The Creation of the Case Study Project “Mother Goose’s Toy Chest”:
I have been teaching “Introduction to Business 101” at Bergen Community College for several years now and in the era of COVID, it has been especially difficult. With businesses shutting down never to reopen, I think some of my students thought it was an unusual time to open a business. This is when you need to test your entrepreneurship when times are tough.
In my live classes, I open my consulting company, “Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.”, for business and the whole class bands together and we have one big project. In the era of COVID and online learning, these projects become impossible to do as a group so each student got the opportunity to create their own store.
In the past, I have created these projects under the Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. banner, the main consulting company, the Orion Malls banner, a Mall design company and the Buscomonzefi.com banner, my Tech Division. Each business does its best to be creative, forward thinking and have a thought producing presentations.
Professor Justin Watrel, CEO & Consultant Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.
While my other class worked on their case study project, “Scoops & Sundaes”, an artisan ice cream shop (Day One Hundred and Ninety-Five), I decided to have this group of students create a shop based on the increases we are seeing in the toy industry of traditional playthings. It seems in the era of COVID, people want puzzles, board games and dolls and stuffed animals again. I have watched my Mattel stock double and Hasbro has been increasing as well.
The “Scoops & Sundaes” case study project: Day One Hundred and Ninety-Five:
I created the concept of the toy store, “Mother Goose’s Toy Chest” based on the all the wonderful little artisan toy stores I have visited over the years, showcasing one of kind merchandise made by local artists and specialty manufactured goods by small companies. I also asked the students to think about imported goods handmade from other countries and add in supporting small manufactures here in the states. I wanted to promote American made products.
Using the textbook, “Understanding Business” by William Nickels and James and Susan McHugh, we studied and covered every chapter in the book. By Chapter Five “How to Start a Business”, I had the students start the project and introduced the store concept. I gave a WebEx lecture on starting a business and my expectations for the project. Then I assigned the first extra credit project for the assignment, creating a logo for the store.
Here are some of my favorites:
Logo One: Mother Goose’s Toy Chest
Logo Two: Mother Goose’s Toy Chest
Logo Three: Mother Goose’s Toy Chest
We then moved onto Chapter Six on “Entrepreneurship” and I asked the students what types of products they would like to sell in the store and how they might want the store designed. I then asked them create a ‘Mission Statement” to tell me as a consumer who they wanted to be in the marketplace.
Chapter Seven had the students thinking about ‘Management and Leadership’ skills. Who did they want to be as a business owner? What type of leadership skills would they need? Chapter Eight had the students studying about “Production and Operations Management” and I then had the students create their store layout.
We next moved on to who your staff would be in Chapter Ten “Motivating Employees” and Chapter Eleven “Human Resource Management” and how you would recruit them? I then had the students create a Job Description to find the perfect employee for the store that they needed when it got busy or during the holiday season.
I had the students thinking about merchandise for the store in Chapter Thirteen “Marketing: Helping Buyers Buy”. I asked the students to create a Birthday Party/Summer Camp Registry” for the store so that children could pick out things for their events and get the items they want for each.
In Chapter Sixteen “Using Effective Promotions” I had the students create a ‘Bundling Ad’ to promote a grouping of products for sale at the store. How could they use a grouping of products at a discounted price to promote the store.
To explain the concepts of “Sexual Harassment” on the job, I used the movies “9 to 5” and “How to Succeed in Business without even Trying” as examples of how to deal with and recognize these issues.
“A Secretary is not a Toy” is the clip that I like to use to explain this.
By the end of the class, I saw many different ways of looking at the business that was created as each student put their own touches on it. Some had their businesses in New York City, some in the New Jersey suburbs, some went to malls or strip malls and some opened in local downtowns. Others went out of town to places like Orlando and San Jose, CA.
Their selection of toys went from the classics such as board games, Barbies and puzzles to more upscale selections of handmade and one of kind objects. I had to remind them that they had to be realistic as they needed to make a profit to pay the bills.
On their final exam, I had them look at the famous scene from the movie “Big” to ask how the use of “Product Placement” of FAO Schwarz Toy Store in the famous film promoted the store. It got some interesting answers.
The famous “Piano” scene from the movie “Big”
I thought this scene would motivate the students.
Overall I was impressed by their projects but was surprised by how many students did not take advantage of the extra credit projects as I would like to have visually have seen what the students were thinking in their ideas.
It was another wonderful project under the independent “Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.” banner to promote Entrepreneurship and a sense of business creativity.
The Project “Mother Goose’s Toy Chest”:
The Class Participation Questions and Quizzes I used:
When you think of the words ‘rural’ and ‘farmland’ these are not terms you hear a lot in Bergen County, NJ, one of the heaviest populated counties to surround New York City. Yet the county has a rich history in farming and agriculture from the late 1600’s up into the 1970’s when development pressures got too strong and most of what was left of the farms of the area got plowed over for development.
Early in our county’s history, the Dutch and then the English supplied much of the fruits and vegetables for the New York City markets. Much did not change until the suburban expansion after WWII and many strawberry, celery and potato farms were plowed under for shopping malls and housing developments. Since that time and with the help of the Right to Farm Act, The Open Space Act and Farmland Preservation of the State of New Jersey, it is helping many small farmers in the state preserve their land for agriculture.
“From Revolution to Renewal” our Historical Bergen County project
This is why in Bergen County we revere our farms and our agricultural past. Last semester when I taught Marketing at Bergen Community College, I had my students create an extensive project describing and promoting our Colonial Heritage and our agricultural past. This included promoting many of our remaining farms.
Our small farms in Bergen County do more than just provide fruits and vegetables for our tables. They are open air classrooms to our agricultural past, places to buy fresh produce and baked goods to support local family farm stores and for interesting special events and outings for families. During the holiday season, some of these farms have haunted hayrides, turkey pardons and visits from Santa all while selling Christmas trees and wreaths.
This lead me to explore many of the small farms that make up the fabric of Bergen County all while seeing how the owners are reinventing the way they do business with today’s consumer. How do we react with nature and the great outdoors? So I walked through farm stands and fields and across parking lots looking for our rural past in the year 2020.
The Farm Cafe for wonderful breakfasts and lunches
I drove to Closter, NJ on my first stop to Old Schraalenburgh Farm and Farm Stand at 40 Old Hook Road and the Abram Demaree Homestead at 110 Schraalenburgh Road on the corner of Schraalenburgh Road. For years I had passed this farm and never gave it much thought until two summers ago I noticed the sign for the ‘farm burger’ and had to stop to see what it was all about. What a burger! (see my review on TripAdvisor).
Old Schraalenburgh Farm in the warmer months of fall 2022
The Corn Maze in fall 2022
I have since have had lunch here many times mostly when the weather is warmer. What I love about the Old Schraalenburgh Farm is that it is under the radar from most of the commercial farms in the county like Abma and Demarest farms which have all the family activities like hayrides and pumpkin and apple picking events.
The farm in the fall months
Old Schraalenburgh has a smaller restaurant and bakery and in the summer months tables outside to eat breakfast and lunch while admiring the fields of flowers and the barns and chicken coops.
The wonderful selection of gourmet items at Old Schraalenburgh Farm
The farm items are various at the farm stand
The Sweet and Savory pies
What I love about their restaurant is the quality of the food here. The ‘Farm Burger’ which they tout so much is much worth the ride here. This juicy burger loaded with cheese and fresh vegetables and a mayo type sauce and is a mouthful in each bite. Bring your appetite because this burger is large! (see review on TripAdvisor).
The “Farm Burger” at the Old Schraalenburgh Farm Stand restaurant
Their chicken pot pie is another lunch item I would recommend. They make them fresh here and bake them with a golden crust and when you let it cool is a mouthful of creamy sauce, hunks of chicken and fresh vegetables. You won’t need dinner after this entree.
The Chicken Pot Pie at the farm is delicious.
Digging into the layers of Chicken and Vegetables of the Pot Pie.
I recently stopped at the Farm Cafe for breakfast after an appointment and their well known Bacon, Egg and Cheese sandwich ($5.95). It was amazing. The eggs used on the sandwich were fresh from their chicken coops and picked up daily. Topped with crisp bacon and American cheese on a toasted brioche bun it was heaven.
It was nice to just take my sandwich and eat it on one of the picnic tables overlooking the fields that were in the process of beginning to grow this seasons crops. On a sunny morning, there is nothing like this.
The Bacon, Egg and Cheese here is excellent
For dessert though, even with the options of their fresh brownies and homemade ice cream, you have to try their freshly baked fruit pies and pie cookies. The chocolate and fruit filled pie cookies resemble small fruit filled deep dish pies and are a delight in every bite.
The blueberry pie cookies
The bakery also has something called “Burnt Cookies” (.50 cents) that are in jars near the register. I thought someone made a mistake and overcooked them. The woman at the counter said “Oh no. People like a crisper cookie.” I still say they were selling a mistake but they were really good! I had the sugar, chocolate chip and an oatmeal cookies and they were really crisp.
To tell you how popular they are I dropped a piece at the chicken pen and the chickens and roosters got all excited and ran out of their pen to eat the piece that had fallen on the ground. That’s an endorsement.
The chicken coops are busy when you feed the chickens
During the summer months, it is fun to walk through the fields and admire all the beautiful rows of flowers growing and visiting the barn and chicken coops. During the holiday months, the store and restaurant were decorated for Christmas and were stocked with handmade gifts and artwork. The bakery section had a selection of meat and fruit pies for the holidays.
The bakery case at the farm
Walking across the street to the Abram Demaree Homestead and Farm across the street from the farm stand, the main house and barn were also decorated for the holidays. All the tables, counters and shelves were stock with all sorts of decorative objects, antiques, furniture and artwork. These treasures can decorate any home contemporary or historical.
The antiques and holiday decorations at the Abram Demaree Homestead
Off to the side of the main building, they were selling Christmas trees and holiday decorations for the home. The buildings with Christmas retro items and tree ornaments really put me into the holiday spirit. The homestead is fun to walk around in to see how our Colonial past played a part in the growth of Bergen County.
The beautiful old buildings on the farm
The beautiful old antiques on sale
During Halloween, the farm was busy with visitors buying preserves and jellies, baked products for home and people eating lunch on a warm afternoon.
The Skeletons guard the farm at Halloween at Old Schraalenburgh Farm
History of the Old Schraalenburgh Farm and the Abram Demaree Homestead:
In 1677, David Des Marest, a French Huguenot, purchased a large tract of land from the Tappan Native American tribe. This land passed from Dutch control to British rule and through the American Revolution, which produced an uncertain concept that became the United States.
In 1769, Abram Demaree, David Des Marest’s grandson, bought the house and ran it as a General Store and Tavern at the crossroads of one of the busiest intersections of colonial roads in Bergen County. His son, David, added to the house in 1809. The conjoined Demaree house along with a colonial Dutch-style barn, servants house and blacksmith shop form the original Abram Demaree Homestead (Farm History website).
The Abram Demaree Homestead in the Summer months
In the 1970’s, the house and property was falling apart and a group of citizens fought to get the homestead on the National Register of Historic Places. Since then, the home and farm have been part of a non-profit, The Demaree Homestead & Farm, with all the proceeds going to restoring and maintaining the home and farm. The farm and farm stand cafe are open to the public and the profits go to maintenance of the property. The Farm Stand Cafe features in season items grown right on the farm (Farm History website).
Across Old Hook Road from the Demaree Homestead is their working farm, The Old Schraalenburgh Farm, which has been continuously farmed since the 18th Century. Every Spring, the farm plants corn, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, apples, blueberries and pumpkins, among other fruits, vegetables and flowers (Farm History website).
Leaving the Old Schraalenburgh Farm, I headed down Old Hook Road on my way back to Westwood and stopped at the Old Hook Farm Stand for a look at their Christmas trees. The Old Hook Farm Stand is at 650 Old Hook Road in Emerson.
The Old Hook Farm at 650 Old Hook Road in the fall months
Old Hook Farm in the Fall
What I like about the Old Hook Farm is the selection of grocery products in their General store. They have an assortment of organic meats, dairy products, vegetables and baked goods that include delicious looking freshly baked pies, breads and cider doughnuts.
The Fall bounty is on sale at Old Hook Farm
Their shelves are stocked with all sorts of jellies, jams and condiments along with dry and snack goods that are accented by antiques and farm paraphernalia. This gives the store a feel of a turn of the last century General store that used to dot the towns of rural Bergen County.
The Old Hook Farm grocery section of the General store
In the Spring and Summer, the greenhouse stocks all sorts of decorative plants, flowers and garden supplies and I am sure is better stocked in the summer months for lawn care and landscaping. In the Spring, the tables are stocked with all sorts of seedlings for gardens, decorative plants for the home and gardening supplies and landscaping decorations including stones and layerings.
All sorts of decorative plants available in the Fall
In the Fall, the farm is awash with pumpkins, gourds and decorative plants for designing the house in a festive mood. There are all sorts of items for the Halloween holidays.
Blogger Justin Watrel at Old Hook Farm for the Halloween season
During the holiday season, there were all sorts of wreaths, cemetery blankets and Christmas trees to choose from. The perfect assortment to ‘deck the halls’ for the holidays.
Like everyone else in the County, when I got there, there was only a few trees to choose from. They had sold out early in a year when everyone wanted a fresh tree. Still the atmosphere with the atmosphere of fresh pine and snow gave the farm that old fashioned ‘1970’s feel’ when I used to visit the farms in Bridgewater, NJ growing up. Things seemed a lot slower then and you could just relax and enjoy the sites and smells of a farm.
The Christmas trees were pretty much sold out when I visited
From a distance behind the greenhouse, you could see under the snow that had just fallen, the fields where the crops are grown in the warmer months. The old farmhouse on the property was decorated for Christmas as well and looked like a home out of a Currier & Ives print.
History of the Old Hook Farm:
The town of Emerson did not exist during the Native American origin. The name ‘Old Hook’ on the east side of the town came from the Dutch word ‘Hoek’ meaning ‘angle’ or ‘corner’. The angle of the land was created by the three connecting water ways, the Hackensack River, the Pascack Brook and the Musquapsink Brook. The first person to make their home here was William Rutan, who settled on a parcel of land just west of today’s ‘Old Hook Farm’ sometime around 1748 (Emerson Town History).
The current ‘Old Hook Farm’ was bought by current owner, Bruce Marek’s grandfather in 1925 as a weekend getaway. He rented the farm and the farm house to a local resident for 35 years and the family had a large garden on the property until about 1948. Then his father took over the land and cleared the fields and had Soil Conservation come in and do contours and started to grow in the greenhouse. When his father died in 1973, he took over the farm and within eight years, reopened the garden store and started to experiment and grow organic crops (Bruce Marek’s interview with ‘Bergen Save the Watershed Action Network’).
The old farm house at Old Hook Farm
I next ventured to Hillsdale, NJ, two towns away to visit one of the most beloved farms in Bergen County, Demarest Farms at 244 Werimus Road, right off the Garden State Parkway. I have been visiting the farm since the early 1970’s when I used to visit my family who lived just two blocks away. Back then it was just a small farm stand just outside the family homestead. In 1991, they build the big store across the street.
The Demarest Farm Store at 244 Werimus Road
The farm stand building is always a buzz with people coming and going. People buying sandwiches, soups, hot entrée items and baked goods for lunch and dinner. There is a large selection of in season produce (which is a little pricer than most supermarkets) as well as jams and jellies.
Fall decorations at Demarest Farms in 2022
Where the market really shines is their bakery filled with cookies, brownies, freshly baked pies and their well-known cider doughnuts. They also have great potato pancakes that taste good hot or cold (in the era of COVID the food has been toned back a little from the past).
Demarest Farm store carries an array of fruits and vegetables at all times of the year
Demarest Farms in October 2022
The stand also has a nice garden section during the Spring and Summer seasons with everything you need for lawn care and for landscaping your home or decorating inside. During the Fall, there is all sorts of decorative items for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season.
Demarest Farms right before Halloween 2021
During every season, Demarest Farms is always full of activities. During the Summer months (Pre-COVID), there was the big barbecues that the farm sponsored that got so popular that they had to have the police direct traffic into the complex. These ‘All You Can Eat” affairs were so much fun. It was like a throw back to the 1970’s when families used to dine out together in the Summer months. You could listen to a local band play while chomping on endless hot dogs, barbecue chicken, fresh corn on the cob, baked beans, salad and watermelon for dessert. There were also be chests of ice full of Coke, Sprite and Bottled waters (see reviews on TripAdvisor). Eating at the farm is fun.
Dining at Demarest Farms is a treat on a warm afternoon. I recently stopped in for some apple cider and decided to stay for lunch. I have the most delicious Chicken Salad sandwich with one of their potato pancakes which they are know for. I had a pint of their wonderful Apple Cider to finish the meal and everything was great. It is so nice to sit out on the tables and just watch everyone come back from their hayrides laughing and having fun.
My lunch that afternoon: A Chicken Salad sandwich on a roll, their well-known potato pancakes and their house made Apple Cider.
Demarest Farms is known for their Potato Pancakes,
The farm is known for their Apple Cider.
The Chicken Salad here is excellent (See TripAdvisor review)
During the Fall months, there would be Hayrides through the orchards, Pumpkin and Apple Picking that are so popular you need a reservation and Haunted Halloween events that have people driving from all over Northern New Jersey to attend.
Getting ready for Halloween at Demarest Farms
The farm was packed with people during Halloween 2022 with the weather being in the sixty degree area. The farm had hayrides, pumpkin picking, apple picking and a maze for the children. The lines to get into the farm stand were fifty deep and traffic was crazy. One of the employees said that people were traveling as far as Long Island to come to the farm.
The maze at Demarest Farm Halloween 2022
Pumpkins of all sizes at Demarest Farms 2022
This Christmas, in the era of COVID, the farm really outdid itself ringing in the holiday season. The farm stand sold an array of Christmas trees, wreaths and cemetery blankets, all sorts of holiday treats in the store including cookies, pies and jams and jellies. There was also a nice selection of holiday decorations. By the last week before Christmas, most everything was sold out.
What I thought was fun and it was the first time the farm had done this was the “Holiday Light Show” through the Demarest Farm orchard which is across the street from the farm stand. This show was sold out every night for almost three weeks ending on January 3rd.
Demarest Farm Store decorated for Halloween and the Fall
The tour started at the farm stand where you could buy S’ mores to roast at the fire pit next to the nursery ($6.50). I thought it was a little expensive for two graham crackers, two marshmellows and a small bar of chocolate but people scooped them up and were roasting away. There were also cut outs from the holidays to take pictures and there was a small light show of singing reindeer performing all the classic Christmas songs.
Then it was time to take the drive through the orchard. We started the tour at farm stand and then drove across the street to the family homestead which was ablaze with colorful lights on the house and the surrounding trees. I took a slow drive through the orchard carefully following the cars in front of me to keep pace.
The apple and pear trees were decorated with multi color lights, Santa’s and Snowmen winked and greeted you at every turn. The barns were decorated with white lights and there was a tunnel of flashing lights to greet you and exit from. All along the way I listened to the Classical music channel to enhance the mood of the trip. It may have only been a half an hour but it was mesmerizing trip through a fantasy land of lights that put me back into the Christmas spirit. Demarest farms seems to have that effect at the holidays.
The History of Demarest Farms:
The Demarest family has been present in the New York area since David DeMarest arrived to New Amsterdam in 1663. The current farm has been in the Demarest family from Bergen County since 1886. In the 1970’s, Peter Demarest and his wife, Marsha introduced the pick your own apples and pumpkin business and eventually added peaches to the mix.
The Demarest Family history at the farm
In 1991, the family opened the current farm store on what had once been corn fields. The store today has evolved into a selection of fresh produce, prepared foods, baked goods, apple cider, jams and jellies and homemade crafts (Demarest Farm website).
The flowers at Demarest Farm are colorful
In 2014, Peter Demarest decided to retire and the sold the farm stand and farm to longtime employees Jason DeGise and Jim Spollen. The farmland had been preserved under the Farmland Preservation Fund and by the Open Space Trust Fund. The 27 acres are to be preserved as farmland and can only be used for agriculture (NJ.com).
Demarest Farms put out this wonderful promotional video on the event
Leaving Demarest Farms, I headed north taking the turns on Route 17 and Route 208 and headed up to Wyckoff. My first stop was the Goffle Road Poultry Farm at 549 Goffle Road. The farm which once must have taken up much more area has been reduced down to a few acres with chicken coops and hatcheries and the farm store.
The parking lot was a mob scene of people trying to get in and out of the driveway and being directed by one man in a mask. When I finally was able to get out of my car and park, I asked him if they were giving money away. He just laughed and said, “I wish”. He quickly said to me it was busier at Thanksgiving and they had lines going down Goffle Road.
Goffle Road Poultry Farm at 549 Goffle Road
I just walked in the store to look around passing all the people in line who were waiting to pick up their pre-orders. The store is stocked with all things poultry with fresh eggs. whole roasters and butchered chicken parts. In the freezer there were crab cakes, chicken nuggets and chicken and turkey pot pies, all of which they are known for and sought out.
The stand at Goffle Road Poultry Farm
Here there are no hayrides or special events although they told me Santa had already visited the farm. Just high quality food and excellent service done by a staff that looked very over-whelmed at the holidays.
When I returned recently to the Goffle Road Poultry Farm, I was able to buy some of their brown jumbo eggs ($2.95) and one of their frozen Chicken Pot Pies to bring home with me. There really is a difference in the fresh eggs versus the commercial ones. There is a richer flavor to the taste when you have them scrambled and in a omelet.
The Brown eggs at Goffle Farms have a richer flavor
The Chicken Pot Pie tasted more like a chicken pie, which has less chicken gravy in it, but it pretty much follows the same Bisquick recipe that I have at home with a mixture of vegetables and canned cream of chicken soup as its base. Still, it cooked up nicely and a flaky golden crust. It is worth it to stop and do some shopping here.
The Goffle Farm Pot Pie is more like a Chicken Pie
History of Goffle Road Poultry Farm:
The Goffle Road Poultry Farm has been a family owned and operated business for four generations. Joseph and Rose Silvestri came over from Italy in 1920 and started Belmont Poultry in Paterson, NJ in the 1930’s. In 1948, Joseph and Rose’s son, Dominic, started Goffle Road Poultry Farm of Wyckoff, NJ. To this day, the Goffle Road Poultry Farm is operated as a family owned business by the current owner and grandson, Joseph Silvestri and great grandson, Brian Silvestri. The family has found it hard to keep up with demand on such a small plot and is now partnering with Amish farmers in Pennsylvania who share the same standards of raising animals (Goffle Road Poultry Farm website).
Goffle Road Poultry Farm at the Halloween Holidays
My last stop on this journey was the largest farm of them all, Abma’s Farm at 700 Lawlins Road in Wyckoff, NJ. Abma’s is an impressive working farm with many greenhouses, large fields, a gift shop, nursery, and a farm store. They also have a large petting zoo to amuse children and adults alike.
The Abma Farm at 700 Lawlins Road in Wyckoff
I have to admit that I have only visited the farm in the cooler months and with COVID going on, the petting zoo was closed the day I was there and it looked like you needed a reservation to get in. The price is $3.00 unless you join their Barnyard Loyalty Program by accumulating 30 points from their farm store and nursery.
The greenhouses were pretty empty the afternoon I visited. What was left of wreaths and Christmas trees dotted the the nursery area. I am sure it was totally stocked with all sorts of items to decorate the house. There was still a nice assortment of wreaths to choose from and garland to decorate the banisters and hallways with for Christmas. The Christmas tree selection was down to about ten trees and they were very sad looking. Being right before Christmas, the selection was limited.
Abma Farm during the Fall of 2022
In the Summer months, the greenhouses were full of flowers and decorative plants and the fields are ablaze with colors. It will be about four months before we see that again but Spring is not that far away.
Halloween at the farm
The farm store was buzzing with people and it was hard to find a parking spot after the snow storm we had just had. Some of the drifts made parking tough but there was someone in the lot who made it easy to park.
Abma’s Farm Market & Garden Center in the Fall of 2021
The farm store at Abma Farm is full of fresh vegetables and fruits, a whole selection of bakery products including cookies, brownies, freshly baked pies and cider doughnuts. The prepared food section has all sorts of salads and sandwiches available and there is a selection of soups. There are also crafts available for sale.
The Abma Farm Store stocked with delicious foods
Though some of the special events on the farm have been cancelled because of COVID, they did have a socially distanced “Story with Santa” program and “You Pick” events for strawberries, potatoes, pumpkins and tomatoes during the different seasons. Events like pony rides and Easter themed events have been put on hold for the time.
The farm stand with fruits and vegetables
What I really enjoy about visiting Abma Farm is just walking around the farm itself. I was able to walk through some of the greenhouses and see the trees and decorative items, look at the vast field and can’t wait to return in the Spring when we can see the fields of growing produce and greenhouses full of flowers and plants.
The History of Abma Farm:
The Abma Farm
First generation of the family, Barney Abma, was born on April 25th, 1901. He came to America for the first time in 1917 when he was 17 years old searching for a new beginning. After spending a few years out west, then a short stay in Pennsylvania, he went back to Holland to marry. Barney and his new wife, Anna, settled in Wyckoff at the present location of Abma’s Farm in the late 1920’s (Abma Farm History website).
The front of the farm stand
The couple began working for the ‘Yeoman Farm’ and rented out part of the original farmhouse from owner, Daniel Yeoman. The farm was next passed on to Mr. and Mrs. George Fox (nee Yeoman). Barney Abma bought the farm from the couple in 1932 for $6,000. Part of the 50 acre farm was sold off and it is now the current 32 acre farm that it is today (Abma Farm History website).
The farm is now under the ownership of the forth and fifth generations of the Abma family under Barney and Anna’s son, James and his family.
I love this video on the family and about the farm.
There are also a few smaller farms in the County I was not able to visit before they closed for the season. Also most farm stands have closed for the Winter so there will be a lot to visit in the warmer months.
Still the holidays at the farms in Bergen County, NJ have a special place in our lives and have become part of the traditions of many families.
Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and look forward to updates in the Spring!
Spring and Summer of 2021:
As the weather has gotten warmer, I have been revisiting the farms that were closed right after the holidays . As the warmer months have come upon us, April has ushered in warmer weather and the bounty of Spring has arrived. The greenhouses are starting to fill with plants and shrubs and the farm stands.
The entrance to Stokes Farm at 23 DeWolf Road
I made my first trip to Stokes Farm at 23 DeWolf Road in Old Tappan, NJ. The farm stand has just opened since it has closed up shop right after Christmas. The shelves of the farm were starting to fill with fresh produce from the warmer states and there were all sorts of colorful fruits and vegetables.
Stokes Farm in the fall of 2022
The farm stand also has a bakery that has pies, cookies and cider doughnuts. The problem is that because of COVID all the items were prepackaged in large packages and you could not buy individual pieces. The woman at the counter said things will go back to normal business once all of this passes. By 2022, the bakery was up and running in full force.
The Stokes Farm Stand bakery area
The delicious pies and Bundt cakes
Still the refrigerator cases are lined with fresh eggs, Amish butter, honey and cheese from the Amish Country in Pennsylvania and the shelves are full of jellies, jams, salsas and pickles that are made for the farm.
The private label sauces, syrups and jellies
The farmstand is just opening and there will be more to come as we move into the warmer months.
All sorts of delicious items line the shelves
The inside of the farm stand
I made my way out to the greenhouse in the back where plants are being grown for planting and for decorating the house. Most of the plants are still so small but as May and June arrive, these greenhouses will burst of all sorts of plants.
The plants and greenhouses
The front of the greenhouses
The flowers in the greenhouses
The colorful potted plants
Though the part of the farm that you can visit is small, you can see that the farm is lined with greenhouses going back many acres and next to the stand is a farmhouse that was built in 1890. It is nice to just walk around and enjoy the fresh air at the farm.
