Press

Governor George E. Pataki, Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver today announced the opening of Windows on New York, a major new permanent exhibition at the New York State Museum. The new gallery will feature spectacular collections of images from across the State and will be home to a World Trade Center Memorial, dedicated to the thousands of lives lost on September 11.

"As we continue to come to terms with the events of September 11, it is important to not only remember those who were lost in the World Trade Center attacks, but also to reflect on the illustrious history of New York City and the Empire State," Governor Pataki said. "Windows on New York exhibits the tremendous strength and character that New Yorkers have displayed throughout the years."

Senator Bruno said, "This exhibit will not only enable visitors to look through windows into regions of New York, it will enable them to look through windows into New Yorkers themselves and see the courage, the determination, and the heroic sacrifices that have been made since September 11. The exhibit is a window on our history, and it shows New Yorkers at their very best on our worst day."

Speaker Silver said, "Before September 11, I was able to view the majestic Twin Towers through the windows of my lower Manhattan district office. Now through these very same windows, I see the smoking remains of the Trade Center, as well as the brave workers who continue the recovery efforts. While the windows in my office have not changed, the view certainly has. Just as it now provides scenes of both devastation and determination, so too will this important Windows on New York exhibit be an opportunity to acknowledge the State's tremendous loss, while highlighting its splendor and rich history."

The 25,000 square-foot Windows on New York, which opens to the public on Nov. 23, occupies the dramatic fourth-floor Terrace Gallery and is laid out to introduce and orient visitors to New York State and the collections of the State Museum. The gallery brings together popular culture, history, science and art with rich examples from the Museum's legendary collections.

It also showcases the New York State Museum Carousel, a fully restored, working carousel that was made in New York State and operated throughout the Southern Tier and Northern Pennsylvania from 1916 to 1972.

Within the new gallery is the World Trade Center Memorial, featuring two tower forms suspended in two, twenty foot high windows made up of more than 4,000 small bronzed squares. Each square will represent one of the individuals lost at the World Trade Center. The gallery will also contain an artifact case with objects from the site, an American Flag and images of the World Trade Center. A kiosk with a computer installed will display the photographs and profiles from the New York Times "Portraits of Grief" series.

State Education Commissioner Richard Mills said, "The inclusion of the World Trade Center Memorial in the State Museum brings our visitors closer to this national and especially, New York State tragedy. We hope to offer a dignified tribute to the people lost and offer a place of solace for the public."

New York State Regent Robert Johnson said, " Now, more than ever before, the people are looking to museums as places that hold sacred the evidence of history, the material of science and the ideas that shape the world. The State Museum's Windows on New York exhibition and the Memorial to the World Trade Center are the first step to realizing a vitally new State Museum for this century."

Museum Director Clifford Siegfried said, "Windows on New York not only showcases some of the biggest and best objects in the State Museum's collections, but transports the visitor into the heart of the Museum and across the vast and historic State. To ride the New York State carousel is to be immersed in our history."

Objects and specimens from the Museum's vast collections include: Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1932 Packard; a facade from Matthew Vassar's Springside Cottage; a stock trading post from the New York Stock Exchange; Roycroft furniture; a biplane used in the Adirondacks; a bronze bust of Theodore Roosevelt by James Earle Fraser; Erie Canal artifacts; natural history specimens; and objects from Native American collections.

The New York State Museum carousel occupies a glass enclosure overlooking Albany's Lincoln Park and riders can get a taste of old-time carnivals and amusement parks. The carousel horses, carved in Brooklyn around 1895 by Charles Dare, are also masterful examples of American Folk Art.

Windows on New York also tells the story of commerce: from Upstate farming to logging in the Adirondacks, to oyster harvesting on Long Island. On display are glass beads and brass trade goods Europeans exchanged for the valuable beaver pelts of Mohawks and Iroquois Indians; photographs of ironworkers who built Manhattan's first skyscrapers and a replica of an Erie Canal batteau that transported freight and passengers in the 1790s.

In addition, the exhibit draws attention to the State's geology, flora and fauna. Visitors learn, for instance, why the depth and location of Manhattan bedrock, coupled with new construction technology, influenced the growth of New York City and the height of skyscrapers.

Windows on New York has been in development for over two years. It was made possible with funds from the 1997-98 New York State Budget. It is the first phase of the implementation of the Museum Master Plan completed in October 1999.

The nation's oldest and largest State museum, the New York State Museum is a program of the New York State Department of Education. It is a leading research Museum in human and natural history with collections that total over six million objects and specimens.