Category Archives: around town

A walk on the west side

1.
1a.
1b.
2.
2a.
3.
4.
5.
6.

1, 1a, 1b: This little balcony appeared out of nowhere over my head. It and the open window frame behind it made me think of a stage set.

2&2a. Something struck me as comical about this bar table set in front of a restaurant. It just seems too delicate for the situation.

3. A Barnes & Noble that Amazon did not put out of business is on upper Broadway.

4. Another misplaced business is still in business diagonally across from the B&N. It’s not the thriving cineplex it once was, but it’s still standing!

5. & 6. Chalets of the Upper West Side: I am not familiar enough to be able to give a tally.

These two are close enough to each other to be neighborly.

6. Zabar’s is a familiar landmark at 80th and Broadway. 5. The other is a few blocks north and has a sign that is advertising Zabar’s. I think this is a coincidence.

Coffee, anyone?

It’s a three-fer on Amsterdam and 80th. The Bluestone Lane is crowded and busy. I never checked in at the Black Lab, but it looked inviting enough. The Sandwell, home to the “healthyish breakfast sandwich” and a dollar cup on the side, got my morning business.

The coffee is gently delicious, and the Fun Guy sandwich, chosen for its inclusion of mushrooms, was perfect. If a bit larger-ish than healthy might suggest.

Scheffel Hall

Just another historical remnant. Just another once upon a time restaurant.

In the late 1890s, when all of this downtown area was German, 190 Third Avenue was a renowned rathskellar, Scheffel Hall. Joe King ran a beer hall at this address in the 1950s

It is landmarked, I believe, but it may be for sale.

Built 1894-5 by Henry Adams Weber and Hubert Drosser, at a time when the area south of it was known as Kleindeutschland (“Little Germany”)

Tree house e.t.c.

There’s a storefront where these are stored! This appears to be the Christmas selection.
As with Halloween decorations, I also vow not to post Christmas photos. As with Halloween, I invariably ignore my own advice.

Trees are on sale all around town. Some of these are at the market at Union Square, and others are much closer to home.

Just for fun, I snuck in a photo of a planting that had a Christmas-y coloring.

See that?

Elaborate graffiti complements this empty storefront.

The Green Kitchen was a staple on this corner for about 40 plus years. My mother and I would split the dinner specials years ago. My husband and I, too.

Traffic and trucks

Hex & Co. is a new addition to the neighborhood and, even so, has established itself.

There’s nothing new about traffic on 1st Avenue or the colorful trucks that pull up by curbside.