Winter Storm Toby

Last Wednesday we got our fourth nor'easter—in March alone. Winter Storm Toby (I don't know how I feel about naming every single storm) was predicted to bring up to 18 inches of snow to parts of the Northeast, but in Central Park the official total ended up at 8.2 inches. This was the first time since 1992 that at least 6 inches fell in late March or April, although January's "bomb cyclone" snow total was higher at 9.8 inches and I didn't hear any thundersnow like we had during the last nor'easter.

I'm definitely ready for spring, but I still love snow and will take it whenever I can get it. I stayed inside for the actual storm, but I was looking forward to a snowy commute through the park on Thursday morning. I decided to take a different, less direct route to hit some of my favorite spots, so I took the train to 72nd Street and started my walk from there.

I walked to the Literary Walk and Bethesda Terrace first—two of my very favorite places in not just the park, but the world—and then walked northeast through the Ramble. The North Woods is one of the best places to be after a snowfall, but the Ramble turned out to be just as magical. Sometimes Central Park can feel frustratingly crowded, but in the mornings it's peaceful—mostly just people walking their dogs or watching birds.

I was grumpy when my alarm went off an hour and a half earlier than normal, but it was impossible to hold on to that rage as I was walking through snowy paths that had me wondering if I had actually entered the park from the inside of a wardrobe. By the time I went outside again at lunchtime, the snow had mostly all melted and despite the chilly temps, spring is defiantly starting to make an appearance.

First Calvary Cemetery

I've mentioned that I've been going a little stir crazy already this winter, and even after walking to work on Friday, I wasn't ready to say goodbye to all of our "bomb cyclone" snow just yet. On Sunday I bundled up (it was a four shirts, three pairs of socks and two pairs of pants kind of day) and headed to Queens. Our regular UWS diner is still closed (hopefully only temporarily) after a fire, so my mom and I had lunch at the Court Square Diner in Long Island City. After lunch, we parted ways and I headed further into Queens to the First Calvary Cemetery.

Calvary, a Roman Catholic cemetery, is one of the oldest cemeteries in the United States. It's divided into four sections and the oldest section, First Calvary, is bordered by the Long Island Expressway and the BQE. The first burial occurred on July 31, 1848—Esther Ennis, reportedly dead of a broken heart—and First Calvary was full by 1867.

I had been to First Calvary once before, back in 2014 when I first got my camera. I always had it on my mental list of places to revisit, but we watched The Godfather on Saturday—Vito Corleone is "buried" in Calvary—and whenever it snows my first instinct is to head to a cemetery. Google lists the cemetery as closed on Sundays and I've had unfortunate luck getting into snowy cemeteries before, but luckily the gates were open.

Calvary was the first major cemetery to be established in an outer borough by the Trustees of St. Patrick's Cathedral, after a cholera epidemic created a burial shortage in Manhattan. Today, more than three million people are buried in Calvary cemetery—the largest number of interments of any cemetery in the US—and the first thing you notice upon entering is just how full it seems. In many ways, the cemetery resembles a small city of its own, with row after row of tall headstones tightly packed together, a mirror image of the Manhattan skyline in the distance.

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First Calvary Cemetery
34-02 Greenpoint Avenue,
Maspeth (Queens), NY 11378
Office Hours (note that the office is closed on Sunday, but the cemetery gates were open):
Monday-Friday: 9:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
Saturday: 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

Bomb Cyclone

I didn't leave my apartment at all on Thursday during Winter Storm Grayson, aka the "bomb cyclone," a massive winter storm that hit nearly the entire east coast. Central Park reported 9.8 inches of snow, and as much as I love to frolic in the city during snowstorms, this one was accompanied by gale-force winds and negative temperatures.

Of course I enjoy snow days and time off work, but I've been staying inside so much over the past few weeks that I began to go a little stir crazy. Despite the frigid temps, I decided to walk to work on Friday morning through Central Park, hoping to counteract my winter blues with sunshine and beautiful, snowy views.

It's been a while since I walked to/from work since it's been cold and getting dark so early, but it's really something I should do more often. It takes me about 45 minutes (longer if I'm wandering) to walk 2.2 miles door to door, which is also just about how long it takes if I ride the bus. My favorite route is through the North Woods, which isn't the most direct but it is the most scenic. 

The North Woods is one of my favorite areas of Central Park. It's heavily wooded, as the name implies, and it almost feels like a well-kept secret. It has all the features I love in other parts of the park—stone arches, tiny waterfalls, rustic bridges—and none of the crowds that can ruin an otherwise peaceful park walk. It's one of my favorite places to visit after a snowfall and this walk was exactly what I needed to make peace with this winter.

