Looks like Winter

Looks a little like winter on the river!

Morning temperature: 11 degrees

Steps: 9049

Games in the Park

Morning temperature: 74 degrees, 87% humidity
Morning steps: 5740

Hudson in the Morning

Way in the background is the shadowy Verrazano Narrows Bridge and the Statue of Liberty

Paddleboat Morning

It was a cold walk around Chelsea Piers and the Hudson Riverwalk this morning.

It's Friday and there's a long weekend coming up!

Morning temperature: 34 degrees
Morning steps: 6270

Morning Walk #121 - The River & the High Line

51 degrees & 54% humidity

Sun rising in the east and the 98% full moon still shining in the west

Chelsea Market waking up

Fishing off Pier 51

Park employee opening the playground then doing some chin-ups on the monkey bars

It's 51 degrees and a roller skater rolls by with no shirt on

Detective Store International "when you need to know"

Man walking 6 dogs including one very large dog who had just done his very large business

Man on the High Line consulting a paper with photos and then taking his own photos like he's on a photo scavenger hunt

Woman and toddler with a blanket and breakfast spread out on a wooden chaise

A little boy looking for the Statue of Liberty

Steps: 8282

Napping at the Sculpture

Morning Walk #107 - On the River

61 degrees and 67% humidity

Happy October!

Back to the river this morning

Lots of guys in chef's coats hanging out at Pier 57. Still not sure what kind of place they are creating there.

Gentle waves

A tree with no leaves left and yet I'm not seeing changing colors in any other leaves

A skiff with 6 rowers going upstream

A fisherman on pier 51 and another at pier 49

Runners, dog walkers, and people walkers everywhere

Traffic cops seem to be out in force today checking out parking on the streets

Girls in uniform heading to Notre Dame School

Today is a run off primary for the post of Public Advocate. It was a light turnout at the early morning locations.

Steps: 7638

Morning Walk #99 - The Hudson and Ladies Mile

A steam ship paddle boat (a little worse for wear) chugs up the Hudson

55 degrees, 58% humidity and clear skies

Pigeons sleeping under benches

A man wearing a royal blue t-shirt and a yellow and orange floral tie

Two film shoots:  Law & Order: SVU back in the projects and Broad City



This building opened in 1896 as the Siegel Cooper Dry Goods Department Store - the biggest store ever at the time.  On opening day 150,000 shoppers stopped in and were assisted by 3000 employees.

In addition to clothing, furniture and household items, the store sold groceries including meat from a refrigerated meat room and live fish from a huge fish tank.  There was a beauty salon, barber shop, post office, dentist office and the bicycle department had a track for prospective buyers to try out the equipment.  Even more progressive was the classroom provided for the children employees to have 2 hours of classes every day.

An ornate fountain was the showpiece on street level and the catch phrase of the time was "Meet me at the fountain."

The overextended Mr. Siegel sold the store in 1904 to Mr. Greenhut who was a little late to the Ladies Mile party as other large department stores were moving uptown but he kept it going till 1918.  The building had a short life as a military hospital during World War I.  Today it is broken up into TJ Maxx, Marshall's, Bed, Bath & Beyond and numerous offices in the upper stories.  The façade still has lots of the same features that it had on opening day.

Steps: 7420

Morning Walk # 95 - Riverwalk & High Line

A pop of color when you least expect it

67 degrees, 90% humidity, sunny skies

A blond bulldog puppy with a purple skull & crossbones dyed into the fur on his hindquarters

A Sharp Tongue Coffee truck...does that sound like something you'd like to try?

Walking through Chelsea Piers

A few people running along the river

Benches still wet from last night's rain

Two guys in dress shirts & pants, walking their Citibikes and

looking for a dry place to sit

Watching the Ride 2 Recovery group cross the West Side Highway with a little help from NYPD. A worthy organization that assists veterans...

Work on The High Line extension is making progress

Lots of people this morning.  At least, a couple walking meetings

Film shoot du jour: Law & Order: SVU

Steps: 9408

Holy Leafyness!