The farm was getting ready for Halloween
The History of Stokes Farm:
In 1873, Isaiah Stokes headed out on a ship to America from his home in England. When he arrived, he purchased 40 acres of land in Old Tappan, NJ where he started a farm. He thought this would be a good location for selling produce, as Old Tappan is very close to New York City, as well as many established towns along the Hudson River.
His products included chickens, eggs, milk, hay, asparagus, beets and other assorted vegetables. As time went on, his son, Joseph Stokes took over the farming. The Stokes family continued sowing and growing into the early 1900’s. Joseph Stokes and his wife, Anna, worked very hard and soon developed a produce route through Piermont, Nyack and points further north along the river. They were one of the first farms to have a truck in the area when farms were still powered by men and horses.
The Greenhouses and gardens
Joseph Stokes had one child, Madeline, who married Ernie Binaghi in 1927. Madeline ran the farm and Ernie was a carpenter. The farm carried on through WWII. Madeline and Ernie had one child, Ronald, who after dropping out of NYU Music School in the early 1950’s , came home to help out with the chores. Ron married Jean and she moved into the farmhouse to become a farmer too.
The Stokes farmstead
In 1955, they opened a roadside farm stand, which was a four post open air shed. The stand did well, selling from the five acres of strawberries, five acres of tomatoes, in addition to peppers, eggplant and asparagus.
The garden plants for sale outside
As the years went on, Ron and Jean started selling produce at the Paterson Farmers Market. It was here that a farmer could sell his produce directly to the consumer or to wholesalers. The farm stand was rebuilt in 1966.
In the early 1970’s, the energy crunch started and the farm stand began to flounder. It was then that Bob Lewis came to visit Ron and Jean with a proposal. He asked them to participate in the first NYC Greenmarket at 59th and Second Avenue. So in 1976, Ron and his sixteen year old son, Ron Jr. ventured into the big city. Their lives changed that day. After the people bought everything on the truck, Ron Sr. was heard to say, “Is there a famine in this City?” Ron Jr., then sixteen started selling produce at the now famous Union Square market on 17th Street and it seemed that this type of market suited the farm quite well. Greenhouses were built in the 1980’s and the bedding plant business started to thrive.
The Stokes Farmstand and the farmstead behind it
High tech growing coupled with practical family values, helped the farm to grow steadily into the 1990’s. Ron Jr. and his wife, Jeanine, took over the day to day operations of the farm and the Greenmarket stands, while Ron Sr. and Jean continued to run the farm stand.
Grocery items at Stokes Farm
In 2000, Ron Jr. was named “Outstanding Young Farmer of the Year” for the State of New Jersey. This award is given to a farmer who has made his farm better over the years and also is active in his community. Ron went to Indiana to the national competition, where he placed fifth in the nation.
Ron Binaghi Jr. at Stokes Farm in Old Tappan, NJ
Today the farm is seventeen acres with 40,000 square feet of greenhouses. It is the goal of the farm to grow the best possible product to keep the customers healthy and happy and to keep the land as a farm for future generations.
The extensive amount of produce and baked goods are perfect for the holidays
Another farm that I missed during the holiday season was DePiero’s Farm at 156 Summit Avenue in Montvale, NJ. I have been coming to DePiero’s Farm for years at the old farm stand where the current Wegmans Supermarket and mall now stands.
Halloween at DePiero’s Farm
Haunted happenings at DePiero’s Farm Stand
Here used to be the large farm stand building that had everything from produce and baked goods to arts and crafts items and gardening equipment. That was torn down in the early 2000’s. I thought that they had closed for business until I rediscovered it again.
Depiero’s Farm Stand at 156 Summit Avenue . This is the original farm sign.
When I visited recently, I asked the woman who was working the counter about the history of the farm. She said that she had worked for the DePiero family for years and told me that this was the original farm stand until the family built the larger one down the road. When that was torn down to make way for the market strip mall, they moved the operations back to the original stand on the original farmland. I thought that was interesting.
The original farmstead building is currently being renovated and expanded. The tables around the store are ladened currently with fresh produce from the Hunts Market (until the summer when local produce will be offered), there is a small bakery area with fresh pies ($18.00-$20.00), fresh pickles and peanut butter from the Amish Country. The shelves are lined with honey and fresh jellies that are made for the farm.
Early Fall at DePiero’s Farm
Outside the farm stand, there is a large greenhouse with rows of tables lined with all sorts of flowering plants and small vegetable plants growing. The larger greenhouse is surrounded by smaller greenhouses growing more plants. It is a large operation.
The greenhouse at DePiero’s Farm is full of flowers and decorations for the Fall
What amazes me is how the farm has survived with all the suburban sprawl surrounding it. On land that was once the farm, all sorts of new condos are going up, the second farm stand is now a mall and office buildings surround the whole small patch of farm.
DePiero’s Farm Stand decorated for Halloween
The History of DePiero’s Farm:
The DePiero Farm has been an owned and operated farm since 1924. The original farm was about 250 acres that stretched from Montvale, NY to New Paltz, NY. In 1987, the opened the original farm store that was popular for years. That facility closed in 2015 and has since been replaced with a new shopping complex anchored by a Wegmans.
The family has since reopened the original farm stand which is farmed on limited basis where they sell farm products, baked goods and Christmas items like wreaths and Christmas trees.
The outside of the original family farm stand
(NJ.com-Myles Mia 2015-“Longtime Montvale Farm closes its doors”)
My last farm that I did not have a chance to visit during the Christmas holidays but had opened on April 1st was Secor Farms at 85 Airmont Avenue in Mahwah, NJ. I would consider Secor Farms more like a giant nursery. Both on the outside and inside the greenhouses, you can walk around rows of flowers, decorative plants and seedlings for the vegetable gardens. The greenhouses are fun to walk in as you can see plantings at different stages of growth. It will be interesting to come back towards the summer to see how many of these plants progress to full form.
Secor Farms greenhouse is laden with flowers and plants
There is also a small shop to make your purchases. Here they sell gardening supplies, decorative objects for the home, hand creams and soaps, honey and candies and their homemade cider doughnuts that are unfortunately only packaged in bags of six ($5.95). Still they smell so good and the girl working the counter said that they are made fresh daily. I could see by the signs when the fresh produce starts to come in during the summer and fall that they sell this in the gift shop as well.
The Cider Doughnuts and other treats on sale at Secor farms in the Fall
Outside the gift shop, the parking lot is laden with bags of mulch and soil for garden beds awaiting their Spring cleaning. The lot is well stocked as we are just starting the gardening season.
Secor Farms in Mahwah, NJ
Ready for Halloween at Secor Farms in Fall 2021
The spooky entrance to Secor Farms at Halloween 2021
In the Fall especially around Halloween, the whole farm looks like Disneyland with Haunted Hay Rides, Pumpkin Picking, Fall decorative items for sale and the general atmosphere that welcomes in Halloween with a bang. The whole place was filled to the brim with cars ready for a long day at the farm.
Pumpkin picking at Secor Farms in Fall 2021
All of these farms in Bergen County, NJ have their own attributes so try to visit them all when you are visiting the area.
The History of Secor Farms:
Begun by Darryl Secor’s great grandfather when he moved to the area from Paterson nearly 80 years ago, the farm originally consisted of 50 acres in Upper Saddle River. In 1973, the family expanded into Mahwah.
The Secor Farm at the Fall Holidays
Secor Farms not only has been a famous landmark passed down through three generations: The Secors themselves have been extremely active in supporting the town (Mahwah-Ramsey Daily Voice 2017).
Fall at Secor Farms in Mahwah, NJ
The Fall produce at Secor Farms during the Halloween 2021 holiday weekend
Farms to Visit:
Old Schraalenburgh Farm Stand and Abram Demaree Homestead
177 Schraalenburgh Road
Closter, NJ 07624
(201) 289-3627
Open: Farm Stand Cafe: Wednesday-Friday 11:00am-5:00pm/Saturday and Sunday 11:00am-7:00pm
Someone sent this to me via the Internet and I want to credit author Shawna Hickling for this wonderful poem (someone just sent me her name via the Internet when asked by another blogger) and I wanted to share it with all of your readers and bloggers all over the world as it was shared to me a week ago. I think this describes all of us:
“Twas a few weeks before Christmas 2020” by Shawna Hickling
*Thank you Ms. Hickling for sharing this with all of us bloggers all over the world. We appreciate it!
Twas a few weeks before Christmas
And all through the town,
People wore masks,
That covered their frowns
The frown had begun
Way back in the Spring,
When a global pandemic,
Changed everything
They called it corona
But unlike the beer,
It didn’t bring good times,
It didn’t bring cheer.
Contagious and deadly,
This virus spread fast,
Like a wildfire that starts
When fueled by gas.
Airplanes were grounded,
Travel was banned,
Borders were closed
Across air, sea and land.
As the world entered lockdown
To flatten the curve,
The economy halted,
And folks lost their verve.
From March to July
We rose the first wave,
People stayed home,
They tried to behave.
When summer emerged
The lockdown was lifted,
But away from caution,
Many folks drifted.
Now it’s December
And cases are spiking,
Wave two has arrived,
Much to our disliking.
Frontline workers,
Doctors and nurses,
Try to save people,
From riding in hearses.
It’s true that this year
Has had sadness a plenty,
We’ll never forget
This year 2020.
And just ’round the corner’
the holiday season,
But why be merry?
Is there even one reason?
To decorate the house
And put up the tree,
When no one will see it,
No-one but me.
But outside my window
The snow gently falls,
And I think to myself,
Let’s deck the halls!
So, I gather the ribbon,
The garland and bows,
As I play those old carols,
My happiness grows.
Christmas ain’t cancelled
And neither is hope.
If we lean on each other,
I know we can cope.
Author: Shawna Hickling
*I was sent this from another blogger and I want to give Ms. Hickling full credit for her work. Another blogger found her name for me and we all wanted to say ‘thank you’ for cheering us up! Bloggers all over the world want to thank this author for sharing this with us as a group of bloggers shared this with me. It really brings out the spirit of the holiday.
To all my fellow bloggers, have a good holiday and let’s hope for a better and safer New Year!
This whole situation let’s all know to appreciate what we have in life.
It is funny to go back to a place that you have not visited since 1975 and realize that time does pass by. I had not been to Beach Haven, NJ since the summer of 1975 when I was just a little kid. We used to visit friends of the family who had a house there and we would visit for about three days.
The amusements are staying open into October as the weather has gotten warmer until the end of October.
Miniature golf into October
It was interesting to visit a beach community as we never went farther than Sandy Hook, NJ. Going to the Jersey shore was a hike from our home in Bridgewater, NJ and since we belonged to a swim club, my parents saw no reason to run “down the shore” as we say in New Jersey. Why deal with the crowds and lousy parking?
The October 2025 Chowder Fest was packed as the weather was sunny and in the 80’s that Sunday
This blog takes place over many visits to Long Beach Island, experiencing the museums, restaurants and the beach and parks areas. There is no one ‘good’ time of the year to visit Long Beach Island, there are many times from the summer season to Halloween and Christmas for the island’s activities. More a year round community now it is not the Long Beach Island of the 1970’s, the economy and then Hurricane Sandy changed all that.
These visits cover different times of the year so you can experience all the island has to offer and what is opening and closing (which is very fast in a shore community). I have had many wonderful and relaxing trips to the barrier island and I hope you enjoy these experiences with me (this is why the blog seems to jump around).
This blog starts at the tip of Long Beach Island at the Barnegat Lighthouse and park to the last beach on the southern most tip of beach an park.
The Barnegat Lighthouse at 208 Broadway in Fall of 2023
Still I remember visiting there in 1974 and 1975 before these friends no longer belonged to our pool. All I can remember of those visits was swimming in the ocean and diving in the waves wanting to impress these two twin sisters and all I did was tumble in the waves. They and my older bother dove into the waves with no problems. The other thing I remember is the planes going by and saying to eat at “Tilly’s Pizza”. So we begged for it one night for dinner. It was terrible pizza and we ordered this cheese pizza that was just dried out and no flavor. It is funny the things you remember as a kid.
Touring The Barnegat Lighthouse Park is a nice way to spend the morning
Exploring the dunes in the state park in Fall 2023
The pathway in the Summer of 2024
The beauty of the park at sunset time in the Summer of 2024
The Dunes Woods path
The Beach Dunes path near the entrance way
I returned to Long Beach Island last summer on my way to the Firemen’s Convention in Wildwood, NJ to visit the Long Beach Island Historical Society, which I had read about in a beach magazine for my blog, VisitingaMuseum.com. I had a long visit at the museum and it was nice afternoon. I had not realized that the NJ Maritime Museum was a couple of blocks away but I did not have time that afternoon to visit. I said that I would go back later.
Later was September 2020 over a year later. Hey better late than never. In the age of COVID, it had been a pleasure and escapism.
The Long Beach Island Historical Society at 129 Engleside Avenue
After visiting the museum for my blog and then visiting the Barnegat Lighthouse, I gained a new found respect for Long Beach Island and all it has to offer. I also realized how much it had changed in 45 years. It went from a sleepy working class resort to an upscale community with the growth of Wall Street in the late 90’s and the rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
The back galleries of the Long Beach Island Historical Society
The back galleries with nautical displays, school room and Victorian Rooms.
Many of those small little cottages that once lined the streets were long gone and they have been replaced by stilted ‘McMansions’ by the sea. The whole town has been practically knocked down and completely rebuilt. Even the stores were more upscale in their wares and the restaurants were expensive. I did not see too many tee shirt stores or beachy Knick -knacks being sold. These are not Boardwalk businesses.
The display of the 1916 Shark attacks that inspired the movie “Jaws”
Still there are some great stores and restaurants to visit, cultural and natural sites to see and of course the beautiful beach with its calming sounds and gorgeous sunsets. You never know the complexity of a place until you visit a few times and find the true beauty of the surroundings and people. The downtown of Beach Haven has a lot to see and do as does the surrounding areas of Long Beach Island.
Downtown Beach Haven, NJ. in Fall 2023
New stores in Downtown Beach Haven in the Summer of 2024, the Mod Hatter and Baked by the Beach
I started my last two visits to Long Beach Island exploring Beach Haven, a small beach hamlet towards the southern part of the island and where I had spent a few summers when I was a child. I do not remember much of the trips except visiting the beach and how rough the waves were to swim. I don’t remember venturing out that much.
When I returned 45 year later, the town changed so much especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy flooding the island as well as the rest of the Jersey Shore. It leveled homes and tore though businesses with a vengeance. What it left was a chance to build the island again from the ground up. Everything is so new all over the island. Still there are a lot of older homes and businesses that did survive. Some adapted and some just changed.
The Beach Haven Historic District
The Beach Haven Historic District
I walked the whole town and it was a interesting visit over the past two summers especially on two recent tours of the town in the late summer and early fall. My first stop on my recent trip is where I started touring last year at the Long Beach Island Historical Society at 125 Engleside Avenue in Beach Haven for their Ghost Fest, a family event that the Historical Society was running that afternoon for local families.
The ‘Ghost Fest’ at the Long Beach Island Historical Society
The Historical Society had not opened yet when I got to Long Beach Island so I started my tour of the island at the Barnegat Lighthouse State Park on the northern part of the island. Even on a gloomy morning in October, the park was very busy.
The Barnegat Lighthouse in the fall 2023.
The cloudy weather did not deter the fisherman from casting and boats were dotting the bay. It was still a warm day and people were out and about. I joined other visitors to the park on the breakers watching the fisherman discuss the days catch and politics about the upcoming election. Some people were admiring the boats or just relaxing to the sounds of the waves. I just enjoyed the salt air and the sound of the waves crashing.
The lighthouse from the bunker.
After I left the walkway, I took a tour through the woods in the sand dunes. It was what is left of some virgin woods at the shore. The woods are very interesting because of all the native plants that can live in a sandy shore and survive the winds are harsh winters. Plants such as Jersey Pines, Beach Plum and American holly are native to the area and played an important role in Colonial New Jersey especially during the holidays.
Walking down the path through the dunes.
In November 2021, I revisited the lighthouse again and it finally reopened after a year and a half of being closed. I was able to climb the stairs all the way to the top on a sunny but extremely windy day. Talk about views from the top. You could see the surrounding park, the inlet area and beautiful views of the sea. A lot of people walking up the lighthouse seemed to suffer from vertigo halfway up but trust me there is no way to fall down these stairs with barely enough room to move either way and no gaps in the stairs. All the views from the three landings on the way up also offer views of the ocean.
The views of the dunes, bunker and bay from the top of the lighthouse.
The lighthouse itself was built in 1859 replacing another lighthouse that fell into the sea with the changing tides (see my review on TripAdvisor). The lighthouse has been closed since March with the onset of COVID but the grounds around it were still open and people, masks and all, were walking along the trails and conversing at the picnic tables. Families were walking the trails and paths along the bay. For an early morning in October the park was busy.
The Barnegat Lighthouse and surrounding park is a nice to tour in the early morning
My next stop was the Barnegat Light Museum but it had been closed all season due to the COVID pandemic. I was able to call one of the Board Members of the museum and I would have to tour it later that afternoon. So took another tour of the park at the lighthouse and drove back down the island to visit the museum later. I would do this until August 2024 when the museum was open during regular summer hours.
Walking through the dune paths right next to the lighthouse.
Maybe it was the salt air or maybe it was the two hour drive down the shore but I was getting hungry again. Not wanting to eat another breakfast, I stopped at an old time restaurant, Surf City Pizza for a slice. They had just opened for lunch and I could not believe I was eating pizza this early in the morning but it was good.
Surf City Pizza at 1017 Long Beach Boulevard in Surf City, NJ
When I made my trip up to the lighthouse in November 2021, the pizzeria was still closed when I drove up so I went to Baked on the Beach, a small funky bakery at 2101 Long Beach Boulevard in Surf City. The bakery was open that morning and I had wanted to try it on my last three visits to the island but it always closed early.
There was a nice selection of pies and cookies but what caught my eye was these Cinnamon rolls that had just come out. One was a traditional Cinnamon roll which she would ice on the spot for you and the other was filled with sharp Cheese and NJ Pork Roll. Sold! I needed something savory for breakfast and this filled the gap. They have now opened a branch in the Summer of 2024 in Beach Haven at 1101 North Bay Avenue.
The selection of products at Baked on the Beach in November 2023.
The Cheese and Pork roll was delicious and would have been better warmed but it was still good. As I rolled out each layer, I could taste the sharp cheese and the spicy pork roll that was thinly sliced in between the layers. I munched on it on the outside benches and that must have done something because all of sudden other people were stopping for baked goods. I guess the big smile on my face had something to do with it.
The “Beach Bum” cookies with the works mixed into it.
When I returned in November 2023, the bakery was still opened for the season and I was able to try the “Beach Bum” cookie with chocolate and Vanilla chips, crunchies and a big mix of other ingredients to give this cookie a sweet and complex consistency. It was crispy, chewy and rich.
The cookie was rich and decadent.
I got to the Long Beach Island Historical Society as they were in full swing of their Ghost Fest and what a nice event it was that afternoon. They had all sorts of activities for adults and children alike.
The Museum was decorated for Halloween
They had a pony ride, marshmallow roasting and smores by the fire pit, corn hole games, a maze, games of chance, a small gift shop, tours of the museum and even a costume parade with the Jersey Devil. The museum had a nice turnout on a somewhat gloomy afternoon but by the end of the event the sun started to shine.
The ‘Jersey Devil’ lead the Costume Parade that afternoon
For Christmas in 2021 and 2023, the Historical Society sponsored an “Elves Workshop” for kids and their parents with all sorts of arts and crafts happening at twelve different tables lining the front room of the museum. There was cookie decorating and Christmas tree creation with beads and cloth and gingerbread house making. To end the evening, they had Smores and Marshmallows roasting over open firepits in the park across the street.
The Elves Workshop at the Long Beach Island Historical Society
The museum knows how to welcome in the holiday season.
Santa finds his way at the Long Beach Island Historical Society in 2023 when I returned again.
The Christmas display at the Long Beach Island Historical Society during the Elf Workshop in 2023.
The Christmas tree and front of the museum.
The excitement of the Elf Workshop afternoon at the museum.
I had a while before I had to meet the President of the Barnegat Light Museum so I decided to explore the downtown strip of Beach Haven. What an interesting downtown for a shore community. The days of tee shirt shops and beach gift stores has given way to a collection of interesting restaurants, upscale boutiques and gift stores, small specialty shops and art galleries. When you are selling million-dollar homes in the area, you need places for those residents to shop and Long Beach Boulevard has an eclectic group of stores to choose from.
The Woo Hoo is the best place for ice cream and sandwiches when in season.
When I first visited Beach Haven after my 45 year absence, I discovered The Woo-Hoo around the corner from the museum. On my first trip to Beach Haven last summer, I came across this impressive little ice cream and lunch stand around the corner from the Historical Society and on a recommendation from the staff had lunch that afternoon. It was excellent!
The Woo Hoo at 211 South Bay Avenue in Beach Haven, NJ
I had one of their Classic Burgers with hand cut French Fries which was just excellent. The burgers have a rich juicy flavor and the mix of ingredients was delightful to eat. The fries were perfectly cooked and salted. I was so impressed by the lunch I went back later for their homemade ice cream that is just excellent.
In the Summer of 2024, the Woo Hoo discontinued hamburgers on the menu and now just have ice cream and their hand cut French Fries.
The Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Strawberry Cheesecake sundae at the Woo Hoo
I had the most amazing Strawberry Cheesecake which was rich and creamy and a Cinnamon Toast Crunch, which was loaded with the cereal. On a recent trip, the hot food had closed for the season but the ice cream was still going. I have this amazing holiday special called ‘Cookies & Scream” for Halloween. It was made with holiday M & M’s and Halloween oreos. It was worth the trip to Beach Haven just for that.
The burgers at the Woo Hoo are delicious (no longer offered in Summer of 2024)
When I visited again in November 2021, I had this flavor that just caught my eye, “Pillow Fight”. When I asked the girl working the stand what it was, she told me it was marshmallow ice cream with Oreo Cookies and Rainbow sprinkles mixed in. Then she gave me a sample and I swear I heard angels singing. The ice cream was mind-blowingly good with that mixture of sweetness between the cream and the marshmallows with the Oreos and sprinkles mixed in.
What I love about walking around downtown Beach Haven is the interesting array of stores and food establishments they have on the strip. They are fun to explore on a nice sunny afternoon. I lucked out on my two most recent trips here. The weather broke both days and it ended up a sunny warm afternoon. So I set out to explore the town and I discovered a small community that was much than the beach.
How to Live, the original store at 7 South Bay Street in Beach Haven, NJ.
My first stop when I exited Engelside Avenue onto South Bay Avenue is the unique little gift store, “How to Live” at 7 South Bay Avenue, which has a great selection of local artisan gifts, artwork, children’s clothes and books, women’s clothes and art and book items created by the owner, Sandy Gingras. Her whimsical books and art work dot the store.
The inside of How to Live at the close of the season.
Walking into the store is an experience with the smell of fragrant smells of body products and the musical sounds of the 1980’s. It is a step back in time to when people took time to decorate their homes and give small host gifts. I really loved the homemade Christmas ornaments by a local artist. Her Christmas decorations and home products are beautifully packaged and will mix in any home decor.
The How to Live Bayside store across the street is for furniture and accessories.
Inside the furniture and accessories store in the Summer of 2024
Christmas decoration in How to Live in August of 2024
The new clothing line in the How to Live Living store
Further up North Bay Boulevard, the main artery of the town is Chicken or the Egg at 207 North Bay Boulevard with its constant crowds, popular outdoor dining and creative menu. The menu is stocked with interesting sandwiches, burgers and sides. The outdoor seating on a nice day is the way to dine. I have not had a chance to try the restaurant but it is on my bucket list on my next trip to town.
The Chicken or the Egg is at 207 North Bay Boulevard
North Bay Boulevard has a long stretch of eating establishments that are opened at various times of the week.
When I returned for my Christmas visit, I ended the evening having dinner here. I swear on a cool night, it was the perfect place for a meal. I had their New England Clam Chowder with its thick roux and heavy cream base and it was loaded with clams.
It warmed me up immediately. For dinner, my waiter suggested the ultimate comfort food in cold weather, the Chicken Pot Pie that was just amazing.
The Soup is amazing
The Chicken Pot Pie is really filling
Loaded with chunks of chicken and a creamy base topped with a flaky crust, each bite warmed me up after the cool walks by the bay and down the main street of town. You could really taste the roasted chicken in the gravy and its rich flavors. The service here is always friendly and very welcoming.
I love the food here
I stopped at Fourchette at LBI at 511 North Bay Avenue to enjoy the smells of the array of cheeses and look at their assortment of host gifts. They have a lot of interesting cheeses in the case line and the woman behind the counter was eager to explain them all to me.
I love the smells of cheeses when you walk in. It is a mouthwatering experience when you see them all lined in the cases.
Another interesting store was Sandy Banks Art Store at 515 North Bay Avenue in which the first afternoon I visited a local artist was having an art show in the small courtyard adjoining the store. The art was vibrant and the artist was proud of the paintings she was showing off.
Anchoring the main part of the downtown is the local shore department store, B &B Stores, which has been a Jersey Shore staple since 1932. Located in many well known beach communities, B &B stocks not just bathing suits and swim gear but an array of clothing, gifts and accessories for the local community. I have been in the store during the summer months and it is wall to wall swim suits, tee shirts and shorts but as the cooler months approach and the rushing of the holidays, I saw my first Christmas tree down the shore.
That afternoon there was a nice rush of locals and tourist grasping the last days of warm weather down the shore and even though we were all in masks (COVID is big down the shore too), people were going about their shopping with a vengeance. It was nice to see a crowd of people enjoying a shopping trip and conversing with one another talking over their masks. In November of 2023, it was business as usual as people starting shopping for the Christmas holidays.
The selection of merchandise at B & B Department Stores give me faith in the department store industry especially at Christmas.
When I visited in November, the holiday season was in full swing and the store was full of locals talking about their Thanksgiving holidays and getting back to school the next week. The store was stocked with holiday and winter merchandise for those making the island their home for the winter.
The B & B Department Store airline display.
The Nautical gift shop in the Summer of 2024
The Christmas Shop in October 2025
Crossing the street , there is a tiered mall, The Seaman’s Village, stocked with small stores and restaurants that is big with the beach going community on a rainy afternoon. During the two trips to Beach Haven that I made most of the stores were closed or has partial hours during the week and weekends. It seems though with the warmer weather extending into November and the exodus of people out of the cities, the stores are staying open much longer than usual.
Another homegrown store that I have enjoyed visiting on my last few trips to town is the Crust & Crumb Bakery at 9 North Bay Boulevard. This old fashioned bakery has the usual assortments of cookies, cakes, pastries and doughnuts and an array of Italian pastries as well. I have enjoyed their jelly and custard filled doughnuts and their seasonal pumpkin glazed doughnuts are delicious.
Trust me, after a day at the shore or just walking around enjoying the beautiful weather, a trip here can satisfy any sweet tooth. The selection is extensive and don’t miss the giant cinnamon elephant ears.
I finally got back to Crust & Crumb on my trip to the island in August 2024 and looked through the selection of baked goods before I settled on a Chocolate Doughnut for dessert after my large lunch at Tucker’s Restaurant. The doughnut was excellent but a little pricey at $3.00. Most of their baked goods prices were higher than they are in Manhattan. I thought maybe their rent went up in an ever upscaling Beach Haven downtown. Still, it was really good.
There are a lot of delicious items to choose from at Crust & Crumb
The cake case at Crust & Crumb in the Summer of 2024
The special “LBI Cake” at Crust & Crumb
The Chocolate iced doughnut that I had at Crust & Crumb for dessert in 2024
Walking back down North Bay Boulevard, passing Fantasy Island Amusement Park reminds you that this is still a shore town. On my first trip to Beach Haven in September the park was still open just very quiet. On a warm sunny Friday afternoon, there were not too many people walking around and the staff spent most of their time on their cellphones or chatting amongst themselves.
