East Village, 14th Street Between Avenues B and C

Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… ………..........………….. click to enlarge

I was taken by the rhythm of those cornices.




Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… ………………….. click to enlarge

Here's the straight-on shot.

See map.

East Village, 14th Street Between Avenues B and C

Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… ………………….. click to enlarge

This is a small piece of Stuyvesant Town, much in the news lately.

East Village, 14th Street Between Avenues A and B

Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… …….............…………….. click to enlarge

And sometimes it takes two people wearing turquoise shirts to make the picture.

East Village, 14th Street Between Avenues A and B

Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… ……...................…………….. click to enlarge

I didn't know until tonight that these two stores plus the three adjoining were destroyed by a fire in May.  It seems someone was installing a fire door (see the irony?) when his welding torch "apparently set some grease on fire."  And now the neighbors lament the loss of the only good pizza in the East Village.

East Village, 14th Street at Avenue A

Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… ………………….. click to enlarge

Sometimes you just don't want people in a shot.

Back from Maine, and, you will not be surprised to hear, it was beautiful, the weather was blissful and the lobster was plentiful, cheap and good.  We had boiled lobster, lobster salad, lobster rolls, lobster in a seafood pot pie, and lobster omelet.  The last night, I had a steak and red wine.  It was strangely satisfying.

East Village, 14th Street Between First Avenue and Avenue A

 X

 X

LAST POST UNTIL NEXT TUESDAY. IT'S VACATION TIME! MAINE AND LOBSTERS! 

Use your time well.  Maybe browse the archives.


Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… …………........……….. click to enlarge

 d

d

d

East Village, 14th Street Between First Avenue and Avenue A

Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… …………….........…….. click to enlarge

A Hallmark card for you.

East Village, 14th Street Between First Avenue and Avenue A

Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… ………………….. click to enlarge

I apologize for the erratic postings lately.  As soon as my life gets less erratic, so will my postings.  Rest assured, this Project will be done (if I live long enough), and some day, maybe soon, I will get to that block you've been waiting for.

Meanwhile, the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office is apparently badly run, if one can believe two complaints posted at Complaint.com.  This is a fairly strange website, as it seems posting a complaint has no more effect than if you'd written it in your diary.  Anyone up for submitting a complaint about Complaint.com?

East Village, 14th Street Between First Avenue and Avenue A

Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………...........… ………………….. click to enlarge

This church began life in 1896 as Grace Chapel and Hospital, an Episcopal mission for Grace Church in the West Village.  In 1943,it became the Immaculate Conception Church, a Catholic church.  Do you know what Immaculate Conception refers to?  Wrong!  It's not the Virgin birth.  It's that Mary was born without original sin.  If anyone desires to see a baptism in this very church, you can find one right here.

East Village, 14th Street Between First Avenue and Avenue A

Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… …….........…………….. click to enlarge

East Village, 14th Street at First Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… ………………….. click to enlarge

Sunday evening, I went downtown to East 14th Street to the Booker Prize Book Club where we were discussing The White Hotel, a most demanding book.  But good.  Afterwards, I walked 14th Street to the river, or so I thought.  I was looking at an old map.  Since my map was made in the 80's, 14th Street from Avenue C to D has been demapped.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  This is the corner of 14th Street and First Avenue.

The East Village is on the south side of 14th Street and Stuyvesant Town is on the north side.  We'll be looking mostly at the south side.

I started at about 7:15 on a pleasant summer evening.

Chelsea, 14th Street Between Eighth and Seventh Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2009 ……………………………….. click to enlarge

This is a nice lurid shot to start the New Year with.  Or, This is a nice lurid shot with which to start the New Year.  Which do you prefer?  I go with the first one.

But I digress.  The violet light springs from Psychic Reading by Donna, Mystical Astrology.  You can see it has an elaborate entrance which raises the familiar question, how do they pay the rent?  This place does not seem to have a website, which is oddly cheering.  Neither does Passion.  Passion was momentarily exciting, but upon enlarging, a Halloween Costume sign is visible.  Okay, I know some people are excited by Halloween costumes, but I'm kind of tepid about costumes.  Clothes are another issue altogether.

------------

I watched the ball drop tonight (safely warm inside) and just before the drop, they played Imagine by John Lennon, a song that always gets to me.  How great is it that they, the city, that is, the powers that be, played this subversive song?  No religion.  No countries.  No possessions.  Is this a great country or what?

Happy New Year all of y'all.  I'm glad you visit and I hope you'll be here in the new year.

Greenwich Village, 14th Street at Eighth Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2009 ………………………………….. click to enlarge


I'm back from Michigan where I had a wonderful Christmas and saw a great deal of snow.  I was neither late getting there nor late getting home; what's more, American Airlines did not lose my bag at either end.  It was truly a blessed Christmas. 

Now, back at home with the blog, I'm chagrinned to realize I'm still on a walk from November.  November 6.  I don't think I've ever been so late before.  I know what one of my New Year's resolutions will be. 

We saw this building about six months ago, but if you don't recognize it, it's because it was summer, in the daytime, and you saw only a piece of it.

See map.

Greenwich Village, 14th Street Between Ninth and Eighth Avenues

X
Last Post until December 29.  I'm off to Michigan where they know how to do snow.




