linked to the internet. Where and how did Gramsci fit into this mess? Searching for some documentation, I found a faded typed biography on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper tacked to 

a wall. There was one in English and another in Italian.

Was this a bad joke? No, this was supposed to be a serious work of art. As I wandered from one tacky space to the next, I tried to image who was the so-called artist who had conceived of this entity and why it was sponsored by the Dia Foundation. Beyond that, I was compelled to ask what it had to do with Antonio Gramsci. Although I had not read him widely, I knew that he was the patron saint of left-wing Italian politicians. I kept asking myself what Gramsci had to do with this public housing project in the South Bronx.  Simple: Thomas Hirshhorn, the Swiss artist who had conceived this project, was enamored of Gramsci. Concurrently, I wondered if Gramsci had any relevancy for the residents of Forest Houses. My assumption is none.

I had an opportunity to talk to one of the residents who had established a table along the main pedestrian pathway where she was selling objects that she assumed might appeal to 

tourists visiting her neighborhood. She appeared to have little interest in the content of 

this so-called work of art finding it to be a positive element in her community because 

residents were compensated for working on the construction of its various elements. 

As we wandered around this desultory organized phenomenon, we came upon an open-air 

theater with about two hundred mostly middle-aged Caucasians seated in a semi-circle 

listening to an African-American man promote his book describing his experiences 

with the ANC (African National Congress) in South Africa. It did not appear that many, 

if any, project residents were in the audience.

We began to talk to three people, two women and a man, in their late twenties or 

early thirties, obviously not from the neighborhood. I asked what they made of this 

so-called work of art. They, too, were motivated by the "must see"  New Yorker  

article saying that they believed that the artist was trying to regenerate the participatory 

art spirit of 1960's as seen in Happenings where members of the audience were participants

in an art event. Being familiar with Happenings, I could not make the connection.

Although this personal event occurred in 1967, it bears some relevance to the Gramsci 

Monument. I had just published a book on the history of New York's Lower East 

Side. At that time, it was customary for publisher's to have a book publication party 

in a restaurant and  invite critics. I requested that my publisher give me the money 

that they would have spent on a lunch allowing me to create an event related to the 

book's publication in Seward Park on The Lower East Side. They agreed and I 

created a mini-festival on a Sunday afternoon in the park. 

  

 

Was my festival in Seward Park a manifestation of cultural imperialism? Definitely not!
It was an honest interpretation of community heritage in which the history of its residents
was celebrated. Since The Lower East Side was then becoming a hip neighborhood, we
had a "slum goddess" parade. (See photo on left immediately above.) Now, there are
hundreds of neighborhood block parties throughout all of the boroughs in which residents
celebrate their origins, history, heritage, religion and food. They are authentic community
events.

http://nymag.com/guides/everything/block-parties-2013-7/

Thomas Hirshhorn could benefit greatly by visiting some of these neighborhood block 

parties. He might learn how (if he were so inclined) to contribute to a community rather 

than exploit it for ego gratification and personal gain. 

By now, the Gramsci Monument is a memory. On reflection, I would describe it as a 

gigantic hype involving a colossal waste of time, energy and money. Hopefully, Thomas 

Hirshhorn will restrain his cultural imperialistic ventures and avoid invading innocent communities.

A NEW YORK CIVIC / CULTURAL TRAGEDY IN THE MAKING

Great libraries have been destroyed by natural disasters, conquest and revolutions. Never has a great library been destroyed by its administrators. If the New York Public Library’s Central Library Plan is implemented, we will witness such a catastrophe! Irresponsible administrators and trustees of the New York Public Library are planning the emasculation and evisceration of one of New York City’s premiere cultural institutions and landmark structures - The New York Public Library’s 42nd Street Research Library. How could this  have happened?

A NYPL “Staff Briefings on New Strategy dated March 2008,” states in part, “The new strategy: Fundamentally transform NYPL to drive increased use through better integrated service ...” Among “Facilities Plan Goals” it states “Make our Fifth Avenue building a greater international destination.” It further proposes, “A New Central Library, Move books to high-density stacks under Bryant Park ... Remove stacks ... Repurpose space for multilevel circulating library ... Draft Concept: Not a Design Plan.” 

