On the 6th of this month, my wife and I met up with friends of ours to check out an exhibit on children’s books at the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue. I love going to that library! Right now, it’s just a reference library, meaning you can’t check any books out to take home, though there’s a chance that could change soon. There are plans being made to move a lot of the reference works to a storage facility in New Jersey and open up the area that is now called “the stacks” to the public as an area with books that can be taken home, though these plans are meeting heavy opposition from scholars who have filed lawsuits to block the removal of reference materials from the site.
The Fifth Avenue library branch regularly shows exhibits with different themes. Last year, we went to see an exhibit on old Automat restaurants. I think you’d call them restaurants anyway. The exhibit we saw this time was on children’s books.
I wasn’t expecting much, but I was surprised by how well the exhibit was set up and the diversity of books on display.
Dick and Jane!
A Japanese Faerie Tale
They had everything from traditional American textbooks to Hindu comic books to Japanese faerie tales.
Little Golden Books in a case shaped like a Giant Golden Box
A few of the books on display were books I remembered reading as a kid, like the Little Golden Books series. Most were older. Some were a lot newer, though, like the Harry Potter series. I’ve seen the movies and I’d like to read those books when I get a chance too. According to the display, Harry Potter books are the fastest selling of all time. My wife says it’s because the books appeal to kids, teens and adults, so the audience buying them is a lot bigger. Makes sense to me.
I’ve always been fascinated by books. I guess that’s a good thing, considering the field I chose to pursue in college. I just placed an order for 17 books for one master’s history class for this Fall semester. Woot woot! I have so many books I’ve run out of shelves to put them on. I’ve given away lots of books to charity in the past when my collection became too cumbersome to take with me when moving, but this time most of my books are history books or books on religion, politics, sociology and anthropology. In other words, they’re all books I’ll probably need in the future as a student and teacher. I suppose there are worse things to have too many of in your house!
Gallery of more photos from the children’s book exhibit:
A book on doll making.
Technology and Progress, Comrade!
A Hebrew Alef-Bet Book. Alef and Bet are the first letters of the Hebrew Alphabet.
A 1928 Soviet Central Asian textbook. Turkic written in Arabic Script.
Japanese faerie tales.
A Japanese Faerie Tale
A strange Alice in Wonderland puppet with a neck that extends and retracts.
A strange Alice in Wonderland puppet with a neck that extends and retracts.
The original Winnie the Pooh and Friends
A page from a previously banned book that depicts the marriage of a white rabbit to a black rabbit, called The Rabbits’ Wedding by Garth Williams, originally published in 1958.
Superman #79
Where the Wild Things Are
Little Golden Books in a case shaped like a Giant Golden Box
168th Street Subway Platform With Open Vaulted Ceiling
Today I went down to the 1 train platform at 168th Street in Manhattan to catch the train to 137th Street City College for a Summer class I’m taking. I really love the station. There’s something cool about the high, vaulted ceiling and the old ceiling mount where it looks like an electric chandelier used to hang. I can almost imagine how it used to look, and how it might look if the vaulted ceiling were renovated and covered with murals depicting New York City’s past. But, even if they never renovated it (except for structural repairs) there’s just something cool about a subway station that has street lamps and pedestrian bridges that go over the tracks.
Steel girders covering the previously open vaulted section of the station.
So, it was with great disappointment that I discovered earlier today that the city is renovating the station. By renovating, I don’t mean they’re improving on the already dramatic and exceptional appearance of the subway station. They’re covering the vaulted ceiling with a low ceiling instead. After the space and atmosphere the platform had, the low hanging girders make the space feel extremely claustrophobic.
Section of 168th Street Subway Station With a Low Ceiling
One end of the platform already has a low ceiling and I always avoided it, because the vaulted ceiling helped me forget that I was so far underground I had to take an elevator to get there. This station has no stairs or escalators.
An old light fixture mount, probably for an electric chandelier.
I suppose they’ll close in the pedestrian bridge and make it look like any other subway station pedestrian tunnel, with those cheap, small, public-restroom-yellow tiles. They’ll cover the vaulted ceiling and replace it with something low and plain. They’ll cover up a part of New York City’s history instead of bringing it into focus.
