Category Archives: Exploring the New York City Subway System

Day One Hundred and Thirteen: Tour of Historic Pubs and Bars in Lower Manhattan with the Cornell Club May 9th, 2018 (Revisited May 2nd, 2026)

August 28, 2018Dedication to Warren Watrel, Dining on a Shoe String Restaurants in New York City, Exploring Chinatown in Manhattan, Exploring Little Italy/NoLiTa in Manhattan, Exploring Lower Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring NYC Parks, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the New York City Subway System, Exploring the Rim of the Island of Manhattan, Gourmet restaurants for the budget minded, Historic New York City neighborhoods, Little Shop on Main Street in New York City (LittleShoponMainStreet), My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, MywalkinManhattan on Groundhog's Day, Pizzeria's and Italian Restaurants for the budget-minded, Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New York City, Walking around ManhattanAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver.com, Cornell Club Tours, Delmonico's, DiningonaShoeString@Wordpress.com, Exploring Lower Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring the Financial District of NYC, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring Wall Street, Frances Tavern, Fraunces Tavern, Historic Lower Manhattan, India House, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, LittleShoponMainStreet, LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com, Lower Manhattan, Museum of the American Indian, MywalkinManhattan.com, New York City, Pubs & Bar Tours in NYC, stone street, VisitingaMuseum, VisitingaMuseum.com, Walk Around Manhattan, Walk Manhattan, Walking around Manhattan, Walking in Manhattan, Walking Manhattan, wall street dining and bars, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

I took some time out of my regular touring and took a historic tour of the pubs and bars of lower Manhattan with the Cornell Club. The club had arranged this tour through one of the local historical tour companies in the City in which we would be touring sections of local historic watering holes. This included the Frances Tavern, Delmonico’s and India House.

We met on the stairs of the National Museum of the American Indian which once upon a time was the U.S. Customs House. Here we met our tour guide and we started our discussion on historic bars and restaurants and their place in lower Manhattan.

The tour started with a talk on the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House building located at 1 Bowling Green. The building was designed by architect Cass Gilbert, who also designed the Woolworth Building with construction beginning in 1902 and was finished in 1907 and considered a masterpiece in Beaux-Arts style (Wiki).

The interesting part of the building is when you look up to the roof to see the statuary of ‘The Continents’, also called the ‘Four Continents’ of Asia, America, Europe and Africa. Located on the main cornice are standing sculptures representing the great seafaring nations, representing American seagoing commerce (Wiki and tour guide).

U.S. Custom House at 1 Bowling Green

https://www.gsa.gov/real-estate/historic-preservation/explore-historic-buildings/find-a-building/all-historic-buildings/alexander-hamilton-us-custom-house-new-york-ny

The US Custom House during the winter months.

The Statues

The Statues

The Statues

The interesting part of the discussion was that the U.S. Custom House sits on the site of Fort Amsterdam, the fortification constructed by the Dutch West Indian Company to defend their operations in the Hudson Valley. It was the center of the settlement (Wiki and tour guide).

Our next stop on the tour was walking around Bowling Green Park across the street from the U.S. Custom House. The park is the oldest public park in New York City and is one of the two rumored places that Peter Minuit ‘bought’ the island of Manhattan from the Native Americans in 1626 (the other being in Inwood Park) and had once served as the Council grounds for the local Native American tribes (NYC Parks.org).

Bowling Green Park at the end of Broadway

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/bowling-green

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d136413-Reviews-Bowling_Green-New_York_City_New_York.html

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://visitingamuseum.com/tag/bowling-green-park/

The park was first designated a park in 1733 when it was offered for rent at the cost of one peppercorn per year. There had been a gilded statue of King George III erected there in 1770 and an iron fence (still there and a New York landmark) installed in 1771. On July 9, 1776 at the first public hearing of the Declaration of Independence, the statue was toppled by angry citizens and melted down for ammunition (NYC Parks & Tour Guide). The crowns that used to line the fence had been sawed off and you can still see traces of it on the fences.

The area surrounding the park became a fashionable residence in the late 18th century and mid-19th century, the area gave way to business and manufacturing. The park has since gone through many renovations, including the most recent 2004 which re-landscaped the park and added new bluestone sidewalks, plantings, gas lamps and hoof benches (NYC Parks & Tour guide).

Just north of the Bowling Green Park is the 7,100 pound statue of the ‘Charging Bull’ by artist Arturo DiModica. Mr. DiModica is a self taught Italian artist who had once worked in the foundries and then immigrated to New York City in the 1970’s. He became part of the 80’s art scene in lower Manhattan.

Arturo DiModica artist

http://www.artnet.com/artists/arturo-di-modica/

DiModica states that “Bronze figure of the bull represents the strength, power and hope of the American people for the future.” This was dealing after the Crash of the Market in 1987. Considered ‘guerrilla’ art when it was illegally installed in front of the New York Stock Exchange during the Christmas holiday season in 1989, the statue was moved to its current location in the Spring of 1989 and been there since.

Fearless Girl

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fearless_Girl

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://visitingamuseum.com/tag/fearless-girl/

Next to the statute, another statue has been cast and placed near the bull. “Fearless Girl” was installed in 2017 the night before International Women’s Day and was created by artist Kristen Visbal and was commissioner by State Street Global Advisers as a marketing campaign for their index fund. Ms. Visbal is a graduate from Salisbury State University with a BFA and currently runs the Visbal Fine Arts Sculpture in Lewes, DE (Wiki).

Kristen Visbal artist

http://www.visbalsculpture.com/

The artist says that the statue of the young girl shows her as being “brave, proud and strong.” There has been criticism between the two artists on the meaning of the statutes (Wiki).

The Charging Bull

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/bowling-green/monuments/1750

My review on TripAdvisor”

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d1605557-Reviews-Charging_Bull_Wall_Street_Bull-New_York_City_New_York.html

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

Charging Bull Bowling Green Park New York, NY 10004

The first historic bar we visited was the Fraunces Tavern at 54 Pearl Street (See review on TripAdvisor). The restaurant has played a prominent role in history before, during and after the American Revolution, serving as a headquarters for George Washington, a venue for peace negotiations with the British and housing federal offices in the Early Republic. It is owned by the Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York Inc. and claim it is Manhattan’s oldest surviving buildings with the current being built by Stephen DeLancey, the son in law of New York Mayor Stephanus van Cortlandt in 1719 (Wiki).

Fraunces Tavern at 54 Pearl Street

https://frauncestavern.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d426153-Reviews-Fraunces_Tavern-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

We only stayed at the bar for a short time, looking at the period furniture and some of the museum quality artifacts before some of the members of our group ordered a drink. I have to tell you one thing, they get very testy if you sit a table and don’t order anything. Check out their website at http://www.francestavern.com for the menu’s and full history.

The Great Fire of 1835 in Lower Manhattan

https://www.history.com/news/great-fire-new-york-1835

Our next stop on the tour was historic Stone Street, a cluster of historic buildings along Stone, South William and Pearl Streets and Coenties Alley. The street’s stores and lofts were built for dry-goods merchants and importers shortly after the Great Fire of 1835, which destroyed many remnants of New Amsterdam (Wiki).

The entrance to Stone Street

The street had been neglected for years but a partnership between the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission and other city agencies, the Alliance for Downtown New York and Stone Street business owners transformed the area into the lively entertainment area that contains several restaurants and bars (Wiki & the Tour Guide).

The buildings of Stone Street.

The middle of Stone Street now is lined with tables used by all the restaurants for seating and is a very active area during lunch and Happy Hour time. We walked among the busy tables and looked at the menus but didn’t stop here. I had stopped earlier at Justino’s Pizzeria at 77 Pearl Street for a snack (See review on TripAdvisor). Their pizza is quite good although I think that Pranzo at 34 Water Street is better. They give you a better slice and the sauce is much spicier.

Justino’s Pizza at 77 Pearl Street

https://www.justinospizzany.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d17713080-Reviews-Justino_s_Pizzeria-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

After we left the Stone Street Historic area, we walked up Broad Street to see the New York Stock Exchange and the Federal Hall District. This is the seat of the financial center and the capital of the financial world.

The New York Stock Exchange at 8-18 Broad Street was built in 1903 replacing the original Victorian structure which had been built in 1865. The building was designed by architect George Browne Post, who was a native New Yorker who studied architecture and civil engineering at NYU. He designed it in Second Empire design (Wiki and the Tour Guide).

Standing on Wall Street, you can see the 1903 building rise ten stories above the sidewalk. Six Corinthian columns steadily rise from a seven-bay-wide podium set between two rectangular pilasters. He complimented the six columns with symmetry of seven with a center flat arched doorway with three more on either side. The podium symmetry continues to the second store, where directly above each street-level doorway is a contrasting round-arched opening. Balustraded balconies between floors provide the classic ornamentation as do lintels with carved fruit and flowers (Architecture of New York Stock Exchange Building & Tour Guide).

New York Stock Exchange at 8-18 Broad Street

We passed the now closed Stock Exchange building and continued on to Federal Hall at 26 Wall Street. We discovered that this is not the original building but its replacement that was built in 1842.

Looking down Wall Street at the NY Stock Exchange and other historical buildings

The original Federal Hall was a Greek Revival structure completed in 1703 and served as New York’s first City Hall. It was where the Stamp Act Congress met to draft a letter to King George on opposition to the Stamp Act and after the Revolution for the Congress of the Confederation held under the Articles of Confederation. It was renamed Federal Hall when it became the first Capital of the Newly created United States in 1789 and hosted the first United States Congress. On its steps, George Washington was sworn in as the first President. That building was demolished in 1812 (Wiki & the Tour Guide).

Federal Hall at 26 Wall Street

The current structure, completed in 1842 and one of the best surviving examples of neoclassical architecture in New York, was built as the U.S. Custom House for the Port of New York. Later it served as a sub-Treasury building. It is operated today by the National Park Service as a national memorial and designated the Federal Hall National Memorial (Wiki and the Tour Guide).

The statue of George Washington was designed by John Quincy Adams Ward in 1882. Mr. Quincy Adams is an American born artist from Ohio. He trained under known artist Henry Kirk Browne and is the brother of artist Edgar Melville Ward. He moved to New York City in 1861, was elected to the National Academy of Design and was a known sculpture of historical busts and monuments (Wiki).

John Quincy Adams Ward artist

http://generalthomas.com/JQA_Ward_biography.htm

It was erected on the front steps of the building, marking the approximate site where he was inaugurated as President of the United States. Part of the original railing and balcony floor where Washington was inaugurated are on display in the memorial (Wiki).

We also looked at the original J.P. Morgan Building at 23 Wall Street or known as ‘The Corner’. The building was designed by Trowbridge & Livingston and built in 1913. It was known as the ‘House of Morgan’ so there were no signs with the Morgan name. The building was designed in the classical architecture and Morgan made sure that it was designed only four feet high (Wiki). When I asked the tour guide why, he basically said everyone knew who J. P. Morgan was and he didn’t have to prove it.

JP Morgan Building Wall Street 23 Wall Street

The foundation of the building is constructed deep and strong enough in order to support a forty foot tower if it needed to be built. The company moved its operations to 60 Wall Street and the company sold the building and it has had several owners. Our tour guide said that the building was rumored to be turned into condos (Wiki and the Tour Guide).

We moved down Beaver Street towards Wall Street and our second stop of the tour at Delmonico’s restaurant at 56 Beaver Street. The restaurant has moved and changed since it was founded in 1827. The restaurant has always been since it’s founding a place of society and influence. The restaurant was first operated by the Delmonico family as a small cafe and pastry shop at 23 William Street. Later it would be considered one of the nation’s top fine dining restaurants and the birthplace of such dishes as Baked Alaska, Lobster Newberg and famous Delmonico steak. It was the first restaurant to allow patrons to order from a menu a la carte as opposed to table d’hote. It also claimed to be the first to employ a separate wine list (Wiki & the Tour Guide).

The current location of Delmonico’s was opened in 1926 by restaurateur Oscar Tucci as a speakeasy and this restaurant would continue on until 1986. It has operated in this location at different times as Delmonico’s since and has currently been open since 1998 (Wiki, Delmonico’s History and the Tour Guide).

Delmonico’s at 56 Beaver Street

https://www.theoriginaldelmonicos.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d459628-Reviews-Delmonico_s-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

I found the restaurant to be very formal and a little stuffy for a tour group to visit since we were not all dressed for the occasion. The restaurant patrons were all dressed up and I had to parade through the dining room in shorts, which are not allowed in the formal dining room. We had a drink at the bar and I found it to be excellent. The service at the busy bar was friendly and very inviting and I was ready to stay for some dinner. The bar atmosphere was very engaging and we had a nice time there. It is expensive but well worth it once (See review on TripAdvisor).

We walked down the street to The Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden located across the street from Hanover Square. The land around this part has been in public used since 1637 and in 1730 became known as Hanover Square in tribute to the House of Hanover. It had been the center for commerce and printing in the beginnings of New York and was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1835. The small triangled parcel was not developed into a park until 1952 and was rededicated with new landscaping until the 1970’s. It has since been redesigned again with new plantings, benches and decorations (Wiki and the Tour Guide).

Queen Elizabeth Park September 11th Garden

It was rededicated July 6, 2010 by Queen Elizabeth II as The Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden in memory of the 67 British citizens that lost their lives in the September 11th attacks. Originally named the ‘British Gardens’ it was again rededicated and renamed on May 2, 2012 and the ceremony led by the Dean of Westminster Abbey which included other members of the Commonwealth nations (Wiki). It is such a nice place to just relax and the plantings are beautiful. I told the tour guide that it is a very touching place to visit.

Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Park at 1 Hanover Square

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/british-garden-at-hanover-square/history

Our last part of the tour was a visit to India House now called 1 Hanover Square, which is located at the very end of the Stone Street Historic district. Located at the southern end of Hanover Square and facing the Queen Elizabeth II September 11th garden across the street, the building was built in 1851 and was the site of the nation’s first commodity futures exchange, the New York Cotton Exchange and was designated a National Landmark in 1977 and a New York City Landmark in 1965 (Wiki & the Tour Guide).

India House at 1 Hanover Square

The structure was built out of brownstone and designed in the Italian Renaissance style by builder, developer and merchant, Richard F. Carman. It had been the headquarters of Hanover Bank and then the Cotton Exchange. Since then it has operated as a private club since 1913 and now houses restaurants (Wiki).

The main facade of the building has eight bays wide, with the main entrance occupying two bays at the center. Windows on the ground floor are tall and set in openings flanked by paneled pilasters and topped by pediment segmental arches Second floor windows are smaller, set beneath gabled pediments and their floor windows are smaller still with simpler surrounds. The building is crowned by a modillioned cornice (Wiki).

We ended the tour at the restaurant on the bottom level where some of the group stayed for dinner. I headed off to the Wonton Noodle Garden at 56 Mott Street for dinner. After a long tour outdoors and the night getting cooler, a steaming bowl of Cantonese Wonton Soup ($8.95) with a side of pan-fried dumplings ($5.00).

Wonton Noodle Garden at 56 Mott Street (this location has moved to 23 Pell Street)

http://www.wontonnoodlegarden.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d2370537-Reviews-Wonton_Noodle_Garden-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com:

Wonton Noodle Garden 23 Pell Street New York, NY 10013

This restaurant in the middle of the heart of Chinatown is my main standby when eating in the neighborhood. Like the rest of the Manhattan, I see the traces of gentrification creeping into the area. All you have to do is look at the buildings above.

Wonton Noodle Garden’s Cantonese Wonton Soup’s (Cure All)

My message to readers, please, get off the cell phones and look around you. You are missing a lot! I have walked this neighborhood dozens of times over the years and my eyes were open by all the changes and by the beauty of the surroundings. I will print more of my travels with the Cornell Club in future blogs.

They are very interesting and a detailed perspective of New York City.

Places to Visit:

New York Stock Exchange Building

8-18 Broad Street

New York, NY 10004

https://www.nyse.com/

Federal Hall

26 Wall Street

New York, NY 10004

https://www.nps.gov/feha/index.htm

23 Wall Street

New York, NY 10004

India House/1 Hanover Square

New York, NY 10004

http://www.indiahouseclub.org/

Bowling Green Park/Charging Bull Statue/Fearless Girl Statue

Broadway & Whitehall Street

New York, NY 10004

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charging_Bull

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d1605557-Reviews-Charging_Bull_Wall_Street_Bull-New_York_City_New_York.html

Stone Street

New York, NY 10004

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Street_(Manhattan)

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d105043-Reviews-Stone_Street_Historic_District-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/13138

The Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden

Hanover Square

New York, NY 10004

https://queenelizabethgarden.org/

Places to Eat:

Justino’s Pizza

77 Pearl Street

New York, NY 10004

(212) 797-9692

http://www.justinospizzeria.com

Open: Monday-Saturday-10:00am-11:59pm/Sunday-11:00am-9:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d8743404-Reviews-Justino_s_Pizzeria-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Pranzo Pizza & Italian Specialties

34 Water Street

New York, NY 10014

http://www.pranzopizzapasta.com

Phone: (212) 344-8068

Fax: (212) 344-0191

Open: Monday-Thursday-8:00am-8:00pm/Friday-8:00am-7:00pm/Saturday-10:00am-5:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d426152-Reviews-Pranzo-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/880

Delmonico’s

56 Beaver Street

New York, NY 10004

(212) 519-1144

http://www.delmonicos.com

https://delmonicos.com/

Open: Monday-Friday: 11:30am-10:00pm

Saturday: 5:00pm-10:00pm

Sunday: Closed

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d459628-Reviews-Delmonico_s-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Fraunces Tavern

54 Pearl Street

New York, NY 10004

(212) 425-1778

Open: Monday-Friday-12:00pm-5:00pm/Saturday & Sunday-11:00am-5:00pm

http://www.francestavern.com

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d426153-Reviews-Fraunces_Tavern_Restaurant-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

India House/1 Hanover Square

1 Hanover Square

New York, NY 10004

(212) 269-2323

Open: Monday-Friday-9:00am-10:00pm/Saturday & Sunday-Closed

http://www.indiahouseclub.org

Wonton Noodle Garden

56 Mott Street

New York, NY 10013

(212) 966-4033

http://www.wontonnoodlegarden.com

Open: Sunday-Thursday-10:00am-2:00am/Friday-9:00am-4:00am/Saturday-9:00am-4:00am

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d2370537-Reviews-Wonton_Noodle_Garden-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Day Ninety-Seven: Walking the Streets of the Upper Upper West Side from West 96th-West 84th Streets from Riverside to Central Park October 21st-November 25th, 2017 (Again November 9th, 2024, July 26th, 2025 and June 3rd, 2026)

January 8, 2018Bakeries for the budget minded, Chinese Restaurants for the budget minded, Dedication to Warren Watrel, Dining on a Shoe String Restaurants in New York City, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring Manhattan Valley/Bloomingdale/Upper West Side, Exploring New York City, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring NYC Parks, Exploring the Entire Length of the Island of Manhattan/Broadway Walk, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the New York City Subway System, Exploring the Rim of the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Historic New York City neighborhoods, Interesting Bakeries, Little Shop on Main Street in New York City (LittleShoponMainStreet), My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan at the Halloween Holidays, Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New York City, Walking around ManhattanAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver, BergenCountyCaregiver.com, Books of Wonder, Books of Wonder Bookstore, East Garden Chinese Restaurant, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the Upper West Side, Glaser's Bakery, John Koch Antiques, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, Morningside Heights, Morningside Park, MywalkinManhattan.com, Pomander Walk, The Upper West Side, Upper Manhattan, Upper West Side, Walk Manhattan, Walking in Manhattan, Walking Manhattan, Walking the Upper West Side, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watrel, West Place Chinese Food, West Side Community Gardenjwatrel

It is amazing the changes that happen in just a month! The weather changed but not the way you would think. It went from being in the 80’s in the beginning of October to the 40’s and 50’s in November. Now you might say that is normal for this time of year, but the temperatures have been all over the place.

