MOUNT PLEASANT: Lilliputian Train Station

Known as the "Cemetery Stop"

My parents and grandmother are buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York. It is thirty miles to Mount Pleasant, the stop of Gate of Heaven, via Metro-North's Harlem line from Grand Central Terminal. The off-peak trip runs express and takes 45 minutes. The ride is smooth but verifying the schedule to Mount Pleasant is not. The stop is not on Metro-North's printed or online schedules.

Once at the ticket window I asked the clerk for a round trip ticket to Mount Pleasant. She paused and whispered, "Mount Pleasant"? I replied, "the cemetery." She said "Oh yeah. The cemetery stop." Another time at the information kiosk I asked "What time does the train leave Mount Pleasant?" He chuckled and said "12:52 and you better not miss it." On weekdays, the train stops once a day in each direction and three times on weekends.

Gravestone company next to north platform

Built in 1913, Grand Central is a magnificent Beaux-Arts building. Hundreds of thousands of people pass through it, one of the city's most cherished landmarks, daily. The four-sided opal glass clock on top of the majestic information booth is valued between 10 to 20 million dollars. Grand Central is the second busiest train station in the country after NY's Penn Station. It has 44 platforms and 67 tracks on two levels. It is home to the Metro-North Railroad and serves riders heading to upstate New York and Connecticut on it Hudson, Harlem and New Haven Lines. The new LIRR Grand Central Madison Avenue stops 100 feet beneath the terminal's main floor. Five Subway lines stop here.

Note the information kiosk in the Main Hall

Why am I playing up Grand Central when my story is about the Mount Pleasant station? It's all about size. Grand Central encompasses 49 acres under prime Manhattan real estate. In comparison it's north and southbound platforms each measure 30 feet in length. Eight concrete steps separate the platforms from ground level. The platforms are 100 feet apart. Exiting the northbound platform you are steps away from the rail-crossing on Stevens Avenue which leads to the cemetery's main entrance. The southbound platform to Grand Central is in the cemetery and is adjacent to the administrative office.

Of course the station is unique due to its size. What fascinates me is the train engineer's technique to stop the eight car train at the precise spot on the platform so passengers may enter and exit the trains. One time when I arrived at the station the train missed the platform completely. I stood at the door and wondered "What now?" The conductor summoned the engineer who backed up the train until the door aligned with the platform.

Engineer checks for proper spot to stop train

Over the years I have made about 40 round trips. Only one time, on my return to Grand Central, did I ever share a platform with another rider.

THE END

Dining Alfresco:

How NYC Eateries Battled COVID 

a) Winter Village at Bryant Park

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States hard. 

As of this writing (late February) the total number of COVID cases in the U.S. alone exceeds well over 28,000,000, and the death count over 510,000. Both numbers are more than double that of  any other country. The pandemic has seriously impacted the livelihood of millions of people especially those who work in tourism, travel, live entertainment, sporting events, cultural institutions and hotels. COVID hit the restaurant industry extremely hard, especially in 

New York City.

  

Online website Eater NY reported since New York State’s mandated shutdown at the beginning of the pandemic, mid March of 2020, more than 1,000 restaurants, cafes and bars in New York City have permanently closed. Many more are expected to close due to winter weather, dwindling finances and lack of customers.
 

Since then, city restaurants have had to reinvent themselves. Back on March 16 2020 New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo limited restaurants to takeout and delivery. After a three-month lockdown, restaurants reopened on June 22. NYC still did not permit indoor dining but allowed restaurants to place tables on the sidewalk outside their establishments even if they did not have an outdoor license. The city expanded this to include backyards and the street parking lane running parallel to every restaurant. 

At first many restaurants, cafes and bars placed tables and chairs in the street lane. Then with the city’s consent outdoor dining huts, tents and well-designed structures appeared. Many resembled mini restaurants. On September 30 Governor Cuomo approved indoor dining at 25 percent. This ruling stayed in place until December 11 when the city banned indoor dining due to a rise in COVID-19 cases. This remained in place until February 12 when the city once again opened the eateries to 25 percent. 

 

Outdoor dining during the wintry days may not resemble Italy's version of dining 

"alfresco" where one can savor La Dolce Vita or “sweet life” while sipping a Campari and soda or enjoying a leisurely lunch or dinner on the celebrated Via Veneto  in Rome or on a magnificent piazza in Florence or Venice. The New York City version was different but, possibly as much fun and definitely a most unique experience. Most places had installed overhead or standing heated lamps. Many places had glass/plastic partitions separating each table. Others built cabanas with drapes. Some erected private rooms with doors and windows with enough space for a party of two to eight. 