This document further outlines a “$1.2 Billion Funding Strategy” with an accompanying Time Line from 2007 to 2014. Listed were “Benefits to NYPL:  A spectacular new library, A greater international destination in the heart of New York, Seamless service for all users in a single building, Better service through fewer service points. A more welcoming venue with inviting reading rooms, easier-to-access materials, expert guidance, better exhibition spaces, cafes, lounges, and computer labs.” It further states these objectives: “Increase visitorship to 3.5 million or more annually ... Put the People’s Palace back the center of New Yorker’s lives.”

On October 22, 2008, The New York Times reported that  “Norman Foster, the eminent British architect who has made something of a specialty out of inserting contemporary designs into historic buildings, has been selected for a renovation of the New York Public Library's  landmark 1911 main building, on Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd Streets.”

Over a four-year period, the NYPL never provided detailed plans; however, its few pronouncements were threatening. Alarm bells rang in many quarters. In 2012, The Committee to Save the New York Public Library was formed and circulated a petition obtaining signatures from over 1,000 notable authors and cultural leaders.  On May 24, 2012, there was a forum at The New School, “The Future of the New York Public Library” in which supporters and critics debated  what was publicly known of the plan.

Finally on December 12, 2102, a press release was issued: “The New York Public Library's Central Library Plan Takes Next Step With Release of Schematic Designs.” A printed brochure was made available and a video detailing the “Central Library Plan,” could be seen in The Library’s Astor Court and on its website.  http://www.nypl.org/clp

How are we to interpret four years of virtual silence followed by the sudden disclosure of a full-fledged plan of emasculation (books) and evisceration (architecture)? It appears that the administration and trustees are revising the mission of the institution with which they are associated to its detriment. Granted that cultural institutions must evolve in relation to societal transformations, such signals can be read differently. The NYPL staff and trustees have chosen to practice cultural denigration. 

According to the March 2008 document, they envision: “A greater international destination in the heart of New York ... cafes, lounges, and computer labs ... Increase visitorship to 3.5 million or more annually ... “ This announced policy promotes the lowest common denominators of cultural engagement at the expense of intellectual and cultural speculation.  We must ask: to what end are these policies being pursued?

Above top: New York Public Library Stacks, c. 1910. Above below: Central Library Plan stack replacement.

Ada Louise Huxtable, wrote in the Wall Street Journal, December 3, 2012

“There is no more important landmark building in New York than the New York Public Library, known to New Yorkers simply as the 42nd Street Library, one of the world's greatest research institutions. Completed in 1911 by Carrère and Hastings in a lavish classical Beaux Arts style, it is an architectural masterpiece. Yet it is about to undertake its own destruction. The library is on a fast track to demolish the seven floors of stacks just below the magnificent, two-block-long Rose Reading Room for a $300 million restructuring referred to as the Central Library Plan.

“Not surprisingly (except to the library), the plan is highly controversial. For most critics it's about devaluing the primary purpose of a research library by reducing the accessibility of its resources. ... 

"The plan would consolidate three libraries—moving the popular Mid-Manhattan circulating library (just across Fifth Avenue at 40th Street) and the underused Science, Industry and Business branch (in a 34th Street building that runs from Fifth to Madison Avenues) back into the main building to eliminate substantial operating costs. Two million to three million of the five million volumes in the stacks—including the more specialized material many of us depend on, and referred to by the library as the "least used" books—would be moved to Siberia. (Excuse me, to New Jersey, where the offsite storage is located.) Books would be returned in an optimistically estimated but unreliable 24 hours, by truck, on the traffic-jammed New Jersey Turnpike.” 

EMASCULATION - HOLDING THE BOOKS HOSTAGE

On May 23, 1895, an agreement consolidating three separate libraries was signed 
that gave birth to “The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden
Foundations,” to establish and maintain a free public library and reading room in
the City of New York.” Concurrently, with a gift of $1,000,000 from Andrew Carnegie, 
the branch system of neighborhood libraries in Manhattan, The Bronx and Staten
Island, was added. The former Croton Reservoir at Fifth Avenue and 42nd
Street became the site for a new central library which opened to the public
on May 23, 1911.

