Hell's Kitchen, 59th Street Between Twelfth and Eleventh Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . click to enlarge

Two things going on for me in this photo. First, I just love how it looks. Second, what the heck is this? What was it made for? After all, there was some attention to detail; it wasn't just slapped together. What happened to it? More and more, I find myself standing there with my mouth agape, figuratively, I hope.

This is my last post until Sunday night. Off to Michigan.

Hell's Kitchen, 58th Street Between Eleventh and Twelfth Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . .click to enlarge

Twelfth Avenue is the farthest west you can walk. Just adjacent is the West Side Highway where there is no walking and just beyond that is the Hudson River, no walking there, either. Over here on the edge, this block seems to have been abandoned and forgotten, a block for Forgotten New York.

Hell's Kitchen, 58th Street at Eleventh Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . click to enlarge

At the end of this block, there is a big chain link fence, and looking through, I could see these tracks below street level. I was able to point my camera through a gap at the end to get this shot. The shadow at the bottom right is from a link in the fence.

I emailed a question to Time Out New York's What's Up With . . . .Department: What's up with the below ground train tracks visible through a chain link fence at 58th Street and Eleventh Avenue? .I'll let you know if they have an answer.

And speaking of Time Out, this week the cover story was Forgotten New York, an article by Kevin Walsh, with one suggested itinerary in each borough. The Manhattan itinerary was in Inwood, and we are directed to the driveway just north of P.S.5. See my post of September 13. But rather than end up in Swindler Cove, which, after all, is new and not forgotten, Kevin directs us to a wood-chipped walkway, which leads to a clearing and Sherman Creek. Who would guess that this unmarked and unremarkable driveway would lead to these destinations? I'll go back.

Hell's Kitchen, 58th Street Between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . click to enlarge

Next building down the block. That's a sleeping man in the corner there.

Hell's Kitchen, 58th Street Between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . click to enlarge

Last Saturday, September 16, I went to visit a friend at Roosevelt Hospital on Tenth Avenue between 58th and 59th Streets. Afterwards I walked 58th Street to the West Side Highway and back on 59th. Enough of nature, away with the vistas! Time for some city color.

Washington Heights, 187th Street Between Overlook Terrace and Ft. Washington Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . .. click to enlarge

So, I'm getting a little tired now and glad I'm coming to 187th Street where I can turn and walk one block to the vet's and get my cat food and go home. I didn't realize the block would be vertical.


Mary Sargent © 2006 . . .. click to enlarge

And here's the view from the top. Yes, of course I walked up. Did you think I'd take a cab?

Washington Heights, Overlook Terrace Between 186th and 187th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . click to enlarge

At 184th Street, Overlook Terrace does to Bennett what Bennett does to Broadway: curve off it and then run parallel to it; except Overlook curves back in the opposite direction, so now I'm walking uptown.

This shot evokes for me the kind of day it was, still warm, but fall almost on us. This was Saturday, September 9.

By the way, Overlook Terrace doesn't overlook anything, but is rather overlooked upon as you will see in the next post.

Washington Heights, Bennett Avenue Between Broadway and 190th Street

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . click to enlarge

Continuing down Broadway, past Nagle, here's Bennett Avenue which curves off Broadway and then runs parallel to it. I was sure surprised to see this wall of rock. You might say stupefied. The rock side of the street is at the southern end of Fort Tryon Park.



Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . click to enlarge

And this is farther down the block, between 192nd and 190th Streets. You understand, this is just a regular old Manhattan street with standard apartment buildings on the other side.

Washington Heights, Broadway at Sherman Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . click to enlarge

Last Saturday, 9/9, I needed catfood from the vet on 187th Street. A walking opportunity. So I took the A train to Dyckman Street. Yes, one stop! Well, I'm not a good walker, okay? My leg hurts after a time. And I have a 30 day unlimited Metro Card, so the ride was free. Thank you MTA! Awful though the MTA is, you have to give them that. So, I'm walking down Broadway from Dyckman, along Fort Tryon Park, past Thayer, Arden, Dongan and now here's Sherman Avenue where I come to a dead stop. I'm a fool for the sign at Rivas Grocery – love, love love those colors. And that gray building. I took about 15 shots and wanted to post about 8 of them, but I won't. Just one more.



Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . click to enlarge

But I'm thinking I want to come back when it snows. Be sure to notice the green curtain in the window above.

Washington Heights, Fort Washington Avenue Between 160th and 159th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . click to enlarge

Here's Ft. Washington as it curves into Broadway at 159th Street and comes to an end.

Some other time and place, I'd for sure do a closeup of those two red doors.

Washington Heights, Fort Washington Avenue Between 165th and 164th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . click to enlarge

Last Thursday, September 7th, I had a doctor's appointment before work at the big Columbia-Presbyterian complex on Ft. Washington Avenue between 168th and 165th Streets. It was a bright, sunny day and I got out early, so I walked down Ft. Washington to where it curves into Broadway and ends at 159th Street. That stretch of Ft. Washington is filled mostly with big apartment buildings, not too interesting, and I walked a few blocks without taking a single shot. Here's a nice one, though.

Inwood, Tenth Avenue Between 202nd and 203rd Streets

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . click to enlarge

And now, back to the waking world. This was one of several arresting sights I saw walking up Tenth Avenue on my way home from my Labor Day walk.

Another was a small live chicken shop where they slaughter them to order and maybe also sell them live if you want to do your own slaughtering. One of the guys came out when he saw me with my camera and wagged his finger at me, no.

Inwood, Marginal Street and Swindler Cove

Two things: 1) Delay in plans, so I'm posting this early today, so I can squeeze it in; . 2) I'm repealing the rule of one photo only per day. Today I'm posting three. This is a little story and there's no point in dragging it out 3 days. And besides, I'm getting too far behind.

To remind you, I'm looking for Marginal Street. So I'm walking up Tenth Avenue, first thing I know, I've come to 201st Street. What happened to Marginal? Retracing my steps, I see that the only possibility is a driveway beside a bright new school, PS 5. It's in the right place and it curves around like it's supposed to. Here it is:


Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . click to enlarge

Marginal Street! And here's the school:



Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . click to enlarge

Now around that corner Marginal Street comes to a deadend, as it should, but off to the side, there's a gate, and on the gate is a sign that says Swindler Cove, and inside the gate is a beautiful five acre park with winding paths and plantings and benches and water and marina and boathouse and no one was there but me. It was like a dream. One of those dreams where you discover a whole new wonderful room in your apartment that you never knew was there.


Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . click to enlarge

For less dreamy information about Swindler Cove, you may visit Harlem OneStop. Regarding the name itself, Swindler Cove, I hate to tell you that the maintenance man I ran into told me that it was named for a Mr. Swindler who donated some of the land. Should we believe him?

Later I looked for Marginal Street on the web and found this on oldstreets.com:

Exterior Street or Marginal Street. These are generic or default names for the first street inland from the waterfront. They had a legal significance in that all land and structures shoreward of the such a street fell under the jusridiction of the Department of Docks. In 1935 the Exterior Street along the East River from 63rd to 80th Streets was renamed Marie Curie Avenue. It is now part of Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive.

Guess what? Inwood also has an Exterior Street.

Inwood, Dyckman Street at Tenth Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . click to enlarge

Last Monday, Labor Day, I went in search of Marginal Street.

Marginal Street, according to my map, edges off Tenth Avenue close to where Tenth ends at Dyckman, and then curves down and ends at the Harlem River, roughly parallel to the Harlem River Drive. (You really need your maps for this.) The name of the street evokes thoughts of a dusty unpaved street just off Tobacco Road. I couldn't wait to see it.

And so I walked east on Dyckman until it joined the Harlem River Drive and I could go no farther. This is Dyckman Street looking west. The morning was lovely and warm, but a touch of fall was in the air, and it was one of those moments when I knew that summer was ending and I couldn't stand it and I couldn't believe it was gone already and I knew that pretty soon I'd eat my last peach, and yet . . . and yet, well, dammit, fall is a pretty terrific season, too. The conflict! (And now, writing this, it has become fall. It's 61° and dark at 8 o'clock. )

And now I'm going to have to leave you midadventure. I'll be gone for two nights. Next post Friday night.

Financial District

No photograph here today. Instead please go to Joe's NYC.

Inwood, 207th Street at University Heights Bridge

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . click to enlarge

This is shot from the bridge, looking west along 207th Street into Inwood with the elevated subway stop off in the distance, quite tiny. Something about these guys . . . so jaunty, jolly, as Mel Brooks might say.

