New York - New York

Sights and Memories of one of the great cities of our time.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Still Haven't Been to New York

It has been over a year since I've been here and still haven't been to New York City yet. What I have been up to is a new blog about repairing your credit. It will probably be sort of autobiographical. Head on over and let me know what you think. The site is new so not much there yet.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Long Time no New York

Wow how long has it been no posts here. I need to get some fresh content. Has anyone heard what the latest is about the memorial for 911?

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Busy, busy, busy!

My dear friend Steve Dunn shares this memory of a visit to the streets of New York City, thanks Steve.

About 1968, I was working for a drywall contractor in Los Angeles when he secured a contract to build a large department store in Waterbury, Connecticut. He asked for volunteers to make the trip back there and help to supervise the construction. I was one of three volunteers and in no time at all, I was deep in the heart of New England.

After a few months of hard work, the three of us decided it was time to visit New York City; Manhattan Island! After all, we probably wouldn’t ever get another chance to see this part of the country. (How little I knew!) And so we planned a weekend road trip.

We came down the expressway and passed through New Rochelle, the Bronx and Harlem. At this point I began to see New York as a vertical city, something I wasn’t used to experiencing. We passed a construction project where they were building 24 high rise apartment buildings. 24 tower cranes were being used on one site! We thought it was quite spectacular to see 4 or 5 of those cranes in Los Angeles. We also saw dismantled automobiles sitting in the center divide area of the expressway. Wheels gone, hoods up…apparently stolen and stripped, all while in the middle of a busy expressway.

Finally, we were on FDR Drive, the road that loops around Manhattan. Now it was even more apparent that we were in a vertical city. My neck hurt from trying to see the tops of the buildings. We must have looked like real country bumpkins as we cruised slowly down the street; lost of course, while we stuck our heads out the window to see the buildings.

Up and down, back and forth across the island we traveled. No one had warned us that it wasn’t smart to drive to New York and so we were faced with astronomical parking fees if we were to try parking, and there were no parking places! We did see some unique parking strategies, cars being double and triple parked, but we were not ready to brave that. And at the same time we noticed that there were police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances, all hurrying through the crowded streets at just about every intersection. I don’t think a minute went by where we didn’t hear a siren. Chaos seemed to reign.

So what does a native Californian do when faced with a situation like this? He flees, and we did. We had spent almost 4 hours driving in frantic traffic, unable to stop and thoroughly lost. It was time to leave and get back to the peace and tranquility of the Connecticut countryside.

A few years later, I was in New Jersey, running another department store construction job and I decided that wanted to try out the new 747 airliner on my bi-weekly flight home. The closest airport for a ride on one of those was JFK and so I took the helicopter shuttle from Newark airport and passed right over Lower Manhattan on the way to JFK. As I looked out the window, I had one of those déjà vu moments…I could see flashing red lights, tiny police cars and fire engines, racing up and down the streets. No wonder they say it’s the city that never sleeps…with all that noise and commotion, who could?

I’ve never been back and I regret now that my only New York experience was so short…but, it was exciting!

Saturday, April 09, 2005

Pictures from a Friend

My good friend Steve Dunn over at Projections, took me seriously when I asked for some pictures of New York. He sent me 20 MB worth. That is what friends are for, thank you Steve!

Of course he has retired to farm life now and has nothing better to do than sit around and watch fruit grow. : )

They make more sense when viewed from the bottom up. Start with the Greyhound station.


And here we go, on this note I'll signoff for the day.


A & P 246 Third Ave. Palmolive soap, 12 bars for .49. Red Circle coffee 2 lbs for .35. My oh my!


A. Zito Bakery, fresh bread 5 cents a loaf.


A shave and a haircut .15. The Tri-Boro barber school.


Come on up to Wm. Goldbergs on Boradway, for a nice suit.


and always


"The poor you will have with you always" - Jesus Christ


A newsstand, pretty racy


How about a hot dog and a nice cold glass of lemonade. These didn't start at Home Depot


The Greyhound "car terminal." Can you tell where it was located?

Saturday, April 02, 2005


Rockefeller Center: Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas in foreground, Fifth Avenue and 48th Street, Manhattan.
1935


Queensboro Bridge: II. Long Island City, Queens, looking southwest from pier at 41st Road, Queens. 1937


Grand Central Station

In the beginning

It is called in the beginning because this is the first post in what I hope will be a long line of reports about the city and state of New York. A mountain of information has become available recently from the New York Public Library. They are planning on having 500,000 images available in the coming months. In the mean time, please send me your pictures or favorite memories of New York, and I'd be pleased to share them with everybody.