I finally got back in Manhattan to do my walk of the City and finish the Theater District after almost four years. Wow! Between school, work and especially COVID and the closing of the City and of the theaters until late 2021, this area of Manhattan had been a dead zone for everything. The theaters were all closed due to COVID, the restaurants were closed because the theaters were all closed and there was no business. The hotels were almost all closed on loop and the office buildings had no workers coming in because of ‘stay at home’ rules’ at that time.
This entire district was filled with three different type of people: The NYPD protecting the area, the few residents that lived in the upper part of the neighborhood and on the borders with Hell’s Kitchen to the west and especially the homeless, that camped out everywhere and graffiti that took over the buildings. It looked like the mid-1970’s had returned to Manhattan. Thank God that is now in the past and everything has opened back up again.
Broadway and West 53rd Street at night in 2024. Life has returned.
I had to avoid this area when the City reopened in June of 2020 because it was basically cordoned off by the police and since there was nothing open at the time, I could not give it a fair analysis. So I moved onto Murray Hill, Kips Bay, Chelsea, the Garment District, Hells Kitchen, NoMAD and Rose Hill just south and west of this neighborhood. I had just finished the Flatiron District before I would attempt this again. Trust me when I say that the Theater District/Times Square area is always in a state of transition.
They are literally always knocking it down and rebuilding it. What had been falling apart in the 1970’s and early 1980’s was now the glittering part of Manhattan. Still edgy at its core but much nicer than it had once been.
The Theater District at Seventh Avenue and West 53rd Street at night in 2024.
Even though the weather was cold, it was nice to finally walk around the City again. Since school had started at both colleges right after Labor Day, the semester had been a rough one. It still produced straight ‘A’s’ and three enormously successful projects, I wanted to get back to exploring Manhattan again. Walking the streets of the theater district opened my eyes to the changes this neighborhood had and was still going through.
I started the walk on a cold gloomy day in Mid-February and the streets were really empty. It was still getting dark early so time was of the essence every day of the walk. I had to revisit West 53rd Street to West 50th Street twice because the pictures never came out the way I wanted them to.
Hello Deli on West 53rd Street was my stopping point for dinner.
Hello Deli at 215 West 53rd Street was featured on ‘The David Letterman Show’ for years.
Every part of the Theater district is marked with either scaffolding or a hole where a new building is going up. There is such a hodge-podge of architecture in this section of the City. Historic buildings are hugged up against modern structures and small tenement buildings are right next to large modern hotels. Here and there you have to look but there is a real character to the Theater District.
I started my tour with something to eat. I stopped at Hello Deli at 215 West 53rd Street for an early dinner. I had not realized that this was the deli that David Letterman had made famous when he was on the Late Show. I looked at the reviews online and remembered the owner from so many years ago. The food is really good and very reasonable for Midtown (see my review on TripAdvisor).
I decided on a breakfast sandwich (they serve breakfast all day) called “The Doughy”, which was two scrambled eggs with bacon and American Cheese topped with a freshly fried hash brown on a toasted roll. On a cool late winter afternoon it hit the spot.
“The Doughy” at Hello Deli
“The Doughy” is wonderful.
The inside of Hello Deli.
The selection at Hello Deli is extensive with sandwiches, snacks and drinks.
The nice part about Hello Deli is that there are tables outside when the weather is warm or you can just eat inside and people watch all the passersby in Times Square. It is always busy in this neighborhood.
I continued down West 53rd Street, passing the juxtapose of buildings on either side of the street. The first thing I started to notice was all the street art along the Avenues. Corporate America loves to decorate the streets. All over the neighborhood are statues, murals, artwork and embellishments on the buildings that you really have to take notice of when walking in the Theater district. The only reason you should have your cellphone out is to take pictures of all these wonderful things to see. Also spend a lot of time looking up at all the buildings from around the turn of the last century that now dot the neighborhood. You could miss a lot.
Jim Rennert’s ‘WTF’ is on the corner of West 53rd and Broadway.
The ‘WTF’ plaque
The plaque for one of my many sculptures that Jim Rennert has in the neighborhood.
Jim Rennert is an American born artist known for his large bronze sculptures depicting the everyday man. Mostly self-taught, his works are seen all over the country and really do make a statement.
In between Sixth and Seventh Avenues is a small street called ‘6 1/2 Avenue” that runs through the corridors of several buildings creating an urban walk between all the new construction that had been created between all the buildings. This is now used for cafes, lighting displays, small restaurants seating areas and for art displays.
This is the outdoor seating area for La Grande Boucherie restaurant at 145 West 53rd Street
The reviews for this restaurant are amazing but so are the prices. A thirty dollar hamburger and fourteen dollars for soup? Not on my short list for right now but the food looks spectacular. I have to stick with the local restaurants for now. Right across from the restaurant as you continue down 6 1/2 Avenue, this wonderful light display illuminates the pathway while walking down.
I ended this part of the walk on Fifth Avenue, the border between the Theater District/Times Square and Manhattan East, which is part of Midtown. This classic area of Manhattan is filled with classic historic buildings, modern architecture and sleek new construction. The Theater District is becoming an extension of this area as the Hudson Yards is slowly becoming part of Midtown. The midsection of Manhattan is quickly changing even before the pandemic.
St. Thomas Church on the corner of Fifth Avenue and West 53rd Street
St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue at 1 West 53rd Street
I reached the corner of West 53rd and Fifth Avenue to the beauty of St. Thomas Church.
St. Thomas Church was designed by the distinguished architectural firm of Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson and completed in 1913, Saint Thomas Church is built in the French High Gothic style, with stone ornamentation of the later Flamboyant period in the windows, small arches of the triforium, and stonework surrounding the statuary in the reredos. The flat wall behind the altar is characteristic of English cathedrals, and the magnificent reredos, one of the largest in the world, is strongly suggestive of the single, massive windows that terminate the naves of many English churches designed in the Perpendicular style (St. Thomas Church Website).
I stopped on the corner of West 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue for late lunch at Halal Guys Cart. This is where the empire started. There are now franchise stores of Halal Guys at started in 2015 all from this little cart right across the street from the MoMA. I have been coming here for over twenty years and the food has always been excellent.
The Halal Guys cart under the scaffolding on West 52nd Street and Sixth Avenue
As you can see, I love the food here. It is my ‘go-to’ place on a cool night for a hot meal. This is more my price point with this project, plus I like to eat in the small plaza across from the MoMA when the weather is nice. I love the Combo sandwich (Gyro and Chicken with vegetables) and this is my staple except when I am really hungry and go for the Mixed Platter. This is the original cart that started the whole chain and it still is popular with tourists and business people alike.
The menu at Halal Guys Cart is really popular with everyone and the lines can get long at lunch time and early dinner. The Mixed Sandwich is the best!
The Mixed Combo sandwich with Gyro and Chicken lunch (Yum)
Across the street from the Halal Guys at the corner of Sixth Avenue and West 52nd Street is a very unusual blue stature that caught my attention. This is one of the corporate art works at that line Sixth Avenue and makes quite the statement. Sixth Avenue from West 59th to West 42nd Street around Bryant Park has become quite the ‘Open Air’ art museum. You just have to look around for the works tucked here and there by the buildings and in their lobbies. There is a lot to see. This piece is called “Jean Marc” and was created by artist Xavier Veilham.
Jean Marc statue at the corner of Sixth Avenue and West 53rd Street
Sign for artist Xavier Veilhan
Artist Xavier Veilhan was born in France and was educated at the Ecole nationale superieure des arts in Paris and at the Institut des hautes etudes en arts plastiques. He works in photography, sculpture, film, painting and installation art.
I crossed the street and walked in the other direction past the very busy Museum of Modern Art and noted that I had not visited the museum in a while. There were some exhibitions that I wanted to see before they closed. I would visit the museum many times during my tour of the Theater/Times Square district.
The ‘Venus de Milo’ statue on Sixth Avenue and 53rd Street.
The Christmas decoration lights were still up on the Venus de Milo statues on the corner of Sixth Avenue and West 53rd Street. The singe Venus de Milo statues in the fountain and the double on the corner of West 52nd Street were designed by American artist Jim Dine.
Jim Dine is a contemporary American visual artist who graduated from Ohio University with a BFA. These are three of Jim Dine’s sculptures collectively entitled “Looking Toward The Avenue” installed in 1989 in the small plaza on the east side of Sixth Avenue at west 53rd and 54th Streets in Manhattan. The verdigris bronze statues emerge from a water pool. These sculptures are based on Venus de Milo, a masterpiece from the 2nd century BC (Big Apple Secrets).
Further down on the corner of West 53rd Street and Broadway is the shining red symbol of “Hope”. Now this could mean hopefuls on Broadway making their duet, hopefuls coming to the City for the first time to follow their dreams or maybe to a City that has had many ups and downs that it needs this message. It stands like a beacon at the heart of the Theater District.
The Hope sculpture
The ‘Hope’ sculpture on the corner of Broadway and West 53rd Street.
The “Hope” sculpture was placed here in 2014 on ‘International Hope Day’ which also happened to be the artist’s 86th birthday, Robert Indiana. He created the sculpture in 2008 and offers encouragement in the future.
Robert Indiana is an American born artist who studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Skowhegan School of Sculpture and Painting in Maine, and the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland. He was known for his large pop art sculptures.
The dominant theater is Ed Sullivan Theater where the Late Show with Stephen Colbert is filmed. The neighborhood around it and its businesses were made famous by David Letterman, the former host.
It was getting dark and gloomy when I started walking West 52nd Street. It got colder and darker and the pictures I was taking didn’t come out the way I wanted so I stopped for the evening. I planned the next day earlier on a sunny day.
Looking down Sixth Avenue from West 52nd Street to see the corporate core of the neighborhood.
I decided to walk the neighborhood again starting first with West 53rd Street and a trip to inside of the Museum of Modern of Art. I had not been the museum in months and wanted to see some of the exhibitions from the holidays before they closed. The morning was a bit gloomy and I figured that walking around the museum would be a good idea until it cleared up and got warmer. The museum was filled with people who had the same idea.
The museum was really busy that morning with many tourists milling around the museum and visitors visiting a lot of these exhibitions that were about to close. I had wanted to see the new Picasso exhibit so I headed upstairs and walked around the exhibition.
Picasso in Fontainebleau was about to close.
The “Picasso at Fontainebleau” exhibition before it closed for good.
The highlight of my tour that afternoon was the ‘Picasso in Fontainebleau’ exhibition and the works from that period. I had seen many of these paintings before in retrospect’s of the artist’s work many times at this and many other museums, but I never tire of them. My favorites from the exhibit were the ‘Three Musician’s’ paintings which are great to see side by side.
After I left the MoMA, I rewalked all of West 53rd street and really noticed the beauty of the alley 6 1/2 Avenue when it runs between the office buildings between West 53rd and West 52nd Streets. This is the best place to eat lunch and people watch when you are in the neighborhood.
The sculpture with no name across from the MoMA.
The view of the skyline from the courtyard.
The view from the courtyard across from the MoMA during the day.
On a nice day, it is a great place to read a book or write just watch where the pigeons park themselves in the trees. I have gotten hit in the past. Same when sitting down, you have to look for a clean spot before you eat lunch.
The New York Sheraton
The Sheraton New York Times Square at 811 Seventh Avenue.
Passing the Sheraton New York again, I thought all the times I visited my best friend there. The hotel still had some of their holiday decorations in the front of the hotel. I continued the walk down West 52nd Street. This hotel was once the ‘bright star’ of the ITT hotel empire.
This classic hotel was built in 1962 as the Lowes Americana Hotel and was designed by architect Morris Lapidus. When the hotel opened up, it was the world’s tallest hotel and is still considered one of the 100 tallest hotels in the world. The hotel had been built to host convention business which it is still known for and its unique design was created due to zoning regulations along Seventh Avenue that created its unique look. The hotel was sold to Sheraton (which is now part of Marriott) in 1979 (Wiki).
Before I passed the historic Neil Simon Theater while walking down West 52nd Street when I admired piece of artwork above the door at 245 West 52nd Street with all the characters of the theater. I thought it was pretty unique. This was located on top of the doorway of the August Wilson Theater.
The artwork above the doorway to the side of the building at 245 West 52nd Street.
The doorway to the August Wilson Theater at night is just as interesting.
Next to the August Wilson Theater is the Neil Simon Theater which was still having their performance the day I passed it. After the evening performances around 10:00pm, this area is jammed with people waiting for the stars of the show to come out and sign autographs.
The Neil Simon Theater at 250 West 52nd Street near Broadway.
The Neil Simon Theater was designed by architect Herbert J. Knapp and opened in 1927 as the Alvin Theater (the acronym for the owners Alex A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley). It was renamed the Neil Simon Theater after the famous playwright in 1983. The theater has an exterior of brick and terra cotta which is a New York landmark and the interior was designed in the Adam style after William Adam, a Scottish architect who created the neoclassical design (Wiki). The theater has been host to many famous shows and sits in the heart of the Theater District.
Passing the Sheraton New York Times Square again, I never realized how big this hotel was and how it dominated Seventh Avenue. It takes almost half of the city block between Seventh and Sixth Avenue.
Passing the New York Sheraton from Seventh Avenue and West 52nd Street.
Passing the Sheraton Hotel from the other direction shows how much real estate it takes up on Seventh Avenue. I passed the second set up twin Venus De Milo’s by artist Jim Dine on the West 52nd Street side of the building.
The Venus de Milo statues at West 52nd and Sixth Avenue.
The statues of the Venus de Milo at West 52nd Street were still decorated for the holidays but were not as beautiful as when the Christmas holiday season was in full form along Sixth Avenue. These interesting statues grace the outside of 1301 Sixth Avenue.
The statues at Christmas time in front of 1301 Sixth Avenue. Sixth Avenue is pretty spectacular at the holidays and should not be missed when touring around the City at Christmas time.
As I walked down West 52nd Street, I passed the Paley Museum which I had been a member of for years in the early 2000’s before YouTube became a place to watch old shows and commercials. Their video library was the only place to find them until everything started showing up on YouTube and made the library obsolete and one of the reasons why I was a member. That and it was a good place to escape the troubles of post 9/11 New York City. The museum still has a lot of programs going on during the week.
The Paley Museum started as the Museum of Broadcasting & Radio in 1975 with a donation from William Paley, the head of CBS. The museum was designed by renowned architect Philip Morris and has a classic appearance. The museum mission is to preserve television, radio and movie history and works are collected and shown in the various screening rooms in the museum. There is all sorts of educational programming and celebrity visits during the year. The museum was renamed The Paley Center for Media in 2007 now known as the Paley Museum (Wiki).
The Paley Museum
The Paley Museum (Center for Media) at 25 West 52nd Street
The former ‘21 Club’ is right next door to the museum. The “21 Club” was once one of the classic New York City restaurants with a long history and roots in Prohibition. The club opened in its current spot in 1930 with roots dating back to 1922. It was one of the most famous ‘speakeasies’ of Prohibition with elaborate secret passages and doors to hide the liqueur. The restaurant closed in March 2020 after 90 years of operation due to the pandemic and has not reopened. There is still uncertainty in the restaurants future (Wiki).
The 21 Club closed during the pandemic when they could not pivot to delivery or pick up and they never reopened the restaurant. It has now been sitting dormant for four years. It is surprising considering its history and location.
I had spent a Father’s Day there probably back in 2008 or 2009 with my dad. We got all dressed up and went to lunch here and then went to see a show. I still remember the wonderful soft shell crabs I ate that afternoon. I also remember the Men’s Room Attendant asking me if I was black (I had a really deep tan at the time). He was insistent that I was not White and that I must have a black parent. That always stuck with me.
As I made my way around Fifth Avenue and back down the other side of West 52nd Street, I passed the American Girl Doll store at 75 Rockefeller Plaza Floor One. I thought it was a free standing store. It was much easier to maneuver around this store than their old one which was on Fifth Avenue before 2008 meltdown. I think the rents on Fifth Avenue were getting to be too much for them.
The American Girl Store at 32 West 52nd Street took over the old School of Visual Arts building and stretches into it home at 75 Rockefeller Plaza on West 51st Street.
The inside of the American Girl Doll store on West 52nd Street. It is like a doll museum.
The American Girl Doll Cafe and Specialty doll area
The American Girl Doll store had a really nice selection of dolls and accessories and had a lot more space to walk around than the previous store on Fifth Avenue. These ‘lifestyle dolls’ have their own story and their own collections kept in their own in house boutiques. That’s what makes these dolls so special. That and their realistic take on playthings. In the late afternoon during the week though there was more staff there than there were customers.
The Cartier Store on the corner of Fifth Avenue and West 52nd Street.
As I rounded Fifth Avenue, I saw the beauty of the Cartier store, which is a former ‘Gilded Age’ mansion at the corner of 653 Fifth Avenue. The store was once home to Morton Freeman Plant, the son of railroad tycoon Henry B. Plant. The home was designed by architect Robert W. Gibson in 1905 in the ‘Neo-Renaissance style’. Mr. Plant felt later that the area was getting too ‘commercial’ and moved further uptown and Cartier bought the building in 1917 (Wiki).
On the way back down West 52nd Street, I passed by 6 1/2 Avenue and saw the interesting and very unique statue of a ballerina balancing on top of an elephant by artist Barry Flanagan.
Artist Barry Flanagan was an Irish-Welsh artist who studied at the Birmingham College of Arts & Crafts and St. Martin’s School of Art. He is best known for his larger sculptures of hares and other animals. These sculptures on West 51st and 50th Streets are prime examples of his works (Wiki).
Walking further down the street. I walked into Urban Space, one of the many food courts catering to the office worker and tourist crowds that visit Times Square. What I like about these food courts is that they house many branches of independent upscale restaurants from New York City and the surrounding areas that cater to a customer who enjoys innovative and sustainable dining.
The entrance to UrbanSpace at at 152 West 52nd Street
The wonderful assortment of restaurants to choose from in the food court.
I continued walking down West 52nd Street, ducking through here and there. what I really liked was the views of Midtown from both Broadway and Sixth Avenue. This is what everyone imagines when they think of New York City.
Broadway looking down from West 52nd Street.
My walk that afternoon continued down West 51st Street. I passed 6 1/2 Street again to see another Barry Flanagan statue, the ‘Hare on the Bell’ on the other side of the walkway. That was an interesting piece hidden under scaffolding. I really had to walk around it to admire how whimsical it was. I have to say that the artist has a sense of humor.
The ‘Hare on top of the Bell’ by artist Barry Flanagan at 6 1/2 Avenue.
The statue’s plaque beside the statue.
When I reached Sixth Avenue and West 51st Street, I entered the beginning of the Rockefeller Center complex with its beautiful Art Deco architecture and interesting details on the buildings plus a post-Christmas Skating Rink.
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall along Sixth Avenue
The Rockefeller Center complex contains 19 commercial buildings covering 22 acres of Midtown Manhattan. The 14 original buildings were commissioned by the Rockefeller family that span the area between Fifth and Sixth Avenue that contain such famous landmarks as the Skating Rink, Radio City Music Hall and 30 Rock, the home of NBC. The artwork that adorns the buildings and plazas were designed by multiple artists (Wiki).
I have toured this complex so many times and never noticed all the beautiful carvings and artwork. This is what you can discover when you look up and take the time to admire these beautiful buildings.
The artwork all over Rockefeller Center is unique. This work is called “The Cornucopia of Plenty” by artist Lee Lawrie with colorist Leon V. Solon (Rockefeller Center website)
This polychrome-painted stone carving depicts a messenger soaring from the clouds, emptying an overflowing horn onto the earth. Lee Lawrie wrote that it symbolizes “the plentitude that would result from well-organized international trade”, a theme compatible to the activities of the building. The figure’s downward angle, her flowing golden hair and the dramatic spilling of contents from her cornucopia all skillfully convey a feeling of motion and energy (Rockefeller Center website).
The detailed stonework in Rockefeller Center
The outside of 640 Fifth Avenue
The Toots Shor Restaurant plaque
The Toots Shor’s Restaurant plaque at 51 West 51st Street
This plaque was tucked into construction work and could easily be missed of this once famous celebrity hangout that closed in 1971.
The details of Rockefeller are wonderful. The buildings in the complex have a creative whim to them. You really have to stop and look at the details of each of the buildings to see their true beauty. This building was designed by architect Raymond Hood and completed in 1935. The detailed artwork of Attilio Piccirilli sits above the entrance (Wiki/Rockefeller website).
The food court the Urban Hawker at 135 West 50th Street
The whole food court is filled with restaurants from all over Asia. So you can Thai Pad Thai or Singaporean Chicken Rice and a lot more to choose from. The selection of different foods was fantastic and offered a great selection. The food court has a great selections of foods and delights available in each stall and then you can take your meal to one of the many seating areas in the facility and relax and enjoy your meal.
The beauty of the embellishments of Rockefeller Center
The beauty of the complex offers so many gorgeous embellishments on the buildings.
These ornate metal-and-enamel plaques – each measuring an impressive 18 feet in diameter – were created in 1932 by the American mosaicist and painter Hildreth Meiere in collaboration with the master metal worker Oscar B. Bach. It was a felicitous pairing of artistic talents. Meiere, one the few women of the time working in the field of architectural decoration, was at the high point of her career. Bach, the redoubtable technician, was one of the few people able to realize her elaborate – even audacious – designs. Interestingly enough, Meiere’s medallions, which celebrate Dance, Drama and Song, were among the first artistic works completed for the center and they have served as enduring emblems of Radio City Music Hall (Tatti Art Conservation website).
Artist Hildreth Meiere is an American born artist from New York City. She studied at such prestigious schools as the Art Students League of New York and the San Francisco Art Institute. She was known as a muralist with a specialty in Art Deco designs (Wiki)
The detail on the Observation Deck entrance.
Rockefeller Center’s entrance to the Observation Deck at 50 West 50th Street adorned with the carving “Radio” by artist Leo Friedlander.
A native New Yorker, Leo Friedlander studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and Paris and was awarded the Prix de Rome in 1913. Radio is a companion piece to his Television, both themed after NBC, the building’s main tenant. The larger figure represents transmission, who sends the song of the figures on the east (broadcasting) to those on the west (acoustics). Mother Earth and her child represent the audience receiving the sounds of the radio. Size, mass, texture and repetition all work together here to lend strength to the architecture and interest to the carvings (Rockefeller Center History website).
Rockefeller Center at Twilight
Walking down West 50th Street toward the Rockefeller Center ice skating rink at twilight. Rockefeller Center is brilliant in the early evening when the lights come on and the music is playing.
Across from the skating rink and at the entrance of the building is the artwork “The Story of Mankind” by artists Lee Lawrie and Leon V. Solon. This beautiful art display towers over the entrance to the building.
The story of mankind
“The Story of Mankind”
The story of Mankind
The Story of Mankind is a massive carved limestone screen divided into fifteen small rectangular spaces that Lawrie termed “hieroglyphs”. It was created to symbolize the purpose of the International Building and to chronicle mankind’s progress, starting with the bottom center’s four figures depicting the races of mankind. The sailing ship image above them symbolizes international trade, while other symbols include a Norman tower as pre-industry, a lion as kingdoms of the world, and Mercury as worldwide communication. The clock and rays at the very top represent earth (Rockefeller Center History website)
When I got to the Skating Rink across the street, there was a large crowd and a lot of activity on the ice as the music was playing and everyone was having a good time. With all the white lights on the trees surrounding the rink and the music I would have sworn it was still Christmas.
The artwork on the building
The detail work on the building on Rockefeller Center “The Immigrant” by artist Giacomo Manzu.
‘The Immigrant’ is the companion work to the large panel titled Italia, this bas-relief is a poignant work depicting a weary barefoot mother and her naked child, the fundamental nature of poverty. She represents the Italian woman who, after the war and the loss of so many Italian men and homes, left Italy to seek new beginnings in America. Manzu is quoted as saying, “It is the immigrant’s search for two principal things—drinking and eating.” Here he captures universal human despair combined with a modicum of hope.
On this part of the building, I noticed the three golden lions that were above the doorway. I found out that these were the “Arms of England” artists Lee Lawrie with colorist Leon V. Solon. “Three gilded passant-gardant lions (passant means walking; gardant means looking out of the shield) reinforce the presence of the building’s primary tenant, the British monarchy. Lions were first used to decorate the shield of Richard I, who became King of England at age thirty-two and ruled from 1189 – 1199 (Rockefeller Center Art Website).
The skating rink was lit during twilight and this is when the magic begins in Rockefeller Center.
The Skating rink
It still looked like Christmas time at Rockefeller Center with the white lights on the trees, the skaters bundled up and the festive music playing on the load speaker.
The skaters were having such a good time.
The Skating Rink was really active that evening with skaters having a nice time.
Video of Skating in Rockefeller Center during the post holiday season with great music!:
The statue at Rockefeller Center makes quite the statement.
The statue of “Prometheus” at the head of the skating rink.
Of all the beautiful artwork that line the walls and courtyards of the complex, two stand out. Prometheus is a beautiful statue that stands proud above the ice-skating rink. This beautiful cast iron, gilded sculpture was made in 1934 by artist Paul Manship. The work is of the Greek legend of Titan Prometheus who brought fire to mankind by stealing it from the Chariot of the Sun (Wiki).
Mr. Manship was a well-known American artist who noted for his specialized work in mythological pieces in the classic style. He was educated at the St. Paul School of Art and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
The other standout statue is of the God Atlas that guards the courtyard of the International Buildings. The sculpture was created by artist Lee Lawrie with the help of Rene Paul Chambellan. The statue was created in the Art Deco style to match with the architecture of the Center and depicts Atlas carrying the celestial vault on his shoulders.
Atlas at Rockefeller Center
Mr. Lawrie was known as a architectural sculptor whose work is integrated into the building design. His work in the Art Deco design fit perfectly into the new building. Mr. Lawrie was a graduate of the School of Fine Arts at Yale.
The impressive entrance to the main building right in front of the ice skating rink.
The entrance to Rockefeller Center in its glory..
The entrance to Rockefeller Center with the symbol of “Wisdom” at its entrance.
An Art Deco icon, ‘Wisdom’ famously looms over the entrance to the main building of Rockefeller Center and can be seen from Fifth Avenue. Created by Lee Lawrie, one of America’s foremost architectural sculptors, it is an impressive and imposing focal point. Wisdom is considered the creative power of the universe, and the figure’s commanding slant, intimidating expression and biblical quote help convey his strength, impact and control over man. It is flanked by two other important works by Lawrie: Sound and Light (Rockefeller Center History website).
As part of the shopping complex is the new flagship store of FAO Schwarz. It is not the store in the movie ‘Big’. The store went through bankruptcy a decade ago and an investment group bought the name and reopened the store in this location. The store still has a lot of its upscale and exclusivity in merchandise but is half the size of the previous store in the old General Motors Building up the road.
The entrance to the new FAO Schwarz at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
FAO Schwarz Fifth Avenue is one of the most iconic toy stores in the world. Founded in 1862 in Baltimore and moved to New York City in 1870, Frederick August Otto Schwarz opened his ‘toy bazaar’ in lower Manhattan. The Schwarz family owned and operated it for years featuring some of the most unique and special toys from all over the world. The store moved several times from Union Square to 23rd Street then to its iconic home at 745 Fifth Avenue (now Bergdorf-Goodman’s Men’s Store) and then to its famous home at 767 Fifth Avenue, which was made famous by the movie “Big” with Tom Hanks dancing on the famous piano.
The store has had many owners and moved from its iconic location to 30 Rockefeller Center. The store still its wonderful private label plush with “Patrick the Pup” plush and it’s great candy store, FAO Schweetz (where I was once the manager). The store is now opened by a private investment firm and still carries wonderful private label goods.
My old department FAO Schweez.
The candy department ‘FAO Schweetz’ located on the second floor.
The copy of the famous piano from the “Piano” scene from the movie big is located on the second floor and still attracts tourists from all over the world.
The famous ‘Piano’ at FAO Schwarz.
The piano from the movie ‘Big’ is located on the second floor of the store. There were two original pianos from the film, one was in the director of the film’s home and another had been sold off years ago. People have to remember that the movie “Big” was released in 1988 and shot over 25 years ago. The store in the movie was closed years ago.
The scene from “Big” with the piano.
The ‘Patrick the Pups’ a signature stuffed animal at FAO Schwarz.
The stuffed animal department is still amazing at the store as you enter and exit the front door. The store even on a quiet night is a tight squeeze and I would not want to be in the store on a busy holiday weekend. These “Patrick and Petunia Pups” are still a big seller and one of the softest stuffed animals you will find around. I love stopping at the store for old times sake even though this is not the store I worked at years ago. When I walked outside, Rockefeller Center was just being lit up at twilight.
Nightfall at Rockefeller Center
It became twilight at Rockefeller Center as I exited the store by the skating rink. All the lights came on around 6:00pm and it is just spectacular to walk around the Theater District at this time of night. Everyone is getting ready to go to the theater, the restaurants are packed and people are just getting out of work. The City comes alive in the evening when it just starts to get dark. There was a show that evening at Radio City Music Hall so people were starting to line up and wait.
The front of the office building at at night.
In the evenings, 1251 Sixth Avenue performs its magic of lights in their fountains facing Sixth Avenue
Walking past Broadway at 51st Street is a fantasy of lights. This is when Manhattan becomes quite brilliant and shows its personality. When I walk around the Theater District I think ‘this is what people think when they hear the words ‘New York’.
Sixth Avenue at night.
Sixth Avenue near Radio City Music Hall at night.
Fifth Avenue by Saks Fifth Avenue.
Fifth Avenue by Rockefeller Center in front of Saks Fifth Avenue.
Bryant Park at night
Bryant Park during the end of the winter months before the leaves get on the trees.
I finished up for the evening walking around Bryant Park. The park is still busy even in the cooler months with the skating rink still in use and the restaurant vendors and bar still in operation after the holidays. The plaza below sits between West 42nd and West 41st just behind the buildings on Sixth Avenues and has the most amazing statuary. It also has great food trucks in the warmer months and it is nice to eat here. This is the park just before it closes for the evening.
The plaza between Sixth and Seventh Avenues at West 42nd Street.
The edge of the Theater District/Times square along West 42nd Street and Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
Walking around the New York Public Library
The New York Public Library at Fifth Avenue between West 41st and West 42nd Street.
As I was finishing this part of the Theater District that evening, the City really came to life with this beautiful light show. This picture was taken when I passed the New York Public Library after it closed for the evening. All the statuary and windows are lit for the evening.
Fifth Avenue at darkness.
The view from the other side of the library at Fifth Avenue and West 41st Street is spectacular.
The light show at 6:00pm.
The views around the edge of the Theater District into the Broadway area are amazing.
When people complain about Manhattan, I just see the dazzling lights and remember how many people wish they were standing where I am standing. From where I was standing I felt like I was in the center of the world.
I returned the next day to continue my walk around the Theater District. For some reason the day before all the roads were blocked off and there were police all over the place. Maybe a VIP had come into the area but you could not walk around without garnering some attention so when I returned a few days later that was no longer the case.
I started the walk on the end part of West 51st Street and revisited some of the sites I had seen before.
I passed this unusual fountain and statues.
It is strange that I never noticed this fountain and statues of a dog and rabbit before that sits behind 1221 Sixth Avenue between West 49th and West 48th Streets.
This was a unique set of statues
Paparazzi Dogman and Paparazzi Rabbitgirl by artists Gillie and Marc.
Thanks toThe Avenue of the Americas Association we just installed the seven-foot tall Paparazzi Dogmanand Paparazzi Rabbitgirl in Sixth Avenue opposite the Rockefeller Center in New York to promote diversity, love and acceptance and they’ve been a hit! The exciting, unprecedented installation is being hosted as part of the Association’s “Love the Avenue” campaign at lovetheavenue.com, which has demonstrated the enhancement of Sixth Avenue and Midtown over the past several years (Artist’s bio).
The Paparazzi Dogman and the Paparazzi Rabbitman statues by artists Gillie and Marc.
British and Australian artists, Gillie and Marc have been called “the most successful and prolific creators of public art in New York’s History” by the New York Times. Creating some of the world’s most innovative public sculptures, Gillie and Marc are redefining what public art should be, spreading messages of love, equality, and conservation around the world. Their highly coveted sculptures and paintings can be seen in art galleries and public sites in over 250 cities (Artists bio).
The walk through fountain was quite unique
The fountain and plaza sits between West 49th and West 48th Streets behind 1251 Sixth Avenue. When you walk through the hole in the wall, you can see the water coming at you from the top and sides.
It was a beautiful day for a walk along Seventh Avenue in the Theater District. Even in the middle of a sunny day the lights add a sense of excitement to the area.
St. Malachy Roman Catholic Church, the Actor’s Church at 249 West 49th Street.
St. Malachy Roman Catholic Church, known as the Actor’s Church, was designed by architects John Hubert McGuire, Thomas J. Duff and Robert J. Reilly in the Gothic Revival design. The building was completed in 1920. Due to its proximity to the Theater District as it moved uptown in the 1920’s and 30’s, many actors, dancers and musicians started worship here (Wiki/St. Malachy website).
Lilly’s Restaurant in the Theater District.
Walking down West 49th Street, I was stopped by this statue of a woman outside a well known restaurant in the heart of the Theater District, ‘Lilly’s Victorian Establishment at 249 West 49th Street in the Theater District. It was the statue of Lilly Langtry that caught my attention. That and the interesting window display.
The statue of “Lilly Langtry” sits outside of Lillie’s Victorian Establishment.
Lillie Langtry was a highly successful British actress, a renowned beauty, and socialite of the late 19th century. She was notorious for her long list of prominent suitors, which included the future King of England, Edward VII. She was born on the Isle of Jersey, which lies off the southern coast of England, and was later known as the “Jersey Lillie” (Restaurant Bio).
Passing the restaurant and the statue of the famous actress, I found myself back at Rockefeller Center admiring more art along the walls of the buildings.
Embellishment on Rockefeller Center
Walking back through Rockefeller Center I saw the carving “The Joy of Life” by artist Attilio Piccirilli.
John D. Rockefeller, the developer of the Center, was a reserved man who advocated temperance, yet this carving portrays the “joy” of life as wine. The main character is Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and revelry, who taught mankind the cultivation of the grape and then winemaking. He is depicted lolling on the ground in the center of the scene, surrounded by a group, and appears narcissistic. Lighthearted and decorative, the colors are as important as the carving, with the gray figures set against a brilliant blue sky (Rockefeller Center History website).
The Longacre Theater on 48th street.
The Historic Longacre Theater is located at 220 West 48th Street.
The beautiful detail work on the Longacre Theater.
The theater was designed by architect Henry B. Herts, one of four currently operating Shubert playhouses that he designed. It boasts a French Neo-classical-style exterior and a Beaux Arts-style interior, but lacks some of the individuality and flair which characterized Herts’ other designs (Longacre website).
The Longacre, named for Longacre Square (now Times Square), was built by producer/manager H.H. Frazee (also known as the owner of the Boston Red Sox who sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees). After Frazee fell into financial difficulties, the theatre changed hands many times before being sold to Astor Theatre Incorporated, a Shubert subsidiary, in 1919 (Longacre website).
On the corner of West 49th and Broadway is the flagship Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, which makes wanting to go on a diet impossible. When you walk into this store, you are faced by the conveyor belt with doughnuts being dipped into the oil, shaken out and then having a thick layer of glaze on top of them.
The Krispy Kreme store is extremely popular in Times Square.
The Krispy Kreme store at 1601 Broadway and West 48th Street.
Just watching how the doughnuts get made will make your mouth water.
Just touring the store will make you hungry. The doughnuts are fried and glazed right in front of you and trust me, with all the tourists coming into this store, the doughnuts are never stale. A fresh Krispy Kreme doughnut is the best.
The final delicious product
The doughnut cases are filled with delicious treats. The amount of doughnuts sold when I was there was tremendous. The selection of these doughnuts is extensive including a very expensive “Big Apple” doughnut that comes in its own box. Clever idea for all the tourists.
Broadway from West 48th Street
The views while walking around Broadway in the West 40’s in the middle of this neighborhood is spectacular. This is where the City ‘never sleeps’.
Wu Liang Ye Chinese Cuisine at 36 West 48th Street across from Rockefeller Center
Wu Liang Wu on West 49th Street is a very underrated restaurants in the neighborhood. It is one of the older and well known Chinese restaurants in the Theater and Business district. I had not eaten there in years but I remember the food being very good. Recently though the restaurant’s entrance is always behind scaffolding.
Another big theme store in Times Square is the M & M store at 1600 Broadway is another store that attracts lots of tourists and locals alike. I never really got some of these Times Square stores as they were not authentic New York City and were just another place for tourists to hang out and get a tee shirt but the kids just love the store.
The theme stores in Times Square like the M & M store, Kristie Kreme and the Hershey store is a strong attraction to families from out of town. Even though they can be touristy at times, they are still fun and the strong attraction of maybe getting an M & M sample is highly appealing to me. I loved all the characters all over the store and the displays are very over the top. You can even personalize your own color of M & M’s. It is fun to wonder around the store when it not thronged with people.
The inside of the M & M store on Broadway.
The inside of the M & M store on Broadway.
Down the street from the M & M store is the Hershey store displaying racks and racks of delicious Hershey products. This part of Broadway can get you fat if you let it. What I liked about the Hershey store but could not indulge in it this trip was the Shake bar they have at the back of the store. The selection of milk shakes they had on the menu looked really good and in the front of the store is a candy bar where the staff was creating homemade treats.
The Inside of the Hershey store is like walking through Mr. Wonka’s factory. There is something for everyone on the shelves and walls of this store. There are all sorts of candies that Hershey manufactures including the “World’s Largest Candy bar”. You can have everything chocolate from a think Hershey’s milkshake to make your own smores to creating a giant Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Your mouth will water like the other theme food stores in the area.
The world of Hershey
The inside of the Hershey store
The selection of chocolates and candies at the store is extensive and expensive. You can find these things cheaper in the suburbs. What I liked about the store is ‘Make your Own Peanut Butter Cup” candy bar. Watching them be made is mouthwatering but over-whelming. Too much candy for me.
What looked really good was the Milkshake bar, with all the thick milkshakes in chocolate and vanilla leaving the store or consumed while people were walking around. Again for another trip but I made note of them for the future. Every once in a while, I think it is important to indulge in these items.
The World’s largest Hershey Bar almost tempted me.
When I rounded the corner from West 49th Street to West 48th Street, I came across the Engine 23/Battalion 9 firehouse. This firehouse got hit hard during 9/11 and I remember all the flowers outside the firehouse when I returned home from Guam in October 2001. This memorial is just outside the firehouse as a reminder of the ultimate sacrifice these men made that day.
The Engine 23 Memorial
The Engine 23 Memorial with plaque
9/11 plaque for the Brothers of Battalion 9 and Engine Company 33
The Memorial to 9/11.
The pride of Midtown is Battalion 9, Engine 54 and Ladder 4. This house got hit heavily on 9/11 and this memorial was dedicated to them. The firemen here are very engaging with tourist and when not on a run, they are out talking to tourists and visitors to the area and take pictures with them. Just don’t distract them when they have to go on a call.
FDNY Engine 54/Ladder 4/Battalion 9 lost every firefighter they sent to the World Trade Center on September 11.
This beautiful Beaux Arts designed building was built in 1906 as an office building and houses many businesses in the Diamond Exchange section of Midtown. You have to ignore the signs at the bottom of the building and look up at the elegant details around the windows and roof. It is one of the few Beaux Arts buildings left in the Theater District.
Further down the road there is more public art by artist Jim Rennert. On top of WTF, the artist has three more statues in the area that will be on display through 2024, two of which are on the plaza between West 48th and West 47th Street. This one on West 47th Street is entitled “Timing”.
‘Timing’ is a representation of a person looking anxiously at their watch, relates to the various aspects of business life and the daily struggle between yourself and others. From being at the right place at the right time to having the right opportunity, the importance of timing is essential (Gothamtogo website).
Just down the block is the interesting and very beautiful Samuel Friedman Theater. Both times I passed by it was loaded with people coming in and going out. You really can’t appreciate the theater’s design from the front but when you cross the street and look over, you can see all the interesting embellishments and details around the top of the building.
The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, originally the Biltmore Theatre, was designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp in the Neo-Renaissance style of design and was constructed in 1925 for the Chanin brothers. Since 2008, the theater has been named for Samuel J. Friedman (1912–1974), a press agent.
The detail work on the Samuel Friedman Theater.
You have to look up to see the detail work on this theater. I love the elaborate designs of the building.
Samuel J. Friedman historical plaque outside the theater.
Another beautiful theater that you have to cross the street to see all the detailed decorations at the top of the building is the Richard Rogers Theater. The theater was built in 1925 and is one of the largest theaters in the district. It was designed by architect Herbert J. Knapp in the Neo-Renaissance style with white brick and terracotta. The theater was constructed for Irwin Chanin, a architect himself who then leased it to the Shubert organization (Wiki).
The Richard Rogers Theater.
The Richard Rogers Theater at 226 West 46th Street.
The magnificent embellishments of the Roger’s Theater. You really have to look up at the details of the theater to appreciate it.
The Lunt-Fontanne Theater at 220 West 46th Street has the same beauty. The last performances of “Sweeney Todd” were being performed when I walked through the district (it closed May 5th) and the signs were all over the theater.
The Lunt-Fontanne Theater opened in 1910 and was designed by the architectural firm of Carrere and Hastings, who had designed the New York Public Library on top of other prominent buildings in Manhattan in the Beaux-Arts style design. This facade is the only surviving facade of the theater and it was once the carriage entrance. It was named for the theatrical couple Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne (Wiki).
The Lunt-Fontanne Theater with all its detailed embellishments.
Details on the Lunt-Fontanne Theater
Details on the Lunt-Fontanne Theater’s carriage entrance on West 46th Street
As you reach the heart of Times Square at the crossroads of Broadway and Seventh Avenue you will see the impressive statue of George M. Cohen, the song and dance man. It is amazing how many people have forgotten who is and the contributions to the theater he brought with him. The statue is an just an after thought to most tourists snapping pictures in the neighborhood.
The George M. Cohan statue in Times Square
The George M. Cohan statue stands proud in Times Square.
The statue in Times Square of the composer was designed by artist Georg John Lober and was dedicated in 1959 in Father Duffy Square. Artist Georg John Lober was an American sculptor who studied at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design and the National Academy of Design and was part of the New York Municipal Arts Commission from 1943-1960.
The Marriot Marquis Hotel is considered by many in the real estate market the cornerstone of the Times Square rejuvenation of the area back in the 1980’s. The hotel was designed by John C. Portman, who was known for designing open air design and soaring lobbies known as the “Brutalist” design.
This unique office building in the middle of the Theater District and home to the Havana Central Restaurant on the bottom of the building was built in 1928 and has unique designs and carving along the floor sills and windows.
The details of the building.
Of the most elegant and detailed churches in the Theater District is the Free Church of Saint Mary the Virgin at 145 West 46th Street.
The Church
The front of the Free Church of Saint Mary’s the Virgin at 145 West 46th Street
The beautiful details of the Virgin Mary carved in the doorway
The church’s embellishments show such gracefulness. This statue of the Virgin Mary stands prominently at the entrance of the church.
The church was built in 1894 by architectural firm Napoleon LeBrun & Sons with Pierre LeBrun as the lead designer in the building. The church was built in the French Gothic design and has the most elegant statuary. The building has a unique refinement to it with its dedication to the Virgin Mary and many of the sculptural decorations J. Massey Rhind (Wiki).
The former School of Performing Arts
The former School of Performing Arts at 120 West 46th Street.
This very unusual building was built in 1894 by architect C.B.J. Snyder in the Romanesque Revival design, the superintendent of School Buildings for the New York City Board of Education and was used for the School of Performing Arts from 1948-1984 (NYC Landmark Preservation website).
The plaque for the School of Performing Arts
The school’s historical plaque out side the building.
Crossing the street is where you see the true beauty of this building.
The details on the building are interesting.
Down the street on the other side of the courtyard is the other statue by artist Jim Rennert, “Inner Dialogue”.
The other statue by Jim Rennet
The Jim Rennet’s other work “Inner Dialogue” is on West 46th Street.
‘Inner Dialogue’ is the small figure that stands in the palm of the hand of a larger life-size figure is metaphorically speaking to their own conscience, showcasing the familiar feeling of having a conversation with that small voice within (Gothamtogo website)
Right down street is 33 West 46th Street, one of the most unusual office buildings in the neighborhood. You really have to look up and admire the details of the building as they have a dark almost sinister look of demons and devils. It is a building that looks like it has a dark past.
You have to look up to appreciate the beauty of 33 West 46th Street. The details around the building are very morbid. The building was built in 1915 and has always served as an office building. The building was designed by architect Lorenz Weiher and the building was designed in the Neo-Gothic design (DaytoninManhattan.com).
The detail work of the building has a dark feel to it
The building 33 West 46th Street looks like it has a dark past.
More details of the building.
In the heart of the Theater District is the Booth Theater, which is always busy on show nights. I think a lot of people waiting in line miss all the beautiful and unusual details of the building when they are seeing a show. You have to walk around the building to admire all the details.
The Booth was designed by Henry Herts to be one of a pair of playhouses: the Booth and the Shubert Theatres abut each other along Shubert Alley in one seamless unit. Styled with “restrained classicism,” the Booth is the smaller, less extravagant of the two houses. The sgraffito that adorns the exterior of both theaters is the last known surviving example in New York of this once popular decorating technique. Lee Shubert built the Booth Theatre in partnership with the producer Winthrop Ames. Named for the actor Edwin Booth (1833-1893), brother to the infamous John Wilkes Booth, the venue was actually the second New York theatre to bear this name (Booth Theater/Shubert Organization website).
The beautiful inlaid details of the Booth Theater.
The ghosts of the theater stare out at you when you look up at the details of the theater.
As I exited past all the theaters, I again was greeted by the soaring Marriott Marquis Hotel again and thought about how it set the tone for the neighborhood that just keeps changing.
Passing the Marriott Marquis in its glory.
The Marriott Marquis in its glory.
Down the road from Times Square is the new Museum of Broadway that is very impressive. I passed this over dramatized window that greets visitors as they walk inside.
I had visited the Museum of Broadway a few months earlier when spending the night in the City with a friend. The museum is everything Broadway bound with all sorts of costumes, props and playbills from shows over the last hundred years with special displays from some of the most popular shows on Broadway. There is sound tracks to hear and displays to admire and if you love the theater, this museum you should make a special trip to when in Manhattan.
The entrance to the Museum of Broadway at 145 West 45th Street
The front of the Museum of Broadway
I visited the newly opened Museum of Broadway recently and what a nice surprise the museum is with a great depth in the collection. There was the history of the theater in New York City and how it progressed from small theaters downtown to the theater’s progression uptown to it home now in the core of Times Square.
The Make-Up Room on the way up the stairs.
The Call Board display.
The museum is very interesting in that when you enter the back of the museum you feel that you are going backstage at a theater and preparing for a show. You head up the stairs past make up rooms, wardrobe rooms and the star’s rooms. The you head out the door like you are going out on stage. You feel that rush of the stage. From the entrance to the exit, you will experience some of the most popular shows on Broadway and hum those tunes.
Then I passed the plaza between Sixth and Fifth Avenues and stopped in the plaza for a rest. On one side of the plaza was an unusual piece of art by artist Tony Smith and on the other was the 9/11 Memorial to the victims of March McLennan who died in the North Tower where the company had floors 93 through 100 when the first plane hit. This Memorial was dedicated to them.
The Marsh McLennan Memorial to employees who died in the 9/11 tragedy is located in the plaza behind 1166 Sixth Avenue.
The 9/11 Memorial to Marsh McLellan
9/11 Memorial to the employees who died in the World Trade Center is in the plaza behind 1166 Sixth Avenue outside the headquarters of the company. This is dedicated to the 358 employees who lost their lives on September 11th, 2001.
After admiring all the sculpture and statuary in the plaza, look across the street at 56 West 48th Street and the details along the windows and sills. You might find several faces staring back at you. This former office building was built in 1920 and is now luxury rental apartments.
The beauty of the details of the building that look back at you.
Inside the plaza between the buildings on one side was the 9/11 Memorial to the employees of Marsh McLennan, whose headquarters were in this building and whose employees died on 9/11 on the top floor of the World Trade Center that day. On the other side of the plaza is this interesting metal sculpture by artist Tony Smith entitled “Throwback”.
The sculpture “Throwback” by artist Tony Smith
The sculpture sits on the opposite end of the plaza from the 9/11 sculpture of the Marsh McCellan Company.
Artist Tony Smith is an American born artist whose background was in architecture. He had studied at Georgetown University but got his influence in art from the Arts Student League of New York. He started creating these large pieces of sculpture in the early 1960’s and was known for these large metal works (Wiki/Artist bio).
Down the block I saw another face staring back at me at 40 West 45th Street above the entrance of the Club Quarters Hotel.
The beauty of 40 West 45th Street
The beauty of 40 West 45th Street-The Club Quarters Hotel
The Club Quarters Hotel is the former Webster Hotel that was built in 1902. It was designed by the architectural firm of Tracy and Swartwout and was designed in the Classical Revival style.
The detail work above the archway.
The beautiful carvings of of the archway of 40 West 45th Street.
As I crossed over Broadway, I looked up at the statuary of the I. Miller building. Funny how in all the years I had traveled down this street I never noticed the statues that lined the building. All along the West 45th Street side of the building are the statues of famous female entertainers of the 1920’s and 30’s.
The building is located at the corner of Broadway and West 46th Street and was designed by architect Louis H. Friedland with the sculptures designed by Alexander Stirling Calder. The building was built for the I. Miller Shoe Store since 1926 and continued on as a shoe store until the 1970’s.
The I. Miller Shoe Building
The I. Miller Shoe Building at 1552 Broadway and West 45th Street.
The I. Miller Shoe building at West has some elegant carvings of actors of the stage, screen and opera on the sides of the building. It is unfortunate that the front of the Broadway side of the building is covered with a sign but the beauty of these carvings can be seen from the West 45th Street northern side of the road.
At 119 West 45th Street is the Merrion Row Hotel and Public House, a luxury hotel. Our Beaux-Arts building, built in 1920, was one of Times Square’s first hotels. Frequented for decades by local actors and artists, as well as families in search of a truly New York experience, it has been reborn. A deep nod to the building’s rich history, Merrion Row remains a paragon of contemporary luxury (Merrion Row Hotel and Public House website).
The Hotel St. James from the movie “Big”
The Hotel St. James at 109 West 45th Street had a moment of glory in the movie “Big”.
As I walked down West 45th Street toward Sixth Avenue I passed the Hotel St. James. This was not such a nice hotel in the 1980’s and had been featured in the opening scenes in the movie “Big”. Today it is a much different hotel. The hotel was constructed in 1901 and has gone through many transformations until the new owners renovated the hotel and brought it back to its former glory.
This is a funny scene also in the movie “Big” that takes place in the hotel.
From the movie “Big”
As I walked down the street, I passed most of the theaters on this part of the block and there are some of the oldest, most beautiful theaters in the district. How much this area has changed since the 1970’s and 80’s. I remember how run down the area had gotten and how these theaters looked like they were falling apart. Now most of these theaters have had renovations and facelifts and this has brought them back to their former glory. This group of theaters is lead by the Lyceum Theater at 149 West 45th Street.
The beauty of the Lyceum Theater at 149 West 45th Street
The Lyceum Theater is one of the oldest surviving theaters in the Broadway area. It opened its doors in 1903 and was designed by the architectural firm of Herts & Tallant in the Beaux-Arts style. It was built for impresario Daniel Frohman (Wiki)
I love the deep embellishment of the faces staring down on you and all the curved carvings all around the pillars and windows. It is one of the most beautiful theaters in the Theater District.
The detail work of the Lyceum Theater
The true beauty of the theater is when you look up and admire this beautiful building.
The heart of the Theater district walking down West 45th Street before the evening shows open. This area has become very active with all the immigrants and asylum seekers staying the at the old Milford Plaza hotel down the road. There are people milling around this area at all hours of the day and night on top of people going to the theater.
The Imperial was opened in 1923 and was designed by Herbert Krapp in his trademark Adam-style. The recessed ceiling and ornamental panels that grace the walls are elaborately decorated with a number of motifs, including florals and geometrics. The rectangular auditorium is wider than it is deep, which allows most audience members to feel close to the stage and performers (Shubert website).
