New York City

While at New York City, I stayed in the Baisley House, a quaint little brownstone bed and breakfast in Brooklyn (say that twenty times, fast...) with three rooms and a shared bath...

The Bedroom 2.jpg

The room I was in was nicely appointed, but rather small. Probably historically correct, nonetheless it was, shall we say, cramped? The room was scarcely 8 feet wide: notice the full bed pretty much fills the one end of the room.

Even if the room was a bit cramped, the parlour and dining area made up for it. The proprietor is a designer, and took great pains to produce an atmosphere that is both inviting and authentic. And the breakfasts were quite good, too.

The parlour - the paintings.jpg

Horse and Carriage in the park.jpg

I'll confess I'm not a city kind of guy, so New York City really wasn't my cup of tea. To get away from the din, I made for Central Park, one of the more peaceful places in my stay there. Here's one of the landmark carriages coming from the Tavern on the Green, just a few yards away.

Just a shot of one of the fountains near the south end of the park.

The Fountain.jpg

Skyline under Bow Bridge.jpg

The designers of Central Park went gung-ho on bridges. There are literally dozens of them throughout the park. Here, Bow Bridge frames the East Manhattan skyline.

Leaving the park, I took 86th Avenue westward through Manhattan. Yeah, I'm standing in the middle of the street. No, it was perfectly safe. Construction behind me closed the road through the park, so I was in no danger of being hit by traffic.

86th Street near the park.jpg

Broadway and 86th.jpg

So this is Broadway, the backdrop for so many songs and dramas? I must have been at the wrong part; it seemed pretty mundane to me... it pretty much runs the whole length of the island from north to south. I stopped nearby and got some sushi, coming back to the center divider to eat and watch the world go by.

Okay, so here was another neat moment in New York. I took the subway from Carroll Gardens to the High Street station, and walked over to the Brooklyn Bridge, or more correctly, to DUMBO, the area underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. Having a pier almost entirely to myself, I was able to get this and several other nighttime shots of the Manhattan skyline at night.

Brooklyn Bridge at night 2.jpg

Subway riders.jpg

The morning of my departure, I got a shot of the early-morning denizens of the subway. I'll say this for New York: the subway system is quite effective. Let's face it, it has to be. Getting around by car is nigh on impossible, and by taxi is way to expensive. "Next Stop, Jackson Heights. Transfer point for the Q33 to LaGuardia. Please Stand Clear of the Closing Doors."

Well, all things must come to an end, and so did my weekend in New York City. On a little dash-8 turboprop heading for Ithaca, I got this shot of Manhattan as we climbed up to cruising altitude.

Manhattan and the Bronx from the air (closeup).jpg