New York in a Week Part II: Straus Park

This is the second time I've been to the lovely Straus Park, on Broadway and 106th street.

Here is what I wrote the first time I went in Straus Park in New York:

I had my tablet with me while sitting in Straus Park in the Upper West Side in New York, and searched for the biblical quotation inscribed behind the statue (in gold, it is visible in the above photo) to see it in the context of the biblical story it came from:

Lovely and pleasant were they in their lives
And in their death they were not divided
II Samuel 1:23

The quote is a strange and obscure one. It tells the relationship between a father and a son (Saul and Jonathan), whereas the memorial is dedicated to a married couple.

I suppose we can use biblical texts to transfer to, and describe, many kinds of loves. Still, it is a little strange to transfer a father/son love to that of a married couple.

Ida and Isador Straus were on the Titanic when it sank. Ida, rather than save her life by boarding a lifeboat which was rescuing women and children (first), decided to stay with her husband as the ship sank. Eye witnesses say that Ida chose to remain on board with her husband, saying,"I have lived all these years with you. Where you go, I go."

I think a Biblical quote more appropriate to a married couple could have been found. I'm not sure who chose this quote, but it is probably a team of people from the various New York city offices, the sculptor and the the Straus family descendants.

There is also an eternal fountain (see top image), which originally flowed into a reflecting pool. The pool was filled in to create a flower bed for easier maintenance.

There are more images at the site, which I took from various websites on the park

The anonymous person I was with, going through my tablet, was Larry Auster. We met in the park (on his suggestion) on our way to other bigger New York landmarks, but I would have never found this lovely place had he not told me about it. One thing Larry told me was that at there is a small park at each point in the New York City grid where Broadway meanders.



Here are most of them:

- Mitchell Square Park, Broadway and 166th
- Montefiore Square Park, Broadway and 138th
- Verdi Square, Broadway and 73rd
- Sherman Square, Broadway and 70th
- Richard Tucker Square, Broadway and 66th
- Dante Park, Broadway and 63rd
- The beautiful Columbus Circle, Broadway and 59th
- Times Square, Broadway and 47th
- Greely Square, Broadway and 32nd
- General Worth Square, Broadway and 25th
- Union Square, Broadway and 14th
- City Hall, Broadway and Chamber St.
- Bowling Green, Broadway and Battery Place

We also discussed the German ß, which is used for the double s (as in Johann Strauß, which would be spelled Strauss in English). I said that Straus Park should correctly be spelled Strauss Park (the ß doesn't exist in the English alphabet). We didn't have time to look up these details in the tablet computer, but now I can say that there are a few German names which use only one "s" (Straus), while the majority use the double "s." These were the kinds of details which interested Larry.

During my visit to New York in mid-August, I went back to Straus Park and took the following photographs. I had used various web-posted images for my 2012 post on the park.


Straus Park entrance


Female figure "Memory" reclining in front of a reflective pool
By American artist Augustus Lukeman.
Sculpture completed in 1913





[All photos by KPA]
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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