I started my walk today with a walking tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Sometimes the Soup Kitchen gets to be too much before these walks and since making my goal of two thousand hours, I have wanted to calm it down. My next goal will be twenty-five hundred hours but I can take my time on that one.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art at 1000 Fifth Avenue
I toured the Asian galleries with other patrons of the museum. The exhibition was the “Crowns of the Vajra Masters: Ritual Art of Nepal” which was a tour of the famous crowns of Nepal. The funny part of these crowns were that they had always been in the collection but had been marked incorrectly by museum for the Armory Galleries as helmets. When they discovered what they had in storage, they put them out on display and soon will be restored so we won’t see them again for a long time.
The “Crowns of the Vajra Masters: Ritual Art of Napel” exhibition at the Met
The unique part of the tour that the docent told us is that they had never been out on display together since they had been bought to the museum and the first time ever had been displayed at the museum the way they are now. You really had to have the details explained as the symbolism of each crown stood on its own, with their Buddhas and flowers described in detail. All of them were accented with semi-precious jewels.
After the tour was over, I had enough time to walk around the new “Visitors to Versailles” exhibition. This is an exhibition you should not miss while it is open. It has all sorts of the pictures and artifacts on the creation of the building, how it progressed, who visited and how it continued to be added on up to the French Revolution and into the modern times. It was fascinating to see the progress on how it started as a hunting lodge right up to the modern gardens that were installed. Be prepared for at least a two hour visit for both exhibitions to see them properly. It was better than spending the morning cutting vegetables.
The “Visitors to Versailles” exhibition at the Met
I started my walk around the neighborhood at East 72nd Street, walking the lower part of the street passing familiar businesses and apartment buildings. It is amazing how fast scaffolding goes up. It must grow on its own because in just a few weeks, more buildings are surrounded by it or are in the process of being redone or knocked down. As I have said in previous entries, Manhattan is changing at a pace that you cannot keep up with it. You can walk a block and a week later it seems that something is in the process of change.
This is true on the first Avenue I walked today, the ever-changing York Avenue. It just seems like the entire Avenue is being rebuilt. I have never seen so many new buildings going up on one street. The rest of the blocks will certainly be going through the transition.
If you want to tour the FDR Walkway tour of the river, cross over at East 71st Street and York Avenue and cross the walkway here. It has the most beautiful views of the river and of Roosevelt Island. This is one way to get down to East 59th Street and the edge of the neighborhood. You can also cross over the East 63rd Street entrance as well to the river walk.
The Riverwalk along the East River
York Avenue has the Cornell-Weill Hospital between East 71st to East 68th Streets so these are busy blocks and then you pass the tranquil Rockefeller University between East 68th to East 63rd Street where most of the property facing York Avenue is landscaped and park-like and very pleasant to walk by. I just wish the campus was more open like the Columbia is where you can walk around the Quad. At the end of York Avenue at East 59th Street under the Queensboro Bridge starts the exclusive Sutton Place.
Rockefeller University at 1230 York Avenue
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_University
As I have said in a previous blog, really look at the beautiful artwork on the Queensboro Bridge, with its geometric designs along the sides, its beautiful tiling and its vaulted ceilings. The now closed supermarket under the bridge must have been amazing to shop in when it was open.
The Queensboro Bridge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensboro_Bridge
the details of the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge
For lunch I stopped at Go Noodle Chinese Restaurant at 1069 First Avenue (See review on TripAdvisor) which was part of a series of restaurants near the bridge. It’s a nice restaurant to sit in and people watch. The lunch specials are reasonable and very good.
Go Noodle Chinese Restaurant at 1069 First Avenue
https://menupages.com/go-noodle-nine-moon/1069-1st-ave-new-york
I started my meal with an egg roll and then had shredded chicken with string beans for my entree. The food here is very good. The entree was loaded with chicken cooked in a brown garlic tasting sauce with properly sauteed string beans. The egg roll was better than most I have tried at neighborhood Chinese restaurants but standard with roast pork and shredded cabbage. At $8.25 for a full meal plus the soda, not a bad price for lunch and it was lunch and dinner for me.
