Standing water and the various chemicals contained therein have eaten away the asphalt at the end of this Hunters Point driveway and exposed the old Belgian blocks lying beneath.
The elevated roadway running across the photo is the Long Island Expressway. The little platform in front of it is the lightly used Hunterspoint Avenue LIRR station. The tunnel in the foreground is one of four that carry LIRR, Amtrak, and NJ Transit trains beneath the East River between Manhattan and the Harold Interlocking (one of the nation's busiest railway junctions) here in Queens. And visible off in the distance, as it often is these days, is One World Trade Center.
It's been a while since we last crossed paths with the Citicorp Building, New York's tallest building outside of Manhattan.
The seemingly tenuous grasp of an old-timey fire alarm call box
This street renaming honors the Irish American Athletic Club (a.k.a. the Winged Fists), whose members (and former members) brought home more than 50 Olympic medals for the US between 1900 and 1924. The IAAC's ranks, as you might suspect, largely comprised Irish-American athletes (including many of the voracious Irish Whales), but the club was open to men of all ethnicities; John Taylor, the first black Olympic gold medalist, was a member, as were a few Jewish track and field champions.
The IAAC disbanded when the US entered World War I, but their stadium, Celtic Park, stood here in Sunnyside until 1930, when it was demolished to make way for the apartment complex where this sign is now displayed. (This isn't the actual street sign; it's a ceremonial version that was presented to the local historian whose efforts led to the renaming.)
This diagonal block-long street, whose name is a nod to the Irish heritage of many Sunnysiders, is a remnant of a early road that once ran all the way to Bowery Bay.
This pedestrian bridge fencing has been modified to provide photographers with an unobstructed view of Old Calvary Cemetery and the Midtown skyline.
The Long Island Expressway briefly takes on a second tier east of its interchange with the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. The upper roadway is for through traffic; the lower is for traffic moving between the two expressways. This is what things look like during the PM rush hour.
Like Gramercy Park, Sunnyside Gardens Park is privately owned and open only to nearby residents willing to cough up an annual fee. Its membership roll is currently maxed out, with dozens of families biding their time on the waiting list.
Erected in 1983, it was refurbished a few years ago and given a new lighting scheme; it was partially lit the last time we passed by.
