(Here's a better look at the shack.)
In this shot, you can easily see the stay cables that were added, along with some stiffening trusses, to the bridge after the similarly designed Tacoma Narrows Bridge did this in 1940. Even with these modifications, however, the Whitestone still swayed more than most suspension bridges in high winds. During a 1968 nor'easter, the vertical oscillation of the roadway reached 10 inches, enough to make panicked drivers stuck in traffic abandon their vehicles and flee the bridge on foot.
(The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority assured the public that the bridge was safe, despite the swaying. The deputy chief engineer at the time explained: "All suspension bridges sway in the wind. If they didn't have give, they would snap. The reason that motorists noticed the sway today is because they were sitting in stalled cars. They felt it move. They don't notice it much when driving.")
The aforementioned trusses were extremely heavy, putting a lot of stress on the rest of the bridge, and their effectiveness in stabilizing the structure was questionable. After six decades of service, they were replaced in 2003-04 by much lighter fiberglass fairings (the triangular pieces you can see mounted on the sides of the deck, running the length of the roadway) that deflect wind around the deck. Based on the Whitestone's performance during Hurricane Sandy, the fairings seem to be just what the doctor ordered.
Here we are, once again, at everybody's favorite Trumptastic boondoggle of a golf course.
There is a tremendous amount of rubble (including some nice pieces of granite!) littering the eastern shoreline of Ferry Point Park. Perhaps this has something to do with the site's former use as a landfill, or perhaps it's related to the nearly two million cubic yards of dirt and debris that have been dumped on top of the landfill in preparation for its transformation into a golf course. Or maybe it's just the remnants of old buildings that once stood nearby.
Ferry Point Park is home to the Bronx's Living Memorial Grove, which consists of almost 3000 trees (one for each victim) donated by His Serene Highness, Prince Albert II of Monaco, as well as a view, off in the distance, of downtown Manhattan, where the twin towers once stood.
The school was established in 1869; this building dates to 1913.
After 35 years, a father is reunited with his teenage daughter at St. Raymond's Cemetery.
Walking around St. Raymond's today, I noticed quite a few brightly painted headstones, each one inscribed with a Hispanic last name. According to one scholar: "Hispanic graveyards are places of color, where paints, flowers, and tiles combine to comfort the bereaved and startle the gringo". You can see photos of some more of the stones here if you're interested.
A man of great humility, hence the reference to the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican
"Billie Holiday died in Metropolitan Hospital, New York, on Friday, July 17, 1959, in the bed in which she had been arrested for illegal possession of narcotics a little more than a month before, as she lay mortally ill; in the room from which a police guard had been removed – by court order – only a few hours before her death, which, like her life, was disorderly and pitiful. She had been strikingly beautiful, but she was wasted physically to a small, grotesque caricature of herself. The worms of every kind of excess – drugs were only one – had eaten her. The likelihood exists that among the last thoughts of this cynical, sentimental, profane, generous and greatly talented woman of 44 was the belief that she was to be arraigned the following morning. She would have been, eventually, although possibly not that quickly. In any case, she removed herself finally from the jurisdiction of any court here below."
is just a bit behind where I'm standing on Hillside Avenue; this is the only sign marking the border.
This one is just over the border in Nassau County, so it doesn't count in the official tally.
and various tree parts — Krazy Eddie ain't got nothing on this guy.
This recharge basin borders Queens on its western edge.
Part of a war memorial in Floral Park Centre, this WTC remnant seems to be dedicated to fallen troops, rather than victims of 9/11.
ZIP code 11001 straddles the Queens/Nassau line, marked here by what looks like a concrete curb embedded in the street.
