Untapped Cities

Web Bites – Art in Abandoned Korea, The Biennale des Antiquaires, SF’s Parks

monique zamir — Sat, 26 May 2012 14:07:09 +0000

The Untapped Web Bites are editor picks of the best online reads of the week from each of our cities and the most Untapped places across the globe.

It’s the last weekend of the Whitney Biennial [NY Art Beat]

In a ranking of the best city parks nationwide, San Francisco comes out on top. [The Atlantic Cities]

Karl Lagerfield is to transform Paris’ newly renovated Salon d’Honneur and the Grand Palais to a sanctuary in the sky for the 26th Biennale des Antiquaires. [Architectural Digest]

Korean artists find the soul in Seoul’s abandoned spaces, and turn them into transient art in the process. [The Korea Herald]

Follow Untapped Cities on Twitter and like us on Facebook!

A Tale of Two Sausalito Waterfront Communities

ann lam — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:33:33 +0000

A perpetually sunny city just a Golden-Gate-Bridge length away from San Francisco, Sausalito is the ideal tourist destination. Rent-a-bike stalls near the Ferry Building and Fisherman’s Wharf advertise the scenic ride to the quaint artist enclave—a perfect half-day excursion. And every year over Labor Day weekend, tens of thousands of arts and craft enthusiasts descend upon the tiny community for the famous Sausalito Art Festival—more than tripling the population. My advice to would-be visitors: take advantage of Sausalito during the early summer (really just not around Labor Day weekend) and check out the waterfront communities—neighborhoods that consist of boats and people who prefer rolling waves over solid ground. Whether you drive, bike, or ferry to Sausalito, chances are you’ll find yourself on Bridgeway, the main drag that runs along the shoreline. Art galleries and souvenir shops dominate the commercial scene. I tend to breeze through this touristy part of town, stopping by Venice Gourmet deli to pick up provisions for my urban exploration. The tasty sandwiches here are generous in size, and farther away from this part of town—closer to the docks and houseboats—there aren’t too many take-out food options. Now a seemingly sedate locale, at the turn of the 20th century, Sausalito was a major transportation hub, the gateway to San Francisco via ferry service. Train passengers made their final stop in Sausalito and transferred to a ferry for the last leg of their trip. Beginning in 1920, the Golden Gate Ferry Company specialized in shuttling automobiles between Sausalito and San Francisco. However, the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937 led to the end of ferry service between Marin and San Francisco in March of 1941. (Traffic congestion on the Golden Gate Bridge eventually resulted in the reinstatement of the ferry system in the 1970s.) During WWII Sausalito became a shipbuilding and repair center. After the war, the remnants of the industrial shipyards spawned the beginning of Sausalito’s eclectic modern houseboat community. Navy ships, from barges to tugboats, were turned into floating homes and communities that attracted artists and hippies in the 1950s and 1960s. One such community based around Galilee Harbor is less than a mile away from the current Sausalito Ferry Terminal. Traveling northeast along Bridgeway, away from downtown Sausalito, traffic begins to thin out, and the squawking of seagulls replaces the chatter of tourists. The scenic Dunphy Park offers nice views of the Bay, and strangely fascinating public art hint at the idiosyncratic quality of houseboat ‘hoods. A member-run cooperative community, the Galilee Harbor Community Association is made up of artists and marine workers dedicated to the “preservation of Sausalito’s traditional working waterfront uses and creation of diverse public access opportunities.” The floating docks, wooden walkways and dirt paths around the harbor allow passersby to experience the natural marsh habitat and get a glimpse of “urban” houseboat community life. Every summer, the community hosts a celebratory Maritime Day, featuring houseboat tours and traditional boat-building demonstrations, among other family friendly events. Nearby, the fancy Schoonmaker Point Marina caters to a different clientele. In contrast to the modest boats of Galilee Harbor, expensive yachts dock at this facility boasting a sandy beach, restaurants, and “21 palm trees.” Side by side, these two waterfront communities paint very different views of life in Sausalito. While the Schoonmaker Point Marina boats seem a luxurious escapist pastime, the quirky residences of Galilee Harbor convey a salt-of-the-earth homeyness. The nice thing is that you, as a visitor, can pick which view would go best with your sandwich. [Map of Route] Follow Untapped Cities on Twitter and Facebook. Get in touch with the author @annylam81.

