Casa New York

It is now about 2pm in New York and the weather is getting interesting. The temperature is about 58 degrees so its not cold but we have sustained winds – that’s a steady blow – of about 20 miles per hour and gusts into the upper 30s. The rain has steadily increased but it not yet the torrential downpour that is expected. Lower parts of Manhattan have seen some flooding from the storm surge coming up the Hudson River. On top of the seasonal high tides the surges have brought water over the walkways around Battery Park at the very bottom of Manhattan. There has been no serious flooding yet but this is predicted to change later today.

The surge here is particularly dangerous because at the entrance to the Hudson River and along the outer banks north and south, the coast creates a funnel effect, increasingly squeezing the water into a higher and higher surge. And the power behind the water will drive it over the boardwalks and into the populated areas. Remember the pictures of the tsunamis in Indonesia and Japan? Maybe not has significant but with incredible power behind it.

On the outer coastal areas like Long Island and Coney Island and at some low level areas of Long Island Sound, flooding is already widespread. There are pictures of people in waste deep water wading down streets or in boats. In one rather bizzare clip a guy in scuba gear surfaced next to another in a sea kyak, all this on a residential street.

Later today the forecasters are saying the wind will increase significantly. Steady winds of 70 to 90 miles per hour – thats about 150 kms an hour – are expected to build into the evening with gusts over 100 miles per hour. Rainfall of up to 2 inches is expected in New York City by tomorrow afternoon. There are fears that a storm surge – a steady rising of the water levels rather than a wave – of up to 10 feet will come up the Hudson River. With the high tide at 8pm tonight, this will certainly flood Battery Park and the lower part of the adjacent financial district. It also risks flooding the subway system with salt water, the first time this will have every happened. MTA crews are sandbagging every subway opening to try to prevent what would be catastrophic damage to the electrical controls and swiitching systems and delay recovery of the system for days.

The MTA has announced that two major tunnels, the Battery Park Tunnel between Manhattan and Brooklyn and the Holland Tunnel to New Jersey, will close at 2pm. The major suspension bridges across the East River, the so called BMW Bridges – Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg – will close once the wind gusts get to 60 miles per hour.

Most businesses in Manhattan seem to have taken a “storm day”. Restaurants are closed as well and only a few small grocery store/delis are open. With no public transportation employees can’t get into their jobs. One store owner in our neighbourhood slept in his store last night so he could be open today.

New York is slowly winding down in the face of Sandy. New Yorkers seem mixed in their reactions. Many point to the fact that Irene was supposed to decimate the City when it came ashore 14 months ago and then didn’t live up to it billing. Others are taking the advise of emergency officials. I am very impressed with the level of preparedness among municipal and state officials here. They have obviously learned a lot from past experience in dealing with emergency situations and when decisions are made, things happen and resources are mobilized quickly. The heart of the communications system is “311”, a lesson Vancouver should learn quickly.

Sandy is a much bigger storm – a “Frankenstorm” they are calling it – with higher sustained winds and is coming ashore accompanied by the highest tides of the fall and a full moon. If the predicted storm track is correct, it will go through less than 100 miles south of Manhattan but has a wind pattern over 200 miles wide.

We are well prepared with food and water in house and the cellphones at full charge. I will post again this evening after we get out to see what is going on in our neighbourhood. In the meantime, stay tuned to CNN.

Last nite, the City partied until the wee hours. Afterall it was the last Saturday nite before Halloween and everyone was in the mood.

The party is over and today is a different story. Maybe its the full moon that will appear on Tuesday and cast its magic on an uninvited visitor, the second of its kind in 14 months due in town tomorrow. Everyone from the President to the Governor to the Mayor are taking her very seriously.

A year ago, Irene caused several billion dollars of damage along the east coast. Tomorrow, Sandy – dubbed the “Bride of Frankenstorm” by weather officials – considered to be potentially worse will come ashore between Washington DC and New York. The storm is bigger – over 1,500 miles wide – packs winds expected to be steady at 40 to 50 miles per hour and gusts to 70 miles an hour and is pushing a storm surge of up to 10 feet on top of already very high tides.