The St. James Theater is probably one of the most famous and most photographed theaters in the Theater District. It opened in 1927 as the Erlanger Theater as it was built for producer Abraham L. Erlanger. The theater was designed by the architectural firm of Warren and Wetmore and was designed in the Neo-Georgian style. You have to walk around the building to see the details in the design (Wiki/Shubert Theater website).
West 44th Street in the heart of Shubert Alley.
Shubert Alley in the middle of the afternoon before the opening of all the shows in the area.
Broadway from West 44th Street
I turned the corner to West 44th Street and admired the views from the street. The views from West 44th Street are what most people think New York City is when visiting. This really captures the heart and soul of the district. With the amount of well-known and popular restaurants, stores and theaters, this really is the hub the entire neighborhood. As you get closer to Fifth Avenue between Sixth and Fifth Avenues, are some of the oldest hotels in the district as well as many private clubs and Alumni clubs for the Ivy League schools including Harvard and Penn.
Virgil’s BBQ is one of the best places for barbecue in NYC
Virgil’s BBQ is amazing. While I was doing the walk of the neighborhood.
While I was taking my walk around the Theater District, I had suggested to my best friend that we should celebrate her birthday with lunch at Virgil’s BBQ. We have both spent many birthdays and celebrations here and the food and the service are always excellent. My favorite dish here is the Pulled Pork sandwich with Cole slaw and fresh pickles (avoid the Potato Salad. It was pretty standard). I love the sweet and smokey flavor of the meat and it is melt in your mouth good on the soft bun.
The pulled pork sandwich
The Pulled Pork sandwich and Barbecue Ribs some of the most delicious items on the menu.
She ordered the Barbecued Smoked Ribs along with a side order of Chicken wings and Mac & Cheese. We devoured everything and then ordered the Banana Pudding for the dessert. It was the nice way to spend the afternoon after a long day of walking in the neighborhood. The one thing I have to say about Virgil’s is that they don’t skip on portion sizes and the prices are extremely fair. The service is really friendly and very quick if you have a show to catch.
Virgil’s BBQ has been open since 1995 and has been catering to barbecue lovers since that time. The food is excellent.
I continued my walk down West 44th Street after lunch to work off all that food. Otherwise I would have gotten very sleepy. West 44th between Fifth and Sixth Avenue is where all the Ivy League college clubs are located along with several historical hotels. The Harvard, Penn, Princeton and League clubs are all located along this strip along with the New York Yacht Club. A very Preppy neighborhood.
The Chawal Hotel was developed in two phases first as the headquarters for the Lambs, a theatrical social club. The original wing of the hotel at 128-130 West 44th Street was designed by Stanford White of McKim, Mead & What between 1904 and 1905 in the Federal and Neo-Georgian design. Then the annex to the hotel as 132 West 44th Street was designed in 1915 by architect George Freeman (Wiki).
The Chawal Hotel Historic plaque.
The other historic hotel on this block is the AKA Hotel at 123 West 44th Street. This hotel also has an interesting history
The AKA Hotel was designed by architect George Keister and was built 1893 in the German Renaissance style. The hotel was originally built as an apartment hotel but has been receiving guests for over a hundred years. It opened as the Hotel Langwell and has also been the Hotel 1-2-3. It was the former Hotel Gerard (Wiki).
Crossing Broadway and walking along the street from Sixth to Fifth Avenue is lined with some of the most exclusive clubs, hotels and restaurants in the City. This is where many of the private clubs like the Harvard Club, Penn Club, the New York Yacht Club and a few older, well-known hotels are located. Its a collection of some of the oldest and most interesting architecture in Midtown Manhattan.
The first of these building is the famous Algonquin Hotel, the home of Dorothy Parkers famous “Round Table”.
The Algonquin Hotel is one of the oldest running hotels in New York City opening its doors to guests since 1902. The hotel was designed by architect Goldwin Starrett for the Puritan Realty Company. The hotel is a combination of Renaissance Revival style in the brick facade and Beaux-Arts in its terracotta details. Because of its proximity to Broadway, the hotel has always attracted a theater and literary crowd (Wiki).
The last time I had been at the hotel myself was about fifteen years ago when a friend was staying there and we had dessert in the hotel restaurant. I thought the food and service were both very good.
The Algonquin Hotel historic plaque.
The historic marker of the hotel.
The hotel has a very historic past of its ‘literary luminaries”.
The other hotel on the block that has its own historic past is The Iroquois Hotel at 49 West 44th Street.
The Iroquois Hotel was built in 1899 by designer and architect Harry Mulliken, The Iroquois has been a luxurious hospitality fixture on Midtown Manhattan’s 44th Street since 1902. Once the residence of prominent actors, celebrities, and artists, including James Dean, Leecy Woods, and The Clash (who wrote “Rock The Casbah” while staying at The Iroquois), our hotel continues its legacy of sophistication and timeless elegance in New York City to this day (Iroquois Hotel website).
The Harvard Club
The Harvard Club, one of the many Ivy League University clubs in Midtown Manhattan is located at 35 West 44th Street.
The Harvard Club was conceived in 1890 by a large group of Harvard alumni. Charles F. McKim (Harvard Class of 1867), of the renowned architectural firm, McKim, Mead & White, was chosen to design “Harvard House.” The club has been added onto over the years and most recently has added an outdoor addition.
The Harvard historic marker
The next club over is the New York Yacht Club at 37 West 44th Street. The New York Yacht Club Building, a six-storied Beaux-Arts landmark with a nautical-themed limestone facade, at 37 West 44th Street. Opened in 1901, the clubhouse was designed by Warren and Wetmore. The centerpiece of the clubhouse is the “Model Room”, which contains a notable collection of full and half hull models including a scale model history of all New York Yacht Club America’s Cup challenges (Wiki).
The Penn Club had been established in 1886 and had several locations over the years. The Yale Club had owned this building until 1915 and then moved out when they built a newer club near Grand Central Station. The Penn Club bought this building in 1989 and established the headquarters for the Penn Club here. This Beaux-Arts designed building was designed by the architectural firm of Tracy & Swartwout (Wiki).
The Penn Club historic plaque
The Penn Club historic plaque.
The last club to dominate this block with its impressive historical architecture is The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesman Club at 20 West 44th Street. This club was founded in 1785 and the aims of the General Society were to provide cultural, educational and social services to families of skilled craftsmen. The club was designed by the architectural firm of Lamb and Rich for the Berkeley School for Boys and acquired by the club in 1899. The expansion was designed by Ralph S. Townsend and blends monumental Beaux Arts classicism with Renaissance elements (Wiki).
The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesman Club 20 West 44th Street.
The General Society of Society of Mechanics and Tradesman of the City of New York building.
The historical plaque for The General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen Club
Once you cross Broadway, you enter the core of the Theater District and Times Square and all the well-known restaurants that are located here. Ollie’s Chinese Restaurant which used to be next to Carmine’s for years is now on Eighth Avenue (and not as good as it used to be) and a couple more closed during COVID but the standbys of Virgil’s, Carmine’s and Sardi’s are still open to crowds of tourists. Each caters to a different type of guest but most offer good food but high prices because of their location.
Carmines Italian Restaurant at 200 West 44th Street
Carmine’s Italian Restaurant is a real experience as a place to dine in the Theater District. You have better go in with a group because the portion sizes are very large. I have been here with my brother where the two of us came in starved and we ate a platter of Caesar Salad, a platter of Rigatoni with Meat Sauce and then for dessert a plate of Cannoli’s between the two of us. The waiter could not believe we ate all that ourselves. The last time I had eaten there with my dad back in 2000, we had a platter of Mixed Green Salad and a platter of Chicken Francais and I remember the food being wonderful and the service very engaging. It is a pre-theater treat for a group.
Sardi’s Restaurant and Grill is one of the most famous restaurants left in the Theater District and probably one of the most overrated as well. The TripAdvisor and Yelp reviews are mixed on the food and service. It is a restaurant that continues on with a reputation in the past. Still the place is always busy.
Sardi’s historic markers outside the restaurant.
The only time I have eaten here was for my birthday back in 2006 and I had mixed reviews about it myself. I was ignored for most of the evening by the waitstaff who could not figure out who had my table. I had to wave someone down after a half hour of being ignored. Then the service was uneven. I can remember trying the Caesar Salad and the Cannelloni Au Gratin because they were the items on the menu that were so traditional to the restaurant.
I just remember the salad being a salad and the Cannelloni tasting like something that had been frozen and reheated for dinner. Like a Stouffers meal that you take out of the microwave. I can’t even remember the dessert I had. It was so long ago that that I didn’t write a TripAdvisor review about it. There are other great restaurants like Virgil’s to go to in the area or for traditional food, go to Carmine’s. At least the portion sizes are large.
The plaque on West 44th Street
Shubert Alley on West 44th Street is the heart of the Theater District. This plaque sits on the side of the one of the buildings in West 44th Street.
China River is one of favorite Chinese Restaurants uptown.
I have eaten at China River several times and have always enjoyed the food. Their Dim Sum selection is really good and their dishes are delicious. I have been here and ordered meals and just light snacks of Dim Sum. Their Pan-Fried Dumplings and Spring Rolls are especially delicious and their Wonton Soup is perfect on a cold night. Their Pan-fried Pork Buns are really good as well. It is always a treat to eat there.
When you turn onto West 43rd Street from Eighth Avenue, you can still see some signs of the old Times Square in the backs of many buildings.
Looking down the heart of West 44th Street in Theater District
The heart of the Theater District has changed over the years and just keeps changing. Once you pass the Westin Hotel at the corner of West 43rd Street and Eighth Avenue, you will experience the back of many buildings from West 42nd and West 43rd Street for most of the block until about Sixth Avenue. It is a lot of loading docks and backs of shipping areas. Still it has that classic Times Square feel about it.
As you round West 43rd Street, you are greeted by the New York Westin Hotel.
The Westin Hotel Times Square when it was built was one of the most innovative buildings in New York City and the cornerstone along with the renovation of the New Amsterdam Theater of the renovation of Times Square in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. This transformed a section of the City still overcoming the financial crisis.
The Westin was in 2002 the first “great hotel” which opened in Manhattan since 1993 and the first project that crystallized Architectural firm, based in Miami in the city of New York. The hotel construction in the downtown commercial area of Times Square, was supervised by the founders of Architecture, the Peruvian Bernardo Fort-Brescia and his wife Laurinda Spear American teachers in the School of Urban Design at Harvard (Wikiteria).
Across the street from the hotel is the historic Times Square Building
The Times Square building at 229 West 43rd Street is the former headquarters of The New York Times newspaper. It was the paper’s place of business from 1913 to 2007. The original building was designed by architect Mortimer J. Fox of the firm of Buchman & Fox with the additions in the 1920’s by Ludlow & Peabody and in the 1930’s by architect Albert Kahn. The building has several different design styles as French Gothic, French Renaissance and Italian Renaissance (Wiki).
The Times Square Building plaque-The Home of the New York Times until 2007.
As you walk further down the block, it starts the heart of the old Theater district.
The Stephen Sondheim Theater was the old Henry Miller Theater
The Henry Miller Theater is now known as the Stephen Sondheim Theater.
The original theater was built in 1918 by Henry Miller, an actor and producer. The theater today is a modern theater opened in 2009 as part of the Bank of America complex. All that remains of the old theater is facade. The original 950-seat theater was designed in the neoclassical style by Harry Creighton Ingalls of Ingalls & Hoffman, in conjunction with Paul R. Allen. Its facade is protected as a city landmark. The facade is made of red brick and marble. In 2010, it was renamed for playwright and composer Stephen Sondheim. (Wiki).
The Henry Miller Theater historical plaque
The historical sign just outside the theater. The outside of the theater is still undergoing a renovation.
The John Golden plaque to John Golden who organized Bread Basket drive for the Actor’s Fund of American on West 44th Street.
John Golden was a songwriter and lyricist who produced plays, movies and eventually opened his own theater. His contributions to both Broadway and Hollywood were numerous (Wiki).
Walking down West 43rd Street, you can see the embellishments on the buildings of what was once the edge of the old Midtown Manhattan. Tucked here and there all over the neighborhood there are buildings that stand out. When I passed 25 West 43rd Street the first time, CUNY Professors were striking and I could not get a good look at it. I was too busy supporting their effort. The second time I passed the building, I really looked at the beauty of the details and you have to look up to appreciate it.
The beauty of 25 West 43rd Street
The beautiful architecture of 25 West 43rd Street.
I couldn’t find much history on the building except for the fact is was built in the late 1920’s and it has always been an office building. It has some beautiful details to the architecture and take time to admire its stonework (and support their Professors).
Then I walked a few doors down and there was the firehouse that housed Engine 65, “The Pride of Midtown”. Engine 65’s quarters were designed by Francis l.V. Hoppin and Terence A. Koen and built by E. D. Colony and Son. It was started on July 12, 1897 and cost $23,449.00 to build. The front of the building is Indiana limestone and buff brick with terra cotta trimmings. The first floor and sidewalk vault is composed of steel I beams and brick arches with the apparatus flooring of cork brick. All ceilings are of stamped steel. The second and third floors and roof have wooden beams with flooring of wood and walls of brick (NYFD History.com).
The historic Engine Company 65 was the inspiration for my novel “Firehouse 101”.
Engine 65 holds a special meaning to me as a trip inside back in March 2002 inspired my novel, “Firehouse 101”, the story of hotelier Alex Livingston, who returns to New York City a year and a half after the 9/11 attacks and befriends a FDNY fire fighter who survived the attacks.
On that afternoon when visiting Midtown, my best friend who had worked in the Towers and survived the attacks by being at a doctor’s appointment in Midtown at the time, had had lunch with me in a Times Square restaurant. We had been walking past the firehouse when the door was open to see a 9/11 display while the guys were out on a run. I could see the look on her face as she looked at the memorial for the men who had been lost that day and she started to tear up. As the guys were returning from their run and the door was about to close, we quickly walked out of the firehouse with one of the guys saying from behind that we did not have to leave.
As the door slammed shut, we walked down the road to Fifth Avenue and she turned to me and said, “These guys don’t really understand what they did that day. They saved us.” That inspired me to write the novel. It was dedicated to all those people affected by 9/11 who could never really share their feelings and to those displaced New Yorkers not living in the City (like myself living in California at the time) who were affected and did not know how to react.
The historic plaque for Engine 65 and the dedicated service to Midtown.
One little hole in the wall restaurant that I must have passed many times but never noticed was City Cafe at 35 West 43rd Street right next to the firehouse. I stopped in one day and the place was so packed during lunch hour that I could not find a seat so I had to leave.
This restaurant may appear small but they have ample seating and a very extensive menu. When you get there at the height of the lunch rush, the pizzas are really fresh looking and they have a nice selection. Their lunch specials and sandwich selection are also quite large.
The City Cafe has reasonable meals and a nice selection.
The City Cafe is one of the very few reasonable restaurants left in the district. This is the one place in this part of Midtown where you will see educators, business people, truck and taxi drivers and construction workers all dining together at the communal tables in the back of the restaurant. It is a real cross section of the population at lunch time and makes for interesting conversations that you overhear.
Down the block at 7 West 43rd Street is one of the most beautiful buildings on the block that is always being blocked by scaffolding. It is the Century Club Association. Its funny though of all the clubs in the area I never see anyone going in or out of it.
The Century Association Club at 7 West 43rd Street.
The Century Association was formed in 1847 at a meeting of the Sketch Club, a group of artists and writers, and took its name from the number of men who were invited to join it. Like many youths, the Century made its home in a variety of odd places around the city until it finally settled down, on January 10, 1891, in its present Renaissance-style building, designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White (all three architects were members). Despite some recent renovations and additions, the building and its contents to all appearances have changed relatively little since 1891; much of the present furniture was originally bought for the building, some of it designed specifically for the building by the architectural firm (Century Club website).
The entrance to the back part of NYU midtown.
The front of 20 West 43rd Street and the back of 11 West 42nd Street with its interesting carvings.
The symbols of the months are carved in the archway of the doorway of 20 West 43rd Street. The building known as the ‘Salmon Tower Building’ is a 31-story skyscraper located at 11 West 42nd Street and 20 West 43rd Street. It was designed by Albert J. Wilcox and finished in 1928. Ti has seen many famous tenants its many years but now the home of NYU Midtown.
Walking down the street, I passed the famous Royalton Hotel which is one of the many boutique hotels that have developed in this area over the years. The owners either took over old hotels that had fallen on bad times in the 1970’s and early 80’s or took old buildings in the area and converted their use. The Royalton Hotel had once been owned by the former operators of Studio 54.
The Royalton Hotel
The Royalton Hotel at 44 West 44th Street stretches from West 44th to West 43rd Street. This is the entrance at West 43rd Street.
The Royalton Hotel has an interesting history as well. The hotel, opened in 1898, was designed by architecture firm Rossiter & Wright and developed by civil engineer Edward G. Bailey. The 13-story building is made of brick, stone, terracotta, and iron. The hotel’s lobby, which connects 43rd and 44th Streets, contains a bar and restaurant. The upper stories originally featured 90 apartments, but these were replaced with 205 guestrooms when Philippe Starck and Gruzen Samton Steinglass Architects converted the Royalton to a boutique hotel in the 1980s (Wiki/Hotel website).
I finished on Broadway.
It took about a week to walk all the streets of the Theater/Times Square district, about a dozen revisits and having to go multiple sites to find all the research on the buildings, statuary and restaurants but there is so much to see and do in this ever changing district.
The area at night
On my last night of the walk at the end of the month, my best friend, Maricel and I stayed at the Renaissance Inn New York Manhattan/Central Park at 1717 Broadway for the evening. She gave me the smaller room with the most amazing room on the 64th floor. I was dazzled with the view both when I arrived during the day and at night. This is they way people should live everyday and is what tourists think when they hear the words “New York”.
The Residence Inn New York Manhattan/Central Park at 1717 Broadway
Normally when I stay at a hotel, I do not staying this high up (too many bad memories as a child watching the movie “The Towering Inferno”) but when Maricel showed me the view from the room, all I wanted to do is sink in the bed and relax. This is exactly what I did when she left. I had rewalked the last three blocks for a second time so that I did not miss anything. West 44th and West 43rd Streets had so much history to them I had to take special notes.
When she left to go to her room, I stared out the window of the room and could not believe the view. This view was two whole walls of the room and had million dollar views of Midtown.
The view of Uptown
The view from the room during the day.
The view at night of the view looking downtown.
The sunrise the next morning.
I can’t tell you how well I slept that night. Not only was the hotel very quiet but the bed was so comfortable that I was asleep for eight hours. The room was so amazing I did not want to leave it. Between the views and the comfortable bed it was one of the best night’s sleep in a long time.
I met Maricel for breakfast in the morning and that matched the experience of room. The breakfast was an extensive buffet with an assortment of breakfast items.
The Breakfast Buffet Room on the forth floor of the hotel.
The Buffet
The Buffet line
The breakfast was excellent and the food was so fresh.
It was an excellent overnight stay and not only did I have a wonderful night’s sleep but a wonderful breakfast. We had a nice talk over breakfast and I described my walk in the neighborhood. The hotel was in the center of the neighborhood I was exploring and I was able to resume my walking tour of the area once I checked out.
I checked my luggage and continued the walk around the Theater District. I finished my walk later that evening and ended the walk at the end of West 43rd Street. It is a large neighborhood with lots of interesting architecture, beautiful art installations and excellent restaurants both inexpensive and some more luxurious. You can get any type of cuisine here.
At the end of the night, the views at night were quite spectacular.
West 43rd Street and Sixth Avenue at the end of the walk. Late nights is when the beauty of Manhattan shines.
The Theater District/Times Square area has so much to see and do.
Places to Eat (the places in this blog I have personally eaten at):
My last night of freedom. Maricel took me to the Sheraton Canal Street as a present
I found out the night of the “Rocking it in Rutherford-Be a Tourist in your own Town” event back in April that I had gotten accepted to New York University for my Masters Degree. I had applied months earlier for the college after the initial get together in October of 2019 (pre-Pandemic). I never thought I would get in but there was the email the night of the presentation as almost a gift from God that I had done good work with the students.
My ID card picture
It has been exciting journey so far and this leads to the next stage of my life. For the next two years I will be playing “college student” for the fifth time (Michigan State University, Fashion Institute of Technology, Culinary Institute of America and Cornell University proceeded it).
I will be graduating in the Spring of 2024 with my Masters in Science in Global Hospitality Management and from there, who knows? I like the idea that there is a new future with a new job and new adventures coming soon. It will be a long ride with a lot of hard work but I look forward to my future.
The blogs may come slower than before but I will be doing a lot more exploring of the City in between classes.
Wish me luck!
Maricel and I the weekend before I started Graduate School
I dedicate this blog to the man who inspired this walk around Manhattan and beyond. Whose sense of adventure and love of New York City always showed with each trip we made into New York City.
I love you Dad!
(My father and I at the Union Square Café Restaurant in 2009).
The weather finally broke, and it has cooled down to a pleasant 87 degrees. Thank God because it was a nice day in the City walk around and visit the Flatiron District without sweating like crazy. The last few walks I have done in the neighborhood have been in the mid 90’s and that got to be too much.
I had spent the morning working in Social Services at the Soup Kitchen, helping people with things like getting clothes, writing out haircut vouchers and getting them toiletries. It is a lot of running around but the best part was that I really felt that I was helping people in need. The weather cooperated, and it was so nice to be outside enjoying the sunshine. It was a productive afternoon.
After I finished lunch, I was off to walk the Avenues of the Flatiron District. I have to admit that this has been one of the harder neighborhoods to research because there are so many amazing buildings to view, and the architecture is so detailed that it takes time to look up at all the ornamentation on the buildings. As I said in my previous blog on the borders of the neighborhood, these companies built these buildings to impress and last forever.
I started the walk at the intersection of Broadway, Fifth Avenue and West 25th Street at the General Worth Memorial, a distinct triangle park right across the street from Madison Square Park. This is the Memorial to and burial site of General William Jenkins Worth.
William Jenkins Worth was a native New Yorker (Hudson, NY) and decorated Army officer who had served our country in the Battles of 1812, The Second Seminole War and the Mexican American War. His series of campaigns shaped this Country to where it is today. He died working for the Department of Texas in 1849 (Wiki).
The General’s remains are buried under the monument at Worth Square at the corner of Fifth Avenue, Broadway and East 24th and 25th Street. General Worth was interned here in November of 1857 on the anniversary of the British leaving the colonies (NYCParks.org).
The Worth Monument between East 24th and East 25th Street at Broadway and Fifth Avenue
The Worth Monument was designed by artist James Goodwin Batterson, whose main profession was one of the founders of the Travelers Insurance Company in Hartford, CT and helped design the Library of Congress Building in Washington DC. He had immersed himself in his father’s quarrying and stone importing business early in his career and traveled extensively to Europe and Egypt for the job. He designed this monument in 1857 (Wiki).
Turning the corner at East 25th Street and Madison Avenue is Madison Square Park, named after our fourth President of the United States, James Madison. This well landscaped park is the gathering place of the residents of NoMAD and has a wonderful playground that has been busy the whole time I have spent in the neighborhood.
Madison Square Park is an interesting little oasis from all the traffic and office space. It has an interesting history since it was designated a public space in 1686 by British Royal Governor Thomas Dongan. It has served as a potter’s field, an arsenal and a home for delinquents. In 1847, the space was leveled, landscaped and enclosed as a park. It became part of the New York Park system in 1870. There are many historical figures featured in the park (NYCParks.org). The park today is a major meeting spot for residents and tourists alike with a dog track and the original Shake Shack restaurant.
Madison Square Park in the Spring when I was walking the length of Broadway
When I walked into the park to take a break, it must have been the busiest section of the neighborhood between the playground and the original Shake Shack that were serving food to a crowd clung to their cellphones.
Another sculpture that is in Madison Square Park is the statue of William Henry Stewart, the former Governor of New York State, US Senator and Secretary of State during the Civil War. He also negotiated the Alaskan Purchase in 1867.
Governor William Henry Stewart statue in Madison Square Park
Governor William Henry Sewart, who negotiated the Alaskan Purchase “Sewart’s Folly”
The statue was designed by artist Randolph Rogers an American born sculptor who studied in Italy. He was a Neoclassical artist known for his famous historical commissions.
Madison Square Park is noted for its beautiful plantings, shaded paths and for being home to the first Shake Shack, a Danny Meyers restaurant and popular upscale fast-food restaurant.
The very first Shake Shack is in Madison Square Park
As you look down further on the square, you will see the Flatiron Building one of the most famous and most photographed buildings in New York City. The building was designed by Daniel Burnham as a Renaissance Palazzo with Beaux-Arts style. The original name for the building was the “Fuller Building” for the Company. The name “Flatiron” comes from a cast iron clothes iron from the turn of the last century. (Wiki)
The ‘Flatiron’ Building at 175 Fifth Avenue at 23rd Street
As you pass the Flatiron Building and continue the walk south between 23rd and 14th Streets, take a look up to admire the buildings that once help make up the “Ladies Shopping Mile”, once the most fashionable neighborhood after the Civil War for shopping, hotels and entertainment (See my blog in MywalkinManhattan.com “Walking the Ladies Shopping Mile”).
My Christmas Blog on “Victorian Christmas in New York City”: Day One Hundred and Twenty-Eight:
The buildings that line Broadway from the Flatiron Building until you get to Bowling Green Park at the tip of Manhattan are some of the most beautiful and detailed examples of Victorian architecture and were built between 1870 to about 1915. You really need to put the cellphone down and look up when walking south on both sides or you might miss the details of these buildings.
The Warren Building is another example of turn on the last century elegance. Designed by Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White in 1896, the building was designed in the Neo-Renaissance style (Daytonian).
One of the most elegant buildings on this part of Broadway is the former “Lord & Taylor” building at 901 Broadway. The building was constructed for the department store in 1870 and was the main store until 1914. Really take time to look at the detail work of the store and step inside. The Mansard Roof is an amazing touch. In 2022, it is now a restaurant on the lower level.
901 Broadway “Lord & Taylor” building from 1870-1914
I walked back through Madison Square Park after my walk down Broadway and there were two small jazz concerts that were going on at opposite side of the park. Two three person combos were entertaining people by the fountain and near Shake Shack and on a sunny after there was a pretty big crowd enjoying the park and listening to the music.
