the great American Elm, revisited

 Recently I got a great email from an arborist up in Maine.  Earlier in the year, Michael would tell me, he was down in my neck of the woods helping with a tree survey conducted every few years for the USDA to scout for the Asian Longhorned Beetle.  Sure enough I totally remember those men and women as they were in the north end of Central Park which was my "office" and climbing trees I had longed to climb for years.  Michael and two other arborists would get to climb this magnificent American elm and so I wanted to show him all three shots I took that day back in March.
Michael, the one I posted before is this first one, slightly cropped, just FYI.  Let me know.
Best,
Alex

Moving Day

The fat man is ready to roll.  We're moving out of New York City today, after 9 years for me and 12 for my wife.  It changed our lives and is one Hell of a town! But it's time for us to go start a new chapter.

Ulmus americana

Entering the park for my last day of work. That's a huge Ulmus americana, one of the last great American elms found in the north end of Central Park. This tree is one of the most beautiful specimens of American elm, and a joy to pass underneath every morning. Here we go folks, one last time...

last office in New York City

The Blockhouse is the oldest building in Central Park, dating back to the War of 1812 when it was built to fend off the British should they try and invade Manhattan from the northeast. My last job in the city was working for the Central Park Conservancy helping maintain and improve the North Woods of Central Park, and I tell ya, what an office it was! It has been such a treat to be part of such a piece of New York history as Central Park. For the full info sheet on the Blockhouse check out this Parks & Rec link. And if you love the park don't hesitate to support the folks who keep it so awesome, the Central Park Conservancy.

"Doubt"

Today begins my last week commuting in New York City after a major life-changing nine years.

The song is "Doubt" by Wye Oak, and it was on my headphones when I took this shot.

It's gonna be a heavy week.

one of the things I will miss...

We get to watch some of the best sunsets over New York City every evening from our place in Astoria, definitely one of the things I will miss when we no longer live in town. There's a lot of that recently, realizing what we will miss and not miss about city life. I will miss my friends and mentors in Central Park, the best volunteers in the world, all my horticultural connections around town, and the invaluable people watching that NYC offers, though I have to say I don't think I'll miss the packed mass transit and steamy concrete jungle soon to be back in effect. It will be hard to go, in part, but we know we will return to get that shot in the arm when we are getting a bit too stir crazy in the country. I imagine once you have lived in a place like New York City a little part of it will always be in you.

subway evening sky

winter sunlight...

It's wild to think about the sights and sounds and experiences I have become so accustomed to living in New York City, even wilder to think about leaving them. One day I left the Horticultural Society of New York when they were still in that cavernous space on 58th Street. It was probably an interview, which would take the scene back almost ten years. From there I had nothing else on the agenda so I decided to stroll Central Park. Like most new to the city I would get terribly turned around, but I wasn't concerned. I knew I could figure out where I had to get to by that point in order to get back to safety, at that time a tiny room share in Park Slope. I was already used to walking a lot, and this afternoon I walked for a long time. Eventually I would end up in an alien land. I stumbled upon a fenced-in formal garden I didn't even know existed. I climbed stairs and found myself under a breathtaking wrought iron pergola covered in wisteria. It was summer or early fall so the park was rich in green, new growth. Giving my legs a break I would sit for a few and watch a gardener carefully pruning back the aged wisteria with a pole pruner. He seemed at peace. Carefully snipping the unwanted new shoots I would remember thinking to myself, "gosh, if I had a job like that I could last in this city a long time". This was on the heels of being at a party at my brothers apartment in Brooklyn and a friend of his recommending that I "just give the city ten years and see how you feel", a suggestion that seemed like pure lunacy to this young surf kid from a small ocean town. Sure enough nearly ten years would pass. I would learn the man I saw that afternoon was a gentleman named Paul Serra, Assistant Curator at the Conservatory Garden there in the north end of Central Park. (My walk had apparently taken me from the base of the park at 59th Street all the way up to 105th Street on the east side). Paul and I would not only get to know each other but would become good friends and colleagues tending to the Conservatory Garden under the direction of Curator Diane Schaub and Director Lynden Miller. I would get my chance to have an "office" most people would die for. And as my dear friend Diane would compliment, I would share some of my best years with that garden. I learned to love and respect the garden and the park and those that tend to it in such a caring and selfless way. Doug Blonsky, the President of the Central Park Conservancy, the organization that maintains the park for the city of New York through a model public-private partnership, himself wastes no time calling his horticulture staff the ambassadors to the park. After years I would learn how right he is, and how proud I am to say I am one of those ambassadors.

