I put my walk of the Garment District on hold as many of the museums are having their Private Members nights before the holidays get into the full swing. It gives the members a chance to really enjoy the museums before the City gets crazy with tourists and people are beginning to return to the City.
My first event that I attended was “The Met After Hours” event. It was a well-attended event that members were able to explore the first floor at their own leisure for three hours.
It really was a wonderful night. First it was a warm and clear evening and you could see the stars because it gets dark at 5:00pm. We as members got to the museum before 5:00pm and waited in a long line by the Member’s Entrance on the side of the museum and had to show our COVID vaccine cards and ID. Even though we were all vaccinated, we still had to wear masks the entire time we were in the museum. It was not a problem and did not get in the way of us having a nice time.
For the evening, only the first floor was open and only certain galleries and exhibitions but there was plenty to see and do. In all the galleries, there were docents giving talks on the exhibitions and on the gallery displays that were permanent to the museum.
I started my tour of the museum at the Christmas Tree in the Medieval Galleries. It was decorated for the holidays with full detail but it had been corded off and you could not get as close to it as you once could in the past. They had a very interesting docent who went over the not just the history of the Christmas tree with its German-Pagan roots but how it was decorated by people in different countries at different times of history.
The beautiful Christmas tree is a part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art tradition
She talked about how the manager and the more religious aspects of the art came from Naples and then made its way to the United States with immigration. The works around the tree were collected over time.
Later that evening, they had a singing trio entertaining the crowd with festive Christmas songs. The ladies were very friendly and had wonderful voices. They really put everyone in the Christmas spirit.
I next went to the “In Praise of Painting: Dutch Masterpieces at the Met” exhibition in the Robert Lehman Collection. I was viewing all the works by Rembrandt and Vermeer for most of the evening. It was nice to just take my time and look at the works one by one without rushing like you normally do when the galleries are busy. The gallery was full of portraits and still lives and being a smaller gallery, I was not over-whelmed by the exhibition.
In Praise of Painting: Dutch Masterpieces at The Met should not be missed.
I walked through the American Wing to the American Wing Cafe which was mobbed. Every table was taken and what was really annoying is that in some cases, one person took a table and threw all their things on the chairs and were eating by themselves. They should have had a limit on that type of behavior as I could see that patrons were struggling to find a place to sit down. I just decided to eat when I left the museum. A $16.00 sandwich did not interest me. I just could not believe how much the food had gone up at the museum.
I spent the last part of the evening in the Temple of Dendur Wing admiring the building. I looked over all the ancient carvings and symbols and then realizing that this temple was created during the Roman Era. I thought that was interesting. I remember reading in the book “Dancing with Mummies” on the former director of the museum discussing how New York City beat out other cities to get the temple.
Every time I enter the gallery I think of this scene in “When Harry Met Sally”
It represents what is best about the Met
I ended the evening exploring the Greek Galleries since the rest of the Egyptian Galleries were closed for the evening. I really loved looking at the Cycladic Art and the way that the galleries are displayed. Even though I have been touring these galleries since they opened, it is always fun to see something new or a piece that you noticed for the first time again.
There is something unique about Cycladic Art
After I left the Met, I walked along the Upper East Side, walking down both Third and Second Avenues and noticing all the restaurants and stores that have closed since the Pandemic and it was scary to see. I thought that Madison Avenue was bad with all the empty stores and the cops protecting them but the other avenues were just as bad. It will take a long time for this to come back.
When I reached East 72nd Street at Second Avenue, I stopped at one of my favorite Chinese Take-out places where you can sit down and eat, Shanghai Chinese Restaurant at 1388 Second Avenue right near the subway station. I am telling you this is some of the best Chinese food in the City and very reasonable for the portion size they give you (see my reviews on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com).
Don’t miss Shanghai Chinese Restaurant at 1388 Second Avenue
I had the most amazing Shrimp Szechuan with Roast Pork Fried Rice with a side of Hot and Sour soup, the perfect dishes on a cool night. The soup really warmed me up and the shrimp had a nice fiery flavor to it.
The inside of Shanghai Chinese Restaurant
I was so content from the wonderful meal that I ended up walking all the way back to the Port Authority. It was such a nice night to walk back and enjoy the cool air. It really a beautiful night to walk around Manhattan.
After I returned from visiting my mother for her 85th birthday, I had another Members Night at the Museum of the City of New York at 1220 Fifth Avenue to attend the gallery talk of the Founders of the Talking Heads singing group, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, talking about their time with the group and their experiences. Then we watched the film documentary “Stop Making Sense”, which was filmed over a series of concerts in 1984. The talk and the film were both amazing. I never knew that much about the group, so it was an eye-opener.
The Museum of the City of New York at 1220 Fifth Avenue
Ms. Weymouth and Mr. Frantz had gotten older but really had not changed that much. They were really engaging and such interesting stories about the band and the clubs that they played in the early 1980’s. It was fascinating to hear of the other artists that they knew like Debbie Harry and the Ramones who played the same clubs and the long-closed clubs that they enjoyed like Danceatiria and the Mudd Club.
They also talked about the work they are doing now and the revival of the music that they performed so long ago. It was a real blast from the past and most of the audience like me were either in high school or college when the group was performing so it was a real Gen X crowd that evening. After the talk, they left the stage with a rousing applause from all of us and then we watched the documentary, which really rocked the room. I could almost see people wanted to get up and dance and the applause from the songs after they were finished matched what was going on in the film (I included the link to the film we watched below).
The “Stop Making Sense” talk and showing of the film with Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth
The ‘Stop Making Sense’ talk at the Museum of the City of New York: The Concert Film we saw that night.
“Stop Making Sense”
I went home that evening humming all the songs that I remembered from the film. It was such a great evening and I still could not believe that I never saw the film when it came out my freshman year of college.
Still my favorite videos from the early MTV days: “Once in a Lifetime”
The last museum Members afternoons that I attended was the “Sharks” exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History at 200 Central Park West. This exhibition was open to the members first before opening later in December.
The American Museum of Natural History at 200 Central Park West
I have to say it was interesting and very scientific and technical. I was floored by the number of kids that knew so much about sharks. I was listening to this kid talk to his mother on which sharks were which and he was about eight years old.
The exhibition was on the history of sharks and their habitats and the benefits that sharks bring to the ocean like being bottom dwellers and how their eating habits affect the rest of the ocean population. It was more than the movie “Jaws”.
The exhibition also discussed how sharks have evolved over the years since the era of the dinosaurs and how their population decrease is affecting the rest of the ocean population and food cycles. After about an hour in the exhibition it got a bit over-whelming with the information and I will have to go back again to see it.
‘Sharks’ at the American Museum of Natural History
The exhibition discussion:
After the visiting other parts of the museum in both the Central American Wing and the new Minerals gallery, I went outside and enjoyed the nice sunny day. I ended up walking all over the Upper West Side. Homes were decorated for the holidays and it was festive to see all the garland and trees in the windows and on the outside of the brownstone homes.
For lunch, I went to Tri Dim West, the sister restaurant to Tri Dim Shanghai on the East side at 467 Columbus Avenue for a Dim Sum lunch. The restaurant is right around the corner from the museum and was a nice alternative to the expensive fare at the museum.
I had the most wonderful (but pricy) Dim Sum lunch with freshly made Crab & Pork Soup Dumplings, Roast Pork Buns, Chicken Curry Puffs and a Peking Duck Spring Roll. Everything was made fresh to order and one dish was better than the other. The soup dumplings just slurped off the spoon and burst in my mouth with their juiciness. The roast pork buns had their usual sweetness with the combination of roast pork chopped up wrapped in a sweet dough.
The Peking Duck rolls are delicious
The service was so friendly and welcoming. The guy waiting on me kept spooning the dumplings on my plate. I thought that was taking it to the extreme but it was a quiet afternoon.
It is funny for the people who keep saying that New York City is going downhill and Manhattan is falling apart, yet I see that the museums are doing their best to engage with their members and the public in general with taking all sorts of precautions and safety measures. They are doing their best to keep the public informed while still having a good time.
I could not believe how fast the summer went. After I threw my back out, I was out of commission for three months and I was finally able to get started again by early September. Then we started classes at the College where I work and that has me running as well. It is nice to be busy.
Halloween was not as busy as it has been in the past because we are still dealing with COVID requirements. Some programs that I attended in the past were either cut or had limited space. Also with classes going on and in the midst of Midterms and quizzes for both classes my time was limited this year with the running around. I just did not want to push it. Still I got to do some new things this year.
Halloween weekend start at Blondies on the Upper West Side at 212 West 79th Street for the much anticipated Michigan-Michigan State football game. This has been much hyped because both of our teams were 7-0 and no matter how we play or what we do, Michigan State is always ranked lower than Michigan. It is just a fact. Until we beat them, for a SECOND YEAR, like we did this year!
Blondies is such a great place to watch the game. We have the whole back room for Spartan nation and the place was packed with everyone dressed in Green and White. I had gotten up to the bar just as Michigan scored the first touchdown so it was a touch glum but things got right back to cheery as we got the ball back. By the time I settled in it was 10-0 but things livened up again when we scored our first touch down.
By the time I left at half time, we were ahead 14-13 and my best friend kept calling me while I was on a walking tour of New York City filling me in on the updates. I had to keep breaking away from the tour to take the updates and I could see that was frustrating the tour guide out of the corner of my eye.
Michigan State versus Michigan
I took the “Gotham Ghost Tour of Lower Manhattan” on the day before Halloween and we really lucked out with the weather. It kept going from gloomy to sunny for the whole afternoon, so it added a little spookiness to the tour. We started our tour of Haunted Lower Manhattan on Second Avenue and 10th Street right across the street from St. Marks Church.
We started our tour at the side of St. Mark’s Church at 131 East 10th Street. The church has an interesting history starting with being the Chapel of Peter Stuyvesant, the first Governor of New Amsterdam.
Our first part of the ghost tour was stopping at St. Mark’s Church at 131 East 10th Street. There was a mini carnival going on in the cemetery portion of the grounds, so it took away from the spookiness of the place. That and they made us wear masks outdoors.
St. Mark’s Church during the day.
The church’s historical plaque.
The tour guide told us the story of the former Sexton of the Church was in the church alone one night and heard strange sounds coming from the lower floors. When he went to investigate, he found nothing. He then said that strange sounds started again like a scrapping on the floor. It was here that he confronted the ghost of Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch Director General of New Amsterdam.
The Peter Stuyvesant statue in the park by the church.
He ran out of the church and then mysteriously, the bell in the tower of the church started to ring on its own. No one else was in the church at the time. When they went to investigate, they found that the rope had been cut or separated and there was no way someone could have rung the bell.
The St. Mark’s Church Gardens in the summer months.
When they investigated the crypt of ‘Pegleg Peter’ as he was called, legend has it they found the piece of rope in the crypt. The Sexton never returned to the church after that. When I asked when this was, the guide told us about the early 1800’s. I asked has anyone seen the ghost since. The answer was no but people still feel things in the building. I though it strange that a ghost would only appear once in the church.
