One of the more dazzling floats in the West Indian Parade over the Labor Day Weekend
After many years of wanting to attend the West Indian Parade in Brooklyn and this year was the year. I planned ahead and got into Brooklyn in the early morning by 11:30am thinking that the parade started early. I did not realize that the parade started on the other side of the Eastern Parkway so I was end of the parade route.
By the time I got there, many of the politicians started to arrive with their staffs. I even got to see Mayor Adam’s in the beginning of the parade.
The end of the parade by the Brooklyn Museum
The first wave of parade goers in the parade arrived in front of the Brooklyn Museum by noon time and they were an energetic crowd
The parade was really about the generations. The older crowd of parade participants were in costume enjoying dancing around the floats. Here I saw the traditional dress of Carnival, the festival of celebration, by the Brooklyn Museum.
The older generation celebrating the holiday
The younger crowd of the parade enjoyed dancing around the flatbeds of DJ’s, playing contemporary music of the Caribbean. I expected to see more people in Carnival costumes.
The younger generation of parade goers did not dress up in Carnival like costumes
Most of the parade goers younger than myself seemed to like the casual approach to the parade.
Walking around the sides of the Eastern Parkway held lots of food vendors
As the parade went on, I ventured down the Eastern Parkway to get a better view. About halfway down the parade route, I saw that they had stopped the parade for a half hour. I did not realize that the parade was marred with a shooting. Five people were shot at during the parade by a random shooter, two critically. I ended up not knowing this until two days later when I watched the news. What was scary was that it was only a block and a half away from where I was standing.
I was wondering why there was so much commotion with ambulances and police cars. I just thought some people had just suffered from heat stroke. I had wondered why there was such a large police presence. It did mar the parade for a bit and then the show went on like nothing happened.
We finally got to see some of the Carnival costumes toward the middle of the parade
Towards the end of the parade is when the elaborate costumes and dancers started to come out.
One of the beautiful float costumes of the parade
This was what I thought the parade was going to be like. Elaborate costumes and floats vying for superiority in creativity. This was carnival.
The Carnival costumes of the parade
The parade started to wind down just before 4:00pm and I started to walk through Crown Heights trying to avoid the crowds on Eastern parkway. There were loads of food vendors selling curried and jerked items and trays of take out food around $25.00 and I did not want all that heavy food. I was looking for just a snack.
As I walked up Nostrand Avenue, I seemed to walk into the heart of ‘Little Caribbean’ with its island geared grocery stores and restaurants. I passed Puff’s Patties at 812 Nostrand Avenue and looked in the window. A gentleman who was sitting outside with a friend said, “You have got to try them. Go inside and get one.” So I did.
The menu at Puffs Patties
The delicious Jamaican meat patties at Puffs Patties
The meat patties here are excellent and made right in front of you. The pastry is moist and flaky and the fillings are excellent. I had a Chicken Curry Patty full of rich flavor and a surprisedly large filling. It was delicious and spicy.
The Curry Chicken pattie I had for lunch
They were so good that I had to have another one. The woman behind the counter recommended the Jerk Chicken and that was an excellent recommendation. Another spicy and hot patty that was wonderful. The ladies behind the counter seemed happy that I was so happy and it was funny that moved me to the front of the line. I guess I looked official.
The Jerk Chicken Pattie
I ended my street meal with a dessert of a Lemon/Lime ice from the Dominican ices vendor, who could not keep up with the scooping on a hot afternoon. The ices hit the spot after a spicy meal and are perfect on a hot day. Talk about being cooled down.
The Lemon lime ice at one of the Dominican vendors
On the way back to the subway by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, I walked around Crown Heights and through the neighborhoods surround the park. Gentrification has not totally changed this area yet.
Passing Bryant Park on my way home after the parade
By 5:00pm, I got back to Manhattan and headed home. The parade had been an experience.
The incident of the shooting at the Parade
The Parade went on:
The video is credit to New York Amazing
Things to do:
The West Indian Parade takes place every Labor Day Weekend. Check their website for days and times.
It has been one busy summer. In between walking the neighborhoods of Manhattan, I have been revisiting neighborhoods, attending events that I had in the past like the Coney Island Sand Castle Building contest and the Dutchess and Ulster County Fairs. I wanted to spend more time at them and I needed new pictures at all of these events (see my full blog, MywalkinManhattan.com for all these interesting blogs). That and I have been exploring the Jersey Shore towns like Point Pleasant and Seaside Park and Heights to really see what is beyond their Boardwalks. It has been a productive summer since graduation running back and forth between the Hudson River Valley and the Jersey Shore.
As I get ready for the school year to begin in a week and a half, I have more places to see and experience. Still in between all this I want to volunteer time at the Soup Kitchen and planning trips outside the City too experience more of New Jersey. Each day of the Month of August is like planning “D Day”.
Gramercy Park is such an interesting neighborhood. From the vibrant commercial areas to the historical parks, Gramercy Park has a lot of hidden treasures tucked here and there throughout the neighborhood. It seems though, along the neighborhoods Avenues, I would have been expected to see more classic architecture and beautiful stonework, I experienced experienced a more commercial environment with modern buildings. Still tucked here and there along the Avenues were many gems of the past and some beautiful little parks.
The Gramercy Park Historic District plaque
I started my walk along the Avenues of the neighborhood with a walk up the Irving Place Street and walked around the park to Lexington Avenue on the other side of the park. Irving Place and Lexington Avenue are separated by Gramercy Park’s north and South borders.
Gramercy Park in full bloom in the Summer of 2024
The section of the neighborhood is shared with the Union Square neighborhood as the lines are blurred from street to street between Gramercy Park, Union Square and the Flatiron District. This neighborhood has distinct architecture, beautiful parks including Gramercy Park, part of the old Rose Hill Farm estate and Stuyvesant Square, part of the former estate of Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant.
I started my walk on the southern part of Gramercy Park along the historical Irving Place with its historic homes and restaurants. I passed 4 Irving Place which the first couple of floors were under scaffolding. I admired the clocktower on the top of the building, the beautiful embellishments and just the elegance of the building. The building is home to Consolidated Edison (ConEd).
