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Thursday, September 28, 2017

Postcard Thursday: The 1973 ITT Bombing



In the early morning hours of September 28, 1973, a bomb exploded at the ITT (International Telephone and Telegraph) Building at 437 Madison Avenue. A few minutes before the explosion, a caller who identified himself as a member of the Weather Underground phoned to warn the company of the bomb and to let them know it was a protest against ITT's role in the coup earlier that year in Chile.

No one was injured, though that was not normally the case with Weather Underground bombings. Since 1969, a series of robberies, bombings, and "National Actions" by the Weathermen, as they came to be known, had targeted what the members saw as corrupt government practices. In 1970 alone, there had been over 25 bombings or attempted attacks, many of them in New York City. Perhaps most famously, on March 6, 1970, the townhouse on West 11th Street that Weathermen were using as a bomb factory blew up, killing three of the bomb makers. (Kathy Boudin and Cathy Wilkerson would escape, becoming fugitives.)

That Greenwich Village explosion did not set the Weather Underground back; in fact, bombings increased. On June 9, 1970, the New York City Police Headquarters was bombed; on March 1, 1971, the Weathermen placed an explosive device in the US Capitol to protest US military action in Laos; on May 19, 1972 (Ho Chi Minh's birthday), the Pentagon was attacked -- and these were just the most high-profile cases.

ITT had been founded in 1920 after the purchase of telephone interests in Puerto Rico and Cuba. The company expanded greatly over the next fifty years, but continued to have a strong Latin and South American presence, including owning 70% of the Chilean telephone company. Alarmed at Salvador Allende's government (and likely facing the loss of the monopoly on Chilean communications), the company helped finance Pinochet's military coup. In retaliation, the Weather Underground bombed both 437 Madison (a 1967 skyscraper by Emory Roth and Sons) and ITT's headquarters in Rome, Italy.

You can read more about the bombing at https://nyti.ms/2fAPsJA.

By 1976, the Weather Underground had reorganized and most violent actions stopped, though Kathy Boudin -- who had fled the 1970 Greenwich Village townhouse explosion -- was part of the 1981 Brinks truck robbery at the Nanuet Mall near Nyack, New York in which two police officers and a security guard were murdered. Paroled in 2003, Boudin now teaches at Columbia University's School of Social Work.

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Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Walking Tour of Riverside Park | Sunday, October 8 | 10am




Another Walk in the Park with James Nevius

author of "Inside the Apple" and "Footprints in New York"

For our autumn public walking tour, we are going to explore the monuments of Riverside Park. From the largest presidential mausoleum in the United States to statues of patriots, politicians, and fallen soldiers, Riverside Park has a little of everything.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8, at 10:00 AM (the tour will be approximately two hours)

$20 per person for those who reserve on or before Monday, October 2, 2017

PLEASE NOTE: This tour covers a lot of ground and not all of it is paved, so please be prepared! There are some stairs and a lot of undulating terrain.

TO RESERVE:

Email walknyc@gmail.com with
  • Your name
  • The number in your party
  • A cell number where we can contact you in case of last-minute changes
  • The tour's meeting place will be emailed to you within 24 hours of receiving your reservation.





Thursday, September 14, 2017

Postcard Thursday: Frank Lloyd Wright in NYC


In today's New York Post, reporter Lauren Steussy takes a peek inside Crimson Beech, the only home in New York City designed by celebrated architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

To accompany that article, James has written a piece about other ways to explore Wright's legacy in New York. You can read it at http://nypost.com/2017/09/13/experience-frank-lloyd-wrights-work-across-nyc-and-beyond/

And to read more of James's work on Wright check out:

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Thursday, September 7, 2017

Postcard Thursday: Last Chance to Sign Up for Central Park

We still have a few more spots left for our tour of the northern sections of Central Park this Sunday, at 10:00 am. All the details are below.


Join us for Walk in the Park -- Central Park, that is....

On Sunday, September 10, at 10:00 AM, join us a walking tour of the northernmost -- and often least-visited -- section of Central Park.

Some potential highlights (though the itinerary is still in flux):
  • The block house from the War of 1812 (above)
  • The Harlem Meer
  • The memorial the "Father of Greater NYC"
  • The loch
  • The Conservatory
The tour costs $25 per person.

PLEASE NOTE: This tour involved many stairs and a certain amount of uphill climbing and uneven terrain. While not exactly a strenuous hike, this isn't the best outing for those who aren't as nimble as they used to be.

To register send an email to walknyc@gmail.com
  1. Your name
  2. Number of people in party
  3. A cell number where we can reach the day of the tour in case of emergency
The meeting place will be emailed to you within 24 hours of your reservation.

Best wishes,
Michelle and James Nevius
www.walknyc.com | authors of "Inside the Apple" and "Footprints in New York"


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