As I have been walking all over the Upper East & West Sides of Manhattan plus in all the up and coming neighborhoods all over the City and out in the suburbs, I am discovering so many trendy and unique little stores, whose merchants are proving that you don’t have to flock to Amazon to find the latest fashion forward and eclectic merchandise. These tiny stores all over the metropolitan area are bucking the trend of online shopping and proving that the original ‘store keeper’ is a thing of the present.
The Hungarian Pastry Shop at 1030 Amsterdam Avenue
I was inspired by stores such as Tiny Doll House (314 East 78th Street) and La Librairie des Enfants (163 East 92nd Street) on the Upper East Side (now closed) and John Koch Antiques (201 West 84th Street) on the Upper West Side of Manhattan (relocated to Long Island) with their unique and inspiring merchandise that screams “buy me” when you walk in the door.
Even in my own town of Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, I visit Young Fashions (208 Boulevard) and The Religious Shoppe (220 Boulevard) for merchandise that you will no longer find in the department stores. These establishments stand out for their personalized service where you will work with the owners to merchandise you will find for that extra special gift.
Religious Shoppe at 220 Boulevard in Hasbrouck Heights NJ
Even some of the food stores and gourmet shops (that don’t fit into my DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com site) I have come across show that restaurants and gourmet food can display their goods in a beautiful way and still taste good but not be expensive such as Harbs on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. These stores get a local gathering of residents and tourists lucky enough to find them.
Domus-Unaffected Living at 413 West 44th Street
My review on LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com:
So as I do “MywalkinManhattan.com”, let’s go shopping on “LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com” and eat something along the way as I guide you past the department stores and the expensive boutiques to show how Merchandising Management is not dead and how the experience of personal service and friendly shop owners is alive and well in all parts of New York City and beyond.
*Author’s Note: “LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com is an extension of my site, “MywalkinManhattan.com” along with “VisitingaMuseum.com” and “DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com” to complete your touring experience around the Metropolitan area and beyond.
It took a long time to finish the Upper East Side neighborhood above 72nd Street and I wanted to return to many of the historical spots to get more research in so it took longer than I thought.
After a long day in Soup Kitchen (I swear I should do these on separate days) in the Beverage Station, I left the Soup Kitchen exhausted again. I can not believe how demanding the homeless can be.
I took the Number One Subway up to 86th Street and walked down to West 84th Street and Central Park West to walk the ring of the neighborhood. Returning to West 84th Street was like visiting an old friend. I had not been on this side of town in months.
I have walked the length of Central Park West many times in this project from 110th Street past 59th Street back to the Port Authority many times on this project in various seasons and it is interesting to see the park at various times of the year. Still, not matter what season, Central Park is always busy. Whether it is people walking their dogs, people jogging on paths or kids playing in playgrounds, the park is always in use no matter what the weather is during the year.
As you walk Central Park West, take time out to really look at the architecture of the buildings and the beauty of the stone work and the carvings. You will not see this in modern buildings. From the sandblasted outsides of buildings to the redone gilded lobbies, you can see a change in the personality of the structure. People are bringing grace back to the apartment buildings and much care.
As I walked past the ‘Museum Mile” of the Upper West Side in the New York Historical Society at 170 Central Park West and the American Museum of Natural History at Central Park West and 79th Street both displayed their upcoming shows. If you get a chance, go see the “Unseen Oceans” and “Senses” exhibitions at the American Museum of Natural History. Both tell a different story and the new “Unseen Oceans” exhibition helps us discover what lurks a depths we have never been. There is a whole new world to discover here.
The New York Historical Society at 170 Central Park West
At Central Park West and 77th Street, check out the statue of Alexander Von Humboldt, the famous Prussian geographer, naturalist and explorer. Von Humboldt had explored South America to a great extent back in 1700’s as well as extensive exploration in Europe. The Humboldt Squid is named after him as well as he invented the safety lamp for exploration.
The statue by noted artist, Gustav Blaeser, was dedicated in 1869 and was moved to this location much later. Gustav Blaeser was a German born artist whose works can be seen all over the world. He started in the studio of Christian Daniel Rauch (Wiki).
From West 84th Street on Central Park West to Columbus Avenue, it is always a treasure trove of interesting brownstones. To believe that only 25 years ago, this place was almost abandoned, you should see the transformation now with all these old buildings being sandblasted back to life. There is a lot of TLC (tender loving care) going on in the West Side of Manhattan.
Really look at the architecture on West 84th Street from Central Park West to Columbus Avenue and watch the faces watch you starting with 239 Central Park West laden with faces of men and women surrounding it. The beautiful building was built in 1925 in the Neo-Renaissance style by architects Sugarman & Berger. Take time to look at this 16 story Upper West Side classic and watch as it ‘turns heads’. As you pass all the brownstones, really look at the carvings of the faces in all the archways and doorways. You never know who is watching from all angles.
Unlike the East Side, where every Avenue seems to being torn down for another apartment building or office tower, the West side of the island is keeping more of its charms. I just do not see the same changes going on in this part of the island as the zoning seems different. Here most of the streets are under scaffolding to sandblast these buildings back to their original glory with new owners. One thing is for sure, the ownership is changing. I have never seen so many kids running around after school.
Like the Upper East Side, this side of town has its share of schools and there are plenty of kids walking home in groups or with their parents. The conversations are very similar to the ones I heard cross town. Politics, relationships and problems with classmates. It is a amazing the conversations you hear in restaurants, bakeries and on the sidewalks.
The one thing that does not change on the streets of New York is how pampered their pets are. I have never seen so many well-groomed animals. Not to the extent of their East side counterparts (who have about six to eight upscale grooming places) but I can tell people love their dogs.
As I passed down West 84th Street, I visited many businesses I had been to so many months ago like West Side Kids at 498 Amsterdam Avenue, John Koch Antiques at 201 West 84th Street and Books of Wonder at 217 West 84th Street all of which have become some of my favorite stores on the West Side.
West Side Kids at 201 West 84th Street is one of the many nice stores in the area (it just moved around the corner from its Amsterdam Avenue address)
The inside of the new West Side Kids at West 84th Street
When walking down West 84th Street I came across the plaque at 215 West 84th Street, Eagle Court which stands on what was once the home of Edgar Allan Poe’s farmhouse that was located between Broadway and 84th Street. The plaque noted that this is where he wrote the “The Raven” (HistoryHomes.com).
Also, when you reach West End Avenue, pause to look at the lines of brownstones surrounding the block and the beautiful stonework and carvings on each brownstone. The block as well as most of the blocks between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive are classic and detailed in their architecture.
Riverside Drive changes from block to block. Some of the blocks are protected under the Historic districts that they are part of and other blocks are high rise apartments. The West End Historical District runs from about West 80th Street to West 79th Street. Here you will find an array of artistically designed mansions with their large windows and whimsical turrets. These homes are tucked into and around the surrounding apartment buildings.
Riverside Drive on the border of Riverside Park
The West End Collegiate Historic District encompasses even a bigger area of this part of the neighborhood covering from West 79th Street to West 70th Street from Riverside Drive to parts of Broadway. This historic district contains many famous and prominent apartment buildings, brownstones and churches including the Collegiate Church on West End Avenue, the Ansonia and Astor Apartments on Broadway and the Chatsworth Apartments (which are under current renovations) at West 72nd Street.
The historic district around West 75th Street
The pre-war architecture and Victorian style of these buildings are unique to NYC now and should be protected. This type of structure is in danger of being knocked down and replaced with larger more modern construction. Note this in my writing of the Upper East Side which is going through so many changes right now.
The historic district is really beautiful
Walking along Riverside Drive starting at West 84th Street is a treat. There is that juxtaposed mix of buildings with Victorian mansions tucked next to pre-war apartments with a few modern buildings thrown in. All of this is facing Riverside Park, which for most of the time I was walking the neighborhood was still in winter dormancy.
Riverside Drive with the combination of building styles
At West 81st Street and Riverside Drive inside the entrance to the park is the River Run Playground, your first source of public bathrooms. The park was quiet on a winter afternoon but after a few visits to the neighborhood and the weather getting warmer, the kids came out in droves with their parents tagging along.
The beauty of River Run Playground is in the details of the park. The bathrooms have the most beautiful monkey designs molded into the gates, so you have to look up for them.
The park itself is oval in design filled with every whimsical plaything a child could want. What I liked about the park as it got warmer was the hill overlooking the park. The Riverside Park Conservatory and the local neighbors planted the hill with all sorts of Spring flowers which are now popping up. Crocuses, Tulips and Daffodils will line the hills overlooking the park and the river and already it is quite a site.
The beauty of Riverside Drive is that there are many parks within the park. At the entrance to the park at West 83rd Street is the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial Park and Gardens. The 12,000 square foot plaza, enclosed by gardens planters, crab-apple and locust trees and a polychrome granite wall, is part of the West Side Improvement.
The sign for the park and the memorial
The massive Riverside Park expansion directed by Parks Commissioner, Robert Moses and designed by Gilmore D. Clarke and Clinton Loyd was completed in 1937. In 1990, the perimeter gardens were designed and planted by David T. Goldstick. In 2001, the plaza was renovated by Mayor Rudy Giuliani in partnership with the Riverside Park Fund (NYC Parks.org).
The plaza and gardens have served as a place of contemplation and remembrance of the victims of Nazi brutality. The plaza takes its name from the modest granite plaque at its center and was one of the first Holocaust monuments in the United States, the plaque and its surroundings were dedicated on October 19, 1947, by Mayor William O’Dwyer. A crowd of 15,000 attended, including 100 survivors of the Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps.
Each year on April 19th, people gather here in memory of the inhabitants of the Warsaw Ghetto, who rose up against their Nazi captors and the six million other Jews martyred during WWII. This plaza is a place a beauty and contemplation and is a nice place to just relax and think (NY Parks.org).
The playground at West 76th Street
At Riverside Drive and 76th Street is the Neufeld Playground, a recently renovated park with two playgrounds for kids of various ages. The best part of the playground is the public bathrooms and like John Jay Park on the East Side, they are open until 5:00pm so this is a great place to make a pit stop and relax on the benches.