What are they planning on doing with that extra space? Are they just going to turn it into storage? Or seal it off completely? Sometimes things have to be done for the sake of progress, but I just don’t see the point here. It’s not like they have to minimize the space to install air conditioning. This isn’t Singapore or Japan, after all, and our fares are barely enough to pay the top executives, let alone improve the system in any meaningful way.
I hope I’m wrong. I hope they’re just setting up those steel girders for safety while they renovate the ceiling and improve the station, but considering how big the girders are and how they perfectly align with the bottom of the pedestrian bridge, I’m sure I’m wrong. Instead of improving the transit system, the city is only making my commute worse by turning a vaulted and spacious station into a low-ceilinged, claustrophobia-inducing crevice in the earth that I will have to endure daily during my commute. Isn’t it enough already that there are no stairs or escalators and we’re forced to use elevators to get out of the station?
When my wife and I lived in Singapore, we saw cats walking around all the time. The locals call them “community cats.” That has a nice ring to it. It sounds a lot better than calling them “strays,” which implies that any cat not in a home is outside of its natural habitat. Cats can be friendly outside as well as inside and add character to a neighborhood, as long as they’re properly maintained, and from what I remember of Singapore, they were definitely well cared for. Fat little guys, always lounging on the void decks underneath the HDBs. =)
Anyway, I don’t want to get into that whole debate, really. I was just reminded of it a few days ago when I was walking down Audubon Avenue on my way home from the bakery and saw a black cat hanging out on the sidewalk. I don’t think this cat was really a stray, because she was just too fat and friendly, and she wasn’t scared of anyone. Maybe people around here just like cats. Who knows? Regardless, it brightened up my day.
When I reached down to pet her, she stuck her head up. Then she tried to play with my watch band and rolled over to swat at my hand. Very friendly cat! I hope someone is taking good care of her! She reminds me of my own black cat, Thumper, except she has a long tail. Thumper is from Singapore, so her tail is naturally short.
My wife and I recently moved uptown to the Washington Heights area. I can’t tell you how great it is to be out of the Lower East Side. I’m sure that may sound odd, since the Lower East Side is the hip and happening place to be, but it’s also noisy as hell, full of drunks, and groceries are exceptionally overpriced. We have a nice quiet apartment on the back of a building now, it’s quiet outside after 10PM, and we have easy access to necessary stores and transportation.
Before moving up here, I’d never been to this neighborhood before. I was even surprised to see that Manhattan could have hills. I like it, though. The different elevations of the buildings adds a lot of character to the neighborhood. Speaking of character, the buildings in this part of the city are fascinating to look at, too. A lot of the stuff downtown is new construction. I prefer older architecture. I’m looking forward to taking some time later this summer to just walk around and take photos. That’s one of the things I love about New York City in general: there’s never a lack of things to do or see.
Anyway, these are some photos that I took with my iPhone a few days ago when my wife and I went on an impromptu stroll down Riverside Drive and some of the surrounding streets. Great view! I’m looking forward to going back when I have an actual camera with me.
Enclosed bridges at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and bridge on-ramps for the George Washington Bridge in the background.
Me, hanging out in a small clearing by the Riverside Drive Dog Run. That’s the George Washington Bridge in the background.
George Washington Bridge
Highway near Yankee Stadium and Yeshiva University Exit
Riverside Drive
The George Washington Bridge
Riverside Drive
On Riverside Drive
The rusted out, broken down playground below street level on Riverside Drive.
A view of 158th Street from Riverside Drive
A view of 158th Street from Riverside Drive
Housing on Riverside Drive. I like the hills in the neighborhood. Gives the place character and visual appeal.
The courtyard of a building. I don’t remember exactly where in Washington Heights this was, but it was close to Riverside Drive.
Quick story…
While walking down Riverside Drive there, we ran into a guy who was sitting on the ledge. You can probably see him in the photo I took while still under the shade of the trees. As we walked by, I noticed him giving my wife the up-and-down so I said, “Hello there. How are you?” He looked at me and started screaming about CIA surveillance. He might not have made the connection, but even if he didn’t, he’s still a nut job. We moved along at a brisk pace.
