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From our recording studio in Brooklyn, we make audio that celebrates human creativity, history and the spaces we live to learn about.

Lower Manhattan has one of the highest concentrations of monuments and memorials in the world. This Gesso walking tour, written and narrated by designer & educator Eric Moed, will reveal New York City’s invisible past; NYC’s contested origin story, obscure fragments of history, hidden reflective spaces & unbuilt memorials. Nine sites of memory will challenge you to think critically about the role monuments and memorials in public space play in defining our past and present, exposing you to strategies to directly advance New York City’s story into the future. This tour is a joint production of Gesso and oopsa aka Office of Open Practice Studio/Agency. For more information visit www.oopsa.org. Special thank you to Alice Kakurina and Roman Mamus who contributed to the research and scripting of this tour.

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Downtown Monuments & Memorials: Contemporary, Radical, Invisible

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New York

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oopsa

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Eric Moed: We begin our tour on the corner of Liberty and Greenwich Streets, at the southeast corner of the first stop, the 9 11 Memorial.   
We're fortunate to be situated right now in Lower Manhattan, which contains one of the highest concentrations of monuments and memorials in the world. This tour will introduce you to a sampling of nine contemporary monuments and memorials, which illustrate a fresh approach to memorialization.  
The stops are organized under three overarching themes.   
Theme 1. Loss, theme 2. Agency, and theme three, inclusion. Armed with this knowledge, we encourage you to think critically about the roles Monuments Memorials play in defining our past, present, and future.  
 What's the first image that comes to mind when you hear the word monument? Is it a sculptural form? Who is represented? How are they positioned? You may have thought of a larger than life Stone statue, like the Lincoln Memorial, which features President Abraham Lincoln seated atop a 10 foot tall pedestal.  
What if I told you that the image of a prototypical monument has changed, and it's changed a lot. There has been a radical shift in memorial strategies. Sweeping changes in the look, feel, and function of monuments and memorials have been nothing short of prolific. While figurative monument and memorial statues still dominate much of the public landscape, in the aftermath of World War II, artists and designers began to bring new monuments and memorials down from their pedestals, moving away from the typical man on a horse form.  
Sculptural monuments and memorials were reconsidered in more abstract forms and moved down to meet the physical level of the general public. This allowed for deeper social engagement and symbolism, activated directly by members of the public, like you. Individuals, communities, and designers also began to ask questions about the roles that monuments and memorials hold in shaping our collective memory.  
 What narratives are currently represented in public spaces, and how are they represented? How could the practice of memorialization become more accessible to histories that are often overlooked? How could contemporary memorials serve as spaces for discourse, and how could this lead to a more collaborative vision of our future?  
 Start walking towards the South Tower Pool, the huge void that dominates the landscape.   
News Highlight Reel: ((1a - https://youtu.be/pOYjDxeAX8E - news clip on 9/11 (0:00 - 0:18))) We're just getting reports in now that a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. Two planes have crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. There have been a series of terrorist attacks in the United States. Pictures just in showed the building already on fire, with smoke billowing from the upper floors.  
We have no   
Eric Moed: Our first stop, the 9 11 memorial, introduces theme one of our tour, loss. For centuries, loss was represented through memorials in the form of the lost subject, whether it be a life sized sculpture of a deceased dignitary, a model of a sunken boat, or a relief depicting a lost past. Within the last 80 years, designers have thought of new strategies of representation, specifically focusing on physical form and materiality to more deeply honor loss.  
They have taken more agency to frame narratives through form, tackling various emotional aspects of loss, such as grief, reflection, and hope. Many contemporary monuments and memorials have become more abstracted to allow for a larger spectrum of experiences from visitors. The National September 11th Memorial, one of the most well known memorials in the world, uses the contemporary strategy of absence to address this theme of loss.  
The two dug down voids represent the huge collective loss experienced in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. During the attacks, commercial planes, hijacked by the terrorist group Al Qaeda, were flown directly into the World Trade Center, destroying each of the twin towers which once stood here.  
The attacks killed 2, 977 people and instigated the multi decade global war on terror. The two one acre pools evoke the magnitude of the physical absence. that the events of 9 11 left a New York City's built environment. The absence after the attacks was also, of course, psychological, as New Yorkers grappled with the loss of their loved ones and the loss of a sense of safety in their hometown.  
The idea for the memorial of, quote unquote, reflecting absence came to creator Michael Arad mere days after the 9 11 attacks, architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker knew the National Memorial would be frequented by many people from around the world. They wanted it to be enmeshed with the city as a public space for all while providing a calm space for reflection.  
Notice how the rushing water blocks out the loud bustle of traffic and city noise and how the forest of white oak trees. Buffers views of the street. Listen to the sound of the rushing waterfalls that drop into the void. What emotions are brought up for you, for the people around you?   
 Look at the parapets surrounding the edges of the voids.  
The victims names are organized into meaningful adjacencies, rather than being listed alphabetically. These adjacencies of close friends and colleagues were discovered from over 1, 000 survey responses submitted by family members of victims. They were then input into an algorithm created expressly for the memorial to allow victims to be honored alongside the people they knew most intimately.  
The names are carved deeply into the bronze surfaces so that people can leave flowers in the letters as commemorations. There's also a private memorialization space only accessible to relatives and close friends of the victims, which provide a more intimate experience for paying their respects. Now move towards the North Tower Pool, through the Central Plaza, towards the Survivor Tree.  
This piece of the memorial frames hope as an integral part of the path forward. It is located to the west in the memorial park, surrounded by a low metal fence. The Survivor Tree is a calorie pear tree that was miraculously recovered from the rubble at the World Trade Center site in October 2001.  
 Although badly burned, the tree made a swift recovery in the following years after the events and became a symbol of perseverance to the victims that survived the attacks. Notice all the seating available in the plaza, as well as trees providing shade to keep the area comfortable for visitors to gather together.  
The use of the memorial as a space open and accessible to all was integral to creator Michael Arad's design. His vision was informed by how important gathering in public spaces was to the collective healing of New Yorkers after the tragic event. As he explained,   
 ((https://youtu.be/jZAy9QgXWGQ - Michael Arad interview (03:41 - 04:02)))   
Michael Arad: it was very important to make this site a place that carried within it the notion of a democratic public space, a civic space, that I had experienced myself, the importance of those spaces in the days that followed 9 11. So it was places like Washington Square and Union Square.  
And the way they brought us together and allowed us, without ceremony, without speeches, simply to stand next to each other. And I thought that was very important to bring to the site.   
   
Eric Moed: Notice all of the people gathered here now? This memorial aims to reclaim some of the feeling of safety in New York City that was lost during the terrorist attacks through creating a peaceful public space. How does being surrounded by people affect your experience of grieving this massive loss? Take a moment by the North Tower Pool to consider how the 9 11 attacks affected your understanding of safety in a rapidly globalizing world.  
   
Eric Moed: Now we will be moving to the second stop, the Iris Hunger Memorial. This memorial also addresses Theme 1, Loss, but uses a different strategy to portray it. Head north along West Street, past the Freedom Tower, until Vesey Street..  
 Turn left on Vesey Street, cross the street, and proceed down Vesey Street towards the river.  

150 Greenwich Street \|||// Eric Moed: We begin our tour on the corner of Liberty and Greenwich Streets, at the southeast corner of the first stop, the 9 11 Memorial.   
We're fortunate to be situated right now in Lower Manhattan, which contains one of the highest concentrations of monuments and memorials in the world. This tour will introduce you to a sampling of nine contemporary monuments and memorials, which illustrate a fresh approach to memorialization.  
The stops are organized under three overarching themes.   
Theme 1. Loss, theme 2. Agency, and theme three, inclusion. Armed with this knowledge, we encourage you to think critically about the roles Monuments Memorials play in defining our past, present, and future.  
 What's the first image that comes to mind when you hear the word monument? Is it a sculptural form? Who is represented? How are they positioned? You may have thought of a larger than life Stone statue, like the Lincoln Memorial, which features President Abraham Lincoln seated atop a 10 foot tall pedestal.  
What if I told you that the image of a prototypical monument has changed, and it's changed a lot. There has been a radical shift in memorial strategies. Sweeping changes in the look, feel, and function of monuments and memorials have been nothing short of prolific. While figurative monument and memorial statues still dominate much of the public landscape, in the aftermath of World War II, artists and designers began to bring new monuments and memorials down from their pedestals, moving away from the typical man on a horse form.  
Sculptural monuments and memorials were reconsidered in more abstract forms and moved down to meet the physical level of the general public. This allowed for deeper social engagement and symbolism, activated directly by members of the public, like you. Individuals, communities, and designers also began to ask questions about the roles that monuments and memorials hold in shaping our collective memory.  
 What narratives are currently represented in public spaces, and how are they represented? How could the practice of memorialization become more accessible to histories that are often overlooked? How could contemporary memorials serve as spaces for discourse, and how could this lead to a more collaborative vision of our future?  
 Start walking towards the South Tower Pool, the huge void that dominates the landscape.   
News Highlight Reel: ((1a - https://youtu.be/pOYjDxeAX8E - news clip on 9/11 (0:00 - 0:18))) We're just getting reports in now that a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. Two planes have crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. There have been a series of terrorist attacks in the United States. Pictures just in showed the building already on fire, with smoke billowing from the upper floors.  
We have no   
Eric Moed: Our first stop, the 9 11 memorial, introduces theme one of our tour, loss. For centuries, loss was represented through memorials in the form of the lost subject, whether it be a life sized sculpture of a deceased dignitary, a model of a sunken boat, or a relief depicting a lost past. Within the last 80 years, designers have thought of new strategies of representation, specifically focusing on physical form and materiality to more deeply honor loss.  
They have taken more agency to frame narratives through form, tackling various emotional aspects of loss, such as grief, reflection, and hope. Many contemporary monuments and memorials have become more abstracted to allow for a larger spectrum of experiences from visitors. The National September 11th Memorial, one of the most well known memorials in the world, uses the contemporary strategy of absence to address this theme of loss.  
The two dug down voids represent the huge collective loss experienced in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. During the attacks, commercial planes, hijacked by the terrorist group Al Qaeda, were flown directly into the World Trade Center, destroying each of the twin towers which once stood here.  
The attacks killed 2, 977 people and instigated the multi decade global war on terror. The two one acre pools evoke the magnitude of the physical absence. that the events of 9 11 left a New York City's built environment. The absence after the attacks was also, of course, psychological, as New Yorkers grappled with the loss of their loved ones and the loss of a sense of safety in their hometown.  
The idea for the memorial of, quote unquote, reflecting absence came to creator Michael Arad mere days after the 9 11 attacks, architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker knew the National Memorial would be frequented by many people from around the world. They wanted it to be enmeshed with the city as a public space for all while providing a calm space for reflection.  
Notice how the rushing water blocks out the loud bustle of traffic and city noise and how the forest of white oak trees. Buffers views of the street. Listen to the sound of the rushing waterfalls that drop into the void. What emotions are brought up for you, for the people around you?   
 Look at the parapets surrounding the edges of the voids.  
The victims names are organized into meaningful adjacencies, rather than being listed alphabetically. These adjacencies of close friends and colleagues were discovered from over 1, 000 survey responses submitted by family members of victims. They were then input into an algorithm created expressly for the memorial to allow victims to be honored alongside the people they knew most intimately.  
The names are carved deeply into the bronze surfaces so that people can leave flowers in the letters as commemorations. There's also a private memorialization space only accessible to relatives and close friends of the victims, which provide a more intimate experience for paying their respects. Now move towards the North Tower Pool, through the Central Plaza, towards the Survivor Tree.  
This piece of the memorial frames hope as an integral part of the path forward. It is located to the west in the memorial park, surrounded by a low metal fence. The Survivor Tree is a calorie pear tree that was miraculously recovered from the rubble at the World Trade Center site in October 2001.  
 Although badly burned, the tree made a swift recovery in the following years after the events and became a symbol of perseverance to the victims that survived the attacks. Notice all the seating available in the plaza, as well as trees providing shade to keep the area comfortable for visitors to gather together.  
The use of the memorial as a space open and accessible to all was integral to creator Michael Arad's design. His vision was informed by how important gathering in public spaces was to the collective healing of New Yorkers after the tragic event. As he explained,   
 ((https://youtu.be/jZAy9QgXWGQ - Michael Arad interview (03:41 - 04:02)))   
Michael Arad: it was very important to make this site a place that carried within it the notion of a democratic public space, a civic space, that I had experienced myself, the importance of those spaces in the days that followed 9 11. So it was places like Washington Square and Union Square.  
And the way they brought us together and allowed us, without ceremony, without speeches, simply to stand next to each other. And I thought that was very important to bring to the site.   
   
Eric Moed: Notice all of the people gathered here now? This memorial aims to reclaim some of the feeling of safety in New York City that was lost during the terrorist attacks through creating a peaceful public space. How does being surrounded by people affect your experience of grieving this massive loss? Take a moment by the North Tower Pool to consider how the 9 11 attacks affected your understanding of safety in a rapidly globalizing world.  
   
