A blog about New York City, my books, and my cats. Mostly.
I’ve been writing about 11th Street and I took pictures because I thought there might be a chance that no one would believe me about how lush it is. It’s not even the most lush block in the Village, it just happens to be the one I walk on a lot. They’re doing some construction, alas. It ruins the shot a little.
This is from a men’s clothes store on Hudson Street. Here’s a close-up.
And here’s stepping back a little. If they are at the beach they are very miserable right now. Unless they curled up inside drinking mimosas and talking about old times.
There is a plaque beneath this tree which reads:
1836 – 1936. This tree from the Virginia Estate of former President James Madison presented to the city of New York by the Fifth Avenue Association, Inc. to commemorate the first centennial of the opening of Madison Avenue.
It’s in Madison Park (23rd and a bunch of other streets). I realized I couldn’t come up with a single fact about Madison beyond the fact that he was president, and yet New York City loved him enough to name an avenue after him. Why? He must have done something really great for us. Googling. Okay, apparently it all got started because some guy named William “Corporal” Thompson had a farmhouse and this site and he named it Madison Cottage. He was the Madison fan. From there we got Madison Avenue and then Madison Square Garden. Madison, Madison, Madison.
Madison was the “father of the Constitution.” I should have known that. Embarrassed. He was also one of the authors of the Bill of Rights although initially he was against writing them, and one of his reasons was “it was dangerous, since enumeration of some rights might be taken to imply the absence of other rights.”
It just started raining. Big storm coming apparently. Not a good time to be in Madison Park.
Check it out!! What is that? I googled and I’m guessing house finch. Does anyone know? (Karen?) I also had a couple of blue jays, but they’ve been here before and they fly off the second I reach for my camera.
Except I’ve been working so far. But if I get enough done I can be a slug tomorrow. This is a planter I passed by … somewhere in Manhattan. Pretty, no? I like the lion faces, and the peeling paint white.
