RE: NJ/NY Day 1-2... Back in Jersey

New York City

Greetings One and All,

      Unlike most industries, mine doesn’t get holidays and someone has to show up every day to make the news.  This year, it was my turn to work both Christmas and New Years.  No complaints, after thirty years, it’s long become the norm.

      Since I was working New Years week, they gave me four day weekend on the back end.  Once again, no complaints.  So, I fired off a bunch of emails and texts to see if any of my friends back home would be available.  Fortunately, most of them were(Missed you Jeff)  So, I booked this weekend getaway.  Since the holiday season is officially over, travel is lighter than usual.  This worked in my favor and the flight was the cheapest I’ve seen in a very long time.  Would you believe a round trip for $168? Bonus! 

     A few days after booking the trip, I was introduced to a new meteorlogical term, “bomb cyclone.”  It’s a rotating winter storm where the pressure in the eye drops significantly, much like a  cyclone.  So, whether you call it a bomb cyclone or you’re the Weather Channel and referring to it as Winter Storm Grayson, it all boils down to snow, wind and some serious cold. 

      So, I packed a lot of layers.  So many layers in fact that I had to leave the extra camera lenses at home.  By now you know that means something.

Day 1

Friday, January 5, 2018   

     

     

     This week I was covering Matt’s schedule, so my last show was sports at 5:30P.   A few quick things to record after the show and I was clear.  After a quick stop back  at the car for my bag, it was off to the marta station and the airport.  United had the only flight I knew I could make to Newark, and the 8:30P departure was a breeze.

      Last year, I applied for Global Entry from the U.S. Customs Service.  With it comes TSA Pre-Check.  I used it on my last flight and zipped through. Not so much this time.  I had two paperback books in a pocket of my bag.  This caused my bag to be flagged and searched.  The TSA agent explained it as she was rifling through my stuff.  Paperback books need to be laid flat, not vertical.    It has something to do with the scanning process.  Easy enough.  But, I always have a book or two in my bag an this has never been a problem.  

     My flight had been delayed a half hour and I suddenly found myself with a little time to kill.  There’s a bar and grill in the T-Concourse called Grindhouse.  I had settled in here with coffee on a previous trip and knew it well. 

    The food was okay but nothing special.  Veronica, my server, made up for it.  She was chatting up everyone at the bar and kept my beer class full of Stella Artoire.  The flight was delayed yet again and the place started thinning out.  There were four of us at the bar who happened to be on the same flight.  We would up talking together for a half hour before the boarding process finally began.

    Since I was meeting my friends in our old home town in Jersey on Saturday, I booked a room for two nights at the Best Western, the only motel in New Providence.   My good friend Ann offered to pick me up and give me a lift to the motel.(Thanks Ann!) But, as my flight was pushed back further and further, it seemed a bit much to ask considering the later and later arrivals.

     So, I started looking into alternatives.  There’s a NJ Transit shuttle from the airport to Newark’s Broad Street Station.  I could get a train from there to Murray Hill and walk perhaps a quarter mile to the motel.  Assuming the bus was on time, that would give me two minutes from drop off to the train’s departure.  Sure, I could have waited for the 1:15A train, but the thought of walking to the motel at 2A just didn’t hold much appeal.  Besides, the low temperature was supposed to be zero degrees.  I told you it as cold. 

     Thank goodness for Uber.   Jerry was my driver and a really nice guy. He dropped me off at the front door of the motel at 1:15A.  I was out cold by 1:30.

    

Day 2 

Saturday January 6, 2018

      After a nice breakfast at the motel’s buffet, it was time to layer up and get out into the old home town once again.  Considering it was eight degrees(for those of you on metric, that’s -14 degrees) that meant a lot of layers.

      I really have no answer as to why I always seem to take the same walking route through town.  But, it works for me.  I left the motel and worked my way down Marion Avenue.  There’s a deli a few blocks up that I frequented in my youth.  Back then it was Briganti’s, a real Italian deli run by a real Italian family.  There was this amazing smell that hit you when you walked in the door.  It’s hard to describe, but I’ll never forget it.  

        When the Briganti’s sold the place, it became the Marion Avenue Deli.  That amazing smell was gone.  The sandwich was good, just not as good.  It closed a year or so ago and has a new owner. It’s now a Latin American Deli, though I really don’t know what that means. 

        Cutting through Lions Park, I expected to see the brook frozen and snowed over.  I just didn’t expect to see so few footprints. 

       This brought me back to my old street.  I was impressed how clear the roads and sidewalks were considering the snow just two days before.  That's my old house on the far right of the shot.  

