Green impressions of a day in Manhattan
Back in NYC for the first time since the pandemic started
I don’t think I ever drove from home to New York City. My many visits to this city often started at JFK airport, or I arrived by train at Grand Central Station when I lived in New Haven.
So yesterday, it was a unique experience to drive from home and, after a few hours, cross the bridge into the United States. From there, it was still a very long drive through lush green hills to the lively East Village in Manhattan.
I enjoyed being back in this vibrant city, which I hadn’t visited since the pandemic started. I love walking the streets, watching people, and drinking my coffee.
It’s late a night when I write this, but I just want to share a few photos to give an impression of the first days of the 127 days that I will be away from home in Ottawa.
Union Square
I got up early to say the city waking up, and a good place for that experience is the park at Union Square and its Greenmarket.
More bikes
I noted an increase in bikes and bike lanes in Manhattan. However, new York City is still using only a fraction of its potential for bike transport. I saw a similar positive trend in cities like London and Paris in the past decade. Progress is frustratingly slow, but this is a positive trend towards more livable cities.
In the past few years, the number of cycling trips increased on every East River bridge and other essential cycling spans around the city. In late 2021, a study estimated that daily cycling trips in New York City have increased by about 100,000 since 2014. The report also noted a narrowing of the gender gap in bike riding in town.
I just started 127 days of traveling; I will only be back in Ottawa by late September. And of course, I will continue to share my writing and photos, and my posts will often be about what I saw and experienced.
If you take a subscription to this newsletter, you can virtually join my travel via this newsletter, and you support my writing and my journey.
Or perhaps you would like to buy me a coffee for when I'm walking; there will be a lot of walking on this trip, in many countries.
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Notes:
NYC is always exciting and inspiring. Glad to see the weather was clear and sunny for you. Hope you have a chance to visit Little Island. I was thrilled to experience this innovative public space last year. Enjoy!
🌻🚶♂️🗽 in NYC, please say 'Hi' from me to the statue of Liberty (-: