I finally finished walking Lower Chelsea which means that I have now walked 2/3 of Manhattan island. It has taken a decade to do this since my initial start but life does get in the way. I hope to all you readers you have been enjoying the journey.
The streets of Lower Chelsea took so much time because here in this corner and there in that corner I kept finding more interesting things I wanted to share with everyone. It makes this journey even more fun.
I started my journey in the Meatpacking District in the early afternoon of a glorious summer day. It was clear, sunny and warm and the perfect 80 degree day.
Ninth Avenue and West 14th Street
I started the walk on the corner of West 14th Street and Ninth Avenue, which was once all slaughter houses up until about twenty years ago. Some converted to clubs in the 1980’s and then funky shops and over the last twenty years has seen a change in upscale dining, shopping and living.
There are still meatpacking businesses and distribution centers on the edges of the neighborhood but I am sure that won’t last forever with the cost of real estate in this neighborhood. It’s just funny to see the meat distribution centers sitting across the street from stores selling $1000.00 leather jackets. In just a decade period, I have never seen a neighborhood change as dramatically as this one.
This was one of the scenes of “Sex and the City” where I saw the Meatpacking District change.
Once they featured this neighborhood in ‘Sex and the City’, it was already past trendy. Now most of the streets are lined with ultra chic and expensive stores. I have never seen so many stores lined next to the vestiges of meat wholesale businesses.
The edge of the Meatpacking District at the corner of West 14th Street and Ninth Avenue
Walking down Ninth Avenue to Ganesvoort Street seems to be one long Mexican restaurant. The street is lined with chain restaurants next to luxury condos. The cobblestone streets and plantings though give it a real picturesque look.
Walking down the cobblestone street of Ninth Avenue
Once you reach Gansevoort Street there is nothing left of the neighborhoods storied past
Looking down Gansevoort Street and its cobblestone look
Looking down Gansevoort Street seems like seeing a combination of what was old being converted to new plus a lot of new construction with very innovative design tucked in between. I love the hodge podge of architecture and how it all blends into the neighborhood.
Very whimsical street art along Gansevoort Street
The High Line Park ends on the edge of Ganesvoort because once upon a time these were the famous Washington Markets. The line was used to get produce and other foods transported out of the area.
The new Whitney Museum is at the very edge of the neighborhood and is a catalyst for tourists
When I was visiting the neighborhood for the second time to finish Hudson Street, I stopped at the Whitney Museum and found out that after 5:00pm on Friday nights, the museum is free for entry. That and being an NYU Alumni, I got in that night and was able to tour the museum and all the exhibitions for two hours.
On the very edge of Hudson River Park sits one of the few man made beaches in New York City , the Gansevoort Peninsula Sand Bluff that is part of the most southern part of Hudson River Park. This wonderful and relaxing park became my ‘go to’ spot when I wanted to relax after a long day of walking. The views are spectacular and if you can snag one of the lounge chairs either on the beach area or facing the Hudson River, it is even better.
Entering the park from Eleventh Avenue, the Gansevoort Peninsula Sand Bluff
The amazing artwork along the beach ‘Days End’ by artist David Hammons
This fascinating piece of art is entitled “Days End” by artist David Hammons. It looked like the shell of an empty building and struck a nerve as the sun started to set on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. It is an ‘Open Air’ sculpture that explores the history of the neighborhood (Whitney Museum). This sits right at the entrance of the park.
Mr. Hammons is an American born artist who studied at the Chouinard Art Institute (CalArts) and at Otis Art Institute. He is known for his Body Prints and sculpture work (Wiki/Artnet.com).
Underneath it is the amazing and very busy beach
The pathway along Hudson River Park
The beautiful plantings along the pathways
The colorful flowers in season in Hudson River Park
The very edge of the dock in the late afternoon looking over Lower Manhattan
The views from the dock section are fantastic and have the most breathtaking views of both Jersey City and Lower Manhattan. It really shows the growth of these areas for business and residential over the last twenty years.
The view of the beach with everyone looking so relaxed
The view looking up from Tenth Avenue
I rounded Gansevoort Street and walked down little 12th Street , which itself is making a lot of changes from business to both retail and residential.
Making the turn on Little 12th Street
The mural above Golden Goose at 812 Washington Street
The view of the High Line Park from Little 12th Street
I thought the front of 12 Little 12th Street was quite unique
Little 12th Street like most of the neighborhood is in transition right now. Stores and restaurants have been opening and closing in the neighborhood and right now there are quite a few empty storefronts. The effects of COVID are still being felt all over the City.
On the contrary though, the empty store fronts are producing some interesting Street Art on the windows and doors of these establishments. These were some of my favorites.
I thought this was amusing
This looked like something out of the movie ‘Just can’t Wait’
This artist I was seeing all over the neighborhood
I love the irony of politics
Interesting art
I loved the little cents guy
This work was really creative
There is all sorts of public street art like this all over the neighborhood.
Turning on to West 13th Street,, I saw the last vestiges of the Meatpacking and Distribution industries. Some companies are still holding on in the area and their buildings prominently display their signs.
On some buildings, the signs have been kept as a reminder to the areas past and house expensive stores. The neighborhood has not totally gentrified yet and still has a grasp on the food industry, probably catering to the local restaurants and hotels.
Turning onto West 13th Street is a small look into the neighborhood’s past.
The Meat distributors who still operate in the neighborhood are becoming less and less. The London Meat Company and the Weichsel Beef Company still stand strong with their building on Little West 12th Street. These companies are the last holdouts of the old neighborhood. I have a funny feeling with the land worth millions that this will be a luxury condo or hotel in about five years.
What I read about the Meatpacking District is that this area was zoned for the Food Wholesale Markets going back to a deed from the Astor family when they owned this area. This tiny section of the neighborhood is still on that deed and many of these companies still have long term leases. How long before the real estate industry buys them out is anyone’s guess.
The Collier company was a producer of high end books and magazines and produced the publications in this building to up until the 1960’s. The building was designed by architects Trowbridge & Livingston in 1901 in the Neo-Classic style (Daytonianinmanhattan.com).
Looking at the view down West 13th Street and its future in upscale shopping and residences.
The cobblestone streets on the corner of West 13th Street and Hudson Street
I took a long turn around the neighborhood and walked up Tenth Avenue from the park on Gansevoort Street and walked up this still seedy stretch of the neighborhood.
I have been seeing this artist’s signs all over lower Manhattan
The Gansevoort Market Meat Center is in a state of transition eight now located on 10th Avenue
Surprisingly, the building has become a haven for street artists. These were some of the works on the building that I thought stood out. It is like an open air contemporary art gallery.
I loved the cartoon like character of this work
I love seeing this artist’s work
This artwork I thought was unique
This was on one of the garage doors
This poster was prominently shown on one of the walls
The signs along 11th Avenue still remind you that this is an area of food distribution.
I never noticed this interesting piece of art on the Rivian Building at West 14th Street
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The last block I walked was down the tiny stretch of Washington Avenue that was the ‘Avenue of extremes’.
The upscale shops across from the meat distributors
On one side you had the back of the meat distribution building and on the other side of the street were boutiques selling $1000.00 sweaters and jackets.
The changes in the neighborhood from manufacturing and distribution I staggering. The front of Louis Zucker & Company still stands guard at 830 Washington Street
The neighborhood still showing its grit with the Louis Zuckerberg & Company distributor across the street from ironically enough a new Shake Shack all underneath the High Line Park.
I loved the messages on the garage doors
The view of the transition of 9th Avenue and views of the Highline Park
The tiny cafe tables across the street from the meat distributors and right under the High Line Park
On the second day of the walk around the Meatpacking District, I finished the small corner around Hudson and Gansevoort Streets on the very edge of the neighborhood that it shares with the West Village.
I loved this colorful mural outside of Starbucks but I could not find the artist. I am not sure if it is independently painted or is a corporate painting by the store.
The change in the neighborhood at Hudson and West 14th Street
I walked down 10th Avenue again to see if any of the distributors were still open but they had closed at this time of the evening.
What is left of West Street off 10th Avenue on Gansevoort Street
I realized this is where my grandfather back in the 1930’s owned his garage in side the old Washington Markets. I had a lively conversation via text with my brother that I wished our family still owned the building what we might be worth today. He laughed and said where it stood is an upscale condo. To have a crystal ball!
In the late afternoon, as I was walking back down Gansevoort Street, I noticed that the Whitney Museum was having a free Friday night and I used my NYU pass to get in. What a breathtaking museum with interesting contemporary art and gorgeous views of the Hudson River.
I traveled floor by floor from the top to ground floor and explored the museum. There was a special exhibition with artist Christine Sun Kim, whose art reflects the artist’s view on being deaf. I thought her art told a good story on how she has been treated.
In works full of sharp wit and incisive commentary, artist Christine Sun Kim, engages sound and the complexities of communication in its various modes. Using musical notation, infographics, and language—both in her native American Sign Language (ASL) and written English—she has produced drawings, videos, sculptures, and installations that often explore non-auditory, political dimensions of sound. In many works, Kim draws directly on the spatial dynamism of ASL, translating it into graphic form. By emphasizing images, the body, and physical space, she upends the societal assumption that spoken languages are superior to those that are signed.
The Sun Kim exhibition
This exhibition surveys Kim’s entire artistic output to date and features works ranging from early 2010s performance documentation to her recent site-responsive mural, Ghost(ed) Notes (2024), re-created across multiple walls on the eighth floor. Inspired by similarly named works made throughout her career, the exhibition’s title, All Day All Night, points to the vitality Kim brings to her artmaking; she is relentlessly experimental, productive, and dedicated to sharing her Deaf lived experiences with others (Whitney Museum website).
One of the pieces of relatable art
Then I toured all the floors to see the different exhibitions of art and some of the restaurants and bars in the museum. Food here is very expensive.
The bar on the Eighth Floor
The American flag on the Seventy Floor
The picture of Gertrude Whitney , the founder of the museum
The view of the Hudson River from the Seventh Floor staircase
The lower floors had large scale pieces or were closed for the new exhibitions being mounted for the Fall. So I headed for the first floor to visit both the gift shop and restaurant.
The restaurant, as pretty as it is and as nice as the pastries look, is extremely expensive and I think $14.00 for an eclair is a bit much. I was there on a busy Friday night and no one was in the restaurant. Since it was a free night for patrons, they probably did not get their usual crowd. This is considering it was a lot of tourists and local New Yorkers that night.
The exhibitions will be closing in two weeks to prepare for the fall shows so much of this art will be moved around. What I like about the new Whitney Museum versus the old one on the Upper East Side is the openness and airiness of the galleries and balconies that over look the neighborhood. It feels more inviting and less confined and elitist as the old building. The new museum is so inviting and easy to view. I saw the whole museum in about an hour.
It was still sunny when I got out of the museum at 6:00pm and I went back over to the Gansevoort Beach again. It was clear, sunny with no humidity and a slight breeze, perfect to sit by the river and relax.
I first decided to visit the beginning of the High Line Park, that starts on Gansevoort Street which was once the center of the Washington Markets. They sent produce and farming items to places all over New York City.
The start of the walkway of the High Line Park at Gansevoort Street
Artist Brittany Marakatt-Labba is a Swedish Sami textile artist, painter, graphic artist, and a member of the Maze Group. She is a BA in Textile Art from the Art Industrial School. While Marakatt-Labba works with numerous types of media, it is primarily her narrative embroidery using motifs from the Sámi culture and mythology that she is known for around the world (Wiki).
The sign of sculpture “Urmodern”
The view of the High Line Park at 14th Street
The view of West 14th Street from the High Line to the Hudson River
The of West 14th Street border of the neighborhood, which is undergoing massive renovations
After exploring the remainder of the neighborhood and touring the beginning of the High Line, I finished my day relaxing by the Gansevoort Beach and sitting on one of the wooden lounge chairs by the Hudson River. There is nothing like the breezes and the views by the Hudson River.
The most southern part of Hudson River Park
Looking north to Little Island
Walking around the park with a view of the Hudson Yards in the background
The view of the skylines of Lower Manhattan and Jersey City
Enjoying a beautiful sunny day by the Hudson River
The one New Yorker who found the perfect spot in New York City
Video of walking along the pier
The Meatpacking District has so much to offer from interesting architecture to wonderful restaurants at funky street art, there is something for everyone here. You just have to walk around and enjoy the views.
Some much is changing in this neighborhood so we will wait and see what happens next.
I can’t believe its been ten years since I started this project!
I read online all the time of how people say, “I walked every street in Manhattan in one Summer and I got so much out of it!” Sorry folks, I have been doing this for ten years and I have walked every street, park, road, bridge and byway including other parts of the City and outside the City when the City closed for COVID for a decade and I still have to revisit neighborhoods because they keep changing. The City just keeps changing faster since COVID.
Manhattan like the rest of New York City or any City for that matter is like an onion, you have to keep peeling back the layers and you find more than you thought. You always miss something. I had to revisit the entire Upper Upper and Upper West Side from West 125th Street to West 59th Street over the Fall and there was so much I had to revamp on over a dozen blogs. There is so much you miss the first time around that you have to go back again. Then you go “Wow, how did I miss that?”
The starting point of The Great Saunter at Fraunces Tavern in May 2025
Architecture I missed, restaurants have opened and closed and then opened again under new ownership. Museums that needed to be revisited and so much more that was discovered sometimes in just a one block area. How many residents just pass a building or a statue and give it not a second thought. There is so much to see, do and experience in this City and just on the Island of Manhattan. I think it is all fascinating the complexity of it all.
The only way to really get to know a place is by walking around it and experiencing it. I have done this over the last three years with visits abroad to Paris, Prague, Abu Dhabi and Dubai with NYU, especially when I finally had some time on my own to just walk those cities. What I missed on the tour I visited on my own, especially in Prague and Abu Dhabi, when I had the day to myself and I could relax and do. Just having a morning in Paris to myself and having breakfast near my dorm on my own was an eye-opener, especially to the French who could not believe an American could eat that much for breakfast.