The park was named for Henry Neufeld, a prominent cardiologist and scholar who held many prestigious positions in the medical field in his career and worked with the World Health Organization.
When you exit the Neufeld Playground, you will notice the Robert Ray Hamilton fountain, an empty fountain with an eagle statue topping it. The ornate, baroque styled marble fountain is named for Robert Ray Hamilton, the great-grandson of Alexander Hamilton, the great statesman, who was a prominent businessman, landowner and politician in his own right.
He bequeathed $9,000 to the city to create and install it. It is one of the finest and last surviving examples of the decorative horse troughs that once lined the city landscape. It was used for horses to drink in when they were making their way along Riverside Drive (NYC Parks.org).
At the corner of Riverside Drive and West 72nd Street, just inside the park is a statue dedicated to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Known for her many civic and charitable contributions to the government at the time one top of being a teacher, women’s rights activist and raising five children during the Presidency, she fought for the rights of people.
Eleanor Roosevelt Statue by artist Penelope Jencks in Riverside Park
The statue was done by sculptor Penelope Jencks and Michael Middleton Dwyer and the architects on the project were Bruce Kelly and David Varnell. Ms. Jencks is an American artist who studied at Boston University and graduated with BFA.
The monument lies at the threshold of the Riverside Park and is one of a sequence of civic monuments along Riverside Drive honoring people of historical significance (NYC Parks.org). It’s a nice place to just relax and watch the world go by. This is also the end of Riverside Park which ends at West 72nd Street.
One building that stands out right across the street from the beginning of Riverside Park is the Chadsworth Apartment Building at 344 West 72nd Street built in 1904 designed by architect John D. Scharsmith for owner George F. Johnson. It was designed to face the park in an English garden fashion. It was lavishly designed in detail to attract the wealthy patrons of Fifth Avenue, who had started to abandon their mansions after the turn of the 20th century (Wiki).
Done in a brick and limestone exterior, the detail work on the building is magnificent. Carved angels, faces and flowers line the building, and the iron work of the lamps and banisters are just breathtaking. You really have to look beyond the scaffolding to see the true beauty of this building. They just don’t build apartment buildings with this type of detail anymore.
Across the street from the statue of Eleanor Roosevelt sits an unusual twin mansion, one of the many you will see lining West 72nd Street until you hit Broadway. Most of these old homes are now office and shops but you can see the real beauty in them when at one time this part of the West Side by Riverside Park had been fashionable.
This ‘twin’ mansion was actually two homes with a courtyard created in between the two homes. The Beaux Arts home on West 72nd Street was owned by the Sutphen family, and the right plainer mansion was owned by the Prentiss family both designed by mansion architect C.P.H. Gilbert. Both descended from old colonial families, the Sutphen family were the first one to build their mansion and it was finished 1902 and the Prentiss Mansion was built in 1900. The architect built the courtyard to compliment both homes (Wiki).
The twin mansions at the corner of West 72nd Street and Riverside Drive
West 72nd Street is a real hodge-podge of architecture and buildings as it looks like the shopping district is in a constant state of flux with stores and restaurants opening and closing at record speed due to the increases in rent. Still the street has a 70’s feel about it as there are still some holdouts stores from the ‘old days’.
West 72nd Street shopping district
West 72nd Street by the subway stop
One stands out restaurant/deli that fit the bill was the West Side Cafe & Pizza at 218 West 72nd Street between Broadway and West End Avenue (see Reviews on TripAdvisor and my blog, “DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com-Now Closed). The place is clean, the food is reasonable and delicious and the prices are more than fair. Their selection of items is also extensive. This is why I ate there four times on my trip to the Upper West Side.
West Side Cafe and Deli at 218 West 72nd Street (Closed in 2020)
My first trip there, I just wanted a slice of pizza just to have a snack. A slice here ($2.50) is pretty large and was delicious. They know how to make a marinara sauce. Even though it was warmed over, the quality was excellent.
The cheese slice was really good
While I was ordering my slice, I saw someone ordering a sausage, egg and cheese on a buttered roll and it looked so good that when I was walking the streets of the same neighborhood, I had to go back and order it.
The Bacon, Egg and Cheese on a Combination Roll is excellent
So, I ordered it on a combination roll ($4.99) and ate it in Riverside Park. I swear it was one of the best breakfast sandwiches I had ever eaten. The flavors combined beautifully. The sandwich was also huge! It really warmed me up on a cool afternoon.
Riverside Square Park in the Spring
Some of the merchants on West 72nd Street even had a 70’s feel to them. I stopped at Stationery & Toy World Store at 125 West 72nd Street. This is such a great store with floor to ceiling of toys, games, school supplies and anything a kid in the 70’s and 80’s would need for the beginning of the school year. I swear I felt I was in a time warp back thirty years. The best part about the store that it was busy with families so that was encouraging at a time.
Stationery & Toy World Store at 125 West 72nd Avenue
Another great store with a 70’s feel is Westsider Records at 233 West 72nd Street, which is lined from top to bottom with records. Even the guy who works the front counter looks like he works at a record store. There were records that I have not seen in thirty years. It even looks a record store that should be on the Upper West Side.
In the middle of the neighborhood is the famous Verdi Park and Sherman Square, the former ‘Needle Park’ from the movie, “Panic in Needle Park”. This is no ‘Needle Park’ anymore with a Bloomingdale’s Outlet Store and a Haagen Dazs right on the park.
The Bloomingdale’s Outlet store at West 72nd Street is a big draw and has a decent public bathroom
Sherman Square is just south of the neighborhood, but Verdi Square was just as bad.
Sheridan Square in full bloom in the Spring
Now Verdi Square is renovated and dedicated to opera composer, Giuseppe Verdi. The statue was designed by Pasquale Civietti in 1906 (NYC Parks.org). Mr. Civietti was an Italian born artist who had been trained under his brother, Benedetto.
The park itself is surrounding by some of the most beautiful Victorian architecture especially around Broadway with the Ansonia Apartments and the Apple Savings Bank, the former Central Savings Bank. Now the park is nicely landscaped with flowers and plantings with a fancy coffee stand.
Another great place is Malachy’s Donegal Inn at 103 West 72nd Street. I visited the restaurant twice while visiting the neighborhood and it is a real experience to get to know the locals who like to eat there. If you want to meet neighborhood locals, this is the place to come.
The last part of the walk on the way back to Central Park West was passing The Dakota Apartments. One of the most prestigious addresses in New York City and named for its isolation placement in the city at the time. The apartments were built between 1880 and 1884 designed by architect Henry J. Hardenbergh. Built in the Renaissance and English Victorian design, you can see the detail work all over the building (Wiki).
The Dakota Apartments on Central Park West
The entrance to the apartment building
The logo of the building at the top.
The evil looking grillwork of the outside of the building.
Even though the building in currently under scaffolding, you can see the detail work in the iron work of the fencing around the building with the face of Neptune (I think) facing everyone who walks by. You can also peak into the courtyard to see where carriages once arrived. It is an amazing building.
The borders of the Upper West Side are steeped in history and loaded with some of the most beautiful buildings and statuary and facing two of the most magnificent, landscaped parks in the city.
The residents here are very lucky.
Please read my other Blogs on walking this part of the Upper West Side:
Day One Hundred and Five: Walking the Avenues of the Upper West Side from West 84th to West 72nd Streets:
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.com’ 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 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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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 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.
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
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.
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
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.
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)
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)
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.
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
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
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)
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)
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.
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).
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 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
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.
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).
The old Claremont Riding Academy was built by architect Frank A. Rooke and was built in Romanesque Revival style in 1892. These were the oldest continuously operated equestrian stable in New York City and the last public stable in Manhattan (Wiki).
When I arrived at P.S. 166 on 132 West 89th Street, the Richard Rodgers School, is the Manhattan School of Art & Technology. I read the plaque that was dedicated in 2003 to the famous composer. The school was built in 1897 and is one of the few terra cotta Gothic designs in the New York Public School system. It is such an honor to a famous composer of musicals such as ‘The Flower Drum Song’ and ‘The King and I’.
The Playground 89 next to P.S. 166 adds a little life to the quiet neighborhood. Even on a slightly warm November day, there were loads of kids running around while their parents relaxed and chatted on the benches surrounding the park. It was nice to see so many families out that afternoon.
PS 166
The front of PS 166
The historic plaque
The Richard Rodger’s plaque
P.S. 166 is one of the few Terra Cotta schools in NYC
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
In the Spring of 2026, I got to see the whole garden in full bloom. The volunteers take amazing care of the gardens and their well landscaped paths.
The historic sign
The gardens in the Spring
The entrance to the park
The pathway in the garden
The pathway in the park
The pathway near the entrance to the park
Down the street from the school and the parks is Ballet Hispanico at the corner of 167 West 89th and Amsterdam Avenue. Some of the holiday shows had been posted and looked rather interesting. The building was closed the day I was there.
The last part of my journey of the streets of the neighborhood was crossing West 90th Street for a second time and exploring the avenues. I stopped at the St. Gregory’s Playground near the corner of West 90th Street and Columbus Avenue. this little pocket park on the other side of the West Side Community Garden is in dire need of a face lift.
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!
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.
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:
I had another beautiful day in the city. I can’t believe this is fall with the 82-degree days. It is so funny to see so many people in outdoor cafes this late into the season. It reminded me of when I was walking Morningside Heights in February and it was 82 degrees then. The weather has been very wacky this year and everyone says there is no Global Warming. That’s hard to believe.
I finally managed to sneak into the city to walk the Avenues of the Upper Upper West Side. I had spent the morning in the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen again and they put me back to work in the kitchen. By the time I left chopping loads of chicken breasts up for the next day’s lunch, I was exhausted. With Thanksgiving around the corner, it is going to be busy in the prep kitchen. I had been in the prep kitchen during the holidays, and it is a lot of work.
I started my walk this afternoon by relaxing with lunch at Zhong Hua Chinese Restaurant at 23 West 100th Street (See review on TripAdvisor), a tiny hole in the wall Chinese restaurant I passed when walking Manhattanville. This is right on the border at the official end of the Upper West Side meets the Douglas Housing Projects. I could tell most of the customers came from the housing projects by the customer base walking in. They must be very loyal because the staff knew who everyone was and said hello.
There are a couple of tables to sit at in the restaurant and it is not the fanciest place, but the food is not bad. I had a Sweet & Sour Chicken lunch special. It was okay. Typical Chinese American cooking. It tasted like fresh Chicken McNuggets with a standard red sweet sauce and served with white rice. The combination lunch special was $6.00 with a Coke and was not bad. Not the greatest but not bad. It filled me up for my long walk around the neighborhood.
The Sweet & Sour Pork was okay
Columbus Avenue was my first part of the walk. Columbus Avenue was the new trendy avenue when the city started to gentrify in the early 80’s through the crash of ’87 and now has settled into a more upper middle-class street with a combination of upscale stores and chains. There are so many banks on the avenue that I do not understand how they survive.
This was at one shining moment the center of the island with all the new innovative restaurants and shops opening up here starting with Museum Café opening right across the street from the American Museum of Natural History (it now houses a Shake Shack ten restaurants later). As someone noted in New York Magazine, it looks like a suburban mall with the parking (which is true for most of the island now).
In the upper 90’s, Columbus Avenue has turned into a series of large apartment buildings that must have been started in the late 90’s. It has changed the complexity of the neighborhood which was once all low-lining buildings. The border shared with Manhattanville gets even weirder with a Whole Foods and new luxury shopping one block from the Douglas Houses. It is a strange move, but it seems that everyone is using the Whole Foods from all over the neighborhood, so some marketing person was thinking.
The transition of the Upper West by the Whole Foods and the Douglass Houses
Once you cross over to the 80’s blocks, the architecture turns back into the more traditional low-rise buildings of the turn of the last century which is what gives the neighborhood its charm. Like the rest of the city, there have been a rash of small business closings around the block as the twenty-year leases that were signed in the 90’s when the neighborhood was still transitioning have come up and the complaints that the rents have tripled and quadrupled. The mix is now around the museum bunch of extremely expensive restaurants and realtors. This is not the West Side I remember.
One store that does stand out as being different is the Wild Bird Feed at 565 Columbus Avenue that seems more a hospital than a retail store. It saves pigeons and doves and brings them back to health. The rest is a combination of chain stores and expensive decorating places.
Amsterdam Avenue is pretty much the same as the parts in the areas above 90th Street is new apartment buildings and stores. Most of the chains have moved up to this area with the new buildings. As you move to the lower 90’s, Amsterdam Avenue becomes a series of neighborhood stores and restaurants that are strictly local. There are many great ethnic restaurants as well as all the services from laundry places to shoe repairs and drycleaners. They have really kept Amsterdam Avenue for the neighborhood.
At the corner of 84th and Amsterdam Avenue again is the Urban Assembly Garden that now is producing fall vegetables. It is amazing how everything changes in just two weeks. The kids were out cleaning up the beds when I visited again, and the teachers are eager for you to see what the kids are doing. Try to stop by the stand and at least say ‘hello’ to the kids.
Urban Assembly Garden on West 84th Street and Amsterdam Avenue
Across the street from the garden is West Side Kids at 498 Amsterdam Avenue which was mobbed with families who were shopping after school. There are some small restaurants a few doors down that were loaded with families. I could tell the parents here like their East Side counterparts really look after their kids’ education and welfare.
West Side Kids is now located at 201 West 84th Street
Broadway from 96th Street to 84th Street is a series of chain stores and independents. This part of the avenue is quite nice because it has the island in the middle of the road with trees and flowers still holding on from the summer months. It is being lined with brand new apartment buildings that are sprouting up all along the avenue. I have never seen a block so in transition. This is Broadway from 110th Street straight down to Columbus Circle.
When you turn the corner onto West End Avenue, it is a whole other world. This is the land of prewar apartment buildings, old brownstones and single-family homes. The side streets are unique brownstones where it looks like no two houses are the same. It is straight out of an exterior shot of ‘Sex and the City’.
If you are in the city for Halloween, there is a great holiday display outside the brownstone at West End Avenue and 90th Street. All sorts of movable ghouls and ghost are on display with a pumpkin demon flying up the side of the house. Someone is in the theater business here.
Halloween on the Upper West Side, the owner is very creative
There is a beautiful, tutored mansion that is being renovated on the corner at 274 West End Avenue and 95th Street that you have to see. It looks like a traditional German home attached to a prewar apartment building. This is the side of The Pomander Walk complex.
There are pillared twin mansions on the opposite corners of West End Avenue between 91st and 90th Streets with matching brownstones in the middle of the two homes. Both are being fixed up and the owners are very lucky to own such a beautiful, graceful homes. They look well-maintained and a little out of place with all the apartment buildings on the block.
West End Avenue has many architectural treasures
The Swan House at 95th and West End Avenue is a elegant old building with interesting landscaping around it. People do love their potted plants. The fortress like apartment building at 645 West End Avenue has the most interesting light features on the outside. They look like a giant is holding lanterns. It is straight out of the late 1890’s. I have never seen a light feature like this one. The building was designed by architect Gaetan Ajello and was built in 1912 (City Realty).
The very unique light fixtures outside the building
These are so beautiful
At West End Avenue and 84th Street, there is a plaque to the famous composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, who lived in the building from 1926 to 1943. He did some of his most famous work when living in this building. Word of advice don’t linger too long reading the plaque. The doorman will give you funny looks.
There is another gorgeous mansion on the corner at 272 West End Avenue and 91st Street that has been fixed up and again harks back to the time this was an exclusive neighborhood (more so than then now) and lined with private homes. This beautiful, designed home was built in 1920 (City Realty).
This whole area between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive from 66th Street straight up the west side of the island is lined with interesting apartment buildings. Each one is more unique than the other. It is a real change in these two blocks both in the architecture of the buildings and the feel of the neighborhood. It seems quieter and more reserved and the people walking along the streets seem more serious than their neighbors one block away. I just got that impression on the people living there by walking around at all hours of the day.
Dinner that night was at Cheesy Pizza at 2640 Broadway on the corner of 100th Street (See the review on TripAdvisor & my blog DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com). The pizza is excellent made wonderful by their delicious tomato sauce. I get so disappointed by many of these pizzerias in these neighborhoods that I pass. They look so good and end up having tasteless food that makes it a disappointing meal.
Not at Cheesy Pizza. The pizza is full of flavor and loaded with their delicious sauce and loads of cheese. They have some excellent deals with eight specials available all day long for $5.00, which is a steal in this economy. I had the personal pizza with a Coke, and you got four nice slices of pizza that is freshly made for you. I was not only impressed with the quality but with the friendly service as the guys behind the counter seemed happy to see me. I guess it’s the cop thing again. This place warrants a few more visits.
The Cheese Pizza here is wonderful.
Before I headed downtown, I made a special trip to Silver Moon Bakery at 2740 Broadway and 105th Street for dessert (See review on TripAdvisor & my blog DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com). The pastries here are excellent and rival their counterparts in other parts of the island. The nice part is they are very reasonable. Nothing is over $5.00. The quality is excellent, and the staff is not snotty like some of the bakeries on the East Side where they want to charge you $20.00 for a cake that costs about $3.00 in materials. I know rents are high but come on.
Silver Moon Bakery at 2740 Broadway (Closed March 2025)
Silver Moon Bakery is the home of the Crumuffin, which I have talked about before. I got a little boring and got a Linzer Tart. It was excellent. The cookie itself was so buttery and tasted like it had just come out of the oven. The raspberry jelly was tart and sweet and the cookie broken apart in my mouth when I ate it. Like a piece of heaven.
The selection at Silver Moon Bakery is wonderful.
That is the one thing about Silver Moon Bakery unlike their uptown competition. The product has not been sitting out all day long. The items are obviously bake in small batches throughout the day. Make the trip on the Number One Subway to 103rd Street to visit the bakery. It’s worth the travel time.
The Crumuffin at Silver Moon Bakery is the most amazing pastry!
Overall, I covered a lot of the Upper West Side, revisited a few haunts that I wanted to see again and got to relax and explore Riverside Park. The Upper West Side has so much to offer, and I will see more when I walk the streets in the neighborhood.
Read my other Blogs on the Bloomingdale neighborhood:
Day Ninety-Three: Walking the Borders of the Upper Upper West Side:
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)
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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
It took a couple of days to give the neighborhood a long walk, but I covered all the space in three days. This is such an interesting neighborhood and so many people took an interest in what I was doing over in the time I spent here.
It was hot and humid my first day in Manhattan Valley at 81 degrees. I got up to neighborhood in the later afternoon after a long day wrapping spoons at the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen. It may not sound that exciting, but it is one of the most important stations at the kitchen. You need a constant supply of silverware to help feed everyone.
I started the walk at the E subway station on the edge of Central Park. On a hot day, the park was packed with people getting a tan, fishing in the Meer, walking their dogs or just hanging out. This part of the summer is nice because the tourists are walking around, and it is fun to watch them make a fuss at everything.
The foliage changing on the Harlem Meer in the Fall of 2024
The first couple of blocks along 109th and 108th Streets are filled with prewar apartment buildings, schools and small playgrounds and many small brownstones. A lot of the buildings in this area are being sandblasted back to their former glory. Closer to the parks, the buildings have an elegant feel with their carved marble fronts and small gardens and potted plants decorated them. The sign of a doorman says that this area is getting more expensive.
The Harlem Meer in the Summer of 2024
The brownstones along West 109th Street by Riverside Park
On 107th Street, I saw many beautiful buildings in various stages of renovation on all the blocks as this are is beginning to become part of the Upper West Side fabric. Many of the small brownstones along Manhattan Avenue had been swept in their fronts and their plants were in full bloom. Again, I love the block between 106th and 107th Streets. Tucked in between all those little mansions and brownstones is The Nicholas Roerich Museum at 319 West 107th Street
The tiny Nicholas Roerich Museum at 319 West 107th Street is packed with interesting art
The Museum was founded in 1949 to house a permanent collection of over two hundred paintings by the Russian-born artist, poet, philosopher and humanitarian, Nicholas Roerich. The museum also houses a library of books and maintains an archive and a collection of artifacts relating to the areas of Roerich’s interests (Museum guide).