People were dining outside as late as the day after Thanksgiving. It was 52F on the 25th of November. Nippy yes but eating outside? In the sun, it really was warm. As I walked the streets of the Upper Upper West Side, it was a pleasant and warm day.

The nice part is that it has been so warm outside lately that the leaves did not change as fast as they normally do this time of the year. The leaves did not start to change in the New York City area until about five days before Halloween. Everything was greener than it normally has been in the past. As of my last day on this part of the West Side, the trees still have changing foliage in Riverside Park, so when the sun hit some of the trees, they still cast a glow of golds and reds.

I have seen a distinct change in the make up in the city as you cross over the 100th Street on the West Side. Once you pass the Douglas Houses, the residential area starts to change along with the stores and restaurants around it. The bodegas and cheaper restaurants start to disappear.

Things keep changing around the Douglas Houses on the Upper West Side

Click to access DouglassI&II.pdf

The rents have been going up in this area and there is a lot of empty retail space in the Upper Upper West Side. What there is a lot of restaurants where the price of a burger will run you around $16.00. The Upper West Side is becoming a lot more like the Upper East Side.

What I have also found is many beautiful pocket parks, unusual architecture with creative details and some wonderful restaurants and shops that show that the chain stores do not dominate a city. I never realized that it would take so long to finish the area. A little thing called Halloween came into play and then the weather got colder (See all the activities you can get involved with for the Halloween holidays for next year on this blog).

I started my first day at surprising enough 127th Street. I got on the C subway train by mistake ( I should have gotten on the A Train) but it gave me a chance to see what changes have come about in Morningside Heights. I swear as the new buildings at Columbia University are ready to open soon between 125th-134th Streets, the area is quickly changing around it. All over the area surrounding the 125th subway stop on the A subway line is being ripped apart and being rebuilt.

All the buildings around 125th Street are being sandblasted and gutted back to life or are being knocked down and rebuilt. This will just be an extension of Morningside Heights within the next five years. It will be more college campus than Harlem or the traditional Harlem that people know.

I had lunch that afternoon at West Place Chinese Restaurant at 1288 Amsterdam Avenue, a small hole in the wall Chinese restaurant that I passed several times (See review on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com) and had wanted to try for a long time. The food was wonderful, and the portion sizes were plentiful.

The General Tso’s Chicken is excellent

I had an order of General Tso’s chicken with rice and Wonton Soup with a Coke for $8.00. It could have fed two people easily. The food was as good as anything in Chinatown and the quality was great.

West Place Chinese Food at 1288 Amsterdam Avenue

https://westplace.netwaiter.com/

After lunch, I walked down Broadway to 96th Street, passing through the campus that I had walked months earlier. The Columbia Campus is another part of the city that just keeps changing with new buildings being built on old ones or old buildings being sandblasted back to their original beauty. This area is becoming more desirable to live in again and as Morningside Park keeps improving, everything that surrounds it does as well. Even the parks surrounding the campus keep improving with Morningside Park receiving new plantings and Riverside Park getting a spruce up. I got to my destination, West 96th Street and Central Park West by the early afternoon.

Morningside Park in the early Spring

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/morningside-park

The Morningside Park Pond in the early Spring

I started my day on West 96th Street on the corner of West 96th and Central Park West where some of the trees were still green even this late into the season. I swear Central Park is never not busy. Families were playing in the playgrounds and tourists still walking through the park getting a taste of the real New York. The weather has been so unusually warm this year that it is a pleasure to just walk around.

Riverside Park in the late Fall of 2024

For the most part, the blocks closer to both parks, Central Park and Riverside Park, the streets are lined with beautiful brownstones. Most of the side streets between Central Park West and Amsterdam Avenue are lined with some of the most elegant architecture from the turn of the last century. It is hard to believe that up to twenty years ago, parts of this area had been bombed out.

Halloween at 20 West 96th Street

I was able to see the last of the Halloween decorations give way to fall themes decorating the brownstones. Like their suburban counterparts, people like to decorate their buildings. Pumpkins and haystacks lined the elegant brownstones and occasionally there was a ghost or witch motif decorating the front.

Brownstones decorated for the holiday

West 95th Street decorations

Some of the most beautiful buildings outside of the Central Park district were the homes between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive right next to Riverside Park. Old elegant mansions and gracefully carved apartment buildings line the streets between both Avenues.

The West 95th Street brownstones

The townhouses along West 95th Street are just beautiful

The elegant details of these townhouses

Look up at the craved stone sculptures that line the building. Graceful animals, fierce gargoyles and lattice work line the tops of these buildings. It is time to put down those silly cellphones and really notice how beautifully built these homes were and the care put into them.

Riverside Park at West 94th Street

There is a lot of artworks on the Riverside Drive especially around this section of the Upper West Side. The Joan of Arc statue on 95th Street and Riverside Drive gives a description of her life and who she really was in the time of war. I didn’t realize how threatened they were by her that they had to accuse her of being a witch to get rid of her power of persuasion. The statute which was created in 1915 is in a small park within a park, “Joan of Arc Park”, that stands above Riverside Park above the paths.

Artist Anne Vaughn Hyatt Huntington

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anna-Hyatt-Huntington

Artist and art patron Anne Vaughn Hyatt Huntington created this beautiful piece. She had studied with many known artists of the time and completed her work at the Art Students League of New York and one of the first women artist inducted into the Academy of Arts & Letters (Wiki).If you want to know more about her life, stop here and read the plaques.

Joan of Arc Statue in the small park

The Joan of Arc Statue in Joan of Arc Park in Riverside Park

Joan of Arc Park on the Upper West Side

What stands out between 95th to 94th Streets off West End Avenue is the ‘Pomander Walk’, a small alley behind a large apartment building which contains a series of eight two story Tudor homes with gardens in front. This is hidden behind a gate off 94th Street.

Pomander Walk on West End Avenue

This whimsical little treasure was built between 1920-1922 by nightclub owner, Thomas Healy. He was creating income for a large hotel that he wanted to build on the property. He died in 1927 before he could find funding for the hotel and that’s why it exists today.

Pomander Walk is one of those hidden little Manhattan gems

Pomander Walk sign and entrance to the complex at 260-274 West 95th Street

I have read that today it is hard to find a home in this little strip and a recent two-bedroom apartment building sold for $700,000. Pretty good for a dolls house.

Pomander Walk

https://streeteasy.com/building/pomander-walk

The outside of the homes can be seen in on 95th Street and look like a Swiss or German Chalet in the Alps. The detail work was under scaffolding when I first passed it and I wondered if it was a restaurant being fixed up. When you discover the gate entrance, it almost looks like a hidden ‘Land of Oz’. I could see the flowers and plants from the street. It reminded me of some of the small developments in Harlem where a small set of row homes creates its own neighborhood. You have to really look for it or you will miss it.

Pomander complex on West 95th Street

I was able to walk Riverside Park and enjoy that late foliage. The view of the Hudson River is just spectacular especially from the buffs of the neighborhood. I don’t think too many tourists appreciate this park with its beautiful vistas of the river and its great parks for kids. The trees were a combination of golds and oranges when the sun hit them. When I did the Great Saunter Walk, the 32 mile perimeter walk around Manhattan, the park looks much different with the lush gardens and everything in bloom.

Riverside Park in the spring is beautiful at West 95th Street in the Summer of 2024

Fall decorations on West 95th Street

The beautiful brownstones that line West 95th Street

The homes in the neighborhood were very detailed and showed the craftsmanship of the people who built them with such elegant details.

The walk down West 94th Street was just as nice in the middle of the Fall of 2024

I came across this interesting mural on West 94th Street

These blocks above West 84th Street were lined with blocks and blocks of beautiful brownstones ladened with interesting carvings and sculpture and wonderful decorations for Halloween and the Fall months in preparation for Thanksgiving.

As I walked down West 93rd Street for the first time in five years, I took the time to really notice the beauty in the buildings and parks. There were all sorts of wonderful carvings I had never noticed and street gardens I had passed by. Maybe some of these things had always been there but I was too in a rush to notice them to finish walking the street.

I came across the murals “4 Seasons in Central Park that was created by the students of PS 84 and the Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School. It thought this was very clever

PS 84:

https://insideschools.org/school/03M084#google_vignette

Mural One

Mural Two

Mural Three

Mural Four

Mural Five

This lion looking humanoid kept looking at me on the way down West 93rd Street

The Upper Upper West is a combination apartment building built in the 1970’s and 80’s with more newer buildings being developed along Broadway but here in there in the commercial district some things do pop out at you. This is true of the former ‘Little Plantation Restaurant’ that recently closed on the corner of 93rd Street and Columbus Avenue. Attached to an apartment building, this space looks like a Southern plantation mansion fitted even with a porch swing. I am not sure how long this will last without being a restaurant but make a special trip to the building just see the detail work.

I walked down West 92nd Street to see another interesting mural that I had not noticed before. This one was closer to Columbus Avenue.

City Arts

City Arts on West 92nd Street

https://www.cityarts.org/

The mural in 2026

City Art Mural

Amsterdam Avenue and West 94th Street

The mural

The fullest part of the mural

Who says you have to go to a museum when there is a whole outside full of art? What I love around this part of the neighborhood are all the public murals and outside art.

Sol Bloom Playground in the Fall of 2024 at West 91st Street

The Sol Bloom Playground sign that welcomes you to the park next to PS 84

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/sol-bloom-playground

As I rounded the corners back to Central Park West, I stopped at the Sol Bloom Playground on 92nd Street near the local school to look for a bathroom. This whimsical park on a nice day attracts kids from all over the place and their parents running all over and playing on the equipment.

The memorial sign

The park was named after Sol Bloom, a self-made millionaire. He had made his money in his music and real estate businesses. He had built several apartment buildings and both the Apollo and Music Box theaters.

Sol Bloom

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Bloom

The mural in Sol Bloom Park on the side of PS 84

The murals on PS 84 next to Sol Bloom Park

I ended the day at the 86th Station totally exhausted having walk the area between 96th Street to 90th Street. The one thing that differs the Upper Upper West Side from Manhattan Valley/Bloomingdale to the north is how much newer it has gotten at the core. So many more newer apartment buildings in this area and more businesses catering to a higher end client. It just seems more like the old Upper West Side above 96th Street.

Riverside Park at West 96th Street

My second day walking the neighborhood I started after a long day at the Soup Kitchen. Working the Bread station all afternoon with the homeless asking you for pastries all morning long can be wearing. I got through it all. I started this part of the walk with lunch in Yorkville, wanting to try East Garden Chinese Restaurant at 1685 First Avenue again to see if it made the cut for my blog, ‘DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com’. It did!

East Garden Chinese Restaurant really blows my mind on how good this place is for lunch. Their lunch specials are reasonable (the restaurant closed June of 2024) and you get a very large entrée with a side of rice. Add in a Coke for an extra dollar and you have lunch and dinner. The place is really clean too.

East Garden Chinese Restaurant is excellent (Closed June 2024)

http://www.eastgardennewyork.com/

I had the Chicken with Broccoli with white rice, and it was a very large portion. Both the chicken and the broccoli were perfectly, and they do give you a nice amount of chicken. The sauce is flavorful and delicious (See review on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC.wordpress.com as well). It was both lunch and dinner for me.

The Chicken and Broccoli here is excellent.

After lunch, it was across the street to Glaser’s Bakery at 1670 First Avenue for dessert (See reviews on both TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC-Closed in 2018). They make a peach Danish that is out of this world! I swear this is one of the best bakeries in the city! So much for the places with the $10.00 cookies, Glaser’s is the real thing. Every bite of that Danish was like heaven!

Glaser’s Bakery at 1670 First Avenue (Closed in 2018)

https://www.glasersbakeshop.com/

I decided to walk across the park this afternoon to get some real exercise and work off that lunch. The park in the late fall is glorious with the gold and yellow leaves and the cool but still warm breezes. I walked along the reservoir and watched the joggers pass me by. I had more than a few tourists ask to take pictures for them, but it is so much fun to see the park so alive with people and happy to be there. The park is so graceful in its own way and the fact that so much of it is being renovated by the Conservatory shows that people believe in it.

The Central Park Reservoir is amazing in the fall

https://www.centralparknyc.org/locations/reservoir

I love the winding paths and the quietness of the park. Even though these paths have been traveled many times, I felt as if I had seen them for the first time. I had never been to this part of the park before and walking these paths felt like a new adventure. It amazes me that I have been in this park a million times since I was a kid, but I still wonder at the parts of it that I have never seen.

I walked along the back paths of the lake by the low 80’s and ended up walking to West 82nd Street and Central Park West in the mid-afternoon. The trees were still brilliant with colorful leaves as November was still gripping. We had had such a warm fall that many of the trees turned late much to the benefit of those who like to walk around the neighborhood.

The new West Side Kids store at 201 West 84th Street

https://www.westsidekidsnyc.com/

I walked up to 84th Street and Central Park West to resume my walk of the neighborhood. I really like the stores in this neighborhood. They have character. I walked into West Side Kids at 498 Amsterdam Avenue and West 84th Street, to look at the toys and games. It is one of the classic stores of the city and still holds on to the tradition that kids are not all glued to their cellphones. It has a nice array of games and stuffed animals and assorted pocket Knick knacks. It is a place I would have liked to shop at when I was a kid.

West Side Kids at 201 West 84th Street is a fun store

https://www.westsidekidsnyc.com/

John Koch Antiques at 201 West 84th Street (It has now moved to Long Island City and West Side Kids has taken this space) has unique window displays and in the short visit I had there had many wonderful pieces to decorate the office or your home. I liked the sailboats in the window. There was a turn of the last century feel about the place.

John Koch Antiques at 201 West 84th Street (Closed November 2022-Now in Long Island City-Now West Side Kids)

https://www.kochantiques.com/

https://www.facebook.com/johnkochantiques/

Books of Wonder at 217 West 84th Street (See review on LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com-Closed in 2021) was enjoyable except they were going through a floor move when I was there, and I only got to see the front of the store. It has an excellent selection of classic and contemporary children’s books.

Books of Wonder Book Store at 217 West 84th Street (Closed June 2021)

https://booksofwonder.com/

The beauty of the brownstones of West 84th Street

The unusual entrance of 38 West 84th Street

https://streeteasy.com/building/38-west-85-street-new_york

As you turn the corner onto West 85th Street, take time to admire 101 West 85th Street. The building has the most beautiful architecture and beautiful details and built in the 1880’s. The Red House Apartment building at West 85th Street and West End Avenue near Riverside Drive has unique details to it as well. You really have to stop and look up to admire the design of the building.

151-153 West 85th Street

https://streeteasy.com/building/151-west-85-street-new_york

https://www.landmarkwest.org/building/151-west-85th-street/

The buildings 151-153 were built between 1890-91 by architect John G. Prague in the Queen Anne Style with Romanesque details (Landmark West website).

151 West 85th Street

153 West 85th Street

74 West 74th Street

https://streeteasy.com/building/74-west-85-street-new_york

https://www.cityrealty.com/nyc/central-park-west/the-clifton-74-west-85th-street/1689

The Clifton at 74 West 85th Street is a pre-war condominium building in the Upper West Side’s Central Park West neighborhood finished in 1910 (CityRealty.com).

The detail work from the building

72 West 85th Street

https://www.landmarkwest.org/building/72-west-85th-street/

https://streeteasy.com/building/72-west-85-street-new_york

This townhouse was built between 1894-95 in the Romanesque Revival style by architect Adam Fischer

The details

The faces staring back

The faces staring back

I rounded West 85th Street around West 86th Street and then to West 87th Street.

The building was built in 1890 and is called the Brockholst Apartment. It was named after Brockholst Livingston, the former Supreme Court Judge who family estate the building was built on. Look close at the checkerboard stonework and iron work details (Daytonian).

101 West 85th Street; look at the details of the building

The beauty of the entrance of the building

https://streeteasy.com/building/101-west-85-street-new_york

http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-1890-brockholst-apartment-no-101.html

331-337 West 87th Street

The doorway at 331 West 88th Street

The elegant details of 331 West 88th Street

The beauty of the Red House Building at 350 West 84th Street

https://streeteasy.com/building/red-house

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_House_(Manhattan)

https://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2011/08/harde-shorts-1904-red-house-no-350-west.html

The Red House, completed in 1904, is located on 85th Street between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive. The work of the architectural firm of Harde and Short, it is a distinctive six story red brick and white terra cotta building with bold multi-paneled black painted windows, adorned with dripping Gothic screens and a terra cotta salamander & crown cartouche. The center is recessed behind a triple arched entryway. The partnership of Herbert Spencer Harde and R. Thomas Short was formed in 1901 (Streeteasy.com).

When walking up the block and turning onto West 87th Street, take time to admire the foliage at Central Park West. The park is truly beautiful on this part of block. The trees are really ablaze with color.

Central Park in the Fall of 2024

128 West 87th Street

I strolled past the West 87th Street Garden which was open for the first time that I ever walked this neighborhood. Every time I passed the gardens, they were closed to the public but the weekend I revisited in 2024, all the Public Gardens seemed to be open for planting.

West 87th Street Park & Park at 55 West 87th Street

https://www.87thstreetgarden.com/

The West 87th Street Garden in the Fall of 2024

The West 88th Street Gardens with Fall foliage

The Babe Ruth Apartment at 355 West 87th Street

https://streeteasy.com/building/345-west-87-street-new_york

The plaque

George Herman ‘Babe’ Ruth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth

The doorway above 155 West 87th Street

https://streeteasy.com/building/155-west-87-street-new_york

West 88th Street

West 88th Street entrance to this beautiful townhouse

The entrance to 61 West 88th Street

https://streeteasy.com/building/155-west-87-street-new_york

The brownstones along West 88th Street

There were so many beautiful brownstones with such interesting carvings and gardens in the high 80’s and 90’s on the West Side that I could not feature them all but here are many of my new favorites that I passed along the way.

25 West 88th Street

https://lesliegarfield.com/properties/new-york/sale/25-west-88th-street

Designed by architects Thom & Wilson in 1889, 25 West 88th Street is one of the finest renovated single-family townhouses on the Upper West Side. This triple mint home is among the first in Manhattan to receive a national designation as a Platinum Certified LEED Home and Passive Energy Certification (Leslie Garfield.org).

25 West 88th Street

25 West 88th Street The embellishments

34 West 88th Street in its full glory

https://streeteasy.com/building/34-west-88-street-new_york

34 West 88th Street

https://streeteasy.com/property/1520870-34-west-88-street-3

179 West 89th Street-The old Claremont Riding Academy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claremont_Riding_Academy

https://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2010/11/claremont-riding-academy-175-west-89th.html

https://www.landmarkwest.org/building/173-177-west-89th-street-claremont-riding-academy-was-claremont-stables/

175 West 89th Street

175 West 89th Street

The old Claremont Riding Academy was built by architect Frank A. Rooke and was built in Romanesque Revival style in 1892. These were the oldest continuously operated equestrian stable in New York City and the last public stable in Manhattan (Wiki).

When I arrived at P.S. 166 on 132 West 89th Street, the Richard Rodgers School, is the Manhattan School of Art & Technology. I read the plaque that was dedicated in 2003 to the famous composer. The school was built in 1897 and is one of the few terra cotta Gothic designs in the New York Public School system. It is such an honor to a famous composer of musicals such as ‘The Flower Drum Song’ and ‘The King and I’.

The Playground 89 next to P.S. 166 adds a little life to the quiet neighborhood. Even on a slightly warm November day, there were loads of kids running around while their parents relaxed and chatted on the benches surrounding the park. It was nice to see so many families out that afternoon.

PS 166

The front of PS 166

The historic plaque

The Richard Rodger’s plaque

P.S. 166 is one of the few Terra Cotta schools in NYC

https://www.greatschools.org/new-york/new-york/2547-Ps-166-The-Richard-Rogers-School-Of-The-Arts-And-S/

As you round the neighborhood on West 89th Street, I walked into the West Side Community Garden at 123 West 89th and Columbus Avenue. This little gem of a park is located behind an office building and is across from P.S. 166.

Westside Community Garden sign at 123 West 89th Street

Though not in the full bloom that I saw from the pictures posted in the park from the Summer Opera Program, the trees still held on to their golden hue and some of the plants had some greenery to them. It looks like the community really backs and maintains the park. In warmer months, there is a lot of special events here.

West Side Community Garden in the Fall of 2024 when the replanting was taking

2023

In the Spring of 2026, I got to see the whole garden in full bloom. The volunteers take amazing care of the gardens and their well landscaped paths.

The historic sign

The gardens in the Spring

The entrance to the park

The pathway in the garden

The pathway in the park

The pathway near the entrance to the park

Down the street from the school and the parks is Ballet Hispanico at the corner of 167 West 89th and Amsterdam Avenue. Some of the holiday shows had been posted and looked rather interesting. The building was closed the day I was there.

The last part of my journey of the streets of the neighborhood was crossing West 90th Street for a second time and exploring the avenues. I stopped at the St. Gregory’s Playground near the corner of West 90th Street and Columbus Avenue. this little pocket park on the other side of the West Side Community Garden is in dire need of a face lift.

St. Gregory’s Playground 130 West 90th Street

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/st-gregorys-playground

I can see this is something the neighborhood needs as a parent yelled out to me if I was from the NYC Parks Department (I have no clue why I look so important to people when walking around the city. Either I look like a policeman or a city official).

Since my trip back then, the park looks like it has been renovated and these interesting purple flowers have shown up in the Fall of 2024. Very Surreal!

St. Gregory’s Park at 130 90th Street

There is another small park behind the Wise Houses, a small public housing project, in this very quickly gentrifying and updated neighborhood. As I had read online and seen by walking though it (more stares from the residents), the small park has some unique fixtures yet is falling apart when you really look at it. The benches and some of the equipment is in need of repair but I could tell is well used by the residents by the kids running around. Like the St. Gregory playground, it could use a facelift.

The new Wise Park right next to the housing complex has been totally renovated and looks amazing!

https://www.landmarkwest.org/public-art-survey/stephen-wise-towers-playground/

The park has been dedicated to Henry J. Browne, who was a resident of the community

Click to access Wise%20Towers.pdf

The last part of the walk took me back to West End Avenue on West 90th Street and the most elegant row of brownstone homes that lined the avenue. I have noticed on my walk of this neighborhood that the individual homes along the streets between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue and Riverside Drive and West End Avenue have some of the most unique architecture in the neighborhood.

The beauty of West 90th Street

West 90th Street brownstones that line the street

West 90th Street art on the brownstones

Faces staring at you on West 90th Street

Colorful garden along West 90th Street in early November

The one apartment building that always stood out to me when walking West 90th Street was the Concord Building Apartments. The grace and the detail of the carvings makes you stop and stare at the faces staring back at you.

The Cornwall Building at 255 West 90th Street

https://streeteasy.com/building/255-west-90-street-new_york

https://www.corcoran.com/building/upper-west-side/3065

Built by Neville & Bagge, The Cornwall remains one of the architectural gems of the Upper West Side. Completed in 1910, The Cornwall is a 12 story building with a red-brick façade, three-story limestone base, a number of decorative balconies and impressive Art Nouveau style roofline.
The apartments have fine pre-war details exhibited in gracious layouts, high ceilings, pocket French doors, intricate woodwork, onyx fireplace surrounds and glass transoms (Streeteasy.com)

The beautiful details of The Cornwall Building

The stonework is just amazing

It must have been something when the whole neighborhood must have looked like this but that is progress. In the middle of the neighborhood, the area keeps updating, modernizing and changing. It seems that the neighborhood is morphing into something a little more upscale like its southern neighbors and less like Manhattan Valley to the north. For now, not quite the traditional Upper West Side but still homey and welcoming to people moving in. I enjoyed my afternoons here.

Halloween decorations on West 90th Street

Still more decoration in the post Halloween week

Take the A or C or 1 subway trains to the Upper Upper West Side. The A train will be express from 59th Street to 125th Street.

The West 96th Street subway stop was a constant for me when visiting the Upper West Side and the views are spectacular

Read my other Blogs on the Bloomingdale/Upper West Side neighborhoods:

Day Ninety-Three: Walking the Borders of the Upper Upper West Side:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/6760

Day Ninety-Four: Walking the Avenues of the Upper Upper West Side:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/6842

Day Ninety-Seven: Walking the Streets of the Upper Upper West Side:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/7100

Places to eat:

West Place Chinese Restaurant

1288 Amsterdam Avenue

New York, NY 10027

(212) 932-9390/9376

Open: Sunday 12:00pm-11:00pm/Monday-Saturday 11:00am-12:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d5065901-Reviews-West_Place-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

DiningonShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/591

East Garden Chinese Restaurant (Closed June 2024)

1685 First Avenue

New York, NY

(212) 831-5900

http://www.eastgardenchinese.com

Open: Sunday & Saturday 12:00pm-10:30pm/Monday-Friday 11:30am-10:30pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d12860202-Reviews-East_Garden_Chinese_Restaurant-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/489

Glaser’s Bake Shop (Closed in 2018)

1670 1st Avenue

New York, NY 10128

(212) 289-2562

http://www.glasersbakeshop.com

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d930552-Reviews-Glaser_s_Bake_Shop-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/409

Places to Shop:

West Side Kids

201 West 84th Street (new address)

New York, NY 10024

(212) 496-7282

http://www.westsideskidsnyc.com

https://www.facebook.com/WestSideKids/

Open: Sunday 11:00am-6:00pm/Monday-Thursday 11:00am-7:00pm/Friday-Saturday 10:00am-7:00pm

John Koch Antiques (Closed in 2022 and moved to LIC)

201 West 84th Street

New York, NY 10024

(212) 799-2167

http://www.kochantiques.com

Open: Sunday Closed/Monday & Tuesday 11:00am-5:30pm/Wednesday-Saturday 11:00am-7:00pm

My review on LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/littleshoponmainstreet.wordpress.com/20

Books of Wonder (Closed in 2021)

217 West 84th Street

New York, NY

(800) 207-6968

http://www.booksofwonder.com

Open: Sunday 11:00am-6:00pm/Monday-Saturday 11:00am-7:00pm

My review on LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/littleshoponmainstreet.wordpress.com/42

Places to Visit:

West Side Community Garden

123 West 89th Street

(212) 316-5490

http://www.westsidecommunitygarden.org

Open: No hours posted

Ballet Hispanico

167 West 89th Street

New York, NY 10024

(212) 362-6710

http://www.ballethispanico.org

Playground 89

West 89th Street

New York, NY 10024

http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/playground/eighty-nine

Open: Varies with the school

Joan of Arc Park

Riverside Drive Between West 96th-West 91st Streets

New York, NY 10025

Open: Sunday-Saturday 6:00am-1:00am

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/joan-of-arc-park

https://riversideparknyc.org/places/joan-of-arc-monument/

Day Ninety One: New Blog Sites: VisitingaMuseum.com and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@WordPress.com by Blogger Justin Watrel.

To all of my readers and fellow bloggers following my blog, ‘MywalkinManhattan.com’. I created two more blog sites to accompany the main site.

I created ‘VisitingaMuseum.com’ and ‘DiningonaShoeStringinNYC.Wordpress.com’ to take what I have discovered on the walk around the city and put it into more detail.

I created ‘VisitingaMuseum.com’ to feature all the small and medium museums, pocket parks, community gardens and historical sites that I have found along the way in my walking the streets of the island and in the outlining areas of Manhattan. There are loads of sites you can easily miss either by not visiting the neighborhoods by foot or not consulting a guidebook. Most of the these places are not visited by most residents of the City and should not be missed.

I never realized how many small museums exist in New York City, let alone the outer boroughs and in New Jersey. I have discovered so many wonderful and interesting artifacts in these museums that not only have so much historical value but they also deal with local history.

Gallery Bergen at Bergen Community College

There are so many pocket parks, community gardens and historical sites that you would miss if you did not walk the neighborhoods. What has also been fascinating about it is the people you meet along the way that volunteer in these facilities. There is so much pride to be had by these local residents dedicating their time to make these places successful.

‘DiningonaShoeStringinNYC.Wordpress.com’ is my latest site:

https://diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/

I am featuring and promoting wonderful local restaurants that I have found along the way when doing the walk as well as places I have recently visited outside the city for $10.00 and below. I am not just featuring them for their price but for the quality of the food, the selection and the portion size.

Delicious Dumplings at ‘Dumplings’ on Henry Street

These little ‘hole in the wall’ dining establishments offer a good meal at a fair price as well as supporting the local economy. I have a very limited budget for meals and thought this blog site would help all of you economize when touring New York City and the outlying regions. I cross reference my reviews on TripAdvisor.com.

For anyone thinking of doing a similar project like ‘MywalkinManhattan.com’, I want to let you know how expensive it is to do. I have to pay not just for bus tickets, subway passes, meals, donations to museums and historical sites but the general wear and tear on my clothes. I am on my third pair of sneakers due to this walk. This is why you need to set a budget for it:

https://mywalkinmanhattan.com/

Beekman Place

So I hope you enjoy ‘VisitingaMuseum.com’ and ‘DiningonaShoeStringinNYC.Wordpress.com when coming to Manhattan. Please check all of this places out online for a change of hours and exhibits and menus.

Check out the newest site, “LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com” for small boutiques and specialty shops that are unique and quirky.

Little Shop on Main Street:

https://littleshoponmainstreet.wordpress.com/

Please check out my fire fighting blog sites, ‘The Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association’, ‘tbcfma.Wordpress.com’, where I am blogging about the activities of the association that I am volunteering for at the home on a quarterly basis and the support that the organization gives to The New Jersey Firemen’s Home in Boonton, New Jersey. Firemen for all over Bergen County, where I live, volunteer their time up at the nursing home with activities to engage and cheer up our fellow fire fighters.

The New Jersey Firemen’s Home in Boonton, NJ

https://tbcfha.wordpress.com/

The second site about fire fighting I blog about is ‘The Brothers of Engine One Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department”, ‘EngineOneHasbrouckHeightsFireDepartmentNJ.Wordpress.com’, where I blog about the activities of Engine Company One, in which I am a member, as part of the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department. We do a lot of volunteer work for the department and many of our members are very active and hold a lot of positions on the department.

The Brothers of Engine One HHFD (site now closed-Blogs moved to section of MywalkinManhattan.com called “My life as a Fireman”):

https://engineonehasbrouckheightsfiredepartmentnj.wordpress.com/tag/engine-one-hhfd/

The most frequented of my blogs is “BergenCountyCaregiver.com’, a caregivers blog site to help adult caregivers take care of their loved ones. This helps caregivers navigate a very broken system and put all sorts of programs that might help them all in one place to read and chose what might help them. This deals with county, state and federal programs that most social workers miss because there are so many of them that don’t get a lot of attention. It is by far the most popular site.

The Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association

I wanted to share these with my readers and thank you for following my main blog, ‘MywalkinManhattan.com’. Please also share this with your friends who are visiting New York City to really tour the city by foot and see it for its own beauty and uniqueness.

Happy Reading!

My Blogs:

MywalkinManhattan.com

https://mywalkinmanhattan.com/

BergenCountyCaregiver.com

https://wwwbergencountycaregiver.com/

VisitingaMuseum.com

https://visitingamuseum.com/

DiningonaShoeStringinNYC.Wordpress.com

https://diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/

TheBrothersofEngineOneHasbrouckHeightsFireDepartment@Wordpress.com

https://engineonehasbrouckheightsfiredepartmentnj.wordpress.com/

TBCFMA@Wordpress.com

https://tbcfha.wordpress.com/

Also visit my past blog on Patch.com: The Merchant Series

https://patch.com/users/justin-watrel

https://patch.com/new-jersey/hasbrouckheights/friends-merchant-series-young-fashions

I did this for the Friends of the Hasbrouck Heights Library from 2009-2014.

Day Eighty-Five: Back to Coney Island for the Annual Sandcastle Building Contest and Walking Surf Avenue August 19th, 2017 (Again on August 17th, 2024)

August 21, 2017Dedication to Warren Watrel, Exploring Brooklyn, Exploring Brooklyn Block by Block, Exploring Coney Island, Brooklyn, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the New York City Subway System, Historic New York City neighborhoods, Hot Dog, Hamburger & Fries for the budget minded., Little Shop on Main Street in New York City (LittleShoponMainStreet), My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New York City, Walking around Manhattan, Walking Coney Island, Walking in BrooklynAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver, Brooklyn, Coney Island, Coney Island Beach, Coney Island Sandcastle Building Contest, Coney Island Sandcastle Contest, diningonashoestringinnyc, Exploring Brooklyn, Exploring Brooklyn Block by Block, Exploring Coney Island, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring Surf Avenue in Coney Island, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, LittleShoponMainStreet, Louise Ciminieri Totonno's, MywalkinManhattan.com, Newark Museum, Sandcastle Building Contest in Coney Island, Totonna's Pizza, VisitingaMuseum.com, Walking Brooklyn, Walking in Coney Island, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

In 2017 before I left for Brooklyn, I had a busy day running around Newark and then in Brooklyn visiting both the Newark Museum and Coney Island. I love how everything gets planned on the same day. Everyone was preparing for the Solar Eclipse on Monday, so both the Newark Museum and the American Museum of Natural History are getting ready for the viewings. So I stopped at the Newark Museum first today to see what they were planning knowing that New York was going to be very busy.

The Newark Museum is running a series of members mornings with a early morning tour of the museum and a light breakfast that seems to be catching on with the membership. We had a early morning tour of the kinetic sculpture of Uram Choe, a Korean artist who specializes in metal working sculptures that move on motion. His one piece upstairs in the Asian galleries opens up like the sun would in the morning and his downstairs on the second floor piece is a serpent eating itself, which is based on an old legend.

Uram Choe’s work at the Newark Museum

Artist Uram Choe

http://www.uram.net/eng_new/intro_en.html

Mr. Choe’s is a South Korean born artist from an architect background. He was educated at the Chungang University in Seoul and graduated with both a B.F.A and M.F.A. from the college. Choe’s works push the genre of moving kinetic art toward its newer-generation iterations, such as robotic art (Wiki).^] Each one of his pieces moves on a series of motors based on motion and is placed with such detail and the way it moves is so intricate.

The Newark Museum (See TripAdvisor review) is going though a major renovation where they will be opening the original entrance to the museum in the Fall after twenty years and hopefully a new beginning for a museum with a major identity crisis.

The Newark Museum at 49 Washington Street

https://www.newarkmuseumart.org/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46671-d217958-Reviews-The_Newark_Museum_of_Art-Newark_New_Jersey.html

The museum has such amazing works to see in a beautiful setting but the problem is that Newark still has a negative image to most suburbanites. No one I know wants to go there and that is a real problem for the city. The museum in a great area of the downtown that is being rebuilt and refigured with all sorts of new housing and lofts but it will take time to shake the riots of the 60’s from people’s minds.

They just opened the new American Indian exhibition and refigured the American Art wing to reflect the development of the United States from Native American time to the present. Their Asian and African galleries are very detailed but the biggest problem they have is the imagine of an ‘African’ museum which they can’t seem to shake. It is such a gem and try not to miss going there.

We had a long talk in the gallery about the artist and about the development of Korean Art from Ancient times until today and then the museum had a beautiful Continental breakfast on the top floor of the Ballentine House. This was Mrs. Ballentine’s daughter’s section of the house that was built in the late 1890’s when they moved in after her husband’s death. The room, now used as the trustee’s room, is a look back on the Gilded Age and the invention of electricity in modern homes. It really showed me the treasure trove of artifacts that exist in this small museum.

Ballentine House at 43 Washington Street

https://www.newarkmuseumart.org/ballantine-house-newark-museum-art

After the tour, there was a quick tour of the museum and then a train ride to Manhattan and then a long subway ride on a beautiful clear sunny day to Coney Island. The whole thing took about two hours and I got there by three o’clock.

The contest was gloomy at both times I visited but everyone was eager

The Annual Sandcastle Building Contest in both 2017 and in 2024, I thought would be much bigger than it was. Only about twenty people were competing in it in 2017 and in 2024 about the same amount. With all the artists living in Brooklyn and in the Metropolitan area, I thought this would be a bigger deal than it was but still the works coming from it were spectacular. Several mounds of sand in one section of the beach outside of Luna Park were used but still the imagination of the work was spellbound.

The piles were set with numbers along the beach

Artists and families starting to work around 12:30pm

Getting ready to start

By 1:00pm, everyone was getting to work for the 4:00pm deadline

Most of the works that I saw were some forms of castle which seemed to be the object that everyone based their idea on but some people were a little more creative. There were bears, mermaids and in 2017, one artist even dug out a complete hole and had the imagine of a woman lying in the sea.

In 2024, the creativity was the same with themes of brownstone neighborhoods to mermaid queens to just a simple smile in the sand. There were professionals whose sand creativity was part of their artistic employment to families just having fun and spending time together.

This simple face just appeared on one of the piles at the end of the contest

The creation of the Shark sculpture

The Shark Sculpture in process

The Shark almost finished

The finished Shark Sculpture

Another artist created this Shark display

The Coney Island Alliance hired an artist to create this masterpiece. It just shows the creativity of some artists.

The Coney Island Alliance sculpture in form in the beginning

He kept carving and sculpting

The piece took form

Almost finished

The finished sculpture for the Coney Island Alliance was just beautiful

The final work that represented the Coney Island Alliance. This was the ultimate piece done by a professional artist. I loved the details on this. Some of the professional artists did works to welcome everyone to the contest and their detail work was interesting as you see in the picture above. This was not done by a group of ten year old’s.

Still there were all sorts of works of art created by people of all ages and they showed their stuff by creating their interpretations of their views of New York City and mythical animals that roam the woods, beaches and streets of the big City. Some were fun, some were whimsical and some just stood out in their creativity.

The ladies putting the final touches on the Rat with Pizza sculpture

My favorite sculpture of the contest the rat with a slice of pizza

The start of Beware of Dog sculpture done by this mother and son team

The finished Beware of Dog sculpture

The final touches of Beware of Dog. The details were very clever

These artists created their own affordable brownstone neighborhood in Brooklyn

Then there was the Tales of Two Coasts, New York and Los Angeles, which had real estate details of their own.

I loved this look of Los Angeles, CA

This was the New York City side of the sculpture

Home ownership continued with this kitchen sculpture

Some of the mythical creatures included mermaids, animals and creatures large and small.

This family was sculpting the most clever cat

The finished Cat Inquiry sculpture

Another family was finishing this Hammerhead Shark towards the end of the contest

This Sea Maiden appeared in the sand

Rebirth and Birth Sculpture

This penguin found a home in the sand

This Heart with a Sunflower was in its final stages when I saw it last

The Magical Train was one of the first sculptures done

A Castle with a Moat was created

The mighty Elephant was being worked on towards the end of the contest

The iconic New York Hot Dog is happily served

The Shellebrity Sightings sculpture

The Phoenix sculpture on the beach

One of the most detailed sculptures I saw the creation of the Mermaid Queen.

The creation of the Mermaid Queen

The Mermaid Queen takes shape

The finished Queen Mermaid with her Crown

The finished Mermaid Queen

There was also the creation of the Sand Witches with their big smiles.

Creating the Sand Witches

Creating the main character

The Sand Witches sculpture

The creation of Do Not Feed the Bears

The finished Do Not Feed the Bears sculpture

Another Mermaid appears

Here and there during the contest and for the rest of the day, the sun peaked out now and then giving us some sun but the rest of the day remained cloudy. Still that did not dampen the spirits of our artists and by 4:00pm the winners were announced. The Winners were sculptures numbers 63, 07 and 39 with the People’s Choice being 01 (I am not too sure I have everything numbered) but the ones above are my favorites and worthy of all the picture taking.

In 2017, I walked along the beach to relax my feet and as I walked, I could not believe how empty the beaches were for a Saturday afternoon in August. By the water it was full but towards the back by the boardwalk it was empty. In 2024, the incoming hurricane weather kept people away as the beaches were closed for swimming. The surf was really rough that morning and afternoon and the weather was gloomy. Even when I visited on the 4th of July, the beaches were not as crowded as I would have thought. Not the Coney Island of yesteryear when every spot was full. I guess its just not that place anymore.

Taking a walk along the gloomy and almost empty Midway by Luna Park

After a long walk along the beach, I dried off and walked the boardwalk to the end to Seagate, a private community at the end of the boardwalk. Along the way, I passed by the Coney Island Houses, one of the more dangerous housing complexes in Brooklyn. I don’t know whose brilliant idea it was to build low-income housing along the shore front but that made no sense to me.

It looked like the complex was having a barbecue, that is until two guys went after each other in the basketball court area as the DJ was announcing a kids dance. She was beside herself to tell them to calm down. Then you had two groups of people trying to calm the situation down. It was not a pleasant scene.

I got to the end of the boardwalk and decided I wanted to see all of Surf Avenue to see the real changes on the island since the closing of the amusement area. I agree with an article I read years ago; it still is like a war zone.

They built all this public housing outside Seagate and as you walk along Surf Avenue until you get to about where the rehab center is, it just looks like Beirut. The whole area is full of rundown looking public housing and the street itself is a shell of the once glorious resort if it ever was that. If there are ever going to get this island back into shape, the city seriously needs to rethink this part of the island.

I walked the entire length of Surf Avenue down to Brighton Beach and really looked at the stretch of the island facing the shore. By Brighton Beach, the area got so much nicer and more built up. Even in some of the pockets before the amusement area, they are building new condos along the boardwalk in between the projects. Even still, even when you reach Nathan’s, there is just too much wasted opportunity along the shore front.

Walking on the Coney Island Boardwalk in 2017

I turned around and walked up Stillwell Avenue by the subway spot and there they are starting to knock down the block and replacing it with low rise apartment buildings. This is where all the hipster people must be living. It looks like more of this area is about to come down.

In 2024, I got to the beach at 12:30pm and walked around the shore until about 2:00pm watching everyone build their creations. Then I walked around Deno’s Wonderwheel Park, watching the patrons on the Wonderwheel and going into Spookarama, their haunted house ride.

Spookarama in Deno’s Wonderwheel Park

The haunted display by the ride

The haunted display in the park

In 2017 for dinner, I went to Totonno’s Pizzeria Napolitano at 1524 Neptune Avenue between 15th and 16th Streets (See TripAdvisor review). This place is harder to get into than any trendy restaurant in Manhattan. They only make so much dough and as a matter of fact the smaller pizzas sold out before I got there and it was 4:30pm when I ate my lunch/dinner. The place was busy the entire time I got there. The only bad thing about the restaurant is the seating. They need to reconfigure their tables to accommodate more people. You can’t seat a single person like myself at a six top table.

Totonna’s Pizza at 1524 Neptune Avenue

https://www.totonnosconeyisland.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60827-d4427073-Reviews-Totonno_s-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

The menu is so simple. Either you get a small or large pizza with a choice of ten toppings for $2.50 extra. The drinks were pricey with a bottle of Coke being $2.50. The pizza was $20.50 for the large or $18.50 for the small. The place is cash only.

The pizza was wonderful and with the size and the quality of ingredients, well worth the money. You get a large pizza that is a large pizza with fresh tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella, which gives it a different flavor from the shredded processed cheese most places use giving it a creamy flavor. The whole thing was topped with fresh basil and I added sausage to it. Cooking it in a coal brick stove gave it a nice smoky flavor. Needless to say, the owner could not believe I ate almost the entire pie at one sitting.

Totonna’s Cheese Pizza

I met Louise Ciminieri, the current owner and the granddaughter of the original owner. She told me how the business passed down from her grandfather to her uncle and then to her. Her uncle had a habit of only making so much dough and after it was gone, the restaurant closed for the day. A little strange for a business to make money.

Owner Louise Ciminieri of Totonno’s Pizza

She could not have been nicer or more welcoming to me and seemed to get a kick at the fact that I made such a fuss in meeting her. I told her of all the reviews online and the fact that my own mom had eaten here probably when her uncle first owned the business. She has not changed the place much over the years and she explained how the neighborhood has changed so much since they opened. What was once an Italian neighborhood is now all car repair places.

After dinner in 2017, I took once last walk around Surf Avenue and then headed back to Manhattan where I ended up spending the rest of the evening at an outdoor concert in Bryant Park. It was nice to just relax and listen to the music.

In 2024, I passed the pizzeria and it still has not opened for in house dining but people were buying pizzas to go. I thought I saw the owner sitting at the only booth left inside but I was not sure. I have to say that without in house dining, there is no reason to go. There is no place to eat around the restaurant (it is not the best part of Coney Island) and I don’t want to drag a pizza three blocks back to the beach to eat it on a bench. The pizzeria is only open on the weekends as well, so I searched around Mermaid Avenue for someplace else to dine.

Here I found Pizza on the Run at 1627 Mermaid Avenue near the side entrance to the subway station. I had passed the place many times but the outside always looked a little shoddy and I avoided it. Big Mistake! The pizza is amazing!

Pizza on the Run at 1627 Mermaid Avenue

https://www.doordash.com/store/pizza-on-the-run-brooklyn-25003736/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60827-d4942117-Reviews-On_the_Run_Pizza-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

I have to admit that the pizza was a little pricey at $3.50 a slice but the slice was oversized and their sauce on the pizza was delicious. It was so well spiced and gave it so much flavor that I enjoyed every bite.

The Cheese slice was amazing and I plan on going back in the future and trying more items here.

After lunch was over, I gave myself some time before the contest was officially over and walked around this section of Coney Island. Little by little it is getting better. As the luxury rentals along Surf Avenue are getting ready to open for residents, I can see that they are trying to fix up Mermaid Avenue behind it. A lot of the businesses that had been there a few months ago are now closed and the side walks from the subway station down three blocks are being fixed. Along the walls was a bright mural welcoming people to Coney Island from the subway side.

The Welcome to Coney Island mural by Mermaid Avenue

Taken from the other angle

The mural was created by artist Danielle Mastrion

Artist Danielle Mastrion

http://www.daniellemastrion.com/about.html

Danielle Mastrion is a Brooklyn-born, New York City based painter and muralist who specializes in large scale, brightly colored murals (Artist bio).

Coney Island Surf Avenue businesses next to Nathan’s

On the way back to the beach, four other murals stood out as well. These are located on the walk down the sidewalk to Nathan’s on Surf Avenue.

Mural One

Mural Two

Mural Three

Mural Four

After the contest winners were announced in 2024 at 4:00pm, I left to head back to Manhattan. It was such a gloomy day. There was not much else going on that afternoon and people were leaving the beaches. As I took a look back at the shore, the waves were really coming in meaning the storm was on its way up the coast (we did get hit in Sunday).

I headed back to Manhattan to see the movie “The Funhouse” at the MoMA. They were having a retrospect on director Toby Hooper’s movies so I had already seen “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Poltergeist” .

The trailer for “The Funhouse” by director Toby Hooper

After the movie was over, trying to find a restaurant for dinner was trying in of itself. I had not realized how many restaurants in Midtown were closing at 9:00pm even on Friday night post-COVID.

I went into Murray Hill and the restaurant I had planned to go to had already closed at 8:45pm so I looked at my dine around program and found that Dim Sum Garden at 338 Lexington Avenue. I was really in the mood for Chinese food that evening and it came highly recommended.

The new Dim Sum Garden at 338 Lexington Avenue

https://www.daodimsum.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d27101318-Reviews-Dimsum_Garden-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

The inside of the restaurant

I was able to order before the kitchen closed and it was a nice dinner. The food was so fresh and it looked like everything was made to order and homemade in the kitchen. The Shrimp Balls were especially good. They were made with sweet shrimp meat, nicely coated with rice flour and deep fried perfectly. It was one of the best Dim Sum meals I have had in a awhile.

My dinner of Soup Dumpling, Shrimp Balls and Roast Duck Rolls

The Shrimp Balls

The Soup Dumplings

The Roast Duck Rolls

It was a fun and very productive day and a great way to end the trip to Coney Island. The weather may have been a bit gloomy both times I visited Coney Island for the contest but it did not damper the spirit of the event. It looked like everyone had fun.

The Coney Island Sandcastle Building Contest is held each August.

Please check out my recent blog on the Coney Island Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4th, 2024:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/50037

Please check out my blog on riding the new Q train to Coney Island from its start at East 96th Street in Manhattan:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/5966

Places to Visit:

Newark Museum/Ballentine House

49 Washington Avenue

Newark, NJ 07102

(973) 596-6550

https://www.newarkmuseum.org/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46671-d217958-Reviews-Newark_Museum-Newark_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/1818

Coney Island Beach

Surf Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11224

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60827-d106173-Reviews-Coney_Island-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

Places to Eat:

Totonno’s Pizza

1524 Neptune Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11224

(718) 372-8606

https://www.totonnosconeyisland.com/

Open: Friday-Sunday 12:30pm-7:30pm/Closed Monday-Thursday

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60827-d459062-Reviews-Totonno_Pizzeria_Napolitano-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

Pizza on the Run

1627 Mermaid Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11224

(718) 746-6677

https://places.singleplatform.com/on-the-run-pizza/menu

Open: Sunday-Saturday 10:00am-11:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60827-d4942117-Reviews-On_the_Run_Pizza-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

Dim Sum Garden

338 Lexington Avenue

New York, NY 10018

(646) 559-2388

https://www.daodimsum.com/

Open: Sunday-Saturday 11:00am-10:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d27101318-Reviews-Dimsum_Garden-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Day Eighty-Two: Going from Q to Q. Taking the subway from the beginning of the Q on 96th Street to Stillwell Avenue Coney Island August 9th, 2017 (Again June 2024)

August 16, 2017"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Candy and Ice Cream stores for the budget minded, Dedication to Warren Watrel, Dining on a Shoe String Restaurants in New York City, Exploring Brooklyn, Exploring Brooklyn Block by Block, Exploring Coney Island, Brooklyn, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring NYC Parks, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the New York City Subway System, Exploring The Upper East Side of Manhattan, Historic New York City neighborhoods, Hot Dog, Hamburger & Fries for the budget minded., Little Shop on Main Street in New York City (LittleShoponMainStreet), My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, Pizzeria's and Italian Restaurants for the budget-minded, Sandwich and Deli's for the budget minded, Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New York City, Walking around Brooklyn, Walking around ManhattanAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, BergenCountyCaregiver, Coney Island, Coney Island Amusements, Coney Island Beach, Coney Island Museum, Cyclone Rollercoaster, Deno's Wonderwheel Park, diningonashoestringinnyc, Exploring Brooklyn, Exploring Coney Island, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring NYC Subways, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the Upper East Side, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, LittleShoponMainStreet, Louise Ciminieri Totonno's, Luna Park, MywalkinManhattan.com, Nathan's Coney Island, New York Aquarium, Totonno's Pizza, VisitingaMuseum.com, Walking in Brooklyn, Walking in Coney Island, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watrel, Wonder Wheeljwatrel

I had finished the Manhattan Valley neighborhood earlier in the day when the Soup Kitchen was full and they did not need me. So, I walked the lower part of the neighborhood to finish it off and then walked across Central Park to the beginning of the new subway stop for the Q subway train at 96th Street and Second Avenue. As I had written on Day Sixty-Six on my walk, this subway line is really nice and take time to look at the artwork at the stops at 96th, 72nd and 63rd Streets.

The 96th Street stop my starting point

If you are going to take the Q to Coney Island leave yourself plenty of time because it is over an hour to get from one end of the Q to the other. It was a beautiful warm clear sunny day around 84 degrees and a perfect day to go to the shore.

The 96th Street artwork in the terminal

I love the Q train! I love the new section of the subway with its interesting art and the fact that it is so clean. That and the fact they the E subway has the newest cars to stretch out in. It makes it a pleasure for the long trips.

The artwork on the 96th Street station

You get some of the best views of the city from the subway once you cross over into Brooklyn. You get a great view of lower Manhattan when exiting from underground plus you get to see the old parts of Brooklyn with views of the ‘Brownstone’ neighborhoods. There’s another area that keeps changing with gentrification.

The subway ends at the Stillwell subway stop. This rebuilt stop was the first part in the renovation of the island to make it a more 24-hour resort. Most of the other plans have been scrapped or were never enacted. To be honest with all of you, the amusement area of Coney Island is still dumpy and has not been much since the Luna Park fire of 1946 and the Dreamland fire of 1911. They keep trying though.

The changes on Surf Avenue keep happening every month

Even when I went to Coney Island as a kid in the 70’s, it was rundown then. Please don’t get me wrong, Coney Island can be a lot of fun and you can have a great day out here but don’t get too lofty of expectations of what it is like (See reviews on TripAdvisor). Don’t venture too far from Nathan’s after dark and follow the crowd back to the Stillwell subway station after dark if you stay for the films on the beach or the fireworks.

The Coney Island Museum Bar is a great place to relax when you get to Coney Island.

