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| Re: Historic Subway Tiles With Nothing To Do With Racism Or Even Confederacy to be Removed (1447333) | |||
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Re: Historic Subway Tiles With Nothing To Do With Racism Or Even Confederacy to be Removed |
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Posted by Michael549 on Tue Aug 22 05:36:30 2017, in response to Re: Historic Subway Tiles With Nothing To Do With Racism Or Even Confederacy to be Removed, posted by Dyre Dan on Mon Aug 21 16:25:47 2017. From a previous message:"Did Vickers know what Och's political opinions were? He may have assumed that since he was from the south, he sympathized with the Southern cause (as his mother in fact did)." So far there does not seem to be ANY EVIDENCE of such a tie or knowledge. Here's the other thing that IS in plain evidence - the various banner tiles that exist through out the 42nd Street-Times Square station. Then there's the various tile banner designs that Vickers made in several subway stations - basically just functional tile designs. Yes, there's the tile and ceramic works at places such as Astor Place, etc. which Vickers wanted to get away from. So basically there are five facts: a) Some of the original subway stations had art work and tile work at places such as Astor Place reflective of famous persons. In case of the Astor Place subway station, the artwork is reflective of John Jacob Astor's fortune derived from the beaver-pelt trade. However this association was spelled out from Day 1 - it was not a "hidden fact." b) The original Times Square subway station was built UNDER the then "new" Times Square building, and the area was renamed from Long Acre Square to Times Square. The New York Times is a very famous and influential newspaper. c) Squire Vickers designed the tile banner designs at the Times Square station that opened in 1917 to reflect the "Cross-roads" of the World - Broadway and Seventh Avenue. Squire Vickers was the master architect for the subways for decades and produced plenty of works seen every day by millions of riders. d) The early owners of the Times Newspaper did have a relationship with the Confederacy, at least the mother of Adolph Ochs. Suggesting that there is a connection to the recent sons born in New York is a stretch, even though the family history could be interesting. e) The modification of the 1811 Street Grid Plan for New York City which originally did not have Broadway within the design created a "circle" or "square" at every intersection where Broadway met one of the "avenues". That is why there's Union Square, Herald Square, Times Square, Lincoln Square (the intersection of Broadway and Columbus Avenue), Columbus Circle, Verdi Square (Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue) and so on. Each of these places could be called a "cross-roads". --- Attempting to tie all of these facts into one grand story that explains a set of subway banner tiles at a particular station could be a very difficult stretch. Mike |
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