The St. Mark’s gardens in the summer months.
Still, we visited the tomb of Peter Stuyvesant, who is buried in the wall of the church that once served has his chapel on the Stuyvesant estate, which this area of the City was part of at that time. The grave was hidden by a table and scaffolding, but we managed to see it. It did look mysterious located at the bottom of the church foundation.
Peter Stuyvesant, Dutch Director General of New Amsterdam
Peter Stuyvesant’s Tomb which was once part of his estate chapel
The Peter Stuyvesant window at St. Mark’s Church.
We walked around the grounds and saw other family crypts around the property that were not covered with tables. Some were family members of the extended Stuyvesant family (those who married into it like most colonial families of wealth did) and other prominent families of the church like the Fish’s, Winthrop’s and the Tompkins, whose names are known throughout the City and New York State.
The Daniel Tompkins statue in the gardens at St. Mark’s Church.
The David Jones and Thomas Addis Vault
The Elizabeth Beekman Vault (one my ancestors by marriage)
The Hamilton Fish is a brick Federal style house was built by Peter Stuyvesant, the great-grandson of Petrus Stuyvesant, the Dutch Governor of New Amsterdam, in 1804. It was a wedding present to his daughter, Elizabeth and his son in law, Nicholas Fish and their future son, Hamilton Fish, the former Governor, Senator of New York State and Secretary of State under the President Grant administration. The house was built on land that had been in the family since the 17th century (Wiki). This union united two famous and influential families and the house stayed in the family until the beginning of the 20th century.
Our next stop on the tour was of Astor Place a few blocks away. We visited the outside of the Astor Building at 418 Lafayette Place, Colonnade Row.
418 Lafayette Place-Colonnade Row today
From both angles
Colonnade Row was built in the 1830’s by contractor Seth Geer as nine private homes on land owned by John Jacob Astor. The architects on the job were Alexander Jackson Davis, Ithiel Town and James Dakin. The building was originally called ‘Lagrange’ or La Grange Terrace after the estate of the Marquis de Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolution (Wiki).
Some of the famous tenants of these homes were John Jacob Astor III, Julia Gardiner, the former first lady and socialite, Cornelius Vanderbilt and Washington Irving. Today they are a mixed-use building and in need of repair (Wiki).
418 Lafayette Place when it was built in the 1830’s
Its relation to haunted happenings was it was claimed that one of the construction workers who was renovating the property said that a ghostly hand came out of one the fireplaces during the renovation of the building. Since then, things have been quiet. Personally, I thought the guy must have been working too hard.
The next stop was across the street at the Astor Library at 425 Lafayette Street.
The Astor Library was a collaboration effort between John Jacob Astor and New England educator Joseph Cogswell. The library was built to be a research library where the books did not circulate. The library opened in 1854 to the public and in 1895 it was consolidated with the Lenox Library and the Tilden Foundation to become the New York Public Library (Wiki).
The library was designed by architect Alexander Saeltzer who designed it in the Rundbogenstil style. The cornerstone was laid in 1850 and the building was finished in 1853. The library opened in January of 1854 and had later extensions to it (Wiki).
The ghost story of the library comes from Joseph Cogswell himself. In April of 1860, Mr. Cogswell was working late in the library when he walked down to the Research area of the library and spotted the ghost of a local physician who had died recently. Upon approaching the ghost and confronting it, the ghost simply disappeared. This happened for three more nights and each night the ghost would disappear. On the third night, the ghost disappeared again and has not been seen since. He also claimed to see the ghosts of Washington Irving and insurance executive Austin Sands (mrsdaffodildigresses.com/thegothiclibrary.com). Needless to say, they gave Mr. Cogswell some time off.
The famous “Library Ghost” scene from the film “Ghostbusters”
After we left the Astor Library, we made our way across Broadway to the New York University campus, where we visited the Brown Building at 23 Washington Place, home to the famous “Triangle Shirtwaist Fire” of 1911. The building is located between 23 Washington Place and Greene Street.
The Brown Building is now part of the New York University campus containing the Chemistry Department. When it was built between 1900-01, the iron and steel building was designed by architect John Woolley in the neo-Renaissance style. It was named at that time the Asch Building after its owner, Joseph J. Asch. The building was known for their fireproof rooms which is why many garment makers liked the building including the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, which occupied the top three floors of the building (Wiki).
The Historic marker of that day.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory employed many young immigrant women at the factory with terrible wages and almost slave conditions. On March 25th, 1911, the fire started from one of the clothing bins where layers of fabric were stacked and spread quickly through the factory. Between the thick smoke, non-visual rooms and the locked stairwell doors, people died from smoke inhalation, being crushed trying to leave or throwing themselves from the windows. This led to creation of the Ladies Garment Union (Wiki).
According to the tour guide, there have been no sightings of ghosts here but it was a horrific site of tragedy. The site of young women either throwing themselves from the top floors of the buildings or burning to death in the stairwells is hard enough to imagine.
We continued down the block to Washington Square Park, one of the most active parks in Manhattan.
Washington Square Park was its usual active self when we walked into the park for the tour. People were planning a protest in the park on one side, they were sunning themselves in another, some were walking their dogs and others were playing frisbee. Kids were running around and older residents of the neighborhood were sitting on the benches talking to one another.
Washington Square Park in the spring.
Washington Square Park in the Summer.
It was pretty shocking to me to discover that right under us was a massive cemetery. From 1797 until 1825, the area was New York City’s Potter’s Field. Many of the people being indigent or died during the Yellow Fever panic that hit the City. There is an estimated 20,000 people buried below the park.
Washington Square Park at night is not scary.
Washington Square Park at night.
There are also several church vaults that had been found of churches that when they were repairing the water lines in the area. There are still more vaults below the park as well as tombstones and mass graves. The park became Washington Square Park in the 1850’s. Still as repairs still place around the park, remains are still found.
We then walked past the Washington Arch, one of the most iconic symbols of New York City and used in countless movies and photoshoots. Even the arch has a dark history due to its designer, Stamford White.
The Washington Square Arch in Washington Square Park
The Washington Square Arch was designed by architect Stamford White in 1891 for the Centennial Celebration of President George Washington’s 1789 inauguration as President of the United States of America (Wiki).
It seemed that the married Stanford White had a sexual appetite for young women, many of them being underaged. He had had an affair with actress Evelyn Nesbitt about five years prior to her marriage to Henry Thaw. Mr. Thaw killed Stanford White after a performance claiming that ‘he ruined his wife” in June 1906.
When we reached the other end of the park, we passed a very unassuming but huge Elm Tree at the edge of Washington Square Park. It was known as the “Hangman’s Elm” and is thought to be over 300 years old. The tour guide even called it “The Blood Elm”. It was used for executions by the local Newgate State Prison until the local prominent residents protested. The executions were moved to another location.
As we left the park and its sinister past (I never knew any of the this in all the times I have spent in this park), we passed the Jefferson Market Library at 425 Sixth Avenue. This beautiful turn of the century library was once the ‘Jefferson Market Courtyard” and this is where the Stanford White trail was held. The building was built in 1833 by architect Fredrick Clarke Withers of the firm of Vaux and Withers in the High Victorian Gothic style (Wiki). On Halloween night, it is used as the place where the giant spider puppet descents each Halloween Night before the Halloween Parade starts.
Some visitors claim to see the spirits of females roaming the gardens and some standing on the balcony of the clocktower. All I ever see when I pass it is nothing but the spider puppet that one time (The Gothic Library).
The Jefferson Market Library at 425 Sixth Avenue on Halloween Night
Our last stop on the tour was in Waverly Place at the home of Edgar Allen Poe. It seems that Mr. Poe lived in many sections of the City and funny enough ended up in Camden, NJ. The home was at 116 Waverly Place and was supposed to be one of the places that the author had written “The Raven”. Reading an article in the NY Post said that this is a shaky assumption.
137 Waverly Place-rumored to be one of the homes of Edgar Allen Poe
A tour of the house and the neighborhood (if you can afford it)
After we passed the house (I swear as an author he must have moved around a lot when he was writing “The Raven” because that book must have been written in at least four places), this ended the tour. It was a lot of walking but I learned much about the history of the City especially in this neighborhood.
I saw this Halloween looking Frankenstein graffiti on one of the walls before we left the neighborhood. I thought this was cool.
When I finished the tour, the game was over and we WON! I could not believe that especially since we were the underdogs going in and no one ever expects to win that game anyway. It will be a fun year and now wait until the basketball season. Kris was really excited but I could tell that her son, who is a big Michigan fan, was not. Go Green Go White!!
We Won 37-34 so the bragging rights are ours for the year!
The Michigan State versus University of Michigan Game 2021 highlights:
The Celebration in East Lansing, MI begins:
The Battle of the Bands at halftime for a “Spooktacular” sound:
After the long day of touring, I walked back to the East Village for dinner. I took a chance to see if I could eat at San Marzano at 117 Second Avenue. This tiny Italian restaurant in the East Village is one of the most reasonable restaurants in the City in the way of quality of food and service. There are no dishes over $9.00. This is the reason why the restaurant is always packed and try to get in for dinner on a Friday or Saturday night.
I was lucky enough to get there at a time right before the dinner rush. I was able to snag a two top table right next to the window just as the restaurant had quieted down. The food and the service are so good here.
I was so tired from all the running around that day that I kept dinner on the lighter side. I had a mixed Green Salad ($7.00), that was so fresh and crisp with a light dressing. The lettuce was so crisp and the tomatoes actually tasted like a tomato for this time of year. The portion sizes here are just right.
For dinner, I had the Paradelle with Meatballs (I eyed the Meatball appetizer on the menu but knew I could not eat both), which was also delicious. The Paradelle is made fresh in the restaurant and could tell by the quality of the pasta. The sauce was rich with the flavor of the pork and veal in the meatballs. Talk about the perfect dinner on a cool early Halloween night.
The Paradelle here is excellent with Meatballs or Bolognese Sauce
The service could have not been nicer and the guy who waited on me could see how much I enjoyed my meal. He even tried to sell me dessert but I was so tired from the walk around the City I did not want to push it.
After dinner, I walked around the East Village and took the subway back uptown. While I was taking the subway uptown, I saw two Wolverine Alumni from University of Michigan come on the subway. Boy, did they avoid me! When they tried to sneak past me at the 42nd Street exit, I just said politely “Better luck next year!”. They just walked out with their heads down.
What an interesting way to spend Halloween weekend.
Boo!
Watch this! It scared the hell out of me! The short “Hello?”
I have to admit that I am a very proud Spartan of Michigan State University and am willing to travel to support my Alma Mater when they are playing locally. I feel the same support for Cornell when they are playing football games locally as well.