Walking down Fifth Avenue was interesting on both sides as you will notice how ornate the buildings are as you travel from West 25th to West 20th Street leading me to believe how important of a shopping and business district this once must have been. Here and there from the Flatiron Building you can see all the elegant and ornate buildings that line the Avenue.
I started my walk south down Fifth Avenue and here and there you need to look up and admire the details of the buildings. On the corner of Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street is 186 Fifth Avenue, which was built for the Western Union Telegraph Company in 1883.
186 Fifth Avenue-The Western Union Telegraph Company Building
The building was designed by architect Henry J. Hardenberger in the Queen Anne style with its details being in brick and terra cotta (Daytonian in Manhattan). The building just finished a restoration, and you can see the details by the windows and dormers.
At 170 Fifth Avenue and West 22nd Street, you can see the beauty and elegance of the Beaux Art details of the former Sohmer Piano building. The building was built between 1897-88 and designed by architect Robert Maynicke for the owners of the Sohmer Piano Company for their showrooms and offices. The company was known for its introduction of the baby grand piano (Wiki/Daytonian in Manhattan).
At 166 Fifth Avenue, the building has almost a confectionary look of a wedding cake. This commercial building was constructed in 1900 by the architectural firm of the Parfitt Brothers in the Northern Renaissance Revival style with all sorts of embellishments around the windows and doors with an elaborate roof design. In the beginning it housed art galleries and upscale retailers until the area became manufacturing at the turn of the last century. It has made a full swing again as a luxury retailer building on street level (Daytonian in Manhattan/Streeteasy/LoopNet.com).
On the corner of West 21st Street and Fifth Avenue is 162 Fifth Avenue, another impressive building with interesting details. This office building was built in 1930 and is still used for commercial purposes.
At the edge of the neighborhood standing guard in the Flatiron District is 156 Fifth Avenue, the Presbyterian Building. This building has an interesting past being built for the Presbyterian Church for offices for missionary work when the neighborhood housed many religious institutions (Daytonian in Manhattan/LoopNet.com).
It was designed by architect James B. Baker in the French Gothic style, and you have to admire the roof for its unique details.
The detail in the entrance of the building
As I rounded the corner of the neighborhood at West 20th Street another building caught my eye at 150 Fifth Avenue, the former Methodist Book Concern. The building was built between 1888-90 and designed by architect Edward Hale Kendall in the Romanesque Revival style. It had originally held the offices, printing and a chapel for the church. This was the section of Fifth Avenue that housed many religious offices and headquarters (Wiki).
Walking north back up Fifth Avenue is 141 Fifth Avenue another confection of architecture. This gorgeous building was built in 1897 by architect Robert Maynicke, who had also designed Sohmer Piano Building at 170 Fifth Avenue, in the Beaux Arts style for the Merchant Bank of New York (Flatironnomade.nyc/fsiarchitecture.com).
141 Fifth Avenue-The Merchants Bank of New York Building
This impressive bank has recently been converted to luxury apartments with a current one sold at over three million dollars.
The entrance to 141 Fifth Avenue
I made my way back up Fifth Avenue and admired all these buildings once again. Each has their own style and design and since the time of their construction continue to live on in different forms for various companies. Since many were built at the turn of the last century it also proved to me how well constructed and designed these buildings are and how desirable they are in the marketplace as you will not see this construction again. These were made to last and give this section of Manhattan its unique appearance and its own sense of character.
The Flatiron District from Fifth Avenue and East 23rd Street
The beauty of the Flatiron District at night
I found myself hungry again and took the subway back down to Chinatown to visit many of the takeout places and bakeries that were on my list to visit. I have been building up my blog, DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com and wanted to see how many of them had stayed open post pandemic. Many of these little ‘hole in the wall’ restaurants are going strong as Chinatown is continuing to come back to life.
I started my walk in Chinatown at China North Dumpling at 27A Essex Street across from Seward Park for some fried dumplings and spring rolls. For ten large fried dumplings that were really juicy and well cooked, four spring rolls and a Coke it was $7.00. Everything was so well made, and you can watch from the counter the ladies making the fresh dumplings right in front of you. The place is real bare bones, but the food and the service are amazing. Try to eat at the counter and watch everything get prepared.
China North Dumpling at 27A Essex Street located in the Lower East Side
The Dumplings at China North Dumpling are made right in front of you
In needed something sweet after all the fried foods so I headed back to Yue Lai Bakery at 137 East Broadway to look for a baked pork bun. They had none left at that time of the day, but they were having a special on their baked goods three for $2.00 and I picked out a Coconut Bun, a Cream filled Bun and a Plain Bun.
They bagged it all up for me and I walked over to Sewart Park across the street and sat on the benches and ate them one by one. The Cream and Plain buns were really good and very sweet, and everything was so soft and well baked. I ended up sharing the Coconut Bun with the little birds in the park who surrounded me looking for a handout.
After a nice rest in the park and enjoying the sunshine and watching families play with their kids, I found myself still hungry. So, I walked down Hester Street from the park and made my way to King Dumpling this time for some steamed Pork and Chive Dumplings. For ten dumplings and a Coke it was only $5.00. The Steamed Pork & Chive Dumplings were excellent and again were freshly made right in front of us. They are large and well-cooked and burst with juiciness when you bite into them.
Steamed Dumplings at King Dumplings are also made right in front of you
The place was packed with customers and people getting takeout. It is amazing to me how many people write about both King Dumpling and China North Dumpling and I had never really noticed them before. I saw them on a Fung Brothers “Cheap Chinatown Eats” video and then wanted to try them.
My last stop on the eating tour because even after twenty dumplings, four spring rolls, three pastries and three Cokes, I was still hungry and needed that baked pork bun. I found it at Happy Star Bakery at 160 East Broadway and it was just $1.75. Not the $3.50 in Midtown as I recently found at Dim Sum Sam in the Theater District. It was soft and chewy and filled with the most amazing, chopped pork and baked into a sweet dough. I barely made it out the door and I was finished with it.
After all the munching on snacks throughout the afternoon, I needed a good walk so I double backed and walked around the Twin Bridges section of the neighborhood walking down Henry, Madison, Rutgers and Clinton Streets around the public housing projects looking at all the small businesses that still catered to the people in the projects.
It is really a funny section of the City in that in-between the cut rate stores, and discount pizzerias are tiny gourmet restaurants, coffee bars and art galleries. It is really a case of extremes all over this section of the neighborhood and shows that both Twin Bridges and Chinatown south are going through a change in both residents and the businesses that cater to them.
With Little Italy slowly fading away (down to just four blocks now from forty at the turn of the last century), I can see the same changes happening in Chinatown as well. It is just another sign of Manhattan going through a metamorphosis.
It will be interesting to see what I will find when I reach this section of Manhattan in the near future.
There are some neighborhoods in Manhattan that just stand out for their access to parks or to the rivers and others are loaded with historic value who architecture had not changed over the years.
The Flatiron District which was once served as the old Midtown between the Civil War and World War One and “The Ladies Shopping Mile”, where women could shop and engage with one another without a chaperon on Avenues and Streets lined with Department stores, restaurants, movie theaters, tea houses and specialty stores catering to their needs. When you look up at the grand buildings of the district with their large windows and their Beaux-Art designs and decorations, you can see that their purpose was to impress the customers.
I had toured the area around Sixth Avenue and West 23rd Street three years earlier for a tour of a “New York Victorian Christmas” and you can see by the architecture that these buildings were meant to last.
These Grand Department Store buildings are the ghosts of their former selves with a shopping district that left them behind and names that have been out of business for over a hundred years (with the exception of B. Altman & Company which closed in 1990). You can still see the beauty and gracefulness that is carved into the stone of these buildings and in some cases still show the name or the initial of the original store owner.
Day One Hundred and Twenty-Eight: ‘Victorian Christmas Tour’
As I started my walk on the borders of the Flatiron District at West 25th Street and Sixth Avenue, there was not much to see as it was all new construction. The one thing that I did notice from my last walk in the neighborhood is that the colorful street art piece by was tagged over. It was on the very edge of the neighborhood on the wall of The Corner Cafe at the corner of 729 Sixth Avenue was the New York City painting by artist Dirt Cobain.
The New York City Street art by artist Dirt Cobain on the side of The Corner Cafe at 729 Sixth Avenue (painted over in 2022)
Artist Dirt Cobian is an American born artist who started with a spray can when he was a teenager. He creates the most interesting and eye-opening street art. He currently lives in Brooklyn (Artist bio).
A video on who the artist is and what he represents.
The colorful piece of street art was painted over by another tagger who did not do the painting justice. That and the fact that the Corner Cafe had closed its doors for business since I walked the northern part of the Chelsea neighborhood in June and now sat empty. It was when you reached West 23rd Street when the true gems of architecture began.
This unusual office building was built in 1920 and you have to look up to see the carving of “The Corner” at the top of the corniche
I remembered what the tour guide said this had once been the first real shopping district when shopping was acceptable for the middle to upper middle-class woman to shop and socialize unchaperoned. These were the days before malls when shopping was an experience and not something to be rushed.
You could see it in the size of the buildings that housed everything you needed for your household from furniture and clothing to wines and fine gourmet food. They had something for everyone. I could have only imagined what it must have been like and to go back in time to experience those times.
The shopping district stretched from the border of West 23rd Street to the border of West 14th along the Sixth Avenue corridor from the old shopping district to the new one. Even today when you walk that area of West 14th Street, you can still see traces of the old shopping district in the elaborate buildings that are left that line the street. As I walked the back-and-forth length of Sixth Avenue, I admired the buildings that still line it.
I walked south first down Sixth Avenue so that I could really see the stores for myself on one side and then walked past the storefronts on my way back up. What were once Upper Middle Class clothing emporiums are today ‘Big Box’ stores still catering to the retail trade just in another form on the bottom and offices to the top.
Th shopping district border with the Flatiron District starts at the Simpson-Crawford Department Store at 641 Sixth Avenue between West 19th and 20th Streets, which once catered to the wealthy elite of Manhattan and beyond. The store was established in 1878 by Richard Meares and William Crawford as Richard Meares & Company. Meares left the firm a year later and William Crawford then partnered with Thomas and James Simpson to create Simpson, Crawford and Simpson. When Thomas Simpson died in 1885, the store became known as Simpson-Crawford (Daytonian in Manhattan).
Simpson-Crawford Store today at Sixth Avenue between West 19th and 20th Streets
When James Simpson died in 1894, William Crawford became the sole owner and in 1899 with the rise of the great stores on Sixth Avenue, Crawford designed a new store of marble designed by William H. Hume & Son. The exterior of the store shined with polished marble and granite (Daytonian in Manhattan & the tour guide).
The store had many innovations at the time. It had the first escalator in the city, the first display windows with mannequins and large display windows that had to be created for the store. The store was stocked with the finest imported clothes, furs and laces and on the top floor was a restaurant that catered to 1200 guests (Daytonian in Manhattan & the tour guide).
Before the store opened, William Crawford retired and sold the store to Henry Siegel across the street who kept the tradition of the store going. When Siegel-Cooper Company collapsed in 1914, Simpson-Crawford was kept closed for three weeks and then reopened. Both stores closed one year later, and the store was converted to mail order warehouse. Today it holds various stores (Daytonian in Manhattan).
Our next stop was in front of Hugh O’Neill’s Dry Goods Store at 655 Sixth Avenue between West 20th and 21st Streets. It was built by the firm of Mortimer C. Merritt in the neo-Greco style who built the four stages of the building between 1887-1890 (Wiki & the tour guide).
Hugh O’Neill had started a small dry goods business right after the Civil War in 1865 with a small store around Union Square. In 1870, he decided to build a trade on the middle market customer and offered discounts on goods. The four floors of merchandise contained laces, ribbons, clocks and on the upper floors women’s and children’s clothing (Wiki).
When O’Neill died in 1902, the shopping area had just begun its decline and in 1906 it merged with Adams Dry Goods up the block. A year later they both went out of business as the area gave way to manufacturing. The building today has been converted into condos.
The Hugh O’Neill store today
Next door to it we looked at and discussed was the former Adams Dry Goods Store at 675 Sixth Avenue between West 21st and 22nd Street.
Samuel Adams, a merchant who had been selling upscale clothing and furnishing to customers in the area decided to open a store on Sixth Avenue. He used the architectural firm of DeLemos & Cordes, who had designed the Seigel-Cooper Department Store and the six-story building opened in 1902. The store was the first in New York City to use the new Pneumatic tubes to transport money and messages throughout the store (Wiki).
The problem with the store was its location. He built the store at the very edge of the neighborhood as the business changed. As the shopping area started to decline in the early 1900’s, Adams sold the store to Hugh O’Neill Dry Goods Store and they merged the two companies together, converting three floors of the Adams Dry Goods store to furniture. This concept was not popular as well and the businesses failed, and the store closed in 1913 (Wiki & the tour guide).
Adams Dry Goods Store today at Sixth Avenue between West 21st and 22nd Streets
The store has gone through a manufacturing stage and in the 80’s became part of the change to large box retailing. The building now houses eBay and several stores including Trader Joe’s and Michael’s. As we could see on the tour, the old department stores are finding new life in retailing.
The old entrance to the Adams Dry Goods Store
Between West 22nd and West 23rd Streets located between the old Adams Dry Goods and next to the former Macy’s store was Ehrich Brothers Department Store at 701 Broadway. The building was constructed in 1889 by architect William Schickel & Company with additions by Buchman & Deisler and Buchman & Fox in 1889 (Wiki).
Ehrich Brothers Department Store building at 701 Sixth Avenue (Wiki)
The “K” still adorns the store of the old J.L. Kesner Department Store
Another addition was added by Taylor & Levi in 1911 when the store was leased to J.L. Kesner. They added the terra cotta “K”s that can still be seen from the top of the storefront. The store folded in 1913 and then was used for manufacturing and offices as the shopping district moved to 34th Street and the Fifth Avenue area (Wiki).
At the corner of the neighborhood on Sixth Avenue and West 23rd Street at 100 West 23rd Street is the second Macy’s Department Store building. This was on the very edge of the Ladies Shopping Mile that once stretched along Sixth Avenue.
The building was built in 1871 and you can see all the elaborate embellishments on it with interesting stone carvings and elegant window design and some wrought iron details on different parts of the building. It was the last location of the store before it moved to its current location at 151 West 34th Street.
100 West 23rd Street (Renthop.com) is an old Macy’s
The plaque at The Caroline apartments tells of the location as being the former home of both the Booth Theater and McCreery Department store. The Shakespeare sculpture on the side of the building was once part of both structures.
This Shakespeare sculpture dates from the 1800’s and has been part of all three buildings.
At the edge of the shopping district on the corner of West 20th Street and Sixth Avenue is the old Church of the Holy Communion, which recently housed the Limelight Night Club and now the Limelight Shops at 47 West 20th Street.
The former Church of the Holy Communion at 47 West 20th Street (now the Limelight Shops)
The church was designed by architect Richard Upjohn and was built between 1844-45 and was consecrated in 1846. It was designed in the ‘Gothic Revival’ style and according to the church’s founder, Reverend William Muhlenberg “was the true architectural expression of Christianity” (Wiki). The church closed in 1975 due to declining membership. It had many uses until 1983 when it opened as the Limelight Nightclub. Today it houses the Limelight shops.
The church set up for outdoor dining in the summer
Samuel Hagai is an Israel born artist now living in Los Angeles. He is a self-taught artist know for his realistic portraits (Artist bio)
As I turned the corner onto West 20th Street, there was a lot of commotion across the street and there were police cars everywhere. I did not see what exactly happened, but it made me walk faster down West 20th Street.
West 20th Street is officially the southern border of the Flatiron District, but I have found that the district overlaps with NoMad, Rose Hill, Kips Bay and Chelsea so much of the neighborhood has two or sometimes three community names. The borders begin to blur here. You can see though that this was once a very important business district with buildings that were designed with distinction.
At the corner of Sixth Avenue and West 20th Street, another building got my attention at 650 Sixth Avenue. This impressive building, which is known as the Cammeyer and is located at 650 Avenue of the Americas on the southeast corner at 20th Street, was converted to a residential condominium in 2007 (Carter Horsley. CityRealty.com).
650 Sixth Avenue at the corner of Sixth Avenue and West 20th Street-Now the Cammeyer
The building was designed by Hubert, Piersson & Hoddick in 1892 for the estate of William C. Rhinelander. The red-brick, Neo-Renaissance-style building has white stone and terra cotta trim, a large copper cornice and a handsome band course beneath its top floor. It was the home of the Cammeyer Shoe Store, the one of the largest shoe stores in country (Daytonian).
The conversion was designed by Perkins Eastman for by Penterium, the residential development arm of Korean firm Kumang Housing Corp (Carter Horsley. CityRealty.com).
I was admiring 27 West 20th Street on my walk down West 20th Street to Park Avenue South. This detailed twelve story office building was built in 1908 and now offers loft style offices. the details of the building include elaborate stonework both around the doorways and lower windows and the top floors.
What I liked about the side streets as well as the avenues as I walked the neighborhood was that it kept its character and that these buildings had not been knocked down for the modern skyscraper. They were finding new use like the buildings in Midtown South and in NoMAD and become very desirable.
There was true beauty in the details of 20 West 20th Street that was built in 1906. The Beaux Art style details around the windows and doors accent the elegant building.
This is also the details you see in the office building of 10 West 20th Street built in 1903 with Beaux Art style details along the lower windows and doors and the upper floors of the building.
I passed 156 Fifth Avenue as I crossed the border from west to east in this part of the neighborhood and admired it for its detailed stonework carving and unusual styled roof. The Presbyterian Building was built in 1893 and was designed by architect James B. Baker and was designed in the French Gothic style. It was to be used by the Presbyterian Church as their base for domestic and foreign missions and used as office space. The Panic of 1893 changed that, and they had to lease the space out (Daytonian in Manhattan).
I reached Broadway and to what was once heart of the elegant shopping district of the old Midtown Manhattan before it moved up to the 34th Street area at the turn of the 20th Century. At 901 Broadway at East 20th Street is the old Lord & Taylor Building before its final move to Fifth Avenue in 1915 (they closed in 2020).
901 Broadway at West 20th Street-The Lord & Taylor Building
The building was designed by New York architect James H. Giles and was designed in the innovative cast iron style of the time that resembled stone. After the store closed in 1915 when it moved business uptown, the Broadway side of the store was resurfaced in stone which is why only a sliver of the old store design is intact (Daytonian in Manhattan/New York Public Library).
The original look of the Lord & Taylor Store at 901 Broadway (New York Public Library)
Across the street from the old Lord & Taylor Building is 903 Broadway, the former Warren Building. It was designed in 1891 by Stamford White for the Goelet family for their new commercial holding company. The Goelet family had owned all the land around this area and as it moved from residential to commercial, the family developed the neighborhood around them. The building was named after Robert Goelet’s wife, Harriette Louise Warren (Daytonian in Manhattan).
903 Broadway at West 20th Street-The Warren Building
Moving further down East 20th Street is the recreation of the childhood home of Theodore Roosevelt and the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace Museum at 28 East 20th Street.
28 East 20th Street-Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace Museum
The house opened finally for touring after being closed for the pandemic in January 2023 so I finally got to tour the home. It is filled with period furniture, family heirlooms and many artifacts of the late President.
The Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace Museum at 28 East 20th Street
The small gardens outside the house were in full greenery when I visited.
The Living Room at the Roosevelt Home.
The Parlor at the Roosevelt Home
Towards the corner of East 20th Street and Park Avenue South near the border of the neighborhood is 42 East 20th Street, the current home of the Gramercy Tavern, The Bullmoose building. This loft style store building was built between 1898-1899 and was designed by architects Neville & Bagge. The building was converted into lofts and the restaurant below.
The beautiful entrance to the former N.S. Meyer Inc.
Turning the corner to Park Avenue South, you can see Gramercy Park in the distance which shares it border with the Flatiron District. This is where the lines get blurred between the Flatiron District and Gramercy Park, which share the same border.
As you walk up Park Avenue South, the first building that makes an impression is 251 Park Avenue South. This elegant office building with its large display windows and clean lines shows of the store inside. The office building was built in 1910 and has large windows both on the ground level and towards the top of building.
One building that does standout from the others on Park Avenue South is the Calvery Church at 277 Park Avenue. The church was established in 1832 and moved to its current location in 1842. The current church was designed in the Gothic Revival style by James Renwick Jr., who designed St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Another interesting building, I looked up and admired while walking up Park Avenue South was 281 Park Avenue South, the former Church Mission House. The building was designed by architects Robert W. Gibson and Edward J. Neville in the Medieval style and was built between 1892 and 1894. It was built for the Episcopal Church’s Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society (Wiki). It now houses the photography museum The Fotografista Museum.
281 Park Avenue South-The Fotografiska Museum (The Church Mission House)
Another impressive building, I passed before East 23rd Street is 105 East 22nd Street the former United Charities Building. This is the final building in what was once known as “Charity Row” (Wiki). The building was designed by architect R. H. Robertson and the firm of Rowe & Baker. It was built by John Stewart Kennedy in 1893 for the ‘Charity Organization Society’ (Wiki).
When you turn the corner down East 23rd Street, you are heading back up to the border that the Flatiron District shares with the Kips Bay, Rose Hill and NoMAD neighborhoods. I had walked these district two years earlier when I explored these neighborhoods. I walked north first to the Infantry Regiment building and then walked south again to East 23rd Street to see if there were any changes. With the exception of DiDi Dumpling moving to 34 Lexington from 38 Lexington, it looked pretty much the same.
I walked to the front of the 69th Regiment Building at 68th Lexington Avenue. The scaffolding was finally down, and you could see the whole building now. This beautiful building is the home to the New York Army National Guard’s 69th Infantry Regiment, known as the “Fighting Irish” since the Civil War (Wiki).
The building was designed by architects Hunt & Hunt in the Beaux Arts style and was completed in 1906. It has been home to many events and show including the controversial 1913 Armory Show of contemporary art (Wiki). You really have to walk around the building to admire its beauty and history.
Just across the street is another beautiful building covered with snakes, skulls and dragons carved along the side of it at 130 East 25th Street.
Someone had a warped sense of humor
The former B. W. Mayer Building which now houses the Friends House in Rosehall was built in 1916 by architect Herman Lee Meader (Wiki). You really have to walk around the building to see all the unusual carvings that line the building.
130 East 25th Street, the former B. W. Mayer Building
The street art is also interesting on this part of Lexington Avenue. One the corner of East 24th Street & Lexington Avenue is the Friends House New York, a housing unit. Painted on the wall is a very unique painting by Italian street artist, Jacopo Ceccarelli.
Painting by artist Jacopo Ceccarelli
The mural is on the corner of East 24th & Lexington Avenue-The St. Francis Residence Building
The Milan born street artist, who goes by the name “Never 2501” hones his skills after moving to San Paolo, painting murals with an edge that got global recognition. He uses geometric forms in his work with circles and lines creating the abstract (Do Art Foundation).
I was getting hungry again with all this criss crossing across Lexington Avenue and I had two choices for a snack, DiDi Dumpling at 38 Lexington Avenue or Pick & Pay Pizza at 30 Lexington Avenue both having reasonable snacks. Since I would be stopping for Dim Sum later that afternoon, I chose the pizza. For a $1.25 a slice, the pizza was not bad in this tiny little hole in the wall that also served Indian food as well. The sauce had a lot of flavor and that is what makes the pizza.
Pick & Pay Pizza at 30 Lexington Avenue (Closed January 2024)
I noticed on the wall right near the doorway near the Starbucks was another wall mural “Urban Ocean” by artist Yuki Abe that is off to the side of the building on the corner of Lexington & 25th, Look at the interesting color and design of the work.
Surrounding this area of Lexington & 25th Street starts the campus of Baruch College which is part of the SUNY system, and I could see students who were taking live classes walking around enjoying the day. I am sure it is much different when classes were in full swing, and the students were hanging around the restaurants and coffee shops in the area.
The Baruch College Student Plaza at East 25th Street is a nice place to relax
Another building that stands out in its beauty and design is on the corner of the neighborhood on Lexington Avenue between 24th and 23rd Streets, the Freehand Hotel at 23 Lexington Avenue. The hotel was originally built as the Hotel George Washington in 1928 and designed by architect Frank Mills Andrews in the French Renaissance style.
The Freehand Hotel (the former George Washington Hotel) at 23 Lexington Avenue
While still a apartment building and a dorm in the 1990’s, several famous New Yorkers lived at the hotel including artist Keith Haring and musician Dee Dee Ramone. Playwright Jeffery Stanley also lived at the hotel for a period of time.
The entrance to the Freehand Hotel is very elegant
After the north south trip around the boundaries of Lexington Avenue, I turned at East 25th Street to head back to Sixth Avenue. The border of the Flatiron District is also part of the Rose Hill and NoMAD neighborhoods and shares the border with Kips Bay.
Walking down East 25th Street, you realize as you start to border the Midtown area that the buildings take up more of the blocks and there are less smaller brownstones and tenements in the area. The dominate building on the block by Madison Square Park is 11-25 Madison Avenue, the Metropolitan Life Buildings. The building that lines this part of East 25th Street is the Metropolitan Life North Building (or 11 Madison Avenue).
Metropolitan Life North Building at 25 Madison Avenue
This beautiful building was the extension of the main headquarters next door on Madison Avenue. The building was designed by the architectural team of Harvey Wiley Corbett and D. Everett Waid in the Art Deco style in the late 1920’s as the tallest building in the world but the Great Depression changed the plans and it was built in three stages. The first finished in 1932, the second in 1940 and the third in 1950 (Wiki).
The archways ‘Loggias’ on each side of the building
What stands out about the building is the arched vaults on each corner of the structure called ‘loggias’ and the features were made in limestone and pink marble. When you stand under them you can see the colors and details of the marble carvings (Wiki). Just walking around the building the features are impressive and standout.
Across the street from the Metropolitan Life North Building at 27 Madison Avenue is the Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State and one of the most beautiful and detailed buildings I have seen on my walks. The building was designed by architect James Lord Brown in 1896 in the Beaux Arts Style and is adorned heavily in sculpture (Wiki). You really have to step back and walk across the street to see the details on the building.
27 Madison Avenue The Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State
The side of the building facing Madison Square Park.
Looking up close, you can see that the building resembles a Greek Temple and was considered one of the best examples of the “City Beautiful Movement” that occurred during the 1890’s and 1900’s to enhance cities with monumental grandeur and beauty (Wiki).
