New York City – Page 7 – Walk with Me, Too

Creativity once it’s unlocked cannot be shut up again.

I have never posted these tree houses before because they are from the other side of the street. It seems I had not walked this side until this hot oppressive morning.

The “creativity” I refer to, by the way, is of the designer of these birdhouses. I also note that some of these are not big enough to actually house a bird.

East 30th and a short mini-tale

Ivy 30 and accompanying buildings along a strip of 30th Street 🍷🍸🍹🍺

I was at the dentist at NYU today. On my way home as a “treat” I decided to stop for lunch.

I was passing a bar that was clearly a genuine drinking man’s watering hole. It was obvious there was no air conditioning since all the windows and doors were open. The regulars were hanging at the bar, flys accustomed to the heat.

I sat myself at a table in a chair so commodious as to be too comfortable. The menu was delivered, and I proceeded from there. Hot but tolerable as it turned out. My drink of choice is water and it was good and cold without loads of ice to get in the way of sipping.

I chose a quinoa veggie burger which came with such a pile of fries as to be an embarrassment. All good with the crispy fries offsetting the gooey soft burger and its bun.

This whole mini short story is by way of saying I hate heat and some days, I submerse myself in it. To prove the point.

Speaking of..

Quiet spots

So, yes, it’s a rainy day in my (our) New York. Walking around acquires a patina of peace. My rain jacket gets soaked despite the fact that this is really more of a drizzle. Nonetheless, it’s a good day.

I had the rare pleasure of making my way through the beautifully appointed Cherokee Place Apartments.

My road to coffee took me to a once familiar setting where the Viennese cappuccino is a special.

I sit out of the rain where I will lunch with a BFF. Even my jacket is joining the party by drying out. And, yes, lunch was all it was expected to be.

Deco on 42

Deco predominated 42nd Street at one time.

The tour ended with lunch al fresco to a jazz fest by the Sylvester Scott Trio. Once the drummer arrives, it will be the Sylvester Scott Quartet.

Sylvester Scott has an ‘art deco’ trumpet.

Textures

I don’t like the texture of the building on the southwest corner [1], but I find the red brick with the rounded balconies [2] pleasing.

This is the sort of opinion that falls under the category of taste.

New York

What are you passionate about?

I am passionate about New York City.

It’s the city! I love it. I never want to live anywhere else.

It might be a little provincial of me to be so partisan. We New Yorkers can be hicks.

The truth is I have tried other places but always came home to this one. The city.

Nostalgic

This is one of many iconic New York buildings.

In lunch conversation, as one thing led to another, my memory while active and ecletic still seemed as full of holes as Swiss cheese.

I could start an anecdote, but crucial details required a session with Google.

Filling in Fred MacMurray‘s role in Double Indemnity didn’t jog enough of the story. The point of it had been to detail Akim Tamiroff as a window washer in a very different MacMurray film, Honeymoon in Bali. But I offer too much information.

The detour into the movies was one path over lunch. The other was a recollection from my C.V. which had long been forgotten but is ever so pertinent to this Walk with Me, Too blog.

Eons ago, I was on a junior board at the Municipal Art Society with offices in the Lotte Palace Hotel at the Villard Houses.

MAS is one of several preservationist advocacy groups in our city.

Carl Schurz Park

It’s a public park that is also the gateway to the Mayor’s mansion.

Gracie Mansion was built by a rich merchant eons ago. Archibald Gracie did not hold onto his wealth. The property fell into the public domain as it were.

In 1942, after much repurposing of the house, Fiorello LaGuardia became the first mayor to take occupancy.

Word is that he did not come into his new home with a whole heart. On the other hand, it does my heart good to find myself anywhere in the vicinity of the mayoral residence and its pastoral surrounds.