Tag Archives: #walk-with-me

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.

Looking around

Patriotism can easily be conflated with backyard picnics and ceremonial fireworks. I would doubt that this tattered flag fits the profile.
As I was walking about, my eye was attracted to the tops of buildings, some of which peek out.
Some fellow had his face plastered [literally] at the tip of the roof. I assume this was his building.
There are those among us who are rich enough to own and maintain a New York brownstone. I passed many one family homes both extant and for sale.
Speaking of maintaining a property, the number of contractors at work on these Upper East Side blocks is remarkable. It feels a little as if a spring cleaning is in the works.
Electric with bike in tow!
I just liked the juxtaposition of the built and the in-progress.
1&2. Lush as if it were July. 3. This cash register is window dressing.

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.

Quiet spots & city bustle

Scaffolds are covering the quiet areas in this part of the city.
Rocky’s Pizza (Graziano, not Balboa) is under attack from construction next door. The good news: that blue is striking, and workers from the site are having pizza for lunch.
The gold dome in the first picture is the Met Life (I think) insurance building. The other two? The top of the Byzantine church around 34th & 2nd.
The Brooklyn invasion is not just on the UES. It’s also at 26th & 2nd.
Mixed “media” landscape with some interesting approaches to how an what to build. There’s lots of construction and lots of empty retail around.

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.

Cafe

I am adding café au lait to my menu, and it is such a welcome addition. The one at Le Petit Parisien is a particular treat.

Balcony treatments

So many different approaches to the balcony!

“Your store is closing…”

Bed Bath and Beyond has been inviting me to visit my store for bargains in the wake of its imminent closing. In fact, “my” store closed long ago. These folks hanging out in front of it look a little lost, as if this were a regular haunt they miss.

Sweet!

There are two little gems from NYC’s bygone days sitting side by side beside the ramp to the 59th Street Bridge. It’s been the Ed Koch Bridge for several years, I just haven’t adjusted to the news.

Spirituality

I believe that I passed another one of these Ohm Centers on 2nd Avenue in the 50s. Maybe not….

Is that a threat?

No sooner had the skies turned grey with a yellow fringe, giving me just enough time to shut down the house, then a thunderous downpour washed over the windows.