The was designed by architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh and architectural firm of Warren and Wetmore in the Neo-Classical design. The first phase of the building was started in 1911 and both phases were finished by 1929. The original section of the building is in the picture with the wings of the building to both sides (Wiki).
I passed 4 Irving Place, the Con Ed Building, just as twilight hit the building and you could see the beauty in its shadows.
Its clock told the time of the early evening.
The next morning when I walked past it again, you could see the true beauty of its design.
I also noticed that the roof top held a more intricate design than I noticed the night before. Look up at its intricate details to admire its beauty. This is part of the originally designed building.
Once I turned onto Irving Place, the old core of its industrial past gave way to the bohemian village it would become and stay in the future. This was once ‘THE’ neighborhood to live in and has stayed that way since even through the rough times of Union Square.
The most impressive object you will see in the neighborhood is this bust of Washington Irving that sits outside the Washing Irving Campus on Irving Place.
Artist Friedrich Beer was a German born artist known for his works on busts of famous individuals.
The neighborhood goes from commercial to more residential as you get further up Irving Place and closer to Gramercy Park. The borders of Union Square overlap with Gramercy Park and the Flatiron District between East 18th and East 20th streets so I revisited buildings that J had seen before. If people went in a Time Machine to Manhattan from 100 years ago they would still see the same buildings but with totally different uses.
The Washington Irving house at 122 East 17th Street and Irving Place (Washington Irving never lived here)
The “Irving House” was built by Peter Voorhis between 1843 and 1844, along with the adjacent two houses at 45 and 47 Irving Place. The original tenants of 49 Irving Place (at that time referred to as 122 East 17th Street) were Charles Jackson Martin, an insurance executive, and his wife, who would reside there from 1844 until 1852. Henry and Ann E. Coggill would live in it in 1853, and in 1854 it would become the home of banker Thomas Phelps and his wife Elizabeth, who would remain until 1863 (Atlasobsucra.com).
The front of the house facing Irving Place
The first mention in print of Irving having lived in the house came in the Sunday Magazine Supplement of the New York Times on April 4, 1897. The article is a human interest story about Elsie de Wolfe and the means and methods she used to decorate “Irving’s house.” In 1905, de Wolfe would become known as the first professional interior decorator and it appears this article is an early attempt at publicity for her. As for the information about Irving, the article takes enormous liberties (actually, it flat-out makes things up), claiming that Irving had conceived of the house himself and was very particular about the architecture and design (Atlasobsucra.com).
The entrance to the house at 122 East 17th street
The plaque on the house dedicated to the writer created by artist Alexander Finta
In 1930, a restaurant called the Washington Irving Tea Room was operating in the basement of the building and in 1934 a plaque sculpted by Rodin-student Alexander Finta was put up on the north facade that would cement the story in the public consciousness. Today, the surrounding area remains covered in references to Irving, from the large art installations in the nearby W Hotel to the Headless Horseman pub on 15th Street(Atlasobsucra.com).
Artist Alexander Finta was a Hungarian born artist who moved to the United States in 1923. He had studied mechanical engineering in his own country and had studied with Auguste Rodin. His is known for his elaborate busts. He spent the remainder of his career at 20th Century Fox Studios (Wiki)
All along the Irving Place corridor, the street is lined with interesting and historical buildings many of them turned into restaurants or inns. There are many historic plaques in this neighborhood and some creative architecture. The first building that caught my eye was 53 Irving Place, which is the home of Pierre Loti Wine Bar.
The home of Pierre Lotte Mediterranean Restaurant at 53-55 Irving Place was the home of O Henry
When I looked at the side of the building near the entrance, I was this historic plaque that said that this was the home of author William Sidney Porter (O. Henry). The author lived here from 1903-1907 and wrote the “Gift of the Magi” while living here and eating at Pete’s Tavern across the street (Wiki).
The historic plaque for author O Henry at 53-55 Irving Place
Down the road at is Pete’s Tavern, one of the most famous and the oldest literary restaurants in the City. The restaurant was founded in 1864 as the Portman Hotel and then in 1899 when changed to Healy’s Cafe when it was run by John and Tom Healy. Then in 1899, it was bought by Peter D’ Belles and renamed Pete’s Tavern. The restaurant was a ‘Speakeasy’ during prohibition and the dining rooms have not changed much over the last over hundred years (Pete’s Tavern website).
Pete’s Tavern was busy on the night of my first part of the walk.
The painting outside of Pete’s Tavern of the Speakeasy years
Pete’s Tavern was busy both nights that I passed it. I had not eaten there in over a decade when I had a holiday dinner there with friends by I remember the food and service being excellent. The restaurant is really special during the Christmas holiday season from what I can remember.
My friends Barbara, Lillian and I after dinner at Pete’s Tavern in the early 2000’s
Another restaurant I went to before my friend, Barbara, moved to Florida was a Friend of the a Farmer at 77 Irving Place, a farm to table concept before it became very popular. I remember the food being wonderful but the place being a bit noisy. She lived on the fringe of Gramercy Park and had passed this restaurant many times and had wanted to try it that evening.
Another great restaurant is Friend of a Farmer at 77 Irving Place
Across the street, I passed this apartment building at 76 Irving Place. I loved the outside embellishments on the building and the friendly looks you get from the statuary. The building was built in 1897 by architect Lyndon P. Smith (Corcoran Group).
You have to look up to admire the details of 76 Irving Place
The entrance to 76 Irving Place with its tiny angels
This woman guards the front of Irving Place like guard
This woman greets you at 76 Irving Place
The classic architecture of the block especially as you get closer to Gramercy Park changes from smaller apartment buildings to brownstones lining the parks southern border. Gramercy Park offers some of the most interesting architecture. This ivy covered building that impressed me so much as the sun was going down is at 80 Irving Place.
