small hotel

There were once a lot of small hotels in Midtown that had fallen onto hard times...then, starting in the 90's, they began to be gentrified into "boutique" hotels...there are a lot of them now.

Boutique

Store now occupies this old building that was probably once a small fire house.

Park Avenue Tunnel

Trolley tracks once ran through this tunnel down the middle of Park Avenue south of Grand Central...now it is almost all cabs.

More Guinness signs

More old outdoor Guinness ads from Paddy Reilly's bar in the neighborhood.

Must date from 1940's or so.

Grand Central Terminal

Midday finds Grand Central Terminal a whirling mass of people, a lot of whom look lost and many who do not seem to be looking where they are walking ( maybe dedazzled tourists)....

The triumphal statuary still stands above the entrance on 42nd street

Comedy Club, Loans and Pawnshop etc.

Comedy Club and Pawnbrokers are not that far apart...

Wonder how many aspiring comics are still telling jokes about the economy ( like Jay Leno..." How bad is it?")-

Bad enough, it seems. Stock market is picking up because government is trying yet another new scheme to get things going and improve the housing market.

Will take years for housing market to come back...it was so desperately over-inflated, a classic "bubble."
By the way, look at all the classic "street furniture," including trash receptacle, lined up in front of Pawnbrokers. There is even a phone booth at the extreme left.

Petco, Bestsellers at Borders Bookshop

Petco and Borders Bookstore are both part of the Kips Bay Shopping Strip, which includes a Crunch gym, a Loews Cineplex, a Rite Aid etc.

Big outlets that are all rather impersonal.

Borders tries to tone things up by selling coffee and providing computer space tables like Starbuck's.

Shuttered Restaurants

Several restaurants have closed South of Murray Hill..

Suspect problem was rising rents. Rent on commercial properties goes up no matter what.

Met Life Bldg

The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company ( for which my grandfather worked for a while in the 1920's) has abandoned most of its buildings in NY and gone to New Jersey.

The radical restructuring of the company that happened in the 90's-- to reduce employee benefits and to maximize profits...are part of an age which led to our current recession and health care problems.

Pet Shop

There is a big, warehouse like Petco pet store in the Kips Bay shopping strip. It is like a pet Walmart.

This, on the other hand, is a local store that is small and very personalized.

Not too many of the smaller stores are bearing up very well in the current economy ( except for the psyhics and spiritual advisors).

It is just nice to see something small and old fashioned like this....

Yes, another Psychic

I cannot believe how I keep finding new Psychic places around here..

This one is on an upscale street in Murray Hill, not at all low rent...business must be very good.

Why?

Are we living in an era where people are that uncertain about the future they have to have some kind of special help?

Grillwork on East 30th Street

Walking on East 30th Street when I noticed these two adjacent buildings-- not alike in any other way-- both had some ornamental grillwork on them.

These kind of grillwork is pretty unusual in this area of Midtown..

Makes you wonder how these two buildings have it and no other buildings do ( maybe some of them did at some time?)

Duke's--Old Local Eatery

Love places like Duke's--in upscale Murray Hill-- a memory of when this stretch was less upscale.

It is a diner that reminds me of a truck stop for some reason.

Oh, Those Lotteries

Every deli/convenience store/bodega in NY does a very brisk business selling the omnipresent lottery tickets.

I am sure it is the margin of profit for a lot of these stores, they sell so many tickets.

It is not just the recession, it has always been that way... people spend on lottery tickets compulsively and continuously.

I never buy any myself...the odds are too great and why start a new bad habit when I have had such trouble breaking myself of other ones?

Coffee Time

Guy and Gallard is one of the better coffee outlets around here..

Much better than Starbucks, even if that's not saying much.

Tudor City, October 30 2010

"Autumn is here and the sadness is upon us"--old Irish saying

Tudor City garden does seem wistful as Fall moves in...also so empty of people on a pleasant Saturday afternoon ( everyone out of town?)

Lifestyle Choices in Murray Hill

How healthy is the Red Mango? Or are you more interested on the toppings you can get on your pizza?

I will consider both such seeming opposites when it comes to lifestyle choices...

But I probably would go for the Red Mango first.
Even though mangoes are not my favorite fruit.

Trendy Hairstylist

"Trendy Hairstylist"-- maybe that is redundant, aren't ALL hairstylists trying to be trendy?

Like the way the large eye floats in the window of this establishment...gives it a surreal touch.

People in the waning Fall

Today was the last of the mild Fall days, according to the weather man, so people were out in light clothes and enjoying sitting out in the fading afternoon light...

Tomorrow it gets chilly, and this is the last "Indian Summer" day..

Movie themed bar and restaurant

Over at 34th Street and 3rd Avenue is a bar and restaurant (with outdoor tables) which has movies as its theme...

They updated and upgraded it a while back. Lost in the process was a great poster of Laurel and Hardy..

Guess they are trying to attract more of a yuppie crowd who, after all, don't know who Laurel and Hardy were and wouldn't like them if they saw them.

natural clean, needle building

There are all sorts of dry cleaners around here, of course, but don't ask me what "Natural Cleaning" is...


Just remember a time when "French cleaning" was very popular, whatever that was.

What is now called a "needle building" rises mid block not so far from where I live...

"Needle buildings" in midblock (particularly the taller ones) were banned for a while but now I think they are permitted again. Real estate developers often win in long run except in areas like Greenwich Village, where zoning board is made up of preservationist fanatics.

Turbulent tree roots

Gnarled roots from this tree will not "behave" and grow neatly into the urban space provided for them...suspect they will break up surrounding sidewalk some day.

Love the texture of that bark.

Street Photography- friends and family

Sunny, beautiful Fall day, tons of people out with cameras taking pictures of their kids, friends, etc.

Man posing in lower shot has Empire State Building up above him but you cannot see it from this angle...(guess that's what guy taking photo had chosen as background to picture of his friend).

24 Hour Fitness?

I know this is "the city that never sleeps," and that there are 24-hour establishments all over the place, but I still didn't expect a 24-hour fitness club...

Well, I am sure there are people who like the idea.

Tasti-D-Lite Store

"Tasti-D-Lite" is so funny sounding that it tempts you to try it.

At the moment, just more forbidden fruit.