Their Chicken and String Beans was very good
After lunch, I needed a rest from the large lunch and all the walking and I stopped in Twenty-Four Sycamore Park on the corner of York Avenue at 501 East 60th Street right next to the Andrew Haswell Green Park on the other side of the road. This delightful little park is very popular with the kiddie/nanny set and had kids scrambling all over the place on this hot day chasing after one another while all the adults sat in the shade and talked amongst themselves. It was a nice place to just sit back and relax. I just tried to avoid the squirt gun fight going on.
24 Sycamores Park at 501 East 60th Street
https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/twenty-four-sycamores-park/history
The inside of the park
As you turn to the lower part of First Avenue, you still see traces of the older part of the city but as you enter the higher East 60’s, things start to change. More and more new buildings are going up. The popular St. Catherine’s Park is between East 67th to 68th Streets and according to the park system mimics the Santa Maria sopra Minerva Church in Rome in its layout to honor St. Catherine (NYCParks.org).
This is another popular spot in the neighborhood for kids and adults alike. Kids were running around all over the park while the parents were relaxing under the shade trees. The sandbox seemed to be really popular with the kids jockeying for space in it.
St. Catherine’s Park on East 67th Street
https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/st-catherines-park
When reaching East 66th Street, you will come across the large condominium complex of Manhattan House, which was built between 1950 to 1951 and designed by Gordon Bunshaft for the firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in the modernist style. It overlooks a garden that runs the entire block with two sculptures by the artist Hans Van de Bovenkamp (which you can see from the sidewalk through the windows).
Some of the famous people who have lived there include actress Grace Kelly and musician Benny Goodman. The apartment complex reached landmark status in 2007 and take time to walk around the front garden of the complex. It looks like something in Fort Lee, NJ.
Manhattan House Apartments on East 66th Street
https://www.manhattanhouse.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_House
The historical plaque at the Manhattan House.
East 66th Street in the Spring
Second and Third Avenues are mostly commercial but have many spots to look over and visit. Walking down Third Avenue past East 66th Street is a plaque on the site of the Nathan Hale, the American Patriot and spy, hanging by the British during the Revolutionary War. The site is much debated based on its location near the Dove Tavern on the Old Post Road. Another is by the Yale Club near East 44th Street. There has been a debate where the Royal Artillery Park was located.
If only Nathan Hale knew where he died would now be a TD Bank, even he would be shocked. It shows just how much Manhattan has changed.
Nathan Hale Plaque at the TD Bank.
The Plaque
Nathan Hale as he faced death
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Hale
Down the Avenue at East 60th Street is Dylan’s Candy Bar at 1011 Third Avenue, a giant emporium of candy and sweets, (which I hate to say is an exact copy of the old FAO Schweetz, which I ran back in the 90’s when I worked at FAO Schwarz Fifth Avenue. It was very reminiscent of the department due to the fact that the designers of the store, store management and buyer all came from the store to work with Dylan Lauren, designer Ralph Lauren’s daughter. My boss, Jeff, is one of her partners).
She took the creation and made it her own in a store that stocks 7,000 types of candy and a small cafe on the third floor. With the inspiration of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”, the store leads into a real life ‘Candyland’. The store is stocked with a rainbow of sweets and treats and one of the top tourist spots in the City (Dylan’s Candy Bar press).
Dylan’s Candy Bar NYC at 1011 Third Avenue (closed January 2024)
https://www.dylanscandybar.com/
I stopped at Bloomingdale’s Department Store at 1000 Third Avenue at 59th and Lexington Avenue, the famous ‘Bloomies’, for another visit to ‘Forty Carrots’ (See review on TripAdvisor) on the 7th Floor. I swear on a hot day this is one of the best solutions. For $7.00, I had a small strawberry yogurt with rainbow sprinkles that cooled me down after this part of the long walk around the neighborhood.
40 Carrots inside Bloomingdale’s New York City 1000 Third Avenue
https://locations.bloomingdales.com/forty-carrots-59th-street-ny
I got a chance to walk around the store and look at the merchandise. I have to say that the store has changed a lot over the years. It has gotten more upscale and the merchandise more expensive. It still has its past allure but has gotten more elegant in its feel.
