The original Hall of Fame is in the Bronx.

The Hall of Fame for Great Americans at Bronx Community College, the original “Hall of Fame” in this country, was designed as part of the construction of an undergraduate college of that university.

Built in a “sweeping semicircular Neo-Classical arc with wings at either end, it provides a panorama across the Harlem River to the Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park and beyond to the Palisades. It is a unique and patriotic reminder that this country’s phenomenal growth has been due to the vitality, ingenuity, and intellect of these individuals.”

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A shelter for the wealthy, a mansion for artists.

 
The Andrew Freed­man Man­sion, a won­der­ful build­ing in the Bronx, was designed specif­i­cally as a retire­ment home for wealthy peo­ple who had lost their for­tunes. “For many years this landmark has existed in a kind of open-but-closed limbo. Its ground floor is almost always full of children, in day care and in a Head Start program. Two elegant ballrooms and a book-filled library above have been maintained for weddings and other events, and for several years the Bronx Museum of the Arts, has offered outdoor film screenings and other cultural programs.”

The clip above is part of a series of 1-minute video vignettes we shot in the Bronx sponsored by a grant from the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) and produced by students and faculty at Lehman College.
 

The unknown, yet famous, City Island.

Numerous films, television shows, and commercials have been filmed on City Island. Films include Butterfield 8 starring Elizabeth Taylor; Long Day’s Journey (more…)

Visual Serendipity.

 
Serendipity: noun; the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

“Chinatown at Dusk” is the second picture on our “Visual Serendipity” weekly series. The goal is to post a new cell phone image every week (click here to see last week’s pic).

For years I’ve been fascinated with Chinatown. So many things going on, so many colors, smells, and sounds at a somewhat isolated place in the hearts of very dense cities like New York, Chicago or San Francisco. What intrigues me the most about ethnic neighborhoods like Chinatown is to walk into a corner store (how do you say “bodega” in Chinese?), and see things that I can’t tell if are vegetables, animals, medicine, food, toys or decorations.

An added bonus the restaurants which are amazingly good and cheap! One of my favorite spots is Vanessa’s Dumpling House, what’s yours?