Fantasy Island Amusement Park at 750 North Bay Avenue
On my second trip in late October, the park was closed but the arcade was open. Talk about bells and whistles with lots of music, lights and excitement. There were only about a dozen of us in the arcade but it was a lot of fun taking a step back into time when I used to visit the pinball and skeetball machines when I was in high school. There were a lot of the old machines that I remember including a version of PacMan and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
The arcade at Fantasy Island Amusement Park brings back memories of a simpler time.
The amusements in the Summer months
The amusement park in the summer months
Walking around the arcade before dinner was an experience. The few people who were playing games were laughing and having a good time. The adults were having just a good time as their kids and I saw that it brought the kid back in them.
Fantasy Land at night just as I was leaving lit for the holidays.
I stopped for a snack before venturing further at Slice of Heaven Pizza at 610 North Bay Avenue. The restaurant was closed for indoor dining so I ate outside with the pizza chef who was taking a break. The pizza was pretty good and when I was talking to the pizza cook he said how sporadic the business had been all summer. It was just starting to get busy by the end of the summer.
The Cheese pizza is really good at Slice of Heaven Pizzeria.
Another wonderful gift, design and furniture store is The Spotted Whale at 500 North Bay Avenue. The store has a light and breezy beach feel to it with light colors and a lot of nautical looks. This store is more geared to the shore customer.
During Christmas, the store was ablaze with a lighted tree and ornaments twinkling from it while all sorts of decorating ideas for the shore houses were on display. Christmas ‘down the shore’ must be interesting.
The Spotted Whale at 500 North Bay Avenue has two locations on the island.
The Spotted Whale has some interesting looks about it.
Inside the Spotted Whale at the branch at Viking Village.
Walking further south, I took detour into the Coffee Nest at 106 North Bay Avenue to see what their baked good were like. The store is a combination gift store, coffee shop and bakery with some floral arrangements up front. There was not much left in the bakery area when I got there but they have a nice assortment and the prices are a bit high. I liked the music playing though. A step in here and your would think you are in Williamsburg or Bushwick and not Beach Haven.
The Coffee Nest at 106 North Bay Street (changed names in the last year-closed)
When I visited the first time, I came to see the NJ Maritime Museum that is located around the corner from the Coffee Nest on Dock Road towards the bay. The NJ Maritime Museum is located across the street from two very popular restaurants facing the bay at 528 Dock Road.
The NJ Maritime Museum is located at 528 Dock Road by the bay
This small but interesting museum contains not just the history of the towns of Long Beach Island but also has the history of the hotels that once dotted the shore, shipwrecks, the Coast Guard and the 1916 Shark Attack that inspired the movie “Jaws”. Several cruise disasters have interesting displays with documented accounts and all sorts of memorabilia. The museum was founded in 2007 by collector Deb Whitcraft.
The museum’s nautical displays on diving are very detailed
The Shark Attacks from 1916 that inspired the movie “Jaws”
Take time to explore each room and read the details of the displays. You will delve deeper into the history of Long Beach Island and its rich history as a fishing and hunting area for the Lenape Indians, then the Dutch and English traders to its time as a resort community to the new morphing during COVID as a full-time community catering to the residents on their exodus out of New York City and Philly. The museum is rewriting history again in the era of COVID. Don’t miss the Moro Castle luxury cruise display room in the back of the museum with accounts on the fatal trip.
The Morrow Castle tragedy at the NJ Maritime Museum.
For lunch on my recent trip I had to find a place to watch the Michigan State versus Rutgers game. It was depressing watching us get tapped danced on by Rutgers during the third quarter. What made it less depressing was the food at Tuckers Tavern, a restaurant facing the bay at 101 South Bay Avenue( see review on TripAdvisor).
The bar area was socially distanced and they had plenty of TV’s to watch the game. We ended up losing 38-27 but I knew the game was over pretty much by the end of third quarter and I did not travel two hours to sit at the bar and get depressed.
Michigan State lost to Rutgers that afternoon
What perked me up though was the food. It it was excellent. I had a crab cake sandwich that was out of this world. It was loaded with crab and was so sweet. The fries were freshly cut and deep fried to perfection. The whole meal was delicious and picked me right up to keep going for the rest of the afternoon.
When I returned to Tucker’s in August 2024, the sandwich had been taken off the menu and it was only in entree form. I asked and they made this for me. The crab cake was was oversized and was perfectly cooked and seasoned. Their French Fries are amazing.
Do not miss the Tuckers Tavern’s Crab cake sandwich
The Crab Cake sandwich was made for me when it was taken off the menu in the Summer of 2024
Yum!
It was nice after lunch to just walk around the bay area and admire the sunshine. The views from the restaurant that lined the bay was just amazing. It was so nice to just walk off lunch and admire the views. I watched the boats coming in and out of the docks.
The bay side restaurant row is breathtaking
After visiting both museums on the lower part of the island, I headed back to the northern part of the island for an appointment that I had to see the Barnegat Light Museum at 501 Central Avenue in Barnegat Light, a tiny museum that housed the original Barnegat Lighthouse light.
The original Barnegat light from the lighthouse
It was an old schoolhouse built in 1903 that had been converted into museum. The museum housed interesting artifacts like dinosaur bones found on the island, housewares from local residents, notes from the students who went to school at the schoolhouse and nautical items. Out of the three museums on Long Beach Island, this one has the most limited hours and I was only able to really tour it properly in August 2024 during my last summer visit to Barnegat Light.
The President of the museum took me on a private tour of the museum and she told me about all the pieces in the space. I also got to tour the gardens that surrounded the museum that were tended by the Long Beach Island Garden Club who did a wonderful job.
The Edith Duff Gwinn Garden plaque at the museum
The gardens at the Barnegat Light Museum in the off season.
The gardens in the Summer of 2024
As the day wore on, I walked the Barnegat Lighthouse State park one more time and admired the inlet and enjoyed the breezes. People were walking along the pathways before the park closed at 4:00pm.
The gardens in the August of 2024
The gardens in the summer months
The gardens at the museum in the summer months
The Gardens from the side of the museum
As I walked the around the area, exploring Andy’s at the Lighthouse at 202 Broadway, an old general store that had a lot of handmade wood works by a local artist and has a nice selection of tee shirts and gifts.
Another store that stood out was Wildflowers by the Lighthouse by owner and artist, Cricket Luker and the store really stands for it innovative clothing and accessories. The owner is a local artist who took her art studio and turned it to a clothing store over time.
She also opened Wildflowers Too! an art gallery at 506 Broadway that shows local and metropolitan artists with a collection of paints, sculpture and gifts.
Before I made the journey to the southern part of the island on my November trip, I stopped by the “Santa’s Viking Christmas Village” to see the arts and crafts festival at Viking Village at 19th and the Bay Barnegat Light. It was a sunny but cool afternoon but the winds had calmed down and I was able to walk the booths with no problems. I was in search of homemade Santa’s for my mother’s upcoming birthday. I found them in two different booths, one made of a conch shell and another made of wood.
The local seafood restaurant was open for takeout and you could smell the fried fish in the distance along with the horrible singing by a guitarist who could not carry a note. Thank God he took a break in time for the Barnegat Light Fire Department to bring Mr. and Mrs. Claus to the Village for a visit to the local children.
Santa’s Viking Christmas Village during Christmas time-Santa’ coming!
I waited for Santa to arrive via the Barnegat Light Fire Department and it was some crowd! There must have been over a hundred families waiting to see Santa. He arrived at 1:00pm as planned by fire truck to the Vikings Village and I had to elbow people just to get the picture of him and Mrs. Claus arriving. I know it is probably a fellow firefighter and his wife but the way people behaved you would have thought he really come from the North Pole.
The Barnegat Light Fire Department arrives with Santa.
Santa welcomes the crowd on the Barnegat Light fire truck.
Santa helping Mrs. Claus off the truck.
Santa and Mrs. Claus greet the crowd at the Viking Village Craft Show.
Viking Fresh Off the Hook’s outdoor seating was open that afternoon.
Because it was so cool out and I was starting to get hungry after the long trip down to Long Beach Island, I stopped at Off the Hook Seafood for a bowl of their Clam Chowder. You want heaven on earth on a cool November afternoon, it is a bowl of New England Clam Chowder and a Coke.
Viking Fresh Off the Hook Seafood at 1905 Bayview Avenue in Barnegat Light, NJ
My heavenly New England Clam Chowder really warmed me up while waiting for Santa.
After touring the Village, I made my way back down Long Beach Boulevard to the LBI Foundation of The Arts & Sciences Holiday Market 2021, which was mostly full of more expensive artwork and home decor products. It was not as festive as the Village Market and all our mask wearing steamed up everyone’s glasses which was a big complaint. In November of 2023, that was no longer a complaint. It was open and people were having a good time.
The Craft Fair at Viking Village in November 2023.
It was later in the afternoon on my October 2020 visit, when I headed back down to the southern part of the island to Beach Haven and I had some dinner. When I was walking past the NJ Maritime Museum, I came across Polly’s Dockside and Clamhouse at 112 Northwest Avenue. The restaurant is a small establishment right on the dock facing the bay and has the most amazing fried shrimp and clam chowder.
Polly’s Dockside & Clamhouse at 112 Northwest Avenue during the off season.
Polly’s in the Summer of 2024. The restaurant was hopping that night
Polly’s in the summer. I loved this little clam sign
I sat at the bar facing the water and watching the sun set. I ate the richest clam chowder while watching boats come in and out of the dock. The sun set right in front of all of us as we ate and it was like watching a movie. Mother Nature can really treat you to the most beautiful things in life. I swear I snacked so much during the day that I could barely finish my fried shrimp appetizer which was much larger than I expected. Still with a little sweet chili sauce, I finished the whole thing. I wanted to save some room for dessert later that afternoon.
Dining at the bar facing the dock
The Cup of New England Clam Chowder is a meal to itself
The Clam Chowder here is excellent
The Fried Shrimps with Tater Tots were so good!
Polly’s Dock in the Summer of 2024
The inside of Polly’s Dockside in the Summer of 2024
Polly’s Dockside in the off season when it is closed for the summer months.
Polly’s in the Summer when it is in full swing
The bayside restaurants at night during the height in the Summer of 2024
I left when it got dark much later than I thought I would leave and I had a two hour drive home. I stopped at the Custard House at 6403 Long Beach Boulevard for some vanilla custard that settled my stomach. It was the right pick me up after all the food, touring and walking. This popular little stand has plenty of outside seating on a warm evening.
I was able to visit the island once more before the dark days of winter came upon us. Surprisingly enough when I visited in December, it was warm. The whole weekend was going to be in the high 50’s. It did not disappoint me as the sun came out.
I started this journey by visiting Barnegat, a small town just north of the cross-way from Long Beach Island. I was exploring the downtown and visiting a store named the ‘Unshredded Nostalgia’, a antique store that carried everything from old movie posters to local history books, 70’s posters and records to house hold decorations. It was one of those stores that a movie scout might look for props.
The town of Barnegat is a small hamlet just north of Long Beach Island on the mainland a few miles from the cross-way. The Victorian architecture is a little shabby and the downtown has a lot of potential if it was renovated a bit more. It does have a unique look to it. It was a stop over for me on my back to Long Beach Island for a pre-Christmas visit.
During the late summer I had came across a flyer from the Surflight Theater for a Christmas production entitled “We need a little Christmas”, a COVID related play about Christmas in Maine. I had thought about it and at the last minute decided to visit Long Beach Island to see what the Jersey shore is like at the holidays. This was pretty shocking how quiet it had gotten.
The play was cute and not too serious with a happy ending and a lot of Christmas songs that trust me everyone in the audience needed to hear. It really cheered me up and put me into the holiday spirit.
“We need a Little Christmas” at the Surflight Theater
The irony of the show was that when it was over and we walked outside the theater, the clouds gave way and it was sunny and 56 degrees out. It was so nice outside and no wind that I walked down the block and walked on the beach which surprisingly I had not done in all my trips to Beach Haven. This was the first time I had touched the Jersey Shore all year and since 1975 here.
This is when I believe in God when we can enjoy the Christmas holidays with late summer weather. This is what I liked about visiting Hawaii during the holidays. I could walk on the beach and dig into the sand and smell the salt air without freezing. It was nice to just walk on the beach and hear the waves crash. The dunes were so quiet in December of 2023.
Beach Haven beach, what a day!
The dunes in the winter months are so quiet and relaxing
The dunes in the Summer of 2024
The dunes and the beach of Beach Haven in the Summer 2024
After the walk on the beach, I decided to walk around the downtown. I was amazed on how much was now closed. “How to Live” was closing for the season and everything was 50% off, the Crust & Crumb and a whole list of other restaurants has closed for the season. The arcade closed for the season as well. B & B Department Store was still open and decorated for the holidays but pretty much everything surrounding it was closed for the season.
The museums, art galleries and some of the bay side restaurants and attractions were shut down for the winter months as well. I thought with so many people staying on the island as residents more would be open. I had lunch at The Shack at 302 North Bay Boulevard, which was one of the few places that was still open. I had noticed it when I was visiting in October and they had a nice selection of lunch specials for $8.00.
Just wanting a snack, I had their $5.00 pizza combination, which was two slices of their fresh pizza and a Coke. I highly recommend their pizza. It must have been cooked in a hot coal oven because the crust and bottom were really crisp and pillowy. The sauce was well spiced and had a nice flavor and the slices were very generous (see review on TripAdvisor).
The Shack Pizza is delicious
After lunch, I decided to head up the coast and explore how the island was decorated for Christmas. In the downtown areas of Ships Bottom there were some nice decorations of lighted trees but outside that with a few store fronts with lights, the area was dark. Everything had closed for the season. With each town I passed, it was really quiet.
When I got to Barnegat Light, the lighthouse was dark and the park was closed as was all the stores surrounding it including Wildflowers at the Lighthouse, which I enjoyed visiting on my last two trips. The stores either were closed for the season or closed at 4:00pm when the park closed.
Getting back to the dock when the sun was still out.
On my trip back down the island, it was eerie how quiet the neighborhoods had gotten since Halloween. I thought more people were staying down here full time and I did not see that many homes lite up let alone decorated.
The one thing I did see was the most amazing sunset over the island and especially the bay area. The whole sky was reflecting off the clouds and had the most beautiful array of colors in reds, oranges and whites bouncing off the sky. The sun really gives a performance on Long Beach Island.
Beach Haven sunsets
Before I left the island for home that evening and for the rest of the season, I stopped at the Chicken or The Egg for dinner which had been on my bucket list to try since the end of the summer. The food and the service were excellent and everyone was so laid back.
The dinner was excellent (see review on TripAdvisor). I had a sandwich named the Chicken Slammer, which was a fried chicken breast topped with Bacon, Jack Cheddar, Lettuce and Tomato and capped off with tangy barbecue sauce with a side of fries and pickles. it had such nice flavor in each bite.
The Chicken Slammer sandwich at The Chicken or The Egg
Make sure that you get everything on top.
The restaurant has the most amazing desserts. I had their Cinnamon Roll Ice Cream Sandwich, which I highly recommend. They bake their own cinnamon buns and then cut it in half, load it with vanilla ice cream and top it with caramel syrup and then top it with cinnamon sugar. I swear that their is nothing like each bite of that dessert! No wonder it is so popular.
Cinnamon Bun Ice Cream sandwich is heavenly
I was so stuffed from dinner, I needed to take one last look around and I went back to the square and walked around all the lit Christmas trees , all twenty five of them surround the gazebo, and then the main one inside. On a warm night, with the waves crashing in the background, I thought this was an amazing place to admire a Christmas tree.
It was a treat to come to Beach Haven and Long Beach Island again after a forty-year absence. Who knew that the island in its transformation from working class resort to high class residential community offered so much in the way of shopping, restaurants and cultural sites packed onto one island? There is something for everyone here including the beach.
As I keep visiting Long Beach Island, I keep finding more and more things to visit and explore which show the true beauty of these shore communities at various times of the year.
To end my evening after an afternoon of visiting Christmas activities and cultural sites in November, I decided to drive to the end of the island to see what was there and I came across the Holgate Nature Conservatory at 11 West Lincoln Avenue. It was cool and still sunny out when I reached the park.
The Holgate Nature Conservatory in the Summer of 2024
The preserve in the Summer of 2024
This natural preserve at the southern tip of Long Beach Island was very quiet, less some laughing surfers and a few seagulls. The waves just lapped the shore and I could see the skyline of Atlantic City in the distance. There is something about a quiet beach in the Fall that seems serene and picturesque. It was like watching a nature documentary.
The Holgate Nature Preserve at the tip of the island with Atlantic City looming in the distance in December 2023
After dinner on my visit in November of 2021 and in 2023 at the Chicken or the Egg, I finished dessert at The Woo Hoo and walked up through the downtown to see the last of the people roasting marshmallows in the park and walked to Kapler’s Pharmacy at 1 South Bay Street.
Kapler’s Pharmacy at 1 South Bay Avenue is in the Christmas spirit.
The inside of the store is just as festive.
The crowds await as the horse drawn carriages arrive to take people on rides around town.
The horse drawn carriages.
The drug store was sponsoring horse drawn carriage rides around the neighborhood. I thought what a nice way to end the evening with a twilight view of the sun setting and watching the Christmas lights going on at houses around the neighborhood. The Jersey Shore at Christmas can really surprise you.
Kapler’s Pharmacy event at 1 South Bay Avenue in 2021
People enjoying the horse drawn carriages in the afternoon and early evening.
I thought it was a nice group of visits to get my mind off what is going on in the world. What’s better than the Jersey Shore in warm weather? Visiting at all times of the year in warm weather and then returning for the Christmas holiday events. Who says the Shore closes at Labor Day?
Later that day I found out that Michigan State beat Penn State 30-27. What a way to end the day on my November trip!
The Michigan State versus Penn State Game 2021
Christmas at the Shore! What a change from COVID 2020 to November 2023!
The Beach Haven Christmas Tree Lighting 2020 (virtually of course):
Merry Christmas from Beach Haven, NJ in November 2023. It was in full swing
The Kapler’s Pharmacy horse drawn carriage in front of the Long Beach Island Historical Society at twilight.
The park across the street from the historical society at dusk lit for Christmas.
Relaxing at the firepits and watching the Christmas lights turn on that evening.
Who says that a beach town closes down at the end of the summer? Beach Haven has many wonderful things going on all year round!
The gardens in the Summer of 2024 along the main drag
Landscaping along the downtown area
The artwork along the Main Street
Patriotism in shell art
The old businesses that line the downtown are still popular, the Dairy King at 1806 Long Beach Boulevard
No matter what the season, on the beaches of Beach Haven as well of all of Long Beach Island there is something to do both in the summer and at the holidays. You just have to keep coming back.
The dock by the Maritime Museum
The dock by the bay
The dock side party continues into early October of 2025
All this keeps bringing me year after year to Long Beach Island
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Just sitting by the bay relaxing
Admiring the boats while I digested
The creative artwork by the shore
Christmas of 2025:
In 2025, I returned for the Christmas festivities and I have to say for a beach community, Long Beach Island and its small beach towns do not roll up their sleeves for the holiday season. It is alive with all sorts of activities and special events that make this a series of unique towns to come and enjoy at any time of the year.
It was an early morning drive to Long Beach Island and the holiday activities of the shore towns the line it of Beach Haven, Ships Bottom and Barnegat Light. Even in the colder months, there is a lot going on in these once sleepy summer towns. They are open for the holiday season.
The statue outside is always clever in its decorations
The entertainment was really good. Musicians Jimmy Azziz
His performance singing “Easy as Sunday Morning”
I really enjoyed the performance as did other people who stood by to listen to the mini concert.
I got to walk around the craft fair, admiring all the artists works and many of the display pieces. There were a lot of talented artists showing there work that afternoon.
One of the craft displays outside a store
While I was walking around waiting for Santa to arrive on the fire truck, I was admiring the display the people at Viking Village had set up in his honor for the holidays.
The Santa display set up in Santa’s honor
Then 1:00pm arrived and we could hear the bells and whistles of the fire truck as Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive at Viking Village. There is always a lot of anticipation for their arrival and the crowds lined up so deep, that the truck dropped them off at the entrance and they walked in this time.
Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive by fire truck with help of the Barnegat Light Fire Department
Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive to a enthusiastic crowd
Then they sat down to join the crowd and hear requests from children and adults alike. They were busy for the rest of the afternoon.
Santa and Mrs. Claus await the first family to visit them
The proud couple with their first little visitor
As the long lines started for their visit, I decided to get some lunch while the crowds waited in line. In the same complex was the restaurant, ‘Off the Hook’, a wonderful seafood restaurant I had eaten at before.
Viking Fresh Off the Hook at 1905 Bayview Avenue in Barnegat Light, NJ
The food here is excellent and again I really enjoyed my meal. They had a limited menu and I started with the New England Clsm Chowder, which I enjoyed so much the year before.
The start of my meal, the New England Clam Chowder
It was thick and rich and loaded with clams
For my lunch, I ordered the Fried Shrimp Tacos. They were served in a soft taco shell with fresh shredded lettuce and tomatoes. With a little hot sauce and sour cream, they made the best lunch.
The Fried Shrimp Tacos with fresh shredded lettuce and tomatoes and fried potato chips
Now this is dining at the shore!
Yum!
Maybe it was the salt air or the excitement of the holidays and Santa’s visit or just the beautiful day of just the delicious food and eating outside on the picnic bench but it was such a nice lunch and I really enjoyed myself. The meal was excellent. It was also nice to eat outside on a sunny day.
On the way back to Beach Haven to visit the Beach Haven Library Open House, I stopped at Baked on the Beach at 2102 Long Beach Boulevard for dessert. I love their cookies and needed something sweet to finish the meal.
Baked on the Beach at 2102 Long Beach Boulevard in Surf City
I had to get one of their cookies and got the ‘Beach Bum’ with all sorts of chips inside an oatmeal cookie.
The Beach Bum cookie
The delicious desserts at Baked at the Beach
After I finished at the Craft Fair and lunch, I headed down to Beach Haven to go to the Beach Haven Library & Museum Open House. I never knew that there was a museum at their library so I looked forward to seeing it. What a beautiful library.
The Beach Haven Library & Museum at 219 North Beach Avenue
It is such a beautiful and historical library dating back from 1924. The downstairs was very interesting with wooden bookshelves and display cases and shelves showcasing the libraries collection. On the top floor was the museum with many artifacts from the island’s nautical and resort past.
The first floor of the museum with the library book collection
The second floor book collection
The second floor museum gallery
While the museum was small, it was packed with all sorts of interesting artifacts. There were hotel ledgers from long closed hotels, relics from ship wrecks and items from local families.
Hotel ledgers where guests once signed in
The artifacts save from ship wrecks and pictures of local spots
The upstairs conference room decorated for the holidays with book shelves lined with the collection
Downstairs there was a very nice Open House with snacks and a working fire with music and nice conversation with the staff.
The Open House Refreshment table
The Christmas decorations in the library with the working fire place
The Christmas tree in the Children’s Room
After I left the library, I explored the Downtown area and the Pharmacy had their Open House too with ice carvings and several contests. This was a how many reindeer can you count in the window contest.
The Counting Reindeer contest in the window
So many reindeer
The ice carving demonstration
Before I left for my last event on the island, the Ships Bottom Tree Lighting Ceremony, I stopped for some ice cream at The Woo Hoo.
I decided on the Christmas specialty flavor, ‘Santa’s Favorite Cookie’, which was a Cinnamon ice cream filled with crushed biscotti cookie, cookie dough, chocolate chips and M& M’s. It was heavenly.
‘Santa’s Favorite Cookie’ ice cream
Yum!
I love the holiday decorations at the Woo Hoo
With the wonderful lunch and some time before the tree lighting, I walked over to the pier to see the sun set over the island. This is always a treat.
The sunset over the pier
The sunset was so beautiful that night
The decorations in the park in Beach Haven
It got darker for the tree lighting ceremony and I got so lost. Then I did not know where the tree lighting was taking place. I had to Google the location about three times and I finally found it down by the harbor by the bay. By that point, they had lit the tree and people were visiting Santa. It was a nice way to end the evening at the shore.
The Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in Ships Bottom, NJ
People were taking pictures by the tree and visiting Santa. They also had refreshments for everyone as well.
The beautiful Christmas tree in Ships Bottom by the bay
The decorations with Santa leading the way
The festive pirate ship
People were visiting Santa in the gazebo that night
This was a nice way to end my evening at the shore. The lights and the sounds were really nice and there was still a nice crowd when I left the tree lighting. It was really a wonderful afternoon at the shore. Long Beach Island knows how to celebrate Christmas.
Who says the shore quiets down after summer is over?
Even in the age of COVID I wanted to do something special for my birthday. I had not travelled since last Christmas and the idea of staying in a hotel did not appeal to me with everything going on. Watching enough webinars through my Alma Mater, Cornell University, I found out that everyone was taking all sorts of precautions to make everything safe for guests.
Getting tired of not going anywhere but locally I got an invitation to go back to Staatsburgh, NY for another walking tour at the Mills Mansion on the day before my birthday. It was for the “Discovering the Estates Tour” where we walked the grounds of the park to see the abandoned Hoyt and Lee estates that abut the Mills Mansion estate grounds.
In the Fall of 2025, it was turning out to be a long and draining semester and I just needed a break. Plus this particular blog was the last one that really needed a good updating. With the reasonable rates at the Otesaga Hotel for the pre-Thanksgiving festivities, I really wanted to stay at the hotel again for some R&R. I booked the hotel for two nights and off I went.
Staatsburgh, The Mills Mansion, at 1 Mills Mansion Drive
Add to that wanting to go on the “Cemetery Walk” at the Dutch Church in Downtown Kingston Stockade District that is offered every Halloween, I planned the perfect early birthday present for myself. I thought I would go on the tours and treat myself to a early birthday lunch in Rhinebeck, NY.
The Old Dutch Church cemetery and grounds in Kingston, NY at night
Knowing I would be updating my blogs on my sister site to this one, “VisitingaMuseum.com” with these events, I decided to make this a working vacation/birthday weekend.
I checked the weather in Upstate New York and it was going to be a sunny warm weekend with a chance of rain on Monday because of the hurricane travelling up the East Coast from Florida. Being that the foliage was starting to turn in the Hudson River Valley I wondered how it would be further up into the state.
I took a look at my schedule and classes did not resume until that next Tuesday and I made a phone call to the Otesaga Resort Hotel, a hotel that I had always wanted to stay out and visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame while I was there. I don’t know if it was just fate or that I was destined to go there but the hotel was fully booked that week.
The Otesaga Resort Hotel in Cooperstown, NY
The woman from Reservations told me because of the Columbus Day holiday and that being a vacation week for everyone that the hotel was fully booked for the first time since March (remember hotels can only be at 25% capacity at this time). She then said she would put me on the wait list but just as she said this she said to hold on. She came back to me and said that they just had a cancellation for a room for the night I wanted and would I like the room?
I was able to book the room with a King sized bed and a partial view of the lake. It was fate and I jumped on it. That and the rooms were half the price they normally are so it gave me a chance to see Cooperstown, NY while keeping within budget.
In November of 2025, I had been wanting to come back up to Cooperstown to update this blog for five years and the stars aligned again. I had off from work the week of Thanksgiving and the rooms were priced at $155.00 for the room I wanted the days before Thanksgiving, so off I went again.
So off I went to another weekend in the Hudson River Valley and further Upstate to Cooperstown, NY. It was near Halloween and I was going to search for ghosts. The first stop the morning I left for Staatsburgh-The Mills Mansion was the Hyde Park Farmers Market. I was in search of the baker I had met a few weeks earlier who had that terrific peach and blueberry cream cheese pocket. I wanted to get another if he had it.