From its origination, The New York Public Library has been a bifurcated institution having a central research library associated with numerous branch libraries in Manhattan, The Bronx and Staten Island serving distinctly different audiences. The central 42nd Street Library has served generations of authors, scholars, business executives, some college students and many graduate students. The branch libraries have cultivated different audiences, often within the neighborhoods in which they are located. They offer information-oriented library services, cultural programming and community services. 

In their muddled thinking, the NYPL administration wants to expand the neighborhood library profile at the 42nd Street Library and reduce the central research library functions. 

One is compelled to ask: "to what end?"

As indicated above in Ada Louise Huxtable’s article in the Wall Street 
Journal and confirmed by NYPL officials, in order to make room for new 
public facilities, it would be necessary to move half of the three million 
volumes currently in the stacks located below the main reading room, 

to storage space in New Jersey. The library has since received a grant
to store some of them in an existing space under Bryant Park. Millions 
of books will eventually be sent to a storage facility in Princeton, New Jersey.
The New Jersey Turnpike will replace the conveyor belt delivering books to 
the Rose Reading Room. How is one to read this? What is the message? 
Are extensive collections of books no longer considered to be an important 
resource for a major research library? 

These books are classified by the administration as those that are 

“least used.” It is the nature and purpose of a research library to have 

an abundance of such books in its collection. Researchers of all stripes 
see these books as essential to their investigations and pursuit of knowledge.

In line with the NYPL’s continuing deceit, it was recently heard that all of the books have been removed from the seven floors of stacks and sent to a warehouse facility in The Bronx. There has yet-to-be confirmation from The Library.

With removal of the heart of the library, its stacks for book storage, the space 

will be converted into a pseudo shopping mall with attendant facilities like 
coffee shops, lounges and gift shops. When I last visited the Astor Court, I 
spoke to several people asking them if they were regular library users. They 
replied that they were out-of-town visitors who came to see Astor Court 
where Carrie Bradshaw of Sex and the City was to be married. This appears 
to be the audience courted by the Central Library Plan.

In attempting to understand what has become the program of The New York Public Library, it is no longer viewed by its administration and trustees as a cultural institution. Rather, it appears that it is being transformed into an entertainment and consumer complex in which books play an increasingly less significant role.  Why are these least used books being treated with such disdain? 

Having accepted denigration of public culture as a guiding principle, the administration and trustees of the Library acknowledge that the new audiences that they are courting are not interested in the least used books, nor do these people care about the accessibility or the fate of these books.

On March 28, 2013, The Museum of Modern Art held a symposium related to its “Henri Labrouste” architecture exhibition. In one of the panel discussions, Dominique Perrault, architect of the recently completed Bibliotheque Nationale de France, was asked how they dealt with homeless people, a common problem in American libraries. With disdain, he said, “We don’t allow them in the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. They go to the library at the Centre Pompidou.” Perhaps this is more of a class distinction than Americans like to make, but he articulated the clear separation of functions and audiences between research libraries and neighborhood libraries.

Recently, President Marx sent an email to all library members extolling his success in arriving at a formula with five major book publishers to make their ebooks available to NYPL users. The next day, the contents of his letter appeared on the op-ed page of The New York Times. Granted that this is a positive development in relation to providing library services to broader audiences, this bears no correlation to the fate of the least used books. The Library staff and trustees fail to recognize that they serve differentiated audiences who require differentiated services. Rather, they have created a smoke screen camouflaging their intents. 

On the one hand, they claim lack of funding for staff and book purchases. On the other hand, they speak of requiring billions to effect a planned transformation. The most obvious criticism to be made of the staff and trustees is a total lack of coherence in their plans. 

THE LATEST ARCHITECTURAL STYLE: EVISCERATION

Above: Architectural Eviscerator Daniel Leibiskind’s adaptation of  a 19th century building in Dresden as a military museum. Below : View of 19th century Dresden.