This week was a major week. Only a couple months ago we began the search for a home, a real house, and yard. Thanks to all the right people being in our corner we found a house that seemed perfect. We said "why not" and put in a bid, and to our amazement the back and forth happened quickly, and in our favor. All of a sudden the question of whether this might be the year we get out of the city became the question of how soon might we get out of the city, no "if" about it. We put out feelers on the work front and crossed our fingers. Hard work, it would turn out, had once again paid off as calls quickly led to conversations which led to setting up meetings. Our house bid was accepted, confirming we are buying our first home. Interviews were set, letting us know that we have the skills to take the show on the road. I would pause and look up to get caught by the morning sun as it narrowed through the buildings along Fifth Avenue and shot in to spotlight the wisteria covered pergola in the middle of the Conservatory Garden. It's these moments that make you stop for a sec, to behold the beauty of the here and now. Maybe it's a sight you have seen a thousand times before, but you never saw it like this before. Or maybe it's like you are seeing it for the first time, all over again. It's the exploration and adventure that will ensue that you don't even know yet. You will remember this place and time. The next challenge begins. With great admiration and respect you get a deeper glimpse into who you are and where you are going based on where you came from, and all of those steps along the way. The pergola and the wisteria, the tiers of spirea and yew, you have been so good to me.

love her

favorite poster

"Youth and Beauty"
subway ad
Astoria, Queens, NYC

I usually get out of the house a little after 5:30 in the morning. By quarter of six I am on the local train platform, watching the M train pass and waiting until the R train comes through. It will show up at 5:53am like clockwork. Across the tracks I stare at this subway ad. It's for a show at the Brooklyn Museum up through next weekend. The poster has obviously been up for a while and adorned accordingly. As a silly game to play with myself I try and keep tabs on the new posters when they go up and see how long it takes before they get defaced, but inevitably I forget or realize it's really a totally ridiculous exercise and continue about my business. But I never tire of the metamorphosis these posters go through over the weeks and months exposed to the masses. I love this poster to begin with, the painting by American painter Luigi Lucioni from 1928, but with the blue tag and scratch I somehow love it that much more. The Art of the American 20's meets the art of the 20-teens. I love capturing these snapshots so that I can revisit them years down the road and be taken right back to the early New York City mornings like this one.

woods sunrise, beautiful Friday

Hector dog

For the second half of the month my folks offered to dog sit for a friend in the city. My mom was psyched, my father less so. But as with all things Feleppa, it was a pretty funny scene! This is Hector.

NYC Marathon, 2011

probably the best sign I saw while working the New York City Marathon today in Manhattan

Congrats to all you finishers - amazing, you are truly amazing, and way to go!

no photoshop required

Out the living room window I looked west towards Manhattan to see this fabulous red spot amidst the gray clouds. Grabbed a quick snap before it faded. No photoshop required.

Notes from Around Town: Central Park's North Woods

This is one of the waterfalls in the ravine, a section of the North Woods of Central Park. Up in the central, north end of the Park is a section of woodlands that I find many people don't know about. And they definitely don't know that it is this beautiful, but they should, as should you. This spectacular bit of woods is right in Manhattan, smack dab in the middle of lower Harlem, and it's sensational. When Olmstead and Vaux designed the Greensward Plan which would ultimately become the blueprint for Central Park they wanted the North Woods to resemble a place both men loved, the Adirondacks. The result would be this 90-acre woodland of rolling topography and waterways, flowing choreography and stunning visuals of landmarks fused within nature. From bunkers dating to the War of 1812 to stands of towering tulip trees, from perfectly constructed stone archways to a wildflower meadow the North Woods is such a pleasant surprise for plant, wildlife, and landscape lovers in the city. One of these days I will take my good camera and take more shots for later, more lengthy posts. But yeah, you can get lost in the woods and love it, right in the heart of Manhattan Island.

