Lower East Side

Last Sunday was spent wandering around the Lower East Side because there was a small block party going on, called LudFest. I also was able to sample some very fine pickles and bialys, and take a look around the LES Tenement Museum Visitor’s Center. They have a lot of cool books about NYC. Here’s an entirely non-random assortment of photographs from that day.

A lovely green lady on Ludlow St.

I’ve been fascinated by the glasses sign over the gift shop on Orchard St.

I like old kids’ rides as well.

This new condo is very out of place in this neighborhood.

Your typical LES girls.

A small gathering of people watching the band. My problem is that the crowd was much more interesting to me than any of the bands we saw. More photos (not taken by me) can be seen on Flickr.

Governor’s Island

This is the last weekend of the summer to visit Governor’s Island, a small island with a long military history 800 yards from lower Manhattan. It’s accessible by a free ferry and they provide free tours of the Governor’s Island National Monument, so I decided to take a stroll on this beautiful day.

A breathtaking view of lower Manhattan from the ferry.

The Staten Island Ferry.

A tower in Castle Williams, an important fortification in the island’s history. It had canons lining the roof pointing into New York’s harbor, and was once a prison.

An interesting monument in front of a vacant building. In fact, most of the buildings on the island are vacant. Some of their doors are unlocked as well, if you’re ever in the mood for some spooky exploration.

Morning glory.

A huge pink flower in Battery Park.

There are now plans to turn the lower portion of Governor’s Island, formerly used by the Coast Guard, into a public park for the city of New York. There is a vote going on right now to decide how exactly the redevelopment should proceed and they had a whole building dedicated with potential layouts and scale models. There were some cool ideas, like creating tide pools, public farms and gardens, picnic areas and new paths around the island, as well as space to hold concerts and festivals. Should be fun…in about 10 years time!