Around the Reservoir

My new favorite place to visit in Central Park is the Jacquelin Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, near the entrances of 86th Street at Central Park West and 90th Street at 5th Avenue, right by the Guggenheim Museum. I can walk from my apartment in the Upper West Side over to this large body of water set against the many neighborhood skylines that surround it.

It is just 1.58 miles to walk the full length around the reservoir—my friends and I go all the time now that it is getting warmer!



View toward Midtown East


View of the Eldorado in the Upper West Side 90's

Hudson River, Pier 66 Maritime

I traveled from Mid-Chelsea to the edge of Manhattan and out to Pier 66 to take some pictures of Jersey City and the Hudson River. I last went out there in March for the Fountain Art Fair and it was very cold out on the water.

It was windy and sunny so it was hard to see anything or to even stand still (the winds were powerful enough to blow you a few feet away!) but I managed to spot the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, as well as some buildings in lower Manhattan and Weekhawken, NJ.

From there I had lunch at The Frying Pan, an historic lightship docked on Pier 66 Maritime that serves as a sort of dive bar/seasonal bar and grill with a tiki bar. In March when I attended the Fountain Art Fair that took place on the ship, I could feel the boat rocking from the wind and water, and it did the same when I was out there on this windy May day!!


View of Jersey City, the Goldman Sachs Tower and the Statue of Liberty
(to the left of the tower)


View towards Midtown and the Empire State Building


Park on Pier 66, view towards New Jersey


View toward Chelsea Piers from the dock of The Frying Pan


The John J. Harvey fireboat, situated next to The Frying Pan, formerly of the FDNY.

Out on Pier 66

You wouldn't expect to find yourself on a ship on any regular night while attending a weekend art fair. You wouldn't expect to climb that ship in a tights and a dress, and explore the bowls in the freezing cold weather out on Pier 66 off of 12th Avenue and 26th Street.

But hey, it can happen!

The Fountain Art Fair took place a couple weeks ago on Pier 66 Maritime. It included 20 exhibitors and independent projects all under one roof—or tent I should say. There were installations, paintings and mixed media pieces throughout the tent and the neighboring ship called "The Frying Pan."

I stayed on the ship as long as I could before I was close to freezing then headed back into Midtown and towards home!

View of Chelsea Piers from Pier 66


Inside The Frying Pan ship, which dates back to the 60's


View of the mast and the lights of Jersey City!

On the way to Ikea

Visiting the new Ikea in Brooklyn is more than just a chance to buy home goods for your city apartment, it's a chance to see the Statue of Liberty while you shop! I went out there via water taxi from one of the piers below Southstreet Seaport and was able to get a view of the Statue of Liberty on the way there. The water taxi passes by Governors Island and nears Staten Island as it enters the docks on the edge of Red Hook where Ikea is located. The ride is free and convenient, and it's quite an experience to get to a shopping store in NYC by boat instead of the usual car or train or bus!

Views from inside the water taxi

The back of Ikea viewed from the dock where the water taxi parked

Bethesda still feels summerish

In the winter the Bethesda Fountain is dry and the gooey green stuff in The Lake by The Boathouse is frozen over, but something about this spot can still make you feel like it's summertime and you've gone for a jog in your shirt and shorts, like most people did on a fairly warm February day when the temperature peaked around 50 degrees.

Turquoise

I was walking down 63rd Street towards the park (somewhere around there) when something turqoise caught my eye. You don't see a color like this in the city often. There is a beautiful small pool/water fountain within a building's courtyard that you can peek into through a fence somewhere around 63rd Street between Columbus and Central Park West.

Reminds me of some of those Dentyne Ice commercials...

Roses

If only I were a kid so I could have run through this fountain off of the West End highway-whether fully clothed or in a polka-dotted bikini. But as an adult I could only walk around the edge and watch the sun set over New Jersey before going home to cook, clean and get a good night's sleep before work.