Unless you are in Time Square, which is a bit like Disneyland, the mood here is very different today and as the day goes along – now 7:00pm – there is an increasing sense of urgency.

This morning, Governor Cuomo and Mayor Bloomberg announced several very significant precautions:

• evacuation of almost 400,000 people from the “A” zones most exposed to flooding. These are along the outer coast, including Coney Island, parts of Long Island, Queens, Staten Island and Brooklyn. Storm surges and high tides may bring flooding to lower areas as far up as the Bronx. Even the Battery Park area of lower Manhattan, adjacent to the famed Wall Street, may see some flooding.
• evacuation of all subsidized Public Housing Authority building in these areas. To “encourage” people to leave they are shutting of the heat, water and elevators in these buildings. Not sure how many people are involved but these complexes are huge.
• schools are closed tomorrow and may be through Tuesday.
• the transportation networks of the MTA, including the bus, railroad and subway systems are being SHUT DOWN. Thats right, they are closing the subway system at 7pm tonite (Sunday) well in advance of the storm coming ashore. The reasons are the potential flooding in the system and the fact that the system is exposed to the elements in several places. It may stay closed through Tuesday!! When you consider that 4.6 million trips are taken DAILY on the subway alone this is a significant move. Given the dependence of this city on the subway and bus systems, this has to be a closure intended to impress the residents that this is serious.
• hospitals have been told to defer all non-emergency surgeries
• Central Park was closed at 4pm today. We were walking in the southern end of the park this afternoon – it was beautiful – but all of the facilities were closed and even the vendors were packing up at 3:00pm. At 4pm, Central Park Conservancy staff were actually directing people out of the park and were preparing to gate all of the entrances.

As a result of all of this, most stores started closing starting at about 4pm today. Signs on some doors say they will be closed through Tuesday. Even Starbucks is closed tomorrow. Where will we get our Tall, Non Fat Americano Misto?? Lines at the checkouts at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods and other grocery stores in our neighbourhood wound through the aisles making shopping almost impossible. There was little or no bottled water and no batteries. While no one knows what to expect in Manhattan, everyone seems to understand how to prepare. And all in stride and with a mature sense of calm.

Broadway theatres are closed until Wednesday, the Stock Market is closed tomorrow – although computer trading will continue – and most retail stores are closed early tonite and all day tomorrow.

New York is hunkering down, brought to its knees by Mother Nature. This may be the greatest City in the world, but tonite and tomorrow it is playing second fiddle to an uninvited and unwelcome guest. However, the City seems very well prepared and the advise for anyone needing information to “Call 311”. Take note Vancouver.

As for us, we have all the necessary supplies: 8 bottles of wine, some Halloween Jube Jubes, 6 bottles of water, a pound of Starbucks Anniversay Blend and the weekend New York Times that will take until Thursday to read. I may even get caught up on my blog. And if we have power, there is the gym in our building. So spread the word, we are fine!

And tomorrow morning we are going to celebrate with Pumpkin Pancakes and low sodium bacon. Life is interesting if nothing else. We asked for an adventure and we are getting one. Stay tuned . . .

“On its current projected track, Sandy could make U.S. landfall on Monday night or Tuesday anywhere between Maryland and southern New England, forecasters said. Rain accumulations of up to 12 inches (30 cm) and heavy snowfall inland are considered likely in some areas.

“This is not a coastal threat alone,” Fugate added, warning of the potential for flooding in Maryland and Pennsylvania, as well as more than 2 feet (0.6 meters) of snow in West Virginia.” (National Weather Service)

We aren’t sure who invited Sandy but his/her (does anyone actually know its sex?) arrival is being anticipated with two distinctly different reactions. The National Weather Service is predicting that Sandy will come ashore on Monday afternoon bringing significant winds and up to 2 inches of rain in the New York City area. On the outer coast of New Jersey and New York, significantly more rain – up to 4 inches – winds up to 70 miles an hour and a storm surge of 5 to 10 feet are expected to cause flooding and potential power outages. People living in low areas along the outer coast are being warned to prepare for evacuation. After hurricane Irene a year ago brought one of the worst storms in recent history caused significant flooding and other damage, these folks are preparing themselves with supplies to ride out the worst. In New York City tonight, people have begun the celebration of Halloween in a way that thumbs its nose at the possible impacts.

So far in New York City there is no rush to the supermarket for food and water to stockpile. Instead, people are roaming the streets in costume, filling the bars and enjoying what here is an adult event, not one for children. Every bar and restaurant is decorated with pumpkins, spider webs and witches. As we walked through Little Italy, NoLita (that is North of Little Italy) and into SoHo (that’s south of Houston), we saw witches, fairies, girls in pajamas drinking vodka from a Dasani water bottle, a red lobster and lots of ghouls and goblins. Superman walked brazenly down 21st with a drink in hand. When asked if he could jump small buildings with a single bound, he showed us the Kryptonite tied to his belt: Hardly a good pickup line for the man of steel. We saw a woman in her ruby slippers right out of the Wizard of Oz being helped down the street: Maybe the 5″ heels were too much? Only in New York City which is seemingly thumbing its nose at what could be a major storm. Maybe they will be more concerned tomorrow although not until after brunch!

State and municipal officials are taking things much more seriously. The City of New York Emergency Management Centre has been activated. MTA has suspended maintenance of the subway system for the day and has warned of system closures. All construction in the City needs to stop and sites secured by 5pm Sunday. When you consider some of these sites are 60 stories or more in the air, the caution is appreciated. In our building, the furniture has been removed from our 16th storey roof patio and tenants have been advised to remove everything from balconies. Preparations are everywhere but the City continues to enjoy the holiday.

Tomorrow we will go uptown to Central Park if the weather permits. Citizens are being advised to stay out of the parks for fear of falling tree limbs so we will have to play it by ear. We are ready.

We have steel cut oats, 4 eggs and lots of snacks, including licorice scotty dogs – remember them? – 6 bottles of wine and 4 bottles of pumpkin beer. And tomorrow we will get a copy of the New York Times which will take us until Friday to read. All is good and we will ride out the storm. And as long as there is a store open, we can always shop.

For those of you in Vancouver, enjoy the rain and cool weather. Here it is still 60 degrees at 11:30 on Saturday nite and tomorrow is expected to be mostly sunny and up to 68 degrees. Hard to believe by Monday nite we may be under water and without power or a means of transportation. Welcome to October in New York City!

Only problem is they wouldn’t let us in! Thats right, we couldn’t get in because we didn’t have the key.

Today we went for a walk in Gramercy an upscale neighbourhood that borders on the east side of Chelsea. Gramercy is located east of 5th Ave, and below 22nd Ave, just a 10 minute walk from our apartment. Gramercy is the english perversion of the Dutch krom moersje or “crooked swamp” which was an apt description of the area in the colonial era of New York and not the Gramercy – “grant us mercy” found in Shakespeare. It was developed by Samuel Ruggles as an enclave for the weathly and the park was to be a private enclave where access to the park would blolster property values. He purchased the land in the 1830s but it was not until the 1840s when indoor plumbing arrived in the area that it became desirable.

The centrepiece of Gramercy is Gramercy Park, and the only remaining private park in New York. The houses surrounding the park are some of the most spectacular we have seen in New York. The 60 properties surrounding the park own the park, pay for its upkeep and have exclusive access. A board of lifetime trustees govern the park and access is by key which is changed annually to maintain exclusivity. A sign at the entrances restricts access by children at the insistence of the donor. All most New Yorkers can do is buy lunch at a local deli or restaurant and find a place on the sidewalk outside the park to spread their blankets and have a picnic.

Ruggles developed the Gramercy area after the grid street system for Manhattan above Houston St was approved. Ruggles created the current Lexington Avenue north of the park and Irving Place to the south. These were the first avenues added to the new street system. Irving Place is named after Washington Irving, the famous American writer, while Lexington is named after the first battle of the American Revolution.

