From newyork.craigslist.org:
$925 Studio for Rent, Bathroom is in the Hallway (Upper West Side)
Reply to: [contact removed]
Date: 2008-04-28, 12:31PM EDT
Studio for Rent $925.00 per month. Absolutely beautiful. This apartment has been renovated. It is in a walk up building (only 1 flight up) has hard wood floors, it is very bright, has a beautiful bay window. NO BATHROOM IN THE APARTMENT The bathroom is in the hallway and will be shared with other tenants. If you are interested in this apartment, please call [number removed].
Real Estate LOL
Because all you can do is live with it, laugh at it or leave it.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
My First Pair of Valentinos
The news of the rare, by-invitation-only sale in Valentino's corporate office in our building spread like wildfire. However, when I learned that the sale featured 50-80% discounts on items retailing from $600 to $85,000 - including the actual dress that Cameron Diaz wore to the 2007 Golden Globes, I decided to remain at my desk. As my coworkers raced for their wallets and the elevators, my boss pulled me aside, slipped me her credit card and told me to go pick something out for myself. I could not believe it. Finally, she said, "If you ask me a fourth time if I'm serious, I'm going to revoke my offer."
Without another word, I quietly accepted her credit card and followed the pilgrimage of women to Valentino. Of course, I looked for the cheapest thing I could find. Though I am sure I could have chosen a slightly more expensive clutch or a gorgeous jacket that caught my eye at 80% off of $2200, I just could not bring myself to do it. In the end, I selected a pair of shoes with a retail price of $645 and triumphantly carried them in their red canvas box to the register.
When I returned to the office, I gave my boss the receipt and asked, "Is this ok?"
She looked at it and laughed.
"Yes," she replied, "That is fine."
As I sat at my desk admiring my new shoes and wondering if I'll ever actually have the courage to wear them outdoors, I overheard my coworkers discussing their own purchases and the other shoppers they had noticed. Apparently there had been more going on upstairs than I had been aware, but being overwhelmed by sticker shock, I had not noticed the debutantes and ladies who lunch strolling among the items in the Valentino display room. And - having been lost in my own little world as I carefully considered the dozens of exclusive options that were suddenly available to me at the swipe of my boss's credit card - I had missed the hissed whispers of "That's [so-and-so]'s daughter" or "That's the wife of [so-and-so]."
Even though I enjoy an above average share of "exclusive" New York City nightlife - thanks solely to my gorgeous girlfriends who know all the right people and a few friends who are investment bankers - I often forget that there is this whole other world of elite Manhattanites coexisting around me, who actually purchase the $20,000 crocodile handbag - whether or not it's on sale. Even the dramatized insights into this mysterious realm provided by The Real Housewives of New York City and Gossip Girl carry with them a suspension of disbelief in which I rarely pause to consider that there are regular people (i.e. not celebrities), who actually get to live like this every day.
Now I have my own pair of shoes equal in value to half my month's rent, and I can put them on and feel like Carrie Bradshaw floating over the cobblestone streets in the West Village. But it's strange to remember that my friends and I will always likely be the girls that the true Manhattan socialites grumble about when they say, "It seems like they'll let anyone in here now."
Without another word, I quietly accepted her credit card and followed the pilgrimage of women to Valentino. Of course, I looked for the cheapest thing I could find. Though I am sure I could have chosen a slightly more expensive clutch or a gorgeous jacket that caught my eye at 80% off of $2200, I just could not bring myself to do it. In the end, I selected a pair of shoes with a retail price of $645 and triumphantly carried them in their red canvas box to the register.
When I returned to the office, I gave my boss the receipt and asked, "Is this ok?"
She looked at it and laughed.
"Yes," she replied, "That is fine."
As I sat at my desk admiring my new shoes and wondering if I'll ever actually have the courage to wear them outdoors, I overheard my coworkers discussing their own purchases and the other shoppers they had noticed. Apparently there had been more going on upstairs than I had been aware, but being overwhelmed by sticker shock, I had not noticed the debutantes and ladies who lunch strolling among the items in the Valentino display room. And - having been lost in my own little world as I carefully considered the dozens of exclusive options that were suddenly available to me at the swipe of my boss's credit card - I had missed the hissed whispers of "That's [so-and-so]'s daughter" or "That's the wife of [so-and-so]."
