Mister and Lady: New York City - Day 3 - Hastings-on-Hudson and More

It's a day for tripping down memory lane for my sweetheart. We are heading north out of the city to Hasting-on-Hudson, the village where he lived as a child.

First step - Grand Central Station and on the outside, Mister tells me to look up. The Graybar rats are an homage to more nautical times and the effort made to keep rats off the ships. (Hey Gwen and Frieda - remember talking about this on the cruise?) The Graybar Building, built in 1927, was designed to pay tribute to New York City’s position as a key transportation hub, with its trains (the building is right near Grand Central Terminal) and its seaport. The cables that connect the canopy in front of the exterior to the building itself are made to look like the mooring lines of a ship. And as with real mooring lines, these mooring lines have rats climbing up them, attempting to get into the “ship” that is the Graybar Building. The rats are thwarted by conical structures called baffles near the top of the lines that stop the sculpted rodents from getting all the way to the building, as they would stop rats from entering ships. At some point, the rats disappeared from their mooring lines, but during the building’s restoration in the late ’90s, a special note was made to “replace [the] missing rats.” And so there they are, once more, still unable to board the ship. The architects had one more little joke, though: The carved rosettes that the mooring lines lead to depict the heads of clever rats that, presumably, made it on board before the baffles were put in place. Kinda cool, right? Now, get those tickets purchased and find our train. Tickets were $6 a piece and we've located the right terminal.

Here we go ---- All of my chins and me are looking forward to today.

We start out underground but soon rise up as we leave the city and the remainder of the trip allows me to see more of New York than I ever have. I'm super happy to just watch out the windows and take a picture now and then.

Crossing the river - Manhattan is an island, after all, and we are going north of the island.

Ticket takers --- all I kept thinking of was the Polar Express as he punched the tickets.

The Broadway Bridge.

Coming up on the Henry Hudson Bridge, where the rivers converge - Harlem (which has been next to us) meets Hudson.

Across the Hudson - these bluffs are called The Palisades. They remind me of the Rimrocks in Billings that were always a part of our lives. However, here they signify something else as well --- New Jersey is over there. The Hudson divides the states.

No signage - no idea what this factory is for.

This one is abandoned. What was it? I had to hit Google for this one. If you're interested as well, here is the skinny on this Old Power Plant. Ya gotta click the link - sorry.

Final stop for today - Hastings. Attached to the depot is a little coffee shop called The Good Witch. Seems like a great first stop.

A scone, with sprinkles, and a hot beverage always makes things right for a walk-about.

Here we go -- first thing we see is the Municipal Building with a sculpture in front. Mister knows the name of the sculpture, the sculptor, and remembers when it was put there. Crazy Right?

It is "Between Heaven and Earth" by Jacques Lipchitz (Cuba) and was placed here in 1967 as a gift to his adopted hometown.

Behind the sculpture above, you can see the library. Mister leads us inside.

He is on a mission to the windows at the back and, although all the seats are occupied, he finds a door to a patio outside.

And shares this view of the city. One he remembers well.

As we leave the library, a giant rat has taken up residence and there is a protest underway. I take it that Veolia Water is having some issues.

We walk towards the two main streets and where they intersect. The first picture goes towards the left - we'll catch it second.

For now, we go straight and walk through town, with Mister remembering where the barber shop was and what was what in each building.

This little church stands so serene at the end of the road.

Fire Stations, old and new, across from each other. Both in use, but with different jobs.

We've turned back onto the other street now and are continuing towards other memories. The Hastings Theater closed in 1977 due to “the lack of enough family-type films and the high cost of heating and air conditioning”. It’s now a collection of stores called the Moviehouse Mews.

Saint Matthew Roman Catholic Church - I asked if this was the church they attended when young, and he said that he really didn't go to church much until his father remarried and then he went with his step-mother occasionally. However, that didn't stop us from checking to see if the doors were open.

And they were ---- a peek inside. This was built in 1914.

I LOVE the simpler stained glass windows - ones without images.

Rose window

Mister didn't leave with lighting a candle - it's just something he does that always surprises me.

From here we went through a neighborhood and I hear Mister say, "I can't believe it's still there. I remember having to jump up to touch this when I was a kid." This is Squirrel Alley and Riverview Place. The squirrel at the entrance of the path to Riverview Place is the work of sculptor Raffaele Menconi.

We twisted and turned down a few more streets and came to this building - just off the main road. This is the complex Mister lived in as a child.

His building near the back and with a view of the river - nice.

He goes right in the door to show me where he lived and then shared fun stories of trick or treating through the tunnels between the buildings that run from the laundry downstairs. We then went down to check it out, but I put the camera away. They had a separate storage room and a garage out back.

The view from the back common area. So many stories, all fun to hear.

When he is ready, we start back towards town. At this point, I learn a little about the history of this area. In 1778, before the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson existed, there was only rugged farmland between Yonkers and Dobbs Ferry, all owned by the Philipse family. To the north were the front lines of the Continental Army near the Croton River, while to the south the Hessian soldiers fighting for the British were headquartered near Fort Knyphausen in northern Manhattan and Kingsbridge in the Bronx, as well as encamped near the Philipse Manor House in Yonkers. The Philipse family were Loyalists and had fled to the safety of New York City at the outbreak of war, leaving their tenant farmers and enslaved farm workers to face danger and an uncertain fate alone. The population of what is now Hastings is estimated to have been about 50 people, of whom about 10 were enslaved. This dangerous stretch of land along the Hudson became known as the "Neutral Ground." For seven long years, from the British Invasion of New York until their withdrawal after the Treaty of Paris, this territory was a no-man's land of spies, foraging soldiers, and skirmishes. Local tenant farmers hid their livestock in the woods and buried their food supplies.