This building at East 19th street and Irving Place is typical for the buildings that once lined this neighborhood
The house was built as a single family mansion between 1853 and 1854 and had been the home of the prominent Wood family and then to actress Agnes Ethel Tracy. Since 1987, it has been a single family home again. What I thought was interesting was that the house was used in the movie “Working Girl” as Sigourney Weavers character’s home (DaytoninManhattan.com).
Look up at the beautiful details of 81 Irving Place
81 Irving Place is one of the most beautiful apartment complexes in the city that I have come across. The embellishments along the building are some of most detailed and elegant I have seen. This prewar Co-Op was built in 1929.
The details along the windows
The embellishments of the building
The dragons and demons that adorn the windows
The embellishments of the building
The unusual creatures at the doorways
The embellishments of the building
The creatures guarding the windows
The embellishments of the building
The rooftop gardens are protected by these griffins
The building has a whimsical almost storybook imagine of creatures protecting their home.
Where I want my future home to be when I retire to the City and can afford it is 19 Gramercy Park South. I have always loved this building since I fell in love with the neighborhood over thirty years ago. I always wanted a home with a key to Gramercy Park. The building has that classic turn of the last century look about it and it has always been my dream to live here when I retire. I need to hurry and win the lottery.
My dream home would be at 19 Gramercy Park South with a key to the park
I had thought this was a apartment building but it is actually a single family mansion with 37 rooms. It was built in 1845 and when the mansion was extended by Stamford White in 1887 was the home of socially prominent Stuyvesant-Fish family. It is currently back to being a single family mansion (Wiki).
I did the walk around the Park and continued along Lexington Avenue from East 20th to East 23rd Street. There is more magnificent architecture along the way. Small details that will surprise you and things that will stare you along the walk.
I walked along Lexington Avenue where the campus of Baruch College, which is part of the CUNY system, starts. One of its stand out buildings is The Lawrence and Eris Field Building, also known as the 23rd Street Building by the college. This building opened in 1929 and the ornamented Italian Renaissance revival style façade on 23rd Street is constructed of limestone and brick and engraved with “The College of the City Of New York.” (CUNY Website)
17 Lexington Avenue-The Lawrence and Eris Field Building, also known as the 23rd Street Building on the Baruch College Campus.
The Baruch College campus is located on the border of Gramercy Park and Kips Bay showcasing the unique architecture of the campus. Many of the buildings on this side of campus are going through a renovation so watch the scaffolding.
The coat of arms on the side of the building
The middle coat of arms on the side of the building
Coat of arms on the side of the building
The building on the Baruch Campus that I admired was the was the Baruch College Administration Center whose entrance is at 135 East 22nd Street. I loved the Art Deco details on the building. These seemed to represent all aspects of business.
The side of the Baruch College with its Art Deco details
Details on the CUNY building-The Baruch College Administration Center Building in its glory
The front of the Baruch College Administration Center at 135 East 22nd Street
The elaborate details on the building give it its Art Deco appearance. The Art Deco Administrative Center at 135 East 22nd Street was built in 1937–1939 as the Domestic Relations Court Building, and was connected to the Children’s Court next door (Baruch College Website).
Across the street from CUNY campus, the Sage House at Four Lexington Avenue. Sage House was built in 1913 for the Russell Sage Foundation, a social welfare nonprofit that was an early advocate of social work and urban planning (Streeteasy.com).
The building is a pre-war office building designed by Grosvenor Atterbury in the Italian Renaissance palazzo style. It has a rusticated red sandstone façade, vaulted ceilings, and carved decorative shields (Wiki). The building was converted to Coop apartments in 1986. The building next to it was the Hotel Gramercy Park which is currently closed and under renovation. Even though the hotel is closed, you can still peek through the scaffolding and see its elegance.
I myself have some wonderful memories of this hotel. I had stayed at the hotel back in 1993 while working at Macy’s Herald Square, when it was a European style old hotel with the large rooms with a view of the park. It had the most amazing bathtubs to sink into the night before I left to assist in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Years later, when Danny Meyers opened the Italian restaurant, Maialino, in the lobby in the early 2000’s, I remember taking my father there for Father’s Day and having the most delicious Roast Pork with potatoes that were cooked in the roast’s juices. It was a fantastic meal and the most perfect Father’s Day. Funny how I still remember that meal almost twenty years later.
The Hotel Gramercy Park at Two Lexington Avenue
The Hotel Gramercy Park was designed by architect Robert T. Lyons and was built by brothers Bing & Bing in 1924 and the hotel opened in 1925. The extension of the hotel along East 21st Street was designed by architects from Thompson & Churchill and built between 1929-1930. The hotel is designed in the Renaissance Revival style (Wiki). Across the street from the hotel is the historic One Lexington Avenue.
Built in 1910 by noted architect Herbert Lucas. This twelve-story intimate cooperative features extraordinary design details including a stately limestone and brick façade, timeless-elegant marble lobby and wood-paneled elevator still attended full-time by the elevator operator (Streeteasy.com).
The Cyrus West Field plaque on One Lexington Avenue where his home once stood
One Lexington Avenue was once the home of Cyrus West Field, who was considered the ‘Father of the American Cable” and helped lay the first trans Atlantic cable in 1858. When it broke, it was laid again in 1866 (American Experience).
The original house on the same corner in 1866 (NY Public Library)
Looking back up Lexington Avenue in the Summer of 2024, you can see how this neighborhood just keeps changing and still getting better. The old buildings are finding new uses and this part of the neighborhood is still very exclusive.
Looking up Lexington Avenue from Gramercy Park
The views uptown are so beautiful and will look even better when all the scaffolding comes down on all of these buildings. Still this part of the neighborhood is very impressive.
I walked down East 23rd Street to Third Avenue and it is not as impressive. This part of the neighborhood is more commercial the further you go from the park and most of the architecture here and on Second and First Avenue is mostly businesses housed in new buildings. Here and there though, tucked in the corners there is still a glimpse of the neighborhood’s past. You just have to look up to appreciate it.
