The End From the Beginning—Part 6—Hudson Yards
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| The Old Testament, by contrast, is dominated by a different form of typological thinking:
eschatological correspondence between beginning and end. — Urzeit and Endzeit |
Introduction and Review
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Hudson Yards: New York's New Microcosmic Eden-Like Neighborhood
"Hudson Yards is the largest and most expensive, private real estate development in U.S. history."
"full of visitors milling around temples of luxury and fashion."
The Hudson Yards website boasts that it is the center of everything you need.
"All Roads Lead Here"
According to Wikipedia, most of this neighborhood was once part of the Hell's Kitchen District and still includes a Hell's Kitchen sub-district. This district includes "Death Avenue," the streets of 10th and 11th, due to accidents caused by heavy train traffic.
Manhattan's name is significant. According to folk etymology, Manhattan means "the island where we all became intoxicated." It is also a phrase descriptive of the whirlpool at Hell Gate. "The New York Intelligencer" calls it the "Superhuman City"
Think Genesis chapter six again, in terms of the ancient version of superhuman just before Noah's flood.
It's All About You
“When you come into an office building here at Hudson Yards, you just swipe your hand and you’re in,”
This swipe, called "Pass," scans your biometric handprint.
Hudson Yards is known as the "smart city," according to Jay Cross, Hudson Yards' president. In an article by the "Real Deal"10, he also explains that LinkNYC Kiosks retain user data indefinitely. LinkNYC 9, according to its website, offers these "free" services through its data-collection system and apps.
- Use your personal device to connect to LinkNYC's super-fast, free Wi-Fi
- Access city services, maps, and directions from the tablet
- Make free phone calls to anywhere in the U.S. using the Vonage app on the tablet or the tactile keypad and microphone. Plug in your personal headphones for more privacy.
- Use the dedicated red 911 button in the event of an emergency
- Charge your device in a power-only USB port
- Enjoy more room on the sidewalk with Link's sleek, ADA-compliant design by Antenna.
- View public service announcements and more relevant advertising on two 55" HD displays.
"We can say how many people looked at this ad, for how long. Did they seem bored, were they smiling?"— Jay Cross
According to the report, selling your data is in the near future.
... For your iniquities you have sold yourselves ... You have sold yourselves for nothing ...
— Isaiah 50:1, 52:3
Three tech giants, including Google, are making Hudson Yards their home. Google's parent company, "Alphabet," is significant to the "end from the beginning" topic, taking us back once again to "the days of Noah" expressions.
There were giants on the earth in those days
— Genesis 6:4
According to Wikipedia and a quote from Larry Page, former CEO of Google's parent company, Alphabet, the name was chosen to reflect the collective idea of gathering systems for a united purpose.
"Alphabet is mostly a collection of companies ... it means a collection of letters that represent language, one of humanity's most important innovations."
This, once again, connects us with Babel.
... the whole earth had one language and the same words ...
— Genesis 11:6
Amazon will settle into Hudson Yards in 2021. According to CNBC, Facebook, well-known for its data-mining practices, is also establishing a presence in Hudson Yards.
Facebook has signed a lease at Hudson Yards for more than 1.5 million square feet of office space and plans to move into the new offices next year. The lease includes office space across 30 floors and three buildings.
The name "Facebook" should be revealing in and of itself when it comes to exposure. The entire premise of Facebook is to get you to expose as much of yourself as possible. It studies you and, in a sense, sells you to advertisers.
Titanic-sized tenants are circling the newest office buildings (at Hudson Yards) in anticipation of what may be a leasing feeding frenzy.
"And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her (Babylon the harlot city), for no one buys their merchandise anymore: merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.— Revelation 18:11-13
The Vessel
"Looking down from near the top, I couldn't decide whether I felt like I was standing inside the rib cage of some kind of giant robotic creature or in an alien spaceship" 20— Katie Warren, "Business Insider"
Thomas Heatherwick designed both the Vessel and the Olympic flame, known as the Cauldron. The connections are obvious. The Vessel is copper-colored, which, in Biblical typology, symbolizes judgment. Another interesting note: the word "serpent" in Genesis chapter three is the same word for "copper" and carries the idea of something shiny. The Vessel's dedicatory opening ceremony included Thomas Heatherwick casting the vision for lifting 700 people on his sculpture, claiming, "It's not finished until you're on it." Humanity is playing God in its self-created gardens once again.
Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
— Genesis 2:1-2
The ceremony concludes with Andra Day singing the song "Rise Up" with a backup choir inside the Vessel. One speaker heralded New York City as the city that will always be the greatest in the world.
And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
— Genesis 11:4
The human-constructed garden was designed to gather its congregants in a work-play-live space that one would never have to leave.
Ticket purchasers who wished to climb the structure were initially required to sign an agreement with a hidden clause granting Hudson Yards ownership of any photos or videos taken at the Vessel.6 They have since changed their policy after the complaints.
As of April 2021, it was decided that "The Vessel" would be removed due to four suicides at the structure since its opening in March 2020. As of January 2023, it has not been removed but remains closed.
A Denzeen article by Matt Shaw highlights the problematic aspect of these microcosmic developments, which center on the buying and selling of data-gathering systems.
With a contempt for the public, the developers of Hudson Yards see people as numbers on a spreadsheet: faceless masses of potential consumers ripe for data extraction – a mass of potential advertising dollars. There is no sense of generosity, only taking. The Vessel is the embodiment of this ideology.
