Park – Bradley Farless

West Harlem Piers Last Tuesday

August 24, 2014September 4, 2021 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

Seagull sitting on a pylon at the West Harlem Piers

There’s a Fairways grocery right next to this pier, so when we go there to shop we like to walk out on the pier and look around for a while. The view is amazing! The Fairways there is pretty cool too, by the way. They have a huge room that is completely refrigerated. It’s odd because it’s like walking down a normal grocery store aisle, but there’s yogurt and butter sitting on the shelf.

Downtown-facing View from West Harlem Piers

Anyway, there’s a great view of the New Jersey side of the river from the pier. The view of downtown isn’t as good as what you see from Riverbank State Park on 138th – 137th Street, and it’s certainly not as good as the view from the middle of the George Washington Bridge, but it’s nice. The breeze is nice, especially on the pier over the water, and there are shaded benches to sit down on.

While we were there we saw two guys boxing. Some people were reading. Others were just passing through, like us. One really interesting old man was putting together a homemade kite using disposable wooden chopsticks (like from take-out) and a plastic take-out bag with the smiley face on it. It seemed to be working for him; he just couldn’t catch the breeze before we left to go to Fairways.

I love how the city is installing these small parks all along the waterfront. Last year this section was closed off. You see, it’s part of the Hudson River Greenway, a long running and biking track that will eventually encircle the entire island of Manhattan and link up with bridge paths leading to other cycling and running trails in other boroughs. I also thought the historical information presented on plaques mounted on the railing of the northern pier was a nice touch. It gives a brief history of the area and how it was used as a market. I didn’t really understand the short phrases on what looked like chopped up road signs in the greenery right across the street from Fairways though. There’s not enough context.

I’d really like to get bicycles for myself and my wife so we can spend an afternoon cycling around Manhattan, literally. Maybe next year. Summer is drawing to a close. We didn’t do as much as we wanted, but we did enough and we had fun, relaxed, and recharged.

Classes start again on Thursday. My first class of the semester is Friday, and then there’s a long weekend.

My “Terrorist in the Park” Look

July 7, 2014September 4, 2021 Bradley Farless1 Comment

My wife and I spent yesterday afternoon sitting in Fort Tryon Park enjoying the sunshine, the fresh air and the energy of the people all around us. It was refreshing. Very refreshing. I can’t remember the last time I just went to a park to sit down and relax. Granted, I did do reading for the class I’m taking, but it was still a better experience than sitting in a stuffy library or at my desk at home.

Anyway, when I was looking at these photos later, I realized that I really need to trim my beard. I look like a stereotypical TV terrorist with those dark sunglasses. I even have the Captain America red-white-and-blue shirt to prove how American I am, and how I’m just an average American. Nothing to see here!

Walking Down the Hudson River

July 4, 2014 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

The city is so green and amazing now! I thought it was really interesting that there is a gardening club in Riverside Park. Lots of people were helping out. I wonder if something like that could ever take off in the Washington Heights section of the Hudson Greenway?

The Hudson River

A man selling balloons outside Riverbank State Park

Seen from Riverside Drive

An old bus that someone is living in.

The pedestrian path along Riverside Drive

Riverside Park gardens.

Flowers in the Riverside Drive gardens.

Sail boat on the Hudson River

Riverside Park

Woman walking dogs in Riverside Park

Riverside Park

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Memorial in Riverside Park

Fort Tryon Park and the Cloisters

June 27, 2014September 4, 2021 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

The ice cream truck. We each got a vanilla sugar cone. It was that kind of day.

A woman doing an oil painting of the scenery.

Jewish kids playing.

A view of the Hudson River.

The Cloisters.

My wife and I have been taking some time to go out for long walks while I’m not so swamped with classwork. Central Park is nice, but we live a lot closer to Fort Tryon Park, which is also an awesome place to visit. We can walk there from where we live and the park itself has some great views of the Hudson River and The Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art that houses a large part of the museum’s medieval collection.

We walked around there on a Saturday afternoon. Since it was a Saturday afternoon, the park was full of Jewish people relaxing for Shabbat. We saw families sitting on benches, walking together, taking in the view, and kids playing. There were groups of people on picnic blankets and some playing games.

My wife and I would like to go back and have a picnic. Maybe we can pull that off this weekend.