Me doing the tourist thing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris the Summer of 2023 with NYU. Talk about walking a City!
This experience I have also shared in the Tri State area with visits to Philadelphia and Washington DC, walking around Newark, NJ (yes it does have it attributes) and exploring the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut in cities like New Haven, Narrowsburg, Cooperstown, Rhinebeck, Greenwich and exploring the shore towns of Cape May, Seaside Heights and Park, Point Pleasant and Point Pleasant Beach and a complete tour of Long Beach Island towns. There is so much to experience so close to you and each little town has attributes you only experience once you leave the Boardwalk.
I have completed the Broadway Walk from 242nd Street to the Bowling Green over a dozen times and just completed the Great Saunter, the 33 mile perimeter walk of Manhattan for my forth time officially and plan the fifth time unofficially as soon as it stops raining.
On the day of the Tenth Anniversary, it rained all day (it never stopped raining for a week) in the City making walking around the City impossible so I went to the Museum of Modern Art to see some movies that were part of the retrospect that was part of “Pride Week” entitled “Queer and Uncensored”, which was a retrospect of what passed for racy in the 1970’s and 80’s. It is interesting that the MoMA showed what was considered provocative films of that era. I watched some interesting perspectives of art in film.
Honoring a courageous history of liberation and transgression, this major survey of queer film and video includes more than 70 shorts and features by 65 filmmakers. This cinematic celebration of lesbian, gay, and transgender sexuality, love, and activism presents seven decades of pioneering, landmark films and lesser-known or marginalized works.
Guest curators MM Serra, longtime head of Film-Maker’s Cooperative, and Erica Schreiner—both filmmakers themselves—write, “Since the inception of queer cinema, artists have faced censorship and invisibility, a challenge that persists today. Queer and Uncensored showcases a powerful selection of rarely seen, suppressed films that are crucial milestones in the evolution of queer filmmaking. Each program focuses on a topic that is relevant to the development and expansion of queer identity and its diversity. These films explore gender, race, class, sexual orientation, and the emergence of the epidemic.”
After the movies were over, I treated myself to dinner. Then the rain subsided finally in the evening and I decided to revisit a restaurant I had eaten at in post-pandemic in Kips Bay, Anjappar Chettinad South Indian Cuisine at 116 Lexington Avenue. I had eaten here a few years ago right after the City opened after the Pandemic and had wanted to come back to try it again. With some of the restaurants that I have visited lately, it is all about ‘the picture’ (meaning going back to restaurants of the past blogs to take pictures of the meals I had before).
My ten year anniversary dinner at Anjappar Chettinad South Indian Cuisine
This was the exact meal I had in the restaurant five years prior when the City had opened up. Because of COVID, only a handful of us were allowed in the restaurant at one time. As I recall, there were only three of us in the restaurant that night. It was nice to return. The food and service are wonderful here (See my review on TripAdvisor).
The Chicken Marsala is very spicy and wonderful with the bread to soak up the sauce
The Parotta bread is a spiral bread perfect for this saucy meal
The Mango Lassi to cool me down
The dinner was fantastic
The dessert, the Gulobjamun, a sweet rice cake in syrup. Unusual and delicious!
If wasn’t the day I had planned with me wanting to do the Broadway walk but that would be for another day. For tonight I dealt with the rain storm as I did the first day of the walk in Marble Hill on June 15th, 2015 (Father’s Day). It has been a long time since that day and I celebrated walking 2/3rds of the Island of Manhattan.
I will keep walking until I have visited every street, park, and garden until I get to the tip of Battery Park and that includes Liberty and Ellis Islands as well. Along the way, I will be sharing with all of you interesting restaurants and stores while seeing how the City keeps changing. I don’t bemoan things of the past but look forward to things of the future. There is more to come so keep walking with me.
There are more adventures ahead and I want all of you to enjoy them with me.
After six months of classes and finishing Graduate school, I am finally back to walking the neighborhoods again. This time to finish Lower Chelsea, which has changed from a neighborhood of manufacturing and shipping to one of the now more exclusive neighborhoods in Manhattan. I started my walk at Sixth Avenue and West 23rd Street.
I found the City a little quieter than on other weekends but figured those who get out of New York City were probably at their weekend homes either at the shore or in the country.
The corner of Sixth Avenue and West 23rd Street
I started the walk where I left off last November walking the streets of the Lower Flatiron District on the corner of Sixth Avenue and West 23rd Street. This is the border of the Lower Flatiron District and Lower Chelsea. These neighborhoods overlap so much I am not sure where on neighborhood starts and the other stops.
Much of West 23rd Street over the last several years has been torn down and rebuilt with new apartment buildings or older more historical buildings have been renovated for the same purpose. The neighborhood has become that desirable especially with the creation of the High line Park. The first building that always stands out in the neighborhood is the Chelsea Hotel at 204 West 23rd Street.
The historic Chelsea Hotel at 204 West 23rd Street
The one building that always impresses me is the Chelsea Hotel. This former Residential hotel is now a combination of residential apartments and a traditional independent hotel.
The Chelsea Hotel at 222 West 23rd Street was built between 1883 and 1885 and was designed by architect Philip Hubert from the firm of Hubert, Pirrson & Company. The hotel is designed in the Queen Anne Revival with a combination of American Gothic (Wiki).
The hotel had originally opened as a cooperative and a home to artists and members of the theater community, but the concept changed in 1905 when it reopened as a hotel. The hotel has gone through several management changes over the years. In early 2022, the Chelsea Hotel reopened again as a hotel when the interior renovations were finished.
The historic plaques at the hotel
The hotel has such a celebrated past with all the famous people who have stayed here. I think all the plaques on the front of the hotel don’t even touch the number of well known names who resided here.
The historic plaque
The historic plaque
The historic plaque
This is just a small portion of the famous people who have resided here.
The hotel went through a massive renovation recently and is now open as a regular hotel. Many older residents still live there but as their numbers dwindle that rest of the building will probably become a regular hotel.
At 244 West 23rd Street is a beautifully embellished building in brick and cream colors was built in 1900 by developer Isidor Hoffstadt. Decorations of garlands adorn the windows and top of the building and some of the upper floor windows are surrounded by archways. It now contains twelve lofts with multiple bedrooms (Daytonian in Manhattan).
While the core of West 23rd Street has changed with gleaming new buildings as residential and office space, as you get closer to Eighth Avenue the neighborhood has that classic ‘old New York’ look to it.
Walking down West 23rd Street near Eighth Avenue
I walked the length of West 23rd Street from Sixth Avenue, the border of the lower Flatiron District to Riverside Park. The weather just kept changing going from really sunny to cloudy and rainy the entire time I walked the neighborhood. One comment it was raining and the other it would be dazzling sunshine.
West 23rd Street by Tenth Avenue and the Hi Line Park
At the end of West 23rd Street starts Chelsea Waterside Park and Hudson River Park, which lines the entire side of the Upper West Side. The gardens were at the height of their bloom and it was a beautiful display of flowers.
This was the legacy of the Bloomberg Administration’s ‘Million Tree’ initiative. Between these parks that lined the waterways and the High line Park, it just made the neighborhood more desirable.
Funny how the weather went from sunny to rainy in ten minutes on Memorial Day weekend. By the time I walked to Hudson River Park, it got gloomy again. Still, it did not affect the beauty of the parks and helped water all the beautiful flowers blooming.
The flower beds were in full bloom
The park was in full bloom in the late Spring and was dazzling. Their Friends groups and gardeners are doing a wonderful job maintaining these flower beds.
As I walked the piers, the clouds kept rolling in and out and it sprinkled off and on that afternoon.
Admiring the view as I was waiting for the clouds to clear
The skyline of Jersey City was gloomy and impressive at the same time
Then the clouds broke again and the sun came out. This would be the weather all day long. The clouds then the sun then the clouds then rain and then the sun. It made for an interesting walking day.
The sun finally came out on Pier 57
The view of the Hudson Yards was just spectacular when the clouds passed by
The path led from the Hudson River Park to Pier 57 and I took the pathway through the Pier and all the recreation buildings that now make up the complex. I had never seen it from the river side of the pier.
Pier 57 from the waterfront side of the complex with all the pleasure boats
As I walked through the passageway, I learned the history of the pier and all the famous ships that had docked or left the pier. There was a display of pictures of famous arrivals and departures from the pier that I stopped to read about. It was a interesting look at the past of these piers,
The people at the dock were waiting for the Carpathian to arrive with the Titanic survivors in 1914.
The Carpathian arriving at New York harbor with the Titanic survivors.
The Lusitania leaving New York harbor for its final voyage. It would be torpedoed before it arrived in Europe.
The modern Chelsea Piers of today
Walking down Eleventh Avenue when the rain cleared
Along past the new construction along Eleventh Avenue
For all the building and changes this neighborhood has been through and so many luxury buildings replacing the docks of the past, there is still a little influence of the old neighborhood that still pops up from time to time. The graffiti art is still fantastic all over the City.
Some of the street art on the construction site on Eleventh Avenue
Some of the street art along the fence of the new construction
I followed Eleventh Avenue down the sidewalk to the Food Court at Pier 57. That was interesting with all the sounds and smells of different cuisines cooking.
The Food Court at Pier 57 should not be missed
The Food Court at Pier 57 really has some wonderful restaurants. There is an interesting mix of Spanish, Italian and Asian cuisines in the food court but it can be a bit pricey. The smells are amazing and you could almost taste the spices in the air. The couple of times I have been here the place is always busy.
The excitement of entering the Pier 57 Food Court
The floral decorations in the middle of the food court. I love the decorations here. They are really festive. The only bad part of the food court is the prices are really high so be prepared to spend money on lunch and dinner.
I left my tour of the food court as the clouds rolled in again and I arrived at Little Island Park, one of the newest and most innovative parks in New York City. The whole park is built on this innovative type of piling that come together to create this whimsical park. Something out of “Whoville”.
My trip to Little Island and the Chelsea Market with my NYU class:
At the very corner of the neighborhood was ‘Little Island Park’ at . This very unique structure has been captivating both New Yorker’s and tourists since it was built.
I then took the time to walk all over Little Island. I explored all the paths and stairs and explored all the beautiful gardens and terraces. What views! As the clouds passed by, we had moments of brilliant sunshine and at times it looked like it was going to down pour.
The gardens in full bloom on Little Island
The views from the very top of the terraces as the clouds finally cleared
Walking back down the stairs
The view from the pathway on the way down towards the exit
The view from the exit of Little Island as the clouds rolled by
The rest of the afternoon was on again off again clouds. I crossed over Eleventh Avenue to West 14th Street into the borders of Chelsea and the Meatpacking District (where at this point all the meatpacking companies are gone). In their place now are gleaming new apartment buildings that surround the High Line Park.
Eleventh Avenue at West 14th Street
I crossed the street to see 14th Street Park in full bloom. This park represents this new neighborhood with its gleaming towers and expensive stores. The lawn was perfectly manicured and the flowers were in full bloom. I did not even see any homeless people in the park. Just young couples walking their dogs.
The gardens in 14th Street Park as you cross onto West 14th Street from Eleventh Avenue
The gardens in full bloom at the park on West 14th street
Crossing onto West 14th Street by the Meatpacking District near 11th Avenue
I have been walking around this neighborhood since the 1980’s and talk about change. What used to be buildings that were geared to the docks and shipping, then became clubs in the 1980’s and early 90’s are now lofts and luxury stores. I have really seen this City change.
Walking down West 14th Street
Walking down West 14th Street near the Meatpacking District
Walking in Meatpacking District by Tenth Avenue
This border that Chelsea now shares with the Meatpacking District (which no longer has any more meatpackers) has become one of the trendiest and innovative neighborhoods in the City. Aldo judging by the prices at the restaurants and stores, one of the most expensive.
West 14th Street in the Meatpacking District
Walking down West 14th Street
As you walk further away from the parks along the river coastline and further down West 14th Street, more modern buildings pop up on both sides of the street. Still here and there, details of the old neighborhood still pop up such as at 200 West 14th Street, with its stoic faces and immense detail in the doorway.
The unique sculptures on outside of 200 West 14th Street
The building was marketed with the sophisticated-sounding name “French Flats,” one of the very first of these was built by Jersey City businessman Henry Meinken at the corner of 14th Street and 7th Avenue. Meinken called on James W. Cole to design his new building in 1888. Cole was a favorite of the Astor family and he built several factory, warehouse and apartment buildings for them, several a few blocks west on 14th around Hudson and 9th Avenues (Daytonianinmanhattan.com).
It was completed in 1889 and given the cultured name “The Jeanne d’Arc.” The five-story brick building with brownstone trim had commercial space on the street floor and 8 commodius apartments above — two apartments per floor. To set the building apart from the baser tenements, Cole added an attractive pressed metal cornice and carved brownstone sills and lintels (Daytonianinmanhattan.com).
The street art along West 14th Street was very interesting as well. I loved this version of lady liberty. This was painted outside of a pharmacy.
The street art outside the pharmacy by Artist Shira One
Shiro’s artwork is an exploration of classic New York urban history through the lens of an artist who reveres Hip Hop culture. Her artwork is a prime example of the fusion of Japanese aesthetics and old school New York graffiti art. In 2002, she moved to New York alone, and after living between Japan and New York, she obtained an US American artist visa in 2013, acquired an US artist green card in 2021, and is currently based in New York (Artist Shiro1 website).
Another great mural that sits on the side of a building on West 14th that stands out entitled “Mural on 14th Street, New York” by Brazilian artists brothers Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo known as ‘Osgemeos’. This colorful and engaging piece of artwork towers over the street and shows an exaggerated image of everyday New Yorkers.
The word ‘Osgemeos’ is translated as “the twins” in Portuguese, is a collaborative art duo comprised of twin brothers Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo. It was in the 1980’s with the invasion of hip-hop, and the explosion of Brazilian culture that the brothers began to use art as a way of sharing their dynamic and magical universe with the public. Combining traditional, folkloric, and contemporary elements of Brazilian culture with graffiti, hip-hop, music, dreams and international youth culture, the artists have created an expansive body of work that includes murals, paintings, sculpture, site-specific installations, and video (Lehmannmaupin.com website).