Facing the park are some very spectacular buildings on tree-lined streets. At 4 Gramercy Park West is the home of former mayor James Harper, marked with twin lamps at the entrance. Harper is better known as the founder of Harper & Bros, publishers of the social and political magazine Harpers. At 15 Gramercy Park South is the home of Samuel J. Tilden, a former Governer of New York who actually won the 1876 presidential election only to have it stolen from him by an election fraud. Today the house is home to the National Arts Club. Next door is the former home of Edwin Booth – recognize that surname? – who was a famous tragic actor of his day. However, his fame was eclipsed in 1865 when his brother – John Wilkes Booth – assasinated Abraham Lincoln.

South of the park is Pete’s Tavern, an eclectic bar and restaurant that is one of the longest continuously operating bars in the US, opening in the 1850s. Even during Prohibition, it continued to operate as a flower shop. Those “in the know” walked through the flower cooler into the bar beyond. O. Henry was a regular there – his booth is still marked – and it is suggested he wrote his most famous piece, The Gift of the Magi here, likely after imbibbing a little. Pictures of celebrites adorn the place. We stopped and enjoyed a glass of wine.

Further south on Irving Place – at 17th Street – is a there is a small house emblazened with a plaque proclaiming it as the home of Washington Irving, the famous American author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow – the story of the headless horseman – and Rip Van Winkle. Ruggles named Irving Place after Irving but he never actually lived here. Only the need of later generations to forge a physical connection to the author led to adoption of this house has his home.

A final notable home in Gramercy is at 28 East 29th Ave. The only US President born and raised in New New York – Theodore Roosevelt – lived here from 1858 to 1872.

Despite its historical significance and the obvious wealth of the area, Gramercy is a beautiful neighbourhood, full of great little bars and restaurants on the side streets and larger upscale ones – especially on Park Drive. The people are an interesting mix of long term residents – many quite elderly – and younger upscale boomers. On the weekends they dress up and sit in the restaurants in the afternoon talking. It is like their one opportunity to let loose and socialize and they make the best of it. At 730 on Sunday nite they decend on the restaurants for the last gasp of “weekend”. By 9 they have departed, home to get ready for another week at the office.

We will definitely be spending some Sundays in Gramercy before our time here is done.

We thought we were coming to New York to “paint the town red” but it seems New Yorkers have beaten us to the punch. However rather than the somewhat premature red christmas decorations in the seasonal display at Macy’s, which is unbelievable in itself – the colours they are “painting” are orange and black. And its not to show support for the BC Lions, it is for what seems to be a month long celebration of everything Halloween and pumpkin.

A Google search indicates that as late as 18th and early 19th century Halloween was not recognized as a significant event in North America despite that similar celebrations were common in Europe much earlier. The Puritans of New England – the original founders – maintained strong opposition to the holiday and it was not until the mass Irish and Scottish (must have been the wiskey) immigration during the 19th century that the holiday was brought to North America in earnest. Confined to the immigrant communities during the mid-19th century, it was gradually assimilated into mainstream society and by the first decade of the 20th century it was being celebrated coast to coast by people of all social, racial and religious backgrounds. (thanks to Wikipedia).

And New Yorkers have embrassed the holiday with a vengence because everywhere you look, the City is celebrating. Store windows are full of ghosts and witches surrounded by spider webs and bats. Many of the markets display intricately carved pumpkins with traditional and patriot images. Walking through the residential neighbourhoods, front stoops are decorated with fall coloured flowers and pumpkins – some carved, some accompanied by other gourds.

And one of the biggest events of the year in New York is the Halloween Parade which winds its way from Greenwich Village – an appropriate starting point – up 6th Avenue from Spring Street to 21st (just down the street from home). The parade is in its 39th year and is the largest public Halloween event in the US. In 2011, over 2 million people participated. It is listed as one of the 100 Things to Do Before You Die.

There is a whole website devoted to inviting New Yorkers (and foreign interloppers we hope) to costume up and join in the event.Sign us up! Check out http://www.halloweennyc.com/parade. There are even workshops for those who wish to really get involved. But for most, a visit to any one of a hundred Halloween costume themed stores will let you score the appropriate garb. The other day we wandered down the iconic Wall Street past the New York Stock Exchange, Federal Hall where George Washington took the oath of office as the 1st US President and in the middle of the block was, you guessed it, a beautiful 1920s Art Deco building festooned with banners announcing “Halloween City” in bright orange, black and green and with Marshmellow Man inflated outside the door. It was surreal to say the least, or maybe a statement as to what entrepeneurish has become in the financial capital of the world.

