Tag Archives: BergenCountyCaregiver

Day Ninety-Nine: This is Christmas!, Rhinebeck, NY, Woodstock, NY and Rehoboth Beach, DE: Part One November 24th-December 3rd, 2017 (revisited December 5th, 2024 and December 24th-30th, 2025)

My revisit in 2025:

https://mywalkinmanhattan.com/category/exploring-woodstock-ny/

This Christmas holiday season was one of the best I have had in years. It was also one of the busiest. It is never easy when you are working three jobs, have a book to edit as well as writing one and have six blog sites to maintain, all while looking for full time work. Squeezing the holidays is interesting when you have a full plate.

After Halloween was behind me, I put ‘MywalkinManhattan’ on hold to concentrate on the holiday season. Halloween kept me really busy with my jobs, volunteer work and community service that I like to perform. I swear that my feet did not touch the ground until January 2nd of the New Year.

Work is my always my first priority and my students dazzled me in class with their final group project presentation, ‘Buscomonzefi.com’, a simulated tech start-up company (See Day- Ninety-Eight-‘MywalkinManhattan’). Working with my students on the project took a lot of my time up as well as my job consulting for the Department of Disability Services and working on my blog, ‘BergenCountyCaregiver’. I am very proud to say we welcomed our 3000th visitor to the site. There were lots of activities and charitable functions that I did supplemented my free time.

Buscomonzefi.com logo

First, we had set up for the Annual Christmas Tree Sale for the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association right before Thanksgiving. Our set up clashed with the Cornell/Penn football game.

It was a heartbreaking loss at the last second at Penn

The Stadium is never full

Being the dedicated Alumni, I ran down to Philly for the Cornell-Penn Game (and watched us lose in the final second when the ball was intercepted in the end zone, which would have tied the game). It was a heart breaker but was my excuse of not being there for day of set-up.

Christmas Tree Set-Up

So I decided to rake the whole site the Friday before I left for the game. There were not too many leaves on the site and I spent about an hour and a half raking the site and piling leaves. The rest of the guys met and took care of the set-up for the site. The Saturday after Thanksgiving was tree delivery day. With all the members of the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association present, we unloaded 315 Christmas trees (up from 285 the year before.

Me selling trees as it appeared in the Community News Paper

Our Christmas tree sale is the main fundraiser for the Association and last year we gave out ten $650.00 scholarships. We were hoping to sell more this year to give out more this year. I am very proud to say that as a group we sold all 315 trees by December 19th and were able to donate a few to ex-members families and our local church. We even donated a free tree to a local senior resident where we set it up and took it down. This is my 18th year on the organization and I have never seen trees sell so fast (See my commercial on YouTube under ‘Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association below and see the picture above).

Thanksgiving this year had some sad twists to it. My uncle had been very sick and my family had no formal plans for the holidays. Not to burden anyone with me, I went to visit my friend, Lillian (See ‘Day Seventy-Six-MywalkinManhattan’) out on Long Island for the holiday. I knew she would be alone and I thought this might cheer her up. I can’t think of a more magical Thanksgiving I have had in the last several years.

Lillian and I have been friends for 24 years and she has seen me through a lot. She was there for me during job changes and college comings and goings and a shoulder to cry on when my father passed away. Now at 99 and having outlived most of her immediate family, I wanted to be there for her.

Lillian and I

Thanksgiving could not have been nicer. I was able to get to the assisted living facility in an hour and twenty minutes so we were able to spend more time together. The facility had a lovely dinner for us in the formal dining room in the building that is used (I guess) for special occasions. We sat with all the other families and had a nice dinner of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and string bean casserole. For dessert, we had a slice of pumpkin and apple pie.

After the dinner was over, we joined the other family members in the other dining room for entertainment. It was nice because I was able to relax and digest before the long ride home. The singer performed songs from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s and I could tell by the humming along most of the residents appreciated something more contemporary.

What I liked was how happy it made Lillian, who liked the afternoon out in her own home. We had a long talk about her life in the facility, her family and friends and at 99, I could not believe how sharp she was about life and everything around her. It just goes to show that people are more observant than they let on and people at nursing homes know exactly what is going on. I would see Lillian later on in the holiday season (See Part Two-This is Christmas).

After Thanksgiving, it was the Christmas Parade in Hasbrouck Heights with the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department. This annual tradition has been going on in my town for years and the fire department is usually at the end of the parade with Santa following. There is always a lot of last minute running around at the firehouse before we leave for the parade, including wiping down the truck. My biggest contribution is the double batch of milk chocolate brownies that the guys want me to make every year.

Engine One in the Hasbrouck Heights Holiday Parade

The crowds of people really seem to enjoy the parade although I have to say that the crowds at the Woodstock parade on Christmas Eve when I visit Woodstock, NY have been bigger. The whole downtown is ablaze with lights and at the end of the downtown on the circle in Hasbrouck Heights, we have the annual Christmas Tree lighting at the end of the parade. The funny part is once that tree is lit, everyone scatters and the event is over. Within twenty minutes, you would never know that there was a parade.

The Hasbrouck Heights Christmas Parade

The Christmas Parade in Downtown Hasbrouck Heights, NJ

After the parade was over, the next morning was Christmas tree delivery for the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association. 315 trees were delivered that morning and with a crowd of thirty men and their sons, we got the trees unloaded and tagged for sale for that afternoon. I was surprised we sold a few trees after they had been tagged. Three trees went off the lot within fifteen minutes after we finished the tagging. People really like to make a head start on their holiday decorating.

Setting up Christmas trees

As the week went on there were other preparations for the holidays, including me handwriting 90 Christmas cards for members of the firefighting community (not only am I the Engine One Company Secretary but I am also the Department Secretary as well for a decade and five years respectively). That on top of the ones I have to do for family and friends.

I packed everything up and headed down to Rehoboth Beach, DE that Wednesday for my mother’s 81st birthday. I swear, I don’t think my mom has aged that much since she was in her sixties. She looks terrific and keeps herself super active. I was surprised that she had time on her birthday to see me! It is always nice spending time with her.

Mom making “The Dinner”

“The Dinner” Chicken Cutlets with Ziti and a salad with Vinegar and Oil

My mom and my siblings and I have a favorite meal my mother calls ‘the dinner’ that she makes for us when we are in town. ‘The Dinner’ is breaded veal cutlets, spaghetti (or Ziti) with marinara sauce and a salad with lots of oil and vinegar. That is the meal we had on my first night there. We just caught up and laughed. We always have a nice time when I come down to her house.

My brothers and I with our mom

For her birthday, I took her and her partner to the Blue Moon Restaurant at 35 Baltimore Avenue in downtown Rehoboth Beach (See review on TripAdvisor).

The Blue Moon at 35 Baltimore Avenue

The Blue Moon at Christmas time

https://www.opentable.com/r/blue-moon-rehoboth-beach

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g34048-d396007-Reviews-Blue_Moon_Rehoboth-Rehoboth_Beach_Delaware.html?m=69573

The food here is always wonderful and the service is excellent. The best part was that even though it was the 30th of November, the whole place was decorated for Christmas. I had the most wonderful beef stroganoff with sauted broccoli and a wonderful tart for dessert. The food and the service here are just excellent and I can tell that the two of them enjoyed themselves as well.

The best part of the two days that I was here was that I got two great nights of sleep and that really helped with the second part of the weekend. I had to leave right after breakfast and drive four hours home to check my emails and change my clothes as I was heading up another two hours to Rhinebeck, NY for the Annual Mills Mansion Christmas fundraising cocktail party and the Sinterklaas Parade on Saturday. After that I had to head home for the Bergen County Firemen’s Home Christmas Party at the Firemen’s Home in Boonton, NJ. I swear I ran all over the place this weekend. After I arrived home, I quickly went through all of my mail and emails and bills and got everything sent out. I changed my clothes and got in the car for the weekends volunteer events.

I got up to Rhinebeck with an hour to spare before the cocktail party and fundraiser for the Friends of the Mills Mansion. The Mills Mansion in Staatsburgh, right below Rhinebeck was the home of Ruth (nee Livingston) and Ogden Mills until Mrs. Mills death in the 20’s. I remember visiting the house in the early 2000’s for research on my book and it was falling apart then.

Mills Mansion at the holidays

Now there has been a whole series of successful fundraising to continue the restoration of the house and its contents. The Annual Christmas fundraiser is a lot of fun and a way to give back to the house. From 6:00pm to 8:00pm, we had cocktails and hors oeuvres in the main dining room that the Mill’s used to entertain. The food was catered by the Culinary Institute of America and was excellent. Many of the members kids help pass out the food and it was a nice way to get them involved.

The library decorated for Christmas at the Mills Mansion

There must have been about 150 people at the event, and it is always so nice to see people dressed up for an event. Everyone was in either suits or dresses and it fit the mood of an elegant get-together the way the Mills would have had it. The dining room and tables were all decorated for the holidays as was the rest of the house. There were trees and garland all over the house as well as decorations in all the rooms.

Me at the Mills Mansion Christmas fundraiser

I am not sure how often they used the house for the Christmas holidays but there are records of gift giving at the house by the family. We had the house to ourselves to walk around and see the decorations, so we felt like invited honored guests. The best was when they put the desserts out. They served the most delicious mini eclairs and chocolate mousse in chocolate shells.

The foyer decorated for the holidays.

I still think the most beautiful room in the house was the library that was decked out with its own tree and presents around it. The room always seemed so homey to me and a nice place to just relax and look at the view. I highly recommend this fundraiser as now only are you raising money for much needed repairs at an interesting site, but it is a night of good food and drink in an elegantly decorated private home. How many people get to be the invited guests of the Mills family at Christmas?

Christmas tree in the foyer

I don’t know if it was the two cocktails, I had that evening or just the six hours’ worth of driving I had to do between mom’s house and the fundraiser, but I went back to my hotel and completely conked out. I hit the pillow to just ‘relax’ at 9:00pm and woke up at 1:30am in the morning and then went back to bed and did not wake up until 8:00am and I had to be at the Starr Library by 10:00am for the set up for the Sinterklaas Parade the next morning.

I love participating in the Sinterklaas Parade every Christmas in Rhinebeck, NY. It is so much fun and Rhinebeck, New York is one of the most beautiful places to spend the holidays. The town is straight out of a Currier & Ives wood carving. The town is dominated by buildings are from the late 1800’s and all the stores are so beautifully decorated for the holidays accented all by the white lights on the trees and on the buildings.

Downtown Rhinebeck, NY at Christmas.

When I got there in the morning, we lucked out as the weather was a brisk 48 degrees F and sunny. We unloaded all the puppets and floats from the truck and a group of about twenty of us started to assemble the items. I must be becoming an old-timer because I know at this point how to put everything together. There are some great puppets in the parade and this year’s honorary animal was the Elephant. They had a great surreal, wire-like elephant puppet that someone walked around in at the fundraiser at the Beekman Arms a few weeks earlier.

Setting up for the parade

Previous puppets were put together first such as the bee and penguin puppets on a stick, the hummingbirds and the knights and dragons. We also had the traditional floats such as the dancing ballerina, the four seasons, the nature gods and my float, Mother Nature or as everyone calls her “Big Mama”. New puppets are created every year but like the Macy’s parade, everyone has their traditional favorites.

Sinterklass starting the parade

We zipped right through most of the items because having worked on the parade for the last three years (I have volunteered for the parade for 2010, 2015-2017) and at this point have worked out the kinks to them. We were done by 10:00am and were able to join everyone else at the Beekman Arms Restaurant for the Opening Ceremonies.

The Opening Ceremony at the Beekman Arms

The Opening Ceremonies at the Beekman Arms introduces all the mascots of the day’s festivities including Mother Holly (who is always feeling jolly), the Queen Bee, the Pocket Lady, the Wish Lady, the Elephant Lady with her sidekick the Mouse, the Royal Court and the Dancing Bear. This is a big family event and there were people all over the main banquet room of the Beekman Arms to greet everyone. Johnathan Kruk, the famous storyteller, was on hand at the end of the ceremony to tell the story of Sinterklaas.

All over the town for the rest of the day there were all sorts of activities. At the churches, there were all sorts of performers from choirs to band combos and singing groups. All the churches had their own activities as well as food for sale. My favorite is at the Third Evangelical Lutheran Church when they sell their hot dogs and drinks. As part of the meal, many of their members bake homemade Christmas cookies and its worth the price of the meal.

In Rhinebeck, the whole downtown is awash with Christmas decorations and groups selling baked goods and other foods to raise money for their charities. You can get the most amazing cookies and other treats as these groups really know how to bake.

The decorated stores of Downtown Rhinebeck, NY at Christmas

All over there are craft workshops, dancers, storytellers’ bands, children’s performances and shows such as “Into the Light” at the Church of the Messiah, which is sold out every year. The Grumpuses, Sinterklaas’s helpers perform and dance all over the place as well as the Dancing Polar Bear dances along with a song (the guy that wears that costume is exhausted by the end of the day every year).

‘Into the Light’ pageant

I had to get back to the library by 4:00pm for set up and the get my assignment. I decided to give our coordinator a break and I walked with the ‘Mother Earth’ float. I had a nice time as all we had to do is push her down the hill and move her arms around (see YouTube video of the event under ‘Sinterklaas in Rhinebeck NY 2017).

Downtown Rhinebeck decorated for the holidays

I only get to see it from a distance but from parades past that I have viewed and to see it all on YouTube, it is quite a site when the parade guides down the hill from the Starr Library to Downtown Rhinebeck awash with colors and music. It is such an exciting and festive mood when you see the white lights and puppets all over the place with marching bands performing Christmas songs. The parade is full of lit stars which are one of the symbols of Sinterklaas.

Us holding Mother Earth in the Sinterklaas Parade

I can’t believe how the crowds have grown over the years. There must have been about three thousand people lining the street this year. We have lucked out with the weather being so mild and people were all over the place. Everyone was excited and laughed and singed along with the parade.

The Gumpuses dancing around the downtown

At the end of the parade after pushing ‘Mother Nature’ several blocks we ended up at the Grand Finale Pageant in the municipal parking lot where Sinterklaas and his court welcome everyone to the end of the parade. All the floats pass by the stage and are given their sendoff. The parking is getting more mobbed each year.

Sinterklaas wishing everyone well at the end of the parade

Video of the closing ceremony

We dropped ‘Big Mama’ at the truck to be packed up and put away for next year. I left and went to the Reformed Church for the end of their Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser. I swear, these church groups know how to cook. They gave the small group of us who showed up after the parade (I could not believe that they closed it at 8:00pm when that was the end of the parade) a large portion of Spaghetti and homemade meatballs (the three meatballs were huge) along with salad and garlic bread. It hit the spot after a long day of events and the parade.

The Christmas tree in Downtown Rhinebeck, NY

The whole downtown was quiet after the parade was over. I swear everyone went home and the first wave of people who had gone out to eat had already finished and most of the restaurants started to close after a busy day. It was the opposite of the rest of the day. It is nice to see the town lit up with white lights, quiet and peaceful finally. You could just enjoy the beauty of it.

Downtown Rhinebeck decorated for the night of the parade

I was in bed early that night as I had to leave Rhinebeck early to get to Boonton, NJ for the Annual Bergen County Firemen’s Home Christmas Party. I have to tell you I was exhausted having to drive back down to New Jersey and put on the happy face. It was well worth it though.

Bergen County Firemen's Home Association October 29, 2017

The Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association Christmas Party

We have a band perform on a quarterly basis for the residents, sponsor a barbecue every summer and the holiday party is the last event of the year. I was exhausted so I was falling asleep on the couch in the main meeting room. All that driving was getting to me but it was well worth it. The look on the residents faces when we handed out the gifts on the break from the band was performing. Our organization bought all the guys a new shirt with the Bergen County Firemen’s Home logo on it. I could tell that many of them were touched.

As I handed out refreshments at the break, many of the residents said how much they felt appreciated at the holidays. Some never get to see their families. I am glad that the organization could bring a little holiday cheer to the guys.

The Members of the Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association handing out gifts

After the event was over, we all went out for a late lunch at the Columbia Inn in Montville, NJ (see review on TripAdvisor), as a group which was a nice way to end the weekend.

And to think, this is just ONE weekend at the holidays where I volunteer! This is unusual and a very long and productive holiday weekend. I would not have had it any other way!

I dedicate this blog to my uncle, Donald Snyder, who passed away the Monday night that I came home from Rhinebeck. This is sent with much love and respect to my family who had a lot to deal with during the beginning of the holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!!

The Heartbreaker at Penn: Losing at the last second

Events to join in on in the future:

-The Hasbrouck Heights Christmas Parade is the Friday night after Thanksgiving every year.

-The Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association opens its Annual Christmas Tree sale every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We are located on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Terrace Avenue in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ. (See my commercial on YouTube under the ‘Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association).

The Friends of the Mills Mansion hold their Annual Christmas Fundraiser at the mansion on the first Friday night of December.

-The Sinterklaas Parade is every year the first Saturday of December in downtown Rhinebeck, NY.

Places to visit:

The Staatsburgh State Historic Site

75 Mills Mansion 1 Road

Staatsburgh, NY 12580

(845) 889-8851

http://www.millsmansion.org

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g48676-d107418-Reviews-Staatsburgh_State_Historic_Site_Mills_Mansion-Staatsburg_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2137

Places to Eat:

*The Blue Moon

35 Baltimore Avenue

Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971

(302) 227-6515

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g34048-d396007-Reviews-Blue_Moon_Rehoboth-Rehoboth_Beach_Delaware.html?m=19905

*Columbia Inn

29 Main Avenue

Montville, NJ 07045

(973) 263-1300

http://www.columbiainn.com

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g46639-d639843-Reviews-Columbia_Inn_Restaurant-Montville_Morris_County_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

*Call the restaurants for their hours during the holiday season as they may differ during the year.

My Christmas Tree Video in Hasbrouck Heights

The Video of me in the Sinterklass Parade in Rhinebeck

The Buscomonzefi.com: If you would like to view the student project, here is the link:

https://buscomonzefi.yolasite.com/

https://buscomonzefi.yolasite.com/Our-Company.php

https://mywalkinmanhattan.com/tag/buscomonzefi-com/

Day Ninety-Eight: Presenting Buscomonzefi.com, our Tech Start-up to the World, Business Communications 105 Bergen Community College December 4th, 2017

January 12, 2018"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Projects, Dedication to Warren Watrel, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring Paramus NJ, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, MywalkinManhattan-Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., UncategorizedAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., Bergen Community College, Bergen County Tech Company, BergenCountyCaregiver, Buscomonzefi, Buscomonzefi.com, Business Communications 105, diningonashoestringinnyc, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, Justin Watrel CEO Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., Justin Watrel CEO Buscomonzefi.com, Justin Watrel CEO Orion Malls Inc., littleshoponmainstreet.com, MywalkinManhattan.com, NJ Tech Companies, VisitingaMuseum.com, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

I worked this semester at Bergen Community College in Paramus, New Jersey, so after Halloween, I had to put the walk on hold for work purposes and the holiday season. One of the things I enjoy about being a college professor and teaching in the Business/Hotel Management School at Bergen Community College is watching the creativity of my students unfold. This is my third semester at the college and this particular class just stood out.

They went from what I saw as a somewhat shy group of students to a founding start-up group of ‘Techies”, when we presented our group project for our simulated start-up company, “Buscomonzefi.com” (Acronym for Business Communications 105). I was just trying to get the students to communicate with one another and boy did they! It was the first class I ever taught where everyone got an ‘A’ and truly deserved it!

I have to admit that I am not the easiest grader and after twelve years of college myself (Michigan State University, The Fashion Institute of Technology, The Culinary Institute of America and Cornell University), I have seen my share of group projects but nothing like this. All I have to say is that if we as students had the technology at our finger tips that the kids do today, there is no telling what we could have accomplished.

I came up with the idea for a group project for the second half of our class and have to admit group projects at any grade is like gym class, you hate the idea of finding partners and then depending on them to do the work. The biggest problem with group projects is that there are some people that do all the work and others who just goof off and then get a grade. I wanted to prevent that this time.

I came up with the idea for Buscomonzefi.com when I was reading the trade journals on new companies and was annoyed that there were no CEO’s of new tech companies that were my age. I hate to tell all you young ‘techies’ this but Cisco, KLA Tencor, Microsoft, Oracle and the mother of them all, Google, were founded by people my age and older.

So I created a product that everyone would need, the Widget. Okay, you’re thinking “How to Succeed in Business without even Trying”, but I thought if Robert Morse could do it so could I. I also knew I wanted to something that would have the whole class engaged so I created my first tech company (hopefully not the last).

The famous scene from “How to Succeed in Business without trying Trying”

I made myself the CEO/Founder of Buscomonzefi.com and picked my executive team. I have to admit I did ‘pull some names out of a hat’ but I also wanted to challenge all of the students who I knew by their resumes and their class performance had a lot of talent but kept so quiet in class. I wanted to create open dialogue for the students plus I wanted to get students working with other students who they might not have chosen. I never saw a group of people blossom together so well. I was amazed that what I created was not a group project but a group of up and coming executives, who took control of a project and challenged themselves to their highest level.

We had only four weeks until the project was going to be presented and I knew the class was up for the challenge. All I gave them was the product itself and the fact that we had to present to the backers on the second to last day of class before the final exam.

I created an executive team, picked my President, Senior Vice-President and Vice-Presidents, Team Leaders and Team Members. I also picked my teams where I knew some of the people needed a boost because I saw in them what I didn’t think they saw in themselves. Some I just mixed the personalities. They as a class exceeded my expectations!

I also added that they would be grading one another, keeping journals, be graded on dress code and work performance. The final word was that if as their CEO I heard from the Executive Team that someone was not performing, I would get the team together for a discussion and the person could be ‘fired’ (meaning that they would fail the second part of the class). They all seemed to understand the grading system.

For the next four weeks, the class met on their own and created their divisions from the information that I gave them. I also told them if they took a one dimensional project and made it three dimensional, I would give them extra credit. As a class, they far exceeded it.

They renamed the product “Bwidge”, very creative and then developed how the product would look and then worked in their divisions to fulfill their departments structure. Each of the teams took their departments and created them form scratch. They were broken down into Sales & Marketing, Tech Talent & Customer Service/Legal, Product Development and Corporate Security. Each division had its Vice-President with a Manager/Team Leader with them with the team under them. I set the hierarchy up and made sure that the President and Senior Vice-President took control over their ‘teams’.

In class, we would have ’round table’ discussions that I had seen online with smaller tech firms and we asked the questions of each other of where we were out, who was doing what and how the teams were working with one another. I made the President and Senior Vice-President also find our new Corporate Headquarters with the stipulation that it must be near ‘Silicon Alley’ in lower Manhattan.

On December 18th, they made the presentation on Google Slides and the class ‘blew my mind’ with their excellence. I brought in the Corporate Benefits Head of Bayer Aspirin America, who I work with on the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association to be my question and answer person. Even he was ‘blown away’ with the thoroughness that the students researched.

The Tech Talent Division even established a Website, (Google “Buscomonzefi.com” to see their work), and Instagram site and a Facebook page. which by the time of the presentation already had four followers (how did they find this?). They had complete handbooks created, policies made and even had the Employee Bill of Rights established.

The Product Development team created, priced out and even had the prototype made of the product “Bwidge”, a computer product that organized all your online files on your computer, both on a MAC and a PC, a product that did not even exist (only for either one or the other but not for both). They used the above logo and produced the final product for presentation, plus all the cost and patent information.

The Sales & Marketing team really dazzled me with their ideas for a launch party on New Year’s Eve, ad campaign in Times Square and Silicon Valley and Wall Street, their commercial (which they actually filmed for YouTube!) and their cost structure (totally unrealistic but I only had a million dollars of capital to work with). They even sent an invitation to the Mayor of NYC!

The Company Logo

The presentation night everyone was dressed for a formal ‘tech’ presentation to ‘WASP’ bankers. I have to admit I have to work with the gentlemen on the concept of ties but overall everyone was dressed so professionally.

Let me put it this way, I have never been prouder of a group of students than this semester and it is my pleasure to put this online for all their hard work. Like I said, this is the first time I ever created a ‘tech’ company from scratch and it will not be my last.

To all my students who might be reading this, you all deserved those ‘A’s and good luck in the future. So much for people who say that Millenniums don’t know how to communicate. This group took Business Communications to new heights. All you have to do is get them away from the cell phones.

Disclaimer: Please Google “Buscomonzefi.com” for the class presentation and work. It is very detailed orientated and showcases these students’ talent as future Executives.

Sincerely,

Professor Justin Watrel, Founder & CEO Buscomonzefi.com: Home of the ‘Bwidge’

Please check our blog and websites out online on Google:

https://buscomonzefi.yolasite.com/Our-Company.php

https://buscomonzefi.yolasite.com/

https://mywalkinmanhattan.com/tag/buscomonzefi-com/

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, and July 26th, 2025)

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/

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.

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

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-Five: Exploring Roosevelt Island from one end of the island to the other October 21st, 2017 (revisited August 26th, 2022 and August 2nd, 2023)

October 26, 2017Dedication to Warren Watrel, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring Murray Hill, Exploring New York City, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring NYC Parks, Exploring Roosevelt Island NYC, Exploring Sutton Place/Beekman Place, Exploring Sutton Place/Beekman Place in Manhattan, Exploring the Rim of the Island of Manhattan, Exploring The Upper East Side of 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, Walking around ManhattanAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver, DiningonaShoeString@Wordpress.com, diningonashoestringinnyc, Dorrian's Restaurant, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring Roosevelt Island, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Franklin D. Roosevelt Freedom Park, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, Lighthouse Park Roosevelt Island, littleshoponmainstreet.com, LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com, MywalkinManhattan.com, Piccolo Trattoria, Roosevelt Island, Roosevelt Island Tram, Tom Otterness artist, VisitingaMuseum.com, Walk Around Manhattan, Walking around Manhattan, Walking in Manhattan, Walking Manhattan, Walking on Roosevelt Island, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

I took a walking tour of Roosevelt Island with the American Museum of Natural History today. The island is located right off the Upper East Side and is one of the many islands in the New York County area. Roosevelt Island has had its share of problems living there in the past.

Many articles had been written about the island in the 80’s with lack of good housing, lack of stores, the tram not working and not much to do on the island. This has changed like the rest of the city in the last 40 years. There has been so much development and new housing plus on top of the tram, you do have a subway stop in a renovated station. The nice part about the tram is that you can use your subway card to ride it and what a view!

I took the F Train over that morning to meet the rest of the group. I toured with the same tour guide who led us through Inwood two years ago. Unfortunately, his get up and go is not there much these days and he looked like he packed on about 25 pounds since the last tour. Still, we took a geological tour of the island, so I got to see the island in its developed stages as well as the modern stage.

Roosevelt Island Tram from the Manhattan side

In 2022, it had been five years since I visited Roosevelt Island and there had been changes in construction, businesses being opened and closed since the pandemic and there was now a sense of optimism on the island since visitors were able to return. I did see a lot of tourists on the island which I would have ever thought they would be interested in coming here.

Tramway Park where you pick up the tram to Roosevelt Island at East 59th Street and Second Avenue.

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/tramway-plaza

I took the tram over to the island in 2022, which was an experience as it began to rain. The clouds opened up a couple of times while I was touring the island but luckily there are a lot of indoor things to do on the island. I have to say it is quite the view at any time of the year. Looking over the Upper East Side and Sutton Place from the air is very interesting and gives you a different perspective of the Manhattan.

Arriving at Roosevelt Island offers great views.

Video of the Ride over to Roosevelt Island form the Upper East Side:

IMG_7152 (2)Download

Walking around Roosevelt Island only takes about an hour (or two if you want to just relax and take your time). We started our tour outside the Roosevelt Island Historical Society Center Kiosk on West Road. Here we met the head of the Historical Society and were invited to visit later on after the tour.

On my tour of the island in 2022, I stopped back at the kiosk to talk to the guides and bought a map of the island ($1.00) which I recommend as it is a good guide and a great souvenir. It shows you the location of everything on the island and things you might miss.

The Roosevelt Island Visitor Center

The history of Roosevelt Island is interesting. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Island was originally called Minnahannock by the Native Americans and Varkins Island by the Dutch settlers. The island was acquired by the Blackwell family in the late 1600’s, who renamed the land Blackwell Island. The Blackwell’s lived on and farmed it before selling it to the City of New York in 1828 for $30,000 (Wiki/Roosevelt Island Historical Society).

Roosevelt Island in the beginning

In the 19th century, the island was used by the City for institutional facilities, including the Workhouse Penitentiary, Lunatic Asylum, City Hospital and City Home and given the name Welfare Island in 1921. The island was for residents that were out of site out of mind. These institutions gradually being relocated to areas more easily accessible to public transportation.

Roosevelt Island in the middle of the East River

https://www.nycgo.com/boroughs-neighborhoods/manhattan/roosevelt-island

In 1969, this two-mile island was lease to the State of New York for 99 years. Under New York State’s Urban Development Corporation, Welfare Island became a beacon for the affordable housing movement within the city. Construction of the island community was completed in 1975 with four housing developments. In 1973, the island was renamed Franklin Delano Roosevelt Island (Wiki).

Today, Roosevelt Island has a small town feel with approximately 20 buildings and 14,000 residents. The island is home to six landmarked structures and proudly houses Four Freedoms Park, one of the original visions for the island (Judith Berdy, President Roosevelt Island Visitor Center).

The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd at 543 Main Street

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapel_of_the_Good_Shepherd_(Roosevelt_Island)

Designed by the prominent architect Frederick Clarke Withers, the chapel was begun in June, 1888 and completed the following year. It was the gift of New York banker George N. Bliss to the New York Protestant Episcopal Mission Society and was intended for use by the inmates of the Almshouse (Roosevelt Island Historical Society). It now serves as a community center and housing.

Our first part of the tour was visiting the new Cornell Tech campus on the southern part of the island. This new complex of four buildings is the wave of our university’s urban campus to soon be joined by a new hotel and another tech building (both opened and operating in 2022). The area has been replanted and a new lawn and gardens has been built on a waste deposit site. It’s hard to believe that it is built on a trash mound.

The entrance to the Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island.

The tour guide explained that this is all reclaimed land. The campus is beautifully set on the island and is located right near the tram and subway station. I got to tour the Bloomberg Building and walk through their new restaurant.

Cornell Tech Campus: Go Red!

https://www.tech.cornell.edu/

In 2022, I stopped at the Café at Cornell Tech for a snack. It had been so hot outside that I went in for a cool drink. I ended up buying some of the college’s homemade ice cream from the Agriculture School that is made fresh on campus. The Mango Sorbet ($3.00 for a half pint) really cooled me down and I was ready to go again (See review on TripAdvisor).

Just outside the Cornell campus, I noticed another interesting statue entitled “The Blue Dragon”, a whimsical statue that was designed in an interesting form. It was created by artists Ulla and Gustav Kraitz. The work was meant to be engaged by children to climb on.

The Blue Dragon

https://rooseveltislander.blogspot.com/2016/04/roosevelt-island-blue-dragon-childrens.html

Artists Ulla and Gustav Kraitz (Wiki)

https://www.hostlerburrows.com/collection-all/gustav-and-ulla-kraitz

Ulla and Gustav Kraitz are Swedish born artists. Gustav Kraitz graduated from the State Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest. Ulla Kraitz was educated at the College of Arts in Sweden. The two met when Mr. Kraitz moved to Stockholm in 1960. They are known for their stylized sculptures of animals and fruits in lustrous and vivid colors (Artist bio).

Past the Cornell campus is South Point Park and the Smallpox Hospital, which is currently laying in ruins. The city is now refurbishing the building, but it will never be reopened as a fire did damage to all of the building. It was behind scaffolding and was not much to look at except for the architecture itself.

The Smallpox Hospital is a Gothic Revival structure designed by American architect James Renwich Jr. and opened to the public on December 18, 1856. It was the first hospital in the country dedicated to treating smallpox, a highly contagious and deadly viral disease.

Smallpox Hospital

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

The original footprint of the Smallpox Hospital was the rectangle central bay, which measured roughly 100 feet by 40 feet and was three stories in height. The building was constructed of granite quarried on the island and was built by prison labor. In 1875, the hospital was renamed Riverside Hospital and in 1886, the building was converted to a nursing school called the Home for the Nurses of the Maternity and Charity Hospital Training School. The northern and southern wings were completed in the early 1900’s in order to provide additional space for classrooms, laboratories and dormitories.

In the 1950’s, the nursing school closed, and the building was abandoned. It was stripped of floors, windows and stairwells. The Gothic ruin has been emptied ever since. What exists today is largely its shell (Roosevelt Island Historical Society at http://www.TheRuin.org).

After the picture taking at the hospital, it was on to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park. It is amazing park located at the southern tip of Roosevelt Island with the most fantastic views of the City. On this clear sunny day, I could see all the way downtown. It was nice to just sit on the steps and just look out on this sunny day.

This is where the tour ended with our guide. I swear the guy looked exhausted and we had only walked the southern part of the island. Our group went on their way while I decided to see the rest of the park and walk the entire island. I started with walking the park.

The Hope Memorial sign

I admired the FDR Hope Memorial in which the statue of the President reaches to a young girl with a disability herself. The statue offers encouragement to those with a disability and the power to persevere.

http://www.fdrhopememorial.org/

FDR faces the young girl

the young girl facing FDR

The statue was designed by artist and sculptor Meredith Bergmann, who herself was inspired by the photos and stories of the President (FDR Hope Memorial).

Artist Meredith Bergmann (Cooper Union Alumni Picture)

https://meredithbergmann.com/

Ms. Bergmann is an American born artist with BFA from The Cooper Union School of Art and attended Parsons School of Design and Wesleyan University. Her public works explore history, social justice, human rights and disabilities (Author’s bio).

Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Points Freedom Park is the first memorial dedicated to the president in his home state of New York. Located at the southern tip of Roosevelt Island in New York City. It is the last work of Louis I. Kahn, an iconic architect of the 20th century.

FDR Four Freedoms Park

The memorial, which opened to the public in October 2012, celebrates the four freedoms, as pronounced in President Roosevelt’s famous January 6, 1941, State of the Union address: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park

Homepage

(Park’s Mission: As a steward of this civic space, Four Freedoms Park Conservancy advances President Roosevelt’s legacy and inspires, educates and engages the public in the ideals of the four freedoms.