This is what I love about walking around Manhattan. You do not even have to step foot in a museum to enjoy great artworks that are tucked into corners of every neighborhood on walls, telephone poles, on the street and in courtyards. You just have to look for it.
As I walked further down West 14th Street, between all the new construction going on and the gleaming glass towers that seemed to be changing the face of the neighborhood a few buildings stood out for the beauty and details in their architecture.
The first one was the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe at 229 West 14th Street. I was attracted the elegant look of the church.
Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe at 229 West 14th Street
The church opened in 1902 and was designed by architect Gustave E. Steinback in both the Baroque Revival and the Spanish Baroque style of architecture (Wiki).
The Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe was founded in 1902, and became the first parish in New York City to serve the swelling numbers of Hispanics. During this time the Archdiocese was ill-staffed with priests who could not speak Spanish and those who were willing to reach out to the newcomers and learn their language and their ways were preoccupied with other important ministries. Our Lady of Guadalupe parish was established as a national parish, responsible for the spiritual care of all Hispanics of the city. (Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe website).
The details of the Church stood out for their beauty and elegance
Another standout building on the corner of West 14th Street and Seventh Avenue is 154 West 14th Street. Arranged in a tripartite base-shaft-capital composition with large window areas, this building is a striking and unusual example of a large loft building partly clad in terra cotta, on the three-story base, on the spandrels between the white-brick piers of the midsection, and on the upper portion. The building was designed by architect Herman Lee Meader and was built between 1912-1913 (The Historic District Council Website).
The details on the building are so unusual and you really have to look at the building close to appreciate its beauty.
Another building that stands out on West 14th Street is 144 West 14th Street which is part of the Pratt College today but has an interesting past. Pratt bought the building in 1999.
The beautifully detailed building at 144 14th Street
144 West 14th Street is a grandly-proportioned Renaissance Revival-style loft building. It is faced with limestone, tan brick and terra cotta and was designed by the prominent architects Brunner & Tryon in 1895-96. It is seven stories tall and has a street façade articulated through a series of monumental arches embellished with neo-classical ornament (Historic District Council website).
The detail work at 144 West 14th Street
Though the building reminded me of one of the department stores from the post Civil War period, the building was actually used for manufacturing, one the tenants of the building being Macy’s (DaytonianinNYC website).
Turning the corner onto to Sixth Avenue that Chelsea shares with the Lower Flatiron District, you enter what was once the next great shopping area of the late 1880’s to about 1920 when the “Ladies Shopping District’ moved from 14th Street after the Civil War to Sixth Avenue between West 20th Street to West 23rd Street to create “The Ladies Shopping Mile”.
It would then move to West 34th Street where Macy’s resides today and the ghosts of B. Altman, Stern’s, Orbach’s and Franklin Simon buildings still remain to the last holdout of Lord & Taylor on Fifth Avenue that closed a few years ago that used to line the blocks. Most of the older smaller buildings have been torn down and gleaming new towers are starting to line parts of West 14th Street between Eighth to Fifth Avenues and up along the Avenues.
West 14th Street by Sixth Avenue
Looking up Sixth Avenue and 19th Street, the eastern border of Chelsea
Walking up Sixth Avenue towards West 20th Street, most of the more elaborate buildings are closer to the edge of West 20th Street. Walking back up toward the heart of the former “Ladies Shopping Mile” along Sixth Avenue from West 18th Street to West 23rd Street, the lower part of Sixth Avenue is similar in look to West 14th Street. A mish-mosh architectural styles from years of knocking down the older buildings. Inside are a variety of fast food restaurants, coffee shops and small stores.
The first building left of the former shopping district is the former Pace Building at 610 Sixth Avenue.
David Price opened his first women’s clothing store, D. Price & Co. around 1887. The Price Building was built in 1910-1912 and designed by Buchman & Fox in the Beaux-Arts style (Wiki). The was the combination of the two stores, the one facing Sixth Avenue and the one facing 18th Street (DaytoninManhattan.com).
The embellishments of 610 Sixth Avenue designed by Buchman & Fox.
Next to the Price Building is what was one of the grandest of the department stores in New York City at 620 Sixth Avenue, Seigel Cooper
620 Sixth Avenue-The former Siegal Cooper Department Store
The original store design in the late 1800’s (New York Historical Society)
The Siegel-Cooper Department store was a Chicago based store that was founded in 1877 by Henry Siegel, Frank H. Cooper and Isaac Keim. They opened the New York City store in 1896 on the Ladies Mile Shopping District. The store was designed by the architectural firm of DeLemons & Cordes in the Beaux-Arts design. When it opened, it was the largest department store in the world until Macy’s opened in 1902 (Wiki).
The Siegal Cooper insignia on the building.
The window details
The details on the upper windows of the store.
Henry Siegel over-extended himself and sold the company in 1902 to an investor and the store declared bankruptcy in 1915 and closed in 1917. After the store closed, it was used as a military hospital and then as a warehouse. Today after years of being used as a warehouse, it now has several retailers located in the store space (Wiki).
Across the street from the Siegel-Cooper store is the old B. Altman & Company store before they moved to East 34th Street.
625 Fifth Avenue-The old B. Altman & Company Department Store.
B. Altman & Company was founded in 1865 as a family store that eventually came under the control of Benjamin Altman. It moved from its Third Avenue and Tenth Street location to 621 Sixth Avenue in 1877. The store expanded four times in this location to cover what is now 625 Sixth Avenue. The store was designed in the Neo-Grec design and built in four stages. First by architects David and John Jardine for the original store in 1877 and then the extension in 1880. Then by architect William Hume in 1887 and then by architects Buchman & Fox in 1910. The store moved to the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street in 1906 when the shopping district moved to 34th Street (Wiki).
The last old department store on the Ladies Mile Shopping District is at 641 Sixth Avenue on the corner of Sixth Avenue and West 20th Street.
641 Sixth Avenue-The old Simpson Crawford Department Store
Simpson Crawford like many stores on Sixth Avenue had its humble beginnings on 19th Street. The store continued to grow and expand catering to the ‘carriage trade’ and selling the finest merchandise. After their new store was destroyed in a fire in 1880, they opened the store at 641 Sixth Avenue in 1899 which was designed by architectural firm William H. Hume & Son in the Beaux-Arts design (dayoninmanhattan.com).
The details of 641 Sixth Avenue.
This part of the Flatiron District feels so different from the northern part of the neighborhood. So much of it has disappeared over the years that the character has changed. It does not have the distinction of the blocks between 23rd and 20th streets. There are blocks of these types of buildings whereas the blocks of the old shopping districts of the early to late 1800’s from 14th to 18th Streets have slowly disappeared over time. Older buildings have since been replaced with modern office and apartment buildings. The buildings have even been refitted for apartments and for the growing college campuses in the area.
While there are many architectural gems in this neighborhood, it just goes to show the progression of Manhattan and how things have changed in the last 100 years. The City keeps marching on. Still this section of the Lower Flatiron District shows just how important this part of the old “Midtown Manhattan” was from the Civil War until WWI. Just look up and admire all the details on each building. There are a surprise and delight for the eyes.
The Street art on West 15th Street off Sixth Avenue “I Love New York”
Read my blog on Walking the Streets of the Lower Flatiron District:
While I was walking around Chelsea, I was trying to figure out where to go for dinner. A guy was sampling slices of pizza outside of a new branch of Pizza Studio on West 14th Street. It was delicious and I decided to eat there for dinner.
I thought that the prices were very fair and you got a delicious 12 inch pizza for $10.00 and a lemonade. The whole bill with an extra tip was around $12.50, which was reasonable for all the food. Plus the pizza was delicious.
The ingredients to choose from
The Sausage pizza I ordered that evening
The pizza was wonderful
The pizza served with the Blue Lemonade
What was really nice after the day walking around the neighborhood was the lemonade was so refreshing. You got a choice between Watermelon Lemonade and the Blue Lemonade above and you got free refills. Talk about quenching your thirst on a hot day. It was a great dinner.
Walking past Holy Apostles Church at night
The Empire State Building lit for the holiday
A beautiful site of the Empire State Building
On each corner of the neighborhood, surprises and changes keep this neighborhood in a continuous flux. It just keeps reinventing itself.
Fee: Adults $22.00/Seniors (over 65) $14.00/Current Students with ID $13.00/Free to Members and Children under 12 accompanied by a parent. Free on Friday Nights from 7:00pm-9:00pm. Discount for people with disabilities $13.00-Caregiver Free.
What I love about the Morgan Library & Museum is the level of sophistication and quality of their exhibitions. The museum really makes you think when you tour their galleries and attend their lectures and gallery talks. Their docents and curators bring an exhibition to a whole new level. I always feel like I am taking a college course and will be graded afterwards. They really make you think about the work or what the author or artist is trying to say.
In the late 1700’s, well-to-do dwellers moved to Harlem Heights in the summer, seeking its cool breezes. They also wanted to avoid yellow fever, a summer threat in lower Manhattan, Hamilton and his wife, Elizabeth (of the influential Schuyler family) often visited friends here and decided to build their own retreat.
In 1802, they moved in and Hamilton began commuting to his downtown law office, a 90 minute carriage trip. He and Elizabeth also began to entertain friends, colleagues and leader in their elegant home and gardens. Little did Hamilton know that his time at The Grange would be brief.
Witness to Slavery:
Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) grew up on Nevis and St. Croix, islands in the Caribbean, where thousands of enslaved Africans labored in…
The bitter winter finally gave way to some warmer weather and I was finally able to continue walking the streets of Manhattan again. It had been almost three months since I finished the Upper West Side but the holidays were particularly busy and full of activities that had me running from the Hudson River Valley to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware for Christmas plus a host of holiday activities, fundraisers, dinners at the house with my family, parties, selling Christmas trees and generally a lot of running around. On the first warm (at this point 48 degrees) and sunny day, off I went to continue my walk starting on the Upper East Side and revisiting East 59th Street.
After a long day at the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen serving up breads and pastries to the guests, I walked up to the Upper East Side to start my walk of Sutton and Beekman Places by the East River, neighborhoods steeped in history and beautiful architecture. It was a beautiful warm day with the sun shining and that was a plus.
I started the afternoon with lunch at Flip, the restaurant inside the main Bloomingdale’s store on Lexington Avenue and 59th Street (see my review on TripAdvisor). I had been here a few times before when walking the lower part of the Upper East Side. It is located in the lower level of the store and has the most wonderful hamburgers and sandwiches. I had the Bavarian Burger, which was delicious and the perfect pick me up after a long day serving other people.
Flip is in the Men’s Department in the lower level of Bloomingdales
The burger was made with a combination of ground meat and short ribs and was topped with caramelized onions, apple smoked bacon, Brooklyn lager cheese sauce and homemade bread and butter pickles on a pretzel roll served with a side a steak fries. It tasted as good as the description. I highly recommend a trip to Flip when visiting Bloomingdale’s main store. You will find it in the downstairs Men’s Department.
The 24 Sycamores Park sign welcoming you to the park
I started my walk at 24 Sycamores Park on East 60th Street. I needed to take a quick rest after that big lunch and it was such a nice day to just relax on the benches and watch the kids play with their nannies. It is such a great little pocket park with an interesting history. It was one of the parks developed for the Upper East Side residents who complained to Robert Moses that there was no greenery on their side of the City. Here I planned my walk around Sutton Place, Beekman Place and Sutton East (between First & Second Avenues), which some people consider part of the Turtle Bay neighborhood.
After relaxing in the park for a half hour and catching my breath from the Soup Kitchen and lunch, I started my walk along First Avenue. This is lined with elegant apartment buildings and a combination of old brownstones and mansions. It depends on what part of the Avenue you live on. The area around Sutton Place and Beekman Place is pretty much self-contained and off to itself. You really have to walk through the side streets and the parks to see the real beauty of the neighborhood and the little gems that make the neighborhood special.
The park in the Summer of 2024
The one thing I have noticed in this part of the neighborhood is that a lot of the stores on East 59th Street from Second to First Avenue have closed down and have joined the rest of the epidemic of empty store fronts in the City. Since I finished the walk of the Upper East Side in December, in just three months about a half dozen businesses have closed down. It will be interesting to see what replaces them.
The park in the Summer of 2024
I started the day walking down from East 59th Street and walked the perimeter of the neighborhood from FDR Drive to Second Avenue from East 48th Street where the United Nations is located to East 59th Street, the border of Sutton Place with the Upper East Side. Here and there lots of buildings and restaurants stand out.
I walked down Sutton Place from Sycamore Park down to the United Nations Building. This official border of Sutton Place is lined with pre-war apartment buildings, modern co-ops and a few brownstones and mansions tucked here and there.
Sutton Place is named after Effingham B. Sutton (1817-1891), a shipping magnate and entrepreneur, who made a fortune during the Gold Rush. He developed a series of brownstones between East 58th and 57th Streets in hopes of reestablishing the neighborhood for residential purposes from its then current state of small factories and commercial purposes. The Sutton Place Parks at the end of each street from East 59th through East 54th Street were established in 1938 when the FDR Drive was built taking away the access to the river. There are a series of five parks now along the East River at the end of each block (NYCParks.org).
At the corner of East 59th Street and Sutton Place starts the series of mansions that line this part of the street. In 1883, this little stretch of roadway had been renamed Sutton Place, a nod to Mr. Sutton, who had constructed that row of brownstone residences in 1875 (Daytonian in Manhattan).
The Vanderbilt and Morgan Mansions on Sutton Place
The beautiful old mansion at 2 Sutton Place was renovated by Anne Vanderbilt, the widow of William K. Vanderbilt. She sold the Vanderbilt mansion on Fifth Avenue that had been built by her husband’s family and bought the Effingham Sutton House. She hired architect Mott B. Schmidt to renovate the home into a 13 room Georgian mansion.