The historical beauty of the architecture continued up the border of the neighborhood as I walked up Madison Avenue towards East 30th Street. You have to walk both sides of Madison Avenue to appreciate the designs and details of the buildings that line the avenue.
You have to look close to the building or you will miss it is the sculpture by artist Harriet Feigenbaum. It is a memorial to victims of the Holocaust and is very powerful in its work showing the concentration camps.
“The Memorial to the Injustice of the Victims of the Holocaust”-“Indifference to Justice is the Road to Hell”
Harriet Feigenbaum is an American sculptor and environmentalist. Her works cover sculpture, film and drawings that are seen all over the world (Wiki and artist bio).
I passed 50 Madison Avenue and noticed how the buildings blended in design. The bottom level of the building was built in 1896 as the headquarters of the ASPCA (American Society of the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals). The building was designed by architects Renwick, Aspinwall & Owen and had a classic ‘club like’ design to it. The building was refitted and added to in 2005 by the firm of Samson Management with a six story addition to luxury condos (CityRealty.com).
Another ornamental building that stands out in the neighborhood is 51 Madison Avenue which is the home of New York Life Insurance Building. The building was designed by architect Cass Gilbert in 1926 in the Art Deco style with Gothic Revival details along the sides and was finished in 1928. The structure is topped with a gilded roof (Wiki & New York Life Insurance history). This is another building that you have to see from all sides.
51 Madison Avenue-The New York Life Insurance Building
Continuing my walk up Madison Avenue while admiring the architecture of the neighborhood is The James NoMAD Hotel, the former Seville Hotel, on the corner of East 29th Street at 88 Madison Avenue. This interesting hotel has gone through several name changes and renovations since it was built in 1904. The hotel was designed by architect Harry Alan Jacobs in the Beaux Arts style and the annex to the hotel was designed by Charles T. Mott in 1906 (Wiki).
88 Madison Avenue-The James NoMAD Hotel (formerly The Seville)
The outdoor dining was open for the restaurant the first afternoon I had visited the neighborhood even though I thought it was a little cool to eat outside. Even though you can’t go inside unless you are a guest, I could see the lights stung from the street, and it looked very elegant in the outside dining area. It was noted in the paper that they will be keep the tradition of closing Broadway from West 25th to West 28th for the summer.
Across the street from this elegant hotel is 95 Madison Avenue the former Emmett Building. The structure was designed by architects John Stewart Barney and Stockton B. Colt of Barney & Colt for Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet in 1912 when the area was a wholesale district. The building is designed in the French Neo-Renaissance with Gothic style ornamentation (New York Landmark Preservation Commission and Wiki).
Heading straight ahead at East 25th Street and Madison Avenue is Madison Square Park, named after our fourth President of the United States, James Madison. This well landscaped park is the gathering place of the residents of NoMAD and has a wonderful playground that has been busy the whole time I have spent in the neighborhood.
Madison Square Park is an interesting little oasis from all the traffic and office space. It has an interesting history since it was designated a public space in 1686 by British Royal Governor Thomas Dongan. It has served as a potters field, an arsenal and a home for delinquents. In 1847, the space was leveled, landscaped and enclosed as a park. It became part of the New York Park system in 1870. There are many historical figures featured in the park (NYCParks.org).
The park today is a major meeting spot for residents and tourists alike with a dog track and the original Shake Shack restaurant.
Madison Square Park in the Spring when I was walking the length of Broadway
When I walked into the park to take a break, it must have been the busiest section of the neighborhood between the playground and the original Shake Shack that were serving food to a crowd clung to their cellphones.
The original Shake Shack is located in Madison Square Park at Park and 23rd Street
I stopped to look at the statue of our 21st President Chester A. Arthur, who had taken oath just two blocks away in his New York townhouse where the Kalustyan’s Specialty Foods is located at 123 Lexington Avenue (See My Walk in Kips Bay below). I thought about what was going on in our government today and what they must have gone through with this transition.
The Statue of Chester A. Arthur in Madison Square Park
George Edwin Bissell was an American born artist from Connecticut whose father was a quarry-man and marble carver. He studied sculpture abroad in Paris in the late 1870’s and was known for his historical sculptures of important figures of the time (Wiki).
The Admiral David Farragut statue in Madison Square Park by artist Augustus St. Gaudens
Another interesting statue that stands out in Madison Square Park is the of Civil War Navy hero, Admiral David Farragut. Admiral Farragut commanded the Union Blockage of Southern cities and helped capture New Orleans. The statute was designed by sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens. This was the artist’s first major commission when it was dedicated in 1881 (NYCParks.org).
Augustus St. Gaudens was an Irish born American artist whose specialty during the Beaux-Arts era was monuments to Civil War heroes. He had created the statue the William Tecumseh Sherman in the Central Park Mall on Fifth Avenue along with this statue of Admiral Farragut. He had studied at the National Academy of Design, apprenticed in Paris and then studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts (Wiki).
Upon leaving Madison Square Park and proceeding across East to West 25th Street (Fifth Avenue separates the East Side from the West Side of Manhattan), I was traveling into what was once part of Midtown between the Civil War until WWI and then after that Midtown moved closer to Central Park during the 1920’s through the 1940’s.
Most of the buildings in this section of NoMAD were built with decorative stonework and elaborate ornamentation. There are so many in this section of Manhattan I will highlight the ones that are the standouts. As I walked the border of the neighborhood, you could see many beautiful buildings lining 25th Street.
When walking down East 25th Street from Madison Square Park, the first interesting site you pass is the historic Worth Square, the Memorial to and burial site of General William Jenkins Worth.
William Jenkins Worth was a native New Yorker (Hudson, NY) and decorated Army officer who had served our country in the Battles of 1812, The Second Seminole War and the Mexican-American War. His series of campaigns shaped this Country to where it is today. He died working for the Department of Texas in 1849 (Wiki).
The General’s remains are buried under the monument at Worth Square at the corner of Fifth Avenue, Broadway and East 24th and 25th Street. General Worth was interned here in November of 1857 on the anniversary of the British leaving the colonies (NYCParks.org).
The Worth Monument between East 24th and East 25th Street at Broadway and Fifth Avenue
The historic artwork on the monument.
The Worth Monument was designed by artist James Goodwin Batterson, whose main profession was one of the founders of the Travelers Insurance Company in Hartford, CT and helped design the Library of Congress Building in Washington DC. He had immersed himself in his father’s quarrying and stone importing business early in his career and traveled extensively to Europe and Egypt for the job. He designed this monument in 1857 (Wiki).
Passing Worth Square and continuing down West 25th Street, I noticed the impressive architecture that lines the streets of this section of the Broadway part neighborhood.
At 1123 Broadway is the detailed Townsend Building that was built between 1896-97 and was designed by New York architect Cyrus Lazelle Warner Eidlitz in the Classical style. The building is names for Isaac Townsend whose estate the building was built on (Flatiron Partnership).
Another beautiful building is the Heritage Hotel at 18-20 West Fifth Avenue. This detailed hotel was designed by the architectural firm of Israels & Harder in 1901 in the Beaux-Arts style.The hotel opened in 1902 as the Arlington Hotel, a residential hotel for well-heeled guests (Daytonian).
By the time I reached Sixth Avenue again, I could see the reason why most people call the Flatiron District a treasure trove of architecture. Block after block walking the borders of this neighborhood was an experience in the hopes and dreams of so many companies of the turn of the last century. When they built these buildings, they were meant to last, and they believed in what they were creating.
What I love about the Flatiron District is the belief that business had in itself to last, to make an impression on the not just the people that worked there but to the outside world. It showed a world of promise and power and showed New York City’s representation in business and culture. Between the Civil War and WWI, you could see the growth in commerce, marketing, retail and the arts representing in these blocks of Manhattan.
This was meant to show the country where New York City stood and what it represented. These were not just buildings but statements to the optimism that a country that had just been through a Civil War could accomplish. While this trend was followed by cities all over the country growing between the wars, New York stood out by doing it first and doing it bigger.
This is why Manhattan is the capital of the World.
Park Terrace Deli has been one of my go to places to eat uptown for a few years. I came across the deli when I was walking “The Great Saunter”, the 32 mile walk around Manhattan and needed an additional breakfast for extra protein and carbs. They did not disappoint me.
Park Terrace Deli at 510 West 218th Street
I always order the same thing here, the Bacon, Egg and Cheese on a hero roll ($6.50) and it is one of the best in Manhattan. They scramble two fresh eggs and then tuck it into a soft chewy hero roll lined with American cheese. Then they top it with several pieces of crisp bacon. The combination of flavors is amazing, and the portion size is enough for breakfast…
This was the first year that “The Great Saunter Walk”, the 32-mile perimeter walk around the entire island took place since 2019. Since I had done the walk twice on my own, actually doing more of the walk than was required. This year I wanted to make it official.
I officially finished “The Great Saunter Walk” in May of 2022
The problem was by the time I wanted to sign up for the walk, it was completely sold out. So, I was put on a waiting list. With a prediction of rain all day (and it did rain all day!), many people dropped out before the event occurred, so I got to sign up. On a very gloomy Saturday morning, I got to the Frances Tavern at 7:30am to register and start the walk by the entrance of the Staten Island ferry.
Rather than rewrite the whole day, I updated the blog that I have written over the last two years and added to it. I hope you all enjoy my journey around the most famous island on earth on the gloomiest and rainy day ever. I hope you enjoy the journey!
I wanted to complete the walk again in the Summer to look at if from another perspective and walked the island perimeter again on July 15th. It took another three and a half hours to do the walk. This is due to meal breaks and just exhaustion due to the heat.
Normally I walk “The Great Saunter” in June around the time of either Father’s Day or the Summer Solstice, so that I have plenty of light. The problem was I was so busy in June that I had to push it back to July and the biggest problem was the heat. In the morning when I started the walk, it was cool and in the high 70’s due to the clouds. When they broke around 10:00am, it started to get hotter and went to the mid 80’s. It would not have been so bad, but the humidity plays a role in the walk. When I did the official walk in May, it was so cold and wet we never stopped for a long break as we all just wanted to get it done and go home.
In the warmer months, I like to stop and relax at various parks like Jefferson Park in East Harlem or Carl Schulz Park on the Upper East Side and let my legs relax. The reason why we finished the walk in May quicker is because the businessman who I was walking with in the last leg of the walk around Stuyvesant Cove just wanted to finish as well so we never stopped.
There were a lot more people in the parks that day, so it made maneuvering a bit harder and, in some cases, like in Jefferson Park, people were all over one another. I have noticed one thing and it is not just in New York City, people’s courtesy has gone way down. People were riding their electric bikes and motorcycles in the paths of the park and on the sidewalks practically knocking people down. One very over-weight woman rode a moped through the main path of Jefferson Park chasing her dog and nearly ran over two little girls who had just finished swimming. That was something!
The nice part of the walk in July was the clear sunny day it had been and being able to enjoy the breezes and the sunshine. It is much nicer to do the walk on a pleasant day than in the rain.
My first ‘Selfie” of myself at the start of “The Great Saunter” in May of 2023. I for the life of me can’t understand the thrill people have of doing this. I now know why people think I’m a Fed all the time!
The Second Official walk of “The Great Saunter” on May 6th, 2023:
I have to admit that I thought walking in the rain was an interesting way to do “The Great Saunter”. This year I had to add in a three-hour class that I had to take for my NYU graduate program for my upcoming trip for a class in Paris.
To make the walk easier this year, I decided to stay in the City so that I could get a good night’s sleep and be closer to the start point so that I could walk as much of the West Side of the Island before I had to leave for class at 9:00am.
I was in the middle of final exams for both my college and my graduate work at NYU so Friday night before the walk, I had to write my section of a research paper on tourism between Philadelphia and Boston, grade my students end of the semester papers, update some blogs that I was working on and work on other projects.
We had just finished my Business Communications class final at NYU and after lunch with my classmates and Professor, I headed downtown to get checked in at the Residence Inn in Lower Manhattan. The hotel is just a few blocks from Fraunces Tavern, which is the starting point for “The Great Saunter”. It would be an easier start for me since I had to stop and leave for class. I spent the rest of the afternoon at the hotel doing homework, reading and grading papers and working on updating my blogs. I ended up taking a long nap after all the work was done.
The Residence Inn Downtown Manhattan was our base for official “The Great Saunter” in 2023 and for the unofficial June 2024 walk:
Later that evening while I waited for my friend, Maricel to join me after work, I went to the Shake Shack in the Fulton Mall off Broadway for some dinner. I could not believe that a Shake Shack was so filthy, and the staff looked like they could care less about the food or decor. I could not believe how this restaurant was being run like there was no manager there. The Dining Room and tables needed a good cleaning and sweeping and the guy working there spent most of his time on his cell phone. I ate my dinner and left. Even though the food tasted good, visually speaking it was not up to the standards that I have seen at every other Shake Shack that I have eaten at over the years (See review on TripAdvisor).
The Chicken sandwich and French Fries at Shake Shack at the Fulton Mall
When Maricel arrived from work, we talked for about an hour and caught up. It had been a while since we could spend some time with each other. I think I lasted about an hour and then fell asleep. Later she told me that she was in the middle of talking to me and I went out like a light.
In 2024, I stayed at the Moxy Downtown, a hotel so hip that it was annoying. If you like to hang around with a bunch of 20 year old’s, it is the perfect hotel to stay at for the night. The rooms were really small, the bar was really noisy and the food very expensive for what you got in return. It was nice for the night but I am not much of a fan of the Moxy concept.
The Moxy Downtown at 26 Ann Street in Lower Manhattan.
The funny thing about the Moxy Hotel concept is that you know who they are catering too and even they do not seem to like it that much. I felt like I was with a bunch of undergraduates. There was not view from the room (no big deal I was there to sleep), the room was a bed with a room around it and a busy bar attracting people who looked like they had just come from a ball game. What I found really annoying was they tag on a $25.00 ‘Resort Fee” and make you spend it at the hotel.
The bed with the room around it.
I have to admit though the bar was pretty nice. The bartender mixed an excellent drink. Their ‘Piscos Colata’ was pretty powerful and made me feel pretty good after a long semester in both colleges. At $18.00, the Pork Sliders were good but not worth the money.
The bar “Recreation” at the Moxy Downtown. Hipster Central!
I was so relaxed that I ended up getting back to the room, hit the pillow and was out like a light at 10:00am. I did not wake up again until 3:30am and then at 5:00am. I decided to just get up, pack and get ready for the walk around the island.
Things were different in 2023, when I stayed at the Residence Inn. The next morning, I woke up and I had one of the best night’s sleeps in a long time. I had not felt that refreshed in a long time. I swear that the Marriott mattresses are worth their weight in gold. I had to get dressed and ready to go for the all day walk. Since I knew that I had to stop around 8:45am, I wanted to get started exactly at 7:00am.
While Maricel slept, I got shaved, showered and on my way. I stopped at Traders Express Deli at 22 Beaver Street which was the only place open at that time to get breakfast. All the fast food places were still closed, the hotel breakfast did not open until 7:00am on the weekends and all the coffee places just served coffee. This was an opportunity that Fraunces Tavern is losing to serve breakfast to a large crowd.
Trader’s Express Deli at 22 Beaver Street in Lower Manhattan
I ordered a Sausage, Egg and Cheese that I highly recommend. What I liked about the place was the friendliness of the staff and the fact that everyone seemed to be regulars. The sandwich was excellent and was the perfect breakfast to start the walk.
Eating my breakfast sandwich across from the start point
The Sausage, Egg and Cheese was yum!
In 2024, I could not find this place again. Either I was on the wrong street or it had closed. So I went to Garden City Deli which is right on the entrance to the “Stone Street” district of old buildings in the Wall Street area. This little place just changed ownership and was wonderful.
Garden City Deli at 77 Pearl Street right by the “Stone Street” complex
The breakfasts were just as good. I had a Bacon, Egg and Cheese on a hero roll for $7.99 that was excellent. Three eggs, three pieces of bacon and two large piece of American Cheese tucked into a soft chewy hero roll. I that and some orange juice and relaxed across the street from the start site. It was so good and the perfect combination of carbs and proteins.
The delicious Bacon, Egg and Cheese sandwich at Garden City Deli.
Yum! The calories you will need for the trip.
As I was walking to the starting spot, I passed one of the side streets and saw two paintings along the walls of a building. These were quite interesting. I could not figure out who the artists were but that will be for another day.
Painting One
Painting Two
After breakfast I got in the already growing line of about a hundred people and we got ready to go. At exactly 7:00am, off we went. We collected our hats and pins and were on our way up through Battery Park along the Hudson River West Side of the island. We lucked out this year as the weather was sunny, warm and just crisp enough in the morning to walk comfortably.
The start of “The Great Saunter” Fraunces Tavern in May 6th, 2023
Us lining up for “The Great Saunter” on May 6th, 2023
In 2024, we lucked out again and the weather was cool but sunny and clear for most of the morning. After breakfast was over, I enter the line at 6:50am. There had been a line of people at 6:30am but Shorewalkers let them start a half hour early so there was no line to wait in when I finished eating. I got my hat, the map and off I went to start the walk. It was a cool day so it was nice to walk around. There was construction all over the island along the way so it made this walk more interesting.
Lining up a year later at 6:30am in the morning May 4th, 2024.
Lower Manhattan the morning of The Great Saunter May 4th, 2024.
In 2023, we lucked out this year versus last year when it rained all day. I had never been so drenched. This year it was so nice. It was bright, sunny and crisp in the morning, perfect to start the walk. When we began at 7:00am, I got my hat, pin and off I went. Since I had the new iPhone to take pictures, I was stopping by all the statuary so that I could update my older blogs on “The Great Saunter” and on walks in those neighborhoods. I got some really great shots in of sculptures along the West Side of the Island of Manhattan.
The start of “The Great Saunter” on May 6th, 2023
It was funny that another blogger said he recognized me on the walk from a previous walk and he sent me a copy of the video. It was me walking around Lower Manhattan.
Angel sent me this video of myself starting the walk right in front of him until I stopped to take a picture of lower Manhattan.
I was making excellent timing getting through the Battery, but I kept stopping to take pictures of all the sculptures that I had passed on previous walks, and I wanted better pictures this time. The day was sunny and blue, so it was perfect for taking pictures around the city. I could not believe the beautiful views that I saw of Liberty Island, Jersey City and Hoboken. Even the shots of lower Manhattan were amazing and so vivid.
Lower Manhattan that morning when I stopped to take a picture.
Passing Lady Liberty in the harbor that morning
For most of the walk until I hit 60th Street, I stopped every ten minutes to take pictures. At 8:45am though, I had to head back down to the NYU Campus to present my walking tour in Paris in three weeks (be on the lookout for “My walk in Paris” segment of this blog) and it went by really well. So well, that the professor wanted more from me so there will be some adjustments.
The view from the Battery at the riverfront of Jersey City, NJ in the background
I kept on track for walk through the Battery and kept pace with everyone else mostly passing people on my way up through Battery Park. I was making good time enjoying the warm weather and the beautiful sites that was a pleasure from the cold miserable weather from last year.
As I walked through Battery Park, I had to stop at each of the sculptures that I admired so much in all the walks that I have done in the past. It is an open-air museum in that part of the City. The first thing I passed was Castle Clinton, which once upon a time was the place immigrants registered when they came to this country before they went to Ellis Island. It also was once home to the New York Aquarium until Robert Moses dismantled it. Now it is used as a museum and a place where you buy your tickets to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island to the museums.
As we rounded the park in the Battery Park City, I saw a series of statues that I had seen many times on the walk. The first was the American Merchant Mariners’ Memorial. This is kind of a creepy statue as it stares at you from the bay. This was based on an incident from WWII.
The American Merchant Mariners’ Memorial at Battery Park
Ms. Escobar was born in Paris and raised in Venezuela and moved to New York in the 1950’s. She is known for her highly stylized boxy sculptures (NYCParks.org). She studied art at the Jepson Art Institute, the Ecole des Beaux Arts and Art Students League of New York (Wiki).
The signage for the statue
The next statue I remembered was the NY
Another sculpture I missed on my first two walks around the island was the New York Korean Memorial by artist Mac Adams.
The statue is one of the first monuments to the Korean conflict built in the United States and the void in the sculpture represents the absence and loss of the war and a metaphor for death (NYCParks.org).
Artist Mac Adams is a British born artist who now lives in the New York area. He holds an MFA from Rutgers University. He is known for his large public works and for the use of ‘space between images’ (Wiki/Artist Bio).
I have been on this walk around the island many times now and I do not know how I missed this statue of Gianni Verrazano that sits in Battery Park. This dynamic statue sits at the northern part of the park and was one of the few exits out of the park during its renovation.
The Giovanni Verrazzano statue by artist Ettore Ximenes
Artist Ettore Ximenes was an Italian born artist who had studied at the Palermo Academy of Fine Arts and then worked with several artists as an apprentice. He was known for his life sized sculptures. This statue was dedicated in 1909 (NYCParks.org/Wiki).
I left Battery Park and entered into the newer extension of Robert Wagner Jr. Park next to Battery Park City. In the front part of the park, I came across these unusual musical instrument sculptures that graced the entrance of the park.
The art entitled “Resonating Bodies” were created by British born artist Tony Cragg, whose work I had seen uptown many times. The sculptures resemble a lute and a tuba. The work is based on the concept that all physical bodies including we are constantly enveloped by various energy forms (NYCParks.org).
“Resonating Bodies” at Robert Wagner Jr. Park in Battery Park City
Mr. Cragg is a British born artist from Liverpool and studied at the Gloucestershire School of Art, received his BA from the Wimbledon School of Art and his MA from the Royal School of Art. He has been showing his works since 1977. He is best known for his contemporary sculptures (Artist Bio/Wiki).
Another work I saw along the walkway was “Cosmic Portal” by artist Tyler Schrader. Very unusual art.
Artist Tyler Schrader is an American born artist based in Upstate New York. He earned a BA in Drawing and Design. He transitioned into sculpture and design, embracing woodworking as his primary medium for the last decade. Inspired by the tactile and visual qualities of wood, he employs techniques such as intarsia, steam bending/lamination, lathe work, and carving to create intricate, organic forms (Artist Bio/website).
Once I passed through Robert Wagner Jr. Park at Battery Park City, I continued up the West Side Promenade on my way up the west side of Manhattan making great time. I got a better view of downtown Jersey City, NJ and could not believe how beautiful the skyline is at that time of the day.
Downtown Jersey City, NJ in all its glory
Manhattan looks so vibrant at this time of the morning. There is not a lot of action at 7:30am in the morning so you can see the City at its best. As we walked though Battery Park City and the park on our way up the West Side, I had to keep taking shots of familiar sites and the famous skyline.
Battery Park City in all it “Oz” glory at 8:00am in the morning
While in Battery Park, there were many art installations along the way. The first one I saw was Justice Reflected by artist James Yaya Hough. This was part of the ‘Art for Justice Fund’ series.
Artist James Yaya Hough is an American born artist who works out of Pittsburgh, PA. He is part of the “Lifelines Project”. LifeLines is a media and cultural project conducted in extensive, long-term collaboration with people serving Life Death By Incarceration (also known as Life Without Parole) sentences in Pennsylvania. The project uses interviews, visual art, creative media interventions, and sound installations to support the statewide campaign to abolish Death By Incarceration (Lifelines Project website).
A new piece of art appeared after the May 2024 walk. Either that or I had not noticed it when I walk around the area.
The sculpture of “The Eyes” by Louise Bourgeois appeared in Battery Park in June 2024 or I have just missed it
Artist Louise Bourgeois was a French born artist married to an American Art Professor who settled into New York City after her marriage. She was a graduate of the Sorbonne and continued to study art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and Ecole du Louvre and the Arts Student League of New York when she moved to the States. Starting as a painter she moved to sculpture on the recommendation of a colleague and known for her large sculpture works (Wiki).
Another piece of art that I came across that I missed in the last two trips is “Apple” by artist Stephen Weiss. The piece was part of the ‘Larger than Life” series of the artist and symbolized the heart and core of life in New York City (Hudson River Park).
“The Apple” by artist Stephen Weiss in Hudson River Park
Artist Stephen Weiss was a New York born artist who had attended the Pratt Institute. He had worked for his family company and was the husband of designer, Donna Karan. He was known for his family company and was the husband of designer, Donna Karan. He was known for his sculpture works (RoGallery).
As we were heading up the west side, I never noticed a sign that says “I want to Thank You” on the pier. I thought that was interesting in that I never noticed it before on my walks through Hudson River Park. I did not know if this was a piece of art work or just a message to someone.
The “I want to Thank You” sign in Hudson River Park
The last piece of art that stood out to me on this trip through Battery Park was entitled “Days End” by artist David Hammons. It looked like the shell of an empty building and struck a nerve as the sun started to set on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. It is an ‘Open Air’ sculpture that explores the history of the neighborhood (Whitney Museum).
Mr. Hammons is an American born artist who studied at the Chouinard Art Institute (CalArts) and at Otis Art Institute. He is known for his Body Prints and sculpture work (Wiki/Artnet.com).
I headed up the thin stretch of park along Hudson River Park, I passed all the piers again that had become such a familiar site for me for not just The Great Saunter but for the neighborhood walks. I was able to judge where I was by the artwork and by the part of the park I had walked through. Since I have covered the whole island to 23rd Street, many of these sites I had remembered at previous times.
While I was walking through the parks, a few pieces of park sculpture stood out to me as I reached Hudson River Park in Chelsea. The long trek up Joe DiMaggio Highway made me more aware of my surroundings as I had to stop again. I came across the ‘Serpentine Sculptures’, these large twisting metal concoctions that graced the riverfront walkway.
These interesting, twisted sculptures are by American artist Mark Gabian who holds a BA in Art History and BFA in Sculpture from Cornell University (my Alma Mater!). Mr. Gabian’s sculptures can be seen all over the world. The artist has been quoted as saying he created monumental site-specific commissions in two or three dimensions’ (the artist’s website).
As I walked up Hudson River Park, I kept passing group after group of people on my way through the park. Everyone was pacing themselves but there are always those people that start jogging which I do not understand. They act like this is a contest and it is not the New York Marathon where we get judged for the time we keep. We just make it back to Fraunces Tavern and get our certificate.
