Origin of Straus Park
	On April 15, 1912 the R.M.S. Titanic sank. On board was Isador Straus and his wife Ida. Their memory is honored by the Straus Monument and Park on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Mr. Straus and his brothers owned Macy’s Department Store and bought out Joseph Wechsler’s share of a Brooklyn dry goods company called Abraham and Wechsler, forming Abraham and Straus.

Meaning of Mnemosyne
	MNEMOSYNE is the elder Titanis-goddess, the goddess of memory, words and language. She was loved by Zeus and became mother of the nine gold-crowned nine Mousai (Muses). She excites the mental eye from the dark oblivion of forgetfulness and the fallen mind. All remains immortal because of memory. The virtue of your ancient citizens and feats of valor are never forgotten. Memory is the mirror of deeds, ageless time.
Meaning of a Halfway Station
Halfway: Midway between two points or conditions	Halfway House an inn or place of call midway on a journey.
Halfway Station: A place where two trains or subway lines meet and where passengers transfer from the one section to another.	Halfway Station: An ethnic “barrio” has sometimes been considered a “halfway station” between the “old country” and the “new”. Residents of this ethnic “barrio” are often viewed as living “locked in a squalid archaic society”.

Ideas for discussion

What does it mean to be “isolated” or “secluded” from society? Can this happen in the heart of downtown Broadway?

How do you define “growing or planting roots” in relation to feeling “at home”? Why are exiles unable to grow new roots?

What can an exile learn from meeting and speaking with other exiles? Can exiles ever escape what they are fleeing? Does their “mental baggage” contribute to the community in which they live in?

Does “change” form a part of our definition of “home”? Do we lose “home” when we change? How do our new definitions of home allow us to restore our earlier homes through “retrospection” and “restoration”? Should “restoration” be a process of “transparent overlay”?

Do we understand the city we live in or is it simply a surrogate city, a mirror city that lets us fantasize about living in other cities, times, and places?

How do you react to the statements “postcards are better than traveling” and “art book images better than paintings”?