I have been down for the Mermaid Parade in the Spring several years ago and will be going to the Sandcastle Building contest next week. There is a lot going on during the summer and it is good to check out these activities. The Hot Dog Eating Contest at Nathan’s draws thousands to the island to watch their hero’s devour hot dogs at record speed.

Still the I love to explore the changes to the island and walked around Surf and Neptune Avenues after I got there. I wanted to see if Totonno’s Pizza was open that day so I walked for two blocks Neptune Avenue and I will tell you that though the area is changing it still is not a great neighborhood.

Totonno’s is in the middle of a commercial area with a series of garages and car repairs at 1524 Neptune Avenue. The worst part was that it closed for the day. The restaurant is only opened from Wednesday to Sunday so it’s for another time. I did get to see the back part of the island and found where the original Coney Island Creek was located. This is where the original Sea Lion Park and Luna Park were located back in the early part of the century.

Totonno’s Pizza at 1524 Neptune Avenue

https://www.totonnosconeyisland.com/e

I changed my plans around and walked the length of Surf Avenue and started my walk around the amusement area which runs from the Aquarium at West 8th Street to about West 16th Street. Even with the rebuilding of Luna Park on the footprint of the old Astroland, Surf Avenue needs a major makeover. The chain restaurants have added a little life to it but still some of the blocks are a series of rundown buildings and old-time amusements.

The Coney Island Boardwalk

I stopped by the Coney Island Museum at 1208 Surf Avenue and the museum part was closed for the day but the side show part was open but I had missed the show. I walked around some of the open exhibitions on the outside and it is interesting to see some of the artifacts from the old amusement days.

Coney Island Museum at 1208 Surf Avenue

https://www.coneyisland.com/programs/coney-island-museum

My next stop was the famous Cyclone Roller Coaster on West 10th Street (see review on TripAdvisor). This is the most amazing and exciting ride on the island and one of the things you should see while you are in New York City. It is $10.00 to ride the coaster but it is well worth it! That first hill you go down is so mind-blowing. You feel as if the cars are going to fly into the sea. It rolls up and down those hills back and forth facing the buildings across the street and the sea. Of all the amusement parks I have been to there is nothing like the Cyclone.

Cyclone Rollercoaster at 801 Reiglemann Boardwalk

https://lunaparknyc.com/rides/coney-island-cyclone/

I walked into the Luna Park area and saw the improvements that have been added to the park. The problem with Luna Park is that it’s mostly kiddie rides and not much for adults with the exception of the Log Flume Ride. Luna Park was rebuilt on the old Astroland which had closed by in 2008 and is trying to capture the old magic of the island with upgrades on rides and concessions. It even recreated the original entrance of Luna Park across the street from the old park. Still, it will take a lot more work on the park and more added rides in the future. I give them so much credit for revitalizing the park with a new look.

The entrance to the new Luna Park in Coney Island

https://lunaparknyc.com/

I walked after that to Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park, 1025 Regielmann Boardwalk, which I had not been on for about seven years and the famous Spook-a-Rama, which I had not ridden since I was about eight. The Wonder Wheel was built back in the 20’s and with a height of 150 feet, has great views of the ocean and of the island. Both rides were $8.00 and were well worth it for the day.

When riding the Wonder Wheel, make sure to get one of the cars that slide. Not only do you get the view but you get the excitement of sliding around. When you reach the top of the Wonder Wheel, it has the most breathtaking view of the boardwalk area, the beach and ocean and a view of the whole island. The breeze is so refreshing up there and you feel like the world is your own. Talk about seeing the world go by.

Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park at 1025 Regielmann Boardwalk

https://www.denoswonderwheel.com/

After the Wonder Wheel, I walked over to Spook-a-Rama, also $8.00, which I first rode when I was eight and it has not changed that much since then. It does have a few thrills that do pop out at you that will have you jumping. There have been a few updates on it with video displays but for the most part I remember it being much scarier as a kid. I will let you know though the first couple of things popping out at you will still have you jumping out of your seat but still it’s not the Haunted Mansion at Disney Parks.

Spook-a-Rama at Deno’s Wonderwheel Park

The entrance of the Spook-a-Rama

I had enough time to go to the New York Aquarium located at West 8th Street, just past the Cyclone. During Hurricane Sandy in 2012, most of the Aquarium was seriously damaged and most of the park is still under construction. The Coral Exhibition is still interesting especially with the destruction of the wreaths around the world and the Sea Lion demonstration is a lot of fun. The Sea Lions are such hams and seem to love the crowds. What I thought was interesting is that both of them were born in New York City at the Bronx Zoo, so they have only known humans. Still, they look like they are having fun. They seem to love waving to the audience and the crowds love them back.

New York Aquarium at West 8th Street

https://nyaquarium.com/

Disco Dancing on the Boardwalk

While I was walking on the Boardwalk, I caught this group of people dancing to the BeeGees. The 1970’s have never really ended.

My last stop of the evening was dinner at Nathan’s at 1310 Surf Avenue. This hot dog chain was founded in 1916 and is still in their original location. They have the best hot dogs and their French fries are some of the best in the industry. When you go you have to have the original hot dog with mustard, the regular fries (which is a large order anywhere else) and their famous Orange-aid. It is the best meal.

Nathan’s Coney Island at 1310 Surf Avenue

https://nathansfamous.com/

The sign welcoming you to Nathan’s

On a hot sunny day, it is nice to sit out on the tables right next to the restaurant. There is something about the sea breezes, the salt air and hot dogs and fries that make a phenomenal combination. It is a meal that is part of the beach experience and that was worth the trip alone.

My favorite meal at Nathan’s: A Hot Dog, French Fries and an icy Coke

Before it got too late, I was back on the Q Train back to Manhattan. I’m sorry but sensible people still get out of Coney Island before it gets dark. Even though the subway station on Stillwell and Surf Avenues is very safe and there is a police station there, it’s better to leave before dusk. I don’t care how many artists have moved into the area.

The subway ride took just over an hour to get back to Manhattan but it was still light out when I left the shore area and got my last glimpse of the ocean pass by. There is nothing like watching the sun reflect on the beach. The best was that we passed lower Manhattan before we went under the tunnel and watched the skyline brightened by the lights in the office towers. If you want to see an amazing site, it is when the city lights come on and the skyline is ablaze. It is like a picture postcard and impressive. When people think of New York City, this is what they imagine.

Coney Island Beach

When I finally got back to 96th Street, I had some time to look at the artwork again and stretch around the station. I still love to see museum quality art in a subway. Then it was off back on the Q back to midtown.

For the price of a round-trip ticket on the subway, it is fantastic voyage around the city on the new Q. Artwork, amusements, skyline views and the beach. What more could you want?

From Q to Q Beginning to End from 96th Street to Stillwell Avenue

The Boardwalk at night

Video of people dancing on the Boardwalk:

IMG_9545 Download

Luna Park at night is like a Fantasyland

Luna Park at night

Places to Visit:

Coney Island Museum

3050 Stillwell Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11224

(718) 372-5159

https://www.coneyisland.com/programs/coney-island-museum

Open: Sunday-Saturday 12:00pm-8:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60827-d555621-Reviews-The_Coney_Island_Museum-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/1978

Luna Park Coney Island/Cyclone Rollercoaster

1000 Surf Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11224

(718) 373-5862

https://lunaparknyc.com/

Open: Monday-Thursday 11:00am-10:00pm/Friday-Sunday 11:00am-12:00am

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60827-d1796964-Reviews-Luna_Park_at_Coney_Island-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

Deno’s Wonderwheel Park

1023 Riegelmann Boardwalk

Brooklyn, NY 11224

(718) 372-2592

https://www.denoswonderwheel.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60827-d565041-Reviews-Deno_s_Wonder_Wheel_Park-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

The New York Aquarium

602 Surf Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11224

(718) 265-3474

https://nyaquarium.com/

Open: Sunday 10:00am-6:00pm/Monday-Thursday 10:00am-5:00pm/Friday & Saturday 10:00am-9:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60827-d107414-Reviews-New_York_Aquarium-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/3619

Places to Eat:

Nathan’s Famous

1310 Surf Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11224

(718) 333-2202

https://nathansfamous.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60827-d458011-Reviews-Nathan_s_Famous-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

Day Seventy-Nine: Walking the Borders of Manhattan Valley (the Bloomingdale District) from West 110th Street to West 96th Street from Riverside Drive to Central Park West July 16th, 2017 (Again November 16th, 2024, and March 14th, 2025)

July 24, 2017Chinese Restaurants for the budget minded, Dedication to Warren Watrel, Dining on a Shoe String Restaurants in New York City, Exploring Hamilton Heights/Manhattanville, Exploring Harlem in Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring Manhattan Valley/Bloomingdale/Upper West Side, Exploring Morningside Heights in Manhattan, Exploring New York City, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring NYC Parks, Exploring the Entire Length of the Island of Manhattan/Broadway Walk, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the New York City Subway System, Exploring the Rim of the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Gourmet restaurants for the budget minded, Historic New York City neighborhoods, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New York City, Walking around ManhattanAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Art Studio of Harlem, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver, diningonashoestringinnyc, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring Morningside Heights, Exploring Morningside Park, Exploring New York City, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the Upper West Side, Firemen's Memorial, Grant's Tomb, Joy Brown Broadway, Joy Brown sculpture, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, littleshoponmainstreet.com, LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com, Manhattan Valley, MywalkinManhattan.com, VisitingaMuseum.com, Walk Manhattan, Walking around Manhattan, Walking in Manhattan, Walking Manhattan, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

I walked a tremendous number of miles today. I had wanted to see three cultural sites before I left the Harlem area. I wanted to visit the Museum of Arts & Letters, The Studio Art Museum of Harlem and Grant’s Tomb. So, my trip on this hot Sunday started at the 157th Street One Subway station. I had wanted to start at the Museum of Arts & Letters.

The whole campus that the museum shares with the Hispanic Society was closed for renovation, so I walked from 155th Street to 122nd Street to tour the Grants Tomb National Memorial. The tomb is open only at certain times, so I wanted to get to the park early.

It has only been three months since I left this part of Harlem, and a lot has changed. Even I can’t keep up with all the changes as I was walking down Broadway. Many of the businesses that I passed have since closed. Many of the storefronts as you get closer to the SUNY campus around 140th Street to about 132nd Street have converted to small trendy restaurants and clothing stores. Many of the older businesses that had catered to the neighborhood Hispanic customer now have ‘For Rent’ signs or are being updated for a more diverse customer. I had seen this happen in the short time I was walking Inwood in upper Manhattan.

When I got to General Grant National Memorial at 122nd Street (See TripAdvisor review and on VisitingaMuseum.com), there were already a couple parties going on around the park area. On a nice day, there are always birthday parties for kids in the park around the tomb. People in the neighborhood love to spend time with their families here and in the other parts that surround the area.

General Grant National Memorial (Grant’s Tomb) at West 122nd Street

https://www.nps.gov/gegr/index.htm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d105812-Reviews-General_Grant_National_Memorial-New_York_City_New_York.html

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

General Grant National Memorial 122nd Street and Riverside Drive New York, NY 10027

There were not that many people touring the tomb and the building itself, so it was nice to take my time. Designed by architect John Hemenway Duncan in 1883 and the tomb was dedicated in April 1897 on the 75th Anniversary of President Grant’s birth. The President’s remains were placed here right before the dedication and his wife was buried here in 1902 (Wiki/NYC Parks).

The inside of General Grant’s National Memorial

President Ulysses S. Grant (Wiki)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_S._Grant

The vaults are amazing with paintings on the ceiling of scenes of his life that were put up in recent years. The crypts of him and his wife, Julia, are on the bottom level of the tomb surrounded by the busts of generals that fought in the Civil War with him. It does not take that long to tour the tomb or the gift shop.

The Rotunda and tombs inside of Grant’s Tomb

I learned a lot about our 18th President Grant by watching a film on him. I never knew at the end that he died broke and what saved the family were his memoirs. Amazing the things that happen in people’s lives in the end.

President and Mrs. Grant’s tombs

After the tour of the tomb, I walked down to the Studio Art Museum of Harlem and toured several of the exhibitions. The museum is located at 144 West 125th Street (See review on TripAdvisor and on VisitingaMuseum.com) and is open for viewing for free on Sundays with the support of Target Stores. The museum is small and only take about an hour to two hours to see all the exhibitions which is nice. Some museums the exhibitions are endless, and it takes hours to see and absorb everything. The Studio Art Museum exhibitions are detailed but on a smaller scale.

The Studio Art Museum of Harlem

https://studiomuseum.org

I was able to see artist Rico Gatson’s exhibition on 70’s influenced art, Jamel Shabazz’s exhibition of photo’s around 125th Street, which I don’t know if you could do today without releases and the “Regard the Figure” exhibition, which is in the front of the gallery on figures that influenced the curator.

The Rico Gatson exhibits at the museum

All were very interesting and had their own unique perspective of the culture. I was able to get through all three exhibitions in less than two hours. After viewing the exhibits, I sat on their outside patio to relax for a while. It was a hot day and I just needed to cool off in the shade. There had been a nice crowd in the museum that afternoon.

Rico Gatson’s Work at The Studio Art Museum of Harlem

Artist Rico Gatson in front of his work

http://ricogatson.com/

After the Art Studio of Harlem, I walked down to the business district of 116th Street and went for some lunch. Like the rest of Harlem, things are opening and closing so fast you can’t keep up with them. Half the customers on 116th Street are White and Asian with lot of customers from Columbia University and the Upper West Side who are starting to come to this area to eat. There are many innovative restaurants opening up on the 116th Street row.

I had lunch at Harlem Pizza Company at 135 West 116th Street, a restaurant that I had passed and had read online that was very good (See review on TripAdvisor). The pizza was wonderful, and the service was very friendly and welcoming. I sat in the outdoor seating area, and it had cooled down a bit since it was later in the afternoon.

The Harlem Pizza Company at 135 West 116th Street (Closed June 2024)

Home

The restaurant is excellent, and I highly recommend it. I had a personal 12-inch pizza with sausage and soppressata that was perfectly cooked, the meats and sauce were highly spiced and was gooey and delicious. It was nice to just eat and watch the world walk by. It is a very relaxing that afternoon.

My next stage of the walk included walking Manhattan Valley, another name for the Upper Upper West Side. This area includes from West 110th Street from Riverside Drive to the West and Central Park North to the East and West 96th Street to the South. I was able to ring the neighborhood and work off breakfast and lunch at the same time.

I passed the Minerva Bernardino Greenstreet park on the way down West 110th Street. This tiny park is hard to miss as the flowers were blooming all over the place and tables were being set up around it by the restaurants. I thought it was a little cool of this.

The Minerva Bernardino Greenstreet Park at 110th Street

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/minerva-bernardino-greenstreet

The park was just starting to bloom.

The park was named after Diplomat Minerva Bernadino from the Dominican Republic

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minerva_Bernardino

Her biography of her accomplishments was on the street sign.

The Greenstreet gardens in 2025

I started the later part of the afternoon walking from Morningside Park to Central Park West. God was the park busy. There must have been four birthday parties, two barbecues, five basketball games, a soccer game and a softball league playing in various areas of the park.

Morningside Park in Harlem

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/morningside-park

Morningside Park in the Spring

A lot has changed in this side of town in the last 25 years. It is a major change from the mid-80’s when most of this area was abandoned. I remember seeing pictures of this area in the late 80’s and all through the 90’s and it was not such a nice area. Most of the housing was run down, Riverside Park was over-grown and sensible people did not travel above 86th Street.

The Morningside Park Pond in the early Spring

I had dinner with a vendor my last year at Macy’s in 1995 on 92nd Street and the vendors and my boss at the time said to take the subway to 86th and walk up. I took it to 96th and walked down and even then, I could see what they were talking about. It was run down but didn’t seem dangerous. Two weekends later I got adventurous and walked up to Columbia University. Those were the years where fences were put on the entrances to Morningside Park.

The pond and the waterfall in Morningside Park in the Fall of 2024

A lot of the buildings were abandoned and boarded up by 100th and the further you got from Central Park the worse it got. I had even overheard two Columbia students talking about the fires in buildings across Morningside Park the evening before. You would not see any of that today. The mood in the Fall of 2024 was nothing but pleasant and the whole area has gentrified. Most of the people walking in the park the afternoon I had visited were a white, upper middle-class couples with strollers.

Morningside Park Farmers Market in 2024

https://www.morningsidepark.org/farmers-market

The wonderful items to buy and eat at the Morningside Park Farmers Market

I was not surprised on how nice it was to walk around now. This area has improved so much in the last thirty years and keeps getting nicer and more expensive. Pretty much everything until the 130’s on this side of the island is getting a facelift. The east side of the island over 100th is more juxtaposed. All along Fredrick Douglas Boulevard, Malcolm X Boulevard and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard new restaurants, cafes and shops have opened catering to a diverse group of New Yorkers.

I started my walk down Central Park West, walking past the apartments on the other side of the park. Everything has changed so much up here. Almost all the apartments facing the Central Park now are luxury homes and apartment buildings sandblasted back to their original elegance. Each building has its own unique style. The best part of them is their view of the park must be amazing.

I passed some unusual historical sites and artwork along the way. At the entrance of the subway station at Broadway and 96th Street is a statue of a woman holding her child by the artist, Joy Brown.

Ms. Brown was born and raised in Japan and holds a BFA from Eckerd College in Florida and has done a lot of her personal training in the field. She is known for her work in pottery and bronze (Artist Bio)

Artist Joy Brown in front of one of her works

https://www.joybrownstudio.com

This very whimsical statue is part of a collection of statues that line Broadway and a map is provided at each site to find them. Some of the people thought it might be the Madonna and child. I guess everyone has their interpretation of it. There were a lot of families taking pictures by it when I was there.

Artist Joy Brown

https://www.facebook.com/joybrownsculpture

At the corner of 96th Street and West End Avenue is a plaque to Teresa Carreno, the famous Venezuelan pianist who lived at the Delha Robbins Apartments back at the turn of the last century. I had no clue how famous she was, but she had traveled over the world performing. She was a composer, conductor, soprano and pianist who composed over 75 original works. She also had interesting relationships that spread to four husbands.