THE PLANNED EVISCERATION OF THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 

Above: Baron Foster of Thames Bank, 2010. Below: Remodeled Great Court of The British Museum, 2012.

“In 2008, the Library announced the selection of the famous British architect Norman Foster to undertake a vast project to replace the stacks under the Rose Reading Room with a new circulating library that is now housed in the Mid-Manhattan Library, Fifth Avenue and 40th Street. The books now housed in that space will be moved to the stack space created in the late 1980’s under Bryant park. At its inception the project was expected to cost $250 million.” Page 46, The New York Public Library, Henry Hope Reed and Francis Morrone, WW Norton and Company,  2011. 

Without question, Foster is one of the world’s most distinguished architects. He has received numerous awards. He and his firm (1,300 employees) command respect for both technical and design innovations. In New York he is best known for the stunning metal and glass tower that he perched atop the flat non-distinctive Hearst Magazines building at West 57th Street and Eighth Avenue.

Although he designed the new Great Court at the British Museum, architectural renovation is not his strongest card. The British Museum project gets mixed reviews. While technically innovative, it is felt that he neglected to respect the architecture of the historic building. His evisceration here, perhaps not as spectacularly brutal as Daniel Leibskind’s historic building in Dresden, Foster’s British Museum project suffers from a neglect of and detachment from the humanism of the institution while favoring  technological feats. He  is said to be the wealthiest architect in the world. 

Some might want to cast Foster as a villain; he is only the hired gun taking orders
from the NYPL administrators and trustees. They dictate the program and he provides 
the design solution. In this case, he is being given compromised directions, so he cannot  
create a good design.

IS CULTURAL DENIGRATION A CRIME? 

It is not a legally punishable crime in American society; however, such offenses can
be tried in the court of public opinion. 

Great cities germinate great libraries. The New York Public Library, as it currently exists, contributes to New York’s preeminence as the cultural capital of the world. An emasculated, eviscerated library threatens New York’s future as a magnet for creative people in the arts, commerce, communications, science, and many other currently established constituencies. 

At a panel discussion held at The New School in May 2012, the subjects of 
books was the main focus. Joan Wallach Scott, Harold F. Linder Professor, 
School of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, 
presented a petition signed by one thousand writers, scholars and artists 
protesting the plan. Anthony Marx, President and CEO of the Library, and 
Robert Darnton, an NYPL trustee, Professor at Harvard University and director 
of the Harvard University Library, defended the plan. Both said that the Library 
was in dire financial straits, stating that since 2008 the number of curators had 
been reduced from 64 to 51, while annual book acquisitions had declined from 
$15 million to $11 million. There was no attempt to correlate these figures with
a total estimated renovation cost of $300 million. Of that, Mayor Bloomberg has 
offered $150 million in New York City funds. 

According to the NYPL chairman, Neil L. Rudenstein, the budget plan for the 
Central Library Plan is preliminary and imprecise. The Library has suggested 
that the plan would produce $15 million in savings a year, allowing the library 
to extend hours, acquire more books and hire more librarians system-wide. 
These are the same kind of mumbo jumbo arguments used by the George 
W. Bush administration to sell the country on the disastrous Iraq war. Similarly, 
the Board of the NYPL and its administrators are playing a hidden missile 
deception game with the citizens of New York. They are hiding their budget 
figures so that no one can correlate the estimated costs and cost benefits of 
the Central Library Plan with reality. Most of this looks like Swiss cheese. The 
millions of books in the library’s collection are being held hostage to financial 
chicanery being practiced by the NYPL board and administrative staff.

The proposed denigration and destruction of the 42nd Street Library must be viewed as a

"cultural institutional crime." Those responsible must be named and criticized for their

acts. 

