cecilelawrence.org: July 2013 in New York City

CITI bikes introduced summer 2013 in NYC by outgoing Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Residents and tourists took to them immediately, even using them as places on which to park their stuff, like activist flags, a cup of coffee, etc. This is in the Garment District around Broadway and 36th. I was in the area often to go to the Community Acupuncture Center between 6yh and 7th Avenues.

The above is the narrow street running alongside Pace University's Manhattan campus building, taken during Left Forum 2013. To the right below was taken near a corner across from Union Square Park, possibly at 13th St.

The above is near Times Square.

Bloomberg also, over the course of his administrations, made many changes to street life in Manhattan, instituting the carving out of spaces on many city streets and intersections, for traffic calming and decrease and increase in outdoor seating, where you can just sit and watch/smell/hear the sights of the city and, often, buy food from various ethnic cuisines. And, especially since Occupy burst upon the scene, NYPD watches you constantly.
Smile, you're on camera!

And here's another nice carve out at Greeley Square Park.

And yet more, an older carve out. Testimony to the needed civilizing and calming effect of nature/Nature.

The Asian infusion pops up everywhere. Better learn some Cantonese or Mandarin or Korean as it's being spoken all around you!

This sumptuous beauty was in the West Village area in yet another triangle shaped park by a tiny old Church converted into a tiny turret-like library

with no public rest room !, so crossed legs were in order for a while until I happened upon a McDonald's two blocks away.

But I did find the Apothecary! Bigelow's Chemists where I got a tube of Arnica gel at a good price and likewise the homeopathic remedies I was seeking - Hekla Lava and Symphytum Officinale from very helpful staff there.
Yet again, I gave in to the siren call of the Union Square summer farmer's market. I dashed from stall to stall enthusiastically soaking up the vibrant life that I so miss while I exist in exile in drab upstate NY so pardon the lack of focus in some of the images.

I'm guessing the title of "Avocado" for the squash comes from the most likely Korean word for that Yellow globe sounding to the Korean speaking ear like the word "squash" .... or some such thing.

See...I told you, NYC folks of all ages REALLY love the Citi Bikes even if it is sponsored by a bankster corp.

and then if something undesirable happens, there's always help at hand.

This looks like it was a fender bender, near Grand Central Terminal, no Citi Bike involved.

Yet another traffic calming civilizing effort.

After a long day of hiking from block to block seeing/smelling/hearing new excitement around every corner- they're making a movie here in the park by NYU,

I return to where I started in the a.m., to the calm and serenity of the scenes by the Hunter's Point area of the East River, an impressive example of brownfield reclamation. In the space of about 10 years from its start with one lonely co-op apt. building (City Lights at Queens Landing), the area has exploded with a new State Park (Gantry State Park) about 15 other high rises (mostly rentals) on the river's edge,

low rises a bit further back from the river (mix of condos and rentals) where there's little or none of that wonderful Manhattan schist rock below, with new local restaurants, Italian, Thai, Latino, etc., dry cleaners, doggy day care, nail salons, supermarket, a very local flea and food market on the weekends,

a drug store, an elementary school on the ground floor of the first building, a spanking new middle school two block away (pics to come in another post) and a space ship like yet to be opened high school at the top of another new apartment building in front of a new city park right at the edge of the East River ferry stop for that point. In essence a whole community sprang up, keeping some old icons like the L.I.C. Bar.