Anne Vanderbilt Mansion at 2 Sutton Place; next door is the Anne Morgan Mansion
Anne Tracy Morgan bought the 3 Sutton Place, the house on the corner of Sutton Place and East 57th Street and merged it with the home at 5 Sutton Place. Mott Schmidt filed revised plans for Anne Morgan’s house at 3 Sutton Place when she bought 5 Sutton Place and had the homes merged. The plans called for the rebuilding of the two structures into a four-story dwelling in American Colonial style with a roof garden and Morgan and Vanderbilt would share a common garden. To create the illusion of a vintage home, Mott reused the bricks from the old buildings on the site. The house was completed in 1922 (Daytonian Manhattan).
The entrance to the Vanderbilt Mansion at 2 Sutton Place
As you walk the side streets between East 58th through East 48th Street, these dead-end blocks offer magnificent views of Roosevelt Island and the Queens-Brooklyn waterfront which is quickly changing from old warehouses to luxury high-rises and waterfront parks. Each has its own unique view of Roosevelt Island.
The historic homes and mansions of Sutton Place
The Vanderbilt Mansion at sunset
At the end of Sutton Place at the corner of East 53rd Street there is a small park, Sutton Place Park South, overlooking the tip of Roosevelt Island and FDR Park with its beautiful landscaping and stonework. It is a nice place to just relax and enjoy the cool breezes and hear the racket of FDR Drive zooming by.
Sutton Place Park South at the tip of Sutton Place
The new Sutton Place Park after the renovation and the addition of a pedestrian bridge.
At 11 Sutton Place was once the home to architect I.M Pei and his wife, Eileen. They lived in the house for 45 years. The four-story residence is now on the market for eight million dollars. Mr. Pei was responsible for some of the most famous and innovative architecture in the twenty century.
11 Sutton Place was home to architect I. M. Pei and his family
This wonderful park should be visited by everyone who visits Manhattan. It has the most spectacular views of Roosevelt Island and the Queens/Brooklyn Waterfront and on a sunny warm day, it is one of the most relaxing parks I have visited since MywalkinManhattan.com started.
Sutton Place Park South
It is nice to sit amongst the cool breezes of the river by small gardens and shade trees. There were two dedications in the park that stood out to me. One was to Clara Coffey and the other was to Bronka Norak.
Clara Stimson Coffey was a landscape architect who in 1936 accepted the role of Chief of Tree Plantings for the NYCParks system and helped design several parks including the Clement Clark Moore Park in Chelsea which I recently visited on my Victorian Christmas Tour (Day One Hundred & Twenty Eight).
Bronka Norak was a long time Sutton Place resident and upon her death, her husband, the late Adam Norak, left an endowment for the maintenance of the flowers, trees and shrubs in the park.
On the west side of Sutton Place is lined with pre and post war apartment buildings each with a doorman that will look you over if you walk around the neighborhood too much as I did. You would think that they would have better things to do.
As I crossed back over East 59th Street, my next part of the walk took me to First Avenue which itself is going through a transition. Many of the old buildings and store fronts are giving way to new apartment buildings. As with the rest of Manhattan, this area is going through a makeover to upscale housing.
On my next trip to Sutton Place after another long day at the Soup Kitchen (the Bread Station is beginning to get to me. Every time we have desserts available, the guests’ pound on me), I walked from Ninth Avenue and West 28th Street to First Avenue and East 59th Streets. On top of all the exercise from running around the Soup Kitchen, I got even more walking in but on a sunny, warm day it does not make much a difference.
I stopped into Jimbo’s Hamburger Place at 991 First Avenue (See reviews on TripAdvisor) and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com) for lunch. This small hole in the wall diner has been there for years and is a favorite for many of the older neighborhood residents who seem to know the owners quite well. The food is here is wonderful and the whole menu is very reasonable for this neighborhood.
I had a cheeseburger with fries ($8.50) that tasted as if the meat had just been ground and cooked perfectly with a nice caramelization on the meat. The fries were cooked to order and the whole meal was delicious and hit the spot. What was nice was to talk to people who had lived in Sutton Place. The restaurant has a nice neighborhood feel to it and the patrons had obviously been eating here for years. One woman who sat next to me eats here every day. I guess as you get older and are single you don’t want to cook for yourself anymore.
Jimbo’s Cheeseburger and fries
Jimbo’s burgers are really juicy, well-cooked and delicious
After lunch, I continued the walk down First Avenue, I stopped at 931 First Avenue which had once been an old elementary school that had been built in 1892 in the Romanesque style. Instead of knocking the school down, the builder incorporated the school into the office tower above and around it. It gives the building a modern twist. As I was looking over the current renovation, I noticed a plaque on the corner wall.
The former P.S. 135 now the Beekman Regent Building
The school sat on the site of patriot James Beekman’s estate, Mount Pleasant, that had once been the British headquarters during the Revolutionary War. James Beekman (1732-1807) was a prominent New York City merchant and came from a family of merchants, lawyers and politicians. His ancestors had been Mayors of New York City and Albany and held positions as Governors of New York, Delaware and Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Gerardus Beekman, had been the acting Governor of New York under British rule (Wiki).
James Beekman whose name is given to Beekman Place
His estate and mansion, Mount Pleasant, had been used by the British as their headquarters during the war. The estate covering what is currently now both Sutton and Beekman Place. This was also the site for the trial of Patriot Nathan Hale.
Nathan Hale had volunteered to go behind enemy lines during the war and was recognized in a tavern by Major Robert Rangers of the Queen’s Rangers. Another story was he was turned in by his own cousin, Samuel Hale, who was a loyalist. Either way, Hale was questioned at the Beekman mansion by British General William Howe and was led to gallows on September 22nd, 1776 (See MywalkinManhattan.com on the Upper East Side. He was hung where there is a Pier One store at present).
Mount Pleasant, the home of James Beekman and his family
The house was moved once to a buff at First Avenue and East 50th Street when the street grid was put into effect and the house was torn down in 1874 at the start of the real estate boom after the Civil War (Untapped Cities).
The “Mount Pleasant” plaque of the original location.
I continued walking down First Avenue until I reached East 48th and 49th Streets where the road forks into First Avenue and United Nations Plaza. This area is filled with Embassies and offices for the United Nations and Trump World Tower is at end of the neighborhood at 845 United Nations Plaza, so traffic here is rough and the security all around the place is tight.
The Bridge leading to the East River Walk
When I reached the east side of First Avenue and at 51st Street, I took a turn down the road to the river and I went over the pedestrian bridge at the end of the block. This leads into the enclave of Beekman Place, the former estate of James Beekman. As you cross the bridge, you will enter Peter Detmold Park and its extension leading down FDR Drive, General Douglas MacArthur Park.
Peter Detmold (1923-1972) was once a tenant of the Turtle Bay Gardens. He was a veteran of World War II, serving under General George Patton in the Battle of the Bulge in France. Upon his return to civilian life, he was a Cornell graduate and when he moved to the City, became the one of the founders and President of the Turtle Bay Association and the founded the Turtle Bay Gazette. He along with other residents fought to keep the are residential and away from the commercial districts that were creeping into the area. On the night of January 6, 1972, after returning home from a meeting of the East Side Residential Association, he was murdered inside his building. The murder still has not been solved and the park was named after him later that year (NYCParks.com).
Activist, Veteran, Resident of Turtle Bay and fellow Cornell Alumnus Peter Detmold
Before I walked the bridge to the overpass, I walked down the steep stone steps down to the park area. It is a really hidden park. The area is surrounded by stone walls and apartment buildings above. To the left is a dog walk park that is extremely popular with residents and pooches alike. It is always busy.
To the right is a series of garden beds and benches to sit down and relax. There are tables where people were eating their lunches or playing with their dogs and being the beginning of spring, lots of flowers are in bloom. I walked around the area and watched as groups of residents talked and ate their meals or played games. The parks trees were just budding so the park had a canopy covering the top. When you walk through the gate at the end corner of the park, it leads to the General Douglas MacArthur Park and playground. Here you will find the much-needed public bathrooms and they are in good shape.
The General Douglas MacArthur Park and Playground was named for General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964), who had a illustrious military career that spanned four wars and five decades. Having served in the Philippine Islands and Mexico, he served in France during WWI. He was called back into service for WWII serving as the Supreme Allied Commander in the Pacific and developed the strategy of “island hopping” that turned the tide of the war. He also served in the Korean War as well. After serving as an unofficial advisor to two presidents before retiring in 1951. After that, he retired at the Waldorf Towers in NYC (NYCParks.com).
The park was originally built as part of the UN Plaza then was ceded to the City by Alcoa Associates and became part of the NYC Parks system in 1966. The small playground has a several swings, jungle gyms and tables to play chess along with bed of flowers and shade trees. It is right around the corner from some of the United Nations buildings so the outside can be busy with cars coming and going. The best part is the bathrooms are nice and open until 5:00pm (NYCParks.com)
After visiting both parks, I went back to Peter Detmold Park and went back up the narrow stone stairs and walked over the crosswalk to the riverfront promenade that lines the East River from East 51st to East 54th Streets offering breathtaking views of Governors Island and the Queens Riverfront. On a sunny day, the whole riverfront gleams.
View from the Riverfront Promenade of Long Island City
After walking the Promenade to East 54th Street and walking back, its hard to believe that changes in the riverfront areas in both Queens and Brooklyn in the last fifteen years. The whole coast is lined with luxury housing, boast slips and parks offering excellent views of the East Side of Manhattan.
Once you exit the park, you will notice a small tree lined street with brownstones and pre-war apartment buildings. You have just entered Beekman Place, a tiny enclave of older homes and an assortment of embassies.
I glanced down a small road lined with small brownstones, townhouses and pre-war apartment buildings and proceeded to detour down Beekman Place to tour the road and the side streets, each leading back out to First Avenue from East 51st Street to Mitchell Place.
As you walk down this quiet enclave of majestic architecture, there is a lot to admire in the surrounding buildings and the serene side streets of 50th Street and Mitchell Place. Each block is lined with unique buildings all decorated with plantings.
21 & 23 Beekman Place
Many famous people have lived in this neighborhood. At 23 Beekman Place, stage actress Katharine Cornell and her husband, Guthrie McClintic lived. Ms. Cornell was once considered one of the greatest American actresses on stage, best know for her roles in ‘The Barretts of Wimpole Street’ and her Tony award winning role in ‘Anthony and Cleopatra’. Her husband was a famous theater and film director whose production company produced all of his wife’s plays (Wiki).
At 21 Beekman Place, Ellen Biddle Shipman, one of the most famous and best regarded landscape architects in the United States known for her formal gardens with a lush planting style. A Radcliffe graduate, she is best known for her work on the Longue Vue Gardens in New Orleans and the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University, considered her finest work (Wiki).
As you walk to the end of these streets facing the river, you get the most spectacular views of the Queens waterfront and Roosevelt Island. Along East 51st, East 50th and Mitchell Place you will find an assortment of embassies from countries I am not too sure people might know.
I exited down Mitchell Place at the edge of the neighborhood and passed the Beekman Tower at 31 Mitchell Place. Originally called ‘The Panhellenic’, the tower was built between 1927 and 1928 in the Art Deco style by architect John Mead Howells. It was opened as a residence for women of the Greek sororities who were entering the workforce in New York City but by 1934, the building had male residents. Today this graceful building is being used as a corporate apartment building.
The Art Deco Beekman Tower at 31 Mitchell Place & First Avenue
I walked back up First Avenue, I looked across the street and saw the most beautiful floral displays and flowers for sale outside of Zeze Flowers at 938 First Avenue (See review on LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com). This is more than a store it is more like a museum of flowers. Everything from the window displays with the ‘Man in Moon’ to the exotic flowers enticing you inside you will be taken by the beauty of store.
Once inside Zeze Flower Shop you will admire the beauty of the displays, statuary and the gorgeous orchids that line the shelves and tables. All the tables are lined with all sorts of decorative objects and the walls with vases to hold their carefully cut flowers. The store itself is a work of art and the bouquets and arrangements look like something out of a painting. There is a lot of care in this store and the staff is attentive and friendly.
The beautiful flowers and gift ideas of Zeze Flower Shop
On the way back up First Avenue, I passed the spot of the Beekman Mansion again at First and East 51st Street and admired the renovation of the building which was once a school. The building, The Beekman Regent at 351 East 51st Street, had been designed and built in 1892 by George W. Debevoise, who was the Superintendent of Board of Education at the time as P.S. 135. Later it had become the United Nations School. It now serves as a luxury apartment building that won the 2002 Mercedes Benz Property Award for the ‘finest new redevelopment in the world’ (Beekman Regent history).
The Beekman Regent building at 351 East 51st Street
I continued up First Avenue past a long line of restaurants. I have noticed just in the two weeks that I have been walking the Sutton Place neighborhood, two businesses have closed and the storefronts are empty.
Another restaurant I ate at when walking the Upper East Side at another time was Go Noodle at 1069 First Avenue (See review on TripAdvisor). There combination platter at lunch are reasonable and I had a chicken with string beans and an egg roll ($8.50) that was delicious.
I made it back to East 59th Street in time to see the traffic building up on the Queensboro Bridge. The lights from the waterfront started to come on and when I walked back to 24 Sycamores Park, the place was still filled with families. I was exhausted and saved the rest of the walk for another day.
I came back to the neighborhood a week later on a beautiful sunny day after a long day working the Bread Station at Holy Apostles again. These guests love their bread and we were busy again, so it was another long walk up to Sutton Place. Here I started at East 59th and Second Avenue. Technically this area is known as Turtle Bay but some creative people in the real estate industry have called the area between First and Second Avenues between East 59th and 49th “Sutton East” as I saw on some of the buildings. So down Second Avenue I went to visit ‘Sutton East’.
Second Avenue between East 59th and East 48th Streets has become a real hodge-podge of buildings as the area closer to Midtown, between East 48th and 50th Streets have given way to larger office and apartment buildings. Once above East 51st Street, there still is a mixture of older brownstone and smaller apartment buildings that house the mom & pop stores and restaurants that keep the borders of Sutton Place and Turtle Bay unique.
