September 23, 1962: The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts opens, with a concert by the New York Philharmonic at their new home, Philharmonic Hall. Leonard Bernstein conducts Aaron Copland's Connotations, and it is broadcast live nationwide on NBC.
The campus of Lincoln Center is bounded by West 66th Street on the north (65th cuts through, but 64th and 63rd do not), Broadway and Lincoln Square on the northeast, Columbus Avenue (known as 9th Avenue below 59th Street) on the east, West 62nd Street on the south, and Amsterdam Avenue (known as 10th Avenue below 59th Street) on the west.
Robert Moses, New York City's "building czar" -- also its demolition czar -- got the City Board of Estimate to approve the Lincoln Square area for urban renewal in 1955. The last thing to happen in that neighborhood, after it was vacated but before it was demolished, was the filming of the movie version of the musical West Side Story.
John D. Rockefeller III, grandson of the oil baron who became America's 1st billionaire, son of the man who built New York's Rockefeller Center and restored Colonial Williamsburg, and brother of Nelson Rockefeller, who soon became Governor of New York and later the Vice President of the United States, led the fundraising to build it, and his family, then still the richest in America, funded half of the construction of the original 3 buildings.
Philharmonic Hall was renamed Avery Fisher Hall in 1973, and renamed David Geffen Hall in 2015. Avery Fisher (1906-1994), a Brooklynite, was an amateur violinist, a pioneer in the field of high fidelity sound reproduction, the founder of Fisher Electronics, and a philanthropist who donated millions of dollars to arts organizations and universities. David Geffen is a titan in the recording industry, and one of the founders of DreamWorks Pictures along with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg. Geffen had donated $100 million to Lincoln Center, despite being far better known for his association with rock music. The Hall seats 2,200.
The New York State Theater opened on April 23, 1964, seating 2,586. In 2015, it was renamed the David H. Koch Theater. Koch (pronounced "coke," 1940-2019), along with his brother Charles (born in 1935, and still alive as of this writing), was an energy baron who has donated billions of dollars to conservative causes and candidates, many of whom are opposed to the promotion of the arts. His contributions to help renovate Lincoln Center do not absolve him of his disgusting politics.
The centerpiece -- if you're looking straight ahead at Lincoln Center from its "front door" to the east, this building is in the center, with the New York State/Koch Theater on the left and Philharmonic/Avery Fisher/David Geffen Hall on the right -- of Lincoln Center is the Metropolitan Opera House. The original "Met" stood at 1411 Broadway at 39th Street from 1883 to 1966. The current one opened at Lincoln Center on September 16, 1966, with 3,850 seats, a little larger than the old one at 3,625.
On October 14, 1965, the Vivian Beaumont Theater opened, behind David Geffen Hall. Beaumont (1885-1962) was an actress and philanthropist who funded its construction. In the same building, on November 30, 1965, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts opened. It is now named the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center. Dorothy (1918-2009) and Lewis (1919-2019 -- yes, he lived to be 100) were TV producers, who, in 1976, began producing the PBS series Live from Lincoln Center. In the building's basement, the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater opened on November 10, 1967, in honor of Mrs. Newhouse (1902-1989), the wife of broadcast executive Samuel "Si" Newhouse (1927-2017, and also a major donor).
On May 22, 1969, Damrosch Park and the Daniel and Flor Guggenheim Band Shell opened, behind the NYS/Koch Theater. The Park was named for the Damrosch family, which has produced many classical musicians who contributed to the cultural life of the city. Daniel Guggenheim (1856-1930), brother of Solomon Guggenheim (1861-1949), for whom the egg-shaped art museum on 5th Avenue is named, was a mining magnate. He and his wife Florence (1863-1944) gave heavily to the arts.
On September 11, 1969, Alice Tully Hall opened across 65th Street. It has kept its original name, for Tully (1902-1993), an opera singer and arts patron. On October 26, 1969, a new campus opened for the Julliard School, which had been founded by conductor Frank Damrosch (1859-1937) in 1905, and named for Augustus D. Juilliard (1836–1919), another arts-funding businessman.
Julliard may be Lincoln Center's most lasting legacy: Since 1969, it has produced, in chronological order: Perry King, Patti LuPone, Kevin Kline, David Ogden Stiers, Robin Williams, Mandy Patinkin, William Hurt, Stephanie Zimbalist, Christine Baranski, Tom Robbins, Phoebe Cates, Andre Braugher, Keith David, Evan Handler, Elizabeth McGovern, Marcia Cross, Eriq LaSalle, Kelly McGillis, Lorraine Toussaint, Ving Rhames, James Marsters, Bradley Whitford, LisaGay Hamilton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Laura Linney, Viola Davis, Sara Ramirez, Morena Baccarin, Anthony Mackie, Jessica Chastain and Shalita Grant.
