Studebaker East construction and Cardinal Greenway

Visited on November 26, 2010 by Emily

Though I was out of town on vacation for Thanksgiving, I still had the drive to explore. It might be even more interesting, I thought, to go somewhere I had never seen before! I got recommendations for possible places from the family members who live in Indiana and on black Friday we set out for my coldest and shortest excursion yet. Continue reading →

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Riverside Park

Visited on November 13, 2010 by Emily

My fellow explorer and I discussed many possibilities of where to go this Saturday. He sent me a link about the Freedom Tunnel (much less patriotic than it sounds). It’s an Amtrak train tunnel that runs underneath Riverside Park and is home to some apparently quite famous graffiti. Both of us were a bit freaked out by the possibility of getting hit by a train, caught trespassing, or in a confrontation with a homeless resident, so we decided to explore above the Freedom Tunnel instead. Continue reading →

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Inspiration Point

Visited on November 6, 2010 by Emily

On a rather short time budget, I visited Inspiration Point, a structure on the Hudson River Greenway. You might remember I wrote some about this in my Billings Terrace post, but didn’t get to go see it at that time.

I parked far west in Washington Heights and even my walk from there to the Greenway was interesting and beautiful. It’s extremely hilly with step streets, old architecture, and great views. I walked towards the water on West 181st Street. Continue reading →

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Tibbetts Brook Park (particularly pedestrian bridges)

Visited on October 23, 2010 by Emily

For the past six years (come November 15), I’ve driven the Saw Mill Parkway to the Cross County Parkway and the reverse five days a week every week. It’s my commute! I’ve always said I’m lucky – first, to live a 15 minute drive from work, second because my commute is so beautiful, particularly at the changing of seasons. Though I always noticed Tibbetts Brook Park, which the majority of my drive takes me through, I never explored it before this weekend.

My goals for the visit were to go stand on the pedestrian bridge over the Saw Mill Parkway – something I had passed under so many times; try to find other features of the park that I’d recognize by having driven by them; and look at the fall leaves.

Continue reading →

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Willis Avenue Bridges

Visited on October 16, 2010 by Emily

Ever since I started driving in New York City (circa 2001), the Willis Avenue Bridge was a standby for driving back from Manhattan “the free way” or simply from the East side. It was a bumpy, potholed, metal-plated piece of crap. But hey, it was free, and connected nicely with FDR Drive to the south and I-87 to the north. Continue reading →

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Fort Tryon Park (in particular, Billings Terrace)

Visited on October 6, 2010 by Emily

I was thinking of a beautiful place to take pictures with my sister who was coming in town for a short bit. For some reason I was drawn to the parks in upper Manhattan. That happens sometimes with these spaces – I picture them in my mind, get an idea that I must go there, and then eventually satisfy that. Until I visit they sort of haunt me.

I had known about Fort Tryon Park for a while, and had even been to the Cloisters. But what drew me to this park (and the surrounding Inwood Hill Park and the Hudson River Greenway) was seeing features of them driving on the Henry Hudson Parkway. As the structures whizzed past in the car I was drawn to know more about them. Continue reading →

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Brooklyn Heights Promenade

Visited on September 25, 2010 by Emily

The Brooklyn Heights Promenade was first a sort of mythical place to me. For years I drove from boyfriend’s home on Staten Island over the Verrazano Bridge, through Brooklyn, over the Brooklyn Bridge, up the FDR, over the Willis Avenue Bridge, I-87 home to the Bronx. Yes, sometimes this took up to 3 hours in traffic.

All that aside, something magical happened every time I came up and rounded the curve of the sunken, walled BQE. All of a sudden, to the left was the most beautiful view of the city that you could ever ask for. The skyline, at night and during the day, aglow and looming close – just across the East River. As if you could almost touch it. Continue reading →

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Spuyten Duyvil Train Station

Visited on September 24, 2010 by Emily

On my drive home from work I was seized by the impulse to go look at the Henry Hudson Bridge (one of my favorites). Because I know there’s easy parking down there and a good view of the bridge, I drove to the Spuyten Duyvil Metro North Station. I parked with no problem, and armed with only my phone (read: camera) I climbed the few stairs up to the platform, then across the walkway to the opposite-side tracks.

Continue reading →

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