Cape Town Lens: NYC – Staten Island – Sailors’ Snug Harbor: Staten Island Botanic Gardens – Allee

A Cape Town District Six Museum tagged image from photographer – wallyg as published on Flickr.

NYC – Staten Island – Sailors’ Snug Harbor: Staten Island Botanic Gardens – Allee

Image by wallyg

Planted in April 1997, this walkway connects the Lion’s Sensory Garden with the Chinese Scholars Garden. The Allee is planted with 120 European hornbeams which, on reaching a height of six feet, will begin to arch and meet, creating a shaded path. This will create a different perspective for the individual walking between gardens. Instead of merely walking across afield, the enclosed area creates a different perception of space and a sense of anticipation.

Sailors’ Snug Harbor, now the Snug Harbor Cultural Center, was established with an 1801 bequest from the merchant Robert Randall, who left a large plot of land north of Washington Square for the establishment of an institution for the care of eldery sailors. Randall’s bequest was challenged in court and by the time it was settled in 1830, the area became a hot property during a residential boom. The trustees leased the land and instead purchased a large farm on the north shore of Manhattan where they proceeded to erect a complex of buildings. Opened in 1833, Sailors’ Snug Harbor became the first and only home for retired merchant seamen in the United States. It saw a peak of 1,000 residents by 1900–a number that would decline after the Social Security system was implemented. By the mid 1950’s, fewer than 200 residents remained and by 1976 it was moved to North Carolina. Following a series of landmarks regulation, the facility was sold to New York City and converted into a cultural center. Today it houses the Newhouse Center For Contemporary Art, the John A. Noble Maritime Collection, the Staten Island Botanic Garden, and the Staten Island Children’s Museum.

Sailors’ Snug Harbor Historic District National Register #72000909 (1972)