Around the Meatpacking District, I walked through the LGBTQ Memorial which I had not noticed before.
The LGBTQ Memorial in Hudson River Park
This small garden was dedicated to those who lost their lives in the Pulse Nightclub of Orlando shooting back in 2016.
When I reached West 13th Street near Pier 53, I passed the latest attraction in Manhattan, “Little Island”, a whimsical park that had just opened the year before and I still have not visited. I was going to take a detour for a bit and walk inside the park but I wanted to make it as far as I could up the West Side that morning. Still, it is place that I want to visit and is on my bucket list.
The “Little Island” looks like visiting “Whoville” in the “Grinch who stole Christmas” in the summertime. This well landscaped park is now two years old, and I still can’t believe that I have not visited it. For another day I told myself and made a mental note of it.
My visit to Little Island with NYU just before school started in 2023.
Walking up Little Island
The Little Island Lawn
The view of lower Manhattan from Little Island that I had just walked.
As I passed West 23rd Street, there were more pieces of art that I remembered from when I was walking these neighborhoods. When you enter Hudson River Park from West 23rd Street, there is a very unusual set of sculptures entitled ‘Two Too Large Tables’ by artists Allan and Ellen Wexler. Two Too Large Tables consists of two elements. Each is constructed of brushed stainless steel and Ipe wood.
One piece has thirteen chairs extended up to become columns that raise sixteen square feet plane seven feet off the ground. In the second piece, the same chairs act as supporters to lift a sixteen square feet plane 30 inches off the ground. The first functions as a shade pavilion, the second as a community table. As people sit, they become part of the sculpture. People sitting together, forming unusual pairings because of the chair groupings (Artist bio).
Two Too Large Tables in Hudson River Park (Artist bio)
Artist Allen Wexler is an American born artist from Connecticut and studied at Rhode Island School of Design where he received his BFA and BS in Architecture. He studied and earned his MS in Architecture from the Pratt Institute. He is known for his multiple disciplines in art (Wiki).
The trip up Twelve Avenue is less than exciting. There is a tiny strip of park along the river that is mostly behind fencing. On the other side of the street is construction holes and fences from all the planned buildings that will start raising along the avenue.
The one place where there was some action was BLADE Operations at the Hudson River Park where helicopters were flying in. It reminded me of the opening scene of the Peter Bogdanovich film “They All Laughed” that I had just seen at the retrospect of the director’s work at the MoMA.
“They All Laughed” trailer by Peter Bogdanovic is a true Manhattan film
You will pass some very impressive buildings that are part of New York’s “Silicon Valley” including the well-known Starrett-Lehigh Building that has changed the complexity of the businesses in this neighborhood.
The Starrett-Lehigh Building at 601 West 26th Street
The building was built and finished in 1931 for the Starrett Corporation and the Leigh Valley Railroad as a freight terminal. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Cory & Cory and in 1998 went through a renovation as a office building. It is currently going through another renovation that will be completed in 2023 (Wiki/Starrett-Leigh website).
As I crossed the street from Hudson River Park, I passed the renovations of Chelsea Waterside Park. This is the park where last year I started “The Great Saunter Walk” last year on the Summer Solstice. The park had a ‘Butterfly Garden’ that people were working the morning that I started the walk. The park is going through a full make over and the plans for it look amazing.
Chelsea Waterside Park at 557 West 23rd Street (Hudson River Park Archives)
When you walk through Hudson River Park, it is the nicest place to take a rest and sit under a tree to cool off. The park has the most amazing breezes and views of the river and neighboring New Jersey.
As I was walking around one of the wooded piers admiring the view, I came a across a grouping of stones that looked unusual with the way that they were set. The grouping was a sculpture garden by artist Meg Webster entitled “Stonefield”.
“Stonefield” by artist Meg Webster
This landscape sculpture consists of large stones chosen from quarries in New York State and the northeast corner of Pennsylvania. They were selected for their special shapes and unusual sculptural qualities. Some are colorful, some are concave, some craggy, one is very tall. The artist views each stone as special and arranged each to showcase its unique characteristics and individual “being-ness” (Hudson River Park.com).
Ms. Webster is an American born artist who has a BA from Old Dominion University and MFA from Yale University. She works with natural materials such as salt, sand and earth known for her Post-Minimalism and the Land Art Movement. She is known for her sculpture and installation work (Wiki).
Artist Meg Webster talks about her artwork
As I passed the Hudson Yards complex at West 30th Street, it gleamed like “Oz” in the distance. This complex has now opened in full force since the Pandemic and the mall and all the parks have large crowds that I have not seen since most of it had been finished. I could tell the tourists have come back to the City.
The Hudson Yards complex in all its glory that morning
From West 23rd Street to West 57th Street I accelerated my walking as I wanted to get to my goal of West 60th Street before 9:00am. I passed many familiar sites from previous walks including the Circle Line at West 42nd Street where I started my first walk in 2020 and where I had spent my birthday pre-pandemic wanting to see the exterior of Manhattan, which was a real eye opener. The Intrepid Museum had just reopened a year and a half before and I made another mental note that I wanted to see that too (see my previous blog above on “The Great Saunter”).
Another familiar piece of art that I stopped to admire by Pier 96 was Malcolm Cochran’s artwork “Private Passage” again. I came across this sculpture when visiting the park two years earlier. The piece is a giant bottle and when you look in the port hole you will see a state room of the former Queen Mary. It is an interesting piece of artwork that is not hard to miss and take time to look in the port holes.
The artist is originally from Pittsburgh, PA and is graduate of Wesleyan College who specializes in large sculptures.
Further up the park, I saw the old New York Transfer Station piece in Riverside Park. This is a relic of the old West Side Railroad tracks that were once part of the New York Central Railroad that the park and buildings behind it are built on. This transfer bridge once was used to attach railroad cars to the freight tracks that once ran up and down this part of the island (Forgotten New York).
The New York Central Transfer Station
It is interesting to see this now as a piece of art instead of a functioning part of the railroad, but it is fascinating to see how we use the parts of the past as a piece of art in the present. This shows the current park visitor how we have made new uses of the riverfront for recreation and pleasure which was not true during the early parts of the last century.
The New York Central Railroad Car is also in the park.
What was nice about having the new iPhone was that I was able to take much better pictures of all these wonderful sites and record them for the blogs. When I got home, I updated all the pictures on previous blogs, and they really showcase all these wonderful works in the West Side parks.
Hudson River Park was getting crowded with dog walkers and joggers by 8:30am and people were really out and about. We had to share a thin strip of walkway with everyone including the bikers who kept yelling at us to get out of the way. There are just too many people enjoying these parks at once. Still, I got some great shots in and made excellent time. By 8:45am, I made it to West 60th Street and stopped to head back to the hotel and get to class. I had to present my proposal for my NYU class to Paris this summer and did not want to go all sweaty and needed my computer as well.
So, I went to the Columbus Circle stop and headed back down to lower Manhattan where Maricel was still asleep. As I walked through the subway terminal, I passed the Underground Market, which is the food court that was so popular pre-COVID. After the City opened up, this food court was practically dead as most of the restaurants had closed due to the lack of people visiting and working in the area. It looked like it had finally started to come back (another mental note to visit it).
The Turnstyle Underground Market has reopened and filling up again at the West 60th Columbus Circle subway stop.
I ran back to the hotel, changed my clothes and went to class at West 12th Street. i presented my walking project for the Left Bank of Paris, explained what we were doing and then listened to my classmate’s presentations. We finished by 1:00pm and I ran back to the hotel, changed back into my clothes, said goodbye to Maricel and checked my luggage and took the subway back to Columbus Circle. By the time I got up to the station, walked down West 59th Street and got back to Hudson River Park, it was past 2:00pm.
I resumed the walk at 2:30pm on the dot back on West 60th Street. The weather was still amazing, and I was convinced that I could finish the walk around 10:00pm. Oh, the day I had ahead of me was going to be a long one. The weather was utterly amazing so walking up the west side of the island was not so bad. It was not that hot, so it made walking pleasant in the later afternoon. I just don’t remember it taking that long to get to Inwood Park, which I would not get to until 5:00pm.
Riverside Park at 60th Street
Along the way as I walked up Hudson River Park to Riverside Park at West 72nd Street, I saw a couple of people who had quit the walk. A couple with their baby must have gotten as far as Inwood Park and then made their way back down the West Side. They just smiled at me as I passed them.
In 2024, there were more art installations along the way in all the parks. This is why I always say that New York City is like an ‘open air museum’. Between all the public and street art you will see along the route you never have to visit a museum. There is so much to see and experience. The first was “Hope” by artist Helen Draves and the second was “Life Dance” by artist Susan Markowitz Meredith. This was part of the “Art in the Parks” exhibition that runs every year.
Artist Helen Draves is a South Korean-born artist who has resided and pursued my artistic career in New York for over 25 years. Her father, who was an artist and an art professor in South Korea, inspired her as a child to explore my creativity through crayons, pencils, and paper. She was enamored with the process of creating something on a blank canvas, and this passion led her to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Ewha Women’s University in Seoul in 1993. She continued to pursue my artistic education in the United States, obtaining a Master of Fine Arts degree from the prestigious Pratt Institute in New York in 1996. As an artist, her work often reflects the aging of life, particularly through the metaphor of wrinkled, aging hands. (Artist bio website).
Artist Susan Markowitz Meredith is an American born artist who has a BS in Art from Skidmore College and an MA from University of North Colorado. She has been developing my skills as a sculptor since 2011 when she began taking classes in wood and stone carving at The Art Students League of New York. She has supplemented her technical knowledge with outside coursework and training in woodworking. Her explorations have led her to pursue a range of other materials including metals, plastics, paper, and lighting. These educational experiences have cemented her commitment to sculpting and helped her clarify her own particular artistic approach (Artist bio website).
The walk through the park was pleasant as usual. The weather was really on our side before 1:00pm with sunny, clear weather. It was pleasant to walk along the Hudson River and catch the breezes, enjoy the art tour and talk with an occasional passerby. There are a lot of twists and turns around this route and the views are just spectacular. Who says New Jersey is boring?! This part of the Palisades is amazing to look at from this side of Manhattan.
Then at the extension of Dyckman Avenue by West 207th, in 2023 as my day was just getting started, I saw a group of four people who looked like they had just finished lunch and by their body language I could tell were done for the day. I passed them too. After that I did not see anyone on the walk until I got to Jefferson Park on the other side of the island in East Harlem as I was eating my dinner.
Not only was the weather very pleasant for the walk, so was walking through the parks. Everything was either in full bloom or had buds out and the parks looked really green. It was so beautiful to walk through them on this warm sunny day.
I made it up to West Harlem Piers Park 3:30pm and it was pretty busy on the sunny day. People were out walking their dogs, fishing on the pier or reading books at the benches. The park was not as messy as it normally is but the parks department people were out in full force the entire time I walked on the West Side so the parks were really clean. I stopped to take more pictures.
I passed the unusual sculptures, Voice One and Voice Two by artist Nari Ward, a New York based artist who likes to use objects found in his own neighborhood (artist website). They have become a marker for this walk on how far I have traveled. They are quite unique.
These unusual silver sculptures I almost interpreted as people trying to speak and it was interesting that the sculptures were called Voice I and Voice II. I was not sure of what the artist was trying to communicate with his artwork, but it does stand out in the park. The unfortunate part of it was that there was so much garbage in the park you could not get up close to see them.
Voice I
Voice II
Voice III
I really enjoy this park. It has wonderful breezes and excellent views and plenty of places to sit down and relax. It offers such nice views of the river and as the morning progressed, I started to see more sailboats and water boats out cruising up and down the Hudson River.
While walking down the walkway to Fort Washington Park in 2023, I noticed these flock of seagulls in the cement barrier that I had noticed many times before. I did not realize how detailed they were until I really looked at them. This is what happens when you take your time to observe everything on this walk and not just rush by.
The seagulls wall
The seagulls wall
Passing this part of the park leads to the underpass that you have to walk through to get to Fort Washington Park, so you have a rather strange part of the walk near the treatment plant. If you can travel up to the sports facility, it is worth the trip. It really provides the neighborhood with all sorts of things to do. It also has a great snack shop, and their burgers are really good. When I entered Fort Washington Park, it was in full swing with barbecues and parties going on that afternoon. It is very different in the morning hours when the parks people are there cleaning up from the parties the night before.
Walking through Fort Washington Park during the walk in 2023
In 2024, the City was promoting their “Art in the Park” exhibition as they had done in the past. I saw some unusual art in the park that was on the lawn before you entered the pathways. It is so nice that Manhattan has these ‘Open Air Museums’ for us to enjoy all over the City.
Artist Sophie Kahn is an Australian born artist who lives in Brooklyn who has a BA in Fine Arts from the University of London and MFA from the School of Art Institute of Chicago. A sculptor and digital artist, Kahn utilizes technology—in its successes and failures—to analyze the complexity and poetics of capturing the human body in the digital age. Working from a 3D scan of musician and artist tiger west, Portrait of t. brings the digital, private realm into the public through a glitched body scan cast in bronze (Student Art League.com).
Artist Marco Palli is an Venezuelan born artist with MFA from the New York Studio School of Sculpture and MFA from the New York Academy of Arts both in sculpture. Expanding beyond the personal, Palli’s sculpture presents an opportunity for audiences to engage with the narratives of local versus foreign and the sense of belonging within the United States. Our Gates is a celebration of New York City and its diverse communities (Student Art League. com).
It was unusual but very interesting art. I was just surprised to see in a location that not too many people visit. It would have been nicer if placed further downtown on the Upper West Side, where people might appreciate it more.
The George Washington Bridge in the distance when walking Fort Washington Park
Making my way to the George Washington Bridge
I got to Fort Washington Park around 4:00pm and was able to visit the Little Red Lighthouse which I had visited many times on my trips to the park. With everyone else being on the other side of the island at this point, the park was relatively quiet, and I got to take lots of pictures.
The George Washington Bridge with the Little Red Lighthouse below it. It inspired the children’s book, “The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge” by author Hildegarde Swift.
The Little Red Lighthouse at Fort Washington Park
I continued on into Fort Washington Park to see the Little Red Lighthouse, which I had not visited in almost three years since my last walk in the neighborhood. Many tourists were by the site just under the George Washington Bridge, taking pictures by the lighthouse and enjoying the sunny weather.
The Little Red Lighthouse had been constructed in 1889 and moved from Sandy Hook, New Jersey in 1917 and moved here in 1921. It was decommissioned in 1948 after the construction of the George Washington Bridge in 1931. What had saved the lighthouse from destruction was the book “The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge” by author Hildegarde Swift in 1942 (Wiki).
The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge by Hildegarde Swift
The park was really quiet, so I got to enjoy the views on my own this time. I was able to finally take the pictures that I wanted and take my time exploring the park. It also has one of the few decent bathrooms in this area of the City. I looked downtown the area I had covered and was making very good time on this side of the island.
The view from under the George Washington Bridge from the Little Red Lighthouse to Lower Manhattan
On the way to Inwood Park from Fort Tyron Park, I passed the remnants of the old Tyron Hall estate. There is not much left but the entrance ways across the street and this balcony that looks over the river. You could tell at one time this must have been a very grand estate. It now makes up the framework for Fort Tryon Park where The Cloisters Museum is now located.
The Balcony of the old “Tryon Hall”
When you reach Fort Tyron Park by foot along the Henry Hudson Parkway, you will see two large stone columns that look like the entrance to an estate and then across the street there is a pillared overlook to the Hudson River. These are remnants of the former C.K.G. Billings estate, “Tryon Hall”.
The old entrance to the estate is covered with brush
The old entrance to the estate under brush
Mr. Billings, the Chairman of Union Carbide, owned most land of which the park is located, and these small relics are the remains of the great estate. I had never been in this part of the park before and thought it interesting that these pieces of the estate were left.
The archway and drive are still part of the park, and you can see them closer to The Cloisters Museum. The old driveway to the estate is still used inside the park.
The entrance to the old “Tryon Hall” estate in Inwood Park in 2023
I made the long trip up the hill from the park to enter the beginnings of Inwood Park and walked down to Dyckman Street to the Dyckman Street Beach and harbor area. People were out washing their cars and blasting music, and, in the distance, you could hear the yells of the baseball and softball games going on. I walked up the pier to take a better look at the beach and at least this time there was no garbage on it.
The Dyckman Street Beach is a small street of land on the Hudson River. I would not swim in it.
As I made my way through the bottom of Inwood Park, I stopped to take in the view of the Hudson River. I don’t think too many people know of the views from these parks on this part of the island, but they are really amazing.
The beauty of the Hudson River from Inwood Park
I made my way over the foot bridge in Inwood Park to the main part of the path and could not believe how beautiful the views were from the hills. When it rained last year, you could not enjoy it. All everyone wanted to do was get to the pavilion in Inwood Park so that we could dry off a bit and have something to eat and drink. Since I did not get there until 5:00pm, everyone was long gone (they closed this area down by 2:30pm).
I took my time snapping pictures, enjoying the view and admiring the Hudson River and the trees as they swayed by. The park was at its best at this time with the sun right above us. The paths and the lookouts were so picturesque.
The view from the top of the hill at Inwood Park
As I walked up and down the paths of Inwood Park, I took time to enjoy the views that Mother Nature offered me. I figured I was not racing with anyone to the finish line and would have plenty of time to get down to Fraunces Tavern.
Another view from the top of the hill path at Inwood Park
Heading down the pathway
The rock formations that make up the mountain stream
Following the path to the bottom of the hill
As I exited the park’s long hilly path, I arrived with this woman who tagged along with me to the halfway point. Right near the Shorakkopoch Rock, there was another usual sculpture right before it by artist Rose Simpson entitled “
Artist Rose Simpson is an American born artist who works out of New Mexico. She has a BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts and has a MFA from both the Rhode Island School of Arts and the Institute of American Indian Arts. She is a mixed-media artist whose artwork investigates the complex issues of past, present and future aspects of humanity’s tenuous survival in our current ecological condition (Wiki/Artist Bio).
When I got to the bottom of the pathways and exited into the lawn area of the park, I saw a familiar giant boulder which is one of the most historic objects on the Island of Manhattan, the Shorakkopoch Rock.
The spot where Manhattan was bought by the Dutch
The rock is the legendary location of where Peter Minuit bought Manhattan from the Reckgawawang Indians for what is today $24.00 of household goods and trinkets.
In 2023, I bypassed the rest of the park and made my way past all the basketball and softball games and went to the pavilion to see if anyone was left there and everyone was gone. When I looked at the schedule of the map, they had closed up at 2:30pm and it was now 5:00pm. I knew it would be getting dark by 7:45pm and I did not want to be walking through Harlem at night, so I made my way through Inwood and Washington Heights following the path set by the map. I stopped for a quick Coke and made my way down 10th Avenue to Dyckman Street.
In 2024, I got to Inwood Park and the halfway point by 11:45am, a new record for me and was able to relax for about a half hour. I got to talking with a few women along the way and they tagged along with me. By the time I got out of the bathroom, they were both gone and I was able to finally relax on my own. I just vegged and ate the cookies, chips and power drinks they had for us and they had plenty of supplies which was nice.
Inwood Park halfway point in 2024.
The Farmers Market was there both years until 5:00pm and this is when it started to get gloomy outside. In 2024, the weather started to go in and out with the clouds and by the time I hit East 155th Street, it started to get cloudy and cooler. Still take time to walk around the Farmers Market in Inwood. It is really nice.
The Inwood Farmers Market is popular even on a gloomy day.
All the street vendors were in full swing, selling everything on a busy weekend. I was going to stop at one of the bakeries, but I did not want to sway too far off the path, so I decided to stop at my favorite pizzeria on East 145th Street so I decided to wait to eat lunch there.
On the way down 10th Street, I saw a lot of interesting street art. I don’t know who the taggers were, but their work was very creative.
This was just off 10th Avenue near 203rd Street
More Details of the artwork.
More details of the artwork.
I thought this was really creative in the right corner of the painting
I saw this on the side of condo and thought someone was really talented.
A new piece of art showed up next to it during the June 2023 walk.
I made my way past Dyckman Houses, which are always interesting because I keep thinking that someone is watching me from there. I always get that sinking feeling, so I make my way fast this development and get to the park to walk down the path along the East River. I got here by 5:30pm so I was making good progress.
As I walked down the Harlem River Drive pathway in Highbridge Park, the traffic was still really packed as people looked like they were still trying to leave the City for the weekend. At the beginning of the park, many people were having barbecues and birthday parties. All the tables were with families enjoying themselves. Once I passed all of them, the park was quiet. I noticed across the river in the Bronx how much of the waterfront had been built up with new condos and apartment buildings. I could not believe how much the developers were changing the waterfront.
The long curves of the park, the lush woods and rock formations show what was once the former shoreline of this part of the island. From this location it looks alike Inwood Hill Park with clean paths and virgin plantings. From a distance it looks really pretty.
The reality of the park is that if you walk through the park you are faced with the over-grown paths, the graffitied rocks and garbage that parts of the park suffer from. When you walk through the paths on the other side of the park, you see how far the park has gone down and the work that still needs to be done. Abandoned cars and garbage still plaque parts of the park from the park side paths. Still the City is doing a lot to improve the park blocking off parts of te park to renovate it with seedings and new plantings.
The approach to the High Bridge Water Tower in High Bridge Park in 2023
I passed the old High Bridge Water Tower that I heard has finally reopened. The water tower and the bridge are the lasting remnants of the way water used to travel into New York City from upstate in the late 1800’s. The tower was built in 1872 and was part of the old Croton Aqueduct system of moving water into Manhattan.
This part of the park had no activity and, on the path, leading down to the old Polo Grounds there was not much activity. What always makes me nervous is walking around the Polo Ground Houses that run from West 165th Street to about West 155th Street. The complex is a tired looking set up public housing with one building looking exactly like the other and a small patch of green in the middle.
The Polo Ground Tower Housing Complex as you approach it from High Bridge Park
All I kept thinking about is the activities that go on there and I zig-zagged my way down the sidewalk until I hit the part of the fence that was covered with trees and vines. Out of site from the prying windows. Ever since I read about the complex on the internet, I have never felt comfortable in this part of the City. This was before I walked all around the complex four years ago when I walked Harlem and didn’t think much about it. I walk around quickly in this neighborhood. Before I crossed the street, I looked at the John T. Brush staircase that used to bring people from the subway to stadium. I thought no one today except a few older New Yorkers would know the significance of this.
The John T. Bushman Staircase that used to lead to the Polo Grounds
I crossed the street and walked down Edgecombe Avenue on the upper side of Jackie Robinson Park. On the corner of the edge of the street is the John Hooper Fountain at 155th Street and Edgecombe Avenue. The fountain was designed by architect George Martin Huss and is a ornamental horse fountain and lantern. It was dedicated in 1894 and donated to the park by businessman John Hooper (NYCParks.com/MichaelMinn.net). It was used by the horses for drinking when carriages and horse riding at that time.
The John Hooper Fountain is at the corner of Edgecombe Avenue and 155th Street in 2024
The Hooper Fountain was working that afternoon for the walk in 2024
I finally got down to the Polo Grounds Public Housing and was able to get through that area pretty quickly. Hearing rumors about this place as well, I wanted to get past it and get to Edgecombe Avenue as soon as possible. The funny part about this area was pre-Pandemic this neighborhood was really gentrifying with many of the CUNY students moving into this area. It looked to me like it has retrenched a bit for now.
As I passed the benches by Jackie Robinson Park down the steps from this road, I saw small groups of people who made it their business to ignore me or were smoking pot and finding ways to try to hide it. It has been made legal, so I did not care. I finally made it to East 145th Street and made the turn and walked down the street.
East 145th Street has shown some real changes. Pre-Pandemic this was one of the fastest gentrifying areas of the neighborhood with new buildings going up, lots of new and more expensive restaurants and renovations of the old townhouses and brownstones. Having the students go virtual really put an end to it and the neighborhood has retrenched for now. There is still renovations going on but not like before where I would see CUNY students on their blankets in Jackie Robinson Park. That must have freaked out the neighborhood. CUNY will soon dominate this neighborhood again with a new apartment complex they want to build on the corner of East 145th Street and Sixth Avenue (Malcolm X Boulevard).
I stopped for a quick lunch at King Pizza of Harlem at 110 West 145th Street for a snack. I knew that I wanted a chopped cheese for dinner as I had for the last two years but again, I was starved. When I walked in, there was the same owner in the same place where I ordered my lunch. I just sat and relaxed. I have been coming here for lunch on my walks in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
King Pizza of Harlem at 110 West 145th Street (Closed May 2025)
The cheese pizza is excellent. The sauce is so well spiced and topped with loads of mozzarella cheese. The slice was rather large and made a great snack. It was just pleasant to sit down and relax.
The slices at King Pizza are excellent! Don’t miss their delicious Cheese Pizza. Where I eat my lunch on my walks.
My lunch in June in 2023 when I visited the second time.
The Ground Beef pizza is amazing! This has been my go to place for my last four walks around the island.
The relaxation did not last very long as there was some big commotion outside the restaurant, and I saw about four police cars surround this group of kids who started to run in every direction. There were kids of all ages yelling and running across the street in front of the restaurant. No one in the restaurant flinched at the whole thing so I figured the owner had seen all this before and was prepared if someone came into the pizzeria to cause problems. It was like watching a movie as the police cars pulled up in front of the pizzeria and groups of kids screaming at one another as they passed the window. That was my excitement for the afternoon.
In June of 2024, I returned to King Pizza when I realized that Sweet Mama’s around the corner had closed permanently. I was not in the mood for pizza and wanted something different. Since there were no calzones available, I had their homemade meatball sandwich. That was really good and very reasonable at $8.50.
The Meatball Parmesan hero was a delicious meal for a late lunch. I never had to stop for dinner
The hero was amazing
As I made my way down Fifth Avenue from 143rd Street, I stopped again to look at the obelisk that is located on a tiny triangle near the corner of Fifth Avenue and West 142nd Street. The Monument is the 369 Infantry Regiment Memorial dedicated to the all-black unit that fought so valiantly in World War I with the Fourth French Army. It sits on a small triangle as you are crossing the bridge to get to the riverfront promenade. I don’t think many people even notice it.
