Views From the 69th Street Pier

On my quest to get a nice sunset shot -- Brooklyn has the best sunsets I've ever seen -- we chased the sun along the Belt Parkway and ended up in Bay Ridge near the 69th Street Pier. Of course, there was no parking to be found, so I had to jump out of my friend's SUV, run to the pier and start clicking away. Here are some shots I got from the pier...

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

I didn't want my friend to get a ticket, because that's all the NYPD seems capable of these days is giving tickets, so I rushed back to her SUV. I looked through the front windshield, saw she wasn't there, and wondered where she went. I opened the passenger door and panicked because I had left my pocketbook on the floor and it wasn't there either. I started fumbling around the floor looking for it. It wouldn't be like her to just leave with the doors open, so I got nervous that something had happened to her.

Suddenly I heard my name being called, "Elena! What the hell are you doing?!" I looked up from the inside of the SUV and saw my friend pulled up next to the SUV I was rummaging around in. Oh shit, this wasn't her SUV!!! I slammed the door, jumped into the right SUV and off we sped, laughing hysterically....

Freedom Tower -- September 2012

When we left for our Maine excursion we departed from Brooklyn. It had been a while since we've been upstate and forgot the best way to get there, so depended upon Ms. Garmin for directions. Ms. G. has a funny sense of humor because she took us through the worst sections of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, determining the best way for us to get upstate was via streets. It must have added about two hours to our travel time. On the way back from Maine, we weren't making that mistake again, so that time we programmed upper Manhattan as our destination figuring once we hit the West Side Highway we'd head into Brooklyn that way.

Welcome back to NYC traffic...

We didn't get to stop at the Freedom Tower as it was rush hour on a Friday and we couldn't wait to get out of the car, but I was able to snap off some shots of it, as well as some Lower Manhattan sights as we snaked our way to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, which by the way has been renamed the Hugh Carey tunnel. Huh?!

Before we even hit the house we stopped off at Greenwood Cemetery to see my parents. It's hard to believe it's been five years since my father departed, twelve for my mom. Looking up from their graves, through the trees, past the harbor, beyond the Statue of Liberty, the Freedom Tower rises. The sight of it comforts me...

Freedom Tower Progress July 2012

Until today, if you used the search words "Freedom Tower Progress" and you wound up on this blog...this is what you saw...a photo from April, 2011.

Today this is what you'll see...now that's progress, baby! Thanks to my cousin for taking these great shots...

Man, I miss New York City!