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.

Project 365: Days 55-60

55/365: Francesca and I tried to apply for our IDNYCs but bailed when we found out it would be a 4+ hour wait (that was with an appointment).

56/365: I walked to work through Central Park and was the only person walking along the frozen reservoir path.

57/365: I met JMP for lunch at the Lexington Candy Shop, a wonderful old luncheonette/diner on the Upper East side.

58/365: Not the most comforting thing to see on the way to a doctor's appointment, but at least it made me laugh.

59/365: I've been growing my hair out for no particular reason and it goes rogue sometimes—thank god for winter hats.

60/365: I met Jim at the Lower East Side Coffee Shop for diner breakfast before we headed to Williamsburg for a bit of exploring before it started to snow.

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.

West Side Highway

On Saturday, after meeting friends at a diner in Chelsea and walking a portion of the High Line, I decided to check out an abandoned stand-alone diner that I had read about. I walked about a mile down the West Side Highway, which I don't do very often but I really love the desolate and gritty feeling of the far west side.

Of course every neighborhood in New York has become impossibly cool and expensive and the west side is no exception (probably  especially the west side), but the West Side Highway still feels a bit abandoned, especially on a cold, winter weekend. I only passed a few people—mostly walking dogs—and I didn't cover much ground, but saw so many wonderful things. There are some really great old hotels, abandoned and for-sale buildings, auto-body shops and so much amazing signage and vintage typography that I couldn't have been happier.

I only went as far south as the abandoned diner and then turned around. It was hard to take photos through the tiny openings in the chain link fence, but the inside of the diner is falling apart, filled with debris and is still totally amazing. All of the windows are out of the old dining car and it's in really bad shape, but you can still imagine how it must have looked in its glory days. I hope someone resurrects the diner instead of just tearing it down—what a dream it would be to be able to bring it back to life—but its pretty incredible in its current state of decay.

Project 365: Days 48-54

48/365: Three co-workers and I went to a made-for-me free lecture at Cooper Union about gravestone lettering.

49/365: I had an early doctor's appointment in Midtown so I waved good morning to my favorite building and stopped at Grand Central to pick up sausage-egg-and-cheese breakfast sandwiches from Shake Shack. They were just as delicious as I expected them to be.

50/365: I hung up my Valentine's flowers to dry in one of the few cat-proof corners of the apartment.

51/365: I walked nearly a mile (from Grand Central) on the coldest day that New York has had since 2004 only to have my doctor tell me that they had rescheduled my appointment while awaiting insurance confirmation. A call to let me know might have been nice but  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

52/365: I met friends for a diner breakfast in Chelsea and walked down the West Side Highway to see an abandoned stand-alone diner. I passed by this old hotel sign which is 100% perfect to me.

53/365: I realize this is the second breakfast sandwich in this post, but it was incredibly delicious and definitely worth documenting. Lazy Sundays are my very favorite days lately.

54/365: I haven't been spending a lot of time in my apartment, and I think this ridiculous creature is kind of mad about it.

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.

Project 365: Days 41-47

41/365: I got sick for the first time in a year and spent the day in my bed watching movies and sipping tea from my favorite mug.

42/365: I like to do my freelance work at a specific Starbucks, which happens to be across the street from a Momofuku Milk bar. Freelance = corn cookies, always.

43/365: Because you can never have enough cookies, I made these ginger molasses cookies for a special Valentine.

44/365: At work we declared Friday "Fluffernutter Friday" and celebrated appropriately.

45/365: I had the most perfect Valentine's Day and then arrived home to an adorable package from my friend Shannon, containing this emoji pin (and glittery Mozart socks) that made me gasp with joy.

46/365: I met JMP at the Square Diner for a very necessary breakfast on a very cold day. Side-note: They replaced their previously-awesome sign with a new one, and I'm not happy about it. New does not always mean better.

47/365: Jim and I got our dollar's worth exploring the dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History while trying our best to avoid the grabby, sticky throngs of children.

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

Bronx Zoo

On Saturday Jim and I had plans to explore Woodlawn Cemetery. We were delighted that it started snowing on our way up to the end of the 4 train and I was excited to see another cemetery blanketed in snow . As soon as we tried to walk through the gates, however, the guard stopped us to tell us that the cemetery was "closed to walk-ins" because of the "hazardous conditions." I tried not to be too disappointed (quite unsuccessfully) and scrambled to find an alternate plan.

We settled on the Bronx Zoo and ended up having a great time. I had only been to the zoo once before (also in the winter), but never in the snow, which makes everything better (except apparently walking through a cemetery).