Eric Moed: Now we will be moving to the second stop, the Iris Hunger Memorial. This memorial also addresses Theme 1, Loss, but uses a different strategy to portray it. Head north along West Street, past the Freedom Tower, until Vesey Street..  
 Turn left on Vesey Street, cross the street, and proceed down Vesey Street towards the river.  

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National September 11 Memorial

Tour Item

1. Start_ South Entry to 9_11 Memorial @FDNY Memorial Wall.mp3

Eric Moed: The Irish Hunger Memorial also addresses the theme of loss. In contrast to the hollowed out absence that defines the form of the 9 11 memorial, the Irish Hunger Memorial takes the form of a new sloped landscape, extruded above street level, creating a heightened presence.  
The Irish Hunger Memorial commemorates the Great Famine, a tragedy marked by a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852. It honors two types of loss during the Great Famine, the massive loss of human life, and the loss of homeland felt by Irish immigrants who had to leave Ireland to survive.  
The Great Famine, or Irish Potato Famine, occurred as a result of a potato blight, which devastated the single crop dependent Irish population. The British leadership refused to halt food exports and provide aid, greatly exacerbating the famine. As a result of this crisis, One million people starved to death, and more than two million people fled Ireland, causing one of the greatest human exoduses in history.  
Around one million Irish people emigrated to North America. Many entered through New York City's immigrant processing stations and chose to settle in the city. The site of this memorial, along the Hudson River banks, with views towards Castle Clinton and Ellis Island, is an homage to the many Irish immigrants and their families.  
Who found safety here by way of transatlantic voyages.   
As you find yourself at the intersection of Vesey Street and North End Avenue, take in the sight of the plant filled platform gently sloping up from the ground towards the Hudson River. Artist Brian Toll's proposal was chosen due to its sensitivity to the context of the Irish potato famine.  
By literally transporting a segment of Ireland to New York, the artist physically manifested the land that millions had to abandon during the famine. The design was executed by a creative team, including architect Gail Whitwer Laird and architecture firm 1100 architect.   
Artist Brian Toll wanted the memorial to be relevant to all visitors, no matter their relationship to the Great Famine, as he explained,  
Brian Tolle: ((2a. https://youtu.be/KWaNOJlFMxM - Brian Tolle narration (0:32 - 0:41)) Landscape, place, home. That's a universal theme and it's something that everybody understands ((https://youtu.be/K0pvInwSKHk - Irish song (0:57 - 1:20))) something.   
â€‹  
Eric Moed: move along the south wall of the memorial towards the Hudson River. The entrance to the memorial is around the corner, underneath the landscape. Pay attention In the illuminated glass panels along the base, these texts feature quotes recounting historical information about the Great Famine, as well as excerpts from newspapers highlighting contemporary instances of starvation and hunger.  
Read the quotes to learn more about first hand experience of the Great Famine and world hunger. Read the quotes to learn more about the first hand experience of the Great Famine and contemporary world hunger. As you enter, listen to the voice recordings featuring Cultural Liaison Adrian Flannelly and artist and creator Brian Toll providing additional background for the memorial.  
Providing additional background for the memorial. Move up the sloped path and notice the shift in materiality from smooth stone to rough cobblestone walls. Feel their rugged texture. These walls are ruins from a cottage owned by the artist's family, the Slacks of Adymas, Mayo County.   
The cottage was donated by the family, and painstakingly reconstructed on the memorial site as an expression of solidarity from those who left. Both sides of the memorial's path beyond the internal entry Are planted with native Irish vegetation, which was transported to New York City from Western Coastal Ireland.  
Some examples that may stand out to Some examples that may stand out to you Some examples that may stand out to you are the tall grasses of the pepperweed, the bright red flowers of the long headed poppy, and the small, low lying pink flowers of the smartweed. Stones laid across the sloped landscape were imported from all 32 counties of Ireland. to represent the country wide scope of the famine.  
The landscape also portrays an abandoned potato field, an abstraction of the loss experienced during the famine. Take a moment to smell the flowers and look for animals and insects enjoying the landscape. If you are here in the summer, you may notice this is a great spot for butterflies and other pollinators.  
The landscape functions as its own ecosystem. It also serves as a contemplative space. Raised above the street level, here in New York City, so far from the original location of the famine, yet so close to many whose families were directly impacted by the tragedy. As you arrive at the top of the memorial overlooking the landscape and river on either side of you, consider how your Consider how your senses, like smell, touch, hearing, were activated during your ascent.  
How did this affect your experience? Look out on the water. Imagine the ships of Irish immigrants. fleeing their homeland and coming to New York City almost 200 years ago  
Make your descent back down through the memorial.   
How did your experience at this memorial, which represented loss through presence, differ from our previous stop, the 9 11 Memorial, which represented loss through absence?   
   
Eric Moed: Another well known example of a contemporary monument with a focus on the tour's first theme of â€˜loss, which you may recognize, is Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D. C. This national memorial features two adjoining black granite walls engraved with the names of service members lost during the Vietnam War. These walls carve down into the earth to produce a below grade passageway, an experience for the visitor that symbolizes the wound of a great human loss slowly healing over time.  
Do you relate differently to these ideas after visiting the memorial?  
As you exit, Walk forward and take the ramp to your left to proceed south on the Battery Park City Esplanade along the Hudson River. Continue along this path for a few minutes. We are now moving to the next stop, Kowski Plaza Berlin Wall section. This stop introduces the second theme of our tour, agency.  
You'll notice the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island to your right across the water. Both of these spaces address New York City's history as a safe haven for immigrants from all corners of the world for centuries. The Statue of Liberty is one of the world's most well known monuments, a colossal copper sculpture gifted by the French government in 1886, which has become an icon of freedom in the United States. and across the world.  
It is seen as a symbol of welcome to immigrants arriving by sea. Does your personal story include chapters of exodus and immigration?   
The next stop on the tour, the Kowski Plaza Berlin Wall section, also addresses migration, but in a more contemporary context. 

95 North End Avenue \|||// Eric Moed: The Irish Hunger Memorial also addresses the theme of loss. In contrast to the hollowed out absence that defines the form of the 9 11 memorial, the Irish Hunger Memorial takes the form of a new sloped landscape, extruded above street level, creating a heightened presence.  
The Irish Hunger Memorial commemorates the Great Famine, a tragedy marked by a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852. It honors two types of loss during the Great Famine, the massive loss of human life, and the loss of homeland felt by Irish immigrants who had to leave Ireland to survive.  
The Great Famine, or Irish Potato Famine, occurred as a result of a potato blight, which devastated the single crop dependent Irish population. The British leadership refused to halt food exports and provide aid, greatly exacerbating the famine. As a result of this crisis, One million people starved to death, and more than two million people fled Ireland, causing one of the greatest human exoduses in history.  
Around one million Irish people emigrated to North America. Many entered through New York City's immigrant processing stations and chose to settle in the city. The site of this memorial, along the Hudson River banks, with views towards Castle Clinton and Ellis Island, is an homage to the many Irish immigrants and their families.  
Who found safety here by way of transatlantic voyages.   
As you find yourself at the intersection of Vesey Street and North End Avenue, take in the sight of the plant filled platform gently sloping up from the ground towards the Hudson River. Artist Brian Toll's proposal was chosen due to its sensitivity to the context of the Irish potato famine.  
By literally transporting a segment of Ireland to New York, the artist physically manifested the land that millions had to abandon during the famine. The design was executed by a creative team, including architect Gail Whitwer Laird and architecture firm 1100 architect.   
Artist Brian Toll wanted the memorial to be relevant to all visitors, no matter their relationship to the Great Famine, as he explained,  
Brian Tolle: ((2a. https://youtu.be/KWaNOJlFMxM - Brian Tolle narration (0:32 - 0:41)) Landscape, place, home. That's a universal theme and it's something that everybody understands ((https://youtu.be/K0pvInwSKHk - Irish song (0:57 - 1:20))) something.   
â€‹  
Eric Moed: move along the south wall of the memorial towards the Hudson River. The entrance to the memorial is around the corner, underneath the landscape. Pay attention In the illuminated glass panels along the base, these texts feature quotes recounting historical information about the Great Famine, as well as excerpts from newspapers highlighting contemporary instances of starvation and hunger.  
Read the quotes to learn more about first hand experience of the Great Famine and world hunger. Read the quotes to learn more about the first hand experience of the Great Famine and contemporary world hunger. As you enter, listen to the voice recordings featuring Cultural Liaison Adrian Flannelly and artist and creator Brian Toll providing additional background for the memorial.  
Providing additional background for the memorial. Move up the sloped path and notice the shift in materiality from smooth stone to rough cobblestone walls. Feel their rugged texture. These walls are ruins from a cottage owned by the artist's family, the Slacks of Adymas, Mayo County.   
The cottage was donated by the family, and painstakingly reconstructed on the memorial site as an expression of solidarity from those who left. Both sides of the memorial's path beyond the internal entry Are planted with native Irish vegetation, which was transported to New York City from Western Coastal Ireland.  
Some examples that may stand out to Some examples that may stand out to you Some examples that may stand out to you are the tall grasses of the pepperweed, the bright red flowers of the long headed poppy, and the small, low lying pink flowers of the smartweed. Stones laid across the sloped landscape were imported from all 32 counties of Ireland. to represent the country wide scope of the famine.  
The landscape also portrays an abandoned potato field, an abstraction of the loss experienced during the famine. Take a moment to smell the flowers and look for animals and insects enjoying the landscape. If you are here in the summer, you may notice this is a great spot for butterflies and other pollinators.  
The landscape functions as its own ecosystem. It also serves as a contemplative space. Raised above the street level, here in New York City, so far from the original location of the famine, yet so close to many whose families were directly impacted by the tragedy. As you arrive at the top of the memorial overlooking the landscape and river on either side of you, consider how your Consider how your senses, like smell, touch, hearing, were activated during your ascent.  
How did this affect your experience? Look out on the water. Imagine the ships of Irish immigrants. fleeing their homeland and coming to New York City almost 200 years ago  
Make your descent back down through the memorial.   
How did your experience at this memorial, which represented loss through presence, differ from our previous stop, the 9 11 Memorial, which represented loss through absence?   
   
Eric Moed: Another well known example of a contemporary monument with a focus on the tour's first theme of â€˜loss, which you may recognize, is Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D. C. This national memorial features two adjoining black granite walls engraved with the names of service members lost during the Vietnam War. These walls carve down into the earth to produce a below grade passageway, an experience for the visitor that symbolizes the wound of a great human loss slowly healing over time.  
Do you relate differently to these ideas after visiting the memorial?  
As you exit, Walk forward and take the ramp to your left to proceed south on the Battery Park City Esplanade along the Hudson River. Continue along this path for a few minutes. We are now moving to the next stop, Kowski Plaza Berlin Wall section. This stop introduces the second theme of our tour, agency.  
You'll notice the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island to your right across the water. Both of these spaces address New York City's history as a safe haven for immigrants from all corners of the world for centuries. The Statue of Liberty is one of the world's most well known monuments, a colossal copper sculpture gifted by the French government in 1886, which has become an icon of freedom in the United States. and across the world.  
It is seen as a symbol of welcome to immigrants arriving by sea. Does your personal story include chapters of exodus and immigration?   
The next stop on the tour, the Kowski Plaza Berlin Wall section, also addresses migration, but in a more contemporary context. 