I recently talked about my trips to New Haven, CT and Philadelphia, PA for Cornell football games that had mixed results. I have to admit that Cornell football has not been one of the college’s strong points over the years but at least we have a good turnout from Alumni.
So, I put my walk in the Garment District on hold and attended the games both in New Brunswick and in Midtown Manhattan and supported my Alma Mater.
When I went to the Michigan State University versus Rutgers game back on October 9th in New Brunswick, NJ, it was finally nice to see what I consider ‘real football’ between Division One teams. This is usually the only game I can see when it is played every other year at home for Rutgers. Otherwise, it means going out to East Lansing, MI for the games which I have not done since 2013.
It was a rather gloomy day for the game even though it was a warm Fall weekend. Since New Jersey and New York are top recruiting states for out of state students, we have a sizeable Alumni Association in the Metropolitan New York City area. So, we formed a pretty big block at the stadium.
SHI Stadium (Hale Center) was just renovated in 2009 to expand the capacity to 52,454 seats. This makes it ready for other Big Ten games but I have to be honest. The place was a third empty and it was Homecoming Weekend for Rutgers. I kept wondering when everyone was going to come in from Tailgating.
The gentleman sitting behind me, who was a lifetime Rutgers season ticket holder, answered the question. He said the fans prefer to tailgate then come into the stadium and will hear the game on the radio or watch it on a tv near the tailgate. So much for Homecoming support.
The first half of the game was pretty exciting with the teams going back and forth. Rutgers led in the beginning 10-0 but it did not take long for us to catch up. By half time, we came back to a 21-13 lead before we left for the locker rooms. We would score 10 more points in the second half and hold Rutgers to a 31-13 win.
I have to say one thing during half time. It got very quiet with Rutgers Alumni as they left the stadium. Michigan State alumni hit the concession stands and I had a pretty amazing fried chicken sandwich with a Coke. Because of COVID, there was no place to gather and eat, so I found the edge of a closed concession stand and ate with other alumni from both schools. None of us were very impressed by the game at half time.
The game went back and forth in the second half but we pulled out ten more points and again, we won the game 31-13. After the game was over, everyone headed back the to the busses to take us back to the parking lot at the back of the campus. This was the weird part. We were all on top of one another in the stadium and again on the line for the busses and then they made us wear masks for the ten-minute trip back to the parking lot. That made no sense whatsoever.
I have to say one thing, don’t underestimate Rutgers Football. With their coach and the recruiting pool he has in the State of New Jersey and the surrounding states, this team will be a powerhouse in the future.
Before I headed home, I stopped in Bridgewater, NJ for a taste of nostalgia. I stopped at Joe’s Pizzeria in Martinsville, NJ (see reviews on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com) for an early dinner. I swear that the pizza has not changed in 50 years since I started coming here as a kid.
The pizza is still so crisp on the bottom and at the crust and the sauce has the same fresh tomato taste that it had in 1971. I came here as a kid and all the time when I was growing up. The pizza is still amazing and the restaurant is still on only its third owner (the original Joe still owns the building). I relaxed and enjoyed my pizza and then headed home for the evening. It had been a nice afternoon in New Brunswick.
Michigan State versus Rutgers in football at New Brunswick
Highlights from the football game
About a month later, I got an email from the Alumni Association that out basketball team would be playing at Madison Square Garden for the Champions Classic. We were playing University of Kansas (who was Number 3 at the time) and Duke would be playing University of Kentucky for the second game (Duke would end up having the best record). The event would be starting with an Alumni mixer and get together at Mustang Harry’s, a bar near FIT and just south of Madison Square Garden.
I had not planned on going into the City that night but since nothing had been planned, I decided to be the good Alumni and support the team at the Alumni mixer. I thought at least the Greater New York Alumni Association might have a nice buffet.
It ended up that when I got to Mustang Harry’s at 352 Seventh Avenue, I talked with the host who said that the Alumni Association was meeting upstairs. That ended up being the Parents of the Players get together. The woman organizing it invited me to stay and have dinner with them but I double checked downstairs to see if there was a formal get together. I talked with another Alum eating at the bar and he said no. They just met here to watch the game.
I decided to head upstairs again and join the players parents and ended up having some very nice conversations with members of the families whose sons played for the team. I got the insights not just on the kids careers through high school but many of the fathers had played college basketball (many of whom did not have careers after college).
The inside first floor of Mustang Harry’s
Even though the food is good here I felt it was an expensive rip off. I was not that hungry and I ordered a small plate of sliders and a Coke. With tip, the bill was about $28.00! For four little sliders that could have fit into a dollhouse and a Coke with a piece of lemon? I think that the restaurant gouges people during game day. They could have offered some specials. Also, they had one waiter working our whole section. I saw what looked like the manager bring my order up which took almost a half hour.
I had a nice time talking with the parent’s and decided to stay for the game. I had not been in Madison Square Garden since the Big Ten Championship a few years before. Most of the stadium was empty because most of the Duke and University of Kentucky Alumni waited until their game started after our game was over.
I have to say for such a young team we kept up with Kansas in the first half. At the half, we were 39-32 with Kansas just slightly ahead of us. We thought we could keep up which we did for most of the second half but then Kansas started hitting the three-point shots and we kept missing the baskets. The second half we were only outscored 48-42 but the difference of the points in each half was too much to overcome.
Still, I think this is a young team with a lot of promise and I know that they will do well in the future. They all have two or three years together as a team so when it plays in the future, they will know how to depend on each other.
Michigan State versus University of Kansas game at Madison Square Garden
Don’t miss the wonderful food and service in Manhattan’s Chinatown at the Wonton Noodle Garden. I haven’t since 1978!
Don’t miss these ‘cure all’ soups at the Wonton Noodle Garden in Chinatown
*I wanted to note that the prices have changed since the Pandemic started so please check their website for increases.
Just to let readers know this is the original Wonton Noodle Garden that used to be on Mott Street. It moved to this location when the landlord jacked the rents up so high that the restaurant was forced to me to its new location in 2023. The original location now has a restaurant that has the same name as the old one.
The food here is consistently excellent and here are some of my favorite dishes from the restaurant:
The General Tso’s Chicken here is excellent
They do not skimp on ingredients on the House Fried Rice and Lo Mein
The House Lo Mein is just as delicious
Don’t miss the Steamed Pork and Chive Dumplings. They are so tender.
Note: Wonton Noodle Garden moved from its long-time location at 56 Mott Street to 23 Pell Street in June 2023 after they lost their lease. They had been in that location for almost 50 years.
I have been coming to the Wonton Noodle Garden at 56 Mott Street since it opened in 1978. I remember coming here when I was in high school several times with my parents. The food all these years have been consistent and in all the times I have eaten here, the meals have been terrific.
The one thing I have always liked about the restaurant is that you can see the soups and dumplings being made from the front window. The gentleman who makes the soups has been there for years and I have watched him over all this time day after day when I visited Chinatown make soups with noodles and dumplings for customers all over the world.
I finally felt well enough to continue my walk around Manhattan. I had not been into New York City in six weeks and had really missed my walking around the island. I had finished exploring the Hell’s Kitchen/Clinton neighborhood before I pulled my back and decided to keep my adventures closer to home (Exploring Downtown Boonton-Day One Hundred and Two). I just was not up to coming into the City.
The Garment District once home to many designers and manufacturers in the New York Fashion Industry is not what it was when my Grandfather was an officer in the Ladies Garment Union back in the 1950’s and 60’s. It is not what it once was with the showrooms that were located there when I worked for Macy’s in the 1990’s. Cost of real estate, rezoning for commercial and residential during the Bloomberg Administration and cost of doing business in the…
I finally felt well enough to continue my walk around Manhattan. I had not been into New York City in six weeks and had really missed my walking around the island. I had finished exploring the Hell’s Kitchen/Clinton neighborhood before I pulled my back and decided to keep my adventures closer to home (Exploring Downtown Boonton-Day One Hundred and Two). I just was not up to coming into the City.
The Garment District once home to many designers and manufacturers in the New York Fashion Industry is not what it was when my Grandfather was an officer in the Ladies Garment Union back in the 1950’s and 60’s. It is not what it once was with the showrooms that were located there when I worked for Macy’s in the 1990’s. Cost of real estate, rezoning for commercial and residential during the Bloomberg Administration and cost of doing business in the area has shrunk the manufacturing of clothes that this area once prided itself.
Still in the core of the district many manufactures and shops still cater to the business and you will still see button shops, fabric stores and wholesale merchants next to new coffee shops , boutiques and small hotels that now dot the area.
Technically the area can stretch as far down as West 25th Street and around the Fashion Institute of Technology but the area with its real estate cache for names consider this area now ‘Chelsea’ and even east of it what is left of the ‘Flower District’. In the era of COVID, this area is still pretty quiet with manufacturing still shut and the Fashion Institute not yet open for the Fall semester (it has since opened and the area is full of students). I was amazed by the lack of people still not walking around the area.
I started my walk just outside the Port Authority which is on the very edge of the neighborhood and walked out the door and around the building to Ninth Avenue. Even though it was Labor Day, there were not a lot of people walking around the streets. It looked like everyone was either still away, recovering from the recent storm Hurricane Ida that flattened the area with rain and wind or just getting ready for school to start the next day. It seemed like a quiet day in Manhattan.
Pre-COVID the Port Authority between West 42nd to West 41st Streets from Eighth to Ninth Avenues was going through a face-life renovation and the facility started to move out all the older stores and restaurants for higher end takeout places and an art gallery. It looks now that it has been put on hold until people start to return.
The Port Authority Bus Terminal at 625 Eighth Avenue
Since I returned to Manhattan to resume this project last June, the traffic going through the Port Authority has not changed much even though there are more people on the bus. The afternoon I came into the City it was sunny and 66 degrees. More outdoor dining was in play and more people were outside enjoying the weather.
I started my walk exiting the Port Authority at the corner of Eighth Avenue and West 42nd Street, a corner that still needs a lot of work. Pre-COVID this was a bustling area of theaters, shops and restaurants and one of the biggest McDonald’s in the country. Most of it is closed down now and the homeless have taken back over this area. Surprisingly though, it still remains clean a result of the Partnerships established in the mid-1990’s. This area is swept all day long.
This was nice for me as the sidewalks were empty and the streets were quiet and it was nice to just walk around and not be bothered. Being Labor Day, there seemed to be a huge police presence in Times Square just north of the neighborhood so I did my best to blend in.
Ninth Avenue is in the process of change again as many of the old tenement buildings are being knocked down for new condo complexes and office buildings. Still there are many old named businesses in the neighborhood and the Garment District is home to a lot of the restaurants mentioned in my blog, https://diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/. There are many ‘Mom & Pop’ restaurants and deli’s that are really reasonable and the food is outstanding.
Walking down West 42nd Street from the entrance of the Port Authority down to Ninth Avenue shares the border with the ‘Hell’s Kitchen/Clinton/Midtown West’ neighborhood and even now new restaurants are beginning to open in places that had been shut during the COVID pandemic. The pandemic is still going on but like any other city, New York City is adapting to it and there are many changes going on all over the neighborhood. It has not stopped the spirit of the neighborhood from progressing and moving forward.
