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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

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

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

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

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

Booth

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

The Clothesline

Art in the Park

Gramercy Park

Morning Walk #140 - It's Friday Again!

This is a shot (taken from the High Line) of a section of the meatpacking district. This part has not yet been gentrified but it's probably coming. Short buildings and a cobblestone street.

44 degrees & 43% humidity

This is weather for walking.

A vendor moving in his goods on the High Line for a cool day of selling.

Landscapers hauling mulch and blowing out sprinkler lines.

Sprinklers sprinkling me!

Trainers and runners all over the place.

A nun pushing her cart to the grocery store.

Steps: 6186

Morning Walk #139 - Sunshine-y Cold

Lost any?

33 degrees (feels like 28) & 53% humidity

A Naked Cowboy Oysters truck drive by. The Naked Cowboy is a Times Square institution. He is not quite naked but dresses in a cowboy hat, boots and Jockey shorts as he plays his guitar and entertains the tourists. He does not dive for oysters but apparently this company that harvests the Long Island Sound oysters felt inspired to use his name.

A man bicycles down the bike path with a covered seat for his child on the front of his bike. He holds the leash to the dog running behind him.

A walk through Chelsea Piers where parents are bringing their toddler children for some kind of class. The Pink Panther theme song plays in the distance.

I take a seat next to the Sesame Street Fire Truck children's ride to read my email. A few minutes later the siren on the empty ride starts blaring. I picture a guy in a security booth somewhere checking cameras and making that siren blast out to startle unsuspecting email readers!

A walk back across the highway to Chelsea Market for a short warm up period. A family of 6 tourists pile out of a car and into the Market stopping to take photos every few feet. I think they may have thought more shops would be open at 8am but there are plenty of photo ops.

Steps: 6231

Morning Walk #138 - That's Cold!

because everywhere else unnecessary noise is welcomed!

28 degrees & 51% humidity

A bright, crisp cold day.

I froze my face again. It's not even winter yet! If I'm going to develop what feels like an ice cream headache...I should, at least, get the ice cream first!

The dogs were all bundled up in their sweaters and coats. Some even had several layers...but I worry about their feet on the cold sidewalks.

Parks employees also have their winter outfits on.

Steps: 6680


Morning Walk #137 - A little Rain. A little Snow.

A little rain

A little snow (blowing in from the left)

It was 40 degrees and 73% humidity and then it was 36 degrees with a little wind, a little rain and a little snow.

I was a bit underdressed for winter though my raincoat blocked the wind.

It was a gray day but there was an orange flowered bike with lime green wheels

And a there was an opened but (mercifully) unused bright yellow condom on the ground

A sign posted on the front of a Mexican restaurant

Thanksgiving

Special Turkey in Gravy Sauce

Served with mashed potatoes, corn, cranbery (sic) sauce

with a House Drink $10.95

 

 

Not sure I'd choose a Mexican restaurant for a Thanksgiving dinner but what the heck...

 

A stop in the drugstore to warm up, a compost dropoff then home to warm up some more.

 

Steps: 6662

 

Morning Walk #136 - Veteran's Day

Waiting for the parade

43 degrees & 43% humidity

Madison Square Park was already jumping at 7:30am with activity in preparation for the day's parade and speeches.

Thank you Veterans and active military personnel...including my dad who served as an Army medic in the Korean War.

Steps: 6515

My Kind of Ivy League

The Magic that is NYC

 

One day you're walking along in the East Village and you see a cow in front of someone's rowhouse.

Morning Walk #135 - TGIF

The fountain isn't usually on in the morning but maybe they wanted to keep the pipes from freezing during the cold temperatures of the night.

41 degrees (feels like 35) and 63% humidity

A man in a gray suit. He had a knitted gray and white hat on against the cold but no coat.

Two women with a dog...discussing that many people start conversations based on the dog. One woman said she used to push a stroller with twins but she always gets more conversation with the dogs than the twin babies.

Lots of morning people happy to make it to Friday!

Steps: 8720

Morning Walk #134 - Rain is coming

61 degrees and 83% humidity

People were going to work without coats again

Park workers in a never ending siege of fallen leaves

A dog named Walnut

Steps: 6271

Morning Walk #134 - Blinding Sun

50 degrees & 75% humidity

The eastern sun is seriously blinding with the current rotation of the earth.

An employee from Breads Bakery offering most excellent samples of Chocolate Rugelach with Nutella

Even though it was a little warmer again most of the dogs were wearing sweaters.

Lots of photographers in the park with their big lenses.

The big rat commenting on a possible asbestos situation at the Google building

Steps: 6552

Morning Walk #132 - Election Day

 

42 degrees (feels like 38) and 67% humidity

Bright sunny morning

I voted first thing and was the 19th voter in my district

A walk on the High Line

Steps:7531

 

Morning Walk #131 - A Cold One

35 degrees (feels like 26) and 47% humidity

Daylight Savings time is done. It's lighter in the morning...for now.

And after some 70 degree days...it's back to season appropriate weather.

The sun burns my retinas in my eastward walk.

Where is everybody? I know they still have to go to work regardless of temperature.

Construction workers bundled up in layers for the day.

A little girl tells her father that she can see through her teeth. (I've heard of those eye teeth.)

A man stops in the park to tell me about keeping warm in his room...at least, I think that's what he was saying.

A woman with pink hair and a leaf blower keeps the leaves moving.

Steps: 5795

Beauty and the Beast

This 1847 façade is all that remains of St Ann's Church. The remaining structure was lost in order to make way for the 26 floor NYU dormitory behind it.

Bars & Bricks

What secrets lie within?

Morning Walk #130 - Drizzly November

I turn the corner and there's this sign calling me a Ho!

69 degrees & 72% humidity

Off and on rain

Farewell October. Hello November (even though it's supposed to hit 75 today.)

It seems that many stores worked late last night taking down Halloween decorations and putting up Christmas decorations.

I saw Cinderella returning home from a long Halloween night. His blue princess dress was dragging on the wet pavement and there were a few catcalls as he passed.

Not too many observations from under my umbrella this morning.

Steps:  6095