Category Archives: near by

Coffee, nah! Make that Latte

The cookies (with Claudio’s signature penguin) are a great addition to a latte-break at Tozzo.

Your tastebuds may not be as forgetful as mine.

Shame on them for dismissing the most memorable latte ever.

Latte or cappuccino is often the question, but I enjoy one or ‘tother wherever I find myself.

Gotta be sure to find myself at Tozzo more regularly.

That’s one epic coffee drink!

Places we live, places we work

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1 There’s a generic quality, I was thinking, to some of these big apartment buildings. The one on this near corner is a case in point. It resembles others in the general neighborhood, like one designed by Robert A.M. Stern on East End and 80th. That one looks a lot like a Stern property just west of Central Park near Columbus Circle.

Of course, dwellings can be considered generic in the sense that they are, for the most part, boxy and rectangular.

2, 3, 4 A row of houses that have been remodeled in a way that makes them look stylized and a touch cartoonish. One set of dormers are elongated. The columns are extra long on one facade. All the fronts are crisper than the original would be. The effects of modernization are attractive if a touch odd.

5 This corner of Lexington Avenue is where to find an old-time soda fountain. The spot has been around long enough to make history.

6, 7 Looking up at tall and new buildings on our immediate horizon

Two “spas” in adjacent basement spaces have met with different fortunes. LuLu has closed while Spring Spa is still in business.

Something is being built: Cranes in the sky give an air of prosperity.

It happened today

These are interesting shoes strolling ahead of me on E. 80th. Full disclosure this was actually yesterday’s event.

The birdhouse artist is getting flashier. I like the little gold dome

Retro gas dispenser and green traffic dummies are an interesting touch of color in a plumber’s garage on the block.

It was a big chiefs’ visiting day at the Amazon loading spot outside the local Starbucks.

The crew gathered as they usually do, though this was the first time I stayed for the entire ceremony. Workers arriving to enjoy a cup while waiting for the truck seems like a daily ritual.

One fellow regaled a couple of ladies with stories while he waited. I followed along, but he was continually distracted just as the “punchline” was coming.

The day unfolded a bit like “dinner and a show” as police raided a next-door convenience store (no license).

Then, the aforementioned mucky mucks pulled up in a chauffeured Escalade.

They huddled. They rallied. They cheered. Plenty of hand shakes and earnest words of thanks to the team for its work passed among the crew and its visiting bigwigs.

Meanwhile, inside, the Starbucks baristas had their own visit from outside. A very cheerfully sweet manager was overseeing and approving their work, too.

Corporate oversight and boosterism at its best was on display on this short strip of York near 80th.