This small museum in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattanville is easy to miss. It is in a small brownstone on West 107th Street right near Riverside Drive. You can see the plaque for the museum to the right of the building and there is a side door to get in. The admission is free but they do ask for a donation if you can do it.
The gallery on the second floor
The museum is a specialty collection of the works of artist Nicholas Roerich. They are mostly landscapes and religious themed that cover three floors of the museum.
The is a beauty to all his works especially the ones concentrated in the Himalayas with their colorful and spiritual themes.
The artist’s portrait of his mother on the third floor
It takes about an hour to an hour and a half to see all the floors. A nice touch they had in the afternoon that I was there was a piano player whom you could hear play throughout the brownstone. When you go, it will be a pleasant afternoon where you are not fighting the crowds of the larger museums.
When you reach Riverside Drive, there is a beautiful line of old marble mansions that line the drive from 106th to 105th Streets. These were built at a time when money was no object and living along the park was a sophisticated choice. These homes are all being renovated, and one wonders if they are going to become private homes again. When rounding 107th Street along Riverside Park, take time to look at these homes from the park side and you can imagine the view they have from the front of these homes.
The secret garden between brownstones on West 109th Street behind a gate
I walked all around Riverside Park in this part of the neighborhood, and it is just beautiful when the trees are in full form. The shade trees and paths offer refuge from the hot sun, and it is fun to watch the neighborhood kids play in the playgrounds with their parents and nannies. It is nice to see a group of kids enjoying nature and not glued to a cell phone. From the park, these are the most gorgeous views of the Hudson River with the cliffs in New Jersey in the background and a constant stream of boats in the river passing you by.
Riverside Park is just breathtaking
I made a lunch stop at SheShe Pizzeria at 961 Columbus Avenue at 107th Street (See my TripAdvisor review and my blog DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@ WordPress.com). This small pizzeria has delicious food with the most reasonable lunch specials. Their lunch menu has ten lunch specials for $5.00 including a personal pizza with pepperoni that I had with a Coke for lunch.
SheShe Pizza at 961 Columbus Avenue (closed January 2025)
This small ten-inch pizza was freshly cooked for me by the owner of the restaurant. It was loaded with pepperoni and cheese and when it came out of the oven was cut into four generous slices. The sauce is flavorful, and the slices are all stringy and gooey with the melted cheese. It is the perfect lunch/dinner if you have a good appetite. Their cheese pizza was delicious as well and was the perfect lunch and I liked their fair prices.
Their spaghetti and meatballs were terrific too that I had another day I was in the neighborhood for lunch. The service is very warm and welcoming, and he remembered me from a few days earlier.
The Spaghetti and Meatball special at SheShe Pizza was amazing! (Old owners)
To work off all this good food, stop back at the ‘Mobilization for Change’ Community Garden across the street at the corner of 107th Street and Columbus Avenue at 955 Columbus Avenue and stroll through the gardens again. The gardens are in full bloom, and it is a nice place to just walk around the paths and look at the progress of the individual vegetable gardens. The tomatoes are really coming in.
Mobilization for Change Community Garden at 955 Columbus Avenue
The Garden in early Fall of 2024
A full view of the garden in the Fall of 2024
I returned to the garden in the Spring in 2026. The gardens were being prepared for the warmer months. Many new plantings were on full display.
The Cloisters at 329 West 108th St. was constructed in 1899. Originally built as two separate townhouses, these grand mansions were combined in 1931 and converted to a coop in 1984 (Streeteasy.com). This building has the most beautiful details to it around the doorways and windows.
329 West 108th Street embellishments on the building
The elaborate embellishments at 329 West 108th Street
The townhouses along West 107th Street by Riverside Park
The townhouses along West 107th Street by Riverside Park
One the most beautiful buildings in the neighborhood along Central Park West and 106th Street is 455 Central Park West, the old New York Cancer Hospital. Years ago, when I was walking around the neighborhood, this was an abandoned building that was all boarded up and graffiti ladened. Now it is part of an exclusive apartment complex. The hospital part of the apartment building was built in 1887 with additions in 1889 and 1890. It was designed by architect Charles Coolidge Haight in the French Chateaux style with English Gothic trim (City Realty).
The old New York Cancer Hospital at 455 Central Park West
To live in the Victorian section of the building must cost now millions of dollars. The whole building was renovated back to life and is one of the most unusual pieces of architecture in the neighborhood with an incorporated tower behind it. It is also rumored to be haunted.
455 Central Park West the old New York Cancer Hospital is now luxury condos
I noticed this chair on the sidewalk when I walked down West 106th Street outside someone’s brownstone. I thought this was pretty unique.
This was outside one of the local smoke shops
The murals and street art really stood out on West 106th Street as I passed Broadway on my way back to Central Park.
This was on one of the trees just past Broadway
The row apartments that line West 105th Street are really beautiful in the fall
This face stared at me as I walked down West 105th Street towards Riverside Park
In between Columbus and Manhattan Avenues on 105th Street is the La Perla Community Garden at 76 West 105th Street. The garden was created around 1992 when a group of neighborhood citizens got together to clean out a garbage dump of a lot and turned it into a vibrant garden with paths leading through trees, flower and vegetable beds. There is even original graffiti art from one of the local artists all along the walls of the building that surround it.
I talked with one of the creators of the garden, Carmen Ortiz, talked with me that afternoon. “It took about ten years to clean the lot out and that was constantly throwing out the garbage to the curb just to get all the debris out. We have worked so hard to create and maintain the garden and now a piece of it is being sold off.” Currently the middle part of the garden was owned by two couples, but the taxes are getting too high, and the neighborhood is changing so fast, that it was cost effective to sell it. Now the left side of the garden will be a new townhouse while the rest of the garden will remain.
The gardens in the Fall of 2024 after Halloween
“It’s sad because we do so much for the community here,” Ms. Ortiz added. “We will be having a flea market this weekend and have Jazz Concerts here. During the holidays, we have events for the neighborhood children. You can see by the plantings; everyone has a plot here.” Several raised beds contain various vegetable plantings. I just hope that building this new townhouse does not affect the garden to the point where nothing can grow there. It’s a sad commentary to the city when something that New Yorkers spent their time on to make better improved the neighborhood to the point that it was its own demise in the end.
What is left of the painting by the Bloomingdale Park
Along West 104th Street between Central Park West and Manhattan Avenue, you will see another set of Community Gardens which is interesting because the plot has a prewar apartment building right smack in the middle of it. The centerpiece of this garden is the Jesus Crawford Rose Garden which was just losing the last of its blooms when I visited it. This was named after the creator of the garden.
Jesus Crawford Rose Community Garden at West 104th Street is now the West 104th Street Gardens
Just like ‘Le Perla’ and ‘Mobilization for Change’ gardens, this garden has added much needed green space to the neighborhood with trees and raised vegetable gardens that add that sense of neighborhood to the street. At the height of the summer, it is nice to see all of these gardens in full bloom and the fresh vegetables on their way.
Walking through the Douglass Houses and the projects in general are always amusing to me. I never know the reception I will get. For the most part, I crisscrossed through the walkways of the projects from 104th to 100th Street. I visited all the playgrounds and community areas to sit and people just ignored me but looked out of the corner of their eyes to see what I was doing.
I stopped by King Columbus Gourmet Deli 900 Columbus Avenue for a quick lunch when I was walking the neighborhood in 2025. This deli is right across from the Douglas Houses and I find that a lot of these deli’s near the project are the best. I was starved and got a Bacon, Egg and Cheese on a hero and it was excellent.
I took my sandwich down the street to a park and ate my breakfast sandwich. On a cool March afternoon hit the spot. With the price of eggs in 2025, this is the first time I had eaten an omelet in almost a month so it tasted good.
My Bacon, Egg and Cheese sandwich
This sandwich is delicious
On my way to the park to relax and eat I passed 119-121 West 104th Street and I had never noticed how interesting this brownstone across the street from the Projects.
The beauty of 119 West 104th Street is right across the street from the Douglas Houses
The brownstone was built in the early 20th Century and it is now a condo. I thought the stonework was very unusual. I saw this again on West 103th Street where I saw the same design.
At the corner of West 104th Street and Amsterdam Avenue was the Youth Hostel.
The HI New York Hostel is a different type of hotel stay for student travels. The building was built between 1881-1883 and was designed by Richard Morris Hunt in the Victorian Gothic style. The building was originally built as a nursing home and has since become a hostel (Wiki).
I watched some kids playing on the swings and some people attending the community gardens that they had planted but for the most part I saw a lot of socialization along Columbus Avenue. Many groups of men set up tables and while blasting Spanish music played cards and domino’s and watched the neighborhood go by. I am sure that for all the game playing these guys know perfectly well what is going on around them and the surrounding buildings. That struck me as watching everything.
The West 104th Street Garden in the Fall of 2024
This interesting mural was on the back of the local elementary school. I think this was done by the students
When I got back to Central Park West, you can see that Central Park was not always flat. The rock formations from the days of the Ice Age.
The rock formations by West 104th Street
Central Park rock formations at West 104th Street
I took a stroll through Central Park and the North Woods section of the park. The irony is that I have walked through Central Park since I was four and I never walked through the North Woods. It was a beautiful stroll through the woods.
Walking through Central Park by West 104th Street leading to the North Woods
Walking through the North Woods in Central Park
Walking through the North Woods in the Fall of 2024
I walked across the park to go the Met on the East Side and I stopped by the reservoir to watch the sunset. It was an amazing view of the sun setting over Manhattan and the crowds to watch it was really large.
The sun setting over the Central Park Reservoir
The amazing views of the sun setting over Central Park
I walked through the park just at dusk and was surprised at the crowds inside the park both on the West Side and the East Side. It was around 77 degrees and people were enjoying playing the parks and playgrounds. I thought this was interesting because most people stay out of the park at dusk. Watching little kids screaming in the playgrounds was encouraging that things are changing for the better in the City.
I walked the streets from West 103rd to West 100th Street and admired the architecture especially closer to Riverside Avenue near Riverside Park. Some of the brownstones and apartment buildings are so interesting.
