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.

Central Park Obelisk Wander

I found out that there is 3500 year old Egyptian obelisk in Central Park. The obelisk was put up in Heliopolis around 1500 BC, and was given to the US in 1881 as a gift from the Egyptian government with the hopes of establishing economic ties. It's the oldest thing in the park, and it's tucked away just behind the MET. I'd walked right past it a couple of times and never noticed it, so the purpose of this wander was to have a look.


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I Started the wander outside the MET at 82nd and 5th.

  

Central Park Foliage Wander

This wander is from early November, 2008 - my first fall in New York. Obviously I had to take a wander through Central Park once the leaves had changed.

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I entered the park on 79th street and headed south toward the Boat Basin.

 

Upper West Side Wander

Going North to South from the Upper East Side is easy. Going west is a bit more difficult. It involves taking a cab or one of New York's notoriously slow cross town buses. After being in the city for over a month, in November of 2008 I decided to take a wander to see what lies on the other side of Central Park; the Upper West Side.

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I started at the Lincoln Center. The central square has been under renovations since I arrived in New York. I think they're supposed to be done soon, so I'll have to make a trip back to get this shot without the giant blue plywood construction barriers.

 

Financial District Wander

After my Coney Island Wander, I hopped on the subway and headed to the Financial District to watch the sun set from Battery Park, and also since I'm an engineer, I had to check out Canstruction 2009 on display in the Winter Garden of the World Financial Center.


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I started the wander by Broadway and Wall Streets. Trinity Church:

 

Coney Island Wander

I had always heard about Coney Island from the movies. When I first got to New York it was actually the only place I'd heard of in Brooklyn. So in November 2008, I decided to make my first trip to the borough and visit Coney Island.
I was expecting a big cheezy amusement park. But when I got off the subway I was struck by what a shithole the place was. Granted, it was November, but I was expecting some sort of life. Everything seemed shuttered and covered in graffiti - maybe I was too used to the Upper East Side. I didn't take many pictures because I was still in a phase of only taking pictures of the tourist attractions. I'm planning on heading out there again now that I've been here a while to see how my impressions have changed, and to get some pictures before the whole place gets redeveloped.

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Atlantic Yards & Brooklyn Flea Wander

In case you haven't been following it, there is a huge 5-billionish dollar development called Atlantic Yards planned on Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn,where the neighbourhoods of Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Fort Greene and Boerum Hill intersect. The centerpiece is the new Barclays Center, where the New Jersey Nets are supposed to move in 2012 (is it just me or is this the least talked about, most uncontroversial professional sports team relocation ever?). Basically an uber-rich developer (Bruce Ratner) wants to tear down a bunch of old dilapidated buildings, 1 bar, 1 nice brownstone, and a homeless shelter, cover over a rail yard, and build the stadium along with a mixed use facility on top . As they always seem to do here, the locals have freaked out about the plan; gentrification of the railyard, box store squeezing out mom and pop, no parking during games, streets unsafe for park slope kids, etc. They sued Ratner about 478 times and tried to perform a citizens arrest. There is an insane amount written about this project, so take your pick if you want to get the details. Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn seems to be the biggest organized opponent.

UES, 42nd Street Wander, & Columbus Circle Wander

My second wander after arriving in New York was through the Upper East Side and into Midtown (Octoberish 2008).

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I started up by 90th and 5th and headed south. The Cooper Hewitt:

Guggenheim:

Prospect Park Snowpocalypse Wander

If there's 1 thing I've noticed about New York since I moved here it's how SOFT New Yorkers are. 0 degrees (32 F for you imperialists) is not frigid, it's winter. 1 foot of snow is not a blizzard, its snow. This is the North East. If you can't handle 0 degrees & 1 foot of snow, then head to California.

So today was the hundred year blizzard - Snowpocaplypse. The city was shut down. Schools were closed long before the first flake fell, my YMCA closed shop, and my work locked the doors and told me to stay home. I'm not going to complain about that, so with a beautiful Snow Day, I wandered out to Prospect Park via Park Slope -- somehow I made it back alive.

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Central Park Wander Part I

One of my first wanders when I arrived in New York was in Central Park (late September 2008). I had just moved into a studio apartment on the Upper East Side, just 4 blocks from the park.
In my hometown on Saint John there is a beautiful park called Rockwood Park, which was designed by the same Downing Vaux from the Central Park design team.

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I started my wander at the 79th street entrance and headed south to the Boat Basin: