Peter GanciW 56th St between 8th Ave and 9th AveHeart Three · Location 236 · Drawn March 2003Hover over or select the image to reveal a hidden view.PhotographsDownload photograph 1Download photograph 2Download photograph 3Download photograph 4Download photograph 5Download photograph 6Download photograph 7Video podcast0:00Near the center of 56th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue on the south side of the street0:07is an entrance to a stairwell that leads down below the surface of the sidewalk.0:12To find this space, navigate yourself to 314 West 56th Street.0:18You're standing in front of pale bricks with lots of openings with tall arches at the top0:24of them.0:24To the right of that is a hip-high red brick wall with a short black six-inch metal fence on top of it.0:32If you follow that along, you'll find an entrance that leads to a stairwell.0:36The stairwell drops down below street level, and at the bottom of it is a white concrete surface,0:43dirty and abandoned with no necessity for a clean public face.0:48The drawing was made on this white painted concrete facing the stairwell.0:54This is Chief of Department Peter Gansey Jr.0:58He was drawn in March of 2003.1:01His drawing is counting 10 people.1:05A big difference between cats and dogs is that when you pass by a window with a cat,1:10it will not bark at you.1:12And this is exponentially true.1:14If you pass by three windows with cats, all three will not bark at you.1:18Thank goodness for this, because the space that fits the bill1:21is a man-sized white wall submerged below street level and at the bottom of a flight of stairs.1:27A flight of stairs that goes by three windows.1:31Surviving the gauntlet of meow monsters gets me to a quiet, protected space.1:36In this space, I can concentrate on the chief of the fire department1:39and have a peaceful moment with this drawing.1:44The thing about Peter J. Ganji was he didn't flaunt it.1:48He was just a regular guy living with his family on Long Island.1:51at peace with himself that if you asked him what he did for a living, he would just say,1:56I'm a fireman in the city. He would never say that he was the highest ranking uniformed officer in2:01the department. In the eerie calm between the collapse of the two towers, Deputy Fire Commissioner2:06Michael Reagan recalled, Peter Ganci directed every civilian and every firefighter to go north.2:12He went south.← Location 235Heart Three · Location 236Location 237 →
