Citi Field From Pepsi Porch

Another game at Citi Field, this one against the Cubs from back in April, Oliver Perez’s second loss of the young season. We sat up in/on the Pepsi Porch:

The old Home Run Apple from Shea Stadium used to be in a less-than-prime spot out by the bullpen gate in right field:

Now it is much more prominently displayed in a much better location in the plaza as you get off the 7 train:

If you have the right ticket, you can walk by the control booth and watch them use the gear:

The view from the Pepsi Porch is nice but you’re literally hanging over the right field corner, which is a little dizzying:

Late in the game, fans in our section took to yelling “Frenchy” at Jeff Francoeur, who eventually tipped his hat to them:

Here’s What Ten Miles Of Big Map Looks Like

On January 4, 2010 I walked close to ten miles in the Bayside and Whitestone neighborhoods of Queens*.

Started by cutting through Lippmann Arcade to board a bus (can’t remember which one, but it was probably the Q13) out to the edge of Bayside.

Began the first leg by continuing the great Northern Boulevard project through Bayside**:

Then a stop at Oakland Lake to check it out during the winter:

P.S. 203 is an example of that 1960s(?)-style of Board of Education architecture:

Then up Bell Boulevard through Bayside Hills up to Northern Boulevard:

Bell Boulevard’s commercial stretch and beyond:

Bell Boulevard through Bay Terrace:

Following a short bus ride over to the eastern edge of Beechhurst, I visited LeHavre On The Water, one the builders of which was William Levitt, whose brother Alfred built Levittown:

Down 154th Street on the western edge of Beechhurst:

Down 14th Road in Whitestone:

A stop at the awesomely fanciful St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, the church the AIA Guide to New York City called a “psychedelic fantasy”:

Up 150th Street through Whitestone, that neighborhood’s main commercial strip:

A swing by Engine 295/Ladder 144 over on 149th Street, which is a classic New York City firehouse:

Back over on 14th Avenue:

*We don’t usually bother mapping out the routes but my feet were sore for days afterward so I was curious.

**Earlier installments included Northern Boulevard in Corona, Northern Boulevard in Murray Hill and Northern Boulevard in Auburndale.

Corona/Elmhurst, Queens, December 23, 2009

A day of walking through Corona, Queens, ending up in Elmhurst near the mall.

North on Junction Boulevard, and the Steinway-like shopping district between Roosevelt Avenue and 37th Avenue:

East on Northern Boulevard between 92nd Street and 112th Street:

This laundromat offers a cafe — maybe one day my dream of a laundromat/bar will be fully realized in New York:

Here’s something historical:

I wonder how long the misspelling of “Northern” lasted, and if after some time they finally just owned it:

Views of the Empire State Building pop up around Queens when you least expect them:

Haven’t been to Green Field in several years, but oh, what wonderful memories (one time we saw a man fall asleep at the table):

Out toward the Grand Central and the planes approaching La Guardia:

Down 108th Street, which I divided up in a new way — there’s the “best of” at the aforetyped link, then expanded sections, Northern Boulevard to 44th Avenue (to the LIRR tracks south of Roosevelt Avenue) and 45th Avenue to Horace Harding Expressway (the LIE). The Hispanic/Latin neighborhoods north of Roosevelt:

An impressive flag mural:

If you look at Google’s Street View of 108th Street, many of these buildings aren’t there — there has been a lot of new development in Corona and especially along 108th Street:

Citi Field comes into view around 38th Avenue:

Interesting to see Asian businesses expand into Corona — this is just north of Roosevelt Avenue:

There’s a vestigial Italian neighborhood centered around William F. Moore Park and the Lemon Ice King near 52nd Avenue:

The 1960s-era Terrace on the Park comes into view at 52nd Avenue:

More new development just north of the LIE:

LeFrak City:

The former Jamaica Savings Bank in Elmhurst, which was an official city landmark until it wasn’t: