A walk into Summer.Thursday was the official last full day of Spring, the Summer solstice doesn’t arrive in these parts until about 8 pm this evening, and as I walked around town yesterday it appeared that my fellow New Yorkers were making the best of a good thing. The temps were certainly very Springlike hovering in the mid seventies. The skies were mostly blue with an occasional puffy white cloud moving into the back round as if on que from some cosmic director. A perfect backdrop for taking those city skyline pics.     I started my trek at Rockefeller Center. I usually don’t go to these very very tourist laden places because everywhere you point your camera you are pointing it at somebody else with a camera. The area is busy all day from 6 am (the Today TV show starts at seven and people start lining up early for a good spot) to late at night with folks enjoying the view at the Top Of The Rock observation deck or in the plaza restaurants enjoying dinner and an adult beverage. But if one is doing a story on what people in the city are doing then where better to go then where the people are doing it. Get it?There they are. My peeps. I’ll bet you dollars to bagels thatif you yelled out “Hey,how many native New Yorker’s are here” onlytwo people would answer, and they would probably be from New Jersey.The G.E. building or 30 Rock as  it’s known  by those who know, stands tall against an azure sky.O.K. Last Rock Ctr. photo. I like it better in the winter whenthe skaters occupy the plaza.I walked over to Columbus Ave., one of the best people watchingspots in the city, and found these folks relaxing near one of thoseever popular green markets. BTW. The locally grown salmonella-freetomatoes were doing a brisk business.I wasn’t the only one drawn to Central Park yesterday. Thisis a popular place for the locals on lunch hour to relax in thesplendor of the grass. This spot near one of the picturesqueponds is close by the park entrance so one can get in and outfast.A carnival in the park. This is another one of those dual purposevenues. In the winter it’s the Trump skating rink. As the warmweather approaches the rink becomes an old fashion amusementpark. I’ll bet your theme park doesn’t have this view.I heard some cheers and applause coming from somewherebehind me. I walked over to where the noise was coming fromand found myself at the ball fields where a number of softball gameswere in progress. The teams were made up of members of thecasts of Broadway shows who play eachother in the Broadway ShowLeague. The very serious batter shown here is a cast member in”Grease”. They were playing against the cast of “Gypsy”. I don’t knowwho won but the “Greasies” appeared to be beating the “Gypsy’s” rathersoundly.I didn’t want to leave without checking on the verycontroversial carriage horses. I can report that the carriages were out in full muster yesterday as thetemperature was well below the 90 degree cut off. This guy was enjoying a cool drink while waitingfor his next fare. The great annual Coney Island Mermaid parade is on for Saturday. It’s the best photo op day of the year. Lots of color. Lots of crazy costumes and lots of half naked babes. Combine this with sun, hot dogs at Nathan’s and a carnival atomosphere and youv’e got the perfect first day of Summer. I’ll be there and you can check out the pix on Monday. Have a great weekend.  questions or comments?    thebeeceee@hotmail.comwant more photos?       www.brucepix.com Tags: 30 rock, broadway show league, carriage horse, central park, grease, rockefller ctr, softballPosted on Jun. 20th, 2008 at 08:00 am | Link | Leave a comment | Edit Entry | Edit Tags | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Track This 

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  New Yorkers just love their parks. It doesn’t matter if the park is grand like Central Park or Prospect Park in Brooklyn or just one of those little neighborhood patches of green where you can take the kids for a couple of hours, we just love to be able to chill out. This year it seems that New Yorkers have been using  these parks in record numbers. Maybe it’s because the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation under the direction of its commissioner, Adrian Benepe, has been doing an outstanding job in keeping the parks not only clean safe and usable but also beautiful. Whoever is responsible for some of the flowers and plants, even in the small parks, really knows their stuff.  I’ve never seen such a variety of  unusual plants and flowers as I have seen this year. This spring the city was awash in yellow daffodils and every variety of tulip not to mention those terrific African Violet floral arrangements in those planters around town. Even the parks that have traditionally been known as virtual supermarkets for drug sales, prostitution  and other abhorrent behavior, such as Tompkins Square Park, are now not only free of dealers and hookers but have seen the return of moms and kids and even some tourists.
     Yesterday, having really no theme walk in mind, I decided to see what was doing in two of New York’s urban parks.Union square Park on 14th Street and Madison Square Park on 23rd Street. These parks are only about ten blocks apart but are worlds apart as to who patronizes them.
     Union Square park is a place where people go to see and be seen. It’s a place where people go to sell stuff (legally) and to look for deals on arts and crafts. It’s a place where you go to rest your tootsies after a hard day of bargain hunting at one of Union Square’s mega stores or to grab a snack at the very trendy Snack Shack.
     The park at Madison Square (23rd Street) is for people who need a place to take their kids, walk their dogs, eat their lunch or just sit on the grass and listen to a concert. It’s also a place ,that for some reason, manufacturers like to hand out free samples of whatever they are trying to promote. Something to watch out for. In the past few weeks I have obtained samples of Snapple, a low cal chocolate something and an over the counter pain reliever. It’s a bonanza!

