One of Snug Harbor’s Greatest Strengths is in its Discovery
The expansive and lush site features an array of buildings marking the changing architectural styles of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The first buildings were built in the Greek Revival style, as well as a second wave of Beaux Arts, Renaissance Revival, Second Empire and Italianate styles. In the mid-20th century, the number of residents dwindled as programs like Social Security and Medicare provided a financial safety net for retired sailors while the Randall endowment started to run out. Historic buildings began to deteriorate and several were demolished in the early 1950s. Fortunately, however, in the 1960s and 1970s, the newly formed New York City Landmarks Commission stepped forward to save the five Greek Revival front buildings and the chapel by designating them as New York City’s first landmark structures.
Ms. Fuchs Highlights Some of Her Favorite Features. . . .
The New York Chinese Scholars Garden was the first built in this country. It was built by hand for six months. I also love the farm. I got the bug for urban agriculture when we were working at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Newhouse Center of Contemporary Art.
Let’s Talk the Winter Lantern Festival . . .
Build it and they will com, and that’s what they Snug Harbor did with their fantastical, professional landscape known as the Winter Lantern Festival. We drew 150,000 people to our borough over six weeks. It was the largest cultural event ever on Staten Island. James refers to it as a Disney-like experience. And if you’ve attended, you know exactly what it means. It was absolute magic and splendor, especially around the holiday with families.
The Challenges of Today for a Non-for-Profit Institution, Cultural Organization. . .
Ironically in March, pre-Covid, Aileen Fuchs says that Snug Harbor was on track do have its BEST financial year on record, on the heels of a very successful lantern festival. And then we got hit – along with the rest of the world – with a pandemic . . .
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