Here is glimpse of what I saw while walking the streets of NYC:

b) Cabanas at Daniel

c) Ariba Ariba 

 

d) Don't Tell Mama NYC

e) Mama Mia Family 

f) Korean Town Street Scene

a) The main branch of the New York Public Library, Fifth Avenue and Forty Second Street is in the background. The igloos were part of Bryant Park's Annual Holiday Mart/Winter Village consisting of fifty small pop-up retail and food shops  surrounding an ice skating rink

b) Daniel, is a two-star Michelin restaurant owned by International star chef Daniel Boulud. In 2019 Forbes Magazine ranked Daniel the top restaurant in the United States. On a thirty-five degree Monday night in January I counted about forty-five people dining outside. Daniel is at 60 East 65th Street just off of Park Avenue.

c) Ariba Ariba is one of Hell's Kitchen most popular restaurants. Located at 762 Ninth Avenue, at the NE corner of West 51 Street, its outdoor dining area is covered with a large wooden structure that extends over the pedestrian portion of the sidewalk.

d) Don't Tell Mama NYC, located on Restaurant Row at 343 West 46th Street, is  a piano bar, cabaret and restaurant. The stoop between the piano bar/cabaret and restaurant serves as the main stage.

e) Mama Mia  (SW 44 Ristorante ) at 621 Ninth Avenue is a family owned restaurant. It opened in 1971. It is the oldest restaurant on Ninth Avenue. Mama Mia got a much needed boost when it received funding from Barstool Sports founder David Portnoy in late December. His $18 million dollar Barstool Pandemic fund has helped about seventy-five restaurants across the U.S.

f) Korean Town's main strip is Thirty-Second Street between Broadway and Fifth Avenue. Eateries, on both sides of this bustling strip, have outdoor structures on the street.

*March 19 - NYC restaurant indoor dining capacity increased to fifty percent.

Photos: Rudi Papiri

  #HolidaysonFifth: 

Lighted Street Replicas Shed Joy

           and Hope During  Troubled Times

Sealed with a Wish

“What is one thing you think could bring all people hope and cheer this year? Write down your wish….

let the elves and Santa, too, work to make your wish come true…. Be kind and listen to your heart.” 

(NW corner of East 51 Street near St. Patrick’s Cathedral) 

                                                

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness…”

Charles Dickens and his words from A Tale of Two Cities describes how I feel this season holiday.   

 

During the holidays New York City is a magical place. It is a city of lights and sparkle. Thousands of people flock here from all over the world mesmerized by the beautifully decorated shop windows especially those of Saks, Bergdorf’s, Macy’s and Bloomingdales. They are awe-struck by the magnificence of the Rockefeller Center tree, Sak’s Fifth Avenue outdoor Light Show and Windows https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOcZYsSwiLQ ,

Radio City Musical Hall’s Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes and the thrill of shopping, dining or ice skating at the Holiday Village in Bryant Park. 

This year Radio City is closed. Broadway, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall are shuttered as are many hotels, small and large.

 

Restaurants and bars are also empty. Those who have struggled are opened for outdoor dining, deliveries and pickups. Scores of stores, not just mom-and-pop shops, but big-name retailers have locked their doors for good. Usually Fifth Avenue is packed with people. Not this year! I am sad. I miss the excitement of busy sidewalks and bustling stores filled with tourists from all over the world.

I realize this season is the “worst of times” and the most difficult holiday season of many lifetimes. Surging COVID infections and deaths, soaring unemployment, hunger, homelessness, social injustices and political divisiveness, thanks to a contemptible White House leadership, soar to new levels. 

 

When I walk the city dark clouds hover over me even on nights when the skies are crystal clear. Two weeks ago, as I entered Fifth Avenue a slight glimmer of joy cracked through the darkness, thanks to eleven brilliantly lit festive replicas courtesy of #HolidaysonFifth. 

 

Nine of the ten pieces have plaques with words of cheer. 

These words lifted me to a different time when all was merry and fun.  These lighted replicas cracked the darkness just enough to make me smile and feel hopeful for 2021. Here is a sample of what I saw.

