Roosevelt Island Tram at night

Visited on February 13, 2012 by Emily

After a lovely weeknight dinner, my (twin) cousin and I didn’t want to part ways just yet. We pondered what to do. It was frigid outside, so taking a walk through the city streets wouldn’t do. We were full, so dessert wouldn’t work. Budgeting was important, so shopping was out too. I racked my brain for a few minutes, trying to think of something that would fit our criteria, and then it hit me: What about one of my favorite things, riding the Roosevelt Island Tram? Continue reading →

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New Willis Avenue Bridge I-87 Ramp

Visited on January 14, 2012 by Emily

As some readers may remember, I closely followed the installation of the new Willis Avenue Bridge in late 2010. The sight of the two bridges next to each other was striking, but I also had a meaningful connection to the spot as I had been driving over the older of the bridges ever since I’ve lived in New York – probably first in a college van to a field trip and then so many times in my own car. Continue reading →

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Blog milestones

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Emily

Dear readers, I wanted to share with you a few pieces of exciting news regarding this blog: an anniversary, an award, and an amazing connection made. Continue reading →

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Ghost of the Miller Highway (on the FDR Drive)

Visited on December 17, 2011 by Emily

Ever since Forgotten NY‘s Forgotten Tour 50 (blog entry coming soon), I’d been a bit obsessed with the now-demolished Miller Highway. Before the tour I’d driven up and down the Henry Hudson Parkway/West Side Highway/West Street/whatever other names this road goes by so many times over the years. Despite this, I had no awareness of its predecessor, the elevated Miller Express Highway, until the tour guides pointed out some of its former stone decorations sequestered behind fences alongside the new greenway. I was immediately taken. Continue reading →

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The Henry Hudson Bridge’s 75th birthday

Visited on December 12, 2011 by Emily

Today was a crazy day. I came off a weekend full of four dance performances feeling like I needed a day of recovery. Generous as always, my boss agreed that I could take the day.

Last week I’d read on Twitter that the Henry Hudson Bridge’s 75th birthday was today, December 12th. Linked from that MTA post was an event, “MTA’s Scenic Hudson River Bridge: Lecture by Bronx Borough Historian Lloyd Ultan.”

It happened that my day off, the birthday, and the talk coincided, so I got off my butt and headed out the door just after two in the afternoon. My destination was the Riverdale branch of the New York Public Library, one of many parts of Riverdale I’d not ever explored before even after living here for over seven years. Continue reading →

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Indiana freight train

Visited on November 23, 2011 by Emily

Ever since I can remember my family has been driving to Muncie, Indiana from Cleveland, Ohio to visit relatives for selected holidays and other occasions. I have memories of this 5-6 hour, mostly flat and rural drive from many eras of my life. Fun and fights with my sister, minivans, naps, fast food, car games, and more stand out as themes from childhood trips.

Both getting there and driving around the Muncie area I always remember freight trains. Often the grownups would be annoyed at waiting for the seemingly never ending stream of boxcars at a crossing. I always watched, fascinated. Freight trains near my neighborhood in Ohio didn’t cross at grade; so I think I was less aware of them there. At night, staying over at my grandparents’ house, I remember hearing the distant sound of train whistles as the freight passed in the night. Continue reading →

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Micro-scursion: What is that thing? revisited

Visited on October 21, 2011 by Emily

It was a beautiful, partly cloudy day and I was off on a string of errands. One destination was Fairway Market in Pelham Manor. I’d been there several times for grocery shopping since I’d visited the “what is that thing” thing on an excursion in the winter. Recently I even made two coworker friends visit the thing with me before getting buffet lunch on a similarly pretty day. Today I wasn’t on a time constraint so I made a point of visiting the thing again. Continue reading →

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Roosevelt Island AVAC System and A Walk Down Newtown Creek

Visited on October 15, 2011 by Emily

On the recommendation of my college advisor (though I graduated some time ago, he’s my advisor for life) I researched an organization called Open House New York. Advisor told me I must check out their weekend-long event in October, where, he said, spaces usually not open to the public welcomed guests.

Through August and September I regularly refreshed the organization’s somewhat outdated website, hoping to catch any scrap of information about what October’s sites would be. I waited with baited breath until suddenly at the beginning of the month a new, modern, and quite beautiful website began to be rolled out. A couple hundred sites and their descriptions appeared for the public to browse. I agonized over the choices – so many places that I love and already have a connection to were listed and there were also so many I’d not heard of or been to with mysteries yet to be uncovered!

By the next morning I had to book a spot on tours or any other events that took reservations. I knew from my experience with the Transit Museum that I had to be quick, otherwise things would fill up. I shooed off coworkers and frantically reloaded the website (the server load took it down for many minutes) to reserve the events I’d decided on just the night before.

Saturday’s agenda was to be the following: First, an early morning visit to the Automated Vacuum Collection System on Roosevelt Island, then a scurry off to catch an 11AM tour, “A Walk Down Newtown Creek” starting in Queens. Continue reading →

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Fort Tryon Park, for my cousin

Visited on September 25, 2011 by Emily

This past week my cousin, a young mother, lost her long battle with cancer.

Continue reading →

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Blog News: Catching up and contacting me

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Emily

My dear infrastructure fans: I am as sad as you are that I’m this behind in writing my posts. Careful readers may have noticed that the most recent entry represents the first time I’ve posted chronologically out of order – skipping to the September 4 Lo-V trip without having written about any of my excursions between May 28th and then. Rest assured that I will be catching up and writing about everything listed in the sidebar as upcoming posts. I have not forgotten, but it may take me a while! Bear with me on that and the out-of-sequence-ness, please. Continue reading →

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