A Dance Parade, Protesters, Painters & People Stealing Garbage

May 17, 2014 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

People protesting something going on in Turkey.

A crazy guy dancing with a toilet seat. He usually does this by the large black cube at Astor Place. — A crazy guy dancing with the molding from a van window, I think. He usually does this by the large black cube at Astor Place.

This guy was taking a break from dancing to the tune of a nearby Buddhist meditation group. Shortly after this, he took a bag of trash from the public bin and walked away with it.

This is Francis Virella. He wants to make it big as an artist.

Today, there were all sorts of things going on in Union Square. We just happened to be walking through and saw a crazy guy dancing, another crazy guy stealing a bag of garbage from a public trash can, had a conversation with a guy that wants to make it big as an artist, and then wandered into a dance parade. It was a lot of fun, and the random, amazingly entertaining things that you can just stumble into is one of the reasons I love New York City.

You can see the rest of the parade photos, in a higher resolution in my Flickr gallery by clicking HERE.

The Cloisters (Metropolitan Museum of Art – Medieval Gallery)

August 31, 2013September 4, 2021 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

The Cloisters is the medieval art branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, located in Fort Tryon Park in upper Manhattan. The building that houses the galleries is an amazing conglomeration of multiple monasteries from Europe that were crated up, shipped here to New York, and then reconstructed on site using a mix of original and modern materials. The attempt was well done and walking through the Cloisters feels like walking through an old monastery. There’s a main chapel, a smaller chapel, gardens and exhibit halls. The gardens are full of growing herbs and plants that were used during the medieval period, from nightshade to hops.

Going to the Cloisters is a pretty short trip. You can easily see everything in a day, and that’s if you take your time walking around and reading all of the inscriptions. The Met advertises that you can pay at either the main branch or the Cloisters and then access both branches in the same day, but I think that’s a bit of stretch, unless you do it on a Friday or Saturday, when the main building doesn’t close until 9 PM. Also, keep in mind that the prices listed at the entrance are “suggested” prices, meaning that’s what they recommend. You don’t have to pay that much to get in, so if you’re a little tight for cash, you can give them a dollar or two and they’ll still let you in.

Another great thing about the Cloisters is the park it’s located in. Fort Tryon park has some great views. Unlike most parts of Central Park, Fort Tryon Park is extremely hilly, with lots of paths, stairs, and great places for photo opportunities. When my wife and I went to the Cloisters, we rode the bus in from the train station, but on the way out we walked through the park. We’re looking forward to going back to the Cloisters in the near future, but we’re looking forward to exploring the park just as much.

The Hudson River Greenway

August 12, 2013September 4, 2021 Bradley Farless1 Comment

I’ve started taking long walks for exercise purposes. While I’m out, I usually listen to the news using a new app I found called Umano (which is pretty cool, by the way), but still, looking at the same scenery over and over gets old, so I’m always looking for new places to go. Normally, I walk down Riverside Drive and head south along the river, past Riverbank State Park. Saturday, my wife and I took a detour and discovered the Hudson River Greenway.

My wife and I had seen the Greenway before, from Riverbank State Park, which is completely elevated, but we didn’t know how to actually access the area. The Greenway is a route that follows the edge of Manhattan island and caters to cyclists, joggers and walkers. There are plenty of places to picnic and barbecue along the way, as well.

So, Saturday, my wife and I were walking down Riverside Drive when I saw a woman walking up a set of steps that led down towards the highway. We’d always wondered where those stairs go, but the area looks a little creepy, so we never went down to check. The woman told us the stairs lead down towards a park, so we decided to take a chance and headed down the steps. The path led to a set of metal stairs at the on-ramp for the Hudson River Parkway at 158th Street and at the bottom of the steps, we found the Greenway.

We went right, only because we were hoping for good views of the George Washington Bridge. We didn’t realize how long the path is, or how much stuff there is down there. There are parks, camp areas, tennis courts, basketball courts, and there are areas under construction that look like they’re going to be really nice sitting areas.

Kudzu (aka Japanese Arrowroot) killing flora in New York City. I didn’t realize this stuff had spread this far north. Common sight in Georgia.