Don’t miss the Hyde Park, NY Farmers Market on Saturdays in Hyde Park, NY
Luckily enough I found him. I met Tom Greene from Tom’s Heritage Baked Goods & Jams again and told him how much I loved the fruit pocket from my last trip. He said unfortunately the blueberry and peach season was over but he had apple pockets this time. It was delicious. Loaded with a sweet apple mixture and cinnamon in a flaky pastry made every bite melt in your mouth. It is well worth the $5.00 price.
Tom Greene of Tom’s Heritage Baked Goods & Jams
After I walked around the market again seeing all the produce, wines and crafts, I drove up the to Mills Mansion for my next walking tour, “Estates of Staatsburgh”, a tour of the abandoned Lee and Hoyt estates on the park property. A perfect tour as we get closer to the Halloween holidays and search for a ghost.
The tour of the old homes started at the Mills Mansion with a little story about Ruth and Ogden Mills, the owner of Staatsburgh. Their home had only been used for about four months out of the year, usually when they left Newport after the summer was over and before Christmas when they would leave for New York City for the Winter Social season. They were records though that the family did spend some holiday seasons there.
We also toured the grounds where greenhouses, boat houses and ice storage houses once stood and there was a conversation about the role of the staff especially the gardeners and farm staff while the Mill’s were away. Estate was still a working ‘gentlemen’s farm’, where they raised sheep, pigs, chickens and cows for show and for food for the estate.
Then we travelled along the river and through the woods to the Hoyt estate which stood abandoned on a buff overlooking the Hudson River. The Hoyt’s were distant relatives of Ruth Livingston Mills on the Livingston side of her family. They had lived in the home for generations until the State of the New York bought their home and estate through eminent domain back in the early 1960’s. The house and the outer buildings now sit abandoned until renovations can begin for them as Educational Centers and storage.
The Hoyt Mansion does look a little like a haunted house
The Hoyt Estate in its heyday
After a visit to the Hoyt’s home we visited the estate of the Lee Family which was further down the path. The home had burned down in the 1950’s so all that was left was traces of the driveway and the ice house for the estate. It still looked ominous sitting in the middle of the woods.
The Lee Mansion in its heyday before it burned down.
After our tour through the woods, the tour guide told us of the improvements both families had done to their homes before they were either abandoned or burned down. There are still traces of old buildings on the grounds and paths and gardens. We also got to see traces of the old garden shed and cow barn that are now in ruin. Now all of it has let Mother Nature take over.
The Hoyt Estate grounds
At the end of the tour they finally opened the bathrooms for us (none of the men were too thrilled by this) and then we were left to tour the Mills estate or relax on the lawn and talk with other guests (socially distanced of course). I just relaxed and admired the beautiful views of the river on a warm sunny day.
The Mills Mansion back lawn facing the Hudson River
After my tour of the old estates, I travelled back to Downtown Poughkeepsie to take a better tour of the older historical sections of the City including Little Italy again, the Historic Union Street section and the older part of downtown. I never realized what a beautiful city Poughkeepsie is and the potential it has for a turnaround. The ‘Walkway Over the Hudson State Park’ is really bringing people back to the City. Plus it is one of the last towns along the Hudson River to gentrify.
Downtown Poughkeepsie is quite interesting in that none of the colleges that surround it ever opened a campus building in the downtown. Marist, Dutchess Community College, Vassar, Bard and the Culinary Institute of America are all located around the City. I can see by walking around the area closer to the Hudson River this is all beginning to change. It seemed that all the homes and businesses in area are being snatched up quickly as they are coming onto the market.
I parked in the Historic Union Street and started to walk around the neighborhood. There are a lot of old brick homes and mansions in the area. There are also a series of businesses that are being renovated in the area. People are really fixing the neighborhood and you can start to see by the beauty of the architecture.
Historic Union Street is changing fast
Union Street neighborhood
I then walked up the Main Street from the river to the historic part of the downtown and looked up at all the awnings of the buildings and you can see that many were built in the late 1880’s. These formerly boarded up buildings are being fixed up and turned into lofts and the store fronts are now art galleries and small restaurants.
The lower part of Downtown Poughkeepsie has its charms
The cast iron buildings of Downtown Poughkeepsie are being renovated
There are now three art galleries downtown, an arts building and now a fancy French restaurant and two upscale bars. Once you go about five blocks past the old Luckey Platt & Company Department Store building then it starts to get a little seedy. This is where most of the urban renewal most have happened and knocked the old area down. Still there are a lot of changes going on here too.
The Historic section of Downtown Poughkeepsie
I then walked around the old Little Italy which I had explored a few weeks earlier. There is not much left to it. There are two restaurants, a pizzeria, a bakery and a hair salon. There is an Italian Cultural Center in the neighborhood as well. Now artists and ‘hipsters’ are moving in with new arts centers flanking the area and there is a lot of renovations of homes going on here.
This lower part of Poughkeepsie is changing fast
Map of Little Italy in Poughkeepsie (not much left)
What’s left of Little Italy (but the area is being gentrified)
Little Italy from Walkway Across the Hudson bridge
Before I left Little Italy for Kingston for the Cemetery Walk, I stopped at Emiliano’s Pizza at 111 Main Street for a quick lunch (See my review on TripAdvisor). The pizza was quite good. It was really cheesy and gooey but the sauce could have used more spices. Their selection and prices are very fair and the service is really good.
Emiliano’s Pizza at 111 Main Street
The pizza is wonderful here
I arrived in the Kingston Stockade around 5:30pm and started to explore the historic Stockade and the changes that are happening there too. Kingston is going through a transformation as well. All the old what I would call ‘granola’ businesses like the all natural coffee shops and restaurants and old clothing stores have since closed. There was a lot of empty store fronts since last Halloween when I visited for the Puppet rehearsals at the Rokeby estate.
A mural in Downtown Kingston, NY really makes a statement.
What has started to replace them is an incredible amount of smaller restaurants which are really expensive and a few furniture galleries that looked like they got priced out of Hudson, NY. I can see that this part of Kingston is getting more expensive like the Roundout section.
The downtown was in bloom when I visited in the summer of 2023.
I wanted another quick snack before the Cemetery Walk, so I stopped at Wing Shui Chinese Restaurant at 53 North Front Street which is one of the last of the ‘old’ businesses left in this section of the neighborhood. I just ordered a few egg rolls and I have to tell you they were some of the best I had eaten in a long time.
Wing Shui Chinese Restaurant at 53 North Street
They were loaded with chopped roast pork and fresh vegetables and fried to perfection. I have to go back in the future. I have not had egg rolls this good since we went to Chan’s in Dunellen, NJ back in the 1980’s. They made a real impression on me when something is this good.
The egg rolls at Wing Shui Chinese Restaurant are excellent!
I wish I could have said as much for the ‘Cemetery Tour’ at the Old Dutch Church. I had been to the church in the past for Sinterklaas fundraisers so I had been inside many times and just walked around the cemetery during the day. I was hoping this would be a more spooky type of event with the actor giving an approach from the dead’s point of view.
The cemetery at night during the walk
The problem with the actors who were playing the roles of the people buried at the Old Dutch Church cemetery was that they wanted it both ways. They wanted to play the roles of people in their own era and this spread out in a three hundred year period and then they wanted to bring modern politics into it which I did not want to hear their opinions and would not what someone would have thought in their time frame.
The famous cemetery during the daytime
The actors who played the roles of Emily Chadbourne, Father Divine and slave Jenny started to equate their characters to modern times which took the twist out of it. It made it less spooky and more political. The only actor who stayed in character was the one playing Calvert Vaux, the landscape designer of Central Park and a architect of many buildings.
The Old Dutch Church in the daytime is very interesting
The cemetery itself was very lurking after the event was over and everyone had left. The actors were gone as well as everyone else in about an hour and the church was locked up. Then it really did look gloomy with only the moon light and street lights to illuminate it. I was parked outside the church (did I luck out with parking that evening) and passed it again as I walked the downtown one more time. There are more changes coming to Kingston.
I spent the night in Hyde Park again and I highly recommend the Quality Inn. In the era of COVID I want to say that I was not too keen about staying in a hotel. The hotel does a great job in protocols and the place was as clean as a whistle and followed all the standards set by the CDC.
The room was spotless (I have stayed here many times and the hotel has excellent standards) and there was a air purifier in the room as well as the window was open and smelled very nice. I also had a nice view of the woods and the rock wall outside.
I highly recommend the Quality Inn at Hyde Park, NY
I swear though trying to find an open restaurant after 9:00pm in Red Hook, Rhinebeck or Hyde Park was next to impossible. Everyone seems to roll up the carpet at 10:00pm. I ended up at the Hyde Park McDonald’s (see review on TripAdvisor) trying the new Spicy Chicken McNuggets which I highly recommend. They were really delicious especially with the new Spicy Sauce.
Don’t miss the Spicy Chicken McNuggets; they will make you want to come back to McDonald’s.
All that running around and driving on the first day of my trip wore me out. It was just to the Rhinebeck and Kingston areas and I was pooped. I was running from one thing to another and when I got back from McDonald’s, I hit the pillow and slept soundly. This hotel is so comfortable.
I checked out early the next morning. Talk about a good night’s sleep, I was ready to go. I went back to Downtown Poughkeepsie again to try Alex’s Restaurant at 1 Market Street which has been a fixture in the City since 1911. I wanted to go someplace different for my birthday breakfast.
Alex’s Restaurant at 1 Market Street in Poughkeepsie, NY
The one complaint I had about the restaurant was that when you are a single person they give you the worst table. With COVID, we were not even allowed to eat at the bar and I was stuck at a table in the back by the bathroom. That made the meal less enjoyable.
Still the food here is really good (See review on TripAdvisor). I had a dish called a “Breakfast Sampler”, which was two slices of French Toast, a pancake, two scrambled eggs, two slices of bacon and a rather big sausage patty. Everything was delicious and the waiter, Michelle, was really nice and was able to handle the crowd that morning.
I took more walk around Downtown Poughkeepsie before I had to cross the river again to the Kingston Roundout. As part of a gift to myself, I wanted to explore sites on my bucket list. My first stop was the Trolley Museum of Kingston. I had missed it on my last trip to the Roundout. Between the cruise and the Maritime Museum, it took up the whole day.
The Trolley Museum at 89 East Strand Street
The Roundout was busy that morning. It looked like New York City had emptied out and everyone came up to Kingston for brunch. The Trolley Museum at 89 East Strand Street is a unique little museum that tells the history of the trolley car not just in Kingston but all over the country.
The inside of the Kingston Trolley Museum
The first part of my visit is the trolley ride up the Hudson River which on a beautiful clear sunny day is just amazing. We took a small trip to the center of town to pick up more people and then we took a ride through the woods and followed the river up to Kingston Point Park.
The ride up the river was fun
We were able to take a break and just walk around Kingston Point Park, looking at the foliage along the river and watching the sailboats go by. It was another cool morning but I learned my lesson and bundled up. It was just breathtaking.
The views are breathtaking
We only had about a half hour to enjoy the park and then it was back to the Roundout. I was able to explore the displays around the small museum and then walked through the subway cars and buses that were on display outside. I know that the kids seemed to loved it.
I wanted to stop back at the Dorsky Museum at SUNY New Paltz again to finish seeing the ‘Artists of the Hudson River’ exhibition so off I went again to New Paltz. When I left Kingston you literally could not find a parking spot as that’s how busy it was all getting at the Roundout.
The Dorsky Museum on the SUNY New Paltz campus
The Samuel Dorsky Museum at New Paltz is one of those terrific college museum’s that is tucked inside a campus building. The museum opened early that morning so I saw the exhibition with no one else around. The local artists had a nice showcase for their art. The college did a nice job mounting the display. There were some interesting pieces in the exhibition. This one below is made of locally made bricks from an old building.
The “A Living Collection” is a great exhibition
After a quick tour of the exhibition, it was time to take the trip of to Cooperstown, NY. I had taken instructions from Google maps and took the trip up the local highways. What should have been a two and half trip ended up taking four hours.
I went from Route 9 North past Saugerties and Catskill and then headed up Route 145 where I went through every small town in all the farming communities. I had never seen areas so depressed before. These were areas where progressed passed by.
The Dorsky Museum Main Gallery
The one thing I started to notice in all these small towns along the highway that in each of the towns I saw old Victorian homes being fixed up with rainbow flags outside of them. Either people were coming home or the reaches of people moving out of New York City reached these lengths.
The only positive thing coming out of this pandemic that I noticed was that by people leaving the City and moving into these small communities is they will progress, with new businesses and money to these small towns. These changes have been happening to small towns all over Upstate.
The views along Route 145 on the way to Middleburgh
Even thought many of these towns were falling apart they had their charms as well. There were small downtown’s surrounded by Victorian homes telling the story that these were once prosperous farming towns with their own businesses and social lives. The town that stood out the most was Middleburgh, NY right near the end of Route 145 near the Interstate 88 turn.
The farms of Middleburgh, NY meet the Catskills right near downtown
When I arrived back in town after five years, I noticed a big change in the stores and with the homes surrounding the downtown. So many of them had been snatched up and renovated. A lot of the older buildings downtown were now becoming upscale businesses and a lot of renovated storefronts waiting to be opened.
Leaving Route 145 from Midfleburgh
Once I got off Route 145, I got on the Interstate and then went on a back road maze of streets that the directions sent me until I decided to just stay on the main road and drove up Route 7 to Route 18 to Cooperstown. I must have seen every small town in Upstate New York.
The views of the mountains in November 2025
The view of the old barns on Route 145
I finally arrived in Cooperstown at 6:00pm almost four hours later and I was exhausted from all the driving. I stopped in Downtown Cooperstown for directions and then it was off to the hotel. I got into town before it got dark so I got to see the views of the hotel. The Otesaga Resort Hotel at 60 Lake Street is right on the bend of the southern most part of Lake Otsego.
The Otesaga Resort Hotel is a grand hotel
The Otesaga Resort Hotel was taking every precaution as well. The hotel was only at a 25% occupancy and you could tell by the parking lot it was not that full. When I entered the lobby there were only a few people there and the front desk gentleman was behind a Plexiglas sheet with a mask and gloves on. Sterile but smart.
The lobby in 2025 decorated for the upcoming Christmas holidays
In 2025, the lobby was fully open with a fire place to warm yourself. Like before, the hotel was really quiet the beginning of the week of Thanksgiving, so I was able to sit in the lobby and just relax. I tried to get some work done but I still felt a buzz from the wine at dinner and then had a long conversation with a woman who was from Ithaca. I ended up back in my room and collapsed for two hours.
The hotel in November of 2025
The hallway at The Otesago looked like the ‘The Overlook’ hotel when I walked down the hall
My room was everything that I hoped for. I had a third floor partial lake view room on the third floor which I found out after I left the hotel is one of the haunted floors. The hotel’s bio said that there the voices of small girls laughing in the hallway. I heard dead silence of a floor that was not that full. I settled in before I left to find a restaurant for my birthday dinner.
My room at The Otesaga Hotel
My large bathroom
The Hawkeye Bar & Grill , one of the signature restaurants of the hotel, was the only one that was open with a very limited menu. I decided to come back later for a drink at the bar and headed into downtown a block away. There was not much open on a Sunday night at 7:00pm. It looked like the whole downtown closed up.
The Hawkeye Bar where I ate my dinner that night
In 2025, I arrived on Monday night and most of the restaurants were closed that evening. I stayed in for dinner and I had a Cheeseburger with fries at the bar. After a long trip and a glass of wine. I felt I could tackle and ghost especially with a wonderful dinner like this.
The Hawkeye Bar on my visit in 2025
Yum!
In 2020, it was a cool night and I wanted simple comfort food. I was in the mood for a hot turkey sandwich and I found it at the Doubleday Cafe at 93 Main Street. Talk about being socially distanced there were only about ten people in the restaurant and a few more walked in after I got my dinner. Like I said, there was not much open. The restaurants were either too expensive or had boring menus.
I had the same idea in 2025, plus it was one of the few restaurants outside the resort that was open at night but still closed by 8:00pm. The same comfort foods were my dinner that night and I repeated the same dinner. I would not be having a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving, so I decided to have it here.
The Doubleday Cafe at 93 Main Street in Cooperstown
The sign outside
The service here is really friendly and personable. After that long trip, I really needed this. The food was delicious (see review on TripAdvisor).
The New England Clam Chowder was perfect on a cool night
I started with a cup of New England Clam Chowder to warm me up. It was thick and rich and warmed me inside and out. Both in 2020 and 2025, I had the hot turkey sandwich really hit the spot. It was loaded with fresh turkey on white toast with a side of mashed potatoes. It was the perfect comfort food on these cool nights.
The inside of Doubleday’s Cafe
I got to watch the end of the Giants-Dallas game while I was eating (Giants lost again) and watched the last of the stragglers walking around the downtown.
The Hot Turkey Sandwiches here are delicious
After both the game and dinner were over, I took a long walk around the downtown. My family and friends had been calling me all day to wish me a happy birthday so I ended up talking to my brother while I was walking around.
There was no one around that night and I swear there must have been about ten people walking around Downtown Cooperstown. The place was so quiet.
I walked back to the hotel that evening and it was all illuminated for the evening. The hotel looked busier than it was and in the lobby people were talking by the fire, working on their computers by the couches and the fire pit bar was packed with people who were socially distanced.
The lobby in 2025
I had talked with one of the waiters earlier who said a friend of hers had seen a ghost in the hotel and said the Fifth Floor made people working at night a little uncomfortable so off I went to the Fifth Floor to search for a ghost.
All I saw was an empty hallway and people talking in rooms. Nothing going bump in the night. So I headed down to the Hawkeye Bar & Grill on the lower level of the hotel for a drink. I had a Cosmopolitan that really knocked me out. I was tired from all that driving.
I had the same thing in 2025, along with dinner and a nice glass of Chardonnay with the burger. I was so relaxed and ready for a long night’s sleep.
A glass of vino with dinner
The ‘haunted hallway’ outside my room
My walk down the ‘Haunted Hallway’ of the Third Floor
I was going to sit out at the fire pit but no one else was outside at that point and they were ready to close. They closed the bar at 10:00pm. At least I got my birthday drink in with a cheery hello from the bartender (see review on TripAdvisor).
The Fire Pit bar was very popular that night
If there was a ghost in my room, it could not have waken me with an atom bomb. I went into such a deep sleep that I awoke at 8:30am rested and refreshed.
In 2025, after a long week at work, a ton of gardening and outside work putting the garden to bed for the year and the trip upstate I went out like a light again. The beds are so soft and the hotel so quiet.
I had a 9:30am breakfast appointment in the Glitterglass Room, the hotel’s dining room for breakfast. What I loved about the package I chose was breakfast was included. In 2025, it was back to normal.
The Glimmerglass Room in 2025
I had the best waiter. He said to me that since the buffet could not be done, I could order anything from the A La Carte menu and as much as I wanted. BIG MISTAKE! I love breakfast and I was starved.
The best seat in the house
The Omelet Station
I started with a three egg omelet with ham and Cheddar with a side of bacon, potatoes, rye toast and tea and orange juice.
My breakfast that morning
The Omelet was amazing
After I ate that, I also ordered Fresh Waffles with blueberry compote.
The Waffles with the Blueberry and Strawberry Compete with Sausage
The Waffles were made right in front of me
I even saved room for pastries
I think I shocked the waiter by eating everything. In 2025, I ate the same breakfasts to show everyone the meals and then tucked in a third breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and potatoes because I was still hungry. I had to add on more pastries too. No lunch for me!
The Apple Muffins were the best way to end the meal
The Glitterglass Room for breakfast is beautiful
The beautiful chandeliers in the room
After breakfast was over and before I checked out of the room, I walked around the grounds to admire the foliage and the lake. It cleared up outside and it was sunny with blue skies. The grounds of the hotel are just breathtaking.
The views of the mountains and the lake are so scenic and graceful. The golfers, COVID or not, were out in force and already playing rounds of golf. It would have nice to use the pool or swim in the lake but that was out of the question.
The grounds of the Otesaga Hotel in November 2025
It was gloomy and a bit cooler in 2025 on my second day at the resort but it was still nice to walk around.
The grounds of the resort in November 2025
I dropped my bags in the car and walked down to the National Baseball Hall of Fame for the morning. The downtown area was still really quiet and I had timed tickets for 12:30pm. I thought I would be there for about two hours. I was there for almost three.
National Baseball Hall of Fame at 25 Main Street
The National Baseball Hall of Fame is a true testament to the sport. There are artifacts from every era of the sport starting with early traces of bat and ball sports going back to the Egyptians and Greeks. The progress of the sport since the end of the Civil War to today is reflected in the memorabilia that has been donated over the year by teams, players and fans.
“The Captain” Derek Jeter
The museum opened in 1939 and has been growing ever since. I really liked the Hall of Fame room with all the plaques of celebrated players. Recently Derek Jeter was inducted into the Hall of Fame but because of COVID, the ceremony was cancelled.
I was looking for Reggie Jackson, “Mr. October”, who was induced in year ago. I just remember the thrill when he went in as a Yankee. I found the plaque of my childhood hero.
As I have mentioned since the reopening of New York City, people are trying to write the City off as ‘dead’ and that is far from true. I see a City that is quieter, adapting to conditions around it and slowly coming back to life.
I spent my third day exploring in the Murray Hill neighborhood and I am beginning to see more and more people feel the same way I do. They are joining the world again by walking through parks, jogging on the sidewalks and partaking in the outdoor dining that is popping up all over the City streets and sidewalks. Restaurants and bars are doing their best to cater to their customers while still maintaining social distancing and keeping everyone safe.
No where did I see this more in play than in Bryant Park, which has become my headquarters for this part of the walk. When I got into the park that afternoon, people had taken over the lawn even after the overnight rain storm and were lying all over the grass (socially distanced of course) reading, laughing and conversing with friends. The chairs and tables around the park were filled with people eating their lunches, talking and reading. The park was pretty well filled.
Bryant Park in the Summer looking down from Sixth Avenue.
Bryant Park Grill, the main restaurant of the park, was filled to capacity during the lunch hour. People were having business meetings over lunch and slowly out of towners are coming back to the City missing the vibrancy of the City. You would never know there was a pandemic going on from all the people in the park enjoying the sunshine on a nice warm sunny day.
I had gotten tickets through the Members Website at the Morgan Library & Museum that afternoon at 2:30pm with timed tickets so I knew how to pace my day. I wanted to walk all the streets between East 41st and East 35th Street from Fifth Avenue to FDR Drive. It would be several hours of interesting walking. What I saw all over the neighborhood that afternoon is life coming back.
I started my walk at the New York Public Library entrance admiring the fountains and the gardens planted up front. Most of the tables in front of the New York Public Library were full of people eating their lunches, reading or sleeping.
The beauty of the library at Christmas time 2024
I threw a coin into the fountain of ‘Beauty’, made a wish and started my walk. This graceful and elegant fountain was designed by artist Frederick MacMonnies. In the background is the words written, “Beauty, old yet ever new, Eternal Voice, and Inward word”.
“Beauty” the fountain in front of the New York Public Library
Frederick MacMonnies is an American born artist whose specialty was “Beaux-Arts style” design. The artist was trained at the National Academy of Design and Arts Student League of New York. The artist continued his training in Paris (Wiki).
I started my afternoon by walking down East 41st Street on a glorious sunny day. With the temperature being around 83 degrees, it was the perfect day to walk around Murray Hill. It was also really quiet being Labor Day Weekend and the streets were deserted for most of the afternoon.
The ‘Library Walk’ starts at Fifth Avenue and ends at Park Avenue
I like to talk a lot about looking up and not missing anything that you might miss by looking ahead. Here on East 41st Street you have to look down to see the “Library Walk” from Fifth Avenue to Park Avenue by artist Gregg Lefevre.
“Library Walk” plaque quoting author William Styron
“Library Walk” plaque quoting author Julia Alvarez
The artist was commissioned by in 1998 to create plaques with words and sayings from some of our greatest authors from Mark Twain to Ernest Hemingway. These plaques line both sides of the street so you will need time to look at each one carefully and be able to read the ones you want.
As I followed the plaques down East 41st Street toward Park Avenue trying to read everyone, I walked past the Library Hotel again at 299 Madison Avenue and East 41st Street. Their outdoor restaurant “Madison and Vine” was set up for lunch and was already getting busy. I spent time admiring the menu and the festive place-settings on the tables. It looked like a fun place to eat.
Madison & Vine is at the corner of Madison Avenue and East 41st Street
Across the street and a little further down is Stone Bridge Pizza & Salad at 16 East 41st Street. One evening when I revisited the neighborhood, stopped in for dinner (The Library Hotel and Madison & Vine were temporarily closed in February 2021). I had the most amazing Meatlovers Pizza loaded with pepperoni, sausage, bacon and sauté onions. It really warmed me up on a gloomy rainy night (see review on TripAdvisor).
Stone Bridge Pizza and Salad at 16 East 41st Street (Closed December 2022)
Further down from the Library Hotel is the Dylan Hotel at 52 East 41st Street. This boutique hotel is housed in the historic Chemist’s Building once the home of the American Chemical Society and the Society of Chemical Industry as their club headquarters. The building was designed by architectural firm York and Sawyer and was completed in 1911. The building was designed in the ‘French Renaissance style’ and was home to the club into the 1980’s. It became the Dylan Hotel in 1988 (Dylan Hotel History).
Walking down East 41st Street leads you through mostly office and large apartment buildings until you get to the end when you reach Tudor City, one of the first planned and most important examples of middle class housing . It was designed in the Tudor Revival style and was the creation of the Fred French Company by architect H. Douglas Ives. In the design of the complex you can see the arches, bay windows, gables and towers that make up the design (Wiki).
Tudor City is one of the first planned middle class communities in the United States
What is nice is the parks that line the complex are a nice place to sit and relax. The landscaped paths and the flower beds are a nice reprieve from all the traffic. They are a calm place to relax.
The Gardens at Tudor City are a nice place to relax
One of my favorite little shops in Manhattan is in the Tudor City complex, Azalea & Oak at 5 Tudor City. This unique little store has the most interesting window displays and nicest selection of children’s clothing and toys and customer jewelry.
Azalea & Oak at 5 Tudor City (closed January 2024)
When walking back through the complex I noticed tucked into the complex but not in the complex is 337 East 41st Street, a small brownstone building that survived the wrecking ball when the complex was built.
This little brownstone has a survivalist history. Built in 1870 by developer S. S. Stevens, this home and eighteen other like it, were built on the northern side of the street to match similar brownstones that had just been built. Architectural firm Hubert & Pirsson were commissioned to design them in the Italianate style with small yards in the back. Somehow this home was the only one in 1925 that survived the wrecking ball when Tudor City was built. It is now a private home (Daytonian). It’s so interesting the cool things that are tucked in the corners of the this neighborhood.
As I walked back I noticed a Chemical Bank sign on a building considering the company has not existed since the 1990’s. It’s quiet beauty stopped me. The bottom of the building is done in polished black granite and silver details. The former Johns-Manville Corporation leased 14 floors of it originally but the Chemical Bank (which is now part of J.P. Morgan/Chase) sign still shows prominently on the building (NewYorkitecture).
275 Madison Avenue-The John-Manville/Chemical Bank Building
The building was designed in 1931 by architect Kennith Franzheim in the ‘Art Deco style’ and the lower part of the building is done in polished black granite and silver and the geometric design gives it a unique look (NewYorkitecture). The building was leased by the John-Manville Corporation having a large presence on the lower floors but the Chemical Bank sign (now part of JPMorgan Chase) still proudly stands.
