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Department of Records - Municipal Library Notes - March 2024

Municipal Library Notes - May 5, 2024

Spotlight on: World’s Fair 1964-1965

By Christine Bruzzese, Director, Municipal
Library

The New York City World’s Fair opened on April 22, 1964, and
ran until October 18. The 1965 term extended from April 21
to October 17. It took place 25 years after the 1939 World’s
Fair at the same Flushing Meadow Park location. The year
1964 was chosen to commemorate the 300th anniversary of New
Amsterdam becoming New York. Mayor Robert Wagner appointed
Robert Moses as the chairman of the World’s Fair
Corporation. Moses, of course, had a great deal of
experience in managing public works projects and had
overseen the construction of Flushing Meadow Park in the
1930’s.

From science and technology to art and
culture, the World’s Fair featured many exhibits, pavilions,
rides, product demonstrations and more. There seemed to be
something for everyone who attended.

Here are
some proposed designs for pavilions and structures from the
New York World’s Fair 1964-1965 Progress Report no. 7, dated
January 24, 1963.

The New York World’s Fair Corporation partnered
with the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau
to establish a World’s Fair Housing Bureau. The
Housing Bureau worked with hotel and motel
owners, travel agents, government
representatives and others to help visitors to
the Fair find accommodations.

Here
is an excerpt from a listing of Manhattan
hotels.

The Fair in 1965 was a progress report on
exhibits, buildings, transportation, and
finance.

Here is a page from the
Industrial section about what companies were
doing:

From Science at the Fair, chemistry exhibits at
the Du Pont Pavilion:

Municipal Reference Library Notes Museum of the City of New
York

By Christine Bruzzese, Director, Municipal
Library

The April 23, 1924, issue of Municipal Reference Library
Notes features a short article on the establishment of the
Museum of the City of New York. The State Legislature
authorized the Parks Department Commissioner for the Borough
of Manhattan to lease Gracie Mansion upon approval by the
Board of Estimate.

The original museum was located in Gracie Mansion but the
space was limited. The City donated the present site on
Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street and a competition was held to
determine who would design the building. Joseph H.
Freedlander was the winning architect.

The Museum
of the City of New York continues to feature artwork,
furniture, costumes, books and manuscripts, antique toys and
other collections. All of these collections have a New York
City historical theme. The ongoing exhibit, New York at Its
Core, traces the history of the City from the 1600s to the
present.

Here is the article:

Radio Row and the Fight for Lower Manhattan

By Michael Lorenzini, Operations Manager

It has been said that nobody loved the Twin Towers until
they were gone, and that is certainly true of the residents
and business owners of the Manhattan neighborhood known as
Radio Row. One of many such “Radio Rows” in cities
throughout America, New York City’s was the largest and one
of the oldest. It was roughly bounded by Dey Street to the
north, Liberty to the south, between West and Church
Streets. The heart of it was Cortlandt and Greenwich
Streets, but another concentration of shops lined Dey Street
(also known as Telegram Square for the Western Union
Building at the corner of Broadway and Dey). At its peak
over 400 merchants sold radios, televisions, and associated
parts in this area.

It was a successful business
district, even if a bit unsightly, but by the 1960s Lower
Manhattan was slated for a dramatic change. The waterfront
businesses essential to a port city were no longer needed,
as a new era of trucking and the introduction of the cargo
container took hold. In addition, airplane travel reduced
the number of passenger ships coming into the Manhattan
docks. The site became appealing to business interests led
by David Rockefeller as a location for their proposed World
Trade Center.

The radio merchants and other civic
groups fought back, but in 1966 demolition of the Radio Row
neighborhood commenced.

To learn more about Radio
Row and the fight for lower Manhattan:

https://www.archives.nyc/blog/2024/1/5/radio-row-and-the-fight-for-lower-manhattan https://www.archives.nyc/blog/2024/1/5/radio-row-and-the-fight-for-lower-manhattan

Catha Grace Rambusch

The Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS)
notes with sadness the passing of long-time friend and
supporter, Catha Grace Rambusch, on April 18, 2024.

Catha
Rambusch’s association with the Municipal Archives began in
the 1970s when she joined Paul O’Dwyer, the City Council
President, to create the New York Archival Society. Catha
served as a Board member, Secretary, Executive Director, and
in 2023 she assumed the role of President.

Catha’s
work on behalf of the Municipal Archives took many forms.
She helped transport the re-discovered Brooklyn Bridge
drawings to the Archives in her station wagon. She planned
and organized numerous special events and programs such as
the lecture presented by Missy Dierickx on the history and
architecture of the Surrogate’s Court building, and most
recently, the memorial for long-time New York Archival
Society treasurer Joseph Van Nostrand.

Catha’s
connections in the world of private philanthropy proved
invaluable in the 1980s when she helped the Archives secure
grants to preserve the Central Park drawings collection. In
1985, she facilitated an award of $35,000 from the Andrew W.
Mellon Foundation for the first year of a two-year project
to examine, catalog and conserve the collection. In 1986,
she arranged for a grant of $28,000 from the Henry Luce
Foundation to support the second year of the project. In
April 2022, she lent DORIS a book from her voluminous
collection of historical materials for the exhibit of the
original design for Central Park in celebration of Frederick
Law Olmsted’s 200th Birthday.

Catha’s dedication
to archives and preservation extended well beyond the
Municipal Archives. Among her many signature achievements,
in 1973 Catha established the Committee for the Preservation
of Architectural Records. She was a founding member of
UNESCO’s International Confederation of Architectural
Museums. She served as Director of the National Catalogue of
Landscape Records at Wave Hill from 1989 to 2004. The
American Institute of Architects awarded her their Silver
Medal. In 1988, Secretary of the Interior Donald Paul Hodel
bestowed the Conservation Award to Catha in recognition of
her significant contributions to the preservation of
historic records.

Brooklyn-born, and a long-time
resident of Stuyvesant Town, Catha Rambusch was the
archivist and historian of her husband Viggo Rambusch’s
125-year old family firm. She is survived by Viggo, her
husband of 65 years, and four children, Kristin Von Thelen,
Lucia Rambusch-Adam, Edwin and Martin Rambusch and eight
grandchildren.

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