West Village, 10th Street Between Greenwich and Washington Streets

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This is the art shot.






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And this is the documentary shot.

I was taken with the faded sign on the brick which says Horses and Trucks To Hire, and discovered that yes, this used to be a stable.  The address is listed on the Corcoran Real Estate website as having been SOLD and the short history provided there tells us this 3 story building was built in 1911 and "originally used as a horse stable."  Then in the 70s, the interior was redesigned to make it a residence.  Since those papers attached to the door are work permits, I imagine that the exterior is due for a redesign and soon we will no longer be able to see the faded sign about Horses to Hire or the old stable door.

West Village, 10th Street at Greenwich Street

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This is the other side of the street, the south side.  Don't you love the way the street is shadowed but the sun catches the top of that slightly taller building?

West Village, 10th Street Between Greenwich and Washington Streets

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What a week I'm having:  working full time after having not worked for over two years.  Getting up at 7:00 after getting up at noon for over two years.  Being tired after having been rested for over two years.  If it weren't for the money . . .  This is for the Census and this week is training and the only full time week.

So I'm just posting this pretty little villagey shot and saying good night.

West Village, 10th Street Between Hudson and Greenwich Streets

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According to New York Songlines, the Village Landmark is a a converted early 20th Century warehouse.  A warehouse with arches and decorative brickwork is a beautiful thing to see.  Now the aesthetics of warehouses are not considered important.  At least I think that's true.  It reminds me of the time my former boss happened to see the orchid exhibit at the World Trade Center.  He said the exhibit was really beautiful.  "What a waste of money!" he concluded.

West Village, Hudson Street at 10th Street

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The Cowgirl Hall of Fame - restaurant and bar.  Usually I walk by here on my way to the White Horse, and every now and then I wonder if I should walk on in.  It looks a little too themey for my taste, but one never knows.  I read somewhere about a good late afternoon drink special.  However, reading in the New York Magazine review (not a critics' pick) that they serve their margaritas in mason jars has confirmed my original impression that I should just keep walking.

See map.

West Village, 10th Street Between Bleecker and Hudson Streets

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West Village, 10th Street Between 4th and Bleecker Streets

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I was intrigued by the signs on the window of Westville.  They say butterbeans, strawberries, collard greens, corn on the cob and bok choy.  Each a separate one word sign, well not one word, but one item, you know what I mean.  That's a pretty unusual looking produce store, I thought.  Westville is not a produce store; it's a restaurant, and, it turns out, another New York Magazine Critics' Pick.

West Village, 10th Street Between 4th and Bleecker Streets

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So pretty, so charming.







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And a close-up.  I want to come back in the summer and see what's here.

West Village, 10th Street Between 4th and Bleecker Streets

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The weather on Sunday was breezy and cool, bracing, more like a fall day than spring, but very nice.  Lots of clouds and slashes of sun hitting the tops of buildings and trees.

West Village, 4th Street at 10th Street

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Here is the well-known intersection where 4th Street turns northish and crosses 10th Street.  And if you pan down that building across the street




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you will see Chow Bar, a place I dismissed as being of no interest as I assumed it was filled with college kids.  It was the sign that made me think that, the appearance of it and the word Chow.  But I was wrong.  Chow is Chinese; it does not refer to chowing down.  If you follow the Chow Bar link, you will see that it's a New York Magazine Critics' Pick, highly thought of for its honey plum glazed spareribs. 
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See map.

West Village, 10th Street Between Seventh Avenue and 4th Street

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The door was locked and there was no buzzer and I knew it opened onto stairs leading down, so how was I ever going to get anyone to come let me in?  All it took was a knock on the glass and a man appeared and went and got my phone.  Impressive.

Then I turned my attention to other things.




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These three were having a great time, smiling and laughing.  And then they saw me with my camera.




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And said, oh, a photographer!  Would you mind taking our picture?  Not at all, says I.  And I was able to do it without twisting my body into strange shapes.  Maybe because I'm short.  This man in the front is the woman's former history teacher.  They were so happy to be together, the three of them.

West Village, 10th Street Between Seventh Avenue and 4th Street

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I had had plans last night, but they were cancelled last minute, and rather than use the opportunity to stay home and do laundry, I decided to go downtown and hear some jazz at Smalls.  Good decision.  Except when I got home I had no cell phone.  Today I called my phone and discovered it was at the bar at Smalls.  Whew.  So I decided to go get it and take the opportunity to do a photowalk on 10th Street from Seventh Avenue to the West Side Highway.

Now I'm not finished with the Chelsea walk but I'm tired of it.  Aren't you?  It's been going on for 4 weeks and showing no sign of ending.  So I'm just ending it before its time, and moving on to the Village.



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Here's 10th Street at Seventh Avenue and that's Smalls over to the left, but since it's impossible to see it at this distance, below is a closer shot.




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Isn't it cute?  It's a small basement room and instead of tables, they set up rows of folding chairs and people sit there like they're at a concert.  For that reason, I prefer to sit at the bar.  The music starts at 7:30 and goes on "all night" and $20 gets you in for the night.

I wasn't paying any attention to Cafe Condesa, but Googled it at the last minute and discovered it's a hidden gem, a place to put on the list.  Take a look.


See map.

Chelsea, 16th Street Between Ninth and Tenth Avenues

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This block has a different character and here are three photographs to illustrate it.




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Pretty nice, huh?

