An Unexpected Manhattan Walkabout, Part 1

So much for unbiased reporting!

It's not every day that I have to wake up at 3 in the morning, but today was one of those days. Dad's having mitral-valve surgery at Mount Sinai, and he had to be at the Upper East Side hospital at 5:30. I picked him up a little after 3:30 and we made it to the hospital parking garage in less than 90 minutes. The roads were so empty that if I were trying to set a speed record, I might have clocked in at about 45 minutes.

It's around 9:30 as I'm typing this. I'm starting to feel the exhaustion. I went to bed sometime before 10:30 and was briefly woken up by Mrs. The Anthony Show with the news that Osama Bin Laden was dead. This news probably would make my father happy, that even if something went horribly wrong in the operating room, at least he outlived the most notorious terrorist of all time.

By the time Dad was being wheeled into the OR and I wandering around the waiting area, it was 6:45, and I decided to skip the Mount Sinai "café" and wander around the area while seeking a decent breakfast. What follows are photos from my little journey.

This boring photo was from the beginning of my walk. I planned to dine at a restaurant in East Harlem called Triple A.

I'd never been this far "upper" on the Upper East Side, so it's pretty easy to be surprised at how hilly this part of Manhattan can be. I realized that I didn't know when Triple A was open, and I'd forgotten that I could call them with, like, the same device I was using to take these photos. My second option was Barking Dog, which I knew opened at 8am.

At this point it was about 7:15, and I really didn't feel like hanging around the corner of 106th and Second Avenue for 40 minutes, plus I was getting that "self-conscious white guy in Harlem" feeling (even if it was East Harlem), so I turned around and walked down Third Avenue toward Barking Dog, hoping I'd be slow enough to arrive by 8.

At 100th Street I noticed a small cross jutting out of a plain building. It turned out to be a small Brazillian church.

I passed the Islamic Cultural Center of New York.

That little electronic red-lettered thing in the lower right flashes verses from the Koran. I waited to see if there'd be any comment on the death of Osama bin Laden, but I guessed it hadn't been updated yet.

I'm a fast walker, especially when I'm alone, so it was 7:25 by the time I reached the corner of 94th and Lex, and Barking Dog wasn't open yet. So, I returned to the hospital, but not before I spent some time leaning on a lamppost and people-watched. It reminded me of those times I'd meet someone for lunch and I'd arrive first, and I had nothing to do but wait.

I really love looking at the brownstones, like this group along 94th Street. I often fantasize what it would be like to own one.

Look! One's for sale!

It's that one there. The address is 163 East 94th Street. You can have it for a mere $4,295,000, which is almost a full million off its price from a year ago, according to the New York Times. The wood-burning fireplaces (plural) might help take your mind off those taxes, which are 20 grand.

I love peering into the little nooks that are forbidden for access by the unwashed pedestrians like myself. My favorite part of this sign is the "POSITIVELY NOT" part:

Grubby New Yawker A: "Ya think we can walk troo dis ting?"

Grubby New Yawker B: "Nah...it sez we can't."

Grubby New Yawker A: "Ya sure?"

Grubby New Yawker B: "Positively! Can't cha read da sign?"

Pretty flowers in the island between the northbound and southbound parts of Park Avenue.

More well-maintained flowers in what would be an otherwise ordinary tree bed. This is along 94th, near Park. It's something you won't see just up the street at, say, Third and 100th.

I like the juxtaposition of the castle-like Hunter College high school building and one of New York's Strongest's vehicles. No matter who I saw walking in this area, one thought crossed my mind: "You have much more money than I'll ever have," and that includes the 12-year-old in the Dalton T-shirt running to school in a pair of sneakers that cost more than my cellphone.

Saw this interesting chalk drawing on Madison in the mid-90s.

I love the lettering for this sign for Jerome Florist. Curiously, the link for this business is jeromeflorists.com ("florists" plural) and apparently not at all related to the the Bronx-based Jerome Florist found at jeromeflorist.com ("florist" singular).

I think I might take a nap, so I'll end here and write the second part of this post for tomorrow. I plan to discuss my breakfast, thoughts and fears of of dining alone, and the last time I had to arise at 3am. Until then, say a prayer for Dad!