Walking down Third Avenue from East 23rd Street
It may be all new construction but it is still impressive. Just a different feel and character. Third Avenue is more of a commercial district of larger stores and small restaurants.
Interesting street art on a Third Avenue mailbox. At least someone has some optimism
Tucked in between the modern architecture and some older brick buildings was this elaborate white building that stood out amongst its more plain neighbors and was one of the few older buildings left on Third Avenue.
The beauty of 190 Third Avenue known as Scheffel Hall
Scheffel Hall was designed by architects Henry Adams Weber and Hubert Drosser and was built between 1894 to 1895. This part of Gramercy Park was known as ‘Kleindeutschland’, ‘Little Germany”, when it had a large German immigrant population. The building served as a beer hall and restaurant at that time and was modeled after an early 17th Century building in Heidelberg Castle, the “Friedrichsbau” (Wiki). The building stands out for its beauty and elegant details that make this building special. There is nothing like it in the neighborhood and it a testament to its German past.
I finished my walk down Third Avenue and turned the corner at Second Avenue. As I walked down Second Avenue past Church of the Epiphany at 375 Second Avenue, I came across the historical plaque for the marker of the original “Rose Hill Farm” that was once part of this neighborhood and whose borders now make up the ‘Rose Hill’ neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan. All that remains of the farm today is the current Gramercy Park, which is a corner of the old farm.
The site of ‘Rose Hill Farm’, the home of General Horatio Gates and his second wife, Mary Valens
Rose Hill was originally a farm owned by James DeLancey and it was sold to Honorable John Watts, a member of the Colonial Assembly in 1747. The farm was 130 acres between East 30th to East 21st Street from what is now Irving Place to the East River. John Watts later married Ann DeLancey and they raised their family here. At the start of the Revolutionary War, as Loyalists they returned to England and left the estate to their son, John, who inherited it in 1789 (Wiki).
My blogs on Visiting the Rose Hill section of Manhattan:
Revolutionary War General Horatio Gates and his second wife, Mary Valens, bought the farm in 1790 and built a new mansion on the corner of what is now Second and East 22nd Street. They lived here for the next twenty years with him a member of the assembly in 1800 and active in New York Society at that time. He died on the farm in 1806 and the estate was parceled out later on when the new grid pattern for Manhattan was created (Wiki/Horatio Gates website).
As I looked up from the plaque, I admired the front windows of the Church of the Epiphany at 373 Second Avenue and all the beautiful plantings in front of the church. The original church that had been built in 1870 burned down in 1963. The current church was designed by the architectural firm of Belfatto & Pavarini and was finished in 1967. The stained glass windows of the Madonna and Child were from the original church (Wiki/Church of the Epiphany website).
Walking down at East 23rd Street, it was a short walk down the Avenue where I passed 303 Second Avenue and the beautiful details of this famous piece of the neighborhood history. This is the one really standout building on the block with interesting embellishments all along the windows and doorways.
303 Second Avenue-The Rutherford Place Medical Building
The Rutherford Medical Building was designed by architect Robert H. Richardson and was finished in 1902. This was a very active hospital delivering sixty percent of the infants in Manhattan at that time before a full part of the hospital. It was converted to luxury condos in recent years (Wiki/Streeteasy.com).
The historic plaques
The historic plaques
The elegant details of the The Rutherford Building
You have to look at the top of this building to really appreciate it
As you cross over from East 17th Street on both sides of Second Avenue, you are greeted by the greenery of Stuyvesant Square, what is left of the former estate of ‘Peg Leg’ Peter Stuyvesant, the Governor of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. The park was in full bloom and on a hot day, the shade trees are a pleasure to be under.
As I walked down Second Avenue, I passed the beauty of Stuyvesant Square Park
I walked through the park, admiring the paths of flowers and flowering trees. People were outside reading books and listening to the makeshift concert that a resident was putting on. There is a dirty little secret to Stuyvesant Square Park is on the edges of the park there is a lot of loitering by delivery guys and homeless in the corners of the park. The park could also use a little pruning and sprucing here and there.
Looking up Second Avenue from Stuyvesant Square
Stuyvesant Square in full bloom
The Stuyvesant family was the influence of this wonderful park. In 1836, Peter Gerard Stuyvesant, the great great grandson of Peter Stuyvesant and his wife, Helen Rutherfurd sold four acres of the original Stuyvesant Farm to the City for $5.00 as a public park under the stipulation that the City build a fence around it. It took an almost lawsuit from the city to finally build the fence in 1847, which is the fence that surrounds the park today (NYCParks.org).
The colorful flowers surrounding the fountains
In the middle of the park on the right side as you are walking down Second Avenue is the statue of Governor Peter Stuyvesant in all of his glory.
The statue of ‘Peg Leg’ Peter Stuyvesant, the Governor of the Dutch Colony
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was an American born New York artist who had studied at the Arts Student League of New York and apprenticed under several well known artists.
The Stuyvesant Square Park in the Summer of 2024
Around the corner from the park as I walked its perimeter was the beautiful testament to God in the form of St. John The Baptist Greek Orthodox Church at 143 East 17th Street
St. John The Baptist Greek Orthodox Church at 143 East 17th Street
Built in 1885, designed by Schwartzmann & Buchman, with a baroque facade that was altered in 1957 by Kyriacos A. Kalfas (Wiki).
The detailed windows of St. John’s Church at East 143 17th Street
As I reached East 14th Streets, I could see that the neighborhood along Second and Third Avenue did not have the same historic appearance as the side streets of the neighborhood. Here and there tucked in between modern buildings, there were a few gems,
This prewar apartment building was built in 1910. You have to really look up to see the elegant details of the building and its decorative embellishments.
The beautiful entrance to the apartment building
The classic embellishments of the building
Walking through the other side of Stuyvesant Square I got better views of 303-305 Second Avenue
This city squirrel just ignored me as it chopped away at some nuts
The beauty of Stuyvesant Square in the Summer of 2024
The historic plaque at Stuyvesant Square
Lunch was a slice of Sicilian pizza at Lunetta Pizza at 245 Third Avenue. I had passed Lunetta Pizza many times while walking through the neighborhood and noticed that it was one of the few restaurants in the neighborhood that did not change their prices after COVID. They are still one of the most reasonable pizzerias in Manhattan (See my review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com).
