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

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

Saving Money

This place has the best graphics!

Statues are for the Birds

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

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

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

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

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

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

Religious "Wreath"

For sale at the GreenMarket. Not a fan.

Advice from the Coffee Shop

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

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

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

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

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

Race Track Art



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

Lamp Post

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

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

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

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

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

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!

Gingerbread House at the Post Office

Gingerbread House in the James Farley Post Office

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

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

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

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

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

Gift Wrap Couture