   

      My family moved away from New Providence in 1986.  Yet, I still find the names of the streets so familiar.  It still seems like second nature to navigate the town.  Having spent quite a few afternoons playing soccer in Oakwood Park, my feet just found their way.   So, how cold was it, even at mid-morning on a Saturday, no one was using the town's skating rinks.   And the ice seemed oddly pristine for a municipal rink. 

      

      In the back of the park is a short trail down to the perpetually murky and polluted Passaic River.  Funny I’ve never seen it look quite this good. 

      When I was a kid, we played recreation league soccer on the Oakwood Park field.  It's been expanded a bit from what I remember.  Once again I was surprised at the lack of footprints in the snow.

      I was meeting Ann and her kids for lunch and had a little time, so I ducked into the Starbucks(it felt so wrong) for a cup of coffee to warm up.  From there it was a short walk to the Prestige Diner(aka The Prestige)   I was there first, so I put us on the short waiting list for a table.  The place certainly has changed since I was here last.  I never would have expected to see beer taps. Ann, Rebecca and Ryan showed up just a couple of minutes later.  The four of us were there for over an hour and a half just talking and getting caught up.

      

       After lunch, Ann gave her kids the short driving tour of her old home town before dropping me off.  I had some time to kill before meeting another batch of high school friends and was enjoying the walk through town, even with the bitter cold.  The sign downtown that does community announcements was saying fourteen degrees.  

     With one last loop through the center of town took me by the high school...

   The frozen community pool...

     

     The also frozen community tennis courts...

    And the Presbyterian Church...

      I tried shooting in the cemetery behind the church, but the cold was finally catching up with me...

   With the sun starting to sink lower on the horizon, it started to feel even colder.  After a quick stop in The Bagel Cafe for another cup of coffee, it was time to get out of the cold for a while.  I worked my way back to the room and relaxed for a bit before venturing out one last time.  

    Until fairly recently, my home town had been dry, at least as far as restaurants go.  The Providence Bar and Grill is one of the new places that opened after the change.  The original plan was for everyone to meet here since I didn't have a car.  In the end we decided to stick to our usual spot, the Stirling Hotel.  For me that meant a five minute walk to the train station and a fifteen minute ride to Stirling.  Though I would have to bum a ride back home.  The restaurant is an easy one block from the station. Even in eight degrees, still an easy walk.  

      Eric and Jean were already there when I arrived and had put us on the waiting list for a table.  We settled in and started catching up.  Andrea and her husband Stewart showed up a half hour later.  For the next two hours we shared stories and did a lot of laughing.  Yeah, this one went in the books as a really good day!

     Stewart and Andrea drove me to back to the motel, we said out good-byes again and I called it a day.  

RE: NJ/NY Day 3...Into the City

Sunday January 7, 2018

       A few years ago, I ran into Suzanne at a company function.  We had worked together many years ago, before she left for the New York Bureau.  She mentioned that she was living in Summit, one town over from New Providence.  To get from where I was staying into the city, I had to change trains there.  So, I dropped her a note and asked if she would be up for coffee. She said yes.  

     I had an hour or so until the train, so I took one last walk into downtown.  The local Friendly's restaurant closed suddenly a couple of years ago, much to the surprise of pretty much everyone.  It just seems wrong that it's being turned into yet another bank.  It'll be number four within two blocks of each other.  In my teens, working here was a first job for many and a hangout for others.  My buddy Jeff and I would stop in on a regular basis.  It seemed as if we knew at least half the staff from school every time.  

     

     The game plan was to meet in the Summit train station,  Easy enough.  There’s a local coffee shop a block away.  After checking out of the motel, I walked to the station and waited with two other potential passengers. 

     The train pulled in, paused for a few seconds and left, leaving the three of us standing on the platform.  When we realized that really was our train and the next one was an hour away we were all pretty annoyed.  One person called a cab because she had to make her flight.  I called NJ Transit.  They swore to me the train had stopped for a minute and a half.  I told them no, it had been less than ten seconds and we were standing on the platform in plain view.  I had them on speakerphone and the other woman waiting shouted "F--- Yeah."  I'm sure the NJ Transit rep heard it.  I got bumped up to a supervisor who claimed the same thing and promised to investigate.   I asked the other two people to call an complain, too.  One person can be tossed aside as a crackpot.  Three, not so much.  

     I called Suzanne and explained the situation.   She came, picked me up and gave me the driving tour of downtown Summit.  I was surprised to see some of the businesses still there.  I was especially surprised to see Scotti's Records still in business.  As a teenager, I bought a lot of music there.
     Another text to my Sis in New York to let her know I was running an hour late(Thanks NJ Transit) and we settled in at a local place called Boxwood Coffee, one block from the station.  Suzanne and I had a blast catching up and need to do it again.