The bust of Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The Conservancy does this by:

*Safeguarding the memorial as a space for inspired use.

*Fostering community and understanding.

*Igniting conversation about human rights and freedoms today.

The park is built on land filling from on-island demolition and this extended the island on the southern part.

(New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Society).

The sign right in the middle of the park.

From the park, I walked the path around the exterior of the entire island taking in the view of the coast of Queens. The shoreline of Queens is slowly changing too. New apartment buildings are going up in Astoria and Long Island City not to mention the coastline of Brooklyn as well. Much of this is built around parks that line the East River. This is not our parent’s outer borough.

The Long Island City shoreline

The pathway around the island had its twists and turns around the many parks and housing complexes. Some of these you could tell were built back in the 80’s and were the housing developments that were bitched about in New York Magazine so many years ago. Now these apartments have become desirable and have been spruced up. They are surrounded with newer, modern buildings that are attracting new younger residents.

The pathway with its breezy views attracts the island joggers and fisherman. It turned out to be an 81-degree day and everyone was out enjoying the unseasonable warm weather. The leaves were just starting to change colors so there was a new view in the parks on the island and in the parks across the river.

The east part of the pathway on the island took me to Lighthouse Park on the northern tip of the island. This was the park I had seen a few weeks earlier when visiting Carl Schulz Park by Gracie Mansion. The lighthouse was built in 1872 by inmates from the penitentiary with stones from the island and it was designed by the architect who designed the Smallpox Hospital.

Lighthouse Park Roosevelt Island at 910 Main Street

https://rioc.ny.gov/179/The-Lighthouse

https://www.tclf.org/landscapes/lighthouse-park

The lighthouse was built to guide ships through the treacherous waters of the East River and Hellgate. Now decommissioned, the park is a perfect place for picture taking and for picnicking. It has the nicest views of the Upper East Side and Randall’s-Wards Island to the north. It really is a nice place to take pictures or just relax, sit and enjoy the breezes. It was funny to now see the people from across the river. They seemed so much smaller.

Next to the lighthouse is a monument of faces dedicated to Nellie Bly and to women who have faced hardship entitled “The Girl Puzzle”. The sculpture was dedicated to journalist Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, pen name Nellie Bly, who wrote about the abuses in the mental asylum on what was known as Mental Island at the time. She wrote the full report “Ten Days in the Mad House” on the abuses of patients.

“Girl Puzzle” by artist Amanda Matthews (Artist Bio)

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

https://www.thegirlpuzzle.com/

Artist Amanda Matthews (Artist Bio)

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

https://www.prometheusart.com/

The piece was created by American born artist Amanda Matthews. Ms. Matthews graduated with a BA in Studio Art from the University of Louisville and had studied abroad in Europe. She is known for her work that honors women and celebrates diversity and inclusion (Wiki).

The history sign on Nellie Bly

Each sculpture is a interpretation on Nellie Bly. It really is an interesting sculpture.

The Girl Puzzle One:

The Girl Puzzle Two:

The Girl Puzzle Three:

The Girl Puzzle Four:

The Girl Puzzle Five:

The northern part of the island is dominated by the Coler Rehabilitation Center and many of the patients were out and about on the pathways with their families enjoying the warm weather. Be careful when walking the western part of the island as you could be nipped by a passing wheelchair.

Passing the hospital is the Octagon Apartments. The front of the building is the original Octagon building that was part of the Lunatic Asylum was built in 1834 and designed by architect Alexander Jackson Davis.

The Octagon Apartments at 888 Main Street

https://octagonnyc.com/

https://streeteasy.com/building/the-octagon

This is where Nellie Bly wrote “Ten Days in a Nuthouse”, a famous piece describing the conditions in the building. Now it is a luxury eco-friendly apartment building. The parks next door to it have the nicest playground and a fantastic view of the Upper East Side.

Author Nellie Bly of “Ten Days in a Nuthouse”

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/nellie-bly

Other newer apartment buildings line this part of the island of which have views anyone would envy. If you are going to live in New York City and want a view, this is the place to go. I passed by the Roosevelt Island Garden Club garden but it was closed that afternoon.

The Roosevelt Island Garden Club at the end of Main Street

https://www.rigarden.org/

As I was leaving the area, I came across a tiny statue of a woman entitled “Sabrina” right behind the Octagon apartment building. This is a bronze recasting of artist William Calder Marshall’s 1845 statue that has been part of the Amherst College tradition of pranking over the last hundred years.

The Statue of Sabrina

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

Artist William Calder Marshall

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

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/william-calder-marshall

Mr. Marshall was educated at the University of Edinburgh and was known for as a prolific sculpture of poetic subjects and many public commemorative works (National Galleries.org).

The nicest part of the walk was the water sculptures by American and Kansas born artist Tom Otterness entitled “The Management of Money & Real Estate”, which are two cute looking sculptures that depict the combination of money and real estate and how they affect one another. You could see this when each one of the sculptures were dunked in the water. You have to take time out and really look at these. It is really reflective of an island where mixed income seems to work. You also notice the irony when you look to Manhattan with its gleaming towers and then you look towards Queens with the public housing projects next to newer apartment buildings.

Tom Otterness, the Artist

http://www.artnet.com/artists/tom-otterness/

http://www.tomotterness.net/artworks

Mr. Otterness came to New York City in 1970 to study in the Arts Student League and the Whitney Museum. He is considered one of the best public sculptors in the Art world (Artist Bio and Google.com).

Tom Otterness “The Management of Money & Real Estate”

The happy couple

Money lost to Real Estate

Real Estate lost to Money

As I rounded the Promenade in 2017, I had to stop for some lunch. There are not too many restaurants on the island but the ones who are there look pretty good. I ate at Piccolo Trattoria at 455 Main Street (See review on TripAdvisor) for a slice of pizza. This is the only place to get a slice of pizza on the island.

Piccolo Trattoria at 455 Main Street

https://www.menuism.com/restaurants/piccolo-trattoria-new-york-877623

The best part is the restaurant is really good. I had a slice of their Sicilian pizza ($2.50), which had just come out of the oven. It was really good. Their sauce is excellent, and one slice is enough to fill you up. There service is friendly as well. I needed it as I was ready to walk the interior of the island. The second time I came here in 2023, the pizza did not taste the same. I think they have new owners.

The Sicilian pizza here can be hit or miss

In 2022, I was in the mood for something different and had wanted to try the Chinese restaurant on the island, but it only accepted cash. So, I tried the new Zhongzhong Noodles at 568 Main Street. I had the most amazing meal there. The noodles and the Soup Dumpling that I ordered were made fresh on premise for me and you could taste the quality in every bite (See my review on TripAdvisor).

The Za Jiang Noodles were made with a minced pork and fresh vegetables in a sauce that when mixed together had the most complex and delicious taste. The Soup Dumplings were juicy and tasted wonderful in the soy dipping sauce.

Zhongzhong Noodles at 568 Main Street

The Soup Dumplings were excellent

https://www.zhongzhong.us/

The beautiful gardens by the Blackwell House in Downtown Roosevelt Island.

After lunch, I walked in interior of the island and walked both side of the main street. There are some interesting restaurants, historical sites, a brand-new school and the original Blackwell family house that was built in 1796 and sold in 1823.

The Blackwell House at 500 Main Street

https://rioc.ny.gov/176/Blackwell-House

Blackwell House

It was closed in 2017 when I visited the island for much needed renovations but had finally reopened in 2022. The only problem was there was not much to tour once you were inside the house. It had been given a renovation but not a historical restoration, so the interior looked like a modern-day McMansion.

The very modern looking Living Room in the Blackwell Home

The tour guide explained to me that the house had been gutted and renovated and the only thing left of the original home was the stone foundation which he opened the basement door to show me. These had been quarried locally and had historic significance. That and there were some historical pictures around the house including one of Captain Blackwell of Revolutionary War fame who built the house but not much else that looked historic. I think they need a curator to come in and add some historic touches to the home. It looks really nice, but it loses its historic distinction.

The historical pictures of Roosevelt Island

General Blackwell’s portrait is the only historical item in the house

By the Motorgate building, there was a Farmer’s Market going on that afternoon. In 2017, I was able to walk around and see all the different vendors.

It seems to be a great place to raise children. The public-school PS/IS 217 looks like the type of school where the parents really support it. There are some interesting programs going on at the school and an active PTA. There is also an active theater down the road and a new library. There is a lot to do for a small neighborhood.

The Roosevelt Island Main Street

The gardens in the middle of the downtown area.

The tour of the island has a lot to do and see. There is a nice mix of historical buildings and brand-new architecture that blends together. Everything mixes well and has created a very livable and vibrant neighborhood. There is a lot to do and I am not sure if the rest of Manhattan knows what they are missing.

I left the island on the Tram and the nice part is I did not need to use a special ticket. It was part of my subway card and all I needed to do is swipe the card and I was on my way.

Roosevelt Island Tramway views

http://rioc.ny.gov/302/Tram

What a view! I do not care how touristy anything is the view from the Tram on a clear sunny day is the best. You can see all the way up the island and you really see the beauty of the island of Manhattan. To see all the buildings and parks and the river I think of the people who see this view in pictures and never get to experience this and I am right here seeing it. If anything, you have to take the Tram once. Being crowded in is well worth it.

The views from Roosevelt Island are amazing!

The Roosevelt Island Tram from the ground

Dinner in 2017 was at Dorrian’s Red Hand Restaurant on 1616 Second Avenue at 84th Street (See review on TripAdvisor), which I had mentioned before when walking through Yorkville. It is old-fashioned bar founded in 1960 and is a true Upper East Side ‘preppie’ bar. Everyone was pretty dressed up and the games were on.

Dorrian’s Red Hat at 1616 Second Avenue

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

Dorrian’s current menu in the Summer of 2024 (the UES Burger is no longer on the menu)

I ended up staying to watch the Michigan State versus Indiana game. I swear I had to calm down because it was a nail biter and I had to deal with rugby players constantly blocking the TV. That last minute touchdown really helped (that and the fact that Cornell beat Brown at Homecoming was nice). Michigan State won our Homecoming Game!

The food here is excellent. You have to try their UES Burger, which was a version of a ‘breakfast’ burger with bacon, artisan cheddar and a fried egg. The combination really worked, and it had a salty savory flavor to it. The French Fries were perfectly cooked with lots of salt. Everything just worked. The place was packed with Syracuse fans watching their game, so I was the only green and white in a sea of orange and blue. These games got close. I ended the win with a piece of warmed apple pie which hit the spot.

The hamburgers here are excellent

Back on the Q subway at 96th Street again to go home but on a warm night it was nice to walk around Second Avenue and look at everyone else eating outside and enjoying the warm evening. It was a great day in New York and my first trip to Roosevelt Island.

Go Green & Go Red!

Transportation to Roosevelt Island:

Take the tram (Cost of a subway ride with pass) between 59th and 60th Streets on Second Avenue in Manhattan or the F subway line.

Tram:

Monday-Friday (Rush Hours): 7:00am-10:00am; 3:00pm-8:00pm

Friday-Saturday: 6:00am-3:30am

Sunday-Thursday: 6:00am-2:00am

Hours do change so please call. The subway runs all day with hours changing depending on the time of day.

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d548557-Reviews-The_Roosevelt_Island_Tramway-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Things to do and see on Roosevelt Island:

Artist Tom Otterness sculptures “The Management of Money & Real Estate”

http://www.tomostudio.com/

http://www.tomotterness.net/artworks

Roosevelt Island Historical Society Visitor Center Kiosk

285 Main Street, Tram Park

Roosevelt Island, NY 10044

Open: Sunday 12:00pm-5:00pm/Monday-Wednesday Closed/Thursday-Saturday 12:00pm-5:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d7362339-Reviews-Roosevelt_Island_Historical_Society_Visitor_Center_Kiosk-New_York_City_New_York.html

The Lighthouse in Lighthouse Plaza

910 Main Street

New York, NY 10044

(212) 832-4540

Open: Sunday-Saturday 7:00am-9:00pm

https://rioc.ny.gov/179/The-Lighthouse

https://www.nycgo.com/attractions/roosevelt-island-lighthouse-park

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g28953-d18218968-Reviews-Blackwell_Island_Lighthouse-New_York.html

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/1905

The Octagon (part of a housing complex now) in the middle part of the Island

The Chapel of the Good Shepard in the middle part of the Island

The Strecker Laboratory on the southern part of the island

The Smallpox Hospital on the southern part of the Island

Blackwell House

500 Main Street

New York, NY 10044

(212) 832-4540

https://rioc.ny.gov/176/Blackwell-House

Blackwell House

Open: Sunday 11:00am-2:00pm/3:00pm-5:00pm/Monday-Tuesday Closed/Wednesday-Saturday 11:00am-2:00pm/3:00pm-5:00pm

Free: Free

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60763-d24938743-r856994489-Blackwell_House-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/8693

Franklin D. Roosevelt Freedom Park

1 FDR Four Freedoms Park

Roosevelt Island, NY 10044

(212) 204-8831

Open: Sunday-Saturday 9:00am-7:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d3595273-Reviews-Franklin_D_Roosevelt_Four_Freedoms_Park-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/1724

Places to eat:

Piccolo Trattoria

455 Main Street

Roosevelt Island, NY 10044

Phone: (212) 753-2300

Fax: (212) 753-2330

http://www.picollotrattoria.com

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

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d15171396-Reviews-Piccolo_Trattoria-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Zhongzhong Noodles

568 Main Street

Roosevelt Island, NY 10044

(646) 870-0005

https://www.zhongzhong.us/

Open: Sunday-Saturday 11:00am-8:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60763-d24938749-r856995400-Zhongzhong_Noodles-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

The Cafe at Cornell Tech

2 West Loop Road

Roosevelt Island, NY 10044

https://thecafe.tech.cornell.edu/

Open: Sunday 11:00am-5:00pm/Monday-Friday 8:00am-7:00pm/Saturday 11:00am-5:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d12950906-Reviews-The_Cafe_at_Cornell_Tech-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

On the Manhattan side:

Dorrian’s Red Hand Restaurant

1616 Second Avenue at 84th Street

New York, NY 10028

Phone: (212) 772-6660

http://www.dorrians-nyc.com

Open: Sunday-Saturday 11:00am-3:30am

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d5021112-Reviews-Dorrians_Red_Hand_Restaurant-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Day Ninety-Three: Walking the Borders of the Upper Upper West Side from 96th Street to 84th Street from Riverside Drive to Fifth Avenue October 11th, 2017 (Again on June 16th and November 14th, 2024)

October 25, 2017Dedication 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 Rim of the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Historic New York City neighborhoods, 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 ManhattanAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver, Bettalona, Central Park Conservatory Park, diningonashoestringinnyc, El Museo del Barrio, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the Upper East Side, Exploring the Upper West Side, Joy Brown sculpture, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, LittleShoponMainStreet, littleshoponmainstreet.com, Museum of the City of New York, MywalkinManhattan.com, Soldier & Sailor Monument, Upper West Side, VisitingaMuseum.com, Walk Around Manhattan, Walk Manhattan, Walking around Manhattan, Walking in Manhattan, Walking Manhattan, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

I always try to spend part of my birthday doing some form of community service. So I spent the morning of my birthday cutting vegetables for the next few days meals at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen.

I spent the morning cutting three big bags of potatoes, a crate of sweet potatoes and several heads of lettuce for salads plus cleaning up the kitchen after everyone. We need to prepare prep for several dishes in advance and several cases of fresh vegetables were coming in so the old ones had to be used first. Needless to say, I was exhausted as usual when I left for the afternoon.

My afternoon was spent walking the ring of the neighborhood, the Upper part of the Upper West Side. Since this area runs from 96th Street to 59th Street, I will be breaking it up into two parts. Years ago, one did not dare venture over 86th Street on the West Side. Then it became 96th Street in the 90’s. Today though, the whole Upper West Side from 59th is really nice all the way to the tip of Inwood. There are some patches above 145th Street as I have mentioned in the blog that are still a little on the rough side but every month seem to get better.

Now that I have finished walking around Yorkville/Carnegie Hill and Manhattanville/Bloomingdale neighborhoods, it now time to tackle the Upper West and East Sides. This stretches from 96th to 59th Streets on both sides of Central Park and line both the East and Hudson Rivers. It will be a lot of walking.

My day starting by taking the subway back up to Morningside Heights for lunch. I had passed several restaurants along the way on Broadway on my days walking this neighborhood and there were still a few I had wanted to try. My choice was Bettolona at 3143 Broadway between LaSalle & Tiemann Streets (See review on TripAdvisor). The food is wonderful and very reasonably priced.

The beauty of Bettolona is the exposed walls and the open air windows that face a quiet side of Broadway to cars but noisy once the Number One subway passes. It was one of the warm, sunny October afternoons at 82 degrees so it was nice to sit by the windows and enjoy lunch. What impresses me about the restaurant is the unusual art up on the walls by the local artists, the calm jazz music and the laid back service. Everyone was so nice without knowing it was my birthday.