I started my day with lunch at Mee’s Noodle Shop at 930 Second Avenue (See review on TripAdvisor) which I had passed a few times when walking back to Port Authority (the restaurant has moved its operations to Ninth Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen since 2022). The menu and the write ups on the restaurant had been very good and there is a lot of creativity to the selection.
Since it was Good Friday when I visited, I stuck to all seafood dishes which was a nice choice. The restaurant’s specialty is dumplings and noodles that are made fresh on premise, and you can see them being made as you walk in. Everything was fresh and delicious and you could tell it was homemade.
Mee’s Noodle Shop at 930 Second Avenue (Closed in August 2022-Now on First Avenue below East 14th Street)
I love the sign inside
I ordered the steamed seafood dumplings ($6.50) which were a combination of crab, shrimp and scallop. They were really light and had a nice taste to them with the soy dipping sauce.
The Seafood/Shrimp Dumplings
The Dumplings were light as air
They were delicious
For my main part of the meal, I ordered the Shrimp Lo Mein (Small $7.35/Large $9.20). This was especially good because all the noodles were being made in front of me and were fresh and cooked to perfection. The dish was studded with nice size shrimp and an array of vegetables including a very well cooked Bok choy. The service could not have been nicer especially during the lunch rush.
The Shrimp Lo Mein at Mee’s Noodle House is excellent. They do not skimp on the shrimp
The Lo Mein is excellent
After lunch I walked the distance of Second Avenue, looking over all the menus on the restaurants that lined the Avenue. There is a lot to choose from. There are coffee shops, Italian restaurants, Continental, German, Thai and several very good pizzerias. What I like about Second Avenue in this stretch of the Avenue is the juxtaposed look of the buildings that give it character. The most action at night seems to be between East 50th and 51st Streets where a lot of the bars are located. This part of the neighborhood I read that the residents here worked hard to fight the city on new construction to keep the character of the neighborhood the way it has been.
A nice place to sit and relax is the Katherine Hepburn Place by Sterling Plaza at Second Avenue and East 49th Street. This little park named after the actress who lived and advocated for the neighborhood is a small area of trees and benches that is nice to rest for a bit. It is nice to people watch here especially the dog walkers who all seem to converge here.
As I walked back up to East 59th Street, I began to notice that again smaller businesses between that and East 57th were beginning to close. It seems that the fringes of the Upper East Side are beginning to blend into this neighborhood. When you reach the top of the block at East 59th Street, you are greeted with the traffic going into the Queensboro Bridge, the tram going back and forth to Roosevelt Island and the sheer movement of people.
On the way back down Second Avenue, I visited La Vera Pizza at 922 Second Avenue (See review on TripAdvisor) for a quick slice. The pizza is really good and they make a delicious Sicilian slice ($3.00). The slice was pillowy and crisp and their sauce has a lot of flavor to it.
There is a distinct difference when you cross East 48th Street from the neighborhood as all the brownstones disappear and you see more office and apartment buildings on that part of Second Avenue. From East 58th to East 49th Streets, you will see a transition and change block by block. Some blocks will be all brownstones and small mom & pop businesses and others it will be a new building with a combination of businesses at street level.
From here, I walked block by block and explored the side streets of the neighborhood and there are many hidden gems in way of restaurants, stores and historic architecture to explore.
The vaulted ceilings under the Queensboro Bridge of Trader Joe’s
The Trader Joe’s under the Queensboro Bridge at 405 East 59th Street
Starting on East 59th Street a lot has changed since I walked the neighborhood since before the holidays. A lot of the stores that I had passed were gone and the stores were empty. Either to changing times or higher rents, these businesses disappeared right after the New Year so I turned the corner at Second Avenue and walked down East 58th Street and was surprised by the trove of stores and restaurants on the street. There are still a lot of antique stores and florists on the street as well many restaurants. You will also see the most amazing views of the Queensboro Bridge as it extends from Manhattan to the shores of Queens in the distance.
The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge on East 59th Street it extremely detailed in its look.
When you turn the corner and enter 58th Street towards the entrance to the Queensboro Bridge, you will see two small brownstones, 311 and 313 East 58 Street. They were built between 1856-57 by Hiram G. Disbrow for his own use. They were built in the Greek Revival-Italianate style with a porch with a picket fence (Streeteasy). 311 is now the home of Philip Colleck Ltd., an antique furniture store where they carry beautiful classic furniture for the home. 315 is still a private home right next to the ramp on the entrance to the Queensboro Bridge. These two interesting little brownstone homes stand out against the modern high rises that dot the rest of East 58th Street.
This pretty much dominates East 57th Street as well until you get to the Morgan and Vanderbilt Mansions at 2 & 3 Sutton Place with the amazing view of Roosevelt Island and the Queens Waterfront. There is a real beauty in the line of old mansions and brownstones between East 58th and 57th on Sutton Place.
The mansions on Sutton Place
East 56th Street is lined with an array of pre and post war buildings as well with more great views of the river at the end of street of the East River on Sutton Place. East 55th Street is about the same but there is a standout with A La Mode, an ice cream shop at 360 East 55th Street.
A La Mode (see my review on TripAdvisor) is a very cute and engaging ice cream shop that caters to the locals. The selection of homemade ice creams offers a few unusual flavors. I enjoyed a double scoop of Pink Sprinkle (Strawberry with colored sprinkles) and Partly Cloudy (Cotton Candy with baby marshmallows) both of which were colorful and delicious.
The Pink Sprinkle and the Partly Cloudy flavors are excellent and refreshing
They also carry an assortment of gifts and clothes for that lucky child. I must have enjoyed eating it because everyone smiled at me on my walk down to Sutton Place Park to enjoy it and the views.
As I rounded the corner onto East 54th Street, I stopped by both Sofia Pizza and Marinara Pizza many times when touring the neighborhood. Sofia Pizza Shoppe at 989 First Avenue (see review on TripAdvisor) has been noted as being one of the best slices in the City by several magazines. I would bypass the traditional slice as it was okay ($3.25) but the Sicilian slice ($4.50) was delicious. It had a nice pillowy consistency, and the sauce is loaded with flavor of fresh tomatoes.
Marinara Pizza at 985 First Avenue and the corner of East 54th Street (see my review on TripAdvisor) is a beautiful open restaurant that allows you to look in at all the pizzas. I had a slice from a pizza that just came out of oven, and it was excellent. Their sauce is delicious and well spiced, and the cheese was nice and gooey. Between the slice of pizza here and the sundae at A La Mode while looking at the view at Sutton Place Park at East 54th Street it was the perfect afternoon. People were smiling back at me that I seemed so happy to indulge in my ice cream while walking down the street.
When you get to the end of East 54th by Sutton Place, there is a small set up stairs that will take you to the first part of Sutton Place Park, Sutton Place Park North, with benches that overlook the skyline of Queens and Roosevelt Island. On a nice day, it is the perfect place to soak up the sunshine and relax while looking at soaring skyline.
The view into Brooklyn is amazing!
Walking down East 54th Street from the park you will find the Recreation Center 54 at 348 East 54th Street with the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theater next door at 350 East 54th Street. The Neo-Classical building was built in 1911 as a recreation facility for the working classes and has many of the original details inside such as wrought iron staircases and marble baths. Originally called the 54th Street Baths and Gymnasium, the facility has now morphed into complete gaming experience with basketball, volleyball and swimming (NYCParks.org). Really look up to see the beauty of the building.
Recreation 54 Building on East 54th Street
On the outside of the Neighborhood Playhouse School next door, there is a plaque for Sanford Meisner, one of its most famous faculty. He developed the ‘Meisner Technique’, which is a self-investigation for the actor.
The Sanford Meisner Plaque at the Neighborhood Playhouse School
Mr. Meisner, who had wanted to be an actor since he was a child has studied under Lee Strasberg at the Theater Guild for Acting. In 1935, he joined the faculty of The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater which had been founded in 1928. He had served at the Director of the Acting Department until his retirement in 1990.
At the other end of East 54th Street by Second Avenue, there is an interesting and relaxing little public space that is part of the apartment complex, The Connaught Tower. This is the perfect place to relax and unwind after a long walk with benches, small gardens and shade trees. In the front of this public space is the artwork by artist Alexander Liberman, ‘POPS209: Accord’, a large geometric sculpture.
Mr. Liberman’s, Russian born immigrant as way of France, career as an artist covered many different forms of art including photography, painting, sculpture and retiring as an Editorial Director at Conde Nast. In his sculpture work, he was noted for his use of industrial objects like steel drums, and I beam and then painting them in uniform bright colors. POPS209: Accord is example of that, but you almost miss it as the trees are growing all around it.
After several breaks in this public space, it was off to explore East 53rd Street. As I made my way back to the river passing the southern part of Sutton Place Park and rounding Sutton Place South onto East 53rd. Be careful when walking in this area. You are blind to cars coming on street from Sutton Place South and they may not stop.
What stands here is this small red brownstone at 413 East 53rd Street that sits like a poor sole amongst the large apartment buildings that surround it.
This little building doesn’t look as good as this now on the outside, but it does have a colorful history in the transformation of this neighborhood several times. The property was once part of the Beekman estate in an area of summer homes and estates of wealthy downtown Manhattanites.
After the Civil War and the land boom that pretty much doomed the Beekman’s estate, this area was built up with tenement housing for the working class who worked in the nearby factories and this little house must have built somewhere in the late 1880’s. It has been lived in by several interesting characters.
The house was once lived in by corrupt politicians who were once slum lords in other parts of the neighborhood, then by a prostitute and her pimp and after that to an insurance company which dealt with cremations. After that it became a sheet metal shop and was fought over and sold by the slum lord’s estate (Daytonian in Manhattan).
By the time that Mrs. Vanderbilt and Mrs. Morgan built their homes up the road, the little brick building became a clock shop and then for the next several years was an antique reproduction store. Its last incarnation was as a dentist office and the upper two floors was renovated into a luxury home. Now it sits empty and boarded up waiting for the next stage of its history. So much history for such a small building.
As you pass the corner of East 53rd Street and First Avenue, take a peek inside the doorway to 400-402 East 53rd and look at the secret garden behind the locked door. If you glare to the back, you will see the garden that is hidden behind all the buildings on this part of First Avenue between East 53rd and 52nd Streets. If you could only sneak inside to take a peek.
The secret garden hides behind this entrance
The hidden garden behind the doorway
Walking further down East 53rd Street, two small wooden homes that stood out among all the luxury buildings and commercial shops on the street. These two little wooden homes are two of the last remaining in Manhattan and are currently landmarked.
The homes were built in 1866 by Robert and James Cunningham, two returning Civil War veterans who returned to an ever-changing City. The area had once been the farm of David Devore and now contained slaughterhouses and factories and was considered ‘sketchy’. The brothers built the two twin wooden homes right before the City changed the building codes banning wooden homes due to fires destroying the City like the ‘Great Fire of 1835, which destroyed most of downtown (Daytonian in Manhattan).
The two homes are built in the French Second Empire Style and have mansard roofs and brick basements and a shared garden in the back of both homes. The brothers leased the homes out until 1870. In the 1920’s 312 East 53rd was leased to Lincoln Kitsten, who founded the New York City Ballet and then to Society Hostess Muriel Draper and her dancer son, John. The homes were landmarked in 1968 and 2000 respectively (Daytonian in Manhattan).
As you cross the street at Second Avenue and walk down the other side of the street heading back to the river, you will pass Éclair Bakery at 305 East 53rd Street (see reviews on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com), which I consider one the best independent bakeries I have tried on my walk since Estrella Bakery in Washington Heights and the now closed Glaser’s Bakery on the Upper East Side.
Éclair Bakery has some of the most delicious pastries, quiches and sandwiches at what I consider very reasonable prices for this part of the city. The Strawberry and Nutella mini doughnuts ($2.50) are pillowy and coated with sugar filled with fresh strawberry jelly and chocolaty Nutella and are three bite wonders.
The pillowy little Nutella and Strawberry Mini Doughnuts at Eclair Bakery.
The eclair’s ($5.75) come in various flavors and are arranged in the case like jewels. The Hazelnut was my favorite. The Quiche with ham and cheese ($5.75) when warmed up has a nice custard like texture and a sharpness due to the cheese. Everything here is delicious, and the service is really friendly.
Do not miss a visit to Éclair Bakery when visiting Sutton Place. Their delicious savory sandwiches.
The Ham and Cheese Quiche at Eclair Bakery is wonderful
The Turkey, Swiss and fresh tomato on a baguette is also delicious too
52nd Street between the river and Second Avenue is filled with mostly pre- and post-war buildings and filled with many embassies and consulates. As you walk toward the United Nations, you will notice that a lot of the smaller apartment buildings and brownstones between East 52nd and East 48th Street have many foreign signs.
Turning the corner onto East 51st Street on Second Avenue, you will see a change in the neighborhood again. Second Avenue is the border between Turtle Bay and Sutton Place East neighborhoods, and you will notice as you get further down the avenue block by block you will see a change between new modern apartment buildings and the smaller brownstone buildings that house the locally owned restaurants. It still is a neighborhood in this section between East 51st and East 49th Streets.
Again, on the corner of East 51st Street and First Avenue, you will pass the site of the Beekman Mansion on the way back to the East River. At the end of street, you will return to Peter Detmold Park. On a beautiful sunny day, take another walk across the bridge to take in the views of the East River and Roosevelt Island or just sit on the benches in the park and watch people playing with their dogs.
There is one little standout building on the Street at 328 East 51st Street. This beautiful little yellow townhouse was built in 1861 and was the home of actress Katharine Cornell when she moved back to the City in 1965. The two tiny sculptures that sit above the doorway are of Julia and Comfort Tiffany, the twin daughters of Louis Comfort Tiffany who were born in 1887. Ms. Cornell commissioned sculpture to artist, Mary Lawrence Tonetti, who was a good friend of her’s and whose son-in-law, Eric Gugler and architect, had designed the actress’s homes in Martha’s Vineyard and Sneden’s Landing (New York Times). Really look at the stonework and grill work of this home.
