New York, New York: The Complete Photo Journal

During May 2014, Kay and I spent 11 nights in New York City staying in an old, small, funky studio apartment in the East Village neighborhood rented through Air BnB. Per Wikipedia: "East Village, which is bordered by Greenwich Village to the west, to the north by Gramercy Park and Stuyvesant Town, to the south by the Lower East Side, and to the east by the East River, is known for its ethnic diversity, vibrant nightlife, unique artistic sense, and considered the center of counterculture in New York City". Definitions aside, Kay and I loved staying in the neighborhood which is nicely located for walking and easy access to all the major sights via the subway. This is our first trip the New York City together and the energy of the city with its life out on the streets is electrifying. We took in all the major sights but also enjoyed just hanging in our adopted neighborhood surrounded by markets, shops, restaurants, bars, and nightclubs which generally attracted a younger crowd. Click on the link below the subsequent picture to see all my pictures in Picasa. It's pictorial journal, so there are a lot of pictures.

From New York, New York: The Complete Photo Journal

Reporting from New York City

I'm happy to say that we survived our Saturday 2-boroughs bike tour of NYC through the weekend crowds, tourist by the bus loads and eternal city traffic, on our rickety rented tandem from Blazing Saddles. I do have to admit, however, that my survival instincts did kick in when the bike lanes disappeared around 5th Avenue and I decided that I wanted to live, so we walked.

From just below the Brooklyn Bridge, we rode north crossing the East River to Brooklyn on the Williamsburg Bridge and lunched along Myrtle Street, a gritty, sometimes unnerving neighborhood, mixed with some trendy and the distinctively dressed Hasidic Jewish. Lunch at Putnam was great. Then it's was back to Manhattan over the Manhattan Bridge via downtown Brooklyn, through Chinatown and south toward Battery Park, walking whenever the crowds created an impasse. The entire west side shoreline of Manhattan has been developed between it's promenades, marinas, piers and parks, with multi-use pathways north to Central Park and beyond. It was slow going at times but also some of the fastest sections. We eventually found our way to Central Park through quiet stately neighborhoods and joined the large weekend crowds enjoying the park. For safety purposes, cycling in the park is a one-way counter clockwise affair on designated routes only. My misdirection, heavy traffic, and hordes shoppers forced us to walk from 5th Avenue and 59th Street until we found our next bike lane on 2nd Avenue. Our fast ride with the 2nd Avenue traffic took us through our own adopted neighborhood, the East Village, back downtown and along the East River to the end of our tour.

Bike touring is great way to see and experience NYC, and we lived to talk about it. Bicycling is a part of NYC life and growing, but you have to get accustomed to the character of it's traffic. I see bicyclist riding the busiest of streets through the heaviest traffic. I guess you have to be in a New York State of Mind. Below is a link to a few picture in Picasa.

From New York City