wednesday's words, wonderings, and wanderings

Bansky, Zabar's, PS166, and the West Side Community Garden

One of the delights of going to NYC when Todd has his conference is that I have time to explore on my own. One day I mapped out an Upper West Side walking route that included finding Banksy art, Zabar's grocery store, the Upper West Side Community Garden, and whatever else came along.

Banksy's "Hammer Boy" is located on 79th Street just east of Broadway, on a beige wall just a little past that cool Dublin House sign. It depicts a young boy playing the strongman game at a carnival and is now protected with a plastic enclosure from those who have tried to deface it.

Next stop, a walk through Zabar's on Broadway, just to look at all the Jewish foods, breads, and up to its sweltering kitchen store on the 2nd floor, where I found some cool Father's Day cards for my son and son-in-law.

After Zabar's, a 10 block walk to 89th Street to find the West Side Community Garden. This garden was featured on an Instagram account, nyclovesnyc, during its Tulip Festival. I got to 89th Street, turned right off of Broadway, and walked through a covered construction site that blocked the view of the garden's entrance on the other side of the street. And unexpected delight...end-of-the-school-year colorful chalk art and appreciative messages to the teachers at PS 166!

After getting through the construction tunnel, I was almost to Central Park West and hadn't seen the West Side Community Garden. Where could it be? One more block to 90th, a left turn, and there it was, tucked between some lovely homes on this quiet, shady street. The tulips were done blooming, irises were taking their place. I opened a gate to look at the vegetable gardens and asked a lady if she minded if I took a couple photos. Mira graciously took me around and told stories about some of the plots, who needed to get to their garden and weed it, and gave a brief history of the garden. We must have talked for an hour about gardening and that her best friend lives in Akron, Ohio ("Is that close to you?), and how this garden that was once a haven for drugs and other criminal activity is now a community anchor. 

Getting to know the people who live in the place you visit is an extra bonus of travel.

Mira made my day.