Ahhh… spring has finally taken hold in New York, and the city is showing off that extra dash of color that seems to put everyone in a good mood. Well, maybe not everyone, but at least the ones that can’t walk by a beautiful flower and release a small smile. We made a few trips up and down the town to capture some special spots in full bloom before the heat and humidity overtake the city and take our pretty flowers away. Here are a few photos of our lush adventures at the High Line, Conservatory Garden in Central Park, and Clinton Community Garden.
Conservatory Gardens in full bloom. C. Nelson, 2013.
Clinton Community Garden in Hell’s Kitchen. C. Nelson, 2013.
We here at 106th Street are always excited when April 1 rings in the start of baseball season. Thankfully, the Boys of Summer return each year to bring us hours and hours of our favorite slow, methodical sport that seems to go against everything that is revered in this 24/7 world. We get a change to stop, relax, watch, and contemplate a sport where every pitch means something and every ball in play can be interpreted and recorded by each watcher, especially if they’re scoring the game. Sadly, nearly every one of our MLB fields today reflect that part of the modern world that requires infinite stimulation, and in our opinion goes against everything that is the game of baseball. We say, leave the racing boat/car videos, fan cams, and non-stop feedings to our faster sports, and bring back the organs, peanut sellers, and fans that actually watch the play on the field! Only a few of the original, classic ballparks are left and who knows how long until they’ll be destroyed or changed beyond recognition. Here’s to Fenway Park (1912) and Wrigley Field (1914)! We also love Dodger Stadium, which at 51 years old is the 3rd oldest MLB ballpark after Fenway and Wrigley. Last summer, the 106thstreeters made a pilgrimage to Dodger Stadium where this one-o-sixer’s SoCal mom rang in the opening season in 1962.
We’ve been walking by this Harlem barber shop sign on 116th Street for years, and I finally remembered to grab a photo. It’s for a salon on the ground floor of the Malcolm Shabazz Mosque. There’s something about it that draws you in from the language of “Your” in the old-school font to the letters that have been replaced over the years, it has a welcoming vibe unlike the bland corporate signs of today. Plus, it just looks damn cool.
One of our favorite signs in the city. C. Nelson, 2013.
With the 2013 Oscars hoopla behind us, the 106th Streeters were reminded of our recent trip to Los Angeles. On this road trip we spent a day and night tramping all over Downtown L. A., stumbling onto building after building of jaw dropping architecture. Propelled by our realization that each block could harbor a formerly grand movie house with its darkened marquee just waiting to be brought back to life, we took some quick snapshots of these grand dames to remind us to come back soon and do better photographic justice to these remembrances of cinema’s past. Let’s hope that these architectural gems will be preserved and restored, and that this historic neighborhood will return to its bustling and lively self.
There is no place else the 106thstreeters wish they could be on Mardi Gras Day than in New Orleans. Damn! what is up with those ticket prices to NOLA from NYC?!? Though we here at 106th Street know that New Orleans is one of the most mind-blowing cities on this great planet, we doubt the airlines know that not everyone goes to NOLA to vomit on Bourbon Street or go to Jazzfest once a year. Come on airlines, let’s have some affordable fares between NOLA and NYC. We are two cities that love each other and our relationship is hurting because of you. Though absence does make the heart grow fonder…
We know you in NOLA are doing it up right today. We wish we could be there to see the Zulus, amazing live shows, pretty chiefs…WWOZ is letting us pretend we’re there; we’re also listening to Home of the Groove/ HOTG Internet Radio for the best of NOLA R&B and Funk/Mardi Gras Indian classics…
Grand Central Terminal on a moonlit night weeks before its 100th birthday. Photo, Craig Nelson, 2013.
Happy 100th Birthday Grand Central Terminal! We hope you know how much we at 106th Street love you. We also know you barely survived. Over fifty years ago, there were plans to demolish you and build something modern, tall, spectacular. Then came the long battle to save you from the wrecking ball. The battle between profits/”progress” and preservation was long and complicated. A hyperboloid, air rights, a bowling alley, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and a supreme court ruling over the constitutionality of your landmark status were all part of your near death experience. Lucky for you and all New Yorkers that preservationists kept on fighting the good fight…and won. We feel such pride every time we enter your doors or hustle upstairs from the trains. Outside, you are grand, stoic, solid. Inside, you are beautiful, warm, and complex. You work hard for the city while always looking fabulous–you send us places and take us home, provide a respite from our day, and are a perfect place to pick up something for dinner. Above all, you are the heart of this great city, your pulse shooting us uptown, downtown, across town, and out of town.
Since the 106thstreeters spend so much time at Grand Central–catching the 6 train, picking up cheese and a baguette at Murray’s, meeting up at the clock, sipping a happy hour martini at Grand Central Oyster Bar, or splurging on a fancy one at Campbell Apartment (just a few of our favorite GCT things)–we’ve been taking lots of photos in the last couple of weeks in anticipation of your big day. Cheers! And here’s to the next 100.
Am I the only New Yorker that will walk by the Roosevelt Tramway plaza on a Saturday and say to myself, “Hey, I have a MetroCard. I should just jump on real quick and take a ride.” Maybe. But I’m ok with that, because there’s no better way to travel in the city. You’re not buried underground on a subway with nothing to look at other than your fellow passengers. Nor are you stuck in traffic on the bus stopping every two blocks as the lights change. On the Roosevelt Tram you’re flying above it all, enjoying a smooth ride that offers the most incredible skyline views you usually only dream about. Is it too late to build a Second Avenue Tram instead of a subway?
Smooth sailing over the East River. C. Nelson, 2012.
Photo of Antonio Carlos Jobim used for non-commercial purposes is from last.fm.
Like the rest of the city, we here at 106th Street are chilled to our bones. Who and what better to warm you to your core than the music of the great, handsome, prolific, and unimaginably talented musician and composer Antônio Carlos “Tom” Jobim? This is not the 106thstreeters first time praising Jobim’s music, but why stop at once when the music is that good. Born in the great city of Rio de Janeiro on this day in history, January 25th, in 1927, Jobim moved to the Rio beach neighborhood of Ipanema when young, something that would influence his life and music. Even if you think you have never heard of Jobim, you have. At least, you have definitely heard his music at some point in your life, even if only on an elevator–the one song in the world that sounds good even when converted to Muzak. Yes, The Girl From Ipanema (music by Jobim; lyrics by Vinícius de Moraes) is probably one of the best known songs across the world. And deservedly so, in our opinion.
To celebrate the life and music of Jobim, we are tuned into WKCR’s Jobim Birthday Broadcast, warming up with an extended version of one of our favorite radio/music programs, Som Do Brasil. That said, we can’t leave without a mention of one of our favorite Jobim compositions (music; lyrics by Vinícius de Moraes), Chega de Saudade, sung by the great João Gilberto.
Jobim died in New York City at Mount Sinai Hospital in East Harlem on December 8, 1994.
The 106thstreeters can think of no better way to get our New Year beats on than with the exquisite rhythms of drummer, percussionist, composer and musician extraordinaire, Max Roach. As it is also his birthday today (he would have been 89), our warmest birthday wishes go out to one of the greatest percussionists that has ever lived. Our New Year’s resolutions here at 106th Street include going to hear as much live music in 2013 as possible, especially jazz. Listening to Roach is also how we are prepping for the 2013 NYC Winter Jazzfest.
across106thstreet 