Today I Met Freddy

The view from the bench @ Joe's

Today I decided to head out to my favorite neighborhood coffee shop “Joe’s”  its on the UWS at Columbus and and 85th, if you have never been there, you should.  As I sat on the bench outside enjoying my iced latte and watching the street life go by, a nice older gentleman asked if he could share my bench.  I joked with him and said “Well of course but only if you have a good story to tell.”  He chuckled a little as he sat down, not sure if I was serious or not. I smiled at him, and he pointed to the mighty tree directly in front of us, “I was here when they planted that tree”, he said.  Judging by the size of the tree, clearly the largest on the block, it had been there for a while and apparently so had my new bench mate.  “Yes it was 1948 when that tree was planet. He then pointed to a building at the end of the block, “I’ve lived there since 1946”.  Oh, I think my new friend might have more than one good story to tell.

My new friend seemed a little sad to have very recently left his job as a large print maker for the Metropolitan Museum. Being relatively good at math I figured he was a bit past the 65 year retirement age. “1921, thats the year I was born” he said to me. Wow my new friend was 90 years old but looked at least 20 years younger. He was not sure what he was going to do with all his free time, maybe he would volunteer at the museum once a week.  Retirement was boring.

He went on to tell me he was originally from Jamaica and joined the RAF (Royal Air Force) after heading to Scotland and then England in the early 40’s. He asked if I knew what the RAF was and I was happy that I did. My friend told me he had never married but came close once. I asked him about all the changes he must have seen in the neighborhood in the last 65 years and he mentioned the house down the block that had parties every Saturday night.  “Always a shooting or two” he said shaking his head.  The Upper West Side neighborhood is now a nice enclave of families, shops and restaurant much different from the New York of the 70’s and 80’s.

I finally asked his name.  “Freddy” he said with a smile.  I then asked if I could take his picture.  A bit reluctant Freddy asked why and I told him that I wanted to write a little story for my blog.  I wanted to tell the story of an interesting person I met today.

We all need to take time to stop and listen to the Freddys of the world.  They have a lot of history, a lot of good stories to tell.  Talking to Freddy made my $4.00 latte, priceless!

As I left the bench at Joe’s, Freddy gave me a sincere “thank you”  I thought to myself no, thank you Freddy, you have made my day, I hope to see you again!

Freddy

The Big Yellow Bear & All Things Yellow

The Big Yellow Bear
 Christie's in New York has set up a 20-ton bronze teddy-bear sculpture in front of the Seagram's Building on Park Avenue for what the auction house expects will sell for more than $10 million. So it got me thinking.........where else I can find a fix of yellow in the city and could this bear be setting a new fashion trends?
WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE (WSJ)



Bergdorf Goodman Window
Well if Bergdorf is featuring yellow in the window it must me fashionable.
BERGDORF GOODMAN (BG)



Chanel

Even Sasha my doggie friend is sporting yellow, notice his lovely yellow collar

And what would New York be without the yellow cab. There are over 12,000 of these babies in NYC.

You can even take one home with you.  There is no shortage of yellow cab tacky souvenirs....even snow globes.

For those of you who only ride in style here is a little number in the Ferrari showroom.

Ferrari Manhattan

This ice cream vendor in Central Park uses yellow to draw your attention to these yummy treats.  I have to admit I've had a few of the OREO COOKIE ICE CREAM BAR myself and they are mighty fine.

Token "Yellow" flower shot

Street Bananas 4 for a dollar!  What a deal.

H&M Sundress...lots of yellow here.

Yellow Bikinis from H&M

CONFESSIONS OF AN H&M ADDICT (H&M)

And here is a "What Not To Wear" shot......Im just glad she wasn't wearing the H&M bikini.

Could she possibly have gotten her fashion inspiration from the "BYB"

And last but not least a little "Yellow" music

City Island, The Bronx, New York

Todays adventure takes us to City Island in the Bronx, New York.  Just 40 minutes on the #6 Train to Pelham Bay Park and another 15 minutes on the BX29 bus and you will find yourself on City Island.

Little did I know that the there was a movie called "City Island" which stars Andy Garcia.  The film is available on Netflix ,I recommend watching it, it gives a great feel for the island and many of the locations I visited today were featured in the film. 

Here is the trailer for the movie. Hilarious!! I watched it when I got home.

 Here is the location of the final scenes of the film. Im pretty sure this is the fat neighbours house!!!

Nice little community.

Thats Manhattan in the back ground if you look hard enough you can see the Empire State Building.  Who knew this little jem of an island was so close to the city.

There are many great seafood restaurants on the island. Here is one of them...Sammy's

I decide to treat myself to some yummy seafood since I made it all the way here to City Island. What's my favorite seafood you ask?  Well lobster of course, and what do you know they have a lunch special $20.95 for 1&1/4 lbs. Thats only $20.00 Canadian so how can you go wrong! In I go to Sammy's

 Here is a shot of Sammy's Fish Box from the street.

Here is the view from my table, not very crowded in here.

So along with the lobster comes this little mini snack....I should have brought 6 friends. I also got a beverage.....

A yummy glass of tomato juice, and if I wasn't full already from the light snack, a salad was also included.....

Now based on the fact that blue cheese dressing has about 80 calories per table spoon I guessing that there are at least 400 right here, a thats not counting the salad and croutons either. Now comes the main course........good thing, I was getting a bit hungry.

TaDa!!!! Lobster and MORE vegetables...where are all my friends??? Did you see how big that potato is?

Ice Cream was also included but I called uncle and said no more!  Now for a little walk about town to burn a few calories.

Here is a local resident.

 The street featured in the movie "City Island" and a few more neighbourhood shots....

Even the school has a nautical theme. 

 The main street . City Island Ave of course...

 There are so many unique houses on the island.  Some have been in the same family for generations.

9/11 Memorial Mural

Wow only $15.00 to wash and dry your own dog.  How much for a cat?

Island City Ave

 Of course my token flower shot......

.......And another

 A few local houses

But officer I didn't see the sign...really!

 Nice little shack

The Legion Hall...need I say more

Sam Pell House don't feel bad I had to GOOGLE him myself. 

During the latter half of the 19th century, Samuel Pell (ca. 1821 - 1894) was one of the leading oystermen living on City Island in the Town of Pelham. He owned an oyster boat and was called "Captain Pell". In about 1876 he built a spectacular Second Empire style house that still stands at 586 City Island Avenue. Today it is known as the Samuel Pell House. 

City Island Nautical Museum

Now thats a vine!  It must have been there for 200 years.

Here is the trunk of the vine...is that not crazy? Looks like something out of a horror movie.

A few dust champagne bottles. Ours never stick around long enough to gather dust.

Very interesting "Antique" store

Now here is a colorful character, a local perhaps? Note the stuffed boarder collie and the ear muffs,  maybe the dog barks too much.  Im not sure why but this picture makes me laugh. 

Thanks for sharing in my adventure...stay tuned for more!