The beautiful details of the former John-Manville/Chemical Bank Building at 275 Madison Avenue
One of big surprises was discovering the AKC Museum of the Dog at 101 Park Avenue. The American Kennel Club (AKC) founded this museum in 1982 at 51 Madison Avenue, the former headquarters of the American Kennel Club and in 1987 it moved to Queeny Park in Missouri. In 2017, the museum and its collection moved to the new Park Avenue headquarters of the AKC.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) Museum of the Dog at 101 Park Avenue
The museum contains a collection of 1,700 pieces of art that preserves, interprets and celebrates the role of dogs in society and educates the public about human-canine bond (AKC Museum of the Dog history).
The American Kennel Club’s Museum of the Dog exhibition space
Tucked here and there in between buildings that are some small gems that just stand out amongst the more modern buildings. The small firehouse building at 148 East 40th Street I found out later on was actually a stable.
John W. Allen was a successful stockbroker and had a home at 14 East 42nd Street and these stables were a status symbol of the times. It meant that you could stable your own horse and carriage in your own building. At this time many stables for the wealthy were located on the side streets of the Avenues. This little building was designed and built by Charles E. Hadden. The building is made of brick with a slated Mansard roof and the top floors were accommodations for the groom or stable boy (Daytonian).
Sitting just outside 300 Madison Avenue, the PricewaterhouseCoopers Building is the sculpture “Stamen” by artist Rodney Carroll. This unusual sculpture caught my attention because of its twist and turns and I could not believe I missed it when I was walking the Avenues of the neighborhood. This unusual piece of art was created in 2009.
Rodney Carroll is noted for his large scale sculptures in public spaces and private collections. He studied sculpture at Old Dominion University and received his BS in Fine Arts and studied sculpture at Norfolk State (The Virginian Pilot).
As I finished walking East 40th Street, I made my way to the Hunan Manor Restaurant at 339 Lexington Avenue between East 39th and 40th Streets only to discover that it was closed. I talked with the deli next door and discovered the restaurant had closed. Disappointed I made my way to my second choice in the neighborhood, Madison & Vine at the Library Hotel at 299 Madison Avenue by East 41st Street. I was not disappointed.
Madison & Vine Restaurant at the Library Hotel at 299 Madison Avenue
What an amazing experience! I have been very leery about eating in restaurants or even take out for that matter since COVID-19 has set in. You never know what is going on in the kitchen. It was such a nice dining experience especially since it is so quiet in the City.
All the tables were spread out by more than six feet and the sidewalk that is outside the hotel has all sorts of planters and flowers to block the street. With the views of the library across the street and the excellent service it was very relaxing. I had a Shrimp Po Boy (see review on TripAdvisor) that was delicious.
The Po Boys here are excellent (no longer on the menu unfortunately)
The hoagie roll was so fresh and the shrimps were fried perfectly with fresh tomatoes and shredded lettuce. The fries were freshly cut and seasoned perfectly. It was just nice to eat a quiet, relaxing lunch and just watch the world go by with all this chaos going on. For an hour, you just forget it is all going on and I think that was the feeling of my fellow diners. I do hope though that Hunan Manor reopens because their reviews and food looked really good.
Relaxed and refreshed from lunch, I continued to tackle and explore the neighborhood. I walked down Fifth Avenue from the restaurant and made a left down East 39th Street when I noticed faces staring at me from 4 East 39th Street. They stared down at me from the entrance of the local Berkshire Bank.
The Keppel & Company building at 4 East 39th Street
The building was originally part of a complex of stables for the wealthy and was knocked down by Frederick Keppel, a art dealer. He commissioned architect George B. Post to design a new building for his business, Keppel & Co. The building was designed in the ‘Gothic style’ and the two figures that stare down at you are artist James McNeil Whistler and the other is artist Rembrandt Van Rijn (Daytonian). You could tell by the details that this did not start as a bank.
The Frederick Keppel & Company building details.
The rest of East 39th Street is a combination of office and apartment buildings and a lot of restaurants that have been opening up since the COVID pandemic. The area is coming back to life after almost two years of shut down businesses. Now that the neighborhood restaurants and hotels have reopened, the foot traffic in the area has increased.
Still here and there are hidden gems tucked in between the commercial buildings. The building home at 109 East 39th Street is a real beauty and the details are amazing.
109 East 39th Street-The former Helena Flint House
This house was built for wealthy heiress Helena Flint in 1887. The house was built in the Queen Anne style. Helena Flint commissioned Henry F. Kilburn to design a modern residence on the cutting edge of fashion (Daytoninmanhattan.com).
The embellishments of the building.
This face stares at you from the top of the home.
It used to be spooky walking down this block in 2020 as businesses had not yet opened up and the restaurants had limited hours. Now that people are back to work in 2024, things have changed for the better. At the end of the block you see a large empty lot overlooking the Queens skyline.
The East River Skyline of Long Island City
East 38th Street is lined with more brownstones on both sides and this shows the beauty of the side streets of the Murray Hill Historical District that stretch within the boundaries of the neighborhood. Each of these homes on the side streets are unique in their own way.
The brownstones on East 36th Street of Murray Hill are very unique.
Passing through the core of the neighborhood, you exit at the end of East 38th Street with the most amazing views of the Queens skyline. On a sunny day these views of the river are really spectacular.
Almost like an insert between two apartment complexes is this unique little building that I thought might be a firehouse but turned out to be a stable. The ‘Bowdoin Stable’ was built in 1902 for clothing and real estate executive William R. Martin by architect Ralph Samuel Townsend in the ‘Flemish Revival Style’. The stables were sold to George C. Bowdoin in 1907 as his carriage house for his carriages, horses and groomsmen to live (ArtNerd & 6SqFt).
The George Bowdoin Stable house at 149 East 38th Street
The Federalist-style townhouse at 150 East 38th Street was once called home by President Martin Van Buren. This is, without a doubt, one of the most unique properties in New York–besides the presidential ownership, ironwork frames the entryway, a squat structure connected to the four-story townhouse. It was built in 1857, altered in 1935, and then restored in the early 2000s (Nonko, Emily 6SqFt).
When walking back from the views of the East River, you will notice the plaques and dedications at the Bide A Wee House at 410 East 38th Street dedicated to the building’s builder art patron John Gellatly (all these plaques have been since removed from the building in 2024).
The Bide A Wee plaque located outside the old Bide A Wee Building at 410 East 38th Street
This elegant plaque was designed by Laura Cardin Fraser, the first woman to design a coin for the U.S. Treasury (Read a Plaque). Ms. Cardin Fraser was an American born artist who studied at the Art Students League in New York City under her soon to be husband, James Earle Fraser. She is known for her sculptures of historical figures and for designing coins for the U.S. Government (Wiki).
Bide A Wee is a ‘no kill’ animal shelter and refuge for dogs founded by Mr.s Flora D’Auby Jenkins Kibbe after seeing this work at a shelter in Paris (Bide A Wee history).
Mrs. Flora D’Auby Jenkins Kibbe, the founder of Bide A Wee, the ‘No Kill’ Shelter
When walking down East 37th Street you will see the beginnings of the N.Y. Langone Hospital complex where there is a nice public area to sit and relax and watch the neighborhood walk by. This must be very relaxing to the hospital workers. It has some nice chairs and tables to relax.
The public square at NY Langone Hospital
If you look to the corner wall of the public square, you will see the art work of artist Daru-Jung Hyang Kim in his mosaic “Sun Feast” that was created in 2013. This beautiful geometric mosaic is such an interesting work. The colors are so vibrant that they pop right out at you.
Sun Feast by artist Daru-Jung Hyang Kim
Artist Daru-Jung Hyang Kim is a Korean born artist who studied at the Seoul National University where she got her BS and then moved to New York City where she got her Masters at Pratt. The works she did for NYU Langone Hospital are some of the large artworks she has created around the world (Artist bio).
I looked up from my walk back from the river to see the unusual top of the building next to me to see a mansard like top to both sides of the building. It almost looked like port holes on the top of the building looking out. This is the Kips Bay Brewery Building that is in two parts. The older section was built in 1904 and the other part of the building was built in 1910.
When heading back down East 38th Street towards Madison Avenue you reach two unique mansions that are part of the ‘Gilded Age’ architecture of the neighborhood. First is the De Lamar Mansion which is now home to the Consulate of Poland on the corner of Madison Avenue and East 37th Street at 233 Madison Avenue.
This beautiful mansion was designed by architect C. P. H. Gilbert in the ‘Beaux Arts style’ in 1905 for millionaire Joseph R. De Lamar. Mr. De Lamar was a Dutch merchant seaman who made his money in mining and metallurgy. He built this home for his family and by the time it was finished he was divorced and lived here with his daughter until his death eight years later. The mansion was sold to the Consulate in 1973.
The De Lamar mansion at 233 Madison Avenue now the Consulate of Poland
Jan Karski Statue outside the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland/De Lamar Mansion
The statue is of Jan Karski who was a courier who served as part of the Anti-Nazi Resistance in German occupied Poland during WWII. The statue was created by Polish artist Karol Badyna. The statue was dedicated in 2007 (Big Apple Secrets).
Karol Badyna is a Polish born artist who has studied at the Post-Secondary School of Conservation of Works of Art and Sculpture at Monuments Conservation Studio in Krakow, Poland. He currently serves a Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts (Artist bio).
The Isaac Newton Phelps Mansion was home to J.P.Morgan II is at Madison and East 37th Street
The first part of the building was the Italianate brownstone on the corner of Madison Avenue and East 37th Street that was built by Isaac Newton Phelps in 1854 who left it to his daughter upon his death. It was bought by J.P. Morgan for his son, J.P. Morgan II who lived there from 1905-1943. It houses the Morgan Dining Room and the gift shop (Wiki).
I arrived at the Morgan Library & Museum in time for my 2:30pm tour of the museum that I had scheduled. Because of COVID-19, all the museums that have opened up in the City have timed tickets and limited amounts of people are allowed in at one time. As I walked the galleries i realized that there were only about ten of us in the museum. I know this is not the busiest museum in Manhattan but this was really quiet.
The afternoon in the museum was nice and I got through the two main exhibitions in about an hour. I saw the “Drawings of Al Taylor” and the “Jean-Jacques Lequeu: Visionary Architect” exhibitions. Neither really grabbed me. The one thing I did like about the Al Taylor exhibition was his works when he lived in the Hawaiian Islands. They were colorful and vibrant. The rest was interesting but not quite my taste.
Al Taylor’s “Duck Bondage” I thought was clever
Al Taylor was an American artist who liked the playful and whimsical look on art. He liked to experiment freely with materials and techniques (Morgan Exhibition). He graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1970 with a BFA.
After my afternoon at the Morgan Library & Museum, I continued to explore Murray Hill by walking down the rest of East 37th Street until I reached the East River Esplanade again and then just sat and enjoyed the cool breezes and the sunshine.
The Murray Hill Historic District at East 37th Street
The Murray Hill Historic District at East 37th Street.
Someone had quite the personality at Easter in the Historic Section of Murray Hill.
The Christmas decorations that line the streets of Murray Hill in 2024
On the way back from the Esplanade, the one thing you will encounter is the exit from the Queens Midtown Tunnel, which is where all the noise and traffic will be coming from. All over the fence on the way back is a series of medallions from looks like various states. Check out the details on these.
Be careful when crossing the street on this part of the block as it can be dangerous or just stay to one side of the road. These cars will zoom by you. The street is really treacherous so look both ways when you are crossing the road. The Tunnel Approach Road which runs from East 40th to East 34th Streets can be hairy so watch the lights.
The continued walk on Park Avenue brought me to the Union League Club at 38 East 37th Street. The club was founded in 1863 by former members of the Union Club who did not like the Pro-Southern activities of club members and created their own club with the Union League Club. The current clubhouse was designed by member Benjamin Wistar Morris and opened in 1931.
The Union League Club at 38 East 37th Street
The Club again at Christmas time 2024
I was exhausted from all the walking the first day and broke this trip up into a second day. Before I left the City for the evening, I stopped at Upside Pizza, a new pizzeria in the Garment District that has been gaining a cult following for their “Detroit Pizzas”, a square pizza with the sauce and cheese baked into the crust. The pizzeria is at 598 Eighth Avenue. What it lacks in charm, it makes up in flavor.
Upside Pizza at 598 Eighth Avenue in the Garment District
The pizza is so good. The pepperoni square slice I had was loaded with cheese and pepperoni and the edges of it were crisp and chewy. The flavors were spicy and intense with lots of different cheeses and the char flavor from the baking. The pizza is not cheap at $5.00 a slice but it is nice to sit in their outdoor cafe and relax and watch the world go by.
The Pepperoni pizza at Upside Pizza is excellent
The deep dish pizza here is delicious
Yum!
It is starting to get dark early now and as I watch the last days of summer go by, I am watching the City slowly come back to life with more people coming outside and enjoying the last of the warmer days of the later summer.
Upside Pizza at night on a summer dve
My next day back in the lower 30’s in Murray Hill gave me more time to relax and not rush the neighborhood. I started by walking East 37th Street to make sure that I did not miss anything and the traffic coming out of the Queens Midtown Tunnel seems to be getting busier. I had to dodge more cars today than I did the previous day.
Walking down Tunnel Street between East 42nd and East 34th Streets can be daring especially when traffic is coming so be careful. This narrow strip of sidewalk lines both sides of the entrance and exit of the tunnel.
All along the northern part of St. Vartan Park fencing are all the state medallions. These go the length of the fence. Just be careful when admiring them as the traffic is crazy here at rush hour.
The Kips Bay fence along St. Vartan Park
One of the other medallions
One of the medallions along the fence at St. Vartan Park
The other side of the Morgan Library & Museum’s J.P. Morgan Library lines the side of East 36th Street and Madison Avenue as you start to stroll down the East 36th Street. The library, which is now part of the Morgan Library & Museum was built as Mr. Morgan’s private library next to his home on Madison Avenue. The library was designed in the “Italian Palazzo style” by architect Charles Follen McKim in 1906 (Morgan Library & Museum history website).
The J.P. Morgan Library which is part of the Morgan Library & Museum
This part of the neighborhood is chock full of history and famous residents living in the neighborhood. At 125 East 36th Street is the former home of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt before their move to their more famous twin home on East 65th Street which is now part of Hunter College. They moved to this brownstone to be closer to his mother’s home in Manhattan a few blocks away.
125 East 36th Street-the former home of FDR and Eleanor
The brownstone complex on this side of East 36th Street was built by architects Kennedy & Haw in 1856 and had had a series of interesting residents until the future President and First lady came to live here from 1905 to 1908 and where their children James and Ana were born (Daytonian).
Hidden like a secret garden behind a locked gate is the Sniffen Court Historic District from 150-160 East 36th Street. Sniffen Court is named after John Sniffen, who built his complex of carriage houses in 1864.
The secret gardens of Sniffen Court is tucked behind an elaborate gate.
The district encompasses the entire alley, between Third and Lexington Avenues, of 10 two story brick stables that were built in the ‘Romanesque Revival style’. When they were no longer used for stables they were converted to homes.
Sniffen Court is like a little ‘fantasy land’ behind the gate. This is the historical plaque.
One of the most famous residents was artist Malvina Hoffman who lived at 157 East 35th, the back part of the complex. The well known American sculptor lived here until her death in 1966.
157 East 35th Street-The home of artist Malvina Hoffman.
The Malvina Hoffman historical plaque.
Passing this delightful little garden complex is another unusual building with vines snaking down and faces staring at you. The building at 220 East 36th Street was built in 1910 and look up at the details when you pass. Mysterious faces will stare back at you.
220 East 36th Street has some amazing details to it.
The faces towards the top of the building look even more sinister.
The coat of arms decorate the sides of the building.
When you reach the end of East 36th Street, there is a wonderful little public square next to the American Copper Buildings at 616-626 First Avenue. These unusual buildings are built almost on a tilt and have a playful appeal to them. What is nice is the public space where you can just relax and talk to people. The neighborhood residents use this as an escape from the confinement of their apartments due to COVID and go out to talk to people.
The American Copper Buildings at 616-626 First Avenue
On a beautiful day, there is nothing like this delightful little park on the extension of First Avenue near FDR Drive. People really enjoy relaxing here and it is nice to see the neighborhood out and about.
The plaza at the American Copper Buildings
Another nice place to stop and relax is St. Vartan Park, which is located between East 35th and East 36th Street between First and Second Avenue. The park is extremely popular with the neighborhood families so expect to see the place crowded all the time. The one thing I like about it there are public bathrooms that usually stay open until dusk.
Check out the plaques dedicated to the Murray Hill Post 59 who dedicated the flag post and the lights to the park. The playgrounds are a little worn but the kids and their parents don’t seem to mind.
St. Vartan Park with the namesake Church in the background St. Vartan Armenian Church
There is always so much action going on in the park from pick up basketball games, to jungle gym climbing to who is chasing who around the playground. It is fun even in the days of COVID that people will just throw on a mask and have some fun.
On a beautiful sunny day St. Vartan Park really shines
On the way back from walking the park and enjoying the shine just be careful when walking the south side of East 36th Street as the traffic coming from the Queens Midtown Tunnel funnels out very quickly and some of the drivers really don’t watch.
Watch the streets around the Queens Midtown entrance.
This painting just appeared recently of singer Jennifer Lopez (Jennifer Lynne Affleck as she is known now) at the entrance to the tunnel by artist Rey Jaffet. This bold and colorful portrait captures the energy of the singer.
Rey Jaffet is an American born artist from Florida. His works explore mediums from oils and spray paint, to stainless steel, light modules other mixed media to create dynamic visual experiences encompassing parallels of boundless movement and elevated stillness. His murals take on a very humanistic touch (Artist bio).
The site of the famous Henry Lewis Stimson House is at 120 East 36th Street, which is now an apartment building simply known at the Stimson House. Henry Louis Stimson was a influential lawyer and statesman in the United States serving under several presidents.
Henry Lewis Stimson
Here also marks the plaque of Murray Hill Historic District that covers most of the neighborhood. The central part of the neighborhood especially between Park and Third Avenues are lined with brownstones each with their own flair to them.
The Murray Hill Historical District at East 35th Street
The commercial district once had two of the great department stores of the era and even today as Lord & Taylor closes it doors for the final time in the next few months after being in business since 1826, the building stands as a testament to the former lower Fifth Avenue corridor. As you enter East 35th Street, you see the grandeur of the former B. Altman department store building built by retail great Benjamin Altman.
The B. Altman building at 361 Fifth Avenue on the corner of Fifth Avenue between East 35th and 34th Streets
This elegant building was designed in the 1906 by architects Trowbridge & Livingston in the “Italian Renaissance style’ to fit into the then fancier residential district it was then located in at the time. The area between 34th and 42nd Street had replaced the ‘Ladies Shopping Mile’ along Sixth Avenue as the retail section of the City marched uptown.
On the next block at Madison Avenue and East 35th Street is the elegant Church of the Incarnation at 209 Madison Avenue. The historic Episcopalian church was built between 1864-65 by architect Emil T. Littel with the church rectory designed by Robert Mook in 1868. The extension of the church was built in 1882 by architect David Jardine (Wiki).
The Church of the Incarnation at 205-209 Madison Avenue
On the corner of Park Avenue, I passed the James Robb House. The now apartment building was once the home of James Hampden Robb and his wife, Cornelia Van Rensselaer Robb. The mansion was built by Stamford White from McKim, Mead & White for the couple in the ‘Italian Renaissance style’ in 1892 (Wiki).
Further down East 35th Street another famous New Yorker lived at 111 East 35th Street. Illustrator Charles Dan Gibson lived in this house. The famous American artist was best known for his illustrations of the ‘Gibson Girl’ inspired by his wife and daughters. He studied at the Art Student League in New York City (Wiki).
111 East 35th Street the former home of Illustrator Charles Dana Gibson
Tucked to the side of the residential neighborhood is another amazing little church. The New York New Church at 114 East 35th Street is a quiet, tranquil little church with another interesting garden that lies another iron fence. The church was built in 1858 and was finished in 1859 and was designed in the ‘neo-Renaissance style’.
Further down the street is the Stein College for Woman which is part of the larger Yeshiva University which houses the University’s Arts & Sciences Department. This beautiful building was built in 1911 as the Packard Commercial School. It was taken over by Yeshiva University in 1954. The building was donated to the University by industrialist Max Stern (Wiki).
The Stern College for Women at Yeshiva University at 245 Lexington Avenue
Tucked to the side at 142 East 35th Street is another unique brownstone that was built in 1901. This triplex has the most interesting details in the grill work and almost looks like something seen in New Orleans.
142 East 35th Street has almost a New Orleans feel to it when you walk by
I ended my walk back at the East River Esplanade reading up on the British attack of Manhattan during the Revolutionary War with the landing at Kips Bay (then called Keps Bay) which stretched from East 35th to East 34th Streets. The views of Long Island City were just spectacular at twilight. It amazes me how much change still keeps going on in the East River area.
The beautiful brownstones at East 35th Street.
I stopped by to admire the St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral at 630 Second Avenue which the park was named after. This interesting church sits on the border of the Murray Hill and is the first Cathedral Armenian Apostolic Church to be constructed in North America (Wiki).
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St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral at 630 Second Avenue
Artist Reuben Nakian was an American born artist who studied at the School of Art in New York City and the Art Student of New York. He was known for his interesting take on sculpture with all sorts of themes.
What I thought was interesting that I had not noticed before was a painting that sits on the side of Profit Chinese Restaurant is a painting of Salvador Dali that was somewhat exaggerated. The painting was painted by Brazilian artist Sipros.
The Salvador Dali painting by @Sipros by the Bushwick Collection (painted over in 2022)
Heading back to Fifth Avenue I came across another interesting brownstone with the most unusual brownstone with the most interesting stonework, The Frances Key Pendleton House which was built in 1853 by Henry H. Butterworth who had architects Washington and Samuel Cronk build four brownstones on what had been Henry Murray’s old estate. The house was bought by Frances Key Pendleton, the grandson of Francis Scott Key the author of “The Star Spangled Banner”. Thought he loved the home, the house had seen much sadness when he lived there (Daytonian).
The home got its current appearance in the 1930’s when the home was sold to a realty company and they gave it a more Mediterranean look to it with the stucco and statuary.
The details on the house are so unique.
The last interesting piece of history the walk in the neighborhood which wrapped up the walk of Murray Hill was the plaque for the site of Inclenberg at the corner of Park Avenue and East 35th Street which was the site of the Henry Murray Mansion.
The plaque of the location of “Inclenberg” the Murray family mansion
The plaque hidden in the median along Park Avenue
“Inclenberg” the Murray family mansion where history was made
I thought it was a fitting way to wrap up my walk in Murray Hill then to pay homage to the family who the neighborhood was named. If they could take a time machine and see what their farm and estate has turned into or even experiencing the effects of COVID would have the family wondering.
Keeping with the spirit of celebrating the past, I went to Sarges Delicatessen and Diner that night for dinner. The deli was founded by former NYPD officer Abe Katz in 1964 who wanted to bring the best of Jewish cooking to the public (Sarges History).
They had set up a small cafe outside the restaurant for patrons to dine and I had a half of a pastrami sandwich and a bowl of Matzo Ball Soup ($18.95) and it was the best dinner after a long walk. The soup hit the spot on a cool evening with the rich chicken broth and the sandwich was piled high with salty meat and hot mustard.
The pastrami sandwich at Sarges is excellent
For dessert, I went to Holey Ice Cream & Doughnut at 522 Third Avenue for dessert. I had to walk around the block a few times to convince myself that I wanted it. I just said I am still hungry and will walk it off and went in (It closed in 2023).
I had a doughnut filled with Cookie Dough, Maine Blueberry and Birthday Cake ice cream with a glazed doughnut with fruit loops on top. I loved the intense sweetness of the dessert. The sugar high put a smile on my face and the energy to continue walking.
The Ice Cream is excellent but they could work on the doughnuts (Closed 2023)
I finished my walk this evening by relaxing back in Bryant Park and just walking people converse and have a nice time talking and laughing (socially distanced of course). It was nice to see things calm down and be a little normal for a change.
I came back to Murray Hill a few days later just to confirm some addresses and brownstones that I liked and walked to the neighborhood starved. I first stopped off at Pizza & Pita Halah Food at 344 East 34th Street for some Garlic Knots and sauce on the side ($2.00) and after I confirmed everything I wanted to see; I had dinner at Profit Chinese Restaurant at 643 Second Avenue for dinner. The Beef with String Beans in Garlic Sauce was really good ($11.00) but the eggrolls here are just okay. The best part was I took my dinner back to St. Vartan Park and ate dinner.
The Beef and String beans at Profit Chinese Food is really good.
The views of the neighborhood in the early afternoon after finishing the walk.
Even in the age of COVID we all have to adapt but eating a nice Chinese meal on the picnic table in a New York City park in the sunshine is a nice way to finish a visit to Murray Hill. In the evening, the neighborhood is just as dazzling!
I can’t believe that with all this craziness with COVID-19 I was finally able to get back to walking the neighborhoods of Manhattan. I had not done this since I finished Central Park South before the holidays.
The whole City has morphed since March 13th. It is like a different world. Just like I saw on my recent Broadway walk through neighborhoods that I had seen in the past everything has changed so much. Restaurants and stores that had been part of the City fabric for years have disappeared. Interesting little hole in the wall restaurants that I had enjoyed so much in Turtle Bay and in Midtown are either shut or out of business. I have had to start revisiting neighborhoods just to see if things are still open.
The surprising part of today’s walk is how quiet the City was not just in Murray Hill but all over the place. I did not get into the City until noon and even Times Square at lunch hour was quiet. Port Authority looked like it had less than 50 people in it and it is surreal how quiet most of the restaurants that are open are to customers. This is what happens when there are not tourists. It was like looking at Manhattan through a ‘Twilight Zone’ episode.
Since Murray Hill’s northern border is East 42nd Street, it was an easy walk across town. I had not walked around the neighborhood in about seven months, so I revisited a few places on the border of the neighborhood in Turtle Bay and Midtown East. It was shocking how many places shut their doors for good. It is surreal in that seven months ago these places were going strong. It is almost like Christmas 2019 did not exist where you could not walk on the sidewalks in Midtown.
I started my morning with a walk-through Bryant Park which is right behind the New York Public Library and one of most beautiful small parks in Manhattan. It was one of those really nice Summer mornings and the park was surprisingly busy. The tables and chairs are ‘socially distanced’ and park patrons did their best to stay away from each other. It also has the nicest and cleanest public bathrooms in Manhattan.
Years ago, when I worked in Manhattan in the early 90’s, Bryant Park was only used for drug dealing and criminal activity and was best avoided. What twenty years and a major renovation can do to a park. Today you can walk along the flowering paths and think you are in Paris. In the past there have been concerts and movies in the park but because of COVID-19, you can just sit in the park on a chair or bench and enjoy the sunshine and admire the flowers.
Just walking along the paths of Bryant Park can make you forget your troubles
I started my walk of the Murray Hill neighborhood at the New York Public Library admiring the stone carvings and statuary that is part of the entrance of the famous library. The library had just had a recent refreshing and looked magnificent with the fountains flowing and patrons filling the tables outside the building.
The New York Public Library
The New York Public Guards the borders of Murray Hill from Fifth Avenue during COVID
The beautiful detail work at the top of the library.
This famous iconic building was designed by the firm of Carrere and Hastings in the Beaux-Arts style and opened its doors May 23, 1911. The founding for this important library came from patronage of the wealth members of society who believed in the value education and opened it to the people.
The famous lion statues that grace the entrance of the library were designed by American sculptor Edward Clark Potter and they were carved by the Piccirilli Brothers, American stone carvers whose business was based in the Bronx.
The Lion Statue in post Covid times.
The same elegance at Christmas time
Edward Clark Potter is an American born artist who studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and at the Academie Julian in Paris where he studied ‘animalier’, animal sculpture.