At 315 West 103rd Street is a similar building to the one at West 104th Street. The building was built in 1881 and is now landmarked.
The brownstone was built in 1920 and the detail work on the building is unique.
At 246 West 103rd Street was the childhood home of Humphrey Bogart. I thought this was interesting to know that the actor grew up here. The building was built in 1917
It’s at 100th Street where Manhattan Valley joins the rest of the Upper West Side as new office and apartment buildings have been built along Columbus, Amsterdam and Broadway. This area is guarded by a police and fire station around the corner so there is action here all day long.
You can go to the bathroom either in Frederick Douglass Park near 104th Street or at the Whole Foods at 100th Street. Stick with Whole Foods as it is cleaner and cooler plus you can use the water fountain.
The Whole Foods at 808 Columbus Avenue and West 96th Street
When I was walking in between Riverside and West End Avenues, I came across a community bench designed by artist Linus Coraggio who lives on the block (website: LinusCoraggio@verison.net). It just so happened the artist was outside fixing his motorcycle and we got to talking about his work. He showed me the bench and all its detail work. He had lived in the area for many years and had watched it change from bad to better.
His current specialty is welded, crafted figurative and abstract sculpture and furniture. I even read online that Ringo Starr is one of his clients. He was showing the work he was doing on the brownstone he was living in, doing work around the railing and in the foyer of the building all the ceiling work. His attention to detail and to how the workflows is a sign that he takes his time with each piece. It is an interesting set of artworks with all sorts of bends and twists to the metal work.
Check out this YouTube Trailer on the artist
He even has a chair he created right in front of the building. It twists and turns and the metal work are extremely creative in that you can tell the detail and the amount of time to get the metal to work in this fashion. You almost don’t want to sit in it. He told me he currently has a show going on in the East Village and a studio up in Ellenville, NY. Just stop on this block alone to see his craftsmanship. It is beautiful.
The artwork of Linus Coraggio
The artwork of Linus Coraggio
The artwork of Linus Coraggio
On 99th Street just off Amsterdam Avenue, there is the Church St. Michael’s Parish at 225 West 99th Street, which has the nicest garden to sit in. It is a nice place to relax and just think. Tranquil is the word for it.
The Church of Saint Michael at 225 West 99th Street
It is beautifully planted, and everything was in full bloom. It was nice to just stop and take a break here. Take a look at their postings as they have a lot of activities going on.
The beauty of their stained glass windows
The landscaping and the gardens on 99th Street
The beautiful flowers in the Spring
The gardens around the corner
A couple of mornings later, I came back to finish the bottom part of the neighborhood and walked 96th Street again to see how the neighborhood transitions. The streets between 96th and 98th Streets are filled with smaller marble brownstones and many attractive prewar apartments.
There are a lot of businesses transitioning along these streets as I see many of the older businesses now sitting empty with ‘For Rent’ signs telling the rents are changing in this part of the neighborhood as well. Soon they will be filled with the next wave of chain stores and glitzy restaurants.
This part of the neighborhood was easy to walk because the Central Park West Apartments and their playground stop the side streets between 98th to 99th Streets and the rest of the complex is gated off. My suggestion is do not try to walk through the complex because the signs are very blatant that they are watching you. You can see from the streets though there is a large parking lot and several well landscaped paths surrounding the buildings. I was just surprised they built these and the projects right next to one another.
I stopped at Felo Deli at 23 West 100th Street for some of their homemade empanadas ($1.25). They were so good I had to go back a second time for another which made the man behind the counter pretty happy. Try the pizza and chicken ones. They are generously filled and cooked perfectly. It is a good place to stop for a reasonable snack.
The empanadas here are really good and make a great snack
My last part of the day before I walked across Central Park to start my trip to Coney Island for my ‘Q to Q subway trip’ from 96th Street on the East Side to Coney Island on Stillwell Avenue, I stopped back at SheShe Pizzeria at 961 Columbus Avenue, to try one more thing on the lunch special menu. This was one of the inspirations for my new blog “DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com’. For $5.00, these lunches are exceptional.
SheShe Pizza at 961 Columbus Avenue (Closed in January 2025)
I tried the side order of ziti with meatballs, and it was more than a side order. You got a very generous portion of perfectly cooked ziti with about three fresh meatballs that were sliced on top and then put under the broiler. I could just about finish it. The meatballs had a nice garlicky taste to them, and the sauce was well spiced. It looked like the owner was happy to see me again. I will be back again for another personal pizza.
The Baked Ziti at SheShe Pizza was really good
The last thing I saw at the edge of the neighborhood was the beautiful and whimsical mural outside PS 163-The Albert Smith School at 163 West 97th Street. The student artists did a wonderful job on this mural “Bee Rock Steady”.
The school mural outside PS 163-The Albert Smith School: ‘Bee Rock Steady’
The painting ‘Bee Rock Steady’ artists who created it
As I finished my walk of Manhattan Valley, I really felt that neighborhood aspect of this community. For a section of a major city, this had a small-town friendly feel about it. The people here, no matter where they live want this to be the best community it can be, and I was impressed by all the free time the residents donate to make it that way.
Whether it was Carmen Ortiz and her partner in the garden, Bob, spending their time weeding beds to Linus Coraggio donating his creativity to building a bench for people to relax into the guys playing dominoes watching what everyone was doing, I could feel the sense of neighborhood here. There is always something new popping up in this neighborhood.
The residents here really care.
Please read my other Blogs on the neighborhood:
Day Seventy-Nine: Walking the Borders of Manhattan Valley/Bloomingdale:
Manhattan Valley (the Bloomingdale District) is the imagine of what people would think the Upper West Side is like in the 1970’s. It reminded me of an old Woody Allen film. It still has that old New York feel to it before gentrification rolled over the lower part of this side of the island. I think what keeps the neighborhood grounded is the Douglass Housing Complex in the middle of the neighborhood which runs from 104th Street to 100th Street from Amsterdam Avenue to Manhattan Avenue. The Park West Apartment Condo Complex anchors the southern part of the neighborhood.
The fringes of this neighborhood on all sides are quickly gentrifying from the sandblasting of buildings and new businesses along Broadway to almost everything north of 104th Street to 110th Street from Riverside Drive to Central Park West. Everything seems to have scaffolding in front of it, already is being cleaned and buffed or in the process of it. It is a mixture of old and new and it seems that the population likes it this way. The one thing I have to say it feels like a real neighborhood.
The Dutch called the area, “Bloemendaal”, which translates to “Valley of Flowers” as the area was once home to many farms and forests. The whole area was once the summer home to the wealthy residents from downtown and as the city grew, the area was dissected by the street system. There are still many pocket parks, community gardens and playgrounds plus it is bounded by Riverside Drive and Central Park.
Bloomingdale in its rural days
My day began with another busy day at the Soup Kitchen. I admit I don’t think that in this economy I don’t think it is going to be getting slower. We’re consistent every time I am there. Not the 1500 meal days we used to have but it still gets busy. I work the busy extra Bread station and they love their raisin bagels when we have them. I did not get of there until 12:30pm.
I started the walk at 110th Street with lunch at my new favorite Chinese restaurant, Hunan Chen’s Kitchen at 1003 A Columbus Avenue (See TripAdvisor review and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com). I had an order of their Orange Chicken, and it was out of this world. The food there is excellent and for the size of the portion and the quality of the dishes, this place should be on everyone’s map. The orange chicken was perfectly cooked, crisp from the deep fry and the fried rice is good for a lunch portion. Their egg rolls are quite good as well.
Hunan Chen’s Chinese Restaurant at 1003A Columbus Avenue (Closed 2020)
Dragon 109 on Columbus at 109 Columbus Avenue opened in its place in 2024
My review on TripAdvisor:
(Note to all readers: I have added a new blog site along with ‘VisitingaMuseum.com’ to accompany ‘MywalkinManhattan.com’. The new site is called ‘DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com’, where I will be featuring restaurants I find on my travels around the island and beyond for under $10.00. There have to be more people like me who are on a budget).
I had my lunch on the benches by the entrance of Morningside Park and on a sunny day, there is nothing like it. It must be a favorite of the neighborhood because I found myself with a crowd around the benches. I guess the park’s lurid past is behind it now as I watched a soccer game from the bench as I was eating. It is a nice place to relax and gather your thoughts.
After lunch, I started walking the Avenues that go up and down the neighborhood. This side of the island is a little smaller than the East Side of the park, six streets as opposed to eight. It was still quite the walk.
Where I like to eat my lunch when I am at Morningside Park by the entrance of the park
My first street was Manhattan Avenue, and this street is just as juxtaposed as the other neighborhoods uptown. You can go from luxury brownstones to the projects in just one block. Lining Manhattan Avenue from 106th to 105th Streets are some of the most picturesque brownstones with front gardens and potted plants that you will see in the city. Each one is nicer than the other and seem unique in their own way because of their design and their plantings. I can imagine how they must decorate around the holidays.
Once you pass 104th Street, the large Fredrick Douglass Houses at 825 Columbus Avenue start to dominate the neighborhood. I think that the project has kept this part of Manhattan from fully gentrifying as it dominates the whole core of the neighborhood from 104th to 100th Streets from Manhattan Avenue to Amsterdam Avenue. Like most of the housing complexes I have walked through, everyone pretty much ignored me.
Tables of older Dominican men played cards and dominoes on a nice day, young mothers were in the playgrounds, which were nicer than most of the complexes I have seen, and one family even had a lemonade/snack stand near the Youth Hostel on Amsterdam Avenue between 104th and 103rd Streets.
Manhattan Avenue stops at 100th Street in front the big Central Park West Condo complex which looks like middle-class housing to me. All I know is that they want you to stay out of the complex. There are signs all over the place that the through ways are for residents only and there is security all over the place. I won’t be able to walk through that too quickly.
Columbus Avenue below 100th Street joins the rest of the Upper West Side with shops and restaurants and a large Whole Foods which is a nice place to go to the bathroom if you need it and to fill up water bottles. Above 100th Street, it is dominated by the housing complex and then it changes back to small stores and prewar apartments.
