Thanksgivings in New York

 There is so much to New York City that a lifetime can be spend there and never get to know the city.  Taking a walk in the cemeteries revealed historical personalities that I never knew were sleeping in this city.  What a surprise of encountering the burial place of John James Audubon, who had done more for the promotion of wildlife through his paintings than any other conservationist.  Yet, he killed lots of birds and then brought them back to live in the canvases that he painted.  Curiously the bird carved above him in the monument is a vulture, what revenge.  I found him in the Church of the Intercession at 155^th Street and Broadway.

 This Church was originally part of Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan and when they ran out of burial space there, they opened the Trinity Cemetery and Mausoleum across Broadway and bound at the opposite end by the Hudson River.  Here some of the socialites from the Big Apple are buried such as the Astors, Gallatins and others.  There are modern square mausoleums where the late comers are buried; real estate is expensive here too. One could spend hours looking at the names and then searching Wikipedia so figure out who they were.

 Nearby is the Jumel Terrace Historic District where a wooden row of houses are located in Sylvan Terrace.  These were built in the late 1890’s and went through a time of neglect but were renovated recently.  House # 18 (in one of the images) was sold in 2003 for $10 and is now for sale for about $1,000,000.  Nearby is the Norris-Jume Mansion that was used by George Washington as its headquarters in 1776 during the American Revolution; I was not able to visit it because is undergoing renovation.  What is peculiar about this Mansion is that the white walls are made of square timbers but look as made of cement.

 Moving down to Brooklyn one encounters the living; this is an area undergoing gentrification although it has a way to go.  Most buildings are still from late XIX century vintage with a few new ones such as the Thaddeus School for gifted students.  I walked up Stuyvesant Avenue to catch the train at the Myrtle Subway Station.  In the way there I ran into the first graffiti at the Liberty Tax business where the creature appears to be eating the trash.  Going up the stairs to the elevated platform was surprised to see the colored glass window in perfect conditions; appreciate the vandals that appreciate art and did not destroy it.  While in the platform I took a few shots of the city landscape.

 Boarded the subway and got off the subway in the Bowery where I found a flood of people, since it was Black Friday, the streets were congested and most incredibly, it took inquiring at 7 restaurants until I found a Brazilian one that had a table in the back…here I downed crafted beers and a Brazilian sausage sandwich.  I continued roaming the streets capturing the impromptu works of arts and weathered posters that caught my eye. I wonder how that bicycle is still there or the flowers all not gone?

 It got dark and about to lose the light, just time for a few shots; it is time to go home.  New York offers great photo opportunities, no wonder B&H, the paradise of photographers is here.  My motto about this city is:  “If you do not find it here, it is not made”.