Stuy Town Wander

Stuyvesant Town -- what is this place? It appears to be some sort of  crazy social experiment where a huge poject was filled with middle class white people - bizarre.
When I was looking for a new apartment a while back, I couldn't help buy notice all of the advertising for these Lower East Side luxury apartments with affordable rents. The ads were everywhere - subway posters, AMNY, NYT, everywhere. With promises of private parks, cafes (including a Dunkin Donuts!) East River promenades and free outdoor concerts all withing my price range. But when I poped out Google maps, all I could see was the giant project:

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Yankee Stadiums Wander

I went to my first Yankees game of the '10 season two weekends ago. They lost to the White Sox, but it was a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon, with a couple of the boys, some overpriced beers and hotdogs, and we luckily even had some shade all game so I didn't become too pink. Getting off the D train, I was startled to see only a tiny section of seats from the old Yankee Stadium left standing behind the blue New York signature construction plywood fence. The whole thing is a huge hole in the ground now.

Last year was my first year in New York, so also my first Yankee game. As a male in New York, you have a couple critical decisions to make, and I was really torn on this one, but I've officially decided on the Yankees.
I didn't make it in time to see a game at the old Yankee Stadium, but I did make a wander over to the Bronx to see it before it came down, and also to see the new Yankee Stadium before the season started.

Statue of Liberty Wander

Of course I went on a Statue of Liberty Wander. I was here for about 7 months before I went, and on the particularly gorgeous Sunday, with my wife out of town and nobody around to tease me, I ventured off to be a serious tourist.

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I got off the 4 train at Bowling Green and headed through Battery Park to Castle Clinton to get my ticket. Castle Clinton was originally built to defend the city from the ever-feared Canadians during the war of 1812. It was later converted to an immigration center and even used to house the New York Aquarium. When the aquarium was moved to Coney Island it was restored as a historic monument/tourist attraction/ticket booth. There's really not a lot to see in there, but you have to go in to get your ticket to Liberty Island and there a couple of old chunks of brick (road/wall - I'm not sure) from the old dutch days. The parks folks working there are actually quite helpful and informed, and they were quite eager to talk to someone about something other then when the last boat heads to the statue.

City Island Wander

I read about this little town in the Bronx called City Island. It was described as a chunk of New England transported to the Bronx. Many of my young summer vacations were to Maine, and Atlantic Canada is as similar to New England as you can get without the accent, so to get a break from the big city and get a little sense of home, I made a Wander up to City Island. It lived up to the hype for me - just a lot more Yankees caps then a real New England town.

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Brooklyn Botanic Garden Wander

The cherry blossoms were just a shade past full bloom, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a short 15min walk from my apartment, and free on Saturdays from 10-12, so I headed over there for the first time in over a year for a little wander.
  
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Canada Wins Gold

There was no wandering this Sunday, except a quick wander to the corner store for some beers (PBR not Keiths, but what can you do) and then a wander to my couch to watch Canada beat the US 3-2 in overtime on a beautiful goal by Sidney Crosby. This was the best hockey game I've seen in a while, and that goal will forever be played next to Henderson's in the greatest Canadian Hockey moments of all time.

I love New York, and I don't plan on leaving any time soon - too many unwandered corners - but the longer I'm here, the more proud I am to be Canadian.

This Montage by Stephen Brunt sums up how I've been feeling:

Prospect Park Snowicane Wander

There was another huge snow storm in New York again today, making this the snowiest February of all time with 36.9 inches (that's 93.7cm for those of you who abandoned the British empire and joined the 19th century) and the 4th snowiest winter of all time. 53cm fell in central park; that's a lot of snow for a city with no where to push it.
Again, work was cancelled, my YMCA closed earily, and the city generally ground to a halt. So I went on another Prospect Park Wander. I love Prospect Park, and there's something so fun about when a city the size of New York shuts down and all the kids between the ages of 1-27 go sledding in the park.

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I didn't get out till the afternoon, after the snow had stopped and the sun had come out. I wandered across 8th street toward the park.