The Fifth Avenue Scene
You probably haven't heard of the humble and quiet Fifth Ave of NYC. As if! The brashness and gaudy look-at-me-I-am-rich aura oozes from every sidewalk crack and building brick! We decided it might be interesting to walk down it on Sunday.
Fifth Ave actually forms the eastern border of Central Park, and we're west of the park, so we decided to walk through it. It's a lovely time of year, where the trees have turned colourful and squirrels hop back and forth collecting acorns. (Aside: the eastern gray squirrels seem not to have the persistent chatter of the wester red squirrels. The gray ones are slower too.) Central park has many winding paths, which is lovely for a walk, but difficult if you want to go from Point A to B quickly and efficiently! After a few extra turns and twists, we made it to the eastern side of the park...
... only to discover this was part of the New York Marathon route! It was crowded with both spectators and runners. Probably 4 hrs into the race, the runners we saw were mostly walkers and looking rather tired. Still, it was impressive and moving to see the dedication in these people! Much garbage was created though; marathon sponsors had given out placards for fans to write "Go Mike" (or some other name), blown-up tubes for making noise were everywhere. Racers received a foil wrap for warmth and a bag of goodies upon finishing. One of the bottled water companies had a 3 storey blow-up bottle at the edge of Central Park! (and a collection of Japanese tourists taking photos of this large water bottle!)
The race then weaved into the park at Mile 24, following it to its southern edge and along to the finish line. We walked along side the route (there was no crossing the route) for a while, and were able to pass underneath of it at one point. This took us out to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where I have a membership and can go and hang out any time! Yay!
I've only been during rainy days though, and hadn't realized the number of artists' stalls set along the sidewalk near the museum. Most were cheesy "NY scenes" for tourists, but there were some really cool photographs and paintings as well!
Along Fifth Ave and Central Park there are only apartment buildings. However, this is the most coveted address in Manhattan, where I suspect the apartments go into the 10's of millions of dollars or more! Uniformed doormen were ushering the wealthly into cars or carrying packages into the building. And EVERYONE has a purebred tiny dog-like creatures. (It's hard to call it a dog when it's the size of a squirrel or rat!)
South of Central Park the famed stores begin. Name brand everything is available for a hefty price. People are 'well-heeled' and carrying bags to show off their spending. And tourists. You can tell the tourists by their cameras, shorts or fleece, sensible footwear and the 'caught in the headlights' look on their faces!
We wandered into a Build-A-Bear workshop. If you dont' know about this store, here's the deal: You pick a stuffed animal skin, fill it with 'love and hugs and friendship' (from the stuffing machine), add sounds to it, and then buy it outfits like tuxedos or sports teams' shirts or beachwear or pajamas. It's cute in a crass kind of way!
Unfortunately, we missed the other toy store, FAO Schwartz. Guess we'll have to find it another time!
The outrageously priced stores end some 20ish blocks later, somewhere near the Empire State Building, and the Avenue becomes somewhat normal again. We did walk by a crazy-looking family: the father looked like a mobster, the son an uncomfortable heir, the daughter a 14-year-old trying to look like Paris Hilton, and the mother with so much plastic surgery she looked truly plasticized! They weren't too impressed with my teddy bear backpack either.
Maybe next weekend we'll try Park Avenue! (the next coveted address in NYC!) (and by 'coveted' I mean expensive!)
Fifth Ave actually forms the eastern border of Central Park, and we're west of the park, so we decided to walk through it. It's a lovely time of year, where the trees have turned colourful and squirrels hop back and forth collecting acorns. (Aside: the eastern gray squirrels seem not to have the persistent chatter of the wester red squirrels. The gray ones are slower too.) Central park has many winding paths, which is lovely for a walk, but difficult if you want to go from Point A to B quickly and efficiently! After a few extra turns and twists, we made it to the eastern side of the park...
... only to discover this was part of the New York Marathon route! It was crowded with both spectators and runners. Probably 4 hrs into the race, the runners we saw were mostly walkers and looking rather tired. Still, it was impressive and moving to see the dedication in these people! Much garbage was created though; marathon sponsors had given out placards for fans to write "Go Mike" (or some other name), blown-up tubes for making noise were everywhere. Racers received a foil wrap for warmth and a bag of goodies upon finishing. One of the bottled water companies had a 3 storey blow-up bottle at the edge of Central Park! (and a collection of Japanese tourists taking photos of this large water bottle!)
The race then weaved into the park at Mile 24, following it to its southern edge and along to the finish line. We walked along side the route (there was no crossing the route) for a while, and were able to pass underneath of it at one point. This took us out to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where I have a membership and can go and hang out any time! Yay!
I've only been during rainy days though, and hadn't realized the number of artists' stalls set along the sidewalk near the museum. Most were cheesy "NY scenes" for tourists, but there were some really cool photographs and paintings as well!
Along Fifth Ave and Central Park there are only apartment buildings. However, this is the most coveted address in Manhattan, where I suspect the apartments go into the 10's of millions of dollars or more! Uniformed doormen were ushering the wealthly into cars or carrying packages into the building. And EVERYONE has a purebred tiny dog-like creatures. (It's hard to call it a dog when it's the size of a squirrel or rat!)
South of Central Park the famed stores begin. Name brand everything is available for a hefty price. People are 'well-heeled' and carrying bags to show off their spending. And tourists. You can tell the tourists by their cameras, shorts or fleece, sensible footwear and the 'caught in the headlights' look on their faces!
We wandered into a Build-A-Bear workshop. If you dont' know about this store, here's the deal: You pick a stuffed animal skin, fill it with 'love and hugs and friendship' (from the stuffing machine), add sounds to it, and then buy it outfits like tuxedos or sports teams' shirts or beachwear or pajamas. It's cute in a crass kind of way!
Unfortunately, we missed the other toy store, FAO Schwartz. Guess we'll have to find it another time!
The outrageously priced stores end some 20ish blocks later, somewhere near the Empire State Building, and the Avenue becomes somewhat normal again. We did walk by a crazy-looking family: the father looked like a mobster, the son an uncomfortable heir, the daughter a 14-year-old trying to look like Paris Hilton, and the mother with so much plastic surgery she looked truly plasticized! They weren't too impressed with my teddy bear backpack either.
Maybe next weekend we'll try Park Avenue! (the next coveted address in NYC!) (and by 'coveted' I mean expensive!)
posted by blumaroo at
10:40 AM
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