Walking back up Lexington Avenue there are a few buildings of interest you really have to see. At 131 East 66th Street and Lexington Avenue is The Studio Building, considered one of the purest Italian Renaissance-palazzo style apartment buildings in New York City. The twelve-story building was designed by Charles A. Platt for developer, William J. Taylor, who had developed ‘studio’ apartment buildings on the West Side of Manhattan. Mr. Platt also designed the other sister building at 130-134 East 67th Street (CityRealty).
The buildings are distinguished by the handsome and large cornice and its very impressive entrance portals flanked by columns and topped with broken pediments on the street-side. The building has a nice tall, wrought-iron fence and four string courses (CityRealty). The buildings were designed landmarked in 1949 for their unique design. Both buildings are quite breath-taking to look at for their elegance.
Studio Building at 131 East 66th Street
https://www.cityrealty.com/nyc/lenox-hill/the-studio-building-131-east-66th-street/2827
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_Building_(New_York_City)
As you walk further up Lexington Avenue, you will pass the Seventh Regiment Armory, whose entrance is at 643 Park Avenue, that goes the full block from Lexington to Park Avenues (you can see the statue dedicated to the regiment on Fifth Avenue), the Armory was built between 1877-1881 and is considered to have one of the most important collections of 19th Century intact interiors in New York City. It is now used as a performance art space.
Park Avenue Armory at 643 Park Avenue
The building was built in the ‘Silk Stocking’ district of Manhattan and was one of the first regiments to answer the call of arms by President Lincoln for the start of the Civil War in 1861. It was designed by Charles W. Clinton of the firm of Clinton & Russell and had been a member of the Regiment. It had been used as a military facility and a social club Armory History).
Further up the road between East 67th-69th Streets is the famed Hunter College campus. The students were out in full force when I was walking around the campus. Like Rockefeller University, this college dominates this part of the neighborhood with students and businesses catering to them. The problem is that the rents are getting so expensive, the students can’t support the upscale businesses that surround the campus and I am beginning to notice that there are more and more empty storefronts around the neighborhood. Still, it has a great bookstore to visit.
The rest of Lexington Avenue is surrounded by businesses and apartment buildings that are rapidly changing like the rest of the city. It is funny to walk down these blocks months later to see buildings under scaffolding or businesses that were once a part of the neighborhood for years suddenly disappear.
This is why Park Avenue is so nice. It never really changes. Dominated by pre-war and/or Victorian apartment buildings, it still has the look and feel that it did in the 30’s although there is a lot more money here now than then. Here and there is an old mansion or a small shop and I have found it home to three small but interesting museums and galleries.
At Park Avenue & 66th Street is the front part of the Park Avenue ‘Seventh Regiment Armory”. Built in the Gothic style by architect Charles Clinton in 1880, you can see the real detail of the building on the Park Avenue side. The former home of the Seventh Regiment it is now the home of the performing center.
The Americas Society Gallery at 680 Park Avenue is a unique and small little gallery located in the Spanish Institute. There was an interesting exhibition “The Metropolis in Latin America 1830-1930” on the development of cities in Latin America that was very interesting. Another museum/gallery next door to that is Italian Cultural Institute at 686 Park Avenue, who has the tiny ‘Museo Canova’ with the works of Italian artist Antonio Canova.
His “The Tempera Paintings of Possagno” was cataloged in 1817 and reference is made to those paintings depicting “various dance moves, frolics between nymphs and lovers, muses and philosophers, drawn for the artist’s personal knowledge and delight.” (Museo Canova pamphlet). They were interesting little paintings of nymphs and little angels dancing around each other.
The Americas Society and Spanish Institute is housed in the former Percy Rivington Pyne home that was built between 1909-1911 by McKim, Mead & White. Mr. Pyne was a director of the First National City Bank of New York and the founder’s grandson. The other part of the Institute is the former home of Oliver D. Filley (husband of Mary Pyne Filley, Percy Rivington Pyne’s daughter).
