Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Morning Walk #172 - Last Day of the Year



22 degrees & 55% humidity

This cold morning was bright, sunny and calm.

I hope tonight's Times Square New Year's Eve revelers bundle up!

Another quiet morning in the neighborhood.

My last walk on the High Line in 2013. High Line you have served me well!

Ground has been broken for yet another new building along the High Line. The park will always be worth the visit but the character of the neighborhood is changing and some of the historic views are harder to see.

Goodbye morning walks of 2013

2014, you're going to be great!

Steps: 5777

Monday, December 30, 2013

Morning Walk #171 - Monday Morning

The mail drop inside my local post office...I've visited it often these past few weeks to deposit lots of happy mail.


41 degrees and 73% humidity

Gray clouds in the sky but at least it's not soggy like yesterday.

Watching 9 drivers in their cars waiting for the street cleaner. As the big ol' machine came up they one by one drove out into the traffic lane to wait and then backed right into their parking spots when the coast was clear. An automotive dance of perfect synchronization...

A ton of people on the streets...apparently back to work till the next holiday.

Two men guarding doors during an equipment load in but never looking up from their respective phones.

Steps: 7303

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Statues are for the Birds

Statues are specifically for the purpose of providing a roost for birds

Friday, December 27, 2013

Morning Walk #170 - Good Morning

There are lots of discarded Christmas trees appearing on the curbs but this one was the complete package. It included the decorations, candy canes, lights and the stand.

32 degrees (feels like 27) and 53% humidity

Cold but sunny

Lots of Christmas trash (holiday gift wrap) out by the curb in clear recycling bags. The best collection had several bags with colorful gift wrap and boxes surrounding one big box with a picture of a toilet on it. I pictured the Christmas tree with a toilet under it.

The GreenMarket was a little sparse this morning in vendors and morning shoppers.

Restaurants and bars have signs for their New Year's Eve festivities.

Steps: 6316

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Morning Walk #169 - After Christmas

Discarded (or planted) in the park


31 degrees (feels like 27) and 53% humidity

Still a little quiet...

Cloudy and cold but comfortable for a walk

Steps: 5713



Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Morning Walk #168 - Christmas Morning


Discarded already!

Goodwill toward men

Add caption

19 degrees and 52% humidity

I've been thinking it was quiet outside all week but today...it was QUIET!

Only a few cars, fewer pedestrians. and the occasional NYPD officer

But delis and gyms were open for business

Merry December 25th to all!

Steps: 5145

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Morning Walk #167 - Winter Again

Partial to Penguins

34 degrees (feels like 23) and 51% humidity

Everyday it gets quieter in the city

Wandering around looking for holiday decorated brownstones without much luck

Three limes abandoned in the gutter

An ambulance with sirens blaring

The coffee shops still active

Steps: 5605

Monday, December 23, 2013

Morning Walk #166 - Balmy Rain

Part of the holiday décor at the corner store. If you paint cheese red it screams Christmas!


61 degrees & 86% humidity

Crazy warm with a gentle rain. Temperatures are going down again after yesterday's high of 71.

A little quiet for a Monday morning

A few green shoots appeared from bulbs in the park. Boy, are they going to be surprised!

The Pet Chauffeur vehicle was making stops in the neighborhood.

Steps: 6152


Sunday, December 22, 2013

Friday, December 20, 2013

Morning Walk #165 - Warmer & Dry

A little red and some lights and anything looks like Christmas!

43 degrees & 57% humidity

People carrying foil covered dishes and wrapped gifts

A woman and man behind me. The woman says she's been in New York so long that she doesn't even think about holding the doors open for people. (So it's the non-native New Yorkers who givc the city a bad name!)

The man asked her if she'd been south lately. She replies, "No but I've been to upstate New York. That's just as bad." I bet upstate and the south didn't care for her either!

Snippets of conversation indicate a lot of people are taking next week off.

Stores offering 40% discounts.

Steps: 5792

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Morning Walk #164 - Heat Wave



31 degrees & 55% humidity

I don't know how a few degrees can make SO much difference.

The weather report says we'll be 69 degrees on Sunday!

The High Line has been closed from 26th Street to Gansevoort due to the snow and ice.

The commuter compost stand was hopping this morning.

Steps: 5525

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Morning Walk #163 - Cold but Sunny



25 degrees (feels like 16) and 73% humidity

Lots of areas of ice

The pathways at the park are mostly snow and ice covered although there is evidence that they were plowed at some point.