The Piccirilli Brothers were a family of stone carvers and artists in their own right who were from Massa, Italy and owned a business in the Bronx. There were responsible for many famous statues all over the City including the Maine Memorial in Columbus Circle and the Firemen’s Memorial in Riverside Park.
Artist Attilio Piccirillo, one of the most famous from the family
Another feature of the famous building and I had never noticed before was the elegant fountains that flank the entrance to the library. I did not realize that these fountains had just been restored in 2015 after thirty years of not functioning. They were restored with a grant from the Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust (NYPL Site).
The fountain “Beauty”
The fountain “Truth”
These beautiful fountains were designed by artist Frederick MacMonnies, an American born artist who studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris.
After having a snack at the tables in front of the library and throwing a few coins in the fountains for good luck, off I went to explore the borders of Murray Hill.
Enjoy the opening scene of “Ghostbusters” from 1984 shot at the NY Public Library:
Enjoy this scene from “Ghostbusters” from 1984 shot at the NY Public Library
Murray Hill is an interesting neighborhood with a fascinating past. The name “Murray Hill” comes from the Colonial Murray family, who were Quaker merchants and overseas traders. The family was presided by its patriarch, Robert Murray and his wife, Mary Lindley Murray, who raised a family in their home, Inclenberg, which is now the corner of Park Avenue and East 37th Street.
The Murray family mansion, Inclenberg, now the corner of Park Avenue and East 37th Street
Mrs. Murray was credited with delaying General William Howe and his army during General Washington’s retreat from New York following the British landing at Kip’s Bay on September 15,1776. According to the family lore, Mrs. Murray invited the officers to tea, treating them to cakes and wine with singing and poetry readings by her daughters, allowing a successful retreat by the Americans to the other side of the island to meet up with another branch of troops (Wiki and American History).
Mrs. Murray entertaining the British troops and hastening the American retreat
The plaque were the spot the house stood sits prominently on the corner of Park Avenue and East 37th Street.
The plaque dedicated to Mary Lindley Murray’s patriotism
The plaque at Park Avenue
I started my trip in exploring the neighborhood walking down East 42nd Street, the northern most border of Murray Hill with the Midtown East and Turtle Bay neighborhoods. East 42nd Street is host to many famous architectural gems of Manhattan starting as you cross Fifth Avenue.
The newly opened One Vanderbilt Avenue was still under construction when I walked this neighborhood but was open for business when I revisited the neighborhood. The lobby of one Vanderbilt Avenue has the most beautiful sculptures by English artist Tony Cragg.
The Tony Cragg Sculptures in the lobby of One Vanderbilt Avenue
Artist Tony Cragg is a British born artist who has studied at the Wimbledon School of Art and the Gloucestershire College of Arts and Technology. He studied sculpture at the Royal College of Art where he graduated with an MA. These sculptures are a signature of the artist.
One Vanderbilt Avenue is a ninety-three story office building and was designed by architect James Von Klemperer. It opened in 2020 and now offers Summit One Vanderbilt, a observation deck (which I did not know even existed until a tourist asked me about it).
There are still many tourists around the building taking pictures but not like in pre-COVID-19 years where the place is crowds of people milling around. The look of the building is impressive inside and out. The building was designed by the team of Reed and Stem for the overall design and Warren and Wetmore for interior and exterior designs. The detailed sculptures on the exterior were created by the team of Jules Felix Coutan, Sylvain Salieres and Paul Cesar Helleu including the crown gem of sculpture “Glory of Commerce”.
The “Glory of Commerce” sits proud above Park Avenue
The beautiful Grand Central Clock at Christmas time in 2024
Artist Jules-Felix Coutan was born in France and had studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. “The Glory of Commerce” was one of his most famous works.
I was not surprised that most of the buildings were now closed to touring. The Chrysler Building looked closed to walk ins, the Ford Building with its indoor gardens and small gallery was closed and walking around Grand Central Station was like an episode of the “Twilight Zone”. There were maybe hundred people milling around with some tourists taking pictures of the ceiling. The downstairs food court which was always nuts at lunch had about three restaurants open and a very bored police officer looking at either a book or a cell phone.
The Grand Central Terminal Food Court is almost closed
The food court on the lower level usually bustling with people have lunch or snacks from the surrounding office buildings is down to about four or five open vendors and even they are not that busy. The only busy place in the food court was the public bathrooms as the few tourists in the City could not find a place to go. When I walked out of the food court to go back to 42nd Street, some guy looked at the famous Oyster Bar restaurant and said to me “I can’t believe this place is closed. It never closes.” The sign on the door of the restaurant said it was closing on March 16th by City order. It is amazing how time still stands still for parts of the City since the reopening. It’s the same in the subway system. There are still posters for things that say “March…”.
The terminal is barely filled these days
Exiting the building’s main entrance, look up closely before you leave and you will see the sculpture of the railroad’s founder, Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt. I have missed this many times, so you have to look on a angle for it. The statue used to sit at the Hudson River Freight Depot which has since been demolished (Wiki and Ernst Plassman bio).
The statue of Cornelius Vanderbilt the founder of the shipping and railroad empire
The statue was designed by artist Ernst Plassman a German born American artist who moved to New York in 1853. The artist studied under many famous artists in Europe before founding the “Plassman’s School of Art” in New York City in 1854.
After leaving the surreal Grand Central Terminal with the empty main floor and quiet halls (I can’t wait to see what it looks like again when a vaccine is found), I walked out the main entrance towards East 42nd Street. Pershing Square across the street was busy with what office workers who work in the area and tourists filling the tables of the cafe that was open for business. People really like sitting outside and moving the concept of restaurants to outside dining has made it extremely popular in the nice weather for what restaurants can open under this concept. On a nice day, people don’t mind socially distancing in Murray Hill.
Vanderbilt Plaza at night
Vanderbilt Plaza at night
Across the street from Grand Central Station where the now closed Cipriani is the former headquarters of the Bowery Savings Bank. Don’t miss the beautiful details of the bank’s design. This became the new headquarters in 1920 in the move uptown from their former Stanford White designed headquarters in Chinatown. It was designed by York and Sawyer in the ‘Italian Romanesque Style’ with William Lewis Ayres as a partner in the project (Wiki).
The former Bowery Savings Bank Building at 110 East 42nd Street
Another very interesting building with amazing details is the Chanin Building at 122 East 42nd Street. The building was named after it’s developer Irwin S. Chanin. You have to look close and then across the street again to see its details. The building was developed between 1927-29 and was designed by Sloan & Robertson in the “Art Deco Style” with a brick and terra cotta frontage.
I then passed the now closed to tourists Chrysler Building with it Art Deco design and interesting sculptures jutting out. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the building does not encourage people to enter who don’t work there. Still, you can read about my earlier visits there last year when walking the Turtle Bay neighborhood.
The Chrysler Building was built in the ‘Art Deco’ style by architect William Van Alen for Walter Chrysler, the owner of the company. The building held the title of the “World’s Tallest Building” for 11 months until the completion of the Empire State Building. The building along with 40 Wall Street and the Empire State Building competed for the “Race to the Sky” in 1929 right before the Stock Market Crash of 1929. You really have to look up to see the details to the building and walk its lobby (closed to the public during the pandemic).
You have to look up high to see this
The Chrysler Building historical plaque.
When the building is open don’t miss the ceiling in the lobby. It is really detailed, and the security guards are really cool about letting you take pictures. In Post-COVID they do not want you to enter the building unless you work there. The work shows the ambitions and accomplishments of the business world (The Ornamentalist). The beauty of the art commerce is “Transport and Human Endeavor” by artist Edward Turnbull (I could not find anything on the artist online).
“Transport and Human Endeavor” by artist Edward Turnbull
More of the ceiling.
The ceiling from another angle
The exit onto Lexington Avenue from the Chrysler Building Lobby. Notice its Art Deco features.
As you walk down East 42nd Street towards the East River, you will pass The Daily News Building at 220 East 42nd Street. This interesting building was designed by architects Raymond Hood and John Mead Howells in the ‘Art Deco Style’ and built between 1928-1930 to house the Headquarters of the New York Daily News.
Their lobby was open when I was touring the Turtle Bay neighborhood (its now closed to the public) should not be missed with its interesting paintings on the walls and grillwork by the elevators all designed in the ‘Art Deco Style’.
Going into their lobby (now closed post-COVID) is really interesting to see the globe
The Ford Foundation Building is another interesting piece of architecture. The building was created by architects Kevin Roche and John Dinkleloo in the ‘Late Modernist Style” and was completed in 1968.
The Ford Foundation Building at 320 East 43rd Street
At the very end of East 42nd Street is Tudor City, one of the earliest examples of a planned middle-class communities. Built on what was once a combination of manufacturing and residential area surrounding First Avenue and the East River, architect H. Douglas Ives created Tudor City, named after the ‘Tudor Style’ design of the buildings with gardens, paths, bay windows and arches that make up the details of the buildings. It opened in 1926.
It’s worth the trip up the stairs to the gardens and paths on both parts of the complex. Not part of the original plan of the complex, they were designed by landscape architect Sheffield A. Arnold designing the North Park (Wiki). These cool refuges from the hot sun are nice on a walk around the complex.
The Tudor City Green spaces are nice on a hot day to relax
I also wanted to check out one of my favorite stores in Manhattan, Azalea & Oak, located at 5 Tudor Place but it was closed because of the COVID pandemic but open by appointment only or by internet. Don’t miss this unique children’s and accessory store. It has such interesting merchandise.
Azalea & Oak at 5 Tudor City (closed January 2024)
When I finally passed all this creative architecture in the ‘open air museum’ of East 42nd Street I got to First Avenue where the United Nations complex is located to the left and Robert Moses Park to the right.
Before you cross the street, there is a Ralph Bunche Park & Garden, a small garden on the edge of the park named after the Nobel Prize winner, who played a role in many peacekeeping operations sponsored by the United Nations.
The gardens have gotten a little overgrown since my last visit but still very colorful with flowers and plantings still crowding out all the weeds that are beginning to take over. Tucked in the park is a plaque to Bayard Rustin, a American leader of social movements and who helped organize the ‘Freedom rides’ of the 1960’s (Wiki).
As I crossed the street, I walked around the very sterile Robert Moses Park. For one of our great park system builders and who changed the highway system around New York City, they named one of the most unattractive parks after him. Though the man was far from perfect after reading the book “Power Broker” about his life, he changed the whole way New Yorkers lived. The park somewhat personifies him in the end of being sterile and aloof with the public.
The Robert Moses Playground is somewhat sterile and aloof
As I toured the parks the worst part is that the bathrooms here are closed to the public, so I had to keep walking to find somewhere to go. The border of the East River with FDR Drive I would not suggest walking down. You will walk down a combination of First Avenue and FDR Drive until you get to the East River Esplanade at East 36th Street, then you get the cool breezes of the river and the beautiful views of the Brooklyn coast. It’s nice on a hot day to sit back and enjoy the sunshine and cools breezes.
The East River Esplanade snakes from East 41st Street to East 34th Street
When I walked to East 34th Street, I came across another plaque that more to do with the history of Murray Hill, the Kips Bay (Keps Bay) landing of the British army to Manhattan. On September 15th, 1776, the British landed their army here in an ambitious military landing in what the type was a deep-water cover surrounded by a meadow. This led to the retreat of the American militia to another part of the island (Wiki). Today it is one of the boat landings for the New York ferry system and a start off point to walk the esplanade.
The Kip’s Bay landing by the British on September 15th, 1776
I walked all along the esplanade, enjoying the views and watching people walk their dogs and jogging like nothing was happening around them. It also offers the most breathtaking views of the Brooklyn skyline that keeps changing.
I give New Yorkers credit for their resilience. There are some people who go about life like nothing is going on around them but just doing it with a mask on. That does give me faith that things are getting somewhat back to normal.
When exiting the Esplanade and walking up the FDR extension, there is an interesting and very relaxing public square at 626 East 36th Street and FDR Drive next to the American Copper Buildings. It is a nice place to relax on the benches and just people come and go.
The little plaza by 626 First Avenue is a nice place to just sit and relax.
I finally got to East 34th Street by the Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital later that afternoon and was surprised to find such a playful piece of art just outside. “Spot” is a Dalmatian balancing a taxi on his nose is located just outside the Children’s Hospital’s doors. “I wanted to make something so astounding to distract to even those arriving with the most serious procedures” (Artist Bio) the artist was quoted as saying when the piece was unveiled. It sits four stories in front of the hospital. It is a very playful piece of art that stopped me in my tracks.
“Spot” by artist Donald Lipski on both sides of the road.
Artist Donald Lipski is an American born artist who is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Cranbrook Academy of Art. He is best known for his large scale works in public places (Artist’s Bio).
I reached East 34th Street by lunch hour and I have to say for around a hospital there is a limited choice of take-out places around the facility. Most of the restaurants in the area are still closed or have gone out of business. Even before the pandemic, some parts of the neighborhood are being knocked down for new construction and work continued as I visited taking down many of the smaller buildings that used to house small restaurants.
I had lunch at Pizza & Pita at 344 East 34th Street right across the street from the small park that faces the hospital. I just wanted a slice of pizza and when I walked in a fresh pie had just come out. The pizza looked as good as it tasted.
Pizza & Pita at 344 East 34th Street (now Previti Pizza in September 2022)
Previti Pizza replaced Pizza & Pita
The sauce has an amazing rich flavor and the loaded with cheese for a gooey consistency. I was so impressed by the pizza that I went back later that afternoon for a Chicken Parmesan sandwich that was just as good. Two large freshly fried chicken cutlets loaded with their delicious sauce and loads of cheese on a fresh roll. It was heaven in every bite.
The pizza here is great!
I just relaxed and ate my lunch in the small public plaza across the street from the hospital and watched as the hospital staff came out from their frustrating days and ate their lunches beside me. It seemed to do them well.
While at lunch I admired another interesting art piece entitled “Stemmer” by New York City born American artist David Fried.
“Stemmer” at the plaza at East 34th Street and First Avenue
The artist grew up in New York City and attended the School of Art & Music and was accepted into the Arts Students League of New York. The “Stemmers” sculptures are one of his trademark pieces.
After lunch, I continued my walk down East 34th Street to the border of Murray Hill at Fifth Avenue. The neighborhood is very ‘old New York’ especially between First and Madison Avenues with the small buildings and high rises from the 1960’s and 70’s. The area is currently going through a makeover with new buildings, but it still has that “Woody Allen” feel of New York. Everything is not gleaming and new.
Tucked here and there by buildings and courtyards on East 34th Street is a bevy of interesting street art. The statue “Thinking Big” which was formally in Central Park South on Sixth Avenue last year has found a home in front of 222 East 34th Street.
Jim Rennert is an American born artist known for his large bronze sculptures depicting the everyday man. Mostly self-taught, his works are seen all over the country and really do make a statement.
Walking further down East 34th Street just outside a little courtyard of one of the apartment buildings is artist John Sewart Johnson’s II sculpture “The Right Light”, a bronze sculpture of an artist and his easel. The sculpture is located just outside a building between Third and Lexington Avenues.
‘The Right Light’ by artist John Sewart Johnson II
Artist John Seward Johnson II was an American artist who attended the University of Maine, and he is known for his ‘familiar man’ sculptures and icons paintings.
I reached Madison Avenue and walked past the grill work of another interesting office building. The Madison Belmont Building at 181 Madison Avenue was built in 1924 and designed by architects Warren & Wetmore in the Renaissance style with Art Deco details for the Cheney Brothers Silk Company.
“The Madison Belmont Building” at 181 Madison Avenue
Look up at the interesting grill work and details of the building.
The grill work is beautiful on the building.
Reaching the border of Murray Hill to the south is the former B. Altman Department Store that closed in 1989 and in the other corner is the Empire State Building, once the tallest building in the world.
The B. Altman Building at 361 Fifth Avenue was built by Benjamin Altman for the new location for his ‘carriage trade’ store. The store was designed by architects Trowbridge & Livingston in the “Italian Renaissance Style” in 1906. The palatial store was home to couture clothing, fine furniture and expensive artwork.
The former B. Altman Department Store at 361 Fifth Avenue
As the shopping district left Sixth Avenue below 23rd Street, the former “Ladies Shopping Mile” (read my Victorian Christmas Blog on the shopping district) gave way to stores opening between 34th Street to 42nd Street and eventually to the Fifth Avenue locations between 50th and 60th Streets where what is left of the great stores stand today.
My blog on the Ladies Shopping Mile and a “Victorian Christmas”:
As I walked up Fifth Avenue, the western border of the neighborhood, I was struck by all the other beautiful buildings that must have housed fine retail stores as the shopping district moved to this area.
At the corner of Fifth Avenue and West 36th Street is 390 Fifth Avenue that was designed by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White for the Gorham Manufacturing Company of fine silver products in 1903. It was designed in the “Italian Renaissance Style” and was used for manufacturing and their showroom. It later became Russeks Department store and has now found other uses.
390 Fifth Avenue-The Gorham Manufacturing Building
Another standout building is 383 Fifth Avenue. These two interesting twin buildings were built in the mid-1800’s as private homes and then converted to office space in the 1890’s.
Further up is the dazzling 373 Fifth Avenue which was built in 1800’s for the home of Charles H. Russell when the area was dominated by great mansions. As one by one the mansions were razed for commercial use, the home was razed in 1906 and architects Hunt & Hunt built the current office building in 1906 for Joseph Fahys & Company and for silversmiths Alvin Manufacturing Company (Daytonian).
Walking further up Fifth Avenue into the 400 block, more unique buildings fascinated me. The first that has always caught my eye is 401 Fifth Avenue, the old Tiffany & Company building. The building was designed for the company by Stamford White of McKim, Mead & White and was completed in 1905. The building was used by the jewelry store until 1940 when it moved to its new location further up Fifth Avenue. The building was inspired by the Palazzo Grimani de San Luca in Venice, Italy (Wiki).
Another standout building further up is 411 Fifth Avenue with its interesting trim and sculpture along the sides and top of the building. This building was built in 1915 again by the architectural firm of Warren & Wetmore with what was considered baroque trim that included urns, flowers and heads with facial reliefs (Daytonian). The building was used for small luxury manufacturing for things like millinery, lace and silversmiths. Today it is used as an office building.
Approaching the New York Public Library again, I passed what were some of the great department stores along the Fifth Avenue retail corridor that once dominated between 34th and 42nd Streets.
The former Lord & Taylor headquarters store that opened in 1914 just recently closed with a sale to the now imploded WeWorks company and was just sold to Amazon for 985 million dollars. This former ‘grand carriage trade’ store replaced the former headquarters store at Broadway and 20th Street by Union Square and opened at this location at 424-434 Fifth Avenue. The 11-story building was designed by architects Starrett & Van Vleck in the ‘Italian Renaissance Revival’. The store closed for business in January of 2019 after over one hundred years in the location.
Lord & Taylor was founded in New York City in 1826 and has moved around the City several times in its long history. I will miss walking around the store and wondering through the store at Christmas time which was always magical in the store’s heyday.
The Fifth Avenue entrance to the old Lord & Taylor Department store (closed 2022).
Now the Amazon building still decorated for Christmas in 2024
The Lord & Taylor Coat of Arms on the entrance to the store.
I like everyone in the City will miss their Christmas windows.
I’m not sure if Amazon will continue this tradition
Amazon continues this today during Christmas 2024
Another great retailer was at 452 Fifth Avenue, the former home to Knox Hat Company which was incorporated into the HSBC Tower in 1984. The glass tower was built around the Beaux Arts building for the HSBC and it was considered an architectural marvel when it opened. The Knox Building was built in 1902 and is considered one of the finest examples of ‘Beaux Arts style’ in Manhattan.
452 Fifth Avenue-The Knox Hat Company Building part of the HSBC Building
The Knox Hat Company was considered one of the finest hat companies for men when it was founded in 1838. It once had 62 retail stores and was sold in all the finest stores. It did not survive the Great Depression and was merged with three other companies in 1932 to form Hat Corporation of American (Hat Co) (Bernard Hats history).
The last interesting building I saw before returning to the library to relax by the fountains again was 454 Fifth Avenue at 40th Street, the old Arnold Constable & Company department store.
Fifth Avenue at 40th Street-Arnold Constable & Company Department store
The building opened in 1915 and closed when the company went out of business in 1975. It is now part of the New York Public Library. Arnold Constable & Company was founded in 1825 and was considered one of the oldest stores in New York City. The building was created as the shopping district moved further uptown.
The borders of Murray Hill at night by the NY Public Library.
I finished my day back at the tables in front of the New York Public Library and then back in Bryant Park to relax under a tree. God did it pour that afternoon as I made my way around the streets surrounding Murray Hill. I did not realize just the rich history of the neighborhood and its role in the Revolutionary War but the treasure trove of street art and unique buildings that line its avenues.
The beauty of Bryant Park and Murray Hill at night from the Skating Rink
You really do learn something new every day!
Bryant Park at night.
Check out my other blogs on Murray Hill as well:
Walking the Avenues of Murray Hill on August 14th, 2020:
I left the addresses and locations of the buildings and street art that I found in the full body of the blog. Remember don’t miss looking up and admiring the ‘open air’ museum that is free when walking on the sidewalks.
Since my thirty-two mile walk around the Island of Manhattan, I have stayed clear of New York City for the time being while things calm down a bit. Since my walk and even on Father’s Day weekend there have been a rash of shootings and thirteen people murdered in various neighborhoods. The papers said they have not seen anything like this since the late 90’s before Rudy Giuliani became Mayor and started to clean things up in New York City. What really spooked me is that I walked through parts of Harlem that were affected the day of the shootings especially between East 145th to East 118th Streets before I got on the riverfront walkway. I still can’t believe that people would act this way at a time like this.
Still between work and the fire department keeping me busy, it has been hard to get back into the City. Phase Three is slowly being introduced in but indoor seating has been put on hold. Outdoor dining has been cautious and the museum and parks have been slow to open. I just got a email from the Metropolitan Museum of Art that they will be opening on August 25th and 26th for a ‘Members Private Night’. It will be interesting to see if that happens.
Upstate New York in Duchess County is slowly opening up with precautions and we are now entering the ‘new normal’ that I would not have even thought about when I was running around the City and Upstate during the holiday season. I glad I made the visits I made when I did. You can’t do that now.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, we have been pretty much limited on what we can do and needing exercise and to get out of the house, I have been walking to our downtown and around the blocks exploring my own town.
The welcoming Hasbrouck Heights sign
The Hasbrouck Height Chamber of Commerce recently sponsored “A Stroll Downtown” for our residents for people to explore their downtown and visit the restaurants and stores that are open for limited business and outdoor dining. With the weather getting warmer, people are tired of getting cooped up in their homes and want to get outside and enjoy the weather (yes, we are all wearing masks when necessary).
Downtown Hasbrouck Heights Summer 2023
So every evening, I walk the Boulevard, our business district in Hasbrouck Heights and over time I have really noticed a lot more of our downtown. There is an array of architecture that dates back to the late 1800’s and historical markers that I had never really noticed before.
Downtown Hasbrouck Heights Summer 2023
There is also an array of nice stores (See https://littleshoponmainstreet.wordpress.com/) and reasonable restaurants (See https://diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/) in our downtown to visit. The nice part of being family-owned businesses is that you can call in and make an appointment to see merchandise and pickup gifts. We have a lot of nice business owners who will work with their clients.
The song ‘Hasbrouck Heights’ by Burt Bacharach
I start my walk every evening with a turn around the corner from my home and I walk down Williams Avenue to the Boulevard which starts our small part of downtown on our side of town. What is interesting about Williams Avenue is that is was used as an escape route for George Washington’s troops during the Revolutionary War from the Battles in Hackensack and Paramus with the British.
The Battles in Hackensack and Paramus during the Revolutionary War
Our area of New Jersey has a very prominent place in Revolutionary War history with local battles with the British.
Washington’s forces retreated down Williams Avenue in Hasbrouck Heights after the Battle in Hackensack NJ
Before rounding Williams Avenue onto the busy Boulevard, which is a County of Bergen Road, you will pass Corleone’s Pizza at 205 Williams Avenue, one of the newest pizzeria/restaurants in Hasbrouck Heights. Their pizza and sandwiches are really good anchored by their rich Marinara Sauce and well-priced lunch specials. Outdoor dining here is rather unusual on such a busy road but makes it almost seem like you are in the City. Don’t miss their lunch specials and interesting sandwich combinations.
Their $7.99 Cheese Pizza Special is really good (now $8.99)
Walking to the downtown area is only a few blocks away passing many homes that have stood in town since the late 1800’s to the 1930’s. Hasbrouck Heights has a diversity of types of homes, so it makes walking around interesting especially if you are into historic homes and architecture.
Back in the early 2000’s, our former Mayor Rose Heck, started a beautification of the downtown area by cutting down the old trees and opening the buildings to more sun and creating a whole new landscape by bricking the new sidewalks and adding flowering cherry trees that bloom an abundance of colors in the Spring.
On the new wrought iron lampposts, we have pictures of the graduates of Hasbrouck Heights High School, who missed the last four months of school (but recently had their graduation socially distanced on the football field) and American flags that are placed for Memorial Day, Flag Day and the Fourth of July. During Christmas time, wreaths and white lights adorn them.
I always start on the right side of the Boulevard as you approach downtown. The downtown starts with the historic Corpus Christi Church at 215 Kipp Avenue. The complex with the historic parish house, which had once been a well-known doctor’s home in the late 1890’s sits between Washington Place, home to many historic Victorian homes and Kipp Avenue, the start of the business district.
The original part of the Church that was built in 1896 was moved from across the street to its current location when the parish bought the Dunstan estate in 1914. The church has been added onto twice in 1934 and 1957.
The parish house is the historic Dunstan mansion on the original estate grounds.
The business district runs from Kipp Avenue in town to the circle at Passaic Avenue. Since there are numerous businesses, I wanted to point out the ones that I have enjoyed and been a patron of for years.
Our newest Chinese restaurant, China House at 250 Boulevard, opened (ironically on March 13th when everything was shutting down) just off Kipp Avenue. This small take-out restaurant has a few small tables to dine in, which I did the first week it was open (now due to COVID-19 it is just take out). Their General Tso’s and Orange Chicken are really good. The family that runs the restaurant is really nice and has been offering opening discounts.
The nice thing about our downtown is the diversity of stores and restaurants. One of the most unique shops is the Religious Shoppe at 220 Boulevard. One of the few stores in the State of New Jersey that specializes in Catholic gifts, it has an array of merchandise from crosses to crucifixes and at the holidays there is a selection of jewelry, books, figurines, statuary and selected gifts both religious and secular.
Next to the Religious Shoppe at 220 Boulevard (the other side of the building) is Sophia’s Kitchen, a very popular Greek restaurant that opened several years ago and continues to grow in popularity. Their food and service are excellent and after many great reviews in both the local papers and on the internet has been a destination restaurant ever since. You need to wait for tables between Thursday and Saturday nights.
Sofia’s Mediterranean Grill at 220 Boulevard
My father and I had been eating here since the first week the restaurant opened and the food and the service have always been excellent. I have my favorite items on the menu that I always get when I find there. The food and service are excellent and I enjoying eating here.
Their gyro sandwiches are delicious with a side of their garlic fries.
They have this shrimp appetizer, the Shrimp Sanganaki, that is cooked in a tomato sauce and topped with cheese that is out of this world.
The Shrimp Sanganaki
The Shrimp is served with pita bread so you can soak up the sauce
Their Baklava is sweet and buttery and soaked in honey in all layers
The desserts here are amazing. It is a nice place to relax and enjoy your meal. A lot of people come with here with their families.
They also have a dessert called Galaktoboureko, a sweet custard wrapped in phyllo dough, that is amazing.
Next door to Sophia’s, the owners opened a new coffee shop concept called “Confection Connection” that serves beverages and pastries and is now serving breakfast and lunch items.