328 East 51st Street has a beauty of something in the French Quarter
When you turn the corner again to East 50th Street, the area around Beekman Place closer to the East River by the park has more classic brownstones and prewar apartment buildings and the area between First Avenue and the river is its own little enclave. Here the brownstones on the side streets are filled with many consulates. As you walked down to Second Avenue, the streets are lined with pre and post war buildings. Take the time though to walk Beekman Place and Mitchell Place near the Beekman Tower. It is like its own neighborhood.
Walking back and forth down East 49th Street, you will notice this lower part of the neighborhood is changing to more modern buildings and businesses catering to the United Nations around the corner and the same with East 48th Street which is more modern buildings and parking garages for the UN. The classic brownstones give way to the modern buildings of Midtown.
Still, you have two great restaurants between East 49th and 50th Streets, Mee’s Noodles for those wonderful dumplings and noodles at 930 Second Avenue and La Vera Pizzeria on the corner of East 49th Street and Second Avenue at 922 Second Avenue (see reviews on TripAdvisor).
My last trip into the neighborhood I made another trip to La Vera Pizzeria and the place was crowded with people getting off work from Midtown. Their pizza is very good, and the service is friendly.
The Cheese Pizza at La Vera Pizzeria is delicious
You can see how this part of the City like all others is in a state of transition as the brownstone buildings with their independent businesses are giving way to the more modern structures of today changing it to an extension of Midtown. Still many parts of the blocks have a ‘neighborhood’ feel to it and the area is loaded with interesting buildings, wonderful restaurants, small pocket parks and amazing views of the East River and the outer boroughs changing skyline. It is a wonderful place to just walk around and enjoy!
Steve Tyrell and Neil Sedaka “Laughter in the Rain”. It cheered me up!
I don’t know why but I kept humming this the entire time I walked Sutton Place. I had heard this the previous day at work and I could not get it out of my mind.
I had planned to go out to Punxsutawney, PA again for Groundhog’s Day but the weather really turned this year. There was an Arctic Vortex (or whatever they are calling it this week) and the weather plunged in Pennsylvania. It was going to be 20 degrees on Groundhog’s Day (that meant 0 degrees that night) and raining when I would drive home on Sunday and I thought that would be over doing it for me.
The sunrise in Staten Island park near the zoo
The sun was rising in the park
I later saw that it did go up to 38 degrees that day in Punxsutawney, higher than expected but the overnight Friday night into Saturday was 4 degrees and sorry but the thought of standing in Gobbler’s Knob for five and a half hours in that weather was too much. I did that in 2016 in 30 degrees and that was bad enough. I will wait until next year (I did not go back until eight years later).
My blog on visiting Punxsutawney, PA in 2016 and 2024 for Groundhog’s Day:
I then remembered that we have our own Groundhog Festival here in the New York City area at the Staten Island Zoo with ‘Groundhog Chuck’, an event I had heard of in the past. So when I knew that driving to PA was out (I was assisting with the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department at the Marcal Paper Factory fire on Wednesday night January 30th, 2019-See The Brothers of Engine One Blog site on WordPress.com that I write), I went online and looked at the festival that they had at the Staten Island Zoo.
My blog on the Marcal Paper Fire right before Groundhog’s Day:
So on a cold morning, I got up at 3:30am in the morning to get ready to go to Staten Island. It was not too much better on an early Saturday morning here as well. It was 19 degrees (versus 4 in PA) in Staten Island but off I drove into the darkness. The trip to the Staten Island Zoo was not that bad. I got to the zoo in forty minutes and there was plenty of parking. I guess not as many people had the same idea that I had. There were only about six other cars in the lot when I arrived.
A group of about ten of us were waiting outside the back gate when someone finally came to the gate and told us we were at the wrong gate. It would have been nice if some zoo personal was directing people to the parking lot (which was dark with not a lot of signage to see) and had a sign to go to the front gate.
The front gate of the Staten Zoo on Groundhog’s Day 2024
When the ten of us got to the front gate we were lucky in that the TV crews had already set up and there were only about ten other people there at the time so we got great views of the stage.
Trust me this is WAY smaller than the festival in Punxsutawney, PA. There were about a hundred and fifty people there that I could see and that included the staff, the politicians, the choir from P.S. 29 and their parents and the crowd of us but that made it more intimate. You were not elbow to elbow with people and did not have to camp out for the night. The Staten Island Zoo did a nice job. I still think they should move it to a bigger area of the zoo so that the kids could see it. Also, it would have been nice to put the choir and the dancing Groundhog (a staff member dressed in a Groundhog costume) on the stage so that more people could have seen them.
The Zoo staff introduced some of the local politicians to the event. Some of them kept it short and sweet and a few others had to make it about themselves and bring up things in Washington DC, which I think at an event like this has no place for it. It is a family event.
Still one of the local politicians made a good MC for the event and then introduced a student from P.S. 29, who played the “Star-Spangled Banner” for us on her violin and that was followed by the P.S. 29 choir, who sang a song about Groundhog’s Day. It was really cute and the kids did a nice job entertaining the crowd (See the video below).
Groundhog’s Day 2019
The Groundhog Ceremony at the Staten Island Zoo 2019 (that’s me in the Spartan knit hat)
Then the band, “Rock a Silly” played their song for Staten Chuck and it was quite clever. (See the band’s video on YouTube below).
The Rock-A-Silly Band with their original song for “Staten Island Chuck” (I give the band full credit for this video-very clever guys!)
The band got the crowd really moving on this cold morning.
After all the entertainment, it was time to hear the report from Chuck and the handlers took him out. There was a little of a commotion and then the report came. In the middle of this ‘deep freeze vortex’ Chuck’s prediction was SPRING IS COMING! Everyone cheered loudly at that. With that, there was a little more entertainment, then I was off to tour the zoo.
The Staten Island Zoo is very nice even in the cold weather. I was able to go into the main building and see the monkey, the reptile and the aquarium exhibits, which were nicely displayed and labeled so that you knew what animals were what. The only problem with the zoo is the space is very limited and surrounded by houses so there is no room to expand, so the living space for the animals is small. Still they look happy and content.
I stopped at the Zoo Cafe for a doughnut ($1.00) and to look at the gift shop. They had an interesting ‘Staten Island Chuck’ stuffed groundhog ($12.00) that I had to keep myself from buying (I bought it in 2020).
The zoo gift shop is stocked with all sorts of ‘Chuck’ coloring books, tee shirts and little do-dads as well as plush animals, pencils, shirts and hats. The zoo cafe has the usual hamburgers, chicken fingers and fries on the menu that will appeal to any child.
The stuffed toy Staten Island Chuck I bought in 2020. It is a real must have from that day!
I walked around the zoo as it started to warm up (now 25 degrees) and went to the outside pens to see the pigs, donkey’s, kangaroos, emus, geese and ducks. The poor emus looked so cold that they were chasing after me with a look in their eyes like either I had food or was going to take them inside. I really felt for the animals in this cold.
The Staten Island Zoo during the winter months
By the time I left the zoo, it was 9:45am and the zoo still had not opened. There was myself and two other families left in the early hours zoo and by the time I got back to the parking lot, there were only six cars left.
It was so cold that even Chuck was not home. I think he was inside
Even though it was not the crowds of the event in Punxsutawney, PA, it was still a cute event that you should not miss on future Groundhog’s Day when you are visiting New York City. The Staten Island Zoo puts on a good show!
The Staten Island Zoo during the winter on Groundhog’s Day
Groundhog’s Day 2020:
In 2020, the ceremony was much toned down from the year before. First, the weather was much nicer than last year. I got up this year at 5:00am and was out the door by 6:15am. The zoo I found out last year is only thirty-five minutes from my house and I did not need to rush. The zoo does not have the crowds of Punxsutawney. Again there were about a hundred or so people at the zoo this morning and when the sun rose, it was warm and sunny about 43 degrees.
Looking over the stage on Groundhog’s Day
The ceremony was only twenty minutes this year. There was no band and no kids choir at the service. Being Super Bowl Sunday, it seemed to me that everyone wanted to get out of there and rushed the whole thing. There were the same politicians with the same lame jokes and it seemed that Speaker Corey Johnson is running for Mayor of New York City (Good Choice!). At least he admitted the jokes were lame and just wished everyone a Happy Groundhog’s Day.
The Groundhog’s Day sign at the Staten Island Zoo
Then they could not even get Chuck out of his Plexiglas pen to hold him up (the Groundhog kept running away. He probably didn’t like the jokes either), so they just announced the weather prediction of an early Spring and then they played a recording of the children’s choir singing and that was the program. We were done in about thirty minutes. It was so quick that a woman walked in with her son at 7:45am and asked if this was the ceremony. The guy standing next to me said that it was already over and they were packing up. She was a little pissed because she said to the guy that she just got dropped off with her son and her husband was parking the car. So much for pomp and circumstance!
The Staten Island Zoo Snack Shop
After the ceremony, I walked around the zoo again and visited with the monkey’s, kangaroos and sheep. The ostriches and Emu’s were rather friendly this year and seemed more chipper than last year, but it was because it was not as cold. In fact, most of the animals were out this year. So, I just enjoyed my time walking around the zoo and stopped into the Zoo Snack Shop and had another doughnut (Still $1.00) and just relaxes. This year I did buy the stuffed Chuck from the gift shop (he now sits prominently near my Dayton’s Santa Bear, Hamley’s Bear, Macy’s Snoopy and Brooks Brother’s Brooks Bear (I love retail stuffed animals).
Staten Island Zoo Gift Shop-Chuck is on the top shelf
Even the geese were cold on Groundhog’s Day
Groundhog’s Day in 2025:
The musical performance of the band live singing ‘Staten Island Chuck’:
The live musical performance at the event
There was also a second song about Groundhog’s Day:
The second song on Groundhog’s Day
The ceremony was a little on the long side because every politician had to chime in but still was a lot of fun:
The Opening Ceremony in 2025
The next person to talk was the Zoo Director:
The Staten Island Zoo directors speech
It was nice to welcome back the choir of P.S. 29 in Staten Island who had entertained us back in 2019. They had not been there in 2020 during the start of the pandemic.
The musical performance of P.S. 29
Senator Nicole Malliotakis giving a speech during the ceremony
The prediction of an early Spring:
The prediction was of an early Spring
Even Chuck looked happy
What a great day at the Staten Island Zoo
The Zoo also has a nice gift shop, where a ‘Staten Island Chuck’ stuffed animal will cost you $20.00 ( in 2020 I bought the little stuffed animal. It is really cute). There is also a restaurant with stand kid fare like chicken fingers and burgers in the afternoon hours. There selection of doughnuts are really good. For a dollar, it is worth the trip.
The Staten Island Zoo Snack Shop
The menu is very basic but the food is really good
I ate a early lunch at the Snack Shop and the food is very reasonable. I got a Grilled Cheese with Bacon with a side of French Fries and a Coke and it was really good. The selection of items are the typical items that appeal to children and adults alike.
The Grilled Cheese lunch at the Staten Island Zoo Snack Shop
I would highly suggest the Grilled Cheese with Bacon as savory and buttery and was really gooey. The perfect comfort food on a cold day.
The Grilled Cheese with Bacon was the perfect lunch on a cold day
The gift shop has a lot of fun things to buy and I did buy a Staten Island Chuck in 2020 when I visited the second time. It really is a great toy and memento of the event.
The stuffed Staten Island Chuck is the perfect gift to remember the event
Meanwhile in Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of Winter. It depends on who you want to listen to in the forecast. Once they finished the ceremony, everyone took pictures with Chuck and then they put the poor, cold guy away. It should be interesting 2025 what the weather will be in the next six weeks.
I walked around the zoo after the ceremony, starting by walking through the African, Tropical Forest and the Aquarium which were located towards the front of the zoo. I walked through the aquarium which is small but still nice and you are able to see many types of fish and plant life.
The Aquarium tanks at the zoo
The Aquarium tanks from the Asian River Tank
The Starfish tank in the tanks
The Pacific Kelp Forest with kelp and starfish
The Red Bellied Pacu fish display in the Jungle exhibition
The Pacu sign describing the fish
The Pacu fish in the display
In the African exhibition, I loved looking at the bearded monkeys who just looked back at me and then it was off to the reptile wing to look at snakes, turtles and frogs.
The display of the Lemur monkeys
The Lemur just stared at me
I went outside later in the morning and looked at the horses (who looked freezing) and the kangaroos, who looked at me like they wanted to run back inside (it was about 35 degrees at that point). The emus looked at me with desperation as well like ‘at least he is going to feed us’ look.
The Llamas and Pony looked at me like they were shivering
None of the outdoor animals looked comfortable in this weather. Even Staten Island Chuck was inside because his keeper said that it was too cold even for him to be outside.
The Llamas looking at all of us when we were walking around
After the zoo, it was such a nice morning that I once again walked along the retail stretch of Forest Avenue near the zoo and zig-zagged through some of the stores that were open. People were getting ready for the Super Bowl, so a lot of the food stores were busy with take-out orders. Most of the restaurants were quiet.
Pastosa Ravioli is a wonderful Italian specialty shop that looks and smells terrific. They had samples of their sandwiches for you to taste. I had a ham and mozzarella small sample and I was ready to order a sandwich. When I can eat outside, I will be back to have lunch.
I did stop into an old-line Italian bakery, Moretti’s Bakery at 640 Forest Avenue (see review on TripAdvisor) and have another doughnut. This time a creme filled powered doughnut ($1.25) and God was that good. They have a very nice selection of baked goods at very fair prices and good service.
The doughnut selection of the bakery is so tempting
The selection at Moretti’s Bakery
The delicious treats at the bakery
After that I just walked through the local park and drove home. The whole thing was done this year in about an hour and a half. Oh well, off to the firehouse for the Super Bowl game.
The doughnuts at Moretti’s Bakery are delicious!
Here’s the ceremony in 2020!
I thought this commercial with Bill Murray and reuniting the cast from the film for this commercial:
This is very clever!
This interview with Bill Murray:
This is very clever!
