September 1, 2007

It was a very sunny day today in Brooklyn.

I took the long way... under the train...

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Out into the open...

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Let's go...

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Surf's up...

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You know, the East River isn't a river...

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It's part of the Atlantic Ocean.

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20 comments:

rcocean said...

Here's a naive question from a west coaster.

What is water temp? Could you swim in the East River ala Kramer?

Randy said...

A surf shop in Brooklyn? Where do people surf?

The Drill SGT said...

rcocean,

As I understand the toxicity of the East River, you are better off bathing in the LA River.

If you are not a So Cal person, I don't have another equivalent analogy farther north.

hdhouse said...

I have a story about being on broadway under the train...it is very cloak and dagger and i don't want to share it publically but it is a hoot.

Beldar said...

I like your pix a lot, Prof. A. The summer I worked in New York, I had nearly the reciprocal view of yours from that law firm's offices in the Amex Tower, and watching the river and bay traffic was one of the best perks of the job. Your photos bring back pleasant memories, and they're technically impressive to my admittedly amateur eyes.

As to the East River, Wikipedia sez:

"The East River is a tidal strait in New York City in the United States. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island (including the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn) from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland."

But it certainly does connect fairly directly to the Atlantic, whether technically considered part of it or not.

rhhardin said...

The Mighty Rivers of Ohio , with dog.

ricpic said...

Under the El,
Feeling like hell.
Out! Out! I must have air!
So I took the stair
That crossed over a pair
Of traffic choked
And oily soaked
Honking lanes of roar,
And then I saw!
It - the Sea.
"At last...I'm free!"
Then I was free.

From Inwood said...

Prof A

Great pix; keep 'em coming. Looks like you could've visited Palladian today.

ripic

Please identify the author of your poem.

Sounds like a trip to Coney Is.

rcocean, drill sgt:

The temperature is not the problem in the East River. People actually swam in it 'til sometime in the early 20th Century. They sank or swam on their own re toxicity. No one today would have the natural immunity to think of swimming there. We never swam in the Hudson River or the Harlem River when I grew up in Inwood.

For anyone who cares, the East River looked like a river to the Dutch in the early 17th Century. On the other side of Manhattan Island was the North River, actually the southernmost part of the Hudson & probably never referred to as such any more. It was the official address when one went to a pier, as in Pier ## North River.(I don't know why it wasn't the East & West or North & South rivers.)

Trivia: to find the numbered street on which a Manhattan pier is located, subtract 40 from the pier #. Thus Pier 59 (one of the Chelsea Piers) is on 19th Street.

Peter Hoh said...

Photo #1 is busy and cluttered and it works. So many series of parallel lines. And then to have the whole scene reflected in the imperfect curve of the bus windshield. Terrific.

If I may offer one suggestion, think about cropping a bit off the left side, taking out the one way sign and the orange shirt.

blake said...

peter,

Good eye! I don't think I would have picked those up.

reader_iam said...

Why is it that the titling of this post (and not just this one) instantly makes me think of Woody Allen? Specifically, "Hannah and Her Sisters," but--nevermind!--in a nano-thought, I'm (trans)ported into a nexus of Harry James and Ingrid Bergman.

For which, Althouse, I am very grateful, indeed.

Thanks!

reader_iam said...

For Maxine, should she be around:

So lovely, don't you find Ingrid? Note the hair-flips and the great smile; the vogueing and the gestures; the self-possession and the graciousness in the face of the madding crowd; and such. Don't they make you think of Althouse?

You, I know, can provide the finishing touches, that je ne sais quoi without which--well, let's face it!--our dear Althouse simply cannot navigate the boroughs of NYC.

(Or something like that.)

Ann Althouse said...

I think the walk sign, the orange shirt, and the one way sign, lined up on the left edge are important balance to things on the other side. The whole left side is something of a dead zone, but this composition felt right to me, and I think it is partly because it actually has some detail to it.

Richard Fagin said...

I forgot just how breathtakingly ugly and depressing el trains can be, while the powers that be herein Houston debate making this a more "modern, international" city by building 19th century public transportation.

Putting the entire city council in one of those second floor apartments by the el for a couple weeks might cure that delusion permanently.

Richard Fagin said...

oh, yeah...ronin, they don't. "New York's a Lonely Town" by the Tradewinds, ca. 1964 or 5.

rcocean said...

I agree with not cropping the left side of the picture.

Cut out the people and you go from a NY street scene, to a picture of a road.

I don't take photos, but I do give advice.

John Stodder said...

I love your photos.

You have a way of making Brooklyn look like a city in Guatemala or the Philippines.

ricpic said...

from inwood - The author of my poem is...me!

From Inwood said...

ripic

Good job.

Were you writing about a trip to Coney?

Trooper York said...

You can actually swim in the east river...the problem is not the temp or the toxicity..but the current....if you jump in (or fall in after a few too many cocktails) you will be swept into the bay before you know it...not a lot of fun...just hope that a very nice sail boat person will pick you up