Things I Love About New York: Battery Park City at Sunset

Had a bit of a rough day. It's Tuesday, but it felt like Monday, and I had a viselike headache that wouldn't go away. This evening, I took an hour-long walk along the Hudson River tonight to clear my head. Walked from the tip of the island at Battery Park up through Stuyvesant High School--one of my favorite walks in the city. On the return trip, I stopped at the North Meadow and lay in the plush grass and stared at the clouds in the sky and also the top floors of the Battery Park condos with their panoramic views of the river...and I realized--forget resale value or affordability or convenience to subways--that if I could live anywhere in the city, if all my dreams came true one day, it would be in one of those condos on one of those top floors facing the river.

I love Battery Park. I really do. The dogs and the parents with their babies in strollers, and the older kids laughing and playing on the playground, the contemplative loners sitting on benches staring at the river or on the steps of the lily pond or the determined young men and women running and roller blading and couples eating their picnic dinners on the lawns or the old people shuffling along, the Statue of Liberty in the distance, the yachts parked in the harbor and the sailboats off in the distance. The area feels protected from the hordes of tourist that plague other truly beautiful parts of the city. It's a haven unlike any other. Clean, quiet, orderly, but not in a antiseptic suburban way.

And I love the beautiful little discoveries you make each time--today I realized one of my favorite sculptures was designed by Martin Puryear. I didn't have my camera with me, but here's a picture I found on Flickr.

Anyhow, it was beautiful, and I wish you the peace, quite and tranquility I felt there today. Until tomorrow...

Cruising on the Hudson River

This past weekend, City Guy and I enjoyed a dinner cruise along the Hudson River. World Yacht, the cruise operator, states on its site that their boats are large enough and the river calm enough that one is unlikely to feel the waves. Boy, were they wrong. Maybe it was just that particular night, but you could see the boat pitching violently just standing on the dock. Once on board, while waiting to leave shore, I had to hold on to the posts to keep my balance. Mind you, I get seasick just watching the waves, so it took two Dramamine to keep me from running to my porcelain friend.

But it was worth it...especially after the sun went down. The sunset on the Hudson is spectacular, getting to see the Waterfalls up-close really makes you appreciate their magnitude and engineering. BTW, the food was horrible (honestly--I set my standards low, and they still managed not to meet them), but you really go for the view. Check out these photos: