A Day at Belmont Park

This time around I was determined to get to Belmont Park. The Belmont Stakes were being held that Saturday. No way did I want to go then. The only other option was a cool and cloudy Thursday. I figured that would be better than attempting to head out east on the Belt Parkway on a Friday. It may not feel it, but summer is officially underway and that means beach goers clogging up the road all through Long Island, bumper-to-bumper metal hell. Thursday would be good.

Typical afternoon on the Belt Parkway
 

Ha! I don't think any day is good on the Belt. Yeah, I don't miss that.

The sky was dramatic enough to keep folks home. Belmont Park was pretty empty, just the way I like it. I was hoping it would rain and the track would become muddy. That's when the longshots come in. 

I like Belmont. It's very beautiful, and very accessible. Think of the following photo sequence as happening in a ten minute time frame...from the paddocks to the finish line.

 

 

 

And they're off!

I lost that race. I lost every race. So what else is new? Gambling's not the only reason I wanted to go to Belmont. It had been 20 years since I'd been there. Memories lingered and I needed to feel them again. And I did. It was still the same. 

On the way to JFK
The view from the rear-view, 3-inch window opening while stuck in traffic going home.
 

The Views From Red Hook

The next thing I knew we were careening along the BQE.

On our quest to follow the sun, my friend seemed fine as she kept up with or dodged the trucks and cars, recovered from pothole slams, as she headed somewhere she wouldn't reveal to me. Me? I was getting nervous. As far as I was concerned, we were heading to the sketchy side of Brooklyn.

After we drove around the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the other side of Brooklyn where street names were foreign to me, she said we were in Red Hook. Red Hook? When my grandmother lived down there decades ago, we weren't allowed to visit. Now I'm told you cannot touch the rents, and worse, are the price of homes and co-ops. When did this happen?

Amazingly, she found a parking spot close to the area she wanted me to see. Behind a Fairway supermarket there is a spectacular view from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Fairway has outdoor tables where you can enjoy the view while having a cup of coffee, or more. Roanoke should have something like this near River's Edge. We've got the scenery, the space, and with Carillion & downtown Roanoke so close, the patron numbers to support a Fairway, Trader Joes, or any other marketplace that could supply an outdoor dining area. Oh, and we also have trolleys.

Here's an old trolley that sits to the side of Fairway's outdoor cafe.

The sun had already set over the Verrazano,

and lingered a little longer over the Statue of Liberty.

Looking further east I could see Freedom Tower.

The sky changed by second.

 

 

The Lady's torch and base got brighter as the sunset dimmed.

 

 

Night fell quick on Manhattan.

 

My friend still wasn't through with the tour so we drove to Downtown Brooklyn. I've always called it the armpit, an area to avoid at all costs, but she said it's changed. The area is called DUMBO now, and it's become another "can't touch" neighborhood. Of course, there was nowhere to park, so I couldn't witness the phenomenal view I briefly glanced from the open SUV window. We then passed the Barclay Center. If you're going to see a show, there's nowhere to park so you'd have to take mass transit. Yeah, no. I don't care how much you tell me the area is changed. The subway stations there still suck.

 

 

And here's one of the last remaining bowling alleys in Brooklyn in Sunset Park, another neighborhood I've always feared. Looks inviting, doesn't it?

 

The night had to end as my friend had work in the morning, and finding a parking spot by her Bay Ridge apartment could take some time...seriously.

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....

Swans in Sheepshead Bay

Although some stores are still closed, it seems to me Sheepshead Bay isn't in as bad shape from Hurricane Sandy as Gerritsen Beach still is. The area has really changed since the last time I was there, which was a couple of years ago.

 Emmons Avenue is pretty much all Russian now with the exception of one Italian restaurant that has been there as long as I could remember -- Randazzo's. On this trip I had decided I would eat all the foodstuffs I cannot get in Roanoke so although I had longed for raw clams at Joe's Clam Bar, which is no longer there, I had to settle for some at Randazzo's. My friend chose the fried calamari in hot sauce which was served with a hard tack. I sampled hers and it was okay, but I was disappointed in mine. $16.00 for a dozen raw clams, which were not cleaned well enough for my palate, seemed to be a little high. After we ate and realized we were still hungry, we both looked at each other and remembered that this place always felt like it was geared more to tourists than locals. It was worth the money just to eavesdrop on some of the conversations taking place around us. What a bunch of characters! I would have taken their photos, but I probably would have had my camera broken.

We walked across the bay and I was shocked to see swans in the ocean water. When the heck did that happen???

As we were walking along the avenue I saw two police vans pull up and a slew of ticket nazis emerged. The parking situation in Brooklyn deserves a post of its own so that will be coming at a later date.

After we went back to the car my friend decided I needed to see other parts of Brooklyn, so she kidnapped me and off we went...

Gerritsen Beach in Brooklyn -- Eight Months After Hurricane Sandy Hit

 

 

I finally witnessed first-hand the damage eight months after Hurricane Sandy hit the Gerritsen Beach area of Brooklyn. I thought I'd share some of the pics...

This is Kiddie Beach where the local children used to play. Now it's a staging area for residents to get supplies they still need...

Progress is being made, slowly, very slowly.


"Go to the people. Learn from them. Live with them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. The best of leaders when the job is done, when the task is accomplished, the people will say we have done it ourselves." — Lao Tzu