Straus Park: The Titanic Memorial of Enduring Devotion

Why is it significant?

Stand at the triangular junction where Broadway and West End Avenue meet at 106th Street, inside the tranquil green sanctuary of Straus Park. Before you rests a deeply moving bronze sculpture of Memory, depicted as a classical draped woman gazing down in sorrowful contemplation at a reflecting pool.

Key Facts

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Stand at the triangular junction where Broadway and West End Avenue meet at 106th Street, inside the tranquil green sanctuary of Straus Park. Before you rests a deeply moving bronze sculpture of Memory, depicted as a classical draped woman gazing down in sorrowful contemplation at a reflecting pool. Dedicated in April 1915 and designed by sculptor Augustus Lukeman alongside architect Evarts Tracy, this park honors department store magnate Isidor Straus and his devoted wife Ida, who drowned together aboard the Titanic on April 15, 1912. When the luxury ocean liner struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic, women and children were ordered into the lifeboats. As the co-owner of Macy's department store and a former United States Congressman, sixty-seven-year-old Isidor was offered a seat in a lifeboat due to his age and stature. He steadfastly refused, declaring he would not board while women and children remained on the sinking deck. His wife Ida took off her warm fur coat, handed it to her maid, and stepped back onto the ship, telling her husband: We have lived together for many years; where you go, I go. Today, local residents and Columbia students frequently pause by the reflecting pool to reflect on this extraordinary sacrifice of love and fidelity. Look closely at the carved granite inscription flanking the reflecting pool, quoting from the Biblical Book of Samuel: Lovely and pleasant were they in their lives, and in their death they were not divided. More than twenty thousand mourners attended memorial services for the couple across New York City, moved to tears by Ida's selfless devotion. Notice the bronze clock on the island, a peaceful gathering spot where neighborhood elders play chess beneath leafy London plane trees. Now let us walk northeast along 106th Street to Amsterdam Avenue and head north toward 112th Street, where the colossal stone bulk of America's largest cathedral looms on the horizon.