Category: Travel, places

Another City Beautiful Project: 125th Street Pier

The development talked about here is mostly done. Riding your bike around down by the Hudson River when it’s still this cold is kind of insane and lonely.

Ferries are supposed to service this pier but I don’t know if it’s happening yet. I’m not seeing New Jersey hopping on a boat to hit up Fairway when they’ve got giant A&Ps and Shop Rites — or even the rest of 125th Street when they’ve got Walmart but perhaps I’m wrong.

Train Stations of the Coasts

When you’re a kid and you see a train station for the first time, it is usually the biggest room that didn’t have a circus or a movie going on that you have ever seen. Union Station in Los Angeles was my first train station and it still throws me for a loop.

Irvine’s commuter station has palm trees and pop music piped in. I was here after a nice Thanksgiving dinner with my nephew.

New York stations are pretty serious.

However, reading up on the renovation of the Coney Island station is pretty interesting. The roof can pretty much power the whole thing on a sunny day.

I’m blogging in my sisters’ old bathroom because the internet wire won’t reach into the bedroom anymore. Instead of waxing more poetic about train stations, I’ll hang out with my parents. 🙂

The Bike Path Contraption

This is the Bike Path Contraption They’re using to finish building out the Hudson River Greenway bike path north of the 79th Street Boat Basin and right next to the Hudson River Parkway, a project to be finished in 2009. (This is shot from the detour portion of the path in Riverside Park.) Who knew this is the most-used bikeway in the United States? I was looking at the virtual tour of the path at nyc.gov and they should really redo it with some whooshing wind sound and witty commentary: “And on the left we have another City Ugly Project by Donald Trump…”

Harriman State Park Escape Valve

It’s Saturday at noon. (Dateline!) Somehow we managed to stuff two backpacks with a change of clothes, some gourmet provender from West Side Market, a tent and the rest, and drive up to Harriman State Park which is a 45 minute drive from Manhattan. Bear Mountain is there and a couple of crowded car-camping sites but we’re set on roughing it. From a secret parking lot, we hike to a lake in 45 minutes and pretty much have the whole place to ourselves.

Sunday afternoon view from the tent, Harriman State Park
Sunday afternoon view from the tent, Harriman State Park

Skinny-dipping, campfire, philosophical talks about how amazing it is to be alive and how we’re going to be dead in 50 years pretty much no matter what, and whether the afterlife is being Brangelina’s dog or an astronaut floating around Jupiter or having endless Utz® Cheese Puffs. I’m not saying you had to be there. The thing is, there were no generators, no kids yelling, and no one pointing their flashlights at you. The weather is better Saturday but the rain holds off for the most part on Sunday and there’s still lots of swimming to be had.

There are giant oceans of wild blueberries. I exaggerate but there are lots of them and they’re addictive and delicious.

Blueberries at the campsite

There are beavers but no photos. We made friends with the local one-eyed goose. I got her good side.

There’s stuff in the park like Lake Welch where you pay $7 to park in a stadium-sized parking lot to sit on a beach the size of a Manhattan bathroom with everyone and their sausage tailgate parties and lawn chairs but if you do your homework (or if you know someone who’s done it before, heh), you can get all away from New York City quickly, cleanly, heavenly.

Coney Island Tacos

wonderwheel sign closeup
Shoot the freak on the cell phone
Shoot the freak on the cell phone

Please avoid the clams and hot dogs and have tacos from Doña Zita. So yeah, the temperature went up 20 degrees in one day and my friend twisted my arm to go to Coney Island. I can’t believe they’re just going to wipe most of it away for Las Vegas/Disney glitz. I’m still not sure what role Coney Island Beer is playing in the drama.

Update: An interesting Times story here.

Upstate New York Road Trip Notes, etc

Boat under barn
Moosehead in barn attic
Only in barns

I got back on Tuesday night from upstate New York. We got as far as Lake George. My two cents are: It’s a beautiful place, however, it wasn’t all salt water taffy and shelling peanuts. No, no, no. My car Fyyffer, while not pouring out much white smoke anymore or leaking power steering fluid, is now leaking transmission fluid like a colander. It’s chugging about a third of a bottle every time I drive her. Calling on AAMCO® soon. (Just FYI, we spent about $85 on gas.) The other real bummer that happened was I fell down in the mud while it was pouring rain and we were setting up the DJ equipment in the reception barn. No chance of hitting on the catering staff after that.

The next day, we “took the cure” at the mineral baths at Saratoga Springs. S joked that the girl at the counter was the same girl from the 1930s when the place opened — some sort of mineral bath vampire. She didn’t even have to change her dress. Anyway, the water is a rust-brown color and effervescent and tastes like Alka-Seltzer®. Despite my snarks, it was very relaxing. I noticed later that my pee smelled a lot weirder than after asparagus so the osmosis really works somehow. Incidentally, “taking the cure,” used to be a euphemism for drying out or rehab but in quotes, I guess it means “something else.”

My friend is actually writing about the rest of the trip for the New York Post and I’ll be submitting photos (not that any will be published) so I’ll link to it when it’s time.

We visited Bill and family in Oak Hill where there will be a massive bluegrass festival in mid-July. I’m planning on going.

For my NYC friends, Friday night will be the last Soul Clinic at the Ding Dong Lounge. Be there!

Politics aside: Congrats to Obama. As Atrios notes, hardly anyone mentions the Iraq War when waxing stupid about why Clinton lost. No antiwar vote, no candidate Obama.

TomDispatch posts about a wacky new $80 billion Cyberwar program that would “allow the Air Force to fry any computer on Earth.” Crime doesn’t pay… unless you’re a politician or a military consultant.