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.

Click here for the wander map.

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.
  
Click here for the wander map.