I thought I could brush the snow off the bench but it was frozen...so I sat on it anyway. When I stood I saw that my posterior had melted the ice underneath me. It left me with a wet spot on my coat...which 2 blocks later had frozen to cardboard consistency.

On my return I saw that it was 8 minutes till the post office would open so I went in to purchase stamps. There were already 7 people in line. They opened promptly (and there were now 21 people in line). But they only had one poor employee to face the growing line. Thank you Angelina...you were kicking butt!

Steps: 7659

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Morning Walk #162 - Snow Again

I've always liked the lighted archways in Chelsea Market


27 degrees (feels like 16) and 53% humidity

Snow covered sidewalks

An adolescent boy falls flat on his front

A walk through the warm and dry Chelsea Market

A tiny dog in his tiny camouflage coat dances in the snow

A woman with her Jamaican lilt loudly scolding her little boy who has apparently just shoplifted from the store they were in

Making it home again in one piece and still upright!

Steps: 6116

Monday, December 16, 2013

Morning Walk #161 - A little snow on the ground

I don't see a lot of snow people in Manhattan


27 degrees (feels like 20) and 50% humidity

Remnants of snow from Saturday's storm

A lady pushing her dog stroller

Stores receiving deliveries delayed by the storm

Still lots of Christmas trees available for sale

Steps: 8316

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Race Track Art



I especially enjoy a race with an ice cream truck in it!

Friday, December 13, 2013

Morning Walk # 160 - Still Cold in the Neighborhood

I always enjoy a holiday decorated trash container

25 degrees (feels like 16) and 44% humidity

A semi-truck can't make his turn down a street narrowed by construction. It takes awhile for him to be able to back into traffic to start again.

The dog and owners club bids farewell for the weekend.

A woman and daughter discuss going to the beach on Saturday. Sounds cold to me especially with the snow that's coming.

Washington Square Park still has remnants of the last snow fall but very few people walking through.

Steps: 8151

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Morning Walk #159 - Clear & Cold

The Doughboy statue (1921) in Abingdon Square honors the neighborhood soldiers who served in World War I...but I'm not sure who recently donated "My Little Pony" to keep him company.

24 degrees (feels like 14) and 46% humidity

I thought it didn't feel colder than yesterday...until I'd walked a few blocks.

Couldn't decide which direction to take but finally headed south (so it would be warmer...)

A stop at Abingdon Square and by that time I was frozen.

Went back to warm up at Chelsea Market where I discovered one of the shops was open early and even giving away free tea!

A breakfast cart was stuck in the middle of the sidewalk with a flat tire.

Steps: 7073

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Morning Walk #158 - Bone Chilling

This ice and snow on the High Line is all that I encountered this morning


27 degrees (feels like 17) & 59% humidity

Yesterday's snowfall is pretty much gone but it is plenty cold enough.

How do those crossing guards stay warm?

Didn't see one dog this morning.

Steps: 6013

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Morning Walk #157 - Snow

Looking kind of nasty

37 degrees & 79% humidity

It was dry when I walked outside but that lasted about 2 blocks before the snow started.

A little shorter walk today. I can walk in rain or snow but I don't do slippery well!

Steps: 5196

Monday, December 9, 2013

Morning Walk #156 - Cold & Damp

It didn't occur to me that they would decorate the park for the season
 
35 degrees, (feels like 28 degrees) & 88% humidity

There's no evidence of yesterday afternoon's snow...because it's raining!

The Empire State Building is completely hidden in the fog.

Film shoot: The Blacklist

Walking through the Christmas tree stands for that evergreen scent

A bus labeled "Happy Child Transportation" full of serious...maybe, grumpy middle-aged men

Steps: 6104

Sunday, December 8, 2013

More Post Office Decorations

At the James Farley Post Office


When I saw these "candy" decorations I immediately thought of NYC's Mayor Bloomberg. He must be annoyed that he doesn't have control over how the Federal government decorates for the holidays. The Feds probably were proud of their neutral non-religious theme.

But the Mayor has had a war on childhood obesity. He's gotten trans fats banned from restaurants in the city. He's even put limits on the size of carbonated beverages food service establishments can sell.

And now the post office decorates with candy!

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Friday, December 6, 2013

Morning Walk #155 - A Damp Walk

Raindrops on railings


53 degrees & 89% humidity

Not quite raining but close...