On the Hudson

Morning Walk #87

72 degrees & 93% humidity

What a difference a day makes!  Well, it's still intensely humid but there were a lot of people on the street. I saw quite a few people before I even got from my building door to the sidewalk.

Fog shrouds the skyline...again

Sanitation trucks are everywhere

A crane bringing in a very long white rectangular object the length of nearly half the block drew quite a crowd of early morning spectators

The river looking dirty with trash probably brought in with last night's rain

Fewer runners on the riverwalk

A detour through the High Line found quite a few people dressed for work making detours of their own

A blue shirted Apple employee sitting in the window of the Apple store

Most people walking with a cup of coffee in one hand

Steps: 7382

Morning Walk #80 - Along the Riverwalk

71 degrees, 80% humidity and the sun trying to poke through the haze

In search of a Spanish galleon rumored to be anchored around the 42nd street piers

A woman and her dog waiting at the coffee shop walk-up window...the dog sitting on the counter

Employees rinsing the sidewalks before setting up sidewalk café tables

The manhole cover in front of the seminary is actually labeled "General Seminary"

Walking past the Tow Pound where the city makes tons of money ransoming towed vehicles

The bowling alley tells me to "Stay out of the gutter"

Walking through the tourist area where buses wait to load sightsee-ers

Two officers and their horses cross the street.  Who knew the Mounted Police Headquarters was on the Hudson River piers?

Waves hitting the concrete piers spraying water high in the air (even though the river is not that choppy)

Catching a glimpse of my windblown, humidity infused hair in a window...yikes!

People reading newspapers on benches at the riverfront

Learning to "google" first.  The Spanish galleon hoisted anchor on August 18.

Steps: 13,439

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Morning Walk # 60 - Riverwalk

68 degrees, gray & 69% humidity

There are so many runners on the riverwalk that it's hard to be a walker

A 2 person kayak going upriver

A tiny glimpse of blue sky through the gray clouds

A stop at the bench to read email but the runners are practically running into my knees

Heading back past 1800-something residences with lace curtains in the windows

A father riding a bike with a helmeted toddler strapped on --- also guiding a dog by the leash

Another father with a fancy seat for his helmeted son...a pedestrian talking to the father about the seat as they pass

Stepping carefully across cobblestone streets

Back to the neighborhood

My 60th morning walk means 12 weeks of weekday walks.  Can't believe I've stuck to it.

Steps: 6961

Morning Walk #47 - Hudson Riverwalk

75 degrees, hazy sun, 73% humidity

A garden at the projects...full of plastic animals...a man tells me he is the landscaper of the garden and LOVES it.  He's 65 and has lived in the building for 44 years.  He offers to unlock the gate so I can take better photos (well...closer photos...better is not always in the cards for me)

These city owned apartment houses built in 1965 are now surrounded by expensive stores and restaurants as the area gentrifies

The Church of the Guardian Angel was founded in 1888 to minister to the workers at the Hudson River waterfront. The current 1930 Romanesque building is decorated with both religious sculpture and some gargoyles that seem in conflict with the message.

The waterfront is peaceful with only the chirping of birds and the occasional boat or helicopter buzzing by

The waves are gentle but the moored yachts rock from some mysterious underwater action

A woman walks backward down the pier. I later try the same. It uses a whole different set of muscles

I dig a glow necklace from between the slats of the boardwalk. It is stamped "Macy's Fireworks 2013"

The Chelsea Piers are hopping this morning with children's activities.  Twenty-some little kids (mostly boys) line up in t-shirts saying Chelsea Piers Golf Camp

On the way back there are lots of people on their way to work...an amazing amount of them going in and coming out of coffee shops

The ever present construction sites have been in full swing for hours

A lone man pushes a wheelbarrow full of wet cement

Steps: 7565

Morning Walk # 44 - Hudson Riverwalk & West Village

75 degrees, gray clouds, 93% humidity

Some of the tall buildings have lost their tops in the low hanging clouds

Wow...is it quiet in the city!