irish hunger memorial.jpg

Irish Hunger Memorial

2. Irish Hunger Memorial.mp3

Eric Moed: Now that we've finished exploring the first theme of our tour, loss, we will move onto theme two, Agency. Previously, public monuments and memorials were mainly funded, programmed, and designed by governmental bodies. State narratives were regularly imposed in public spaces. In a new approach, members of the public, along with artists and designers, began to use their personal agency to advocate for what they wanted to see in public space.  
They propose monuments to commemorate their own histories, their own tragedies, and their own accomplishments. This allows for a recognition of various perspectives and ideas which were previously unacknowledged. The aforementioned Vietnam Memorial was the initiative of a private citizen named Jan Scruggs.  
A Vietnam veteran who, after a night of heavy drinking, couldn't bear the pain of the loss of his friends and fellow veterans any longer. His personal agency started a movement for a national recognition of their sacrifice that resulted years later in Maya Lin's seminal work. The National Vietnam Veterans Memorial mentioned a few moments ago.  
Monuments and memorials have become integral to questioning dominant ideas and creating spaces of public dialogue. Thierry Noir's murals on the Berlin Wall are prime examples of the tour's second theme: Agency. As they are one citizen's public protest against the division created directly by the wall and globally by the Cold War.   
As you approach the marina, turn to keep the water to your right.  
Continue along the Battery Park City Esplanade so that you keep moving south. adjacent to Brookfield Place and Pump House Park. Up ahead, you will see the New York City Police Memorial, which was dedicated in 1997 to the memory of those who lost their lives in the line of duty. The Cold War was a period of global political tension between the United States, a capitalist nation, and the Soviet Union, a communist state, that lasted over 40 years.  
There was no large direct fighting between the two superpowers. But they each vied for global dominance by supporting opposing sides in major regional conflicts between other countries. Aside from the nuclear arms race and conventional military deployment, the Cold War was expressed via indirect means, such as psychological warfare, propaganda campaigns, and technological competitions like the space race.  
After World War II, Germany was divided up into separate states, which became a proxy for the struggle between free market nations and communism. West Germany was controlled by a democratic government, while East Germany was controlled by a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union. Berlin, located in the middle of East and West Germany, was divided between the two governing bodies.  
This created a migration crisis, which caused the Soviet Union to construct a 14 foot tall barrier, the Berlin Wall, in 1961, blocking any movement. Countless East Germans attempted to flee to West Berlin to escape communism. The Berlin Wall surrounded East Berlin. For almost three decades, a foreboding and dangerous construct.  
People who tried to cross were met with the risk of death. In 1984, artists began painting public artworks on its surface as an act of resistance putting their own lives at stake. in 1989, amidst the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Berlin Wall finally fell.   
Ronald Reagen: ((https://youtu.be/RIUd5Cc3S6I - wall coming down 0:23 - 0:42)))  Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.  
I've never seen so many. Plainly happy people and their faces in my life again. So where people were just not even smiling. There was just this joy and disbelief  
Eric Moed: Hundreds of segments of the Berlin Wall have been acquired since its deconstruction and flown around the world. Segments of the Berlin Wall have become monuments to this history, symbolizing physical and ideological barriers.  
In New York City alone, there are actually five separate Berlin Wall segments. One painted segment is notably located in a private lobby at 520 Madison Avenue, off limits to the general public. It was purchased by the developer of the building in 1990 directly from German authorities.  
Consider how this privatization of a public piece of art changes its accessibility and symbolic meaning. Do you think the monument has a stronger influence when it's public or when it's private? The recontextualization of these Berlin Wall segments is also an active effort to warn the world of the cold power and devastation of divisiveness.  
A reminder to seek solutions in future political struggles focused on commonalities and understanding. With the New York City Police Memorial directly to your right, move towards the water to continue up the steps between the two wooden park structures. For an accessible ramp, turn left down Liberty Street and loop back around to the monument. The Berlin Wall section will be to your right.   
This section specifically features a mural painted by artist Thierry Noir in 1984.   
The artist used bright colors in this piece and many of his other works to contrast with the dreary and dark reality created by the Berlin Wall. As Noir explained, it was really aggressive to live so close to the wall. This melancholic life was very aggressive against the brain. I thought I was getting a little bit crazy with this life by the wall, and two years after, I decided spontaneously to start to make something on the wall.  
I never thought about money. I painted the wall as a protest. Noir's work subverted this figure of division into one of hope, granting it a real, human significance. Painting the Berlin Wall was highly illegal, and Thierry Noir became the first artist to paint on it at a large scale. This revolutionary act inspired other artists to join in.  
And over the next five years, the wall was covered with layers of artwork. Creating this democratic art was a collective movement. Artists used their craft to express resistance to the separation and struggle present in the city of Berlin.  
Take a moment to think about where else you've seen public monuments. that use the approach of agency. What would you commemorate with a monument? Where would it be?   
 Proceed forward toward Battery Park City Esplanade along the river once again. Walk down the stairs directly ahead. For an accessible ramp, turn right through the wooden overpass and move down the ramp towards the path.  
 (Epidemic Sound: Atop - Jobii (1:30 min)) Turn left along the Hudson River, heading south towards South Cove Park. As you move along the river for a few minutes, we will introduce the next stop, the City of Refuge proposal. This is the tour's only Unbuilt work.   
The next stop the City of Refuge is another example of theme two agency.  
However, it differs from the individual agency expressed in Thierry Noir's mural on the Berlin Wall, focusing more broadly on the agency of its visitors to give the monument meaning.  

393 South End Avenue \|||// Eric Moed: Now that we've finished exploring the first theme of our tour, loss, we will move onto theme two, Agency. Previously, public monuments and memorials were mainly funded, programmed, and designed by governmental bodies. State narratives were regularly imposed in public spaces. In a new approach, members of the public, along with artists and designers, began to use their personal agency to advocate for what they wanted to see in public space.  
They propose monuments to commemorate their own histories, their own tragedies, and their own accomplishments. This allows for a recognition of various perspectives and ideas which were previously unacknowledged. The aforementioned Vietnam Memorial was the initiative of a private citizen named Jan Scruggs.  
A Vietnam veteran who, after a night of heavy drinking, couldn't bear the pain of the loss of his friends and fellow veterans any longer. His personal agency started a movement for a national recognition of their sacrifice that resulted years later in Maya Lin's seminal work. The National Vietnam Veterans Memorial mentioned a few moments ago.  
Monuments and memorials have become integral to questioning dominant ideas and creating spaces of public dialogue. Thierry Noir's murals on the Berlin Wall are prime examples of the tour's second theme: Agency. As they are one citizen's public protest against the division created directly by the wall and globally by the Cold War.   
As you approach the marina, turn to keep the water to your right.  
Continue along the Battery Park City Esplanade so that you keep moving south. adjacent to Brookfield Place and Pump House Park. Up ahead, you will see the New York City Police Memorial, which was dedicated in 1997 to the memory of those who lost their lives in the line of duty. The Cold War was a period of global political tension between the United States, a capitalist nation, and the Soviet Union, a communist state, that lasted over 40 years.  
There was no large direct fighting between the two superpowers. But they each vied for global dominance by supporting opposing sides in major regional conflicts between other countries. Aside from the nuclear arms race and conventional military deployment, the Cold War was expressed via indirect means, such as psychological warfare, propaganda campaigns, and technological competitions like the space race.  
After World War II, Germany was divided up into separate states, which became a proxy for the struggle between free market nations and communism. West Germany was controlled by a democratic government, while East Germany was controlled by a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union. Berlin, located in the middle of East and West Germany, was divided between the two governing bodies.  
This created a migration crisis, which caused the Soviet Union to construct a 14 foot tall barrier, the Berlin Wall, in 1961, blocking any movement. Countless East Germans attempted to flee to West Berlin to escape communism. The Berlin Wall surrounded East Berlin. For almost three decades, a foreboding and dangerous construct.  
People who tried to cross were met with the risk of death. In 1984, artists began painting public artworks on its surface as an act of resistance putting their own lives at stake. in 1989, amidst the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Berlin Wall finally fell.   
Ronald Reagen: ((https://youtu.be/RIUd5Cc3S6I - wall coming down 0:23 - 0:42)))  Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.  
I've never seen so many. Plainly happy people and their faces in my life again. So where people were just not even smiling. There was just this joy and disbelief  
Eric Moed: Hundreds of segments of the Berlin Wall have been acquired since its deconstruction and flown around the world. Segments of the Berlin Wall have become monuments to this history, symbolizing physical and ideological barriers.  
In New York City alone, there are actually five separate Berlin Wall segments. One painted segment is notably located in a private lobby at 520 Madison Avenue, off limits to the general public. It was purchased by the developer of the building in 1990 directly from German authorities.  
Consider how this privatization of a public piece of art changes its accessibility and symbolic meaning. Do you think the monument has a stronger influence when it's public or when it's private? The recontextualization of these Berlin Wall segments is also an active effort to warn the world of the cold power and devastation of divisiveness.  
A reminder to seek solutions in future political struggles focused on commonalities and understanding. With the New York City Police Memorial directly to your right, move towards the water to continue up the steps between the two wooden park structures. For an accessible ramp, turn left down Liberty Street and loop back around to the monument. The Berlin Wall section will be to your right.   
This section specifically features a mural painted by artist Thierry Noir in 1984.   
The artist used bright colors in this piece and many of his other works to contrast with the dreary and dark reality created by the Berlin Wall. As Noir explained, it was really aggressive to live so close to the wall. This melancholic life was very aggressive against the brain. I thought I was getting a little bit crazy with this life by the wall, and two years after, I decided spontaneously to start to make something on the wall.  
I never thought about money. I painted the wall as a protest. Noir's work subverted this figure of division into one of hope, granting it a real, human significance. Painting the Berlin Wall was highly illegal, and Thierry Noir became the first artist to paint on it at a large scale. This revolutionary act inspired other artists to join in.  
And over the next five years, the wall was covered with layers of artwork. Creating this democratic art was a collective movement. Artists used their craft to express resistance to the separation and struggle present in the city of Berlin.  
Take a moment to think about where else you've seen public monuments. that use the approach of agency. What would you commemorate with a monument? Where would it be?   
 Proceed forward toward Battery Park City Esplanade along the river once again. Walk down the stairs directly ahead. For an accessible ramp, turn right through the wooden overpass and move down the ramp towards the path.  
 (Epidemic Sound: Atop - Jobii (1:30 min)) Turn left along the Hudson River, heading south towards South Cove Park. As you move along the river for a few minutes, we will introduce the next stop, the City of Refuge proposal. This is the tour's only Unbuilt work.   
The next stop the City of Refuge is another example of theme two agency.  
However, it differs from the individual agency expressed in Thierry Noir's mural on the Berlin Wall, focusing more broadly on the agency of its visitors to give the monument meaning.  

berlin wall monument.JPG

Kowsky Plaza Berlin Wall Section

3. Kowsky Plaza Berlin Wall.mp3

Krzysztof Wodiczko: People always gather in front of monuments. There are, uh, events, protests. Sometimes we sit on their shoulders, wave flags. We paint them with new narrative.   
Eric Moed: The 9 11 memorial we visited at the start of the tour represents but one of the 5, 201 submissions from over 60 countries for the design of the memorial.  
You might wonder, what happens to the other 5, 200 ideas submitted to the design competition? which were not chosen to be built. We've included one such proposal as an example of the insights unbuilt design proposals can provide. Proposals for different, sometimes more radical strategies for memorialization are important to remember too.  
One notable proposal for the 9 11 memorial, by public artist and designer, Krzysztof Wojcicko was proposed to be situated in the New York Harbor as a series of anchored floating structures. Look at the photos on the Gesso app for this stop to see images of the proposal. The memorial proposal was formatted as a book of writings along with a series of hand drawn sketches.  
The proposal was imagined to be easily accessible and visible to people in both New York and New Jersey. It was sited in the Hudson River, adjacent to the World Trade Center, providing a critical distance from Ground Zero and drawing symbolism from not being on solid ground, but on unstable ground, or water.  
 The artist envisioned that these structures would be spherical and function as a floating city connected by many interwoven platforms. He wanted the memorial to look upon the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, linking them as safe spaces for the misfortuned and mistreated of all foreign lands.  
 Kristoph's goal with this project was to push the form of a memorial from a passive form to an active stage. He wanted it to serve as a dynamic place to harbor contentious debates about the causes and effects of terrorism and to work towards non violent solutions.  
Thus, the project is the second example of Theme 2: Agency. The proposal gained its meaning from providing visitors with the power to facilitate difficult conversations amongst each other. The memorial commemorated the loss of 9 11 through the creation of new spaces for the public to safely gather and speak freely in.  
The artist promoted the use of the public's agency as citizens. As mourners and as active members of society. Instead of memorializing the events of 9 11 as a form of closure, Kristof proposed the memorial as a catalyst for response. Look over the water and imagine the memorial now.  
How would it feel to be there, floating on the Hudson River? Do you think the experience of being on the water would facilitate more movement, ideas, and conversation? The memorial was actually inspired by the Old Testament concept of the City of Refuge. A dedicated walled off city where someone who accidentally or unintentionally committed murder could go to escape acts of vengeance by the aggrieved.  
Wojcicko reframed this idea, informed by the texts of philosopher Emmanuel Levinas to create a place for visitors to explore their relationship with acts of terror and injustice. The memorial also acts as a collage of past, present, and future by using an ancient tradition, the city of refuge, to commemorate a modern tragedy, 9 11, creating dialogues about future potentials for change.  
It encouraged moving beyond grief and into action to transform the present world. The memorial would also feature spaces for organizations who monitor and educate about acts of terror and violence around the world. There would be an open Agora or public space to host debates and democratic dialogue between visitors on what action to take in response to global violence.  
Visitors could learn about organizations pursuing concrete change in the world and contribute to, or join, these organizations. the proposal of a floating city is undoubtedly the most experimental of the monuments in this tour. By acknowledging that the project would likely never be constructed, the artist pushed the meaning and potential of the memorial beyond the limits of what is feasible in reality.  
Consider how this compares to the 9 11 memorial that was actually built. How do these differ in their forms and in their intentions? How can monuments and memorials create spaces for democratic dialogue? Think about other memorials you know of that have a focus on participant agency. Another well known example of an agency based public memorial is the AIDS Memorial Quilt.  
Which started in 1985 as a then small memorial project by activist Cleve Jones to commemorate his friends in San Francisco who are dying of AIDS. People from all over the country sent panels to be added to the quilt, quickly turning this initiative into a national project. Forty years later... The quilt now features nearly 50, 000 panels honoring the stories and lives of the victims of HIV AIDS.  
There is currently a project underway to create the National AIDS Memorial Grove in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, a dedicated space to memorialize those who died in the AIDS epidemic. As you reach the end of this path at the marina, turn left , and head forward down the park path to the street at 3rd Place.  
Consult the in-app map and follow the walking directions to the next stop.  
You are on the way to the next stop, Peter Minuet Plaza.