Chelsea, 16th Street Between Eighth and Ninth Avenues

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In 2003, the glamorous Maritime Hotel opened, with the well-regarded Japanese restaurant Matsuri tucked underneath and on the side.  I must have been distracted in 2003, because I only learned this tonight.  However, the chef, Tadashi Ono, somehow sounded familiar.  Sure enough, he was the chef at Sono, where I had dinner one time only, years ago.  The food was wonderful but I had no desire to return, something that puzzled me a little.  I think it was too quiet.  It subsequently closed, perhaps because it was too quiet.  If you follow the Matsuri link, the first picture you see makes it clear that this restaurant is different.  Here's another link that will confirm that.  Oh, that Japanese sense of humor.

Chelsea, 16th Street Between Eighth and Ninth Avenues

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I shouldn't have been surprised to see this building of the School of Visual Arts; they have buildings scattered all over lower Manhattan, including Gramercy, the Lower East Side, and West Chelsea.  This particular building houses the BFA (Batchelor of Fine Arts) Department.  If you'd like to know more about their real estate holdings, go here.  An interesting way to build a campus as compared to the NYU way and the Columbia way.

By the way, the SVA website linked to above is remarkably ugly and unpleasant to use.  I would think twice about attending an art school with such a poor website.

Chelsea, 16th Street Between Eighth and Ninth Avenues

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Why did I take this picture?  Probably I was interested in the new glass building next to the old tenement.  Why did I post this picture?  The curiously hovering street cone was irresistible.

Chelsea, 16th Street Between Eighth and Ninth Avenues

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This is Atlantic Stage 2 of the Atlantic Theater Company.  I'll say more about this tomorrow, but now I'm incoherent from exhaustion.

Chelsea, 16th Street Between Eighth and Ninth Avenues

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Looking across Eighth Avenue to the next block.  What the heck is going on over there?




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Here's Joe, who stopped me from walking farther and then kindly explained what the heck was going on.







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See that square object suspended in the background?  Actually it's a cube and it's a transformer being lifted to the roof.  Joe told me it weighs just a hell of a lot of tons.  He did tell me the exact amount but I didn't write it down, so just know it weighs a lot.

This is a pretty good photograph so you might want to enlarge it and admire it.



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See those red platelike things stacked on the truck bed?  Those are weights to counterbalance the transformer.  You would think the truck itself would be enough but no.



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The transformer cleared the roof and we were allowed to walk on.

Chelsea, 16th Street Between Seventh and Eighth Avenues

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This is the only post for this block - these sweet little 4-story tenements, and




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this building, with The Grey Dog at the bottom.  This is the third Grey Dog in the city and this Village Voice interview tries to explain why it has not become a chain.

Chelsea, 16th Street Between Sixth and Seventh Avenues

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This is the French Evangelical Church, or the Eglise Evangelique Francaise de New York, as the sign states.  I could find nothing about it on the web except the address.  It has no web site.  The sign is written entirely in French.  I have questions.  How big is the congregation?  Are they all French?  Do they have services in English as well as French?  A phone number is listed so I could call and ask.  But that would be tomorrow, and tomorrow I will be considering the block between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.

So tonight we will instead consider the architectural style Rundbogenstil.  The AIA tells us the facade was done in 1886 and that this building is a "robust example of what the Germans called Rundbogenstil.  The dour dark paint almost kills it."  Yes, doesn't it?  Imagine this building painted creamy ivory and without the sign (an ugly sign insensitively placed).  Wouldn't it be pretty?  By the way, do you know how to pronounce dour?  It's door, not dow-er.  Hard to believe, isn't it?

So Rundbogenstil.  A German style meaning round arch style, part of the Romanesque revival, and created in the 19th century by German architects seeking a national style of architecture.  Go to New York Architecture to see other New York buildings in this style.

Chelsea, 16th Street Between Sixth and Seventh Avenues

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Apologies for the skewed photograph.  It's the fault of the sun.  When I was in the best spot for shooting, the sun was shining over the building right into my camera.  Then when I moved up to get in the shade, I was too close.  If my goal was to shoot this building, I would go on a cloudy day or I would go in the morning or late afternoon, but since my goal was to shoot this walk on this day at the time I was taking it, you end up with a skewed photograph. 

This building was built in 1878 to house the New York House and School of Industry, an institution founded in 1851 to help destitute women by providing them with employment doing needlework.  It is supposedly the first in the city to be built in the Queen Anne Style, and it was landmarked in 1990.  Christopher Gray's 1987 column on this building is well worth reading for its explanation of why this is considered Queen Anne, anyway, and for the bit of history about charities in the 19th century.

Chelsea, 16th Street Between Sixth and Seventh Avenues

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We are now in Chelsea, having crossed Sixth Avenue, and already things look livelier and more colorful.

Flatiron District, 16th Street Between Fifth and Sixth Avenues

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This is The Church of St. Francis Xavier, built in 1887, and described in the AIA as neo-Baroque and monumental.  Unfortunately, you don't get a sense of its monumentality from this photograph, which kind of flattens it.  It was monumental.  Christopher Gray wrote a column on it in 2005 when it was being renovated.



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And here is the interior. 

Flatiron District, 16th Street Between Fifth and Sixth Avenues

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Between buildings 5, 7 and 9 and building 17 (see last night's post) is The Center for Jewish History, there since 2000.  I walked across the street to check it out and spoke to two police officers standing there (why?  I mean why were they standing there?).  I never knew it was here, I said.  Neither did I, said one.  That's what's great about New York, he said, you never know what you're going to see.

It was closed, it being Saturday.