Even though I enjoy an above average share of "exclusive" New York City nightlife - thanks solely to my gorgeous girlfriends who know all the right people and a few friends who are investment bankers - I often forget that there is this whole other world of elite Manhattanites coexisting around me, who actually purchase the $20,000 crocodile handbag - whether or not it's on sale. Even the dramatized insights into this mysterious realm provided by The Real Housewives of New York City and Gossip Girl carry with them a suspension of disbelief in which I rarely pause to consider that there are regular people (i.e. not celebrities), who actually get to live like this every day.
Now I have my own pair of shoes equal in value to half my month's rent, and I can put them on and feel like Carrie Bradshaw floating over the cobblestone streets in the West Village. But it's strange to remember that my friends and I will always likely be the girls that the true Manhattan socialites grumble about when they say, "It seems like they'll let anyone in here now."
Phone Photo Ops - Valentino
Entering Valentino for the by-invitation-only sale
My first [and only] pair of Valentinos
The dress hanging among $2,000-$38,000 dresses
Yes, I typed the zeros correctly ... $38,000
I have never seen an $85,000 price tag in my entire life
My first [and only] pair of Valentinos
The dress hanging among $2,000-$38,000 dresses
Yes, I typed the zeros correctly ... $38,000
I have never seen an $85,000 price tag in my entire life
Monday, April 28, 2008
What Do Guacamole, Brisé volé, and Hookah Have in Common?
My first time experiencing the New York City Ballet at a sneak preview for their Spring Gala program - following dinner at Picante and preceded by a girlfriend's birthday party at Kush Lounge - can be summed up with one of my cliché moments last Saturday night.
In the front seat of a cab racing down Madison Avenue, I turned around and said to my three friends in the back, "Aren't our lives fabulous? Where else can you have a night out with your girlfriends that includes awesome Mexican food, a performance by the New York City Ballet, and a private party at a Hookah bar?"
Sunday, April 27, 2008
City Walk #18 - DUMBO
Card no. 50 - photos
"Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass" is Brooklyn's "newest" new neighborhood.
Begin at the north end of Brooklyn Heights Esplanade (Walk 48).
For most of the 19th century, the main portal to Brooklyn lay at the foot of what is now Cadman Plaza West (Old Fulton Street), where steam ferries from Manhattan discharged passenger onto Fulton Landing. The little hub grew in importance, only to decline after the Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883. Follow the curving ramp to Columbia Heights, turn left, and walk downhill to Cadman Plaza West. To your left are two neighborhood institutions - Bargemusic, a live music spot located on Fulton Ferry landing, and the River Cafe (1 Water), beloved by romantics for its view and its food. Follow Water Street under the bridge past such new landmarks as St. Ann's performance space (#38) and Jacques Torres, a chocolate shop that seems sto have been airlifted straight from the Boulevard's St. Germain. Continue up Water to Main, where the 1915 Clocktower Building fills the block. Bought by a developer for a reported $6 a square foot in 1981, its lofts now go for as much as $750 a square foot. Continue on Water to Washington, turn left and then right onto Plymouth to contemplate the dazzling view of lower Manhattan, and you'll understand why. To see what the new locals are filling their spaces with, continue north on Plymouth and left onto Pearl Street for 20th Century Modern, then left on Prospect and left again on Jay Street to ABC Carpets' latest outpost, at 20 Jay. Return up Jay to York, turn left, then right on Pearl to Front Street, and left onto Washington to return to Cadman Plaza West.
From City Walks: New York: 50 Adventures on Foot by Martha Fay
"Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass" is Brooklyn's "newest" new neighborhood.
Begin at the north end of Brooklyn Heights Esplanade (Walk 48).
