Buildings

A Vertical Reflecting Pool in Midtown

Posted May 18th, 2008 by Cynthia Chaldekas
in


I work at the Mid-Manhattan Library at 40th Street and 5th Ave. In the evening when I leave from work, I walk down 40th Street to the subway station at 6th Ave. This spring I noticed something different, something I never noticed before. The weather was beginning to warm, the days were growing longer and there was an explosion of green coming from Bryant Park. I happen to look up as I walked west on 40th Street. At that moment, I was met with a striking, yet subtle view. I stood there a few moments to take it all in, as people hurriedly passed me by. As the world rushed around me, I felt completely alone as I stood there looking out. Along the western edge of the park, buildings covered in skins of green, blue and gray glass thrust upward with enormous energy and vigor. The area is tight with tall buildings and the emphasis on height is even greater juxtaposed with the low lush green park. I looked out upon the buildings, high in the sky and what I saw was a vertical reflecting pool, like a placid pool of water that gently lifts the surrounding landscape to your eyes. But my Midtown reflecting pool is upright and it is the skin of glass that jettisons the images outward. The view is every bit as beautiful as that which is given to us by a quiet body of water in a natural landscape. However this hard surfaced pool, streaming vertically into the sky, is a man made beauty.

New York City Fire Insurance Atlases

in

Fire Insurance maps are some of the most detailed city maps published, showing building structures, lot dimensions, shoreline locations and sometimes, property bk_br_1907.jpgownership. At the NYPL we have an extensive collection of these maps, originally published as atlases, primarily covering the New York City area. In the past year and a half, we have digitized close to 2,000 pages from some 30 of these atlases. Also included in this collection of digital images are detailed topographic surveys conducted by some of the boroughs. We are in the process of creating Google Earth based indexes for these collections. Please see the attached file at the bottom of this post.

The following is a chronological list of atlases arranged by borough from the NYPL Digital Gallery.

Bronx

Robinson, Elisha. Certified copies of important maps, v. 1, 1888-1897

New York Topographic Bureau. Bronx, West, N.Y. 1:1,800, 1892-1895

Hyde, E.B., Atlas of the borough of the Bronx, 1901

Bromley, G.W., Atlas and owners names, borough of the Bronx, 1904

Bronx Topographic Bureau. Bronx, East, N.Y. 1:1,800, 1905

Bromley, G.W., Atlas of the Borough of the Bronx, 1921

Brooklyn

Perris, William, Maps of the city of Brooklyn, 1855

Perris, William, Plan of the city of Brooklyn, (8 sheets), 1855

Perris, William, Plan of the city of Brooklyn, (15 sheets), 1855

Dripps, Matthew, Map of the city of Brooklyn, 1869

Bromley, G.W., Atlas of the entire city of Brooklyn, 1880

Robinson, Elisha, Robinson's atlas of the city of Brooklyn, New York, 1886

Robinson, Elisha, Robinson's atlas of Kings County, New York, 1890

Ullitz, Hugo, Atlas of the Brooklyn borough of the City of New York, 1898-99

Bromley, G.W., Atlas of the Borough of Brooklyn, 1907-8

Manhattan

Sackersdorff, O., Maps of farms commonly called the Blue book, 1815 (1868)

Perris, William, Maps of the city of New York, 1852-4

Perris, William, Maps of the city of New York, 1857-62

Dripps, Matthew, Plan of New York City, 1867

Bromley, G.W., Atlas of the city of New York, 1897

Bromley, G.W., Atlas of the city of New York, 1898-99

Bromley, G.W., Atlas of the city of New York, 1911

Bromley, G.W., Atlas of the city of New York, v.4, 1916

Bromley, G.W., Atlas of the borough of Manhattan, Desk Ed., 1916

Bromley, G.W., Atlas of the city of New York, 1920-22

Bromley, G.W., Atlas of the city of New York, v.2, 1920

N.Y.C. Parks Department, Topographical survey of portion of Central Park, 1939-48

Queens

Wolverton, Chester, Atlas of Queens County, Long Island, 1891

Bromley, G.W., Atlas of the city of New York, borough of Queens, 1909

Staten Island

Beers, F.W., Atlas of Staten Island, Richmond County, New York, 1874

Borough of Richmond, Topographical Survey, Staten Island, N.Y. 1:1,800, 1906-1913

Multiple Boroughs

Beers, F.W., Atlas of New York and vicinity, 1868

Beers, F.W., Atlas of Long Island, New York, 1873

Viele, Egbert L., Topographical atlas of the city of New York, 1874

Robinson, Elisha, Atlas of the city of New York, v.5, 1883

Robinson, Elisha, Atlas of the city of New York, 1885

New York, N.Y. Engineering Bureau, Sectional aerial maps of the City of New York, 1924

Syndicate content

Recent comments