Bettolona Restaurant at 3143 Broadway (Closed June 2022)

https://www.bettolona.com/

I had the Linguine Bolognese, which was excellent. Fresh pasta with a generous portion of a veal ragu on top. The sauce, the owner explained, was made with fresh tomatoes and spices. It had such a nice rich flavor to it. You could taste the red wine in the sauce.

The food was wonderful that afternoon

For dessert, I had the Crepelle with Nutella and banana, which I highly recommend. The dessert was two freshly made crepes filled with Nutella hazelnut spread and freshly sliced bananas. A sweet light treat and the perfect way to end the lunch. I enjoyed it while watching students and members of the Columbia community walk by. I highly recommend the restaurant if you are in the area.

St. Clair Rose Garden when it is in bloom

After lunch, I wanted to walk off my fullness and turned the corner onto the extension of 125th Street to the St. Clair turn into Riverside Park to the West Harlem Piers Park to look over the Hudson River and enjoy the beautiful sunny day. The West Harlem Piers is a small park inside Riverside Park that faces New Jersey and offers the most spectacular views of the Hudson River and the Cliffs of Englewood Cliffs and Alpine on the New Jersey side. It is a nice place to just sit, relax and think. I do some of my best writing here.

West Harlem Piers Park off West 125th Street

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/west-harlem-piers

West Harlem Piers Park in the summer of 2023

After I rested and digested, it was off to walk the fringe of the Upper Upper West Side. This encompassed 5th Avenue along Central Park to Riverside Drive facing Riverside Park from 96th Street to 84th Street. It was a large area but packed with interesting pre-war apartments, two large popular parks, loads of small local businesses and a few pocket parks along the way.

The Brownstone neighborhood of West 95th Street

This area unlike Manhattanville to the north of 96th, is starting to get a little more upscale as people with money are beginning to move above 86th Street, the traditional border of the Upper West Side. The area like the rest of Manhattan just keeps morphing quickly. You will never know when you turn the corner when another business will close and one replace it.

West 96th Street and Riverside Park in the Fall

On the way down Broadway, I passed on the Columbia Campus a memorial plaque dedicated to General Garret Hopper Sticker, who led the New York City defense during the War of 1812. This was the location of the McGowan Pass in Manhattanville, which was a major travel artery on the Post Road to the Northern parts of New York and New England.

The McGowan Pass before the park

Fearing invasion by the British, the city rebuilt old Revolutionary forts and this area was home to the Barrier Wall to protect the travel route. It saw no action during the War of 1812, but this important piece of history is noted on the Columbia campus as the McGowan Pass still sits at the northern end of Central Park.

The McGowan Pass in its later years

https://www.centralparknyc.org/locations/mcgowans-pass

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGowan%27s_Pass

The one thing that I can note about both Central Park and Riverside Park that day is that all the leaves were still green. The vestiges of the fall had not turned color yet and with the unseasonable warm weather still felt like summer. Central Park was crowded that day with people playing Frisbee and walking their dogs. Many tourists were still in the city wondering around the park. It leads me to ask, are any of us still working full time? I wonder.

I had already walked all of 96th Street already, passing the artist Joy Brown statues on Broadway at the subway stop (which run from West 117th Street to West 72nd Street until February 17, 2018) and the now familiar McDonald’s that has been my haunt for snacks and drinks when walking up here. I proceeded to walk down Riverside Drive through Riverside Park to enjoy the foliage and walk through a park still locked in the summer. It was so nice to pass couples walking their dogs or biking through the park. There is so much life going on here and people just enjoying nature.

Joy Brown’s work “The Kneeler”

Artist Joy Brown

https://www.joybrownstudio.com/

The homes and apartment buildings that line Riverside Park are from sign from the turn of the last century. There are still some mansions that line the park in the lower 90’s that are currently being refurbished. These you really have to look over for the 1880’s architecture. The loop around 84th Street will either take you to 83rd or 85th Street so opt for the lower one. Take your time and really walk-through Riverside Park and see the foliage and the view of the Hudson River.

Between 90th and 89th Streets, take time to explore the Soldier’s & Sailors Monument on Riverside Drive and look over the monument. It was built to honor the Union Army & Navy during the Civil War. The monument was designed by the firm of Stoughton & Stoughton for the City in 1900. It was dedicated on Memorial Day of 1902 with President Theodore Roosevelt overseeing the event. The monument has seen better days and like Grant’s Tomb, could use a refurbishing. Check out the detail work and the statues. It was well-designed and detailed.

Soldiers & Sailor’s Monument at West 89th Street

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldiers%27_and_Sailors%27_Monument_(Manhattan)

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/riverside-park/highlights/12871

Rounding 84th Street leads you into the former edge of the Upper West Side. Back in the 90’s, one did not venture higher than 86th Street and then it became 96th Street. Now it is all the way up the west side of the island to the very tip. This whole area is being polished up and new chain stores are being opened along the Broadway corridor.

Broadway between West 105th and West 106th Streets

On the corner of 84th and Amsterdam Avenue this is a patch of green in the way of the Urban Green Space Garden run by The Urban Assembly School for Green Careers. The students run this urban garden where tomatoes, cucumbers and root vegetables are grown next to one of the busiest thoroughfares in the city. The kids take a lot of pride in this stand so try to stop in and look over their produce. They are a welcoming bunch and the teachers are very encouraging as well.

The Urban Assembly School for Green Careers Park

https://www.uagreencareers.org/

I walked the remaining parts of the border of the neighborhood along Fifth Avenue and then crossed over the park to the East Side where I ended up at the 96th Street exit. I ended my walk at the El Museo del Barrio a, a Latino themed museum at the edge of the Museum Mile at 1220 Fifth Avenue to see visit the museum for the first time (See reviews on TripAdvisor & VisitingaMuseum.com).

El Museo del Barrio at 1230 Fifth Avenue

HomePage

What an interesting museum. I visited all the exhibitions as the museum is rather small and the displays are very intimate. The ‘Nkame’ exhibition was very interesting dealing with a local religion on the island that it pays great respect. It is interesting in the use of black and white used in the art. Another exhibition that really hit the economic attitude of the island was the ‘Debtfair” exhibition that explained how the island got into its financial straits and how it can be worked out. They also have a nice restaurant and gift shop that you should visit.

I took a quick tour around the Central Park Conservatory at 1230 Fifth Avenue (See reviews on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com). The garden was still in bloom with early fall flowers and green trees. Even at this time of night the conservatory was still busy. I really like the formal gardens to the south of the garden and the fountain.

Central Park Conservatory at 120 Fifth Avenue

https://www.centralparknyc.org/

The lawn of the Central Park Conservatory.

The gardens in the summer months

My evening ended with a lecture on ‘Rising Waters around NYC’, a discussion of how the rising sea levels affected the city during Hurricane Sandy and in the future. This discussion was at the Museum of the City of New York at Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street across the street from the Central Park Conservatory at 1220 Fifth Avenue & 103rd Street (See review on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com).

Don’t miss their ongoing exhibition on ‘Core New York’ on the history of the city through the ages. It is really interesting and needs several trips to really see the exhibition in full.

The Museum of the City of New York at 1220 Fifth Avenue

https://www.mcny.org/

The Time Line of the City exhibition

Foods of New York exhibition

Overall, a very nice day and a great way to spend my 52nd Birthday.

Happy Birthday to me!!

Please read my blogs on walking the Upper Upper West Side:

Day Ninety-Three: Walking the Streets 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

Places to Eat:

Bettolona (Closed June 2022)

3143 Broadway

New York, NY 10027

(212) 749-1125

http://www.bettolonanyc.com

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d3140758-Reviews-Bettolona-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Places to Visit:

Sailors & Soldiers Monument

Riverside Park@ 90th Street

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/riversidepark/highlights/12871

Joy Brown Statues (now closed)

From West 117th to 72nd Streets

Until February 17th, 2018

All Along Broadway

http://joybrownstudio.com/

Central Park Conservatory

402 5th Avenue

New York, NY 10029

(212) 310-6600

http://www.centralpark.com

Open: Visit the website for hours seasonal

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d272517-Reviews-Conservatory_Garden-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/831

El Museo del Barrio

1230 5th Avenue

New York, NY 10029

(212) 831-7272

http://www.elmuseo.org

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d116228-Reviews-El_Museo_del_Barrio-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/1600

Museum of the City of New York

5th Avenue & 103rd Street

New York, NY 10029

(212) 534-1672

http://www.mcny.org

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d116229-Reviews-Museum_of_the_City_of_New_York-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

Urban Green Space Gardens

All over the neighborhood

West Harlem Piers Park

Marginal Street at West 132nd Street

New York, NY 10027

(212) 639-9675

http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/west-harlem-piers

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/west-harlem-piers/events

Open: 6:00am-9:00pm

Day Ninety-Two: A Trip up to New Haven, CT for the Cornell vs Yale Game-A Local Journey September 30th, 2017 (Revisited on September 28th, 2019, and September 25th, 2021, and September 27th, 2025)

October 20, 2017"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Bakeries for the budget minded, Chinese Restaurants for the budget minded, Dedication to Warren Watrel, Exploring Historic Towns of Connecticut, Exploring Historical Towns in Connecticut, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New Haven, Connecticut, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Gourmet restaurants for the budget minded, Historic Connecticut neighborhoods, Historic Towns of Connecticut, Hot Dog, Hamburger & Fries for the budget minded., Interesting Bakeries, Interesting Coffee and Flower Shops, 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 ConnecticutAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver, Chapel Street, Claire's Corner Copia, Cornell Football, Cornell vs Yale Football, diningonashoestringinnyc, Downtown New Haven, Exploring Downtown New Haven CT, Exploring Historic Towns in Connecticut, Exploring New Haven CT, Frank Pepe's Pizzeria, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, Libby's Bakery, littleshoponmainstreet.com, Louis Lunch, MywalkinManhattan.com, New Haven CT, The Green, The New Haven Green, The Nine Block New Haven, The Owl Shop, Visiting New Haven CT, VisitingaMuseum.com, Walking Downtown New Haven, CT, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watrel, Willoughby's Coffee & Tea, Wooster Street New Haven, Yale Bowl, Yale vs Cornell Football Gamejwatrel

I took time from my walk to be a supportive Alumni and go up to New Haven, Connecticut for the Cornell versus Yale game on September 30, 2017. I also watched us get our butts kicked with the score 49-24. I swear, every time I thought we would catch up, we fell behind. We kept going through quarterbacks throughout the game.

It was even worse for the September 2019 game. We were tie with Yale, who does not look that good either, at 3-3 at half (I thought that was bad enough) but in the third quarter were lead 10-3 with an 85 yard run touchdown and looked really good. Then our quarterback threw an interception that lead to a Yale touchdown and at 10-10 he was so rattled by that, the game was never the same. He threw three more interceptions and we botched an onside kick (Cornell is not good at these, trust me!) and resulted in three more touchdowns for Yale.

We ended up losing 27-16 and it was not fun leaving that stadium. It was no big deal though because the students at Yale DO NOT support their football team and there was more people from Cornell at the stadium than Yalies and the Yale Bowl (their stadium), which is a relic of the 1920’s with uncomfortable wooden seats, was 80% empty.

The Yale Bowl (which only fills up for the Harvard Game)

https://yalebulldogs.com/facilities/yale-bowl-class-of-1954-field/22

In September 0f 2021, it was another spectacular day in the Yale Bowl but the renovations are not working so well and the seats are peeling again and the place looks worn down. The game was pathetic from both sides. Yale looked lackluster and we kept making so many mistakes. We lost again 17-23. Not exactly the blood bath we took in our previous games here but it was not much of a game.

For a home game, Yalies don’t support their team. The stadium was over half empty.

What I find most insulting is that the food vendors at the game charge an arm and leg for food. Come on, a regular hot dog is $4.00 and a soda is $3.00? That is really gouging people especially ones using their credit cards. I just made my way down Chapel Street after the game and revisited some of the delis I had been to before. It was more than half price than at the game.

Still I got another amazing tan at the game and it was nice to just take the train up and then walk to the stadium to see if there were any changes along Chapel Street. There were a few more stores open in the downtown near the Yale campus and some homes had been renovated but not as many as I would have thought.

A lot has changed in New Haven since I lived there in the late Eighties. I lived in New Haven from 1988-1990 at a time the city was being revitalized during the boom of the early 80’s. I also saw what the Crash of 1987 would do to the city when the effects of the financial meltdown started to do to the economy. I lived on College Street at the time working at R.H. Macy on Church Street (where a college stands now).

The old Macy’s New Haven before it closed in 1994

The mall was knocked down and is now a college

Our little area was really nice around the Shubert Theater with lots of shops and restaurants but even those were affected by the economy as well as the store was in the end and it closed after I got promoted in 1990. The store closed with almost thirty years in service in 1994. Even though I moved from the city twenty-seven years ago, I still consider it in my own way ‘home’. There is always a piece of me in all the places I have lived in the past. There still is a part of me in the city. Going up for the Cornell-Yale game has given me an excuse to visit New Haven in the last six years.

I was lucky to make the 9:02am train out of Grand Central and arrived in New Haven at 11:20am. Walking through the train station brought back a lot of memories for me as I used to head home every Sunday for dinner with my family the first year I lived there. I watched the station get renovated in 1989 and morph to what it is now with the vaulted ceilings and the specialty shops. It is the weirdest thing about the city. They have the most beautiful train station and then the city builds public housing right across the street from it.

When I visited in 2021, all the public housing that was across the street from the train station has since been knocked down. It will be interesting to see what gets built as this side of town by the Nine Block has gotten more desirable and more built up. In 2025, the lots still sit empty.

For me, stepping out of the station brings back a flood of memories for me. As I walked from the station to downtown a few blocks away it reminded me of the first time I truly became independent as an adult with my first real job and my first apartment alone.

Arriving in New Haven in 2025

Arriving at the New Haven Train Station after the two hour ride

I still had the feeling when I exited the train station in 2021. The memories just keep flooding back.

New Haven Train Station

https://www.amtrak.com/stations/nhv

In 2019, driving up I-95 was the worst experience. I teach college now on Saturdays and we finished class a little earlier today so I got on the road in plenty of time for the game but a few trucks not doing the speed limit backed traffic up for almost a half hour. I took the Merritt Parkway back and it was a much more pleasant experience. It is a much nicer highway to drive down with less traffic. Plus it is tree lined.

The beauty of the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut

I walked to Church, Chapel and College Streets now and it is so much different. New Haven has become a restaurant and shopping destination. So many independent restaurants have opened to much acclaim and many small creative shops have opened up along the Chapel Street corridor. I was able to pop in here and there before the game.

An interesting mural in the Nine Block neighborhood

I was able to walk around the ‘Nine Block’ of downtown New Haven, which is where the city was founded around the famous ‘Green’. When I lived there, this was an area of cut rate stores and empty historical buildings. To have the hindsight thirty years later but being the home to Yale University, I figured eventually in time this area would gentrify strong.

The Nine Block in 2025

It is now home to many top-rated restaurants, shops and the most beautiful lofts. The buildings have been sandblasted back to their original beauty and its just fun to walk around and look at the architecture from the 1800’s. The city and the buildings owners have done a wonderful job bringing this area back to life. It is worth the afternoon to just look around the lower downtown.

The lofts of the Nine Block

I walked all around the ‘Green’ and not too much has changed over the years as way of the park. It has been fixed up and reseeded but still picturesque. The office buildings still add to the backdrop of the park. What has changed is the quality of the stores and restaurants over the years that line Chapel Street next to the Yale campus. They have gotten a lot more fancy and expensive, much more than when I was there.

New Haven Green

https://www.newhavengreen.org/

The New Haven Green by Chapel Street

Chapel Street seems to have become the new ‘Columbus Avenue’ of New Haven (terminology is based on Columbus Avenue in Manhattan when it went upscale in the 1980’s and 1990’s). From Church Street downtown to the edge of the Yale campus on Dwight Avenue is lined with new restaurants, shops, art galleries and upscale boutique hotels.

Downtown New Haven in the Fall of 2025

Even the area between campus and the stadium, which has seen better days has changed. The extension of the hospital has turned everything from Orchard Street to Yale Avenue by the Yale Bowl into “Upper Chapel Street”.

Chapel Street by the Yale Campus

You can see this is an up and coming neighborhood, lined with Victorian homes that are now being snatched up and renovated. It must have been some neighborhood back between the 1880’s to the 1920’s. It is still pretty run down but here and there especially around the new hospital extension things are changing. Homes along Edgewood Park on and off Chapel Street are starting to get spruced up and landscaped. You can tell this is the time to buy in that neighborhood.

College Street in 2025. The Taft Apartments are still there

I passed old haunts of mine from back in the 80’s that are still in business. Willoughby’s Coffee and Tea was still there at 258 College Street, where I went for late night snacks. I thought it was in another location but still here. The Owl Shop at 268 College Street was still there as well but is now a dining place as well as a smoke shop.

College Street in the Fall of 2025

Claire’s Corner Copia at 1000 Chapel Street still stood on the corner of College Street and Chapel Street, where I used to go for my morning sugar fix. Claire herself still mans the counter after all these years. Willoughby’s Coffee and Tea finally closed is now part of Clair’s.

