Finding New York City.
Syllabus.
Prof. William Serrin.
Fall 2013.
Room 659
20 Cooper Square.
Thursdays, 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
(Note: Syllabus subject to change over the summer, but not much.
This is an undergraduate class designed to introduce the student to New York City – its people, its neighborhoods, its history, its cultures, its parks, its transportation system, its sports, its churches, its foods, and more.
I will do my best to make this your most favored class at NYU.
We know that New York City is one of the world’s great, colorful diverse (QueensCounty is said to be the most diverse county in America). New York, in terms of human beings living here, dates to the days of Native Americans (and no doubt earlier) and then the Dutch, the English, the American Revolution and Americans, decades of emigration from Europe, Africa, and Asia, and other places. It has seen battles, riots, and victory parades. It has rich cultures, splendid buildings,a great (and sometimes not so great) park system, rich, diverse foods and restaurants, a great (and sometimes not so great) waterfront), a hundred-year old, sometimes great, sometimes not so great, public transportation system, fine museums, slums, interesting and important politics, important archeology, a vast, sometimes troubled school system, and more, as in much, much more.
But New York City, to be known, to be understood, must be seen, heard and felt. You – we -- must get out of our dorms, apartments, and classrooms and into the city. You – we --must experience it. We must read about it, feel it, walk it. Our plan it to do just that – and more, to see it and study -- all five boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island, through readings and discussion in the classroom, and then leave the classroom and explore it and write about it. We will get around the city, we will get under it (more on that later), we will get above it (more on that later as well).
To this end we will have or participate in:
#Walking Tours. We will get out of the classroom and into the city. We will do this through walking tours (Greenwich Village --the EastVillage, the West Village) Battery Park and Wall Street, So-Ho, Central Park, and more. We will take The Circle Line around Manhattan (if the prices do not rise too much) and see the Hudson and the East and HarlemRivers,and New YorkHarbor. We will do a walking tour of Central Park, You will, I think, be surprised, even if you know a lot about New York, how important New York City has been, and is, to America and the world.
To emphasize: A goal will be:To get out of the classroom. We will have, I hope, much fun. But make no mistake: We will do much reading, investigation and writing. Do not think this will be an easy class. Fun and educational, yes. Easy, no.
#Visits. This must be worked out but I would like us to visit such places as New York City museums, the city’s best pizza parlors, Yankeeand Shea Stadium (maybe we cannot do both), the water tunnel being constructed beneath Manhattan (perhaps; it is kind of hard to get into it) Central Park, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade (if possible – many students return home at this time, the lighting of the Christmas tree the week after Thanksgiving, the-skating rink at Rockefeller Center or Bryant Park. And more.
#Speakers. We will from time to time have speakers, who through their knowledge and work, can help us understand New York City. The speakers will be announced.
#The History of New York City. From Native Americans, the Dutch, the English, and. later, people from countries and continents around the world -- New York City has a rich, embroidered history. We will study this in enough depth to allow us to gain an understanding of the city – why it is as it is, and what the city’s past might tell us about the city’s future. We study history because, it has been said, it had everything in it. We also study history because it is fun --- enjoyable – and to see what history might suggest to us about the future.
#Poking Around. We will do an immense amount of just poking around New York City, to see what we find. Then we will talk aboutand write about what we have found.
#A New York City Movie Project. I would like to do a project on the many movies that have been shot in, or have, while shot somewhere else, been about, New York City. No city, I bet, has been the subject of more movies than New York City.
#Readings. The literature, both fiction and non-fiction, of New York City is immense and wonderful. Our readings will include, but not limited to, the following books, or in some cases selected materials from the books:
“The Island at the Center of the World” by Russell Shorto. Doubleday.
“New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan” by Jill Lepore. Alfred A. Knopf.
“Divided Loyalties: How the American Revolution Came to New York” by Richard M. Ketchum. Henry Holt.
“The Devil’s Own Work” The Civil War Draft Riots and the Fight to Reconstruct America” by Barnet Schecter. Walker.
“Five Points:” The Nineteenth Century new York City Neighborhood that Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections and Became the World’s Most Notorious Slum’’ By Tyler Anbinder. Plume.
“Harlem: The Making of a Ghetto – 1890-1930” by Gilbert Osofsky.
“Republic of Dreams” by Ross Wetzsteon.
“Manhattan ‘45” by Jan Morris. Oxford.
“Here is New York” by E.B. White.
“The Power Broker” by Robert Caro. Alfred A. Knopf.
“Positively 4th Street” by David Hajdu. North Point Press.
“EmpireCity.” Kenneth T. Jackson and David S. Dunbar, editors.
“Gotham” by Mike Wallace and Edwin G. Burrows.
