Day 399

Today’s route — 15.0 miles

February 1st, 2013

Day 399

On display

February 1st, 2013


Day 399

Tiled risers

February 1st, 2013


Day 399

UNION COURSE

February 1st, 2013



THE BLUE PUMP RM OPENED 1855 RENAMED FOR THE RACETRACK A HOTEL THEATER MAE WEST PERFORMED & SCORSESE FILMED GOODFELLOWS HERE RENAMED NEIRS

Got all that? If you're a fan of punctuation (and correctly spelled movie titles), you might find this history of Neir's Tavern a bit more comprehensible. You can also see some great old photos of the place here and read a sentimental NY Times tribute to the pre-renovation Neir's here. I don't know what accounts for the discrepancy in opening dates — 1829 vs. 1853 vs. 1855 — found in different sources, but, in any case, Neir's is one of the oldest bars in the country.

Day 399

’61 Caddy

February 1st, 2013



A well-aged lump of rust

Day 399

Portal of the day

February 1st, 2013



FRI-DAY STORE ALSO CLOSED

Day 399

9/11 memorial #116

February 1st, 2013


Day 399

First house number in Queens!

February 1st, 2013



Shockingly, I was the only tourist around snapping photos of this sign at the corner of Park Lane South and 85th Street. I guess everyone else must have been attending that zip code symposium in the Bronx or something.

Queens's "vexing vortex" of street and hyphenated house numbers is the result of an attempt to create order out of the chaos that ensued when the borough was created in 1898, encompassing dozens of formerly independent villages. Each village had its own set of street names and addresses — there were more than 30 different Washington Streets and Avenues, for example — and this made for quite a confusing mess once they were all thrown together into the same municipality.

So, in 1911, the Queens Topographical Bureau devised a street-numbering plan that would be imposed upon the borough as a whole, lending an overarching logic to the existing nomenclatural quagmire. It was a massive undertaking: as Charles U. Powell, the engineer who designed the system, wrote in 1928:

What would happen in an American city of the size of Boston, if the authorities should pass an ordinance changing the names of most of the streets and assigning new numbers to all of the houses? It would, perhaps, precipitate a riot, or even necessitate a special act of the legislature to put the new system into effect; and yet such a change was actually brought about in the borough of Queens, which contains a population larger than that of Boston, and covers nearly as much land as does the city of Philadelphia.
The countless visitors (and residents) who've tried and failed over the years to navigate Queens's often perplexing maze of streets may beg to differ with Powell's conclusion that the numbering system allows "strangers [to] find their way about with a minimum of effort", but perhaps they just need to keep in mind the instructional poem suggested by Flushing denizen Ellis Parker Butler:
In Queens, to find locations best
Avenues, roads and drives run west;
But ways to north or south ‘tis plain
Are street or place or even lane;
While even numbers you will meet
Upon the west and south of street.

Day 399



Day 399

A shiny ’66 Sting Ray

February 1st, 2013


Day 400

Today’s route — 13.8 miles

February 2nd, 2013

Day 400

Subway substation

February 2nd, 2013



That's the Rockaway Line hugging the building as it splits off from the Fulton Street Line on Liberty Avenue.

Day 400

Portal of the day

February 2nd, 2013


Day 400

GOLD

February 2nd, 2013


Day 400

Barberz #38

February 2nd, 2013


Day 400

Taxes, taxes, taxes…

February 2nd, 2013



...Guyana Journal

Day 400

Barberz #39

February 2nd, 2013


Day 400

Water ‘n’ Krishna

February 2nd, 2013



Sri Sri Krishna Balarama Mandir

Day 400

Workin’ on the A train

February 2nd, 2013


Day 400

Ships on velvet

February 2nd, 2013


Day 400

Barberz #40

February 2nd, 2013


Day 400

Delisaurus rex

February 2nd, 2013



A notable work from Norman Rockwell's little-known street art phase

Day 400

Pediatrician’s Office →

February 2nd, 2013



Just send your kiddies on down the alley, folks!

Day 400

Portal of the neigh

February 2nd, 2013



The back entrance to the Big A

Day 400



Day 400

Strike a pose

February 2nd, 2013



Punjabi Bride in South Richmond Hill

Day 400

Under renovation

February 2nd, 2013



A nameless church at 114-01 91st Avenue in Richmond Hill

Day 400

1969 Cadillac hearse

February 2nd, 2013


Day 400

Forest Park

February 2nd, 2013


Day 400

9/11 memorial #117

February 2nd, 2013


Day 400

Barberz #41

February 2nd, 2013


Day 401

Today’s route — 11.6 miles

February 3rd, 2013

Day 401

Building your natural identity

February 3rd, 2013


Day 401

RE(AL)GO(OD)

February 3rd, 2013



This mural offers us another reminder that the neighborhood of Rego Park is named not for some historical member of the Rego family, but rather for Real Good Construction, the company that developed the area in the 1920s.

Day 401

Portal of the day

February 3rd, 2013



Here's a close-up.

Day 401

Two trees, one house

February 3rd, 2013


Day 401

The Painter’s Playground

February 3rd, 2013



This playground, along with the public school next door, is named for the Long Island artist William Sidney Mount.

Day 401

Snowinfant

February 3rd, 2013


Day 401

SCREECH

February 3rd, 2013



What's this machine supposed to ward off? Rodents? Dogs? Teenagers? Potential friendships with neighbors?

Day 401

Nat Schneider Triangle

February 3rd, 2013



This horse-themed parklet, complete with hitchin' posts, is located at the intersection of Polo Place and Trotting Course Lane.

Day 401

Reminders of Sandy

February 3rd, 2013



at Forest Park

Day 401

I’ll try, I promise!

February 3rd, 2013



And what a car it is.

Day 401

“is that so.com?”

February 3rd, 2013


Day 401

Ninety One~O~One

February 3rd, 2013



reads the sign above the door.

Day 401




Founded in 1898, Worksman is America's oldest existing bicycle manufacturer.

Day 401



Day 401

The future QueensWay?

February 3rd, 2013



This old rail line, the LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch, hasn't been used since 1962. In recent years, there has been talk of turning it into a linear park similar to Manhattan's High Line.

Day 401

Ol’ Pink-Shoe Mitchell

February 3rd, 2013


Day 401

Murdercicles

February 3rd, 2013



These suckers were much more massive than they appear.

Day 401

HULK SMASH

February 3rd, 2013



This 1969 Pontiac Marvelmobile comes equipped with a fire extinguisher mounted beside the driver's seat. Have a look.