375 South End Avenue \|||// Krzysztof Wodiczko: People always gather in front of monuments. There are, uh, events, protests. Sometimes we sit on their shoulders, wave flags. We paint them with new narrative.   
Eric Moed: The 9 11 memorial we visited at the start of the tour represents but one of the 5, 201 submissions from over 60 countries for the design of the memorial.  
You might wonder, what happens to the other 5, 200 ideas submitted to the design competition? which were not chosen to be built. We've included one such proposal as an example of the insights unbuilt design proposals can provide. Proposals for different, sometimes more radical strategies for memorialization are important to remember too.  
One notable proposal for the 9 11 memorial, by public artist and designer, Krzysztof Wojcicko was proposed to be situated in the New York Harbor as a series of anchored floating structures. Look at the photos on the Gesso app for this stop to see images of the proposal. The memorial proposal was formatted as a book of writings along with a series of hand drawn sketches.  
The proposal was imagined to be easily accessible and visible to people in both New York and New Jersey. It was sited in the Hudson River, adjacent to the World Trade Center, providing a critical distance from Ground Zero and drawing symbolism from not being on solid ground, but on unstable ground, or water.  
 The artist envisioned that these structures would be spherical and function as a floating city connected by many interwoven platforms. He wanted the memorial to look upon the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, linking them as safe spaces for the misfortuned and mistreated of all foreign lands.  
 Kristoph's goal with this project was to push the form of a memorial from a passive form to an active stage. He wanted it to serve as a dynamic place to harbor contentious debates about the causes and effects of terrorism and to work towards non violent solutions.  
Thus, the project is the second example of Theme 2: Agency. The proposal gained its meaning from providing visitors with the power to facilitate difficult conversations amongst each other. The memorial commemorated the loss of 9 11 through the creation of new spaces for the public to safely gather and speak freely in.  
The artist promoted the use of the public's agency as citizens. As mourners and as active members of society. Instead of memorializing the events of 9 11 as a form of closure, Kristof proposed the memorial as a catalyst for response. Look over the water and imagine the memorial now.  
How would it feel to be there, floating on the Hudson River? Do you think the experience of being on the water would facilitate more movement, ideas, and conversation? The memorial was actually inspired by the Old Testament concept of the City of Refuge. A dedicated walled off city where someone who accidentally or unintentionally committed murder could go to escape acts of vengeance by the aggrieved.  
Wojcicko reframed this idea, informed by the texts of philosopher Emmanuel Levinas to create a place for visitors to explore their relationship with acts of terror and injustice. The memorial also acts as a collage of past, present, and future by using an ancient tradition, the city of refuge, to commemorate a modern tragedy, 9 11, creating dialogues about future potentials for change.  
It encouraged moving beyond grief and into action to transform the present world. The memorial would also feature spaces for organizations who monitor and educate about acts of terror and violence around the world. There would be an open Agora or public space to host debates and democratic dialogue between visitors on what action to take in response to global violence.  
Visitors could learn about organizations pursuing concrete change in the world and contribute to, or join, these organizations. the proposal of a floating city is undoubtedly the most experimental of the monuments in this tour. By acknowledging that the project would likely never be constructed, the artist pushed the meaning and potential of the memorial beyond the limits of what is feasible in reality.  
Consider how this compares to the 9 11 memorial that was actually built. How do these differ in their forms and in their intentions? How can monuments and memorials create spaces for democratic dialogue? Think about other memorials you know of that have a focus on participant agency. Another well known example of an agency based public memorial is the AIDS Memorial Quilt.  
Which started in 1985 as a then small memorial project by activist Cleve Jones to commemorate his friends in San Francisco who are dying of AIDS. People from all over the country sent panels to be added to the quilt, quickly turning this initiative into a national project. Forty years later... The quilt now features nearly 50, 000 panels honoring the stories and lives of the victims of HIV AIDS.  
There is currently a project underway to create the National AIDS Memorial Grove in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, a dedicated space to memorialize those who died in the AIDS epidemic. As you reach the end of this path at the marina, turn left , and head forward down the park path to the street at 3rd Place.  
Consult the in-app map and follow the walking directions to the next stop.  
You are on the way to the next stop, Peter Minuet Plaza.

81auKt6V1tL.jpeg

City of Refuge 

4. City of Refuge.mp3

Eric Moed: Throughout your walk along the Hudson River, the term public has been mentioned in different contexts, public art, public memory, and public space, to name a few. Almost all collective monuments and memorials exist in public space. Let's briefly explore the role that public space has in shaping public experiences.  
The use, approach, and functions of public spaces differ greatly around the world. Parks, plazas, public institutions such as libraries, and even the street itself all comprise what we are referring to more broadly as public space. As are the abundance of plazas and parks in Lower Manhattan that you find yourself in.  
 No doubt, you are familiar with famous public spaces around New York City, like Central Park, Washington Square Park, and Union Square. Consider how their differences in scale, landscaping, and amenities accommodate different experiences.  
What makes a public space accessible to all? What does an ideal public space look like to you? What kind of environment do you imagine? What kind of landscaping or amenities exist there? Who do you envision enjoying this type of space? What sort of emotions, actions, and activities would you like the space to promote?  
Turn right to continue south along the pedestrian pathway for a few minutes. You are now on the final leg of the Hudson River Greenway.  
which runs from the Battery, the southernmost point of Manhattan Island, all the way to the northern tip of Manhattan Island the Battery is one of the most popular public green spaces in New York City and the most heavily used bikeway in the United States.  
The original example of public space was the Greek Agora, most notably the ancient Agora of Athens. referenced in the City of Refuge 9 11 Memorial Proposal. The Agora was a large open space used as the primary meeting ground to accommodate the social and political order of the city. Members of the governmental assembly, discussed political affairs. Merchants manned stalls to sell their goods, and the general public engaged by watching performances and listening to famous philosophers opine on their latest ideas. The Agora's importance lay in the fact that it allowed for dialogue between all people present within it, democratizing the political sphere.  
Public gathering spaces in the present day take on different forms, but share the same quality of being accessible to all people. These spaces have built in tensions, tensions between the public who occupy it and whose taxes fund its upkeep, and governments that manage, control, or police it. There are also tensions between the variety of demographics within the general public who use it.  
After all, public space belongs equally to people across the social and political spectrum. To fulfill its role, public space must allow for free speech to occur between groups. who may hold differing views and narratives. Engaging in public spaces with people you may not know or agree with is an integral part of maintaining a well functioning democracy.  
Contemporary monuments and memorials seek to be open ended in their message to accommodate for this conversation. on the subjectivity of history. Contemporary monuments usually exist within or create new public spaces such as plazas and parks. They function at the intersection of architecture, urban planning, landscaping, and public art.  
Because of their interdisciplinary nature, they hold the power to affect the many people who visit them, shaping collective memory of past events. They also possess the ability to evoke strong emotional responses. That lead to varied reactions like celebrations, protests, and dialogue between visitors. As Krzysztof Wodiczko, the designer of the previous stop questioned.  
Krzysztof Wodiczko: Uh, how is it possible, would it be possible to see memorial function as this kind of warning, admonishing thing, device, event? In what way it could create a dynamic, inspired, discursive, critical dialogue with the past towards the better future?  
Eric Moed: In fact, the root of the word monument is the Latin word mon, which means to warn or to advise.   
The Hudson River Greenway terminates at the entry plaza of the Battery. Cross the street and turn left to move east along the perimeter of the park on Battery Place. Continue east along Battery Place for a few minutes. You are moving closer to the next stop, Peter Minuet Plaza.  
You are currently moving along the perimeter of the Battery, which in colonial times, over 300 years ago, was the original shoreline of the island of Manhattan. The current boundary of Battery Park was created by landfill as part of the 1855 Lower Manhattan Expansion Project. Centuries prior to the arrival of European colonists, the Lenape and Wapinger peoples, connected by the shared language of Munsee, were the primary indigenous tribes who lived on this land.  
The Lenape called the island Manahatta, or Land of Many Hills. You are on what was once Native American land, whose history is deeply rooted in the Manhattan that you see today. The large thoroughfare, now known as Broadway, was initially an indigenous trade route.  
Used by the Wappinger tribe. Tribes were generally decentralized, formed by numerous loosely associated bands of smaller communities that would constantly commingle in areas of gathering, hunting and trade. While the bands had established separate geographic territories on the island of Manahatta, they did not believe in the practice of land leasing or land ownership.  
Their cultures held the belief that because the land is living, it cannot be owned or contained. The European colonists had a different idea seeking to colonize the southern tip of the island and its natural harbors to fortify their private interests in the trade of beaver pelts.  
The Dutch East India company established New Netherland in 1609 as a Dutch commercial enclave at the southern tip of Manhattan. The official settlement of New Amsterdam was created by the Dutch Republic shortly thereafter in 1624.  
At the corner of Battery Place and State Street, as the park turns south, there is a large flagpole, also known as the Netherland Monument. This monument was donated in 1926 by a Dutch sculptor to commemorate 300 years from the founding of New Amsterdam. It celebrates the founding of New York City as a Dutch colony.  
the same colony that Peter Minuet Plaza commemorates. Take a moment to read the inscription, which features a narrative of the Dutch acquiring Manhattan from its indigenous tribes. Proceed south for a few minutes along the perimeter of the park on State Street.   
Peter Minuet Plaza will be at the end of the path. The history of the alleged sale of Manhattan is highly subjective and features many different perspectives, like most historical narratives. What is known for certain is that in 1626, Peter Minuet was made General Director of New Amsterdam and tasked with negotiating a purchase of Manhattan Island from the indigenous tribes who lived there. Beyond that, the location... Amount of the sale, and even whether the sale was valid, are all unknown. The dominant story, embraced both by the Dutch and American governments, is likely, the founding narrative you may have heard.  
The story goes that underneath a tulip tree, peter Minuet struck a deal with CÃ©sÃ©s, the leader of the Canarsie band of the Lenape tribe, to buy the island for 60 guilders worth of goods, worth about 24 at the time. The validity of this sale and its details have since been hotly contested by historians and indigenous scholars alike.  
While Peter Minuet Plaza bills itself as the location of the quote unquote purchase of Manhattan Island, the actual location for this exchange is unknown. Another monument at the complete opposite end of Manhattan, miles north in Inwood Park, also claims to be the site of the purchase, as it once held a tulip tree associated with this story. This Uptown monument is a more humble one, taking the form of an inscribed rock named Shurikopak Rock, after the Wakwesik name for the area, meaning between the ridges. Despite the actual location of this transaction, likely being closer to Peter Minuet Plaza, Inwood Park, Uptown, more closely resembles the landscape of Manahatta, as it contains the last natural forest and salt marsh, in modern Manhattan, recalling the pristine state of the island before centuries of development.  
The true value of the trade is also unknown, with some accounts claiming that Peter Minuet made the trade with 24 worth of trinkets, while others claiming it was closer to around 1, 000 when converted into today's currency. What is known now, however, is that the Canarsi were led to believe that they were trading the right to use the land, not the ownership of it.  
In the years that followed, differing concepts of ownership between the Lenape and the Dutch settlers led to conflict. The Dutch assumed that they were buying an exclusive right to own the land outright, when they actually paid for the right to use the land alongside its existing inhabitants.  
Eventually, the Lenape were forcibly exiled from their land entirely. With all of this considered, the simplified view of a consensual and valid sale of the island is categorically false.   
Today, the Lenape view themselves as refugees of their own homeland.   
We identify with with the refugee status. We are refugees here in our own homeland.  
Eric Moed: As you arrive at the intersection, you will notice the historic landmark of the James Watson House to your left.   
This mansion was built in 1793, standing right at the edge of the harbor. and now accompanies the historic Church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary to its left. Cross the street ahead of you and enter Peter Minuet Plaza. The structure you see in the center of the plaza is the new Amsterdam Pavilion. It serves as a visitor information center as well as a cafe.  
 This site is a highly trafficked transportation hub where buses, subways, and water transportation like the Staten Island Ferry intersect with memorializations of important histories. This intersection is traversed by more than 150, 000 residents and visitors daily, and was only recently rehabilitated in 1991.  
Much of the support for this infrastructure project was granted by funds from the kingdom of the Netherlands. Consider the ways in which governments continue to enforce their chosen narratives. In spite of public contestations and historical correctives.  
How does this affect the collective memories of these histories in public space? Who is included versus excluded from these selective narratives? The rock to your left features a bronze model of the early settlement of New Amsterdam as it appeared in the Costello Plan.  
The Costello Plan of 1660 was one of the earliest maps created of the area and showed the extents of the original Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam, which is now grown into the New York City you are familiar with and occupy. The Costello plan also illustrates for visitors what the original New Amsterdam settlement looked like.  
You may have also noticed the break in the typical New York City street grid. The typical street grid associated with Manhattan starts above Wall Street and was only enforced after the town ceased to be Dutch. Most of the financial district overlaps with the original 15th century New Amsterdam street layout.  
Hence, the many narrow winding streets you now are traversing. Broadway, on the other hand, was expanded by Dutch colonists and became the main thoroughfare connecting southern New Amsterdam with its northern counterpart colony, Harlem. Fort Amsterdam sat in the plaza that is now Bowling Green and served as the center for trade and government administration for both Dutch and British rule of the colony.  
The settlement was bounded to the north by Wall Street, with a literal wall built from the eastern to the western shore of the island to protect colonists from attacks by indigenous tribes. The streets were laid out in a winding pattern similar to the downtowns of many European cities. By recreating the form of the city at the time, this bronze monument abstracts the deep histories of New York City's beginnings as a Dutch settlement.  
Imagine what the original settlement was like, and consider how much the city has changed over the last almost four centuries. We will now move on to the next stop on our tour. Move on the path to the left to exit the plaza. The memorial plaques at the National Museum of the American Indian are our next stop.  
Turn left once you exit Peter Minuet Plaza to proceed north up Whitehall for a few blocks. This next stop addresses the same story of Dutch settlement in New York City from the perspective of a group of indigenous scholars who worked on a corrective narrative supported by the federally funded Smithsonian National Institute.  
The plaques at the National Museum of the American Indian represent the third and final theme of our tour. Theme three, inclusion. By working to include Indigenous voices in the telling of New York City's history, these plaques are inclusive of histories that have been pushed out of the mainstream historical narrative.

