SI, BX and what not
Some over the summer stuff me and Chuck D did: I took her on the SI Ferry for her first time. Surprisingly, she had never ridden the thing in her whole time living in NYC. No disrespect to Staten Island, but it is the sort of thing that if you’re not from there you probably have no business going there. So no one’s holding it against her. I feel like skating had brought me to every borough at least once, so that is the only reason I would go. Anyway, it was kind of a gloomy day so the ride was a bit cloudy and cold. I love her wearing my bandana to keep her hair from whipping around. The pin up look is awesome with her beautiful locks.
It did sort of make the view a little dramatic. I was smart and thought to bring our newly purchased binoculars though, which we fully took advantage of (and made everyone else riding jealous)
Here’s a camera phone’s view of how close they got us
Pretty different view, obviously
The coolest thing is how the binoculars make what you’re seeing seem somehow much more 3D, in a very weird way. It doesn’t translate in this photo, but the depth of field varying from one eye to the other somehow makes it feel like you’re looking through one of those 1800’s side by side photos. I am terrible and forget the name of the technique, but it requires you to look through glass and the position of either photo is just off from the other and gives it a 3D effect. Blah, anyway
It was a cool, short trip. Once we got to SI we basically walked along the water for ten minutes, I went into a awesome comic store, and we headed back. Whatevs brah
But really though, “we all agree it’s a mystery so why’d they give it to us?” What a weird gift, ya frogs
Another summer time trek – one of our favorite long walks is down from the Bronx (Spuyten Duyvil, to be exact) over to Inwood Hill Park. We have taken the M60 to 125th, then Metro North over from Harlem to the Bronx. It’s a very short ride but somehow makes the trip a little more direct.
The short walk over the bridge offers that crazy view. Basically when you get off up there you’re greeted by a bunch of massive cliffs you didn’t ever expect to see in what’s technically New York City.
These are the cool things that most of the downtown/midtown peoples never experience. We’re not up there, often, but at least we try
Its walking over a bridge on a beautiful day and seeing a view such as this that I totally appreciate and respect this graffiti artist’s view. Me too, brother/sister, me too
The walk through dusky Inwood Hill was definitely an interesting one. Not a single street lamp seemed to be in normal repair. In fact I would say 97% of them seemed like they’d been vandalized by Orcs
We were looking through the map to find some cool shit, like this weird cave thing. I don’t know if this is actually it or not. The entire time the sun was sinking deeper and deeper into the horizon and we kept getting the feeling that if we were lost enough, without the aide of any manmade light, we’d probably have to spend the night in that park and become zombies or something
One cool/bum out of a thing is here. We found the rock that marks the spot where Manhattan Island was “sold.” Even reading this plaque it just reads like a bad deal. What I mean by that is that they couldn’t even type it up to make them sound decent. Also, someone explain what the hell a Guilder is…
The view down at the base is quite cool though.. all depressing rocks aside. The tide was way out so there were tons of foul delighting in whatever weirdo creatures live in the bottom of a lake
That up there is the bridge we walked over and caught the view from earlier in the day. The whole park has such a different vibe than any other in NYC. It feels a bit New England, but and somehow it also feels a bit weird-Upstate. Like a guy named Shrek is gonna offer to fix your car at any second (see: Deep Pockets tours)
Again the ol’ binox came in handy getting in tight on the little dudes and dudettes swimming around in the shallows of the lake. They were really feasting. Afterwards we headed out of the park, ate some Uptown pizza, and headed home.
Here though, is yet another trek up there. I noticed the construction right beside the train and thought about some of the conversations I’ve had with some folks on jobs. People who live up there are saying how worried they are in Harlem about the rate of rapid gentrification. How Harlem is getting a Whole Foods. And how it’s the next “spot” in NYC. I agree with them. Can we have any culture anywhere in this city anymore? Does everything have to turn into a $$$ cow? I know I’m a white dude so who am I to talk, but I ain’t a rich white dude so I think my issue is legit.
Anyway, here is the Spuyten Duyvil station. Such a weird little valley to be in New York. The far right side is where we were looking at ducks in the earlier low tide picture.
This weird, old ass looking stair well is what greets you when you get off the train. Someone famous and rich from history must’ve set up shop way back when out here. I bet they wrote some weird 1800s laws into being, or were a judge for the first horse and buggy parking ticket, or maybe just owned all of the Bronx or something.
This view does not get old to me. It’s just such a strange train bridge thing. And the high cliffs surrounding? I am blown away everytime.
This particular trek we ended up walking north through the Bronx along side the river. Well, as close as you can get without the fancy richie homes telling you it’s private property. If you walk long enough you’ll get to Riverdale park. Another one of those places you think “this is too much wilderness for New York City” until you walk a little further and notice all the throw ups on trees which brings you back home. Ah, shitty New York.
We took what seemed to be a mountain biking trail long enough down til we got to what looked like a good place to sit. I’m not positive, but the stone we found seemed to be giant chunks of petrified wood! Am I right? I don’t know. Either way, it was really cool looking.
I can’t recall what Charlotte was fake-reacting to, but it made for a funny picture. Maybe she was “petrified” of something? Yeah, that should stick.
One sketchy and seemingly dangerous thing was the proximity to the train tracks. I am a responsible adult, but given the amount of trashed beer cans thrown about down there I figure some kids gotta be walking around in there kinda often. There is not much of a “danger – do not cross” “extreme electricity” “third rail” “DON’T GET RUN OVER” message anywhere to be found. We walked to where we were a safe distance from the tracks, but could still get a close view. I don’t trust the idiotic, cell phoned youth of America to do the same.
After some more hiking we headed for home. This was the first time I noticed Mr. Henry Hudson towering over the trees on the way back. Really awesome statue, kind of amazing to behold. Though I always feel shitty that in this instance there isn’t a smaller, detail version down at the base. So you’re this famous, explorative dude, and so famous they make a statue of you but if anyone wants to see you’re face they either have to have a cherry picker, or be really good at that shit where you hold a rope around the back of something and shimmy up it. (You know what I’m talking ’bout).
This photo is not from the Bronx at all, but from the North shore of LI. IT just happened to be the last one on the roll. My mom rented a house a week or two later out in Baiting Hollow and this was what it was like on the beach. She wanted to visit her former home now that she’s out in FL. We went out for a weekend and this was from our walk on the insanely still, insanely-somehow-hot-in-late-Sept beach. I may have more photos, but that roll is still in the ol’ camera. So more later I guess