predawn trees on the way to the office

San Gennaro, 2011 edition

This year my wife and I made sure to get to one of our favorite September events in the city, the Feast of San Gennaro. Down in Little Italy for roughly two weeks every September the feast is a celebration of all things Italian. The streets are alive with food and drink, sweets galore, tons of other vendors offering everything from cigars to leather goods, games and performances, truly the quintessential Italian New York street festival. So you gotta come down and get roped into the madness and stroll Mulberry street, take in the sounds and smells and faces.
The Zeppole is the Italian version of that universally favorite dessert of fried dough tossed in powdered sugar. They're these nuggets of yum that are worth every calorie, and clearly a street fair must.
"Water Gun Fun" consists of a bunch of loud, chain-smoking carnies in your face as you try and shoot a gun with no water pressure in order to win one of these ridiculous Rasta Banana stuffed... things. It's a hysterical scene. Needless to say we opted to pass. ...but you gotta love it!
My waistline should be very thankful that we don't live closer to Little Italy. Gelato is like ice cream but with lower butterfat content and typically higher sugar content (thanks Wikipedia!). But just the same gelato is often made in smaller batches and is so creamy and delicious you are so psyched.
Torrone is something you see signs for all over during the feast and then you see most people are startled because they have no idea what they are looking it. Torrone is a basically a big block of white nougat with toasted almonds (or other nuts) mixed into it. It starts as a brick and pieces are broken off and sold by the pound. You can get a good torrone at Vinny's Nut House, and apparently a funny look from this guy. Hey, I'm Vinny, Vinny Baggadonuts! How you doin?!? The people watching is without question one of the best parts of the strolling around.
My wife had only been talking about getting her sausage and pepper fix all month so she was all over the smart menu the Mulberry Project was offering that day. We enjoyed their version of classic sausage and peppers, Tuscan truffle fries, and killer berry-based red sangria.
Not to mention their quaint little backyard space where we were invited to eat was such a welcome bit of down time from all the madness out on the street to which we would soon return.

"This is how I like my fruit, soaked in alcohol" joked the cute one.

But after the myriad of cannoli stands, when it really comes down to it, and you want to know who has the best pastries and sweet confections around, that would be Ferrara's, hands down.
Every year we have to treat ourselves to cannolis from Ferrara's, and this year in the box happened to fall another dream of a treat, a lobster tail! Fine layered pastry stuffed with rich custard created in this beautiful fan shape it was our first, and not likely to be our last. Because of a terrible stomach virus I had at the time I knew I couldn't handle zeppoles but a little cup of Ferrara's homemade chocolate gelato? Miraculously it went down just fine.
Every year we do a comparison of a different San Gennaro staple in order to figure out the better, if not the best. So this year we decided to pick sausage and peppers. After our slightly more "hipster" sausage and peppers at the Mulberry Project we had to get back to the where the real die hards flocked, places like Lucy's.

Here is a young zeppole master in training. Oh, the temptation, so dangerous.
The guys at Cha Cha's were jammin'!
"Get your sausage here!"
Of course in the end the more traditional street-style sausage and peppers would win the taste test. One little stand (not pictured) had a sweet sausage and pepper on a homemade baguette that took top prize. I tell ya, these guys and gals are magicians!
And speaking of guys and gals, take a look at these two. Geez, what can I say?
VIVA ITALIA!

Always proud of the red, white and blue

Ten years later and will never forget. May we celebrate love and honor, not hatred and evil. May we be thankful to this nation and each other, for the chance to live in a bountiful land with liberty and justice for all. God Bless America!



And this reminds me I never wrote about the 2011 summer containers. Oops! I guess I better do that!
Enjoy the day folks, take it easy, remember we are all in this madness together, and that can be a good thing. United we stand.

5 o'clock world

It was a pretty perfect weather day, especially for late August in New York City. The evening sky not a bad way to end it.

self portrait on a train