The George Washington Bridge and New Jersey Shore

People on an outcropping of rock looking at the George Washington Bridge

The Little Red Lighthouse under the George Washington Bridge

We didn’t leave for our walk until late. We didn’t expect to find an interesting trail to follow, and while we were down there, it started to get dark. It’s a little spooky down there when the sun starts to go down. There are places along the trail where the brush is hollowed out like people (or animals) are living there. I was really surprised at how many people there are using the trail, though, and how even after dark women were walking through there alone. I don’t think I’d want to walk there alone at night.

We followed the trail under the George Washington Bridge, where it doubled back on itself and headed up to street level, and then we headed back home through the city. The walk was really fun and not too tiring at all. And, we discovered that the neighborhood around the George Washington Bridge is really, really nice. We saw a few new restaurants we’d like to try. I suppose that’s one of the great things about going out for walks. It helps you discover cool stuff in and around your neighborhood.

An Evening Walk Down Riverside Drive in Manhattan

August 4, 2013 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

View of the Hudson River from Riverbank State Park

I sort of let myself fall off the exercise wagon while struggling with other commitments, so now that Summer session classes are over, I’m taking August to try to get myself together. That involves a lot of sorting, organizing, shopping, bill paying, appointment scheduling, and, of course, getting myself back into shape. I’m not going to be a hero and try to go from barely being active for two and a half months to dropping 5ks like they’re nothing, so I’m starting out with long walks first. This is definitely a great neighborhood for it, both in terms of scenery and because the area is hilly, rather than flat, making walks more physically challenging.

We walked down Riverside Drive from about 168th Street, where Columbia University Medical Center is and eventually wound up in Riverbank State Park, which is the nicest park I’ve seen in New York City, other than Central Park. The facilities are probably better than those at Central Park, though, since they’re newer. We saw an Olympic-sized running oval, a skating rink, and somewhere in that park there’s also a pool. We’re looking forward to going back and spending some time there. I bet that oval makes for good running, that’s easy on the knees.

A view of New Jersey from Riverside Drive

George Washington Bridge

A set of train tracks that run along the river.

Riverside Drive

Creepy looking stairs off Riverside Drive. Not sure where they go.

Interesting building on Riverside Drive.

No idea what these are. They’re just inside the park at the 145th Street entrance.

George Washington Bridge as seen from Riverbank Park

Looking back toward Manhattan from Riverbank Park

View of New Jersey from Riverside Drive

Classes start again at the end of the month, so hopefully I can make the most out of my time!

Washington Square Park

June 16, 2012 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

My mother’s side of the family has lived in New York City since my great-grandmother immigrated here from Spain (via Puerto Rico) in 1930. Ever since I was a kid, I came here to visit family every summer and then, about every 2 to 3 years. My family has always lived in the East Village and I remember when I used to step out on the streets in the morning and see used syringes in the cracks, but I don’t recall that I’ve ever been to Washington Square Park before last Wednesday.

It’s possible. They’ve renovated it a lot recently. In fact, they were still doing renovations on about half the park when I went through there last week, but I’m pretty sure I’d remember that big arch at the entrance.

Washington Square Park is a really nice, quiet, classy type of area. It’s surrounded by NYU buildings so the crowd is diverse but generally classy. It’s the type of place I’d want to go for an afternoon of reading or people watching. I wish I had more time for that, but lately I’m always so busy.

Graffiti At the Somerset MRT Skate-Park

April 18, 2010 Bradley Farless5 Comments

The most used entrance and exit for the Somerset MRT station is the one that opens into the new 313 @ Somerset mall. Even before that mall was there, that entrance was still the most used since it opened onto Orchard Road, which is the main shopping strip in Singapore. I actually never even knew there was another entrance and exit until I was directed to go back into that area to find an iPhone armband for jogging at the SingTel store.

The area that surrounds that MRT entrance is very green, with tall trees and lots of grass. There’s also a skate park there. It has half-pipes, rails and ramps, at least that I noticed. It looked like a good place for people to hang out. The idea of skateboarding there wasn’t what caught my attention though; it was the graffiti.

Graffiti isn’t something you see in Singapore all that much to start with, and you definitely don’t see graffiti of the quality that’s on display in this skate park. As we passed by I snapped a few shots.

I don’t have a problem with graffiti. I think it’s pretty cool, as long as it’s tastefully done on public areas, rather than people’s businesses or personal property. It’s a great method of self expression and goes a long way towards cultivating artistic talents.