The Union League Cafe at 1032 Chapel Street still has the lofty prices

Further up Chapel Street is Union League Café at 1032 Chapel Street, where I took many special employees from Macy’s for a meal when they did something special.

Downtown Chapel Street by Claire’s

The inside of Clair’s Corner Copia

http://nhpt.org/chapel-street

Click to access new-haven-downtown-map.pdf

In 2021, I took the 9:02am train again so I had didn’t have much time for breakfast that morning trying to catch the bus into the City and then walk to Grand Central to catch the train. Still it was a spectacular sunny day and watching all those towns at stops I knew so well pass by. I could not believe how Stanford and Bridgeport have changed. They are so built up now.

The delicious cakes and pastries at Clair’s

When I arrived in New Haven, I made my way up Chapel Street on my way to the stadium and stopped at a cute bakery called Four Flours at 1203 Chapel Street for breakfast. I had the most amazing Bacon, Egg and Cheese sandwich on a freshly baked roll. They put a spicy Jalapeno Cheese on it that really made the sandwich. The baked goods looked good too (Restaurant closed August of 2022).

The place is really cute inside and out.

Four Flours at 1203 Chapel Street (Closed August 2022)

https://fourflours.com/

When stopped for lunch before the game in 2019 it was one of the most famous restaurants in New Haven and was right around the corner from me, Louis Lunch at 261 Crown Street (See review on TripAdvisor). It was a block from where I lived at the Taft Apartments and in the two years I lived there, I never ate there. The food was excellent.

Louis Lunch at 261 Crown Street

Welcome

Their hamburgers are legendary in the food world and Louis Lunch has been written up in countless reviews, blogs and articles on the best hamburgers in the country. I got their at opening at 12:00pm and there was already fifteen people in line. It does go quick though and my suggestion is to order the burger medium well and then it comes out perfect.

They are right about one thing, the burgers do not need ketchup. One slice of fresh tomato adds to the complexity of the flavor. It has a crisp, caramelized salty flavor to the outside and a juicy meaty center. This is not your typical burger and is worth the $8.00 and change I paid for it and the Pepsi. The restaurant is an institution in New Haven and should be tried at least once when visiting the city.

Louis Lunch for Hamburgers!

I then continued up Chapel Street to the stadium. The upper parts of Chapel Street start to give way from the college campus to residential homes, more like Victorian mansions and you can see the wealth that once dominated the northern part of the Yale campus.

Yale Bowl Stadium is unusual for such a wealthy endowed school. It looks more like a prep-school, high school field. For a team with such an hollowed reputation and the team doing so well the last few years, I think the stadium, even after the renovation, is falling apart. It has the most uncomfortable wooden seating and I am still afraid of getting splinters from the place.

The Yale Bowl

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

That did not stop the team from running all over Cornell. I have to admit for every play we had up our sleeves, they had two to counter act it. They really are a good team.

The start of the game in 2025

Cornell entering the field

Even though we tried to put up a good fight, we made too many mistakes and the second half of the game, we were done. We lost the game 49-24 n 2017. We really need to work on our offensive. At least the Yalies were good sports about it.

The Game Highlights

In 2019, they ran over us again only because we kept THROWING THEM THE BALL! I know that the quarterback was rattled by the first interception but recover from it! It is just a play! The fourth quarter in 2019 was painful. At least the $4.00 hot dog and $2.00 bag of chips for lunch tasted good. Because of the ride up there was no time to eat anywhere else and make the game. Their concession stand (and parking $10.00 for a spot by the Field Hockey stadium) was pricey but no different from other stadiums.

In 2025, I arrived by MetroNorth Train. That was like taking a ride through a haunted house with all the times in a two year period I took this train. I wanted to get there early before the game so I could take pictures around New Haven and update my blog.

The first half of the game was not that exciting. We scored first and by the end of the second half we were tied at 14-14. Yale blocked our field goal before the end of the first half.

When we scored first in 2025 I had some faith. We were tied at half time

The second half was a disaster. Our quarterback threw it to Yale so much that we had three interceptions. I did not have too many expectations for the game since we had lost to 0-3 University of Albany the week before. We lost 41-24.

How depressing in 2025!

The one thing about Yale that I have found with most of the Ivy league games I go to is that none of the students seem to want to go to the game. We always sit in empty stadiums. When I visit the Penn Stadium, Cornell dominates the stadium both with the band and the Alumni. Columbia the same way.

Outside the Yale Bowl at half time

Cornell seems to be getting a more loyal following (in hopes of a winning season). The Yale game was no different. I think there were more of us then there were of them and they were home. Most of the people in the stadium looked like the parents of the players than the student.

The Cornell Marching band was the highlight at the end of the game. At least they were in good spirits when they left the stadium.

The Cornell Marching band leaving the Yale Bowl after the game

After the very disappointing result (all three times), I walked back into the downtown, taking peeks at the side streets to look at the graceful homes. For all of you home flippers reading this, buy in this area NOW! It will be hot, hot, hot in the next two years as it is already starting. I really do believe that people are moving back into New Haven. In 2025, I have seen none of this and the streets of upper Chapel Street have gotten worse.

I turned around ‘the Green’ and looked at the downtown one more time. For the most part, it had not really changed in twenty years. By walking the city streets, I could tell it was a lot more vibrant than it was when I lived there and for the better. I am proud of the city I once called home for working so hard to improve it.

Walking back toward the Green to Wooster Street

My last stop of the day in 2017, 2019 and 2025 was at Frank Pepe Pizzeria at 157 Wooster Street (See reviews on TripAdvisor both in 2017 , 2019 and 2025) in the heart of the city’s ‘Little Italy’. I had not eaten here in twenty seven years. My first and last time dining there until today was my last night living there. My buddy manager at Macy’s, Rose, had taken me here for dinner with her fiancé, Kenny. The Pepe’s vs Sally’s conversation is one that I have had with many a Yale Alumni.

Frank Pepe Pizzeria at 157 Wooster Street

https://order.pepespizzeria.com/store/frank-pepes-new-haven

The restaurant has morphed into a small chain over the years of about eight restaurants but the original is still iconic. I had the 12 inch Clam Pizza with a Coke and it is the best $20.00 (with tip) that I had spent in a long time. The clams are so sweet and fresh tasting on that pizza that it was worth the wait in line for it. People were so happy to be eating there and wait staff is extremely friendly. It is worth the trip to Wooster Street.

Frank Pepe’s Clam pizza is the best!

My dinner to drown my sorrows

The best!

I had dessert at Libby’s next door at 139 Wooster Street (see review on TripAdvisor) and is worth bypassing. The $4.00 soggy cannoli was just not worth it and you can not even buy individual cookies. The place needs a renovation as well.

Libby’s at 139 Wooster Street

The cannoli at Libby’s

Wooster Street and the area that surrounds it has improved over the years like the rest of the city. Many of the homes and businesses have been fixed up and the factory when you cross the bridge to this area of the city has been turned into lofts. You know where this neighborhood is heading. You could see it in the cars in the parking lot.

Wooster Street New Haven’s ‘Little Italy’

https://www.ctvisit.com/listings/wooster-square

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

I left Wooster Street to head back to downtown and to the train station to my way back to New York City. The streets were quiet except for a few diners leaving restaurants and the walk back to railroad station didn’t seem as dangerous as everyone says. No one was walking around at 8:00pm at night.

Wooster Street is now all condos and luxury rentals surrounding the famous restaurants

In 2019, I took a drive up Chapel Street and parked by the Green. I walked all over downtown watching it come to life. A lot more people from the suburbs are coming into New Haven to dine and shop than ever before. With all the housing going up in the downtown area, more people will be milling around.

In 2021, I had been walking all over Downtown New Haven surprised at what a restaurant city New Have had become. I could not believe that Chapel Street and the surrounding streets around the Yale campus had changed so much. It was all trendy restaurants and shops.

In 2025, the downtown had gotten really nice around the ‘Nine Block’ and all around Yale. Once you left the borders around the campus and north of the hospital, then it gets seedy until you reach the Yale Bowl. All the area around Wooster Street is all luxury housing with all sorts of new bars and coffee shops.

Chapel Street during the early Fall

I walked around the Yale University Art Gallery at 1111 Chapel Street. It was funny to finally go there. After all the years of living in town and then visiting I never had a chance to see it. Since the game was over by 3:00pm, I was able to sneak in for the last hour and a half. What an interesting museum.

Yale University Art Gallery at 1111 Chapel Street

https://artgallery.yale.edu/

The bottom level was all ancient art from the University’s digs at the turn of the last century. This and the Middle Ages art was on the rest of the first floor. On the Upper Floors was art from Africa, Asia and then the modern art on the upper floors. There was an exhibition on “Women Artists of Yale over 150 Years” on the top floor featuring artist from the Art School. I was able to race through all the floors before it closed at 6:00pm.

The Ancient Art Galleries at the Yale University Art Gallery

After the museum, I was getting starved and walked around to find someplace interesting to eat. Deep down I wanted to go back to Pepe’s for that Clam Pizza but I wanted to see what else was around. By the time I convinced myself to go to Pepe’s it was too late. Both Pepe’s and Sally’s both had over an hour wait. Not only that but all over Wooster Street everything was a mob scene. So it was back to downtown.

What I thought was funny about the area is that all the old factories that were in the area were all knocked down and now is becoming expensive condos. Who knew that Little Italy was going to become so fashionable. It reminded me of what was going on up in Poughkeepsie.

I had passed a noodle house in the Nine Block and decided to try that instead. I ate that night at Ten Sounds Yunnan Noodle at 756 Chapel Street. The restaurant was located in the heart of the old Nine Block section of the City. The food was excellent.

I had the Steamed Gyoza with ground pork, the steamed Shrimp Shaomai, which were small open faced dumplings with little shrimps on top and then the Roast Pork buns.

The Roast Pork buns were amazing

I was in the mood for Dim Sum. Everything was wonderful. So nicely cooked and spiced. The Roast Pork buns were a real treat accompanied by a hot sauce.

Ten Second Yunnan Noodles at 756 Chapel Street (Closed August 2023)

https://www.tensecondsyunnannoodle.com/

It was a wonderful dinner, and the restaurant was nicely designed and it had a real college crowd that evening. The students really dominated the restaurant, and it was nice to see everyone having such a good time. The music was wonderful as well.

It was dark when I walked back to the train station, but the streets were really quiet, and it was nice to see the changes in this part of the City. New Haven really is surprising. Just when you hear of all the problems you see another side of the City that is really impressive. The whole Nine Block is now all trendy restaurants and condos mixed in with all the older architecture.

It was a real treat to take a step back in time and see part of my past. I really loved living in New Haven, CT over twenty years ago and it still holds a special place in my heart being the beginning of my professional career. Okay things were not always perfect, but it was first real sense of adulthood in the ‘real world’.

Who knew a Yale/Cornell Game could bring this flood of memories back to me?

As for the next football game, GO BIG RED!

The disaster of the 2019 game/we just handed them of the game.

In 2021, it was another disappointed ending to a long day:

Highlights from our loss in 2021

Highlights from our loss in 2025 (this is ridiculous!)

Places to Eat:

Louis Lunch

261 Crown Street

New Haven, CT 06511

http://www.louislunch.com

(203) 562-5507

Open: Sunday-Monday Closed/Tuesday-Wednesday 11:00am-3:45pm/Thursday-Saturday 12:00pm-2:00am

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g33851-d651174-Reviews-Louis_Lunch-New_Haven_Connecticut.html?m=19905

Frank Pepe Pizzeria

157 Wooster Street

New Haven, CT 06511

http://www.pepepizzeria.com

(203) 865-5762

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

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g33851-d414475-Reviews-Frank_Pepe_Pizzeria_Napoletana-New_Haven_Connecticut.html?m=19905

Libby’s Italian Pastry Shop

139 Wooster Street

New Haven, CT 06511

(203) 772-0380

http://www.libbyscookies.com

Open: Sunday-Monday 12:00pm-9:00pm/Tuesday Closed/Wednesday-Thursday 12:00pm-10:00pm/Friday-Saturday 12:00pm-11:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g33851-d837051-Reviews-Libby_s_Italian_Pastry_Shop-New_Haven_Connecticut.html?m=19905

Four Flowers Bakery (Closed August 2022))

1203 Chapel Street

New Haven, CT 06510

https://fourflours.com/

(203) 397-3687

Open: Sunday Closed/ Monday-Friday 8:00am-3:00pm/Saturday 9:00am-3:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g33851-d15166576-r812063317-Four_Flours_Baking_Company-New_Haven_Connecticut.html?m=19905

O & R Deli and Grocery

1379 Chapel Street

New Haven, CT 06511

(203) 772-3260

Open: Sunday Closed/Monday-Saturday 7:00am-8:00pm

https://www.restaurantji.com/ct/new-haven/j-and-j-deli-and-grocery-/

My review on TripAdvisor:

Ten Second Yunnan Noodle (closed August 2023)

756 Chapel Street

New Haven, CT 06510

https://www.facebook.com/Tensecondsyunnan/

Open: Sunday Closed/Monday-Saturday 11:00-9:30pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g33851-d23660160-r812066613-Ten_Second_Yunnan_Noodle-New_Haven_Connecticut.html?m=19905

Places to Visit:

Yale Bowl Stadium

81 Central Avenue

New Haven, CT 06515

(203) 432-4747

https://yalebulldogs.com/facilities/yale-bowl-class-of-1954-field/22

Open: See Game Day on website

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g33851-d23660172-r812069731-Yale_Bowl-New_Haven_Connecticut.html?m=19905

Nine Block Square/Chapel Street Shopping District

Located in the heart of Downtown New Haven: Various Stores and Restaurants off Chapel Street

Open: 24 Hours

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g33851-d270017-Reviews-Chapel_Street-New_Haven_Connecticut.html?m=19905

The New Haven Green

Located in Downtown New Haven on Chapel Street

Open: 24 hours

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g33851-d270018-Reviews-New_Haven_Green-New_Haven_Connecticut.html?m=19905

Yale University Art Gallery

1111 Chapel Street

New Haven, CT 06510

(203) 432-0600

https://artgallery.yale.edu/

Open: Sunday 10:00am-6:00pm/Monday-Thursday Closed/Friday 5:00pm-8:00pm/Saturday 10:00am-6:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g33851-d104343-r812064030-Yale_University_Art_Gallery-New_Haven_Connecticut.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/6092

Day Ninety: Walking the Streets in the Yorkville/Carnegie Hill neighborhood from 95th Street to 84th Street between Fifth Avenue and East End Avenue September 13th-28th, 2017 (again on July 8th, 2024 and July 21st, 2025)

October 7, 2017Bakeries 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 East Harlem in Manhattan, 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 East Side of Manhattan, Exploring Yorkville/Carnegie Hill/Upper East Side, Historic New York City neighborhoods, Interesting Bakeries, Interesting Toy and Play Shops, Little Shop on Main Street in New York City (LittleShoponMainStreet), My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), 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 ManhattanAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver, Carl Schurz Park, Children's General Store, DiningonaShoeString@Wordpress.com, diningonashoestringinnyc, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the Upper East Side, Exploring Yorkville/Carnegie Hill, Glaser's Bakery, Henderson Historical District, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, La Libraire des Enfants, littleshoponmainstreet.com, LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com, MywalkinManhattan.com, Ruppert's Park, Timmy's, Upper East Side, VisitingaMuseum.com, Walk Manhattan, Walking around Manhattan, Walking in Manhattan, Walking Manhattan, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watrel, Yorkvillejwatrel

I finally finished the Avenues of the neighborhood and started walking the streets. It can be a tiring process since it is a nine-block walk in the lower parts of the neighborhood. My first day in the Yorkville/Carnegie Hill section I covered everything from 96th Street to 90th Street. It also rained part of the afternoon which is no fun.

As much as it was a gloomy day, watching the kids let out of school that day boosted my energy. I forgot what it is like when a long day of school is over. These kids come out of the building with so much pent-up energy. All the laughing and yelling brought back a lot of good memories.

I took the Q back up to 96th Street and made a roundabout down FDR Drive to 92nd Street to start the walk. I knew I would not have time to do the whole neighborhood and wanted to break it up into two parts doing the neighborhood above 90th Street first.

As I turned the corner, I could feel the energy from the students who were leaving MS114 on 92nd Street for the afternoon. There was so much noise and excitement after a long day at school. It seems that this neighborhood is loaded with excellent schools both for high school and the lower grades as well.

Yorkville is home to many public and private schools. While walking around between 90th and 92nd Streets, the neighborhood is home to some of the best schools in the city. Hunter High School, The Dalton School, Nightingale-Bramford, Spence School and Chapin School are all located closer to Central Park. All of these schools have had excellent reputations since I was in high school in the eighties. Even the public schools in the neighborhood such as MS-114 have some of the best reputations in the New York City.

The famous Dalton School at 108 East 89th Street

https://www.dalton.org/

No matter the kids, they are still excited and noisy when they leave school and all have their cliques. They fill the smaller neighborhood restaurants and bodegas after school and yell at each other when crossing the street. It is a very lively neighborhood after 2:00pm in the afternoon between the students and the parents picking some of them up. It is nice to see parents who still give that independence to their kids to walk alone in the neighborhood with their friends. They travel in packs anyway. Ten to one these kids know how to handle themselves.

