along the old North Shore branch of the Staten Island Railway toward where I was standing when I took this shot
Since 1885, this park has been home to the Staten Island Cricket Club, the nation's oldest continuously active cricket club, which was founded as the Staten Island Cricket and Baseball Club in 1872. It was at the club's original home in St. George that, according to many, modern tennis was introduced to the US in 1874 by Mary Ewing Outerbridge (sister of the Outerbridge Crossing's eponym), who had seen the sport being played while on vacation in Bermuda.
According to the Staten Island Advance, Quinlan has been in business for some 125 years, and its building is even older, dating back to the early 1800s.
Washing machines and nectarines under one roof. Take a look inside.
Looking into the woods behind the track at the edge of Corporal Thompson Park, you can see a bunch of tombstones in the distance. They're part of an agglomeration of five old cemeteries — including a Native American burial ground — that were long abandoned before being cleaned up in recent years by an organization called Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries of Staten Island. (I later got a much closer look at some of the stones from a narrow little street that loops down from Richmond Terrace.)
This plaque in Corporal Thompson Park announces the presence of an artwork that's no longer here: Broadway Starship, a 1985 "playsculpture" dedicated to the children of West Brighton. The piece was created by Elizabeth Egbert, the former head of the Staten Island Museum, who passed away in the time since I took this photo.
Recently opened on the former site of the old Blissenbach Marina, a contaminated boatyard owned by the now-defunct Marine Power and Light Corporation (whose adjacent building we saw in the previous photo), this is the city's "first post-Hurricane Sandy resilient waterfront park". You can see some not terribly impressive photos of the place here.
This is the western edge of the Caddell Dry Dock and Repair Company's facilities, which stretch for more than half a mile along Richmond Terrace.
Day 15 of this year's Self-Transcendence 3,100 Mile Race begins in five minutes. The runners have to leave the course each day for six hours starting at midnight, so each new day begins at 6 AM. As you can see, Sarvagata has already covered nearly 1,000 miles in a mere two weeks.
Sopan arrives two minutes before today's start. In addition to the 3,100 miles they must cover on foot, the runners also generally bike to and from their (relatively nearby) temporary residences each day.
The runners gather at the starting line each morning for a few moments of silent reflection before the day begins. Vasu, with the backpack, just arrived and is rushing to get ready.
On the first day of this year's race, several hours in, Vasu stopped mid-block to speak to me just as I was leaving. In Russian-tinged English, he started saying something about my mother, and I thought he must have had me confused with someone else, because how would he know my mother? Then I remembered that my parents had visited New York last summer and we had stopped by the race, although it was only for a few minutes. But it was apparently long enough to make an impression. Vasu went on to tell me that my mom has a beautiful smile, and that he still remembers it all this time later. He just wanted to let me know, and then he kept running.
Sarvagata heads into the light of the early-morning sun on yet another trip around the block.
Speaking of green, I came across 16 dollars (a ten, a five, and a one) lying on the ground shortly after I took this photo — the most money I've found on this walk. I pick up a lot of pennies and occasionally other coins, but I very rarely find paper money.
is the name of this fortress-like house, according to that plaque by the gate.
Classic Queens. This ridiculous intersection is marked by rare survivors from the days when NYC streets signs were color-coded by borough.