The slice was amazing. Their red sauce is spiced perfectly and that is what makes the structure of the pizza. The Sicilian pizza here is crisp and pillowy, the way it should be.
The prices are extremely fair and are still pre-COVID. They do not rip you off.
The selection of pizzas is extensive
The Sicilian slices were pillowy and crisp with a deep, rich flavor because of their amazing red sauce.
I finished walking the Avenues of Gramercy Park with enough time to take the trip out to Brooklyn for the pre-West Indian Parade event at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
My blog on the special event at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden:
The Carnival like atmosphere right before the West Indian Parade
After the event was over, I headed back to Manhattan for dinner. I had been so impressed by Lunetta Pizza’s food the afternoon, that I bypassed my favorite restaurants in Brooklyn and went back to dinner there.
I had a very impressive Linguini with a Meat Sauce and I then made a better judgement call on the food and it is truly excellent. The meat sauce was so flavorful and the pasta perfectly cooked and a very generous portion size that it made the perfect dinner.
My dinner at Lunetta Pizza, the Linguini with Meat Sauce
Yum!
As I left the neighborhood that night I passed a plaque in the sidewalk from the Mayor Abe Beame Administration (now these were some bad years in the City) dedicating a tree for the beautification of the neighborhood. It just shows has the City just keeps morphing with the cycles the City goes through over the years. Manhattan just keeps changing.
The plaque from the neighborhood beatification program in the 1970’s. This plaque is near East 23rd and Third Avenue. It is also coming out of the ground.
As I passed Bryant Park that evening, twilight had come and the lights of the City were coming on. New York City may have its problems, but there still is a beauty to it.
Passing Bryant Park that evening
The next part of the walk will be visiting the Streets of Gramercy Park.
Justin Watrel at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen on April 19th, 2024.
I have been volunteering at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen (HASK) since September of 2003 ( I have mentioned this in many of my blogs) and it has been a wonderful and very humbling experience. I have clocked in many hours since I started and have seen many volunteers come and go along the way. On April 19th, 2024, I finally reached my reach goal and achieved the 2500 hour status.
This had always been a goal of mine since the first Volunteer lunch I attended back in 2003, my first year of volunteering at HASK. I always remember the pride that everyone felt when they achieved their 500, 1000, 2500 and 5000 hour awards at that lunch.
In the old days (pre 2008 meltdown), the 500 and 1000 hour award winners got a beautiful plaque, the 2500 hour winners got a engraved clock and the 5000 hour winners got an beautifully engraved silver bowl. We have not done those things in years but there is still that sense of accomplishment when we hit those milestone hours. I felt it at the recent Volunteer lunch in April 2024.
I have been volunteering at HASK since September 30th, 2003. It was the wanting to help the volunteers who were assisting at the piles downtown after 9/11. I had just moved home from the island of Guam and wanted to do something to help the effort in New York City. That and as a Culinarian and Hospitality Major, I thought I could put my cooking skills to some use for the 9/11 effort.
At that point though, Mayor Bloomberg had closed the piles to volunteers and machinery took over. So the volunteering was over. The Italian restaurant downtown, which had been supplying all the food for lunch and dinner was shutting down from feeding volunteers. The owner told me he no longer needed anyone but suggested I volunteer at a soup kitchen which there were a few in the City that needed help. The economy sucked at this time and they were all busy. A year and a half later after settling in at home, I looked into volunteering again.
While participating on a walking tour of Brooklyn for a ‘Trends in Retail’ class at the Fashion Institute of Technology (where I am an Alumnus), I saw on our volunteer board on campus Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen and decided to volunteer the next week. The was September 30th, 2003.
I have seen many changes over the years going from a small buffet line to a massive one created before COVID and then after the closing of the line on March 13th, 2020 and the pivot to outside takeout service. Now we only have outside take out service, sandwich drop off and pantry service, where people order their groceries with us and pick them up when they ‘place the order’ with us on site and pick them up while they are there. It’s a new system that seems to be working well.
In between my last semester at NYU, where I will graduating with my Masters in Global Hospitality Management on May 17th and my classes I have been teaching at Bergen Community College this semester, I have been volunteering more between classes. That’s how I finally finished the 2500 hour goal. I by no means will be stopping. There is now the 5000 hour goal to accomplish but it is that sense of joining all those other volunteers who achieved that goal and that sense of pride of giving back to a City we love so much that makes it worth it. Please note that I did not get the clock but with cellphones no one really uses them in the house anymore. One more thing to dust. It’s just that sense of accomplishment that means so much to me.
The lunch was really wonderful. We started off with a very inspirational talk by Reverend Anne, who talked about the pride of giving and then our Volunteer Coordinator Steve talked about the people who accomplished the milestone hours.
The volunteers who accomplished milestone goals. I entered the 2000 hour plus category. My name proudly added to the listing right in the middle of the listing.
Reverend Anne giving her inspirational speech that afternoon.
The volunteers at HASK enjoying the talk that afternoon just before lunch was served.
The lunch was a lot of fun and the food delicious.
The table was set with fresh salad, rolls and a dense Chocolate cake for dessert.
The Buffet line had Mushroom Ravioli, Roasted Broccoli, Stuffed Chick and Fish entrees and vegetables. The food was plentiful and wonderful. Everyone really enjoyed the lunch that afternoon.
The Mushroom Ravioli
The Roasted Broccoli
The Stuffed Fish entree
The Stuffed Chicken entree
The rich Chocolate cake for dessert.
It wasn’t the food that meant so much to me that afternoon even though lunch was really good and the Stuffed Chicken delicious, it was joining that rank with the people who had achieved so much that afternoon and whom I respected for their work at HASK. That sense of us giving back to the community that meant the world to me.