Pumpkin is everwhere. In the grocery stores you can buy not just pumpkins but everything pumpkin. Pumpkin spice lattes are a nod to the harvest and Halloween but here there is nothing that is not pumpkin. Pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin bread and pancake and waffle mix, pumpking ice cream – and out of this gourd experience according to the Fearless Flyer from Trader Joe’s – and greek yogurt, honey roasted pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin cream cheese, pumpkin spice tea, pumpkin mousse cake and pumpkin butter. There is even pumpkin flavoured dog treats; a 16oz box for $3.49. And if there is something you need to flavour they don’t already sell, there are pumpkin spices of every description.
Halloween has become a celebration of the harvest and the pumpkin the symbol of success.

In New York, they must be experiencing a great harvest because the city and the people here have really jumped on board. That’s something great about America: When they do things they do them with gusto; no ambivalence. They love to find things to bring them together to celebrate and Halloween is one of those things. We feel lucky to be here to experience and enjoy this enthusiasm and energy. We could use a little of that back home!!

New York is such a fabulous place, it is hard to sit down and wriite about it rather than being out there experiencing it. You have to have been here to really know what I mean. But we promised a bit of a travelogue so we’ll start with our homebase and neighbourhood.

Manhatten has so many neighbourhoods it is hard to keep track of where one ends and another begins. We chose Chelsea which is generally located west of 5th Ave between 14th (downtown) and 39th (uptown) Streets. On the east side of Chelsea are the mostly commercial and retail streets of 5th, 6th and 7th Avenues. Beyond that is the Flat Iron District and Grammercy. West of 7th to the Hudson River is mostly residential – 19th and early 20th century 4 – 6 storey walk ups and townhouses. Many of these were upgraded as Chelsea came more into favour with New Yorkers in the 1980s and 90s. There are beautiful brick clad buildings with classic facades, arched doorways with beautiful solid wood or wood and glass oak doors, wrought iron handrails on the front stoops and fire escapes hanging off the window ledges. Most are on beautiful tree lined streets.

Chelsea’s history since the Dutch and English landed here was as open farmland, however by the 1830s it had begun to turn into a suburb (hard to believe today) of the growing New York to the south. By the 1870s it had become a commercial centre. Fashion Row, music halls and theatres lined 23 street and many of these buildings are still standing today. When Macy’s arrived at Herald Square – just 12 short blocks north of where we live – retailing and garment districts grew around it. The northwest corner of Chelsea is still referred to as the Garment District and there is a fashion walk of fame up 7th Avenue with”stars” in the sidewalks immortalizing many of famous designers. Chelsea’s residential areas were rediscovered and the warehousing areas east of 9th and 10th Avenue became the home of art galleries and antique shops.

Chelsea is also the home of the increasingly famous HighLine Park which was built on an old elevated railway that ran through the warehouse district, west of 10th Ave from 34th street down to about 10th Street. (More on that in a future post). Close to the southern end – at 16th Street – is Chelsea Market, a full block of buildings from the early 1900s. The National Biscuit Company – Nabisco – made the first Oreo here in 1911. The block has been converted to high tech office space upstairs and a quaint and bustling market, food and retail area below. If you wander a couple of blocks further south you are in the West Village and Meat Packing District now full of trendy restaurants – anyone remember Pastis from the opening scene in Annie Hall? – and the new home of high fashion in New York.

And of course there are restaurants and bars everywhere. If you drew a 500 foot circle around our apartment I bet you would find 100 places to drink and eat. There are lots of Italian places – Chelsea has the best Italian with menus and wine lists to match. If you talk to locals, there are favourites but all are good. There are more American places like Barbarosa and HighPoint up 7th, as well as Japanese, Indian . . . too many to choose from. Deli’s and small markets are on every corner. If you go over to 8th Ave, the scene is repeated, and again on 9th and 10th. These places open for lunch, but get really busy about 7:30 with New Yorkers catching dinner before heading home. We have been into a few bars – La Veloce, Jake’s Saloon, the Guilty Goose – and there are a huge number more to explore. You may have seen our “check ins” on Facebook.