I saw a lot more animals than I did last time, and most seemed to not be bothered at all by the snow—some, like the brown bears, even appeared to love it. Zoos are kind of inherently sad, and a few of the animals definitely tugged at our heart strings (the polar bear pacing back and forth, the puffins swimming furiously at the glass) but the Bronx Zoo has some of the best habitats I've seen.

All of the animals seemed pretty active and we even saw a few being very active, like the two frogs that were snuggin' and two crocodiles that seemed awfully friendly with each other. I love seeing places in their off-season, and the zoo was especially deserted in the snow. It's actually hard for me to imagine the grounds crawling with children when I've only ever had to share it with a few other people. I think I've finally hit the point in the winter where I'm looking forward to spring, but I'm grateful to feel as if I have such wonderful places essentially to myself at least for a little while longer.

Project 365: Days 30-40

30/365: I love other people's birthdays more than my own.

31/365:  We saw a (free!) dress rehearsal of Larry David's new Broadway play and it was so good.

32/365: I finally fulfilled my dream of walking through a snowy cemetery, and Green-wood was pure magic.

33/365:  Sometimes I eat garlic-stuffed olives and cheese slices for dinner, served on a paper plate left over from my Halloween party because I'm a totally successful adult

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34/365: I took a snowy/icy walk through the beautiful North Woods of Central Park on my way to work.

35/365: I made a special dinner for a special dinner guest.

36/365: I found a heart in the middle of my mandarin.

37/365: I didn't realize it until I was putting together this post, but I've been seeing hearts everywhere. Maybe it's Valentine's Day or maybe I'm just getting sappy in my old age, but as I walking to meet my friend JMP for dinner, I saw tons of these chalk hearts—on the sidewalk, on mailboxes, on doors, etc. Regardless of why they exist, they made me smile.

38/365: Jim and I tried to go to Woodlawn Cemetery but they weren't allowing anyone to walk in due to the snow, so we went to the Bronx Zoo instead.

39/365: Lazy Sunday Scrabble games are quickly becoming my favorite thing.

40/365: I got my first Valentine of the season in the mail (thank you Grandma!).

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.

Snow Day

Last week New York was supposed to get a "blizzard of historical proportions", but we actually ended up with about 7 inches of snow. Despite the blizzard being a complete bust, we still got the day off work and having an adult snow day was everything I dreamed it could be.

The subway was up and running by about 10 am, and so was I—I headed to Brooklyn to check out the winter delights in Prospect Park (with a stop to get second breakfast at a bagel shop near the park). I don't know Prospect Park as well as Central Park, but I always love the time I spend there. It's a bit more wild and less crowded than Central Park, although on Tuesday it was full of fellow snow-dayers, making the most of the meager snowfall, sledding, snowboarding and cross-country skiing.

We walked around the park for a while, hitting all of the highlights—the lake, the lookout points, the beautiful bridges—and I even got to check up on the swans, which (despite my fear of birds) are my favorite part of Prospect Park.

We haven't gotten nearly as much snow this year as we had last year and I'm hoping for at least a few more good storms before winter is over. I'm not greedy enough to expect another snow day—I've been told that they're very rare in the city—but that won't keep me from hoping for more perfect winter days like this one.

Project 365: Days 23-29

23/365: I dyed my hair for the first time in months and got the color exactly how I wanted it (which is to say, not much color at all).

24/365: We took a vertical tour of St. John the Divine and my inner 8-year-old emerged when I saw this guy with posable fingers in the gift shop.

25/365: I went on my first-ever cross-country skiing adventure and really loved it. The views were incredible, the wintery nature was gorgeous and the entire day was pretty much perfect.

26/365: We got off work at 1:30 due to the impending "blizzard" so Francesca and I ate Chipotle and watched the snow on Lexington Avenue.

27/365: We had a snow day off work, which I spent eating a bagel, walking around Prospect Park, watching a movie and eating dinner with friends. After the park we walked past Green-wood Cemetery which was closed but insanely beautiful in the snow. Adult snow days are the best.

28/365: I met Jim and Katie in Brooklyn for dinner and walked past this sidewalk stencil outside of the Barclays Center on Flatbush Ave.

29/365: I had some gift shopping and card buying to do, so I headed to Greenwich Letterpress where I found this amazing Gilmore-Girls-themed key tag that I had to buy for myself.

This week we finally started to get some respectable snow on the ground, which is my very favorite part about winter so I'm very happy. I can't believe this month is almost over, but it's been filled with such wonderful delights that I definitely don't feel as if any time has been wasted.

Happy last-day-of-January and have a wonderful weekend!

