The Highline, Central Park Concert, A Fight and A Fire - July 29

I'm winding down my visit to New York.  I've had only a small sampling of the big apple has to offer, but I'm a traveler who likes to take it easy rather than rush around. I want to savor the sites and sounds.

From my reading, it seems that railroads were quite the challenge and threat in Manhattan's early days, which is part of the reason why the subways were built. In 1930, Manhattan decided to move the railroad tracks 30 feet above the streets. Do you remember any of the old 1930's movies where people lived along side the tracks that were above ground?

Highline trail/park

Trains have not used the tracks since the 1980's. During the 1990's it appeared to some that the sensible thing to do was to tear down the unsightly tracks. Other people had a different idea and formed the Friends of the Highline.

What was once a 30 feet above ground railway system, is now a foot passenger park and garden.  I stroll the Highline, have lunch in the area and make my way to Central Park.

Each Sunday in Central Park there is a free concert. This week the concert celebrates the Latinos of New York. I discover most are from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

There is plenty of security, the NYPD, private security and guardian angels with their jaunty red caps. I'm about to photograph two guardian angels when they suddenly run in the direction of the entry gate, as do many other people.

I decide to stay put knowing someone will report the goings on and I will be able to overhear what was happening. The interpretation of an individual can be more entertaining anyway.

Soon, a woman returns to report to her friends. Two white guys had too much to drink, a Latino bartender refused to sell them any more alcohol. They became angry and attacked the Latino. Suddenly this is a race issue. The Latinos around me express their indignity in both Spanish and English.

Fabulous view from Central Park

The concert seems to take forever to begin. I'm tired of waiting and decide to continue my long journey through the park and eventually to Jane Darling's.

I take the bus part of the way; the bus that can deliver me to 125th Street does not run on weekends. And so it is that I will walk from 110th Street to 125th. When I get off the bus I notice, perhaps thirty, maybe forty, fire and rescue trucks. I notice on the side of some of the trucks is written "high rise rescues" I had not thought about it until this moment, but a high-rise fire is very complicated.

I don't continue my walk north on Madison to 125th, but instead walk one block west to 5th Avenue to avoid whatever is going on.

I ask Jane about this, and she tells me that with all the heat and no rain, that is until I arrived in the city, there has been more than the usual number of high-rise fires.

Meet-Up with Marcia at The Ramble - July 21, 2012

It took me a while, and some help from New Yorkers who are frequent visitors to Central Park, but eventually I find The Ramble. This is where I will meet up with Marcia Stone, who I know from Suite 101 where we both write articles from time to time. My temporary companions have a dog, and the dog has a disgusting habit. He eats grass and then vomits all over the sidewalk and himself. The mess he makes turns my stomach, but I don't let it show.

The couple that accompany me have a smart phone with a map. I will buy, out of necessity, a smart phone when I'm in Lucca ~ more about that another day ~ but for now I depend on this couple whose phone isn't as smart as they seem to think it is.

We wander around. Eventually, I believe, we are back where we met, and where I indicated a direction while making an enquiry. Now, we are heading in the direction I thought I should have been going.

This is all perfectly fine, they are pleasant companions and we discuss rent. How much rent people pay for the space they have is my favorite New York topic.

 In front of a washroom in The Ramble there is the bench Marcia described. I say goodbye to my companions. I take my Kindle out of my handbag. I begin reading and waiting for Marcia. I'm a little early. She will be a little late and apologetic for her negligible lateness.

Marcia, a microbiologist and medical researcher, has a passion for life. Today she has forgotten her peanut butter sandwich. Generally, she feeds the squirrels, pigeons and any other creatures in the woods that happen to come along.

We sit in a well-wooded area of Central Park. She is preoccupied with prions, which are small particles responsible for various diseases. I nod my head, momentarily understanding what she is saying, but know I won't remember a darn thing in a minute or two.

We wander to the lake where people can rent boats. She takes a photograph of me on the bridge. We visit Whole Foods where we have lunch.

Whole Foods is a food chain that has apparently taken New York by storm and is threatening the little neighborhood grocers who have so long held a monopoly. I marvel at the freshness of the fruits and vegetables, and the cleanliness and brightness of the store. I long for such a place in Mexico.

After lunch we hop a bus. My next stop will be 230 5th Avenue, which supposedly, offers one of the best views in the world. Obviously this is not a place Marcia would frequent.  She tries to talk me out of going. A young woman on the bus gives us a description of the bar. The more the young woman talks the more distasteful the bar becomes to Marcia.

I do not plan to pay for a trip up the Empire State Building or visit Top of the Rocks at Rockefeller Center. A bar offering a great view may work. Besides, this is one of the places that was recommended by my friend Margi.

I ride the elevator to the top of the building, look at the view, order a glass of wine, quickly drink it, and leave. Everyone is in groups, and there is no place for a single person to sit and I'm out of place.

The view was nice.