For every brick that was laid by hand, for every street that you now know by heart*. Make no mistake, this city was anything but unintentional. Good Lord, how it frustrates me so... the idea that all of this came from nothing? Nothing?? How can any rational human argue such a thought? By my book, that would, by default, make them irrational.
No, man built it and yes, by contrast, nature made it irresistible. Man did not make the sun set, but man did create something extraordinary that could stand in silhouette, highlighting the radiance of colors in the calculated motion of one sphere in space. Classic and romantic. Technical and artistic. Artificial and natural.
Piece by piece. Second by second.
Independent of human design, Kundera? Shame on you. This is the epitome of human design.
From beginning to whatever may be its end.
Photo: Mid-Manhattan skyline, shot from across the East River at our beautiful concert site in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY on 8.6.10.
*Similar line borrowed from "Silent House"
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
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Love it or hate it, next year marks the 200th anniversary of the Commissioners Plan of 1811 which laid the foundation for the city we know and love. That bold vision of men, whose NATURE it is to tame nature has gifted us with the greatest city on the planet for our playground. Every street leads to the water and every Avenue affords a view of the sun rise and set in the canyons of our daily wander. Kundera was wrong, even if we allow for poetic license.
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http://www.oldstreets.com/index.asp?title=Commissioners%27%20Plan
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/realestate/23scap.html
http://www.library.cornell.edu/Reps/DOCS/nyc1811plan.jpg
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