I've never noticed the Tipsy Parson but then I see that it is on the fishmonger's block that I usually avoid for the odor...they seem to be closed today

Cushman Row - 7 Greek Revival brownstones built in 1840 across from Clement Clarke Moore's Seminary

Heading over to the Riverwalk at Chelsea Piers only to discover it's blocked off and closed...a park employee telling runners to exit.  Probably closed for fireworks preparation but disappointing anyway

Turning south, the Riverwalk is much quieter than usual

A black SUV driven by an NYPD officer drives behind a runner on the Riverwalk.  Is he trying to get through or providing protection for the runner?

A young man riding a bike - smiling and singing "I don't care" over and over

A lone man standing on a paddleboard...paddling his way up the Hudson

A red tugboat, a barge and a few pleasure boats but no high speed ferries

A young man says "Happy 4th of July" to everyone he passes

Cutting back over through the West Village

A stop for bread at the coldest grocery store in Manhattan.  The windows are covered with condensation.  As I exit my glasses steam up. It takes 3 blocks for them to clear up.

Bits of blue sky peeking through the gray clouds

Happy Independence Day!

Steps: 8282

Sculpture: Swimming in the Trees

On the Hudson Riverwalk

Morning Walk #37 - West Village & Hudson Riverwalk

74 degrees, hazy & slightly less humid than yesterday

The donut cart on the corner is gone...a sign of the end of school in the neighborhood

Heading through a bit of the West Village before cutting over to the river

Getting a little lost when the already tangled streets are closed due to construction leading to detours

Reading email in Abingdon Square Park

A man with a very short haircut combs his hair over and over and over

A woman attempts (in vain) to hail a cab on the West Side Highway - the traffic travels too fast here to stop easily

There are more and more runners on the Riverwalk as the weather heats up

Between the runners and work crews there are few other people along the river in the early morning

A group of young men in camouflage pants, Army green t-shirts and heavy looking vests runs by

The waves are gently rolling and hypnotic

A stop at the coldest grocery store in Manhattan

Teetering across cobblestone streets

Steps: 5917

Sculpture - Bottle

This bottle sits alongside the Hudson.  Inside it looks like an RV complete with a metal toilet in the back.

Morning Walk #34 - Hudson Riverwalk

Who decided an electronic sign was necessary to guide pedestrians on the riverwalk?

64 degrees and hazy sun

A street named Special Agent Everett E. Hatcher for the man who was killed on duty while serving with the Drug Enforcement Administration

Fluorescent green seems to be the popular color for running shoes today

What does it say if all the runners are fit already?  Do they eat and drink vast quantities that they need to burn off?  Are they addicted to exercise?

The juxtaposition of a concrete, metal and asphalt playground with a small landscape of tall wild grasses and boulders

A man on a bench brushing his dog while a second dog waits his turn

A woman and her trainer working out

A man in a suit with waist length dreadlocks

Steps: 7580

Morning Walk #28 - West Village & Hudson Riverwalk

66 degrees with puffy white clouds in the blue sky

Lots of crossing guards out early this morning

Heading down to less familiar parts of the Village

White Horse Tavern built in the 1880's was a longshoreman's bar in its' first life.  It became a literary hangout in the '50's & '60's for Dylan Thomas, Norman Mailer, Jack Kerouac and more.

The Church of Saint Luke in the Fields, 1822, a maze of buildings and gardens was built on land originally given to Trinity Church by Queen Anne in 1714

The 1853 Italianate home at 81 Barrow, built for the merchant class not the wealthy (what?)

Thirty-eight Commerce Street, originally an 1817 silo on the Gomez farm gave way to a brewery in 1834, followed by a tobacco warehouse, a box factory and then since 1924, the Cherry Lane Theater

The Barrow and Commerce neighborhoods still have lots of older buildings along the narrow streets

I hadn't planned on visiting the riverwalk today but after blocks of tangled Village streets heading west for a familiar sight seemed a good idea

Wind blowing, white caps dipping, squawking geese, the buzzing of a lawnmower and the smell of newly mown grass

The 14th Street Park that has no built-in seating or benches...just plastic chairs...but it does have free wifi and lots of traffic noise from the Westside Highway

Steps: 8015