Playing Tourist In My Own Town

Only on the Brooklyn Bridge....on a sunny Sunday morning

Loving Central Park, but hating the new pencil sky scrapers

On top of New York City at One World Trade Center

Washington Square Park Bubblemarer

Dear Readers,
In case you were wondering about the long silence here on Pardon Me For Asking, I have had family members from Germany visiting us these last few weeks and I had little time to devote to new posts.
It did give me the opportunity to slow down a bit, play tourist in my own town while sight seeing with our guests and to fall in love with New York City all over again.

My most important guest however, was grandson Dove, who also come to Brooklyn. And when Dove is in town, nothing else counts.
Here he is on top of "Opa"s shoulders on Court Street.

A week of magical moments with this little monkey boy.

So, please excuse the temporary silence.  New posts coming right up.


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Walk Across Brooklyn Bridge With Greenpeace For Climate Leadership

Photo by guest photographer Max Kelly

Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge on foot is always great . Adding a good cause to the walk makes it even more amazing. Check out Greenpeace's March across Brooklyn's most famous landmark this week-end.

***Greenpeace March for Climate Leadership** *

24 October 2009 - 12:00pm - 1:30pm

Manhattan entrance to Brooklyn Bridge at Centre Street Across from bridge, Bklyn Bridge-City Hall Station (4,5,6)

Greenpeace is teaming up with 350 to march across the Brooklyn Bridge on October 24 - calling on world leaders to take bold action for the climate. We will march from Manhattan to Brooklyn, take an amazing group photo with the NYC skyline in the background. We need you to join us to make the powerful statement that New Yorkers want strong climate action.
Optionally, you can join a group of us to head to Times Square afterward, to join 350's press conference!

Meet at 12:00 (noon) on October 24 at the Manhattan entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge. There is an open plaza area across from this entrance to the bridge - between the City Hall (4,5,6) and the Chambers St. - Brooklyn Bridge (J,M,Z) stations.
You'll see us in bright red stop global warming shirts, which you will get upon arriving to the event.
This is a rain or shine event, be on time!

For All information regarding the Greenpeace event, click here.

For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

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Back In 1968, The Ramp To The Brooklyn Bridge Was A Junkyard

Did the approach of the Brooklyn Bridge really look like this back in 1968?

Damn!

A caption attached to the photo reads:

New York
5/1/1969

Cars may pile up on the Brooklyn Bridge during rush hours, but there is a constant pile up alongside the famed bridge's approach. For some reason, a collection of junked cars were heaped in the area.

Those cars were on the Manhattan side, right?




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Back In The Days: New York Harbor In 1899

You have to admit, dear Reader, this is a cool photo taken in 1899 in New York Harbor. Sailboats in the foreground with the Brooklyn Bridge in the back...makes you want to be able to travel back in time, no?

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On The Brooklyn Bridge At The Height Of The Blizzard Of 1888

On the Brooklyn Bridge during blizzard of 1888.
( Yes, trains used to cross the bridge)

photo detail

Snow, snow and more snow in the forecast.
Much like in 1888.
I thought this stunning photo taken in Brooklyn during a major snowstorm in that year is very fitting, don't you think, dear Reader?
This is what the caption attached to the photo reads:

A view made on the Brooklyn Bridge during the height of the famous blizzard of 1888 showing New Yorkers hiking across the bridge after being forced to leave their trains when they became stalled as a result of the heavy fall. This was an experience encountered by suburban residents of New York only yesterday, when Suburban Rail service was practically forced to a stand-still and the passengers forced to either walk or remain stranded.

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New York's Finest Protecting The Brooklyn Bridge In 1916

I love finding old photos related to Brooklyn. Here is one taken in 1916. It is part of the George Grantham Bain's photographic collection ( 1865-1944). It shows a rather imposing looking policeman patrolling the area around the Brooklyn Bridge. See it there in the background? I couldn't tell you if that is the Brooklyn side or the Manhattan side.

I googled photographer Bain and found the following on Wikipedia:

Bain (1865-1944) was a New York photographer. Born in Chicago January 7, 1865 to George and Clara Mather Bain, he grew up in St. Louis. Graduated 1890 from St. Louis University with a law degree.

Originally working for United Press, he founded the first news photography service Bain News Service in 1898. His news photo service, including portraits and worldwide news events, had special emphasis on life in New York City. The Bain News Service accumulated photographs of world-wide coverage which were distributed to various newspapers and was enhanced by receiving local pictures from its photo service subscribers as part of their reimbursement. The range of subjects includes: celebrities, parades, sports events, immigration, political events, aviation, World War I, and the Mexican Revolution. Most of his photographs date from the 1900s to the mid-1920s, but scattered images can be found as early as the 1860s and as late as the 1930s. A collection of his photographs resides at the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

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