 \|||// Eric Moed: Throughout your walk along the Hudson River, the term public has been mentioned in different contexts, public art, public memory, and public space, to name a few. Almost all collective monuments and memorials exist in public space. Let's briefly explore the role that public space has in shaping public experiences.  
The use, approach, and functions of public spaces differ greatly around the world. Parks, plazas, public institutions such as libraries, and even the street itself all comprise what we are referring to more broadly as public space. As are the abundance of plazas and parks in Lower Manhattan that you find yourself in.  
 No doubt, you are familiar with famous public spaces around New York City, like Central Park, Washington Square Park, and Union Square. Consider how their differences in scale, landscaping, and amenities accommodate different experiences.  
What makes a public space accessible to all? What does an ideal public space look like to you? What kind of environment do you imagine? What kind of landscaping or amenities exist there? Who do you envision enjoying this type of space? What sort of emotions, actions, and activities would you like the space to promote?  
Turn right to continue south along the pedestrian pathway for a few minutes. You are now on the final leg of the Hudson River Greenway.  
which runs from the Battery, the southernmost point of Manhattan Island, all the way to the northern tip of Manhattan Island the Battery is one of the most popular public green spaces in New York City and the most heavily used bikeway in the United States.  
The original example of public space was the Greek Agora, most notably the ancient Agora of Athens. referenced in the City of Refuge 9 11 Memorial Proposal. The Agora was a large open space used as the primary meeting ground to accommodate the social and political order of the city. Members of the governmental assembly, discussed political affairs. Merchants manned stalls to sell their goods, and the general public engaged by watching performances and listening to famous philosophers opine on their latest ideas. The Agora's importance lay in the fact that it allowed for dialogue between all people present within it, democratizing the political sphere.  
Public gathering spaces in the present day take on different forms, but share the same quality of being accessible to all people. These spaces have built in tensions, tensions between the public who occupy it and whose taxes fund its upkeep, and governments that manage, control, or police it. There are also tensions between the variety of demographics within the general public who use it.  
After all, public space belongs equally to people across the social and political spectrum. To fulfill its role, public space must allow for free speech to occur between groups. who may hold differing views and narratives. Engaging in public spaces with people you may not know or agree with is an integral part of maintaining a well functioning democracy.  
Contemporary monuments and memorials seek to be open ended in their message to accommodate for this conversation. on the subjectivity of history. Contemporary monuments usually exist within or create new public spaces such as plazas and parks. They function at the intersection of architecture, urban planning, landscaping, and public art.  
Because of their interdisciplinary nature, they hold the power to affect the many people who visit them, shaping collective memory of past events. They also possess the ability to evoke strong emotional responses. That lead to varied reactions like celebrations, protests, and dialogue between visitors. As Krzysztof Wodiczko, the designer of the previous stop questioned.  
Krzysztof Wodiczko: Uh, how is it possible, would it be possible to see memorial function as this kind of warning, admonishing thing, device, event? In what way it could create a dynamic, inspired, discursive, critical dialogue with the past towards the better future?  
Eric Moed: In fact, the root of the word monument is the Latin word mon, which means to warn or to advise.   
The Hudson River Greenway terminates at the entry plaza of the Battery. Cross the street and turn left to move east along the perimeter of the park on Battery Place. Continue east along Battery Place for a few minutes. You are moving closer to the next stop, Peter Minuet Plaza.  
You are currently moving along the perimeter of the Battery, which in colonial times, over 300 years ago, was the original shoreline of the island of Manhattan. The current boundary of Battery Park was created by landfill as part of the 1855 Lower Manhattan Expansion Project. Centuries prior to the arrival of European colonists, the Lenape and Wapinger peoples, connected by the shared language of Munsee, were the primary indigenous tribes who lived on this land.  
The Lenape called the island Manahatta, or Land of Many Hills. You are on what was once Native American land, whose history is deeply rooted in the Manhattan that you see today. The large thoroughfare, now known as Broadway, was initially an indigenous trade route.  
Used by the Wappinger tribe. Tribes were generally decentralized, formed by numerous loosely associated bands of smaller communities that would constantly commingle in areas of gathering, hunting and trade. While the bands had established separate geographic territories on the island of Manahatta, they did not believe in the practice of land leasing or land ownership.  
Their cultures held the belief that because the land is living, it cannot be owned or contained. The European colonists had a different idea seeking to colonize the southern tip of the island and its natural harbors to fortify their private interests in the trade of beaver pelts.  
The Dutch East India company established New Netherland in 1609 as a Dutch commercial enclave at the southern tip of Manhattan. The official settlement of New Amsterdam was created by the Dutch Republic shortly thereafter in 1624.  
At the corner of Battery Place and State Street, as the park turns south, there is a large flagpole, also known as the Netherland Monument. This monument was donated in 1926 by a Dutch sculptor to commemorate 300 years from the founding of New Amsterdam. It celebrates the founding of New York City as a Dutch colony.  
the same colony that Peter Minuet Plaza commemorates. Take a moment to read the inscription, which features a narrative of the Dutch acquiring Manhattan from its indigenous tribes. Proceed south for a few minutes along the perimeter of the park on State Street.   
Peter Minuet Plaza will be at the end of the path. The history of the alleged sale of Manhattan is highly subjective and features many different perspectives, like most historical narratives. What is known for certain is that in 1626, Peter Minuet was made General Director of New Amsterdam and tasked with negotiating a purchase of Manhattan Island from the indigenous tribes who lived there. Beyond that, the location... Amount of the sale, and even whether the sale was valid, are all unknown. The dominant story, embraced both by the Dutch and American governments, is likely, the founding narrative you may have heard.  
The story goes that underneath a tulip tree, peter Minuet struck a deal with CÃ©sÃ©s, the leader of the Canarsie band of the Lenape tribe, to buy the island for 60 guilders worth of goods, worth about 24 at the time. The validity of this sale and its details have since been hotly contested by historians and indigenous scholars alike.  
While Peter Minuet Plaza bills itself as the location of the quote unquote purchase of Manhattan Island, the actual location for this exchange is unknown. Another monument at the complete opposite end of Manhattan, miles north in Inwood Park, also claims to be the site of the purchase, as it once held a tulip tree associated with this story. This Uptown monument is a more humble one, taking the form of an inscribed rock named Shurikopak Rock, after the Wakwesik name for the area, meaning between the ridges. Despite the actual location of this transaction, likely being closer to Peter Minuet Plaza, Inwood Park, Uptown, more closely resembles the landscape of Manahatta, as it contains the last natural forest and salt marsh, in modern Manhattan, recalling the pristine state of the island before centuries of development.  
The true value of the trade is also unknown, with some accounts claiming that Peter Minuet made the trade with 24 worth of trinkets, while others claiming it was closer to around 1, 000 when converted into today's currency. What is known now, however, is that the Canarsi were led to believe that they were trading the right to use the land, not the ownership of it.  
In the years that followed, differing concepts of ownership between the Lenape and the Dutch settlers led to conflict. The Dutch assumed that they were buying an exclusive right to own the land outright, when they actually paid for the right to use the land alongside its existing inhabitants.  
Eventually, the Lenape were forcibly exiled from their land entirely. With all of this considered, the simplified view of a consensual and valid sale of the island is categorically false.   
Today, the Lenape view themselves as refugees of their own homeland.   
We identify with with the refugee status. We are refugees here in our own homeland.  
Eric Moed: As you arrive at the intersection, you will notice the historic landmark of the James Watson House to your left.   
This mansion was built in 1793, standing right at the edge of the harbor. and now accompanies the historic Church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary to its left. Cross the street ahead of you and enter Peter Minuet Plaza. The structure you see in the center of the plaza is the new Amsterdam Pavilion. It serves as a visitor information center as well as a cafe.  
 This site is a highly trafficked transportation hub where buses, subways, and water transportation like the Staten Island Ferry intersect with memorializations of important histories. This intersection is traversed by more than 150, 000 residents and visitors daily, and was only recently rehabilitated in 1991.  
Much of the support for this infrastructure project was granted by funds from the kingdom of the Netherlands. Consider the ways in which governments continue to enforce their chosen narratives. In spite of public contestations and historical correctives.  
How does this affect the collective memories of these histories in public space? Who is included versus excluded from these selective narratives? The rock to your left features a bronze model of the early settlement of New Amsterdam as it appeared in the Costello Plan.  
The Costello Plan of 1660 was one of the earliest maps created of the area and showed the extents of the original Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam, which is now grown into the New York City you are familiar with and occupy. The Costello plan also illustrates for visitors what the original New Amsterdam settlement looked like.  
You may have also noticed the break in the typical New York City street grid. The typical street grid associated with Manhattan starts above Wall Street and was only enforced after the town ceased to be Dutch. Most of the financial district overlaps with the original 15th century New Amsterdam street layout.  
Hence, the many narrow winding streets you now are traversing. Broadway, on the other hand, was expanded by Dutch colonists and became the main thoroughfare connecting southern New Amsterdam with its northern counterpart colony, Harlem. Fort Amsterdam sat in the plaza that is now Bowling Green and served as the center for trade and government administration for both Dutch and British rule of the colony.  
The settlement was bounded to the north by Wall Street, with a literal wall built from the eastern to the western shore of the island to protect colonists from attacks by indigenous tribes. The streets were laid out in a winding pattern similar to the downtowns of many European cities. By recreating the form of the city at the time, this bronze monument abstracts the deep histories of New York City's beginnings as a Dutch settlement.  
Imagine what the original settlement was like, and consider how much the city has changed over the last almost four centuries. We will now move on to the next stop on our tour. Move on the path to the left to exit the plaza. The memorial plaques at the National Museum of the American Indian are our next stop.  
Turn left once you exit Peter Minuet Plaza to proceed north up Whitehall for a few blocks. This next stop addresses the same story of Dutch settlement in New York City from the perspective of a group of indigenous scholars who worked on a corrective narrative supported by the federally funded Smithsonian National Institute.  
The plaques at the National Museum of the American Indian represent the third and final theme of our tour. Theme three, inclusion. By working to include Indigenous voices in the telling of New York City's history, these plaques are inclusive of histories that have been pushed out of the mainstream historical narrative.

peter minuit plaza.jpeg

Peter Minuit Plaza

5. Peter Minuit Plaza.mp3

Eric Moed: Inclusion of marginalized narratives in public spaces is a key component of the sea change practices. In the last decade, there has been a national reckoning with the ways that problematic figures are commemorated and honored in America. Statues of Confederate soldiers and generals like Robert E.  
Lee, who led the Confederate Army, fighting in favor of slavery in the Civil War, and other famous slaveholders and colonists such as Christopher Columbus, have been heavily criticized for their past actions, and even forcibly toppled by crowds in some instances.  
Monuments receive and maintain their power from the general public, and as the subjectivity of history is more critically analyzed, new perspectives are highlighted that may go against original dominant narratives. The mass controversy over how collective memory is framed in public space has allowed highway with the One World Trade Center for greater inclusion of narratives, often overlooked by powerful governments and systems.  
As you make your way uptown, you'll be approaching Bowling Green. The National Museum of the American Indian will be across from a large glass subway stop awning. Stand in the plaza facing the museum, with your back towards the subway entrance. The federally funded institution works with members of various tribes, like the Delaware Lenape and the Mohicans to bring their perspectives forward. The museum sits at the foot of the Wikweski Trading Route mentioned earlier, which is now Broadway.  
This New York branch of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian is located in the 1907 Customs House, designed by architect Cass Gilbert. It shares its collection of indigenous artifacts with the Smithsonian's Washington, D. C. branch. Listen to W. Richard West, Jr.  
of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. And founding director of the National Museum of the American Indian speak on the importance of the inclusion of indigenous narratives in history.  
 ((6a. https://youtu.be/u2bKv6_i3mI - Founding director of NMAI speech at opening (0:58 - 1:31)))   
to of it. We are here right now. Forty million indigenous people throughout the Americas and in hundreds of culturally distinct communities. And we will insist that we remain a part of the cultural future of the Americas.  
Eric Moed: The plaques outside of the museum feature correctives about the mistruths of the narrative of the Canarsie People's sale of the island of Manta to the Dutch settlers.  
It is radical to witness the rare occurrence of this remedial lens being implemented by a powerful national institution like the Smithsonian Institute, and in direct contradiction to the Dutch and American narratives espoused by Peter Minuet Plaza and the Netherland Monument. Turn left on Bowling Green into the paved public plaza by the entry of the National Museum of the American Indian.  
 ((https://youtu.be/u2bKv6_i3mI - NMAI narration (7:50 - 8:03)))   
 Reality that's what you're trying to do is show other people that we are still here as indigenous people And, uh, you know, listen to us. We have something to say.   
   