Fantasies Afloat

“Near SW corner of W55 Street far above Fifth Avenue, 

Floats someone with a gift for you. They wave down from a big balloon, lit by the glow of a full moon.” (Near SW corner of W55 Street)

                                                         

  Christmas Cab

“What festive fun we’re sure to have while in our cab on Fifth Avenue shop windows sparkle in the night below as show of dancing light…” (SE corner Fifth and 58 Street. Plaza Hotel and the Grand Army Plaza Menorah in background)

 

                                              

    

 Trove of Treasure

 “The Toy Box is a wondrous way to get to places far away

Enchanted forests, carpet flightsdeep sea journeys, shining knights….”(SE corner of Fifth and 59 Street)

                                                        

                            

                                                          

    Magic Landing

 “The Toy Box is a wondrous way to get to places far away with enchanted forests, carpet flights, deep sea journeys, shining knights….”(SE corner of Fifth and 59 Street)

                                                   

Photo credit: Rudi Papiri

The End

Hudson Park Library Exhibit, Greenwich Village, Sparks Search for Best Posts on My Facebook Page

My Picks for 2019... 

    Best Photo: David Van Biema, Gay Street, West Village, New York 

I look forward to the “Best of Lists” published in many magazines, newspapers and digital news sites at the end of each year... 

My favorites are the Top Ten Category listings for films, books, theater, television that appear in publications like Time Magazine, The New Yorker and The New York Times.

Ten is a good number. It is manageable and more importantly my attention span does not wander. Plus I can read a top ten list in one sitting and read it thoroughly. Many digital sites, even those of the publications listed above, also offer a top 100 list. I find this a bit overwhelming. I always ask myself “why is this book listed at 55 and not 17 or 3.”

There are also local publications and digital sites that offer a unique twist of a “Best of List” such as the the "best dive bar serving the biggest hot dogs (free)" or the "best taco stand with the tastiest salsa" or the "best male cowboy bar with the most dudes dancing 

shirtless on the bar."

My list is simple and straight forward. And I present it on the last day of the year. Two weeks ago I received an invitation on Facebook to attend a New York Public Library photo exhibit at the Hudson Park Library on Leroy Street in the West Village. The exhibit titled
 “All The Day’s Bounty: Photos From the Village and Elsewhere" featured the photos of photographer/writer and Village resident David Van Biema. See Photo Above. (This invitation triggered a search of my Facebook page  - Rudi Papiri - for the best photos of 2019. I received many interesting photos and posts this year. I needed several hours to whittle my selections).

                   Hudson Park Library Exhibit: David Van Biema, 
                                          Union Square, New York

Van Biema has written for Life and Time Magazines. He served as the religion and a feature writer for Time for many year. He is currently writing a book about Psalms in the Bible. Influenced by the many celebrated photo journalists who worked at both publications Van Biema’s work captures “an appreciation of the forms, colors and narratives” in the West Village and along the Hudson River Park Bike Path.

Inspired by David’s excellent works, one I consider my favorite Facebook photo for 2019,
I would like to share my “Best of List” with you. I apologize. I am boring. I list only EIGHT categories. Note my selections below:

Best Photo of Painter and His Work: Bruno Grassi in his 

                                                Studio in Parma, Italy

    Best Fashion Illustration Vintage Magazine Cover: 

James Bosco, New York 

Best Photo of Horse and Smoke Stack: 

Davide Pecorari, Modena, Italy

Best Photo of Central Park in Autumn: 

Thomas Pryor, New York

Best Photo Reflections of The London Monument in a Puddle:

 Howard Chua-Eoan, London

Best Black White Photo of a Wife on LA Vacation: 

Marco Antonio Lau, Bayonne, NJ

  Best Photo of Homemade Artisanal Bread:

Broeck Steadman, Rumson, NJ

Bonus: Best Vintage Photo of Ladies Waiting to Cross the Street

*Thomas R. Pryor: Visit his blog Yorkvillestooptonuts.blogspot.com

Author: I Hate the Dallas Cowboys: Tales of a Scrappy New York

Boyhood; And River to River: New York Scenes from a Bicycle. 

Both books available on Amazon.com.

*Marco Antonio Lau: Premedia specialist for People Magazine, Meredith; Photographer

Photo of Elisaveta Stoilova, Vegan Artist, at John Sowden House by Frank Lloyd Wright

*Howard Chua-Eoan: Editor, Business Week Magazine, London Bureau

*Davide Pecorari: Architect, Studio Ausenda.Greco, Modena, Italy

*James Bosco: Fashion Designer/Editor, Butterick - The McCall Pattern Company

*Broeck Steadman: Painter/Artist; Artisanal Baker, Honey Maker, BeeKeeper

*Bruno Grassi: Painter, Parma, Italy

*David Van Biema; Twitter (@DavidVanBiema). Author: The Prayer Wheel: A Daily

Guide to Renewing Your Faith with a Rediscovered Spiritual Practice;

Time Mother Theresa: The Life and Works of a Modern Saint.