The Groundhog Day Trailer-Excellent film
Very clever cartoon when the Mayor dropped the Groundhog in Staten Island
The wonderful mural honoring the FDNY
McDonalds at 803 Forest Avenue around the corner is always a good place for a snack
Admission: Adults (15 and over) $10.00/Seniors (60 and over) $7.00/Children (3-16) $6.00/Wednesdays after 2:00pm is free to everyone. Free with membership. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
The Cafe and the Gift shop are open when the zoo is open.
I gave up a day in Manhattan Valley and took one of the walking ‘trends tours’ with the Fashion Institute of Technology. These theme tours cover neighborhoods that are considered ‘up and coming’ or are already there but at the cutting edge at this point.
What is all really means is that the artists are still struggling, the buildings are not shiny and perfect and the stores and restaurants are in their first generation in the neighborhood mixing with the older neighborhood spots. Red Hook reminded me a small urban neighborhood isolated from the rest of ‘stroller Brooklyn’ closer to Prospect Park.
The tour was lead by Deborah Geiger, the Director of Content from Envirosell. Deborah Geiger, who you will note on ‘MywalkinManhattan.com Day Forty-Seven Touring Bushwick’ (July 9, 2016), lead the tour of Bushwick last summer.
I teased Deborah this time wondering where ‘they were’ for this group. She wondered what I was talking about and I said on every tour I go on for school there is always one pain in the ass who either gets tired, can’t keep up with the tour, their hot or its not what they thought it was when they signed up.
They whine the whole time and want the complete attention of the tour guide the whole time. We had one this time again and thank God this one left the group as soon as we got to Red Hook. He lasted about twenty minutes into the tour and decided to leave. I wish more of them would do this so they don’t wreak it for the rest of us. I really think the college should explain to these people that every tour is different and the fact that it is ‘a walking tour’.
We started our tour for the day at the lobby of FIT, so we had time to see the new “Force of Nature” exhibition at the The Museum at FIT (See TripAdvisor review and my blog “VisitingaMuseum.com”). Don’t miss this as the clothes are interesting and they mounted the exhibition with interesting clothes through the ages.
The Museum at FIT
Then it was a short trip by subway to the tip of Manhattan by the South Street Seaport where we took the IKEA Water Taxi to Red Hook docking by the giant IKEA store on the base of Red Hook. That was fun and what a beautiful day it was to travel by boat.
Red Hook
The ride via New York Water Taxi is complimentary on weekends with the thanks from IKEA. It is a nice way to travel between spots especially on a warm, sunny day.
‘Clothing through the Ages’ exhibition
The trip took only twenty minutes but what a beautiful trip. We got the most picturesque view of lower Manhattan and of the Statue of Liberty. The view of all the buildings is spectacular. This is New York City the way people imagine it all over the world.
Talk about Street Art: Me on a side street with “The Shining”
We landed at the slip where IKEA is located and walked around the harbor area to Van Brunt Street, the main artery of Red Hook, for a quick snack at Baked, 359 Van Brunt Street (See review on TripAdvisor).
Baked Red Hook
It is one of those coffee shops that every neighborhood should have with cool seating, interesting music and the most delicious baked goods. I had the most amazing cinnamon rolls that I have ever had. This giant delight was filled with loads of cinnamon and had the thickest icing. It was a treat. We gobbled our treats down and then headed off to the Van Brunt Stillhouse at 6 Bay Street for a tasting.
The Van Brunt Stillhouse is an artisan distillery that produces high quality whiskey and rum. The owner had been in television and decided to make a career change. He had been dabbling in this for a long time and decided to make it a career. We had a tour of the small Stillhouse with its barreling all around us and a funky tasting room. We were allowed to taste the aged whiskey and get a good mouth feel of the product. After one shot, that was more than enough for me.
We moved on to more touring as we walked to the water to the former warehouses housing the Red Hook Winery at 175 Van Dyke Street for a tour of the facility. The Winery is really interesting as it is housed in an old shipping facility that has been converted into a wedding venue and an art gallery. If you get a chance to visit the winery, it is really interesting. Its not your normal winery as it has three different owners with three different philosophies.
Red Hook Winery 175 Van Dyke Street
They buy their grapes from the North Fork of Long Island and Upstate New York and created their own wines and blends. The collection is rounded off by other high quality New York wines. Our tour guide showed us the barreling method they use and that they still use their feet to crush grapes for the wine. I thought that was an interesting fact. We toured their ‘racking’ method of wine by rotating the barrels and sampling.
The front of the winery is used for tastings and for socializing. The place was mobbed by the time we got there and it was definitely a younger crowd. I was surprised as I thought the next generation was not interesting in these things. People were tasting wines, conversing about them and looking over the selection. It is an impressive room done in light stained colors and surrounded by the selection of wines.
Our next stop on the tour was Cacao Prieto at 218 Conner Street. This is the most unusual factory tour that we tour. When you enter the back of the factory, there is a tree growing in the middle of the building. We all got a kick out that. The guide let us see the small factory with its showroom up front and production areas off to the side. The whole set up is really nice and the chocolate bars are so beautifully designed.
Cocao Prieto at 218 Conner Street
Our next part of the tour lead us Van Brunt Street to the Peninsula Art Space at 352 Van Brunt Street. We walked through the exhibition of ‘Grand Ole Opera’, an exhibition by Brent and Willie Stewart. The Tennessee born artists exhibition is their institutional debut in the United States, also serves as a venue for a related series of noise, metal and rock concerts, staged within a revival tent.
“Within the exhibition itself, cinematic tableau’s reveal a truck turned to AM radio; bizarre trailer-homes containing surreal sculptural landscapes. a perpetually-burning sun projected under a revival ten, which doubles as a stage; the “murder bar”, a nomadic functioning biker bar from the Deth Killers of Bushwick and Romulus and Remus, who nursed at the wolf’s breast and founded ancient Rome, found in a bar-fight”. (Catalogue Pioneer Works)
It was an interesting experience walking through 70’s recreational vehicles and watching B movies on the screen. It was a real ‘red-neck’ experience. The gallery even has a court yard to walk around where more of the exhibition was housed.
After that it was a tour of the Peninsula Art Space at 352 Van Brunt Street for a look at their latest exhibition. While looking at the work of a local artist (interesting perspective of the neighborhood in his paintings), we had a lively debate on the gentrification of the neighborhood and the one the gallery representative lived in, Bed-Sty. We debated the attributes about living above and below Gates Street where all the projects are located. She was amazed that I knew so much but I do read these articles.
Art at the Peninsula Gallery at 352 Van Brunt Street
Our last stop closer to the border of the neighborhood was the Raaka Chocolate Factory at 64 Seabring Street off Van Brunt Street. This is the most interesting candy factory where the owner just fell into the field when travelling abroad and found the cocoa beans.
Raaka Chocolate Company
The factory has created a top of the line assortment of dark chocolate bars that are beautifully packaged. I do have a thing about $10.00 chocolate bars but these are a once in a while treat and the best part is they let you sample all the bars. The best was the lavender and the ghost pepper, which took time to linger on your taste buds when you bit into it. Like most of the factories we visited, we got a sample to the small cottage industries that are developing in this section of Brooklyn. I can go back for a more formal tour and tasting in the future.
We took a pit stop at Dolce Brooklyn for homemade gelato at 305 Van Brunt Street. This store has the most amazing homemade ice creams and gelato (See TripAdvisor review). I had the most delicious home trio of Strawberry Mint, Blueberry Lavender and Raspberry Mint. God , were these refreshing on a hot, humid day.
Me enjoying the Gelato at Dolce Brooklyn (see review on TripAdvisor)
There was a tangy-tartness to the flavors and they really do quench your taste buds. We were talking to the owner, who is French and he and the lady working the counter explained how his wife had gone to Italy to learn how to make proper gelato. I thought that was going to the extremes but it was well worth it in quality. The shop should not be missed on a hot day and it is one of those stores every neighborhood should have with its cool seating and relaxing atmosphere.
On our way back down Van Brunt Street, we stopped to go through some of the local stores and I got separated from the group. With only fifteen minutes left on the tour and totally starved (that was the only bad part of the tour is that we did not have time to stop for lunch), I figured the rest of the group was heading back to the ferry to go to Manhattan.
I decided to get some lunch and stopped at Marc’s Pizza at 326 Van Brunt Street (See review on TripAdvisor) for a slice of pizza and a potato croquette. The food is very good and you will love the atmosphere. The owner is a real character. Over the cash register there is a sign that shows a gun and it reads “We don’t call 911!”. The owner says he asks nicely the first time and then people stop (if you know what I mean). It’s not something you want to test. The pizza is great though and he gives you a nice size slice and his sauce has a lot flavor. The potato croquette is great as well. It’s a nice place for a quick lunch.
Mark’s Red Hook Pizza
I walked around the bottom part of Van Brunt Street, looking at the shops and galleries. I stopped in Foxy & Winston at their gift selection. Not only does the owner have a nice of stuffed animals and stationary but she has the nicest dog to pet. He is so friendly that he distracted me from the group as they left without me. It was no matter it is a nice store that should be visited. I wanted to stay behind to explore some more.
My last stop on the tour was the Rood Gallery at 373 Van Brunt Street. I was attracted by the display in her windows of these little clay creatures by artist Peter Opheim. He makes the most unusual little clay monsters or characters, I don’t know how to describe them. They look like Japanese Pokémon. It was funny that I mentioned that to gallery owner, Samar Maziad. She told me that when Japanese tourist visit the gallery they will buy a few because they think the same thing. The only problem is that they are not cheap. They come with a small painting and certificate and beautifully boxed in a collection but at the same time are several thousand dollars. Their better to look at and admire.
The Rood Gallery at 373 Van Brunt Street
I ended my tour walking around the waterfront at the Pier 44 Waterfront Garden and then walked back to the Erie Basin Park where IKEA was located and where the ferry is located. What a view of the Manhattan skyline! It must be something when its dark outside. These parks are a very nice place to just sit and relax and admire the view.
Still for all its charm and small town feel, Red Hook was still under water when Hurricane Sandy hit and it below sea level. Not an environment that I want to live in. You debate all of this in an up and coming neighborhood but still Red Hook, Brooklyn does have its charm to it. It was a engaging tour and I give tour guide Deborah Geiger credit again for a great touring experience. Its nice when your can meet shop owners and manufacturers who are working to create a real neighborhood.
These ‘trend’ walking tours are taken through the Fashion Institute of Technology Continue Education program and are well worth the price ($45.00). You can visit any part of the city on your own but to really see the neighborhood and experience meeting the business owners and seeing the out of the way places you might miss on your own, they are a lot of fun. You can access all tours on the college website.
I am also an Alumnus of The Fashion Institute of Technology (Class of 93) and a Lifetime member of the FIT Alumni Association.
Also don’t miss my blog about the recent “Barnacle Parade” every October:
I had some business to do uptown on my way back from Chinatown in Lower Manhattan and had to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the afternoon, so I decided to check out the new Q line stops along the new Second Avenue line. The Q line runs all the way from Coney Island with me picking it up on Canal Street. What an amazing trip!
“Perfect Strangers” on the West 72nd Street subway line
The new construction of the subway lines has been in the works for almost a hundred years and has recently completed four stops along the Second Avenue line that make travelling to uptown Manhattan a real pleasure. The fact that not too many people have caught on to the line yet makes it even better as there is plenty of room to sit down on the brand new cars and you are not squeezing in like on the number 6 line. If you have ever been on the Number 6 subway in Manhattan at rush hour, you know what I am talking about. Sardines are not squeezed in like this.
I have been on the line twice since it has opened and what a pleasure it is to get a seat and relax instead of someone pushing into your back for a three stop trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The subway car is one of the new ones with the blue seats you do not have to squeeze into and you can see and hear all the announcements. The old joke of everyone is ‘mumbling’ over the speaker is still true on most subway cars in the city. With all the racket going on between the cars, the speakers and the occasional person singing and dancing in the subway car (I don’t think they have discovered them yet), you can’t hear a thing. It is so nice to read the paper in peace on this line.
It is interesting to note that they have been trying to build this part of the subway since 1919. This first phase of the subway route was conceived when it was realized that the ‘Fourth Avenue line’ was over-crowded and needed to ease the congestion. In 1927, a rapid transit plan was put out that called for a six-track Second Avenue subway line. These plans were abandoned with the Great Depression in favor for completing the IND line. It was revisited again in the 40’s then World War Two broke out.
In 1965, one year after the Urban Mass Transit Act mandated that federal funding be made available for transit programs, the MTA was founded. The Second Avenue Subway plan was proposed in 1968 with one two-track line stretching from 34th Street to the Bronx. The city broke down in 1972 when the city was granted $25 million in Federal funding. Construction started at East 103rd Street and Second Avenue but construction was halted in 1975 due to the Financial Crisis and the project was abandoned again with only three little tunnels between Chatham Square and Canal Street, 99th, 105th and 110th and 120th Streets. (New York Magazine and Gothamist.com 2016)
With Environmental Impact Studies done in 2004, the project was planned in four phases to be completed between 2004 and 2006. Ground was broken for Phase One in 2007 at 99th/101st Street and the project was to done in four phases with the first to go from 63rd Street to 96th Streets. Phase Two has been planned to start in 2019 with the line expanding to 125th Street with the last two Phases expanding down to Lower Manhattan. This will create the T Line while bringing back the W Line to Queens. All of this will alleviate the traffic on the 6 Line. (New York Magazine, Gothamist.com).
The best part of the subway line on top of the cleanliness is the artwork. The MTA Art & Design had four different artists create the work for the four completed lines. Their works are amazing and you feel like you are in a gallery instead of a subway station:
Entering the new station at East 96th Street and Second Avenue.
The Upper level of the subway painting
This creativity starts at 96th Street as you enter the subway with a combination of steel and blue lights and take the escalator down a futuristic tunnel down to the platform and you gaze upon the artwork of artist Sarah Sze. When you see the work from the subway platform, it almost looks like flying papers outside. When you walk the whole platform, you see what she is trying to achieve.
