A Notable Poke Stop

     For the past few months I have been playing Pokemon Go on my phone. I know  its a silly game , but the good part is that it is helping me  get to know a lot of information about New York City's landmarks that I had not known before.
      I like to go to the Trader Joe's on 23rd Street. There are a lot of good poke stops near there. One of them that keeps popping up is  the poke stops  for the cemetery of Shearith  Israel which is a Spanish -Portuguese Jewish cemetery.

 I had been meaning to photograph it for the past few weeks, but whenever I would walk by it happened to be night. Then  there was the bombing on 23rd Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan last week. I was hoping that I did not miss my chance to photograph this slice of history that Pokemon Go has led me to .
    Alas, all was not lost . I was able to go to 23rd Street and Sixth Avenue,  and behold the Shearith Israel cemetery was still intact in all of its glory. The gate is locked, but that did not stop me from being able to create a montage of photos to remember those Jews who had lived in Manhattan many years ago.
     The cemetery has quite a bit of charm. Perhaps it evokes a charming homage to  those whose bodies were buried there.I would like to think that they appreciate that Pokemon Go has made many remember them who may never had known they existed.

 

Out Own Oddities

Love this 

Pioneering Levy's ?

       I love the farmer's market. There is a Jewish beekeeper
who likes to make a sure everyone knows his
honey is kosher. His honey is the best.

     On a vintage train this weekend there was an old ad for Levy's rye trying to tell us that the pioneers grew wheat for kosher rye bread.

 Meanwhile... on the modern Q train there was a foggy view of Manhattan yesterday. It looked as if the buildings were disappearing into the haze. It was so cool I had to post it.

Manhattan is disappearing in the fog...

The Wanderer

In front of  FAO Schwartz on fifth avenue 

One of my most favorite things is walking around Manhattan by myself. Its not that I dislike walking with others, its just that I  really enjoy walking by myself. I like noticing the details along the way and snapping photos. Perhaps I would notice the details with another person by my side. Perhaps not. It does depend on who I walk with and if they are willing to stop along the way and take in the sights or if the destination is more important than the journey.

Thank You

     Hurricane Sandy was the worst storm to hit New York City. It kind of reminded me of that awful movie AI where they show Manhattan and Coney Island submerged under water. I did not like that movie when I saw it years ago and I like it less today.
     I will say that though there has been a lot of devastation there is also a lot I am thankful for. I am thankful to the MTA for shutting down the subway on Sunday before the storm hit.  A lot of people could have drowned   had the trains  been running during the storm. So many lives were saved.
      I am also grateful that I live in zone 3 in Brooklyn so I did not need to evacuate my home during the storm. I am grateful that I did not lose power or water during the storm. I am not listing these to rub it in to those who did lose power , had to evacuate or lost their water.  I am merely being thankful for  the gifts I have been given. I am also stating them so I remember these things when I start kvetching about the lack of subway service and the fact that we can't be sure when it will be restored.
     My heart goes out to those who have been evacuated from their homes. My heart goes out to those whose homes have been destroyed . My heart goes out to those whose power is out and who do not have water.
      When the tsunami hit Thailand my heart sank for those who lost their lives and homes. When the earthquake hit Japan I had rachmanas on those who experienced it. I sent clothes to the Philippines when my co-workers made a collection for those whose survived the floods there a few years ago. No one every really believes such devastating acts of G-d will come their way. It  always seems like something that happens to someone else.
     I always find acts of G-d to be the most profound. There is such devastation that is not man made. They are meant to make us think. Perhaps they are to make us appreciate the mundane. After one's world gets so shaken up one longs for the boring normal of everyday.Too bad we can't always appreciate the mundane until it is suspended.
   