Eric Moed: Once you are facing the museum, you will see the permanently installed plaques located to the left and right hand sides of the Grand Entry Stair on stone pedestals. The importance of this information being featured in a public plaza rather than solely within the museum's exhibitions is that it's openly accessible to visitors at any time, day or night.  
Visitors have the opportunity to learn about the truths of New York City's origins without any issues of accessibility, be it financial or time constraints, that often plague potential visitors of museums and other cultural institutions. Start reading the plaque on the left hand side of the stair. It provides a reframing of the events of Dutch colonialism from an indigenous perspective.  
 Next, move on to the right hand side of the stairs, which contains a plaque with information about the recent revitalization of this branch of the museum. What other narratives have been excluded from collective memory?  
How would you like them to be commemorated? Now we will be moving on to the next stop, the infamous Charging Bull. Head one block north up Broadway, moving around the Immigrant Heritage Plaza. You will see the back of the bull ahead of you.

3825 State Street \|||// Eric Moed: Inclusion of marginalized narratives in public spaces is a key component of the sea change practices. In the last decade, there has been a national reckoning with the ways that problematic figures are commemorated and honored in America. Statues of Confederate soldiers and generals like Robert E.  
Lee, who led the Confederate Army, fighting in favor of slavery in the Civil War, and other famous slaveholders and colonists such as Christopher Columbus, have been heavily criticized for their past actions, and even forcibly toppled by crowds in some instances.  
Monuments receive and maintain their power from the general public, and as the subjectivity of history is more critically analyzed, new perspectives are highlighted that may go against original dominant narratives. The mass controversy over how collective memory is framed in public space has allowed highway with the One World Trade Center for greater inclusion of narratives, often overlooked by powerful governments and systems.  
As you make your way uptown, you'll be approaching Bowling Green. The National Museum of the American Indian will be across from a large glass subway stop awning. Stand in the plaza facing the museum, with your back towards the subway entrance. The federally funded institution works with members of various tribes, like the Delaware Lenape and the Mohicans to bring their perspectives forward. The museum sits at the foot of the Wikweski Trading Route mentioned earlier, which is now Broadway.  
This New York branch of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian is located in the 1907 Customs House, designed by architect Cass Gilbert. It shares its collection of indigenous artifacts with the Smithsonian's Washington, D. C. branch. Listen to W. Richard West, Jr.  
of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. And founding director of the National Museum of the American Indian speak on the importance of the inclusion of indigenous narratives in history.  
 ((6a. https://youtu.be/u2bKv6_i3mI - Founding director of NMAI speech at opening (0:58 - 1:31)))   
to of it. We are here right now. Forty million indigenous people throughout the Americas and in hundreds of culturally distinct communities. And we will insist that we remain a part of the cultural future of the Americas.  
Eric Moed: The plaques outside of the museum feature correctives about the mistruths of the narrative of the Canarsie People's sale of the island of Manta to the Dutch settlers.  
It is radical to witness the rare occurrence of this remedial lens being implemented by a powerful national institution like the Smithsonian Institute, and in direct contradiction to the Dutch and American narratives espoused by Peter Minuet Plaza and the Netherland Monument. Turn left on Bowling Green into the paved public plaza by the entry of the National Museum of the American Indian.  
 ((https://youtu.be/u2bKv6_i3mI - NMAI narration (7:50 - 8:03)))   
 Reality that's what you're trying to do is show other people that we are still here as indigenous people And, uh, you know, listen to us. We have something to say.   
   
Eric Moed: Once you are facing the museum, you will see the permanently installed plaques located to the left and right hand sides of the Grand Entry Stair on stone pedestals. The importance of this information being featured in a public plaza rather than solely within the museum's exhibitions is that it's openly accessible to visitors at any time, day or night.  
Visitors have the opportunity to learn about the truths of New York City's origins without any issues of accessibility, be it financial or time constraints, that often plague potential visitors of museums and other cultural institutions. Start reading the plaque on the left hand side of the stair. It provides a reframing of the events of Dutch colonialism from an indigenous perspective.  
 Next, move on to the right hand side of the stairs, which contains a plaque with information about the recent revitalization of this branch of the museum. What other narratives have been excluded from collective memory?  
How would you like them to be commemorated? Now we will be moving on to the next stop, the infamous Charging Bull. Head one block north up Broadway, moving around the Immigrant Heritage Plaza. You will see the back of the bull ahead of you.

plaques at nmai.jpg

Plaques at the National Museum of the American Indian 

6. Plaques at the National Museum of the American Indian.mp3

Eric Moed: The Charging Bull and its newer counterpart, the Fearless Girl, which we will see next, are the only examples of monuments in the form of traditional lifelike statues featured on this tour.  
The story of the Charging Bull's creation, however, is anything but traditional, having been installed illegally overnight in 1989 without the city or local government's knowledge or approval. The Charging Bull is the last example of Theme 2, Agency, on this tour.  
Relating to the other two stops that address agency, the Kowski Plaza Berlin Wall section 11 proposal, this monument uses both author and visitor agency to provide meaning in public space. The creation of the bowl was a guerrilla act of the artist.  
Arturo de Morica, and the memorialization of this sculpture as a monument in the plaza was an act of the public.  
there is no more powerful work of art that has ever been gifted to New York City than Arturo De Modica's Charging Bull.  
   
Eric Moed: ((7a. https://youtu.be/qpF_6Te36kc - tribute to Arturo (7:02 - 7:19))) The Charging Bull is a prime example of how monuments can exist at the intersection of public art and memorialization. Public art can gain political and social meaning beyond its original intent or artistic expression, and become memorialized if people react strongly to its formal narrative.  
We saw an example of this earlier at the Kowski Berlin Wall section, where the murals of Thierry Noir became memorialized due to their origins as an act of protest against the Cold War and their symbolic connection to democracy.  
Conversely, monuments can lose their meaning over time, sinking back into being seen as simple sculptural elements or public art. Monuments are consistently informed by the meaning they provide to people and places they interact with, giving power to and being reinforced by the public.  
In 1988, Arturo De Modica spent 360, 000 of his own money to create, cast, truck, and install the Charging Bull. The sculpture weighs 7, 100 pounds and measures 16 feet long. The artist cast it in bronze at the Betty Mackey Art Foundry in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.  
and installed it under the cover of darkness. On December 14th, 1989, at around 3 a. m., the bull was dropped off in the middle of Broad Street, adjacent to the New York City Stock Exchange. However, because it was a piece of guerrilla art, the NYPD seized and removed the sculpture shortly after it was placed.  
This was protested by the public, specifically workers on Wall Street who found hope in it as a symbol of financial optimism and a quote unquote bullish market in response to the stock market crash of 1987, two years earlier. Because of this public pushback, the charging bull was reinstalled at its current location in Bowling Green a week later.The monument has since been very popular amongst tourists and locals alike. Due to its playful scale and lack of a pedestal, visitors have engaged with it in very imaginative and colorful ways, including protesting on it and taking pictures with the bull's testicles.   
Consider how exciting it is that you can interact with this contemporary monument in contrast to the distance usually imposed by monuments of the past. How does this affect your emotional experience at the monument?  
 We'll now be moving on to the next stop on the tour. The Fearless Girl, which was originally installed to stand right in front of the Charging Bull.  
Head north, up Broadway, in the direction the Charging Bull is facing. Continue moving along Broadway for a few blocks until Exchange Place.

25 Broadway \|||// Eric Moed: The Charging Bull and its newer counterpart, the Fearless Girl, which we will see next, are the only examples of monuments in the form of traditional lifelike statues featured on this tour.  
The story of the Charging Bull's creation, however, is anything but traditional, having been installed illegally overnight in 1989 without the city or local government's knowledge or approval. The Charging Bull is the last example of Theme 2, Agency, on this tour.  
Relating to the other two stops that address agency, the Kowski Plaza Berlin Wall section 11 proposal, this monument uses both author and visitor agency to provide meaning in public space. The creation of the bowl was a guerrilla act of the artist.  
Arturo de Morica, and the memorialization of this sculpture as a monument in the plaza was an act of the public.  
there is no more powerful work of art that has ever been gifted to New York City than Arturo De Modica's Charging Bull.  
   
Eric Moed: ((7a. https://youtu.be/qpF_6Te36kc - tribute to Arturo (7:02 - 7:19))) The Charging Bull is a prime example of how monuments can exist at the intersection of public art and memorialization. Public art can gain political and social meaning beyond its original intent or artistic expression, and become memorialized if people react strongly to its formal narrative.  
We saw an example of this earlier at the Kowski Berlin Wall section, where the murals of Thierry Noir became memorialized due to their origins as an act of protest against the Cold War and their symbolic connection to democracy.  
Conversely, monuments can lose their meaning over time, sinking back into being seen as simple sculptural elements or public art. Monuments are consistently informed by the meaning they provide to people and places they interact with, giving power to and being reinforced by the public.  
In 1988, Arturo De Modica spent 360, 000 of his own money to create, cast, truck, and install the Charging Bull. The sculpture weighs 7, 100 pounds and measures 16 feet long. The artist cast it in bronze at the Betty Mackey Art Foundry in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.  
and installed it under the cover of darkness. On December 14th, 1989, at around 3 a. m., the bull was dropped off in the middle of Broad Street, adjacent to the New York City Stock Exchange. However, because it was a piece of guerrilla art, the NYPD seized and removed the sculpture shortly after it was placed.  
This was protested by the public, specifically workers on Wall Street who found hope in it as a symbol of financial optimism and a quote unquote bullish market in response to the stock market crash of 1987, two years earlier. Because of this public pushback, the charging bull was reinstalled at its current location in Bowling Green a week later.The monument has since been very popular amongst tourists and locals alike. Due to its playful scale and lack of a pedestal, visitors have engaged with it in very imaginative and colorful ways, including protesting on it and taking pictures with the bull's testicles.   
Consider how exciting it is that you can interact with this contemporary monument in contrast to the distance usually imposed by monuments of the past. How does this affect your emotional experience at the monument?  
 We'll now be moving on to the next stop on the tour. The Fearless Girl, which was originally installed to stand right in front of the Charging Bull.  
Head north, up Broadway, in the direction the Charging Bull is facing. Continue moving along Broadway for a few blocks until Exchange Place.

charging bull.jpg

Charging Bull 

7. Charging Bull.mp3

Eric Moed: This new counterpart to the Charging Bull, the Fearless Girl, is a four foot tall, cast bronze statue of a girl standing in a defiant pose. This monument was commissioned in 2007 by a private company, State Street Global Advisors, rather than being created individually by an artist like The Bull. It originally served to advertise a host of gender diverse companies that have a high percentage of women among their senior leadership teams, all of whom are affiliated with State Street Global Advisors.  
The monument is now more popularly known for making a statement about a lack of gender diversity in often male dominated business sectors, such as finance. By highlighting the female perspective, the Fearless Girl embodies the tour's third theme, inclusion.  
Similar to the plaques at the National Museum of the American Indian, the statue is inclusive of histories that have often been pushed out of the mainstream narrative. The City of New York recently conducted a survey counting the number of public monuments dedicated to women. In all five boroughs of New York City, only five monuments existed, compared to well over 150 monuments of men.  
The creator of The Fearless Girl, Kristen Visbal, explained,  
Kristen Visbal: ((8c. https://youtu.be/qMjH9IjsSbQ - interview (0:21 - 0:35))) And the reason we chose a little girl instead of a full fledged woman is to make a statement about tomorrow. I think it marks a moment in history when we unveiled Fearless Girl last year of global awareness of the benefits of diversity.   
   
