My home for the next few nights was the New Yorker Hotel, one block from Penn Station. It's the same place I stayed last year. Though this time, they put me much higher. Not a bad view from the 24th floor. I could see some of the Empire State Building.
My only plan for the day was to meet my sister Mary for dinner. So, I had some time to head out and explore. Bryant Park was an easy walk.
Seen on the walk back to the hotel...
The New Yorker Hotel, and my view as the light of day turned into night...
After work, Mary met me in the hotel lobby and we walked a few blocks to a place called Petit Poulet for dinner.
Pretty good food. Much better conversation. On the way back, we passed a place called Candytopia. The links describe it better than I could.
While Chicago has its "Bean," Manhattan has, whatever this is.
Wednesday January 9, 2019
My Mom grew up in the Richmond Hill section of Queens. I've been thinking of taking the subway out there for a while. Since I had an extra day this time, it seemed right. Even on the subway, it's a bit of a haul out there. It all started with the A-Train downtown to 14th Street.
Scattered around the 14th St. station are sculptures by local artist Tom Otterness. He has sculptures around the city and as far away as Germany, The Netherlands and Korea. Click the link for his website.
At 14th Street, it's a fairly long ride on the L-Train to Broadway Junction.
From Broadway Junction, it's the J-Train to Richmond Hill and the 104th St. station.
That's Jamaica Avenue under the tracks. Under the shade it's construction noise and traffic congestion. Half a block away, it suddenly gets calm and quiet.
Mom's parent's house is just a couple of minutes away.
Walking 104th St. was like walking through any suburban neighborhood. I cut cross a few blocks and then made my way back to Jamaica Ave.
Passing the parking lot for a cooking school, I noticed some interesting graffiti, a partially obscured Albert Einstein. Oddly enough, this isn't the only Einstein I would see on this trip.
This is also where I passed the Manor Delicatessen. I wasn't really thinking food just yet, but stopped in to check their offerings. I walked out with a Forrest Park Hero. That's chicken, provolone and roasted peppers. It was wrapped in the traditional waxed paper and brown paper bag. It smelled incredible.
I walked another few blocks to the 86th St. station and got back on the subway. At Canal St. I picked up the 6 train uptown. The whole time, the smell of my sandwich is wafting up from the bag. I decided to get off at 23rd St and walk back towards the hotel from there. Just two blocks from the subway is Madison Square Park. It was pretty quiet and there were plenty of tables and seats available in the park. And yes, the sandwich was as good as it smelled.
It never occurred to me that the park is one block from the Flatiron Building. The wedge shaped lot was bought by the Fuller Company in 1899. They were one of the leading builders of skyscrapers in the country. It was even named after George Fuller, the company owner who had died two years prior. The people who lived nearby simply referred to it as the "flatiron," and the name stuck.
The Fuller Company made use of a recent change in the New York building codes to increase the height of the building. It was now legal to build with steel framing. This allowed them to build twenty-two stories, making it one of the tallest buildings in the city.
Today, it's one of those iconic New York buildings. But, when it opened, the New York Tribune described it as a "stingy piece of pie." The Municipal Art Society declared it "unfit to be in the center of the city."
I did some reading about the building when I got home and found some interesting things. The original elevators were water powered and would periodically cause floods. They were also slow, sometimes taking ten minutes to go the twenty floors.
Never gets old...
It was still only mid afternoon. I was meeting a college friend for dinner and had some time. After a brief stop at the hotel, it was back out onto the streets. Looking uptown, things seemed a little ominous.
My plan was to walk up to Times Square, cut over to the Hudson River and perhaps catch a sunset. With the sun setting at 4:45P, I had plenty of time to get back for dinner.
Sure, Times Square is infested with tourists, but there's something about it...
Two things I will always support, live music and independent musicians. So, when two guys walked up to me with CDs of their music, I stopped to talk with them. The first guy goes by the name Wolf Bear Show. Hip hop isn't my usual thing, but I will give him credit for lyrical originality. The second guy goes by the name ALO. His music leans more towards hip hop with a reggae. I couldn't find him on youtube. As for his CD, I don't know where he burned it, but the quality was awful. The first two tracks were full of loud crackles. The rest of the songs were uninspiring. The website on the CD doesn't even exist. Sometimes you get lucky with these guys. Sometimes, not so much.
Then there was this guy. He had a microphone and a PA and was spreading his message to the citizens of New York. It was mostly about staying in school and away from drugs.
When I finally reached the river, I found myself alongside the USS Intrepid. The aircraft carrier was commissioned in 1943 and fought in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Before the war was over, it had survived one Japanese torpedo and four hits from Kamikazes. The ship saw service again during the Viet Nam War and was used for recovery of the Mercury and Gemini spacecraft before being decommissioned in 1974.
As part of the Bicentennial celebrations, the Intrepid was moored in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, with the plan being for it to be sold for scrap. Instead, it was brought to New York and turned into an Air and Space Museum. I'll get there one of these days.
After walking south past a few ferry terminals and commercial buildings, I finally found the perfect spot to settle in for sunset.
Heading back to the hotel...
Dinner was at a place called Brother Jimmy's BBQ. right on the corner of 8th Ave. and 32nd St. Brad and I lingered over dinner and a couple of beers before he had to call it a day and catch the train home.
