The Bronx Invasion of Brazil. On Friday We Take Cuba!

by: Eddie C

Mon Feb 22, 2010 at 19:33:48 PM PST

No more snow job photo diaries out of me. Since it is midwinter and everyone can use a little break from the cold, I think a little Brazilian Modern is in order.

How about you? Join me below for more photos and see an amateur review of my South American trip from last year.

Ft. Tryon Park Durning the Snowfall.

by: Eddie C

Sat Feb 20, 2010 at 08:48:02 AM PST

The previous diary was easy pickins' on a clear blue sky day. This represents something a bit more challenging, trying to capture the snow as it is falling.

It's not so easy and I really should have worn a hat and some gloves. But if your in the mood for another snowy park, than take a walk below the fold for a beautiful park in a blizzard.  

Van Cortlandt Park After the Snow

by: Eddie C

Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 17:25:14 PM PST

I often write about and I'm very much in love with the undeveloped parts of Van Cortlandt Park. It is the fourth largest park in New York City and just a few blocks from my apartment. I guess the most popular diary so far was called Just a Walk in the Park, Van Cortlandt Park.

Few Manhattanites know of the beauty of this 1,146 acre park located in the Bronx but this New York City oasis should be of special interest to visitors from drier areas of the nation. The green will just blow you away.

You won't find much green in this diary that focuses on photographic composition but I found a little color to make it interesting. In this photo the underpass leads to the Van Cortland marsh where the story ends. An old bridge from the the abandoned "Old Putt" and an oak tree that likes to hold a few leaves each winter improves the composition.

"Old Putt" is the affectionate nickname that hikers and cross country bikers have given to the New York and Putnam Railroad. The right of way for the railroad bed is a trail that runs the length of the park and passes through almost every type of ecosystem that can be found in the northeast.

Below the fold are the best of the 465 pictures I took last Thursday. Most of them on the Van Cortlandt Lake and surrounding wetlands of the Bronx park. Mostly they are photos of geese but I experimented with ways to defeat the the most annoying property of snow, monochromatic and way too bright.

Winter Photos from the Bronx Zoo.

by: Eddie C

Wed Feb 17, 2010 at 18:40:42 PM PST

Have you ever gone to a zoo in midwinter? This diary is a selection of of photos from a three hour trip to the Zoo on a sunny winter day.

I could tell you a winter's tale or two about going to the zoo. I think it is the best time for both interaction with animals and photographic opportunities.

This is not my first Bronx Zoo diary. My point about a winter visit can be made by comparing the photos in that collection from  about twenty visits to the zoo and these from a three hour tour.

Public School Lunches in New York City Tabloid Today

by: Eddie C

Mon Feb 01, 2010 at 09:12:17 AM PST

The health-crazed Bloomberg administration often touts how it has overhauled school lunches and slashed calories - but critics charge the standard cafeteria fare is still far from healthy.

The photo in today's paper that is captioned as looking "more like McDonald's than Whole Foods" actually makes McDonald's look good.

That is actually a New York City school lunch recently served at PS 42.

In a city that once portrayed installing Snapple dispensers as a health conscious move for the children of New York City, there are often stories about Bloomberg improving lunch programs but...

The New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show

by: Eddie C

Thu Nov 26, 2009 at 07:49:26 AM PST

Next Wednesday the most famous Christmas Tree In New York City lights up where there was once a Botanical Gardens. Up in the Bronx at the New York Botanical Garden it is already beginning to look a lot like Christmas. On Saturday The Eighteenth Annual Holiday Train Show pulled into town and you can enjoy the delights of a miniature Rockefeller Center Christmas tree already at this favorite for children of all ages.

The star of this New York holiday favorite may seem like the model railway trains chugging through a glass house but children also get to experience the architecture of New York, past and present. Children are inspired by handmade art that is created from plant materials such as bark, moss, twigs, berries, and pine cones.

Below the fold is a photographic guide from start to finish of this year's Holiday Train Show for your children to enjoy and a few old New York stories for you. It's a family outing that definitely has GreenRoots.  

An Autumn Day Hike in the Bronx: Cloudy with a Chance of Sunshine

by: Eddie C

Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 21:40:35 PM PDT

Hello and Happy Halloween. Would you like to see a little of the color of the northeast?  I had a great walk on Thursday I thought you might enjoy seeing the pictures and hearing my story about how great is is to just get out there, even when it is looking bad.

Is this a political diary? As Ken Burns so aptly pointed out recently, our parks are our strongest affirmation for "Big Government"so perhaps this belongs here. Or maybe I just like taking pictures. This was my ninth DKos diary that is tagged Van Cortlandt Park and a few of them are probably cross-posted here too. But in this diary there are sections of the 1,146 acre park that I've never shown before.

Here's a view I've now shown in all four seasons. In photography just like politics, when you find a good frame you need to stick to it.

As I've mentioned before Van Cortlandt Park is named for the first native Mayor of New York City and is right on Broadway. Just a few stops out of Manhattan on a scenic elevated subway, the last stop on the Number One Train. It is not the only park with hiking trails but it is still a must see for NYC visitors because the views are so similar to the Hudson Highlands.