I passed the memorial and walked across the street to the bridge that led to Harlem River Park, a small stretch of river promenade that goes to East 135th Street. Since the park looked like it was getting a small renovation, I got off earlier at East 138th Street and walked down Madison Avenue to East 135th Street where I saw the same homeless guy from last year panhandling people coming off FDR Drive. He was still standing in the same dangerous location where he could be hit by a car at any time. I could not believe he was still in the same spot at the same time as last year. Things don’t change.
The Street Art at Harlem River Park that I admired the year before
Words of Wisdom on the wall in Harlem River Park
The paintings on the wall at Harlem River Park
The close up shot of the paintings
The paintings along the pathways in Harlem River Park are very creative
The Paintings along the walls of Harlem River Park
The Creative Artists who did this work
I made a turn into the courtyard of the Lincoln Houses to see the statute of Abraham Lincoln with Child statute at 2120-2122 Madison Avenue. No one was around so I was able to take some good pictures of the statue. The last time I had stopped to see it a group of kids just gave me a funny look when I entered the public housings walkway, so I did not venture in. This time around there was no one there and I got this excellent picture of the statue.
Lincoln and Child at 2120-2122 Madison Avenue in the Lincoln Houses in 2023
The statue was designed by artist Charles Keck. Mr. Keck was an American born New York artist who studied at the National Academy of Design and the Arts Students League of New York. He was best known for his work on statues and monuments.
I got down Fifth Avenue rather quickly and made my way to East 128th Street where I walked to Second Avenue. It was funny how everyone did everything they could to ignore me. It was really funny. All the people on the street watched me through the corner of their eyes but did everything they could to turn away from me. It was very subtle.
On the way down the street, I passed P.S. 30 and its wonderful painting on the side of the school. I thought the kids were really creative. The schools were all closed today, and the area was really quiet. When I walked this neighborhood about five years ago during the school year this place is bustling with kids and parents especially with after school programs.
The painting on the side PS 30
As I turned the corner and made my way down Second Avenue, I passed the Taino Towers which look like they are still under a renovation of the complex. Still, you can see this wonderful mural from a distance on the side of the building.
Artist Don Rimx painted a mural of Nuyorocan poet Jesus ‘Tato’ Laviera. The painting had been unveiled in 2017 (long after my visit to the neighborhood) and 123rd Street was renamed after the poet (Street Art NYC).
The mural of Jesus ‘Tato’ Laviera at Taito Towers at 122nd Street and Second Avenue
Mr. Rimx was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico and in 2009 moved to Brooklyn and then in 2014 to Florida. He graduated from Central High School of Visual Arts and Escuela Des Arts Plasticas. He is known for his use of styles in art and culture and known for his murals (Artist Bio).
I crossed Second Avenue to the Wagner Houses complex. People were having all sorts of picnics and barbecues inside and outside the Wagner Houses. The lawns of this complex are always busy. The funny part of this neighborhood again like other sections of Harlem before the Pandemic was in full gentrification mode.
All the brownstones were under scaffolding when I passed the last time, and they were still there. All the new buildings around the Wagner Houses started look old and it was getting seedy again. It did not look like that before the Pandemic.
The Wagner Houses
I passed the monument to Robert Wagner Sr. which had not been damaged during the riots in 2020. I guess people had other things to worry about at the time. It still stands like a guard on the complex.
Georg John Lober was an American artist from Chicago who studied at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design and worked for the New York City Municipal Art Commission for seventeen years.
Pleasant Avenue was once home to the East Harlem “Little Italy” and the ‘Dance of the Giglio’ takes place here every August outside the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (See Day Eighty-Four The Feast of Our Lady of Carmel and the Dancing of the Giglio). Now it is becoming a gentrified neighborhood and I saw many people eating in outdoor cafes or shopping at the local mall.
I stopped for lunch in both 2020, 2021,2022 and 2023 at Blue Sky Deli (now Chopped Cheese Delicious) at 2135 First Avenue for a Chopped Cheese. I swear I make any excuse to come up here and have that sandwich.
The Chopped Cheese Delicious (Blue Sky Deli) has a cult following
The ‘Chopped Cheese’ is a cult sandwich made up of two chopped hamburgers topped with American cheese, chopped lettuce and tomato with salt, pepper and spices and then pressed. It is like heaven with every bite. I took my sandwich into Thomas Jefferson Park, which is currently under renovation and ate my sandwich. After I was finished, I had the energy to continue the walk downtown.
I stopped in Thomas Jefferson Park to have my dinner and people watch. There were parties all over the park at this time. It was just about 6:45pm when I sat down for dinner and could see the sun patterns changing. I took my time to eat but I wanted to get on my way. I wanted to be at Midtown before it got dark. I enjoyed every bite of my sandwich.
The Chopped Cheese Sandwich at Blue Sky Deli (Harlem Taste Deli)
The delicious Chopped Cheese Sandwich
Before I left Thomas Jefferson Park, I came across another piece of art that I had not noticed on my many visits to the park. The sculpture located in the middle of the park is entitled “Tomorrow’s Wind” by artist Melvin Edwards. The sculpture is made of welded steel and is tilted so that it reflects the sun. The piece was placed in the park in 1995 (NYCParks.org).
Mr. Edwards is an American born artist from Texas. He is known for his known for his abstract steel sculptures. He graduated with a BFA from University of Southern California and studied at the Los Angeles Art Institute.
Artist Brower Hatcher is an American born artist who studied engineering in Nashville, then received an undergraduate degree in industrial design from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn. Following graduate studies at St. Martin’s School of Arts in London in the late 1960s, he became one of the faculty members at that prestigious institution. Hatcher later taught at Bennington College in Vermont until 1985, and in subsequent years has continued to serve as a visiting artist and lecturer at numerous college campuses. He received an honorary PhD from the State University of New York. During his career, now spanning more than thirty years, Hatcher has been commissioned to create many major works for public sites
I left the park around 7:00pm and made my way down the East Side Promenade. By this point, I figured everyone who had done the walk was all already down at Fraunces Tavern. My goal was to get there by 10:00am but to walk the entire East Side in three hours would be a lot. I was determined to get the job done.
The only problem with doing this walk at this time of night is that all the public bathrooms are closed by 6:00pm so it made for an uncomfortable walk after a while. I was lucky I went to the bathroom before I left Jefferson Park, but I knew by the time I got to Carl Schulz Park on East 81st Street the bathrooms might be closed.
I was passing Hell Gate before getting to Carl Schulz Park
When I arrived at Carl Schulz Park, the bathrooms were closed, and I found out most of the park’s bathrooms would be closed all the way down the East Side. I knew this would eventually be a problem. For right now, it would be smooth sailing down the East Side, and I was making good time.
As twilight hit, I saw the lights come on at Roosevelt Island
Lighthouse Park on Roosevelt Island stood in the distance.
The trip down the East side to York Avenue via the promenade was not problem and then down to John Jay Park at East 78th Street and then down York Avenue to Sutton Place and then down to East 53rd Street to First Avenue and again smooth sailing. Then it really started to get dark outside as it was now almost 9:00pm and the streetlights came on. This is when the trip became interesting.
The East Side Promenade by the United Nations at 42nd Street was closed, and I could not get in. So, I had to walk down to East 35th Street and take the East Side Promenade for about two blocks and then I was back on First Avenue. This is when the fun began. With all the promenades closed for renovations, I made my way down the main roads, and I tried to get to the parks lining the river.
The last picture I took of the lower East Side before all the fun began
Later when I got home, I reread the emails sent to me by Shorewalkers and did not realize that all these promenades were closed and there would be people to direct us. At this time of night, they were long gone, and I was on my own. I ran into two guys at that I had seen get on at East 110th Street when I left Jefferson Park and saw them again at the East 23rd Street entrance to the promenade there. It was fenced off and being landscaped. He asks me, “What do we do now?” “Head South and walk down,” I said as I made my way what I found out later on was Avenue C. I walked Avenue C by myself in the dark until I hit East 13th Street and figured I would go east and head to the promenade from there. I did not realize the whole thing was closed.
I found myself walking down Avenue D from East 13th Street until I hit East Houston Street eleven blocks down the street. This is when I felt like Griffin Dunne in the movie “After Hours”. The walk from here could not be more surreal.
This is the way the rest of the evening went for me!
If you don’t know what Avenue D is like in ‘Alphabet City’ in the East Village, it is where people used to and probably still do go to to score drugs. Walking past the Con Ed Power plant at 9:30pm at night was bad enough with how dark it was but to walk next to the projects being 6:3 in a green polo and a number stuck to my shorts, I must have stuck out to these people, and they seemed to disappear. I was oblivious to how quiet the streets were getting until I looked at the street sign and realized I was on Avenue D. I did everything I could to walk as fast as I could down the street without making it look obvious.
Avenue D was less scary at twilight on a Thursday night at 6:30pm than at 9:30pm on a Saturday night in June 2024
I was parched at this point, and I needed something to drink, and I had to stop and get a Coke. I stopped in a bodega to something to drink and did I get a look from the guy at the counter. He looked at me like ‘where did you come from?” Then he went back to the couple arguing about the price a pack of water. I bought the Coke and was drinking it outside when two very young NYPD officers were standing a few doors down watching me. They said hello to me and I said hi back. The looks on their faces were interesting too.
On my June 2024 walk through Avenue D, it was a lot more civil. I got to Avenue D just as it was getting dark and it was on a Thursday night so there were not as many people outside. School had just let out for the summer so there were not too many kids around as the park was still full with people socializing (including the hipsters). I did get to the same deli as last year and still got the same looks but the price of a Coke is still $1.00 so I can handle anything at that point. I never realized there were so many reasonable deli’s on this block. I will be back to try them out.
I finally got to East Houston Street and tried to walk to the end of it toward the park but again there was not entrance to the park anywhere. I gave up with that and decided to head south to get around this area and get to the South Steet Seaport. This is when the more fun began because I had not been in this part of the East Village since 1994, I did not know the street names and my Google Maps on my phone was not working. So, I took the first street, which was Baruch Street and walked down that. Talk about desolate.
There was no one on the street and walked down this gloomy dark street until there was a section where the lights were on, and I walked faster. I finally made it to Delancey Street and finally started to recognize the street names. I saw the lights of the bridge and figured to go the other way. Don’t ask me how, I must have gotten mixed up in the darkness and walked down Ridge Street and ended up near the police station. I then did a turnaround and found myself walking down Broome which I did not realize was Broome and walked north.
Somehow, I ended up walking north on Avenue C and then got caught up in all the bars, where at this time at night drunken college undergraduates were spilling out of all the bars and restaurants and had to dodge them for a few blocks walking fast and ended back up on Houston Street. I was completely confused by this and had to get my bearings straight because I had just walked a few blocks north. I then walked across 2nd Street and ended up on the bar scene on Avenue B not realizing that I was there. More drunk college students surrounded me and then I walked south and finally ended up back at Delancey Street.
I walked to the end of Delancey Street to see if there was an entrance to the promenade but there was nothing here either, so I walked down Colombia Street and finally reached Grand Street and knew where I was, so I walked west and made it to East Broadway. Knowing now it was after 10:00pm and walking down by the river would not be safe (like walking down Avenue D and all through the Public Housing Projects was), walked the length of East Broadway to get to Chinatown, which the fringes have been gentrified and had to endure more drunk college students and hipsters.
In 2024, I just followed Avenue D to Grand Street, which the roads finally opened up over the last year which made the trip on the official walk in May and my walk in June so much easier. Still there were some pretty shady characters around the neighborhood who did not know what to make of me so they kept away. One guy recommended a pizzeria and then kept his distance from me.
On my official walk in 2023, I walked down south to Pearl Street and then to the City Hall area going south. It got quiet again and then made my way down Pearl Street to Water Street and finally got into Fraunces Tavern at 11:30pm. I could not believe I made it dodging homeless people in the shadows, freaked out cops and drunken college students only to get to Fraunces Tavern and everyone being gone.
I talked to two bartenders and both of them looked at me like I was nuts. The first one did not know what I was talking about when I asked if any representatives were left from The Great Saunter walk. The second said there were a few people in the bar who had been on the walked but could not tell me who was who. So, I went to the bathroom and left.
That was not the worst. Since Maricel could not get the room another night, I had to walk back to the hotel, grab my things which were in storage and the door was locked. I had to show the guard my old room key, grab my luggage and make my way back to the Oculus and take the subway back to Port Authority to take the 12:50am bus back home. Well, the A and E were not working that night because of repairs so I had to take the J to 14th Street and then take the A which was running on a different line back to Port Authority.
It gets even better because the 12:50am bus never came and the 1:00am bus left from the basement door not the third floor. Everyone who was waiting with me upstairs now had to go to the basement to catch the 1:20am bus. I made the bus lugging all my luggage with me. I did not get home until two in the morning, and this is after 33 miles around the island through all the craziness of the last two hours.
I got to bed at 3:00am and did not wake up until 9:45am the next morning. The silver lining was I survived and walked my fifth time around the island and completed The Great Saunter after all that. I will attempt it again in the summer.
In the May 2024 official walk, things were much better. I got to Inwood Park at 11:45am and than left at 12:15pm which was excellent time for me. I finished lunch at 1:30pm and felt more refreshed on finishing. I got to Fraunces Tavern at 5:45pm and completed the walk in ten hours and forty-five minutes, a new record for me! I got to relax on the outside tables and relish in the fact I just finished this walk for the third time officially and seven times overall.
It was fun to watch the people who completed it for the first time and how happy they were in finishing. This woman Emily, who I met on the way down in the East Village who looked like she was ready to give up walked up to me and thanked me for helping her finish. This is the second person who credited me in finishing the walk. I had met her in the East Village at Avenue D when I caught up with the two women who left me behind in Inwood Park (I ironically met them at the Tenth Street Bridge. I left them in the East Village and completed the walk a half hour before them).
That made me feel good as well as watching the euphoria of those who were finishing. It was fun to watch. Well, until June, it was another great walk and I felt really good after this one. It was the best one yet!
Me finishing the Great Saunter for the third time officially at 5:45pm May 4th, 2024.
The walk I did later on June 21st, 2023-The Summer Solstice:
Things were much better when I redid the walk in June of 2023. It was the Summer Solstice, so it was the longest day of the year guaranteeing me sunlight until 9:00pm. This made the walk a lot easier and I could plan the day better. I started the day at 7:00am and got on the bus for Manhattan. I started the walk at West 42nd Street at the Circle Line. I prefer starting the walk downtown but figured that I could get home quicker when I just have to walk three blocks to Port Authority instead of a subway ride exhausted. I also did not have to run to class in-between the walk.
I started at the Circle Line Terminal as I did the first time I did the walk.
I officially started this walk at 8:30am and finished back at the Circle Line Terminal at 9:20pm. I had done this once before and I have to admit that physiologically it is the same difference in length but when you have to walk from the Battery to West 42nd Street it seems much better.
There was not much of a difference in the walk on the West Side of the island. The weather broke and it was sunny outside for most of the afternoon. The parks were more in bloom and things were greener a month later. I was also able to get some great pictures in now that I was not racing to finish like I was in May. It was a much quicker walk for me that I did not have to stop midway through. I got to Inwood Hill Park by noontime.
Riverside Park was in full bloom now.
Inwood Hill Park was in full bloom as well and all the trees were sprouting leaves. I felt like I left the City for the wilds of Upstate New York but on the tip of Manhattan there still is a little virgin forest left. Since it was during the week, this part of the park was quiet, and I did not see many people on the paths. Once I got to the open field area, I realized that school was officially over, and the summer campus and soccer teams were out in full force as the kids were out of school for the summer.
Inwood Hill Park during the first day of the summer
Walking through the paths of Inwood Hill Park was just so relaxing. It was so quiet, sunny and you could hear the birds chirping and the only rustle you heard was a squirrel passing through. I forgot how wonderful this park really is in the summer months.
Which path do you take?
I had already toured Muscato Marsh when I walked the Broadway walk that Sunday for Father’s Day so I stopped in park to go to the bathroom before I proceeded on through Inwood and Washington Heights (See my blog on the Length of Broadway walk-Day One Hundred & Thirty Nine):
Being such a beautiful day, I stopped in Sherman Creek Park, which I had not toured in years and walked around the park for a half hour. There a was not too many people in the park so I got some great pictures in of the restoration as I made my way down FDR Drive down to the turn off at 155th Street by the Polo Grounds Houses, not one of my favorite stops.
Sherman Creek Park is a wonderful little oasis from the hustle and bustle of Inwood
I could not believe how long it took to get from Inwood to Harlem. I left Inwood Hill Park at 12:15pm and got to my lunch destination King Pizza by 2:00pm. By that point, I needed another break. I was lucky unlike the official walk day no one was around.
The waterfall at Sherman Creek Park
It was either the last day of school or the first day of the summer break for kids and the streets were empty but the parks were full. This made getting around the neighborhood easier than on a Saturday.
King Pizza at 110 West 145th Street has been my go to place for lunch when I have done the last three walks around the island and I look forward to their pizza every time I am in the neighborhood. I was going to try this one Chinese restaurant around the corner from the pizzeria but there were some shady looking people inside and decided to go back to King Pizza.
The pizza is always excellent and the slices are huge. They may be a bit more than the traditional slice but the quality is there and their sauce is delicious. I had a slice of plain and one of ground beef and both were freshly made and tasted wonderful. The Ground Beef slice was so well spiced that I liked the combination of tastes.
The only problem with eating a lunch this big was that it slowed me down a bit as I was digesting. I started to get sluggish around West 135nd Street as I exited the bridge. It is amazing to see the same homeless guys begging at the exit of the overpass. There are now three of them.
I stopped by the Lincoln statue at the Lincoln Houses and admired the statue of President Lincoln wondering how it survived all the statues being knocked down after the George Floyd riots around the country. I guess no one really noticed it before. It was done by a famous artist so it value is almost irreplaceable. I quickly made my way down Madison Avenue past the Lincoln Houses and then crossed over to East 128th Street and then down Second Avenue to East 120th Street and crossed down Pleasant Avenue to Thomas Jefferson Park. Here I relaxed for a half hour before the long walk down the Upper East Side. I needed a rest.
The worst part was my battery went dead so there were no more pictures to take. Not much had changed in this part of the city as it had in Washington Heights and Harlem with all the building going on in those neighborhoods. Thomas Jefferson Park is a nice little oasis before you leave Harlem, and it was fun watching all the barbecues and picnics going on in the park. I guessed many of the kids finally were off from school and this was the beginning of the summer for them.
I headed down the East Side Promenade and enjoyed the breezes. I made a final pit stop at Carl Schulz Park before I continued down the East Side and nothing on the route had changed since May. You still had to head south down York Avenue to Sutton Place and then down First Avenue to West 38th Street where you have to exit out of the tiny part of the East River Promenade that is open.
I got back down to East 14th Street where my last trip became surrealist and made my way around East 13th Street and the Con Ed complex to prove to myself that Avenue D was not as bad as I thought it was plus, I had to look for the entrance to the East River Park which I knew had to exist. They did not close the park down for renovations.
Ironically when I got to Avenue D and 10th Street, I saw a bunch of hipster joggers running through the housing the complex and I followed the over the bridge into the park. I knew that there had to be entrance to that park! The only problem was that post COVID they were still working on the renovations of the park, and you could only exit out of East Houston Street. In May, that entrance was not open. So now I knew why it was so tough to maneuver around during the night. There was one way in and one way out.
From there it was still a lot of twist and turns down the side streets of the Lower East Side. From FDR Drive to Delancey Street and from Lewis to Grand Street I finally figured out the directions from May and made the turn on Cherry Street to Jackson Street and finally to the familiar FDR Drive East River Greenway through the Two Bridges/Chinatown neighborhood. I was finally on my way to Fraunces Tavern again.
Even thought it was not the starting point, the Fraunces Tavern was my goal before nightfall.
The only problem was that I was getting tired. After cutting the lawn, trimming all the bushes and then walking the length of Broadway plus coming back from Europe just a week earlier it was all catching up to me. I was really worn out!
Then something struck me as inspirational. I was under the underpass of FDR Drive when I saw a group of 60- to 70-year-old Chinese women dancing in unison. They were just dancing to the beat and I stopped to watch them until they finished their routine. The woman that led the group knew exactly what steps to take and she led this group of women who could have been from the disco era. They were having a ball without a care in the world or what people thought of them, they just kept dancing.
I found this so enlightening that I just kept going all the way back to West 42nd Street. No matter how much I wanted to stop the music from the dance group kept with me. I just kept humming the song that they danced to and just walked. Tired as I was, I made it back to the Circle Line stop at 9:20pm in the evening. It took thirteen and a half hours to complete 33 miles (I walk more of the route up in Inwood than is required. Then I walked back to the Port Authority, and I was home by 11:00pm. A pretty good walk!
It was dark by then but it was nice to see the boats of the Circle Line in the distance.
The Circle Line at West 34th Street was the start and stop point for two walks on my own. Easier access to the Port Authority and the way home.
My walk in June 2024 unofficially:
What I like about doing the walk on my own is that I have the time to stop, take pictures, relax when I want to and not have a group of people dictating how fast I should go (or maybe I put that pressure on myself). I also don’t have annoying other walkers breathing down my back like in the May 2024 walk. I was able to stop where I needed to when there was an interesting photo opportunity. Also, more was in bloom during the June walk.
I stayed at the Residence Inn again at 170 Broadway again and my best friend arranged for me to have the room when I returned that day for another evening so there was no pressure to lug bags and go home like last year. I could relax when I back to the room, take a shower and sleep.
I got up around 6:00am on the Thursday morning and had a good breakfast at the hotel, something I did not have time for the last time we stayed at the hotel. The Breakfast Room did not open until 6:30am so when I got there it was really quiet. There were only about seven of us there eating.
The Residence Inn at 170 Broadway is the perfect place to stay for The Great Saunter
Breakfast is the most important meal when you are doing this walk and you need your share of proteins and carbs to make this walk successful. You need that good breakfast also because you don’t want to stop for snacks all the time. You had better bring water and bagged snacks with you for the trip.
The Breakfast Room at the Residence Inn
The Breakfast at the Residence Inn Downtown
My suggestion to anyone taking this walk is a good breakfast and take at least two bottles of water with you that you freeze the night before so when they melt you have cold water through your walk.
The renovated parts of Battery Park were open and in bloom that morning
I started my walk at 7:30am when it was still about 77 degrees outside so it was really a pleasure to walk in this weather. I knew that I needed to get to Inwood Park by 12:30pm as it would be 97 degrees by that point and I would need the rest and shade.
The Battery Park Pollinator Garden was new and I noticed its elegant gate to the gardens
The walk up the west side of Manhattan is a straight run and the trip to Inwood Park is the easiest part of the walk of the island with the exception of going up the hill by the Little Red Lighthouse but that is doable if you pace yourself well. Unlike the New York Marathon, which many of the walkers have done too, here you pace yourself and do the walk as you feel comfortable. During the official race, the Shorewalkers Inc. officials are at Fraunces Tavern until 10:30pm the night of the walk. When I do it on my own, I take my time, take lots of pictures and stop in parks to observe the views and small delis and bodegas to get snacks and meals. This is a time to explore the neighborhoods as well.
The view up the West Side of the island with Jersey City in the background
Since I did the walk on a Thursday morning and afternoon on the Summer Solstice, the crowds were not there blocking the way. I always have to maneuver around the slower walkers. This day it was walking around the early morning joggers and dogwalkers. It often amazes me how many people today are not at work by 9:00am. Things have really changed in the last twenty years as people work freelance and remotely.
This beautiful prism fence lit up some of the pollinator gardens as you walk through the South Cove
I also came across more outdoor art that I had either never noticed before or had been moved due to the renovation of the Battery Park. With a big portion of the park under renovation a lot of the art was moved to more open spaces and in all the walks I have taken since 2020, they never came to light. I swear you do not have to go to a museum to see famous works of sculpture and graffiti art. It is all outside for you to observe.
As I walked from park to park, there was a lot to admire on the New Jersey coastline of the Hudson River. You travel from Jersey City and Hoboken to Fort Lee and the Palisades. Then it is all park up the coast line. Along the way you observe the famous cliffs that were used for filming the “Perils of Pauline” the famous silent film shot back in the early teens.
The Cliffs of the Palisades
The “Perils of Pauline” and climbing those same cliffs in 1914
I continued up the coastline of the West Side of Manhattan on a beautiful sunny day that got progressively hotter.
Inwood Park
Inwood Park
I got up to Inwood Park in record time at 12:45pm and relaxed in the park for forty-five minutes. The worst part about being in the park is that there are no longer any outlets to charge your phone. I relaxed outside forty-five minutes before I asked one of the parks guys where I could charge my phone and he said that the City has covered everything up because of the homeless and ebikes. He told me good luck trying to find one.
I walked down the road from the park and stopped in the church of the Good Sheppard and relaxed in the very stuffy church (no air-conditioning) and charged my phone for an hour. Very spiritual yes on such an important day in my life but hot and sticky in the church. Still it felt like I should have visited there and I said a prayer to my father.
I was able to charge my phone in the church and say a prayer for my father
After I left the church, I stopped for a Coke at Luna Grocery on Sherman Street and continued down Sherman Street to 10th Avenue and made my way down Dyckman Avenue to FDR Drive and continued the journey to West 155th Street on a quiet afternoon. The sun was really out by this point and it did get hot. By this point in the afternoon, it was 96 degrees.
Luna Grocery is my ‘go to’ place for soda and snacks in Inwood which is on the path for The Great Saunter at 264 Sherman Avenue as you head through to 10th Avenue
From here, I followed the path that I took the last seven times doing this walk, visiting the same parks and viewing some of the same street art as the above walks. Not just sculptures and statuary but graffiti art as well that has some profound messages. Here and there though I noticed a few new works that I thought were inspiring:
Street art by 10th Avenue and Dyckman Street near the Dyckman Houses. A message
When I finished eating at King Pizza and made my way down East 143rd Street, I came across the most interesting artwork. I was not sure if it was artwork or just part of the building complex as there were no signs of what the artists name was or what the name of the piece was but I thought it was interesting.
The artwork on West 143rd Street outside the Bethune Towers
The artwork on West 143rd Street just outside the entrance to Bethune Towers
I never noticed how much artwork was on the walls of Harlem River Park. I had taken a few pictures of it in the past but either it has grown or I had to keep walking. You have to stop and admire these artists when walking past the bridge it is painted on. They keep expanding the artwork along the walls and it gets more interesting as you pass by.