What I have always liked about Ninth Avenue near Midtown is the character of the neighborhood. There are still old tenements and brownstones along the Avenue from 42nd Street down into Chelsea. Here and there old restaurant and provision shops sit along side newer delis and retail shops that show the change in the make up of the neighborhood. Still with the rezoning of the area I am not too sure how long this will last.
Ninth Avenue not only offers an array of many interesting ethnic businesses but many reasonable and interesting delis, take-out places and restaurants that won’t break the budget. Many of the dining establishments featured on my DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com site are found in the Garment District on its borders and streets that will save you money and the food is wonderful.
Starting right at the border of the neighborhood right across the street from the Port Authority is Capizzi Pizza at 547 Ninth Avenue. Their delicious small pizzas are all homemade down to the sausage made for the toppings. When I ate there a few years ago they were noted for their small pepperoni pizza which was excellent. The service was very friendly and very authentic. It can be pricey though but the quality is excellent.
A block down and across the street from the Port Authority is the original Two Brother Pizza at 542 Ninth Avenue. This place has been around for years and has one of the best $1.00 slices of pizza in Manhattan. This is my ‘go to’ place when I need a quick snack and want something substantial. To my knowledge, it is one of the original dollar slice places in the City.
The restaurant is in a rather shady section of the shadow of the Port Authority. During the day it is okay but the later at night you get it does attract some interesting characters especially if you eat outside on one of the cocktail tables. The pizza is really good and is one of the few dollar pizza places where the pizza tastes like something. Most places I find in the City the pizza is just something to fill you up.
Across the street from Two Brothers Pizza and our ‘go to’ place for breakfast during the Christmas holidays was Hell’s Kitchen Deli, a relatively new place to the neighborhood. This is where I ordered Bacon, Egg and Cheese sandwiches. The place is really clean and has a nice selection of snacks and sandwiches.
Hell’s Kitchen Deli at 535 Ninth Avenue has the best breakfast sandwiches
Though most of the housing in this part of the neighborhood is old tenement housing, you can look up from a distance and see some unusual carvings in the buildings. The building at 510-508 Ninth Avenue has some strange faces staring back at you from above. The building was built in 1920 (Apartments.com/StreetEasy.com).
When walking down Ninth Avenue, you will see the signs of the past not just in the architecture but in former restaurants and provision stores that used to line the Avenue. First there is Esposito Meat Market at 500 Ninth Avenue which has been in business since 1932. You can see the selection of meats and different cuts from the window. The one time I walked in you could smell the aroma of the freshly cut meats. The store prides itself on always delivering quality (Esposito Meat Market website).
Years ago I did an article on Manganaro’s Grosseria Italiano at 488 Ninth Avenue when owner Seline Dell’Orto still owned and worked at the store. The famous Italian provision store closed about ten years ago after years of squabbling but the sign is still there. It is now Tavolo Restaurant.
Manganaro’s Grosseria Italiano at 488 Ninth Avenue in 2011
Enjoy the article I wrote on Manganaro’s years ago:
One of the places that had inspired my dining site, “DiningonaShoeStringinNYC” is the 9th Avenue Gourmet Deli (Formerly the AM/PM & Juniors Deli) at 480 Ninth Avenue. This amazing little deli has it all, a nice grocery department, cold drinks and wonderful hot and cold food section that never ceases to amaze me.
The breakfast platters here are heaping with eggs, pancakes and sausage and the sandwich platters fill the take out containers. Everything is freshly cooked and delicious. Their burgers are cooked perfectly and they don’t skimp on the fries. The best part is that they are open 24 hours.
Another great place that I love to stop at is Kashmir 9 at 478 Ninth Avenue. The cuisine of the restaurant is traditional Bangladesh and Pakistani food with all sorts of baked goods and entrees. I have had their Lamb Kebobs, Chicken Patties, Potato Cutlets and the Vegetable Samosas are out of this world.
When you walk in the whole restaurant has the wonderful smell of curry and spices with the hustle and bustle of many languages being spoken. There is even a prayer rug in the back section of the restaurant for those on their breaks which I thought was a nice touch for their busy customers.
The kebobs here are delicious
The lunches here are reasonable and delicious
As I passed all the restaurants, I walked down Ninth Avenue to a small park that I never really noticed before. At least that it was a park. This little park called “The Canoe” Plaza is part of the Hudson Yards/Hell’s Kitchen Alliance and is at the corner of Ninth Avenue and West 37th Street. This was the creation of the design team of Design Wild and was convert the block to a flowery heaven right at the entrance of the Lincoln Tunnel (Hudson Yards Alliance/Design Wild).
Jordan Baker-Caldwell is an American born artist from New York City and is the youngest artist in the history of New York to have a permanent public sculpture. The artist’s work has been noted as evoking questions about gravity, structure, balance and the human body in relation to space (Artist’s bio).
Please watch the video of the artist describing his work in the park
As I turned the corner of the border of the neighborhood at West 34th Street, I saw a familiar restaurant from Christmas time, Golden City Chinese Restaurant at 423 Ninth Avenue. This is where we ordered in our Christmas dinner. I have to admit that their fried rice is really good but the rest of the meal was okay.
Golden City Chinese Restaurant at 423 Ninth Avenue (Closed January 2024)
Walking down West 34th Street brought back memories of my years at Macy’s. It is truly amazing how the City keeps changing. When I worked in the City in the early 1990’s, West 34th Street was not a place you wanted to walk at night or sometimes even during the day. From Sixth Avenue to Eighth Avenue was particularly sketchy. Now it is all new office buildings with most of the old neighborhood from Eighth to Seventh Avenue either completely knocked down or renovated.
Still there are a couple of old standbys still left. One of them before you arrive at Macy’s is the Hotel New Yorker on the corner of Eighth Avenue and West 34th Street at 481 Eighth Avenue. The hotel was designed by architects Sugarman and Berger and designed in the Art Deco style. The hotel was constructed in 1928 and opened in 1930. The hotel now managed by Wyndam Hotels put the hotel through a full renovation in 2006 to bring it back to its glory years now reflected the resurgence of the neighborhood (Hotel New Yorker History website/Wiki).
I continued walking down West 34th Street to Seventh Avenue I arrived at Macy’s at 151 West 34th Street. Things have changed so much in thirty years. The whole area has gotten so much better. It was so run down when I worked there. Also the retail scene was so much different with new retail stores lining this part of West 34th Street that used to be discount retailers.
Where the H & M store at 1293 Broadway is now used to be Herald Center, an upscale mall that never did well and the concept closed two years later when I returned to work in the buying offices. The only thing that survived was the food court on the top floor.
Before 1965, this was home to Saks 34th Street before its move to its current Fifth Avenue location. The store was founded by Andrew Saks and opened its doors in Herald Square in 1902 just five weeks before Macy’s opened their doors. The store was designed by architects Buchman & Fox in the Classical style. The store was bought by the Gimbel family in 1923 and that is when it was moved to its current location at 511 Fifth Avenue. The original store is now covered with new siding to give it its modern look for H & M (NYC Circa). The building stretches from West 34th to West 33rd Street along the Broadway corridor.
The Saks 34th Street Building on the corner of West 34th Street and Broadway at 1293 Broadway
Next door to that was the old Gimbel’s Department Store building that closed in 1986, a year and a half before I started at Macy’s. Gimbel’s had always been considered our rival for years but I think because of the sheer size of Macy’s I have a feeling that we beat them in sales. Gimbel’s had come to New York City by way of Philadelphia by the Gimbel’s family. It was founded by Adam Gimbel in 1887. The store in Herald Square opened in 1910 in the classical style by architect Daniel Burnham (Wiki). The store stretches from West 33rd to West 32nd Streets along Broadway.
Gimbel’s Department Store at Sixth Avenue and 33rd Street
There are still traces of Gimbels Department Store
When the store closed in 1986, it was renovated and was called A & S Plaza when that store moved into the space. When A & S closed in the mid 1990’s when it merged with Macy’s, the store was renovated again and now is called Manhattan Mall. It is mostly office space now (Wiki).
In the middle of this former shopping district and just south of Herald Square is Greeley Square named after Horace Greeley, the editor of the New York Tribune. The square was acquired by New York City in 1846 and turned into the park. The statue that dominates the southern end of the park was designed by sculptor Alexander Doyle in 1890 (NYCParks.org).
Greeley Square was named after Horace Greeley, who published the first issue of The New Yorker magazine and established the New York Tribune. He was also a member of the Liberal Republican Party where he was a Congressman and ran for President of the United States after the Civil War.
Publisher and Politician Horace Greeley famous for his quote “Go West, young man, Go West”
The Horace Greeley statue is located in the park just south of Herald Square in Greeley Square.
The statue at Christmas time
The statue was created by artist Alexander Doyle. Alexander Doyle was an American born artist who studied in Italy with several artists. He is best known for his marbles and bronze sculptures of famous Americans including many famous Confederate figures that have come under fire recently.
Reaching the border with Murray Hill to the east is the former B. Altman Department Store that closed in 1989 and in the other corner is the Empire State Building, once the tallest building in the world.
The B. Altman Building at 361 Fifth Avenue was built by Benjamin Altman for the new location for his ‘carriage trade’ store. The store was designed by architects Trowbridge & Livingston in the “Italian Renaissance Style” in 1906. The palatial store was home to couture clothing, fine furniture and expensive art work.
The former B. Altman Department Store at 361 Fifth Avenue
As the shopping district left Sixth Avenue below 23rd Street, the former “Ladies Shopping Mile” (read my Victorian Christmas Blog on the shopping district) gave way to stores opening between 34th Street to 42nd Street and eventually to the Fifth Avenue locations between 50th and 60th Streets where what is left of the great stores stand today.
The Ladies Shopping Mile on the Sixth Avenue corridor at the turn of the last century
My blog on the Ladies Shopping Mile and a “Victorian Christmas”:
Across the street from the old B. Altman’s building is another impressive building also under scaffolding 10 East 34th Street, The Ditson Building. The impressive building with it intricate details was built in 1906 and designed by architects Townsend, Steinle & Haskell in the Beaux-Arts style for Charles H. Ditson. Mr. Ditson ran the New York division of his family’s company, Charles H. Ditson & Company, a publisher and musical concern (Daytonian).
Crossing Fifth Avenue, I continued to walk down West 34th Street once a major shopping district lined with shops and department stores. The most impressive and well known building in the neighborhood is the former tallest building in the world at 102 floors, the Empire State Building at 2-20 West 34th Street.
The Empire State Building is probably the most famous building in New York City outside of maybe Rockefeller Center and one of the most prominent. The building sits on the side of the former Astor Mansion and the first Waldorf-Astoria Hotel before the current one was built in the 1930’s on Park Avenue.
