An Inspired Walk

I have become an avid walker, taking some really big walks recently. About a month ago, I wrote about them, and I have done more. In that piece, I wrote about a future walk that I was planning, and I did it on 8/3 in NYC. I woke up that Saturday and met my son at his place of work, Astor Wines in NYC a little after 10 A.M. I remember it well from the late 80s when I lived in NYC. While I don't recall ever going in, I do remember walking by it. (not exactly here back then):

I had such a nice time with Brian. I am proud of him for his energy regarding wine and what he has learned so far.

I left about two hours later and took the subway to 49th and Broadway. This was the beginning of the walk that I described a month ago, inspired by William Helmreich's book, The New York Nobody Knows. I didn't walk 6000 miles, but I did walk a great deal that day. Again, my goal was to walk by each of the three apartments where I lived in NYC and to also walk by my three former office locations. I did! A few hours later, I ended my walk at the South Ferry.

My first stop on the walk was the apartment building where Fran and I lived in 1990 at 260 West 52nd St and 8th Avenue. I was staying at a place in Brooklyn that was on 52nd Street! I took a picture of this other 52nd and 8th Ave. to send to Fran for a chuckle:

That wasn't our corner! This was:

Next stop was a legal cannabis store, Nicklz:

Located at 8th Avenue and 49th Street, this store was very interesting to me. I met one of the owners and two in sales.

My next stop was the last office where I worked, Tower 49 at Madison Avenue between 48th and 49th. That is where First Boston Asset Management had been located:

I left there and grabbed some lunch on 6th Avenue near 42nd Street (a Peking duck crepe), and I ate it in Bryant Park.

The next apartment visit was my original Manhattan residence in Chelsea at 7th Avenue and 23rd Street. It was a tiny studio, but I liked it:

This is the old apartment building:

I headed South down 7th Avenue, which turned into Varick Street down in Soho. I kept walking until I got to Tribeca, where I moved over to our old street, Greenwich Street. I was living at 275 Greenwich Street when Fran came back into my life.

I wasn't able to take any more pictures due to a battery challenge with my phone, but I walked past the World Trade Center to Wall Street, visiting 10 Hanover Square, where I worked for Kidder, Peabody beginning in 1986. Here is a photo:

From there, I walked to the next office Kidder occupied at 60 Broad Street:

It was kind of cool flashing back! Things have really changed a great deal, but that is life, right? I loved the Big Apple and I still do!