Eric Moed: The Fearless Girl was installed the day before International Women's Day in 2017. The plaque under the statue reads, Know the power of women in leadership.  
She makes a difference. It was initially placed directly across from the charging bull, just feet from its snout. Artist Arturo De Modica, however, challenged city officials for allowing the statue to be placed there. He felt that the fearless girl villainized the bull for corporate advertising purposes, imposing a false narrative on his work.  
As you move north up Broad Street, you'll notice the New York Stock Exchange to your left and the Fearless Girl standing opposite the faÃ§ade. Because of the huge reaction to the Fearless Girl, including the controversy with the Charging Bulls creator, the statue was relocated to its current site in front of the New York Stock Exchange.  
This monument is another example of a statue gaining a larger meaning from visitors physical and emotional interactions with it, cementing its role in public space. The monument's embodiment of our tour's. Third theme. Inclusion has been significant to many people around the world, and as such, it earned the original coveted spot in front of the New York City Stock Exchange, which the charging bull once briefly occupied. There's an irony there. While the statue was not intended to be permanent, its symbolism was influential beyond its original intent, and it has remained in the plaza since 2018.  
 These two monuments respond to one another and their surrounding environments. allowing a new dialogue to emerge between their visitors and their narratives. The original commission by State Street Global Advisors specified that the statue should depict a girl with her hands on her hips.  
With a height of three feet, which Kristen Visbal and her collaborators then increased slightly to over four feet to better match the size of the charging bull. Consider the difference in scale between the fearless girl and the charging bull.  
How do people interact differently with each monument? Where monuments and memorials are placed or cited is not an accident as their location is loaded with meaning? Are there any monuments or spaces that you would like to create a response to?   
How would your Monument Memorial respond? Would it be in support of or opposed to an existing narrative? Now we will be moving to the final stop of our tour, the African Burial Ground National Monument. Turn left down Wall Street towards Trinity Church up ahead. Look towards the pointed steeple of Trinity Church.  
Did you know that the initial construction of this church was built with the labor of African slaves? Despite the many narratives that paint the northern states as largely free of slavery, the slave trade was a huge institution in New York in the century preceding the Civil War and abolition. Turn right on Broadway to head north towards our final stop.  
Keep walking on Broadway past City Hall Park until you make a right on Duane Street. As you move up Broadway for several minutes, we will introduce you to a brief history of slavery in New York City. While the island of Manhattan did not have many plantations, slaves were used as labor For the construction of key infrastructure like Broadway and the former Boundary Wall that Wall Street is named for.  
Broadway has served as a main thoroughfare in the city for centuries. First serving as an indigenous trade route, as we learned earlier, and then being widened with the use of African slave labor and today in its use as a heavily trafficked commercial and transportation hub. Consider all of the layers of history that exist here today.  
The African Burial Ground National Monument is the final example of the tour's theme of inclusion. Like the plaques at the National Museum of the American Indian and the statue of the Fearless Girl, this monument commemorates a part of history that is often overlooked, specifically the history of slavery in New York City.  
   
when we think about New York City, and where we are, and Wall Street, and all of the buildings that are built here, We know that it is our blood, sweat, and tears that built New York City,   
Eric Moed: Slavery was introduced to Manhattan in 1626. By the mid 1700s, approximately one in five people living in New York City was enslaved, and almost half of Manhattan's households included at least one slave. In the years prior to abolition, New York had the largest concentration of enslaved people above the Mason Dixon line.  
And the second largest slave population in the Thirteen Colonies, behind only Charleston, South Carolina. A slave market was established in 1711 on Wall Street. Between Pearl and Water Streets, mere blocks from where you are right now, to more directly auctioned African slaves to slaveholders in Manhattan.  
This market was only two blocks away from where the Fearless Girl now stands, and was in use for over 50 years. Within months of the market's construction, New York's first slave uprising occurred, at the intersection of Broadway and Maiden Lane, which you will cross shortly. Thirty years later, in the mid 1700s, another major slave uprising occurred.  
It lasted for over six months. Enslaved people burned down homes, businesses, and the walls of the governor's residence at Fort George in the Battery, which you passed earlier en route to Peter Minuit Plaza. These two uprisings were part of the long movement of enslaved people attempting to free themselves. In 1799, the state of New York passed the first of a series of laws which would gradually abolish slavery over the coming decades.  
However, financiers in the city doubled down on investments in the business of slavery. Southern planters who wanted to buy more slaves and buy more land borrowed funds from New York banks and protected the value of their slaves with policies from New York insurance companies. New York factories produced the agricultural tools forced into Southern slaves hands and the rough fabric they wore called negro cloth.  
Ships originating in New York continued to dock in Southern ports. to service the trade in domestic and international slavery. Although New York State abolished slavery in 1827, complete abolition came in 1841, only two decades before the start of the Civil War. Consider the history of slavery in New York City and the way this is largely absent from the public record, similar to the indigenous history referenced in the plaques at the National Museum of the American Indian.  
Had you heard of these events before taking this tour? How do you feel now that you know of this past?   
   
Eric Moed: Coming up, St. Paul's Chapel will be to your left along this route. Up ahead, you will see City Hall Park to your right. Proceed north up Broadway for several more minutes. Keep moving until you reach the end of City Hall Park.  
After slavery was abolished in New York, Deep rooted racism still ran rampant. This culminated in various racially charged riots over the years of which the New York City draft riots of 1863 are a notable example. The riots started in the lower Manhattan neighborhood of five points located northeast of where you are now.  
It was regarded as the culmination of Irish working class discontent. With new draft laws for the ongoing civil war initially intended to express anger at the fact that wealthy men could opt out of the human army draft for a fee. The protests turned into a race riot with a death toll reaching around 120 people.  
Mobs destroyed homes of black people and abolitionists and burned down the colored orphan asylum on fifth Avenue. These events led many black people to flee Manhattan. Moving to the adjacent city of Brooklyn. City Hall Park, located directly to your right, has a long history as a public site of rallies and movements predating the Revolutionary War.  
 A notable recent example of a protest here against deep rooted racism was the Occupy City Hall movement of June and July of 2020. This occupation of the park accompanied the wave of protests happening around the US in the wake of George Floyd's murder at the hands of Minneapolis police, and served to pressure New York City government officials into reallocating its police budget to resources like health and social services.  
Organizers transformed the plaza into a vibrant community space, covering surfaces with expressive artwork and providing free resources to anyone who joined. The public engaged in democratic dialogue and action against injustice in the vein of how Krzysztof Wojcicko imagined the City of Refuge proposal.  
The final stop on the tour serves as a unique place marker and one of the first monuments to highlight the history of racism and slavery in New York City in the collective memory of the city. It uses the tour's third theme of inclusion to bring African American histories to the forefront of our collective memory.

 \|||// Eric Moed: This new counterpart to the Charging Bull, the Fearless Girl, is a four foot tall, cast bronze statue of a girl standing in a defiant pose. This monument was commissioned in 2007 by a private company, State Street Global Advisors, rather than being created individually by an artist like The Bull. It originally served to advertise a host of gender diverse companies that have a high percentage of women among their senior leadership teams, all of whom are affiliated with State Street Global Advisors.  
The monument is now more popularly known for making a statement about a lack of gender diversity in often male dominated business sectors, such as finance. By highlighting the female perspective, the Fearless Girl embodies the tour's third theme, inclusion.  
Similar to the plaques at the National Museum of the American Indian, the statue is inclusive of histories that have often been pushed out of the mainstream narrative. The City of New York recently conducted a survey counting the number of public monuments dedicated to women. In all five boroughs of New York City, only five monuments existed, compared to well over 150 monuments of men.  
The creator of The Fearless Girl, Kristen Visbal, explained,  
Kristen Visbal: ((8c. https://youtu.be/qMjH9IjsSbQ - interview (0:21 - 0:35))) And the reason we chose a little girl instead of a full fledged woman is to make a statement about tomorrow. I think it marks a moment in history when we unveiled Fearless Girl last year of global awareness of the benefits of diversity.   
   
Eric Moed: The Fearless Girl was installed the day before International Women's Day in 2017. The plaque under the statue reads, Know the power of women in leadership.  
She makes a difference. It was initially placed directly across from the charging bull, just feet from its snout. Artist Arturo De Modica, however, challenged city officials for allowing the statue to be placed there. He felt that the fearless girl villainized the bull for corporate advertising purposes, imposing a false narrative on his work.  
As you move north up Broad Street, you'll notice the New York Stock Exchange to your left and the Fearless Girl standing opposite the faÃ§ade. Because of the huge reaction to the Fearless Girl, including the controversy with the Charging Bulls creator, the statue was relocated to its current site in front of the New York Stock Exchange.  
This monument is another example of a statue gaining a larger meaning from visitors physical and emotional interactions with it, cementing its role in public space. The monument's embodiment of our tour's. Third theme. Inclusion has been significant to many people around the world, and as such, it earned the original coveted spot in front of the New York City Stock Exchange, which the charging bull once briefly occupied. There's an irony there. While the statue was not intended to be permanent, its symbolism was influential beyond its original intent, and it has remained in the plaza since 2018.  
 These two monuments respond to one another and their surrounding environments. allowing a new dialogue to emerge between their visitors and their narratives. The original commission by State Street Global Advisors specified that the statue should depict a girl with her hands on her hips.  
With a height of three feet, which Kristen Visbal and her collaborators then increased slightly to over four feet to better match the size of the charging bull. Consider the difference in scale between the fearless girl and the charging bull.  
How do people interact differently with each monument? Where monuments and memorials are placed or cited is not an accident as their location is loaded with meaning? Are there any monuments or spaces that you would like to create a response to?   
How would your Monument Memorial respond? Would it be in support of or opposed to an existing narrative? Now we will be moving to the final stop of our tour, the African Burial Ground National Monument. Turn left down Wall Street towards Trinity Church up ahead. Look towards the pointed steeple of Trinity Church.  
Did you know that the initial construction of this church was built with the labor of African slaves? Despite the many narratives that paint the northern states as largely free of slavery, the slave trade was a huge institution in New York in the century preceding the Civil War and abolition. Turn right on Broadway to head north towards our final stop.  
Keep walking on Broadway past City Hall Park until you make a right on Duane Street. As you move up Broadway for several minutes, we will introduce you to a brief history of slavery in New York City. While the island of Manhattan did not have many plantations, slaves were used as labor For the construction of key infrastructure like Broadway and the former Boundary Wall that Wall Street is named for.  
Broadway has served as a main thoroughfare in the city for centuries. First serving as an indigenous trade route, as we learned earlier, and then being widened with the use of African slave labor and today in its use as a heavily trafficked commercial and transportation hub. Consider all of the layers of history that exist here today.  
The African Burial Ground National Monument is the final example of the tour's theme of inclusion. Like the plaques at the National Museum of the American Indian and the statue of the Fearless Girl, this monument commemorates a part of history that is often overlooked, specifically the history of slavery in New York City.  
   
when we think about New York City, and where we are, and Wall Street, and all of the buildings that are built here, We know that it is our blood, sweat, and tears that built New York City,   
Eric Moed: Slavery was introduced to Manhattan in 1626. By the mid 1700s, approximately one in five people living in New York City was enslaved, and almost half of Manhattan's households included at least one slave. In the years prior to abolition, New York had the largest concentration of enslaved people above the Mason Dixon line.  
And the second largest slave population in the Thirteen Colonies, behind only Charleston, South Carolina. A slave market was established in 1711 on Wall Street. Between Pearl and Water Streets, mere blocks from where you are right now, to more directly auctioned African slaves to slaveholders in Manhattan.  
This market was only two blocks away from where the Fearless Girl now stands, and was in use for over 50 years. Within months of the market's construction, New York's first slave uprising occurred, at the intersection of Broadway and Maiden Lane, which you will cross shortly. Thirty years later, in the mid 1700s, another major slave uprising occurred.  
It lasted for over six months. Enslaved people burned down homes, businesses, and the walls of the governor's residence at Fort George in the Battery, which you passed earlier en route to Peter Minuit Plaza. These two uprisings were part of the long movement of enslaved people attempting to free themselves. In 1799, the state of New York passed the first of a series of laws which would gradually abolish slavery over the coming decades.  
However, financiers in the city doubled down on investments in the business of slavery. Southern planters who wanted to buy more slaves and buy more land borrowed funds from New York banks and protected the value of their slaves with policies from New York insurance companies. New York factories produced the agricultural tools forced into Southern slaves hands and the rough fabric they wore called negro cloth.  
Ships originating in New York continued to dock in Southern ports. to service the trade in domestic and international slavery. Although New York State abolished slavery in 1827, complete abolition came in 1841, only two decades before the start of the Civil War. Consider the history of slavery in New York City and the way this is largely absent from the public record, similar to the indigenous history referenced in the plaques at the National Museum of the American Indian.  
Had you heard of these events before taking this tour? How do you feel now that you know of this past?   
   