Below the fold you can see the glory of New York State on a colorful autumn day without leaving New York City. Actually you can see it without leaving your couch and what's better than that on a mellow weekend?  

Got a Happy Story? September Woodland Walking Edition

by: Eddie C

Mon Sep 07, 2009 at 20:08:35 PM PDT

Tonight I would like to tell a story about a walk on Tuesday that was the most pleasant and cleansing walk I had in a long long time. It was also a long long walk that started at a Riverdale gas station and ended with two buses taking one hour to get back home.

Here's a view I've shown before. The last time in Just a Walk in the Park, Van Cortlandt Park the white pepper bush framed the lake. Now in the ragweed season, there is some goldenrod on the side and the pepper bush has gone to seed.

It was the first of September and the whole forest was busy preparing for a transition. I could feel it from the moment I walked in. The summer comfort of the cool forest compared with the city streets was gone. It seemed warmer than being out in the sunlight. Another difference was the return of a familiar sound, a sound that often make me think there must be a waterfall close by in a less familiar forest. But since I know this forest so well, I knew it was the September breeze blowing through the leaves in the blue sky above.

This was a great week for New York Sunsets (photo diary)

by: Eddie C

Sat Aug 22, 2009 at 11:25:33 AM PDT

Hello, is seems a bit early for sunsets but there should be one coming around soon. I hope you are having a nice Saturday afternoon and have a wonderful weekend coming your way. Just in case you might need a little visual to help you decompress, I've put together a collection of the week in sunsets from my Bronx window.

That photo must look like I'm messing around with Photoshop but I wasn't. This extremely hot New York City week had a few sunsets where the sun was not too strong for digital photography. The Monday shot above wasn't even the best. Sunday looked like Jupiter or Saturn without the rings setting over the Palisades. It was also a big week for sailboats at sunset.

I know I'm a little strange but I get excited about that sort of thing. If you like then follow below for my week long celebration.  

The Lincoln Center Farmer's Market on the Fourth of July

by: Eddie C

Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 21:05:32 PM PDT

I was a bit shocked to see business as usual today at the triangle that several farmers call home every Thursday and Saturday. Not that you can't find a New York City grocery store opened on the Fourth but since the Upper West Siders who depend on these farms for fresh food didn't take a day off from eating, these hard working farmers were there on the Fourth. Besides they need the money.

One of them asked me to do a favor for the farmers today. I like to think that he asked all of us. The local farmers biggest problem is exposure. Greenmarket NYC like most green market organizers only has so much money for advertising. He asked that I post information in community blogs so more residents know about the fresh food available.

Something else we could all do is get our district council or community board websites to post information about the farms, dates and locations and also what is in season. The more customers that know about these markets, the bigger they will get.

Meet a few of my local green grocers below the fold.    

Photos from a Bronx Labor Rally: Boycott Stella D'Oro Now!

by: Eddie C

Sun May 31, 2009 at 19:41:07 PM PDT

I live in a Bronx neighborhood that is known for cookies. For my entire life I've been enjoying the sweet smell of Union Made Stella D'Oro cookies and biscuits. After the long cold winter that Brynwood Partners forced on the workers, those cookies don't smell so sweet anymore.

The owners are seeking to slash wages by as much as 25%, do away with Saturday overtime and impose a new, crushing, 20% employee contribution to worker health care benefits. They also are insisting on eliminating four holidays, one week of vacation, and all 12 paid sick days.

Yesterday there was a Solidarity rally in support of the workers who have been locked out of their jobs for the past ten months!

This was not the first rally to be ignored by the media but the turnout and the continuing community support has been very impressive.  

The Animals are Getting the Pink Slip (A Bronx Zoo photo and action diary)

by: Eddie C

Sat May 02, 2009 at 21:08:07 PM PDT

At this point 105,029 people have been laid off in New York City but while our loris is a bit slow, there is something very wrong with the richest city in the nation looking for a new home for one of our our cutest animals and many of the other creatures of the night.

What an example of skewed priorities. Mayor Bloomberg raised two taxes to ensure there will be 500 new cops on the streets of New York this year. There are 5.3 police officers for every 1,000 New Yorkers but there is only one World of Darkness and many of the inhabitants are endangered species. Thanks to Bloomberg's thirty-three percent cut in city funding to the zoo, children will no longer learn that "when the sun goes down most of the world's animals wake up."  

Autumn Preview: Photos from a Walk in the Park

by: Eddie C

Sat Sep 20, 2008 at 18:53:14 PM PDT

Monday is that day that that comes twice a year when both night and day are of equal length. At one end it represents the beginning of growth and this side represents an ending.

As we all await the ending of the republican dominance that has stunted this nations growth for so long, may I offer a few walking photos from Van Cortland Park to ease the suffering known as George W. Bush?

The first day of autumn marks my favorite time of year for walks in the forest but I've always been fascinated by this short transitional season. A season without a name when the northeastern forest start getting everything in order for the upcoming dormant season.