Crossing over Franklin Avenue to the next block, you will find a series of interesting shops with Young Fashions at 208 Boulevard, for beautiful children’s wear and Not Too Shabby at 206 Boulevard (both closed for business in June 2021) for custom made and vintage painted furniture.
Young Fashions at 206 Boulevard (Closed June 2021)
My review on LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com:
Owner Addie Carrino greets all her customers personally (now retired)
Young Fashions (now closed June 2021) is a Lilliputian dream for the well-dressed child and a favorite for grandparents and aunts and uncles all over Bergen County. This delightful store still carries quality clothing for children from infant to age 12. Owner Addie Carrino still believes that there are children that still dress nicely and provides clothing from head to toe for them. She offers complimentary pressing of items when bought and free gift wrapping.
Not Too Shabby (now closed May 2020-online business orders) is run by Addie’s daughter, Liz Carrino, who brings to life her custom painted furniture and one-of-a-kind pieces. She loves vintage furniture from the Depression era and all sorts of decorative pieces for the home and office. Take time to walk around the aisles of furniture and Knick knacks.
Not Too Shabby at 206 Boulevard (now closed 2020-Online Business)
Next to Not Too Shabby at 202 Boulevard, the new and much enlarged Dumpling Chinese Restaurant moved to from their old location at 220 Boulevard (now the home to China House). The restaurant is much bigger and brighter than their old restaurant and has lots of places to sit down. They made a wonderful Lemon Chicken and Moo Shu Pork and their dumplings are not bad too. Their Hot & Sour Soup is the best in town.
Dining in at Dumpling Chinese Food. The General Tso’s Chicken and Fried Rice Combination plate was visually nice and was delicious.
Walking further down the Boulevard I always pass the Masonic Temple at 200 Boulevard, one of the oldest buildings in Hasbrouck Heights. The Euclid Masonic Lodge has been in existence for 145 years and its stately building has been part of the downtown since anyone can remember.
The Euclid Masonic Lodge at 200 Boulevard during the Summer
As you walk to the next two blocks you will reach the Circle which is the home to many a Christmas Celebration with the annual Tree Lighting after Thanksgiving. One little unique local landmark we have is the old ‘Neil Parrot Playhouse’ that sits on the Circle and is decorated for the holidays.
Welcome sign to Hasbrouck Heights during the Christmas holiday season
In 2016 a group of concerned citizens got together to have the little dollhouse, which matched the home of the old Neil Parrot business office and home of Neil Parrot, a local realtor. He used the little house to amuse children while their parents did business with him.
The Neil Parrot Playhouse on the Hasbrouck Heights Circle
The Dollhouse during the holiday season at night
The Circle at the corner of Boulevard and Passaic Avenue is the official end of the Business District and is where all holiday events take place with the Tree Lighting at the end of November and the Holiday Choir performing.
The pine trees at the Circle in Hasbrouck Heights add to a festive mood at the holidays
The Circle in all its glory at Christmas time.
The Gazebo during the Christmas holiday season
The Circle in the middle of the Spring
Walking around the Circle to the Firemen’s Memorial and the Firemen’s 9/11 Memorial
On the other side of the Circle from the old Neil Parrot Dollhouse is the Firemen’s Memorial where every Memorial Day and 9/11 Day, we on the fire department have our special ceremonies and events. It really is a place of reflection and a nice place to sit and think. I like to take time and look at the names of fire fighters from the past.
The Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department on Memorial Day-Me in front of the Ambulance in 2023
The park during the Christmas holiday season in 2024
The Firemen’s Bell during Christmas season
They did a nice job decorating the bell for the holiday season
I like to take a break here but move on I do very quickly and I start the walk on the other side of the Boulevard.
The decorations that residents display in Hasbrouck Heights. This display was right by the Circle
Another nice restaurant that I enjoy going to is Heights Bar & Grill at 163 Boulevard. The restaurant is now serving outdoor diners and has delivery and take out. Still the outdoor dining is really popular.
When it is open, it is the local watering hole for customers all over Bergen County who enjoy a good mixed drink, their wonderful pub food and watching the games. Their pizza and burgers are really good and cooked and seasoned perfectly. They have a nice assortment of appetizers to order when having a drink.
This is also my favorite meal when the semester is over. I went recently with a friend from the fire department and we had the Cheesesteak Egg Rolls with drinks and then for the entree I had the Macaroni and Cheese Grilled Cheese with bacon. It is heavenly! Not good for you but heavenly in taste and consistency.
The Cheesesteak Egg rolls on my after classes were over dinner
My entree, the Macaroni and Cheese Grilled Cheese. It is unusual and delicious!
Walking past the Heights Bar & Grill there is a bevy of small businesses and commercial banks housed in older and modern buildings. The architecture in our downtown is a combination of old and new and old becoming new again.
A new addition to our restaurant scene and adding a little ‘hipster’ to Hasbrouck Heights is the new KTB Coffee Shop & Lounge at 183 Boulevard that just opened last year. It had been an old convenience store for years and the new owners stripped it down to the bearings where is looks like a combination of Williamsburg meets Beacon, NY. The food is reasonable and they have nice sandwiches and wraps. The nice part is when the place was open pre-COVID-19, they had entertainment on Friday and Saturday nights. It was nice to hear saxophonists and guitar players rather than the usual garage bands. It gives the downtown a little diversity from all the pizzerias and Chinese take-out places.
KTB Coffee Shop & Lounge at 183 Boulevard now has outdoor dining
This new little burger joint has a nice selection of burgers and sandwiches and a whole selection of sides.
The inside of Heights Burgers
The inside of Heights Burgers
I really enjoyed my lunch. The burgers were rather large and very juicy and the fries were cooked to order. I thought the food was very good.
My lunch at Heights Burgers, a Cheeseburger with French Fries and a Coke
The burger was delicious as well as the fries
Yum!
On the corner of Hamilton Avenue and the Boulevard replacing the long service Carroll’s Fashion which had been that location for about thirty years. Bella Pizza opened at 193 Boulevard. The pizzeria has quickly established itself in town among the other six pizzerias we have and makes the most amazing calzones and Sicilian pies.
Bella Pizza at 193 Boulevard
The inside of the restaurant is really beautiful with innovative paintings
Lunch at Bella Pizza is really good. I recently had lunch there and the food was delicious. I had a slice of Grandma Pizza with Vodka sauce and a side of Garlic Knots with red sauce. The lunch was really good and everything was freshly made.
The Grandma Pizza with Vodka Sauce and the side of Garlic Knots with red sauce at Bella Pizza
The pizza is delicious
The Garlic Knots could knock out any vampire
Bella Pizza being festive during the Christmas holiday season
And on Valentine’s Day
Enjoying a slice of Chicken Parmesan pizza on Christmas Eve for lunch
Their Chicken Francais pizza is delicious and a real treat
The Risotto House of Hasbrouck Heights, a branch of the popular Rutherford, NJ restaurant is at 203 Boulevard is one of the growing fine dining restaurants added to our downtown. It has always been busy at the holidays and in the COVID-19 era has a small outdoor dining area to sit and relax while you enjoy dishes like Shrimp Risotto and Veal Milanese.
The Risotto House of Hasbrouck Heights at 203 Boulevard
Next to The Risotto House of Hasbrouck Heights is J. Maru Sushi at 205 Boulevard and is known for their Bento Box lunches and their Shrimp Tempura and Chicken Teriyaki are always delicious.
One of the nicest stores in Hasbrouck Heights especially at each of the holidays is Heights Flower Shoppe at 209 Boulevard. Their window displays are some of the best in the downtown area and are especially nice at Christmas and Easter. I love their selection of gifts at the holidays and their owner always makes special arrangements for me when visiting the cemetery. The business is housed in an old home that has been in the downtown since the 1880’s and was renovated to its beauty by the owner.
Heights Flower Shoppe is always special at Halloween
Video on Heights Flower Shoppe during the holidays.
The owner of Heights Flower Shoppe, Ray Vorisek, the two time winner of the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association Halloween House & Merchant Decorating Contest.
The winning window in 2023 at Heights Flower Shoppe
Ray was the three time winner of the contest in 2024 and continues to create beautiful windows for every holiday season.
The winning windows during Halloween 2024
Owner Ray Vorisek in front of his winning windows in 2024
Chairman Justin Watrel with the winner on Halloween in 2024
You have to visit the store during every holiday to see his creative windows and all the beautiful merchandise and inside displays that enhance the store.
Recently Ray helped myself and my class with a project at Bergen Community College under my Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. entitled “Heights Flower Shoppe-We keep Growing”:
The historic Lovey’s Pizzeria at 211 Boulevard and has been in town since the early 1960’s. There is a small dining room in the restaurant and I have been partial over the years to their fried calzones and their ravioli with red sauce. The current owner bought the pizzeria from her parents who had owned it all those years.
Lovey’s Pizzeria & Ristorante at 211 Boulevard (Currently closed)
One of my favorite Chinese take-out places in Hasbrouck Heights is Ho Mei Kitchen at 227 Boulevard. I enjoy many of the dishes here especially their Lemon Chicken, their House Fried Rice and their Lo Mein is the best is the best in town. Their lunch specials are really reasonable and you can order them until 4:00pm. They are like a dinner. The family who owns the place are really nice and have set up an interesting system of ordering in the COVID-19 era.
Crossing the street at Jefferson Avenue are three of the oldest businesses in town along with Lovey’s Pizzeria, Height Floral Shoppe and Young Fashions is Bill O’Shea’s Florist & Gifts at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and the Boulevard at 231 Boulevard has been opened since the 1960’s as well.
Like Heights Flower Shoppe, Bill O’Shea’s Florist & Gifts is always so nicely merchandised with the wonderful flower arrangements for a quick pickup, nice assortments of candy and stuffed animals and creative gift items for the home at the holidays. Their owners are really nice and accommodating. They also have a nice Open House at the opening of the holiday season.
The owners of Bill O’Shea’s Florist & Gifts, John and Linda Kosakowski, at their Food Drive.
Bill O’Shea’s Easter Open House 2021
The store at Christmas time in 2025
The Christmas items in 2025
The store decked for the holidays
The newest addition to Downtown Hasbrouck Heights is Ralph’s Ice Cream & Ices at 239 Boulevard that opened in the height of the COVID pandemic just in time to cheer a town up that really needed it. The store opened in the summer of 2020 to long lines and gave everyone an excuse to done a mask and meet their neighbors for a sweet treat. Check out their weekly posted specials.
Fisher’s Café at 245 Boulevard is another restaurant that has been in town since the 1960’s and is a popular place for breakfast and lunch with a lot of the locals who make this their place to eat. Fisher’s is very popular for their breakfast dishes and platters and is a hang out after school for the junior high and high students for their burgers and grilled cheese.
Another long-time merchant in Hasbrouck Heights is Spindler’s Bake Shop at 247 Boulevard, which had reopened after a few years of being closed by the family. The bakery has been a Hasbrouck Heights institution since the 1950’s by the current owner’s grandparents.
Ginny & Bob Spindler at their store as the next generation of bakers.
Spindler’s was the Runner Up for the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association Halloween House & Merchant Decorating Contest in 2022.
They are well-known for their butter cookies arrangements; their fresh rolls and their apple and lemon turnovers are melted in your mouth good! Don’t miss their delicious Black & White cookies and their stuffed Chocolate Chip sandwiches. The staff is always friendly and the smells of the baked goods as you enter the store are sensational.
Spindler’s Bake Shop at 247 Boulevard (Closed June 2024)
The baked goods are so good! Beautifully decorated for Halloween 2022!
The selection is really nice.
Their Apple and Lemon Turnovers are excellent!
As you pass by Spindler’s Bake Shop, you will walk the next block over and pass Kipp Avenue again to the end of the official part of the Business District and start walking back to Williams Avenue past residential and commercial properties and Corpus Christi Church again until you reach our Municipal Building.
In a small strip of stores across from our new Town Hall that was built in 2004 are two very popular restaurants, Tom Young Koong, at 305 Boulevard and Heights Pizzeria at 313 Boulevard which have both adapted to the COVID-19 era of outdoor dining and take-out/delivery.
Tom Young Koong is a very well-known destination Thai restaurant that is very busy between Thursday and Saturday nights. Their assortment of appetizers that include Chicken Satay, Curry Puffs, Fried Dumplings and Shrimp Fried Noodle are excellent and they have the most delicious Pad Thai which is wonderful with Chicken and Shrimp. The food is cooked by the owner with recipes that came from his mother. The service is always friendly and the owners are really nice.
Hasbrouck Heights Pizza (Heights Pizza to locals) at 313 Boulevard has been popular since it opened its doors almost a decade ago. Their pizza is so popular that people order it from several towns away and even during the worst storms even Hurricane Sandy, it never closed and was as busy as ever. Everything here is delicious and it is known not just for its regular Cheese Pizza but their Grandma Pizza, their Pepperoni Calzones, Specialty pies and their entrees are excellent and restaurant quality. The place is always busy, so the staff and drivers run in and out of the place. The outdoor dining is even popular from early Spring until it gets cold in October.
The owner of Heights Pizza, Celestino Gencarelli, welcomes guests to his restaurant.
The Buffalo Chicken Bacon Pizza here is excellent and is a full meal.
So is the Detroit Slice
The Grandma Vodka slice is another good choice
Next door to Heights Pizza is the new Himalaya on Heights Bubble Tea and Dumpling restaurant with recipes of Nepalese cooking. I was really surprised and happy we got such great new fusion restaurants. It shows what a diverse population we are starting to become with people moving from the City to suburbs.
I ate at Himalaya Heights for the first time and found it a beautifully decorated restaurant with wonderful cuisine and friendly service. The food was excellent and so nicely presented when it comes to the table.
The inside of the restaurant
The inside of the restaurant
My dinner of a Dragon Fruit Refresher, the Chicken Momos (dumplings) and Chicken Fried Rice
The Nepalese Dumplings the Chicken Momos
The Fried Rice was excellent as well
The food here is really interesting. It is a heavier, spicy cuisine than regular Chinese Food. This is because of the location of Nepal, where the climate is colder and you need more hearty food. The food is spicer and nicely prepared. The cuisine is unique for a suburban community and I liked the diversity of the selection of restaurants we are getting in our downtown.
Across the street from these restaurants sits the Hasbrouck Heights Municipal Building that stands guard over the downtown and welcomes visitors and residents alike.
The Hasbrouck Heights Municipal Building at 320 Boulevard
The last thing I always see on my way home is the Hasbrouck Heights Junior/Senior High School which has stood here since the 1940’s educating generations of Hasbrouck Heights residents.
When arriving back at Williams Avenue, I cross the Boulevard again with Corleone’s Pizzeria in the distance and their well-lit tables. Two other businesses have been in town a long time in this series of stores.
Danson Jewelers at 201 Williams Avenue has been in Hasbrouck Heights since the 1980’s and does a nice job on repairs of watches and jewelry and has a nice selection of watches. The service is very friendly and the family that owns it gets to know their regulars.
Further down the street a new bakery opened. Two Ladies Bakery at 446 Boulevard. They specialize in Lebanese, Russian and French pastries. The bakery just opened two weeks ago so it is nice to go in and support a new business in town.
The Cream Puff I had was a little pricey for our town at $5.00. It was well baked and had a rich creamy vanilla filling. It was good but average.
The cream puffs are good but expensive
Another long service merchant who has been assisting residents for years is Heights Specialty Pharmacy (the former BeJay Drug Store) at 450 Boulevard. The staff has been here for years and is helpful to many of our senior residents. The owner’s wife runs a small gift shop both in the store and a few doors down has a separate shop.
The last merchant I pass on my way home is Jerry’s Barber Shop at 406 Boulevard, which has been here since the 1920’s when Jerry’s father ran the business. Jerry has been cutting my hair since 1988 and is one of the only people I trust to do it correctly. I even waited for trips home from Hawaii, Guam and California when I lived in those places to get my hair cut. A haircut here is still $14.00 and he does an excellent job. Jerry unfortunately has since retired in 2024.
Jerry’s Barber Shop at 460 Boulevard (Closed February 2024)
Then I round the corner and am on my way home again. For such a small town, Hasbrouck Heights has the most interesting and historic downtown that few residents appreciate when you look at the history and longevity of our merchants. A few long-time merchants have closed their doors as they have either retired or COVID-19 has affected the business.
The holiday season in Hasbrouck Heights:
During the holiday season, the town really rolls out the welcome mat. People in town love to decorate and entertain. In this COVID era, some things have been toned down such as large parties and parades. All the Christmas concerts have been cancelled as school has been put into both virtual and life classes.
The Halloween Window Painting Contest was in full form in 2023.
The Halloween Window Painting Contest.
The Halloween Window Painting Contest in 2023.
Window Painting in 2024
Halloween Window Painting in 2024
Still the spirit of the town can be felt from Halloween to the New Years as people decorate their homes and businesses welcome people to open houses and will cater to small parties of people.
Halloween in Hasbrouck Heights in 2022.
In 2021, the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association started the first Annual “Halloween House Decorating Contest” to promote all the residents who decorate their homes for the Halloween holidays. We presented the award on Halloween morning to the winners at 257 Henry Street.
The first Annual “HHMA Halloween House Decorating Contest” winners at 253 Henry Street with Chairman Justin Watrel in 2021.
The 2022 winners at 82 Woodside Avenue for the contest.
My blog on Halloween at the Parade and running the Halloween House Decorating Contest in 2021:
Every year I look forward to the Downtown Merchants Open Houses with their bright creative display windows and small indoor entertainments as people come to shop and converse with their neighbors.
Heights Flower Shop at Halloween
Hasbrouck Heights merchants know how to decorate for Halloween-Heights Flower Shop
The 2024 Halloween House & Merchandising Contest:
It was a banner year in ‘Haunted Hasbrouck Heights’ as a record number of Hasbrouck Heights residents decorated their homes for what has now become the start of the Holiday season. ‘In our town of Halloween’ we searched for the best ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night to find the best house and merchant that best represents the spirit of the Halloween holidays. This is my forth year as the Chairman of the Hasbrouck Heights Halloween House Decorating Contest and I have never seen so much creativity in our town.
We found that our winners were two members of the community that had been winners in previous contests, who really stepped up their game and created displays that dazzled the judges unanimously, Heights Floral Shoppe for a third straight year and the Fiduccia family of 85 Woodside Avenue for a second year since winning two years ago. The judges were blown away by their creativity and ingenuity in creating such fantastic displays.
Our Merchant Division is starting to grow with more of our Downtown merchants decorating their windows for the Halloween season. We wish more would get involved but the clear winner is now a three time winner with not just the most amazing windows but interior as well.
The Heights Flower Shoppe dazzles during day and night
‘I love Halloween,” owner Ray Vorisek said. “We like to use our creativity in the windows. I am always adding on and looking for new things for the display. We have been so busy lately that we were not able to finish adding some of the newer pieces for the store.”
The witches, goblins and ghosts in the display at Heights Flower Shoppe
The windows were decorated with flying witches and beasts smiling on their journeys while a howling wicked witch of the west stood guard in the front of the store. The interior was a wonderland of Halloween decorations and candies perfect for any Halloween event and party.
The inside is decorated for a Halloween get together
The candy selection for you little goblins
The store both inside and out was decorated to the hilt with items for sale and the displays.
Three time winner Ray Vorisek with HHMA Halloween Chairman Justin Watrel
Winner and owner of Heights Flower Shoppe Ray Vorisek in front of his store.
Our runner up the year was Healing 4 the Soul, the gift shop and café that is one of the newer additions to our business district. The business is owned by residents Renee and Dawn Pikowski. The windows were simple and creative and elegant.
The enchanting windows of witches and pumpkins
The spiritual windows up close
“We love to decorate our windows,” said co-owner Nicole Pikowski “ we strive to be creative. You will always see different displays at each holiday.” The store was decorated with beautiful witches wishing everyone a Happy Halloween.
The inside of the Cafe for Healing 4 the Soul
The enchanting gifts at Healing 4 the Soul
There are a lot of lotions and potions and sweet treats to eat inside that are all handmade in house. The Halloween fragrances abound the store. More of our merchants got very creative this year and we are hoping to see more next year.
Chairman Justin Watrel presenting the Runner Up Merchant award to Co-Owner Renee Pikowski
In the House Decorating Division it was a difficult decision for judges who drove around many days both day and night to see the houses. Of all the wonderful houses we visited all over Hasbrouck Heights, one home was on the top of every list of each judge and that was 85 Woodside Avenue.
The Fiduccia family had been our winners in the Second Annual contest and stepped up their game by adding all sorts of new elements to the yard to be the winners again in 2024. The vote was unanimous amongst all five judges.
85 Woodside Avenue at night
These are some videos on the winning home’s video display that won the contest. These were amazing and so spooky:
Ghosts and ghouls lined the yard performing all sorts of interesting acts
Skeletons lined the yard awaiting the crowds of Trick or Treaters visiting on Halloween Night
The Fiduccia family in their family ‘skeleton’ costumes
The Fiduccia family with their second year win!
The display during the day was just as impressive as it is at night
Matt Fiduccia said that he really wanted to add new things to the display. “We found a lot of new items that became available and added them to the display. I created the arch for the ‘Ghostbuster-like video’. We added the projectors to the windows on the second level of the house as well. There are a lot of new decorations on the market now for Halloween.”
The house not only had sculptures and mannequins of all types but creatures, skeletons and ghouls that lines the yard. In the archway in the front yard was a running video of apparitions from movies like ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘Poltergeist’. In the upstairs windows of the home were running videos of desperate souls and violent blows. Each part of the house had its own storyline. It was a well-deserved win.
The Fiduccia family together with their second win for the Halloween House Decorating Contest
The Judges Marc Mancuso, Chairman Justin Watrel and Vinnie DeCicco from the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association with winner Matt Fiduccia
With so many wonderful houses to choose from, the judges narrowed it down to three homes as the runners up. There were so many that we liked but each judge was asked to narrow it down to three and it was pretty much unanimous amongst the five of us. Just like the winner, the judges had a short list of the runners up and three homes captured our imagination.
The first two were previous runners up who upped their game and had extraordinary displays of creativity. One was at 36 Hamilton Avenue, the home of Alex, Laura and Scarlet Pena. The other was at 115 Ottawa Avenue the home of Dennis Hall. The displays were both intriguing and imaginative both during the day and night. Like the winners, everyone stepped up the decorations with lights and sound effects and added that special touch to their homes that made it stand out.
Our third was a house on the Hasbrouck Heights border in Lodi that captured the imagination of each judge at 236 Paterson Avenue. The house had a bevy of creatures displayed both in and out of the house. All the judges kept passing it at night so impressed by it we did not realize that it was on the border of Hasbrouck Heights in Lodi, NJ.
“My grandfather used to decorate his house and people used to travel to visit it, so I wanted to keep that tradition going,” said Runner up Jay Logan. “We keep dreaming up new ideas for the display and we keep adding to it.”
Jay and Ann Logan of Lodi were one of the three Runners up for the contest
“We didn’t even know that there was a contest going on,” said Anne Logan. “We live right on the border of Hasbrouck Heights and Lodi, so we feel like we are part of both communities.” The Logan’s turned their display on and lit up and roared. The Logan’s are active members of both communities and were surprised and very excited about their win.
236 Paterson Avenue at night
The ghost and ghouls in front of 236 Paterson Avenue
236 Paterson Avenue during the day
Chairman Justin Watrel awarding the Logan’s their award.
At 26 Hamilton Avenue, Alex and Lauren Pena and their daughter, Scarlett added at lot to their and their display had more horrors in each section of the yard and house. “We have a lot of fun decorating on Halloween and everyone is impressed by the front yard display,” Lauren explained.
26 Hamilton Avenue was Runner Up last year as well
36 Hamilton winners Lauren and Scarlet Pena in front of their home with Chairman Justin Watrel
The Skeleton surgery in front of 26 Hamilton Avenue
36 Hamilton during the day
The mother and daughter Runner Up winners Lauren and Scarlet Pena
The last house on the Runner Up list was 115 Ottawa Avenue which had an honorable mention last year in the contest and has been noted on the list since the first year of the contest. Owner Dennis Hall accepted the Runner Up award with much excitement. “I love decorating the house for Halloween. The kids really seem to love it when they come here Trick or Treating. We are a very popular house. I added the sound effects and have several new pieces that I did not have time to put out for next year. You will have to come back next Halloween.”
115 Ottawa Avenue
115 Ottawa Avenue by the doorway
Runner Up and previous Honorable mention winner Dennis Hall Second next to his ghoulish display that was lit for the night of the presentation
115 Ottawa Avenue drinking the day
We want to thank all the members of the Hasbrouck Heights community for their wonderful displays and with a little extra decoration here and sound effect there can make a big difference in the judging.
I want to thank the judges in the contest Vinnie DeCicco and his kids, Ed Gumbrecht, Marc Mancuso, Joe Salib and his kids and Pat Fass and his daughter, Maggie. I also want to thank HHMA member Steve Feuss for creating the signs every year for the contest. This really makes it special for the winners to display their signs and awards on Halloween night. It was a successful 2024 contest.
Right before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Bill O’Shea Flowers had their annual Open House with Christmas music and lots of pre-wrapped goodies to enjoy and take home. The store was beautifully decorated with all sorts of treasures that customers could buy, I love just walking around and grabbing a snack while shopping every year.
Bill O’Shea’s Florist & Gifts is a delight at the Christmas holidays
Bill O’Shea’s Florist & Gifts welcomes you at Christmas
The weekend after Thanksgiving, Heights Flower Shoppe had their Annual Open House and it was just as spectacular. One tries to outdo the other in a friendly rivalry.
Heights Flower Shoppe has the most interesting merchandise
Heights Flower Shoppe pulls out all stops to welcome you at the holidays
House decorating is not reserved just for Halloween in Hasbrouck Heights as Christmas is the big time for decorating in our town. Every year, the Mayor’s Celebration Committee (which I was on for four years) judged who won for many different categories. I was not sure who the winners were but some of the homes around my house were so nicely decorated for the holidays.
My neighbors houses all decked out for the holidays
One of the houses on the Boulevard decked out for the holidays
My twenty-one years on the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association has done a lot to my back after years at Macy’s selling rugs as well. The Annual Christmas Tree Sale was a HUGE success this year. We sold out in less than two weeks, ending the sale on Friday night, December 11th selling a record 375 trees. We want to thank the residents of Hasbrouck Heights and the surrounding towns for their support on our Scholarship Fund event.
The Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association at the set-up being COVID safe in 2020
Things calmed down a bit in 2021. We sold out 390 trees in 11 days!
Unloading the trees in 2022 (We sold out in two and half weeks)
The beauty of the site during the Christmas season at night when the lights come out
In 2023, the Christmas Parade in town was all lights and music as the town welcomed in the holiday season the Friday night after Thanksgiving. Every year this parade takes place when the lights go down and you can see all the lights in the Downtown business district. The parade is then followed by the Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony.
The start of the Christmas Holiday Parade in Hasbrouck Heights.
The Hasbrouck Heights High School Band in the parade.
There were more floats in the parade this year in 2023.
The Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association Christmas float in the 2024 parade
As we ready for Christmas 2020 next week and the coming of a new and hopefully better New Year, the town has done its job to cheer us up. The Annual Christmas Tree lighting was not advertised but happened anyway and welcomes people at our western border of town.
Our town Christmas tree display at the Circle
The Neil Parrot playhouse is even decorated at the Circle
Downtown Hasbrouck Heights welcomes you at Christmas
Bill O’Shea’s in Hasbrouck Heights at Christmas time
Even though the Annual Holiday Parade was cancelled, we will still be welcoming Santa at Santa Around Town the last Sunday of December before Christmas. This Annual tradition on the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department has the whole town in the Christmas spirit as Santa visits them in their own neighborhoods.
The Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department at “Santa Around Town” 2019
We visit every neighborhood in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ
Nothing can stop the holiday spirit in our town even in the era of COVID. This is a time when neighbors and friends need to stick together for holiday cheer!