Americas Society at 680 Park Avenue
Italian Cultural Institute at 684 Park Avenue is housed in the former home of Henry P. Davison, a financier that was designed by the firm of Walker & Gillette in 1917 in the Neo-Georgian style. All three of these homes were saved by Margaret Rockefeller Strong de Larram, Marquesa de Cuevas in 1965 and all three of these homes (now Institutes) were designated as a New York City landmark by the New York City Landmark Preservation Commission on November 10, 1970. Take time to look at the plaques attached to the three buildings and the architecture of the homes. It forms one of the last intact architectural ensembles on Park Avenue (Wiki).
Further up Park Avenue is the Asian Society and Museum at 725 Park Avenue which was founded by John D. Rockefeller III in 1956 with a vision, to create an institute that would build bridges of understanding between the United States and Asia (Asian Society pamphlet). The museum houses the collection of John D. Rockefeller III on the third floor along with an exhibition of local children’s art and their interpretation of Asian Art. The bottom level houses a well-received restaurant and gift shop. It is an interesting exhibition on Hindu and Buddhist Art.
Asian Society at 725 Park Avenue
https://asiasociety.org/museum
Madison Avenue also offers a wide array of interesting architecture and retail stores. At the very top of Madison Avenue is the home of the main store of Ralph Lauren, which is housed in the former Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo Mansion.
Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Rhinelander_Waldo
The home was built by the old money heiress between 1893-1898 designed by Kimball & Thompson in the French Renaissance revival design. It has been leased by Ralph Lauren since 1983, whose company redesigned it as a retail store. This is a store that proves that the ‘brick & mortar’ store is not dead with its elegant displays of merchandise.
Rhinelander Mansion-Ralph Lauren Store
https://www.ralphlauren.com/Stores-Details?StoreID=8088
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Rhinelander_Waldo
The store at night getting ready for the holiday season (this was taken in early November)
Madison Avenue from East 72nd Street to 59th Street is really an Avenue of extremes. Just like the uptown blocks from East 72nd to East 96th Streets is full of extremely expensive but always empty looking stores. More and more of the store fronts are empty as even the raising rents are affecting this area of the city as well. Still, it is a great Avenue to window shop.
Still, you will find a collection of top American and European upscale shops that cater to that ‘certain’ customer. Needless to say, this part of Madison Avenue I never notice that busy and late at night the Avenue is practically barren.
One stands out on the Avenue is the St. James Church at 865 Madison Avenue near the Ralph Lauren store. This graceful and beautiful Episcopalian church was built 1810-1883 in various locations until in 1884, the present church designed by Robert H. Robertson was designed and built to open in 1885 in the Romanesque style. It has been added onto since the church has been built. Look at the graceful details around the church when you pass by.
St. James Church at 865 Madison Avenue
I reached the top of Fifth Avenue that evening and was totally pooped! It was 8:20pm and starting to get dark. I just wanted to get back home at that point. I don’t where I garnered the energy, but I walked from Fifth Avenue and East 72nd Street to Port Authority at West 42nd Street and collapsed on the bus ride home.
On the 25th of May, I started my day at the Soup Kitchen again lucking out at a somewhat quiet day working on the Bread Station. We did not get any donations of sweets or desserts, so it was just bread today and we were able to butter away.
I walked up Sixth Avenue to the Museum of Modern Art to pick up tickets for the museum’s restoration of the movie, “Rosita” with Mary Pickford. This silent film had been all but lost until a print was found in Germany. Most of Mary Pickford’s films were destroyed by the actress herself who I had once read in biography that she did not want to see herself in old films. Pity, she would have been thrilled to see the theater was packed to the gills and they were turning people away.
Mary Pickford in “Rosita”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Pickford
The movie “Rosita”
I had lunch at Halal Guys food cart on the corner of Sixth Avenue and West 53rd Street. I have been coming here for years and the lines for their food always keep increasing (See review on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com).
I had one of their combo sandwiches ($6.00), which is loaded with chopped chicken and gyro meat on a soft pita bread. It is so good, and I highly recommend it when visiting the MoMA. It is nice to have a sandwich or one of their platters and just sit by the stone benches by the CBS Building and watch the world go by.
Halal Brothers cart is always busy on the corner of Seventh Avenue and West 54th Street
https://thehalalguys.com/locations/west-53rd-street-new-york/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Halal_Guys
The combination sandwich is the best!
