For some reason, I decided today (beautiful weather, recharged AA batteries, handy seven-year-old digital camera) would be a good day to take some pictures of my neighborhood. For those of you who read my blog because you apparently think I have informative things to say about movies (lol) this post probably isn’t going to be very impressive, but to those of you who read this blog because you know me (still the majority of readers, probably), enjoy:

Here’s my building! My roommate Pamela and I live on the third floor.

Pamela and I live in a wonderful neighborhood called Yorkville, on the Upper East Side. It’s not a very well-known neighborhood - at one time it was an ethnic enclave for Germans and Hungarians and during World War II was actually the center of both the strongest anti-Nazi and pro-Nazi German organizations in New York. A lot of the ethnic touches are gone, but a few remain - Hungarian bakeries, German-language churches, to name a few.

How can we afford to live on the Upper East Side? Simple. We’re four long-blocks from the nearest subway. This is York Avenue, which is the avenue directly east of 1st Avenue.

Though I’ve never used this cleaner, I have a tremendous appreciation for its aesthetic.

One thing York Avenue desperately lacks is a great traditional NY pizza place. We’ve got a crappy chain pizzeria a few blocks south of us, a good-but-eccentric place on our block that serves organic whole wheat germ sauceless pizzas (or something), and Arturo’s, which while not great, is more than serviceable.

Our park! Carl Schurz Park is where the mayor’s official residence, Gracie Mansion, sits. It’s just about two short blocks from where we live, and it’s wonderful, with a beautiful view of the East River and Roosevelt Island:

There were a lot of people in the park today:

I like this statue in the park, though I had never noticed it before:

This new luxury apartment overlooking Carl Schurz Park is under construction on East End Avenue, which is the last avenue, the one even farther than York Avenue. This will be five long blocks from the nearest subway station and at least one long block from the nearest bus service. I’m not sure how well these planners expect to do with this building, no matter how snazzy it is.

As a testament to my above doubts, this liquor store wasn’t closed the last time I walked by it. One of only a few commercial businesses (others include a tiny Gristedes grocery and a deli) on East End Avenue, it’s been shuttered.

This is me, being a huge dork. Friend me!

A nice walk.

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