Snowy Trees

Today we are expected to get anywhere up to 20" of snow, but last week I was excited when I woke up on Friday morning to a few flurries. It was snowing heavily by mid-morning, but by lunchtime it had stopped. I hurried out to Central Park, hoping to capture some of the snowy trees before it all melted away (it had been in the 60s the day before).

I headed straight to the North Woods, because I was having flashbacks of my beautiful snowy commutes through that part of the park during my first (very snowy) winter in New York. The North Woods is, as the name suggests, filled with trees, and it's an extra magical place in the snow.

I recently posted photos of the early signs of spring that had begun to pop up in the park in February, but obviously winter has decided to hold on a bit longer. March snows are not common in the city, but they do happen—The Great Blizzard of 1888 (March 11 – March 14) was one of the most severe recorded blizzards in the history of the US, with snowfalls of 20-60 inches along the East Coast.

The snow was already melting by the time I got outside, and large chunks of it were falling everywhere, which was equal parts fun and treacherous. The little snow puffs left on the trees almost looked like blossoms—and as much as I love snow, I can't help but hope that spring eventually comes to stay for longer than a day or two.

Green-Wood: Snow

As much as I've visited Green-Wood Cemetery, I only just took my second snowy walk around the grounds on Saturday. My first snowy visit (here and here) was back in 2015, and I didn't have many chances during last year's virtually snow-less winter. When I realized that last week's snowfall would stick around for a few days, I knew that Green-Wood was my top priority.

Snowy cemeteries are a combination of two of my very favorite things in life, although in the city it has sometimes been a challenge to get into them. I was denied entry to Woodlawn on not one, but two snowy days, and Green-Wood closes its gates during most storms. I did manage to explore Trinity Cemetery in northern Manhattan after one of my failed Woodlawn treks, and the photos I took that day are still some of my favorites.

I was very excited to see Green-Wood again in the snow, but I was concerned that after countless visits I wasn't going to see much that I hadn't already seen or photographed before. I'm fond of saying that I could explore places like Green-Wood forever and still manage to see something new, but I definitely think I'll eventually test the limits of that theory. Almost immediately, though, I veered into a part of the cemetery that I hadn't explored—and even if I hadn't, everything looks a little bit different in the snow.

I made some questionable decisions veering off of cleared paths to investigate interesting things—the snow drifts were almost knee-deep in places—but it was definitely worth a little slipping and sliding. I walked to Green-Wood from my apartment (stopping for diner breakfast halfway) and to me there is no more perfect way to spend a Saturday.

Central Park: Snow

I love snow. I grew up in Northeast Ohio so I'm no stranger to the frozen white stuff, but I never experienced a New York City snowstorm until a few years ago. It was during my two-month "trial period," which took place January-March of 2013 that I finally saw the city blanketed in snow, and immediately fell in love. To see my favorite city in my favorite weather was almost too much to bear, and even four years later I'm still enamored with the winters here.

My first winter as a full-time resident just happened to include the second snowiest February on record. I was in heaven, but also—I realize now—spoiled. We've yet to have a similar winter in the three years since, and last year although we got 30-some inches of snow, 90% of it came in one day and melted by the next. This year has been slightly better, and even though I was denied entry to Green-Wood Cemetery, I still had a magical day back in January frolicking through a snowy Prospect Park. 

Luckily that wasn't our last storm of the season, and yesterday I was delighted to wake up to near-blizzard conditions outside my window. Although my commute was a bit harrowing (I almost got blown across Lexington Avenue), it was all worth it when we were released early and I was able to spend the rest of the afternoon in Central Park. I sadly don't get to the park as much now that I live in Brooklyn, so I was thrilled to be able to spend a few hours checking in on all of my favorite spots.

I walked from 92nd Street down Fifth Avenue and entered the park by the Met Museum. I walked past Belvedere Castle and the Delacorte Theater, through the Ramble and Bethesda Terrace. I love, love, love the Bethesda Fountain, and the angel looks even better with snowy highlights. I made my way down the Literary Walk—one of my very favorite places on Earth—around the pond and over the Gapstow Bridge.

I'm concerned that climate change may make snowy days like this increasingly rare (it was in the 60s on Wednesday) so I'm trying to appreciate them while they are still fairly common. I don't have to drive on icy roads, scrape a windshield or shovel a driveway and although city snow gets gross pretty quickly, it will always be magical to me.

