Breakfast in America and a walk by the Hudson

11 October 2015

After a shower and freshen up we left the hotel again in search of breakfast. Actually, by this time it was 10:45 so make that brunch. On our evening wanderings the night before when we’d been searching for coffee we’d seen an interesting place called Spring Natural Kitchen on Columbus Avenue, not too far from our hotel. It looked like a nice healthy place to have brunch so we thought we’d give it a try. First we had to do battle with the New York traffic, which was proving to be more than a little confusing.

Usually, crossing roads abroad starts off hard, unless the country happens to be somewhere like Malta or Gibraltar where they drive on the left like we do in England, and gets progressively easier as the mind acclimatises to looking the opposite way at crossings. In New York the majority of roads seem to be one way, meaning you never have any idea which way to look and have to stop at each junction to look for one way arrows to work it out.

There are pedestrian crossings everywhere and we stuck to these, having been told we could be in big trouble with the NYPD. If we didn’t as we’d be jaywalking, something we don’t have to worry about in England as you cross wherever you want. Our crossings have a red standing man and a green walking man, along with a beep, beep, beep for blind people. The American crossings have a red ‘talk to the hand’ and a white walking man but no beeps at all, meaning you have to pay full attention at all times. Even when you get a walking man it isn’t as safe as you might think to cross. In England the green man means nothing whatsoever is going to cross the crossing except pedestrians. Every single bit of traffic stops in all directions, except maybe those cyclists who think traffic lights don’t apply to them. In New York, cars turning right are allowed to go through the red light across the crossing. This was something we didn’t know about until it happened and it was rather disconcerting. Apparently they are supposed to give way to crossing pedestrians but this didn’t seem to have filtered through to New York drivers. All in all crossing roads felt like a rather dicey business.

Spring Natural Kitchen Turned out to be a brilliant choice. The staff were relaxed and chatty in their checked shirt uniforms and the menu was mouth watering. Commando ordered a breakfast burrito and I plumped for chocolate buckwheat pancakes with fresh fruit and maple syrup. We also ordered lattes. When the latter arrived we had a bit of a shock as, rather than the tall latte glasses we’re used to, our drinks came in what appeared to be soup bowls. Still the coffee was good, even if the receptacle seemed a tad strange.

Portion sizes were something I’d been worried about and, when it arrived, Commando’s burrito turned out to be gigantic. It would easily have fed both of us with some left over for CJ. Then my pancakes arrived. Thankfully they looked slightly more manageable, just a stack of three with lots of lovely strawberries and blueberries and a small jug of maple syrup. We tucked in then watched in astonishment as the man at the next table ordered more food than we had between the two of us just for himself. Living in New York should have a weight gain warning for sure. Even so, I’d like the recipe for those pancakes.

Three quarters of an hour later, groaning under the weight of so much delicious food, we waddled out of the restaurant. It was time to start walking some of it off and I knew just the thing for it. First we had to head for the river Hudson and while we were waiting to cross the road we were treated to the sight of one of the New York Fire Departpment’s fire trucks, ladder 25, speeding down the street. One more thing to look out for when crossing the road then…

We strolled along streets filled with lovely brownstone buildings that had me half expecting to see Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw sitting smoking a cigarette on the steep front steps.
“I’m not sure I’d really want to live in New York,” I said, “but if I had to I think these are the apartments I’d like to live in.”
The buildings were of a manageable height, just four or five stories, they had window boxes and even some colourful pink and purple morning glory twining through one of the trees lining the street. After all the skyscrapers and honking horns it felt peaceful and quiet at least by New York Standards.

Pretty soon we were within sight of the river on Riverside Drive. Originally, when I’d planned this walk I thought we’d stop off at the Boat Basin Cafe for a coffee and maybe a cake but, as we were still full of brunch, we walked through the granite and fieldstone rotunda and peered through the arches at the marina but, tempting as it was, we didn’t stop. After some confusion we managed to get back to Riverside Park. Of course the name made me smile because it really couldn’t have been further from my own Riverside Park if it had tried. For a start there were no swans and it was alive with squirrels but, unlike the squirrels in my Riverside Park, these were quite happy to pose for us so it took us a while to get out of the park and down onto the Hudson River Greenway where we really wanted to be. Friendly squirrels are hard to resist.

Now we were right on the bank of the Hudson River beneath the impressive green arches of the Joe DiMaggio Highway.
“It’s hard to imagine a plane landing on the river here isn’t it?” Commando said, looking out over the choppy water at all the groynes and little boats. “What must it have been like standing here on that cold January morning and seeing a huge Airbus getting lower and lower?”
“Do you think Sullenberger really believed he could land on the Hudson, or was he just doing what he could to avoid ploughing through the middle of Manhattan?” I wondered.
“I suppose he knew landing on water was possible but, if the aircraft isn’t perfectly level, it’s disastrous so it was probably more damage limitation than anything.”
“No wonder they called it the miracle on the Hudson. It really is a miracle he landed safely and everyone survived.”

A little further along we saw a strange, delapidated little wooden house on stilts in the river near the bank. It was almost black in colour and I thought at first it might have been burnt down at some point. As we made our way towards it, wondering what on earth it could be, Commando spotted a peculiar sculpture. It looked as if it was supposed to be an eagle but I was too enchanted by the strange shack to stop and look closely so I never did find out who made it or why. The nearer we got to the dark looking house on stilts the stranger it seemed. For one it appeared to have chimneys and looked as if it was covered with some kind of netting. There were lots of rotting groynes between it and the shore and it had an arrangement of what looked like wheels and pulleys. Below it was a rusting structure that was very bridge like.

“Do you think it’s a sort of floating bridge?” I ventured.
Then Commando found a sign that solved the mystery. This was the New York Central Railroad 69th Street Transfer Bridge. Ok, so this didn’t actually help much at the time but later Googling did explain. This was a dock where train carriages for the West Side line of the New York Central Railroad were transferred onto car floats which crossed the Hudson to the Weehawken Yards in New Jersey. At one time there was talk of demolishing the transfer bridge but in 2000 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and saved.

A few minutes later we came upon a real railway engine on show under the highway. This is, apparently, a New York Central diesel shunter, restored and placed in the park as part of recent renovations. Commando certainly enjoyed climbing up and having a look and it seemed popular with the children too, although it seems this particular train may never have actually been used on the West Side Line and has just been painted up to look as if it has. Still, it was interesting to see and, given where we were going, all the railway memorabilia was fairly apt. Come to think of it, the West Side Line itself was pretty apt as it carried passengers north to Toronto, where we’d be heading in a few days.

In fact we were fairly close to our destination but there was still time to stop for a couple more interesting sculptures. The first was a large scaffold like rack filled with cast concrete heads. This, the sign told us, is called Can Love Pervade Space and was created by the Art Students League of New York. Then there was Michael Cochran’s giant wine bottle, entitled Private Passage. Sadly, I wasn’t aware of the secret of the wine bottle and only admired it as I passed. Had I stopped to peek into the port hole like openings at the side that put me a little in mind of the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine I’d have seen a replica of one of the cabins of the Queen Mary. I could kick myself for having missed it. If you’re curious I’ve found some wonderful photos from yyz2nyc on Tumblr.