Painting of the Harlem River

+ Unbuilt Harlem

Author

The Harlem Neighborhood Block Association
June 28, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

The rise of ‘original oil paintings’ made to order abroad and then shipped to you has led to some interesting speculative work. This recent item:

high quality oil painting handpainted on canvas "Harlem River"

is purportedly an image of Harlem and the Harlem River. And, as such, is a classic example:

The vague set of buildings, the chaotic waterfront, and the bridge at a major curve in the river, all could be somewhat plausible, yet the image just doesn’t feel right.

The artwork shown here is one iteration of the image, but if you purchase (for $140) the artist will create a work specifically for you. Here’s the copy:

These display images are not the actual oil paintings you will receive. After your payment has been cleared, we will start to paint them for you in oil paint on canvas. Since your art piece will be painted for you, it does take several weeks to paint and about two weeks to mail to you (IN MOST CASES, YOU SHOULD HAVE THE PAINTING IN ABOUT ONE OR TWO MONTH). This timeframe also depends on customs in both China and in your country.  Please consider these factors carefully prior to your purchase.

To read more, click HERE.

Unbuilt Harlem

The New York Post highlighted a number of architectural and urban planning projects that were never built. One of the items was a plan for East Harlem - between Park Avenue, 125th Street, and the Harlem River:

Leapfrog City by John Johansen — New York (1968)

The architectural dreamer John Johansen was serious about a plan that would have created a new neighborhood above the tenements of East Harlem, and perhaps altered the insidious process of urban renewal.

He developed “Leapfrog City” for a struggling area known as East Harlem Triangle, bounded by 125th Street, Park Avenue and the Harlem River.

Johansen developed “Leapfrog City” for a struggling area known as East Harlem Triangle, bounded by 125th Street, Park Avenue and the Harlem River.

Inspired by over-scaled industrial facilities and rail viaducts, Leapfrog employed a prefabricated superstructure of ten-to twelve-story steel towers to create housing above existing buildings.

Edifices linked by trusses contained steel wings that extended in two to four directions at various levels.

The system of “sites over sites” would allow families to just “move upstairs,” saving the city millions of dollars in relocation costs.

John Johansen (pictured) was serious about a plan that would have created a new neighborhood above the tenements of East HarlemBlackstone-Shelburne/ University of Chicago

In his feasibility study, the architect stressed that the system could be established ‘”in any neighborhood to any extent, at any time and in any configuration without destroying that neighborhood.”

(He sketched, for instance, a similar plan extending down Park Avenue.)

Johansen made overtures to the local chamber of commerce, banks, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Community Association of East Harlem.

The last expressed interest, but his effort was never able to attract the financial or political backing it needed.

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