On Sunday afternoon, my wife and I were by the United Nations to take advantage of a Groupon deal I got for the Indigo Indian Bistro on East 50th Street. We didn’t realize the place closed for a while after lunch and before dinner, so we found ourselves standing in the cold with an hour and a half to kill.
I thought about going to the United Nations for a tour, since we were right next to it, but it looked like it was closed too. There weren’t even flags up on the poles. So, we started walking around. First, we poked our heads in at the Japan Society to see if there was anything going on (and to warm up a bit), but they were just finishing up a New Year’s celebration for kids. Then we went next door to look in the Holy Family Church. The building is really weird looking from the outside.
Turns out it’s a Catholic church. It’s sort of nice inside. The giant Jesus on the wall above the priest leading the service was a little scary looking. It made me think about the conflict inherent in the concept of a trinity model of monotheism, and whether or not a distant and cold concept of God was being replaced by the warm and gentle spirit of a man, someone that people could understand and empathize with. That’s a subject for another post, though. I’ve been doing a lot of theological reading that I’ve been slowly digesting, mentally.
Sculpture of an angel (I think)
After warming up in the church foyer, we went back out to find our next opportunity for passing time. As we were walking away, I noticed a side path that led into a garden that was covered in snow and ice. We figured it was worth a few minutes to go in and look around.
Frozen waterfall in the Holy Family Church garden.
What really peaked my interest was the fact that the garden pool was covered in a layer of ice and snow, and so was the artificial waterfall. I don’t suppose there’s anything unusual about a waterfall icing over in winter, but it’s not something I really expected to see in the middle of Manhattan; not even an artificial one. So, I think the unexpectedness of seeing what I didn’t expect to see made it more worth seeing, if that makes any sense. I’ve also always enjoyed religious settings and architecture, of a certain type. The more solemn and thoughtful type. I’ve always thought religion should be a solemn, thoughtful and meaningful thing.
When we were on our way back from our vacation in Georgia, I realized that I’d accidentally selected a return flight that would have us landing at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. I didn’t realize this until we were at Hartford International Airport in Atlanta, checking in. I couldn’t figure it out at first. When I picked these tickets, I’d selected to see only flights for “NYC” on the website. Why would the Delta site show Newark in New Jersey as a NYC airport? It’s not even the same state!
AirTrain Newark Description
So, while we were sitting in Hartford, waiting on our flight, we had to do a quick check to see what sort of transportation was available from Newark into the city. I did NOT want to spend 70+ dollars on a taxi. Luckily, there was another, affordable option: the AirTrain. On the website, it looked fairly new and the tickets weren’t that expensive. It’s been a few weeks, but I think they were only 11 dollars apiece to get to Penn Station.
The thing is, the site is a little misleading. I saw that shiny train and thought that’s what was going to take us to Penn Station. The reality is that it just drops you off at another train platform where you get on this old-timey looking train where conductors come through the cabs hollering to see your tickets.
Old NJ Transit train from Newark to Penn Station.
I couldn’t help but think of that scene in the Indiana Jones movie where Jones threw the bad guy off the zeppelin and then told the stunned crowd that he didn’t have his ticket.
We had our tickets!Train tickets clipped to the back of the seat in front of us.
It wasn’t a bad experience. It’s really convenient, even. But, from now on I’ll definitely be double-checking that the travel websites are actually showing me NYC airports that are in NYC. Landing at Newark, as opposed to landing at LGA, added about an hour to our total travel time.
The National September 11 Memorial in New York City is still under construction, but my wife and I decided to head down there and look around earlier this week. We’re going down to Georgia this coming week for the holidays and a relative asked us to take some photos of the site for her. We’d been meaning to go, so that was a great opportunity for us to stop being lazy and get off our butts and head downtown.
When we got there, I was a little concerned that we wouldn’t be able to get in. There were signs posted in the surrounding streets that said that tickets were available online and in limited quantities at the 9/11 Memorial Site Preview office on Vessey Street between Church Street and Broadway, across the street from St. Paul’s Chapel. Luckily, when we got to the office, we were informed that there were free tickets from the 2:30 PM entry to the WTC site. It was about 2:05 PM at the time, so I guess they were passing out the extras that didn’t sell. I have no idea why the tickets were free, really, except that it probably had something to do with lack of demand at that time of day on a Thursday the week before Christmas. It seems as though you get a ticket that’s good for entry to the site only at a certain time. I assume they expect people to leave after a certain amount of time and the tickets being separated by an hour keeps the site from becoming too crowded.
The line for security screening at the World Trade Center site.Pictures on the wall in the security screening room.
After we got our tickets we had to walk down Church Street, which turns into Trinity Place, until we got to Thames Street, where we made a right. The entry to the site is at the corner of Albany and Greenwich Streets. Getting into the site is a long process. First, we had to show our tickets of course. Then, since there wasn’t much of a crowd, we walked past the back-and-forth roped off area for long lines and went straight to the line for security screening. While we were waiting, I joked that we were going to get free sexual assaults along with our free tickets and if we were suspicious (like most people are), maybe a free cavity search, MRI and X-Ray. Luckily, the airport style security screening went fairly quickly. The only interesting thing that happened was when one of the guards was complaining to her coworker that another guard never took a turn at the door directing people to the metal detector lines. I imagine the guard in question was avoiding that particular job because it was cold out that day.
The entire area of the National September 11 Memorial is sealed off from the rest of the city by security fences. After getting tickets, walking to the entry area, and then following the lines, by the time we actually walked into the site itself, we had almost gone all the way around it in a circle. It would be nice if at some point the site could be truly free and open, so people could walk through the area and look at the monuments, like any other monument in the country, but people are still so afraid of terrorism that it’s likely the site will stay walled off. Then, of course, there’s also the fact that the city wants to use it as a way to make money, charging an admission. To me, that seems borderline disrespectful, that the city wants to use a tragedy that caused the deaths of almost 3000 people and the injury of about 6000 more as an opportunity to make a buck. It also seems to defeat the purpose of building the memorial, which I assumed was meant to be a testament to the strength and power of the country, as well as a memorial for those who died in the terrorist attack. Instead, our testament to the strength of our country will remain hidden behind fences and barriers. It’s tough to say whether or not those barriers are necessary. On the one hand, it would be a symbolic victory for terrorists to strike the site again. On the other, the monuments in Washington DC don’t have fences and guards around them and they’re just fine.
September 11 Memorial Plaza
During Winter, the memorial site is a pretty chilly place, both figuratively and literally. With no tall buildings in the area, the wind rips through the plaza non-stop. The reflecting pools are sunk down into the ground and the wind was getting caught down in the north pool, turning the water falling down the sides into a fine mist that blew across the plaza, adding to the chill. The leaves on the trees were brown and falling. The sky was overcast. Everything looked a little grey.
World Trade Center Memorial, South Reflecting PoolWorld Trade Center Memorial, South Reflecting PoolWorld Trade Center Memorial, South Reflecting PoolWorld Trade Center Memorial, South Reflecting Pool
My wife and I went in different directions around the south reflecting pool. I took my time, taking photos, looking down into the hole that used to be a foundation, looking at some of the names on the railing that surrounded the pool. The only word I can think of to describe the mood of the place is that it was not depressing, but sort of subdued. But, it should be a little subdued. I don’t know that the place will ever be one where people go to picnic and laugh during my lifetime. Maybe. Maybe in 60 years, when the memories have faded and most of the people who were alive at the time have passed on.
Construction surrounded the September 11 Memorial Site.The September 11 Memorial Museum that hasn’t opened yet.
Because of the construction going on all around the site, it was hard to appreciate the place for its architectural beauty. One World Trade Center isn’t even finished yet. The museum on the site hasn’t opened yet either. I remember reading that there was some delay due to money problems. I’m looking forward to going back again in a year or so, hopefully during the summer or spring. My wife was impressed by the reflecting pools, but she was mostly too cold to enjoy the trip like she wanted to. She wants to go back again, too, when it’s warmer. Maybe we’ll get lucky and get some more free tickets!
