Blade Runner at the Ziegfield

Last weekend, I caught Blade Runner at the Ziegfield. The director’s cut features way more background on not only Decker, but the other replicants as well. This cult classic was the genesis for cyberpunk culture, and some might even argue steampunk culture. Plus, it is in the fabulous Ziegfeld Theater, one of the last of the movie palaces in New York City!

Ziegfeld Theater
141 West 54th Street
Tel. 212-307-1862
5:30 and 8:30pm
$11

Opening of the Ground National Monument

Sixteen years ago, construction workers discovered human remains while doing foundation work on a downtown federal building. What they had dug up was the Negro Burial Ground from the 17th and 18th centuries, which spread over approximately 6.6 acres of downtown Manhattan. Over 15,000 to 20,000 early black residents, some free, mostly slaves, were buried there and the lost to history.

Today, a memorial, named the Ground National Monument, stands at the corner of Duane and Elk Streets, two blocks north of City Hall. It will be open to the public this Friday, October 5. There will also be a candlelight procession at 8 p.m. from Battery Park to the  monument.

The Monument was constructed of stones quarried both in America and Africa, designed by Rodney Léon, a Brooklyn-born architect with the firm Aarris Architects of Manhattan. The granites slabs are set in acute angles, creating an enclosed space for visitors in a hull-like Ancestral Chamber. An opening in the chamber leads to a sunken circular court, flanked by two reflecting pools. A map of the world centered in West Africa lies down a spiraling ramp in the Ancestral Libation Court, the centerpiece of the monument.

Along one of the walls is the inscription, “For all those who were lost. For all those who were stolen. For all those who were left behind. For all those who are not forgotten.”

Opening of the Ground National Monument
October 5, 1 p.m.
Duane and Elk Streets

Candlelight procession
October 5, 8 p.m.
Starts at Battery Park.