Also: Superman star Christopher Reeve (he and Robin Williams were best friends), Lex Luthor actor (but not opposite Reeve) Kevin Spacey, Batman actors Val Kilmer and Kevin Conroy; Cheers ex-couple Kelsey Grammer and Bebe Neuwirth; Star Trek actors John de Lancie, Penny Johnson Jerald and Robert Duncan McNeill; and Star Wars sequel series opponents Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver (they graduated 4 years apart, so they were never students there together).
On May 20, 1974, the Lincoln Center Institute was founded. On November 19, 1990, the Samuel B. and David Rose Building opened, across 65th Street from the Met. Samuel (1890-1964) and David Rose (1892-1986) were brothers and real estate developers. The building includes the Walter Reade Theater, the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, the Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Rehearsal Studio, the Clark Studio Theater, the School of American Ballet, the Claire Tow Theater, Julliard student residences, and office space for Lincoln Center's member organizations.
On October 18, 2004, Jazz at Lincoln Center opened -- but not at Lincoln Center. Rather, it is a few blocks away, at the Deutsche Bank Center (formerly the Time Warner Center), the mini-twin towers at 10 Columbus Circle (Broadway, 59th Street and 8th Avenue). It includes 3 theaters: The Rose Theater (the Rose family must have donated a lot of money to get 3 venues named for them), the Allen Room, and Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola (named for jazz icon John "Dizzy" Gillespie, 1917-1993).
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September 23, 1962 was a Sunday. These baseball games were played that day:
* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Elston Howard hit a home run off Early Wynn, part of a 4-run 10th inning. Mickey Mantle went 0-for-1 with 4 walks. Probably because Roger Maris wasn't playing, so it was Hector Lopez playing right field and batting behind him. Yogi Berra also didn't play. Bill Stafford went the distance for the win.
* The New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-1 at the Polo Grounds. Roger Craig, the closest thing those 1st-year expansion Mets had to an ace, advanced to 10-23 on the season. Frank Thomas (not the later White Sox Hall-of-Famer) hit a home run. Ernie Banks went 0-for-4 for the Cubs.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Frank Robinson and Vada Pinson hit home runs. Pinson's won the game in the top of the 10th inning.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Harmon Killebrew and Vic Power hit home runs for the Twins. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-3 for the Orioles.
* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Hank Aaron hit 2 home runs, Eddie Mathews 1. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-4. Rookie Willie Stargell went 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 12-2 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. This was one of the few games in which Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax both pitched, because Drysdale got knocked out of the box in the 4th inning, while Koufax pitched the last 2 innings in relief. Stan Musial went 2-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs.
The only bright spot for the Dodgers was from Maury Willis, who stole his 96th and 97th bases of the season, to set a new single-season record. However, because it came in the 156 game of the season, not within the 1st 154, until 1991, the official MLB record book -- along with Roger Maris' 61 home runs the year before -- left Wills and the 154-game record, Ty Cobb's 96 in 1915, as side-by-side records. Wills finished with 104 steals. I have a separate entry for this event.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Athletics, 3-1 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Al Kaline went 2-for-5.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Houston Colt .45s, 10-3 at Colt Stadium in Houston. (The Astrodome opened next-door in 1965, and the Colts changed their name to the Astros.) Willie McCovey hit a home run, and Willie Mays went 1-for-5.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Los Angeles Angels, 11-5 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the Angels groundshared with the Dodgers until their stadium opened in Anaheim in 1966.
* And the Boston Red Sox and the Washington Senators were rained out at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (It was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 1969.) The game was never made up.
Since it was a Sunday, there were NFL games:
* The New York Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, 29-13 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
* The Washington Redskins beat the Cleveland Browns, 17-16 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Detroit Lions beat the San Francisco 49ers, 45-28 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.
* The Green Bay Packers beat the NFL version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 17-0 at Milwaukee County Stadium.
* The Baltimore Colts beat the Minnesota Vikings, 34-7 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Dallas Cowboys, 30-28 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
* And the Chicago Bears beat the Los Angeles Rams, 27-23 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
And in the American Football League:
* The Houston Oilers beat the San Diego Chargers, 42-17 at Balboa Stadium in San Diego.
* The Dallas Texans beat the Oakland Raiders, 26-16 at Frank Youell Field in Oakland. The Texans won the AFL Championship, but still couldn't compete with the still-losing Cowboys for North Texas fan acceptance. In the off-season, they moved, becoming the Kansas City Chiefs.
* The previous day, the New York Titans beat the Buffalo Bills, 17-6 at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo. The Titans were renamed the Jets the next season.
* The night before that, a Friday, the Boston Patriots beat the Denver Broncos, 41-16 at Boston University Field (later renamed Nickerson Field).
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