We will also consult numerous guidebooks to New York City.
NOTE; DO NOT BUY BOOKS UNTIL BOOKS ARE ASSIGNED!!!
New York City Movies. We will see some. More on this later.
#Writing. We write several pieces on New York City, based upon what we read, what we see, people we talk to say to us, what we experience. Some can be first person, most will be pieces of observation and inquiry.
Writing projects may include – but not be limited to -- such projects as:
#A Great New York City Place, such as the top of the Empire State Building, Sardi’s after a Broadway show, the Algonquin Hotel at cocktail hour, the (new) Fulton Street fish market, a trip to the Statue of Liberty, a day at Ellis Island (which could include finding a student’s ancestor who came through Ellis Island, the Port of Authority Bus Terminal at midnight, some of New York Cities great cemeteries such as Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, the new construction at the site of the World Trade Center, the top of Rockefeller Center, and the like.
#Important New York City issues or problems. More on this later, when class begins, and we see what is happening in New York City in this fall.
#A Great New York City park, such as Central Park, Bryant Park, Inwood Park, Grand Army of the Republic Plaza, the new Hudson River Park, Coney Island, the National Recreation Area off Brooklyn, or some of the many historic sites in New York City, to include Federal Hall, the Grange Hall (once home of Alexander Hamilton), the Hamilton-Burr dueling site across the Hudson River in Weehawken, the Theodore Roosevelt birthplace, the East Village and the West Village, the South Street Sea Port, Ellis Island, Liberty Island, and and more.
#A hundred-year old New York City restaurant, of which there are many, most of them within walking distance of the New York University main campus at Washington Square.
*New York City People. That is, people we might meet and find interesting and thus important.
More on this later, as the class evolves.
We will conduct our famous New York City Scavenger Hunt. We will have a mid-term examination and a final examination.
The final examination will be The Big Apple Circus.
Note: I wish to stress – double-stress -- that it is expected students will attend class, BE ON TIME, and be prepared.Roll will be taken, starting the first week and each following week. It is also expected that students participate fully in class discussion and, in all cases, be enthusiastic and of good humor.In other words, no hiding out.
Another note: No use of electronic devices during class, except a computer IF YOU ARE TAKING NOTES FOR CLASS.
A rule: Each piece of writing must be your own work and your own work only. No fair having others help. Don’t even think about it. I will know. Trust me.
Grades: Grades will be based upon student work, enthusiasm, class participation, and attitude. Keep in mind that, importantly, this is a reading and writing class, despite the many other things we do.
Note: My office is in Room 612 of the JournalismBuilding at 20 Cooper Square.
Office Hours: 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., Wednesdays, and 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursdays.
Contacting the professor:
You may contact me at any convenient time at .
Or: Office: 1-212-998-7997. Home.1-212-228-3184.
Please do not feel that my time for you is limited to these hours. I am available when you need me. Whenever the door to my office is open, please feel free to walk in. Please also feel free to call me during the day or evenings, until, say 10 p.m. or so, any day of the week.
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Appendix.
New York City Research Materials.
“The AIA Guide to New York City: The Classic Guide to New York’s Architecture.” By Norval White and Elliot Wilensky. Three Rivers Press.
“Celluloid Skyline: New York and the Movies.” By James Sanders Knopf.
“Encyclopedia of New York City.” By Kenneth Jackson.
“Five Points: The Neighborhood that Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections, and Became the World’s Most notorious Slum.”
By Tyler Anbinder. Plume.
“Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898.” By Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace. OxfordUniversity Press.
“Harlem: The Making of a Ghetto.” By Gilbert Osofsky. Harper Torchbooks.
“The Historic Shops & Restaurants of New York: A Guide to Century-Old Establishments in the City.” By Ellen Williams and Steve Radlauder. The Little Bookroom.
“New York in the 50’s.” By Dan Wakefield. Houghton Mifflin.
“New York City. Novelists, Artists, Architects, Curators, Filmmakers, Historians, and Gourmets Reveal their Favorite Discoveries in the Ultimate Insider’s Guide.” Robert Kahn, Senior, Editor. The Little Bookroom.
“Nooks and Crannies – Unusual Walking Tours in All Five Boroughs.” By David Yeadon. Scribners.
“Permanent New Yorkers: A Biographical Guide to the Cemeteries of New York.” By Judi Culbertson and Tom Randall. Chelsea Green Publishing Co.
“Positively 4th Street.” By David Hajdu. North Point Press.
“The Power Broker.” By Robert Caro. Alfred A. Knopf.
“Radical Walking Tours of New York City.” By Bruce Kayton. Seven Stories Press.
“The WPA Guide to New York City.” The New Press.
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