THE END

Walking East Williamsburg

Morgan Avenue: Where Street Art 

Energizes an Industrial Brooklyn Nabe

The New York City alternative art scene took a major hit when a five-story factory built in 1892 and occupied by the Neptune Meter Company, maker of water meters, was completely demolished in 2014. The building, in Long Island City, across Jackson Avenue from MOMA PS1, gained its celebrity status, as a centerpiece of graffiti art – an aerosol spray can art mecca long after water meter production ceased. 

In the 1990’s the building owner, a Long Island developer began leasing space to artists as studio space. By 2002, a graffiti artist Jonathan Cohen penned the factory with the name 5 Pointz in relation to New York City’s five boroughs. The description was not in reference for the creative work happening in the spaces occupied by two hundred artists inside the factory but for the inspiring and imaginative graffiti art that completely engulfed every inch of the buildings exteriors.

5 Pointz  Long Island City, Queens

Works by graffiti artists from all over the United States and the world emblazoned the building with amazing designs and incredible colors creating a sprawling graffiti-like-mural.

The exterior work began with a project called Graffiti Terminators founded by Pat Dilillo who established the Phun Phactory in 1993 at the site. Dillilo intended to remove the negative impression - crime and vandalism - long associated with graffiti art. He wanted to legitimize it and push this art form mainstream. Artists had to submit samples of their work for Dillilo to review and gain his approval before “tagging” the building.

Two forty-story apartments towers will replace 5 Pointz. Development is well underway.

The site will contain over 1,100 apartments, including 220 affordable units and 20 art studios. Construction is well underway.

With the demise of 5 Pointz I thought the city lost something special - a gritty, very urban but an innovative and visual art form. Of course when walking the High Line I see some good works. They are often affiliated with working art events organized by the High Line and others are associated with one or two Chelsea galleries adjacent to the elevated park.

There are also murals in city playgrounds and schoolyards throughout the city.

I knew pockets of interesting street art existed in the city but I lacked the time to search. In late March 2017 I saw first-hand that alternative graffiti/street art scene, or however you want to describe it, is alive and well and flourishing in at least one city neighborhood, and probably others elsewhere.

The oasis I found and “What a lucky find” encompasses roughly a twenty-plus-block span on and around Morgan Avenue in East Williamsburg, a huge industrial area of Brooklyn. I found many fun and eccentric works on many buildings on the side streets and nearby avenues of East Williamsburg. It felt as if I was walking in an outdoor museum. I returned in September and took many photos.

I only found this area with its wide array of street art because I chose not to return home via the closest subway station. Instead I opted for one further away. This was my best move of 2017.

Here is a small sample of what I saw during my three-hour tour. I have listed them by categories. 

I hope you enjoy these works as much as I have.

 #MeToo:

Social Activism:

My Home Sweet Home With Fence:

My Artisanal Studio Workshop:

My Community Center:

The Mooch (inscribed far right) and Devil with Vile 

Tongue:

Self Portrait...New Brooklyn Hipster:

Urbanscape...Extending Love:

My Big nyc straycat:

Editor's Note:
All photos, except 5 Pointz photo, taken by Rudi Papiri
Article initially published December 31, 2017.

Area of Detail:
My Street Art Trail started at Olive Street, a few blocks west of Morgan.
I then walked east along Metropolitan Avenue to Morgan Avenue. At ISCP, 
an international visual arts residency program and curator events center, housed 
in an old factory at the corner of Metropolitan and Morgan, I turned right. 

I officially began my trek here and I continued moving south along
Morgan Avenue to Thames Street, near Flushing Avenue. 
Check out the side streets along Morgan. For example, Bogart, which sits one
block west of Morgan and runs parallel to it, is also full of art.

5 Pointz story link: http://www.1000thingsnyc.com/5pointz/

Three 100-Year-Old Landmarked Churches…New York, San Francisco 

Brumidi Murals at St. Stephen's, Harlem's St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Brigid and "The Grace of Everyday Saints"

St.Stephen's Church East 29th Street 

I stood before the locked wrought iron gates of St. Stephen’s Church in Manhattan’s Kips Bay neighborhood and cursed to myself, so I thought, yet loud enough for an elderly woman to stop and frown. I apologized. But the expletives still filled my thoughts.

St. Stephen’s is less than two miles from my Hell’s Kitchen apartment yet it took me four years to get here. I passed it many times but always late at night after it closed. Finally on July 30 of 2015, a hot sunny morning, while checking my grocery list as I entered the local supermarket, I stopped, reversed my steps, exited the store, tossed the list into a trash can and power walked to St. Stephen’s. “This is my last chance, I thought. I’ll arrive twenty minutes before noonday mass with enough time to take a few pictures.”