The Empire State Building was inspired during the “Race to the Sky” movement in New York City during the 1920’s prosperity with builders vying for the “World’s Tallest Building” title. This was going on in cities all over the US at a time of great innovation in building. The building was conceived in 1929 long before the Stock Market Crash of 1929 as 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building were being constructed (Wiki).
The building is known just by its appearance and is probably best known for the movie “King Kong” back in the 1930’s and most recently “Sleepless in Seattle” in the 1990’s. The movies don’t do the building justice from its sky decks with views of Manhattan and beautiful Art Deco details on the elevators and in the lobby. The 102 story building is one of the ‘Seven Wonders of the Modern World’ and was the tallest building in the world until the World Trade Center opened in 1970 (Wiki). It is now the second tallest building in New York City.
The famous Empire State Building scene from “King Kong” in 1933
The building is a major tourist site and it was so strange to see no one in line for the now open sky ride to the sky decks where you can see across the whole City. The lines are usually really long down West 34th Street but there were just a few people talking to the guards the days I passed. If you get a chance to walk around the lobby it really is beautiful but that was pre-COVID. You have to have preassigned tickets to get into the building.
As I continued down West 34th Street, I saw the old Ohrbach’s Department Store building at 7 West 34th Street. The store was still open when I started to work at Macy’s in 1988 but it closed about a year later to be followed by B. Altman & Company in 1990. That left Macy’s alone on West 34th Street until a branch of the A & S opened in the Gimbel’s building in the 1990’s (that would close when A & S merged with Macy’s in 1995).
7 West 34th Street-McCreeyers/Ohrbach’s Department Store
What I did not know was the building has an older past by its original owner James McCreeyer & Company, a luxury department store that had started in the 1860’s and had closed this location in 1953 due to changing styles and business. Ohrbach’s bought the store in 1954 and ran it as a moderate department store until it closed in 1988 (Wiki and Defunct Department Stores).
Another impressive building on the this former shopping street is 19 West 34th Street, The Martin Building. The building was built and finished in 1907 for the Réveillon Freres, a leading manufacturer of furs and accessories. The building was designed in the Italian Renaissance style with Beaux Arts features. The company moved out of the building and further uptown in 1918 and leased the building out (Daytonian). The building now serves as offices on top and retail on the bottom.
17-19 West 34th Street-The Martin Building/Revillon Freres Building
Another standout building I saw was 31 West 34th Street the former Oppenheim, Collins & Company Department Store building. The store was built in 1907 for the Oppenheim, Collins & Company wholesalers when they decided to open a retail store in the location. The former department store was designed by architects Buchman & Fox in the Beaux Arts style. The store existed until 1963 when it was merged by the owner of the store with Franklin Simon & Company Department Store and the name disappeared. The store closed in 1977 (Daytonian).
31 West 34th Street-The Oppenheim, Collins & Company/Franklin Simon & Company building
The last building I noticed for its beauty was on the corner of Sixth Avenue and West 34th Street, 47 West 34th Street (1378 Broadway or 2 Herald Square) the Marbridge Building. The Marbridge Building was by architects Townsend, Steinle & Haskell in 1909 in the Classical Beaux Arts style and has been used as an office building since its opening (Wiki/Photo/Street).
It is funny that in all the years I had worked at Macy’s Herald Square, I either never noticed these buildings on all my walks along 34th Street or never gave them a lot of though. When you realize the rich architectural history of the neighborhood and the role it played in the retail history of New York it really amazed me how prominent a shopping area this once was between 1900-1960. This growth came about as the retail district moved further uptown from the Ladies Shopping Mile district on Sixth Avenue below West 21st Street.
I finished my walk of the borders of this neighborhood with a quick break by relaxing in Greeley Square again and using one of the few public bathrooms in the area (the other being Macy’s lower level Men’s Department) and just sat back and admired the Horace Greeley statue. I wondered how many people passed this statue and never gave it any thought. I wondered what he might of thought of the changes here in the last 100 years. The neighborhood is so rich in history of the development of the business sector in New York City.
As I walked up Fifth Avenue, the western border of the neighborhood, I was struck by all the other beautiful buildings that must have housed fine retail stores as the shopping district moved to this area.
At the corner of Fifth Avenue and West 36th Street is 390 Fifth Avenue that was designed by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White for the Gorham Manufacturing Company of fine silver products in 1903. It was designed in the “Italian Renaissance Style” and was used for manufacturing and their showroom. It later became Russeks Department store and has now found other uses.
390 Fifth Avenue-The Gorham Manufacturing Building
Another standout building is 383 Fifth Avenue. These two interesting twin buildings were built in the mid-1800’s as private homes and then converted to office space in the 1890’s.
Further up is the dazzling 373 Fifth Avenue which was built in 1800’s for the home of Charles H. Russell when the area was dominated by great mansions. As one by one the mansions were razed for commercial use, the home was razed in 1906 and architects Hunt & Hunt built the current office building in 1906 for Joseph Fahys & Company and for silversmiths Alvin Manufacturing Company (Daytonian).
Walking further up Fifth Avenue into the 400 block, more unique buildings fascinated me. The first that has always caught my eye is 401 Fifth Avenue, the old Tiffany & Company building. The building was designed for the company by Stamford White of McKim, Mead & White and was completed in 1905. The building was used by the jewelry store until 1940 when it moved to its new location further up Fifth Avenue. The building was inspired by the Palazzo Grimani de San Luca in Venice, Italy (Wiki).
Another standout building further up is 411 Fifth Avenue with its interesting trim and sculpture along the sides and top of the building. This building was built in 1915 again by the architectural firm of Warren & Wetmore with what was considered baroque trim that included urns, flowers and heads with facial reliefs (Daytonian). The building was used for small luxury manufacturing for things like millinery, lace and silversmiths. Today it is used as an office building.
Approaching the New York Public Library again, I passed what were some of the great department stores along the Fifth Avenue retail corridor that once dominated between 34th and 42nd Streets.
The detail of the top of 411 Fifth Avenue.
The former Lord & Taylor headquarters store that opened in 1914 just recently closed with a sale to the now imploded We Works company and was just sold to Amazon for 985 million dollars. This former ‘grand carriage trade’ store replaced the former headquarters store at Broadway and 20th Street by Union Square and opened at this location at 424-434 Fifth Avenue. The 11 story building was designed by architects Starrett & Van Vleck in the ‘Italian Renaissance Revival’. The store closed for business in January of 2019 after over one hundred years in the location.
Lord & Taylor was founded in New York City in 1826 and has moved around the City several times in its long history. I will miss walking around the store and wondering through the store at Christmas time which was always magical in the store’s heyday. I like everyone in the City will miss their Christmas windows.
I’m not sure if Amazon will continue this tradition
Another great retailer was at 452 Fifth Avenue, the former home to Knox Hat Company which was incorporated into the HSBC Tower in 1984. The glass tower was built around the Beaux Arts building for the HSBC and it was considered an architectural marvel when it opened. The Knox Building was built in 1902 and is considered on of the finest examples of ‘Beaux Arts style’ in Manhattan.
452 Fifth Avenue-The Knox Hat Company Building part of the HSBC Building
The Knox Hat Company was considered one of the finest hat companies for men when it was founded in 1838. It once had 62 retail stores and was sold in all the finest stores. It did not survive the Great Depression and was merged with three other companies in 1932 to form Hat Corporation of American (Hat Co) (Bernard Hats history).
The last interesting building I saw before returning to the library to relax by the fountains again was 454 Fifth Avenue at 40th Street, the old Arnold Constable & Company department store.
Fifth Avenue at 40th Street-Arnold Constable & Company Department store
The building opened in 1915 and closed when the company went out of business in 1975. It is now part of the New York Public Library. Arnold Constable & Company was founded in 1825 and was considered one of the oldest stores in New York City. The building was created as the shopping district moved further uptown. The company closed for business in the 1990’s.
I reached Bryant Park by the afternoon and it was just beautiful that afternoon. The park has gotten more crowded with each month that the City has opened. The tables and chairs are ‘socially distanced’ and park patrons did their best to stay away from each other. It also has the nicest and cleanest public bathrooms in Manhattan so it is worth the wait in line.
Years ago when I worked in Manhattan in the early 90’s, Bryant Park was only used for drug dealing and criminal activity and was best avoided. What twenty years and a major renovation can do to a park. Today you can walk along the flowering paths and think you are in Paris. In the past there have been concerts and movies in the park but because of COVID-19, you can just sit in the park on a chair or bench and enjoy the sunshine and admire the flowers.
Just walking along the paths of Bryant Park can make you forget your troubles especially in the summer.
I continued my walk of the Garment District passing the New York Public Library admiring the stone carvings and statuary that is part of the entrance of the famous library. The library had just had a recent refreshing and looked magnificent with the fountains flowing and patrons filling the tables outside the building.
The New York Public Library guards the borders of Murray Hill from Fifth Avenue during COVID
This famous iconic building was designed by the firm of Carrere and Hastings in the Beaux-Arts style and opened its doors May 23, 1911. The founding for this important library came from patronage of the wealth members of society who believed in the value education and opened it to the people.
The famous lion statues that grace the entrance of the library were designed by American sculptor Edward Clark Potter and they were carved by the Piccirilli Brothers, American stone carvers whose business was based in the Bronx.
The Lion Statues
Edward Clark Potter is an American born artist who studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and at the Academie Julian in Paris where he studied ‘animalier’, animal sculpture.
The Piccirilli Brothers were a family of stone carvers and artists in their own right who were from Massa, Italy and owned a business in the Bronx. There were responsible for many famous statues all over the City including the Maine Memorial in Columbus Circle and the Firemen’s Memorial in Riverside Park.
Artist Attilio Piccirillo , one of the most famous from the family
Another feature of the famous building and I had never noticed before was the elegant fountains that flank the entrance to the library. I did not realize that these fountains had just been restored in 2015 after thirty years of not functioning. They were restored with a grant from the Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust (NYPL Site).
The fountain “Beauty”
The fountain “Truth”
These beautiful fountains were designed by artist Frederick MacMonnies, an American born artist who studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris.
Tucked to the side of the library that I never noticed before was the plaque dedicated to Wendall Wilke, an American lawyer and the 1940 Republican Presidential Candidate.
The Wendall Wilke plaque on the side of New York Public Library.
I relaxed under the trees and took a break from the walking. It is a funny thing that I have noticed at the park and it seems like no one is ever working. Everyone is either eating or talking. It has been so different since COVID started. You never see dressed businesspeople in the park taking a break. It looks more like it is full of tourists visiting.
Enjoy the opening scene of “Ghostbusters” from 1984 shot at the NY Public Library:
Enjoy this scene from “Ghostbusters” from 1984 shot at the NY Public Library
The opening of the film “Ghostbusters” was shot inside the New York Public Library
Still when the park is in full bloom there is nothing like it. It is surrounded by classic architecture and beautiful buildings. They even were bringing back the “Bryant Park Film Festival” by the end of the summer. One Monday night I took a break from walking and watched the film “Moonstruck” which I had seen outside once at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. Even tough I had seen it hundreds of times since it came out I never tire of watching the film.
