the hidden pastoral

when i left ohio early last friday morning, it was in the rain—finally, we were getting some much need precipitation. and it was to continue through much of the weekend, bringing with it gray skies and much cooler temperatures as well.

when i got off the plane in NYC, however, it couldn’t have been more lovely—brilliant sunshine, intensely blue skies, and a nice breeze augured well for my morning plans.  i didn’t have to teach until the evening, but we scheduled an early flight to avoid any possibility of getting caught in some friday fracas or other.

i had no worries about passing the time til my classes began—i was heading for my home turf and i knew just how i wanted to spend the day if i arrived early.

i caught a cab outside the airport and the luck of the draw landed me in the back seat of one of NYCs finest drivers—despite landing at the peak of rush hour (7:15 am), i was at my hotel on the upper west side by 7:45; i don’t think we even slowed down, much less stopped, for traffic. this was shaping up to be a good trip already.

as expected, my room wasn’t ready, but i had a contingency plan in place that i was very much looking forward to. i ducked into the ladies room with my suitcase, traded my traveling shoes for sneakers and my oxford shirt for a t-shirt, stowed some cash in one jeans pocket and my iPhone in the other, then headed back to the front desk to check my bags and headed out the door.

i wanted to walk.

new york is a walking city and for all the years i lived there, that was my main mode of transportation. even more than the subway, i relied on my own two feet to get me from here to there, from uptown to downtown, from brooklyn to manhattan, from work to home, and all points between. in all the years since we last lived there, i have not enjoyed walking nearly as much, though i still go out on foot often. i missed my city—i was dying to explore the whole island once again, but having just one day at my disposal, i opted for the west side river walk, which was not completed yet when i last lived in the city.

beginning at 77th and broadway, i struck out and turned toward downtown.

one of the first things i saw was my favorite market—fairway—truly, like no other market. at least, not the ones in neighborhoods i could afford to live, haha. this is the original store at 74th and broadway, the one i’m most familiar with. fairway has expanded to many locations now, but i always think of this one when i hear the name.

here is one of the few remaining news kiosks in the city—years ago their blue wooden ancestors could be seen on every other corner, but most of those were dismantled or replaced during the last decade, considered by some (including two NYC mayors) to be an unattractive interference with the flow of pedestrian traffic. the steel and glass replacements have less character and from what i saw, less news to sell as well.

old subway stations are still the norm though—you can’t change those all that much, at least not on a large scale. though many newer ones exist, the city remains proud of the older duchesses of the train system.

here i am at 72nd street and broadway. though the NYC streets and avenues north of 14th run almost entirely on a strict grid, broadway, which took shape originally as a native american foot trail and runs the whole length of the island, is unique in that it wends its way back and forth, crossing avenues as it goes.

these intersections, which usually extend the length of several blocks and thus involve a multitude of corners, are the busiest on the island. here at home in ohio, i have met many, many people who have never visited NYC and never experienced what it really feels like to be there, so  i thought it would be fun to bring the street to you. i made a little film on friday morning and uploaded it to our youTube channel—click here to stand at the intersection of 72nd and broadway with me and feel the action firsthand.

whew, and that’s at a quiet moment after rush hour was over.

after that, i left broadway to cut over behind lincoln center and begin west heading to the river. on 11th ave, a kind security guard gave me directions to get on the river walk and i headed over at 66th street. i stopped in the median to take this photo; moments before there were cars zooming straight toward me, but i paused too long t0 catch that.

when i hit 12th ave, i turned south instead of crossing all the way over and found myself walking beside a large pasture for a couple of blocks that was designated a dog park.

suddenly, everything was much quieter—hard to believe that moments before i was  in the fray of that busy intersection.i could see the west side highway now and beyond that, the path that runs right long the water, crowded with bikers and joggers.

since i had missed the pass to get over there, i stayed where i was for a few blocks to show you that even in a city as dense as new york, large areas devoted to recreation can exist. these baseball and soccer fields were carved out of that greenway that sits between 12th ave and the west side highway, cool and  green as can be. you wouldn’t even know you were in such a big city if you hadn’t just seen it for yourself.

even the industrial elements that exist along this way are now cleaner and designed to look better to the public than they did years ago.

at around 57th street or so, my path led back to 12th ave and met up with the bike path and finally i was in the actual hudson river park.

it’s hard to believe, looking at the next few photos, that one of manhattan’s fastest moving avenues runs parallel, just a few yards to the left.

but there it is and there it would remain throughout the length of my walk.

i think here i’m somewhere near 42nd street, not quite sure; i was so distracted by the scenery inside the park that i forgot to look at milestones.

by this point, the piers jutting out into the water to my right were devoted to gardens instead of water treatment facilities—check out the rose garden that tops the post for an example to the one above that is completely shaded in trees along its length.

to my left, this gentle pastoral view offered poppies as far as the eyes could see

well, almost, haha. still, what a magical spot that was and right in the city, too. i almost forgot where i was—the greenery really cuts down on the noise from the avenue.

walking past the heliport, i remembered the time that david gave me a helicopter ride over manhattan for my birthday, not realizing that this was something i always wanted to do, but would never think to buy for myself. it was right at dusk and i got to sit up front with the pilot to watch the lights come up throughout the city as the sky darkened.

near the ferry landing, a small area with more gardens and tables to sit with coffee; i didn’t stop, except to note the wonderful color they had going on there.

if you like structured activities, chelsea piers is a destination that is sure to have something for you—a multisportsplex with everything from swimming to golf to cruises, they even have parking.

i actually remember when chelsea piers wasn’t there—it looked a little more like this.

back on the street, i walked through the flatiron and then the meat packing district, noticing a familiar change as i went—something happens once you pass 14th street in manhattan, which i think is fair to describe as the demarcation between uptown and downtown. the island narrows, the streets are no longer straight, and the architecture is markedly older. it’s harder for light to penetrate the neighborhoods and everything takes on a shadowed beauty.

all at once, i noticed my destination looming in the distance—the new tower at the world trade center plaza. i wanted desperately to visit the memorial and had set that as the goal to end my walk. i was excited to suddenly see it looking so close.

from here on i would mark my progress by how much closer it looked with each ten blocks or so. here’s the view near stuyvesant high school in battery park city. i wanted to take the detour around the back and along the water to the building i used to work in at the world financial center, but i also needed to be back uptown for lunch, so i skipped it this time.

after a few busy crossings where i had to pay attention, i found myself in the financial district, suddenly right underneath the tower. i love this shot of the buildings surrounding it.

all of a sudden, i noticed that the signs pointing the way to the memorial stated that i needed a pass to get in, which i should have downloaded already from the internet. ooops.

i guess they rely on people going to the website first for information and, being sort of old-fashioned that way, i didn’t even think to do that. i should know better with everything that goes on now; we can’t assume any more that public spaces be freely open to, well, the public.

next time i’ll be better prepared; my walk was the main goal today anyhow and i still got some awesome shots of the construction site, the size and breadth of which you cannot imagine unless you are in it.

just look at these buildings though—how they reflect the sky, defying the shadows of the surrounding streets. they are lovely in their way, aren’t they? from the drawings i saw, i did not think i’d like the replacements for the old tower buildings of which i was pretty fond. but i do; how times change . . .

this picture with the red crane against the blue sky is my very favorite.

walking away, i couldn’t help notice the sharp contrast in the amount and quality of light at street level. while i always loved these cool, dark canyons between buildings, i also find the new site a refreshing change of pace.

what i needed to do now was begin my journey back uptown. on the way to the subway passed by trinity church and took a moment to appreciate the burial ground in front.

for some reason this is where i got turned around a bit; i thought the subway i was looking for was close by, but as it turns out, it was all the way back where i’d come from, near the tower site.

i don’t know why i was suddenly impatient about walking a few more blocks when i’d just walked about eight miles, but there you have it, haha. i’m blaming it on the crowds, which were thickening as the noon hour drew near. finally i got myself on the right platform and waited for the uptown 2.

the subway is the fastest way to get around the city and next to walking or riding a bike, the cheapest—just $2.50 to ride all day if you like (but we’ll save that for another tour). it’s also great for people watching, particularly on long rides; people come and they go, it’s a regular parade (i didn’t take any pictures of that; i don’t feel like getting smacked).

i popped back onto broadway very near to where i left off in the morning. this time, i went in, picked up a couple of apples and some water and headed back to the hotel to put my feet up and contemplate lunch. did you notice i didn’t even eat anything on my trip—next time, we’ll do street food, my fave.

for everyone who is curious, yes, all the photos from the walking tour were taken with my iPhone! though technically, it’s not as good as my regular cameras, for this type of experience, it’s a great solution—great portability, with pretty good quality, yet still maintains that casual, touristy feeling i wanted for this story.

it was only 11:30 am, too—plenty of time for a nap, actually.

with all that yakking, you might be thinking i forgot about the cookies at home book giveaway. but never fear, i know you want to know!

and the winner is . . . countingKat

hmmm, maybe she’ll bake us all some cookies if we’re nice to her.

tomorrow i’ve got yarn shops to show you and actually, some knitting, too.