2nd Avenue Subway Part 2

Considering how miserable I am on First Avenue, I can only imagine how horrible it would be to live on Second Avenue. 

They have put up these huge six story structures that are blocking the views of the people who live behind them. 

They do have those really cool-looking exhaust pipes. 

Unfortunately they don’t seem to be working very well and there have been many complaints about poor air quality in the area.  

In fact at one point they stopped drilling to address the problems.

Before the construction began in 2007, Second Avenue was a vibrant restaurant row with plenty of outdoor seating lining the streets for people to hang out and enjoy the nice weather.  

Sadly many of those restaurants have gone out of business. 

Of course all the stores in the worst locations - behind the structures - are in trouble.

And since walking on Second Avenue is a nightmare I avoid doing it, contributing to a huge decline in foot traffic that has been devastating to remaining businesses of every kind. 

One of my students this term lives on 68^th and Second.  That’s a really bad spot as her building is directly above a station.  She says that they the blast at 6:00 p.m. in the evening.   I guess it’s better than 9:00 a.m.

Ciao

PJ

(c) 2012 PJ Lehrer

Second Avenue Subway - Part 1

The Second Avenue Subway is driving me nuts… and I live on First Avenue!  Here’s what the scene in front of my building has looked like for the past few months. 

But the way it looks isn’t as much of a problem as the noise is.  There has been lots of drilling, usually starting at 9:00 a.m. and while they typically wrap up by 4:30, sometimes we get to enjoy extra special late night and weekend drilling. 

So you may be wondering by now why they are doing construction on First Avenue when it’s called the Second Avenue Subway. 

The answer is that they need to move all of the electricity, gas and water lines that run under Second Avenue to make room for the subway tunnel and the 72nd Street station. 

The other day when I went outside the smell of gas was so strong that I figured we’d be lucky if we didn’t get blown up.  I was a bit comforted however by the fact that it was Con Ed digging the holes in front of the building that day.

The side streets in the neighborhood are also being closed off and on.  In fact, that’s the work they are doing at night and on weekends since it means closing down the entire street. 

Although this morning when I went out they had temporarily closed off 74^th Street by parking a very large truck across the street entrance onto First.  Presumably it was blocked off on York too.

At this point we are being told that they will wrap-up outside by the end of the month, but I’m not sure I believe it. 

And even if it’s true, there’s no telling when they’ll be back again since the project isn’t due to wrap up until 2016. 

In fact, here’s a shot I took in 2010. during one of their previous visits. 

I actually have photos of construction in front of the building from each of the last few years.  Sigh.

Ciao

PJ

(c) 2012 PJ Lehrer

Fire on 75th Street

One of the great things about living in Manhattan is that there’s always something interesting going on.

The other day, there was a fire on 75^th Street.

I didn’t actually see any fire,

so it had been put out by the time I arrived. 

But it must have been a big one because at least three engines were on the scene. 

It appears to have been in Gracie Hospital. 

And since they had two ladders going up to the roof it was either on the roof or on a high floor. 

But shortly after I arrived they lowered the ladders and

returned the hose to its proper place, so clearly the show was over. 

Still it was fun to watch and photograph while it lasted so they did have a fair amount of spectators in addition to me.

Ciao

PJ

© PJ Lehrer 2012

Embroidery: Iris

I created this piece by combining two bearded irises from our roof garden.  I’m particularly fond of it because I incorporated so many different stitches.  I love the variety of textures. 

 Here’s the watercolor.

Ciao

PJ

© PJ Lehrer 2012