Eric Moed: Coming up, St. Paul's Chapel will be to your left along this route. Up ahead, you will see City Hall Park to your right. Proceed north up Broadway for several more minutes. Keep moving until you reach the end of City Hall Park.  
After slavery was abolished in New York, Deep rooted racism still ran rampant. This culminated in various racially charged riots over the years of which the New York City draft riots of 1863 are a notable example. The riots started in the lower Manhattan neighborhood of five points located northeast of where you are now.  
It was regarded as the culmination of Irish working class discontent. With new draft laws for the ongoing civil war initially intended to express anger at the fact that wealthy men could opt out of the human army draft for a fee. The protests turned into a race riot with a death toll reaching around 120 people.  
Mobs destroyed homes of black people and abolitionists and burned down the colored orphan asylum on fifth Avenue. These events led many black people to flee Manhattan. Moving to the adjacent city of Brooklyn. City Hall Park, located directly to your right, has a long history as a public site of rallies and movements predating the Revolutionary War.  
 A notable recent example of a protest here against deep rooted racism was the Occupy City Hall movement of June and July of 2020. This occupation of the park accompanied the wave of protests happening around the US in the wake of George Floyd's murder at the hands of Minneapolis police, and served to pressure New York City government officials into reallocating its police budget to resources like health and social services.  
Organizers transformed the plaza into a vibrant community space, covering surfaces with expressive artwork and providing free resources to anyone who joined. The public engaged in democratic dialogue and action against injustice in the vein of how Krzysztof Wojcicko imagined the City of Refuge proposal.  
The final stop on the tour serves as a unique place marker and one of the first monuments to highlight the history of racism and slavery in New York City in the collective memory of the city. It uses the tour's third theme of inclusion to bring African American histories to the forefront of our collective memory.

fearless girl.jpg

Fearless Girl 

8. Fearless Girl.mp3

Mayor Michael Bloomberg:
Once, the African residents of our city were bought and sold on this very spot. So it is fitting that here and now, we reverently receive the earthly remains of some of them.  
Eric Moed: the African Burial Ground National Monument marks the site of the largest and oldest known African burial ground in the United States. The six acre burial ground is estimated to contain upwards of 15,000. Intact remains of both enslaved and freed africans who lived in colonial New York from the mid 1630s to 1795.  
Black people were excluded from the right to be buried in churchyards and within the city limits. Therefore, the African burial ground existed beyond the northern boundary of the original colonial settlement, now known as Chamber Street, which you will cross soon. The burial ground itself was nearly completely forgotten until an environmental impact survey done in 1991 during the construction of the Ted Weiss Federal Building directly adjacent to it revealed eight intact burials. Over the next year, the remains of over 400 people were found. This site represented only a teeny fraction of the whole burial ground. Groups of African American activists fought to halt the construction of the Federal Building to make space for a memorial to be dedicated to honor those originally buried at the site.  
In 1992, the government passed a bill wherein $3 million was allocated for the construction of a memorial. The southern portion of the federal building was eliminated to provide adequate room for this project. Activists explained that the invisibility of black history in New York City.  
demanded for the space to redress the injustice and the imbalance of the historic record and to give voice to the silenced ones. The monument utilizes our tours third theme, inclusion, to bring attention to the history of slavery in New York City. As you reach the end of City Hall Park, cross Chambers Street and continue north up Broadway for two more blocks until Duane Street.  
In addition, activists lobbied for landmark status for the burial ground and gathered a hundred thousand signatures to send to the US Department of the Interior . In 1993, this third of an acre portion of the African burial ground was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and became a national historic landmark.  
The General Services Administration ran a design competition for the memorial.   
In consultation with stakeholders and community activists attracting over 60 proposals, Architect Rodney Leon and Nicole Holland Dennis's design proposal for the monument was selected and construction began more than a decade later in 2005.   
The landscape architect for the memorial was Elizabeth Kennedy Landscape Architects. There's also a visitor center located to your right in the lobby of the Ted Weiss Federal Building that contains further information about this history.   
Turn right on Duane Street.  
The monument will be to your right at the intersection of Duane and Elk Street. The African Burial Ground National Monument consists of two components, the Vertical Ancestral Chamber and the hollowed out Circle of the Diaspora. Both constructs represent the loss of life and the forced relocation of millions of Africans.  
As you enter the monument, you'll notice seven burial mounds to your right, located in the ancestral reinterment grove. This is where remains were found on the site and buried in a 2003 ceremony, which included the rites of ancestral return.  
The hand carved wooden coffins. used in this ceremony were made in Ghana and lined with kente cloth. They were placed facing west towards Africa, now make your way over to the ancestral chamber. Note its impressive height of 24 feet, which represents the depth of the discovered graves. The chamber features a dedication and an engraved heart shaped Sankofa from West Africa.  
Which means, learn from the past to prepare for the future. The designers sought to toggle between past, present, and future in the memorial, honoring the loss of life in the past, while encouraging moving forward into a future with the potential to be more equitable. If you are here in the hours that the Circle of Diaspora is open to the public, start moving downward into the ramped entry.  
If you're here when it is closed, you can still observe the features in the inner and outer loops of the circle, which will be described shortly. Some of the symbols you might notice are the sun like symbol of Nisarama. meaning guardianship, and the turtle like symbol of Denkiem, meaning adaptability.  
The circle of the diaspora is constructed from stone from both North Africa and North America to represent the two continents coming together. Take your time to look at the symbols inscribed into each stone panel along with their meanings. The interior space past the ramped descent features a map of the Atlantic Ocean area In its center, referencing the Middle Passage by which slaves were transported from Africa to North America.  
It also features the age and sex of various people who are buried here. Move around the spiral to read about some of them. Notice how there are no names, as the record keeping for free and enslaved Africans in the colonial period was very limited. ((8b. https://youtu.be/aiiypPh0euY - music from reburial ceremony (1:23 - 1:50) Layer sound under this text:))   
The spiral path represents the eternal movement of the soul as it proceeds from birth to life to death and back to rebirth. How does moving in a spiral affect your experience of the memorial?   
 ((https://youtu.be/vg_8L96E3eU - Wade in the Water (3:04 - 3:33))) Make your way back up to street level and take a moment to think about how this monument has integrated once erased narratives to honor and celebrate those who are buried here.  
Eric Moed: Ultimately, the African Burial Ground National Monument was designed to duly reconnect African Americans with their ancestral origins and to educate all who visit about New York City's deep history of slavery. While this is a rare example of this type of corrective memorialization happening in public space, there are many contemporary designers, historians, and activists Working to include overlooked and suppress narratives like this into the collective telling of history. Lonnie G. Bunch the third, an African American historian and founder of the Smithsonian Museum of African American history and culture in Washington, DC, Has said that when doing collective memory work gets difficult He thinks of his enslaved ancestors and the hope they bring him for a more equitable future.  
Lonnie G. Bunch: I just hope we're as strong as our enslaved ancestors. So I wanted people to see that folks were not broken, that they found ways to find resiliency and to find hope.   
 (Epidemic Sound: Magma - Lama House - Layer under narration:) ((https://youtu.be/E8-NFvIbB1o - Lonnie G. Bunch quote (3:35 - 3:47)))   
Eric Moed: With that, we have reached the conclusion of this tour. Today, you visited and learned about nine examples of contemporary and radical monuments in Lower Manhattan. We explored their accompanying themes and features, considering how they dip into the reservoir of the past to provide hope for the future.  
The present moment. is charged with many differing ideas for how monuments have served to commemorate different narratives and how they can serve these narratives and their publics moving forward. We touched upon the large shift of public memorialization strategies and how monuments and memorials can become more collaborative, accessible, democratic, and equitable.  
Let's reflect upon what roles monuments and memorials have in shaping the past. And in turn, how this affects what happens in the present. How can monuments and memorials work towards a just vision for our future? How will you get involved in creating that future?  
Thank you for joining us for more information. Visit www. oopsa. org that's O O P S A dot O R G or contact us at info at oopsa. org. Thank you.

290 Broadway \|||// Mayor Michael Bloomberg: ((8b. https://youtu.be/aiiypPh0euY - Michael Bloomberg speech from reburial (0:00 - #F0:28)))   
Once, the African residents of our city were bought and sold on this very spot. So it is fitting that here and now, we reverently receive the earthly remains of some of them.  
Eric Moed: the African Burial Ground National Monument marks the site of the largest and oldest known African burial ground in the United States. The six acre burial ground is estimated to contain upwards of 15,000. Intact remains of both enslaved and freed africans who lived in colonial New York from the mid 1630s to 1795.  
Black people were excluded from the right to be buried in churchyards and within the city limits. Therefore, the African burial ground existed beyond the northern boundary of the original colonial settlement, now known as Chamber Street, which you will cross soon. The burial ground itself was nearly completely forgotten until an environmental impact survey done in 1991 during the construction of the Ted Weiss Federal Building directly adjacent to it revealed eight intact burials. Over the next year, the remains of over 400 people were found. This site represented only a teeny fraction of the whole burial ground. Groups of African American activists fought to halt the construction of the Federal Building to make space for a memorial to be dedicated to honor those originally buried at the site.  
In 1992, the government passed a bill wherein $3 million was allocated for the construction of a memorial. The southern portion of the federal building was eliminated to provide adequate room for this project. Activists explained that the invisibility of black history in New York City.  
demanded for the space to redress the injustice and the imbalance of the historic record and to give voice to the silenced ones. The monument utilizes our tours third theme, inclusion, to bring attention to the history of slavery in New York City. As you reach the end of City Hall Park, cross Chambers Street and continue north up Broadway for two more blocks until Duane Street.  
In addition, activists lobbied for landmark status for the burial ground and gathered a hundred thousand signatures to send to the US Department of the Interior . In 1993, this third of an acre portion of the African burial ground was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and became a national historic landmark.  
The General Services Administration ran a design competition for the memorial.   
In consultation with stakeholders and community activists attracting over 60 proposals, Architect Rodney Leon and Nicole Holland Dennis's design proposal for the monument was selected and construction began more than a decade later in 2005.   
The landscape architect for the memorial was Elizabeth Kennedy Landscape Architects. There's also a visitor center located to your right in the lobby of the Ted Weiss Federal Building that contains further information about this history.   
Turn right on Duane Street.  
The monument will be to your right at the intersection of Duane and Elk Street. The African Burial Ground National Monument consists of two components, the Vertical Ancestral Chamber and the hollowed out Circle of the Diaspora. Both constructs represent the loss of life and the forced relocation of millions of Africans.  
As you enter the monument, you'll notice seven burial mounds to your right, located in the ancestral reinterment grove. This is where remains were found on the site and buried in a 2003 ceremony, which included the rites of ancestral return.  
The hand carved wooden coffins. used in this ceremony were made in Ghana and lined with kente cloth. They were placed facing west towards Africa, now make your way over to the ancestral chamber. Note its impressive height of 24 feet, which represents the depth of the discovered graves. The chamber features a dedication and an engraved heart shaped Sankofa from West Africa.  
Which means, learn from the past to prepare for the future. The designers sought to toggle between past, present, and future in the memorial, honoring the loss of life in the past, while encouraging moving forward into a future with the potential to be more equitable. If you are here in the hours that the Circle of Diaspora is open to the public, start moving downward into the ramped entry.  
If you're here when it is closed, you can still observe the features in the inner and outer loops of the circle, which will be described shortly. Some of the symbols you might notice are the sun like symbol of Nisarama. meaning guardianship, and the turtle like symbol of Denkiem, meaning adaptability.  
The circle of the diaspora is constructed from stone from both North Africa and North America to represent the two continents coming together. Take your time to look at the symbols inscribed into each stone panel along with their meanings. The interior space past the ramped descent features a map of the Atlantic Ocean area In its center, referencing the Middle Passage by which slaves were transported from Africa to North America.  
It also features the age and sex of various people who are buried here. Move around the spiral to read about some of them. Notice how there are no names, as the record keeping for free and enslaved Africans in the colonial period was very limited. ((8b. https://youtu.be/aiiypPh0euY - music from reburial ceremony (1:23 - 1:50) Layer sound under this text:))   
The spiral path represents the eternal movement of the soul as it proceeds from birth to life to death and back to rebirth. How does moving in a spiral affect your experience of the memorial?   
 ((https://youtu.be/vg_8L96E3eU - Wade in the Water (3:04 - 3:33))) Make your way back up to street level and take a moment to think about how this monument has integrated once erased narratives to honor and celebrate those who are buried here.  
Eric Moed: Ultimately, the African Burial Ground National Monument was designed to duly reconnect African Americans with their ancestral origins and to educate all who visit about New York City's deep history of slavery. While this is a rare example of this type of corrective memorialization happening in public space, there are many contemporary designers, historians, and activists Working to include overlooked and suppress narratives like this into the collective telling of history. Lonnie G. Bunch the third, an African American historian and founder of the Smithsonian Museum of African American history and culture in Washington, DC, Has said that when doing collective memory work gets difficult He thinks of his enslaved ancestors and the hope they bring him for a more equitable future.  
Lonnie G. Bunch: I just hope we're as strong as our enslaved ancestors. So I wanted people to see that folks were not broken, that they found ways to find resiliency and to find hope.   
 (Epidemic Sound: Magma - Lama House - Layer under narration:) ((https://youtu.be/E8-NFvIbB1o - Lonnie G. Bunch quote (3:35 - 3:47)))   
Eric Moed: With that, we have reached the conclusion of this tour. Today, you visited and learned about nine examples of contemporary and radical monuments in Lower Manhattan. We explored their accompanying themes and features, considering how they dip into the reservoir of the past to provide hope for the future.  
The present moment. is charged with many differing ideas for how monuments have served to commemorate different narratives and how they can serve these narratives and their publics moving forward. We touched upon the large shift of public memorialization strategies and how monuments and memorials can become more collaborative, accessible, democratic, and equitable.  
Let's reflect upon what roles monuments and memorials have in shaping the past. And in turn, how this affects what happens in the present. How can monuments and memorials work towards a just vision for our future? How will you get involved in creating that future?  
Thank you for joining us for more information. Visit www. oopsa. org that's O O P S A dot O R G or contact us at info at oopsa. org. Thank you.

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