    An hour behind schedule, I did finally catch the train into the city.  My hotel was the Wyndham New Yorker, conveniently located right across the corner from Penn Station.  

     I was a little early for check-in, but Manuel at the desk said it was okay.  He even gave me an upgraded room.  It was perfectly fine for just me.  Two people with luggage would have been crawling over each other.  Best of all, the room had a view...

     I checked in with my sister Mary and she met me in the lobby a few minutes later.  It was a little early for dinner, so we did what we always seem to do, just start walking.  For no real reason, we started walking down 8th Avenue.  Even with the temperature falling into single digits, it seemed strange to see so few people on the streets.  After a while we cut over to 9th Ave. and started walking back uptown, eventually finding our way into a place called the Theater Row Diner.  The food was decent, the company excellent and the staff let us linger for about an hour and a half.  

     Ordinarily, there would be a flurry of photos of New York at night.  But, in all honesty, it was just plain cold.  I only took a few on the walk back...

    

     

RE: NJ/NY Day 4-5... A Cold Day in the City

Day 4 Monday January 8, 2018

     After a few days where the air temperature never got out of the teens, a high of thirty degrees seemed like a nice relief.  With that in mind I left the hotel with a bit of a spring in my step.  So, it was across the street and down into the subway for my trip uptown...

      

     My plan was to take the train up to 97th Street, then walk south through the snowy Central Park.  I've walked in the park countless times over the decades, but this would be the first time in the snow.  The folks who clear the sidewalks and paths had done a great job and it made for easy walking.

     Cutting across into the park I did see something odd.  Something out of a forgotten time...  But no, I didn't check for a dial tone.

     The park entrance at 97th Street is just north of the city reservoir.  The wind blowing across the lake added to the cold.  The reservoir hold a billion gallons of water and is surrounded by a mile and a half trail.  It's never been the principal water supply for the city, but was built in 1860 as a back-up that was supposed to be able to last two weeks.  Under modern usage, today it might last four days.

     South of the reservoir sits the Great Lawn.  In the summer of 1991, Mary and I joined 700,000 of our closest friends for a Paul Simon concert here.  There were very few people out and about this morning.

    South of the Great Lawn sits the open air Delacorte Theater, the iced over Turtle Pond and Belvedere Castle.  The name comes from the Italian for "beautiful view."  The original plan was to have the castle included when Central Park opened to the public in 1859.  Due to the costs, it was delayed fifteen years.  

       The city doesn't allow access to the upper platform by the flag.  But, you can climb the circular stairway up to the secondary platform for a view of the park and the Delacort Theater.

  

     After leaving the castle, I entered a section of the park known as The Ramble.  It's a series of twisting footpaths through the woods.  For the most part, I had the place to myself.  In a city of eight and a half million people, this still seemed a little weird.  

     The paths of the Ramble would eventually bring me to what's simply named The Lake.  I've been in this park in the winter a few times, but have never seen the lake frozen enough to walk over.  

    I'll admit to some apprehension as I stepped out onto the ice.  But, when was I going to get this chance again...

    On the other side of the lake, I picked up the path again and started working my way around.  As I walked, I saw a few horse drawn carriages.  While I felt a little sorry for the horses being out in the cold, I really felt for the guys operating the pedicabs.  

    On the southern end of the lake I went looking for the Bow Bridge.  It's been a highlight of the park since its completion in 1862.  This is from the lake shore.

   The bridge itself... Note the folks in the shrubbery on the left.

      After my first excursion onto the lake ice, I decided to try it again for perhaps a different view of the bridge.

    When I walked back across the bridge, the camera crew was moving their gear a little further down the path.  They're NYU students working on a film project.  I wished them luck and started walking again.  

     Bethesda Terrace and Fountain are just a short walk along the lake shore. The fountain takes its name from the New Testament.  John 5:1 tells of Bethesda, a pool of water outside Jerusalem thought to have healing powers.  John was walking past accompanied by Jesus when they encountered a man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years.  Jesus asked if he wanted  to be cured.  The man said yes, but he was unable to get into the healing waters.  Jesus instructed the man to stand and walk as he had been already been cured.  

     As I was standing here taking it all in, I heard some light, acoustic guitar.  Somehow the music just added to the quiet of the scene.  I did pass the guitarist, dropped $5 into his tip bag and told him so.  Seriously, if this guy had an album, I would have bought it.  I still don't know how he could play like that in such cold. He was amazing.  

     Just south of Bethesda Terrace is The Mall.  Fredrick Olmsted, the park's designer, envisioned it as a grand promenade and central feature of the park.  Elm saplings were planted up and down the sides.  The elm trees create a canopy in the spring.

    Even though it was still biter cold, the hot dog vendors were still out in force...

