Mid-town | Famous Ankles

Archive for the ‘Mid-town’ category

Police arriving in force at Wachovia Bank on 42nd Street and 3rd Ave.

August 23, 2007

Saturday’s wanderings got off to an interesting start. I was walking to the subway and heard an oh-so-familiar sound: police sirens. They’re constant in NYC, but they do let me know when not to cross the street. I held my position and, whatya know: they stopped at the Wachovia Bank right in front of me. Five of them within a period of about 30 seconds. The picture below just shows two, but the others showed up at the left side of the bank.

The police piled out and quickly ran up to the bank. They were met by someone looking like a bank manager or something. No guns drawn, but there was a bit of tension in the air. Some of the cops ran up to windows and started peering in.

Once again, no sense of urgency; more like a sense of “we got an alarm, we gotta check it out.”

I saw the “manager” or whatever talking with the one cop. My immediate thought was “false alarm”. I checked the news on Sunday to see if there was anything. There wasn’t. Nonetheless, it was interesting to watch it as I walked along.

I did find out that the bank opens at 10am on Saturday, while the police arrival was about 9:50am. Maybe while setting up the teller drawers, someone accidentally tripped the silent alarm.

-H

Categories: Events, Manhattan, Mid-town

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Leona Helmsley has died

August 20, 2007

Another NYC legendary figure has passed away. This time, Leona Helmsley, whose passing is unlikely to evoke the warmth that Brooke Astor’s did. Although I presume the struggle over her final will is going to be less contested than Mrs. Astor’s.

I recently visited some family that was staying at the Park Lane Hotel on 59th Street. My aunt and uncle were in on a business/pleasure trip and stayed at the hotel on something like the 42nd floor. I went up to meet them and got one of the greatest NYC views ever: straight up the center of Central Park. A view of a lifetime. It did give me the chance to point out various and sundry famous buildings in the distance and Central Park attractions just below. Leona was apparently living just two to four floors above and shared the view, albeit slightly better. There was a car in the hotel’s driveway that was ready to whisk her away at a moment’s notice, but we had heard that it had been a long time since that call had been made.

I live in Tudor City, which was once owned by Harry Helmsley (Leona’s husband). He was the person who, after years of acrimony with Tudor City renters, arranged for the sale to the group that eventually turned the complex into co-operative apartments.

There’s still a Helmsley Hotel just about two blocks away on 42nd Street.

-H

Categories: Celebrity Points, Manhattan, Mid-town

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Near Tudor City

August 4, 2007

I was wandering around 2nd Avenue about 6pm and thought I’d waste a bit o’ camera memory. Here’s a view I see all the time.

-H

Categories: Manhattan, Mid-town

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A Friday Lunchtime

August 4, 2007

Here’s a simple photo of Madison Avenue at a Friday lunchtime. I sometimes go to a place called ‘wichcraft that makes incredible sandwiches (it’s on 46th between Madison and Fifth). On Friday, I went again. My photo of the place didn’t come out.