There and Back Again

It was a great day for skating along the Hudson River Bike Path. I went from Battery Park up to the first end of the path, above 79th Street, and then down again to the 4/5 at Bowling Green.

A lot of things are the same as ever along the bike path - tennis courts, Chelsea Piers, etc. - but the Trapeze School is no longer there. Rats!!

I really liked this new building, across the street from the bike path.


New York Central Railroad 69th Street Transfer Bridge:

(From this angle, the structure reminded me of a light house. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.)

One of the new arty seating areas, which doubles as a monument to some of the old railroads (including Erie and the B&O), reminded me of a cross between a Shinto shrine and an Adirondack lounging area:

(It's a little difficult to see, but the wooden furniture is designed as all-in-one lounge chair & picnic table units.) Other new areas I liked include a grassy boardwalk area which reminds me of semi-wild beaches on the Jersey Shore (sigh), and one that is a just big slab of silver floating above the ground, like a table top, with small chairs cut into it. (I may upload those pictures later.)

This is the surviving portion of Pier D, which was apparently saved in response to public request.) The wooden structure burned down in 1922, and a steel structure was thrown up in its place. Eventually it was abandoned, and part of it was dismantled for public safety.) They don't say you can't go climbing on it, but you'd probably have to swim over first. That's probably sufficient deterrent for most people.


Afterward, I caught the movie Hot Fuzz (2007). Very funny, if a bit over the top at times. For those who don't know, it's the story of London's top cop, Nicholas Angel (aka "Angle" according to a typo in the local rag) assigned to a sleepy English village because his arrest and conviction record is making everyone else look bad. There he unexpectedly runs into a bunch of "accidents" that look to him like murder. The movie gets a bit carried away with the shoot-em-up aspect once Sgt. Angel cottons on to who-done-it (that portion is funny at first, but goes on so long that the humor leaches out), but otherwise is thoroughly enjoyable, with a few nice twists. The violence is deliberately cartoonish, with liberal use of ketchup, pasta sauce and jam instead of blood at certain key moments.