A nice stop is the ‘Mobilization for Change Community Garden’ at Columbus Avenue at 107th Street. What a beautiful pocket park. It has colorful flower beds to walk through and there are elevated vegetable gardens that resident’s plant in and all the plants are in the stage of maturity that herbs are standing tall, and vegetables are ready to ripen. It is a nice place to sit and relax.
The sign for the Mobilization for Change Community Garden.
The people there are very nice and talk about their role in helping make the garden what it is today. Take time to walk the path through the garden. This garden was created in the late 1980’s, when the neighborhood was not so nice, and it was a dumping ground. The community really transformed this lot into something special.
Mobilization for Change Community Garden at 955 Columbus Avenue with sun symbol on the fence
Columbus Avenue dissects the Park West Village Apartment complex, so you get to see the planted gardens and paths that lead through the complex. Behind that, starts the modern shopping district. This area is totally being rebuilt and there are new buildings all over this section of the neighborhood. I was not able to walk through the complex as security is all over the place. There are also cameras all over the place. So, I just walked around it.
Park West Village Apartments cuts the neighborhood in half
At the bottom of Columbus Avenue, a new complex of buildings has been built with all new shops and a new Whole Foods are right across from the Douglass Houses. 100th Street is the obvious border of the Upper West Side to this neighborhood. This is when you see the community really mixing. I saw a lot of Whole Foods bags heading up the road. The Whole Foods is nice because it is also a place with a nice public bathroom and a place to fill your water bottle. The only other option is the Fredrick Douglass Park and their bathroom which needs a lot of work.
Amsterdam Avenue is a continuation of what it is uptown. A transformation of a neighborhood depending on the block that you live on. Everything above 104th Street and below 100th Street is quickly improving with old prewar apartments under scaffolding and new restaurants replacing old ones. Little by little the area is starting to change. Even the Amsterdam House, a public housing unit, is getting a makeover right across the street from Fredrick Douglass Park.
At Amsterdam Avenue and 104th Street is the Youth Hostel that sits on the fringe of the Fredrick Douglass Houses. I was wondering why there were so many twenty-year olds in this area walking around and speaking so many languages. (These kids fill all the reasonable restaurants in the area that inspired my blog, “DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com”). There are so many great restaurants in the area where you can eat for under $10.00 and I wanted to let everyone know that they are there). This area gets very active later in the day when everyone comes back from visiting other parts of the city.
Amsterdam Avenue at West 110 Street by Columbia University
Between 100th and 99th Streets, St. Michael’s Church at 225 West 99th Street dominates the street with the most beautiful stained-glass windows and the architecture is amazing. Really take a good look at the detail work of the building. On the way back up, walk through the Fredrick Douglass Park and watch the neighborhood come alive. There are kids screaming in the pool, hipster types playing soccer in the field and mothers from all over the neighborhood playing in the park with their kids and socializing with one another. This is where the neighborhood really mingles, and you see it come alive.
Rounding Broadway is where you see the real changes happening in the neighborhood. Broadway is where the neighborhood shines with its diversity of businesses and housing. Being two blocks from the Douglass Houses, it also shows how the fringes of this neighborhood are starting to change. Older businesses are next to newer hipper restaurants, and it makes a nice mix. Some of the most interesting buildings are in this area and really look up as you walk around, or you might miss it.
The most interesting aspect of Broadway is the landscaped ‘Mall’ that runs in the middle of the street and gives nature its due throughout the neighborhood with trees and flowers lining the middle and benches to relax and just walk the world go by.
The Broadway Mall, the landscaped median
At 107th Street and Broadway is Straus Park, dedicated to Isidor and Ida Straus who died in the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912. The Straus family had ownership of Macy’s Department Store at the time and had been very prominent in the business world. I remembered when I had worked at Macy’s that there had been a park dedicated to them.
This graceful park is lined with trees, flowers and bushes and is beautifully landscaped to match the Broadway Mall across the street. There are lots of benches to relax in and the park is well maintained by the neighborhood. The four days I spent in the neighborhood there was always someone weeding, pruning or watering something. It is a nice place to take a book or get some writing done. Many of the residents socialize here and it is a nice gathering place. The memorial dedicated to the two of them is simple and graceful and fits into the park nicely.
The Strauss Park gardens
The park in the Spring
The historic plaque
Just across the street from the park inside the walls of the Broadway Island, take a look at ground level and you will see the mosaics of the Duke Ellington Memorial. This small display tucked into the walls of the island is almost hidden so you have to sit down to see it or you will miss it.
the “Art for our Sake” sign
The Duke Ellington Mosaic
The Duke Ellington Mosaic
The park also dissects the streets, where Broadway and West End Avenue fork and separate into two different streets. Walking down Broadway when you reach 103rd Street, artist Joy Brown has another one of her ‘people’ statues that I had seen further uptown.
Ms. Brown was born and raised in Japan and concentrates on larger installations.
Here the adult was walking with her child. These statues are whimsical and almost like a animated character in 3D. Many of her statues line Broadway at various streets uptown.
Joy Brown’s Statue on Broadway
On the island on Broadway between 106th and 107th Streets look to the bottom of the wall, and you will see the most interesting artwork in memory of Duke Ellington. Look by the walls by the benches and you will see the mosaic on both parts of the wall.
My go to McDonalds on the Upper West Side at 2549 Broadway
Being so humid that day, I made a pit stop at McDonald’s. I stopped for one of their frozen strawberry lemonade’s. I swear, that drink is one of the best things to drink on a humid day. It cools you inside and out. I ordered a medium and I did not need to drink anything for the rest of the walk. I was totally refreshed.
McDonald’s Strawberry Lemonade in one of the unofficial drinks of “MywalkinManhattan.com”
Take a look at the Metro Theater at 2626 Broadway, closed now, to see the interesting Art Deco details on the building. It would be nice if this could be opened in its original shape but for now it stands boarded up awaiting its fate. A lot of Broadway is now being lined with new apartment buildings and shops that are connecting it to the rest of the Upper West Side.
West End Avenue is onto itself as a more residential block. I get the impression by the people walking around this street that they take themselves a little too seriously. Everyone I saw had this determined look on their faces. I could not figure out why.
The buildings that line the street between 106th to 96th Street are mostly prewar apartment houses with detailed marble carvings. The side streets are lined with a combination of old brownstones and smaller apartment houses. Planters with small trees and flowers dominate the buildings and give it a more European feel to them. One of the most beautiful buildings on the block is at 925 West End Avenue.
The building was built in 1899 and known as The Alimar. It was designed by Elisha Harris Janes and Richard Leopold Leo and built by Hamilton W. Reed. The team that designed this building also built the equally beautiful Dorilton on Broadway near West 72nd Street. Really look up at the details (City Realty).
925 West End Avenue
The doorway entrance to 925 West End Avenue with its beautiful carvings
It is a marble building where you see numerous faces and animals carved into the marble. There are two similar buildings like this in the neighborhood but this one is most spectacular. Look at the grill work and the windows and it will make you fall in love again with the treasures that the city offers.
The stone carvings of 925 West End Avenue
925 West End Avenue embellishments
The lion carvings that protect this building
I took a detour off West End Avenue to walk down several of the side streets to see how nicely the buildings blended into Riverside Park. The block between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive are the most gentile part of the neighborhood and show off some its oldest architecture.
Riverside Park in the Bloomingdale section at Riverside Drive and West 110th Street
This is a classic New York neighborhood showing the ‘old’ New York. As I said earlier, there is something very mid-70’s to early 80’s about this part of the Upper West Side. Its changing but not like the hyper-luxury buildings further downtown. It’s like walking around the city at a time when New York City was getting better for New Yorkers not a real estate investment from abroad.
West 110th Street at Manhattan Avenue
West 110th Street at Amsterdam Avenue
This is one of the more “New York” neighborhoods in Manhattan.
Please read my other Blogs on the neighborhood:
Day Seventy-Nine: Walking the Borders of Manhattan Valley/Bloomingdale:
I walked a tremendous number of miles today. I had wanted to see three cultural sites before I left the Harlem area. I wanted to visit the Museum of Arts & Letters, The Studio Art Museum of Harlem and Grant’s Tomb. So, my trip on this hot Sunday started at the 157th Street One Subway station. I had wanted to start at the Museum of Arts & Letters.
The whole campus that the museum shares with the Hispanic Society was closed for renovation, so I walked from 155th Street to 122nd Street to tour the Grants Tomb National Memorial. The tomb is open only at certain times, so I wanted to get to the park early.
It has only been three months since I left this part of Harlem, and a lot has changed. Even I can’t keep up with all the changes as I was walking down Broadway. Many of the businesses that I passed have since closed. Many of the storefronts as you get closer to the SUNY campus around 140th Street to about 132nd Street have converted to small trendy restaurants and clothing stores. Many of the older businesses that had catered to the neighborhood Hispanic customer now have ‘For Rent’ signs or are being updated for a more diverse customer. I had seen this happen in the short time I was walking Inwood in upper Manhattan.
When I got to General Grant National Memorial at 122nd Street (See TripAdvisor review and on VisitingaMuseum.com), there were already a couple parties going on around the park area. On a nice day, there are always birthday parties for kids in the park around the tomb. People in the neighborhood love to spend time with their families here and in the other parts that surround the area.
General Grant National Memorial (Grant’s Tomb) at West 122nd Street
There were not that many people touring the tomb and the building itself, so it was nice to take my time. Designed by architect John Hemenway Duncan in 1883 and the tomb was dedicated in April 1897 on the 75th Anniversary of President Grant’s birth. The President’s remains were placed here right before the dedication and his wife was buried here in 1902 (Wiki/NYC Parks).
The vaults are amazing with paintings on the ceiling of scenes of his life that were put up in recent years. The crypts of him and his wife, Julia, are on the bottom level of the tomb surrounded by the busts of generals that fought in the Civil War with him. It does not take that long to tour the tomb or the gift shop.
The Rotunda and tombs inside of Grant’s Tomb
I learned a lot about our 18th President Grant by watching a film on him. I never knew at the end that he died broke and what saved the family were his memoirs. Amazing the things that happen in people’s lives in the end.