The Long Island City Renaissance: Rebirth of the Queens Waterfront

TF Cornerstone — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:22:53 +0000

Ten years ago, Long Island City was nothing more than industrial neighborhood occupied by empty warehouses. The Long Island City of 2012 has undergone an extreme transformation, making the neighborhood unrecognizable as compared to a decade ago. From the metamorphosis of the Queens waterfront to the recent culinary boom, Long Island City is undergoing a renaissance that is unparalleled by any Manhattan neighborhood.

Mayor Bloomberg’s “Vision 2020” & the Long Island City Rejuvenation

In March of 2011, Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled the “Vision 2020” Waterfront Project. Bloomberg’s vision, albeit grand, called for the waterways surrounding the five boroughs to be considered New York City’s sixth borough. This new perception of the importance of New York City’s waterfronts has been integral to the thriving LIC community. Part of Long Island City’s waterfront rejuvenation can be accredited to the recent residential development boom surrounding Gantry Plaza State Park. Residential property developers are leading the way in creating a residential community in Long Island City. TF Cornerstone, being one of the neighborhood’s more prominent developers, chose Long Island City for their latest developments—aptly named East Coast—due to the endless opportunities the waterfront had to offer. Following their belief that neighborhoods aren’t picked—they’re made, the TF Cornerstone team is just one of multitude of real estate developers creating residential living in Long Island City.

Long Island City Arts: Museums, Sculptures & So Much More

The burgeoning arts scene in Long Island City is certainly worth keeping an eye on. Long before the Long Island City waterfront underwent its modern facelift, 5 Pointz became New York City’s Mecca for graffiti artists. Known as “The Institute of Higher Burning,” 5 Pointz has been aweing audiences with its ever-changing urban art since 1993. 5 Pointz encapsulates a wide history of NYC’s culture, including art, hip-hop and 9/11 memorials The Museum of Modern Art’s PS1 is another Long Island City highlight, drawing art enthusiasts from the surrounding boroughs and beyond. MoMA PS1 has housed exhibitions by the likes of Clifford Owens and performances by Kraftwerk. MoMA PS1 is a great weekend destination due to its Sunday Sessions: a set of performances, viewings and book launches. Socrates Sculpture Park is Long Island City’s premiere outdoor destination and the epitome of the neighborhood’s rejuvenation. Once an abandoned landfill, the park is now home to sculptures, community space and a variety of entertainment. Whether you’re interested in an outdoor film after dark or art workshops for the kids, Socrates Sculpture Park has plenty of activities for the entire family.

Gastronomy of Long Island City: A Foodie Heaven

One can’t visit or live in Long Island City without experiencing all of the gastronomical pleasures of the local cuisine. Any local knows to start their day with a piping hot cup of coffee from Sweetleaf in Long Island City. More impressive than Sweetleaf’s brew selection is their java art. Don’t believe us? Be sure to check out their new Long Island City location—opening soon! When mentioning restaurants in Long Island City, it would be criminal not to mention M. Wells diner. M. Wells most certainly put the LIC dining scene on the map with its summer 2010 opening. The popular Long Island City dining destination received rave reviews from The New York Times and was infamous for such signature dishes as their bone marrow escargot. Unfortunately, M. Wells closed its doors in August of 2011; however, the restaurateurs plan to open a new location in Long Island City soon. Another recent addition to LIC’s blossoming culinary scene is Alobar on Vernon Boulevard. Alobar’s recent opening was met with enthusiasm from the Long Island City community. Alobar’s owner, Jeff Blath, proclaims having the best beer list in the neighborhood according to Grub Street. Blend in Long Island City—a Latin fusion restaurant—will also find a new home on the neighborhood’s waterfront in early 2013. Whether you are interested in a diverse culinary culture or access to both traditional and progressive art, Long Island City is your destination. The best of the waterfront’s revitalization has yet to begin and we look forward to embracing this flourishing New York City neighborhood.

Follow Untapped Cities on Twitter and Facebook.