3DEN
"My first thought upon stepping inside the space was that the abundance of plants and light do give it a "Garden of Eden" vibe."
CBS Local New York quotes the following.
"The concept for the team at Hudson Yards was to create a space where New Yorkers can work, live, and play"
The biblical language used to describe this place is quite explicit.
The shopping portion of Hudson Yards includes a shop called "Milk and Honey Babies."
All of it, of course, is available through the swiping and data-collection agreements. It's in the small print behind-the-scenes details.
New York Eater wrote about the opening day of Hudson Yards, titling the article "Inside the Chaos of Hudson Yards' Opening Day," reminiscent of a narrative beginning.
And the earth was without order, and empty; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
— Genesis 1:2
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| The Spiral is a Modern interpretation of the ancient Hanging Gardens. |
"The Spiral" and the Hanging Gardens
Manhattan has been described as the cultural, financial, media, and entertainment capital of the world, and the borough hosts the United Nations Headquarters. Anchored by Wall Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City has been called both the most economically powerful city and the leading financial center of the world, and Manhattan is home to the world's two largest stock exchanges by total market capitalization: the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.—Wikipedia
This block also borders 34th Street, part of the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, also known as "Clinton," and Manhattan's Community District 4.
The project was designed by the architectural firm Bjarke-Ingels, also known as "BIG." Their company motto is the following.
"Bjarke-Ingels is shaping the world as we know it."
According to "Stir World," BIG is a "globally famous Dutch firm," and the Spiral is presented as "an example of human-centric, sustainable design located in Manhattan's new western frontier."
Bjarke Ingels also designed "VIA 57 West," a pyramid-shaped residential complex in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, which advertises a "central garden oasis." Its website boasts of its "human-centered" approach and global impact considerations.51 None of these thoughts and concerns is, in and of itself, a bad thing. My purpose is to demonstrate that the language used in its description centers on a developing humanistic attempt to build a global system that excludes God.
The Spiral's exterior features a garden that spirals up the building, known as the "Hanging Gardens." The structure bears an eerily similar resemblance to a colored engraving depicting the ancient Babylonian "Hanging Gardens," once renowned as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (see the above photo).
In the ancient world, Towers of this style served as observation towers for surveillance.
One of the tenants of The Spiral is Pfizer, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. 48 It occupies most of the space in this tower, on floors 7-21. This article discussed the role of "Big Pharma" in "end events" earlier. Floors 25-28 are occupied by "Alliance Bernstein," a global asset management firm. Floors 40-52 house "Debevoise & Plimpton LLP," a global law firm. Turner Construction, a subsidiary of Hochtief, a German engineering-led global infrastructure group, is leasing space on the third floor. "Global" appears to be the key phrase. According to Wikipedia, Hochtief is noted for the following construction projects.
During World War II, it deployed forced labor on construction projects. It built the Führerbunker in Berlin, the scene of Adolf Hitler's suicide, as well as Hitler's home in Berghof and the Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair) military headquarters ... Hochtief also worked on a new center for Nazi rallies in Nuremberg.
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The Edge
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| World Peace Through Trade" Left photo before 911. Top right photo after 911. Bottom right photo: present placement in
Liberty Park. |
The Sphere: It's About Trading
... they found a plain in the land of Shinar.— Genesis 11:2
The word "Shinar" means "between two mountains." In the ancient Near Eastern world, mountains were consistently associated with worship.
Commemoration of the Sphere occurred in 2002 with an "eternal flame." The imagery of the current state of the world at large and where it is heading is noteworthy, according to Jude, who speaks of a coming eternal flame.
But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.— Jude 5-7
Once again, copper and bronze in the Bible symbolize judgment.
Fritz Koenig, a German artist, designed the piece with this motto in mind, which emulates what the world believes is its salvation.
"... world peace through world trade. "
It was assembled in Bremen, West Germany, a member of the Hanseatic League. According to Wikimedia Commons, a Hanseatic city was a traditional form of united trade.
... a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Northwestern and Central Europe ... Merchant circles established the league to protect the guilds' economic interests and diplomatic privileges in their affiliated cities and countries, as well as along the trade routes which the merchants used. The Hanseatic cities had their own legal system and operated their own armies for mutual protection and aid. Some modern cities still identify as Hanseatic in memory of their trade history.
A Hanseatic League sounds like a classic Biblical treaty-making for provision and protection, with other things than God.
The prophet Ezekiel delivers a scathing indictment of Tyre's prince, who became full of pride by amassing wealth through trade, ultimately leading to his demise. A compelling image emerges when we overlay Adam's account in the original garden scene with this confrontational piece. It shows both what happened at the Forbidden Tree and the inner workings of a future world system driven by pride and merchandising.
“By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones.
“Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;
I cast you to the ground,
I laid you before kings,
That they might gaze at you.
“You defiled your sanctuaries
By the multitude of your iniquities,
By the iniquity of your trading;
Therefore I brought fire from your midst;
It devoured you,
And I turned you to ashes upon the earth
In the sight of all who saw you.
— Ezekiel 28
We again see an Old Testament prophet describe a beginning that parallels the end.
God's desire for us is good, but it cannot be realized outside a relationship with Him. This relationship became possible through the sacrificial exchange of His one and only Son for us. In that transaction, He forgave us and made it possible for us to dwell with Him eternally.
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
— 2 Corinthians 5:21
Nothing else will do.
© 2019 Tamarajo
*All sources for this series are available in the final part.
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