A bicycle built for one (literally!)

At about 8:30 am today, at Lexington and E 74th Street, I saw a guy in a suit riding a unicycle to work.

Pretty impressive!!! And easier to carry (I think, anyway.)

DC's Smithsonian in NYC!

I went to the Smithsonian Musuem of the American Indian in Battery Park the other day. Many people do not even know this museum exists, but I learned about it back in 2004 when I went on my one and only "Discovery New York" neighborhood walk.

The museum is free, like all Smithsonians, and I have to admit that's the main reason I went.

It is in the old US Customs House, which is gorgeous. And I learned a lot about the different clothes of the different Native American tribes!

http://www.nmai.si.edu/

Peacocks on the Upper West Side!

I was hanging out with a friend on the UWS. We had just goten coffee and pastry fromthe Hungarian Pastry Shop. It was crowded there, so we ate in the garden of St John the Divine, directly across the street.

We heard weird cries, like a cat in distress, and went to investigate.

Turns out there are peacocks (and a snow-white peahen) who roam the garden, and that is the noise they make!

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

In an early episode of Seinfeld (about 1991), the street sign for the diner they always ate in was shown.

It is at the corner of W 112th Street and Broadway.

Right near the Hungarian Pastry Shop!

Keep in mind that it was only the OUTSIDE of the restaurant that was filmed -- the inside is completely different.

But even with Seinfeld ending in may 1998, people still recognize and photograph Tom's Restuarant.

Gargoyles!

I found these lovely gargoyles at 527 W 110th Street (near the Hungarian Pastry Shop!)

My Harvard degree!

Just reminiscing .....


Several years ago, I attended the Harvard Bartending course for one day and got a signed certificate of completion:

http://www.harvardstudentagencies.com/hbc/bartending/default.asp

You can get one at Columbia too:

columbiabartending.com

MJ memorials around NYC --- June 26 - July 3

This T-shirt has been in the display of Alphabet T-shirts across the street from Tompkins Square Park for years. I love it --- it captures all that I love (humor, creativity) and hate (rats) about this great city all at the same time.

Why do dogs do that?

I was at the dog run in Tompkins Square Park (East Village) the other day with my friend WRB. Dogs of every breed and size were running together, playing and getting along.

WRB asked me, "How come all these different dogs get along so well in here, but when 2 dogs on leashes pass each other on the street, they bark at each other?"

My guess it's the safety of the leashes, but I truly do not know the answer to that very good question.

A damn fine neighbor!

I saw the coolest thing on the Upper East Side (around 3rd and 91st).

A man was walking his dog, and using a squirt gun to dispel the pee on the sidewal so it ran into the sewer and didn't cause stank.

What a great neighbor!!!

Lady Liberty's crown reopens. Happy 4th of July!

Today, people will be able to access the crown of the Statue of Liberty for the first time since September 11, 2001.

I went up there on a class trip in 1983 (when I was in the 5th grade). I remember having to trudge up about 300 winding steps (the elevator only went up to the base, after that you hoofed it), and spending about 5 minutes looking out into the ocean.

Despite being a personal trainer and really loving New York, i doubt I would ever put myself through that again.

Happy 4th of July, y'all!!!!

Something to think about!

On Columbia University's campus in Morningside Hieghts (W 116ht Street), there is a copy of Rodin's sculpture The Thinker outside their Philosophy building. Gorgeous!

From Wikipedia:

The Thinker (French: Le Penseur) is a bronze and marble sculpture by Auguste Rodin held in the Musée Rodin in Paris, France. It depicts a man in sober meditation battling with a powerful internal struggle.[1] It is often used to represent philosophy.

Best coffee in town is on UWS!

The Hungarian Pastry Shop, located at W 110th Street and Amseterdam (and across the street from the gorgeous St John the Divine Cathedral), serves the BEST coffee ever and it is a mere 95 cents! MMMMMMMMMMMMMM!


1030 Amsterdam Avenue (btw 110th and 111th Streets)
212-866-4230

It's all a fake!

I thought that the empty bodega on the corner of Crescent and Astoria Boulevard had finally been rented out to a business named Sid's Bonds and Bails. The sign went up 3weeks ago ... and came down last week.

It was all a prop for that Bounty Hunter movie they had been filing.

But I was right about it being (very temporarily) rented out to a business!

Our security guard gets down!

Here he is, still in his security guard uniform, dancing in a tribute to Michael Jackson outside our building in Jersey City! Go, Dirty Sanchez!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfc_eTjliDU