Prospect Park: Snow

There aren't many things in life I love more than snow, and the city during or after a snowstorm is just about perfect. We had our first major snowfall of 2017 (and of this winter season) this weekend and I had to get out and explore. I tried to go to Green-Wood Cemetery, but—in what has become sort of an unfortunate tradition involving me, snow and cemeteries—it was closed. I did the next best thing and walked home through Prospect Park, which is lovely anytime of year but is a total dream land in the snow.

The snow was coming down pretty heavily during my entire walk so the park was deserted—just another gift that the winter gods bestow on the city at this time of year. The park is fun when it's teeming with life—sledding in the winter, picnics in the summer—but there's nothing quite like watching the snow fall quietly while you're standing in the middle of Brooklyn, without another person in sight.

After about two hours of frolicking like a kid during their first-ever snowfall, I got impossibly cold and tired of the snow blowing into my face. I exited the park and took a bus about three blocks home—wet and cold but already looking forward to my next snowy city adventure.

The 2016 Blizzard

It's currently in the 70s here in New York, which is wonderful no matter what time of year it occurs, but it's definitely not normal for March. It's no secret that I adore snow, and we've had a pitiful amount of it this "winter." In fact, this was one of the least snowiest winters we've had in a while, and the vast majority of the accumulation that we did manage to get came all in one day.

On January 23rd, New York City recorded 26.8 inches of snow in Central Park. We stayed inside for more than 24 hours during the actual snowfall, but the next day we ventured out to see how Brooklyn had fared. My favorite part of the entire blizzard was seeing the huge, car-shaped mounds of snow that lined the streets. I don't normally envy people that have cars in the city, but I was especially glad to be able to enjoy the snowy streets without worrying about digging out.

We walked to Prospect Park past the back entrance of Green-Wood Cemetery, which was unfortunately closed due to the snow. They actually opened their main gates later in the day but I wasn't able to make it in. I adore snow almost as much as I love cemeteries, so when the two combine I'm endlessly delighted.

Prospect Park was a true winter wonderland, although I did get overwhelmed at times by the amount of screaming children sledding on every possible snowy surface. I love the city even more when it snows because of how quiet everything usually becomes. The traffic slows to a crawl, there are less people out and everything just seems more magical and calm. I felt a bit robbed of this phenomenon since by the time we ventured out it was sunny and it seemed as if 90% of Brooklyn had the same idea as us.

Since we had gotten a slow start, there were already some really excellent snow creations scattered throughout the park, including a Madonna-and-Child sculpture that was hard to capture accurately and the most wonderful snow octopus I've ever seen (it's also the only snow octopus I've ever seen).

We tried to add our own creation, but couldn't get the snow to cooperate so I settled on flopping down into the snow and making a snow angel. Of course because I'm thirty years old now, I felt like I had whiplash for the next week—maybe I should be thankful that my chances to injure myself participating in snowy activities have been so limited this year.

Winter Roundup

I had thought that we had seen that last major snowfall a few weeks ago, but while I was cruising my way back to the States, New York got its first snowfall of the spring. I'm kind of sad I missed it, but I was able to take a walk on Saturday and enjoy some of it, although most of the snow had melted off the trees by the afternoon.

I hesitate to declare again that I think we've seen our last snow of the season, but in the meantime, I was sorting through some of my photos and found some of past snowfalls that I hadn't shared.

At the beginning of February I walked to work through the North Woods in Central Park on a very icy morning. It had snowed, then rained, then everything froze which made for a treacherous, but very beautiful commute. I really love the wildness of the North Woods, although by "wild" I mean as wild as you can get in the middle of Manhattan.

When I'm not walking through the North Woods, I walk along the reservoir. I've walked it a few times this winter and it's been frozen and snow-covered, which makes it look like a long, uninterrupted stretch of land. My friend Jim said it reminded him of the salt flats in Utah and it's really quite beautiful. The running track has been snow-covered and frozen as well, which means that I was the only person crazy enough to be walking along it on most mornings.

I'll never get over how wonderful this city can be in the winter when you feel as if you have the entire city to yourself. According to the calendar it's already spring and I'm sure before we know it, it will feel as hot as a dog's mouth in the city and we'll all forget what snow even felt like.

Trinity Cemetery and Mausoleum: Winter

After being once again denied access to Woodlawn Cemetery the weekend because of "hazardous conditions,"—aka the beautiful, melting and not-at-all-hazardous snow—I headed to the next closest cemetery that I knew of to get my snowy tombstone fix.

