To the most iconic bridge in the world
On the occasion of her 125th birthday
I’d just like to say
I’ll never try to sell you to anyone ever again
Because you already belong to the hearts of so many.
May we all look so good and mean so much to so many upon reaching such a momentous milestone.
Happy birthday Brooklyn Bridge!
If you’d like to join in on the celebrations, click here for the full schedule.
Snow has been a rare occurrence this winter.
So when I woke up to a veritable blizzard last week, the idea of going to work suddenly seemed more appealing.
Taking pictures while walking to the subway is a delightful cure for the common commute.
There was a guy walking behind me who seemed completely mystified as to why I would voluntarily spend one second longer then necessary outside.
I didn’t notice until I got home that evening and looked at these photos how delicate and crystalline the snow was.
It was a wonderful day.
We turned up the Bowery on a bright sunny Sunday and walked directly into the darkest, flatest, steeliest grey sky I have ever seen.
It looked like a giant movie monster should be entering stage left to destroy the city. It was so ominous. Thankfully the only thing it was a harbinger of was a furious snow flurry.
I was trying to take a picture of these three pugs that were cowering next to their home and making snorfly pug noises.
On the first shot, my camera focused on the fence, so I got the photo you see above.
As I stood there fiddling, trying to get the camera to do what I wanted, the middle pug got fed up and with a horrific, dragon-like woof/whimper came charging at the fence, scaring the bejezus out of me and amusing Isaac nearly to the point of rolling on the sidewalk and crying, he was laughing so hard.
Needless to say I did not get a second shot.
Two weekends ago Isaac and I went for a walk.
A very long walk.
Almost the entire length of Bedford Avenue, give or take a block or two. Why? Because Bedford is either the longest or the second longest street contained entirely within the Borough of Kings (aka, Brooklyn). Who wouldn’t want to walk that?
Walking the length of Bedford Avenue takes you through every type of house, neighborhood and era imaginable. As cheesy as it may sound, it’s a walk through history.
For those not in Brooklyn or not able to take the walk, click on any photo for an annotated map of our amblings.
Jeff Koons makes big art. His Flower Puppy was one of the greatest works of public, ephemeral art ever erected in the city in my humble opinion.
Just before the fall sales at Christie’s, across the street from Rockefeller Plaza, his ”Blue Diamond” (2005) was on display for all the world to gawk at.
Like many a tourist, it stopped me in my tracks. The blue is so blue! And shiny! And reflective! Check it out, you can see the sign for Top Of The Rock in one of its facets. And look! There’s a Warhol behind it! Possibly owned by Hugh Grant! (It sold for $23.7 million in case you were wondering).
See? Even us jaded New Yorkers can get excited about stuff.
Unfortunately the work didn’t excite the bidders and ”Blue Diamond” sold for “only” $11.8 million, far below its pre-sale estimate of $12-20 million.
But don’t feel too bad for Mr. Koons. His ”Hanging Heart (Magenta/Gold)” sold for $23,561,000 handily beating the low end of its $15 million estimate and set a new record for the most expensive piece of art sold by a living artist.
We should all be so lucky in our second careers.
Propsect Park on the perfect autumn weekend may be the most beautiful place in New York City.
Have you ever looked up when crossing the vast, marble expanse of Grand Central Terminal and wondered what’s behind the stars twinkling in their aqua blue sky?
If you’ve ever read Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin, you have an inkling, probably a very unrealistic inkling, but one, all the same, that fills you with awe each time you look up.
In Helprin’s epic love story, the hero, Peter Lake, takes refuge from the Bowery gang the Dead Rabbits in Grand Central’s vault. He pulls up a star to act as his bedside light and nearly makes a daring escape by lowering himself through a hatch, hanging perilously above the clueless commuters.
Some may find Helprin’s novel tedious and needlessly wordy, but I love it for changing the way I look at the world.
I have three choices for getting to work in the morning; the bus, the D train or the N train.
The N is my favored option as it lets me out in the middle of Union Square. I can go to the greenmarket and have a wicked assortment of places to grab breakfast and a coffee.
Then, to get to the office I have to cross Fifth Avenue. Sometimes I remember to look up the avenue, most days I do not. A few days ago, I did, and this is what I saw:
Quite the way to start your morning, no?
The Brooklyn Bridge gets all the press.
She gets all the best scenes in movies, hundreds of books are written about her. But where do you get the best views of the Brooklyn Bridge? From the Manhattan Bridge of course.
Built entirely out of steel and completely in 1909, it may lack the gothic gravitas of the Brooklyn Bridge, but it’s gorgeous in it’s own right, with lovely, small details that you can only appreciate when you’re up close.
The Manhattan Bridge has two walkways: one of bikers, one for walkers. This alone makes it vastly superior to the Brooklyn Bridge for walking, but since all the tourists opt to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, it’s a nicer stroll entirely.
It’s fall, the very best time for walking in New York City, so get out there, walk over the Manhattan Bridge. If you start in Manhattan and walk to Brooklyn, you can reward yourself with some Jacques Torres hot chocolate on the other side, or brunch at Bubby’s or a pie at Grimaldi’s or a Man of Leisure at Jack the Horse Tavern.
If you walk from Brooklyn into Chinatown and the Lower East Side reward yourself with dim sum at Dim Sum Go Go, or burgers and herring at Good World, or pho at Nha Trang or a panini at ‘inoteca.
Because, isn’t that why we walk to begin with? Food!
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