City Observations [travel]

[rebeccmeister]

I FINALLY had time to get photos uploaded from last weekend.

Observations: tons of bikes all over the place, lots of different styles and whatnot.



The owner of this bike is seated on the bench on the right side of the photo. He had some tunes going, but his dress and body posture suggested it might be wise to mostly leave him in peace, so I just surreptitiously took this photo and moved on.



Enormous bar mitts appear to be hugely popular among bike messenger and delivery people here. Totally understandable in the winter cold.



I am always pleased to spot this hashtag out in the wild.

Street dining appears to be here to stay. To which I say, GOOD. More space reclaimed for more people to enjoy.



I think this might be the first time I've ever seen this sort of municipal compost bin, anywhere. Have you ever seen any, anywhere else? I'm curious!



I LOVED the newly renovated Moynihan Train Hall. It is a beautiful space.




What I find slightly hilarious is that the glass ceiling reminds me of the glass-clad exterior of the downtown branch of the Seattle Public Library, a building that I loathe. Clearly, it isn't the glass that I object to.

But maybe I loved the Moynihan Train Hall so much because of the sugar high induced by the delicious Liege Waffle I found at a coffeeshop on my morning walk to reach it.


This Liege waffle partially restored my faith in humanity. There's a place selling Liege waffles at the farmer's market in Troy, but the waffles from the Troy place are inferior in taste and texture. Very disappointing if one is anticipating the real thing.

Spring was arriving in the City. We saw the purple tips of crocuses, and the delicate white flowers of snowdrops.



Oh, and throngs of tourists taking photos everywhere. An activity we gleefully joined.

Comments

[cmcmck]

All such recyclables get collected from the doorstep here including compostables and food waste (also compostable).

[rebeccmeister]

Oh yeah, I've lived in a couple of cities with household compost pickup. But I've never seen a bin out in public, for general public collection, at least that I can remember!

[mellowtigger]

Condensing 2 replies into one...
Freezing rain? Brrrrrrrr.
Sprouts? Jealous!
Bikes? *sigh* (Loss of bicycling is one of my big disappointments for warzone life.)
Street dining? Yes! This quote today really captures the mood of the "new city" that many progressives want.

[rebeccmeister]

That is a fantastic quote!

I so wish bicycling was an option for you, but completely respect your reasons for deciding it isn't, at this time. My commute home passes through a neighborhood in Albany that has multiple gun homicides every year. But typically the people who are involved know each other; we don't have as many cases of violent theft here, at least for now. I have always figured, if someone wants my bike that badly, I'll throw it at them. It does make me nervous sometimes, riding through some of those neighborhoods at certain times of the day/night. Then I think about what it must be like to live right there. And I think about how people who just drive through with their windows rolled up are attempting to insulate themselves against the reality that others experience day in and day out. The folks who live in that neighborhood have their own fairly strong sense of community, at least.

[mallorys_camera]

Yeah, I've seen a few of those bright red compost bins in NYC now. It's a thang! ❤️

Good to see those bulb flowers poking through. NYC is just 10 days ahead of the mid-HV season-wise, and that means in just another 10 days, spring may begin here! (:::SWOON:::)

[rebeccmeister]

Hahahaha, but you know that the Hideous White Stuff knows no bounds when it comes to deciding to fall from the sky!!

[altamira16]

We have that style of compost bin, but they are getting taken away because people cannot follow instructions. Basically, front of the house composting in restaurants and in places where there is no accountability, get trashed by people who either don't know better or are jerks.