Inwood, Harlem River From the University Heights Bridge at 207th Street

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . click to enlarge

Every now and then it's good to look at water and remember we live on an island.

This is a shot of the Harlem River taken from the University Heights Bridge at 207th Street. There's a pedestrian walkway along the south side of the bridge which is pretty heavily trafficked. Surprised me. I walked only halfway over. I know my boundaries. You know that's the Bronx over there, don't you?

For anyone who wants to see the bridge itself, here's a link. Here's another.

Inwood, 207th Street Between Ninth Avenue and the Harlem River

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . click to enlarge

My notes say this is 207th Street, but something's not making sense. I'll check it next time I'm over there, but for now let's just say it's the end of, well, it's the end of something, that's for sure.

That leaning pink post is what made me do it. You can see that, right? The whole thing reminds me of paintings by Carroll Dunham.

To the right is the entrance to the University Heights Bridge, which 207th Street leads into. See the problem?

Inwood, 208th Street

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . click to enlarge

Forgot to say last night that this group of Inwood photos was shot last Sunday, Labor Day Weekend. I went in search of 208th Steet, a little bitty half block on my map. Here it is, just beyond that last yellow pipe, the entirety, every bit of 208th Street. (The pavement in front of the pipes is the end of Ninth Avenue.) I'm not making this up. There's a very official street sign behind me as I'm taking this shot. Just over the shrubs lies the Harlem River.

Inwood, Ninth Avenue at 208th Street

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . click to enlarge

Ninth Avenue begins downtown at 14th Street, and later becomes Columbus Avenue, which ends at 110th Street. Completely ridiculously, it picks up again at 201st street (that's 91 blocks!) and stumbles along 7 blocks until it comes to an ignominous end right here. Do we call this an avenue?

However, I love these streets on the edges; they're my favorite places to walk. There's such surprising color and design in these very practical, and very unbeautiful places. Can you believe that arrow? By the way, the sign on the building says New York City Transit Authority, Ninth Avenue Unit Shop.

I also did a tight shot of the doorway, which I can't resist showing you, thus violating two rules with one photo.
1. Show only one photo per day. 2. Show one view only per site.


Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .click to enlarge

There.

Inwood, 215th Street at Tenth Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . click to enlarge

This is taken from underneath the elevated subway at the 215th Street stop at about 9:30 last Thursday night.

Upper West Side, Amsterdam Avenue at 83rd Street

Mary Sargent © 2006

After work on Thursday, I met Barbara at her apartment on West 88th Street and we walked down Amsterdam looking for a place to eat. Finally settled on Fred’s. It was all right, we sat outside on a nice cool evening. It’s getting dark earlier and as we sat there, the street lights came on, giving a little kick of excitement. The margarita helped. I had a pulled pork sandwich and Barbara had a Cobb salad. Meanwhile, across the street . . . were they having more fun at the Hi Life? The cocktail glass flashed off and on.

Later, while I was inside, Barbara entertained herself by watching the goodlooking shirtless man in the apartment above the Hi Life make up his bed.

Gramercy, 24th Street Between Second and Third Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2006

Same site. You may be reminded of the photograph posted on July 26 which featured reflections on a car top.

Gramercy, 24th Street Between Second and Third Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2006

Thursday finally the sun came out, thank god! In the afternoon I stood at the office window to let it shine on me. Depression, begone! Now all is well. I went for a walk at lunchtime while the sun was still very weak, but at least it was evident. See the shadow underneath the car?

Please remember to enlarge; otherwise that guy on the bike hardly registers. Just click.

West Village, Cornelia Street

Mary Sargent © 2006

And here’s the last one on Cornelia Street. Three is enough for one little block! And this one is almost too pretty to put up. Or maybe it is too pretty. Anyone think it’s too pretty?



Mary Sargent © 2006

Map update. I am making progress and I must say my ambition intensifies. Sometimes I stand in front of the map lusting for more streets. How can I walk more, more? Now I’m trying to fill in the square around my office bounded by 23rd Street, Fifth Avenue, 34th Street and the East River. I should have finished that by October 1. At the same time, I want a LONG street, like Eleventh Avenue between 23rd Street and 65th, or Broadway between 180 and 120 Streets. Not so likely. Not by October 1.