I started my walk of the Upper East Side with a walk-through Central Park. On the way to the pathway into the park, I noticed a rather weird sculpture by British Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibane entitled “The Wind Sculpture”.
The artist created this sculpture to replace a more radical sculpture that had been taken down. The theme behind the piece is tolerance and highlights global migration (The Guardian). The artist concentrates on the themes of Colonial and Post-Colonial art.
Artist Yinka Shonibane
As you pass the Batik colored sculpture, you will enter the walk way to Central Park Zoo, one of the biggest tourist spots for kids in the City. The Zoo, which is now part of the Wildlife Conservatory, has been part of Central Park since the 1860’s and then was renovated again in 1934. The current park was designed in 1984 and was reopened in 1988.
The Wind Sculpture at the entrance of Central Park off Fifth Avenue (no longer on display since 2020)
Like the rest of Central Park in the 1970’s and 80’s, the place got run down. Now it is more open and naturalistic to the animal’s home environment. Don’t miss the seal tanks and the penguin room as I find those the most interesting to visit. Try to get to the seal feeding at 2:00pm when the seals are not too tired of looking at tourists. The gardens are nice along the perimeter of the zoo to just sit and relax on a warm sunny day.
One thing not to miss is the Delacorte Clock just outside of the park. Every half hour, the clock chimes and all the animals do a dance routine. It starts with two monkeys’ hitting the bell and then the animals dance around the clock. There is an elephant, goat, bear, kangaroo, penguin and hippo that dance to songs like “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and 24 other children’s songs. The clock was a gift from philanthropist George T. Delacorte, who also donated to the park the “Alice in Wonderland” statue and the Delacorte Theater. It was designed by artist Fernando Texidor in partnership of architect Edward Coe Embury and was dedicated in 1965 to Central Park. Try to get to the park to hear the songs and watch the animal’s dance.
Delacorte Clock in Central Park
https://www.centralparknyc.org/locations/delacorte-clock
The clock performing on YouTube:
The clock chimes and performs every half hour
The clock performing at 5:00pm
I also took my first tour of the Tisch Children’s Zoo right next to the main zoo and this rather more mellow counterpart is more for younger children to see and pet smaller animals. Part of the original park, Lawrence Tisch saw to the renovations and it reopened in 1997. This is a great place for the under 12 crowd.
Between the late-night ambulance calls and the work in the Soup Kitchen and the long walks the days before, I relaxed on a grassy knoll in the park near the Fifth Avenue entrance off East 66th Street. I just fell asleep next to a bunch of other people who also were falling asleep in the park.
On a warm, sunny day under a shade tree, there is nothing like it. It is so relaxing to just look up at the trees and the sunshine and not believing you are still in the middle of a busy city. I can’t believe this is the same park of the 80’s when you didn’t dare enter. Just don’t do this late at night.
I walked up and around Fifth Avenue to East 72nd Street and walked back down on the park side. There are two interesting statues to take time to see. At Fifth Avenue and East 70th Street is the memorial to architect Robert Morris Hunt. Unveiled in 1893, this memorial was designed by Daniel Chester French, who was the sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. Robert Morris Hunt designed some of the most prominent mansions during the ‘Gilded Age” and whose work is still a part of the New York City landscape.
The other sculpture is the memorial to the One Hundredth & Seventh Infantry at Fifth Avenue and East 67th Street. This memorial was designed by sculptor Karl Illava and was dedicated in 1927 to the City. Mr. Illava, a New York City resident, had been in the 107th as a Sargent and wanted to convey the horrors of war.
107th Infantry by artist Karl Illava
http://www.askart.com/artist/Karl_Illava/130018/Karl_Illava.aspx
It is in memory of the Seventh Regiment New York One Hundred and Seventh Infantry and you again can see the Armory on Park Avenue down the block.
Richard Morris Hunt Memorial Central Park
https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/centralpark/monuments/756
Architect Richard Morris Hunt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Morris_Hunt
Across the street from the Robert Morris Hunt Sculpture is the Frick Collection housed in the former home of industrialist Henry Clay Frick. The mansion is one of the last intact surviving “Gilded Age” mansions left on Fifth Avenue. It was designed by architect Thomas Hastings of Carrere & Hastings between 1912-1914 and was lived in by the family until Mrs. Frick’s death in 1931. The house and all its artwork were willed as a museum and since that time, it has been expanded to add a research library and now has travelling collections on top of their permanent collection that contains many “Old Masters”.
I set out to see the new “George Washington” exhibition on the creation of the statue for the Virginia State Capital that was destroyed by fire in the last century. All of the models and drawings were accompanying the display to see how the work was created. After that, I just walked through the galleries to see all the paintings and sit by the fountain in the middle of the old house. The weather got to me and I left the City right after visiting the museum.
The inside of the Frick Museum (currently closed for renovation)
I finished my walk of this part of the neighborhood after another day in the Soup Kitchen on May 30th. I was lucky that there were so many people at the Soup Kitchen volunteering that I got put on the Spoon station wrapping spoons. I needed that after the week of walking around that I did.
There was a restaurant I wanted to try for lunch that I had passed when walking around First Avenue earlier in the visit, New Wong Asian Food Inc. at 1217 First Avenue between East 65th and 66th Streets (See review on TripAdvisor). This little Chinese ‘hole in the wall’ caters alot to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital crowd and seeing the lunch in front of one of the hospital workers, I order the same thing, the General Tso’s Chicken lunch special with fried rice ($7.85).
I thought it was a little to American even for me. It was a large portion of tempura-like fried chicken pieces in a sauce that had not flavor to it. I mean none! It looked so good on the plate that I ordered it because of the worker and someone else ordered it because they saw it on my plate. It looked good but it was so over-fried and under spiced I would suggest not ordering it.
It was a sunny warm day and I decided to double back to see some of the sites I had passed earlier and visit some of the small museums and galleries, like the Asian Society at 725 Park Avenue, the Americas Society Gallery at 680 Park Avenue and the Museo Casnova at 686 Park Avenue. I also revisited some of the sites on Park, Madison and Fifth Avenues ended my day at Glaser’s Bake Shop at 1670 First Avenue (See many reviews on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com). This meant that I had to try a few things like the Lemon Crumb Danish ($3.00) and the Kitchen Sink Stuffed Cookie ($3.50). After all that walking, I figured I could walk this all off.
Glaser’s Bake Shop at 1670 First Avenue (Closed in 2018)
https://www.glasersbakeshop.com/
My last part of the day before going home I just relaxed at Carl Schurz Park at East 84th Street. I just ate my dessert and walked the boats go by. On a warm sunny late afternoon, there is nothing like sitting in the park and watching the river traffic go by and people walk their dogs and kids play in the playground (See reviews in earlier blogs).
Who says the Twitter generation does not have fun? I did not see many cellphones out while the kids were chasing one another around. By the way, they did finish that luxury building across the river in Queens next to the housing projects.
Carl Schurz Park at East 84th Street
https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/carl-schurz-park
Carl Schurz Park
The park in the Spring
As I passed Park Avenue and East 72nd Street, I saw an unusual sculpture in the Park Avenue Mall by artist Tony Cragg made of fiberglass with the most unusual spirals called “Hammerhead 2017”. This British artist has been working with uses a form of mixed materials and is part of the “Art in the Park” program. Don’t miss this geometrical sculpture on the mall.
Tony Cragg Sculpture Park Avenue (now gone)
Artist Tony Cragg
https://www.lissongallery.com/artists/tony-cragg
I did walk from York Avenue and East 84th Street back to Port Authority on West 42nd Street. Along the way at the very edge of the neighborhood, there is the famous hotels, The Pierre at 2 61st Street, where I had once worked for a week in college in the sales department and the Sherry-Netherland at 781 Fifth Avenue. These start the upscale hotels and stores of Fifth Avenue until about East 50th Street. I was exhausted by the time I hit the East 59th Street.
Still, it is an interesting neighborhood, loaded with small museums, parks, stores and public art. That’s why these entries are getting longer as there is so much more to see and so much more time to spend walking around. Hey, I had to work off the Chinese meal, two pastries, two protein bars and three Cokes. I need to buy stock in Coca Cola.
When I toured the neighborhood again for my birthday in 2024, I spent the afternoon walking around the East 59th Street entrance to the Central Park Zoo to spend part of the afternoon. The zoo was surprisingly busy for a Friday afternoon and it always a lot of fun to visit.