THE PERPETRATORS OF THE CENTRAL LIBRARY PLAN

Paul Leclerc, Former President and CEO, The New York Public Library.Anthony Marx, 
President and CEO, The New York Public Library.Catherine Marron, Former Chairman 
of The New York Public Library Board of Trustees.Neil L. Rudenstein, Chairman of The 
New York Public Library

THE ENABLERS OF THE CENTRAL LIBRARY PLAN 

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, 

the New York City Council, the Empire State Development Corporation,
 Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Stephen A. Schwarzman, 
Abby S. Milstein and Howard P. Milstein.  List incomplete

Trustees of The New York Public Library / As of November 2012

John H. Banks III. John P. Birkelund, Samuel C. Butler, Sila M. Calderó, Joan Hardy Clark,  Evan R. Chesler, Sol Neil Corbin, Lewis B. Cullman, Robert Darnton, Gordon J. Davis, Anne E. De La Renta,Vice-Chairman, James H. Duffy, H.R.H. Princess Firyal, Barbara G. Fleischman, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Barbara Goldsmith, William Gray, Alan C. Greenberg, Louise L. Grunwald, John H. Gutfreund, Ralph E. Hansmann, John B. Hess, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos, Patricia D. Klingenstein, Robert Liberman, Harold McGraw III, Raymond J. McGuire, Scott Malkin, The Honorable Victor Marrero, Catherine Marron, Anthony W. Marx, Robert B. Menschel, Abby S. Milstein, Susan Morgenthau, Toni Morrison, Suzanne C. Mueller, Susan M. Newhouse, Jessye Norman, Carl H. Pforzheimer III, Richard L. Plepler, Harold Prince, Katharine J. Rayner, David Remnick, Elizabeth Rohatyn, Marshall Rose, Sandra Priest Rose, Neil L. Rudenstine, Chairman, Stephen A. Schwarzman, Robert B. Silvers, Dinakar Singh, Gayfryd Steinberg ,Joshua L. Steiner, Vice-Chairman, James S. Tisch, Calvin Trillin, Luis A. Ubiñas, Edgar Wachenheim III,  Sue Ann Weinberg. List incomplete

THE APOLOGISTS FOR THE CENTRAL LIBRARY PLAN

Paul Goldberger, The New Yorker, Justin Davidson, New York. List incomplete

THE CRITICS OF THE CENTRAL LIBRARY PLAN 

Ada Louise Huxtable (deceased), Wall Street Journal, Michael Kiimmelman, The New York Times, Jason Farago, The Guardian, Scott Sherman, The Nation, Charles Warren, Theodore Grunewald,, Thomas Bender, Mosette Broderick, Rosemarie Bletter, Elisabeth Broome, Martin Filler, Joseph Giovannini, Stanley Katz, Carol Krinsky, Mark Lamster, Paul Makovsky, Cathleen McGuigan, Mary McLeod, William Menking, David Morton, David Nasaw, Victoria Newhouse, Joan Ockman, Clifford Pearson, Mildred Schmertz, Joan Wallach Scott, Suzanne Stephens, Carol Willis, Gwendolyn Wright.

List incomplete

ASSESSING THE DECEPTION OF THE NYPL STAFF AND BOARD

We live in a society where deception is an accepted practice. Think of the political fact checking industry. Politicians lie with abandon. If and when they are caught, they contrive another lie. Are they punished? Only if their deceptions break the law. Do they lose stature if and when they are caught? That is a variable to which there is no fixed response. Deception is practiced in the cultural realm as well. The extended scandals involving American art museum purchases of stolen ancient artifacts from Greece and Italy made good newspaper copy. The Italians attempted to prosecute and failed. Even though exposed, there is no guarantee that the practice has been eradicated.

Can we see parallels with the board and staff of the NYPL? Yes, but at the moment it is difficult to prove because they hold all of the cards and have exposed few of them. In order to resolve what appear to be glaring disconnects between their proposals and reality, we need to demand full exposure of all their budgets. They need to present a cost/benefit analysis of their plan, not the vague promises that appear to have no foundation. I can’t imagine that the New York City government, as well as the foundations which have promised funding, will not ask for substantiated figures.

Lets assume that they show their figures. There is going to be enormous pressure to accept them because the NYPL is a noble and respected institution. Like the museums that trafficked in stolen art, the NYPL is camouflaging facts. We must demand that their figures be made public and that the NYPL Board and staff is prepared to answer questions regarding these figures. They cannot be trusted any more than the curators and museum directors who were unscrupulous in their acquisition policies.