Ms. Sze is a Boston native American artist who has a BA from Yale and MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Her specialty ranges from sculpture, painting, film making, printing, drawing and instillation (Artist Bio).
Artist Sarah Sze designing the subway station
Her ‘Blueprint for a Landscape’ when completed with tile masters from Spain who used porcelain to produce the work. It takes a few walks around to see the true detail of the work. The work is made up of fragmented images of scaffolding, birds, chairs and leaves. It is like being outside in a wind storm. The main body of work on the platform you can see the papers flying around and as you take the escalator up, you see the blue and white scaffolding, which took me two trips to figure out what is was. Off to the side, you see the birds in flight. It is like seeing a day in New York City with the different aspects of the city flying by. The most touching part is the ‘Subway’ poem by Billy Collins (born 1941).
Subway
As you fly swiftly underground
with a song in your ears
or lost in a maze of a book
remember the ones who have descended here
into the mire of bedrock
to bore a hole through this granite
to clear a passage for you
where there was only darkness and stone
remember as you come up into the light
A touching poem to match the beauty of the art work.
At the 86th Street stop you will be dazzled by the artwork of one of my favorite artists, Chuck Close. I had marveled at his artwork when I lived in Chicago at the Contemporary Museum. You always know his work by the powerful real life images that he presents. He created 12 large-scale works that spread throughout the platforms. Really look at the artwork and you will see that they are made of tiny mosaic pieces.
Artist Chuck Close in tile at the 86th Street stop
Mr. Close is an American born artist from Washington State. He earned his BA from the University of Washington and his MFA from Yale University. His specialty is photography and painting with an emphasis on Portraiture (Artist Bio).
Chuck Close self-portrait
The name plate
It was also the detailed construction of these pieces and the work that went into creating them that is impressive. There are even two self-portraits of Mr. Close in the station proudly pronouncing his work to subway riders. Take the time to really look at the details of each piece even when security looks at you funny (as they did with me twice).
The “Emma” Portrait at 86th Street
The name plate
Arriving at the East 86th Street station is almost futuristic
At 72nd Street, Brazilian artist, Vic Muniz has created a series called “Perfect Strangers” with portraits of real New Yorkers.
Mr. Muniz is a Brazilian born artist who lives and works between New York City and Rio de Janeiro. His specialty is mixed media and photography (Artist Bio).
Vik Muniz’s plaque at the 72nd Street Subway stop
There are portraits of men holding hands, a policeman holding a Popsicle and a man chasing flying papers, who I have read is the artist himself. The artist created this work based on staged photographs on people he knows.
Again really look at the details that created these works. I almost immediately thought I was going crazy when I thought one of them was Daniel Boulud, the famous chef holding a fish in a bag until I read later on that it was him. To see him immortalized in a subway station artwork I thought was a real testament to him as a chef.
The characters of “Perfect Strangers” display all over the East 72nd Street Station
Chef Daniel Boulud in tile
Tiger man
Holding Balloons
Superman
Little Kids
Couple waiting for the Q Train
Waiting for the Q Train
Waiting for the Q Train with “Perfect Strangers”
“Perfect Strangers”
“Perfect Strangers”
“Perfect Strangers”
The 63rd Street station is not modernistic as the other three stations but still has a sense of newness to it. It is also kept so clean now to match the other stations. Artist Jean Shin work is featured at this station. You really have to go outside the station to see the just of her work which was quoted as being inspired by the idea of illustrating the demolition of the Second and Third Avenue elevated lines.
Her more geometric pieces really show the metal work of a different era as well as her work was based on when “she dug through archives at the New York Transit Museum and at the New York Historical Society and used photographs she found based on the images of everyday riders and pedestrians from the 1920’s through the 1940’s, along with geometric shots of elevated girders being dismantled” (New York Times 2016). It took some reading on my part to figure it out. Again you really have to walk the stop to get the feel of her work.
The best part of these new stops are how clean they are and how well-managed the people from the MTA keep them. The three nights I traveled the new Q Line, the gentlemen from the MTA are constantly mopping and sweeping the cars and the platforms. They take immense pride in taking care of ‘their’ station and it shows in their work. The MTA should proud of how well-maintained these new stations are and should take note for many of their other stations that could use the same TLC.
So this is your opportunity readers to see the subway stops on your way to the Met or the Museum of the City of New York, the Conservatory or even Central Park and see the marvel of how art, commerce and construction and immense creativity on the part of the MTA, the City Planners and dedicated construction workers put their best foot forward and gave the city a living, breathing ‘art museum’ to pass through every day.
But SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! We want to enjoy first before the tourist get there.
The Q Subway line being developed
Update since this Blog: August 1, 2018 and December 21st, 2024.
According to Our Town Paper of the Upper East Side, the ridership on the new Q line has exceeded expectations as it is stealing riders from the Number 6 line:
The Q/F Stop at Lexington & East 63rd Street: 20,893 riders
The Q/F Stop at East 72nd Street: 28,145 riders
The Q/F Stop at East 86th Street: 23,722 riders
The Q/F Stop at East 96th Street: 17,150 riders
This has eased the Number 6 line by almost 23% to 29% on most of the same stops. Right now there are plans to expand the line to East 125th Street with stops at East 106th Street, East 116th Street and East 125th Street that could be finished by 2029 if the funding from the government comes through. The cost could be around $6 billion; work on Phase One lasted ten years and cost $4.5 billion. The first phase took almost a hundred years to build with most being set up in the early 70’s before the money crunch of the City.
In 2025, the extension is ready to go and the tunnel between 115th to 120th Streets is already completed and a new tunnel to 125th Street is in the works. It will be one of the biggest mass-transit projects in New York City history when it is done.
Money very well spent!
(Our Town Newspaper August 1st, 2018)
Like an underground museum that everyone just walks by
I finally finished my two Brooklyn tours through school and was back up in Harlem today. It was a long day of walking as those city blocks across are long. I started at the subway stop at 168th Street and walked down to 155th Street (the subway was not running to 155th Street over the weekend).
As usual when I have to walk down Broadway, I stopped at my new favorite bakery, Estrella Bakery at 3861 Broadway (check out the numerous reviews on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com) for chicken pastelitos and cubanitos.
The pastries at Five Star Estrella Bakery are wonderful
If you like hot snacks and sweet desserts, this will be your ‘go to’ place for a quick snack when walking up here. The food here is wonderful and the selection of baked items and snacks is extensive. It is still one of the reasons why I don’t complain about getting off at 168th Street when the C subway is not in service. I like to stop at one of the pocket parks on Broadway to relax and eat. It was a long afternoon of walking.
Don’t miss Five Star Estrella Bakery at 3861 Broadway
My walk over these three days took me from 155th Street to 145th Street from Riverside Drive to Lenox Avenue (there are still some side streets on the other side of Jackie Robinson Park that I have not finished yet). Don’t let these maps fool you, these are long blocks being walked in humid weather.
I started my walk today at the Hispanic Society of America Museum at 613 West 155th Street which is on the Boricua College-Manhattan Campus. It shares the campus with the American Academy of Arts & Letters, which closed down in June for the rest of the summer. The Hispanic Society of America is a free museum that is small enough that you can enjoy the visit for about an hour without being overwhelmed like you would at one of the bigger museums.
The Hispanic Society of America at 613 West 155 Street
It was a small but no less impressive collection of Spanish Art from different periods. The Hispanic Society of America was founded as a free museum and research library in 1904 by the American scholar and philanthropist Archer Milton Huntington (1870-1955). Over the past century, the Hispanic Society had promoted the study of the rich artistic and cultural traditions of Spain and Portugal and their areas of influence in the Americas and throughout the world. The Museum and Library constitute the most extensive collection of Hispanic are and literature outside Spain and Latin America (Hispanic Society of America literature).
The front galleries
The museum had a nice crowd that afternoon, (how these people found it I will never know. I never knew it existed) and the galleries were small but the work was impressive. Some of the pieces that stood out were Jouquin Sorallo y Bastida’s ‘Vision of Spain’ created between 1911-1919, with many traditional views of parts of Spain and ‘After the Bath’ done in 1908, which looked more like a contemporary beach scene.
The portrait gallery
The one piece that stuck in my mind was a new piece to the collection, ‘The Four Fates of the Soul’, which showed Death, Heaven, Purgatory and Hell. The sculpture really proved it’s point and made me think that we really are being watched from above. Even the guard as I was leaving said it was a new piece to the collection but people really talked about it as they were leaving.
I thought this painting was a bit creepy
After the museum, I had about ten minutes to walk around Trinity Cemetery, which is a quiet but scenic place. On a nice sunny afternoon, it can be an interesting place to tour around in.
The graves on this side of Broadway overlook the Hudson River and are so peaceful with beautiful views, it makes you think of where you want your final resting place to be located. To live eternity here says something. Even the views of New Jersey are gorgeous. Be sure to get to the museum and the grave site early as they do close at 4:00pm.
Trinity Cemetery on 155th Street
I began my zig-zag trip of this part of Harlem at 154 Street and from there until 145th Street, the areas between Riverside Drive and Edgecombe Avenue house some of the most beautiful and elegant brownstones that I have seen in the city. So many of the them are under scaffolding as the new population moving up here is putting a lot of money into the renovations of these properties. The results are amazing with wooden doors, elegant metal work cleaned up and lively planters all around the stairs and the windows.
With the CUNY campus just south of this area, you can see that college population is spreading its wings all over the neighborhood as the students, even in the summer, are moving in or living in this neighborhood and invest in buying in the bodegas, restaurants and hanging around the parks. The more diverse population looks like it is really making an effort to work together for this neighborhood. The most beautiful of these blocks is concentrated between Amsterdam Avenue and Nicholas Street so take time to really look at these homes and see the love and care that is put into them.
Another stop I made was in the Hope Steven Garden at 153rd Street that runs through 152nd Street. This was an empty lot between all the buildings that has now been cleaned up and the neighborhood held their Annual Open House & Barbecue for the neighborhood. It was not much of a turnout at that point of the afternoon but all the neighborhood seniors looked at me like ‘oh oh, another one is moving in’. You begin to pick up on these things when you walk through neighborhoods that have not seen me before.
Hope Steven Garden at 505 West 142nd Street
Everyone was really nice though and some of the ladies were explaining how the neighborhood banded together to clean and landscape the garden. The garden now contains peach trees, berry bushes and a grape arbor while supporting a cat colony that lives in the garden. Some of the neighbors were grilling hamburgers and hot dogs and older residents were chatting amongst themselves. No one made a fuss about me eating and since I was not hungry, I did not partake in the barbecue but it looked pretty good.
Most of the residents sat around and chatted with their neighbors or busy working in the garden. As I sat down to rest, two of the women who volunteer here, looked like they wanted to recruit me to do the same as they told me the story of how the city’s water aqueduct runs underneath the garden so they can never build here and how bad the neighborhood had become and how it was coming back to life. It takes a big person to show the immense pride in a neighborhood.
I stopped back in Convent Garden again to visit Ms. Davis, who was chatting the afternoon away while getting her exercise working in their garden. She was telling me that they will be having a jazz concert with food on Labor Day Weekend and invited me to join in. This I don’t want to miss as it is my two favorite things, jazz music and food. The volunteers were really working away at making this garden the well maintained and colorful place that the garden is to the neighborhood. Everything is in full bloom right now.
Convent Garden in full bloom at Convent Street and St. Nicholas Avenue
The Sugar Hill neighborhood is really impressive and you could see that this was not one of the places that went downhill as the rest of Harlem decayed in the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s. It was and still is an grand group of homes that their owners take a lot of pride in. Now that the rest of the city has caught up with it, it will be interesting to see what comes out of it the next few years.
Maggie’s Garden is now part of the NYC Parks system
Another small oasis exists on 149th Street, which is Maggie’s Garden. It was locked at the time but also another garden taken from an empty lot and brought back to life. Maggie Burnett, are Harlem resident, turned what was once a ‘rickety old house’ when torn down into an urban oasis starting in 1974.
Fighting off drug dealers to build the garden, she got some help from New York Restoration Project and its founder, Bette Midler who assisted in 1999 helping clear the site and now it is a garden with trees, flowers, a full vegetable garden and a barbecue. You could not see all that from the locked gates. (Daily News article).
Maggie’s Garden at 564 West 149th Street
The artwork in front of Maggie’s Garden on a recent trip
I was able to start my walk on the other side of Bradhurst Avenue on the other side of Jackie Robinson Park. I will let you know that the college students from CUNY have discovered the park and were sunning themselves the afternoon I walked around the park. Bradhurst Avenue has a lot of new buildings on it and the businesses include a Starbucks so you know that neighborhood is going through a transition.
Jackie Robinson Park at 85 Bradhurst Avenue
To let you know though, this transition stops here and the further you get away from the park, the seedier the area gets. By the time you hit Lenox Avenue, gentrification has not hit this area of the neighborhood and you should watch yourself. The buildings are beautiful and there is a police station a block in but it still needs a lot of work on this side of West 145th Street.
The end of the walk that day was at 145th Street and lunch at Harlem Brothers Pizza & Wings at 346 West 145th Street (Closed in 2021) which is right next store to Victorio’s Pizza that is more of the rave. The pizza was just average and the sauce did not have much flavor to it. The funny part was to listen to Indian music while eating my pizza. That was strange.
The pizza at Victorio’s is excellent. Very crisp and the sauce is amazing
My recommendation is go to Victorio’s Pizza and get it to go and eat it in Jackie Robinson Park. The middle of the park has benches to sit on and the park is really pretty with its slopping walkways and rock work and it’s large trees to sit under.
The front of Jackie Robinson Park’s band stand facing Bradhurst Avenue
The entire walk between 155th Street and 145th Street with an extra afternoon walking down Convent Avenue took almost five hours. Again, don’t let these blocks fool you as they are long and you will want to stop in the parks and gardens and walk around.
Places to Visit:
Jackie Robinson Park
85 Bradhurst to Edgecombe Avenues at 145th Street to Manhattan Avenue
mywalkinmanhattan 