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Comments

• [1] Tate from birmingham, alabama October 23, 2008 - 02:16PM

  Absolutely, New York City has a responsibilty not only to itself but to the entire country to preserve historic neighborhoods and buildings for all of us to appreciate and enjoy for generations to come. You never realize how much something meant to until it's gone right? Don't let it happen to everything..all of NYC doesn't have to be a museum...but couldn't part of it be integrated into a revitilzation of the area?

  
  
• [2] MichaelB from UWS Manhattan October 23, 2008 - 02:17PM

  If the "American Songbook" isn't central to the nation's, let alone NYC's cultural core & history, what is? (It's certainly not "high rise condominium".)

  Think how pervasive the legacy of this art is even today, even with all the competing media "noise" vying for our attention.

  Movies, theater, ALL music, baseball ("Take Me Out to the Ballpark")... as well as the songs themselves, which are the peak of American culture.

  
  
• [3] Timothy J. McCorry from Belmar, NJ October 23, 2008 - 02:20PM

  Dear John,

  I would love to see the Tin Pan Alley Museum.

  Better yet, I would love to design it. I am an architect and composer. My music has been greatly inspired by American Popular Song.

  Call me!

  732-259-7875

  ps. I am a WNYC member

  
  
• [4] Craig Morrison AIA from New York, NY October 23, 2008 - 02:27PM

  No city is complete without the byways of its past. This wonderful row of buildings, little changed since they hosted America's great popular composers, is eloquent in evoking the days when it was part of the country's prime theater district. It absolutely should be preserved.

  
  
• [5] Susan Immergut October 23, 2008 - 02:42PM

  We should all be grateful to have David JAsen as an advocate for preserving a very important part of our city's and nation's history. The idea of preserving this block and these buildings will add a much needed respite from the uniform non-descript new buildings without any history. Let's not destroy every bit of New York's past. Also, it'll make a very convenient place for a museum located just south of 34th STreet and the theater district.

  Thank you so very much for having Mr. Jasen on your program.

  
  
• [6] Jon from Astoria October 23, 2008 - 08:17PM

  I SMELL A GREAT OPPORTUNITY for an able businessperson to make a killing off of this 5-10 years down the road-

  APPEALS TO TOURISTS of many stripes- an obvious target would be gay men who love theater all over the world, not just the country- and the stomping grounds of Gershwin and Porter is a powerful and potent symbol.

  What about songwriters? Cleveland has the R&R Museum. Come on- Cleveland? How many bands like the Ramones came from Cleveland? Don't get me started. These several blocks could be as great a draw as downtown Nashwille if they plan it right.

  
  
• [7] Jason Benjamin from Brooklyn October 24, 2008 - 11:12AM

  The city should do everything it can to hold onto at least one of those buildings for a museum. After I read Edward Berlin's excellent Scott Joplin biography, _King of Ragtime_, I loved walking down 28th Street and seeing those buildings intact and I wished I could go inside. When you walk down 52nd Street, there is no trace of the old "Swing Street" and it is so sad - a legacy swept away by the city's rush for money and more big, blank buildings.

  By the way, Jasen didn't mention in his interview, but 28th Street between Broadway and 6th Ave. was originally called Tin Pan Alley because of the clatter of pianos echoing out in the little street - it made a din that sounded like a bunch of rattling tin pans. The industry eventually spread much further than that little street, but its legacy remains and should be memorialized before it's too late. This is really the only place in the country that could do such an honor for that vanishing era.

  
  
• [8] Christopher from Queens October 24, 2008 - 01:26PM

  Thank you for yet another informative and delightful lecture from Professor Jasen. But, what about John Philip Sousa?