Day 475


Day 475

Road closed

April 18th, 2013



Just a few days after the Boston Marathon bombings, paranoia is running high. Someone called 911 to report a "suspicious package" at the intersection of Farragut Road and East 105th Street. In Canarsie. On the corner of a vacant lot. The cop did a serviceable job of sounding serious when he told me that's why I couldn't pass through. "Hey, if someone calls 911, we can't just kick it into the gutter", he said with a smile. I had to circle back around later in the day, after the bomb scare was over, to pick up this block.

Day 475

Keys on a tree

April 18th, 2013



in the middle of Canarsie Park

Day 475

Subway substation

April 18th, 2013



Adjacent to the L train's East 105th Street station

Day 475

JFK memorial flagpole

April 18th, 2013



at Intermediate School 211

Day 475

100% Playground

April 18th, 2013



on East 100th Street. On its page about this playground, the Parks Department offers a nice little history of children's recreation in the city, featuring this quote from Teddy Roosevelt: "If we would have our citizens contented and law-abiding, we must not sow the seeds of discontent in childhood by denying children their birthright of play."




One of two synagogues I saw today that now share space with adult living facilities — a sign of Canarsie's shrinking Jewish population?

Day 475

Split personality

April 18th, 2013


Day 475

Truckleman’s Lane

April 18th, 2013



One of Canarsie's many vestigial alleys

Day 475

Hey, why not?

April 18th, 2013


Day 475

Portal of the day

April 18th, 2013


Day 475

Off-Track Betting

April 18th, 2013



The parlor's been closed for more than two years, but the sign's still hanging in there. To quote a post from last March:

After struggling for years, all the NYC OTB parlors were finally shuttered in late 2010. A considerable number of them, however, have managed to eke out a pathetic sort of survival, courtesy of the sluggish economy: their signs and logos, or at least traces of them, still adorn many of the vacant, unrented storefronts that once housed the parlors. The former customers, of course, have had to move on, but what has become of Jesus Leonardo? Not to worry, friends: he just keeps on keepin' on.

Day 475

The Jerry Building!

April 18th, 2013



A fixture on Rockaway Parkway for many years

Day 475

Rockaway Parkway station

April 18th, 2013



This is the end of the line in Canarsie — the L train's terminal station. For much of the first half of the 20th century, however, there was a trolley extension that carried passengers from this point down to the old Golden City amusement park on the shores of Jamaica Bay. You can see some pictures of Golden City here, and read an article about its opening day in 1907 here (referring to one of the park's premier attractions, King Pharaoh, a sub-headline reads: "Educated Horse Sells Pictures").

From the station here on Rockaway Parkway north of Glenwood Road, the trolley ran along a private right-of-way, curving south for a couple of blocks before settling into a nice, straight course a little east of, and paralleling, East 95th Street. Looking at aerial photos, you can still see traces of the trolley route: an oddly shaped building oriented diagonally to the street grid; a curving backyard tree line; a slender, slanting mid-block parking lot. There are also some tangible remnants to be found: the pole near the right edge of this photo is one of several old trolley utility poles in the area that have been turned into lampposts.

Day 475

Canarsie Pier

April 18th, 2013



Closed since Hurricane Sandy

Day 475

Taking it all in

April 18th, 2013



This guy is awesome.

Day 475

Churchagogue of the day

April 18th, 2013