And what about their promises of increased services? Like so many other details of the Central Library Plan, this is another smoke screen. 

No one denies the laudable goal of providing more and better services to expanding audiences; however, there is the issue of differentiated audiences which appears to escape the NYPL administrators and trustees. What works for some does not work for all! Yes, high school, college students and the general public deserve access to the NYPL’s resources; their needs have been served by the Mid-Manhattan Branch and should continue to be offered. 

However, authors, researchers and professionals seeking detailed information from books and periodicals have different needs. And what about the people wanting to have their photographs taken on the Astor Court stairway where Carrie Bradshaw was to be married? They are not serious library users and should be evaluated accordingly.

In summation, the current administration and board of trustees are not to be trusted to serve the well-being of the New York community. Their plans to emasculate and eviscerate the 42nd Street New York Public Library should be thrown in the waste basket. A new plan should be developed in concert with New York’s intellectual community, professional library community, architectural community and a broad network of city-wide library patrons.

A FOOTNOTE ON THE HISTORY OF BOOKS AND LIBRARIES 

We are constantly reminded that we live in the digital age in which modes of electronic communication and storage are replacing generally accepted norms that have existed for thousands of years. What we, in the Western World know as books (physical objects with inscriptions), originated in Egypt and Mesopotamia. They have evolved over centuries. First, there were clay tablets; then scrolled parchment rolls appeared in Greece around the Fifth Century B.C. Soon after, scriptoria began to produce multiple copies; libraries, some public, some private, were created to store and retrieve them. When the Hellenistic Greeks conquered Egypt and established their capital in Alexandria, one of their first initiatives was to create the Museum, which later became known as the Library. It was an intellectual center that encouraged some of the greatest minds of the time to live there. At its zenith, the Library of Alexandria had acquired some 490,000 scrolls. It was here that alphabetical indexing was invented. Mark Antony, when courting Cleopatra, in one of his exaggerated gestures of affection, gave her 200,000 scrolls from the Roman conquered Hellenistic library at Pergamum. Public and private libraries were common throughout the Roman Empire. During the Middle Ages, heavily illustrated manuscripts promoted religious doctrine. They were stored in monastery libraries. Since Gutenberg’s invention of movable type, printed and bound books have been the norm for over six centuries. In the wake of the Industrial Revolution, printed books became commodities available to all classes. Access for readers. storage and retrieval have been basic  functions of all libraries. In the United States, Andrew Carnegie’s generosity created a network of neighborhood and community libraries across the country. 

For generations public libraries in the United States have served each new wave of immigrants, as much with books, often in their native languages, as with services to assist them in their adaptation: English as a second language classes, immigration and citizenship counseling, along with serving as social centers for groups to meet.  New Asian immigrants arriving in Queens  have been advised in their homelands that it is mandatory to first go to their nearest Queensborough Public Library branch 
to get advice about every possible problem that arises. 

It appears that the Central Library Plan attempts to address the evolutionary nature of libraries. There is no doubt that this is a noble gesture; however, there seems to be some misreading of the cards. The Astor Tilden Lenox Library was created as a public research library. In New York City with its legions of information specialists, there is the need for such a library. Granted that there are a number of private and university libraries in the five boroughs of the city, each one of them requires some kind of access as faculty, enrolled student or paying guest borrower. New York is a city in which a high percentage of the population is employed in creative and information oriented occupations. Access to specialized printed books is essential for them to live and work in New York. Should the Central Library Plan be implemented, it is possible that a considerable number of this cohort will seek residence in other places. Not only will the Central Library Plan destroy the luster of one of New York’s cherished architectural monument, it will decimate New York’s intellectual population.

As the Great Library of Alexandria served as a magnet for some of the greatest minds of the Hellenistic world, so does The New York Public Library serve a magnet for some of the greatest minds in the world today. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR AN ALTERNATE COURSE OF ACTION 

There is no question that libraries whether public or private are undergoing radical transformations as the world adjusts to the new era of digital communication. The publishing industry, the provider of all books, is experiencing similar tensions. How to resolve these issues is a common concern among all libraries. The Huffington Post has a continuing series, “Libraries in Crisis.”