Central Park in the Fall of 2024
I just wondered around the zoo, taking in the sunshine of the beautiful 75 degree day and getting phone calls from friends and family wishing me a happy birthday. Just wondering around the zoo watching the seals and penguins was a nice way to spend the afternoon.
The view of Midtown from the zoo is just spectacular
The Fall Gardens as I entered the Central Park Zoo in the Fall of 2024
https://www.centralpark.com/things-to-do/central-park-zoo
My review on TripAdvisor:
My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:
The Gardens in the Zoo in Fall 2024
The Central Park Zoo in Fall of 2024
The walkway in the back of the zoo
I just relaxed after I took all the phone calls (I consider myself a lucky person that so many people reached out to me on my birthday). I just sat by the seal tanks and watched the seals.
The seal tanks
The seals were really playful that afternoon and were enjoying the warm weather like we were that afternoon. One of them spent his time staring at all of us staring at him.
The seals were getting playful
This little guy just stared back at us looking like he wanted to be loved!
Watching people at the book stands just outside Central Park at East 60th Street
After a full morning at the Soup Kitchen and then a trip to the zoo, I spent my birthday at the Lowell Hotel for High Tea, giving a toast to my father who passed a decade earlier (who this blog is dedicated to-you can see this on my blog of Walking the Streets of the Lower Upper East Side), then getting my haircut and another trip to the Met to just walk around and enjoy some of the new exhibitions.
The Met that evening
Me visiting the Asian Galleries at The Met
I ended the evening with dinner at Perrine, the main restaurant inside the Pierre Hotel. The Perrine Burger had been on my bucket list to try so I spend my birthday lunch at The Lowell Hotel and dinner at The Pierre Hotel. Pricey but hey, it was my birthday and it had been a long year between work and graduation.
The front of Perrine Restaurant in The Pierre Hotel at 2 East 61st Street and Fifth Avenue
My review on TripAdvisor:
Talk about a beautiful place to spend your birthday dinner!
Perrine in the late evening
They gave me a large table to work at in Siberia
My birthday dinner: The Perrine Burger with French Fries
The perfect comfort food on a cool October night
The Perrine Burger is excellent and tastes just as good as it looks
Yum!
Now what is a birthday dinner without dessert? I had the Pink Cake at the Lowell Hotel, plus the waiters gave me a set of Madeline’s with a candle in them. What more could I ask? I still had all those sweets in me so I decided on a fresh fruit dessert and ordered the Apple Galette, which was out of this world!
My birthday dessert at Perrine, the Apple Galette with hot tea. What a way to end my birthday! I had anther special toast to my father!
The Apple Galette was just delicious. The perfect combination of tart fruit and cinnamon with the delicious Vanilla Sauce and topped with Ice Cream!
Me enjoying my dinner at Perrine-Happy Birthday to me!
I could not have asked for a better birthday. Who says the Upper East Side is dull! There are so many wonderful things to do and experience. Once in awhile you just need to treat yourself well and pamper yourself a bit. Everyone works hard and on your birthday you deserve something special. I know that I did. I stopped at the Lowell Hotel for a special birthday treat and had Afternoon Tea. That was something!
My birthday cake at The Lowell Hotel
The French Rose Champagne toast on my birthday to my father
The special toast on my birthday to myself and to my father, who would have shared this day with me. This is what I love about Manhattan and New York City.
Fifth Avenue and 60th Street the night of my birthday. I never tire at looking at it
See read my other Blogs on walking the Lower Part of the Upper East Side:
Day One Hundred and Sixteen: Walking the Streets of the Lower Upper East Side:
https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/7638
Day One Hundred and Twelve: Walking the Avenues of the Lower Upper East Side:
https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/7562
Day One Hundred and Ten: Walking the Borders of the Lower Upper East Side:
https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/750
Places to Eat:
Go Noodle
1069 First Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Phone: (212) 888-6366/5995
Fax: (212) 888-4244
http://www.gonoodleninemoon.com
Open: Sunday-Saturday 11:00am-11:00pm
My review on TripAdvisor:
Halal Guys
Corner of Sixth Avenue & West 53nd Street
Located all over the city in carts and shops
Hours vary
My review on TripAdvisor:
My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:
https://wordpress.com/post/diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/1093
New Wong Asian Food Inc.