Some random guy photobombing my shot.The 9/11 Memorial Motorcycle in the Gift Shop
Last Thursday my wife and I went downtown to the National September 11 Memorial site. To get to it, we had to walk past St. Paul’s Chapel and Cemetery and my wife was interested in having a look around, so we went in. I’ve been there a few times before, but it was her first time. She remembered hearing about the chapel in the news and wanted to see it first-hand.
St. Paul’s Cemetery
We walked through the cemetery first. She was impressed by how old the headstones are. I am too. It’s weird to see gravestones still erect for people that died in the 1760s next to so many buildings of modern construction. It’s so out of place. It’s nice to see that the chapel and the cemetery survived and weren’t torn down to build something new, especially in considering the important role the chapel played during the September 11th tragedy, when rescue and aid workers used the sanctuary as a place to rest and recover for a few hours before going back out to look for survivors again.
Memorial to September 11 Victims in St. Paul’sGeorge Washington’s Pew at St. Paul’sOldest painted seal of the United States
When you walk through the chapel, it’s hard to not be touched by the memorials set up around the outer edge, artifacts left behind by people looking for loved ones mixed in with older stuff, like George Washington’s pew and what is touted as the oldest painting of the seal of the United States, which looks more like a turkey than an eagle, probably due to influence from Benjamin Franklin, who wanted the national bird to be the turkey. On a side note, it’s good that he didn’t get his way, or else what would we eat on Thanksgiving? It would be a federal crime to roast our turkeys!
Rosaries on wooden hands in St. Paul’s ChapelRosaries on wooden hands at St. Paul’s Chapel
Seriously, though, on my previous trip I never really stopped to considering and think about the people in the photos set up on the alters, or the stuff that was moved inside from where it used to be posted on the fences around the church. It’s hard to stand there and think about the people, on an individual level, that died there that day. It’s easy when you’ve only got this vague idea in your head of some 3000 people. It’s harder when you look at the photos and wonder what their life was like and who they left behind. Who cried for them? What were there final moments like? How has the event changed the lives and world views of those closest to them?
Police and Search and Rescue unit patches left behind as symbols of solidaritySanctuary of St. Paul’s Chapel
The informational plaques were nice. It helped tell the story of the place. It explained why there are no pews left in the center of the building, and where all the patches on the priest’s garment (I forget the actual name of it) came from.
Pilgrimage Altar at St. Paul’s Chapel
I thought the “Pilgrimage Altar” was especially interesting. Is St. Paul’s a site of pilgrimage now? It’s hard to think of it that way, in the same category as Canterbury, Santiago de Compostela, or Jerusalem. But perhaps it is a place of pilgrimage in a broader sense of the word. People were encouraged to leave behind thoughts and prayers for those who perished at the nearby Trade Center site, which they did, covering the altar in notes.
St. Paul’s is an important site of remembrance that has surpassed its role as a Christian church. It is now a site of tourism and pilgrimage for people of all faiths or no faith, to remember the loss suffered by so many on that day, to contemplate how the world changed, and maybe to hope for something better in the future.
Holiday decorations inside the 5 Napkin Restaurant at 14th Street
I don’t remember exactly when the place opened, but for the past few months the 5 Napkin Burger restaurant has been full of people almost every time I’ve gone by. The smells of cooking hamburgers wafting out of the restaurant onto 14th Street made it hard to walk by without getting hungry. So, it wasn’t much of a surprise when my mom asked me and my wife to take her there for her birthday dinner.
Christmas ornaments hanging from the pipes on the ceilingChalk board covered with drawings, including a flask and Bunsen burner.
The holiday decorations inside the restaurant are nice. It felt festive. My wife pointed this out to me later, but it looks like the restaurant has a biology lab decor underneath the Christmas decorations. I don’t really get it. Is the implication supposed to be that they’ve used science to perfect their burger recipes? It feels like a bit of a mental stretch and personally I don’t want to think about biology labs or what might be festering in Petri dishes while eating.
My mom and I opted for the signature 5 Napkin Burger. I figured I might as well get what should be their best dish. My wife opted for the steak and eggs. I was tempted to join her. We’ve been watching King of the Hill on Netflix and the night before we’d seen an episode about Hank, his propane and propane accessories and grilling steaks.
