MORE Miscellany

 

We begin with a puzzle from 1934: what is the man doing to the roadway at 1st Avenue and 41st Street? 

And what exactly does the extended leg mean?

Questions, questions! The man in the hat is sticking his pole into a hole, that we are sure of. We took a closer look at the sign, which reads

 

1st Ave 41st

14 ft North of BL

30½ ft W of E curb

Looking N.W.

Not a lot of help, with notations right out of a city almanac and no mention of an extended leg, either. The photo is from the NYC Municipal Library and is entitled "Looking northwest from 1st Avenue, 41st Street." Hmmm. . .

   

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This is an oil painting entitled "Tudor City" from artist Uo Suga that was listed last week for $397.84 on eBay. Too bad the listing ended early, with no explanation.

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"Party at the Ford Foundation" by our good friend, Garth Justice.

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This comes from regular contributor David Reiff. Fabled songwriter Neil Sedaka ‒ "Breaking Up is Hard to Do," "Calendar Girl," "Love Will Keep Us Together" ‒ recently passed away, and in 2012, there was a concert honoring him in the South Park. Above, the flyer and below, the guest of honor.

Sedaka at the Tudor City Greens concert

THEN AND NOW: Christmas Edition

   Looking west on 42nd Street, then and now.

1932

2018

Merry Christmas from Tudor City Confidential 

THEN AND NOW

 The western wall of the South Park, then and now.

2017

The photo shows barbed wire atop a fence separating the South Park's garden from the private garden next door. The incongruity of such a pairing led to the founding of the Strange But True series.

2025

Then one morning, while walking through the South Park we noticed the rusty wire coils were gone, though the fence and a pair of security cameras remain. Whatever caused the barbed wire to go up in the first place was just as mysterious as its demise. Any clues, anyone?

The original post, here.

SEASON'S GREETINGS

OBAMA Checks In

It began simply enough as a father/daughters overnight in New York City, and was slightly complicated as the father was Barack Obama, president of the United States.

Nonetheless, on July 17, 2015, he and daughter Sasha, 14, take the jet and are met in NYC by daughter Malia, 17. They have dinner at Carbone, then take a private tour of the Whitney Museum around twelve midnight.

For reasons unknown, they spend the night at the Hilton New York Grand Central, the original Hotel Tudor. Photo evidence comes from an Instagram post by Shoshanna Hecht:

The Secret Service used the back entrance to the hotel on 41st Street as the main entrance, adding some tents to jazz things up. The traffic flow on Tudor City Place was reversed, so Obama entered on 43rd and proceeded down to 41st Street.

The following day, the family and assorted friends make a quick visit to Central Park (above) followed by lunch at Upland. Then on to a matinee of the hip-hop musical Hamilton. After that, back home to Washington. 

Whew!

Tudor City on Film: PERSON OF INTEREST

This episode of Tudor City on Film zooms in on Person of Interest, a procedural TV series about a particularly modern kind of paranoia: fear of computer surveillance. 

The storyline centers around a crime-predicting artificial intelligence program developed by a mysterious billionaire, who recruits a former CIA agent to stop crime before it happens.

The show ran for five seasons on CBS, more of a popular hit (92% on the Tomatometer) than a critical one (66 metascore on Metacritic). It's now streaming on Amazon Prime.

Tudor City's bridge is the setting for a brief sequence in Season 2, Episode 6: "The High Road," starting at 7:32. 

The sequence begins with a couple in conversation on the Tudor City Bridge. 

They are old friends. The woman (Paige Turco) is aware that the man (Jim Caviezel) works for a billionaire with some kind of crime-predicting software.

Then, with little preamble, he produces a wedding ring and proposes marriage. 

In fact, he has an assignment in suburbia and needs a "wife," so it is a sham proposal!

She knows it's a sham, and wishes it wasn't. They depart for suburbia. 

Views from the Bridge: TRICK PHOTO Edition

The best of Tudor City on Instagram continues with these tricky nighttime views of 42nd Street made from the Tudor City Bridge.

Instagrammed by crxss.shot

By kojimero17 & silas_raseri

By  david_imageny & _dirklange_

By pointofviewimage

A Room with a View, Continued

Some beautiful pictures of Tudor City via our favorite Instagrammer, Lucas_D_in_NYC.

All photos were made from a room in the Beaux Arts apartment house on 44th Street. Opened in 1930, the Beaux Arts appears to share the same Fenestra casement windows as Tudor City.

Flowerpots with a view.

Window reflection, a favorite subject of Lucas'.

The Woodstock.

Crystal ball accurately depicting today's upside-down world.

Special CELEB SIGHTING Edition

Random celeb sightings in the colony, as documented on Instagram:

2006. Jay-Z encounters Instagrammer lweatherbee in the lobby of No. 45. The hip-hopper was in the building for a video shoot, details here.

Superhero The Tick moonlights as a dog walker for Instagrammer lionchohmelian, 2018. Backstory here.

2013. Actor Robert Pattinson selling cologne on the roof of No. 45. Instagrammed by hopemisterek, more details here.

Actress Sarah Jessica Parker on the Tudor City Bridge preparing for a scene from the 2018 film Here and Now, shot by Instagrammer liviyakraemer. More about the movie here.


Lots more celebs in Tudor City here.

DESIGN INTERLUDE

A pause to appreciate Tudor City's design details, otherwise overlooked in the blur of everyday living. All photos by our friend Garth Justice. Thanks, Garth!

Terra cotta ornament, North Roof of No. 45.

Door hinge, No. 25.

Haddon Hall window treatment.

Hotel Tudor facade (aka Westgate New York Grand Central facade).

Stained glass crown, heraldic symbol of empire, in a No. 25 window.

Sign Appreciation Day

Frankly, every day is Sign Appreciation Day on this blog, and to celebrate it today, here's a visual record of the sign's recent renovation. All photographs by Lucas_D_in_NYC, Instagrammer extraordinaire.

Before renovation, April, 2019.

July, 2019. Shrouded in netting and scaffolds.

New letters being installed, January, 2020.

Tudor City noir, January, 2020.

February, 2020. Shiny and new.

See more of Lucas's spectacular photos of the colony here. 

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Bonus photo from faithful contributor Garth Justice, showing the 'O' in progress.