For most of the 19th century, the main portal to Brooklyn lay at the foot of what is now Cadman Plaza West (Old Fulton Street), where steam ferries from Manhattan discharged passenger onto Fulton Landing. The little hub grew in importance, only to decline after the Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883. Follow the curving ramp to Columbia Heights, turn left, and walk downhill to Cadman Plaza West. To your left are two neighborhood institutions - Bargemusic, a live music spot located on Fulton Ferry landing, and the River Cafe (1 Water), beloved by romantics for its view and its food. Follow Water Street under the bridge past such new landmarks as St. Ann's performance space (#38) and Jacques Torres, a chocolate shop that seems sto have been airlifted straight from the Boulevard's St. Germain. Continue up Water to Main, where the 1915 Clocktower Building fills the block. Bought by a developer for a reported $6 a square foot in 1981, its lofts now go for as much as $750 a square foot. Continue on Water to Washington, turn left and then right onto Plymouth to contemplate the dazzling view of lower Manhattan, and you'll understand why. To see what the new locals are filling their spaces with, continue north on Plymouth and left onto Pearl Street for 20th Century Modern, then left on Prospect and left again on Jay Street to ABC Carpets' latest outpost, at 20 Jay. Return up Jay to York, turn left, then right on Pearl to Front Street, and left onto Washington to return to Cadman Plaza West.
From City Walks: New York: 50 Adventures on Foot by Martha Fay
Phone Photo Ops - City Walk #18
Today's route: DUMBO
The Financial District across the East River beyond
Fulton Landing, Bargemusic and Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
Click here for a 360 degree view
The Brooklyn Bridge dwarfs the Empire State Building
on the midtown skyline
The River Café ...
... in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge
St. Ann's Warehouse
Jacques Torres
... where I selected three amazing chocolates to sample
along my walk
1915 Clocktower Building
The intersection of Water and Main
The Manhattan Bridge from Washington Street
Fulton Ferry Empire State Park
The Manhattan Bridge
Lots of furniture stores here
Returning to Cadman Plaza West
Cadman Plaza
The Financial District across the East River beyond
Fulton Landing, Bargemusic and Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
Click here for a 360 degree view
The Brooklyn Bridge dwarfs the Empire State Building
on the midtown skyline
The River Café ...
... in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge
St. Ann's Warehouse
Jacques Torres
... where I selected three amazing chocolates to sample
along my walk
1915 Clocktower Building
The intersection of Water and Main
The Manhattan Bridge from Washington Street
Fulton Ferry Empire State Park
The Manhattan Bridge
Lots of furniture stores here
Returning to Cadman Plaza West
Cadman Plaza
Phone Photo Ops - After Brunch in Brooklyn
Walking from brunch at the Dean Street apartment of friends, who live a block from Michelle Williams. Their son is even a playmate of Heath Ledger and Williams' daughter Matilda, but I decided not to take a camera phone photo of her home ...
Tree-lined streets and bicycle lanes
This is a CVS
Brooklyn brownstones
Flowering walkways
Tree-lined streets and bicycle lanes
This is a CVS
Brooklyn brownstones
Flowering walkways
Friday, April 25, 2008
Eyes Wide Shut or Mind Limitedly Open?
For someone who is the byproduct of an interracial marriage and who is currently in her own interracial relationship, my mind is not as open as I like to think it is. I astonished myself today when I was slightly amazed that a publisher for several of our major publications is in an interracial marriage and has a gorgeous mixed daughter.
It's not that I am at all shocked that a successful White woman would be married to a Black man. Quite the opposite actually. But have you ever just assumed that certain women or men - whether White, Black or otherwise - just would not be involved with a member of a different race? And it's not even really a conscious assumption. You've just never thought to associate or disassociate someone in particular with an interracial relationship. And when you learn that he or she is ... you are slightly amazed. And depending on your perspective or personal experience, you may be either pleasantly surprised or genuinely annoyed.
I was neither pleasantly surprised nor genuinely annoyed this afternoon as I peered at the family photos in the publisher's office, but I did recognize and eradicate a stereotype of my own.
Or I was just in the South for too long ... like this one time [at band camp] ...
It's not that I am at all shocked that a successful White woman would be married to a Black man. Quite the opposite actually. But have you ever just assumed that certain women or men - whether White, Black or otherwise - just would not be involved with a member of a different race? And it's not even really a conscious assumption. You've just never thought to associate or disassociate someone in particular with an interracial relationship. And when you learn that he or she is ... you are slightly amazed. And depending on your perspective or personal experience, you may be either pleasantly surprised or genuinely annoyed.
I was neither pleasantly surprised nor genuinely annoyed this afternoon as I peered at the family photos in the publisher's office, but I did recognize and eradicate a stereotype of my own.
Or I was just in the South for too long ... like this one time [at band camp] ...
Quote of Whenever - Manhattan Real Estate and Teflon
"The price of Manhattan real estate is kind of like teflon."
- Joya Dass, ABC 7 EyeWitness News
Dass went on to report that a hedge fund manager paid over $800,000 for a storage room in the basement of The Dakota on West 72nd Street and Central Park West: "The room's buyer, hedge fund manager John Angelo, said the price was reasonable, considering what he's getting: 800 square feet with 20-foot-high ceilings and two windows, bigger than many apartments in cramped Manhattan, where a studio can be as small as 300 square feet and the median price for an apartment is more than $850,000."
Read more
P.S. David B. Caruso (Associated Press Writer), Manhattan studios can be smaller than 300 square feet.
Not a quote of the day, week or month. Just of whenever. Until the next quote that moves me.
- Joya Dass, ABC 7 EyeWitness News
Dass went on to report that a hedge fund manager paid over $800,000 for a storage room in the basement of The Dakota on West 72nd Street and Central Park West: "The room's buyer, hedge fund manager John Angelo, said the price was reasonable, considering what he's getting: 800 square feet with 20-foot-high ceilings and two windows, bigger than many apartments in cramped Manhattan, where a studio can be as small as 300 square feet and the median price for an apartment is more than $850,000."
Read more
P.S. David B. Caruso (Associated Press Writer), Manhattan studios can be smaller than 300 square feet.
Not a quote of the day, week or month. Just of whenever. Until the next quote that moves me.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
"Things I Love" Thursdays - Audible Subway Announcements
Seventy percent of the time, on most subway lines, announcements by conductors are completely inaudible. Twenty-two percent of the time, they're clear and concise or merely decipherable. Five percent of the time, they're bold-faced lies (e.g. "If you cannot fit on this train, there is another one directly behind this one."). And the other 3% of the time, they are surprisingly amusing.*
On a downtown no. 1 train for a blogger girls brunch two Sundays ago, the recalled transcript of the best subway conductor in New York City:
"I welcome all my weekend customers on my train. But for all of you weekenders who don't take the train during the week, there are rules to follow. First, be advised that this is a train. It consists of separate cars all connected to each other and going to the same place at the same time. There are three doors per car, 10 cars per train, and 30 doors total. Please use all available doors to enter and exit the train."
*Percentages are approximate and based solely on the author's personal subway experiences over the past year and a half.
"Things I Love" Thursdays are inspired by "I Love New York" (BNY, February 14, 2007).
On a downtown no. 1 train for a blogger girls brunch two Sundays ago, the recalled transcript of the best subway conductor in New York City:
"I welcome all my weekend customers on my train. But for all of you weekenders who don't take the train during the week, there are rules to follow. First, be advised that this is a train. It consists of separate cars all connected to each other and going to the same place at the same time. There are three doors per car, 10 cars per train, and 30 doors total. Please use all available doors to enter and exit the train."
*Percentages are approximate and based solely on the author's personal subway experiences over the past year and a half.
"Things I Love" Thursdays are inspired by "I Love New York" (BNY, February 14, 2007).
Phone Photo Ops - Evening Views
New Yorkers in Bryant Park ...
They're competing.
They're reading.
They're working.
They're lounging.
They're drinking.
All phone photo ops featured in this post were taken between sips of Ketel One and Soda.
They're competing.
They're reading.
They're working.
They're lounging.
They're drinking.
All phone photo ops featured in this post were taken between sips of Ketel One and Soda.
Phone Photo Ops - Morning Views
Upper West Side - Blooms on Broadway
All phone photo ops featured in this post were taken between follow-up doctor's appointments to Monday's incident.
All phone photo ops featured in this post were taken between follow-up doctor's appointments to Monday's incident.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
My First NYC Emergency Room Visit
A recent nonfatal, noncontagious but painful medical condition landed me in the emergency room on Monday morning. My boss cancelled all of her morning meetings and took me in a cab herself after I doubled-over in agony at my desk and then vomited in the bathroom. How great is she? My parents are sending her flowers.
A CT scan revealed the cause of my discomfort over the past week and a half (resulting in four used sick days last week, two used in this one and constant comments over the weekend to my friends in New Haven about my cramps), and now that I have been assured that I am not dying, I'm concentrating on recovery.
My first NYC ER experience was fairly comfortable at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital. I particularly enjoyed being run back and forth through the giant donut while the mysterious voice on an intercom commanded over and over, "Take a deep breath in and hold it ... You may breathe normally."
I also have to thank BNR - our Brooklyn-based blogger buddy/registered nurse, from whom I often seek informal medical advice - for his comforting text messages throughout my ER ordeal. We agreed that we should take Contrast and Sterile Water for Irrigation USP to a bar, spike our happy hour-blogger buddies' drinks and turn on a black light.
It tasted like a combination of club soda and something bad.
I was bored waiting for my insides to begin glowing for the CT scan.
So I took pictures of things with my phone*.
*BNR also confirmed that cell phone signals tampering with hospital equipment is urban lengend.
Update: I'm going to live.
A CT scan revealed the cause of my discomfort over the past week and a half (resulting in four used sick days last week, two used in this one and constant comments over the weekend to my friends in New Haven about my cramps), and now that I have been assured that I am not dying, I'm concentrating on recovery.
My first NYC ER experience was fairly comfortable at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital. I particularly enjoyed being run back and forth through the giant donut while the mysterious voice on an intercom commanded over and over, "Take a deep breath in and hold it ... You may breathe normally."
I also have to thank BNR - our Brooklyn-based blogger buddy/registered nurse, from whom I often seek informal medical advice - for his comforting text messages throughout my ER ordeal. We agreed that we should take Contrast and Sterile Water for Irrigation USP to a bar, spike our happy hour-blogger buddies' drinks and turn on a black light.
It tasted like a combination of club soda and something bad.
I was bored waiting for my insides to begin glowing for the CT scan.
So I took pictures of things with my phone*.
*BNR also confirmed that cell phone signals tampering with hospital equipment is urban lengend.
Update: I'm going to live.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Weekend on Wisteria Lane
"What is this weird gushy feeling I get whenever I see our friends' babies?" I asked Tokii over a Saturday brunch of pecan pancakes, french toast, hash brown souffle and scrambled eggs with cheese at a Cracker Barrel outside of New Haven (brunch location per Tokii's request; you can take the girl out of the South, but you can't take the South out of the girl).
"That would be called your biological clock," she replied between bites of sausage.
"I don't know why I start to feel like I want one of these when I see them," I said, nodding toward the miniature human in the highchair at the end of our table. "Can't I hit a snooze button?"
Friday evening, Debasha and I had arrived in Connecticut via the Metro-North to see Tokii perform in "The Bluest Eye", in which she was terrific as Claudia, just as The New York Times had said she was. Cassie and her best friend joined us for brunch, and in between hilariously inappropriate for family-style restaurants conversation, we were all oohing and aahing over her best friend's adorable baby boy.
"Slow your roll, girl!" Cassie's 23-year old best friend laughed.
"Slow my roll?" I shot back. "I'm 28."
She was surprised. I supposed her genuine shock at my age was a good thing. But I found myself wondering if my life choices were leading me down a path to being the unmarried, childless auntie of all of my friends' kids.
Cassie took Debasha and me on a tour of Yale University since Tokii had matinee and evening performances at the Long Wharf Theatre and was preparing for family members to arrive from North Carolina. So we transitioned from Tokii's temporary New Haven apartment on Friday night to a Saturday night in Cassie's third-floor space of the family she works for. She is the nanny of an Icelandic family of three adorable boys. I often joke that I would never hire a hot nanny, but I realized immediately that this wife should have little to worry about since she is a typical Scandinavian beauty.
