This Creative Life

Welcome to the creative work of Alan White, head writer and producer of "FEEDBACK; A HERO'S CALLING," now at Broken Sea. The "Feedback" in question is Matthew Atherton, My Hero. He and other heroes of mine have links found down the left side of these pages. Enjoy!

Friday, November 02, 2007

Why I Love New York ...

Welcome to my favorite neighborhood!!



I start my Upper Eastside Broadway stroll here at Zabar's by getting lox on a bagel.



Then I started going north. There's a cool little bookstore on the way.



Then I came to a new renovation building, advertising these are new condominiums. Sure. Let me just write a check and get me a new place. As if.



And of course here is my favorite Barnes & Nobles. It's pithy and homey, but big enough.



Continuing my stroll north ...



Two hip grandmothers. The woman facing me probably thought this song was about her ...



There's the movie theater I would, um, make that WILL go to WHEN I live in this neighborhood.



I did decide to take a picture, surreptitiously, of a good-looking couple. So there.



I decided to say "Hello."



And see? There's a farm in NYC! We're healthy!



Here's another cool New Yorky building on Broadway as I continue my stroll. And notice the bright green trees, still in bloom in mid-October.



I wanted to show the train station before I returned home, but the people wouldn't move. So I took their picture. Seconds later ...



...they moved.



So down into the dark we go.



I love the mosaic tiles at all the stations. These things are decades old. Put here back when New Yorkers still had accents from their native lands.



It didn't take too long for the train to come.



And see? Our trains are sparkly. Gone are the grimy days of "The Warriors"-type New York subways.



I can't say the same for the stations along the 1 line, but the mosaic work is there, and so even grimy it looks like a museum-level work of art to me.




This is a shot of the reflection in the window, rather than the man himself.



Then the 1 comes out of the ground and become the "el" (elevated train) of Inwood (northern Manhattan). I take a few well-timed pics of the Bronx, because otherwise, you just see the roof of the trainyards from the 1 when you look eastward. Out that way is the East River, the 207th street bridge, and one of my gaming buddies, about a half hour walk away.



This was a little art deco that jumped out at me as I cast my eyes downward. Shadow on the clean subway car floor. I dunno what that gold stamp is. Something functional, I guess.



After I get off the train, you can still see Midtown Manhattan and the Empire State Building from the elevated platform.

Then I walk back to my apartment. Welcome to one of many approaches through Inwood...





Broadway looking north ...



Broadway looking south.



And then I'm home! Thanks for traveling with me!