John Jonas Gruen’s 1960s Hamptons Photography at (Art)Amalgamated

laura itzkowitz — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:53:28 +0000

Walking into the (Art)Amalgamated Gallery in Chelsea for the opening of Flying Point Beach: Photographs by John Jonas Gruen and Artwork of The New York School, I felt ready to usher in the summer. Outside, the air was warm and breezy. New Yorkers wearing white and navy blue gathered around the gallery’s entrance on 10th Avenue. It seemed that we could feel the changing of the seasons in the air, ready for spring to melt away into hot summer nights. Inside, the grainy black and white photographs of smiling people on the beach made us dreamy. Was it the backdrop, the colors, the glamorous yet nonchalant people that made us want to drift off to the idyllic seaside? There’s something undeniably alluring about the aged quality of the photos. In our modern times of digital photography, where colors are shockingly bright and airbrushing is ubiquitous, there’s something refreshing about the slight graininess of film photography and the simplicity of a black and white palette. The photographs in this exhibition were taken in the 1950s and ’60s, at the point when Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art were gaining importance, and they tell a story about that time. Gruen and his wife Jane Wilson hosted parties at their home in the Hamptons for their artistically minded friends, including pioneers like Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns and Frank O’Hara. Drawings and paintings by some of the artists are featured next to Gruen’s portraits of them. In one photo, De Kooning stands prophet-like on the sand with a walking stick in hand. In another photo, Johns smiles into the camera for a close-up, his hair wet and slightly disheveled. Individual portraits show people paused in the moment, frozen in time. The photographs seem to be somewhere between candid and posed, as if the subjects were interrupted in the midst of sunbathing or reading a book. They look like they’re aware of the camera and the photographer, but natural, not self-conscious. It’s a refreshing type of relationship between the subjects and the camera. The nonchalant attitude of the subjects toward the camera gives the photographs a refreshing sense of realism. The exhibition is a lovely contrast to the type of hyper-commercialized photography we’re exposed to on billboards outside on the street. Moreover, it’s a contrast to the type of self aware and self-conscious photos we take on our ipods, destined for immediate dissemination on Facebook and other social media sites. We’re so concerned with looking good that we forget to look natural. Gruen’s portraits remind us that natural is good. Flying Point Beach: The Photographs of John Jonas Gruen and Artwork of The New York School (Art)Amalgamated 317 10th Avenue (at 28th Street) May 17 to June 9, 2012

After the Final Curtain: Loew’s Kings Theatre

matt lambros — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:20:37 +0000

Welcome back to After the Final Curtain, featuring the photography and writing of Matt Lambros who documents the neglect of America’s greatest theaters in his website afterthefinalcurtain.net

View of the Loew’s Kings Theatre from the balcony

Loew’s Kings Theatre opened on September 7, 1929 in Brooklyn, NY, and was designed by the architectural firm of Rapp and Rapp (also known for the Paramount Theater in Times Square) and decorated by Harold W. Rambush. It was operated by the Loew’s theaters chain, and, along with the Loew’s Jersey Theatre, Loew’s Paradise Theatre, the Loew’s Valencia Theatre and the Loew’s 175th Street Theatre, it was one of the five “Loew’s Wonder Theaters” in the New York metropolitan area.

The chandeliers still hang in the lobby

The Kings introduced a few well known stars to their future craft. Many celebrities who grew up in Brooklyn worked as ushers in the 3,676 seat theater, including Sylvester Stallone, and Henry Winkler.

A close up of the detailed plaster work.

Loew’s dropped the Kings in August 1977 due to low attendance and high maintenance costs, as well as the decline of the surrounding neighborhood. The Kings was passed over for many 1970s blockbusters, including Jaws and Star Wars. Instead, it showed mostly kung-fu and B-horror movies, films that were incapable of pulling in the massive audiences needed to sustain the theater. Already visibly deteriorating, the theater was sold in 1979 and later seized by the city for back taxes owed by the purchasing company. Numerous restoration proposals have been presented over the years – including one that would have turned part of the lobby into a wax museum – but only recently have any plans been made official. On February 2, 2010, the City of New York announced a $70 million renovation in partnership with ACE Theatrical Group of Houston to restore the Kings Theatre for use as a performing arts center by 2014.

The mezzanine level of the lobby

The current plans call for the Kings’ interior spaces to be restored to their original 1929 splendor. Once reopened, the theater will be the third largest in New York City.

The theater’s projector room

Another view of the lobby

Another view of the theater from the balcony

One of the exits from the balcony

Follow Untapped Cities on Twitter and Facebook. Get in touch with the author @mattlambros.

Sunday in Park Slope – Dumplings and Things

luke kingma — Mon, 21 May 2012 03:22:09 +0000

As much as I love spending each and every Sunday exploring the back alleys and underground eateries of Chinatown, I’d be doing a disservice to the rest of New York by not exploring its boroughs’ other offerings. So, once a month, I’m going to take a step out of Chinatown to seek out the best Asian food to be found in the city’s other neighborhoods. As the Googa Mooga festival invaded Prospect Park this weekend, I thought it fitting to start in an area I have not explored much – Park Slope. There, just across the street from the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Shop, is Dumplings and Things.