The library at the end of the evening.
The library at Christmas time
There have been many changes around Bryant Park in the last twenty years. Most of the older buildings of Times Square have been long knocked down and the area rebuilt which needed it. Now the impressive Bank of America building at 1111 Sixth Avenue (or also known as One Bryant Park) graces the corner of West 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue (trust me, no one in New York City calls Sixth Avenue “The Avenue of the Americas”).
This innovative building was designed by architect Rick Cook from the firm of Cookfox Adamson Associates. The building was designed with a clear ‘Curtin wall’ and several diagonal planes for wind resistance. The building was also awarded a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for sustainable ‘green’ architecture (Wiki/Durst website).
The further you walk down West 42nd Street, the more you see how the block has changed in the last thirty years. All the older theaters and office buildings were knocked down and cleared out back in the 1980’s when Times Square went through urban renewal. The more historical theaters and old hotels have since been refitted and renovated.
Across the street in Three Bryant Park’s plaza is an interesting statue entitled “The Guardians: Hero” by artist Antonio Pio Saracino. This unique sculpture in made in layers and created from marble set in precision stone. The statue is done in repeated planes of marble . The sculpture is a modern representation on Michelangelo’s “David” Stoneworld/APS Designs).
Artist Antonio Pio Saracino is an Italian born artist currently working in New York City. He is a graduate of Sapienza University of Rome and works as an architect and designer. He has had shows all over the world (Wiki).
At the corner of West 42nd Street and Broadway is the Knickerbocker Hotel at 6 Times Square. This hotel has had many incarnations over the years including an apartment house. As the neighborhood has improved, the historical buildings in the area have been renovated back to their former selves.
The Knickerbocker Hotel was built by John Jacob Astor IV and it opened in 1906. The hotel was designed by the firm of Marvin & Davis in the Beaux-Arts style. The outside of the hotel was built in red brick with terra cotta details. The hotel was fully renovated in 2015 (Wiki).
One building that stands tall in Times Square is One Times Square known as 1475 Broadway. Once the home headquarters for the New York Times was opened in 1904. The building was designed by architect Cyrus L.W. Eidlitz. The original façade was of stone and terra cotta but this has been mostly stripped and is now home for mostly advertising. The ball still drops from the top of the building every New Year (Wiki).
What is left of the old ’42nd Street’ Theater District has been renovated and refitted of its historic theaters. The rest of the block was knocked down and new office buildings were built starting in the late 1980’s and throughout the 1990’s. This is still a major gateway to the City especially from the Lincoln Tunnel and the Port Authority (NYCEDC/42nd Street Redevelopment Project).
The original 42nd Street Redevelopment project (NYCEDC)
In the early 1980’s to the early 90’s until Mayor Rudy Giuliani took office, this area was being touted for redevelopment. It had started before the 1987 Stock Market Crash and then stalled for almost eight years. In the early 1990’s, the whole block between Seventh and Eighth Avenues along West 42nd Street were torn down, the theaters started to get renovated and new office buildings were built. If someone left New York City in 1990 and came back today, they would not recognize the neighborhood to the changes made.
Some of the changes has been the renovation and restoration of three beautiful theaters, the New Victory Theater at 209 West 42nd Street, the New Amsterdam Theater at 214 West 42nd Street and the former Empire Theater now the AMC Empire Theater at 234 West 42nd Street. Each of these architectural wonders used to be major theater houses before they became porn theaters and are now back to their original glory.
The New Victory Theater was one of the first theaters to reopen under the new plan.
The New Victory Theater was built by Oscar Hammerstein I in 1900 and was designed by architect Albert Westover. It opened as the Theatre Republic in 1900 and showed live stage shows. It did not become a movie theater until 1942 and by 1972 it became a porn theater. it resumed legitimate theater by the 1990’s when it was refurbished in 1995 and was the first theaters renovated in the 42nd Development plan (Wiki).
The New Amsterdam Theater is one of the oldest theaters in the area having been built between 1903 and 1904. The theater was built by Klaw and Erlanger for live theater and was designed by architects Herts &Tallant with a Beaux Arts exterior design and an Art Deco interior. The embellishments and details on the outside are quite elaborate (Wiki).
The theater was home to the Ziegfeld Follies from from 1913 to 1927 and hosted the elaborate shows of their day. It then was converted to a movie theater in 1937 until 1983 when it was leased to the Walt Disney company and renovated between 1995 and 1997. It is now operated by Disney Theatrical Productions for their live shows (Wiki/Walt Disney Company)
The former Empire Theater now the AMC Empire 25 was built in 1912 for producer Al H. Woods and was designed by architect Thomas W. Lamb in the Beaux Arts style. The theater was for live stage performances until 1943 when it was converted into a movie palace. It closed for good in the 1980’s as the area declined (Cinema Treasurers).
In 1998, the theater was moved from its location at 236 West 42nd Street and moved down the street to its present location at 234 West 42nd Street. The exterior was largely kept intact and the present theater interior was built inside of it enhancing the beauty of the present building (Cinema Treasurers/Wiki).
These theaters showed the testament of time and this type of architecture now is appreciated and being refitted to modern uses like the buildings I had seen in NoMAD (North of Madison Square Park) and in the Flatiron District.
A lot of the businesses on West 42nd Street heading back to the Port Authority have started opening up again. Sidewalk cafes were out with the warmer weather and customers were milling around. I saw this happening on my walks into the Hell’s Kitchen/Clinton section just north of the border of the Garment District.
One of my favorite Chinese restaurants from the 1990’s, Ollies at 411 West 42nd Street had not just opened their dining room but their outside cafe dining. Ollies had once been a popular restaurant in the Theater district at the corner of West 46th Street off Broadway and one of my favorite places to eat after work. It is still popular but the chef has since changed.
One building that stood out amongst the smaller tenement buildings of West 42nd Street was the Holy Cross Church at 329 West 42nd Street, which was decorated by plantings of many flowers that gave it a festive appearance.
The building has a interesting history. The parish was established in 1852 and the original building was built in 1852 but it was outgrown so a new building was built in 1854. This building was hit by lightning in 1867 and the current building was built in the same spot in 1870. It was built by architect Henry Englebert and is the oldest building on 42nd Street (Wiki and Holy Cross History).
Once I got back to Port Authority it was back for a bathroom break as there are not many public toilets in the neighborhood. Then I made the walk around the second time around the perimeter of the Garment District admiring the buildings and businesses walking the other side of the street. I could see by the traffic that the east side of Eighth Avenue was very quiet near the now closed theaters.
This area was hit hard by COVID pandemic and it is rumored that Broadway theaters should open between September and December (at the time of this writing of this blog, some of the theaters started to open up and some closed immediately). Slowly over the past month and a half the night foot traffic has increased with the opening of live theater and the loosening restrictions at the movie theaters. This has lead to the restaurants in the area reopening as well so there are lights on now on these blocks at night. They have also gotten cleaned up more.
The changes of the Upper Part of the Garment District along with Hell’s Kitchen have changed tremendously in the last thirty years with completion of the 42nd Street Redevelopment projects, more new hotels opening and the rezoning of the area under the Bloomberg Administration. We will start to see even more changes in this area as development post COVID starts to open. The funny part is that even when I entered the City again last June, it never stopped.
Bryant Park at night in the summer.
This part of Manhattan keeps moving forward with new buildings, new restaurants and new ideas.
Please check out my other blogs on the Garment District:
Day Two Hundred and Twelve: Walking the Avenues of the Garment District:
I had to split the neighborhood into two parts separated by 10th Avenue as there was so much to see and the complexity of the neighborhood changes on each side.
Walks in the surrounding neighborhoods of Murray Hill and Kipps Bay:
You really do learn something new every day!
Check out my other blogs on Murray Hill as well:
Walking the Avenues of Murray Hill on August 14th, 2020:
There are some stores in New York City that just stand out for their uniqueness because of the product they sell or their history with the City or both. Little Pie Company is one of those stores.
I had heard of the store since its opening years ago and had never visited it. When I was walking the Hell’s Kitchen/Clinton neighborhood for my blog, “MywalkinManhattan.com”, I finally came across this friendly little pie shop just off the Theater District. Since I remembered that the founder was a actor who was trying to earn money while he was in between jobs I thought it was fitting for its location.
Since COVID, the pies are now individually wrapped for purchase and did not come just out…
I started walking the most eastern part of Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen on the hottest day of the year with the humidity bearing down on me. I only got through between West 43rd to West 48th Streets on the first day. The weather was unbearable for walking. I was able to to relax at Hell’s Kitchen Park on the corner of West 48th Street and 10th Avenue under the shade trees to catch my breathe. It was a difficult walk that afternoon.
What I found was that as you get closer to 12th Avenue, it is mostly parking lots and warehouses with a few residences and restaurants scattered about below West 50th Street. There is not much in the way of creative architecture or interesting shops. The one thing I did notice was the amount of tagging on all the buildings. I have not seen this much graffiti since the early 1980’s around the City but am glad that it has not hit the subway cars yet. It seems to be not just on the empty buildings but the ones with lots of full wall space.
On the weekends, this area of the City is really empty and quiet as tourist spots like the Intrepid and the Circle Line start to reopen. Riverside Park is getting busier as residents are getting out now more with COVID lifts and mask requirements softening. It makes it a lot easier to be outside in this heat. The humidity over the last few days was a killer and that is why I only lasted a few blocks on my first day back in the neighborhood.
I started my walk on West 43rd Street crossing over from West 42nd by the Hudson River. The lower part of the edge of Hell’s Kitchen has changed dramatically since the 1990’s when I used to walk around the neighborhood. There has been a lot of new construction with many new automotive dealers opening showrooms in the neighborhood and then the extension of Riverside Park.
Even though it is mostly larger buildings, here and there on each block are historical spots, small businesses and pocket parks and gardens that should not be missed. Take your time to walk the streets as you will not see too many people until you reach 10th Avenue.
Tucked in between all the commercial buildings on West 43rd Street is the FDNY Rescue One Building, who I see all over the City. It is one of the five specialized Rescue companies with the FDNY that require specialized equipment and training. The Company was organized in 1915 . In 2005, the section of West 43rd Street was named Terence S. Hatton Way (Wiki).
Terence S. Hatton was the Captain of the FDNY Rescue Company One and one of the most decorated and dedicated fire fighters in the FDNY. He died when the North Tower collapsed on September 11th, 2001 (911 Memorial).
As I walked back down West 43rd Street rather quickly on my way around the corner to West 44th Street. Similar to West 43rd Street, the street was mostly larger commercial buildings with the exception of a new residential building at 604 West 44th Street. This unique building stood out amongst the cookie cutter buildings on the rest of the block.
