Friday, March 18, 2011 This trip feels oddly important. It’s the first time we’ve finished both ends of a subway line, but more than that, instead of exploring new ground it’s a return to my old neighborhood—I lived on 14th Street and 9th Avenue from 1996 to 2006. I know the station and the neighborhood […]

Tuesday, March 15, 2011 Sometimes, admittedly not as often as I’d like, I learn from my mistakes. After having trekked out to Canarsie on a cold Sunday evening only to find all the restaurants closing, I decided to visit the southern tip of Manhattan, which I pictured as bustling with business during the week and […]

Sunday, March 13, 2011 After 18 years here, the cultural associations of this city are still stronger than my personal impressions. When I wait for an uptown A, Duke Ellington’s Take the A Train runs through my head unbidden even after hundreds of real-life A-train commutes. Just seeing the signs for subway lines can fill […]

Monday, February 21, 2011 We went to Manhattan. We went to Queens. Now we’ve gone to the Bronx… on what felt like the longest train ride ever. It’s unnerving to check the electronic map and discover you still have 17 more stops to travel. Exiting the 6 train at Pelham Bay Park reminds me of […]

Saturday, February 19, 2011 Yesterday kids were playing basketball outdoors in t-shirts and shorts, but today February returned with a vengeance, the wind biting fiercely into any inch of exposed flesh. As this was only our second excursion, I wanted to go as far as possible, to head to the southern reaches of Brooklyn or […]

Thursday February 3, 2011 The idea had been hanging over my head for years. I was hungry to explore the extremes of my adopted home city, and more than that (and as usual), I was just hungry. The scope of the project daunted me, but the potential rewards kept me from giving it up altogether, […]