New Haven is a picturesque town with tree-lined streets, white picket fences, old New England homes and adorable storefronts and cafes. Around every corner, I felt myself admiring the beauty, the space and the family-oriented landscape. And with every manicured yard, baby carriage and camera phone photo op, I felt either the urge to go watch Desperate Housewives or respond to my biological clock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
We had a fun girls' evening on the town, where I learned in New Haven - of all places - that I love Cuban food, and ultimately ended the night only slightly earlier than usual with Cassie's DVD box set of "Sex and the City". The next morning we were awakened before 9 o'clock by the shrieks, bangs and crashes of three giggly little boys.
"Yes, it is this loud every morning," Cassie groaned from under her pillow as somewhere on a floor below us there was a giant thud and a shrill scream followed by laughter.
I rolled over and found the snooze button on my biological clock.
"That would be called your biological clock," she replied between bites of sausage.
"I don't know why I start to feel like I want one of these when I see them," I said, nodding toward the miniature human in the highchair at the end of our table. "Can't I hit a snooze button?"
Friday evening, Debasha and I had arrived in Connecticut via the Metro-North to see Tokii perform in "The Bluest Eye", in which she was terrific as Claudia, just as The New York Times had said she was. Cassie and her best friend joined us for brunch, and in between hilariously inappropriate for family-style restaurants conversation, we were all oohing and aahing over her best friend's adorable baby boy.
"Slow your roll, girl!" Cassie's 23-year old best friend laughed.
"Slow my roll?" I shot back. "I'm 28."
She was surprised. I supposed her genuine shock at my age was a good thing. But I found myself wondering if my life choices were leading me down a path to being the unmarried, childless auntie of all of my friends' kids.
Cassie took Debasha and me on a tour of Yale University since Tokii had matinee and evening performances at the Long Wharf Theatre and was preparing for family members to arrive from North Carolina. So we transitioned from Tokii's temporary New Haven apartment on Friday night to a Saturday night in Cassie's third-floor space of the family she works for. She is the nanny of an Icelandic family of three adorable boys. I often joke that I would never hire a hot nanny, but I realized immediately that this wife should have little to worry about since she is a typical Scandinavian beauty.
New Haven is a picturesque town with tree-lined streets, white picket fences, old New England homes and adorable storefronts and cafes. Around every corner, I felt myself admiring the beauty, the space and the family-oriented landscape. And with every manicured yard, baby carriage and camera phone photo op, I felt either the urge to go watch Desperate Housewives or respond to my biological clock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
We had a fun girls' evening on the town, where I learned in New Haven - of all places - that I love Cuban food, and ultimately ended the night only slightly earlier than usual with Cassie's DVD box set of "Sex and the City". The next morning we were awakened before 9 o'clock by the shrieks, bangs and crashes of three giggly little boys.
"Yes, it is this loud every morning," Cassie groaned from under her pillow as somewhere on a floor below us there was a giant thud and a shrill scream followed by laughter.
I rolled over and found the snooze button on my biological clock.
Phone Photo Ops - From East Rock & Below
Overlooking New Haven from East Rock
A flowering tree outside of Yale's amazing library
Debasha & Cassie stroll along white picket fences
Between gorgeous old New England homes
New Haven storefronts
Tree-lined streets
A bar comparison to mushroom caps and acorns
A flowering tree outside of Yale's amazing library
Debasha & Cassie stroll along white picket fences
Between gorgeous old New England homes
New Haven storefronts
Tree-lined streets
A bar comparison to mushroom caps and acorns
Quote of Whenever - Over Brunch in New Haven
Quote of the Girls' Weekend in New Haven:
"When he sat down, it looked like a mushroom cap on top of two acorns."
- A Native New Havenite
Not a quote of the day, week or month. Just of whenever. Until the next quote that moves me.
"When he sat down, it looked like a mushroom cap on top of two acorns."
- A Native New Havenite
Not a quote of the day, week or month. Just of whenever. Until the next quote that moves me.
City Walk #17 - Grand Central Station
Card no. 23 - photos
This mostly indoor walk through New York's Grand Central Station conjures the city's romantic past and its gift for continual reinvention.
