Urban stoop

Urban stoop

In architecture, an urban stoop is a small staircase leading to the entrance of an urban apartment building or other building.

Etymology

Originally brought to the Hudson Valley of New York by settlers from the Netherlands, this word is among the few items of Dutch vocabulary that have survived there from colonial times until the present. Stoop, "a small porch," comes from Dutch "stoep"; the word is now in general use in the Northeastern United States and is probably spreading. [http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=stoop]

History

Traditionally, the function of stoops in New York City was to provide formal access from the street to the principal or parlor floor, where the private living quarters in a single-family residence began. Both the parlor and dining room were on this floor. The kitchen and other service offices were in the basement, which had its own entrance on the street, usually a few steps below grade, and an interior staircase connected the basement with the parlor floor.

This arrangement was well suited to the single-family row houses that dominated New York until the end of the 19th century. Family and guests, by using the stoop, avoided tromping through the service section of the house. Deliveries of foodstuff and other supplies were made at the basement entrance, ensuring the privacy and order of the living quarters above. [cite news
last = Kellerman
first = Regina M.
coauthors =
title = More on the Stoop
work =
pages =
language = English
publisher = NY Times
date = 11 February 1982
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03EEDC123BF932A25751C0A964948260
accessdate = 2008-01-21
]

In his book "New York City: An Outsider's Inside View", author Mario Maffi suggests that originally New York stoops may have been a simple carry-over from the Dutch practice of constructing elevated buildings.

Urban Stoops as a Social Device

Traditionally, in North American cities, the stoop served an important function as a spot for brief, incidental social encounters. Homemakers, children, and other household members would sit on the stoop outside their home to relax, and greet neighbors passing by. Similarly, while on an errand, one would stop and converse with neighbors sitting on their stoops. Within an urban community, stoop conversations helped to disseminate gossip and reaffirm casual relationships. Urbanites lacking yards often hold stoop sales instead of yard sales.

Similarly, it was the place that children would congregate to play stoop ball.

In her pivotal book The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs includes the stoop as part of her model of the self-regulating urban street. By providing a constant human presence watching the street, institutions such as stoops prevent street crime, without intervention from authority figures. In addition, they motivate better street maintenance and beautification, by giving it social as well as utilitarian value.

Popular Culture

*A famous shot in the Francis Ford Coppola film "The Godfather Part II", shows Vito Corleone sitting on the stoop of his Little Italy apartment with his family.
*In the Spike Lee film "Do The Right Thing", many characters spend the hot summer afternoon on their stoops.
*In July 2005, a tenant shouted these words from the window of his Lower East Side apartment at a woman below whose dog was defecating on the stoop of his building: "Don't let your yuppie puppy poop on my stoop!" Overheard by passersby, this angry admonition entered the public consciousness as an often repeated catch phrase. Fact|date=February 2007
*In the cartoon "Hey Arnold", a character named Stoop Kid was afraid to leave his stoop. Stoop was also the name of the game he played in which the object was to harass people who walked past his stoop.
*"Stoopids", a derogatory term describing teenagers who loiter around stoops has enjoyed periods of popularity in the Northeast. Fact|date=February 2007
* "Johnny Ryall is the bum on my stoop I gave him fifty cents to buy some soup" is the first line of the song "Johnny Ryall" on the Beastie Boys album "Paul's Boutique".
* In the series "Sex and the City", Carrie Bradshaw regularly had scenes on the stoop of her brownstone.
* In Season 4 of "The Wire", the distinction is made between "stoop kids", who stay on the stoop where their parents can look after them, and "corner kids", who hang out on the corner and engage in illegal and anti-social activities.

References

Literature

*Jane Jacobs, "The Death and Life of Great American Cities", New York: Random House, 1961
*Mario Maffi, "New York City: An Outsider's Inside View", Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2004


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Stoop — may refer to:* Adrian Stoop (1883 1957), English naturalised rugby union player * Urban stoop, a small staircase or porch * to bend over forward, such as to pick something up * a mild form of kyphosis * the high speed attack dive of a bird of… …   Wikipedia

  • Urban Gwerder — (* 5. September 1944 in Basel) ist ein Schweizer Schriftsteller, Künstler und Herausgeber. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben und Wirken 2 Werke (Auswahl) 3 Literatur …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Peregrine Falcon — Adult Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) of subspecies pealei or tundrius in Alaska Conservation status …   Wikipedia

  • List of Hey Arnold! episodes — This is a complete listing of episodes from the Nickelodeon animated television series Hey Arnold!. Contents 1 Series overview 2 Episode list 2.1 Season 0 (Pilot): 1996 2.2 …   Wikipedia

  • “Chicago Poem” — by Lew Welch (1958)    lew welch’s “Chicago Poem,” perhaps his most famous and most frequently anthologized piece, is an eloquent statement of the poet’s midlife change in direction away from urban, corporate America and toward a more inner… …   Encyclopedia of Beat Literature

  • List of Hey Arnold! characters — This is a listing of characters from the Nickelodeon animated television series Hey Arnold! and Hey Arnold!: The Movie. The list contains about 180 characters. Contents 1 Characters 1.1 The Sunset Arms boarders and their families 1.2 Arnold s… …   Wikipedia

  • London — This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. For other uses, see London (disambiguation). London From upper left: City of London, Tower Bridge and London Eye, Palace of Westminster …   Wikipedia

  • Twickenham — infobox UK place country = England map type = Greater London region= London population= official name= Twickenham latitude= 51.4486 longitude= 0.3369 os grid reference= TQ155735 london borough= Richmond post town= TWICKENHAM postcode district=… …   Wikipedia

  • The Black Cherry — Infobox Television episode Title = The Black Cherry Series = Robot Chicken Caption = Injured soldier: Sir, we are outnumbered! Napoleon Bonamite: I was outnumbered by ninjas and wolverines over summer break, but I killed them all with my… …   Wikipedia

  • Youngstown, Ohio — Youngstown redirects here. For other uses, see Youngstown (disambiguation). Coordinates: 41°5′47″N 80°38′57″W / 41.09639°N 80.64917°W …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”