New York

CONEY ISLAND OVERHAUL SHOP & TOWER

Choo choo!!! I just love trains especially the old locomotives but those aren’t common place anymore. NYC’s transit system never fails to impress me. Yeah, we’re aggravated all the time about service and grumpy when the cars are crammed but you can travel far and get around really easy without a car. It is the busiest rapid transit system in the US and the world. In 2015, there were 1.76 billion rides, 5.7 million daily rides on weekdays and a combined 5.9 million rides each weekend. Continue reading →

NY Farm Colony & the Cropsey Legend

NY Farm Colony is located in Staten Island. It was a poorhouse, a government run facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy. The Farm Colony was abandoned in 1975. After sitting empty for so many years, the Farm Colony will get a second life. 5 of the ruin buildings will be rehabilitated and turned into senior housing for people 55 years and older, commercial space, green space, and parking. It will be called Landmark Colony. Some of the units will be set aside for affordable housing. One ruin, the men’s dormitory will be a stabilized ruin and the others will be demolished. The condition is so bad in some of the buildings they can’t be preserved. Continue reading →

Bialystoker Synagogue & Congregation Beth Hachasidim De Polen

Bialystoker Synagogue is at 7-11 Bialystoker Place which use to be known as Willet Street. The building was constructed in 1826 and was the Willet Street Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1905, the synagogue bought the church. Continue reading →

Meow Service – Day 1

St. Patty’s Day 2016 was my first day of volunteer service for Anjellicle Cats. They rescue neglected, abandoned, stray cats and kittens. They also work with the ACC (Animal Care and Control of NYC ) to pull cats on the kill list. They are a no-kill, all volunteer, not for profit organization. They have 3 kitty showing areas: Hell’s Kitchen at Spoiled Brats, the Upper West Side at Columbus Avenue and 100th Street, and the Upper East Side at Lexington and 86th Street. Their cats are also featured at the Koneko Cat Cafe on the Lower East Side. I get to help take care of and socialize the kitties until they get adopted out. Today there were 9! Continue reading →

Edward Mooney House

At 18 Bowery in Chinatown (on the corner of Pell Street) stands the Edward Mooney House. It was built between 1785-1789. The land was seized from British Loyalist James Delancy and sold at auction for around $50,000. Edward Mooney was a wealthy merchant and ran a wholesale meat business and was a race horse breeder. He lived in the house until his death in 1800. Continue reading →

Bloody Angle aka Doyers Street

Doyers Street is an angled, narrow street that runs 1 block at a sharp angle from Pell Street into the intersection of Bowery and Chatham Square. In 1791, Dutch immigrant Hendrik Doyer bought the property and ran a distillery at 6 Doyers, the spot where the post office stands today. It was once known as the Bloody Angle for the many battles of the Tong gangs (On Leong Tong and Hip Sing Tongs) of Chinatown in the late 1800s and lasting into the 1930s. The term ‘hatchet man’ was used in the late 19th century to describe a Chinese assassin who carried a handleless hatchet. Continue reading →

Snowstorm Jonas

Up until Friday night, I thought it was all media hype. Last year they  kept saying we were going to get hit with blizzards and we’d wake up to 5 inches. 5 inches of snow is nothing. When I looked out my window and saw how much snow stuck and accumulated – I was so excited. This year the weather people got it right! Continue reading →

Charlie Brown, You’re the Browniest

There’s nothing like a Charlie Brown Christmas. This is and will always be my favorite Christmas window. My Dad is a big Peanuts fan and I guess that rubbed off on me. When it was that time of year we’d head to Tribeca (the Tribeca Grand Hotel stands there now) to go to the nursery and we’d get the Charlie Brown tree. It would be lopsided or part of the bottom would be missing. You get the point, we bought the saddest trees because my Dad felt bad for them and I loved my Christmas trees. Still do. Continue reading →

NY Botanical Garden: Holiday Train Show

We went to the NY Botanical Garden 4-5 years ago for the annual Holiday Train Show. It was a bitter & extremely freezing cold day in December. I was super excited because I love trains but when I got there I realized the show is all about the model structures which was a nice surprise. They are made out of natural plant based resins and materials. The details were impressive. Continue reading →

The Old City Hall Station

This is the reason why we joined the Transit Museum – to go on a tour of the Old City Hall train station. It’s a beauty to the eyes, too bad they don’t design things like this anymore. We had to hop on the 6 train at the last stop, the train stops on the turnaround and let’s you off at the old unused platform and they let us off. The first thing you want to do is stop and look up but you have to get off as quickly as possible to let the our tour members off. Being there felt like we had the keys to the city. It was amazing and totally worth our membership fee. Continue reading →