Pianist Teresa Carreno

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Teresa-Carreno

She was quite the character at the turn of the last century. Here’s a sample of her work:

Pianist Teresa Carreno playing Chopin

When I made the turn around at 96th Street, there is no exit so be prepared to walk down to 95th Street and go under the tunnel by Riverside Park. Go under and around and take some time to walk through Riverside Park and take in the view. I had walked through this area last summer on my way up to 155th Street after some time at the American Museum of Natural History. It is nice to see the park in full bloom again.

I passed the Firemen’s Memorial at Riverside Drive at 100th Street and the Shinran Statue at 105th Street. I have never seen these before and the Firemen’s Memorial means a lot to me being a fireman. It’s nice to see the memorial being visited and flowers being left.

Artist Henry Van Buren Magonigle

https://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-1700547

The memorial was designed by H. Van Buren Magonigle and the statues that flank it were designed by Attillo Pirccirilli. The two were well known for their design of memorials including the U.S.S. Maine statue on Columbus Circle (NYCParks).

The statues represent “Duty” and “Sacrifice” on both sides of the memorial. The idea for the memorial came about in 1908 at the funeral of Deputy Chief Charles A. Kruger by Reverend Henry C. Potter who questioned why there were no memorials to our private public servants (NYCParks.com).

The Firemen’s Memorial in Riverside Park

The back of the Firemen’s Memorial

The detail work of the Memorial

The tablet at the Memorial

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/riverside-park/monuments/482

The Shinran Statue was dedicated to Buddhism. The interesting part of the statue is that the statue came from Hiroshima from outside a temple in the city and when the atomic blast happened as the temple burned this statue stood guard. The statue was then shipped to New York in 1955 and has stood, radiation free in New York City since then. I now sit as a monument to world peace (Atlas Obscura).

The Shinran Statue on Riverside Drive

Along Riverside Drive between 107th and 108th Street, there is a majestic set of mansions that line Riverside Park. These are going under renovation but still the detail work on these homes is very elegant and must have been something when they were built at the turn of the last century. They stand out amongst all the apartment buildings that line the park.

As I turned around at 110th Street and walked back around the same route on the other side of the street. One of the most beautiful spots along Riverside Avenue is between 96th and 97th Streets with a line of shade trees that must be over 100 years old. It is just so graceful and humbling to see these huge trees and the way they shade and lead the path down this part of the sidewalk. Its nature at its best.

Riverside Park in the 110 Street area in the Fall of 2024

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/riverside-park

I passed Central Park on the park side of Central Park West and when you reach around 100th Street, you see the rock formations that line the avenue. This is a result of the last Ice Age and I had seen similar formations uptown. Again this is when you realize that Manhattan is not flat. Nature takes over when you see the trees and plants growing through the cracks. This picturesque part of the park with trees, bushes and flowers sticking out here and there through the formations. Its wall is what separates the park from the street.

The rock formations prove that Manhattan was moved by the ice age in Fall 2024

Rock formations in the Upper Part of Central Park in the Summer of 2024

This part of Central Park reminds us that Manhattan isn’t all flat.

When reaching 110th Street at the corner of that and Central Park West, several new buildings are built around the circle of the two streets. Modern architecture dominates this part of the street and ushers in a new beginning to this once destitute section of the neighborhood as a gateway to a new beginning for the neighborhood. The lines of the Upper West Side and Harlem on this side of the island are beginning to blur.

West 110th Street is changing with new construction and gentrification of the brownstones in the lower parts of Harlem

We’ll see more as we visit more of the neighborhood on a tour of the streets and avenues. I ended the day with a trip to McDonald’s just off 96th Street and Amsterdam Avenue (See review on TripAdvisor).

McDonalds at 2549 Broadway

https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/location/ny/new-york/2549-broadway/2002.html

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d5075867-Reviews-McDonald_s-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=69573

My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:

https://diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=541&action=edit

That McDouble and fries tasted so good as they were freshly cooked for me.

The McDonald’s Strawberry Lemonade is one of the unofficial drinks of “MywalkinManhattan.com.

The best is their frozen Strawberry Lemonade which cooled me down inside and out. It is one of the best things recently added to the McDonald’s menu and a perfect drink for a hot summer day.

Read my other Blogs on the Bloomingdale neighborhood:

Day Ninety-Three: Walking the Borders of the Upper Upper West Side:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/6760

Day Ninety-Four: Walking the Avenues of the Upper Upper West Side:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/6842

Day Ninety-Seven: Walking the Streets of the Upper Upper West Side:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/7100

Places to Eat:

Harlem Pizza Company (Closed June 2024)

135 West 116th Street

New York, NY 10026

(212) 222-9889

http://www.harlempizzaco.com

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d10090967-Reviews-Harlem_Pizza_Co-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

McDonald’s

2549 Broadway

New York, NY 10025

(212) 864-8138

http://www.mcdonalds.com

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d5075867-Reviews-McDonald_s-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/541

Places to Visit:

General Grant National Memorial (Grant’s Tomb)

West 122nd Street & Riverside Drive

New York, NY 10027

http://www.grantstomb.org

Open: Monday & Tuesday Closed/Sunday, Wednesday-Saturday 10:00am-5:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d105812-Reviews-General_Grant_National_Memorial-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/1354

Studio Museum of Harlem

144 West 125th Street

New York, NY 10027

(212) 864-4500

Open: Currently closed for renovation

http://www.studiomuseum.org

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d116230-Reviews-The_Studio_Museum_in_Harlem-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/1405

Firemen’s Memorial

West 100th Street & Riverside Drive

New York, NY 10025

(212) 639-9675

http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/memorial

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/riverside-park/monuments/482

Things to See:

Artist Rico Gatson

http://ricogatson.com/

http://www.artnet.com/artists/rico-gatson/

Artist Joy Brown

Broadway Art

https://www.joybrownstudio.com

Day Sixty-Six: Exploring the new Q subway line up Second Avenue (Shhhhhh) January 27th, 2017 (Again December 21st, 2024 and April 12th, 2026)

February 10, 2017Dedication to Warren Watrel, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring Midtown Manhattan, Exploring New York City, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the New York City Subway System, Exploring The Upper East Side of Manhattan, Historic New York City neighborhoods, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, Uncategorized, Walking around ManhattanAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver.com, Chuck Close Artist, diningonashoestringinnyc, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the Q Subway, Exploring the Upper East Side, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, Little Shop on Main Street, LittleShoponMainStreet, MTA Art & Design, MywalkinManhattan.com, New Subway Line, NYC, Q Subway, Q Subway Art, Riding the New York Subway, Sarah Sze Artist, The Q Subway Line, The Upper East Side, Upper East Side, Upper Manhattan, Vik Muniz Artist, Visiting the Q subway, Visiting the Q Subway Line Art, Visiting the Upper East Side, VisitingaMuseum.com, Walk Around Manhattan, Walk Manhattan, Walking in Manhattan, Walking Manhattan, Walking the Subways in NYC, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watrel, Washington DCjwatrel

I had some business to do uptown on my way back from Chinatown in Lower Manhattan and had to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the afternoon, so I decided to check out the new Q line stops along the new Second Avenue line. The Q line runs all the way from Coney Island with me picking it up on Canal Street. What an amazing trip!

“Perfect Strangers” on the West 72nd Street subway line

The new construction of the subway lines has been in the works for almost a hundred years and has recently completed four stops along the Second Avenue line that make travelling to uptown Manhattan a real pleasure. The fact that not too many people have caught on to the line yet makes it even better as there is plenty of room to sit down on the brand new cars and you are not squeezing in like on the number 6 line. If you have ever been on the Number 6 subway in Manhattan at rush hour, you know what I am talking about. Sardines are not squeezed in like this.

I have been on the line twice since it has opened and what a pleasure it is to get a seat and relax instead of someone pushing into your back for a three stop trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The subway car is one of the new ones with the blue seats you do not have to squeeze into and you can see and hear all the announcements. The old joke of everyone is ‘mumbling’ over the speaker is still true on most subway cars in the city. With all the racket going on between the cars, the speakers and the occasional person singing and dancing in the subway car (I don’t think they have discovered them yet), you can’t hear a thing. It is so nice to read the paper in peace on this line.

It is interesting to note that they have been trying to build this part of the subway since 1919. This first phase of the subway route was conceived when it was realized that the ‘Fourth Avenue line’ was over-crowded and needed to ease the congestion. In 1927, a rapid transit plan was put out that called for a six-track Second Avenue subway line. These plans were abandoned with the Great Depression in favor for completing the IND line. It was revisited again in the 40’s then World War Two broke out.

In 1965, one year after the Urban Mass Transit Act mandated that federal funding be made available for transit programs, the MTA was founded. The Second Avenue Subway plan was proposed in 1968 with one two-track line stretching from 34th Street to the Bronx. The city broke down in 1972 when the city was granted $25 million in Federal funding. Construction started at East 103rd Street and Second Avenue but construction was halted in 1975 due to the Financial Crisis and the project was abandoned again with only three little tunnels between Chatham Square and Canal Street, 99th, 105th and 110th and 120th Streets. (New York Magazine and Gothamist.com 2016)

With Environmental Impact Studies done in 2004, the project was planned in four phases to be completed between 2004 and 2006. Ground was broken for Phase One in 2007 at 99th/101st Street and the project was to done in four phases with the first to go from 63rd Street to 96th Streets. Phase Two has been planned to start in 2019 with the line expanding to 125th Street with the last two Phases expanding down to Lower Manhattan. This will create the T Line while bringing back the W Line to Queens. All of this will alleviate the traffic on the 6 Line. (New York Magazine, Gothamist.com).

The best part of the subway line on top of the cleanliness is the artwork. The MTA Art & Design had four different artists create the work for the four completed lines. Their works are amazing and you feel like you are in a gallery instead of a subway station:

MTA Art & Design: Subway Art & Rail

http://web.mta.info/mta/aft

Entering the new station at East 96th Street and Second Avenue.

The Upper level of the subway painting

This creativity starts at 96th Street as you enter the subway with a combination of steel and blue lights and take the escalator down a futuristic tunnel down to the platform and you gaze upon the artwork of artist Sarah Sze. When you see the work from the subway platform, it almost looks like flying papers outside. When you walk the whole platform, you see what she is trying to achieve.

‘Blueprint for a Landscape’ by artist Sarah Sze

Artist Sarah Sze

https://www.sarahsze.com/

Ms. Sze is a Boston native American artist who has a BA from Yale and MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Her specialty ranges from sculpture, painting, film making, printing, drawing and instillation (Artist Bio).

Artist Sarah Sze designing the subway station

Her ‘Blueprint for a Landscape’ when completed with tile masters from Spain who used porcelain to produce the work. It takes a few walks around to see the true detail of the work. The work is made up of fragmented images of scaffolding, birds, chairs and leaves. It is like being outside in a wind storm. The main body of work on the platform you can see the papers flying around and as you take the escalator up, you see the blue and white scaffolding, which took me two trips to figure out what is was. Off to the side, you see the birds in flight. It is like seeing a day in New York City with the different aspects of the city flying by. The most touching part is the ‘Subway’ poem by Billy Collins (born 1941).

Subway

As you fly swiftly underground

with a song in your ears

or lost in a maze of a book

remember the ones who have descended here

into the mire of bedrock

to bore a hole through this granite

to clear a passage for you

where there was only darkness and stone

remember as you come up into the light

A touching poem to match the beauty of the art work.

At the 86th Street stop you will be dazzled by the artwork of one of my favorite artists, Chuck Close. I had marveled at his artwork when I lived in Chicago at the Contemporary Museum. You always know his work by the powerful real life images that he presents. He created 12 large-scale works that spread throughout the platforms. Really look at the artwork and you will see that they are made of tiny mosaic pieces.

Artist Chuck Close in tile at the 86th Street stop

The name plate

Artist Chuck Close

http://chuckclose.com/

Mr. Close is an American born artist from Washington State. He earned his BA from the University of Washington and his MFA from Yale University. His specialty is photography and painting with an emphasis on Portraiture (Artist Bio).

Chuck Close self-portrait

The name plate

It was also the detailed construction of these pieces and the work that went into creating them that is impressive. There are even two self-portraits of Mr. Close in the station proudly pronouncing his work to subway riders. Take the time to really look at the details of each piece even when security looks at you funny (as they did with me twice).

The “Emma” Portrait at 86th Street

The name plate

Arriving at the East 86th Street station is almost futuristic and the escalators were brand new. It is a nice experience.

Heading up the Q line escalator

At 72nd Street, Brazilian artist, Vic Muniz has created a series called “Perfect Strangers” with portraits of real New Yorkers.

Artist Victor Muniz

http://vikmuniz.net/en/

http://www.artnet.com/artists/vik-muniz/

Mr. Muniz is a Brazilian born artist who lives and works between New York City and Rio de Janeiro. His specialty is mixed media and photography (Artist Bio).

Vik Muniz’s plaque at the 72nd Street Subway stop

There are portraits of men holding hands, a policeman holding a Popsicle and a man chasing flying papers, who I have read is the artist himself. The artist created this work based on staged photographs on people he knows.

Again really look at the details that created these works. I almost immediately thought I was going crazy when I thought one of them was Daniel Boulud, the famous chef holding a fish in a bag until I read later on that it was him. To see him immortalized in a subway station artwork I thought was a real testament to him as a chef.

The characters of “Perfect Strangers” display all over the East 72nd Street Station

Chef Daniel Boulud in tile

Tiger man

Holding Balloons

Superman

Little Kids

Couple waiting for the Q Train

Waiting for the Q Train

Waiting for the Q Train with “Perfect Strangers”

“Perfect Strangers”

“Perfect Strangers”

“Perfect Strangers”

When I rode the Q subway again in the Spring of 2026, I heard this couple performing jazz in the subway. This is what I love about Manhattan. You hear these little gems here and there on the subway system.

Q line couple

Q line couple at East 78th Street

Their performance of ‘Don’t get around much Anymore’

The 63rd Street station is not modernistic as the other three stations but still has a sense of newness to it. It is also kept so clean now to match the other stations. Artist Jean Shin work is featured at this station. You really have to go outside the station to see the just of her work which was quoted as being inspired by the idea of illustrating the demolition of the Second and Third Avenue elevated lines.

Her more geometric pieces really show the metal work of a different era as well as her work was based on when “she dug through archives at the New York Transit Museum and at the New York Historical Society and used photographs she found based on the images of everyday riders and pedestrians from the 1920’s through the 1940’s, along with geometric shots of elevated girders being dismantled” (New York Times 2016). It took some reading on my part to figure it out. Again you really have to walk the stop to get the feel of her work.

The best part of these new stops are how clean they are and how well-managed the people from the MTA keep them. The three nights I traveled the new Q Line, the gentlemen from the MTA are constantly mopping and sweeping the cars and the platforms. They take immense pride in taking care of ‘their’ station and it shows in their work. The MTA should proud of how well-maintained these new stations are and should take note for many of their other stations that could use the same TLC.

So this is your opportunity readers to see the subway stops on your way to the Met or the Museum of the City of New York, the Conservatory or even Central Park and see the marvel of how art, commerce and construction and immense creativity on the part of the MTA, the City Planners and dedicated construction workers put their best foot forward and gave the city a living, breathing ‘art museum’ to pass through every day.

But SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! We want to enjoy first before the tourist get there.

The Q Subway line being developed

Update since this Blog: August 1, 2018 and December 21st, 2024.

According to Our Town Paper of the Upper East Side, the ridership on the new Q line has exceeded expectations as it is stealing riders from the Number 6 line:

The Q/F Stop at Lexington & East 63rd Street: 20,893 riders

The Q/F Stop at East 72nd Street: 28,145 riders

The Q/F Stop at East 86th Street: 23,722 riders

The Q/F Stop at East 96th Street: 17,150 riders

This has eased the Number 6 line by almost 23% to 29% on most of the same stops. Right now there are plans to expand the line to East 125th Street with stops at East 106th Street, East 116th Street and East 125th Street that could be finished by 2029 if the funding from the government comes through. The cost could be around $6 billion; work on Phase One lasted ten years and cost $4.5 billion. The first phase took almost a hundred years to build with most being set up in the early 70’s before the money crunch of the City.

In 2025, the extension is ready to go and the tunnel between 115th to 120th Streets is already completed and a new tunnel to 125th Street is in the works. It will be one of the biggest mass-transit projects in New York City history when it is done.

Money very well spent!

(Our Town Newspaper August 1st, 2018)

Like an underground museum that everyone just walks by

Day Sixteen: From Inwood to Rockaway Beach-Point A to Point A: Number 1 Subway Ride from the tip of Inwood to Far Rockaway Beach (to visit Rippers) September 25th, 2015 (Again on August 31st, 2023)

September 26, 2015"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Dedication to Warren Watrel, Dining on a Shoe String Restaurants in New York City, Exploring Broad Channel Island, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring NYC Parks, Exploring Rockaway Beach in Queens, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the New York City Subway System, Historic New York City neighborhoods, Hot Dog, Hamburger & Fries for the budget minded., My life at NYU-Graduate School, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan ExperiencesAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Artist Michael Miller, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver.com, Broad Channel, diningonashoestringinnyc, Exploring Broad Channel Island, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring NYC Subways, Exploring Rockaway Beach, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, LittleShoponMainStreet, MywalkinManhattan.com, Number One Subway NYC, Professor Justin Watral, Professor Justin Watrel, Professor Warren Watrel, Ripper's Hamburgers, Rockaway Beach, The Q Subway Line, VisitingaMuseum.com, Walk Around Manhattan, Walk Manhattan, Walking around Manhattan, Walking in Manhattan, Walking Manhattan, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

I decided to take a break from the usual route and again got into the city late again (all those errands) and didn’t start the journey until 1:15pm. I started the trip on the number One Subway and walked down 207th Street to the A Subway at 207th Street. I took the over hour ride from the beginning of the A line to the end of the A line at 116 B in the Rockaway Beach area. This was my first trip to the Rockaway Beach in all the time I have lived in the New York City area.

My goal was to go to Rippers at 8601 Shore Front Parkway, a beach side hamburger stand that had been heavily written up all over the internet and taste the perfect hamburger. I had to see what the raving was all about.

By 2023, having walked over half of Manhattan and the weather being glorious that afternoon, I wanted to head back to Ripper’s again before it closed for the season. I had been on a walking tour of Chelsea Market and the new Little Island with my classmates from NYU that morning and decided that I wanted to end the day with a Ripper’s hamburger and a walk on the Boardwalk before it got too cool to come out here.

