One Pantzer in New York

July 1: A very hot New York

Well the Merck girls and Anne all came to the party to remind me that the Madeline series of books was my era. In fact, some of the Merck girls even sent photos of the books they still have in their possession! Obviously it evoked strong memories! Sharing photo to remind everyone!!

Today I did the famous High Line walk. The walk is built on an elevated train line which fell into disuse with the rise in trucking. The train line was elevated because of the number of pedestrian deaths caused by street level trains. The first train to run on the High Line—which was then called the “West Side Elevated Line” was in 1934, transporting millions of tons of meat, dairy, and produce. The lines cut directly through some buildings, creating easy access for factories like the National Biscuit Company (aka Nabisco), which is now the home of Chelsea Market. The High Line is now one, continuous, 1.45-mile-long greenway featuring 500+ species of plants and trees.

You can see the Hudson River at various spots along the walk. You can also watch the traffic move under you.

I originally thought that the Pink Panther was an ad for something, but it’s actually an official part of the High Line. Called “Soft Power”, it’s loosely based on the Pink panther movie concept and is meant to be a symbol of resistance, supine but poised, wielding a sign of universal protest with a clear pink purpose. So there you go….

There are several other gigantic murals along the High Line

You can still see some of the original train tracks.

There’s a nice shopping mall near the end of the walk, at Hudson Yards (particularly because it was air conditioned) and I was quite taken by this nail polish job on one of the shop assistants who consented to have her hand photographed!

Went to see MJ the musical, on Broadway, and it was just as good as the Sydney version!