Union Square is a great place to start a walking tour of midtown.  
get off the subway at the Union Square station and head south to
Greenwich Village and lower Manhattan.
With all the restaurants in the neighborhood you would think
that the Snack Shack in Madison Sq. park would not be this
busy. The line actually was a block long.

If you’ve got the time they’ve got the game. These guys in
Madison Square park are enjoying a beverage and some chess.


I was waiting for one of these kids to fall in to the pond at the  
north end of Madison Square but it didn’t happen. Mom was just
a foot away.
Getting in some practice time. Who needs a rehearsal studio
when you’ve got a whole park to play in.

WANDERING THE STREETS

a photographers view of the city and beyond

JUN. 15TH, 2008

A walk around the loop….

 A walking tour with a literary start…    From Bryant park to the river, and then some….     Over the past few months, in an effort to make my walks more interesting and to actually give them some purpose or goal, I have developed these little self guided walking tours. Although they are unstructured they all have a set beggining and an end which may or may not be set. As any good walker will tell you, one should be flexible.     Yesterday I started at the subway station at 6th Ave. and 42nd St., Bryant park behind the library, and walked down 42nd St.  past the Chinese mission, past the Tibetan protesters and down to the river. I walked along the river’s edge past the tow impound lot and the heliport to Chelsea Piers. I took a brief rest at the marina and continued on to Chelsea Market on 15th St and eventually cross town to the 8th Ave. “E” train subway station and home. I’m not sure of the exact mileage but it has to be four or five miles anyway. I usually don’t count miles or time. When my legs start to hurt I stop. I figuer my body knows when to call it a day.     Here are some pics from yesterday……Bryant park. What a great place to sit and relax. There are plenty of chairs and tables and the library even has an outdoor reading areacomplete with books and magazines that you can read while there.This is another one of Bruce’s Best Things You Can Do Free in NYC.If you like the movies but don’t like the price or the venue trythis. After 5pm you can sit on the lawn, bring some food anddrink and enjoy a flick. For free.Head west from the park and you find yourself atthe crossroads of the world. 42nd St and 7th Ave.They call it “New 42nd St.” because a few years agothey decided to make the area family friendly. The hookersand the hawkers and the peep shows are gone. I guessit’s for the better. I guess.I decided just to stand on the corner and observe the scenefor a while.This lady gets my “Most difficult Jobin NYC” award. I watched as she expertlydirected traffic and pedestrians throughthis very busy intersection.In the past the only vendors on thiscorner were those selling dope orthree card monty. Now the only streethawkers here are the guys selling bustours to tourists.If you take one of these tours you not only get a bus ride buta tour guide with his hat on backwards.Once you get past the shouting Tibetan protesters you comeacross this bike rental place in Hudson River park. The bikesall looked brand new and user friendly.If you like helicopters and want to get close, I mean really close,take a walk past the heliport near 34th st. You can also takea ride in one if you got the bucks.You can take that bike you rented, or just walk, down this bikepath along the Hudson to Chelsea piers. The pier is billed asa sports and entertainment complex. Open to the public are various sporting activities and restaurants. Not open to the publicis the studio where Law and Order is filmed. Most importantof all there are public restrooms available. Whew!At Chelsea Piers Surfside 3 marina you can relax for free onon of the benches or enjoy lunch at the Brewery restaurant.At this point on the tour you can decide whether to head back inland or continue along the shore. If you head inland you will eventually reach the Chelsea section of Manhattan. There are loads of good restaurants there as well as subways and buses. If you want to stay on the rivers edge you can continue down the path to Greenwich Village and more New York stuff.It’s the weekend. The countdown to the Coney Island Mermaid parade on the 21st has begun. A happy Father’s Day to all of you so blessed.