   Sure, you really don't know what's in them or how old the water is that keeps the hotdogs warm.  But, they certainly are tasty.  Just for kicks, I bought one.  The bun was toasted and warm.  The dog was indeed hot.  The mustard... ice cold.  It made for an interesting experience.  

    The original plan was to meet Brad, an old college friend, for lunch.  He got slammed with meetings, so we agreed to drinks after work instead.  So, instead of working my way towards his office, I ducked into a coffee shop to warm up and consider a plan.  

     I decided to stop back at the hotel since it was only a few blocks away by this point.  It was a fortuitous decision in the end.  It's true that you never really know what to expect on the streets of New York.  For there on the ground, partially obscured by crosswalk paint was a Toynbee Tile.

   These mysteriously started appearing in the streets of New York and Philadelphia in the mid-80's.  Tiles also appeared as far off as Buenos Aires.  The larger text is always a variation of "Toynbee Idea, In Movie 2001, Resurrected Dead, Planet Jupiter."  Most sources seem to think this is a reference to Arnold Toynbee who once wrote about resurrecting souls to populate Jupiter.  The Arthur C. Clarke novel, "2001: A Space Odyssey," and the subsequent Stanley Kubrick film, explore that theme with the resurrection of the character Dave Bowman.  The point of the tiles is still a mystery.

     New tiles were generally laid during the summer months.  The backs of the tiles are coated with glue and the tops covered by tar paper.  By the time the paper wears away, the weight of traffic would embed the tile into the soft summer asphalt.  There's a 2011 documentary about the tiles called Resurrected Dead. 

    Just a great, random find.
    After a brief stop back at the hotel, I decided to revisit one of my favorite walks in the city.  For this, I'd need to head back to the subway...downtown.

      The A, L and 6 trains would bring me to the western end of the Brooklyn Bridge.  I've walked across many times.  Two years ago it was a chilly, crystal clear day.  Today it was gray and really cold.  The forecast snow began about a third of the way across.  It wasn't the fluffy kind either, but the pellets that bounce off the top of your head.  Somehow I just wasn't feeling very inspired for photography.

         On my last trip, I hit it just right and caught the Brooklyn Bridge in the late afternoon glow.  There was none of that this time.

    A few years ago I decided to forego the return trip over this bridge.  Just a few blocks up the waterfront sits the Manhattan Bridge.  Pedestrian traffic was always very light and for most of the trip across my only companion were the police at the other end of the many surveillance cameras.  I never felt unsafe though.  That was my plan for the day. 
    The first time I did this, there were empty warehouses and storefronts.  Now there are restaurants and plenty of stores.  There's even a new theater about to open.

      On a clear day, if you stand under the Manhattan Bridge, you can clearly see the Empire State Building through the bridge abutment.

     This was the point where the snow turned into a light, but steady rain.  Suddenly the idea of walking back across a bridge just didn't seem so much fun.  So, I found a dry spot under the bridge, texted Brad to check in and called up a subway map on my phone.  The York Street station was right around the corner.
     Brad takes the train home from Penn Station, so we agree to meet at a place across the street called Local Cafe. They have a decent beer list and the food is what you'd expect in a bar.

       I walked over, grabbed a table and ordered an Alagash White.  Brad walked in a few minutes later.  A little backstory... My first year away at school was at Albright College.  After that year I really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life.  I didn't go back for a second year.  There are three people I met that year who are still good friends to this day.  Brad and I were in computer class and band together.  We also did a show together on the college radio station.  Sure, the station barely made it beyond campus(thus our nickname the "Twelve Watt Giant")  But, we didn't care.  We were having a blast.

    We spent the better part of two hours catching up, telling stories and laughing.  We could have stayed longer.  But, the later you go, the less frequently the trains run.  We said our good-byes and I called it a day.  I never did make it through to the end of the Georgia/Alabama game.

Day 5 Tuesday January 9, 2018

      My flight wasn’t until 11, so I had plenty of time to get to LaGuardia Airport.  There are plenty of ways to get from downtown to the airport..  I chose the 7 Train, and once again joined the mass of New Yorkers beginning their day.

        Once you're out of Manhattan, the train comes up and runs over the streets of Queens.  The sun was coming up and I caught brief glimpses between the buildings as I rode along.  I shot this through the grimy window of the subway.

At my stop, I let the train leave before pausing for one more shot...

  From here is was an easy bus ride straight to the airport and the flight home,


Dave
1/11/18

PS: Next up for the road, I put in for and am contemplating one more trip to Big Bend National Park.  I thoroughly enjoyed my previous two trips.  Both have been in March when it's already pushing 100 degrees.  So, I've been thinking about mid-February.  There are a number of long trails that would take the better part of a day.  At this point it's just a thought.