Dumplings and Things w/ Typical Abandoned Stroller Outside

On the surface, Park Slope might not seem like the kind of place where a cheap dumpling house would thrive, let alone be found. After all, it’s the place where every child in the world under the age of three is currently living… and babies don’t eat dumplings. Those 4WD super strollers aren’t cheap, though. Park Slope parents need affordable pork and chives as much as anyone. Lucky for them, Dumplings and Things is treating them to some of the best in the city.

Sriracha, Vinegar and Dumpling Sauce. The Staples.

At first glance, Dumplings and Things looks like any takeout joint you’d find in Chinatown. Step inside, however, and you’ll see this dumpling spot has put on its best pair of Park Slope pants. Exposed brick, hardwood floors, and inviting decor remind you immediately that you are not in Chinatown, despite the familiar scent of Sriracha sauce and vinegar. The menu is simple, drawn from both Chinese and Korean cookbooks. And it’s cheap.

Pan Fried Dumplings

Ease into the experience with an order pork and chive pan fried dumplings, just $3 for 5. Fried entirely, unlike the dumplings you’ll generally find in Chinatown, they’re packed with more pork and chives than any we’ve ever had. And they’re pretty incredible. Add an order of spicy beef and kimchi dumplings ($3.50 for 5) to make things a bit more interesting. Fermented vegetables and beef with an intense kick are fried together to create the best dumpling I’ve had yet in New York. To battle its dry texture, use plenty of dumpling and sriracha sauce.

Peking Duck Bao

If you’re there on a Sunday (or Saturday), you’ll be lucky enough to be able to order the Peking Duck bao, a hugely flavorful sandwich full of duck and greens, surrounded by a soft yeast bun. At just $3.50 for two buns, you can’t beat it. If there’s any room left inside your stomach (there’s a great chance there won’t be), finish your meal off with some mango mochi ice cream, only $1. A soft, sticky rice cake filled with frozen mango ice cream. Though small, it’s just enough to round out the meal.

Mochi Ice Cream

I initially didn’t expect much from my first Asian meal in Park Slope, an unfounded mistake I’m glad I fixed. Dumplings and Things is everything it needs to be – small, stylish, delicious and cheap. It’s the perfect end (or beginning) to any sunny day in Park Slope. So, next time you find yourself west of Prospect Park, leave your all of your worries (or your baby, as some do) at the door and give Dumplings and Things a shot. A $10 bill is all you’ll need to get so much more. Dumplings and Things [Map] 375 5th Ave Brooklyn, NY 11215 718.768.2200

Follow Untapped Cities on Twitter and Facebook! Get in touch with the author @lukekingma. Read more from the Sunday in Chinatown column.

The Monumental Doors of the Brooklyn Public Library

michelle young — Mon, 21 May 2012 00:25:40 +0000

Olmstead and Vaux’s 1865 proposal for Prospect Park in south central Brooklyn provided a cultural community anchor for the expanding borough. The vision for Brooklyn’s Central Park equivalent would include the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Botanical Garden, and the Brooklyn Public Library. The Brooklyn Public Library was prominently placed at the mouth of the great park entrance, and on the ellipse of Grand Army Plaza with its Soldiers’ and Sailers’ Arch. The site location would influence the buildings design and subsequent building campaigns. Initially proposed in 1888, the publicly financed central library took nearly six decades to build. Ground was broken in 1911 for architect Raymond F. Almiralls’ Beaux-Arts design, but construction would not be completed until 1941. A period of economic instability, Brooklyn Public Library funding contended with the strains of World War I and the Great Depression resulting in changes to Almiralis’ ornate classical design. In 1935 the architects Alfred Morton Githens and Francis Keally, know for their experience in library design, were commissioned to redesign the building façade while retaining the existing foundations and steel skeleton already in place. Their redesign would simplify and bring a clean geometry to the limestone exterior dominated by vertical pilasters between enormous brass window openings. With the building plan inspired by the leaves of an opened book, the concave limestone “spine” at the main facade follows the curve of Grand Army Plaza. Its massive 50 foot entryway portico is the buildings most monumental feature, illuminating an otherwise spartan facade. Bronze doorways are flanked by two great limestone pylons with Art Deco glyph-like detailing by the German-American sculptor C. Paul Jennewein. Gilded relief carvings depict the enduring themes of science (to the north) and the arts (to the south), including combinations of modern figures of a miner and an electrician, with classical ones, among them Athena and Zeus.