The irony is that the person I so much wanted to be like, Oswaldo, who I met on that first day volunteering and who achieved his 500 hour award at that first luncheon I went to twenty-one years ago, was there that day at this luncheon. I had not seen him since our Pre-COVID days and was now only volunteering on Wednesdays, when I was teaching class. He now only volunteers on Wednesday mornings.
When I reminded him of our years of volunteering together and that first Volunteer Lunch years ago, he just laughed and also wondered where the time had went. He also noted when I brought up the achievement of the 2500 hours and the clock, he laughed and said he did not know where his was anymore.
I guess we all go full circle in life. Like I said, I do not need a clock to mark this milestone. I am just proud that maybe I am making a difference in people’s lives. Whether a person is homeless, working poor, disabled or maybe a new immigrant to this country and to New York City, I am helping them to achieve their dreams as well. A place to rest and eat can give anyone a breather is always a helping hand. Isn’t this what God wants from us in the ‘Platinum Rule’? Treat those as they would want to be treated?
As I look forward to graduation from NYU and a new chapter in my own life, it is another sense of accomplishment along with my Masters that makes me feel fulfilled and humbled. This is how we grow and change in life.
Plus now I have another 2500 hours to accomplish. Maybe they will bring that silver bowl back some day!
Also check out my blog on the blooming of the Gardens throughout the year and the many special events: Day Two Hundred and Sixty Two on MywalkinManhattan.com:
The crowds constantly watching at the full position the eclipse.
I went the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to see the solar eclipse that started at 2:10pm and was finishing up by 4:00pm on April 8th, 2024. It was a day of a lot of excitement all over New York City to sites sponsoring events.
The start of the eclipse at 2:10pm.
It was a mixture of clouds and sun that afternoon.
Originally, I was supposed to go to the Clermont State Historical Park in Germantown, NY for the event but we had a speaker at NYU that evening so I decided to change my plans when I saw that the Brooklyn Botanic Garden was having a similar event so I signed up there as well and would decide depending on the weather. It ended up being a very sunny morning and I wanted to go into the City to see the Eclipse. The first thing I wanted to do was eat lunch.
840 United Deli Corp. at Washington Street
840 United Deli Corporation at 840 Washington Avenue
Because the gardens would not allow outside food to the event, I stopped at 840 Deli Corp. for a quick lunch when the other two take out places I go to in the neighborhood were both closed. One of the local construction workers suggested a Cheesesteak on a hero roll so that is what I ordered. What a good suggestion! It was delicious.
Before I left the little bodega cat walked away from me.
The selection of sandwiches and snacks here are extensive and you can get sandwiches in both roll and hero rolls, and they are sizable.
The selection of snacks and drinks.
The gardens were not opening until 1:00pm so I took my lunch to the steps by the Brooklyn Museum right around the corner from the entrance of the gardens. The sandwich was delicious and had such a nice flavor. Not quite a Philly sandwich but the guy did a really good job.
The steps by the Brooklyn Museum.
The Brooklyn Museum Cherry trees were in full bloom.
I just relaxed, enjoyed the sunshine and really enjoyed the cheesesteak. It was great. Not quite Philly (no Cheese Wiz) but still good. I ate and just people watched. It was so nice to just sit outside and enjoy lunch and people watch. It is so underrated.
How could you not love a Brooklyn Cheesesteak.
This was the best lunch. It was nice to have a cheesesteak again.
Do not miss the Cheesesteaks here.
The Cheesesteak was great!
After lunch I got back to the gardens and got in line which went on and on after me. I got in line at the right time and into the gardens quickly and received my solar glasses (Thank you Warby Parker). Since I had about an hour, I walked around the gardens. Everything was starting to bloom, and the gardens looked dazzling.
The crowds entering the Cherry Blossom lawn as it just started to bloom. It will be in full bloom in about three weeks.
Walking towards the Japanese Gardens.
The Cherry Trees by both the Cherry Blossom Lawn and the Japanese Gardens were in full bloom and looked spectacular that afternoon. There was such a variety of colors.
The Japanese Garden in bloom with cherry blossoms.
The Japanese Garden was in full bloom with cherry trees and spring flowers surrounding the pool. The sunlight gave it a colorful appearance when it reflected off the water.
The small house by the pond in full bloom.
The Japanese Gardens made quite a show that afternoon and Mother Nature really shows here stuff at the beginning of the Spring.
The Cherry trees by the pool.
Right around the corner from the Japanese Gardens is Daffodil Hill where hundreds of yellow trumpet Daffodils were in full bloom and the contrasts of green and yellow made quite a sight.
Daffodil Hill
The beauty of Daffodil Hill at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Before I staked out a place to see the eclipse at 2:10pm, I decided to walk around and see more of the gardens and take more pictures. Daffodil Hill was in full bloom and was just peaking since I was here last time. Hundreds of beautiful trumpet daffodils swayed in the window. I never get tired of staring at it.
The beauty of Daffodil Hill should not be missed when it is in full bloom.
My next stop was the Fragrance Garden. All the tulips were in full bloom, and it was a colorful show of various hues looking an elegant design.
The Fragrance Garden in full Spring bloom and was a rich variety of colors and scents.
The fountain in the Fragrance Garden.
Then I walked through the Magnolia Garden which was just coming into bloom. The forty-degree weather recently really affected the trees. Some of them looked like they got hit with frostbite. Still, it was magnificent display of pinks, purples and dark rogues.
The Magnolia Garden.
The Magnolia Garden in bloom with Daffodil Hill behind it.
The Magnolia Garden by the sun dial.
The Magnolia Garden were vibrant in their colors and played beautifully off one another.
The Magnolia Garden by Daffodil Hill
Some of the season smaller flowers were in bloom too and these are usually only blooming for about a week, similar to the crocuses. I love the contrasts of the large old oaks and the small delicate flowers.
The deep purple Virginia Bluebells.
The Virginia Bluebells were in full bloom when I visited and with their deep purple hue make quite a statement against the large oaks that have not quite opened yet.
