Conservancy's New York chapter prepares for Brooklyn exhibition
"A 20th CENTURY MASTERPIECE FOR A 21st CENTURY NEW YORK."
This Saturday, July 1st, marks the grand opening of "The United States: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow" at the City Reliquary in Brooklyn, New York. The exhibition, which will run through August 20th, is co-hosted by the New York chapter of the SS United States Conservancy.
To get set for the big event, we caught up with the folks at the New York chapter to talk about what visitors should look forward to, recent goings-on with the chapter, and the special relationship that has always existed between the SS United States and the City of New York.
Q. What should our supporters know about the New York chapter's recent activities?
A. The New York Chapter has been popping up and including itself at many local and cultural events where to introduce or re-introduce our “NYC Icon in Exile” to the people of the city that she once called home. We hand out information and explain what the ship was, is and can be to New Yorkers. Several members of the NY Chapter are also involved with saving, repurposing and honoring other NYC area landmarks and we always make sure to include the SS United States in the list of historic places and architectural gems which are unique to New York.
Q. If the SS United States lives out a Great American Comeback Story, what might that look like?
A. It will be the ONLY time in history that a city will have brought back a true, authentic lost iconic landmark-- not a knock-off reproduction. New York is the great city it is today because of its harbor and waterfront. The use of the city’s shoreline has changed, and so has the need for a mid-century ocean liner. What was primarily an area of the city dedicated to industry and transportation is now mainly used for leisure, entertainment and culture, and our former transatlantic liner is adaptable and up for the task of reinventing herself to fit right in: a 20th Century Masterpiece for a 21st Century New York.
Q. The ship is of a special importance to the New York chapter in particular. Can you speak to that?
A. As it is spelled out on her stern in big bold letters, “UNITED STATES", “NEW YORK", she always boasted that she was one of us. She lived and worked here with us, beside us. She was big and beautiful on a truly New York scale, and she always made New Yorkers smile with pride. We are a city with five boroughs and hundreds of neighborhoods, but we all unite in our pride for what our city as a whole has to offer the rest of the country and the world.
Q. Why will the July 1st exhibition grand opening be a can't-miss event?
A. The "SS United States, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” event will epitomize what New York is all about, continuously growing and changing but always true to our icons.
The City Reliquary in Brooklyn is dedicated to celebrating and honoring all that was, is and will be great about New York, thus the New York Chapter could not have picked a better venue for celebrating the Big U’s 65th Anniversary of her maiden arrival to NYC, her maiden voyage to Europe and her seizing of the Blue Riband. We will be screening Max Kirchheimer’s short documentary, “Colossus On The River,” which beautifully and artfully captures America’s fastest and finest ocean liner at work at a time when the city was building new space-age airports and world was starting to turn its eyes up to the skies. Fifty years later, we are looking back to the waterfront for fun and pleasure, and with that come jobs, commerce, and civic pride once again.
Q. We heard the grand opening will have "special cocktail"...
A. The special cocktail was created specifically for this event and is made with Montauk Rum®. Montauk, NY is where the Gibbs Brothers first envisioned a terminal for their dream ship-- and like their dream ship, the SS United States, Montauk Rum is also a made-in-USA original.
Want to reach out to the New York chapter? Send them an email at newyork@ssusc.org.
See you in Brooklyn!