Source

Centered between pylons, the 40 foot bronze gateway displays the work of sculptor Thomas Hudson Jones, and features fifteen bronze panels depicting heroes of American literature, including Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer, Edgar Allen Poe’s Raven, and Brooklyn’s own Walt Whitman. Above the grid are two gold owls, standing atop small globes with wings outspread. With a series of repairs over time, the entryway is now in need of complete rehabilitation. Funding from Partners in Preservation would replace the doors to exactly resemble the originals while incorporating current energy preservation standards. The library’s minimal ornament, focused almost entirely on the entry portico, was chosen to express the building’s function as an institution for knowledge and learning. The Githens and Keally design was monumental, modern, and practical, creating a civic building passed by thousands of pedestrians and motorists each day, and a timeless portal for entry to Brooklyn’s Central Public Library serving over one million people per year. Click here to vote for the Brooklyn Public Library in Partners in Preservation on Twitter and Facebook. Follow Untapped Cities on Twitter and Facebook. Untapped Cities is an official blog ambassador for Partners in Preservation, a community-based initiative by American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation to raise awareness of the importance of historic places. Stay up-to-date with Untapped’s coverage of all 40 sites by following our Partners in Preservation category.

Weeksville Heritage Center: one of NYC’s first free black pre-Civil War communities

alley lyles — Sun, 20 May 2012 18:06:56 +0000

Weeksville Heritage Center is a vibrant space nestled in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood. Upon entry, one is greeted by Weeksville employees eager to give a tour of the historic homes, community garden area and the open lawn used as a staging space for performances. When I visited, Brooklyn Academy of Music‘s DanceAfrica performed in celebration of their 35 years of existence in New York City for Weeksville visitors. The positive energy of the dance troupe and smiling faces in the crowd revealed the type of creative and welcoming atmosphere Weekville nurtures as a staple in the the local community.

Instrument Used By the DanceAfrica Troupe

DanceAfrica’s Performance on the Weeksville Stage

The beauty of Weeksville is the history it lends to New York City. Weeksville is one of the country’s first free black communities formed before the Civil War. Currently, the existing property has four historic homes named the Hunterfly Road Houses. Each represents a different era in Weeksville’s history, which began when an African-American longshoreman named James Weeks bought this plot of land in present-day Crown Heights in 1838, 11 years after New York State abolished slavery.

a Historic Hunterfly Road House

Currently, Weeksville is expanding its facilities to include a 19,000 square foot Education and Cultural Arts building which accommodate a larger community garden space, a spacious common area and an updated outdoor stage. The new building will open in 2013. The improvement is needed in order to accommodate Weeksville’s expanding programs which include teaching teens how to garden, fostering youth volunteer initiatives and creating a community performance arts space.

Weeksville’s Current Community Garden Area

a Period Photo Opportunity

With potential funds from a Partners in Preservation grant (awarded through voting by readers like you),the organization hopes to adapt an existing c. 1930 shed structure for an environmental and food-growing museum exhibit and program space and to recreate a root cellar – an historic feature since removed–in an existing c. 1870 house known as 1698 Bergen Street. Click here to vote for Weeksville Heritage Center in Partners in Preservation and find out more about the center on Twitter and Facebook. Follow Untapped Cities on Twitter and Facebook. Untapped Cities is an official blog ambassador for Partners in Preservation, a community-based initiative by American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation to raise awareness of the importance of historic places. Stay up-to-date with Untapped’s coverage of all 40 sites by following our Partners in Preservation category.

What Lies Beneath: The Second Avenue Subway Construction

michelle young — Sun, 20 May 2012 14:01:49 +0000

Thanks to the American Planning Association’s Student Representatives Council (APA-SRC) in partnership with the MTA Capital Construction program, I had the opportunity to take a tour of the 63rd Street Station upgrade that’s part of the 2nd Avenue Subway project. The APA-SRC has been giving tours of the Second Avenue Subway project to residents and students as part of a community outreach program. While the underground scenes of the Second Avenue Subway and the 7 Line Extension were beautifully documented for Untapped Cities by one of our writers last year, our opportunities for photography were more limited this time due to new policies. What I want to focus on instead is how the tour revealed an entire underground world with its own sets of boundaries and politics–that being the demarcations between contracting firms below ground, and the thin line between construction and the existing subway system.