The Virginia Bluebells just around the corner from the Cherry Blossom lawn.
The Virginia Bluebells by the Cherry Blossom lawn.
The edge of the Rose Garden’s fountain was still not in service (the weather was still in the 40’s recently) but the tulips were in full bloom with their colorful statement.
The fountain on the edge of the Rose Garden.
The flowers were fully open on this warm Spring Day. The colors contrasted so nicely. The crowds started to grow around this part of the garden and the Cherry trees were just starting to open.
The crowds growing for the Eclipse by the Cherry Blossom lawn.
The Cherry Blossom lawn ready to burst open to show their magnificent colors.
The crowds started to grow all over the gardens and families talked while their children ran around the lawn.
The gardens started to show their brilliance.
The walk through the gardens is delightful.
People exploring the gardens by Daffodil Hill.
I came across these vibrant little yellow flowers that lined the lawns and hills right near the entrance to the Children’s Garden.
The tiny yellow flowers on the hill near the Children’s Garden.
This beautiful yellow blanket lined the sides of the hill and was such a nice contrast to Daffodils Hill.
The vibrant tiny yellow flowers.
These tiny yellow flowers lined the hills just past the Magnolia Garden.
The Natural waterway with more flowers.
The Children’s Gardens were in full swing with activity that afternoon. The gardens are always busy with families on the weekend, but it looked like the staff was preparing more beds as the weather was finally starting to warm.
The beds were being prepared for planting in the Children’s Garden.
Flowers right now dominate this garden which by the middle of the summer will be filled with fruits and vegetables.
The Children’s Garden building has been around since the turn of the last century.
Families were here to see the eclipse and it was mostly staff working here that afternoon.
I loved these signs. How creative!
I finally settled in and sat in a small incline across from Daffodil Hill so I could admire the flowers in between the glimpses of the solar eclipse. We lucked out and it started off as a sunny day. We had some cloud coverage during the show but with the glasses on, it was an interesting show.
The sun as the celestial show begun.
The problem with the eclipse was that we were too far away from the path to really see the show so you could only see it through the glasses. The sun still looked like it was shining.
Just as the moon started to cross the sun.
The clouds kept rolling in and out, but it was not as gloomy as they thought the weather would be that afternoon.
The start of the show as the moon started to cross the sun.
Only through the glasses could see the passing which took a little over two hours to finish and it was not a complete eclipse from our viewpoint. It was still interesting to see.
The crowd was really getting into it and everyone was becoming the experts by the end of the afternoon.
In between the moon crossing the path of the sun (you could not look at this all the time), I admired the flowers blooming around us.
The Magnolia Gardens right across from the incline where we were all sitting.
It was a nice break from looking at the sun. I picked the best location in the garden to both view the eclipse and the flowers.
The moon crossing the sun at the midpoint. You could see nothing without the glasses.
The sun was totally covered by about 3:20pm and then started its movement away from the sun.
The moon moving away from the sun.
By 4:20pm, the eclipse was over, and most people left the gardens by that point. Others just relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful sunny afternoon that we were finally having. It had been such a cold early Spring (so much for Phil’s prediction). with temperatures in the low 40’s until just recently.
Some of the crowd lingering at the end of the show.
I left the gardens around 5:00pm after most of the crowds left and enjoyed one more walk around the gardens. Some of the flowers were at their peak and would not be in bloom when I returned the next time. I wanted to enjoy them now.
Leaving the Magnolia Garden.
Passing the Japanese Gardens when the crowds were gone, I finally got to enjoy the paths.
The path by the Japanese Garden
The Magnolia trees around the corner from the Frangrance Gardens.
The Cherry trees in the Japanese Gardens were in full bloom and were quite a show themselves. It was so colorful reflecting off the pool.
The beauty of the Cherry trees in full bloom.
The paths around the Japanese Gardens pool were crowed.
The vibrant light and dark pinks and mauve of the trees.
The Japanese Gardens at their peak bloom.
I took the subway back to Greenwich Village that night for our talk on campus. Even in Greenwich Village, the flowers put on quite a show. I love the contrasts of urban gardens against the old brownstone apartments. These flowers were a block from the NYU campus.
West 12th Street in bloom in the Spring.
Walking around the Village on that late afternoon was a nice way to cap off this unique afternoon. There will not be another eclipse in about a decade, but we can wait for it.
West 12th Street in the Spring.
West 12th Street by our campus building is always a treat to walk down in the Spring, Summer and the holidays.
West 12th Street in the Spring.
Greenwich Village is very unique in its own way with nicely landscaped properties and lots of potted plants. Until the next eclipse there is still a lot of Manhattan to explore!
I got an email during Spring Break that Cornell Basketball was going to be playing Yale for the Ivy League Championships. We had an Alumni get together at the Lion Head Tavern at 995 Amsterdam Avenue before the game and we would be heading up for the game. You know that nothing works out the way you think it will.
By the time I got to the Alumni get together at the Lion Head Tavern which is several blocks from the gym it was almost over. It had been a long morning for me and try getting a bus to cooperate getting into Manhattan on a Saturday and then catching the subway uptown was interesting. I have to say that the tiny bar was PACKED with Alumni and current students having a good time before the game. The whole place both inside and outside the bar was spilling with Red and White. Everyone really thought we would win the Ivy League Championship. I thought so too with the current record we had for the season.
When I got inside, all that was left was a salad that had seen better days and there was no dressing to it and some portobella mushroom burgers (Yuck!). I did not want to eat any mushy mushrooms. By that point at 1:30pm, everyone was heading up to the Levien Gymnasium where the game was taking place and I was starved, so I walked to Koronet Pizza on Broadway to have one their giant slices. I forgot how giant the slices are there.
I forgot how good the pizza was and how big these slices actually are. The cheese slice if cut into half could easily serve two hungry people. I downed the slice with a Coke before the game and it filled me up for the rest of the afternoon. It was so beautiful outside that the doors and windows were all open and the place was spilling with Cornell, Columbia and Princeton Alumni (Princeton had just lost to Brown in the Semi-Finals and they were all bummed).
