Bob Rice

Below are my picks. Because of our city’s size, complexity, and rich history I have included some extra items and four extra categories. To stay within the rules only those 10 items not in parenthesis are the ones I have chosen. Those in parenthesis are optional.

Quote from the Duch East India Company (Jewish star) (Beaver pelt)

The other 12 colonies started because people wanted Religious freedom yet had narrow acceptance of who may settle based on their religious views. New York City then called New Amsterdam was started as a commercial venture for the Dutch East India Company to trade beaver pelts with the Indians. When a ship load of Jewish people came here the governor -- Peter Stuyvesant -- did not want them to settle here. He communicated with his company superiors. They told him to welcome them and any one else who was willing to work and contribute to the economy.

We have seen and heard with displeasure, that against our orders of the 15th of February 1655, issued at the request of the Jewish or Portuguese nation, you have forbidden them to trade to Fort Orange and the South river, also the purchase of real estate, which is granted to them without difficulty here in this country, and we wish it had not been done and that you had obeyed our orders, which you must always execute punctually and with more respect: Jews or Portuguese people however shall not be employed in any public service, (to which they are neither admitted in this city), nor allowed to have open retail shops, but they may quietly and peacefully carry on their business as before said and exercise in all quietness their religion within their houses, for which end they must without doubt endeavor to build their houses close together in a convenient place on one or the other side of New Amsterdam, at their own choice as they have done here.

($26 worth of trinkets)

That is what was paid to purchase Manhattan Island from the Lenapie Indians.

Dollar Bill, (or Coin)

When the country started James Madison – the first secretary of state wanted the economy to be based on agriculture. Alexander Hamilton – the first secretary of the treasury wanted it to be based on finance so colonies owing more than they could afford to pay for the war for independence with England could get the other colonies to chip in. An agreement at a dinner hosted by Thomas Jefferson on June 20, 1790 was made to move the capital of the United States from NYC to swamp land between Maryland and Virginia in trade for creating a financial economic foundation for the economy. By removing the distraction of NYC being the country’s capital it cleared the way for it to become the financial capital of the world. It is fitting that Hamilton’s casket is buried near Wall Street

(Whistle kettle)

When the pot contains water and it is heated it starts to make a whistling noise. The energy of steam powers the whistle. That same energy transformed the dependability of cargo deliveries. Large investments were hindered because factories could not plan schedules. They had to rely on the wind for sailing ships to bring them the supplies they needed. Robert Fulton was first to introduce practical application of the steam driven boat named the Claremont which sailed up the Hudson River in 1807. Now investors in NYC and else ware could count on scheduled deliveries and plan ahead accordingly.

Two feet of wire cable.

When Manhattan became over crowded people started living in Brooklyn Heights. They took ferries to Manhattan to go to work. In the winters the East River froze. The Brooklyn Bridge was built to ease commuting. It proved that construction of that size was practical and pioneered steel framework construction. Steel wire cable was successfully used in the construction. Since there is limited space on Manhattan Island to spread out, the solution was to build up. Without cables for the elevators -- sky scrapers would not have been practical.

(Two feet of 15 pound per foot steel I Beam.)

Building construction used to use the support of its outer walls to hold up the buildings. So buildings were limited to size because the taller the building the thicker the base walls had to be. Buildings would not be practical to build when the walls at the base were too thick. With steel skeleton construction buildings no longer relied on thick base walls which eliminated this restriction on building height.

Nickel (or Subway Token)

When Manhattan became gridlocked one solution was to build a subway. This subway was significantly different than any other. Instead of laying the tracks towards outlying populated areas, it was extended to unpopulated areas -- this encouraged people to live outside the center of the city. We were the first subway to have express tracks so even if you lived far from the center it was still a relatively quick trip no matter where you needed to go. Other City’s subway fares increased based on distance traveled. NYC charged a nickel no matter how far riders needed to go. So even the poor had access to the whole city.-

Picture of the Grid

The towns that many immigrants came from were the equivalent of leaving the twelfth century for a place that is in the nineteenth century. Many new immigrants had difficulty with the English language. Instead of building streets that had to curve around obstacles technology made it practical to remove those obstacles. Thus streets could be made straight, even and organized. This plan was called the commissioners grid. Because it made it easy to assess property values and navigate the city. Many immigrants came, stayed, and prospered because of the ease of navigation. This gave the city the advantage of a large and diverse work force which attracted investment and industry. Some features with few exceptions included 920’ between avenues, 200' between streets.

(Shovel, or) model of a barge.

Sipping goods required packing the item on mules and trekking them over mountains and through forests. By building the Erie Canal goods could be barged up the Hudson River – Through the canal and Great Lakes __ down The Mississippi River and westward through connecting water ways. Combined with New York City’s excellent harbor gave NYC an edge at becoming the gate way to the United States. Shipping costs dropped several hundred fold. Additionally goods from overseas are much cheaper to ship to NY harbor than other US ports. This gave added incentive to developing NY as the shipping gate way to and from the USA.

(Matches, bale of fabric,) fire axe.

Building codes and fire codes were practically non existent until fire broke out at the Triangle coat factory in Manhattan. Because of this local governments throughout the United States made and started to enforce building and fire codes.

Flash Bulb

With the invention of flashbulbs, photographs could now be taken in dim light. Jacob Rees was a newspaper reporter who used the photos to accompany his stories about life in the ghettos of New York City. This started a wave of philanthropy where all of the super rich started to try to outdo each other by donating to public social projects. This is how the NY Public library, Bronx Botanical Gardens and many other public projects were funded. Photographs also caught the interest of the super rich who decided to move here. Thus adding to NYC becoming the financial powerhouse that it is.

(Sledge Hammer)

Pennsylvania Train Station was one of the grandest structures in the world. When it was torn down NYC citizens were so upset that they started the Land Mark Commission to prevent a reoccurrence of that blunder.

Bicycle, Parasol

There was alienation between the rich and poor. NYC built Central Park as a neutral zone where rich and poor alike can come and enjoy themselves in the company of each other to defuse some of the alienation..

Newspaper

Mr. Lincoln gave a speech in New York. The Newspapers were impressed – news spread giving him the notoriety he needed which played a major roll in him being elected president.

See above