Still feeling like I had some energy left, I went back out into the city. Walking up Sixth Avenue, I passed a little park by the Holiday Inn. It was just a few tables and chairs, just not ordinary tables and chairs.
Times Square at night takes on a slightly different vibe.
Out come the people in costumes, posing with tourists for tips.
Before heading back, I was approached by Elmo and asked if I wanted a picture. I said no thanks, but still got a hug.
For no real reason, I chose to walk back down Seventh Avenue. It was definitely the right call. I hadn't gone very far when I started hearing some serious blues. That's where I met guitarist and member of the New Jersey Blues Hall of Fame, David Spectra.
Thursday January 10, 2019
One of the numerous places Professor Helmreich mentioned in his book was GreenacrePark It's located on East 51st St. between Second and Third Avenues. It's a small park that comes compete with its own twenty-five foot waterfall. You can click the link to see the waterfall. What I didn't know is, the park is closed and barricaded in the winter.
With no plans until 6P and plenty of time to get to our meeting spot in Brooklyn, I settled in for a lengthy walk. Seen walking down Third Avenue...
Since I did promise another Einstein...
One thing you can say about the New York Labor Unions, they don't take crap from anyone. I came across a couple of guys setting up these giant rats in protest of Anfield Interiors shortchanging the carpenters union.
As an added bonus, another surprise Toynbee Tile.
Across the street from the coffee shop...
I had to negotiate with a couple of construction guys to get that shot. They were ripping up the street and the area was heavily barricaded. This is the neighborhood that housed CBGB, home of the New York punk rock scene back in it's day. Appropriately enough, the city renamed the block of Second Street Joey Ramone Place.
Two blocks south, I picked up Delancy Street and started walking east towards the river. I had walked to Brooklyn numerous times. Most tourists take the Brooklyn Bridge, as do I. More often than not, I walk back on the Manhattan Bridge. It's a little less traveled and doesn't have that well kept feel of its neighbor.
This time, I decided to try something completely different and walk across the Williamsburg Bridge. Construction began on what was then called the East River Bridge in 1897. Since the other side of the bridge ended in the Brooklyn community of Williamsburg, residents there referred to it as the Williamsburg Bridge and the name eventually stuck.
At the time of its completion, the bridge held the record for the longest suspension bridge span in the world. It held that record for twenty-two years.
Once nice touch, there's a separate fenced walkway for bicycles and for pedestrians.
While the Brooklyn Bridge is obviously the bigger tourist draw, and the Manhattan Bridge better maintained, the Williamsburg Bridge walkway was covered in graffiti. I found it disturbing.
Something you'll never experience on the Brooklyn Bridge, the chance to take photographs without people. For much of my walk across, I had the place to myself.
Sadly, there were no places to shoot other than through the chain link of the fencing.
From the Brooklyn Side...
Lower Manhattan...
This brings you to the site of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The site was chosen in 1801 by President John Adams. Ships were built and serviced here through 1966 when the site was closed. It was turned into an industrial park. The larger companies came and went. In the late 80's smaller businesses were brought in and the area is currently thriving.
There are still warehouses and shipping companies using the docks with walls made of shipping containers blocking most of the view. I took this one through the back window of a mixed use building. There were offices above a large food court, most of which was marked with "coming soon" signs.
This brings you to one of my favorite sections of the city, the neighborhood known as DUMBO. It stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge. The streets closest to the river are still cobble stoned. Among the stones are still some of the tracks from the J-Street Connecting Railroad. The line hauled freight from the docks to warehouses and ran from 1904 until its abandonment in 1959.
If you walk up Adams Street on a clear day, you can see the Empire State Building through the Manhattan Bridge. Of course you also have to dodge cars and other tourists trying for the same picture. This may take a while. Apparently, the latest thing is to get your picture taken in front of a landmark while jumping. This may require many attempts. I watching this happened again and again. And no, I didn't feel the need to try it.
As the late day sun waned, it gave the Brooklyn Bridge a certain golden glow...
The sign over the waterfront read thirty-one degrees. With the wind gusts, it felt much colder. But still, a group of about twenty people bundled up and settled in for sunset.
I have no idea who this guy is. I didn't recognize the song, but he was obviously recording a music video, lip syncing all the way. If he ever becomes famous, you might see me in the background, mildly amused.
When I packed my bags for this trip, I thought about tossing in my 70-300mm lens. In the end, I left it at home. It's heavy and I didn't think I would need it. This was the one time I regretted not bringing it. This is heavily cropped down and would have been so much better with the longer lens.
Walking back down Flatbush Avenue, my initial thought was to walk back across the Manhattan Bridge. The views are great at night. But, I was done.
Friday, January 11, 2019
There are plenty of choices for flights from LaGuardia to Atlanta. I chose the 11A flight simply to avoid the early morning rush, and to get back home at a reasonably early time. Getting there is easy. The 7 Train takes you to Broadway Blvd. From there it's a short bus ride to the airport. Easy enough.
David
January, 2019
PS: Believe it or not, I have nothing on the books until the middle of April. I'm meeting my friend Tracy in Clarksdale, Mississippi for the Juke Joint Festival. We did this two years ago and had a blast. I've also tacked on two weeks to the back end of it and I'm headed back to Arkansas and Missouri. Some of you are thinking, but why? My only trip into Arkansas was a brief visit to Little Rock. All I've seen of Missouri was along Route 66, and it rained one of those days. That seemed reason enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment