Category: NYC

Measuring up to Manhattan – 2

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4 hours later I was up, had a quick shower (if that were ever possible!) and jumped on to my bike for the second stage of our bike trip around Manhattan. Sure I felt a little ‘drained’ from the night before and I was completely sleep deprived but other than that there wasn’t even a hint of alcohol in my system! On any other day, the ill effects would surely have told on me.

I met John at 10 after cycling over the Queensboro Bridge and all the way across to the West Side bike path on 57th street – effortlessly beating cross town traffic on the way and doing all of this in less than 20 minutes.

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Measuring up to Manhattan – 1

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Saturday morning and I was out on my bike a little past 9 – some feat considering I don’t surface before 11 on most weekends. What I was about to get myself into over the next few hours was to be part 1 of an even greater feat – at least by my fitness standards!

33rd street on the East River is where the bike path resumes south to the tip of Manhattan after being truncated for almost 30 blocks thanks to the UN building. I had covered a little over 6 kms or 4 miles from my house in 22 minutes and looking back, it sure seemed more impressive than it probably was.

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A slice of Brooklyn

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I moved from Brooklyn to Queens about four months ago. My stay in Brooklyn was almost a year long but as it always happens, one tends to ignore the sights and sounds of one’s own backyard. You hear about places to visit and things to do but the fact that they’re around, you just take it all for granted. Couple that with the fact that, like it or not, Manhattan is where all the action usually is anyway! Brooklyn was no different for me. But in a desperate effort to redeem myself, I dedicated my last few weekends in the borough to ‘do the rounds’ so to speak!

For those of you who’ve had it being isolated on the various islands I’ve covered these past few weeks, make no mistake – contrary to it’s name, Coney Island isn’t one! Located at the southernmost part of Brooklyn, this former island is a peninsula today which runs about 4 miles in length and hosts NYC’s only real beach.

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The Island less trodden

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It’s probably best known for it’s Orange Ferry. It’s the starting point for the NYC Marathon. And it’s infamous for its Fresh Kills landfill – where garbage from the 5 boroughs of New York City was once collected. The landfill was reopened soon after 9/11 to receive the debris from Ground Zero.

Until recently, I was one of many who knew nothing more about the city’s third largest borough (after Queens and Brooklyn) – Staten Island – than what has been stated above. My previous encounters with the island have literally been alighting from the ferry, stepping into the ferry terminal only to board again a few minutes later. I did this as a first time visitor to the city and in more recent times, as a guide to first time visitors to the city! I’ve also, on occasion, driven through the island en route to destinations in neighbouring New Jersey.

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Islands Abound

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Other than Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx, which are all part of a larger land mass, everything else in the NY Metro area is an island. The borough of Manhattan included! In fact there are many more islands than boroughs in New York City. To me, it’s what makes the city and its surrounds all that more interesting and has also recently spurred my interest in and fascination for bridges.

While some of these were covered in my last blog, we travel north today from Queens into the Bronx via Randall’s Island, then back into Manhattan ending at Roosevelt Island. This also effectively serves in documenting my first cycling trip this summer.

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The Island with no Governor

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As a kid in school, we were taken on a field trip to the Governor of Maharashtra’s Bungalow in Malabar Hill, Bombay. To the majority of the passing public, the Governor’s Bungalow was no more than an ornate looking black gate on the drive up to Walkeshwar. Our class of about 40 was fortunate enough to venture past those gates. Not only did we get to see his Bungalow but also relax on his private beach. I’m sure we all walked away that day envious of him (whoever he was). I still am.

More than 20 years later, thousands of miles away and in a different city, I had visions once again of that private road leading away from the hustle and bustle of Bombay, down to the grandiose of the Bungalow and beyond to that secluded strip of sand. I was headed to little known Governor’s Island in New York Harbour.

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Summer Rush

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The heat was turned on a week ago, we switched over to Standard Time yesterday, the NYC Marathon is over, Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away and delayed as they might be, the leaves are finally beginning to change colour. It’s hard to accept but my first real summer in New York is finally over!

I say ‘real’ because my last summer was spent back home in India and the way the semesters are set up at school meant that I would come in to the city at the end of the summer and leave at the beginning. This was also the first time in my life I wasn’t in India for most of the summer and while I didn’t quite miss the extreme temperatures of Delhi, I did have to forego the entire mango season (sigh!) and the glorious monsoon and only I know how much I miss those two!

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Of Kings & Queens

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It’s been sometime since I visited LA – the subject of my last blog. In between I’ve been to Chicago, the UK, made several small trips around New York, graduated, got a job and basically had a wonderful summer so far. Oh and I’ve also moved – from Brooklyn in Kings County to Long Island City in Queens County! About time I thought – if nothing else, at least the ‘move’ deserves to be blogged!

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3830 29th St has been home to me for 3 months now. It’s also the 3rd apartment I’ve stayed in while in New York and better still my third borough (of 5) in the city. As always we’ll begin with a little help from friendly google maps.

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Cortelyou on the Q

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So it’s been over a month since my last post and this isn’t quite turning out to be your everyday blog. Nor have I undertaken any more travel, journeys on trains or had any real adventure. Not a very exciting life I know! Nevertheless here’s another blog entry and one in which I hope to share with you all aspects of my recent move away from Manhattan.

Yup, I’m now in far and distant Brooklyn or ‘across the river’ as people in Manhattan refer to it. Been living here for a little over 2 months since my return from India in the summer. Brooklyn is a huge borough as you can imagine and I haven’t had the time or inclination to explore most parts of it. So I shall keep this discourse limited to the little neighborhood that I belong to. More specifically Argyle Rd which is just off Cortelyou Rd which is in between Flatbush Ave and Coney Island Ave which is south of Prospect Park and in relation to ‘the city’, southeast of Manhattan !! And if you’ve had it with all those names, this should make it easier for you..

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