CityWalks #2 - LES to TriBeCa

I started in the lower east side (LES) at Houston and Forsythe. Walking up and down, and east to west, I was shocked at how deserted the area is. Maybe because it's a Monday? I would still expect some bustle. There were some people, of course. Sitting in cafes reading a paper or just relaxing. Obviously locals in their daily routine. But I only passed a handfull of other visitors to the neighborhood. And even they seemed lost without a crowd.

There were these two awesome wall arts on Rivington - words about the LES and what it is.

What the LES was not lacking was closed shops. I counted 13 in just 14 very short blocks. Plus 4 more buildings that seemed newer and had maybe never had shops in them, and still don't now. It's so weird, and something I never would have imagined.

I stopped by the Tenement Museum, but a school group was going in and the tours they had open didn't start for hours. I'll have to plan ahead next time :)

After that I stumbled across BridgeGallery on Orchard. They were exhibiting a guy named Sydney Cash, who is doing light installations with just pieces of glass and lighting. They were kind of awesome.

It's amazing to find yourself moving from the LES into a part of Chinatown that actually feels like China, without even realizing it. My walk today took me to the part of Chinatown that tourists rarely, if ever, see. I was the only white person for blocks. I didn't hear English, and the signs were all printed in large Chinese characters, only sometimes followed by a small English translation. It was a great glimpse into what Chinatown really is.

From there I found myself in front of the courthouses, sharing a bench in the park with an old woman who just seemed to enjoy the day.

The next area I went to was TriBeCa. It was so sterile. Maybe it comes alive at night, but during the day it's just a bunch of people with two-level strollers and business guys walking around. It seemed incredibly clean for NYC (really, where's the trash?) and even though it's called "historic TriBeCa" all I saw were new restaurants, huge grocery stores and wide sidewalks. Maybe the buildings are historic, but that's about all.

It's so weird, because usually I hate the crowds of tourists on Prince, the unruly mobs on Broadway. But I welcomed Canal when I came back to it after TriBeCa, because it just felt more NY than most of the areas I had visited on my walk. So that's a good day - when I finally appreciate the crazy disaster that is Canal!

CityWalks #1 - Downtown

So I've taken every Monday off from last week to the end of the summer (and I enjoyed it sooo much last week!). Basically they told us we need to use up our vacation. So I decided that each Monday (or at least most of them) I'm going to take a walk around a section of the city. I'm using my CityWalks deck as a basic jumping off point and then just exploring from there.

Last week - on my first walk - I started out at South Street Seaport and made my way through downtown to Battery City Park and up to WTC

I've only been to South Street Seaport a couple of times before - and always for a specific event. So I was a little shocked by how touristy and blah it is. There's a huge mall there and a ton of restaurants and shops. And that's about it. There are a couple of ships that I guess you can go on sometimes - but not on a Monday.

I sort of sped through downtown - been there, done that. And then I got to battery city park, which is still my favorite place in the city. I had my macro lens and got to use that a bit along the esplanade. And it was just a really great day!

Flowers along the esplanade - so close & detailed!

A little squirrel friend who was too brave for me - I totally backed down when he came at me!

Next up: The Lower East Side, City Hall and TriBeCa.

The 88

Kate, Anna and I went to see an LA band called The 88 on Monday night. You have probably heard them and didn't even know it - their song "Coming Home" was on a Target commercial awhile back and "Sons and Daughters" is on Rockband!

Anyway, it was an awesome show at Piano's - one of my favorite venues in the city. Check out their website at www.the88.net