The 5N burger costs about 15 bucks. That’s steep, but they do give you a very, very large portion of food. I cleared the plate but my mom took half of her burger home for dinner. I should have done the same because later I wound up with a stomach ache that left me incapacitated on the couch for about two hours. The burger sat in my stomach like a lead weight for most of the day and then just sort of knocked me down for a while late in the evening. Luckily, everything cleared up the next day. If you know what I mean.
Anyway, the food quality is decent. According to the missus, the steak and eggs were good, but she’s had better. She said the portion was a good size, but it wasn’t extraordinary and the quality wasn’t comparable to the price. The 5N burger itself was tasty, but the portion was so big it was hard to hold it all together, especially when the juices from the meat started to run out onto my hand. Not that I’m advocating dry burgers, but I think the whole thing would come together better if the portion was just a more… normal size. The heavy garlic butter stuff (I forget the fancy name) along with the extra juiciness (grease?) and the lack of vegetables in the burger caused it to have a very unbalanced taste, and it might also be what led to my discomfort later in the day.
Some bizarre “cocktail” that tasted like flat champagne and cost 10 dollars.
The worst part of the meal was this holiday cocktail that was supposed to be a mix of champagne, some essence of elder flower, mulled ginger and some other essence of something that came in a tiny glass (that I got charged 10 bucks for…) and tasted like flat champagne. The only bubbles in the glass were coming from the interaction between the ‘champagne’ and the translucent slice of ginger in the bottom of the glass, which didn’t seem to help the taste of the drink at all. I can’t figure out why it cost so much, either. Do essences of stuff that add no flavor to a drink cost a lot? It certainly wasn’t costly because of the size of the drink. We mentioned the lack of taste to what I assume was a manager, since I think I remember him wearing a suit, and he said he appreciated the suggestion.
The best part of the meal was the onion rings. I’d go back for the onion rings. The chunks of onion are big and they’re not buried in batter. When I bit into them I could taste the onion and the batter instead of heavy oil. The other good thing about the meal was the service, up until the end when we were getting ready to leave. Some server had added an extra table to the booth across from where we were sitting that took up more than half of the walking space, so when we were trying to get out and leave, waiters and waitresses kept asking us to move out of their way. It was slightly annoying.
Thinking about the meal as a whole, we didn’t dislike it at the time. We didn’t have a ‘bad’ experience. I mean, no one left the restaurant upset, angry or disappointed. But, I don’t know that I’d want to go back and get what might be another mediocre steak and eggs or heavy (flavor-wise) burger, or flat champagne cocktail, all of which are highly (over) priced, just to get good onion rings. With three entrees, three sodas, one cocktail and two extra sides of onion rings, plus a tip, our bill wound up being 98 dollars. We could probably have been just as happy for half of the cost at any number of other burger places. So, while I think 5 Napkin is a decent meal, it’s not a decent meal that’s worth the price and I don’t think we’ll going back.
Yesterday (Tuesday, December 12th), I was surprised to see this man standing on the corner of 137th Street and Hamilton Place in Harlem, Manhattan, just down the hill from the City College of New York CUNY and P.S. 325, a public elementary school.
When I walked up to the corner, a man standing by the vendor cart that’s usually there at the base of the hill selling drinks and snacks was screaming at this old guy, “No! You go to Hell!” I couldn’t hear what the old man was saying clearly because I had headphones on, but I imagine he was saying, “No, you!” or something like that. I don’t know if the guy was seriously offended by the old man’s sign, or if he was just doing it to agitate the old guy.
More than anything, I was wondering what happened that made this guy do this? And who is his intended audience? The only real foot traffic in the area that’s constant all day long is the flow of students to and from CCNY. So, does he equate higher learning with sin? And if he does, what higher learning it? All of it, or just the social sciences and humanities? And if he condemns all education, then … well, it would be ironic since he knows how to read and write, so I’m sure it’s something more specific than that. It had to be personal though. He wasn’t handing out literature like the religious dealers that peddle pamphlets using signs that threaten eternal torture.
He wasn’t there today. At least, not when I walked through there. I’d never seen him before, either. I’m really not surprised. This is New York City after all. There’s always someone screaming about the apocalypse, screaming at someone, screaming at an imaginary person, etc. etc. At least he had his pants on.
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