This is a photo I took in 2012 on top of Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. I was preparing to retire in 2013 and I wanted a photo of the city. The large green patch in the middle of the photo is Central Park. This is where I would ride my bike from Harlem New York. I took walks through the park on hot summer day. You can’t see it in the photo but at the very end of Central Park is where Harlem begins. West 110th Street on the left and East 110th Street on the right. New York City, in every nook and cranny of it, had its own vibe. Even while the blatant gentrification was progressing New York City still had its grit and grime. Standing on the top deck of Rockefeller Center and down on New York City was my way of saying goodbye.
I don’t miss the crowded streets of New York City or do I? Sometimes I would feel so small walking among the tall buildings in the city. The city is congested with buildings and traffic and people. In the summer time New York City would be a tourists playground. I use to follow the tours along 42nd Street watching to see what kind of camera the tourists used, they always had the best cameras. I ended up being a fan of Sony and Canon.
Below is a writeup of the art installation of “The Gates” in Central Park. Some people liked it others didn’t. I found it interesting and was amazed anyone could install such a huge art exhibit in a public space like Central Park.
“The Gates were a group of gates comprising a site-specific work of art by Bulgarian artist Christo Yavacheff and French artist Jeanne-Claude, known jointly as Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The artists installed 7,503 vinyl “gates” along 23 miles of pathways in Central Park in New York City. … From each gate hung a panel of deep saffron-colored nylon fabric.”
One day back in the 200’s when I was still a union activist I went to a Lesbian and Gay Activist luncheon in downtown Manhattan. The luncheon was on the 35th floor of a building. The photo above I took from the hallway window once I stepped off the elevator. You are looking at the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. The Brooklyn Bridge I would walk in the summer time when I worked in downtown Manhattan at the Municipal Building and lived in Brooklyn. The Manhattan Bridge I would drive across when I lived in Harlem and worked in Long Island City Queens.
Some of these stories might end up in my memoir “Baby, You Have To Go Beyond The Block: Advice My Mother Gave Me While Growing Up In Brooklyn.” Right now I’m just writing and reminiscing at the same time. I do know I will add photos to my book since images are good source of storytelling.
Happy Writing!
