Downtown Alliance Unveils Canyon of Heroes Podcast
The latest Canyon of Heroes ticker-tape parade honored the world champion New York Yankees in 2009.
Lower Manhattan visitors wondering what those granite strips along lower Broadway signify will now have a convenient answer.
Last week, the Alliance for Downtown New York unveiled a Canyon of Heroes podcast, a ten-minute audio guide to the history and legacy of the famed parade route from Battery Park to City Hall. The podcast is available on CultureNOW's website, itunes and a free iphone app, CultureNOW: A Guidebook for the Museum Without Walls, Lower Manhattan. The ten-minute podcast is narrated by Downtown Alliance President Elizabeth H. Berger.
For nearly a century and a quarter, some of history's most notable individuals and sports teams have been honored with ticker-tape parades along the route, starting the with Statue of Liberty dedication in 1886. The Downtown Alliance launched Lower Manhattan's version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003 to commemorate the Canyon of Heroes' parades with a series of black granite strips set into the sidewalks of the route.
"The iconic corridor of lower Broadway has provided a dramatic setting for 204 ticker-tape parades over the past 125 years, and now we've distilled that storied chapter of New York City lore into one easy-to-download podcast," Berger said. "From Theodore Roosevelt to Charles Lindbergh to Jesse Owens--the parades have offered millions a chance to witness and celebrate the hopes and aspirations of our nation in a signature Lower Manhattan way."
The Downtown Alliance Canyon of Heroes markers commemorate the parades for every ticker-tape honoree--a group that includes pioneers of air and space travel, soldiers, sailors and sea captains, heads of state, politicians, firefighters, journalists, athletes and even a virtuoso pianist. For a complete list of the markers, click here .
"This podcast is emblematic of what our Museum Without Walls is all about: bringing important works of art, architecture, and culture to life," said Abby Suckle, President of CultureNOW. "People walk past these markers and wonder what they are and who put them there. This audio guide answers those questions and encapsulates 125 years of parades."
CultureNOW has incorporated the Canyon of Heroes podcast into its Broadway Tip to Tail tour, and its free Downtown Manhattan iphone app, which contains 1,000 sites, 2,000 images, 70 podcasts, and several walking tours.
The mission of the Alliance for Downtown New York is to be the principal organization that provides Lower Manhattan's historic financial district with a premier physical and economic environment, advocates for businesses and property owners and promotes the area as a world-class destination for companies, workers, residents and visitors. The Downtown Alliance manages the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Business Improvement District (BID), serving an area roughly from City Hall to the Battery, from the East River to West Street.
cultureNOW is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization that promotes cultural and historical destinations in the form of up-to-date maps, websites, an iPhone App, walking tours and symposia. The organization was founded in 2002 as part of New York/New Visions, a pro bono coalition of design professionals formed in response to the events of September 11th. The first map, downtownNOW identified cultural organizations that were still functioning in lower Manhattan and was distributed for free. Four subsequent editions of downtownNOW were published to document the rebirth of culture in lower Manhattan and give New Yorkers and tourists a compendium of places to discover and enjoy; more than 650,000 free maps were distributed to date. ManhattanartNOW, published in 2007, celebrates art in the public realm and is the most extensive public art survey ever undertaken for Manhattan. It features more than 11,000 images of artwork searchable online. Most recently cultureNOW published its HarlemNOW map in 2009, and AroundManhattanNOW, a map of the island as seen from the water, in 2010.