We are just about back to the depot when Mister spots a painting in the median. Cool, right?

Back to the depot and we walk around back for a view -

Once we have tickets, we cross to the other side and await our train.

I was sharing a few pics with Mister's family as he took this one. Not playing games, honest.

Here she comes and before we know it - we're back at Grand Central - end of the Astor line in this direction. At this point, it is only 1 in the afternoon. Yep - we still have LOT of day ahead.

As we're walking through the terminal, Mister takes me into the Market - right there. It's so easy for commuters to stop and grab what they need for dinner that night. So amazing.

Take a peek at the small amount of areas I took photos of --- so many choices.

Oh, the spices. How fabulous is this?

For the most part, I didn't think the prices were unexpected for New York City, until it came to the produce. Goodness.

Time to go - but, now I'm getting hungry. We take a subway up to the Garment District and one of the areas down in the tunnels has a pretty good band playing.

Up in the Garment District - we find things that actually pertain to sewing. How fun. A treadle sculpture and a giant button and needle.

We also stopped in at a fabric shop ---- remember "garment" district.

Now, about that food thing. Mister hunts down a place he heard about - Black Iron Burger.

A beer? Why, yes please. It is after 2, after all.

Okay, so I have to say this might be the best burger I've ever had. No joke. They have got it figured out. Oh, and the fries were perfect as well.

Satiated for awhile, we're trekking again - past Macy's with its famous red star logo.

Hello Empire State Building - not stopping this trip as I don't think I can top the last time I was up there and some memories are meant to last.

Penn Station and Madison Square Garden right next door. I can remember hearing bands say that if they played at the Garden, they had made it. It is the home of the NBA New York Knicks - but I laugh when I hear that because I remember when they were the Knickerbockers. Not sure when it was shortened but it is kind of funny to be named after a pair of pants. It always made me giggle as a child.

Always look up in New York --- so fun. All those old water towers.

The Parish of Holy Cross and St. John the Baptist comes into view and we can't resist an old church --- love them so much. By the way, I'm not Catholic, never have been. ALWAYS have loved old churches.

Beautiful -

So, I always try to find a quilt shop when I travel. This one was tough. I believe it's the last one in the city due to high rent costs, etc. It's why it is hidden on the 8th floor of a building and known only to those who shop there.

Here is the separate post LINK that I did for here. Didn't think everyone wanted all the deets on a quilt shop.

Street scenes -

The High Line is right ahead and we're going to check it out. Up the stairs and at the top we find ourselves on an old elevated railroad. It is an urban renewal project and is a mile and a half long. Let's go for a walk. At the top of the stairs we turn right and behold - this is our view. Taking a moment to get our bearings, we are off.

The wrong way! Yep, we are soon at the end of the walk. About face.

Okay, now we're going the right way. Check out these living spaces. I called them pods and made Mister laugh.

There is a lot of artwork along the walk -

And incredible views when it opens up.

Crazy architecture - new and old

Hmmmm - honest, her face is a bit scary to me.

The city in motion thirty feet below - 34th and 10th

More artwork -

Okay, I took this picture because it's really hard to see these up close. This is a parking lot and the cars are four high.

Okay, maybe I was wrong earlier -- THESE are pods.

The sun is going down and Mister notices a quilt on the side of a building.

Upon closer look, it is Chelsea Market and at first I think it is one of the places on my list to visit. However, it says Chelsea Square Market. Different place entirely.

The sun is making its way down as we near the end of the walk.

Look how wide this street is compared to all the others. I think this is 10th and 14th, but not sure.

So the next picture has two things inside it - first, the archway seen mid picture. That is Pier 54 - or what is left of it. Pier 54 has a rather unfortunate history with the ships it has either seen off or failed to see at all. In 1915, it saw the departure of the RMS Lusitania, bound for Liverpool. Five days later, the ship was sunk by torpedoes from nearby German U-boats just off the coast of Ireland. 1,195 of the nearly 2,000 civilian passengers were killed when the ship in just over 18 minutes. The sinking made international headlines is believed to be one of the major factors contributing to the American entry into World War I and the turning of many other formally neutral countries against Germany. Three years earlier, the pier’s neighbor, Pier 59, was drawn as the final docking point for the White Star Line ship, the RMS Titanic, which sunk in April of 1912 after hitting an iceberg, killing over 1,500 passengers and crew and remaining one of the deadliest maritime disasters in history. When the surviving passengers were rescued by the nearby Cunard Line ship, the RMS Carpathia, they were delivered to Pier 54 instead, where they were greeted by thousands of onlookers who had been following the disaster and the rescue from land. Pier 54 was destroyed almost completely in 1991, leaving only the steel arch foundation of the building’s original facade. If you look closely, you can still make out the barely-visible letters that spell ‘CUNARD WHITE STAR,’ dating more than a century back to the pier’s heyday.

The second item is the white eco-gardens to the right of the arch. That is Little Island - on my list for next time.

Cool reflection.

We've hit the end of the highline. Time to go back down to ground level.

The sun is ready to depart as well.

We've hit almost 20, 000 steps and I'm ready to sit down for a bit. We find a wine bar, have some funky wine and then go to Piccolo Angelo for dinner. We went here last trip and it was soooo good, but, again, messing with memories can be problematic.

Food is good, but so much. I'll hold onto the first memory and we won't likely come back. Sad.

Into the subway for the journey back to the hotel. We are at the 14th and 8th station when we discover the Life Underground bronze sculptures. They are so fun - I was running around grabbing pictures as Mister pointed each one out.