Brooklyn Views

Unseasonably warm weather lured me back to Brooklyn Bridge Park.  It's a short walk from the High Street stop on the C line.  You can't beat the views of Lower Manhattan.

They definitely called for the panorama setting on my camera.  These photos look best on a computer  in slide show mode because the software pans slowly across them.

The beautifully refurbished piers offer recreation of all kinds with glorious backdrops, including football

. . . swinging

. . . bocce ball

. . . and basketball.

Soccer gets its own pier.

There's plenty of space for quieter pursuits, too, though pregnant women are warned not to eat any of the eels they might catch.

There's a lot of traffic in the New York Harbor.  Tugboats make me think of "Funny Girl." Yeah, I know Barbra was going towards the Statue of Liberty in the film.

Speaking of Lady Liberty some of her body parts, replicated by Danh Vo, are scattered throughout the park as part of the Public Art Fund's "We The People" exhibit.  Here's part of the shoulder she uses to hold up the torch.

Brooklyn Heights overlooks the park with the Brooklyn Queens Expressway sandwiched in between.  How do you think real estate agents describe the views from these buildings?

The marketing for a new, waterfront condo development near the park makes me giggle.  It's probably safe to say that most hipsters have been priced out.

I circled back to the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn Heights promenade where these tourists got their "money shot."

A wreath commemorates 9/11.  Standing here that day must have been pretty traumatizing.

Brooklyn Bridge Park looks just as lovely from the promenade, especially now that the leaves are turning.  I can't believe how quickly the trees--or the new World Trade Center--have grown in the past three years.

I walked back to Manhattan as the sun was setting.  The Manhattan Bridge practically glowed.

Happy Birthday, Dan!

Dan turned 60 in August.  We belatedly celebrated his birthday with a lot of laughs at "It's Only A Play."  If you're going to see it, do yourself a favor and don't read the review which spoils too many of the jokes.

A Sweet Handful

Thom dropped off Vita at my house before driving to Montreal for the weekend.  Previously our only interactions had been at the beach house in the Pines or at the Towers in Jackson Heights where she rules a very lovely roost.  As you can see, she made herself right at home, color coordinating and displacing me from all my perches.

While tanning during her visit, she got to know Jackie on a first-name basis.  

Vita took to Manhattan like the proverbial duck to water.  Saturday night she dragged me around the reservoir, named for the former first lady.

We headed to the Ramble on Sunday where she had no time for my star making efforts.

"What breed is she?" asked a patrician lady walking a very calm golden retriever at the foot of the waterfall.  "German short-haired pointer, I think.  But a handful in any case."  

Here's what Vita had to say about that.

By tonight, she'll be a gone girl.  Thank god!

October Stroll

The extension of the High Line drew me downtown to the southernmost entrance on a perfect fall afternoon.

What looked like a freezer full of beverages turned out to be an art project that lampooned contemporary culture.

Traffic clotted the streets below.

Louise Lawler's "Triangle (adjusted to fit)"occupies the High Line art billboard.

Graffiti decorates the building canyons.

The High Line brings out the photographer (and model) in just about everyone.

Some of the look-outs seem to hover in New York's skyline.

Condo windows reflect the sculptural installations.

Siesta time.  The ugly lump probably discourages people from trying to use the hammock.

Some of the art resists easy interpretation.

Throngs of visitors approached the extension on West 34th Street which begins in the midst of a construction site.

Odd how the re-appropriation of abandoned railroad tracks produced a building boom.

Suddenly you're walking due west, toward the Hudson River.

More models and photographers.

Hudson Yards, the last large undeveloped tract in Manhattan, flanks the north side of the High Line extension which ends at the Javits Center, the glass building to the left in the distance.

I caught this man and his grandson in mid-descent.

The views to New Jersey were just getting good.  They're wide open now, but for how long?

You really get a sense of what the High Line is built upon walking along the extension.

The mid-afternoon sun cast vividly delineated shadows on the gravel surface.

Original concrete pilings, festooned with a variety of materials including ribbons, bones and grass, punctuate the vegetation.

Once you start heading north, the extension loses a lot of its charm.

At one point, you're walking right over Hudson Yards, a lot now filled with Long Island Railroad trains going nowhere fast.

The final leg of the extension curves toward the Javits Center.

Across the West Side Highway, you pick up Hudson River Park, where there's also plenty to see, including this patriotic gift to the NYPD after 9/11.

Nearby, a ghost bike commemorates the tragic death of Carl Henry Nacht, a 56-year old doctor who was killed by an NYPD tow truck driver.

Approaching the Intrepid, a Muslim family stopped to enjoy the interactive fountain while someone else temporarily abandoned their picnic blanket for a better view.

This seagull house offers quite a contrast to the massive construction underway just a block or two north.  Its river views cost a lot less and are unobstructed.

Another season of the Art Student  League's Model to Monument project has begun just above 59th Street.  Look for the young man swinging inside Natsuki Takauji's "Window."

A gorgeous willow tree provides the backdrop for Phyllis Sanfiorenzo's "Atabey's Land Haven." 

Minako Yoshino's "Lovers" enjoy a little PDA, silhouetted by the cobalt blue skyline.

It's easy to overlook this sculpture which can't compete with its surroundings.  I didn't see a sign identifying the artist.

Hudson River Park is beautiful even without the art, especially the abundant grasses.

I love how these young guys mirror the towers in New Jersey.

Lindsay McCosh's "Harbor for Industry" is a scattered installation.  The gantry a few blocks north probably inspired the structural element.

I photographed this gantry when I moved into my first apartment, oh so long ago.  It was decrepit even then.

As a child, I had a large magnet that reminded me of Janet Fekete-Bolton's "A Conversation with Nature."

Colored discs, suspended from looks like a roller coaster track, comprise Ana Sofia Marti's "Everyday."

Though less flashy, Riverside Park abuts more populous neighborhoods on the Upper West Side and still provides a wonderful setting for recreation of all kinds.  

Pedestrians can use this mirror to avoid getting run down by bicyclists who lose my sympathy when they act is if they're competing in the Tour de France during peak periods of use.  

By the time I approach my exit, the fall shadows have lengthened considerably.