Begin at Lexington Avenue and East 42nd Street (M104 or M42 bus to 42nd Street and Park Avenue, or 4, 5, 6 or 7 train to Grand Central Station).
Anyone longing to play New Yorker for a day could do worse than to turn up at Grand Central Station some steamy summer weekday morning dressed in a suit and girded for battle with briefcase and rolled-up Wall Street Journal. Completed in 1913, the monumental depot remains one of the world's greatest interior spaces. The breathtaking main concourse, modeled in part on the Roman baths, is 470 feet long, 160 feet wide, and 150 feet high; across its vaulted blue ceiling are painted constellations of the winter night sky. The concourse has probably seen more foot traffic than any public space in the city. At its peak, when the Twentieth-Century Limited took off for Chicago every afternoon, the station's upper level was reserved mostly for long-distance travelers, and commuters descended to the lower level to catch the 5:25 home (see the stories of John Cheever). Now it is mainly a commuter station, but one outfitted with an abundance of shops, newsstands, and restaurants. Climb the stairs at either end of the main concourse to shop; descend to the lower level to choose among a half dozen informal food court stations or a lobster pan roast at the legendary Oyster Bar. Leave the station by way of Grand Central Market, a miniature Les Halles that will deposit you on Lexington Avenue, ready for Walk 24.
From City Walks: New York: 50 Adventures on Foot by Martha Fay
This mostly indoor walk through New York's Grand Central Station conjures the city's romantic past and its gift for continual reinvention.
Begin at Lexington Avenue and East 42nd Street (M104 or M42 bus to 42nd Street and Park Avenue, or 4, 5, 6 or 7 train to Grand Central Station).
Anyone longing to play New Yorker for a day could do worse than to turn up at Grand Central Station some steamy summer weekday morning dressed in a suit and girded for battle with briefcase and rolled-up Wall Street Journal. Completed in 1913, the monumental depot remains one of the world's greatest interior spaces. The breathtaking main concourse, modeled in part on the Roman baths, is 470 feet long, 160 feet wide, and 150 feet high; across its vaulted blue ceiling are painted constellations of the winter night sky. The concourse has probably seen more foot traffic than any public space in the city. At its peak, when the Twentieth-Century Limited took off for Chicago every afternoon, the station's upper level was reserved mostly for long-distance travelers, and commuters descended to the lower level to catch the 5:25 home (see the stories of John Cheever). Now it is mainly a commuter station, but one outfitted with an abundance of shops, newsstands, and restaurants. Climb the stairs at either end of the main concourse to shop; descend to the lower level to choose among a half dozen informal food court stations or a lobster pan roast at the legendary Oyster Bar. Leave the station by way of Grand Central Market, a miniature Les Halles that will deposit you on Lexington Avenue, ready for Walk 24.
From City Walks: New York: 50 Adventures on Foot by Martha Fay
Phone Photo Ops - City Walk #17
Today's route: Grand Central Station
East 42nd Street view of Grand Central Terminal
Pershing Square
Inscription above the door reads: To all those who with head, heart and hand toiled in the construction of this monument to the public service this is inscribed.
View from the 42nd Street entrance
Looking west toward Vanderbilt Avenue
Information Kiosk
MTA Metro-North Tickets
Looking east toward Lexington Avenue
Constellations of the winter night sky
Shopping above; informal food court stations below
Dining Concourse
Oyster Bar & Restaurant
These women are whispering toward the wall to communicate ...
... with their friend on the diagonal across the vaulted ceiling.
Vanderbilt Hall
Grand Central Market
East 42nd Street view of Grand Central Terminal
Pershing Square
Inscription above the door reads: To all those who with head, heart and hand toiled in the construction of this monument to the public service this is inscribed.
View from the 42nd Street entrance
Looking west toward Vanderbilt Avenue
Information Kiosk
MTA Metro-North Tickets
Looking east toward Lexington Avenue
Constellations of the winter night sky
Shopping above; informal food court stations below
Dining Concourse
Oyster Bar & Restaurant
These women are whispering toward the wall to communicate ...
... with their friend on the diagonal across the vaulted ceiling.
Vanderbilt Hall
Grand Central Market
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