The building has a contemporary look to it that takes up most of the corner at 11th Avenue with its unusual windows and dark appearance.
West 45th Street was filled with parking lots and warehouse buildings and there was not much to look at except some interesting ‘tagging’ on the building that seemed to line the buildings in the lower part of the neighborhood from 11th to 12th Avenues.
When I reached West 46th Street, I passed the Landmark Tavern again at 626 11th Avenue that was empty outside due to the heat. It was opened by Patrick Henry Carly in 1868 and has been a staple since. It is one of the oldest continuing restaurants in New York City (Landmark Tavern History). What is so fascinating about the bar is that at one time it stood on the water’s edge of the Hudson River. It shows how Manhattan has reclaimed land around the island. The restaurant has an interesting bar menu.
Rounding the corner again at West 47th Street, one building did stand out amongst the rest of the commercial buildings on these two blocks and that was the McGlynn Hayes & Company building at 605 West 47th Street.
The McGlynn Hays & Company building at 605 West 47th Street
The company was established in 1900 and specializes in all aspects of the Elevator industry (mostly hydraulic elevators) (McGlynn Hayes & Company website).
McGlynn Hayes & Company Building at 605 West 47th Street
The company was founded in 1900 by partners Thomas P. McGlynn and Henderson B. Hayes. The business had previously had been located at 62 Grand Street in lower Manhattan thus the 62 on their sign outside (14to42.net).
Reaching West 48th Street, was drenched in sweat by the time I finished walking the two blocks and there was not much to see with the exception of more warehouses and parking lots. I made it to Hell’s Kitchen Park on the corner of West 48th Street and 10th Avenue in time to collapse under the shade trees of the park and just relaxed. I had to catch my breath and have some bottled water before I took the subway downtown to meet my brother, who was visiting town for dinner in Chinatown. Trust me, the cool subway car relaxed me on the way downtown.
Hell’s Kitchen Playground has been my resting place on this walk at West 48th Street and 10th Avenue
Hell’s Kitchen Park and Playground
Hell’s Kitchen Park in the midafternoon
That evening I joined my brother for dinner and a tour of Chinatown, which seems to slowly be going the way of Little Italy. Disappearing at the edges and smothered in the middle with new residents and businesses. I have never seen so many art galleries and shops opening up. I have began to call it ‘NoLoChi’ (No Longer Chinatown).
One of the restaurants that never closed during the pandemic and now has nice outdoor seating (for those of you who still don’t want to eat indoors in nice weather-I don’t blame you), Dim Sum Go Go at 5 East Broadway is wonderful. I love their assortment of Dim Sum and everything is always so fresh.
It was still so hot out so we choose to eat inside which was a much better choice that evening. I highly recommend the Pork Soup Dumplings and the pan-fried Pot Stickers. Everything on the menu is excellent and the service could not have been nicer that evening. It is getting tougher to find restaurants in Chinatown that stay open after 8:00pm. Slowly it is changing but Mott Street is going dark by 9:30pm and it never did that in the past.
The Soup Dumplings here are fantastic
I started my walk of Hell’s Kitchen again a few days later and it was just as hot but the humidity was not so bad. The one advantage I had as I continued walking the streets of the upper part of the neighborhood was the sun was at a particular point that afternoon and I was walking in the shade of the buildings most of the time.
I started my walk on the upper part of West 48th Street, revisiting the warehouses and parking lots I had already seen and then turned the corner and walked down West 49th Street where you will see more ‘street art’ closer to the rail tracks. What stood out was on the side of the building of Red Cross Building at 520 West 49th Street was the two detailed murals that were painted on the parking lot side of the building. I liked the universal message of the paintings.
You really have to peer over the fence to see these murals on the wall of 520 West 48th Street (no longer there)
At the end of the block, I had to stop for something to eat and came across Sal’s Pizzeria at 696 10th Avenue (Closed June 2024) and had a slice of pizza. I have to say that it was excellent pizza and for $3.00 a slice the price was more than fair for this oversized slice. The sauce has an amazing flavor and is so well spiced and since the pie tasted like it just came out of the oven, the cheese was super gooey. I just took the plate outside and ate it as I walked to the envy of the people walking around me. I think they could tell I was enjoying my lunch.
Sal’s Pizzeria at 696 10th Avenue (Closed June 2024)
I crossed over into the West 50’s after lunch and each block offered many surprises when you really looked. This is the best part of walking each side of the block as you might miss something on the other side which I had done in many blocks (That why I revisit so many neighborhoods and am constantly revising these blogs).
On the corner of West 50th Street and Twelve Avenue, there are interesting paintings all along the upper walls of 680 12th Avenue. They seem to have an unusual theme to them. This is also the case at West Park High School at 525 West 50th Street with a series of beautiful mosaics lining the entrances to the high school.
The colorful mosaics at 525 West 50th Street make a bold statement (under renovation in 2024)
Rounding the corner at West 51st Street, I saw the beauty again of the St. Mary’s Building at 87 West 11th Avenue with the Juan Alonso Community gardens flanking the entrance to the building. You can see the traces of the old neighborhood mixing with the new. The Juan Alonso Community Gardens on the corner of Eleventh Avenue and West 51st Street.
The St. Mary’s Building at 728 11th Avenue
It had the most interesting roof with the St. Mary’s 1887 sign at the top
Around the corner from 728 11th Avenue is the Juan Alphonso Community Garden, a series of community gardens around this area of the City.
Juan Alonso Community Gardens on the corner of West 51st Street and Eleventh Avenue
The Community Garden was named after a local resident and community activist , Juan Alonso, who tired of seeing an empty lot and drug dealers in the area. The vacant lot is now a network of small gardens throughout the neighborhood run by the Clinton Housing Development Company (CHDC).
The community garden in the Summer of 2024
Another hold out of the neighborhood is the Landmark Tavern at 626 Eleventh Avenue. It was opened by Patrick Henry Carly in 1868 and has been a staple since. It is one of the oldest continuing restaurants in New York City (Landmark Tavern History). What is so fascinating about the bar is that at one time it stood on the water’s edge of the Hudson River. It shows how Manhattan has reclaimed land around the island. The restaurant has an interesting bar menu.
As I made my way down West 52nd Street, I passed the Joe Horvath Way Plaza, which stretches from 10th to 11th Avenues and was dedicated to Joseph Horvath, who located the Police Athletic League William J. Duncan Center on the block from its original location. The Duncan Center was named after a police officer who was shot in 1930 (Wiki).
The plaque outside the Police Athletic League Building
The William J. Duncan Center at 552 West 52nd Street is the home of the Police Athletic League and is a very active building when programs are in session.
The Horvath Plaque
Police Athletic League Mural
When walking back down West 52nd Street, I noticed the plantings and beautiful flowers of the Oasis Community Garden at 505 West 52nd Street. The garden was locked to the public at the time but you could still admire the beauty and the work that was being done by the volunteers for over 30 years.
Even during the pandemic, these dedicated volunteers have done a magnificent job maintaining the garden(Garden Blog site).
The Oasis Community Garden is at 505 West 52nd Street
The outside of the community garden during the Summer of 2024
The Garden in bloom in the summer of 2024
When I reached West 53rd Street, the heat and the walking was beginning to get to me so I stopped at Dewitt Clinton Park which stretches between 11th and 12th Avenues which stretches from West 52nd to West 54th Streets and is the biggest patch of green on this part of the neighborhood.
Dewitt Clinton Park at the Eleventh Avenue and West 52nd Street entrance
The DeWitt Clinton sign
The park is a haven for joggers and sports enthusiasts and the Erie Canal Playground is really big with the kids. On my second trip to the park and subsequent trips after, I discovered what a popular place the park was with local families and as the summer wore on with the local summer camps. There was so much activity in the park that afternoon.
As I walked around the park, I saw from when I was walking around Twelfth Avenue that the back part of the park is being reconstructed and renovated with what looks like new lighting , sidewalks and stairs to be followed by new landscaping. One great attribute is that there are open clean bathrooms open later in the evening and working water fountains to refill your water bottle with cool New York City water.
The front beds of Dewitt Clinton Park
The front part of the park is very welcoming with flower beds, nice signage, comfortable benches to relax under the trees and nice paths. When you enter the park, you are greeted by the statue of a Doughboy from WWI.
The Doughboy State greets you at Dewitt Clinton Park (Clinton War Memorial)
The statue was designed by artist Burt W. Johnson. Mr. Johnson is an American born artist who studied under noted sculptors James Earle Fraser and Augustus Saint Gaudens. The artist died shortly after the statue had been modeled (NYCParks.org). He studied at Pomona College and the Art Students League of New York (Wiki).
The park was name after politician and philanthropist Dewitt Clinton from the prominent Dewitt and Clinton families. Mr. Clinton was the former Mayor of New York, Governor and Senator of New York State. He ran for President in 1812 losing to James Madison and was influential in the building the Erie Canal (Wiki).
The Dewitt Clinton Playground in the park
What I really like about this park is the not just the family feel but it is one of the few open green spaces in the neighborhood so you see a Hodge podge of people from business people reading and eating their lunches to neighbors enjoying each others company. It is such a nice place to relax and enjoy time under a shade tree.
The rock formations in the back of the park
One business that did stand out to me was the Clinton Park Stables at 618 West 52nd Street with horse drawn carriages being maintained and leaving the building at different times of the afternoon.
The building was built in the 1880’s to house the horses for the Sanitation and Streets Department and then was fully renovated in 2003 to house the horses on the second and third floors and do all the repairs on the carriages on the main floor (Clinton Park Stables-CarriageOn).
After relaxing in the park for a half hour under a shade tree by the statue, I continued the walk around the park and down West 55th Street which was mostly non descript buildings and then down West 56th Street which houses the a branch of the New York Sanitation Department. You really have to watch here as trucks and cars are coming out at all times and there is not much a space to walk on the sidewalks.
When I reached West 57th Street, there was much more newer residential building in this part of the neighborhood. I stopped again to admire the Via 57th on the corner of West 57th and Twelfth Avenue. This glimmering pyramid of glass stands out amongst the box structures in the neighborhood with it triangular shape and reflections of the sun and the river. It brings an elegance to the newly planted park and changes the makeup of the buildings by the river giving it futuristic look to the Hudson River.
Via 57th along the new Hudson River Park at 625 West 57th Street (Via 57)
This residential building is in the shape of a pyramid or “tetrahedron” looking ‘almost like a sailing vessel going across the river’. The tiered gardens and slopped space integrates with the surrounding park and river. The building was designed by Danish architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group and by its founding architect Bjarke Ingels (Wiki).
Next to the Via is the Helena 57West at 601West 57th Street. On the side of this interesting building is an interesting piece of outdoor at entitled “Flows Two Ways” by artist Stephen Glassman from the Stephen Glassman Studio. This fascinating piece of art was installed in 2016 and reflects the location of the building by the Hudson River.