There is a nice pocket park at 92nd Street and Second Avenue to sit and relax. Located between the buildings on 92nd Street, it still has traces of the summer left with flowers blooming and the trees are still green. It’s a nice place to take a breather and watch the neighborhood go by.

This is a neighborhood with a real family feel to it. Something I did not experience in the neighborhood before school started, when the streets were quiet as people were still on vacation but now that school is back in session, it has really changed.

I can see by the number of parents, both men and women, talking time out to pick up their children from school and talk with them on the way home that they are very involved in their children’s lives. Some of the conversations I overheard were a little mature for kids that age, but I have always found the city kids to be a little more ‘hip’ to things than their suburban counterparts.

There are some great children’s stores in the area and loads of family friendly restaurants in the neighborhood. One store that I stopped at was La Librairie des Enfants at 163 East 92nd Street. This quirky little bookstore sells the most unique French language children’s picture books with a small selection of American books. It reminded me of ‘Shop Around the Corner’ in the movie, “You got Mail”.

La Librairie des Enfants at 163 East 92nd Street (closed in April of 2024)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Bookstore/La-Librairie-des-Enfants-205099576621700/

https://lalibrairiedesenfants.nyc/

My review on LIttleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com:

La Librairie des Enfants 163 East 92nd Street New York, NY 10128 (Closed January 2024)

Beautifully decorated with pretty displays and set up for the avid reader. The French salesman was very talkative to me and knows his merchandise. This is the perfect spot for local children and tourists looking for that unusual gift.

La Librairie des Enfants inside play area

Watch this interesting video on this store

Another store that is a neighborhood staple is Children’s General Store at 168 East 91st Street near Second Avenue (Closed as of 2019). This whimsical store is a hark back to when kids actually had an imagination and did not look at a cell phone all day. This is for the creative child who likes board games and arts & crafts, make believe castles and all the great little items that we as adults would call ‘stocking stuffers’. If I was a kid again, this is the first place I would visit. It has a great selection of toys for the young at heart.

As you walk the side streets of the neighborhood, you can see that on the Avenues of the neighborhood, brownstones are giving way to large newer apartment buildings but on the streets in between them are still elegant, graceful brownstones lining the streets of the upper 90’s some of the most beautiful between Lexington and Park Avenues.

There are some beautiful wooden homes lining the streets between Lexington and Park Avenue on 92nd and 91st Streets from a day long ago. To see these buildings still standing and in perfect shape is a testament of the care they receive and how well they were built in the early 1800’s. All four of these homes have special plaques on them and you should take the time to admire the work on them. Their owners have kept them in excellent shape.

As I walked around the high 90’s by 1st, 2nd and FDR Drive around the Isaacs Housing, the area is being knocked down and rebuilt with more luxurious apartment buildings and stores to match. Here and there, there is still a sprinkling of stores and restaurants that cater to people in the housing projects but this area around the housing projects just keeps changing and getting more expensive. Like the rest of uptown that I walked, many people don’t seem to have a problem living across the street from the projects.

The new plan for the Isaacs Houses with luxury buildings

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

Click to access Isaacs.pdf

What the neighborhood has that caters to everyone is the number of parks in the neighborhood. You have Central Park to the west, Carl Schurz Park to the East, Asphalt Green playground by York Avenue past 92nd Street as well as the Isaacs and the Seaburg playgrounds on 96th Street as well as a few pocket parks in the 90’s.

Walking on York Avenue in the summer of 2025

There is plenty of places for kids to play sports or just hang out and enjoy the playgrounds. The public bathrooms do still need to be worked on in these parks.

Isaacs Houses at 419 East 93rd Street

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

Click to access Isaacs.pdf

Stanley Myer Isaacs was one of New York City’s great lawyer’s and civic leaders and was Borough President of Manhattan. He helped Robert Moses; the great Parks Director build East River Drive (now FDR Drive). Judge Seabury was descended from one of the original settlers of New York and the first Bishop of New York, Dr. Samuel Seabury III. As a public servant to the City, he helped fight corruption within Tammany Hall and lead many reforms in New York City (NYCParks.org).

Stanley M. Isaacs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_M._Isaacs

In the 90’s, there are also a few important museums that you should check out. On the corner of Fifth Avenue at East 92nd Street is the Jewish Museum at 1109 Fifth Avenue.

The Jewish Museum at 1109 Fifth Avenue

https://thejewishmuseum.org/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d106187-Reviews-The_Jewish_Museum-New_York_City_New_York.html

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

Jewish Museum 1109 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10128

The museum was originally started in 1904 as a gift from Judge Mayer Sulzberger to the Jewish Theological Society and has since moved to the Warburg Mansion in 1944 and the museum was opened in 1947 as The Jewish Museum. I went back into the neighborhood for a visit later in the year to visit the Leonard Cohen exhibition (See reviews on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com).

The Leonard Cohen exhibition at The Jewish Museum

On the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 91st Street is the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum at 2 East 91st Street. This is housed in the old Andrew Carnegie Mansion, one of the few surviving Fifth Avenue mansions from the Gilded Age. The museum was founded in 1896 by granddaughters of Peter Cooper for the college and it fell under the Smithsonian in 1968.

The Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum at 2 East 91st Street

https://www.si.edu/museums/cooper-hewitt-smithsonian-design-museum

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d106188-Reviews-Cooper_Hewitt_Smithsonian_Design_Museum-New_York_City_New_York.html

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum 2 East 91st Street New York, NY 10128

I went in recent to see the ‘Nature-Cooper-Hewitt Triennial’ exhibition and to walk around the grounds. The exhibition was excellent but the house itself is fun to walk around in. Take your time to visit all the floors (See review on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com).

The Triennial was nice, but the house is amazing!

Walking down York Avenue in the summer

The evening of the first night walking the streets of Yorkville, I ate at Timmy’s Restaurant on 91st and York (See review on TripAdvisor-Closed in 2018). It is a wonderful little neighborhood restaurant with outdoor seating and an extensive American menu across the street from Asphalt Green playground. I could hear the kids across the street playing soccer and screaming as they played.

Timmy’s Restaurant in Yorkville (Closed in 2018-Now Cafe Nick)

Cafe Nick in the summer of 2025

https://www.cheznicknyc.com/

Review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d476854-Reviews-Nick_s-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=69573

The outside of Cafe Nick at 1737 York Avenue

The weather had finally cleared and it was a nice warm night out, perfect for sitting outside and enjoying the breeze. What had caught my eye on the menu was the fresh soft-shell sandwich that the restaurant was running as a special. It was excellent. A lightly breaded and fried soft-shell crab on a soft brioche roll with lettuce and tomato and fresh French fries and onion rings on the side made the perfect meal.

The crab was sweet with the crunchiness of the perfect sauté. The service is friendly and very welcoming, and I highly recommend the restaurant while it is still warm out. It is nice to just sit outside and watch the world go by.

I started my second day in the neighborhood by walking the streets between 90th and 84th Streets. The weather during these two weeks really changed. One day it was boiling hot at 90 degrees and the last day in the neighborhood, it went down into the 60’s as September moved into October. I have never seen such a drastic change in a week and a half.

After another day of working the Bread station at the Soup Kitchen, it was off to the lower section of Yorkville/Carnegie Hill. I walked the top part of 84th Street between Fifth Avenue and East End Avenue, admiring the brownstones and small parks along the way. It got to be that time of the day and school let out. I have never seen such a swarm of children before.

Walking this part of the neighborhood, I noticed more that there is a large concentration not just of private, public and religious schools but all of the seem to be the best of their categories. These are not just the best in their categories in the city but in the state and country as well. The neighborhood that stretches from 96th to 84th Streets has such a great variety of schools that would make the rest of the country envious.

As I have said on previous walks, the conversations between parents and kids are always interesting to hear. These school kids sound so much more mature than their age. These kids talk politics, sports and current events just as good as any adult.

Between East 89th and 88th Streets is the Guggenheim Museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue. This Frank Lloyd Wright designed building is a treasure trove of contemporary art. The museum has been closed for renovations.

The Solomon Guggenheim Museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue

https://www.guggenheim.org/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d108687-Reviews-Solomon_R_Guggenheim_Museum-New_York_City_New_York.html

The lower parts of the streets from about 85th to 87th Streets really show old New York at its best with rows and rows of majestic brownstones and old apartment houses. Some of these are starting to get decorated for the Fall holidays noting the change in weather and October approaching. Pumpkins and haystacks are starting to replace the summer wreaths and pots of flowers.

Brownstoners really decorate their homes nicely at the holidays

Who says decorating is just for the suburbs

I started my tour of the neighborhood with a nice lunch at Arturo’s Pizza on the corner of York Avenue and 85th Street, 1610 York Avenue (See Review on TripAdvisor) for their lunch special. They have three really reasonable lunch specials until 3:30pm, one a meatball sub, another a sausage sub and the last being two slices with a Coke for $5.00. It was quite a deal.

Arturo’s Pizza at 1619 York Street is good for great lunch specials

https://arturosny.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d526624-Reviews-Arturo_s_York_Ave-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=69573

The food is good but could be better. Yet they give you a nice size sub for $5.00. The meatball sub was loaded with fresh cut meatballs which were a nice size with tomato sauce on excellent fresh chewy bread. As big as it was it just did not have enough flavor. The sauce needed more spice and the meatballs more salt and cheese. It just did not taste like anything. It was the same two days later when finishing the walk of the neighborhood after a disastrous Chinese meal.

The meatball sub at Arturo’s was okay.

I had the two-slice special and found the pizza to have no flavor because there was no zing to the sauce. It was also oily and should have been heated up more. The food here should be better since they seem to take pride in it. It warrants a third trip as the portion is worth the money when you are hungry. They do need to concentrate on their tomato sauce though and add some spice to it.

The Cheese pizza did not have that much flavor in the sauce.

There are more great stores for kids in the lower part of the neighborhood as well. I passed Baby Bubble at 240 88th Street, which specializes in cleaning anything kid from strollers to clothes. I was impressed by the one stop shopping. Another great little store for young women is Let’s Dress Up at 345 East 85th Street #1. This is a place where you can princess for day and be treated like royalty at your own catered birthday party. Another clear idea for the creative child within.

Walking down East 84th Street in the summer of 2025

When walking through the side streets between 84th to 87th Streets between York and Third Avenue, you really see ‘old New York’. Rows and rows of beautiful, graceful brownstones line the street with their small outside gardens and potted plants. It is a step back in time to another era until you hit the Avenues and see the large modern apartment building.

East 84th Street in the Summer of 2024

Their are some apartments on East 84th Street have unique details to them. You really have to look behind the trees and around the tops of the buildings to notice the curves, spirals and faces that look out at you. This set of brick apartments stretches from 312-318 East 84th Street and were built in 1910 (StreetEasy.com).

312-314 East 84th Street

https://streeteasy.com/building/318-east-84-street-new_york

https://www.apartments.com/318-east-84th-street-new-york-ny/qk4g64z/

316-318 East 84th Street

The embellishments on 316 East 84th Street

I passed several fire stations along the way in the neighborhood. Engine 22; Ladder 13, Battalion 10 is located on 159 East 85th Street. The plaque on their fire station said that they had lost nine members on 9/11. These brave men sacrificed so much for us and still do every day making their neighborhood safe. Another old-fashioned non-functioning firehouse is Hook & Ladder 13 at 159 East 87th Street.

Founded in 1865 as a ‘suburban’ firehouse, this is no longer the firehouse for the company which has been moved. The company’s fame comes from being involved in the deadly explosion on Park Place in 1891. Kudos to these brave members of the FDNY.

Hook & Ladder 13 in Yorkville at 159 East 87th Street

http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-1868-hook-ladder-13-no-159-e-87th.html

As you continue down 87th Street, there is a creepy set of brownstones between 337-339 East 87th Street. The motifs on the outside of the building look like devils or ghouls and do give you the chills. It looks like a place where ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ lived when it grew up. I would love to pass these building on Friday the 13th or Halloween night.

337-339 East 87th Street-The “Rosemary’s Baby House”

This creepy looking brownstone was built between 1886-1887 by architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh for the Rhinelander estate and what is interesting about the story is that the 329-335 were knocked down for the apartment building next store and the motif of this devil looking motif is carved out of 337 East 87th Street (Starts and Fits). Very interesting.

337-339 East 87th Street-The Rosemary’s Baby House

https://streeteasy.com/building/337-east-87-street-new_york

The creepy entrance way to 339 East 87th Street

The creepy demons carved into the stair banister

Don’t miss the ghoul like carving at 439 East 87th Street. I don’t think that one is as old. This menacing face adorns that archway of the brownstone of this two-unit home that was built in 1901.

The street art on the wall of East 87th Street and First Avenue

The street art of East 87th Street

I had to stop at Milano Market at 1582 Third Avenue on the corner of 87th Street and 3rd Avenue to cool down. The place is so beautifully set up and the prepared food section is picturesque. It is a nice place to just stand and take a breath. The place is heavily air conditioned and on a humid day, it is a great place to just walk around. The online reviews are not too pleasant for as good as their food is most of the reviews talk about rude service. I will have to go back and try it out to be fair on them.

Milano Market at 1582 Third Avenue

https://www.milanomarketnyc.com/visit-us

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d5084566-Reviews-Milano_Market-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=69573

Another place to chill out and relax on a hot day is the Church of the Holy Trinity Garden at 316 East 88th Street near Second Avenue. This beautifully landscaped garden surrounded by shade trees is the perfect place to relax on a long day. It really does offer solitude from the city and is an escape from the rest of the landscape. It was still warm, so the flowers were out and the trees offered a lot of shade.

Ruppert Park is the same located at Second Avenue between 90th and 91st Street. Named after the famous German Brewer Jacob Ruppert, the park is part of the tower complex that surrounds it. Mr. Ruppert was one of the first co-owners of the Yankees and co-owned Yankee Stadium.

Ruppert Park at 1741 Second Avenue

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

This is a wonderful park to watch the dog walkers pass by and converse with one another. This is a true neighborhood park where neighbors talk and swap stories and debate politic, seniors come to relax and watch the neighbors go by and the dogs engage with one another. It is a great park for the dog walking set. I have never seen so many small, pampered dogs walking around one neighborhood.

Another great place to visit is Henderson Place at East End Avenue across from Carl Schurz Park and between 86th and 87th Streets. This is part of the Henderson Place Historical District located facing the park is what is left of the original 32 houses (24 survive today) that were built between 1881-82. They were built for people of ‘moderate means’ meanwhile now these rare little townhouses with their arched hallways and small gardens and rare parking lots are now worth about $4.6 million when one went on sale recently. They were built in the Queen Ann style of architecture and look so elegant at night when walking on the park side of the street.

Henderson Place Historic District at 535 East 86th Street

The Henderson Place Historic District

The Henderson Place Historic District

The Henderson Place Historic District

Henderson Place Historic District

I stopped at Glaser’s Bakery at 1670 First Avenue (see review on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC-Closed in 2018) and all I have to say is YUM! I love discovering new bakeries around the city especially one that has been around since 1902. Everything here is delicious and very reasonable. In this hyper-gentrifying City, it is nice to see a piece of ‘old New York’ alive and well. Both afternoons I came here the place was mobbed.

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

https://www.glasersbakeshop.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

My review on DIningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:

Glaser’s Bake Shop 1670 First Avenue New York, NY 10128 (Closed July 2018)

The pastries are mind blowingly good! The first time I went I had to get one of their black and white cookies ($2.25) are the rage of the internet. Everyone was not kidding. They are excellent. Not the usual fondant icing but more of a butter cream frosting they literally melt in your mouth. They have this Danish called a Crumb Cookie ($3.25) that is loaded on top with sweet cinnamon crumbs and lots of icing on top. It is so big I had to bring the rest home.

Their doughnuts ($1.50) are worth the trip alone. The jelly doughnuts are filled with a sweet currant type jelly and their sugar doughnuts are loaded with a layer of cinnamon sugar. Do not miss this bakery when visiting New York City.

On the opposite note, I ate dinner that day at Five Luck Chinese restaurant on 1834 Second Avenue (see review on TripAdvisor-Now Closed) right near the new Q subway line (Closed in January 2020). It was the worst Chinese meal I had ever eaten! I had no idea that food cooked by Chinese could be this bad. First the place is old and depressing to eat in and I have eaten at loads of these little hole in the wall restaurants all over the city. If anyone from China ate here, they would laugh and then cry it is that bad.

I ordered a Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce with fried rice with a pork Egg Roll. Now when I think of Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce, I think of sliced pork loin sautéed with brown Hunan Sauce with garlic and ginger. I got this gloppy roast pork with a pile of uncooked vegetables with a side of yellow rice with a ton of bean sprouts in them. I had no clue what I was eating. I ate the egg roll, and it was barely passable as a frozen egg roll.

The dish was worse than any middle school cafeteria version of Chinese food. I ate three bites on it and handed it back to them and said to the owner that it was inedible. Rather than fight over a dish that cost $4.85 or ask for anything else, I walked out and never looked back. Avoid this place like the plague. I went back to Arturo’s for their pizza.