Cathedral of St. John the Divine: Vertical Tour

I have been to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine many times—on tours before I lived here, to see the Xu Bing exhibit and I often stop in while I'm on a walk around my neighborhood since I live so close. I am very much not a religious person, but I've always loved grandiose churches and St. John the Divine is one of the grandest. It's tied with the Liverpool Church for largest Anglican cathedral, and it is the fourth largest Christian church in the world. Its construction was halted by the start of World War II and has remained unfinished ever since.

You can tour the interior at your leisure, but to go up inside of the cathedral you have to take what they call a "vertical tour." Francesca, Trent and I took the 12pm tour on Saturday and I highly recommend it. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and interesting, giving us a history of the architecture and construction, as well as explaining some of the intricate stained glass themes.

We climbed to a few different levels of the church via a very tight spiral stone staircase and the views were incredible. There were a few stops on balconies outside of the church, and the view of snowy rooftops in Morningside Heights and the Upper West side was perfect.

We even got to see the attic of the cathedral, which protects the vaulting from the elements and offered a behind-the-scenes look at the back of the famous Guastavino tiling on the ceiling of the church. When you're standing on the main floor of the cathedral it's hard to get a good feeling of just how soaring everything is, and it was nice to get to experience it all from a different perspective. We also got to see some of the amazing stained glass up close, pieces that you can barely see at all from the floor. Like I said, I'm not much for religion, but I'm grateful that if I ever did suddenly decide that I needed a place to worship, a place as beautiful as St. John the Divine is just a few blocks away.

Project 365: Days 16-22

16/365: This is a horrible photo, but I kicked off my weekend getting a chimichanga and a margarita as big as my head with my wonderful friend Trent.

17/365: I got breakfast at a favorite local diner and took the long way home.

18/365: I had the most perfect rainy Sunday, which started off with the best banana pancakes that have ever happened to me.

19/365: I took another walk around my neighborhood and visited this Atomic Buddhist statute. It once stood 1.5 miles away from the center of the nuclear blast that leveled Hiroshima, and now resides on Riverside Drive.

20/365: I got these sock monkey socks for Christmas and they make me happy every time I wear them.

21/365: I wore my skull and pom-pom sweater and prayed for snow (we didn't get any).

22/365: Francesca found another Greek coffee cup to add to my collection—the one on the bottom—and cemented her status as the best coworker/friend around. I've set a few rules for myself, including no picking them out of the trash (yet) or buying them online, but I have no problem accepting them as gifts as long as they were found "in the wild."

I kind of forgot about this 365 project a little bit this week, but that's ok. I'd rather have a grainy iPhone photo or the memory of an amazing day than the perfect shot, but hopefully I can be a little better next week. Have a good weekend!

Meow Parlour

As soon as I heard that New York was getting its very first cat cafe, I made reservations for Francesca and me. The Meow Parlour is on Hester Street on the Lower East Side—it's been popular so we had to wait about a month before there was an open night. We went at 7pm, an hour before they close and there were four other people there when we got there, but they left soon after and we had the place to ourselves. The cafe part of the "cat cafe" concept is kept separate from the actual cats, in this case it's down the street. It was closing, so we didn't get any cat-shaped macarons or coffee, but that wasn't really the point for us.

Although I have my share of cats to pet on a daily basis, I was still excited to be surrounded by them, and I told Francesca that she had to make sure that I didn't end up adopting one or all of them. That is, of course, the entire point of the cat cafe and I really hope more people go with the intention of taking home one of the residents.

They were all adorable and lovable and it was hard to pick a favorite—that is, until Fang emerged from under the front desk ten minutes before closing time and stole both of our hearts with her unique markings, incredibly sweet personality and gorgeous eyes. Fang is the senior resident of the Meow Parlour, at 10-years-old, but most of the cats are quite young.

Ringo is the pure black cat and he warmed up to me immediately (must be my witch-like tendencies); Roger is white with black spots and he was content to lord over the others from his perch in the Scratch Lounge; Puddin' is a big white ball of fur who gives zero fucks and napped for the entire hour that we were there.

There was one cat who never left the box that he/she had wedged him/herself into, and two sets of cats that looked nearly identical. There was a sweet tortoise-shell that looked just like a cat I used to know and love, and a frisky tabby named Lucky Lemon who was doing his best to destroy an adorable cardboard ice cream truck by eating it.

The place definitely felt like a new business, and it was a bit awkward at first but once we got over that (or once we had the place to ourselves), our hour went by really quickly. I don't have an intense need to pay $4/half hour to pet cats on a regular basis (if anyone wants to pay me anything to come pet Mozart, I'm down with that), but I love that the Meow Parlour exists for people that might not be allowed to have pets, or live with someone who is allergic, or for people looking to take home a pet of their own. I'm sure I'll be back with visitors or to try the macarons, and while I hope Fang finds a home soon, I'll miss her most of all.