   

spring in the city

   there is nothing like window shopping in new york city in the spring.  in honor of spring i have included some fun photos i have taken. 

 some of these photos were taken on sixth avenue , some on fifth avenue and some in union square.
enjoy!

farmer's market

summer and fall are the best seasons for the farmer's markets in nyc. the most succulent produce is available. today i went to the farmer's market at second avenue and tenth street . there are only about three or four farmer's there, but what they lack in quantity they make up in quality. peaches were out today. you haven't seen a peach until you have seen one at a farmer's market. when you you hold a farm fresh peach you understand the true meaning of fuzzy. peaches in farmer's markets have velvety fuzz . its amazing to behold. literally. and of course green market peaches are the sweetest and  most juicy around.
today i also bought q-ball zucchini  which is round zucchini. i bought dark green q-ball zucchini, but it was also available in yellow and light green. all yummy and fresh.
farmer's market blueberries are a big temptation. they are more expensive, but worthwhile because they are so sweet.
i rounded out my visit with buying sweet potato and broccoli. the broccoli at the farmer's markets vary in appearance throughout the seasons. i don't remember which season appears which way, but its cool just to notice that there is a difference.
last but not least i bought a few apples- a few winesap , one cameo and one red delicious. farmers market apples are so nice because they aren't coated with wax as supermarket apples often are.
in my opinion the best farmer's market in manhattan is the one in union square. its open mondays, wednesdays , fridays and saturdays. if you can't make there, it is still worthwhile to check out some of the smaller green markets around the city. all of  these markets support local farmers from new york and new jersey . they also have some of the BEST produce in the new york city area. better than whole foods and cheaper than whole foods.its the only place in the city where you can buy a tomato that the vendor picked off the fields that morning. how cool is that?
there are always free recipes at the farmer's market . sometimes the farmers put little recipes on the price signs in their booths. they will also tell you how to "pick  a good one" if you ask them. green markets often have many varieties of ordinary produce.
when i am at the farmer's market i feel as though i am transported to the country . i feel much closer to nature. it makes buying nutritious food a divine adventure.

i scream, you scream

my grandfather used to have this silly saying when i was a kid. he used to say, "i scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream" . well... i am nuts for ice cream and now there is actually a kosher gelato place called scream. the only thing is when you get gelato there you aren't screaming for the ice cream, you are screaming about the price!

on a happier ice cream note, today was ben and jerry's free cone day. they give you free ice cream and in turn they want you to donate to a breast cancer cure charity. in manhattan today it was cloudy and drizzly, but it didn't deter me from waiting in line for my scoop of mint chunk ice cream. it was my pre- pesach scoop of ben and jerry's ice cream. the slightly rainy weather didn't stop people from lining up for their free scoop. i think the line was even longer than when i went last year for free cone day and it was sunny last year.

i always enjoy attending free cone day and its not just because you get free ice cream. i love pouring over the flavors of the free cone day list while im waiting in line. today the choices were vanilla, chocolate brownie, one sweet whirled, sweet cream and something or the other, berry sorbet, chocolate cookie dough, coffee buzz and probably one other flavor i don't remember because it didn't appeal to me. for me, coffee buzz and mint chunk were tied . i chose mint chunk because when i saw people licking their cones of mint chunk i just had to have it. at first i was going to choose coffee buzz because its not as easy to find in the grocer's freezer, but the peer pressure of the mint chunk eaters made me choose mint chunk. i wasn't disappointed. it was really yummy.

it always amazes me how much i deliberate about the flavor choices of the free cone. i deliberate as if i were actually paying for it and want to make sure i get my money's worth. sadly, i think i deliberate over the free cone MORE than if i would be paying for it. mind you, its not as if i wouldn't treat myself to an ice cream cone every so often. it seems that when i get something for free, it just better be worth it.

all the single people

according to the new york post this morning manhattan's percentage of single people is higher than any other city's in the united states. the average age of a first marriage for a woman in the u.s. is 25.6 and the average for a man is 27.7. the average age for a first marriage of a man or a woman in manhattan is between 30 and 34. the percentage of manhattanites who live alone is a little over fifty percent. the percentage of the manhattan population that has never married is fifty percent. no wonder im single! i work in manhattan.
i have ranted endlessly for years about how awful it is that all the frum singles come to new york , especially manhattan to find their basherts because nyc is a singles society. now it is in print. i didn't have to read the truth to know what it is. but it sure feels good to be validated. we are all affected by our surroundings whether we admit it or not. if you want to see the answer to the "single's crisis" look no further than the skyscraper next door.