A Fountain of Knowledge Flows from Author’s New Tome

Tourists use them as selfie backdrops. The superstitious throw coins in them and make a wish. The cast of Friends danced in one with umbrellas. No one can resist a fountain—especially award-winning author and native New Yorker Stephanie Azzarone, who, along with the breathtaking photography of her husband, Robert F. Rodriguez, created ”Fabulous Fountains of New York.”

The couple’s newest collaboration takes readers on a journey through the artistry, history, and scandals behind the remarkable waterworks that shape our city’s landscape.

The genesis of the book, which serves as a master list of fountains found in all five boroughs, was Azzarone’s attraction to fountains. “I have always been attracted to fountains. They are a place I go when I want a bit of quiet. They are also, I discovered, historical landmarks and dynamic works of art.” On a grander scale, as she explains in the book’s introduction: “Human beings cannot live without water. Perhaps the urbanite cannot live without the spectacle and splash of fountains.”

In conversation with Straus Media, Azzarone discussed why New Yorkers would benefit from taking more notice of these monuments, which often hide in plain sight.

Did your research reveal any stories that changed your understanding of NY’s history?

I was surprised by the number of fountains in New York’s history that were made both for people and horses, and the involvement of the Temperance Societies that believed alcohol was the root of all evil. To motivate people to abstain, they built fountains to give easy access to water.

Share one of the scandals, controversies, or tragedies your book speaks of.

One of the most interesting scandals involves the Robert Ray Hamilton Fountain on Riverside Drive and 76th Street. All was good in the life of the great-grandson of Alexander Hamilton, who was a wealthy, highly respected politician until he met Evangeline Steele, a bigamist and prostitute who tricked him into marriage by claiming a baby that was either bought or stolen was theirs. The Hamilton family was so embarrassed that they fought the construction of the fountain, but the city went ahead, at least creating it uptown as opposed to downtown, where New York’s population, including the Hamiltons, lived.

You cite fountains as gathering places for contemplation and protest. What’s the attraction for both?

Well, contemplation is the easiest to understand because fountains are an oasis in the city.

In terms of protests, they’re a focal point for meetups. The fountain that’s best known for protests would be in Washington Square Park [in Greenwich Village]. It’s in the center and a logical place for people to convey their very strong opinions to the public.

How did you decide which fountains made the cut?

The initial choices were based on gut, but then I began looking for fountains that combined both aesthetics and history.

Is there anything unique to New York fountain design?

[In NYC], fountains have a purpose. They are designed primarily to honor men and women of accomplishment or to memorialize events. They tell the stories of the history of the City of New York.

If someone were to visit only five fountains, which would you recommend?

City Hall Fountain combines both the aesthetics and the city’s history. It is exquisite.

You can’t talk about fountains in New York without mentioning Bethesda [highlighted on the book’s cover]. The Angel of the Waters statue, which tops it, was the first sculpture commissioned for Central Park, and the sculptor was a woman, the first woman to receive a commission for a public sculpture in the city.

Another is in Brooklyn, called the Bailey Fountain, created in the 1930s. It has these characters, one in particular along the base, which is a god with this ropy beard and muscles, and his mouth is wide open with laughter, and the water is pouring over him. It’s just marvelous.

Then two in the Bronx: the Lillian Goldman Fountain of Life at the New York Botanical Garden, referred to in the book as an aquatic opera because it is so dramatic; and Fantasia in Parkchester, which was created in the ‘40s. The characters have these very thick fingers and toes, and look like they are relaxing at the beach. It is just unlike any others.

The Straus Memorial in Straus Park on West 106th Street represents ancestors of this paper’s publisher. Can you speak to it?

The name of the statue is Memory, and it is in honor of the highly respected Isidor and Ida Straus, who were on the Titanic. Ida had the option of entering the lifeboats because it was women and children first. She chose to stay with her husband and go down with the ship. This is in memory of them both. The New York Times called it, “One of the most beautiful monuments of its kind in the country.”

”Fabulous Fountains of New York” is available at Book Culture, 536 W. 112th St., and wherever books are sold.

Lorraine Duffy Merkl is the author of the novel “The Last Single Woman in New York City.”