The “Flows Both Ways” plaque
The piece represents the fact that the Hudson River is both a river and tidal estuary and flows in both directions at different times of the day. It refers to forces that are separate yet connected, a duality that generate abundant life force and a conversation between people, buildings, river earth and sky (Stephen Glassman Studio).
Mr. Glassman is an American born California based artist who holds a BFA from SUNY Purchase. His works are influenced by the California landscape. He has won numerous national awards for his work.
After walking all around the Via 57, admiring the sculpture and beauty of the building itself, I finished my walk of West 57th Street with a slice of pizza at Casabianca Family Italian Ristorante and Pizzeria at 503 West 57th Street. The pizza here is amazing and reasonable at $3.00 for a giant slice.
Casabianca Family Italian Ristorante and Pizzeria at 503 West 57th Street
I had an embarrassing situation at the restaurant that one of the cooks helped me out with when I ordered. I did not have enough cash on me and had only two dollars for the three dollar slice. I did not want to be one of ‘those people’ and explained the situation to the cook that I was a dollar short.
I could not believe it when he said to me “Don’t worry about it. You can have it for $2.00. After you try it, I know you will be back.” That simple act of kindness gave me faith that everyone and everything in New York City is NOT going to pot as many naysayers are announcing on the news. There are still lots of New Yorkers who have faith in people.
The Cheese pizza was great the first time and average the second time
He was right though. The pizza sauce was rich with flavor (see my review on TripAdvisor) and the each bite had a gooey consistency. Plus the size of the slice was much larger than many slices I have eaten on this voyage around Manhattan. They also have some nice specials at $7.00 that I want to try in the future.
The second time I went for lunch in 2024, the pizza was just average. I could not understand because the pizza was so amazing the first time.
After I left the restaurant content with a really nice feeling about the afternoon, I finished my walk around the block admiring the river ahead and the nice breezes coming off it. That felt good after a day like this. The humidity in the City has been off and on since walking in Hell’s Kitchen.
I reached West 58th Street by the late afternoon revisiting buildings that I had admired on past walks in the neighborhood. The first was the IRT Powerhouse Building at 840 12th Avenue and the John Jay College Haaren Hall Building at 899 10th Avenue on the corner of 10th and West 58th Street.
Turning the corner on West 58th Street at Tenth Avenue, you will face the beauty of the John Jay College of Criminology Haaren Building at 899 Tenth Avenue. The building is home to many classrooms and the library for the college. The building was designed by Charles B.J. Snyder and was completed in 1903 (Wiki and John Jay College). The building was originally the Dewitt Clinton High School.
John Jay College Haaren Building at 899 Tenth Avenue
The entrance to John Jay College with its 1903 fixture
The beautiful details to the building
Across the street from the park is the former IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit) Powerhouse at 840 12th Avenue. This ornate building was built in 1904 and takes up the entire area from West 59th to West 58th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues. Designed by architect Stamford White, the building is used by Con Ed of New York to supply the New York Steam system. It is designed in the ‘Renaissance Revival’ and really walk around the building you can see the beautiful details of the building especially around the building . It was recently declared a Landmark Building in New York (Wiki).
The details of the building of the IRT Powerhouse Building
The grand embellishments of the IRT Powerhouse Building
While revisiting the neighborhood, I came across another sculpture that captured my attention “Swinging Jenny” by artist Jay Lagemann at the back side of 610 West 57th Street at Via 57.
“Swinging Jenny” by artist Jay Lagemann
The ‘Swinging Jenny’ plaque
Mr. Lagemann is an American born artist who currently lives on Martha’s Vineyard. He holds degrees in Mathematics from Princeton and a PhD from MIT. His works are influenced from his travels abroad(Artist bio).
I finished my walk by relaxing at the park at One Waterline Square, which was behind fencing the last time I visited the neighborhood over a year ago. The finished complex was simmering in the sunlight and in the middle of the complex is the energetic Waterline Square Park loaded with families and kids.
The tiers of the park were very interesting as stairways lead to different levels of the park with fountains and trees and water features that shot up every few minutes with loads of kids and their parents screaming at each plug of water. This is when it is fun to be a kid.
One Waterline Square
The park was designed by the New York architect group, Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects. This creative women-owned firm who uses a cumulative and holistic image for each project using designs that are insightful and artful as well as performative (MNLA Mission Statement)
Waterline Square Park is one of the most unusual parks that I have seen in the City since walking Battery Park City. The park has almost a Dr. Seuss effect to it with its interesting plantings, bridges and water features in all directions. It also has plenty of seating to relax and enjoy the cool breezes. All this packed in between three elegant buildings. It was fun just watching everyone have a good time.
The pathways at One Waterline Square
It was nice to sit under a tree and relax to cool off. I could believe how this whole area of the City had transformed itself from just a year ago but that is the magic of New York City. From behind the fencing came this magical city of glass and green space appears and shows that Manhattan is in a ever state of change.
I finished my walk of Hell’s Kitchen at 4:00pm that afternoon and just watched the people in the park having a good time. Walking in Hell’s Kitchen/Clinton/Midtown West (whatever you want to call it) and it shows how a City can keep reinventing itself and change for the betterment of the people it serves.
Even with everything going on with the pandemic facing new challenges, as I have walked the streets of this neighborhood I faced a neighborhood like many I have visited since the City reopened summer that has not given up but faced the challenges and put their dedication in making their neighborhood a better place. It has come a LONG way since I worked in Manhattan in the late 1980’s.
I dedicate this blog to all the neighborhood organizations, non-profits and merchants for the work you have done to make this neighborhood what it is today. This is NOT the Hell’s Kitchen of 1983!
Please Read my other blogs on Hell’s Kitchen/Clinton/Midtown West:
Walking the Border and Avenues of Hell’s Kitchen Day One Hundred and Ninety Four:
I had to split the neighborhood into two parts separated by 10th Avenue as there was so much to see and the complexity of the neighborhood changes on each side.
There are just some restaurants and shops that are institutions in their neighborhoods and the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory is one of them. I have been coming to the store since the 1990’s when I fell in love with their Lychee and Fortune Cookie Ice Creams. What I have loved about the flavors here is that they follow a Chinese-American theme with flavors based on fruits and desserts popular here in the states.
The Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory logo
Since the first time I ate there, I have tried their Almond Cookie, Banana, Mango and Passion Fruit flavors over the years along with some of their seasonal flavors like Pineapple and Strawberry. Since then they have added flavors like Durian, Black Sesame, Green…
Here it is Father’s Day and the Summer Equinox again and I have reached Day Two Hundred. I have walked much more than half the Island of Manhattan, neighborhood’s in the surrounding boroughs, and historical towns and destinations in New Jersey, New York State, Pennsylvania and beyond. It is hard to believe that I have come this far and that I have been doing this for six years. It does take a lot of work to really see these neighborhoods in detail and research all the wonderful things to do and see. This is best part of the blog is sharing it with all of you!
I have recently completed another walk down the entire length of Broadway for the fifth time (Day One Hundred and Thirty Nine: Walking the Entire Length of Broadway) and a second walk around the perimeter of Manhattan (Day One Hundred and Sixty Seven: The Great Saunter Walk), the 32 mile walk that felt much better this time (being in better shape for walking by exploring Kips Bay, Rose Hill, NoMAD, Koreatown, Midtown South, Midtown West/Hell’s Kitchen and Hell’s Kitchen/Clinton before this year’s walk. If you had read the blogs from last summer the City had just opened up on June 10th, 2020 but with the riots and security reasons, I did not enter the City again until June 15th, 2020). I wanted to update both blogs with new things to see and things that I might have missed, which was a lot.
I love walking through the new Riverside Park on my way uptown for “The Great Saunter Walk”. I started at West 23rd Street this year.
The Core of Manhattan and the Perimeter of Manhattan:
Day One Hundred and Thirty Nine: Walking the Length of Broadway from 242nd Street to the Bowling Green:
As I am finishing my walk of the streets of Hell’s Kitchen/Clinton between 10th and 12th Avenues, I am also revisiting neighborhoods that I have walked before adding new restaurants, stores and artworks to the blogs. So much changes but then again you notice things you did not see on the first few trips to that section of Manhattan.
In all my time walking around Manhattan, I never realized that is was itself an ‘open-air museum’ with lots of artwork along all the streets and parks and with that, I have also credited all the artists with their bios and a little history of their careers as well. Even the ‘street tagging’ has gotten interesting again and you really have to look along the walls to admire the ‘taggers’ work.
Don’t miss the Tom Otterness Playground on West 42nd Street. He gives new meaning to the word “Jungle Gym” in his park in Hell’s Kitchen
With the COVID pandemic slowing (it is not over everyone and I still carry two masks and sanitizer with me just in case), the City is opening back up and with the last of the graduations behind us for this year, more people are wondering the streets of the five boroughs and it looks like people are moving back in with more restaurants and hotels reopening. By September, we will hopefully see the Theater District (one neighborhood I will not walk until it reopens for a fair view of it) reopen and the shows start again.
Since last June, most of the bigger museums have reopened but this time only with timed tickets and limits on the people who are attending the shows. This has made for a better experience. If you plan on visiting the museums more than a few times, I would suggest becoming a member and saving the money on the entrance fee. Plus a lot of the museums really need the membership income.
Look over my sister blog, “VisitingaMuseum.com” for ideas of small museums and historical sites that I am revisiting:
I have also been taking many trips up to the Hudson River Valley on outdoor walking tours, patio lectures and farmers market visits. Just driving through these small towns will give you a touch of nostalgia and a wanting for the past. Trust me, all that turn of the last century architecture and quaint storefronts are being brought back to life from the displaced ‘Brooklynites”, who have scattered all over the Tri-State area and are bringing their creativity to small towns in four states, New York State, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Here and there tucked into these small downtowns, old Victorian homes and storefronts are being renovated and reviving communities that needed support to their downtown cores.
Downtown Catskill, NY was interesting to visit recently
So as I update my long walks around the Island of Manhattan and to the small towns in the Hudson River Valley, I hope everyone has a chance to read my older blogs starting with Day One in Marble Hill in June of 2015 and walk your way through Manhattan with me. COVID has changed so much all over the City but has not ruined the true hearts of New Yorkers and especially the Manhattanites I see everywhere.
Everyone is watching the City heal and will watch it go through a rebirth again. Trust me, it looks far better now then it did in the 1970’s and 80’s when I was growing up and the times I worked in Manhattan. You did not want to see West 34th Street in 1988 when I started at R.H. Macy.
I am also now on my sixth pair of sneakers since starting ‘MywalkinManhattan.com’.
Lastly to my father, Warren George Watrel, whom this blog is dedicated to I want to wish a very Happy Father’s Day! I miss our walks around Manhattan at this time of year but I always feel you in spirit!
I love you Dad and Happy Father’s Day!
Blogger Justin Watrel with his father, Warren Watrel in 2013
mywalkinmanhattan 