Category Archives: New York Stuff

Just today, during our morning constitutional, Corinne remarked that the number of homeless people hanging out on the neighborhood church’s steps has increased of late. It’s true. There have always been one or two guys there, sleeping on a piece of cardboard or teaching tricks to their fleas or whatever. But lately, there have been as many as a dozen, some of them sleeping in those cardboard-box forts that homeless people make when they find a hospitable doorway in which to settle down long-term.

I don’t particularly mind; the increase in homeless people hasn’t led to a corresponding increase in panhandling, though the block the church is on does occasionally smell like urine (that was Corinne’s Homeless Observation two nights ago).

Tonight, my friend Daniel and I discovered just why these guys had picked The Church of the Holy Name of Jesus. At around 11:15 pm, just as we were walking by, two large vans pulled up in front of the church. A gaggle of college girls spilled out of the vans, immediately attracting the crowd of homeless men, to which the college girls dispensed sandwiches and beverages.

Now, this is New York City on a Saturday night. Every single single male in the city is out tonight trying to find a girl who’s willing to make him a sandwich when he’s hungry, and here are two vansfull of girls doing just that. Daniel’s first thought was that we should take off our shirts and get in line for some food.

Anyway, a note to all the single guys at the downtown clubs tonight, hoping for some action: UR DOING IT WRONG! Come uptown and hang out on the church steps! You can even leave the Axe Bodyspray at home–these girls don’t care how you smell.

It’s amazing the stuff you can see within a ten-minute walk of your apartment here in Manhattan. In the Financial District we had the Stock Exchange, the courthouse where Washington was sworn in as president, the burial place of Alexander Hamilton, the Fulton Fish Market, and the cool buildings on old Stone Street, to name just a few. It was one of the most historic neighborhoods in the country, and I really loved it there, despite the hordes of tourists.

Corinne and I moved to the Upper West Side a few months ago, and at first I figured there wouldn’t be much to see, since it’s mostly a residential neighborhood. But there’s tons of cool stuff up here.

The alignment of a beautiful Sunday afternoon and the recent purchase of our first D-SLR resulted in a perfect afternoon of walking around the neighborhood shooting the sights. I’m still learning how to use the camera (a Canon XSi), so I didn’t get every shot the way I wanted it. Overall though, this camera takes darn good pics…its only limitation is due to the guy holding it.

The full collection of photos is on my Flickr page, but here are a few of the highlights (all of them unedited):

This church is just a block away from our apartment, and still rings the bells on Sundays. Behind it, of course, is a shiny glass temple of gentrification.

This is the statuary outside the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 10 blocks north of our place.

Another one of St. John’s. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a more amazing building…every inch of the outside and inside is incredibly ornate.

And man, those Catholic architects know how to make a guy feel small.

This is one of my favorite spots in the city: A tree-lined walking lane in Riverside Park along the Hudson River that stretches as far as the eye can see.

I love this shot of a dad and his kid looking at each other across the fountain of the Fireman’s Memorial on 100th St.

The Columbia campus is seriously amazing. Here’s a shot of the quad. Well, half the quad, and the other half is nearly as impressive.

That’s it for here. Wanna see more? Go to Flickr or come visit!