Rounding the corner at Fifth Avenue and East 86th Street is the Neue Museum at 1048 Fifth Avenue. Neue Galerie New York is a museum devoted to early twentieth-century German and Austrian art and design. Located in a landmark mansion built in 1914 by the architectural firm of Carrere & Hastings, the museum offers a diverse program of exhibitions, lectures, films, concerts and other events.

The Neue Galerie Museum at 1048 Fifth Avenue

https://www.neuegalerie.org/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d258699-Reviews-Neue_Galerie-New_York_City_New_York.html

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

Neue Galerie New York 1048 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10028

It was that afternoon I finally got to see the famous painting, “The Woman in Gold” made famous by the movie. The museum specializes in German and Austrian art (See reviews on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com).

The famous “Woman in Gold” by Gustav Klimt

As I walked down East 84th Street, I noticed the beauty of each block while getting closer to the river. The streets were so beautiful while in bloom.

Walking down East 84th Street by East End Avenue

This was Walter Cronkite’s home until 1999

The plaque at 519 East 84th Street

Walter Cronkite

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

Sitting quietly in the middle of East 84th Street is the tiny NYU Institute of Study of Ancient Art at 15 East 84th Street. This branch of the New York University Art Department specializes in Ancient Art and offers a scholarly approach to the ancient arts of European and Middle Eastern Art.

Don’t miss the NYU Institute of Study of Ancient Art at 15 East 84th Street near the Met

https://isaw.nyu.edu/exhibitions

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d1572637-Reviews-Institute_for_the_Study_of_the_Ancient_World-New_York_City_New_York.html

My review on VisitingaMuseum:

Institute for the Study of the Ancient World/ New York University 15 East 84th Street New York, NY 10028

When I last visited, they were showing the “A Wonder to Behold: Craftsmanship and Creation of Babylon’s Ishtar Gate” exhibition on Ancient Mesopotamian art.

They were showing Ancient Middle Eastern art when I visited

I finished my last day of my three-day trip relaxing in Carl Schurz Park. Carl Schurz was a very interesting man who did a lot for his country. Born in Prussia, he fought during the Revolution and escaped the country to immigrate to Paris when he was on the losing side.

He and his wife immigrated to the United States in 1852. Here he served as a Brigadier General in the Civil War, after the War he served as a U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Interior under President Hayes working to fight corruption in the Office of Indian Affairs and after his stint in the government, went back to his newspaper work (Wiki).

Carl Schurz

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

Mayor de Blasio must have been having a party because everyone in the park could hear the band. On this warm night every dog walker and child with a parent must have been in the park. Even at twilight, the place was mobbed as well as the river walk with people admiring the river views. It is still summer and I got a nice taste of it today. The park is beautiful anytime of the year (See review on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com).

Carl Schurz Park at East 86th Street

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/carl-schurz-park

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d312015-Reviews-Carl_Schurz_Park-New_York_City_New_York.html

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://visitingamuseum.com/tag/carl-schurz-park/

The park in the Spring of 2024

What a beautiful neighborhood to live in. The park is particularly colorful in the Spring when the Cherry Blossoms are in bloom. This is a family’s dream. Access to the neighborhood: The 6 & Q subways. Stop at 96th Street.

The park in the Summer of 2024

The park’s gardens in the Summer of 2024

The park in the middle of the Summer of 2025

The park in the summer months

I had the opportunity before my tour of Gracie Mansion to walk along the esplanade and see the views of the Hudson River. It was such a beautiful day to walk along the river side.

The riverfront and Hellgate in the summer

The gardens in Carl Schulz Park

The beautiful walkway

The view of the Queens skyline

The view of the river walkway in the middle of the summer

Check out my blogs on walking the Yorkville/Upper East Side neighborhood:

Day Eighty-Nine: Walking the Avenues of Yorkville/Carnegie Hill/Upper East Side:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/6460

Day Eighty-Eight: Walking the Borders of Yorkville/Carnegie Hill/Upper East Side:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/6377

Places to Visit:

La Librairie des Enfants

163 92nd Street

New York, NY 10128

(646) 590-2797

https://lalibrairiedesenfants.nyc/

https://www.lalibrairiedesenfantsbookstore.com/about

Open: Sunday 10:00am-5:00pm/Monday-Friday 10:00am-6:00pm/Saturday 10:00am-7:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

My review on LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com:

La Librairie des Enfants 163 East 92nd Street New York, NY 10128 (Closed January 2024)

Children’s General Store (Now Closed)

168 East 91st Street (between Lexington and Third Avenues)

New York, NY 10128

(212) 426-4479

https://www.facebook.com/tcgstoys/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d210163-Reviews-The_Children_s_General_Store-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Carl Schurz Park

East 84th Street to East 90th Street

East End Avenue to the East River

New York City, NY 10128

https://www.carlschurzparknyc.org/

Open: Sunday-Saturday 6:00am-12:00am

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d312015-Reviews-Carl_Schurz_Park-New_York_City_New_York.html

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2714

Ruppert’s Park

1741 Second Avenue

New York, NY 10128

Open: Sunday-Saturday 7:00am-9:00pm

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

Issacs Playground

East 95th Street to East 97th Street

New York, NY 10128

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/stanley-isaacs-playground

Open: Sunday-Saturday 7:00am-9:00pm

Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum

2 East 91st Street

New York, NY 10128

(212) 849-8400

https://www.si.edu/museums/cooper-hewitt-smithsonian-design-museum

Open: Sunday-Saturday 10:00am-6:00pm

Fee: Adults $18.00/People with Disabilities & Seniors $10.00/Children Under 18 Free/Students $9.00. Check the prices online as they change.

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d106188-Reviews-Cooper_Hewitt_Smithsonian_Design_Museum-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/3246

Jewish Museum

1109 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10128

(212) 423-3200

https://thejewishmuseum.org/

Open: Monday-Tuesday 11:00am-5:45pm/Wednesday Closed/Thursday 11:00am-8:00pm/Saturday & Sunday 10:00am-5:45pm

Fee: Adults $18.00/Seniors (over 65) $12.00/Students $8.00/Children under 18 Free

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d106187-Reviews-The_Jewish_Museum-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/3252

Neue Galerie New York

1048 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10028

(212) 628-6200

neuegalerie.org

@neugalerieny

Open: Sunday 11:00am-5:00pm/Monday 11:00am-6:00pm/ Tuesday and Wednesday Closed/Thursday-Saturday 11:00am-6:00pm

Café and Shops have various hours. Please check the website for these.

Fee: General $22.00/Seniors (65 and Older) $16.00/Students and Educators $12.00/Children under 12 are not admitted and Children under 16 years old must be accompanied by an adult. The museum is open on First Fridays from 6:00pm-9:00pm. Please visit the website for more information.

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d258699-Reviews-Neue_Galerie-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/3063

Institute for the Study of the Ancient World/New York University

15 East 84th Street

New York, NY 10028

(212) 992-7800/Fax (212) 992-7809

http://www.isaw.nyc.edu

Fee: Free

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d1572637-Reviews-Institute_for_the_Study_of_the_Ancient_World-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/3747

Places to Eat:

Timmy’s Restaurant (Closed in 2018)

1737 York Avenue

New York, NY 10128

(212) 860-9191

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d1160556-Reviews-Timmy_s-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Arturo’s Pizza

1610 York Avenue Front #2

New York, NY 10028

(212) 288-2430

https://arturosny.com/

Open: Sunday-Saturday 12:00pm-10:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d479377-Reviews-Arturo_s_Pizza-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Milano Market

1582 Third Avenue

New York, NY 10128

(212) 996-6681

https://www.milanomarketnyc.com/

Open: Sunday-Saturday 6:00am-10:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d5084566-Reviews-Milano_Market-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Glaser’s Bakery (Closed in 2018)

1670 First Avenue

New York, NY 10128

(212) 289-2562

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

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-Eight: Walking the Border of Yorkville/Carnegie Hill: East 96th Street to East 84th Street and from Fifth Avenue to FDR Drive August 25th, 2017 (again on June 8th, 2024 and July 21st, 2025)

August 28, 2017Cheap Spanish Restaurant for Budget Minded, Dedication to Warren Watrel, Dining on a Shoe String Restaurants in New York City, 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 Rim of the Island of Manhattan, Exploring The Upper East Side of Manhattan, Exploring Yorkville/Carnegie Hill/Upper East Side, Historic New York City neighborhoods, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), Sandwich and Deli's for the budget minded, Spanish Restaurants for the budget minded, Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New York City, Walking around Manhattan, Walking on the Upper East SideAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver, Carl Schurz Park, Central Park Conservatory Park, Central Park Reservior, diningonashoestringinnyc, Dorrain's Restaurant, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the Upper East Side, Exploring Yorkville/Carnegie Hill, Gracie Mansion, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, LittleShoponMainStreet, littleshoponmainstreet.com, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Moe's Grocery, MywalkinManhattan.com, The Upper East Side, Upper East Side, VisitingaMuseum.com, Walk Manhattan, Walking in Manhattan, Walking Manhattan, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

I finally got out of Harlem and into the Upper East Side. This area is the border neighborhood between East Harlem and the Upper East Side (or as people used to say before gentrification of the Island of Manhattan, the Upper Upper East Side). Most people consider anything below 98th Street on the East Side of Manhattan and East of Central Park as the Upper East Side. However, you call it, you are now out of Harlem.

Walking along York Avenue

The mood of the area is even different. It was like when I was crossing 155th Street from Washington Heights to Harlem months before. The mood of the area and its residents starts to change. It becomes the Woody Allen Upper East Side. Again just like Manhattan Valley on the West Side, there is still a very 70’s and 80’s feel to the neighborhood. It’s got a more a middle-class vibe to it and watching the kids at play you can still see that independent streak in them.

The Isaacs and Haynes Houses on the border of the Upper East Side

John Haynes Houses at 1780 First Avenue

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

Click to access Holmes%20Towers.pdf

The John Haynes Holmes Towers sign

There are none of the expensive restaurants and boutiques that you see below 80th Street. The feel of the businesses is more local. Even the Isaacs Housing complex looks more upscale then the projects a few blocks up and their residents have their own security watch (the guy asked me what I was doing there and no one ever asked me anything when I walked through the projects before).

The Isaacs Houses just south of East 96th Street

The sign for the Isaacs houses

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

The walk along FDR Drive esplanade has some view. The shore line of Queens is really changing. There is a lot of development around the East River and what a beautiful view of the river and the rising skyline in the background. The esplanade stops around 90th Street for renovation and then continues once you pass Gracie Mansion.

The Queens shore line in the summer of 2025

The new luxury housing that dwarfs the public housing

Carl Schurz Park (See review on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com), where Gracie Mansion is located is a nice place to just relax and watch the boats pass by. You get the nicest views of Ward-Randall Island and of Lighthouse Park on Roosevelt Island (I never knew there was a lighthouse over here). The developers are creating a new ‘Gold Coast’ along the Queens-Brooklyn riverfront.

Carl Schurz Park in the Spring

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/carl-schurz-park

Carl Schurz, a statesman during the Civil War

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carl-Schurz

It was nice to just relax and watch the water. The kids are in full force at this park like many parks around the city and it looks like they are trying to enjoy their last days of freedom before the school years starts in two weeks. Kids were playing basketball, Frisbee, roller skating and just chasing one another. It was nice to see kids not using cellphones.

Carl Schulz Park near the border of East 84th Street

Even the entrance to the park is fancy

The views from the river esplanade

The view of the gardens on the esplanade

The homes along this part of Manhattan were a combination of brownstones and prewar apartments but all along the Avenues, you are seeing more and more new construction. All sorts of new apartment and office buildings are being built along First, Second and Third Avenues. The businesses are more local than chains, giving you a peak at time before the late 90’s exploded with the chain stores all over Manhattan. It is funny that I remember a time everyone in the city complained that the chains would not even come to the city now in 2017 they complain that they are taking over the city.

The border of Yorkville, 84th Street, is lined with many brownstone type buildings and private homes along with a series of small restaurants and shops worth exploring. Many are businesses that have been open for years such as Dorrian’s Red Hand Restaurant at 1616 Second Avenue since 1960. It harks back to when the Upper East Side was the land of preppies.

Dorrian’s Red Hand Restaurant at 1616 Second Avenue

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

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d5021112-Reviews-Dorrians_Red_Hand_Restaurant-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

The burgers here are fantastic

When you reach Fifth Avenue, the area between 84th Street and 96th Street is lined with museums giving name to ‘Museum Row’ starting with the Metropolitan Museum of Art at the corner of 84th Street passing the Jewish Museum, Guggenheim Museum, The Ukraine Institute of America and the Neue Museum, which will be fun to explore. Many of the smaller museums of the city line this area as well so I passed names I had never heard of before considering my many trips to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (I discuss all these museums in later blogs and in VisitingaMuseum.com).

The ‘Museum Mile’ Museums in Yorkville/Upper East Side

The Cooper-Hewitt Museum at 2 East 91st Street

The Jewish Museum at 1109 Fifth Avenue

The Guggenheim Museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue

The Neue Gallery of Art at 1048 Fifth Avenue

The Ukraine Institute of America at 2 East 79th Street

At 91st and 5th Avenue along the wall of Central Park is a memorial to W.T. Stead, a journalist who died in the Titanic. He was a English journalist best known for being an investigative journalist, better known as a gossip columnist. The funny part of his going down in the Titanic is that he had written that he might die in a drowning and wrote two fictional articles before the tragedy about ships colliding at sea and another about a ship that sinks without enough life boats to save everyone. Maybe he just saw his fate. He was into spiritualism, which was fashionable at the time and maybe someone hinted to him.

W.T. Stead Memorial

William Thomas Stead

https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Thomas-Stead

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._T._Stead

Mr. Stead’s memorial is one of many that line Central Park that most people don’t even notice. The park is loaded with statues and memorials that most New Yorkers just pass by without a moment’s notice. It makes one wonder why they would put this here. The memorial was designed by artist George William Frampton with the marble sculpture designed by architects Carrere & Hastings, a firm known for their Beaux Arts style.

George William Frampton is a British artist who came from a family of stone carvings who studied at the Lambeth School of Art and the Royal Academy of School. He believed in dynamism and physical realism in sculpture. His most famous work was “Peter Pan” in Picadilly Square in London (Royal Academy of Art/Wiki).

https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-James-Frampton

There are glorious views of the reservoir at 90th Street and 5th Avenue that you should not miss. Just walking in the park to see the gardens is worth the trip inside Central Park. Most of the gardens are still in bloom and the park is loaded with tourists milling around the waterfront.

The entrance to the Central Park Reservoir

The Memorial Dedicated to Mayor John Purroy Mitchel in the front of the entrance to the reservoir

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/1045

The Mitchel Memorial Committee retained architects Thomas Hastings and Don Barber to design the expansive granite stele and commissioned German-born sculptor Adolph Alexander Weinman to design the gilded bronze portrait bust of Mitchel (NYCParks.org).

Artist Adolph Alexander Weinman

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

Artist Adolph Alexander Weinman was a German born American artist who studied at Copper Union and the Arts Student League of New York. He was known for his famous sculptures around the United States (Wiki)

Mayor John Purroy Mitchel, the 95th Mayor of New York City (1914-1917)

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

The views of the reservoir are breathtaking and it is hard to believe this is right off Fifth Avenue.

Central Park Reservoir at Fifth Avenue and East 90th Street

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

Walking up 5th Avenue along the park at 96th and 5th Avenue, there is a statue of Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen in a small enclosure on the edge of the park before you enter it. This bronze, life-sized sculpture is a self-portrait of the esteemed Danish sculptor and was dedicated in Central Park in 1894. It is the only statue of an artist displayed in the parks of New York City and honors a titan in his field who had broad influence in sustaining the classical tradition in art. This statute is a bronze version of the original that’s located in Copenhagen (NYC Parks Department-Central Park/Wiki).

Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen statue

Artist Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/1543

https://biography.yourdictionary.com/bertel-thorvaldsen

As I was walking across 96th Street to finish the upper part of the neighborhood, I had a sudden craving for a sandwich and walked up to Moe’s Grocery Inc. at 1968 Third Avenue, which I had eaten in before (See review on TripAdvisor & my blog, ‘DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com’). They have the best special, a chopped cheese on a hoagie roll and a Coke for $3.00. Ever on the budget, their chopped cheese rivals Haiji’s (Blue Sky Deli) up on 110th Street.

Moe’s Grocery (now called Third Avenue Deli/Grocery) at 1968 Third Avenue in East Harlem, the best lunch specials

Moe’s Grocery Inc. (1968 Grocery Inc./Third Ave. Deli) 1968 Third Avenue New York, NY 10029

I thought I had asked for lettuce and tomato on the sandwich so add another $1.50 to it but when I sat down to eat it at the park at 96th Street, they were not on it. I was a little pissed at paying for something I did not get but the sandwich was so good, I did not mind. It is worth the walk up a few extra blocks to 108th Street for the sandwich. You will also see the distinction of the neighborhoods just by crossing 98th Street (See the previous walk in East Harlem). The sandwich is so loaded with beef and gooey cheese that it makes the nicest meal during this long walk and nothing is better than a Coke on a hot day.

The Third Avenue Deli’s Chopped Cheese is excellent.

I ended this part of the walk by rounding East End Avenue and relaxing at Carl Schurz Park, which is a true delight. What a beautifully landscaped park with paths of picturesque gardens and statues and active playgrounds with screaming children.