Mary Sargent © 2009 ………………………………….. click to enlarge

So you could make a case for this being a Christmas photo, right?  Especially if you're religious.  There's even a star up in the left which you can see if you enlarge the photo.

This church used to be St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Church, but in 2003, it was merged with Our Lady of Guadalupe from the next block over, and is now called Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Bernard's.  St. Bernard's had lost members and had lots of space and Our Lady had many members and not enough space.

I understand you should come here on Sundays if you're into tacos.  This from a guy who knows his tacos, so he claims.  Just because his name is Tizoc Schwartz doesn't mean he doesn't know his tacos.

See map.

Chelsea, 14th Street Between Ninth and Eighth Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2009 …………… ………………….. click to enlarge


We've edged into Chelsea now, since Meatpacking ends at Ninth Avenue, although depending on which neighborhood seems more desirable at the moment, you can bet these businesses will claim it.  This is the north side of 14th Street.  The south side would be part of Greenwich Village.   

First we have Diner. (It claims Meatpacking)  Or Diner Restaurant.  Remember when diners weren't ironic? Or iconic?  Next is a mysterious no-name, must be restaurant with those umbrellas out front.  Then comes Comix, which in my innocence, I thought was a comic book store, but is, in fact, a comedy club.  Lately I've been thinking I should go to a comedy club every now and then, but see, my idea of comedy clubs is that you go and just cringe because it's so embarrassing that the comedians are so pathetically unfunny.  But that can't be true or how could they stay open?

So I googled the address of no-name and found out it's Scarpetta.  Their dubious claim is to be in a Greek revival townhouse.  The chef is Scott Conant, formerly chef at the late L'impero, which has now become the wonderful Convivio.  So I'm just saying, do not be fooled by the modest appearance of this restaurant; come prepared to spend serious money here.  But it should be good.

See map.

Meatpacking District, 14th Street at Ninth Avenue and Hudson Street

Mary Sargent © 2009 ………………...………….. click to enlarge

Here is the third and largest Apple store to open in New York City.  At least it was the largest in 2007 when it opened, but just last month a brand new store opened on Broadway near Lincoln Center and I haven't been able to learn its size.  The first one opened in 2001 on Fifth Avenue and everyone knows about that one.  But did you know about the one in SoHo?  You wouldn't believe the building its in.  Actually, I only learned about the Broadway Apple from an out of town visitor at dinner tonight. 

I use a PC but I'm getting a Mac next time, I think.  Maybe.  I want to be able to go to their stores!  Not the only reason.

See map.

Meatpacking District, 14th Street at Ninth Avenue and Hudson Street

Mary Sargent © 2009 ………….. click to enlarge


We're looking at this skinny building from the north side of 14th Street.  That's Hudson Street on the left and Ninth Avenue on the right.  Remember, Ninth Avenue begins below 14th Street at Gansevoort Street.

At street level is Vento Trattoria, favorably reviewed in New York Magazine.  The building itself was built in 1849 as a factory, according to New York Songlines, which also reveals some other fascinating facts, such as, this is where Glenn Close's apartment was in Fatal Attraction.

See map.

Meatpacking District, 14th Street between Washington Street and Ninth Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………....………….. click to enlarge

Notice the cobblestone streets here toward the end of 14th Street.  Having once lived near historic old Alexandria, Virginia, when people in New York said cobblestone, I looked around for the stones, actual rounded stones which were once used for paving.  Here, too; not just Alexandria.  But they were replaced by these more easily traversed flat stones called setts, which were, in turn, replaced by asphalt, except in a few parts of old New York, like here.

------------

On another subject altogether, everyone stop right now and back up your files.  Yes, I had a little scare tonight, which turned out to be not a problem after all, but as soon as my computer started up, I backed up everything.  How long had it been?  Since May of this year.  That's bad, all right, and I hereby resolve to back up at least every month.

Just so you know, I always back up my photographs as they're edited.

Meatpacking District, 14th Street at Washington Street

Mary Sargent © 2009 ………………….…………… ………………….. click to enlarge

I wonder if the sky was really that blue.  Kinda doubt it.

See map.

West Village, 14th Street at Eighth Avenue; Eighth Avenue Between 14th and 13th Streets

X
So Friday late afternoon, FL and I head downtown to meet Myra to go for a walk on the just opened newly done High Line. High excitement. And FL consented to go early so I could get a photowalk in. And not only did it not rain, the sun came out. Things to be thankful for.


Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Tonight I'm going to show you two buildings, the old and the new. Well, part of the old. This was originally the New York County National Bank, built in 1907. If you crave to see the whole building, click on the above link. Can you guess what it is today? Why, a men's spa, of course. Nickel, by name. They have designed it to look like the inside of a submarine which results in a "masculine yet sophisticated environment." Funnily enough, the Chinese massage place that FL, Myra and I dropped into after dinner for $10 worth of massage each also looked like the interior of a submarine. There's where the resemblance ended. Sophisticated, it wasn't.



Mary Sargent © 2009 . click to enlarge

Now, around the corner on Eighth Avenue, we have One Jackson Square, almost finished. What recession?

FL was taken with the building, especially the shiny parts, but objected to the brick. She thought it should be some kind of gray metal.



Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Surprise! It has a long side, too. Along Greenwich Avenue. It does look better on this side where no brick is showing, don't you think?


See map.