President and Mrs. Grant’s tombs
After the tour of the tomb, I walked down to the Studio Art Museum of Harlem and toured several of the exhibitions. The museum is located at 144 West 125th Street (See review on TripAdvisor and on VisitingaMuseum.com) and is open for viewing for free on Sundays with the support of Target Stores. The museum is small and only take about an hour to two hours to see all the exhibitions which is nice. Some museums the exhibitions are endless, and it takes hours to see and absorb everything. The Studio Art Museum exhibitions are detailed but on a smaller scale.
I was able to see artist Rico Gatson’s exhibition on 70’s influenced art, Jamel Shabazz’s exhibition of photo’s around 125th Street, which I don’t know if you could do today without releases and the “Regard the Figure” exhibition, which is in the front of the gallery on figures that influenced the curator.
The Rico Gatson exhibits at the museum
All were very interesting and had their own unique perspective of the culture. I was able to get through all three exhibitions in less than two hours. After viewing the exhibits, I sat on their outside patio to relax for a while. It was a hot day and I just needed to cool off in the shade. There had been a nice crowd in the museum that afternoon.
Rico Gatson’s Work at The Studio Art Museum of Harlem
After the Art Studio of Harlem, I walked down to the business district of 116th Street and went for some lunch. Like the rest of Harlem, things are opening and closing so fast you can’t keep up with them. Half the customers on 116th Street are White and Asian with lot of customers from Columbia University and the Upper West Side who are starting to come to this area to eat. There are many innovative restaurants opening up on the 116th Street row.
I had lunch at Harlem Pizza Company at 135 West 116th Street, a restaurant that I had passed and had read online that was very good (See review on TripAdvisor). The pizza was wonderful, and the service was very friendly and welcoming. I sat in the outdoor seating area, and it had cooled down a bit since it was later in the afternoon.
The Harlem Pizza Company at 135 West 116th Street (Closed June 2024)
The restaurant is excellent, and I highly recommend it. I had a personal 12-inch pizza with sausage and soppressata that was perfectly cooked, the meats and sauce were highly spiced and was gooey and delicious. It was nice to just eat and watch the world walk by. It is a very relaxing that afternoon.
My next stage of the walk included walking Manhattan Valley, another name for the Upper Upper West Side. This area includes from West 110th Street from Riverside Drive to the West and Central Park North to the East and West 96th Street to the South. I was able to ring the neighborhood and work off breakfast and lunch at the same time.
I passed the Minerva Bernardino Greenstreet park on the way down West 110th Street. This tiny park is hard to miss as the flowers were blooming all over the place and tables were being set up around it by the restaurants. I thought it was a little cool of this.
The Minerva Bernardino Greenstreet Park at 110th Street
Her biography of her accomplishments was on the street sign.
The Greenstreet gardens in 2025
I started the later part of the afternoon walking from Morningside Park to Central Park West. God was the park busy. There must have been four birthday parties, two barbecues, five basketball games, a soccer game and a softball league playing in various areas of the park.
A lot has changed in this side of town in the last 25 years. It is a major change from the mid-80’s when most of this area was abandoned. I remember seeing pictures of this area in the late 80’s and all through the 90’s and it was not such a nice area. Most of the housing was run down, Riverside Park was over-grown and sensible people did not travel above 86th Street.
The Morningside Park Pond in the early Spring
I had dinner with a vendor my last year at Macy’s in 1995 on 92nd Street and the vendors and my boss at the time said to take the subway to 86th and walk up. I took it to 96th and walked down and even then, I could see what they were talking about. It was run down but didn’t seem dangerous. Two weekends later I got adventurous and walked up to Columbia University. Those were the years where fences were put on the entrances to Morningside Park.
The pond and the waterfall in Morningside Park in the Fall of 2024
A lot of the buildings were abandoned and boarded up by 100th and the further you got from Central Park the worse it got. I had even overheard two Columbia students talking about the fires in buildings across Morningside Park the evening before. You would not see any of that today. The mood in the Fall of 2024 was nothing but pleasant and the whole area has gentrified. Most of the people walking in the park the afternoon I had visited were a white, upper middle-class couples with strollers.
The wonderful items to buy and eat at the Morningside Park Farmers Market
I was not surprised on how nice it was to walk around now. This area has improved so much in the last thirty years and keeps getting nicer and more expensive. Pretty much everything until the 130’s on this side of the island is getting a facelift. The east side of the island over 100th is more juxtaposed. All along Fredrick Douglas Boulevard, Malcolm X Boulevard and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard new restaurants, cafes and shops have opened catering to a diverse group of New Yorkers.
I started my walk down Central Park West, walking past the apartments on the other side of the park. Everything has changed so much up here. Almost all the apartments facing the Central Park now are luxury homes and apartment buildings sandblasted back to their original elegance. Each building has its own unique style. The best part of them is their view of the park must be amazing.
I passed some unusual historical sites and artwork along the way. At the entrance of the subway station at Broadway and 96th Street is a statue of a woman holding her child by the artist, Joy Brown.
Ms. Brown was born and raised in Japan and holds a BFA from Eckerd College in Florida and has done a lot of her personal training in the field. She is known for her work in pottery and bronze (Artist Bio)
This very whimsical statue is part of a collection of statues that line Broadway and a map is provided at each site to find them. Some of the people thought it might be the Madonna and child. I guess everyone has their interpretation of it. There were a lot of families taking pictures by it when I was there.
At the corner of 96th Street and West End Avenue is a plaque to Teresa Carreno, the famous Venezuelan pianist who lived at the Delha Robbins Apartments back at the turn of the last century. I had no clue how famous she was, but she had traveled over the world performing. She was a composer, conductor, soprano and pianist who composed over 75 original works. She also had interesting relationships that spread to four husbands.
She was quite the character at the turn of the last century. Here’s a sample of her work:
Pianist Teresa Carreno playing Chopin
When I made the turn around at 96th Street, there is no exit so be prepared to walk down to 95th Street and go under the tunnel by Riverside Park. Go under and around and take some time to walk through Riverside Park and take in the view. I had walked through this area last summer on my way up to 155th Street after some time at the American Museum of Natural History. It is nice to see the park in full bloom again.
I passed the Firemen’s Memorial at Riverside Drive at 100th Street and the Shinran Statue at 105th Street. I have never seen these before and the Firemen’s Memorial means a lot to me being a fireman. It’s nice to see the memorial being visited and flowers being left.
The memorial was designed by H. Van Buren Magonigle and the statues that flank it were designed by Attillo Pirccirilli. The two were well known for their design of memorials including the U.S.S. Maine statue on Columbus Circle (NYCParks).
The statues represent “Duty” and “Sacrifice” on both sides of the memorial. The idea for the memorial came about in 1908 at the funeral of Deputy Chief Charles A. Kruger by Reverend Henry C. Potter who questioned why there were no memorials to our private public servants (NYCParks.com).
The Shinran Statue was dedicated to Buddhism. The interesting part of the statue is that the statue came from Hiroshima from outside a temple in the city and when the atomic blast happened as the temple burned this statue stood guard. The statue was then shipped to New York in 1955 and has stood, radiation free in New York City since then. I now sit as a monument to world peace (Atlas Obscura).
The Shinran Statue on Riverside Drive
Along Riverside Drive between 107th and 108th Street, there is a majestic set of mansions that line Riverside Park. These are going under renovation but still the detail work on these homes is very elegant and must have been something when they were built at the turn of the last century. They stand out amongst all the apartment buildings that line the park.
As I turned around at 110th Street and walked back around the same route on the other side of the street. One of the most beautiful spots along Riverside Avenue is between 96th and 97th Streets with a line of shade trees that must be over 100 years old. It is just so graceful and humbling to see these huge trees and the way they shade and lead the path down this part of the sidewalk. Its nature at its best.
Riverside Park in the 110 Street area in the Fall of 2024
I passed Central Park on the park side of Central Park West and when you reach around 100th Street, you see the rock formations that line the avenue. This is a result of the last Ice Age and I had seen similar formations uptown. Again this is when you realize that Manhattan is not flat. Nature takes over when you see the trees and plants growing through the cracks. This picturesque part of the park with trees, bushes and flowers sticking out here and there through the formations. Its wall is what separates the park from the street.
The rock formations prove that Manhattan was moved by the ice age in Fall 2024
Rock formations in the Upper Part of Central Park in the Summer of 2024
This part of Central Park reminds us that Manhattan isn’t all flat.
When reaching 110th Street at the corner of that and Central Park West, several new buildings are built around the circle of the two streets. Modern architecture dominates this part of the street and ushers in a new beginning to this once destitute section of the neighborhood as a gateway to a new beginning for the neighborhood. The lines of the Upper West Side and Harlem on this side of the island are beginning to blur.
West 110th Street is changing with new construction and gentrification of the brownstones in the lower parts of Harlem
We’ll see more as we visit more of the neighborhood on a tour of the streets and avenues. I ended the day with a trip to McDonald’s just off 96th Street and Amsterdam Avenue (See review on TripAdvisor).
That McDouble and fries tasted so good as they were freshly cooked for me.
The McDonald’s Strawberry Lemonade is one of the unofficial drinks of “MywalkinManhattan.com.
The best is their frozen Strawberry Lemonade which cooled me down inside and out. It is one of the best things recently added to the McDonald’s menu and a perfect drink for a hot summer day.
Read my other Blogs on the Bloomingdale neighborhood:
Day Ninety-Three: Walking the Borders of the Upper Upper West Side:
I went to the Museum of Natural History this morning for a walking tour called “The History of Sharks” that took us through several galleries as the tour guide explained the history of sharks from pre-historic times to present day.
‘The History of Sharks’ exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History
How we live with sharks, how their DNA developed over the years and a discussion on the famous attacks on the New Jersey shore in 1916 to the movie ‘Jaws’.
The Museum of Natural History
The museum runs these special tours for members and it was nice to explore the museum as a small group. Their volunteers do a wonderful job explaining things and the museum, in anticipation of a major rainstorm that never happened, was packed to the gills. I never see it that busy.