 I had been to Trinity Cemetery, Manhattan's only active cemetery, in March of last year for the first time and I hadn't been back since. Thankfully the gates were open, there was no obnoxious guard to stop me from walking in and more than enough snow to make me happy again. Some of the pathways were cleared and others were not, but I came prepared with boots and happily forged my own way through nearly a feet of snow.

The snow was piled against the mausoleums and stuck in the recesses of letters in the most interesting ways. Trinity is a relatively small cemetery, especially when compared to Green-Wood or Woodlawn, but it has some really wonderful mausoleums. I was particularly loving how the snow was drifted and pushed against the doors, making them look like little mountain cottages.

You never know, but I think we've probably seen the last of this winter's snow. I suppose I will never get to see Woodlawn in the winter, which is definitely a disappointment, but there are still plenty of other wonderful places that I haven't explored to keep me busy. While I still think that fall is the very best time for a cemetery walk, I have to say that winter is a close second—that is, as long as they let me in.

Brooklyn Heights

Since the very first time I set foot on the dreamy Promenade, Brooklyn Heights has been my happy place. When I used to come visit New York I would always try to fit in a visit to the neighborhood, no matter how packed my schedule. When I lived here for my two-month trial run (which ended two years ago today—!) I would trek all the way out to BK just to read my Sunday newspaper.

I was in desperate need of a spirit-lifting solo adventure recently and before walking the Manhattan Bridge or visiting Kolonihavehus, I started my day in Brooklyn Heights. I will never not get a thrill from just walking the Promenade and taking in the breathtaking views of lower Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge, and even—if you look hard enough—the Statue of Liberty.

Everything was still covered in snow when I went, which of course makes everything even more dreamy to me. The quiet streets are completely magical, lined with brownstones and cute colonial-style row houses, with names like Pineapple, Cranberry and Pierrepont. Truman Capote used to live in Brooklyn Heights, as did Walt Whitman and Thomas Wolfe—and I would add myself to that list in a heartbeat if I could.

Manhattan Bridge

I've walked the Manhattan Bridge a few times now, and I've really grown fond of its scrappiness—especially when compared with its classier and more popular neighbor, the Brooklyn Bridge. I love it much more now that I'm prepared for the constant train rattle and now that I know exactly how to find the pedestrian entrances and exits.

My most recent bridge walk was from Brooklyn to Manhattan, after a day spent exploring Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo. The sun was setting and it was pretty empty, which made for a really excellent walk. I will always appreciate that cyclists and pedestrians have their own sides of the bridge, which makes the walk much more leisurely.

There is always new graffiti to see on the Chinatown rooftops and on the bridge itself and the colors are really extraordinary. And no matter how many times I see it, the view of lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge will never not be spectacular to me—even if I have no idea how the Verizon monstrosity has the nerve to think it belongs in the same skyline as the dreamy Woolworth building.

Kolonihavehus, 2010

I have been seeing photos of Tom Fruin's Kolonihavehus, 2010, an installation art piece in Brooklyn Bridge park for a while and I've been meaning to see it in person. I finally got to the park recently, and it really exceeded my expectations. At first it might seem to have no real purpose, and I guess it doesn't really, but it is a delightful sight.

The garden house is made from nearly 1,000 scraps of reclaimed Plexiglass and the colors are extraordinary. I was there in the late afternoon and the sun was hitting the panels in the most wonderful ways and casting incredible rainbow shadows onto the snowy ground. 

With the Brooklyn Bridge and the Lower Manhattan skyline on the one side, and the Manhattan Bridge on the other, there is no bad viewpoint in the park. As much as I'm kind of over this arctic tundra the city has become, I am glad I got to see this piece while there is still snow on the ground—and its bright, happy colors have me dreaming even more of the impending spring.

Ellis Island Hospital: Part 4

I have thought about the incredible Ellis Island hospital tour many, many times since we took it in January. I don't imagine any tour topping it for a very long time—it was just so, so good. I've already shared my photos from inside of the abandoned hospital complex, the lonely chairs that I fell in love with and the beautiful JR art installation, but I never shared my photos from the hospital grounds.

The south side of the island isn't very large but it packs a lot into a relatively limited space. The main building, which houses the immigration museum, was restored in the 90s but the south side buildings remain in various states of decay and have never been open to visitors until now (and only as part of the hard hat tour that we took). It's kind of awesome to be able to see the unrestored buildings in the same view as the restored main hall—it's like a real-life before-and-after show.

The broken and boarded up windows, piles of forgotten construction materials, ivy-covered brick and even the lonely bird house all added to the eerie feeling of the complex. As much as I loved the buildings themselves, it's really the views from the grounds—of the Statue of Liberty, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and Lower Manhattan—that make the trip to Ellis Island a must-do.

