080224 Walk
This one took forever to upload and to gather the images together (today’s date, 080313). Sorry for the delay.
Interesting/silly facts about today’s walk.
Route: Battery Park, up Church Street to Canal St., back to W. Broadway, and up 6th Avenue to 8th Street over to Astor Place.
Start / Finish Time (approx.): 12:00pm to 4:00pm
Weather: COLD! Again, low 30’s, sunny and breezy, some snow left on the ground
Steps Taken (approx.): unknown
Mileage (approx.): Actual 3.4+
Photos Taken: 214
Money Found: $.08
I decided that I would finish 6th Avenue by starting from the south end and work my way up to where I finished the first walk (080216). This was a good idea especially since the Church that I attended was very near the tip of Manhattan. I went to Faith Exchange, which was on South Broadway, between Trinity Place/Church St. and Rector, near Wall St. and Battery Park. So I headed south to Battery Park, so I could start at the very beginning of Greenwich Street which turns into Trinity Place and then into Church Street. I got a glimpse of the Hudson River through Battery Park before I turned around and headed north. I passed the building the church is in and then Trinity Church (Episcopal). I got quite a few good shots of it. It is a great subject, especially how it juxtaposes all the modern and ultra modern skyscrapers that surround it. Quite a lovely brownstone building.
Continuing on I got to the World Trade Center site. As an observation, it is hard to tell what is going on there with what looks like a disorganized mess of construction equipment and materials. I wish I had more to say about this, but I don’t have much to report. It is just a sad reminder of what happened six and one half years ago. I took a few photos of it and the fire station across from the site (probably not shown in the gallery below).
Moving on, I pass the Cross that was found at the WTC (see pics below). From here the walk got pretty boring. I saw the AT&T building that has absolutely no windows on it. There were a few other interesting bldgs, but not any to write about. I followed Church St. ended and T’ed into Canal Street. There I turned around and went back a few blocks to go back to catch the very beginning of 6th Ave., only to head north again. I crossed Canal and saw the bldg Christi used to work in. Side note: I won’t be mentioning her much, unless I feel it has significance. This one does, because of a few reasons. The first is that I shouldn’t have been able to see that bldgs front door, another bldg had been torn down since the last time I had been in the area. And second was I had some weird feelings when I saw it, having reminders of her. I decided then to completely avoid any area that would possibly remind me of her on these walks, for a while at least.
I had lunch at Cool Bloo, a little take out and delivery place a few blocks north of Canal. The building that it was housed in was probably no wider than about 6 to 6 ½ feet wide, 2 stories and probably 40 or so feet long. On the inside it was no wider than 5 feet. And all this housed a kitchen, cashier counter, spiral stair, bathroom that was out of order and an area where patrons could order. There were windows where customers could order from outside when the weather is warmer. It was quite the site. It is very expensive though. I got a burger (no cheese, that’s always extra) and a chocolate shake for about $14 something. The shake was about $6. I walked up a block to eat at an open space with benches and the sun was shining, so I could at least stay somewhat warm. I couldn’t eat at Cool Bloo, because there was obviously no room, nor seats. It was a pretty good burger and decent shake.
When I was finished with lunch I crossed the street and went back south a few blocks to get a couple of shots that I wanted. I continued north, passing SOHO to my east, and Houston St., ending up between the Village (Greenwich Village) to my east and the West Village to my west. Not much to say about this area (yet, wait ‘til I actually walk them), I did like the urban scale of many of the residential buildings there. I hit the bathroom at a McDonalds. I passed the Supercuts where I ended the previous walk and turned right onto 8th Street (east).
8th St. can feel like forever when walking it and I don’t know why, it’s only really 2 long blocks to Astor Place. I stopped into a few shoe stores looking for a good deal, none that I really liked enough. The shops along this street are anywhere from tattoo parlors, to shoes stores, to some strange club attire shops (clothing), to restaurants, to NYU bldgs. NYU’s main campus, by the way, is between 8th St. to the north, Houston to the south, 6th Ave. to the West and Broadway to the east. Passing 5th Ave. I saw the arch at Washington Square Park (south) and the Empire State Bldg (far north).
The end of my journey today brings me to Astor Place, where Cooper Union, The East Village, NYU students, K-Mart, a SOM (I think?) glass condo tower and St. Marks Place all converge. Playing near the Subway entrance was this bluesie, jazzy, bluegrassish, zydico 3 man band. Each member had there own style. An older black man singing, playing a tin tub, broom stick, string bass, a guitar player of no particular look, but a good musician none-the-less and what seemed to be the band’s leader, playing the keys, a horn on a string around his neck, singing, sporting a suit coat and derby. Though I didn’t recognize what they were playing, they were pretty good, quite entertaining and a very enjoyable end to this day’s walk.
Officially over I go to K-mart to grab a few house hold items that I need and then head home, because I was exhausted.
God Bless,
Brant
