Day 765

Gotta keep ’em somewhere

February 2nd, 2014



Oh, how things have changed...

Day 765

Memorial to a firefighter

February 2nd, 2014



John Fischer died at the World Trade Center on 9/11. (I'm not including this in the official tally of 9/11 memorials because there's no mention of the event here.) This street corner was also renamed for Captain Fischer.

Day 765

Portal of the day

February 2nd, 2014



312 Bard Avenue — a well-concealed property

Day 770

Today’s route — 16.5 miles

February 7th, 2014

Day 770

For Sailors of All Nations

February 7th, 2014



This plot at the Evergreens Cemetery was opened in 1853 for burials of "friendless mariners" from around the world who died while in port here in New York. As of 1893, some 1,200 sailors or more were estimated to have been interred here, with Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland the most common nationalities, followed by the US and the British Isles, respectively. The monument above was originally much more prominent; the globe was perched atop a 50-foot-high column that was reportedly damaged when the monument was moved in the 1950s.

Day 770

George Hall

February 7th, 2014



Mr. Hall was the first player in major league history to lead his league in home runs, swatting five homers (including two in one game — another first) in the National League's inaugural season of 1876. He would never hit another major league home run, however: after the following season, in which he went homerless, he and three teammates were banned from the league for life for conspiring to throw games. According to one baseball historian, this was the sport's "greatest scandal until the Black Sox in 1919."

Day 770

Bam

February 7th, 2014


Day 770

ЯƎHTOM YM

February 7th, 2014



MY WIFE

Day 770

Union Field Cemetery

February 7th, 2014



This is another of the 17 cemeteries clumped together near the middle of the Brooklyn-Queens border.

Day 770

Portal of the day

February 7th, 2014



We're now in Mount Judah Cemetery, yet another burial ground in the Brooklyn-Queens cemetery belt.

Day 770

Victor David Brenner

February 7th, 2014



You probably don't recognize his name, but Mr. Brenner is the creator of one of the world's most reproduced works of art, with nearly half a trillion copies made since 1909. If you live in the US, you're extremely familiar with this work, and your eyes have likely passed over his initials countless times without ever seeing them.

Day 770

Wintry walkways

February 7th, 2014



in Highland Park

Day 770

Highland Park, buried in snow

February 7th, 2014


Day 770

Welcome, friends

February 7th, 2014



As if this wall in front of Our Lady of Mount Carmel & St. Joseph, a Discalced Carmelite monastery, weren't high enough, they've also gone to the trouble of embedding shards of broken glass along the top of it.

(Here's a bird's-eye view of the monastery.)

Day 770

Highland Boulevard

February 7th, 2014



An enclave of massive houses at the northern edge of greater East New York

Day 770




As you can see in this terrain map, Highland Boulevard runs along the edge of the Harbor Hill Moraine; the ground drops off sharply behind me down to the outwash plain of southeastern Brooklyn.

Day 770

Long way home

February 7th, 2014


Day 770

Descent

February 7th, 2014



Looking down Miller Avenue from the heights of the Harbor Hill Moraine. If you zoom in, you can even see Jamaica Bay and the Rockaway Peninsula way off in the distance.

Day 770



Day 771

Today’s route — 14.2 miles

February 8th, 2014

Day 771

Balls a-flyin’

February 8th, 2014



at Richmond County Bank Ballpark, home of the minor-league Staten Island Yankees

Day 771

9/11 memorial #188

February 8th, 2014



This monument, entitled Postcards, honors the 270-some Staten Islanders who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks, as well as another who died in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. The two oversized "postcards" frame the skyline of Lower Manhattan, where the twin towers stood; on the inner sides of the postcards, each victim is memorialized with a granite plaque and a carved profile of his or her head in silhouette.

Day 771

Fore!

February 8th, 2014



Off in the distance, amid the industrial landscape of eastern Bayonne, sits the ultra-exclusive Bayonne Golf Club, its man-made hills blanketed in the snows of a relentless winter. The course's lighthouse-like clubhouse is visible atop the hills in the center of the photo; here's a closer look at the scene.

Day 771

A snow-covered field

February 8th, 2014



at Richmond County Bank Ballpark

Day 771




Towering above Jersey Street since 1924

Day 771

Portal of the day

February 8th, 2014


Day 771

One among many

February 8th, 2014



There's no shortage of beautiful old houses here in New Brighton:

"Up and down hills, along shaded streets of gnarled trees and overgrown landscaping, there are grand examples of what constituted great style to the wealthy Manhattan exiles who built them between 1834 and the early years of the 20th century. Gingerbread Victorians, spiky Gothic Revival and Second Empire structures with mansard roofs alternate with the soft, curved arches and rounded turrets of shingle style and Queen Anne homes, each house built as a symbol of the status its first owner had achieved."

Day 771



Day 771

Nope, it’s Jesus!

February 8th, 2014



The Staten Island Firefighter's Memorial at the Chapel of St. Paul

Day 771

Here comes the sun

February 8th, 2014



15 Ellicott Place, built around 1886

Day 771

Where the car matches the trim

February 8th, 2014


Day 771

Taking in the view

February 8th, 2014



from the aptly named Skyline Playground

Day 771

Hamilton Park Cottage

February 8th, 2014



The official plaque for this city landmark states that it's "the last unaltered survivor" of Hamilton Park, an early "model suburb" built between 1852 and 1874. According to the NY Times, "the subdivision featured cottages of 12 to 14 rooms with carriage drives and provisions for live-in staff. It was a hit with wealthy people from Manhattan, 30 minutes away by steamer, who could entertain themselves at the local yacht club or listen to the legendary Jenny Lind warble from the stage of one of the posh waterfront hotels."

Day 771

Salt delivery

February 8th, 2014



The bulk carrier Balder is docked here at the Atlantic Salt Company, which supplies most of NYC's road salt — hundreds of thousands of tons of the stuff. Almost all of the city's salt is of foreign origin; it's cheaper to transport it from other countries by ship than from upstate by train. You can check out some cool shots of Balder's interior here, and see the ship in action (i.e., unloading salt) here.

Day 771

It’s nice to have options

February 8th, 2014


Day 771

1 St. Marks Place

February 8th, 2014



Here's how Christopher Gray of the NY Times describes this circa-1887 house: "It is awkwardly spectacular, a mix of tight-lipped Puritanism and freewheeling shingled bumps, with a witch's-hat tower."

Day 771

20 Carroll Place

February 8th, 2014



Built between 1874 and 1885 as a carriage house and servants' quarters

Day 771

St. Peter’s Church

February 8th, 2014



Established in 1839, St. Peter's is the oldest Catholic parish on Staten Island. The original church building here, dating back to 1844, was destroyed by a fire in the 1890s; the current church was erected in 1900-01.

Day 778

Today’s route — 18.2 miles

February 15th, 2014

Day 778

Piling up

February 15th, 2014


Day 778

Jabba the snowmound

February 15th, 2014


Day 778

Deluxe tree fortress

February 15th, 2014


Day 778

In for the night

February 15th, 2014


Day 778

Tracking Device Installed

February 15th, 2014


Day 778

The Little Sisters of the Poor

February 15th, 2014



Behind this wall sits St. Ann's Novitiate of the Little Sisters of the Poor, where nuns-in-training spend a couple of years before taking their temporary vows of chastity, poverty, obedience, and hospitality. (Last year we passed by the other side of the property, where the order's Queen of Peace Residence, a home for the aged, is located.)

Day 778

Seasonal topography

February 15th, 2014


Day 778

Premiere Eglise D’Apocalypse

February 15th, 2014



According to its website, this Haitian church has over 2,000 members.

Day 778

Same shape, different flavors

February 15th, 2014


Day 778

Consider it made

February 15th, 2014


Day 778

Fading ads, financial ruin

February 15th, 2014



Buy diamonds on credit, then pawn them to pay your creditors!