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Tuesday, 24 July 2012 - Cream cheese

 
I can't speak for the rest of the country but New York is big on bagels, and they're big on lathering them full of cream cheese. I mean look at that - my poor heart! Lately I've been getting stuck into the ol' bagels to see what all the fuss is about. They come in several different varieties (this one is poppy seed for example) and I've decided my favourite is cinnamon raisin, toasted with butter - mmm mmm mmm yummy :)
 

Wednesday, 25 July 2012 - Happy birthday little bruthee!

 
Our Mum is extremely proud of us.
 

Thursday, 26 July 2012 - Can't get enough of it!

 
 
This was the scene from my apartment building's roof deck at about 7:45pm tonight (the shot on the left is looking towards Manhattan in the distance). The weather forecast on my phone said "cloudy with light rain" hehe. Instead these incredible end-of-the-world-looking storm clouds rolled on over with plenty of thunder and lightning in the distance. I grabbed these shots and then quickly set up to take a time lapse video of the clouds moving overhead, but right as I got it started I was almost blown off the roof (camera, tripod and all) when high winds suddenly hit and torrential rain immediately followed, so that was the end of that. I bloody love a good storm like this; before I leave the US (if I ever do?) I really gotta check out Tornado Alley!

Sunday, 29 July 2012 - That's not a woman!

 
New York's weather is very changeable I've discovered, which makes a change from the UK where it's generally rubbish all the time hehe. There are numerous rides I want to get and do on the bike all over New York (and beyond), but it's been a gloomy weekend so I've been chilling out in front of the Olympics instead. The archery final here was played in pissing London rain (good thing the South Koreans were wearing their gardening hats), the women's weight lifting I'm sure had at least one bloke competing, the table tennis thoroughly confused me, and the beach volleyball wasn't really played on a beach (because London doesn't have one :) As much I'm loving being in New York, it would be pretty cool to be back in London just now.

Monday, 30 July 2012 - Passing on the right...

 
 
...don't do it hehe. The bus was turning right and pulled wide (as they always do) to make it round, the taxi driver saw a gap and went for it (as they always do).
 
Nothing like a fender bender to make rush-hour just that little more fun.
 
I have no sympathy for them ;)

Wednesday, 1 August 2012 - New York in Time Lapse

 
This has taken longer than I expected - I first mentioned it over a month ago in fact, but I have finally finished putting together a compilation of time lapse videos I've shot of various New York locations. The delay was because I had to wait an age to capture a satisfactory sunset with which to finish the video off. After the perfect weather we had when I first arrived, it has been somewhat gloomy lately and every chance I've had to capture the sunset has been thwarted by clouds rolling - frustrating stuff. I got lucky on Sunday night though and so here we go. The video is on YouTube here (watch it in one of the high definition resolutions), and I'm pretty darn pleased with it! Nice way to mark my first full month in New York :)
 

Saturday, 4 August 2012 - Manhattan Waterfront Greenway (part 1)

 
This is looking north along the East River with Upper Manhattan on the left, Roosevelt Island on the right, and the Roosevelt Island Tramway dangling in the sky there.
 
I've mentioned Roosevelt Island before but haven't checked it out yet (it's on the to-do list, along with about a dozen other bike rides I want to do).

 
 
The Queensboro Bridge, which I cycle across every day to and from work.
 
And this is the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, a 51km pedestrian and cycle loop path around the island of Manhattan, and my mission for the day :)
 
I started heading north from Queensboro Bridge along the East River. This is looking back across to Roosevelt Island.

 
It was another sunny 30'ish -degree day and there was no shortage of water traffic along the river soaking it up.

 
 
I can think of better places to read a book in the sun than beside a busy freeway, but whatever.
 
Before long I found Carl Schurz Park, with some homeboys shooting some hoops. It's fairly small at just 15 acres but it's bloody nice in there.

 
 
The coastline of the Upper East Side, one of the most affluent neighbourhoods of New York City
 
Looking over to Randall's Island, named after a Jonathan Randal who purchased it in 1784. Note the name of the island has two L's, but the dude's name only has the one - not sure why that is but there you go. This here is the Manhattan Psychiatric Center - I'd say they're kept pretty busy with the number of nuts in this city hehe.

 
 
He didn't land it (he landed on his ass, which would have been a better photo in hindsight) but the kids were still impressed.
 
This guy has escaped from the psychiatric centre.
 
The path meets the road for a short distance until the powers that be get around to completely finishing the greenway (which will then be entirely off road). This is 119th Street in East Harlem, one of the largest predominantly Latino communities in New York City.

 
Ever heard of a 'stoop', and wondered what it is? No? Well I did at one point in time :) According to Wikipedia, a stoop is a small staircase ending in a platform and leading to the entrance of an apartment building or other building. Yup. A popular pastime if you're black and have nothing better to do with your day is to get a few mates, sit on your stoop, and talk shit.

 
 
Getting up into the north of Harlem now, I found this little street fair going on. I think I was the only white guy there, rocking up on my white bike wearing my white sunglasses hehe.
 
This chick was grabbing at Obama's junk hahaha! He didn't seem to mind.

 
 
Back onto dedicated pathway now (passing the weirdest looking apartment building in the city) and approaching the northern tip of the island. This stretch of path follows the former Harlem River Speedway, built in 1898 as a racing ground for horse carriages.

 
This is part of Fort Tyron Park, plonked on a 67-acre ridge in Washington Heights (the highest point on Manhattan island). After taking the shot on the right I went and joined the kids in the water to cool off (and was dry again about ten minutes later).

 
 
Heading south again now down the west side of the island.
 
This is the Inspiration Point Shelter, built in 1925 "as a destination point for promenaders and pleasure drivers." Alrighty.
 
Thanks, I forgot.

 
View over the Hudson River from the shelter, with New Jersey on the other side.
 
George Washington Bridge spans the Hudson and connects Manhattan and Jersey. It has the greatest vehicular capacity of any bridge in the world, carrying approximately 106 million vehicles per year, making it the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge. Another ride on my list is to cross this and check out a bit of Jersey (there are dedicated cycle paths, as there seem to be on most bridges in the area - good stuff).
 
 
Working my way south along the river, which is a hive of activity on the weekends!
 
 
This is one of very few spots in the city where you can park your boat. I was talking to a cop at the street fair in Harlem earlier, and he mentioned this and that it might remind me of home (I assume he was talking about Auckland - shot on the right). It really didn't remind me of home at all hehe.
 
 
Back in Midtown now and the buildings were getting larger again.
 
This is the World War II aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, part of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum which also houses the Space Shuttle Enterprise (if you recall seeing images of that being moved along the Hudson on a barge back in April). By the time I made it here it was almost 6pm and I had a birthday party to get to, so I called it a day and will finish off the southern half of the Waterfront Greenway, umm, whenever I get round to it.

Wednesday, 8 August 2012 - I wanna be like Mike (but not this particular Mike)

 
He likes the taste of a good ear, but Mike Tyson has left that snack food behind and swapped the ring for the stage. His one-man show opened last Thursday, just a stone's throw from my work. Late yesterday afternoon my manager noticed a news story about his show - something to do a threat posted on Twitter from some dickhead saying he was going to shoot the place up. Given the number of high-profile shootings around the country lately it's a fairly topical subject. As tempting as it was to take my little ears and go Mike spotting, I thought better of it. More info here.
 

Saturday, 11 August 2012 - My roomate's alarm
It doesn't wake him up hehe. Videos here and here :)

Saturday, 11 August 2012 - Summer Streets (and a summer shoot out)

 
 
I'm a bit distracted by something I just now heard about on the news, but anyway here goes. This is the fifth annual Summer Streets. On the first three Saturday mornings of every August, Park Avenue and connecting streets from the Central Park area all the way down to Brooklyn Bridge (about 10km in all) is closed to all vehicular traffic and opened up "for everyone to play, run, walk and bike." I love playing in that traffic top-right as much as the next guy, but this was a nice change :)

 
 
Along the route are a number of these rest stops, each with different activities going on from dance and yoga classes to wall climbing and zip lining. Good stuff!

 
 
Park Avenue is split in two by Grand Central Station here. This was a popular spot for a photo given the rare opportunity, and out of shot behind me people were getting pissed off with people like me standing in the middle of the road taking photos like this hehe.
 
Looking south along Park Avenue and another rest stop - this one with a little whole foods market going on.

 
 
Events like this attract all sorts of folk with all sorts of wheels, a lot of which I simply wasn't able to capture in time. There were skateboarders...
 
Unicyclists...
 
Some things you'd never normally see on any of New York's avenues...

 
 
Santa...
 
Sweaty men...
 
And dogs - lots of folk brought their dogs along for the ride.

 
 
This rest stop was one of a couple that had dance classes going on. It was really awkward to watch ;)
 
Hahaha!

 
 
And that was that really. Once I reached Brooklyn Bridge I turned around headed back again. What a good ol' time! While an event like this is very cool and very worthwhile, Paris closes several of its busy city streets to all but pedestrians and cyclists etc. every Sunday. New York still has a ways to go in that respect.

Now then, once I made it back to Central Park I decided to go for a quick burn around Midtown before calling it day. It was around noon at this point. Part of that burn included Times Square, which stretches between West 42nd and West 47th Streets along Seventh Avenue. Just three hours later at 3pm around 44th and Seventh, a 51-year-old man who appeared to be smoking marijuana was approached by police. The story goes he became angry, pulled out an 11-inch knife, and started waving it round like a madman right in the heart of tourist-packed Times Square. The guy then started to flee south along Seventh with an increasing number of NYPD cops in pursuit. When I say flee, he was actually ambling backwards, apparently looking dazed and confused. He ignored repeated calls to drop his weapon, several rounds of pepper spray appeared to have little effect (it blew away in the wind - doh!), and at one point he shouted "Shoot me! Shoot me!" at the crowd of more than 20 cops following him. This went on for seven whole blocks, eventually coming to an end at West 37th Street when he lunged at police who in turn opened fire. He was rushed to nearby Bellevue Hospital but later died from his injuries. Given the location and the nature of the pursuit, there is no shortage of photos and video footage of all this (and let's be honest, had I been there I'd have been capturing my own). One such video and more info here. A news article I just read claims that a tourist sent out the following Tweet right after the incident: "I've been in NYC for 10 minutes and saw a man shot on 7th ave! Omg...." hehe. Welcome to the Big Apple.
 

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Page Comments


Really enjoyed "sight-looking" in parts of NYC via your bicycle... and reading your usual insightful/clever comments.
- Ann (Destin)

lol it was disgusting whatever it was lol
- Jen

That was butter four years ago, and our bagels weren't toasted so you really noticed it. Toasted bagels with melted butter are yuuuuummy, especially cinnamon raisin bagels!!
- Aaron

that Cream Cheese looks a hell-o-a-lot healthier than the Lard or whatever it was we had in the bagels 4 years ago lol

- Jen

oh man cool adventures this looks so fun!! we so gotta come check it out ;)
- madeh

Youz two are real puurdy boywazz !!
Flight of the Concords watch out.
- Hummzy

I wana come play ball, big love big brutheets discrete between the sheets. See u soon doggeh Xx
- J lil

Yes I am extremely proud of my 2 most beautiful and talented boys :-)X Love you guys forever!!!!
- Mooma