I headed to the High Line where I know I can find shelter from the rain at 3 points on the southern end

First a walk through Chelsea Market where only a few shops are open for early morning business

Coming out to rain on the other end

A little girl's umbrella is blown inside out by the wind. She holds it in front of her and runs...letting the wind pull her forward

A dad sets his toddler down and encourages her to run to him as he backs away

Another little girl stops to hug a leafless tree along the walkway

Back to ground level where a nun is buying frozen pizzas

Steps: 7459

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Morning Walk #154 - Still Walking



48 degrees & 89% humidity

Sidewalks wet in places and fog in the air but not quite raining

Kids spinning tales for their parents as they walk to school

A woman walks her son to school and pulls her younger child along in her pajamas

A woman sweeping the sidewalk...in a little black dress with straps, a low back and cutouts on the sides

A teenager buys a jar of peanut butter for lunch

Steps: 6702



Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Morning Walk #153 - Walk on the High Line

Sunrise view from West 14th Street


41 degrees & 75% humidity

A little stroll on the High Line

A photographer (with a BIG lens) waiting patiently for people to get out of his shot

Another photographer taking all sorts of provocative photos of his lady. Well, she's warmly dressed in a mid-calf length winter coat but she went for a sexy girl pose at each of the 3 locations I encountered them.

Not a lot of greenery left but it allows better glimpses of some of the surroundings

Steps: 6904

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Morning Walk #152 - Chilly December Tuesday

Looking like winter in the park


38 degrees & 73% humidity

Warmer weather is apparently coming again but it's still feeling chilly this morning

Stores have been decorated for Christmas since Halloween but now the neighbors are showing their lights and door wreaths.

A woman rolls a stroller out of a store, bends over the child to button her up and says "that lady pissed Mommy off, didn't she?"

Women buying their children's lunch sandwiches at the deli

Steps: 7908

Monday, December 2, 2013

Morning Walk #151 - Spaceship Landing


This just in - Spaceship lands at the Flatiron Building!


43 degrees & 60% humidity

Kind of gray

People are not looking happy to be going back to work after the Thanksgiving break. Even the children looked hungover.

Standing behind a man with a messenger bag and a laptop case crisscrossed over his shoulders...and a Speedo hanging from a hook on the laptop case...

Steps: 6116



Saturday, November 30, 2013

Shop Small

Support your local small businesses on Small Business Saturday!

Friday, November 29, 2013

Morning Walk #150 - Black Friday



31 degrees & 59% humidity

Crisp and clear

Not many people heading to work this morning but the usual crowd probably doesn't work in retail.

No stores with Black Friday hours on my route.

One person in the store window dusting the display with a Swiffer.

The grocery store open but quiet while potential customers shop for bargains not food.

Steps:6181



Thursday, November 28, 2013

Morning Walk #149 - Thanksgiving

Abraham Lincoln in Union Square Park
The statue by Henry K. Brown was unveiled in 1871 and not well received. Critics thought his clothes were crazy and his face did not show the genius of the man it portrayed. Thanksgiving seemed an appropriate day to drop by since it was Lincoln who made the day a national holiday to be observed on the last Thursday of November. This was amended by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 to be the fourth Thursday of November.

31 degrees (26 degrees) & 47% humidity

Talk about a quiet morning in the city! However, I was nowhere near the Parade route.

A sign in the Kenneth Cole store window says "The average woman falls in love 7 times a year. Only 6 are with shoes."

More sidewalk Christmas tree stands have popped up overnight. Most of the vendors I've talked to over the years are French Canadian. They camp out in their vans (usually two of them) for the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas. They sell trees at all hours because they have to be there to guard their stock 24 hours. Bathrooms and showers would be an issue for me!

I hope no one sees me picking up litter on the sidewalks!

A few wind gusts made me worry about the balloons in the Parade but apparently all went well - though the balloons were floating low.

Three cabs tried to pick me on a slow morning.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Steps: 7144

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Morning Walk #148 - Holy Sogginess

Footprints in the concrete mark the great turkey escape.


57 degrees & 89% humidity

It rained all night so there were puddles at most of the curb cuts.

At first the rain is coming down steadily.

People may have already left for the holiday but others were dragging their wet suitcases down the sidewalks.

Broken umbrellas litter the sidewalks.

I saw my first Christmas tree stand! Usually they pop up the day after Thanksgiving. It probably will not be a big day for sales since apartment dwellers don't have a place to let dripping trees dry.