In 2020, the State of the New Jersey slowly opened again, I could still walk my entire downtown in the evenings and appreciate the fact that sometimes small-town living is not so bad and it is still only twenty minutes and twelve miles to Midtown Manhattan.
This is what walking is all about. Discovering things close to home.
Watch this video on our town and try to locate some of the older homes still standing.
And be a tourist in your own town!
The historic Dollhouse in the Summer of 2023.
Hasbrouck Heights is a wonderful community and a great place to raise kids. It has everything so close to New York City. We do have some weird occurrences though.
We had a 3.0 earthquake in town at 10:15pm on August 3rd, 2025:
We even had an earthquake on August 4th, 2025
I just hope we do not have anymore earthquake any time soon
I really enjoy living and working in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ. It is a nice little town with a lot to offer.
I was just watching ’60 Minutes’ tonight and it has never been scarier to be in New York City. The hospitals are being over-whelmed by patients that are low on supplies and the medical staffs are tired, burnt out and still stepping up to the plate to help get people better. The streets are empty with people as the last of the tourists left two weeks ago and the crowded streets of Manhattan that only in December were packed with so many people that you could not walk seems like a distant memory.
What should have been a great night for everyone. Michigan State WON 80-69!
As you have read from my last two blog entries, I was in Manhattan from March 7th until March 10th walking the International Restaurant Show, watching the Michigan State-Ohio State Basketball game at Blondies Bar on the Upper West Side for who would be the Big Ten Champion (MSU won Go Green Go White) that Sunday night, at the Anthology Film Archives watching Sandra Bullock in “The Net” for a series the movie theater had on 1990’s Internet films on Monday night and then my last night in the City on Tuesday, March 10th for the Gerhard Richter Exhibition at the Met Breuer for a Private Members Night. All this while everything was going on around us.
The night I went to the Anthology Film Archives, I stopped in Chinatown first to go to Wonton Noodle Garden on Mott Street (see review on TripAdvisor) for dinner. What shocked me was how empty the place was that evening. This is a restaurant that is packed all the time and it is open until 2:00am. The only people who were there were myself and two tables of NYU students.
When I asked the waiter where everyone was, he threw up his shoulders and said “Everything going on in the world”. I knew it did not look good that night as the rest of Chinatown was empty. The East Village was hopping with college students and the neighborhood around me was busy but you could feel the mood shifting.
Wonton Noodle Garden’s Cantonese Wonton Soup with Egg Noodles and Roast Pork can cure all ills.
‘The Net’ Trailer
Sandra Bullock can cheer anyone up!
I felt this at the Restaurant Show where you could walk down the aisles of the show and never bump into anyone. The Tuesday afternoon that I went in to see the show one last time by 3:30pm most people had packed up and gone. The show did not close until 4:30pm. They were ready to go by early that morning. So, my last five days in Manhattan I felt the mood changing as people were not sure what to do.
That last night at the Met Breuer as I walked the crowded floors of the museum enjoying the Gerard Richter Show before the opening to the public, I could hear in the corner’s members saying “I am really surprised they did not cancel this.” and “Could you believe this crowd with what’s going on?” It was like all of us knew this was the last night of “ballyhoo”.
All over the world people are banding together to contribute what they can and keep the human spirit alive by volunteering where they can and helping one another out. I know that between my work at the College and the Fire Department everyone has me running around and my spirit of volunteerism is never lacking.
So, to all my readers especially the ones who are displaced New Yorkers remember that New York City has seen it darker days in the past and has risen to overcome them. There is a real spirit in the City that is not replicated anywhere else in the world and we saw that in the 1970’s, 80’s 90’s and on 9/11 to current days.
That was until 1977 when we rediscovered that spirit and said “I LOVE New York!”
To cheer everyone up, I pulled the old campaign from YouTube from the dark days of the 1970’s and 80’s to show how the human spirit can overcome anything if we pull together. So, this special entry of “MywalkinManhattan” is dedicated to all of you who will never let that spirit die both here and where you live now. We will get through this!
After all “WE LOVE NEW YORK!”
The song that started it all:
The original campaign videos:
New York City after 9/11:
The Original Campaign videos from the 1980’s 1-5:
How the “I LOVE NEW YORK” campaign came about:
This excellent documentary was done by a New York High School student in 2006.
Songs that represent the true spirit of New York City:
Native New Yorker by Odyssey:
The Great Liza Minnelli singing the best version of “New York New York”
After my long walks around the classic New York neighborhoods of Sutton Place, Beekman Place and Turtle Bay, it was now time to turn my attention to the commercial part of Manhattan and the shopping districts that are popular with the tourists. This neighborhood is in a whirlwind of change right now as everything old is being knocked down and replaced with shiny new office towers and large glass boxes. Slowly the character of this part of Midtown is changing from the old stone buildings with the beautifully carved embellishments to a lot of glass towers lining both the Avenues and the Streets of the neighborhood. I have never seen so many changes over a twenty year period.
I have also seen the decline of the Fifth and Madison Avenue exclusivity in the shopping district from East 60th Street to East 43rd Street right near the New York Public Library. All the big department stores one by one have closed leaving only Saks Fifth Avenue and specialty store Bergdorf Goodman both Men’s and Women’s stores left. Even those stores have gone from elegant well-bred stores to somewhat showy and glitzy as I am not sure they know who their customer is anymore. There are a lot of empty storefronts because of the rising rents.
The selection of stores and restaurants lining this side of the neighborhood are still somewhat exclusive but it reminds me more of North Michigan Avenue in Chicago than Fifth Avenue in New York City. There seems to have been a dispersion of stores from the street over the last two years to areas like Madison Avenue or even SoHo or Tribeca downtown. There are a lot of empty store fronts both on Fifth and Madison Avenue which you never saw until the Stock Market Crash of 2008. The area has not fully recovered from that yet.
Still the borders of the neighborhood still hold some of the most iconic and famous buildings in Manhattan and interesting shops and restaurants along the way. Some of the most famous hotels in New York City are located in this neighborhood with their classic old world charm and their elegant stonework entrances.
I started my tour of the neighborhood by revisiting the length of Lexington Avenue from East 43rd Street and walking up the Avenue to East 59th Street and then crossing over East 59th to Fifth Avenue. First I stopped for some lunch at Hop Won Chinese Noodle Shop at 139 East 45th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues (See reviews on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com).
Hop Won Chinese Noodle Shop is one of the few remaining restaurants in the former brownstone section of the neighborhood that has not been razed for an office building. The food is so good and different from the other Chinese take out places in Midtown. They specialize in roasted meats, noodle soups and dishes while keeping the traditional Cantonese favorite for the busy office workers in the area.
Hop Won Chinese Noodle Shop at 139 East 45th Street
My first and second trips to the restaurant I wanted to concentrate on the roasted meats. You could not taste a more moist or succulent meat outside of Chinatown. The Roast Pork, Roast Duck and Boneless Roast Pork with rice makes a nice lunch. The meats are perfectly marinated, lacquered and roasted to perfection with crackling skin and the taste of soy and honey. Their prices are very fair and the selection of combination dishes all run under $10.00.
The delicious roasted meats at Hop Won
After lunch, I walked up the familiar Lexington Avenue to East 59th Street, passing well-known hotels and office buildings that still make up the character of the neighborhood. One place you will have to stop in and try is Hotel Chocolat at 441 Lexington Avenue for dessert and chocolates.
Hotel Chocolat at 441 Lexington Avenue (Closed in March 2022)
I stopped at the store on a revisit to the neighborhood and had the most amazing sundae called “The Billionaire’s Sundae” ($6.00). This is the most delicious dessert I have had in a long time. The sundae was a soft swirl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate pieces, crunchies, caramel and then topped with a chocolate/caramel topping. It was decadent.
‘The Billionaires Sundae’ at the Hotel Chocolat
In between the ‘glass boxes’ there are still many buildings that stand out and you can read about them more in my travels around Turtle Bay (Day One Hundred and Forty Walking Turtle Bay).
As I rounded along East 59th Street, I saw in the distance the now bankrupt Barney’s specialty store. Talk about a store that traveled in full circle from a discount store to exclusivity now into bankruptcy with the changing tastes and buying habits of customers all over the city. I’m surprised with the rent for this location they are bothering to keep it open.
Further down the street passing various stores and restaurants on the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 59th Street is the famous Sherry-Netherland Hotel at 781 Fifth Avenue. Built between 1926-27 by the architects Schultz-Weaver with Buckman and Kahn in the Neo-Romanesque/Neo-Gothic style and you can see the stone work details around the edges of the building. It was once the tallest apartment hotel in New York City.
When walking around the corner East 59th Street to Fifth Avenue, you will pass the General Motors Building at 767 Fifth Avenue. This modern skyscraper was designed in the ‘International style’ by architects by Edward Durell Stone & Associates with Emory Roth & Sons in 1968 and is one of the few buildings that utilizes a full city block (Wiki). The building was used by General Motors as their New York headquarters until 1998 when they sold the remaining interest in the building.
Next door to the GM Building is 745 Fifth Avenue, the home of Bergdorf-Goodman Men’s Store and once the home to FAO Schwarz Toy Store from 1932-1986. You can see this classic New York skyscraper in many TV shows and movies including the theme song for the opening of “That Girl” and in the FAO Schwarz scene of the movie “Baby Boom” with Diane Keaton. This beautiful ‘art-deco style’ building was designed by architects Buckman-Kahn in 1930.
745 Fifth Avenue on TV in the opening of “That Girl” with the Bergdorf-Goodman store window on the corner of 5th Avenue and 59th Street where she is looking into. Check it out in this episode of “The Apartment”.
The architecture continues to evolve on Fifth Avenue as you continue to make your way down the street.
Watch the traffic and security as you pass Trump Tower at 721 Fifth Avenue. I could write an entire book on the building of this famous and iconic structure of the 1980’s. The building was designed by architect Dur Scutt of Poor, Swanke, Hayden & Connell. It is tough to visit the building with all the security but still it is interesting to see the shops and inside design.
There is a combination of building designs and structure along the way. Located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street is one of the most famous hotels in New York City, The St. Regis Hotel. This luxury hotel on the corner of 55th Street between Fifth and Madison Avenue’s at 2 East 55th Street was built in 1904 by John Jacob Astor IV.
The hotel was designed by architects Trowbridge & Livingston in the French Beaux-Art style and was the tallest hotel in New York when it was built. Take time to go inside and see the true beauty of this hotel which was fully renovated in 2013. There are interesting restaurants to eat at and they have a wonderful (but very pricey) Afternoon Tea. The hotel which is a Five Star and Five Diamond hotel has been featured on countless TV shows and movies.
The Front entrance of the St. Regis Hotel off Fifth Avenue
On the corner of Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street sits a true jewel box in the Cartier store at 653 Fifth Avenue. The store was once home to Morton Freeman Plant, the son of railroad tycoon Henry B. Plant. The home was designed by architect Robert W. Gibson in 1905 in the ‘Neo-Renaissance style’. Mr. Plant felt later that the area was getting too ‘commercial’ and moved further uptown and Cartier bought the building in 1917 (Wiki).
Cartier finished a renovation on the store in 2016 to bring back the true beauty and elegance of the store and of the building. Don’t miss the opportunity to walk around inside and see the refined displays of merchandise.
The Cartier store after the renovation
Next to the Cartier store at 647 Fifth Avenue is the next Versace store which is housed in the left side of the Vanderbilt ‘ marble twin mansions. The Vanderbilt family had bought the land and built twin buildings on the site at 647-645 Fifth Avenue. Designed by architects Hunt & Hunt in 1902, the homes were first leased out as homes until about 1915 when businesses and trade came to the area.
647 Fifth Avenue in 1902
After passing out the Vanderbilt family in 1922, the building went through many incarnations and 645 Fifth Avenue was torn down for the Best & Company Department store in 1945 only to be torn down again in 1970 for the Olympic Tower (which still stands in the spot). The building was renovated in 1995 by Versace as their Fifth Avenue store and spent six million dollars to create the store that greets customers today.
The true catalyst and center of the luxury shopping district though is St. Patrick’s Cathedral which sits gracefully at the corner of Fifth Avenue between 51st and 50th Streets. The Diocese of New York was created in 1808 and the land for the Cathedral was bought in 1810. The Cathedral was to replace the one in lower Manhattan.
This current Cathedral was designed by architect James Resnick Jr. in the Gothic Revival style. Construction was started in 1850 and was halted because of the Civil War and continued in 1865. The Cathedral was completed in 1878 and dedicated in 1879. The Cathedral was renovated in 2013 and this shows its brilliance (Wiki).
During the holiday season the Cathedral is beautifully decorated, and the music can be heard all over Fifth Avenue.
Next door to St. Patrick’s Cathedral is Saks Fifth Avenue’s headquarters. The business was founded by Andrew Saks in 1876 and was incorporated in 1902. After Mr. Saks died in 1912, the business was merged with Gimbel’s Brothers Department Store as Horace Saks was a cousin of Bernard Gimbel. In 1924, they opened the new store at 611 Fifth Avenue and changed the name of the store to Saks Fifth Avenue (The old store had been on 34th Street previously and called Saks 34th). The building was designed by architects Starrett & Van Vliet and designed in a ‘genteel, Anglophile classicized design’. (Wiki).
The store has recently gone through a major multi-million dollar renovation and is worth the time to look around the new first floor. The new cosmetic department is on the lower level along with jewelry so it is a different shopping experience.
Another former business that was well known on Fifth Avenue for years was located at 597 Fifth Avenue was Charles Scribner Sons Building. It originally housed the Charles Scribner Book Store replacing the old store on lower Fifth Avenue. The building at 597 Fifth Avenue was designed by architect Ernest Flagg in the Beaux Arts style between 1912-13 (Wiki). The bookstore moved out in 1980 and the company became part of Barnes & Nobel Bookstores and the building has been sold since. It now houses a Lululemon Athletica store but you can still see the Scribner’s name on the outside of the building and the Landmarked bookshelves inside the store.
The Charles Scribner Sons Building at 597 Fifth Avenue
The rest of Fifth Avenue is newer office buildings with retail space on the bottom levels some filled and some empty. When I was growing up, this part of Fifth Avenue was filled with high end stores. Today it is a combination of chain stores found in the suburbs or are just sitting empty, a trend found all over this part of Midtown East.
At 551 Fifth Avenue another interesting building, The Fred French Building really stands out. The building was created by architects H. Douglas Ives and Sloan & Robertson in 1927 in the ‘Art Deco Style’. Really look at the detail work all the up the building which was done in an ‘Eastern Design’ style with winged animals, griffins and golden beehives made to symbolize according to the architect ‘commerce and character and activities’ of the French companies. The outside material used on the building is faience, a glazed ceramic ware (Wiki).
The detail work on the top of the Fred French Building
When you cross over to West 43rd Street, you will see the elegant Grand Central Station complex which covers from West 42nd to West 45th Streets with the train station facing the West 42nd Street entrance to the MetLife Building (forever known at the Pan-Am Building for those of us to remember it) toward the back. It hovers over Grand Central like a modern gleaming giant. It should never been built there but that was the modern way of doing things in the 1960’s.
One of the best movie scenes of Fifth Avenue & the Pan-Am Building from “On a Clear Day you can see Forever”
Grand Central Station, once the home of the New York Railroad is one of the famous buildings in New York City. Saved from demolition in the 1960’s by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and other concerned preservationists.
Grand Central Terminal dominates this part of the neighborhood at 89 East 42nd Street
The magnificent clock “The Glory of Commerce” in front of the East 42nd Street skyline.
Grand Central Terminal was built between 1903-13 and opened in 1913. This beautiful rail station was designed New York Central Vice-President William J. Wilgus and the interiors and some exteriors by architects Reed & Stem and Warren & Wetmore in the Beaux Arts design. The exterior facade of building including the famous “Glory of Commerce” were designed by French artists and architects Jules Felix Coutan, Sylvain Salieres and Paul Cesar Helleu (Wiki).
There is a true beauty to the statuary and stone carvings on the outside of the building.
‘The Glory of Commerce’ at the front of the building.
The terminal housed the New York Central Railroad and some of the busiest routes. It now houses the New Haven, White Plains and Poughkeepsie lines and stop overs for some Amtrak lines. In 2020, it was house the new lines of the Long Island Railroad.
The interior of the building is just as spectacular. When you walk into the building and stare from the top of the stairs, you see the power and bustle of New York City. When you look up you will see the famous ‘Constellation’ ceiling cleaned and lit with all the stars in the sky. There is still a small portion of the ceiling that was not cleaned to show how dirty it once was before the renovation.
Take time in the building to walk around and look up and down. This is an amazing building that takes time to look around. I will admit that security is tight around the building so don’t be to obvious as a tourist. Take the escalator to the bottom level to the Food Court. If you can’t find it down here, you won’t find it. Every restaurant is represented down here and there are public bathrooms as well.
After touring Grand Central station, I walked back down West 43rd Street to Fifth Avenue. Outside the Emigrant Bank is the statue of ‘Kneeling Fireman’ which was once placed by Times Square when it first arrived in this country from Parma, Italy. The statue arrived in this country on September 9, 2001, on its way to Missouri as it had been commissioned for the Firefighters Association of Missouri (Wiki).
After the attacks on 9/11, the statue was presented to the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation as a gift to the City. With funding from the Milstein family, the statue was mounted and placed in front of their hotel, The Milford Plaza which is in the Times Square area. It was a placed of remembrance for people to gather after the attacks (Ciston 2011).
The Kneeling Fireman outside 6 East 43rd Street
The Statue is now placed in front of the Emigrant Savings Bank headquarters at 6 East 43rd Street and funding from the Millstein family provided a permanent home for the statue.
The Kneeling Fireman with the Fireman’s Prayer in the front of it
The Kneeling Fireman Plaque outside the building
People still come to visit the statue (which had been in storage for a decade until 2011) but its meaning seems different now with so many years passing. Still, it is an important part of the City’s history at a time when it brought everyone together.
The other plaque
Across the street from the statue, I noticed an unusual building that was part marble and part modern. This is the Fifth Church of Christ Scientist. The building was built in 1921 for the Church in the Classic Revival style and as part of the agreement there is a 21-story glass tower on top of it (Wiki). It really does stand out for its unique design. Still, it does not look that big from the outside but the building does seat 1800.
The Fifth Church of Christ Scientist at 340 Madison Avenue
From 43rd Street, I walked back up Fifth Avenue to the other side of the street and the buildings on this side of the street contains its share of architectural gems. The lower part of this side of Fifth Avenue is going through a transition as a lot of buildings exteriors are either being renovated or the building itself is being knocked down and a new one is rising. Many of the buildings here are quite new or just don’t stand out.
Once you get to West 49th Street things start to change when you enter Rockefeller Center which is across the street from Saks Fifth Avenue. The Rockefeller Center complex covers 22 acres with 19 buildings including Radio City Music Hall and the famous ice-skating rink that is holiday tradition once the famous tree is lite. The complex stretches from East 48th to East 51st Street from Fifth to Sixth Avenues. Rockefeller Center was built in two sections, the original 16 building of the complex and then the second section west of Sixth Avenue (Wiki).
Rockefeller Center at 45 Rockefeller Plaza on Fifth Avenue
The land under Rockefeller Center was owned by Columbia University (which was later sold) and the building of the complex started at the beginning of the Great Depression. Construction started in 1931 with the first section opening in 1933 and the remainder of the complex opening in 1939 (Wiki).
The original section of the complex was built in the ‘Art Deco style’ and the extension on Sixth Avenue was built in the ‘International style’. Three separate firms were hired to design the complex with the principal architects being Raymond Hood of Hood, Godley and Fouilhoux who was a student in the Art Deco style, Harvey Wiley Corbett and Wallace Harrison of Corbett, Harrison & McMurray and to lay the floor plans for the project L. Andrew Reinhard and Henry Hofmeister of Reinhard & Hofmeister. They were working under the Associated architects so that no one person could take the credit for the project (Wiki). Two of the original tenants including Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and National Broadcasting Company (NBC) which still exist.
The original section of Rockefeller Center
Radio City Music Hall, known for the elaborate shows and the Rockettes, was finished in 1932 and the ice-skating rink was finished in 1933 and the first Christmas tree was erected by the workers who were doing all the building.
The first tree in Rockefeller Center in 1933 with the constructions workers who erected it.
The rest of the complex went up over the next five years with extensions and renovations being done over the next fifty years. Many famous companies made Rockefeller Center their headquarters or moved their offices to the complex over the years. Still most tourists find their way to the restaurants and the famous rink at the holidays.
Rockefeller Center and the famous tree today
Of all the beautiful artwork that line the walls and courtyards of the complex, two stand out. Prometheus is a beautiful statue that stands proud above the ice-skating rink. This beautiful cast iron, gilded sculpture was made in 1934 by artist Paul Manship. The work is of the Greek legend of Titan Prometheus who brought fire to mankind by stealing it from the Chariot of the Sun (Wiki).
Mr. Manship was a well-known American artist who noted for his specialized work in mythological pieces in the classic style. He was educated at the St. Paul School of Art and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
The other standout statue is of the God Atlas that guards the courtyard of the International Buildings. The sculpture was created by artist Lee Lawrie with the help of Rene Paul Chambellan. The statue was created in the Art Deco style to match with the architecture of the Center and depicts Atlas carrying the celestial vault on his shoulders.
Atlas at Rockefeller Center
Mr. Lawrie was known as a architectural sculptor whose work is integrated into the building design. His work in the Art Deco design fit perfectly into the new building. Mr. Lawrie was a graduate of the School of Fine Arts at Yale.
Touring around Rockefeller Center can take a full afternoon itself especially at the holidays but in the summer months with the outdoor cafe open on the skating rink it is much more open. Also visit the underground walkways of shops and restaurants and visit the new FAO Schwarz that opened in the center.
Leaving Rockefeller Center and heading up Fifth Avenue you will pass the rest of the complex that was designed in a combination of the International and Art Deco design. When reaching the corner of East 53rd Street another historic church, Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue stands guard. Though the church has been part of Manhattan since 1823, the current church was built here by 1914 and consecrated in 1916 as an Episcopal parish (Wiki).
The church was designed by architects Ralph Adams Cram and Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue of the firm Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson with added sculpture by Lee Lawrie. The building is designed in the French High Gothic style and has magnificent deals (Wiki). Even if you are not Episcopalian, going to services at the church is a nice experience. The services are always very relaxed and the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys is excellent. The music and songs are wonderful to hear and the concerts in the afternoon and weekends are a treat.
The next block up is a combination of unique buildings back-to-back with the University Club of New York (Princeton) and the Peninsula Hotel. These buildings are so beautiful in their place on Fifth Avenue.
The University Club of New York is a private social club and is just as elegant inside as it is outside. The building was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White in 1899 and was designed in the Mediterranean Revival Italian Renaissance palazzo style.
The University Club of New York at 1 West 54th Street
Next door to the club is the New York branch of the Peninsula Hotel located at 700 Fifth Avenue at West 55th Street. The hotel opened in 1905 as the Gotham Hotel designed in the neoclassical style. The hotel lived in the shadow of the St. Regis across the street and the Plaza Hotel up the road and went bankrupt in 1908. The hotel had many incarnations over the next eighty yeas until 1988 when it was bought by the Peninsula Group. They spent forty-five million dollars in a renovation (Wiki).
Take time to go inside and see the elegant public rooms and take a walk down the hallway to see the inside of the hotel. During the holidays it is beautifully decorated and their restaurants are considered excellent.
The Peninsula Hotel is especially beautiful at Christmas time.
The beauty of the details of the hotel.
The historical plaque for the hotel.
Across the street from the Peninsula Hotel is the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church at 7 West 55th Street. The church was founded in 1808 and has been on this spot since 1875. The church was designed by architect Carl Pfeiffer in the Victorian Gothic style. The church is built with New Jersey Red Sandstone and the interesting part of the structure is that the clock tower has the original clockworks since 1875 and must be wound each week by hand (Wiki).
Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church at 7 West 55th Street
On an Avenue of churches and department stores, another office building does stand out so you really have to look up and admire the detail work of the Crown Building at 730 Fifth Avenue one of the buildings that was gilded and gold leafed in the 1980’s.
The Crown Building was built in 1921 and was designed by architects from Warren & Wetmore who you will note had designed Grand Central Terminal and the Helmsley Building on Park Avenue. They changed the name to the Crown Building in 1983 because of the ‘crown like look’ when illuminated at night. The building has been owned by many well-known families including the Marcos Family from the Philippines and the Spitzers of New York (Elliot Spitzer was New York’s former Governor). It has been many ownerships over the years and their are considerations by the new owner to turn it into condos (Wiki).
The last building, I visited on my walk up Fifth Avenue was my old employer, Bergdorf-Goodman Specialty store. This is truly the palace of luxury and innovation in fashion. There are designers here that keep popping up that I have never heard of all displayed in elegant fashion where the store looks more like a art gallery of fashion than just a store.
The Cornelius Vanderbilt II house on the site before Bergdorf-Goodman
Bergdorf-Goodman was once the location of the Cornelius Vanderbilt mansion (which was torn down in 1926) and was opened in this location in 1928. The store was founded by Herman Bergdorf and was later owned by Edwin Goodman. The store is designed in the Beaux-Arts style and the inside of the store just went through a multi-million dollar renovation.
Bergdorf-Goodman is a lot of fun to walk around. My favorite floors are the first floor where Jewelry and Accessories is located. The displays of merchandise look like a museum and the Seventh Floor is stocked with interesting home furnishings, creative dishware and very pretty restaurant that overlooks Fifth Avenue and the park below. Pack your credit cards because you will find something you like here. Visit the store at Christmas for the creative window displays, the well-stocked Holiday Department or just go for Afternoon Tea in the restaurant. It’s fun to window shop here.
The last place I visited was Pulitzer Plaza to sit down and relax from all of the walking and see the Pulitzer Fountain. This unique fountain was built at a time when the sculpture was considered risqué and even Cornelius Vanderbilt faced his room away from it.
Pulitzer Plaza and Fountain at 1 Pulitzer Plaza (the park is currently under renovation in 2024)
This busy little park is a refuge for people shopping on Fifth Avenue, tourists wanting to take pictures of the Plaza Hotel and the pigeons so watch out. The park is of the Grand Army Plaza that extends to the other side West 59th Street.
The fountain was designed by sculptor Karl Bitter and the park by architect Thomas Hastings of the firm Carrere & Hastings. The statue is of the Pomona, the Goddess of Abundance who is holding a basket of fruit.
When Mr. Bitter died in a car accident, the statue was finished by his assistant, Karl Gruppe with the help of Isidore Konti. The fountain was dedicated in 1916 (Wiki).
The Goddess Pomona statue by artist Karl Bitter
While sitting in the park watching the tourists walk by muttering things about the “Home Alone” film that had been shot at the Plaza Hotel, it really struck me about the treasure trove of architectural styles, immense detail work on the buildings and the interesting statuary that lines this part of East Midtown. It is its own open-air museum if you really take the time to look up and around and admire the true beauty of the neighborhood. Some of the most famous buildings in Manhattan are located right here.
I ended my walk back at the corner of Lexington and East 59th Street, revisiting the Turtle Bay neighborhood that I walked a few months earlier. As much as this neighborhood is changing, there still is enough of the past to admire. Look to see how the future intertwines with the past in Midtown East.
Check out my other blogs on Walking Midtown East:
Day One Hundred and Forty-Three-Walking the Borders of Midtown East:
There are so many wonderful and beautiful buildings to see in this neighborhood that I mentioned their addresses in the main part of the walk rather one by one. Please walk both sides of Fifth Avenue and look across the street to admire the true beauty of these magnificent buildings.
Places to Eat:
Hop Won Chinese Restaurant
139 East 45th Street (between Lexington & Third Avenue)
mywalkinmanhattan 