The Dinosaur Hall
The Native American Wing just after the renovation of the hall
After my visit to the museum, I decided to take a walk up Riverside Drive. It was such a beautiful day with no sign of rain coming, I walked the length of Riverside Drive from 86th Street to 155th Street, crossed over 155th Street to St. Nicholas Avenue and walked down the street to 145th Street to get a better look at the brownstones and mansions and then back up to 155th Street and back down the other side of Riverside Drive to 110th Street and across to the subway station the corner of Central Park. This part of the walk took me past many historical sites and statues, past pocket parks and mansions and the beauty of Riverside Park.
The mansions that line Riverside Drive
First there is nothing like walking around the west side of Manhattan along Riverside Park. It is a truly wonderful park with people jogging, biking, sunbathing and picnicking. Everyone was really enjoying this clear, sunny Summer afternoon. On a quiet Sunday, the park is mostly yours depending on where you are walking.
All along the way uptown, Riverside Park and Drive are lined with many memorials and statues. I was amazed on many were in the area of the drive. My first stop along the way was the Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Monument at West 89th Street that was dedicated to the Union Army soldiers and sailors who contributed in the American Civil War.
The Sailor’s & Soldiers Monument in the Fall of 2024
This structure was completed in 1902 and President Theodore Roosevelt presided over the opening. A very impressive structure that I can see most people miss. Part of the structure is still in disrepair but you can still walk around the pillared structure and gaze at its beauty.
Soldier’s & Sailors Monument on Riverside Drive near West 89th Street
I took a turn and swung into Riverside Park to visit a small playground and a very lively birthday party. I dropped into Hippo Park at 91st Street, a lively little playground with tons of kids running around, climbing on playground structures and actually acting like kids. I see far too many children obsessed with the cell phones not paying attention to what is going on around them. The kids were obviously having fun while the parents handed out food and gossiped amongst themselves.
Hippo Park is part of the Riverside Park Conservatory and run by volunteers in the neighborhood that also provides entertainment during the summer with outdoor concerts and a newly renovated playhouse for parties. Check out their website for details.
The next monument that I passed was the Firemen’s Memorial at 100th Street and Riverside Drive. This is a very quiet and relaxing sculpture that is dedicated to the members of the Fire Department who have lost their lives in the line of duty. This sculpture was dedicated in 1913 and has been renovated a few times since. During the tragedy of 9/11 in 2001, this became a vigil site for those morning the loss of so many members of the FDNY. This stop is a must for all fire fighters. The sculpture was designed by artist Harold Van Buren Magonigle (NYCParks.org).
Artist Harold Van Buren Magonigle was an American born architect, artist, and author best known for his memorials. He had worked at several well known architectural firms before working as a artist (Wiki).
My next stop was at the Franz Sigel Statue at West 106th Street. The majestic statue of a Major General in the Union Army during the Civil War. He encouraged many then German-Americans to fight for the Union. After the war, he became a proud New Yorker. This small park faced Riverside Drive on the other side of the street overlooking the Hudson River.
Franz Sigel was a German born American officer in the US Army during the Civil War. Before the war, he was a teacher in the New York City school system and after the war got involved with politics and publishing (Wiki). The statue was created by artist Karl Bitter.
Karl Bitter was an Austrian born American artist who was best known for his architectural sculpture and memorials that he sculpted. He was educated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Austria. He immigrated to New York City in 1889 (Wiki).
As I continued the walk up further, the monuments continued with the statue of Samuel Tilden, a former Governor of New York located at West 112th Street. Tilden’s career was illustrious with fights against the Tweed stronghold in NYC and some saying that he had the Presidential election stolen from him with the Electoral College by Rutherford Hayes. His large estate and book collection helped found the New York Public Library.
Samuel Tilden Statue
I finally made it to one of my goals for the day, Grant’s Tomb (see the reviews on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com), the final resting place of our 18th President Ulysses Grant and his wife, Julia. This monument has had a love-hate relationship with the city. The President died of throat cancer in 1885 and his wife recommended that his burial place be in New York City over West Point and Washington DC as President Grant and his wife made this their home for the last years of their life.
The monument was finished in 1897 and the President’s remains were moved here before the dedication. His wife died in 1902 and was buried along side her husband. In 1958, the National Park Service took the monument over and was given a small budget to oversee it. In the 70’s and 80’s as the city had declined, this part of the park was a mess and the monument was vandalized to the hilt.
The graves of President Grant and his wife
It had gotten so bad at one point where the descendants of the family threatened to pull the bodies out of the tomb because of neglect. Since the 90’s, the monument and the park have been restored and it is open to the public for limited times during the week.
The side view of the tomb facing the park
The park now is used for picnicking and parties as many were going on as I walked through the park. The tomb itself was closed for the day and was fenced off to the public. Not a good sign for the parks system for such an important piece of the city’s history.
The park behind Grant’s Tomb
The park near the tomb
Off to the side of the monument, inside Riverside Park next to the path, is the Amiable Child Memorial (See review on VisitingaMuseum.com), the resting place to St. Clair Pollock. This touching little monument is dedicated to a child who died in 1797 in the fifth year of his life from a fall from the cliffs somewhere in the current park. It is one of the private graves located on public land. This small stone funeral urn is on a pedestal marking the grave. It is a very touching grave to a small child. I left a coin there as many have in the past.
I continued the walk up through the park until I hit Riverbank Park on 145th Street, one of the unique parks I have ever seen. The 28 acre park is built on the top of a water treatment plant that was inspired by parks built on roof tops in Japan. This park has everything. It has a pool, basketball courts, tennis courts, soccer field, baseball field, a cool off fountain and ice skating rink. It has it all and has the neighborhood embraced this park. The place was packed in all venues. It was a truly democratic park as all races play here.
I was most impressed by the number of families having parties and barbecues in the park. There must have been about a dozen birthday parties going on at once. The smells of barbecue meats and vegetables wafted in the air and the sounds of laughter and singing was all over the place. Even on a hot day, nothing stops people from having a good time.
I was most impressed by the Snack Bar located in the park’s main building. For $6.00, I got a cheeseburger, fries and a Coke and for a park snack bar they were really good. The portion size was generous and I can tell you for fact that the fries are excellent. Even if you don’t like sports make a special trip to snack bar and you won’t be disappointed. (See review on TripAdvisor)
After a 45 minute detour of this amazing park, I walked the rest of the way through Riverside Park until I hit Trinity Cemetery again and crossed 155th Street to St. Nichols Avenue again. I wanted to take a better look at the mansions at 150th Street in Sugar Hill. This section of Sugar Hill I did not have time to take a good look at the last time I was walking St. Nichols Avenue.
The Sugar Hill section is located in the Harlem neighborhood.
Sugar Hill Brownstones
The homes and brownstones in this area are just gorgeous and give you a totally different prospective of Harlem. Most of these buildings have been sandblasted and restored or in the process of being done. The mansions on the corner of 150th Street and Edgecomb Avenue hark back to a time when this was a very fashionable avenue and don’t miss the Bailey House that is fully restored.
I took a pit stop and stopped for a quick slice of pizza on 145th Street at Victorio’s Pizza Plus at 348 West 145th Street and one of the best slices of pizza I have ever had for $1.00. The pie had just come out of the oven and it was a thin crust made with fresh mozzarella and it was heavenly. Flavorful sauce and the right amount of cheese that was cooked perfectly at any price the pizza was delicious. This is a must for all the CUNY students. (See TripAdvisor review)
The walk took me back across 155th Street and back down Riverside Drive. The park, even at twilight is busy. There were so many bikers, joggers and walkers that you had to move a lot on the sidewalks. My last structure I saw as I walked down Riverside Drive was the Ralph Ellison art piece “Invisible Man” (the picture above) done by sculpture Elizabeth Catlett at 150th Street. Ms. Catlett was a artist who themes were the struggles of the Black experience with race and feminism. Her work was influences by Primitivism and Cubism (Art.net).
It was dedicated to the novelist work on his book “The Invisible Man” about his experience as a Black man during the Civil Rights Movement in NYC. Ralph Ellison lived in the area before he died in 1994. It really is quite the statue.
As I passed Grant’s Tomb, there were about three parties going on in the park. I don’t think the President even partied that much in one evening when he lived in the city. I could not believe that the park around the tomb would be this busy at eight at night. There were colorful lights all over the trees and a grill going.
I got to 110th Street around 8:30pm and as I rounded Riverside Drive to 110th Street the neighborhood which had been on the fringe for many years has completely changed. The area by Riverside Park had always been nice but as I walked further down the street this area has been sandblasted and rebuilt. Many parts of uptown that had been ignored for years look more like the Upper East Side.
I even saw people walking into Morningside Park which when I was working in the city in the 90’s was a death trap that you would not walk anywhere near but like the rest of the parks like Tompkins Square in the Lower East Side and Bryant Park behind the main library time has passed and they have been fixed up, cleaned up and the area around them now is priced higher.
My last stop of the evening was Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Too at 366 West 110 Street. This neighborhood staple has been around for years and in a much gentrifying neighborhood that seems to be getting away from its Harlem roots. I hope owns the building. The food and service were just excellent. The biggest problem I had with the restaurant is that I over thought how hungry I was that night. After a big lunch at 5:00pm and a slice of pizza by the time the food came I was barely hungry.
Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Too at 366 West 110th Street
Miss Mamie’s is not to be missed. They had a dinner special that was $19.99 for a salad that was one of the best restaurant salads I had had in years. It was crisp with fresh lettuce and tomatoes with a light dressing, for the entrée was freshly Fried Chicken that was crisp on the outside and moist on the inside and the chicken had so much flavor to it.
I had it with Mac and Cheese and Mashed Potatoes, not the most healthy choices but after a five mile walk I figured I had burned off a few calories. It was so much food that I had to take half of it home with me along with the Peach Cobbler dessert that was included in the meal (See the review on TripAdvisor).
Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Too
The service was friendly with out being overwhelming. I must give off certain vibes in this neighborhood because the waitress asked me if I was a lecturer for Columbia. I laughed at the one and asked why. She said I looked smart. I don’t know what looking smart is but I took it as a compliment. Usually above 110th Street every assumes that I am either a cop or DEA. Amazing what being tall is to people.
I ended the evening totally exhausted and took the subway from the 110th Street and Central Park West. Another sign of changes in the neighborhood is that I saw people jogging into the northern park of Central Park at 9:30pm. Things have really changed up here.
mywalkinmanhattan 