A tall teenage boy walks ahead of me - his camouflage pants hanging down off his plaid boxer covered butt.

Tomorrow is supposed to be cold and dry for the Parade. Hoping for calm winds.

Steps: 6004

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Morning Walk #147 - Nevermore, the Sidewalk

Sidewalks often talk to me. Sometimes they say come on down here (and I do). Sometimes they want to discuss Edgar Allan Poe. I have been to Poe's cottage in the Bronx. This sidewalk has not.


35 degrees & 47% humidity

My walk seemed like a busy errand run starting with a stop at the post office to mail a card and then to the bank to make a deposit.

I headed up to the High Line where I saw a guy sprinkling the Standard Hotel's ice rink below me at Washington & 13th. I read that they have skating till midnight weeknights and till 1am weekends. Lots of good warm beverages and soups to be had to take the chill off too.

The High Line foliage is looking like winter but it's still a nice walk. I descended at 23rd street to head over to the commuter compost drop. Man, that stuff stinks but I love to keep my garbage out of the landfill where it can be put it to good use!

Then it was back nearly to where I started to stop in at the grocery store to finish the last of my Thanksgiving shopping...or so I thought. It's been hard to find just the right turkey so far.

Stopped home to drop off some groceries and make this post. Now it's off for more turkey hunting.

Steps: 8308

Monday, November 25, 2013

Morning Walk #146

Even the street is wishing us Happy Holidays!


23 degrees & 48% humidity

Dogs not appreciating the cold

Monday morning commuters are fewer

Poinsettias appearing in store windows

Stores starting to extend hours for the shopping season

Steps: 6650

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Booth

Edwin Booth (1833 - 1893) in costume as Hamlet.
Gramercy Park

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Cervantes

This is Cervantes. In 1986, the Mayor of Madrid, Spain presented this statue to the City of New York.  It sat in Bryant Park for 3 years then ended up tucked in a courtyard on the NYU campus between a graduate center and a housing unit.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Morning Walk #145

Birds hanging out on the Washington Arch

51 degrees & 78% humidity

The weather is all over the place this week

Periods of dry then drizzle

A woman sitting on a park bench under her umbrella

Sirens and emergency vehicles every few blocks

Grocery stores advertising sales on traditional Thanksgiving foods

Other stores advertising Christmas gifts

Friday!

Steps: 7158

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Morning Walk #144

Washington Square Park: A Tribute to the victims of hate crimes


37 degrees & 53% humidity

A seafood restaurant called Flex Mussels

A few doors down is a restaurant featuring Boozy Brunch

A father and young daughter having a conversation that the father clearly does not understand but he repeats the sounds she is saying and she acknowledges that he has it right

A dogwalkers club meets in the park...the dogs obviously bored listening to the conversations

Steps: 7416


Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Morning Walk #143 - Cold and Clear

A BIG leaf falling in the Big Apple


32 degrees (wind chill: 21) and 53% humidity

A dramatic sunrise from my bedroom window but no way to capture it

It's a nippy morning.

People are starting to dress for the cold with hats and scarves but there are a lot fewer people on the streets. Where do they go when it's cold?

A dog owner smacks his big dog for snarling at a smaller dog. The smaller dog's owner does not appreciate the violence.

Another big inflatable rat for another protest. The picketers not enjoying the cold.

Noticing more two way streets and stop signs around the edges of the city.

A guy passing out menus on the corner and assuring passersby that they offer free delivery

Steps: 6917

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Morning Walk #142 - Still Fall



43 degrees (35) and 41% humidity

Feeling a little cold again and a lot windy

People walking quickly to the subway stops

Young children getting off school buses and lining up to be walked into the school

The picketers and the big inflatable rat marking a dispute regarding non-union workers

Runners suddenly stopping and dropping to do lunges and pushups

Construction crews revving up the cacophony on their sites

Steps: 8607

Monday, November 18, 2013

Morning Walk #141 - Wet Leaves



55 degrees & 77% humidity

The elevator comes to my floor with a lone laundry cart (smelling like vinegar) in it.

I expected rain but it was done. Slowly the clouds cleared and the sun peeked through again.

A stop at the post office to mail a card where I see a postal employee mailing his own packages at the self service station before he reports for duty.

Wet leaves everywhere. If they are not wet from last nights rain they are wet because people are using water pressure to move them off the sidewalks.

Steps:  7009