The gardens in bloom in the park

The nice part is the bathrooms here are decent and you have a working water fountain, with lots of cold water. It was fun to explore the paths going up and down the landscaped paths.

Carl Schulz Park at East 86th Street and East End Avenue

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/carl-schurz-park

The front of the mansion in Carl Schulz Park

Security is heavy at the northern part of the park where Gracie Mansion is located, the mayor’s residence. There are NYPD cars all over the place so try not to dwell too long in this area not to get the attention of the police officers. You can’t even see the mansion anymore because of the fencing around the house. This was the former summer residence of Archibald Gracie, a well-known Scottish born, American merchant, who was partners with Alexander Hamilton.

Gracie Mansion in Carl Schulz Park in the summer of 2025

https://www.facebook.com/graciemansionconservancy/

https://www.graciemansion.org/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d136688-Reviews-Gracie_Mansion-New_York_City_New_York.html

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://visitingamuseum.com/tag/gracie-mansion/

Gracie Mansion from the front porch

He built the house in 1798 as a summer home and entertained the elite at that time in Manhattan, including John Quincy Adams. Gracie’s daughter Eliza Gracie-King was one of the great social leaders at the time until Mrs. Astor took the throne during the ‘Gilded Age’. The house was sold in 1823 to pay off debts owed by Mr. Gracie and it was bought by New York City in 1896 due to back taxes by the then owners.

The Gracie Mansion Gardens

It has been used as a concession stand for the park as well as the first home of the Museum of the City of New York. In 1942, the house was renovated and became the residence of Florio LaGuardia, the Mayor of New York and thus became the residence of future New York City mayors NYC Parks Department).

Archibald Gracie

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

I had taken a tour of the mansion years earlier with the Cornell and Harvard Clubs when we had a historical tea at the house. Mayor Bloomberg did not live in the house at the time, so it was used primarily for entertaining. We had a wonderful afternoon tea at the at the house and then a formal tour of the public rooms and gardens. It has the most amazing views of ‘Hell Gate’, a bend in the river along the esplanade, that has some of the roughest waters in the East River. The house does get a nice breeze.

The inside of the Susan Wagner Ballroom

The Bayard Mantle in the Susan Wagner Ballroom

After a long rest on the benches outside the park, I walked over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to spend the rest of the evening. The Met, as it’s called, is open until 9:00pm on Fridays and Saturdays, so you get to listen to the music in ‘The Balcony’ restaurant or just tour the galleries.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art at 1000 Fifth Avenue

https://www.metmuseum.org/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d105125-Reviews-The_Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art-New_York_City_New_York.html

The fountain outside the Met is pretty amazing

It gave me a chance to see the Greek Galleries again and walk around the Central American exhibitions. It is so nice to walk in the galleries when it is not busy. It was a nice way to end the evening.

The Greek Galleries at the Met

https://www.metmuseum.org/departments/greek-and-roman-art

The Cycladic Galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the first floor.

The Met’s Greek Galleries are amazing and have so many beautiful items on display.

There is a lot to see and do in Yorkville/Upper East Side

Please check out my other blogs on Yorkville and the Upper East Side:

Day Ninety: Walking the Streets of Yorkville/Carnegie Hill/Upper East Side:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/6562

Day Eighty-Nine: Walking the Avenues of Yorkville/Carnegie Hill/Upper East Side:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/6460

Places to Visit:

Gracie Mansion

East 88th and East End Avenue

New York, NY 10028

https://www1.nyc.gov/site/gracie/about/about.page

(212) 570-4773

Open: Mondays only: 10:00am, 11:00am and 5:00pm for tours

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d136688-Reviews-Gracie_Mansion-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2182

Carl Schulz Park

East 84th to East 90th Avenues & East End Avenue

New York, NY 10028

https://www.carlschurzparknyc.org/

Open: 6:00am-12:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d312015-Reviews-Carl_Schurz_Park-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2714

Metropolitan Museum of Art

1000 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10028

1-800-622-3397

https://www.metmuseum.org/

Open: Sunday-Thursday 10:00am-5:30pm/Friday & Saturday 10:00am-9:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d105125-Reviews-The_Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Central Park Reservoir

86th- 96th Streets in Central Park

Open: When the park is open

http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/reservoir.html

Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum

2 East 91st Street

New York, NY 10128

(212) 849-8400

Home

Open: Sunday-Saturday 10:00am-6:00pm

Fee: Adults $18.00/People with Disabilities & Seniors $10.00/Children Under 18 Free/Students $9.00. Check the prices online as they change.

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d106188-Reviews-Cooper_Hewitt_Smithsonian_Design_Museum-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/3246

Jewish Museum

1109 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10128

(212) 423-3200

https://thejewishmuseum.org/

Open: Monday-Tuesday 11:00am-5:45pm/Wednesday Closed/Thursday 11:00am-8:00pm/Saturday & Sunday 10:00am-5:45pm

Fee: Adults $18.00/Seniors (over 65) $12.00/Students $8.00/Children under 18 Free

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d106187-Reviews-The_Jewish_Museum-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/3252

The Guggenheim Museum

1071 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10128

(212) 423-3500

https://www.guggenheim.org/

Open: Sunday-Monday 10:00am-5:30pm/Tuesday 10:00am-8:00pm/Wednesday-Friday 10:00am-5:30pm/Saturday 10:00am-5:30pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d108687-Reviews-Solomon_R_Guggenheim_Museum-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Neue Galerie New York

1048 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10028

(212) 628-6200

neuegalerie.org

@neugalerieny

Open: Sunday 11:00am-5:00pm/Monday 11:00am-6:00pm/ Tuesday and Wednesday Closed/Thursday-Saturday 11:00am-6:00pm

Café and Shops have various hours. Please check the website for these.

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d258699-Reviews-Neue_Galerie-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/3063

Ukrainian Institute of America

2 East 79th Street

New York, NY 10021

(212) 288-8660

Welcome to the UIA

Open: Sunday 12:00pm-6:00pm/Monday Closed/ Tuesday-Saturday 12:00pm-6:00pm

Fee: Adults $8.00/ Seniors $6.00/ Students with current ID $4.00/Children under 12 Free/ Members Free

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d5953575-Reviews-Ukrainian_Institute_of_America-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/3048

Places to Eat:

Moe’s Grocery

1968 Third Avenue

New York, NY 10029

(212) 289-0999

Open: 12:00pm-11:59pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d12845802-Reviews-Moe_s_Grocery_Inc-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/324

Dorrian’s Red Hat

1616 Second Avenue

New York, NY 10028

(212) 772-6660

Open: Sunday-Saturday 11:00am-3:45am

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

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d5021112-Reviews-Dorrians_Red_Hand_Restaurant-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Day Eighty-Seven: A Trip to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden for Members Movie Night August 23rd, 2017 (Revisited on August 24th, 2022 and August 21st, 2024)

August 24, 2017Dedication to Warren Watrel, Dining on a Shoe String Restaurants in New York City, Exploring Brooklyn, Exploring Brooklyn Block by Block, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring NYC Parks, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Historic New York City neighborhoods, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, Sandwich and Deli's for the budget minded, Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New York City, Walking in BrooklynAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, Banh Mi Place, BergenCountyCaregiver, Brooklyn Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Museum, diningonashoestringinnyc, Exploring Brooklyn, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City by foot, Family Pizza Flatbush, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, littleshoponmainstreet.com, Movie Night BBG, MywalkinManhattan.com, Reasonable Chinese Restaurants in NYC, Reasonable Deli's/Bodegas, Visiting the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, VisitingaMuseum.com, Walking Brooklyn, Walking in Brooklyn, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

I took some time before I start the next section of the walk to travel to Brooklyn to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden (See reviews on TripAdvisor and my blog ‘VisitingaMuseum’). I have been a member for over a decade and I am glad that my donation helps support the gardens. It is so much fun to walk around these beautiful individual gardens.

In 2017, I got to Brooklyn too late to visit the zoo or the Brooklyn Museum, so I took a walk to my favorite pizzeria in the area, Family Pizza at 720 Flatbush Avenue in Flatbush (See review on TripAdvisor). Their pizza is amazing and if you are in the area, walk down Flatbush Avenue for a slice. Even at the $2.75 price per slice, it is still great pizza. The sauce is so delicious and really makes their pizza.

Family Pizza on Flatbush Avenue at 720 Flatbush Avenue

https://www.restaurantji.com/ny/brooklyn/family-pizza-/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60827-d4966907-Reviews-Family_Pizza-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

I have never seen a neighborhood change so fast. It is going from a West Indian and Caribbean Black neighborhood to hipster central. I have never seen a place change so much in an eight month period. Every time I walk down this street, it looks like another ten businesses have left and the ‘for rent’ signs keep going up. All the local businesses are being replaced by all the frou-frou restaurants and shops that cater to the hipsters.

The Cheese Pizza at Family Pizza is excellent.

As all the new buildings keep going up all over the Flatbush Avenue and the surrounding streets, all the businesses that surround them change as well. Even some of the small local businesses have been smart and upgraded their stores. I passed a Jamaican bakery that had been opened for years is completely renovated. It still looks the same outside, but they have upgraded as the neighborhood has changed. On the five blocks to the pizzeria, I counted at the least ten businesses that have left and some have been replaced with new restaurants and shops.

I decided to look it up and the head of the Merchant’s Association said that there were 22 businesses that were closed now and they were not being filled so fast. The ones that are being filled are opening expensive restaurants with things like $12.00 hamburgers and $20.00 pizza when the restaurants in the are that are left are serving food that is just as good for half the price. This was the difference between Family Pizza, where I ate tonight and the fancy pizzeria that opened directly across the street with the same pizza for double the price. Pretty place in comparison but still at the end of the day it is pizza.

After my walk down Flatbush Avenue and dinner, I walked back up to the Gardens. The movie tonight was the ‘Fabulous Mr. Fox’, voiced by George Clooney and Merle Streep. It was not too fabulous. In fact, I found the movie boring and sending the wrong message to kids. That’s the reason why it was a big flop at the box office (I could not believe I stayed for the whole thing but I wanted to see how it ended).

With a former line up of the ‘Wizard of Oz’, ‘The Goonies’, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ and ‘E.T’., they could have picked another classic live-action film like ‘The Parent Trap’ or ‘Freaky Friday’. They even cut out the free popcorn that they have every year. I could tell someone new was running it.

The best was when they showed “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Still the gardens were in bloom, and it was a beautiful warm, non-muggy night (79 degrees) to sit on the lawn and enjoy the film. The place is testament to families as it is like a step back into the 70’s with kids running around in their bare feet, parents talking to their neighbors and people from the same buildings socializing with one another.

The beautiful trellis in the gardens

It was nice to walk around the Crawford Rose Garden and some of the roses were coming back in bloom and the Japanese Garden was in full form. I had not been there since the Cherry Blossom Festival in April. I had missed a few of the events because of work but still the Gardens are going through a renovation and the new Water Garden is being expanded. If you live anywhere in the surrounding area, this is one membership you want to have in your collection of museums and parks.

Brooklyn Botanical Garden

It is one of those membership perks that I really enjoy and to come in all the way from New Jersey after work says something. It’s a great neighborhood to explore that is now constantly changing. It’s just nice to be outside under the stars watching a film on a warm summer night.

The Members Movie Night in 2022:

This was the first time we had a ‘Members Movie Night” since the pandemic started. They had to cancel the one in 2019 because of rain twice and not running it and in the summers of 2020 and 2021 due to COVID. It had been a real bummer but then I got the email that they were running it again in 2022.

The Cherry Blossom Lawn during the summer months

I got to the gardens in the latter afternoon after work and I wanted to order dinner to take in the gardens since we could picnic on the lawns before the film. I was starved so I went to Banh Mi Place at 824b Washington Avenue.

Banh Mi Place at 824b Washington Avenue in Brooklyn

https://banhmiplacebklyn.com/

I love the Banh Mi sandwiches here and I ordered the Pork Chop Banh Mi ($8.95). The sandwich was excellent. The marinated pork had so much flavor to it and the vegetables were so crisp and fresh that I love the quality of their sandwiches. I took my sandwich and my blanket and made my way to one of the back lawns of the gardens where other members were eating with their family and friends. It was a low 80-degree night and people were enjoying the sunshine and the cool breezes.

The Banh Mi Sandwich is excellent

Their sandwiches are excellent

After dinner, I walked more around the fountains and pools by the restaurant and the indoor exhibitions of the gardens and looked at the lotuses that were in bloom in the pools. There was a lot of plants that were in bloom this late in the summer and the whole garden had such a colorful appearance. In these post COVID times, it was nice to just walk around the park and enjoy the environment. After dinner and my walk around the gardens, I made my way to the Cherry Blossom lawn where the movie was being shown.

The Cranford Rose Garden

The movie this year was “Encanto”, which was an interesting live action movie, but it was hard to hear the film and it was more of a children’s film than one for adults. I ended up leaving early and as I left, I saw about fifty other people leaving the garden early as well. I guess like myself people did not want to be caught up in the crowd.

The Member’s Movie Night in 2024:

I had just been to the Dutchess County Fair the night before with my friend, Maricel and had to travel home after breakfast. Thank God that we went on a Tuesday night as it was all locals at the fair and it was not that crowded. I got home in time to go through my mail and emails and then turn around and run to Brooklyn. This whole week was about running around. With school starting in two weeks, I have a lot to accomplish.

I got into Brooklyn by 3:00pm and started my day at the Brooklyn Museum. Since the exhibition that I had wanted to see had just closed, I walked around the Egyptian Galleries and admired the art. After about an hour of touring around, I wanted to tour the gardens before it got too dark to take pictures. Talk about a spectacular evening with lots of sunlight.

I got a sandwich at 840 United Deli #1 at 840 Washington Street. I had stopped there once before for lunch and remembered their sandwiches being really good. I got their All American Hero which was Hot Turkey, Pastrami and Swiss Cheese tucked into a chewy fresh bun. Talk about the perfect choice on a cool night.

840 United Deli #1 at 840 Washington Avenue

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60827-d27668782-Reviews-840_United_Deli_Corp-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

The All-American hero for dinner that evening was made with Hot Turkey and Pastrami with Swiss Cheese, Mustard and Mayo. What a great sandwich!

The hurricane had just passed by us a few night’s earlier and had cooled the weather down. Even the night at the fair had gone down into the 70’s. I had to wear a sweatshirt the night of the movie.

Entering the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Movie Night

Entering the Gardens from the Main Entrance on Movie Night

The gardens were just spectacular the night of the movie. There was no one distinct flower blooming but many were and there were colorful blooms all over the gardens. I wondered through the gardens before it got dark (the movie would not start until 7:45pm at twilight) so I got a chance to walk through the entire set of gardens before the movie. I was able to snap pictures and just enjoy the late summer meeting. I joined the other members on the Cherry Tree Esplanade for picnicking. God that sandwich was good!

The Water Garden on Movie Night

The Water Garden on Movie Night

The Water Garden on Movie Night

The Water Garden on Movie Night

The Water Garden on Movie Night

The Water Garden on Movie Night

The Rock Garden on Movie Night

The Rock Garden on Movie Night

The Lotus Pools on Movie Night

The Lotus Pools on Movie Night

The Lotus Pools Gardens on Movie Night

The Lotus Garden Pools on Movie Night

It was quite a crowd that August evening. I don’t get it as I am always the one the little kids seem to run around as they chase each other all over the lawn.

People were starting to picnic at 6:00pm in the Cherry Blossom Esplanade

The trailer for “A Bugs Life” from 1998

Everyone picnicking and getting ready for the film to start

The crowds grew as everyone got ready for the film to start

All the members relaxing and watching “A Bugs Life” on the big screen. I ended up really enjoying the film

It got easier to watch the film as it got darker

It got really dark by the end of the film

It was just nice to be in the gardens again and to tour the different sections in bloom. This is what it was all about. Just relaxing! The Movie Night is a favorite evening event of the membership and the lawns are completely filled that evening as well as the gardens are busy all day.

Places to Visit:

Brooklyn Botanical Garden

990 Washington Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11225

Open: Sunday & Saturday 10:00am-6:00pm/Monday Closed/Tuesday-Friday 8:00am-6:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60827-d103900-Reviews-Brooklyn_Botanic_Garden-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2785

Brooklyn Museum

200 Eastern Parkway

Brooklyn, NY 11238

(718) 638-5000

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

My Review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60827-d110213-Reviews-Brooklyn_Museum-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

Places to Eat:

Family Pizza

720 Flatbush Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11225

(718) 462-0639

https://www.restaurantji.com/ny/brooklyn/family-pizza-/

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

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60827-d4966907-Reviews-Family_Pizza-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

Banh Mi Place

824B Washington Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11238

(718) 552-2660

https://banhmiplacebklyn.com/

Open: Sunday 11:30am-9:00pm/Monday-Thursday 11:30am-9:30pm/Friday & Saturday 11:30am-10:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60827-d8530850-Reviews-Banh_Mi_Place-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/2187

840 United Deli #1

840 Washington Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11238

(718) 789-9250

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60827-d27668782-Reviews-840_United_Deli_Corp-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

The front of the gardens in bloom at the main entrance

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