This is not a story about one-time Catholic grade school-choir boy’s pilgrimage to the church of his favorite saint. I had wanted to visit Our Lady of Scapular and St. Stephen’s, it’s official name after a merger with another church years ago, not for mass, but for its beautiful murals by noted nineteen century artist Constantino Brumidi before the New York Archdiocese’s closed the church for good on August 1.

Over the last several years the Archdiocese underwent a major restructuring.  Dwindling school enrollment and church attendance, shortage of clergy, the high cost of maintaining many underused buildings, and possibly the expensive payouts for the church sex abuse scandals made this necessary. 

Late fall of 2014, the NY Archdiocese which includes Manhattan, Bronx, Staten Island and parishes as far north as Orange County in upstate New York, announced the restructuring of 112 of its 368 parishes. This included merging many parishes and closing about 31 others, including St. Stephen’s.

Built in the Romanesque Revival style and designed by James Renwick Jr., the renowned architect of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and The Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C., St. Stephen’s was founded in 1854. It has 45 works by Brumidi, including his 46 by 26-foot The Crucifixion above the main altar. 

Brumidi, born in Rome of a Greek father and an Italian mother became a naturalized US citizen in the 1850’s. His most famous works The Apotheosis of George Washington adorns the US Capitol dome; his Liberty and Union painting is near entrance hall of the White House.

Among his first two-commissioned U.S. works are Martyrdom of St. Stephen and The Assumption of Mary, also at St. Stephen’s.

The Crucifixion of Christ above the main altar of St. Stephen's

I first developed an interest in Brumidi when I wrote about NYC’s Holy Innocent’s Church in this blog. His Crucifixion of Christ towers behind the altar of this West 37^th Street church.

I always had a fascination for old buildings but I owe my enthusiasm for churches to San Francisco Chronicle reporter Julian Guthrie’s and her 2011 book, TheGrace of Everyday Saints.

Guthrie wrote an excellent insightful account about a small band of devoted parishioners, among them a nationally known death row lawyer, an activist priest, a Burmese convert to Catholicism and a gay Catholic who took their fight to save their local church, St. Brigid, all the way to the Vatican after the San Francisco Archdiocese’s abruptly closed their relatively vibrant parish in 1994. This lead to a decades long struggle to save their religious sanctuary and to landmark this building located in the heart of San Francisco.

St. Brigid's Church, Broadway and Van Ness Streets, San Francisco

The original wood framed church erected in 1863 by Irish immigrants and replaced in 1904 by the present Romanesque building built of curbstones from San Francisco’s streets is noted for its architecture and its many gems: an Italian-made Ruffati pipe organ, stained glass windows from Dublin, the St. Brigid and twelve life sized statues of the Apostles. A survivor of two earthquakes St. Brigid’s had played an integral role in religious and cultural life of the city’s Irish community and for those groups that: Italians and in later years newcomers from Hong Kong, Burma, Mexico, and the Philippines.  They lost their house of worship but St. Brigid’s, a city landmark, still stands and San Francisco’s Academy of Art University uses it today for classrooms and gallery space.

My story does not end at the gates of St. Stephen’s. On August 1 I took the subway uptown to Madison Avenue and East 129^th Street, to a church known as Harlem’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Also designed by James Renwick Jr. and his nephew William Renwick, All Saints Church is a cathedral-sized ornate Gothic building with a very tall bell tower, and Franz Mayer stained glass windows, and a Roosevelt Organ.

Harlem's All Saint's Church at Madison Avenue and 129th Street.

The parish, founded by Irish immigrants in 1883, the upper church was not completed until 1893. A city landmark since 2007, the one-time beautiful hard carved mahogany pews seats over 1500. When Harlem’s demographics changed in the early part of the last century the church became predominantly African American. In later years it also served Nigerian Catholics.

On that beautiful blue-sky morning I arrived in plenty of time for All Saint’s late morning Sunday mass. I sauntered past the open iron gates, up the steps to the large front doors and smiled in anticipation of exploring this magnificent edifice. As I cupped the door handle and pulled, the door did not budge. 

Locked out again!!!!

Editor's Notes:
St. Stephen's Church has two main entrances and two major facades.  In the 1860's the church was expanded through to East 29th Street. It had one of the largest congregations of any Catholic Church in the city at the time. The 29th Street facade is not as distinguished although it contains a huge rose window.

The Grace of Everyday Saints - How a Band of Believers Lost Their Church and Found Their Faith
By Julian Guthrie, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011

Photos: 
St. Stephen's Church and All Saint's Church: Rudi Papiri
Brumidi's Painting: St. Stephen's Church Bulletin
St. Brigid Churh: Courtesy of Alvis Hendley, NoeHill.com