It was a long trip by subway. I sat and read the paper as the various stops passed by with the inter-changing people getting on and off the subway. I have never seen so many guys under the age of 30 with scraggly beards with backpacks and untucked shirts. I swear I think I am seeing a clone of a person with no personality on their way to a 9:00am class. Guys tuck your shirts in already. It isn’t cool!

Rockaway Beach Park

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/rockaway-beach-and-boardwalk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockaway_Beach,_Queens

Our recent research paper on the Growth, Decline and Rebirth of Rockaway Beach for my Graduate School Data Analytics class:

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/2d4880c7a9854cdb96ebdab778300e01

This will better explain what the Rockaways are all about now.

I finally got to Rockaway Beach stop 116 in about an hour and a half. I got out of the subway to stretch before getting back on the subway and took the line to the 90th Street stop and got off. It is a scary stop with all the projects surrounding the stop. By 2023, the area had vastly improved and much of what I had seen since Hurricane Sandy had been knocked down and rebuilt. The are looked so much nicer.

The area has vastly improved since my trip to Rockaway in 2015 and the whole neighborhood is going through a revitalization.

There is even a different mood at the beach.

Once you cross the street and get past the strip mall and closer to the beach, the area gets nicer. The Boardwalk and beach are really nice, but it was a very windy day and tough to sit on the beach for any length of time.

When I arrived on the last day of August in 2023, it was a wonderful sunny and warm day. The perfect day to visit the beach and have a hamburger. I am so glad that I came to the shore. I needed a good burger and Ripper’s was so good the last time.

Rippers 8601 Shore Front Parkway at Rockaway Beach

https://www.eatrippers.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g616325-d8424950-Reviews-Rippers-Queens_New_York.html?m=19905

The inside of the bar area at Ripper’s

Rippers was worth the trip. The food and service were excellent. The staff could not have been nicer and friendlier. I had a cheeseburger and fries with a Coke and thoroughly enjoyed it. According to the Village Voice, the restaurant is a joint venture between Roberta’s, a pizzeria in Bushwick, Brooklyn and the Meat Hook, a butcher in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The burgers are perfectly cooked and flavorful.

After so many bad burgers on this walk, this one finally tasted like a freshly ground burger with the right seasonings. It had a rich beef flavor to it. The French Fries are freshly cut and have been dipped in flour and then flash fried seasoned with black pepper, paprika and salt. They have a salty richness to them as well. The portion sizes are very generous, and I did not need dinner that night.

Ripper’s inside

The best was the wonderful opera music that the staff was playing which I thought was a very nice touch and really made for a festive atmosphere even though the ladies at the next table made it clear that they did not appreciate opera music. They were playing ‘The Masked Ball’, which was very enjoyable. With the wonderful music, sounds of the waves in the background and the salt air on this sunny yet windy day made for the perfect lunch. The main reason I went today is that they close next week at the end of September and will not open again until next Summer.

In 2023, I had a very interesting conversation with a slightly drunk older patron and it was one of the most thought provoking and interesting conversations I had had in a long time. The guy made me really think about the last eight years of my life. Still I was here for the burgers and the shore and took a seat overlooking the beach.

Yes, the Ripper Burger was worth it!

The burgers and fries are amazing!

After a nice lunch on the picnic tables outside and a great conversation with staff, I walked over to the beach. It was not a day to lounge on the beach with all that wind and the waves were pretty rough.

In 2015, I saw a couple of brave souls swimming although the red flags were out. I was able to put my feet in the ocean one last time which was nice after such a long trip and the quick on the boardwalk was pleasant after being cooped up on a subway all afternoon. Then it was back to the subway for the trip back to Inwood.

The beaches were much more active my second time to Rockaway Beach.

When I returned in the summer of 2023, the surfer culture was alive and well on this beautiful late summer day. The surfers were out in full force and people were swimming and walking along the beach and the boardwalk area. I was watching them and surfing has become really popular out here.

Rockaway Beach in the summer of 2023

The surfer culture is alive and well out here.

Note to all subway riders, take a good look on each station after you leave the Broad Channel stop and get on the local S train. At each station stop from the 90th Stop to the 116th Stop, there is a stain glass display by each subway sign. Take a good look at the colorful and beautiful work by artist Michael Miller done in 2010.

They are very beautiful.

Artist Michael Miller

https://www.michaelmillerfineart.net/

The artist’s work “Surf Station 90”.

“Surf Station 90”

Located at the Beach 90 Station in Rockaway Beach, the artist, who is a graduate of New Mexico State University and the School of the Art Institute Chicago, was given the commission by MTA Arts in Transit and created this piece using the inspiration of his paintings to make these glass creations. These were created between 2009-2012 and can be seen at all the stations. Try to see them on a sunny day when the sun reflects into the glass.

Subway Station 90 “Surf Station 90” artwork by Michael Miller

“Surf Station 90”

The brilliance of the work when the sun hits it.

I stopped in Broad Channel, a subway stops and small island beach community off the Rockaways’. Broad Channel has a nice homey feel about it with all the kids playing in the playground by the school and library, all the American flags up and down Cross Bay Boulevard and several people saying hello to me. I thought it had a down home feel to it.

I can still see the effects of Hurricane Sandy from three years ago as some homes have still not been rebuilt while others have redone their homes. Walking the boulevard was a nice way to walk off lunch, see the neighborhood and look at the shoreline and the very distant view of Manhattan.

When I came back in 2023, the whole area looked so different. There were many newer homes and the old ones had been renovated and the whole neighborhoods looked refreshed. It still looked homey with lots of neighborhood spots but it looked rejuvenated. I got there rather late so it was getting dark when I arrived. Still it was a nice trip and I got to walk the whole downtown area to Adrienne’s, a new contemporary Italian restaurant I had read about.

The Main Drag on Broad Channel Island

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_Channel,_Queens

Adrienne’s at 25 Van Brunt Road must have opened since my last time walking around Broad Channel.

https://www.adriennes-nyc.com/

Then came the long trip back to Inwood, I dealt with the on again off again passengers and a large group that came on at the airport stop. For those of you who are flying into New York City and want the cheapest transportation into Manhattan, the A train can be beat. It is a little longer but still a great way to travel.

The beautiful late summer sunset over Rockaway Beach and Broad Channel.

I got back to 207th Street by 8:15pm, seven hours late and an interesting way to spend the afternoon in search of the perfect hamburger. 207th Street back to the Number One Subway was alive with people. Many of the outdoor cafes on Broadway and on the beginning stretch of 207th Street were in full swing on this nice but cool night.

207th Street ‘Restaurant Row’

While 207th Street was not the outdoor flea market like it is on the weekends, it was still lively with people shopping and eating out. I then took the long train ride on the One Train downtown. I got home by 9:30pm. It was a nice trip to the shore.

For those of you who are the adventurous sort, take one of the subway lines from beginning to end. This trip was an eye opener to a part of the city I hadn’t ever visited in all my years coming into New York.

From A to A starts at the 207th Street stop to Rockaway Beach.

My recent paper in my Data Analytics Class on Rockaway Beach:

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/2d4880c7a9854cdb96ebdab778300e01

Places to Eat:

Ripper’s

8601 Shore Front Parkway

Rockaway Beach, NY 11693

(718) 634-3034

Open: Check the website for seasonality

https://www.eatrippers.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g616325-d8424950-Reviews-Rippers-Queens_New_York.html?m=19905

Places to Visit:

Rockaway Beach-right in front of you

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockaway_Beach,_Queens

Broad Channel Island-take time to walk around the island and its small downtown.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_Channel,_Queens

Don’t the glass work art at each beach stop in the Rockaways by Artist Michael Miller.

https://www.michaelmillerpaintings.com/

Day Ten and Eleven: Visiting Inwood Parks going up and down hills September 15th-16th, 2015 (revisited again in August 15th, 2023, January 7th, 2024, June 16th, 2024 and June 29th, 2025 and May 29th, 2026)

September 10, 2015Dedication to Warren Watrel, Dining on a Shoe String Restaurants in New York City, Exploring Harlem in Manhattan, Exploring Inwood in Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring Marble Hill in Manhattan, Exploring New York City, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring NYC Parks, Exploring the Bronx, Exploring the Entire Length of the Island of Manhattan/Broadway Walk, Exploring the Historic Hudson River Valley in New York State, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the New York City Subway System, Exploring the Rim of the Island of Manhattan, Exploring Washington Heights in Manhattan, Gourmet restaurants for the budget minded, Historic New York City neighborhoods, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, The Great Saunter Walk-The Entire Manhattan, Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New York City, Visiting a Museum in New York State, Walking around ManhattanAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Ann Loftus Park, Anne Loftus Park, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver.com, diningonashoestringinnyc, Exploring Inwood, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring Washington Heights, Finding niche neighborhoods in NYC, Fort Tyron Park, Indian Caves at Inwood Hill Parks, Indian Road Cafe, Inwood, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, LittleShoponMainStreet, MywalkinManhattan.com, NYC Parks, The Cloisters, The Cloisters Museum, Tree lined streets nyc, VisitingaMuseum.com, Walk Manhattan, Walking in Manhattan, Walking Washington Heights, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watrel, William Tighe Parkjwatrel

I wanted to get off the beaten track of the streets today, especially since it was so hot out and explore the paths of the parks in the area. Inwood has so many beautiful parks, rock formations, valleys and peaks that when you walk the remote paths to the middle of Inwood Hill Park, with the exception of a train passing by you would never know that you were in Manhattan and not in the middle of the wilderness.

In the Spring of 2026, I revisited Inwood again for a more extensive tour for the afternoon and revisited the neighborhood and explored the blocks to see if anything changed since my original visit. The parks were really lush and in full blooming trees and flowers.

Getting off the subway stop at 207th Street. The artwork on the wall of the subway station said it all about coming back to this neighborhood.

I made my way up Broadway and have to say that the stores and restaurants keep changing with the economy. More of the upscale restaurants have closed and newer cafes, coffee shops and some Dominican gourmet restaurants have opened in their place. The neighborhood is so beautiful in the warmer months.

Getting off the 207th Street subway by Isham Park walking up Broadway

I started the day at 218th Street and started my walk of Inwood Hill Park (See review on TripAdvisor). I walked the Muscota Marsh at 218 Indian Hill Road (See review on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum@Wordpress.com) part of the Columbia campus, again at low tide and observed the many birds that call the marsh home. More people were enjoying their day at the park and all over the ball fields and lawns people were enjoying baseball games, soccer and picnics. There was a lot of activity at the upper end of the park and as you start the walk up the hill into the paths leading to the woods, you really are transported to another world.

Muscota Marsh at 218 Indian Hill Road near the Columbia Stadium

https://www.nycgovparks.org/highlights/muscota-marsh

https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=217482651791205&__tn__=C-R

The Columbia C inside the Inlet of the Harlem River

As I walked the paths to the upper reaches of the park, I was reminded that once upon a time when Manhattan was all wooded and what the Dutch must of thought of Manhattan when they arrived. It is quite the experience walking around the park in the middle of the afternoon and no one is around this part of the park. For the all the ballgames and soccer games below, it is peaceful, relaxing and a sense of tranquility is the feeling you get as you walk along the hills and valleys of the park. These are things that you don’t see from the apartment buildings and streets below.

Muscato Marsh in the summer of 2023

Walking around the park and up through the paths into the woods is like going to another world. It is so quiet and peaceful with beautiful views, you forget that the City surrounds you.

Before you exit the playing fields and make your way through the paths that take you up through Inwood Hill, you will pass the Shorakkopoch Rock, the spot where Peter Minuet ‘bought’ the island of Manhattan from the Native Americans.

The historic Shorakkopooh rock. This is where Peter Minuet ‘bought’ Manhattan from the Native Americans

A closer view of the plaque

The upper paths of the park offer logs to sit and relax on, the view of Indian Caves, beautiful rock formations and dozens of types of wildflowers along the paths. When walking this part of the park, wind down multiple paths before reaching street level. There is lots to see in the middle of the park and if you want to be by yourself this is the part of the park you want to be in.

Walking through Inwood Park is like stepping back through time when there was nothing in Manhattan but woods.

Inwood Park

Inwood Park pathway

Inwood Park in the Spring

Walking through the paths

Walking through Inwood Park

In the middle of the park are the old Indian caves when Lenape Indians once camped. These rock formations have a history older than the City itself.

The old Indian caves

The Indian Caves in Inwood Hill Park

The Indian Caves of Inwood Hill Park

The Indian caves

Inside the Indian caves

The Indian cave at the top of the hill

Inside the second Indian Cave

Inwood Hill Park up by the Hudson River paths

The paths of Inwood Park during the “Great Saunter”.

The rock formations in Inwood Park.

Rock formations in Inwood Park

Reaching the highest point of Inwood Park gives you the best views of the Hudson River.

The Hudson River behind the trees

The views of the Hudson River and inlet from the highest point of Inwood Park

Walking down the path through Inwood Park

As you exit the park by Dyckman Street, make a left and head back to the pier and little beach at the end of the street. It is a nice place to relax after a long walk around the park.

Walking through the back of the park on Payson Avenue

Walking to the pier at the end of Dyckman Street offers some of the most breathtaking views of the Hudson River. One side is the Hudson Restaurant which has the most amazing views of the Hudson River and look in the other direction and there is the Palisades for miles along the river.

The view of the Hudson Restaurant and looking down the Hudson River to the George Washington Bridge

Looking up the Hudson River from the pier at Dyckman Street offers

Enter the park from the lower side of Dyckman Street and enter the ball fields. On a busy Saturday, I watched a soccer game that had the intensity of an Olympic match. It was the Mexicans vs the Mexicans and you could feel the pressure from the fans. There were loads of families watching the game and picnicking by the river. What was nice was the food carts offering all sorts of Mexican food choices at very reasonable prices.

A special note when walking this section of Inwood is that there are lots of choices of places to go to the bathroom. You have the public bathrooms under the bridge, you have the public bathrooms in the playground on the corner of Dyckman Street and Payson Avenue and at the local library by the corner of Dyckman Street and Broadway.

Inwood Hill Park Rose Garden

I crossed Dyckman Street and walked into the Fort Tyron Park. At the beginning of the park is Lt. William Tighe Park Triangle. This park was open today and offered much relief from walking around Broadway. The park was named after William Tighe, a decorated veteran of two wars and a local resident (NYCParks).

William Tighe Park at Dyckman Street and Broadway during a recent art show

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/lt-wm-tighe-triangle/history

This little gem of a park reminds us of the positive benefits when a neighborhood of volunteers bans together to create a little park so magical and polished. There is a little pool full of golden fish to the back of this little pocket park, colorful flowers and small benches perfect to relax and read a book.

The inside of William Tighe Square Park in one of the rare days it was open

William Tighe Square Park during the art show

The reflecting pools at William Tighe Square Park

The gardens were open again in the Spring of 2026 and this section of the park was called “Jardin Abierto”. The gardens were in bloom and it was really relaxing to walk around.

The Jardin Abierto in William Tighe Park

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/inwood-hill-park

The garden in Spring

The gardens in the Spring

The gardens in the Spring

I walked through the extremely busy Anne Loftus Playground again. It was some afternoon trying to avoid all the kids running all over the playground, splashing in the fountain area and chasing one another up the jungle gym while parents chatted amongst themselves or read books. This well-laid out playground is very popular with the locals at all times of the day because as I passed it one night late in the evening, the kids were still running around the park. Kids of all ages, shapes and sizes play together and they show real neighborhood unity by watching out for one another.

The Anne Loftus Playground is really popular in the late Spring and early Summer

The Anne Loftus playground was named after the District Manager and Community Board Leader for District 12, who tirelessly fought for improvement in the parks and the neighborhood. The park was name after her in 1990 when it opened. It has currently received a face lift and is being enjoyed by children and families from all over the neighborhood.

Anne Loftus Playground at Broadway and Dyckman Street

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/fort-tryon-park/highlights/11234

Ann Loftus Playground in the summer of 2023

The park in the Fall of 2025

In the warmer months, the neighborhood has a wonderful Farmer’s Market on Isham Street right next to the park area. Many upstate New York vendors come down the to market and there is a nice selection depending on the season.

The Inwood Farmers Market during a Summer of 2025

The vendors are more plentiful during the summer and the beautiful produce in the summer months

At the corner of Isham Street is the Catholic Church of the Good Shepard, where I have stopped in on quiet afternoons to sit and cool down and charge my phone. The church building is beautiful inside and out.

The Catholic Church of the Good Shepard at 4967 Broadway

https://goodshepherdnyc.org

History of the church from the church website:

The Church of the Good Shepherd, built by the Paulist Fathers on land purchased from the Isham family, has been a spiritual and social center for Inwood’s Roman Catholic community for more than one hundred years. The priests ‘ ultimate aim was to establish a great Catholic centre in a part of the city which, in the near future, is destined to have a large population. Good Shepherd Church 1915 (from the church website).

The Catholic Church of the Good Shepard

The first church was a wood frame building that was moved across Cooper Street around 1930 and later razed to make way for an addition to the elementary school. As Inwood’s population increased in the 1930s following the opening of the IND subway under Broadway, the need for a larger facility for the predominantly Irish congregation was recognized. Architect Paul Monaghan was commissioned in 1935 to design the present church, a handsome, Romanesque-style building featuring a random coursed granite facade with limestone and granite trim and a roof of terra-cotta barrel tile. Three stained glass windows set between stepped buttresses are recessed above a prominent porch that projects onto the street. The building’s massing gives it prominence as a work of architecture and a symbol of the community. An impressive interior space seats approximately 1,000 people (from the church website).

The arch on the doorway

From the arch

I try to take a break in the church when I am hot and tired from all the walking. It is so beautiful inside.

I took some time to walk around both Isham Park and Bruce Reynold’s Garden which is part of the park along Cooper and Park Street. Like all the other gardens in the neighborhood, the flowers were all in bloom, there were places to sit and relax in the shade and it was so peaceful just to walk around and have some time to myself.

Isham Park at the end of Coopers Street

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/isham-park

History of Isham Park:

(From NYCParks.org)

Like other parks in northern Manhattan, the site of Isham Park played a crucial role in the battle of Fort Washington during the American Revolution. The site served as a landing point for Hessian troops coming up the Harlem River to drive the American forces to Westchester and New Jersey (the park website).

Isham Park in the Spring of 2026

The Isham Park oval in the Spring

The oval during the Spring

The oval with the roses in bloom

All the cars were turning around at the end of the oval and what was really pretty was the roses were in full bloom at the time I visited.

The roses in bloom

Isham Park in the Spring

The Bruce Reynolds Garden was open when I was there as volunteers were cleaning and trimming the plants in the park that afternoon. It is always so nice to walk around the paths and see all the flowers and well maintained garden beds.

Bruce Reynolds Garden inside of Isham Park:

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/isham-park/highlights/14066

The gardens inside Isham park were created and maintained by Officer Bruce Reynolds, who died on 9/11 while rushing to help people escape the falling towers. The gardens were his pride and joy and he along with many volunteers took a neglected section of Isham Park and created this area to revitalize this section of the park as a place of peace and tranquility (Park website).

The Bruce Reynolds Garden

The Garden in the Spring

The gardens in bloom

The gardens in the Spring

The roses were in full bloom

The gardens were in full bloom

What I love about visiting this area of the City is that the Metropolitan Museum of Art has their Cloisters Branch of the museum on the top of the hill in Forty Tryon Park. This is where the museum houses some of its Medieval collections and the gardens inside the Cloisters when they are in bloom are so colorful to see.

I love to tour the Cloisters during any season especially in the Summer months and during the holidays. I try to walk around the upper reaches of the park before nightfall. If you like this type of art, it is one of the best of its kind. Do not miss the courtyard area to sit and relax amongst the flowers and the patio area to overlook the park.

‘The Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestries’ at the Cloisters Museum

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/467642

One of my favorite exhibits is the ‘Hunt of the Unicorn’ tapestries. These world renown tapestries show the pursuit and capture of the mythical unicorn. The artwork and detail are breathtaking considering the age of these works. You can spend as little or a lot of time here, but it is a small museum.

The Cloisters at 99 Margaret Corbin Drive in Fort Tyron Park

https://www.metmuseum.org/visit/plan-your-visit/met-cloisters

The Cloisters Gardens in the summer of 2024

The Cloisters Gardens in the summer of 2024

In 2015, I ended my day back in Inwood Hill Park and stopped at the Indian Road Café at 600 218th Street #3 (it is now Inwood Farm Restaurant), a farm to table concept restaurant for dinner and a history lesson. First off, this restaurant is amazing. It is small and cozy and I was lucky to snag a table by the screen on ‘History Night’.

Indian Road Cafe at 600 West 218th Street food is excellent (now called ‘Inwood Farm’)

https://www.facebook.com/TheInwoodFarm/

https://www.indianroadcafe.com/

The restaurant is now named Inwood Farm since 2020

https://www.theinwoodfarm.com/menus

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60763-d23979630-r1062257453-Inwood_farms_llc-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

The front of Inwood Farm Restaurant in Spring 2026

I love the inside of the restaurant with its interesting artwork and fixtures. The room is as innovative as the menu. They also have a very nice outdoor cafe in the warmer months where you can people watch. It is a real neighborhood restaurant as many of the patrons were greeted by name and it looked like a lot of the neighborhood eats here on a regular basis.

The inside of Inwood Farm

The inside of the dining room Inwood Farm Restaurant

The bar area of the restaurant

The speaker from the Museum of Natural History, who had just given us a talk and tour on Inwood Hill Park for a museum tour that afternoon, was there talking about the history of the neighborhood and you would be floored by the number of adults hanging on every word. The gentleman discussed the history of the area with details on the amusement parks that were once here, the trolley and bridge systems and the progression of development in Inwood. The food was fantastic that evening.

When I visited in 2015 when it was Indian Road Cafe, I ordered the Cuban Panino sandwich with an iced tea for dinner that I really enjoyed. The restaurant is a ‘farm to table’ concept and you can see it in the taste and freshness of the entrée. The pork was perfectly cooked and sandwich combination worked. The salad was the right amount with a light dressing.

When I revisited again in 2026 when when the name changed to the Inwood Farm Restaurant, the food was the same high quality and I had to have the Cuban sandwich again, this time with freshly cut French Fries. The sandwich was packed with meat and cheese and pressed to perfection. I could barely finish it.

The Urbano Cubana sandwich with French Fries

The Urbano Cubana sandwich with French Fries

The sandwich was over sized and delicious

For dessert, in 2015, I had a Blueberry Cobbler that was more of a dump cake with fresh blueberries baked inside. The whole meal was wonderful, and the service was friendly and not rushed. In 2026, this was no longer on the menu so I had the Croissant Bread Pudding that had layers of honey and chocolate in it and was topped with Vanilla Gelato. It was a pretty sizable piece for dessert and it was delicious.

The Honey Bread Pudfing

The Bread Pudding with Vanilla Gelato

I sat back, ate my dinner and enjoyed my lesson on the history of Inwood. Check out the restaurant’s website for other special events and I have read many reviews on their wonderful weekend brunch. It was a nice way to end my evening touring the parks. (Special note though, watch the pricing here. They charge for refills on Ice Tea and overcharged me for the Cuban sandwich the second time by $2.00. Make sure to double check the menu on these things).

Walking up Seaman Avenue in the Spring of 2026 to tour the park again

I finished my afternoon with a quick walk around Muscato Marsh again and enjoyed the view on this warm sunny afternoon.

The inlet during the Spring by Muscato Marsh

As I headed down Broadway in the late afternoon on my way back to the “A” subway at Dyckman Street, I passed the Inwood Animal Hospital and admired the paintings of a dog and cat that were on the roll down doors. The doors just happened to be down that afternoon and I was able to get a good look at them.

The Inwood Animal Hospital at 4846 Broadway

https://inwoodanimalclinic.com

The Dog painting

The Cat painting

The paintings had been created by artists from Art Jar, a collective of Graffiti artists from New York City.

The artist Go Art Jar

https://artjar.com/experience-1

I covered a lot of ground between all the parks and walking all the streets on Inwood on the west side of Broadway. There is a lot to see and do and please be prepared to walk when you go up and down the pathways in Inwood Park. It is an amazing neighborhood especially in the warmer months.

Christmas in Inwood:

Even during Christmas time, the area is really beautiful. There is also lots to do as the parks have their own Christmas trees, holiday celebrations, farmers markets and holiday traditions.

The Christmas tree in Washington Heights/Inwood.

The holiday celebration on Dyckman Street.

The Christmas tree in William Tighe Park during the holidays.

Even the Cloisters was decked out for the holidays and for the Epiphany. I have taken museum tours on the history of “Three Kings Day” and the use of plants and greenery during the holidays in the Middle Ages. The museum always have great walking tours during the holidays.

The inside of the Cloisters at Christmas time.

The greenery at the Cloisters at the holidays.

The Pagan symbols of the Christmas holidays that the Catholics adopted into the holiday.

The beautiful plants that decorate the Cloisters during the holidays.

Each of the Cloisters were lined with fresh greens and potted plants giving each of the Cloisters its own special mood. The whole museum was decorated with potted and flowering plants.

One of the Cloisters bright with plants

The stairs leading into the chapel decorated for the holidays

The chapel on the main floor decorated for the holidays

The colorful floral displays lining the window sills of the chapel

This led to a discussion about what each plant, flower and fruit meant in the Christian tradition, a clever way to justify decorating and celebrating during the holidays. Ivies, pine, winter flowers and even late season apples not only lined places of worship but gave a festive look and district smell to these buildings. A symbol of life in the cold winter months while they waited for the arrival of Spring.

One of the artifacts at the Cloisters for the talk on “Three Kings Day”.

This is what I love about the neighborhoods in New York City. You don’t have to go to just Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree. There are many around the City and they are beautiful in their own way. This is what makes a neighborhood as neighborhood.

https://www.grownyc.org/greenmarket/manhattan/inwood

Check out my other blogs on walking around the Inwood neighborhood:

Day Two: Exploring Inwood on Independence Day:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/25

Day Six: Walking the Streets and Parks of Inwood:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/59

Day Seven: Walking the Lower Parts of Inwood:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/67

Day Eight: Touring the Dyckman Farmhouse and the Surrounding neighborhood:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/71

Day Nine: Exploring between the Inwood Parks

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/85

Day Ten and Eleven: Exploring Inwood Parks

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/89

Places to Visit:

Inwood Hill Park

Payson And Seaman Avenues

New York, NY 10034

(212) 639-9675

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/inwoodhillpark

Open: Sunday-Saturday 6:00am-1:00am

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d3598044-Reviews-Inwood_Hill_Park-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Fort Tyron Park

Riverside Drive to Broadway

New York, NY 10040

(212) 639-9675

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/fort-tryon-park

Open: Sunday-Saturday 6:00am-1:00am

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d2305249-Reviews-Fort_Tryon_Park-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/4350

The Cloisters-The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Fort Tryon Park)

99 Margaret Corbin Drive

New York, NY 10004

(212) 923-3700

Open: Sunday-Saturday-10:00am-4:45pm

http://www.metmuseum.org

Review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d106609-Reviews-The_Met_Cloisters-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/680

Anne Loftus Playground (Fort Tyron Park)

4746 Broadway

New York, NY 10040

(212) 639-9675

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/fort-tryon-park/highlights/11234

Open: Sunday-Saturday 6:00am-1:00am

My review on TripAdvisor:

William Tighe Triangle

Seaman Avenue, Dyckman Street and Broadway

New York, NY 10040

(212) 639-9675

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/lt-wm-tighe-triangle/history

Open: Check Website

Muscota Marsh (Columbia University)

218 Indian Hill Road

New York, NY 10034

(212) 639-7695

https://www.nycgovparks.org/highlights/muscota-marsh

https://facilities.columbia.edu/baker-athletic-complex

Open: Sunday-Saturday: 6:00am-1:00am

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d21055137-Reviews-Mucota_Marsh-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/1214

Places to eat:

Indian Road Cafe (now called “Inwood Farm”)

600 218th Street #3

New York, NY 10034

(212) 942-7417

http://www.indianroadcafe.com

https://www.indianroadcafe.com/about/

Open: Sunday: 8:00am-10:00pm/Monday-Friday: 7:00am-10:30am/Saturday: 7:00am-11:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d1894637-Reviews-Indian_Road_Cafe_Market-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Inwood Farm

Review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d23979630-Reviews-Inwood_farms_llc-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Day Eight: Touring the Dyckman Farm House and the surrounding neighborhood of Inwood August 20th, 2015 (again on June 16th, 2024 and May 29th, 2026)

September 10, 2015Bakeries for the budget minded, Cheap Spanish Restaurant for Budget Minded, Dedication to Warren Watrel, Dining on a Shoe String Restaurants in New York City, Exploring Inwood in Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring New York City Parks, Exploring NYC Parks, Exploring the Entire Length of the Island of Manhattan/Broadway Walk, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the New York City Subway System, Exploring the Rim of the Island of Manhattan, Exploring Washington Heights in Manhattan, Historic New York City neighborhoods, Hot Dog, Hamburger & Fries for the budget minded., Interesting Bakeries, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, Spanish Restaurants for the budget minded, Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New York City, Walking around ManhattanAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver, diningonashoestringinnyc, Dyckman Farm House, Exploring Inwood, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring Washington Heights, Finding niche neighborhoods in NYC, G's Coffee Shop, Inwood, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, LittleShoponMainStreet, MywalkinManhattan.com, Nagle Bakery, NYC Parks, Tony's Pizza & Pasta, Tony's Pizza and Pasta NYC, VisitingaMuseum.com, Walk Manhattan, Walking Broadway, Walking in Manhattan, Walking Manhattan, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

I had some extra time today to double back to some of the sites that either were not open the day I walked this part of Inwood or did not have time to visit. The Dyckman Farmhouse tour (See TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum@Wordpress.com) is defiantly something you should tour while you are in the neighborhood. Sitting on the top of a hill overlooking Broadway at 4881 Broadway, you have to be sure to visit the house when it is open. Its hours are from 11:00am-3:00pm Thursday-Sunday. It is worth the visit to step back to the 18th Century and see how people lived in comparison to today. It’s a small island into the past in a bustling neighborhood.

The Dyckman Farmhouse at 4881 Broadway during the summer months.

Touring the Dyckman Farmhouse property

https://www.facebook.com/DyckmanFarmhouseMuseum/

The House in the Fall months

House sign

Dyckman Farmhouse Museum

The tour is self-guided and free. The house was built in 1785 by William Dyckman in the Dutch Colonial style on what was once a 250-acre farm estate that he inherited from his grandfather who had come to the New World in 1661. The original house had been further in the estate, and it was destroyed during the Revolutionary War. The house left the family in 1868 and was bought again by Mr. Dyckman’s granddaughters in 1915 and was restored (Wiki).

Dyckman Farm now sits above the neighborhood in the Fall of 2024

The back of the farmhouse.

The house was donated to the City of New York in 1916 and is now part of the Parks system. The nice part is that the house has a self-guided tour, and you can take your time to look over the rooms and the gardens.

The Smokehouse behind the Dyckman house.

It really is a simple house as the Dyckman’s, who owned most of the land in this part of Inwood were farmers. They owned the house for several generations, and it was the last family member living their grandchildren who invested in the house to open it up to the public.

The back of the property by the old smokehouse

The back of the house in the Fall of 2024

It amazes me of how many people lived in this house at one time with the amount of space in which they had to work. The bedrooms are pretty small and take time out to see the downstairs kitchen. It makes us appreciate today.

The upstairs bedroom at the Dyckman Farmhouse

The Dyckman Farmhouse rooms reflect its rural past but the family still entertained and housed many extended family members.

The second bedroom

The guest bedroom

The gardens in the back are a nice place to roam and relax. The beds are set up with both flowers and vegetables and are maintained by their Friends group. Sit back under one of the trees and just enjoy the view. It really is a time capsule to our rural past in an extremely busy section of Inwood. Watch their events calendar too as there are many activities at the Dyckman House.

Touring the inside of the house at Christmas time

Touring the inside of the Dyckman Farmhouse during the holidays.

The first floor is a reflection of a working farm and home. Things are sensible without being overdone. Still the family would have held a prominent place in the Dutch farming community.

The formal parlor at the Dyckman Farmhouse

The parlor in the Dyckman Farmhouse.

The farmhouse kitchen in the basement of the home. The hearth was also part of the heating system of the house.

I double backed and explored the surrounding neighborhood of Payson Avenue, Cummings Street, Academy Street and walked down Dyckman Street to Nagle Avenue. I made a quick pit stop at Nagle Bakery at 121-B Nagle Avenue, which is pretty good.

I had a Pastilito, a type of Dominican beef or chicken turnover, which they make really good, and they are only a dollar. I also had a fruit filled Coconino, a type of flaky pastry with mango filling that was a little dried out but not bad. The bakeries in Inwood are wonderful and offer a lot of selection at a very fair price.

The pastries at Nagle Bakery at 121 B Nagle Avenue (Closed January 2023)

https://www.facebook.com/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpages%2Fcategory%2FBakery%2FNagles-Bagels-Bakery-107578994044675%2F

This was the unfortunate part of most of the bakeries I tried in Inwood. By the time I got to the bakeries it was later in the afternoon so everything seemed not as fresh as first thing in the morning and it had been sitting since the morning. Nagle Bakery, though is not bad and if you are in the neighborhood, it’s worth the stop.

Nagle Bakery at 121-B Nagle Avenue (Closed January 2023)

On my back to the subway at 207th and Dyckman Street, I stopped at Tony’s Pizza and Pasta at 4771 Broadway (now closed) for a quick slice before the ride downtown. You have to watch them here. On the outside sign, they advertise a $1.00 slice but when you go in its $1.50.

Then when you order the slice, you have to designate that you want the $1.50 slice, or they will try to bait and switch you with a larger slice that is $2.50. The $1.50 slice is not bad, and the sauce is pretty good, but the more expensive slice is much bigger. Not a good business practice but the pizza was pretty good, so I forgave them for that, and it is close to the subway station.

Tony’s Pizza and Pasta at 4771 Broadway (Closed 2018)

The cheese pizza was really good.

With both Nagel Bakery and Tony’s Pizza both closed before and during the pandemic, my favorite place to eat in the neighborhood now and when I visit the Cloisters is G’s Coffee Shop at 634 West 207th Street. The food and the service at this local neighborhood spot is excellent and the prices are extremely fair (see my reviews on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com).

G’s Coffee Shop at 634 West 207th Street

https://www.instagram.com/gscoffeeshop207

I made trip to the Cloisters and the Dyckman Farmhouse for a Christmas themed “Holiday Decoration” tour for both places and stopped in for a late breakfast because I was starving. They had a wonderful all day breakfast special, a Breakfast Burrito ($7.95), filled with eggs, chorizo sausage, salsa, avocado and hashbrowns wrapped in a soft burrito shell. It was very large and delicious. The flavors were really brought out by the salsa, hot sauce and the sausage. With a cool Lime Soda is really made the meal.

The Breakfast Burrito with Chorizo sausage was excellent.

When visiting the Dyckman Farmhouse again for a Spring walking tour, I stopped by G’s for lunch and had the Bacon Cheeseburger Deluxe that I saw everyone ordering on the last two trips to the restaurant I had made and it was worth the trip.

The Bacon Cheeseburger was perfectly cooked with a nice amount of caramelization on the meat and was loaded with freshly cooked bacon and topped with a few pieces of cheese, chopped lettuce and tomatoes. The French Fries were cooked to order and were the small shoestring type that were crisp and plentiful on the plate. The burger had a nice complexity to it and the meat had a lot of flavor to it as it was a fresh patty not frozen. For less than $10.00, it made a nice lunch.

The Bacon Cheeseburger lunch at G’s Coffee Shop.

The service is very nice and the orders come out quick. It is a Hodge Podge of neighborhood types but that’s what I think makes this G’s Coffee Shop special, it really is a neighborhood restaurant catering to everyone. It is a restaurant that every neighborhood should have.

It was a quick afternoon in the city but a nice walk for the day. I just wanted to revisit the Inwood neighborhood to be sure that I covered everything and see the Dyckman Farmhouse. Don’t miss it at the holidays as well.