Well rested after enjoying the surf, sand and sun in Ocean Grove, New Jersey yesterday, today Mom, Dad and I took the ferry into the city for a day of tourism in our hometown.
We began the day at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum touring 97 Orchard street, a tenement building that housed some seven thousand immigrants from 1863-1933. We've tried to see this popular exhibit before, but have been sold out. The hour-long tour was very interesting and worth the wait.
Having learned about the Irish, Italian, and Jewish immigrants who settled the area, and after walking through the Chinese neighborhood that now covers the area, we arrived at our lunch destination: Katz's Delicatessen.
This famous Jewish deli was made even more famous by the movie "When Harry Met Sally." We enjoyed pastrami on rye, knish, latke and egg creams.
Though the three of us split everything so that we didn't overeat, we still needed a bit of exercise after lunch. We took a cross-town bus to reach the entrance of the recently opened High Line and then 'took a hike.'
The High Line is an old elevated rail line that used to serve the factories and warehouses in the Meatpacking District. Abandoned years ago, the tracks became overgrown with weeds and trees. Rather than tearing the tracks down, the city has helped Mother Nature along and turned the High Line into an elevated park:
Interested as I am in architecture and urban planning, I've been following this project for quite some time and was excited to seei this first completed section of the project. With lots of spaces to sit and relax, and a beautiful integration of natural elements with the remaining train tracks, the High Line is a wonderful addition to the life of the city.
Before we made the trip back to the ferry, and to waste some time during rush hour, we walked north toward Time Square and the newly opened pedestrian mall in the center of the universe. Along the way we stopped at another New York gastronomic tradition, Gray's Papaya, for a little snack.
Just to have a little taste, Dad and I split the Recession Special (leftover from the BIG recession of the 1970s): two dogs and a drink. I toasted Ken Hallenius with my drink - Ken was indignant that I had never been to Gray's, so this trip was the fulfillment of my promise to him!
After a great day we took the ferry back to Staten Island, where I'll spend the next few days sticking closer to home and catching up with family.
3 comments:
The History Channel.... or Discovery.....or A&E (I forget) have a t.v. series about what would happen when "humans disappear". The elevated park was highlighted as evidence of how grass/flowers, etc would reclaim the concrete jungles of urban centers around the world.
Interesting but I found the program to play into our culture's nihilism and fetish for a hopeless future.
I imagine it also delights the extreme environmentalists who view humans as a pest upon the earth.
I find such projects (elevated park) to be fascinating and a smart way of reclaiming space, reincarnated as green. Enjoy your time home.
I can picture myself there! It looks like you had a wonderful time, and I'm happy for you, even though I'm a bit jealous. Your mom and dad look well; tell them I said hi!
Greg - My reaction was similar . . . I can totally picture living nearby! It made me a little 'homesick' for Portland because it has lots of spaces like this. New York keeps getting better and better :)
Michael - You're absolutely right about the nihilistic origins of such nonsense. But leaving TV shows like that aside, as you say, spaces like this are great urban planning. The neighborhoods nearby are really benefitting!
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