New York City

Sunday, October 19th, Midtown to the Bowery along the east side of Manhattan.  The weather remains nice.

Today was a walking day, with an attempt to explore parts of Manhattan we had not seen before.  We ended up walking 7.2 miles, first south past the UN Plaza complex, and then out to the riverside on the East River Greenway, which should have allowed us to get to the Lower East Side.  But the path was blocked at East 15th Street, so we were forced to turn back to 18th Street and go inland.  

St George slaying the Dragon (of war?) inside the UN Plaza.

We explored an area called StuyTown (actually the place is called Stuyvesant), a large apartment complex with a central courtyard and abundant green space (for the city).  According to the internet, StuyTown covers 80 acres, has 11,250 apartments in 110 buildings.  StuyTown was originally planned as a post-war housing development during the early 1940's in anticipation of the returning World War II veterans.  This East Village complex was developed by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, which owned it until 2006.  Since then it has been sold to the first of 3 different property companies.  It currently houses about 30,000 people.  There are very few places that cars can go on the property.  Lots of people were outside enjoying the mild day and the small farmers market (produce brought in from New Jersey).  We bought some breakfast pastries and apples.

Looking up the East River, Manhattan on the left, Roosevelt Island in the middle, and Queens on the right.

A repeat photo that shows the Empire State Building (on the left) and the Chrysler Building (in front the nearly back building on the right).  The Empire is 1,454 feet tall, counting the antenna; the Chrysler is 1,046 feet tall.  So which building best represents NYC skyscrapers?

StuyTown central courtyard - there are lots of amenities (playgrounds, skating rink, fitness centers, nearby grocery stores, etc.) for residents.

After leaving StuyTown, we went further south to Tompkins Square Park, where we ran into multitudes of people.  Several streets were blocked off and we noticed dogs that were "dressed up."  It turns out that the square was hosting the annual Halloween Dog Parade.  We picked a spot on the parade route that was moderately crowded.  After standing for 30 minutes and having hordes of people pack in around us, we saw a bit of the parade (BTW, this was the 35th year of the parade).  It was impossible to get any decent photos of the dog walkers and their dogs because of the crush of folks and the fact that press photographers who were allowed on the road would jump in front when a photogenic person came by.  Here is what I glimpsed - Betsy saw even less.  The dogs seemed very tolerant of the whole business.  We suspect the parade had at least two sections - small dogs (who were mostly either carried or pushed in carts/wagon/prams) and big dogs, who probably walked ,although we gave up before they appeared.

The parade finally kicks off 20 minutes late.

Many of the flamboyant walkers played to the crowd.  Note, the chef and her carried companion on left.

Couldn't see the dog given the crush in front of us.

The military-themed outfit was creative with the little dog likewise kitted up.

I liked this one -- a woman with scratches on her body with her dog as Audrey II, the carnivorous plant in the musical The Little Shop of Horrors.  The girl is dressed as Audrey and her guy as Seymour.

Being interviewed.

Cookie Monster.

Wondering what all the fuss is about.

After extracting ourselves from the human crush, we wandered west and south, to find a place for a break.  We entered the Bowery District and a found a bar/restaurant -- Ainslie at 199 Bowery.  It was a nice wide open space with few people inside, and quite nice bathrooms.  After eating and hydrating, we walked further south to the center of New York City, seeing massive government buildings, courthouses, and the City Hall.

Approaching the governmental center of New York City.

A city administrative building.

The Brooklyn Bridge is only a short distance away.  Note the hordes of people walking across the bridge (dedicated pathway on the left).

City Hall.

We then walked over to Allen Street, which becomes 1st Avenue, to catch a bus uptown to our apartment.  We passed under the road leading to the Brooklyn Bridge and past 1 Police Plaza, home of the NY Police Department.  It is commonly known as "1PP" in all of the TV shows.

We caught the bus and easily got back to the apartment.  The buses use the same fare systems as the subway and got us much closer to our final destination.