The artwork in Harlem River Park
The painting’s artists
The paintings
The paintings
You have to admire these artists creativity. The murals keep growing.
Getting out of the park was pretty waring in that the homeless have camped themselves on the 128th Street Bridge and let’s just say I saw some things that I am glad that many out of towners did not have to experience when dealing with homeless with mental problems.
I know the path from Harlem River Park to 110th Street to Jefferson Park very well and I try to get through this section of Manhattan pretty quickly. No one bothers me but the cops always give me funny looks when they come across me.
What really surprised me is the hyper gentrification of Harlem seems to have slowed down a bit. I could not believe that by the Wagner Houses that all the buildings stopped being renovated. This section of Harlem pre-COVID was all under scaffolding.
East 120th Street across from the Wagner Houses
This section of Harlem around Second Avenue was all under scaffolding before COVID and I thought the whole area around the Wagner Houses was going to be the next big neighborhood. It still looks a bit run down in 2024. I still think this stretch of Harlem will be big deal one day and be the latest hip neighborhood.
I got down to Jefferson Park and could not believe how crowded it was for a weekday. People were out and about on this hot afternoon having picnics and barbecues. They were even preparing the pool for its summer opening. I just snapped a few pictures of the statuary and of the people enjoying themselves and off I went down the East River Esplanade trying to get to Carl Schulz Park while the sun was still out and not beating down on me. Even with all the smells of barbecued food, I was still stuffed from the meatball sandwich from King Pizza.
Just as I was passing East 100th Street and making the turn for the Upper East Side, another piece of artwork caught my eye.
The artwork along the fence between East 100th-98th Streets by artist Carmen Paulino “We care for Harlem”
This creative work was all colors of the rainbow and showed the creative spirit of the neighborhood. Still it is an engaging piece of art and you need to look at each panel of the fence to appreciate it.
Carmen Paulino is a Manhattan-based mixed media, fiber artist, or yarn bomber, who uses her art to beautify and strengthen the community (Artist bio).
When I got to Carl Schulz Park by East 84th Street, the park was just as beautiful as was in the early Spring. Being later in the day, the pack was packed with families. This is where I freshen up a bit and refill the water bottles. The water fountains here have the coldest water and they always work! Their bathrooms are some of the best in the City.
Carl Schulz Park
Carl Schulz Park
I continued my trip down the East River Esplanade to the stop at John Jay Park near the entrance to Sutton Place. The views were amazing and the day was so crystal clear.
Looking over Carl Schulz Park during the walk
I headed down the East Side Esplanade with the most beautiful views of Brooklyn.
The Hell Gate overlooking Queens from Carl Schulz Park
John Jay Park was in full swing when I passed it that afternoon. The families were out in force. By that point, school was out for the day and the kids were running all over the park. The pool was filled as it was getting ready for the opening.
John Jay Park in the late afternoon
I had not traveled through the park in a long time, just walked fast around it. I had not seen these sculptures by artist Douglas Abdell in a long time. When I passed through the park, some small child was hitting them with a pole. These are museum quality sculptures and people do not know what they are or how valuable they are worth.
Artist Douglas Abdell is an American born artist who graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from Syracuse University. In the last 30 years his work has been devoted to political and social themes related to the Mediterranean Countries and their history more specifically Phoenician and Arabic with their specific symbols and languages.[3] The materials of these works are cast bronze, carved stone and etchings (Wiki).
I got down to Sutton Place in record time. Walking down York Avenue to the UN is a pretty straight run and I got down to the turn by the East River Promenade again. When I turned the corner at East 35th Street to go to the East River Promenade, I came across a series of paintings on the local school that I had not noticed in all the previous walks. They must have been put after the May walk. The works are entitled “Towards Wisdom” and are very interesting.
Artist Jesse Bransford is a New York-based artist whose work is exhibited internationally at venues including The Carnegie Museum of Art, the UCLA Hammer Museum, PS 1 Contemporary Art Center and the CCA Wattis Museum among others. He holds degrees from the New School for Social Research (BA), Parsons School of Design (BFA) and Columbia University (MFA). A professor of art at New York University, Bransford’s work has been involved with belief and the visual systems it creates since the 1990s (Artist bio).
This time around it was light our when I got to the lower East Side and East River Park. This time around it was not as scary. It was still light out and everyone from school groups to families to hipsters playing baseball were in the park. This time around I got over the 10th Avenue Bridge as fast and I could and walked down Avenue D while it was still light out. On a Tuesday night at twilight is very different from 9:30pm on a Saturday night.
I followed the path I had through the Twin Bridges neighborhood and through the twists and turns of the Seaport and Chinatown. All along South Street there was every obstacle you could imagine that was not there a month earlier. Construction signs, barrels, closed roads and everything under FDR Driver was cordoned off where it was not before. I swear that everything the Shorewalkers said to me the day of the official walk was true. You have to keep walking this route because every day it changes.
There was a small section of South Street that was open but not all the way. Here though, I got some of the most beautiful pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge, Downtown Brooklyn and South Street as well as Lower Manhattan.
The view of Brooklyn from Stuyvesant Cove around twilight
Downtown Brooklyn at dusk
The Brooklyn Bridge and Downtown Brooklyn at dusk
The Brooklyn Bridge
Passing the busy South Street Seaport
I finished the walk independently in 2024 at 9:45pm, three hours later than the official walk. The stops to charge my phone added on about two hours and it was 97 degrees that day. It made the walk much slower than a 80 degree still. Still, no problems with the walk. Thirty-three miles in one day. Wait until next year.
I finally finished for the day just as it was getting dark but stopped to take pictures as night fell.
Me at the end of the unofficial walk in June 2024 at 9:45pm. It took longer but the pictures I got were fantastic!
I lucked out because Maricel arranged for me to have another night at the Residence Inn and I got back to the room, showered and then fell fast asleep. I had a late check out at 4:00pm so I just ate breakfast the next morning and went back to bed and then read until I left at 4:00pm that afternoon. That was a better way to do then leaving after the walk.
Another great three walks for The Great Saunter! I don’t think Griffin Dunne could have done better! (Still my hero in that great film and we both got out of Lower Manhattan!).
The Official Walk on May 3rd, 2025:
I could not believe that a year went by so quickly. I had been so over-whelmed with classes and work and things to do around the house, I almost forgot about it. I could not find a reasonable place to stay in the City that night, so I got up at 4:00am and got ready to leave on the 5:40am bus into Manhattan. I could not believe how packed that first bus was the morning.
I took the Number One subway to lower Manhattan and joined the line in front of Frances Tavern at twenty to seven. Then off I went to start the walk around the island at 7:20am officially.
The Map of Manhattan at the South Ferry subway stop in Manhattan
Arriving in lower Manhattan that morning around the corner from Frances Tavern
The start of the line at The Great Saunter in 2025
All of us preparing for the 32 mile walk around the island
Since I got there so late, I got to the back of the line that wrapped around the corner and down the block
Before I got into line, I stopped in Queen Elizabeth II 9/11 Park to gather my thoughts before the long walk and take some pictures.
The plaque inside the park
The Queen Elizabeth II 9/11 Garden in the early spring
The park was so quiet that morning
Me taking my selfie that morning
Me entering the line at 7:00am on the dot
One last picture at the start line at 7:20am. I would finish thirteen hours later
Our part of the line starting the walk. There were so many people ahead of us it took time to give us hats and maps.
The snack of the line by Queen Elizabeth II 9/11 Garden and Park
The official time I started the walk was at 7:25am
Me finally getting through the line. I got my official hat and map and then started the long walk.
I finally got to break away from the pack around 7:30am and got into Battery Park City Park. There was no rain in sight (it was supposed to rain all day but the storm did not arrive until 11:00am) as predicted and the views were amazing that morning. Here is the skyline of Jersey City in the distance.
The skyline of Jersey City along the river
Since I was so busy walking and hSven taken so many pictures before of the area, I concentrated on the shots I had missed on previous walks.
North Cove of Battery Park City in the early morning hours
One of the beautiful gardens in Battery Park City
The beauty of One World Trade Center in the morning as I was leaving the Battery. The ghosts of 9/11 behind us.
I made really good time going up the West Side. I passed most everyone in my group that I started with back in the Battery and I got to Little Island at West 14th Street before 9:00am.
Passing Little Island Park at West 14th Street
The weather really cooperated this year as well. The reports said that it was supposed to rain all day and it ended up being sunny and warm in the morning and early afternoon but by 11:00am it really started to get hot.
When I got up to Riverside Park around West 72nd Street, the City had new pieces of art on the lawn for ‘Annual Art in the Park’. Two new pieces had been installed and I have to admit they were interesting.
Art in the Parks is an interesting way to see the artists work in an outdoor setting and really get up close to the works. Each year I continue to see the innovations of these artists.
As I was walking through Riverside Park, I noticed that the recent warm weather finally got all the buds opening on the trees and flowers and the lawns became more lush. The park was really taking the appearance that Spring had finally arrived.
The lush Riverside Park the morning of The Great Saunter
Even the old piers looked like artwork
As I passed West 95th Street, I saw the gardens sweeping down the stairs towards the river walkway. The members of their Conservatory were really taking good care of their park.
The beautifully maintained and landscaped entrance to the West 95th section of the park
I made it up the Upper West Side of the island in record time pacing myself well. I got to Fort Washington Park by 11:00am and as I entered the park, I saw more artwork around the southern entrance near the tennis courts.
This is “Hourglass” by Artist Patricia Espinosa
Artist Patricia Espinosa
The sign for “Hourglass”
The other piece being displayed in the park was also pretty unusual.
This is the piece “Moonfinder” by Artist Malin Abrahamsson
I think the City does a great job finding these artists and it is fun taking this walk as it is like an open air museum when you walk around these parks.
The walk through Fort Washington Park was spectacular and sunny
Someone took over the rock art for artist
As you enter the heart of Fort Washington, you get the most breathtaking views of the George Washington Bridge. This location is where you see the bridge in its most amazing sense.
Then came the walk up the hill through the park to the path that lined the highway. This walk is not for the faint hearted.
The walk up the hill we take from Fort Washington Park to Inwood it pretty strenuous up that hill. You have to walk forward to get up and around that hill and you have to be in good shape.
Once we got on the path that lead to Route 9A, we had to take a detour across the West 181st Bridge to West 181st Street to walk up Cabrini Boulevard and we had to cut through Fort Tryon Park past the Met Cloisters Museum. The bridge was covered with the most unique yarn art. This detour was a real treat.
Crossing the 181st Street Bridge
The artwork along the 181st Street bridge
The views of the Bridge from West 181st Street are magnificent
We had to cut through Fort Tryon Park this time as the repairs were going on the paths below and it was just at the time all the gardens were in bloom. It was gorgeous.
The entrance to Fort Tryon Park in full bloom
The gardens were in full bloom and colorful
The gardens on that sunny day. Alice did not have it this good in Wonderland.
I walked through Fort Tryon Park to the other side of the park and we came out on Dyckman Avenue near the entrance to Inwood Park. When we did this volunteer had the most clever sign.
The sign for ‘Upstate Manhattan’. Very clever!
I got through Inwood Park pretty quickly and found myself getting tired. Unlike the other Saunters I had walked recently, I had not had to work as much plus getting up so early to get into the City took its toll on me. I just wanted to get to the rest stop and sit down.
Walking through the winding paths of Inwood Park
This is my video of walking through Inwood Park
I got to Inwood Park at exactly 12:00pm and had to sit down. Getting up too early really did a number on me. They had all sorts of drinks and snacks for us and many people just relaxed under the shade trees. It was starting to get really hot outside. I could also see that some people were dropping off as one partner in the group did not want to continue on.
Everyone resting at the Inwood Park rest stop, the halfway point of the walk.
It was just nice to sit and rest. It had gotten in the 80’s by this point and no one had expected the weather to be like this. It has been supposed to be raining the rest of the day and it was sunny and clear. We really lucked out.
I got back to the walk around 12:45pm and made my way around both Inwood and down 10th Avenue towards the Dyckman Houses until I stopped for a moment and admired the murals at the school. They must have been new as I had never noticed them before.
P.S. 278 sign
The colorful murals on the school
This was fun artwork
We followed the path down FDRDrive and there were some bottle necks along the way. The only thing that I find annoying about the Saunter is that when groups of friends walk with one another, they walk horizontally and block the paths so you cannot pass.
The beautiful views of High Bridge Park along FDR Drive during the walk
I managed to get to 155th Street pretty quickly and then made my way down Edgecombe Street towards East 145th Street. This is when I discovered that my favorite lunch spot on the Saunter, King Pizza was closed percent. The whole block is being knocked down for a new apartment building. Some had to continue walking. They changed the route through Harlem and we no longer made all the twists and turns we once did in the neighborhood.
The Savoy Apartments
You can see the changes in Harlem but they are a lot slower than they were before. I passed the Savoy Apartments at West 139th Street who have a very mixed reputation. They still look like public housing to me.
Then I passed P.S. 137 and admired the mural on their school
The mural on the side of P.S. 137
A group of us continued our way through Harlem which was more of a straight run than in the past. I got down to 125th Street in record time and then down Second Avenue to 120th Street and then to Pleasant Avenue to Jefferson Park. This is when I had to stop again. My feet were killing me and I was starved. You cannot make lunch out of goldfish and Cheezits.So I stopped into Blue Sky Deli at 110th Street for a Chopped Cheese sandwich which I had not had since the year before.
The deli was really busy and the cook was behind with the number of Chopped Cheeses he had to make . People were even calling their orders in.
Inside Blue Sky Deli/Chopped Cheese Delicious Deli
Me promoting the deli once I got my sandwiches
I just relaxed in Jefferson Park for an hour and enjoyed my sandwich and watched all the families having barbecues and playing soccer. It was such a nice day outside. My sandwich was really good.
You have to have a Chopped Cheese sandwich with a Welsh’s Grape Soda
The sandwich is so good!
The best sandwich in New York City
I really enjoyed this lunch and just relaxing on the bench
Me talking about my lunch
After a long rest and a good lunch and just enjoying the sunshine, it was time to start the walk again. I was now up for the challenge and I left 110th Street refreshed and ready to go.
Getting down to Carl Schulz Park before my phone died. This is the last picture I took that day
I continued my walk down the East Side Esplanade to about East 78th Street by John Jay Park and continued down York Avenue to Sutton Place and then made the turn at East 53rd Street in front of the United Nations and continued down First Avenue to East 35th Street around St. Vartan Park and then turned again after a bathroom break (these are the last bathrooms for a while and you have to stop here) and then enter the Esplanade again at East 35th Street and then rounded the roads beneath that.
They had finished the East Side Green way around Stuyvesant Cove now and I could avoid the whole East Village (I remember that crazy night two years ago trying to get out of the East Village and having to walk down Avenue D late at night. I still can remember those two cops faces!!).
Stuyvesant Cove is really beautiful when things are in bloom
The view of the East River and Brooklyn by Stuyvesant Cove
From there, we just followed the paths through the park and then crossed over the walkway to Houston Street and then walked down the road through some of the side roads in lower Manhattan until we got to the Pier 42 Park where we lost most people who had to go to the bathroom.
Then a group of us passed the piers and then South Street Seaport, where all the tourists were treated to all of us walkers coming in exhausted at that point. On the last leg, I passed most of the other groups as I was pacing myself as I normally do and arrived back at the Fraunces Tavern at 7:20pm, thirteen hours on the dot from the time I started. It was two hours and fifteen minutes later than last year but I figured we started a half hour later than last year, me starting at 6:45am. Then there was the extra hour rest in Jefferson Park (well worth it) and the fact that I was not walking back and forth to the NYU campus from Port Authority as I had the last two years so I was not in the same shape as before.
Still it was better than the fourteen hours on my own but then I like to stop and take lots of pictures when I do it on my own.
Me finished the walk at The Fraunces Tavern at 7:20pm on May 3rd, 2025
*This blog is dedicated to Lucy, whose input and cheerleading for this blog has been much appreciated and to another memorable lunch!
I have been volunteering at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen for almost nineteen years and over the years you become friends with the other volunteers. Lucy and I have gotten to know one another over the years. Last Spring, we had gotten together for an amazing lunch over pizza from Lions & Tigers & Squares on West 23rd Street.
Maybe it was the pizza, maybe it was the weather or maybe it was just the view of the Flatiron Building in the background as we were eating lunch by the plaza next to Madison Square Park or maybe all of the above. It was just an amazing lunch.
Over the Fall and Winter months we had kept in touch and the conversation always went back to that amazing lunch and just the beautiful view of the Flatiron Building in the background while we ate. I had commented to her that all over the world people wished they could be in the very spot that we were in eating lunch and here we were eating there. There is sometimes a moment in time that are just perfect.
When Lucy came in again, I had been through a lot lately losing my friend, Barbara and some family issues. So, it was nice to have someone nonpartial to listen. I was going through a lot at one time.
Having had pizza the night before and for lunch the day before that, I really did not want to go back to Lions & Tigers & Squares at 268 West 23rd Street (See reviews on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com) so we on a whim tried S & A Gourmet Deli at 240 Eighth Avenue (See reviews on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com) for a sandwich.
Talk about another excellent lunch. The sandwiches there are excellent. S & A Gourmet Deli does a great job with their food. I ordered Chicken Cordon Bleu sandwich ($8.99), which was two freshly fried chicken cutlets topped with Swiss Cheese and Ham topped with spicy mustard on a fresh hoagie roll. Each bit was amazing.
S & A Gourmet Deli at 240 Eighth Avenue
The Chicken Cordon Bleu sandwich at S & A Gourmet Deli
The two of us had a nice afternoon talking about what was going on in our lives and just enjoying the warm weather. What was strange was only about an hour before it was pouring down rain and then as we met it cleared up. By the time we finished lunch, it was almost the same weather as the time we had lunch last year, sunny and warm and in the 70’s. I guess God was listening.
Having lunch outside with the Flatiron Building in the background is amazing!
After lunch was over, we said our goodbyes and I was off to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to see the Magnolia trees blooming and the breathtaking Daffodil Hill, where thousands of daffodils would be blooming at one time around a 100-year-old Oak Tree.
With everything going on, I am getting a little leery about traveling by subway but off I went. The ironic part is that the trip was smooth and quiet and non-eventful. I found out later on that evening that the N Line earlier the morning had been hit with a smoke bomb and a shooting. Talking about shattering an imagine. Thank God I did not know all this on the trip down to Brooklyn.
The Entrance to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden at 990 Washington Avenue
The weather was even better when I got up the stairs on the Number 2 line outside the Brooklyn Museum. It had gotten even warmer. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden was the busiest it had been all season with people taking pictures of the now blooming Cherry trees and Japanese Garden coming to life in the early Spring months.
Daffodil Hill was just as spectacular as the many years before. The daffodils were in full bloom and the hill on the other side of the Japanese Garden next to the flowering Magnolia trees which were also in full bloom. The scents were wonderful with scents of sweet jasmine and candy.
There are very few places in the world that are perfect but the bench by Daffodil Hill is one of those spots. To sit there and just admire Mother Nature at work at her best is just something. I look forward to this every year and is one of the main reasons why I keep renewing every year. For one afternoon, I just want to sit at that exact bench and admire Mother Nature’s handywork.
The Japanese Gardens are starting to bloom
The Cherry Trees in the Japanese Gardens on the other side of the hill were just coming into bloom as well and the whole effect showed that Spring is here and not a moment too soon. Everyone needed the warm weather to come and relax us. It has been a long Winter.
I ended spending over two hours just walking around the gardens and relaxing under a tree like everyone under the Cherry Tree Esplanade that has not bloomed yet. The soft grass and the relaxing sounds of contemporary music on every half hour was a nice way to spend the late afternoon.
Once left the gardens, I was going to go to the Brooklyn Museum, but it was closed and the weather being so beautiful I decided to walk to Downtown Brooklyn and see how the reconstruction of the Fulton Mall was going. So I took the long walk around the circle and walk down Flatbush Avenue towards Downtown Brooklyn. I made a few detours along the way and explore Brooklyn.
As I got to the turn off to Atlantic Avenue just off Flatbush Avenue near the Barclay’s Center, I decided to make the turn and explore a neighborhood I knew well. This part of Brooklyn I had used for my novel, “Firehouse 101” and I spent many a day exploring the streets of Boreum Hill and Cobble Hill for my book, noting the streets, parks and businesses. There are lot of memories of me walking this neighborhood almost twenty years ago.
My novel “Firehouse 101” set in Boreum Hill and Cobble Hill Brooklyn
I can’t tell you how many times I walked Atlantic Avenue, Flatbush Avenue, Smith Street and Court Street for inspiration. Many of the observations of those afternoons were written into the book as I tried to make it as real as possible.
When I got to the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Smith Street, I made the right turn and walked the length of Smith Street in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn. It also amazes me how a neighborhood keeps changing as new businesses keep opening and closing changing the complexity of a neighborhood and how the long-time businesses still chug along and watch it all happen. There are those family-owned enterprises that make the City unique.
As I rounded Smith Street, admiring all the new gift boutiques, gourmet shops and small restaurants, I crossed over Degraw Street to walk the ‘border’ of the neighborhood in my novel and walked to Court Street and walked up the street. I needed to stop a few times at some bakeries that I had been to many times on my walks here.
As I walked all over Atlantic Avenue, I saw all the new little boutique bakeries with their $5.00 cookies and $7.00-$9.00 pies that looked delicious but were not worth the money. No pie that is about three bites is worth $7.00. When I visited the longtime neighborhood favorite, Monteleone’s Bakery at 355 Court Street the woman at the counter reminded me why this bakery has been around for 100 years. Quality and service.
The pastries at Monteleone’s Bakery are delicious
The prices and selection are also a nice part of the bakery. Their miniature pastries which are nice sized sell for $2.00 a piece and the selection of them is extensive. I bought a pastry stuffed with cannoli cream and a mini cream puff with vanilla cream. I had the woman put them in a bag so that I could eat them along the way. They both lasted barely a block.
When I mentioned to the woman about the $7.00 pies and $5.00 cookies at the bakeries on Atlantic Avenue, she just laughed and said this is the reason why Monteleone’s is so popular and has been around so long. They know their customers. I know that I will be back when I visit the neighborhood again.
I was still hungry as I walked down Court Street to the Fulton Mall and downtown, so I stopped at the Court Pastry Shop at 298 Court Street for another pastry. I love my sweets and had not been there in a few years. It is funny that the Court Pastry Shop was used in a very funny scene in my book “Firehouse 101” so I always remember my trips there in the past when I was doing location spots for my book. Their cream puffs and eclairs are delicious.
I eyed my favorite eclair in the case and bought one immediately ($3.50). I swear it had been at least three or four years since I had had one and they are still the best. They had such a thick layer of chocolate icing on them and filled with the most delicious vanilla cream.
Now being full of sweet snacks, I continued up Court Street to the Brooklyn Court House and then walked back down Fulton Street to the Fulton Street Mall. At this point most of the Fulton Street Mall has been demolished and replaced with new apartment and office buildings. This was part of the Bloomberg Administration’s plan to revitalize downtown Brooklyn with a broader retail selection and replace many of the older buildings.
It is not quite done yet but within five years most of Downtown Brooklyn should be redeveloped. It looks so much different from even two years ago. This was documented in film “My Brooklyn”.
The film on Downtown Brooklyn “My Brooklyn”
It was such a nice afternoon, and I was enjoying the sunshine so much and I had a lot of energy with all the desserts in me, I decided to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, which I have done many times and never tire of looking at the view.
Talk about the perfect afternoon to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. It was clear, sunny and about 70 degrees. It really looked like the tourists were back because people were taking pictures all over the bridge from every angle including ready to fall off the bridge because they were leaning so much over the rails. The view of Lower Manhattan was just spectacular.
By the time I got to the Manhattan side of the bridge, I was starved. I decided that I had the energy to walk to Chinatown which is only a few blocks away from the bridge entrance. By the time I got to Chinatown, it was almost seven in the evening and found that most of the smaller places were closed (it was a weekday). So, I walked all over Mott Street, East Broadway, Catherine Street, Henry Street and the Bowery and decided on an old standby which I love Dim Sum Go Go at 5 East Broadway.
I was hungrier than I thought. I started with Shrimp and Mango Rolls ($5.95), Duck Spring Rolls ($5.95), Pork Soup Dumplings ($6.95) and Steamed Shrimp Dumplings ($5.95). After devouring all of that, I ordered the Pan-Fried Pork and Chive Dumplings ($5.95) and the Steamed Roast Pork Buns ($6.95). Everything was so delicious and fresh and came out steaming hot. Even on a weeknight I was surprised by how full the place was and it seemed that people were ordering more than me.
I especially loved the Shrimp and Mango rolls with the breaded and fried ground shrimp mixture with a piece of fresh mango in the center. It had a nice sweet/savory flavor to it and was fried perfectly golden brown. All of the dumplings were cooked to perfection and the pork and chive dumplings had a nice flavor to them (See review on TripAdvisor).
The Soup Dumplings at Dim Sum Go Go are excellent
By this point it was twilight and just getting dark, but it was still so nice out that I decided I wanted to walk through the East Village to see how busy it was that night and to see how many NYC students were out and about. Plus, I wanted to see if the Anthology Film Center was still open on Second Avenue (it was closed that night). I walked up Second Avenue past all the trendy little restaurants and closed shops which were packed with students. I could not believe how busy the area was this time of night, but it was still in the 60’s and just a nice night to mill around.
By the time I reached 14th Street, I figured I might as well walk back to Port Authority and walked up a combination of Second, Third and then by East 23rd Street, up Lexington Avenue through Kips Bay and ‘Curry Hill’ which I had visited a year ago. All of the Indian restaurants were busy as well and the smells of cumin and curry wafted through the air. I always love walking through this neighborhood.
I walked across East 34th Street and arrived at the doors of Macy’s and Herald Square was just as busy as the rest of Manhattan with people walking around the plazas of Herald and Greeley Squares. Koreatown on West 32nd Street off Broadway was also packed with students and tourists going out to dinner and enjoying the dessert restaurants. The restaurants serving Bubble Teas and Korean Cheesecakes has long lines to them.
I finally arrived at the Port Authority at almost 10:00pm and could not believe how far my journey took me. From the Brooklyn Botanical Garden to the Port Authority. This is the power of wonderful warm weather, a nice evening breeze and good food. It gives you the energy to keep going.
mywalkinmanhattan 