Photos from MTA Capital Construction

The 63rd Street Station Upgrade is being handled by Judlau Contracting at a budget of $185.3 million. At the surface level and even in the existing station itself, it’s hard to discern just the amount of construction that’s taking place. We entered through a modest looking structure, which could have been mistaken for any other decommissioned subway entrance or utilities hut. Along the F train platform, a thin blue construction wall (below) is the only thing that separates daily subway passengers from an existing subway tunnel that’s being retrofitted and connected to a Q line extension. Even to our surprise, when we exited our exploration of the new tunnel we were suddenly walking amidst regular passengers–although we were obviously differentiated by our orange construction vests and white hard hats.

Our group, emerging onto the functioning F train platform at 63rd Street/Lexington Avenue

We were able to walk to the end of the subway tunnel to an area known as the “stub cavern” and peek into the newer section that had been created by the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM. A large wooden panel separated the two sections, as another construction company had the contract for the next section. Explaining the physical marker of the separation, our guide told us “It’s just easier that way.” I think as residents we often think of the MTA as a monolith, forgetting that it takes a great number of contracted companies to carry out capital projects this size. This tour highlighted just that. The 63rd Street Station is far, far beneath the surface. Daily passengers are removed from this reality as they are automatically transported downwards by a series of escalators. But we went down along 3rd Avenue through rickety temporary staircases. It was almost like being in a mine facility, with the exposed bedrock and the seemingly never ending cavern below.

Our guide from Judlau explaining the devices that measure whether any of the buildings have been displaced due to the construction below

Structures along 2nd Avenue above some of the construction

The Second Avenue subway line is to be constructed in phases, with Phase I running from 63rd street to 96th street. Financing has only been secured to complete Phase I however, which is scheduled to finish in December 2016. When completed, the new Lexington Av/63rd Street Station will have four new entrances, including street-level and mezzanine level ADA accessible elevators. Work involves excavation for the construction of an entrance and ancillary buildings, removal and upgrade of the structural elements within the existing subway tunnel, and a traction power connection to the Lexington Av/59th Street Station on the Q Line. This work should be completed by spring of 2014. Follow Untapped Cities on Twitter and Facebook. Get in touch with the author @untappedmich. Find out more about the MTA Capital Construction projects.

Partners in Preservation: The Apollo Theatre

matt lambros — Sat, 19 May 2012 15:00:59 +0000

View of the auditorium from the balcony.

The Apollo Theatre opened on December 15, 1913 as Hurtig & Seamon’s New Burlesque Theater. The 1,853 seat theater is located in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan. It was designed by architect George Keister who is also known for the American Airlines Theatre in Times Square.

The theater showed burlesque in its early years, but with the decline of burlesque in the late 1920s and 1930s (partially due to Fiorello LaGuardia’s campaign against it) the theater switched to variety revues. The theater was purchased in 1933 by Sidney Cohen and renamed the Apollo. Cohen began to market the shows to Harlem’s growing black community.

The theater’s proscenium arch.

The Apollo Theater is most well known for Amateur Night at the Apollo, which debuted in 1934. Amateur night gave unknown talent a venue for performances and eventually helped to launch the careers of Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, James Brown and Lauryn Hill.

The theater closed in the late 1970s, reopened in 1978, and closed again a year later. It was purchased by Percy Sutton and a group of investors in 1981. Sutton added a recording and television studio to the theater. The Apollo Theater Foundation, Inc. was established in 1991 to fund and oversee programming for the theater.

The plasterwork around these exit doors will be repaired if the Apollo Theater receives the grant.

Another view from the upper balcony.

With potential funds from Partners in Preservation, the Apollo will undertake a restoration of specific decorative elements in this historic auditorium. Restoration plans include the decorative plasters on the box seats and doorways, details on the fascia on the mezzanine, and the ornamental wall which separates the seating area from the auditorium lobby.

Click here to vote for the Apollo Theater in Partners in Preservation, and find out more about @ApolloTheater and Facebook. Follow Untapped Cities on Twitter and Facebook. Get in touch with the author @mattlambros and at After the Final Curtain.

Untapped Cities is an official blog ambassador for Partners in Preservation , a community-based initiative by American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation to raise awareness of the importance of historic places. Stay up-to-date with Untapped’s coverage of all 40 sites by following our Partners in Preservation category.