New York's Central Park

Central Park in Manhattan. One of the pre-eminent urban parks in all the world. Thirty-five million visitors come to Central Park every year to enjoy its 315 ha. It is about 4 km in length and 800 m wide. In comparison, Vancouver's Stanley Park was created in 1888 and is 405 ha in size. About eight million visitors come to Vancouver's urban park annually.

Established with some sort of vision in 1857, Central Park has struggled through the years. The first struggle came when 1600 people living in the area, mainly poor Irish-Americans and poor but free African-Americans, were displaced from their neighbourhoods in order to create the park in the first place. Theirs were neighbourhoods with names like Seneca, Harsenville and The Piggery District. That might discount the fact that in the beginning years of European settlement in the area that became NYC, First Nations people had to be displaced too, though that was probably seen as an ending rather than a beginning.

In any event. Central Park went through some problems, largely with political corruption, often from the Democratic Party machine, and later, in the 1960s and 70s with sheer neglect and crime. Still, it was always a place for New Yorkers to come to relax and enjoy some peace within their city. Beginning in the 1980s Central Park's image and management changed significantly and today the park is central to the city, and it is clean, safe and tranquil.








In summer there are free concerts in the park featuring jazz, opera and more. While we visited on several days over the course of our visit we saw buskers performing jazz, hip hop and opera. This young woman performed brilliantly for about eighty and was ever so grateful for the applause she received for her operatic performance.


















Central Park is also home to Strawberry Fields, which is across from the Dakota building on the Upper West Side. The foot path memorial is simple beyond words which is all the more appropriate for just another Liverpudlian immigrant to New York, even though Nixon tried to send him away.

















And we all shine on. Like the moon and the stars and the sun. And Central Park.

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2014.

Le Moulin a Cafe on the Upper East Side

Le Moulin a Cafe is located on the Upper East Side. It is simple and inviting and a good place for coffee.

Independent and singular in its operation, Le Moulin a Cafe opened in 2011. It a combination bistro-cafe-bakery and it also sells a small variety of products imported from France.



According to an article in the Times, most of the patrons during the day are French expats, many with children attending the nearby Lycee Francais. The cafe is an interesting place, crowded and noisy when we were there on le weekend. The young woman taking our coffee order had the look of Paris and a French accent, while the young man calling out that our drinks were ready was most assuredly from the Bronx or Queens. It might seem a bit of Paris, but this is still very much New York.

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2014.

New York City from the top of the Rock

Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 buildings covering 8.9 ha in Midtown Manhattan. Begun in 1930 it includes the GE Building (at left), NBC studios and offices, Radio City Music Hall and much more.










In 1932 Mexican artist and socialist Diego Rivera (his patron was Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, wife of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.) was commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller to create a colour fresco for the 100 square metre wall in the lobby at 30 Rock. This coming after attempts to secure the commissioning of either Matisse or Picasso. In any event, Rivera's Man at the Crossroads became somewhat controversial as it contained Moscow May Day scenes and an obvious portrait of Lenin. After much argument between artist and employer and a refusal by Rivera to replace the offending figures with something more anonymous, the artist was sent packing. Fully paid of course. His mural was papered over while unsuccessful attempts were made to move it to a more accommodating venue. About a year later Rivera's mural was destroyed and in its place a larger piece by Josep Maria Sert, named American Progress, was commissioned and is what we see today.

Rivera recreated his work in Mexico City where it was renamed Man, Controller of the Universe. The composition is similar to the original with some additions. Leon Trotsky, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels appear in the new version as does John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Mr. Rockefeller, a lifelong abstainer from most things fun, is pictured drinking in a nightclub with a woman, a dish of syphilis bacteria appearing above their heads. The Rockefeller family was not amused.




The Lower Plaza features an ice rink where the Rangers play when Madison Square Gardens is booked with a rock concert or boat show. Workers were removing the ice the day we visited.












Views from the Top of the Rock are impressive and it's well worth going through the security screening. "Backpacks, cell phones and cameras" seemed a constant refrain from our security agents, friendly enough but insistent all the same. Good thing they didn't mention Swiss Army knives, corkscrews or Q-Tips.

Looking south to Downtown.

Looking west to New Jersey.

And north towards Central Park.

The Upper West Side.

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2014.

The Excited State that is Times Square

Times Square is probably the busiest pedestrian intersection (or group of intersections) in the Americas. It is in a constant state of excitement that seems to persist regardless of the time of day. Confusing, crowded, congested, this is supposedly "the crossroads of the world." Construction and renovation of the buildings, subway and streets doesn't help, and construction in NYC is ubiquitous.












It is estimated that 40 million people visited Times Square last year. The photos are deceiving because it seemed as though all 40 million were there on the days Sherry and I transited to shows.

If not for the theatre district, I would avoid the area entirely. It's exhilarating for a few minutes but there are too many people crowding into too small a space. You will find fast food, fast cars and fast money. The fast food is fast only in name. The fast cars are moving very slowly, if at all. The fast money is only your own, slipping ever so quickly from your wallet.




But look around Jeem. The signs, electronic and digital, are everywhere. This is the grand centre of being seen and making a scene.

To which I can only reply as did Jerry many years ago, "But I don't want to be a pirate." This can't be real.











Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2014.

Manhattan Vertical

New York City is made up of five boroughs and Manhattan is but one. It is, at least in its own mind, the biggest, richest and best of all. The superlatives are endless and Manhattan reserves most for its own. Manhattan is an amazing place and it certainly is the tallest.





















While it is not the most populous borough in New York City, it is the most densely populated jurisdiction in the country. With an area of less than sixty square kilometres, Manhattan's population density is about 27,000 per square kilometre. In comparison, the City of Vancouver has an area of 115 square kilometres and a density of only 5,250 per square kilometre.






Manhattan is the wealthiest jurisdiction the the Excited States with a per capita income exceeding $100,000. In fact, it is the only area within the US that exceeds that $100,000 per capita average. Sherry and I lowered that average significantly during our brief stay.











Manhattan's population is about 1.6 million yet just as many people come into the city everyday, to do the work of the city. They come from Queens and Brooklyn, the Bronx and Jersey, and their numbers exceed 1.6 million every weekday. Four out of five of them travel by public transit and more than fifty percent of them travel by subway. At any given time about 800,000 additional tourists are wandering around the streets of Manhattan.

It is surprisingly clean. And friendly. And safe. It is a city in which one can walk all day, yet constantly distracted by the city itself; its people and its architecture.






















And we are always looking up. We can't help but look up. It is the only place to look. At the new and the old, the shadows and the reflections. This is an amazing place.




Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2014.