The pizza slice is huge and takes up two plates.
After this large lunch, I walked up to the gym to get tickets. At first they were trying to sell me the seatback tickets for $60.00 but I could not afford that nor did I want to pay that for a Ivy League game. Since I was traveling alone, I did get a ticket in the bleachers for $30.00 which I still thought was too high but I came all the way to see the game so I paid for my ticket and then had to run around the perimeter of the gym to get to my seats. The commentators were blocking the easy route to the bleachers.
The place was mostly a sea of red and white with the Yale Alumni tucked into two sets of the gym. Our band and cheerleaders were on top of the bleachers yelling and screaming. At that point were behind by ten points when I arrived in the first half of the game.
The Cornell Team in the huddle during the first half of the beginning of the game.
The start of the game when I got there.
The first half was not so great. We had lots of mistakes. We kept up with Yale, a team that we had beaten the last time and lost by two points the time before. I have to say that our side of the court was rather loud. I have found at Ivy League games no matter football or basketball, Cornell Alumni and students are far more the dominate members of the stands even at away games. I have been to Penn, Columbia and Yale games were we take up all the seats and do most of the cheering.
It was not much of a game for either side in the first half as we left at half time 37-25 with Yale ahead by twelve. I knew a score like this you could catch up in the second half as I have seen Michigan State (my undergraduate Alma Mater), come back from games with higher deficits. The problem with Cornell is that we kept missing all our shots and Yale kept making the three pointers. That was the difference in the game.
The end of the first half.
The second half was a bit better in the beginning. We started to catch up from the blood bath of the first half. We started to chip away at their lead. During the break, our cheerleaders came out and got the crowd going along with the band.
Our cheerleaders led the way.
The Cornell Cheerleaders leading the way to a hopeful comeback and victory in the second half of the game.
We starting catching up in the second half and came out fighting. We were able to get the score within seven points with three and a half minutes left to the game. The crowds were exploding on the Cornell side and Yale got very quiet for about a minute and a half. It looked like the game was going to turn around.
We kept chipping away at that lead.
You got to keep fighting!
We moved within seven points of the lead but we could not sustain the game. We kept missing the three point shots and easy layouts.
The teams battling it out but we could not put the game away.
Oh well!
In the end we chipped away to nine points but we could not come back from the deficient. We ended up losing by twelve points 69-57.
I like all the other Alumni was bummed at the loss. Several I heard went back to the Tavern as the Columbia versus Princeton Girls Basketball Teams started their game. I decided to walk around the neighborhood as I had not been up here in several years to walk around. I had not released I had written my blogs here in 2017.
I needed something sweet and remembered the bakery on Amsterdam Avenue that had been there for years that everyone kept raving about, Hungarian Pastry Shop. I stopped for some dessert. I had read and seen so many videos on the shop I wanted to try it. The lines were long all day and I had to get into the line for a half hour before I could get in.
The Hungarian Pastry Shop at 1030 Amsterdam Avenue
I tried their version of the Napoleon, which was layers of Vanilla Cream, whipped cream and a caramel topping between the flaky layers and a Apple Strudel, that was loaded with fresh apples and cinnamon. I took the desserts across the street to the park and I have to tell you that they were terrific.
The pastries are amazing!
I ate them at the park across the street and just relaxed and watch the world go by. I admired the statuary in the park which I had seen when I visited the park years ago on my walk through here.
Down the long paths of plantings and around the bends of the property, I sat by the interesting statue at the center of the park. The breathtaking statue is called the “Peace Fountain”, created in 1985 which shows a unusual look at the battle between good and evil by artist Greg Wyatt, who was an artist in residence at the church.
Mr. Wyatt has graduated from Columbia College with BA in Art History and studied at National Academy of Design. He bases his work on the philosophy of the “spiritual realism’ merging realistic images and abstract forms of space, form and energy (Wiki).
The ‘Peace Fountain’ by artist Greg Wyatt
The sign from the sculpture.
I decided rather than head off to a museum downtown, I would update my blogs in this part of the City and walk around Morningside Heights, Bloomingdale and parts of the Upper West Side. It was a nice afternoon and it was a chance to catch up and see what was going on in the neighborhoods and what had changed. I have to say that the SoHA section of Harlem (from 125th to 110th from Morningside Park to Fifth Avenue) has really changed and gentrified even more than I remembered. This was the same with the Bloomingdale section of the Upper West Side (from 110th to 94th Streets from Riverside Park to Central Park).
I walked all around Morningside Park amazingly enough not looking as dangerous as everyone said it was now. There were plenty of people walking their dogs, conversing in the park and playing basketball. The flowers were just starting to bloom and the park by the pond looked really pretty.
Morningside Park in bloom
The pond area of Morningside Park
The pond with Columbia University in the background.
I walked all around the streets and avenues looking at old restaurants that had closed or moved, businesses that changed hands and how much the neighborhoods have changed in seven years.
West Place Chinese Restaurant at 1288 Amsterdam Avenue
Not wanting to head home without eating dinner, I went to West Place Chinese Restaurant at 1288 Amsterdam Avenue for dinner and this time I tried the Boneless Spareribs with Fried Rice and an Egg Roll combination platter and the meal was excellent as usual. I had not eaten here in months and the food is consistently excellent. The portion size was larger than I remember from the last time. They really piled the food into the container.
The Boneless Spareribs with Fried Rice and an Egg Roll.
The Boneless Ribs were overflowing on the platter.
These sweet and juicy bites are full of flavor and piled into this small dish. There was enough food for two people.
The Egg Rolls are amazing.
By this time it was getting dark and I wanted to head home. I took the subway at 125th Street, got the joy of watching some kid jump the turn style and then headed up to take the subway back downtown.
It may not have been a good game but it gave me a chance to revisit several neighborhoods, update blogs, eat some terrific food and enjoy a day supporting Cornell University on what should have been our championship year (Yale eventually won the Ivy League Championship by one point over Brown and will go off to the NCAA Championship).
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