I don't think I'll be able to stop thinking about this tour for a very long time (like, probably never) and I keep wondering if I should just pull the trigger and book another ticket. As cold as our tour was, I loved that we got to see it in the snow and bright winter light but I'm already dreaming of getting the chance to explore these buildings in the spring.

Hudson River Ice

On Saturday, after the diner breakfast, after the High Line and after I explored a bit of the West Side Highway, I walked back north along the Hudson River. I work on the east side of Manhattan, but I've always lived on the west side and north or south, the west side is the best side as far as I'm concerned.

The walk along the Hudson is one of my favorites, especially at this time of year. Last year it was cold enough for the Hudson to freeze (partially) and I went one day on my lunch break to check out the ice floes. This year it's been even colder for even longer and the ice floes are bigger and better than they were last year.

Although I'm quite over this bitter cold, I do love the arctic-looking landscape, and I could watch the ice bob up and down in the river for hours. It started to snow halfway through my walk and coated everything in a fresh layer of bright white—a welcome improvement to the gritty, trash-littered, black snow drifts that have been around for weeks. The East River Ferry has been experiencing problems due the ice recently—which must be frustrating—but if winter is going to stick around for a while longer, at least it's pretty to look at.

High Line: Winter

My biggest complaint about the High Line is how unbearably crowded it can get. Every time I've gone it has been uncomfortably packed with slow-moving people—it's an old elevated rail line, so it's not very roomy to begin with and there are parts where it narrows to almost a single-file line.

This weekend, however, I decided to check it out figuring it would be bearable in the cold and snow, and to my delight it was as sparse as I'd ever seen it. There were still people on it, of course, but at times it felt as if I had the park to myself, which is something I never thought I'd experience.

I haven't explored the High Line or the Chelsea/Meatpacking district very much, but I always find something interesting when I do. The mix of old and new buildings is especially fascinating to me, and as much as I prefer the old to the new, the juxtaposition of both is sometimes really nice.

You can even find remnants of why the area is called the Meatpacking District if you look hard enough—and any place that offers a good view of the Empire State Building is worth a visit, even if you have to share the view.

Snowy Green-Wood Cemetery: Part Two

I took so many photos of Green-Wood in the snow, that I decided to break them up into two posts. As I was looking through them, I noticed that I was particularly interested in the statues, so here are my favorites from that snowy walk:

I'm still sad that our trip to Woodlawn was foiled by the snow and a grumpy security guard because I can't stop thinking about how beautiful it all looked covered in snow. I would love to go back to Green-Wood right after a snowstorm and catch some of these statues actually covered a bit more.

Angels are always my favorite cemetery statues but one gets bonus points if it's missing arms, or—my very favorite—its head. I love the way they weather and crumble, how they get covered in moss or lichen, and how desperately mournful they can look. It's one thing to read a kind inscription or see a name, but its another thing entirely to see a weeping angel, bent over a headstone in eternal despair.

Snowy Green-Wood Cemetery: Part One

Snowy Green-Wood Cemetery: Part One

One of the first things I thought of when I heard that we had a snow day last week was "I should go to Green-Wood Cemetery," (that's totally normal, right?). The cemetery was closed all day, unfortunately, although I did get to walk by it (after my walk through Prospect Park) and peek through the fence. It looked incredible in the snow, and Sunday I finally made my way inside.

The roads were plowed, and some of the snow had started to melt but it was just as beautiful as I had imagined. As much as I love cemeteries and snow, I had only ever been to Calvary Cemetery in the winter, and on a warm day when most of the snow had already melted. I knew I wanted to make a snowy cemetery visit a priority this winter, and this was the first significant snowfall we've had this year. 

Sunday was a beautiful day and luckily not bitterly cold. I walked around for about two hours and didn't even have to keep my gloves on. Some of the snow drifts were pretty deep, but it was so peaceful and I barely saw anyone else on my walk. I hadn't been to Green-Wood since the open house tour this past fall, and it was great seeing some of my favorite mausoleums and statues against the beautiful snow. 

No matter how many times I go to Green-Wood, I always see something new and interesting. This time, the "transplanted children" headstone wins for strangest stone I saw, and I know I've said it before but it just doesn't get any better than a pyramid-shaped, Egyptian-themed mausoleum. Also, since the trees have lost their leaves, the view of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty from Battle Hill is currently perfect—I can't think of a better place in the world to spend all of eternity.