1217 First Avenue
New York, NY 10065
Phone: (212) 517-7798/7898 & Fax (212) 517-2988
Open: Sunday: 11:00am-10:30pm/Monday-Saturday: 11:00am-10:30pm
https://www.menupix.com/nyc/restaurants/28451928/New-Wong-Asian-Food-New-York-NY
My review on TripAdvisor:
Glaser’s Bake Shop (now Closed)
1670 First Avenue
New York, NY 10128
(212) 289-2652
Open: Closed Monday’s
Monday-Friday: 7:00am-7:00pm
Saturday: 8:00am-7:00pm/ Sunday: 8:00am-3:00pm
My review on TripAdvisor:
My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:
https://wordpress.com/post/diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/409
Perrine Restaurant-The Pierre Hotel
2 East 61st Street
New York, NY 10065
(212) 940-8195
Open: Sunday-Saturday 7:00am-10:30am Breakfast/11:30am-3:30pm Lunch/11:00am-4:00pm Afternoon Tea/4:30pm-10:30pm Dinner/4:30pm-12:00am Bar/11:30am-4:00pm Brunch
My review on TripAdvisor:
Places to Visit:
All the NYCParks vary in hours depending on the time of the year:
24 Sycamore Trees Park
501 East 60th Street
New York, NY 10022
https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/twenty-four-sycamores-park/history
St. Catherine’s Park
1st Avenue between East 67th and East 68th Streets
New York, NY 10022
https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/st-catherines-park
Carl Schurz Park
York Avenue and East 84th Street
New York, NY 10022
https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/carl-schurz-park
My review on TripAdvisor:
My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:
https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2714
Dylan’s Candy Bar (Closed location July 2024)
1011 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10065
(645) 735-0048
Monday-Thursday: 10:00am-9:00pm/Friday-Saturday: 10:00am-11:00pm/Sunday: 10:00am-9:00pm
https://www.dylanscandybar.com/
Bloomingdale’s
1000 Third Avenue
59th Street at Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10065
Monday-Thursday: 10:00am-8:30pm/Friday-Saturday: 10:00am-9:30pm/Sunday: 11:00am-9:00pm
https://www.bloomingdales.com/buy/new-york-city
Seventh Regiment Armory
643 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10065
(212) 696-3930
info@armoryatpark.org
The Frick Collection
One East 70th Street
New York, NY 10021
(212) 288-0700
Hours: Sundays: 11:00am-5:00pm/Monday’s: Closed/Tuesday-Saturday: 10:00am-6:00pm
My review on TripAdvisor:
My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:
https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2655
Museo Canova/Institute of Italian Culture
686 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10021
(212) 879-4242
Open: Monday-Friday: 8:00am-4:00pm/Closed Saturday and Sunday
http://www.iicnewyork.esteri.it/iic_newyork/en/
Americas Society
680 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10065
(212) 628-3200
Open: Wednesday-Saturday: 12:00am-6:00pm/ Closed Sunday-Tuesday
My review on TripAdvisor:
My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:
https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2144
Asian Society and Museum
725 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10021
(212) 288-6400
Open: Sunday 11:00am-6:00pm/Monday Closed/Tuesday-Thursday 11:00am-6:00pm/Friday 11:00am-9:00pm/Saturday 11:00am-6:00pm
My review on TripAdvisor:
My review on VistingaMuseum.com:
https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2110
Central Park Zoo
Fifth Avenue and East 64th Street
New York, NY 10021
(212) 439-6500
Open: Sunday-Saturday 10:00am-4:30pm
Fee: Adults $12.00/Seniors (65+) $10.00/Children (3-12)$8.00/Total Experience Adults $16.00/Seniors (65+) $15.00/Children (3-12) $12.00
My review on TripAdvisor:
My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:
https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/5105
All the sculptures I mentioned all over the neighborhood are available to see all day long.
Mary Pickford in the film “Rosita” if you would like to see the film:
mywalkinmanhattan 