Our neighbourhood is full of good shopping and there is a lot more if we take the 5 minute walk to 5th Ave. Whole Foods is 3 blocks up in the Mercantile Building (Katie Holmes and Siri live upstairs), Trader Joes at the end of our block on 6th. Starbucks is over on 6th and three blocks up on 7th. On 23rd you can find large and small retail, Best Buy and even an Home Depot. And the largest department store in the world – well that may be an exaggeration but it seems it – is Macy’s just one subway stop uptown at 34th. All of these store are housed in 80 to 120 year old 10 storey buildings. We don’t have to go far to get anything.

Our apartment is called Casa and is just a 100 feet off 7th Ave on 21st Street . Like those immediately around us, the street is strickly commercial with 10 – 15 storey buildings on both sides. There is a new condo building going up next door, part of a major building and renovation boom that seems to go on all over New York. On the other side, are a couple of 4 storey brick buildings likely from the early 1900s and with little upgrading. If you lie still in bed in the morning, you can feel the 1 Train hustling uptown and down on 7th Ave. We face away from the street and there are apartments in old and new buildings just 60 or 70 feet away from us. When you open the windows you can hear the bustle of 7th Ave and the heat pumps and air units from adjacent buildings. And a 10 o’clock every morning the doggy day care behind us lets the dogs out to run in a small gravel fenced area. We will try to post some pictures soon.

We are definitely settling in. We have a few things in the fridge but like many New Yorkers we have been eating out quite a bit. And if we don’t feel like cooking or eating out there is ready made food at any of the local deli’s and grocery stores.

This our “Casa” New York

The first thing you notice is how many people there are. At the airport, on the street. In the hundreds of restaurants and bars. In Times Square. New York is full. The next thing you notice is the scale of everything. In Vancouver, we are used to 10-15 storey buildings; in New York and especially in mid town, hardly anything is under 25 storey’s and 30 – 40 storeys are everywhere. Looking down the main avenues is like looking down a canyon. And then there are the NYC Cabs; about 3500 of them scream around the City darting in and out of traffic, honking their horns and dodging peds who challenge red lights at every intersection. The place just buzzes.

But if you sit back a bit and catch your breath, there is an incredible energy here. Something that is very contageous and exciting. Ever spent time someplace where activity levels rise and fall and your emotions go with them. Well here, there is a fevoured pitch to that energy that sweeps you up and won’t let go.

That is the reason why Penny and I decided to come to New York – to central Manhattan – for 3 months. We wanted to experience that energy, share in it and see where it takes us. For me, this adventure actually started in 2003 when I first came to the Big Apple for a conference. While I had heard about how incredible NYC is, I could never have imagined how intoxicating it is. I wandered the streets, visited many of the tourist attractions and even sat at the third base foul poll for a Yankees – Oakland baseball game with John MacPherson. I was in awe of how this place actually works.

In 2009, Penny and I came to New York for Canadian Thanksgiving. We stayed just half a block off Time Square at the Muse Hotel. We visited many of the attractions, walked Greenwich Village, SOHO, financial district and Battery Park and went to visit Ellis lsland where some of Penny’s relatives entered North America from Greece. The lights, the shopping, the lights, the people were fabulous, but we mostly were in touristy places. We both wanted more. We wanted to spend time in all of New York’s neighbourhoods, experiencing places that the locals experience, sucking up the energy and discovering what makes New York tick. We resolved to spend some serious time here, three or four months to take in as much as possible.

So here we are. We have made a signficant commitment to New York. We have rented an apartment, and have moved here. We couldn’t be more excited. This blog will hopefully be a vehicle for us to document our adventure. We will both post here and we will post together. Our experiences, our responses, our emotions will be documented for anyone who cares to follow us. We have been here for six days so we have some catching up to do. So far we are mostly tourists but over the next three months we hope to come to understand what New York is all about and to become energized by it.

We will share this journey with some friends who has “signed up” to take part in our journey. It will be an adventure. But it will be fun.

Stay tuned.