When transformative cultural issues suddenly appear, often conferences are organized to  discuss these concerns. A major conference on the future of libraries in the New York city area could explore the transformative pressures facing New York City libraries.  Within The City, there are three public library systems: New York Public, Brooklyn Public and Queensborough Public. There are major university libraries like Columbia and New York University. There are museum libraries like: The Metropolitan. MoMA, Morgan Library, American Museum of Natural History, New-York Historical Society and Museum of the City of New York. In addition, there are specialized private libraries for medicine, law, architecture, and religion.

As an outgrowth of this conference, it would be desirable to form a cooperative league of New York City libraries; it could assist The New York Public Library and others in developing coherent policies that would be of benefit to the New York City community and  beyond. Hopefully, The Institute of Museum and Library Services might be interested in supporting such a plan.

PROPOSED CONFERENCE ON THE FUTURE OF NEW YORK CITY LIBRARIES 

Introduction - Susan H. Hildreth, Director, Institute of Museum and Library Services

Keynote - Scott Turow, President, The Authors Guild - 

Books and the Future of Publishing

Merchandising a Cultural Institution, Thomas Campbell, 

Director, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Merchandising Cultural Services - Barry Diller, Chairman 

and Senior Executive of IAC/InterActiveCorp

The role of the Research Library - presenter to be determined

Neighborhood libraries in New York City - representatives from The Brooklyn 

Public Library, Queensborough Public Library and New York Public Library 
branch libraries.

Panel discussions focusing on the speakers’ five topics.

It should be mandatory for NYPL trustees and senior staff to attend all sessions.

NEVER AGAIN!

Above: Penn Station exterior c.1910.  Middle: Penn Station interior. c.1910. Bottom: Demolition of Penn Station, 1963.

Completed in 1910, Pennsylvania Station with 150 foot ceilings was one of America’s grandest public spaces. It was the victim of changing times and real estate speculators. It took six years to build and three years to demolish. From the moment that its demolition was threatened, protests began and continued for years. The tragic loss of this great building gave birth to the architectural preservation movement. 

The challenge being faced with the Central Library Plan resonates beyond the corner of Fifth Avenueand 42nd Street. It embraces the entire City of New York and the humanitarian values espoused by those who see their city as a beacon where cultural institutions are its life blood, and are admired locally, nationally and internationally. What is being offered as cultural enhancement must be exposed for the raw truth of its deceptions, half truths and disregard for the legacy of human creativity leading to a deleterious impact on the citizens of New York. This highly orchestrated onslaught must be stopped!

In The New York Times of March 21, 2013 Michael Kimmelman said, “Next to never does a city have  the opportunity to rectify a mistake as colossal as Penn Station.”

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Suggested reading list:

The New York Public Library, Henry Hope Reed and Francis Morrone, WW Norton and Company,  2011. 

THE NATION / NOVEMBER 2011 / SEMINAL ARTICLE
http://www.thenation.com/article/164881/upheaval-new-york-public-library#

THE GUARDIAN / JULY 7, 2012 / ANOTHER EARLY WARNING

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/07/what-lies-behind-battle-over-new-york-public-libraryhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/07/what-lies-behind-battle-over-new-york-public-library

PAUL GOLDBERGER /  VANITY FAIR / A PATHETIC APOLOGIA

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/12/new-york-public-library-re-model-controversy

ADA LOUISE HUXTABLE / WALL STREET JOURNAL / DECEMBER 3, 2012 / 

HER LAST ARTICLE 
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323751104578151653883688578.html

A PEEK AT RENOVATION PLANS / DECEMBER 12, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/19/arts/design/new-york-public-library-offers-peek-at-renovation.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/19/arts/design/new-york-public-library-offers-peek-at-renovation.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

ARCHITECTURE WRITERS HONOR ADA LOUISE HUXTABLE WITH CRITICISM OF NYPL /

FEBRUARY 2013
http://blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/archives/54933

A CHRONOLOGY OF PRESS CLIPPINGS

http://www.steamthing.com/2012/04/a-chronology-of-press-clippings-about-the-nypls-central-library-plan

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